Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We put up a little Christmas tree and decorated it with paper-made decorations and the ribbons of the gifts everyone sent after we unwrapped everything. Michael strung up the Christmas cards we received and then made one of his famous snowflakes out of the thick, plastic wrapping of an IV bag. I think it looks pretty cool. Today is rather bittersweet for us. We both miss our families and it's nice to have each other here. I'm kind of sad as this isn't exactly the most fun place to be during a time when family and love are such a part of this season.

We've gotten a lot of good gifts. It was really wonderful to have wrapped gifts under a tree for a little bit. Very cheerful and fun. We got lots of edibles, which have thoroughly been devoured. I believe a particular favorite was the deluxe chocolate cookies and chocolate almonds that have fully fufilled our sweet tooths. Michael's in particular as he has a rather voracious sweet tooth.

We also got some lovely Christmas music to listen to and several books. And for a luxury factor we got some wonderful foot cream and Burts Bees! We're very thankful for the thoughtfulness of everyone while we've been here.

The quilt update is so far I've finished three blocks and am well on my way to finishing my fourth block. I'll be posting a picture of my first completed column of 8. I have to make 7 of these columns. I'm really excited to see how it's going to turn out. Michael calls it, "fetching."

I wound up finding this little box of about 200 pieces of 2"x2" origami paper and am folding them all into cranes to string up and make a kind of garland for our room and whatnot. I didn't realize how difficult it was to fold such small paper until I got a few done...turns out I only have the patience to do one or two every few hours as it really excersizes my fine motor skills.

So Merry Christmas everyone! Much love from the Washington Woolleys! XOXOXO

First Completed Quilt Block

As promised, here's the pictures of my first completed quilt block. As I don't have a sewing machine all of this is pieced by hand. The top picture is a close up of my stitching, the middle one is a full picture of the back and the bottom one is what the front looks like. Michael likes the back view better than the front just because it shows all of my hand stitching.

It's very different doing it all by hand. It's much slower, but more accurate in terms of getting everything to line up, and keep the triangles pointed, etc. Sometimes with the sewing machine it cuts the points off of the triangles due to the seam allowance. Crazy sounding, I know. I like doing it by hand just because it's very meditative, there's no rush to get to completion just because you can't, and I like the craftsmanship put into it by doing it by hand.

I'm using a "back stitch" to put the pieces together. I like it better than the "over under stitch" because you get extra reinforcement with the continuous loop that happens with the back stitch. So now I've completed one, and only 55 more to go. I'm already making good headway into my second block. Now that I've completed one the others should go a bit faster. It's actually a pretty complicated quilt block as there's so much that needs to be lined up properly. It's an interesting puzzle.

Well, Michael and I are doing well. He should be writing up here soon. He's been on this fitness research kick and will probably tell you all about it. I heard him mention something about writing a blog on all of his past running shoes. Anyway, I hope all of you have a good week, night, day, etc. We're coming home in only a couple of months! I'm very excited. I got the official day for me a couple of days ago, and we're working on getting Michael to come back on the same flight as me. I hope everyone's doing well. Stay healthy!

TTFN. R.

Wedding Plans and Quilts

Well, it's December already and Michael found this little three foot, fake, douglas fir Christmas tree. It's very sweet, and we haven't decorated it yet. I think we're going to scrounge up some white paper and some scraps of fabric from the quilt I'm working on and put something together for decorations. Our first Christmas!

It's hard to believe our year here is almost at an end with our return to Washington in February. While on leave I did some wedding planning and I've been brainstorming some in my spare time. The venue will be at my Aunt Mary's house. Here's a couple of pictures. Don't mind all the leaves. These will just cover the main areas of the wedding.

This patio is one of the areas where the reception will be. The food will be inside in a dining area and there's room to wander around indoors as well, but the outside is just beautiful so this is an idea of what it will look like.

This is the door I'll be coming down when going down the aisle. The porch and two areas of grass on either side of the walkway is where seating will be.

This picture is a side view of the house. Just to kind of give an idea as to the feel of the house.

This picture is where we'll be doing our vows and an idea of the view of the river during the vows.

Michael has a military school that ends in September so I think we'll be moving the date to October. These pictures were taken in November so the leaves will be turning these colors in October. I'm kind of using that as color inspiration for the wedding. Michael really wants blue as one of the colors so blue and then the bright colors of fall are going to be what we use.

I tried on dresses while we went on leave and I've gotten my wedding dress. It's beautiful, but I'm trying to keep it a surprise for Michael so no pictures right now. It's got an old feel to it that goes really well with the house.

Iraq is still Iraq. The work load has been lessening and I've been filling my spare time up with quilting. I'm making a "Storm at Sea" quilt. It's made of blues, aquas, and greens. When I finish my first block I'll put it up.

http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/42392/2682945230044399772S425x425Q85.jpg

That link leads to a picture that's pretty close to how I'll be making mine. The color scheme is pretty similar and the wave pattern going on is what I'll be doing for mine as well.

I don't have a sewing machine here so I've been hand stitching everything. It really makes you appreciate how things used to be made. I kind of cycle through sewing and cutting because it helps the "boredom." When you have a mountain of cutting and sewing to do it can get really frustrating when you're just doing one and you feel like it's never going to end. So I cut for a little bit, and then sew together what I've been cutting. I haven't even begun ironing seams yet. I'll do that once I feel like I've sewn a pile and I'm not sewing one thing and then ironing one seam, which can get redundant. In only the couple of weeks Michael and I have been back I've been making steady progress. So far I've had a little bit of time to do at least something on it every day, which is nice.

Quilting is very soothing and meditative for me. Michael told me it's fascinating to watch me quilt because all these emotions cross over my face one after the other. I didn't know it was that easy to notice, but when I'm quilting I just think about everything. I really like that I can contemplate the inner workings of the universe while doing something simple like cutting fabric or sewing a triangle and square together. Sounds rather poetic.

Anyway, my stomach is about ready to eat itself so I need to get lunch. I also want to check out our new pirated DVDs shop right by the chow hall as I need some new movies to watch while I quilt. I hope everyone's doing well. We're looking forward to being home in only two months! Very groovy as Michael would say. Soo...TTFN.

~R.

Leave

We went to VA on leave..."and I saw an aardvaark in Arkansas, a bear in Bismarck, a crayfish in Caladonia".... and had a blast. Rachel's Helwig family are a wild bunch of firecrackers. Now I have faces and personalities to go with all of her stories.

