Happy New Year! I rang in 2007 on the ward here in the wonderful, as I call it, "Land of Sand". I think the highlight of the evening had to be an Iraqi patient, in what we call THE FISH BOWL, urinating all over the floor in their room. Makes you wonder what goes through someone's mind when they do something like that. It's not like he had any loss of cognitive ability! He is able to speak...maybe even yell! "HEY I GOTTA PEE!" That would get someone's attention, don't you think? But, no...just go ahead and pull your pants down and relieve yourself all over the floor next to your bed...nice.

Luckily, this didn't happen at Ft Riley! There I would have to clean up the mess. Here we have host nationals do the janitorial work for us. That's a definite bonus.

Happy New Year! I cannot believe that it is already here...2007. Amazing how time flies when you are forced to be somewhere. Sarcasm, oh how I love you.

Merry Christmas! Oh how I wish I could be with my Chey right now...sharing our first Christmas TOGETHER! However, I have to do my duty here in the ever so grateful Middle East. I pray for a Silent Night...

I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday, enjoy each others company, and don't take if for granted. I know I won't in the future...

Along Came Polly...an extremely funny movie. The opening scenes persuade me to day dream about St Lucia!

St Lucia is where I am taking Chey for our honeymoon next October. My heartrate quickens with thoughts of the crystal blue waters and many activities we will be able to partake. I have quite a few surprises in store for her...that she begs to know, but I won't break down and tell! How much fun would it be if she knew all the fun before it happened? It would still be a great time, but I want to relish in her emotional response.

I AM SO FLIPPIN EXCITED!!!

Is time travel possible? If it is...then all I want is to travel forward to April 2007! I almost...I say again...I almost regret taking my R&R so late in the game (8 months into deployment). Then, I remind myself that when I get BACK from R&R I only have 4 months left!!

Today is my friend Neil's birthday. I need to call him and wish him a Happy Birthday! How old is he? Is he 23? 24?

Speaking of birthdays -- mine is the 17th, I will be 31. Flippin' Yay. (NOTE: Excitement level is minimal). Pat and Dave are both December babies too! I think the 23rd and 26th? I have to put a question mark on that one because I have to ask for confirmation. I am 100% sure.

One more year come and gone....It's hard to believe that it has passed by so fast. I didn't even blink that long...

Invisible
Intangible
Indestructible

Self expressions
Impress upon another
Profound love and a
Shroud of elation
Which cannot be ignored
Nor concealed

Love is...

Have you ever loved someone so much that you cannot even fathom a life without them???

Shenanigans!

I find myself compelled to write about my opinion on individuals in the military that use LESS than honorable ways to go home from this war. I see so many soldiers come through where I work in conditions ranging from minor to very serious. These men and women are deserving of a flight home to be cared for by hospitals near their homes, and to be close to their families.

My blood boils when I get patients that have NO external injuries, brag heartily about how they hate the Army and cannot wait to get home, and blatantly disrespect the hospital with their actions. Expounding on the scenario without breaking rules is impossible, but I just want to vent!

If you actually were injured in some way, shape, or form...at least ACT LIKE IT!

Schedules...{sigh}...why do we have to have schedules?

It's hard to believe that a month has passed since the last time I posted anything...Crazy how time flies when you're NOT having fun! I can't say that it's ALL bad though. There are activities that I enjoy. I have been training with my friend Mike, practicing combatives. I have to admit---it is the most fun I have had while I have been here, and I definitely look forward to tuesdays and thursdays now! However, there are some draw backs. Bruises showing up that you have no idea HOW you got them, you just know WHERE you got them from! And then of course you get confronted by his wife for "beating him up", and I have to explain myself. It's all in good fun though. She understands what we do, and that we both know that we will have marks to show for it.

I keep pretty busy here. I think every day I am doing something active, now that I have mandatory physical training for my soldiers. Every mon, wed, and saturday we are out there running around our make shift track, and doing other exercises to maintain/improve our physical fitness! Gotta love the Army for that! So...if you have been paying attention, I have my mon, tues, wed, thur, and saturday occupied so far, right!? What do I do on Friday and Sunday?

Those are the days that I goto the gym and actually lift weights...sounds boring huh? 7 days a week...exercise! Who does that? Why would someone in their right mind WANT to do that?? Let me ask you...what ELSE is there to do here in Iraq!! Stare at my roommate that I can barely stand due to his disrespect of me! I don't think so. I will opt to venture to my room only to sleep or change clothes thank you.

Some people here say that my tour here is boring. That I should change the way I live, hang out with other people, and not always be alone. No one see what I really do. I don't think it is anyone's business but my own what I do here. My commander knows where I am on tuesday/thursdays...you know why? His name is Mike! :o) And my soldiers are with me on mon, wed, and sat...then I work out on fridays/sundays with SGT Donaldson. So I am never alone, I just don't advertise my activities. My "schedule" is structure. Without structure there is chaos...am I right? Maybe not so much chaos...but definitely uncertainty about what there is to do during a day.