NFL Playoffs

Man, just about nothing went right with the playoffs this week. Pretty much every team that I was pulling for lost. The exception was the Jags/Steelers game where I liked both teams (mostly by proxy for Stine and Dan) so that was kind of a wash, but really? The Giants won? Sigh. At least I am guaranted to watch either the Cowboys or Giants lose this weekend, so that is something to look forward to, right?

On the positive side of things, I had a great time watching all my teams lose, both at the McD's and Meatapalooza. I think something like 10 people were at each place, along with an excess of wonderful food. I mean, my digestive system will clearly be angry at me for a long time, because other than mutton? I think I had every other type of meat in those two days. And it was glorious. Oh, and I played Guitar Hero for the first time ever, and I am totally hooked. Am I on the bandwagon a little late? Meh. Oh, and never match up against George or Angie in that game- they are ridiculously good. I hear rumors that Angie got a 100% on one song? But that is not physically possible, is it?

Kristin and Mike's Wedding

Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you all had as nice of a time as I did at Kristin McCallum's wedding. This is the one and only picture I have of the couple (I neglected to bring my own camera, so I had to bum all my pics off of others.)
Somehow Kristin managed to talk a Catholic priest into doing a wedding in a hotel (and one connected to a skanky heiress, no less) but apparently he is retiring, so he has ceased to wory too much about some of the smaller stuff, and he totally did an awesome job.

Then, on to cocktail hour with its martini bar. Having very little experience with said drink other than "appletini, easy on the -tini," I decided to put my fate in the capable hands of George the bartender. He mixed and shook and gave me a vaguely tan colored drink that was just great. I asked him what it was, and apparently it was a "George special" which I think means "whatever was in arm's reach." I suggested this to others, but the second version did not go so well. They came back with a similar looking drink, but it seems that the vanilla vodka had been substituted by Absolut PEPPAR! It was... not good.

Following that debacle, things went very nicely. Food, drinking, dancing. Did I mention they played Thriller? I could only remember like 3 of the steps though- for shame. Oh, and there were Wedding Crashers there too- I think it was two girls? Well, Kristin totally gave them the boot, told the hotel personnel not to let them back in, and went back to having fun like it had never happened. I was totally impressed with her not letting some foolish people ruin her night.
It was an awesome time. Thanks to Kristin and Mike for inviting me, and I look forward to hanging out when you get back.

And since the fans demand it. Here is a picture of me. Oh yeah, you know you love it.

Returned To Sender

What an awful trip back. 4 days in Kuwait with nothing to do (although that was ok by me), but then they lost my bags on the way to Georgia, ran me through a painfully inefficient outprocessing, and shipped me on home with 15 minutes notice that my ride to the airport was leaving. Plus, I got in right around midnight after my flight was delayed, so poor Josh and Laura were forced to stay up late to retrieve/entertain me. [Thanks guys!] If I did not have such a nice goal waiting for me, [getting to come home and being done with Army], it would have been intolerable.

It really is surprising how hard it is to let go of the whole thing. From the people who I will miss, to turning over my section that I was in charge of to someone else, I think I developed stronger ties than I realized. Well, I think I can find some distraction in trying to find a job, find a place to live (and choose a city, for that matter.) Any suggestions?

For those who are interested- I got my Army awards too. The seal is for marksmanship and the gorilla is for sand racing. Anyone who does not know what I am talking about should clearly start watching Arrested Development.


Ciao! -(Non-Combat) Pat

It's The Final Countdown!

I have left Afghanistan for the last time (we hope!) Now it is a little while in Kuwait, a little while in Georgia, and then it is all done. Yay!

See you soooooon!

Wonderful news! Barring anything truly ridiculous, I will be home by Christmas! Yay! The replacement me is on the way here (but let's be honest, who could ever replace me?) and we are making the arrangements to come back to the states. I will still have to go through Kuwait and Fort Benning, GA again, so I don't have an exact date, but I do know it will be after the middle of the month, but before Christmas.

One note, I will not be here all that much longer, so if anyone has any more mail to send, if it is not on the way already, I would just hold onto it so I do not pass by it in transit. Now if I can just find some way to send this land mine home as a souvenir...

Ah Qatar!

Now some might think that, like there is no crying in baseball, there is no vacation in war, but let me assure you, there is, and mine was spent in a place where the beer flows like wine- Qatar.

Even if this had only been a chance to not work and wear civilian clothes for four days, it would have been awesome, but they do not stop there. With a three beer a day ration and fun little trips you can sign up for, clearly they can only get people to leave by force. I chose the "go to the beach trip."
It started off with a trek across the sand dunes at a pace which can only be described as "ludicrous." I believe at one point, we went plaid. This experience was made all the more interesting by being in the not- really- secured-to-the-floor backseat.





Then, we crested the last dune to see the Persian Gulf below. I went swimming, got stung by a jellyfish (a little one, so it barely even registered), played a little volleyball (with the tour guides who took it a little too seriously) and ate kabobs for lunch. It was a just plain nice day.

















The next day I ran into a friend of mine that I was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas with last time I was doing this Army gig. She is stationed in Qatar, which means she was allowed to take me off post. We went to the mall (exciting, I know!) and while it was really just like one in the states in so many ways, it was so very different. The men in their white robes, the women in their black burquas, all the signs being in English and Arabic, but with the same logos and models. Very surreal. To clear my head, I decided to go to the indoor ice skating rink.
Which is next to the camel ferris wheel.

Another odd thing about Qatar? The population is only about 30% Qatari, the rest being third country nationals, mostly from India and the Philippines, who do all the work. And instead of income tax? The government pays the Qataris a certain percentage of the oil revenue each year.Oh, and along the way? I saw this giant oyster.
Awesome.

I think that sums it all up- feel free to create your own moral to the story.Bye!

I'm a hero...

...but not like from the show.

So you know how I was working my butt off? Well, someone noticed. I think the best line of this is "cheerfully accepted the challenge." Not only did I get this MVP of the week-type thing, I got a real award too- an Army Achievement Medal that I can wear on my dress uniform and everything.

Another thing in the military is commander's coins. Well, my boss got new ones made and I got the first one. This is what they look like. Yes, yes, it is the previously unseen trifecta of Army goodness. As Gluck would say, "Without me, it is just aweso."



In other good news, while previously me making it home before Christmas was just not going to happen? Now, it has a chance. This is not to say that it WILL, it is just that it COULD. I'll know more in another month, and I'll keep you all updated.

Take care! -Pat