Getting there was a travel hassle, which you figure I'd be used to by now, but I can honestly say that it was worth it. After trying to get out of Baghdad for 3 days we finally flew the coop and it was pretty smooth from there to VA. Rachel's Helwig family had a welcoming party at the Richmond airport like the ones that you see on TV, a sign," We wove wou Woolleys", flowers...a big colorful tribal enclave... all smiles and HUGS galore. I had forgotten that I was a "hugger" but have since this visit been reintroduced to this friendly tactile tradition. The weather and trees were all so nice, Ken and K-Dog's,(Katherine's thug name), backyard was my sanctuary with the squirrels, lush grass and oak leaves, mint and flowers.

So then I got the flu and a nice dose of pneumonia and went into seclusion/hiding in the K&K basement and got caught up on all the History channel, true crime and various mandatory TV for several days (5 or 6 I think). This cut into our plans to drive to IN and see my family there, but it was unavoidable. Rachel tended me as best she could and Ken and Katherine kept me well medicated and well fed. I had my share of coffee, chocolate and watermelon. They got me to the clinic and I was healed, Amen.

I literally LOST COUNT of the number of family dinners that we all had together, all good and lively...one minute we are all getting together and the next it is midnight and we are playing some board-game or eating a second dessert and pretending to be "corn-on-the-cob". Everyone opened thier homes and hearts to us and it was almost too much for me.

Rachel's Granddad and I talked about squirrel hunting, trees, leaded gas, Ethyl, petroleum distillation and physical fitness among other things...I can't remember not seeing him in pressed slacks or without a dinner jacket on. That's class. Rachel's Grandma tried killing me with this "chocolate coma cake" and singlehandedly re-taught me the art of hugging. Her house smelled so good that last night over there too. I met Ken's father, John, who served in WWII, Korea AND Vietnam.

We got back here to Baghdad lastnight. we were in Kuwait less than 24 hours. I held Rachel as she cried herself to sleep missing her family holding onto this family picture her Granddad made for us. I miss them too.

Just a few more months here and we will be back stateside and see everyone again AND I get to meet the Baader side of her clan.

Running Excercises

As all of you know by now, I've been promoted to Specialist. (The top picture is what specialist rank looks like on our ACUs, the bottom on our dress greens). Today we did a very informal ceremony with our company First Sergeant around Michael's Staff Sergeant promotion. He got it back in August, but there was all of these "paperwork inconsistencies." So our First Sergeant finds out about it and within 2 and a half days fixes it. Apparently he held the entire S1 shop hostage (that's our admin. office) until the situation got fixed. We're not too sure what he did, but he fixed it. So now Michael gets to wear his Staff Sergeant rank (third picture down).

Things are moving along over here. We're excited about leave. We had a briefing about it and decided to cut the big roadtrip we were planning in half so that we could spend more time in each of the places we wanted to. We get another opportunity for block leave when we return to Washington, and we'll use that time to go to California and what not.

I've been increasing my PT regimen steadily but surely. We run together more now. Lately it's been difficult trying to run every night or every other night, but as long as we run within a couple of days of the last run it's fine. One exercise we discovered was along our 2.2 mile route there's these pull up bars that Michael will run up ahead to and do 10 chin ups. There's three of these stops along our run. What's funny is I start speeding up and keep going until he catches me. He'll even make these crazy noises behind me as he's closing the gap. Well, I start speeding up even more as a result so we both get a good work out from it. He has to sprint for a good distance while I just keep a faster pace until he catches me and then go back to the original pace. It's kind of funny how this stuff works out.

So far I haven't done more than 3 miles, but I don't want to overwhelm myself too much in this process. Tomorrow I think we're doing 3.5 miles. Tonight I'm finishing my Psychology class. I've got a couple more chapter summaries to do and one more test. I don't want to worry about classes any more while I'm here and while I'm on leave. We're getting closer to the home stretch where our schedules get more and more hectic so I probably won't be able to do any more online classes until I get back to Washington. Then there's settling in. Hopefully by the fall I might be able to apply for the "Green to Gold" program and either start that fall semester or start the following spring semester. I need to get to the education center concerning it. I've decided to go for my Bachelors in Nursing so that way a little later down the road I can get my Nurse Practitioner. While I'm in the Army I'm probably going to specialize in emergency medicine and then move into something more nurturing like being a Midwife or pediatrics or something.

It's been awhile since we've posted up here. We're both pretty busy. Me adjusting back into the mission schedule and Michael with his EO (equal opportunity) class. It's draining him. He's napping right now and then he's going to do his massive dose of reading once we get back from chow. We're leaving in a few minutes. I'm so hungry!

My squad recently had a diagnostic PT test. They can't give a record PT test while in country unless you choose for your diagnostic to be your record. They are required to give a record 90 days after returning from country. But with our imminent return getting closer and closer our platoon/squad is starting to make sure we're doing PT and can pass a diagnostic. So want to hear something cool? Guess who was the only person that passed the PT test, AND is the only female in the squad? HAH! ME! I was pretty chuffed with myself concerning it. We have a platoon diagnostic PT test coming up soon. They haven't decided on a date yet, but hopefully I'll know about 2 days prior so I can rest up and store up my glycole so I can do well on it. I'd like to at least show some improvement. My end goal is to max out the thing, but I need to just take small steps to get there.

Well, it's almost time to wake Michael up for chow. I'll let everyone know how I do with my psychology class. I just got a 100 on the test I took prior to writing this. Anyway, we love and miss all of you and are looking forward to seeing everyone on this leave and the next one come March. We're pretty stoked. So stay healthy everyone! TTFN

~R.

Specialist Woolley

Well, it's official Rachel is a Specialist, E-4 68W10+. I was so pleased to see her promoted, she really deserves it. They, the chain of command, put in a waiver to promote her ahead of schedule, 6 months early. Hooah! Courage.

Promotion

Well, it's been awhile since I've written up here. The past couple of days our internet has been wonky and wouldn't let me access our blog...oh well. Anyway, things are going well. We've got some interesting developments. I'm now back on full duty and doing missions again. Mike and I are going on leave at the end of this month. We'll be sending out emails in the next few days to let all of you know what are plans are with our road trip across the states. Hopefully we'll be able to see everyone, and it doesn't conflict with any plans. We're pretty excited about it.

Some cool news for this month...I'm getting promoted to Specialist! I'm rather excited about it, and of course that means more $$, but it's also just nice not being a Private anymore. It means I'm one step closer to being an NCO. Right now I'm planning on getting my nursing degree sometime when we get back. I'd like to do it at University of Washington as they have one of the best programs in the country.

I finished my math class, and I got an A. I'm very excited about it. Now I just need to finish my Psychology class, and then possibly take a break for a little bit. Especially since we're going on leave in November. I can have my fourth class start up at the end of November, and leave Iraq with four completed college classes. That would be quite nice. I know with going to college again within the next year, I need to retake my SAT test. That should be interesting. I'm probably going to take a refresher course on it since the test has changed in the last few years. There are now a couple of additional sections to it. This all depends on the unit I get into back at Lewis.

My goal is to get into Madigan. I'd love to work at the ER there. I'm going to be contacting the career manager for medics about that, and see if there are any openings for a Specialist returning from Iraq, who has a modest amount of training in trauma from one of the local CSHs (Combat Support Hospital). So hopefully that'll work out, and they'll give me the time frame for when I can apply to the nursing program. OR they'll just sponsor me going. It just depends on what happens. In the mean time, working on more online classes, and maybe knock out a few of the basic science courses along with their labs at the education center back at Lewis.

I'm very ready to move forward with all of this. Michael and I are planning on getting a house on post for now. This could change, but for now that's what we're aiming for. I'm so excited to get home soon. We're at the home stretch. It's hard to believe that I'm almost finished with my first deployment. Only about four more months, and one of those months is leave. So that's pretty cool.

Michael and I are doing well. We're sassy and delightful as ever. I've put myself on a running program. My goal is to get to 30 miles a week...hopefully before we leave for the states. Tonight is sprint intervals. Yesterday was two miles. Tomorrow is three miles. Maybe after next week I'll start doing four miles at least once a week. My goal is about every two weeks to add another mile to the program. I'd like to do at least three miles a day except for sprint days. But we can still increase how many of those we do, or the length. I'm enjoying my running shoes. It's cool to start feeling the progress you're making. Like when you first start running, it REALLY hurts. But after a few weeks you get used to your heart rate speeding up and can breathe easier. As you practice more your stride gets better, and you're able to push off harder for longer distances. Once I get into the groove of running, I enjoy it. I just hate running after a break of not running. It really sucks trying to get it back. Especially after about a week of not running.

Michael's told me I'm not going to want to run while we're on leave...we'll see. I never want to run, but I do it anyway, and I really don't want to go through three weeks of no running and trying to get my groove back when we return. Not cool at all. I'd like to run a marathon in about a year. I'd also like to break 20 minutes for a 5K, and possibly do my PT test two mile run in under 12 minutes. Wouldn't that be cool? Anyway, I think that's it for now. Other than classes and being back on full duty, I'm pretty much boring at the moment. Michael would disagree, but he's a bit biased.

Anyway, I'm going to take a nap, finish my chapter summaries for my Psychology class, study for the test I'm going to take a little bit later today, go to a re-enlistment ceremony, and then come back and take my test. Results will be posted.

TTFN
~R.

Quick, gator-fight!

Have you ever felt like that? Like you were just smacked with something completely unexpected? I just laughed when I saw this...I got all caught up in the mechanics of this drawing, how it is like an upward swing of the gator..as if our hero sees the need to bash the other guy and seizes the nearest weapon of opportunity, in this case a presumably unsuspecting gator, by the tail and swings up and out blasting the target off of his feet...BLAM!

Since I didn't bring any civilian clothes with me to Iraq, I am seriously considering buying my entire travel wardrobe from thrift stores when we get to VA and as the need arises for new clothing throughout the car-trip. If I like something along the way I can keep it, but I like the idea of a disposable/nation-wide exchangable wardrobe.

I have been re-connecting with old friends from USMC bootcamp, high school and even junior high on facebook. Amazing is all that I can say... I think that it is kind of cathartic too.

Just so everyone will quit asking me about this, once and for all...I was NOT struck by lightning as a child, That was a lie to excuse some of my poorer behavior that just got carried away...think, "It isn't my fault, I was struck by lightning you know?" I apologize and think that it is time to stop hiding behind this and start taking responsibility for my words and actions.

Rachel tried to kill me last night. She says, "Can we just run sprints instead of going for a long run?" which sounded reasonable until we start running 100 yard sprints with very little rest in between...I lost count at 7...

I Put the Soul in Souldier...Mmmhmm...

Before Michael starts writing in this particular entry I just want to add a few little funnies about him that have occured recently.

1. We have these "signatures" that we can attach at the end of our emails that contain our professional information (DSN numbers, work addresses, rank, title, etc.) and then a "motivational" quote at the bottom. Michael has taken it upon himself to revolutionize this tradition by making his quote, "Good tidings to you and all of your friends..." Apparently he's been corrected (not on the fact that it's kin, not friends and it's a Christmas song) but on his uncurrent of sarcasm at the stupidity of motivational quotes. Of course, "correction" for Michael is just loose guidance...maybe suggestions...

2. Michael has gotten it into his head that he NEEDS a Lucha Libre mask. I really don't know how to explain this phenomenon. I just put it up here for your entertainment. And I quote, "It says in the uniform SOPs that we can wear dust masks when it's dusty out. They didn't specifically say that you can't sew one into a Lucha Libre mask and use that..." He has this way of saying the most ridiculous things with this very convincing, innocent face. Hah!

So now I leave this to Michael...

BANG!

Seriously, isn't this fetching? If someone runs up to an intersection in orange running shoes wearing this baby they get the right of way without question, right? RIGHT! I was terrified of KISS and Gene Simmons in particular when I was a young hayseed back in the weeds of Indiana. This would complete my embracement of my fears and overcoming insecurities...OK I made that all up, I just really think this is so abstract, unexpected and just cool....I'd wear this in the summer and my winter mask would be....

POW!

Someone please talk some sense into this woman! WHO doesn't want a LL mask? We were just running sprints and I thought to myself, "man if you had a Lucha Libre mask you would be flying and you could probably see better in the dark if it was a cat mask."

Well. I see now that FaceBook or FB is addictive. Pretty much internet crack...

One time I wrote a whole letter to my Mom without the letter e in it because the computer at the MWR had a broken e key on the keyboard. Now we all have these in our rooms. I imagine that is how people felt about outhouses, then indoor toilets...right?

We are getting really amp'ed up about this drive when we get back. Family, friends, good food, tunes, sights...Lookout USA!

I wrote the publisher about my book, I think they are trying to decline gracefully. Don't they know what this book could do for booklaces. I am a little hurt and may need a good cry. I think we'll watch "Slingblade" or "The Notebook"..."Kung-Fu Panda"...

I have a PT test on the 22nd at 5AM.

Shower time.

Running, Psychology, Soldier of the Month Board, and Chopin

Just to start this thing off on a funny side note. Because we're in Iraq and have to use sattelite internet, sometimes internet pages pop up in random languages (mainly Arabic), but Polish and Chinese occur sometimes too. So it gets a little confusing when you're trying to navigate google and it's in Mandarin.

I've been kind of overwhelmed. There's a lot on my plate right now. I'm trying to work through two online, college classes right now. They're fun, but fill up a lot of my time with studying...especially since I'm trying to get all A's (just got one on a Psychology test). I'm helping my company get their medic station put together, which also takes up a lot of time with running around with random tasks because it's basically being put together from scratch so I'm trying to scrounge up all of this stuff to make it more organized and in the midst of it I realize we need a bunch of random office supplies. So everything has to be put on hold while I run over to supply and get that fixed so I can finish what I was doing. In the mean time the computer we have isn't hooked up to our network so I can't print anything from it...so I'm trying to email myself all of this stuff to print from a different computer for us to have on hand for our soldiers. I feel like I'm running backwards blindfolded some days. Like it's a constant joke of, "Hey! Let's see how you can handle this one!"

And then every evening Michael and I do PT. Since my injury I haven't been doing much PT, and so I lost the momentum I was making prior to the injury. Push ups, sit ups, and working on pull ups, but the run has me the most worried because it takes time to build it up. Well, Monday I ran my first 2 miles after the injury. We'd been doing run/walks for about a week prior. This coming Monday we're planning on a 4 mile run. I bought three new pairs of running shoes...I know that seems extravagant, but it's actually very logical. Because running's something I plan on becoming more serious about (it's actually quite nice once you get used to it and get into the "zone") having several pairs of shoes to rotate through is pretty smart. One, it makes them last longer since you're not wearing out only one pair. Two, it prevents your foot from getting "used" to one type of shape, and that makes your running form better because you don't get bad habits because you "need" a certain shape to prevent them. I did a lot of research on shoes because I like really lightweight shoes (no more than 10 oz./shoe), and I don't want them to try and correct too much. I want them as neutral as possible so that, again, I don't form any bad habits where I need correction to be supplied in a shoe. It's better to just teach yourself how to run right than have to be corrected by a shoe. So I focused on companies/shoes that are neutral and tried to find their lightest versions.

I went with a pair by Addidas, Asics, and Brooks. I got two of them at Amazon for about half the price since they're last years models, and then the Brooks pair I got at an outlet store since Amazon didn't have my size. The Brooks pair I'm the most excited about because they're hideous. They're lime green and purple, but I'm so excited about them because they're like 7 oz./shoe so super light weight, and the colors will help motivate me to run when I REALLY don't feel like running.

I got the two pairs from Amazon today, and tried them on. They feel really good on my feet so I'm hoping they'll feel even better when I'm running. One of the things I really like about lightweight shoes is the focus is on how they hug your feet. There's less shoe when they're lightweight so they're incredibly formfitting, and there's less sole so it feels a lot more natural to run in them. The next thing I'm going to look into is trail shoes for when we're back in Washington. That's a whole different area of shoe, and I don't know much about it. The soles and weight are a lot different because you're running on trails not road. So you need more protection from rocks, etc. And those I'd like to actually try on and run around the store in before buying.

Also, it seems my ENTIRE chain of command put me in for the October soldier of the month board. The 1SG and platoon sergeant let me know about this a few days ago, and today my squad leader made sure I knew that I was going. So now Michael's new project is getting me up to speed on this thing. Instead of geography and anatomy quizes at night he quizes me about field sanitation, drill and ceremony, and weapon systems just to name a few. Then there's the Soldier's Creed and NCO's creed I'm working on since I'll most likely go to this thing as a Specialist (my promotion comes through in October), which is one rank from being a Sergeant. I've been working on correspondence courses, which are these courses about different parts of the military and different MOS' and every 5 hours you complete is 1 promotion point. The max you can get is 200 promotion points from CCs. I'd like to go to this thing with at least 50 hours.

Here's a little back ground on promotion points since not everyone reading this is military jargon inclined. Promotion points are how you get promoted to Sergeant and higher for enlisted personnel (officers are a completely different process). Awards, correspondence courses, college credits, 300 PT, expert marksman, winning soldier of the month boards etc. all add up for promotions points. When you're a Specialist/Corporal (E-4 grade) and have the required time in grade as well as in the military (around 3 years) and your chain of command feels you're ready to be promoted to Sergeant (E-5 grade) you go to a promotion board where if you pass you're put on "promotable" status. If you have the required points to get promoted (this varies for MOS) then you're promoted within the month. If you don't, you have to either wait for promotion points to be at what you have or less (this is usually the case if you're MOS' points are maxed out) or you have to keep at it with getting points until you have the amount of points necessary. Fun process, huh? Anyway, so I'm trying to go to this SOM Board with as many points as possible right now because it shows I'm proactive and focused, etc. That's why college and correspondence courses are so important.

So I've been a little stressed. To deal with the stress I've been downloading piano music by Debussy and Chopin. It's actually quite soothing. I'm thinking of downloading some of Bach's preludes and fugues to kind of mix it up. It's amazing because the medic station is in this area that's the central point to all of the convoy platoons. So it gets incredibly loud in there, and I can be very sensitive to noise depending on my stress level. So I put in my headphones, press play, and one of Chopin's Nocturnes is in my head instead of the raucus of the barn. It really helps. I also noticed that it has to be straight piano, if it's the whole orchestra it makes the stress worse because it's just too overwhelming.

Anyway, that's been what's going on for me. I'm excited about the SOM Board despite the added stress. It'll be a nice accomplishment to have on hand. Just completing it will be something; winning it would be awesome but just the process of preparing and going to it will be good because it's one of those military experiences not everyone gets and it prepares you for your future.

Alright, that's it for now. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.

~TTFN. R.

Sunday Dinner

Polish Sausages, Beef Stroganoff on rice, tomatoes in milk w/ vinagar, Black Olives, potatoe wedges, salsa w/ olives, pizza, chicken tenders (dry), fries w/mayo, horseradish olives, salt and pepper, 3 apple pie slices w/ whip cream and vanilla ice cream, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 2 chocolate cheese cake slices, 1 regular cheesecake slice and 2 scoops of chocolate ice cream. We also got 2 cups of coffee for breakfast before PT in the AM.

We eat desserts on Sundays.

AAM

Army Achievement Medal. Rachel recieved this award for recognizing and acting when another soldier became a heat casualty while on mission. She treated him for heat exaustion/cramps. He was a SGT and he took the time to write a DA638 recognizing her for actions.

I was so pleased.

1SG also said that next month Rachel should be getting promoted to Specialist, which is an automatic rank after 2 years but she will get it with a 6 month early waiver...=$$$

We have been planning our mid-your leave road-trip for Nov. This is what it sounds like so far...Richmond, VA drive to Nappanee, IN to Danville, IL to FT Leonard Wood, MO to Austin, TX to Phoenix, AZ (or Tuscon?) to Valencia, CA to Bellingham, WA to Richmond, VA...if the Mt. passes all cooperate its around 7500 mile, if not we may drive farther S or just skip WA. We are so excited.

We are going to get all my clothes for this safari adventure at thrift stores since all I have here are uniforms. That should be fun all by itself...Then just drive and take pictures, eat good food and see family and friends.

Rachel just got an A on a Calculus test, can she get a Hooah!

Sleeping-Bag Thief/Hoarder

I woke up 2 mornings ago completely bereft of MY sleeping bag. It was like Goldilocks and the Three Bears in here for a sec..."someone's been sleeping in my bag and THERE she is!" You- know-who was cuddled up in it snoozing off...The funny thing is not even a week prior she was like, "That sleeping-bag is seriously upsetting me right now" I'm not joking...see I went to the wall-locker and got out my sleeping bag because although we have a plush KING size mink blanket on our humble little TWIN bed, to share, most nights by 1 AM I am working on a solid case of hypothermia... partially because our A/C is designed for an entire 1500 SQFT home and we live in a shipping container modified to make 3 rooms ea. w/ it's own A/C, and partially because Rachel steals all of the mink blanket. If I wake her while trying to repo even a corner of the blanket you'd think Hiroshima was just around the corner...I wasn't there but I hear it was something...anyway so I get my bag and do what any good soldier does, I put my feet in it but sleep under it, unzipped. I wake shorn or both the mink and my bag and she is nestled into both.



Anyway, Things are good, Rachel is getting her first Medal soon and I am so pleased. I will get photos for you all. She is also selected as the Soldier of the Month board coming up...

Kicking and Screaming Michael Goes...Into the World of Technology

FWIIIING!

All is well on the home front. I got myself a three day weekend because my platoon sergeant is clueless when it comes to writing awards, and because of my vast knowledge that came from doing my entire platoon's end of tour awards, he asked me to write his end of tour award. He then said I could have any day off I wanted for doing this, and I said, "Friday's good, a three day weekend would be nice." So voila!

I've introduced Michael to the world of Facebook, blogger, and the backspace button. Michael says facebook = crack. It's so cute when he comes home and opens up with, "I love you! Do I have any new friends!?!" He originally started out with a facebook account for work that when setting the privacy settings freaked him out he saw the "Deactivate" button and just went crazy, "DEACTIVATE THE ACCOUNT. I don't even want to mess with it. It's just making me paranoid!" Then I helped him make a separate account for friends and family. This resulted in him finding people he hadn't seen for quite some time along with his family and soldiers he's worked with. So now he's much more excited about it. Every now and again he says something about one of the people he's "friended" and he panics and whispers discreetly, "Can they hear me?"

The reason for the panic is from our Skype-ing, and a consumer report article he read about a program you can purchase that allows you to remotely turn on someone's webcam hooked up to their computer.

Okay, so now I'm going to plug Facebook and Skype. If you have a facebook account, or are interested in getting one, please go ahead and find us. It's another way to keep in touch with what we're doing, plus we can post more photographs of us. It's also free! So it's an easy way to see what we're up to. And then PLEASE download skype. It's a free video chat service. So if you don't already have a webcam hooked up to your computer, you don't have to get one but it would be cool to see us in person and talk, etc. Once you've got it hooked up just email us your screen name, and we'll respond with ours. So that's it for my plug.

Now, onto the world of the backspace button. Michael has this curious habit of using the delete button. Now, this is for all typing errors. So he has to arrow key to the right spot prior to using the delete button. To make matters even better, he doesn't go to the delete button above the backspace, he goes the one in the number pad on the lower right hand corner. He says it's closer so it's easier to get to. Every now and again the number lock key gets accidentally pressed, and he can't use his delete button of choice. As a result, periods start "shooting out." So the first thing he says when I get home is, "Did you ambush me!?" I just look at him wondering if this is a trick question. "Did you ambush me with the number locks key and the delete button!?" As if that would clarify things and magically change the look on my face.

Of course, I responded with a brilliant, "What on earth are you talking about?" Michael's dam then breaks loose, "Someone, I'm not saying who, pressed the number locks key and it took me forever to figure out what happened that made my delete key not work right. As a result, I had to use the backspace button like you've been giving grief about, and I know it was you."

I kind of can't help but smile response and I just calmly say, "Michael, you don't think you might've accidently pressed the number lock key in setting up the computer?"

"....NO!" He then gives me this utterly accusitory glare over his glasses. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."


He still refuses to use the backspace button. It drives me crazy watching him type because of the whole deleting process, which is frequent, and he refuses to use the backspace. He reasoning being, "It'll all disappear if I use that button. I've seen it, it's not pretty."



"Michael, that's if you hold it down."



"Once bitten, twice shy."

So everyday over here is an adventure of some kind. Lately I've been compared to a "raging, snarling henna monster" whenever I wake up. For those of you who don't know a henna monster is a tribal face tattooed war paint that stays on longer. Sometimes permanently on Moari and Polynesian headhunters...how appropriate. Also, I hate running. Michael gets a kick out of it. He chews gum to keep the saliva flowing in his mouth just so he can talk smack to me or any other target of opportunity. It's similar smack talking during our trivia quizzes...even if he's wrong. It's this incredible combination of loving and biting humor where you have to decide between fury or just laughing it off because despite how frustrating it can be it's still pretty funny. I guess it's just his backwards reminder to not take life so seriously.

On a side note, this entire time I've been bolding he's wondering how I did it. He concluded with, "Man, I wish I knew how to do that. The only problem is the entire thing would wind up being bolded cause you got to be careful with that, and I wouldn't know how to turn it off...kind of like my magnetic personality. Just don't know how to shut it off! It's ALL going to be bold!"

So, that's the latest on this side. We're happy little omnivores here in our Mesopotamian honeymoon. Awesome. TTFN.

~R.



Note: Much laughter was used in the creation of this blog post. 100% true...all of it. Cool.

work photos

Well, here I go. I had a bout of insecurity over all this personal info out here in the blogosphere... stolen identity type concerns, you know typical worst case scenario thinking that has stunted my adventurous and creative growth thus far.

Anyway, life is good here, Rachel just finished reading me the New Testament, morning and evenings, now we are in the OT. Good stuff.

She and I do this website called freerice.com where we answer math, vocabulary, english, german, french and spanish, art and geography questions and the UN gives rice for everyright question answered to folks that need it. I am not sure how it works but it is helping me at my scrabble game and artist recognition and you can never know too much about geography...blah, blah...

She has been tearing at these math and psychology classes.

A few days ago I/we went on a market walk, my fun-meter was almost on zero for that...BUT I got to ride to and from in a rotor-wing. About 75% of the group, including myself, actively has or is overcoming "bubble-guts" with this neat flu-like accompaniment/
chaser so that made the flights even funner...of course Rachel is right here resenting my creative bend in vocabulary and insists that I can't use funner...I say, "fun, funner, funest" all the time...survey says...?

WWTD?

WE just got 4 !!! care packages, amazing and humbling. Thank you.

I just got a photo from some good friends of their woodshed, it made me so homesick I nearly welled up in tears, nearly. I have sorted many things out right there...you know what I mean? Where you just get into a groove and sort of follow through, think things all out...? Splitting wood and mowing really work for me.

I think that I have the weekend off with Rachel, unless we get a sandstorm tomorrow and then I will need to travel, so I am praying it is clear.

anyway, more soon

m

Well, the Woolley household has been doing well. Michael will probably put something up here soon. Until then, I have some random things to put up here just for fun. In light of my last post, I thought I'd put some more stuff up here relating to what we do to entertain ourselves. This first video is a favorite of mine. It all got inspired when I was having a bad day and Michael put into youtube, "babies laughing" to cheer me up. We found this one and by the end I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard. Now Michael will pull this video up if I'm having a bad day so that I smile and start to laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxUulGkLu4I

This next one I think is just down right cool. One day we got on a kick of watching this series of videos by this guy who microwaves EVERYTHING except mentos and diet coke. I then asked Michael what happens when you mix mentos and diet coke? He showed me this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what happens when you microwave and ipod and when you microwave firecrackers...and last but certainly not least...ping pong balls...well, your anticipation may cease for here's what happens...

ipod: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On9N0D0IF_A

firecrackers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDHbqdwI520&feature=related

ping pong balls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpnaN5RFDbg

And this next on, well, it kind of explains itself with my love of cats. The guy singing the song kind of reminds Michael and I of Ricky Martin. He also has a lot of other cool videos as well. Michael likes his one on the powerizer stilts where you can jump over cars and what not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qit3ALTelOo&feature=fvst

Anyway, that's it for our videos. One exciting thing getting ready to happen is Michael's promotion ceremony. He's getting promoted to Staff Sergeant (E-6).

And lastly I thought I'd add a cool picture of our wedding site. It's a plane shot of the park and the band stand. I marked the spot where it was located. So enjoy!

Anyway! I hope everyone's doing okay. It's time for Michael and I to watch "Kung Fu Panda." Michael says, "Holla!" Alright, hopefully Michael will be back soon with a post of his own. TTFN.

-R.

Wild Animal Kingdom

I start this entry with an allegedly accurate video of me prior to and after coffee in the morning...so Michael says. At least I only have one cup a day compared to the gallon Michael has every day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTN2W-uZzLk

If you're wondering what kind of critter that is, that is a Tarsier. The smallest primate commonly found in the Philippines. And what's the capital of the Philippines? Manila! Now, how do I know this? Because lately Michael and I have been filling our time with doing trivia quizzes online. We have a few favorite sites. The topics that we do the most are Geography related (capitals of Europe, what are the names of all the countries in Africa, etc.) and animals. Now, mind you, these are no light of heart quizzes. Naming off the countries of Africa can make you feel geographically challenged (REALLY dumb). And we don't do "average" quizzes. We only do "impossible", "difficult" and "tough." Thus the findings of the Tarsier originated.

Cute, hunh? The fingers freak Michael out. Speaking of diabolical philanges...check these out...

Courtesy of God via the Aye Aye.

The Aye Aye is well known for it's long, skinny middle finger. It uses it to tap to find tasty grubs under the bark of rotting wood. Next question, what is the name of the only scaled mammal? Here's a hint...

Still don't know? Me neither. Just kidding. It's a Pangolin! These frisky, toothless, long tongued, sticky saliva, ant eating creatures only walk on their hind legs because the front legs have huge claws that are completely useless for walking. However, those front legs are great for excavating ant hills. Now, what's crazy is they look like they're walking on all four legs, but look closer and AHA! They also curl up into a tight ball when threatened. Like the Armidillo, which always gives birth to quadruplets, ALWAYS.

Hope I'm not boring you too much.

Of course, no animal kingdom entry would be complete without at least an honorable mention to the largest rodent on the planet...the Capybara. (Mike thinks it's Peruvian for

"Anaconda Food").

Now, you're probably wondering how something like a Mountain Goat would find it's way up here. Well, a little known factoid about myself applies. As a kid growing up, one of my favorite stuffed animals was a mountain goat named "Mary." They are quite majestic and luxurious.

Here's how incredibly these goats are. A picture

says a thousand words...

These are babies with their Moms climbing these cliff-faces. Kind of like the style of R and M Woolley when we finally get back to the world and can go bouldering.

Of course this is lacking some cute baby pictures. So we'll go with a few of Michael's favorites.

They're so ugly, they're cute. They're also the only marsupial in North America. Marsupial means carrying the young in a pouch on the belly. Mikes dictionary definition is: Ugly as sin, and plays dead.

Squad on line.

At ease.

Ready...

Snooze....

That's what Michael and I need to be doing soon. As to the happy couple, we're doing well. I've got my second math test this weekend. I'm taking a Psychology course, but my book still hasn't arrived so I'm going to see what my options are around that. Apparently mail has been slow here. Work's been pretty easy. Mike's been enjoying training all the soldiers on his team. We have a pretty nice schedule together right now. Anyway, time for us to go to bed like the piglets. TTFN.

~R.

check out this divine apparatus...

Machined, milled perfection...form follows fuction, barely. It is actually rather diminutive, about one inch in length but with a sublime balance unseen in today's mass produced, stamped out, throw away societal refuse...It is an Alvin Brass Bullet Pencil Paper, made in Germany, of course. I covet this knurled gem with it's precision honed blade and gratifying heft and utility.

Do I sound Rachelesque? using all my adjectives... She says that I am uncouth and need to use my words to set myself free, not literally said it all together like that, but she has said it in pieces, in the 1000 intimations, insinuations, hints and pregnant pauses where she looks into me with a combination of pity and amazement. Rachel is writing up a storm lately in addition to all this math...she's doing a couple of essay competitions (with 1000's of dollars in prize money) and one for the Women's Equality Day.

Has anyone who has known my beloved Rachel longer than these few months that I have noticed that she is full of witty one liners that only she gets and they immediately put you in this state of confusion because she carrys on like your the obtuse one for not following her OBVIOUS train of thought. I feel defensive and confused as I think back over the last few minutes of conversation to see what I had missed. Like JUST now, out of the blue," Are you judging me?" in this agressive demanding tone. I think we were talking about the movie "Gladiator" or "Smoking Aces" last, so of course I was not judging her...it is a neutral judge-free zone. Now come to find out it was something we had spoken of 10+ minutes ago that she had ruminated on until she was good and spicy about something she had misconstrued that she thought I had said but really only meant and was afraid to say or ... BUT listen it gets better, at least all this is somewhat sane and can be followed, how about when you are woken up by her piling every scrap of blankets and pillows, RUG! and night gown on your head while she huffs off to the loo because of a bad dream she had where I tried to sneak up on her and scared her...

We just had some sweet, dark, pink watermelon from the DFAC, Dining FACility, Amen.





There was a partial sandstorm today, but still hot as blazes. We have got to find a way to efficiently and frugally harness all this solar energy and maybe the wind too. Rachel allowed me the pleasure of bathing her feet in sun heated bottled water here in the confines of our little sanctuary. It is sort of like living in a small boat where everything has its place...and when things ar not put back where they go,"ship-shape", it is easy to generate a real mess and


..."Now I understand, I really understand.." Rachel just said that out of nowhere..



Here is a picture of where I slept out on San Juan Island last X-mas week-end. I went to sleep in the rain and woke to snow that just kept coming down. I miss it pretty badly too. I can't wait to get out in it all with Rachel when we get back.

Anyway, friends M

Dresses...

As I'm starting to get better, and my work load is lessening because the platoon's end of tour awards are hitting the final stages, I'm starting to find renewed interest in wedding planning. Honestly, though, nothing too finalized can really happen until we're back in the states, but it's still good to dream and get ideas. I think come September/October I'll really start to crack down on some of the things I can do here. We're planning on September in Virginia at my Aunt Mary and Uncle Bobby's house. That house is this beautiful, 100 year old house right on the James River. I don't have any pictures yet. But because the wedding would be outside, I'm thinking about some other options with dresses. Instead of doing the traditional ball gown, doing something a bit more fun. I have a few favorites. The one I've been researching the most is 1950's styled tea length gowns. I like the fuller skirt that's a little shorter. I think it's very playful and fun and not quite so fussy for something that we're trying to keep not quite so formal.

I have some pictures for ideas and pictures of dresses I really do love. Not all of them are short, though. Two favorites of mine are from David's Bridal. I can't put the pictures up because they're connected to a flash player. Here are their links, though:

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49978994&currentIdx=15&subCategory=-49999486%7c-49998986%7c-49978994&catentryId=6097081&sort=

That one is probably my favorite right now. I like how simple it is, and it's skirt isn't obnoxiously full. I like the idea of wearing that dress with pearls, hair down, and a simple, elbow length veil with the same style shoes the model has on. The next one is long, and I love the lace and beading. These two are my top runners right now. Of course, I need to try them on before any final decisions.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49978992&currentIdx=17&subCategory=-49999486%7c-49998999%7c-49978992&catentryId=6097085&sort=

This one on the left is one from J. Crew. I like the fabric it's made of, and that it's very drapey. It's the first dress I found I really liked. I nearly just bought it because I didn't want to get too crazy with dresses, but then I started looking at other wedding dresses and soon changed my mind.

Here are some pictures of dresses that I like aspects of, but don't want to get, or I find them inspiring. I really like the first one on the right, but it's custom made.

The one on the left I find the neckline, the lace, and the fullness of the skirt. I just wish it was about six inches longer. The one in the middle of Grace Kelly's civil ceremony is just beautiful. So those are some pictures of what I like and what I'm thinking about.

I already mentioned before that Michael got his suit made here. He put it on today because we found this random Polo shirt that some unit here gave him. It's got this crazy logo on it, but the jacket covers it up. It looks so good on him. He's very dashing in it, if I do say so myself. He feels very out of place in it, but it's still good to have one suit for whatever life throws your way.

I like the gray for a more casual affair. Plus, it looks really good on Michael. I think it's a little more gentle for a garden, day time wedding. Another reason why I like the more 50s tea length dresses, or a more slender dress if it's long.

Who's that handsome couple you ask? Yes, it's taken in our little box here. It's infront of our wall lockers and the ACU insanity that spills out of them. And if you're wondering where the dress came from. We're required to bring some civilian clothes with us, and one of the things I grabbed was a dress.

So that's us NOT in ACUs for once. It's weird putting on civilians. Especially when you live in your PTs and ACUs. But anyway, we're doing well and happy. We're getting ready to go to chow soon. Thankfully tonight isn't fried seafood night. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

TTFN

~R

I was right...

It was a competition after all to get ready for dinner...she won.

As we were walking to dinner she was like, " should I get the burrito or the hamburger because it is fried food night", which she does without, I go, "the burrito is better for you" foolishly thinking I had provided useful info and that that line was done...think again young jedi...She fixes me in an inquisitive glare accented by the rape prevention lighting provided by KBR at 3 times the cost to the taxpayer and 3 trillion gigawatts of high definition illumination, one or two rads down from a full on radiograpghic X-Ray...and says, and I am not making this up," is this some kind of reverse psychology way of getting me to get the hamburger because you hate mexican food?" What do you say to that? So I go ,"no", and I am sure that I seem even more guilty under the goulish lighting than I feel for absolutely NO reason at all...except maybe that I do hate defenseless mexican food and am secretly unknowingly prejudice against it and she sees to my core, sees me better than I do my own self and... or maybe I just told her what I thought and moved on...

I am reading Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs that I got free from Project Gutenberg on line you can get audio or printed copies of all these 6000 books including, Ben Hur, all the Leather stocking tales, Wuthering Heights .. all the Bronte things...I feel like a slug...she is hard charging at her college on line and I am reading about a FICTIONAL ape man chimpster idealized and heroized but for the last several days it has made for some interesting conversations..."WWTD?"...what would tarzan do? is always on my mind sometimes I even say it outloud.

Anyway, it is family time at the WooLleY place goodnight, adieu, adios, via con Dios...

Surprise olympics...

Have you ever been in a hot and heavy competition and not know that you were competing for something? Well I have. I call it the "surprise olympics"...This is how I found out, I picked up some water bottles on my way out the door on our way to evening chow/dinner and as I stand up with the trash in my hand to go put it in the dumpster Rachel is standing at the door and says in an excited out of breath voice ,"I'm done, I win!"I was a little puzzled but I didn't know what to say so I was like,"cool, let's go" so as we are walking up the trail to chow she goes' "I am the first one on the side walk, I win!", I caught on right then, see about TWO MONTHS AGO she and I were competing as to who could get ready for chow first (and we both knew it was a competition), well I won and forgot about it, Rachel hadn't. SO here I am in this situation where I never know if I'm competing or not so to play it safe from time to time I occasionally dom something really fast and say, "I win" She is like, "no, I was XYZ123 first" whatever it was...I like this, it is sort of like Calvin ball in the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip... whatever goes as they play they make up the rules...



To get me to use the backspace instead of delete she leaves the number lock on, (she just denied it though)...



Rachel is OCD about soap, that is probably the wrong term or mis-diagnosis but I think its fitting because she does seem to have a quiet, desparate obsession and compulsion to and about all things soapesque. She is saying things about lanolin and oatmeal and glycerin that make me hungry sometimes. I think it is some internal psychological trauma induced by doing 3 weeks worth of calculus without a graphing calculator...Right now her favorite soap is Palomolive and Yardley oatmeal....right now I am digging this bar of Neutrogena and a bar of Bulovi that I found in the shower trailer. I think we are on our way to being soap zealots...you know the ones who corner you in the soap aisle and scare the crap out of you with VITAL soap emollients information and chemical facts. It happened to me at this food co-op just before we left in the nut aisle, this guy was raging about invasive nut species ground nuts versus tree nuts and monounsaturated oil content...sea salt or iodized table salt..man, I just grabbed what I needed and got out of there.... I somehow felt like I had disapponted him with my selection...



Anyway right now, I am supicious that I am in a competition to go to chow...again... she has this mischievious thing going on...



ta

Math and the Crud

Well, it's been a little bit since I've posted. I got the crud. It's been going around the platoon, and after spending all of Saturday in the platoon office working on end of tour awards I got my dose of the Itis or the "crud." One of those wonderful gifts that's a combination of being in the military in such tight quarters enhanced by the germy, dusty nastiness of Iraqistan.

Good news, I finished my first math test today and got a 100%. I also did the four discussion questions that is part of the math class that are about math in the "real world." I got 100s on all of those too. So right now I have a sterling grade in my class. Tomorrow starts module 2, and all of the fun times attached to it.

With my cold. My fever is almost broken. Right now I've been alternating tylenol with ibprofen and then taking mucinex and amoxicillin on top of that, and I've begun to feel worlds better. Sunday was the worst. I pretty much slept all day while battling congestion and the fever and a cough. I sound worse...probably a bit of bronchitis, but feel a whole lot better. Yesterday Michael did this amazing thing with water bottles. The plastic bottles bake in the sun until you take them inside to get them to a nice cool temperature. So to help with my chills and aches he brought in a case of water bottles that were all nice and warm from the sun, wiped off the dust, and then put them all around me in bed so I could have all that warmth around my achy, feverish self. Man, it put me right to sleep, and I woke up feeling all toasty and slightly better. Michael does get some pretty cool ideas.

I'm happy because I got all of the platoon's end of tour awards finished with. Finally! That was a huge project and burden there for about a week, but now it's done, they're all printed out, and now I get some breathing room until the next project is placed on my shoulders. My nail has been growing out more. There's this significant section to it now. Plus, it's kind of funky looking, but at least there's a bit more nail to protect the bed.

I'm also writing a couple of essays for some various projects. One is for Women's Equality Day. It's some competition they're doing here on victory. The other is for a magazine. It's about the everyday life of a woman or something. Kind of a theme going on here. I thought it would be interesting to start doing some writing for some outside sources. We shall see. I guess I'm just on this kick to do something productive outside of work. Something a bit more creative. So I'll let you all know how that goes. That's all for now. TTFN.

~R.

Plague

Rachel is sick with whatever plague the rest of the unit has. I think that it is the same thing the flightcrew that I work with has. Upper respitory congestion, headache, bodyaches, fever,chills...I can't wait to get my dose.

I hope she gets well soon, she just got her thumb near 100% now this.

Long Drive

We have been talking about seeing people and places when we get back ...We would both like to drive in a big circle around the states. We are having a hard time deciding to go clockwise or counterclockwise or to do a big figure 8.

Umiak

An umiak is the Eskimo boat that ends in K....along with a kayak...

Clarification of Rachel's clarification...

Listen folks, the real deal, first person account, eye witness of the aftermath and CARNAGE...This was an avulsion/partial amputation to be sure. It was dangling by the padded callous on the front of the right thumb, the bone and tissue was sheared through and stopped only because she was wearing a leather palmed glove, that is the part that didn't shear through, the part the leather thumb-pad covers. I think we have some good pics around here somewhere. Anyway, I imagine she is down playing this because she doesn't want you all worried...so don't worry she really is doing way better than guys I know that have had minor splinters, and scratched cornea, you'd think they were on fire or shattered some. I was surprised when I saw her thumb after her mild and understated description...besides the speed and completeness of her healing I am also amazed at how resilient her attitude is about it all. I see these other soldiers trying every way they can to amplify a scratch to get out of work and here Rachel is rushing to get back at it. for 2 weeks or so, I didn't tell her this by the way, you get it 1st, I thought that the bone didn't take and that the tissue had died distal to the wound because the skin had this gray waxy pallor, just like frostbitten or necrotic tissue gets. I had her soak it in peroxide several nights and finally this full thickness 1/8 deep flap of tissue, the whole thumb pad, peeled off to reveal the healthy baby skin underneath, (prints intact).
So there you go, just a scratch.

I am going to get us some chow right now...

Shams is arabic for Sun.