Back to the Heat

Hey Everyone! Well, I finally made it back to the land of the hot and miserable after having a wonderful couple of weeks back home. Unfortunately, I was not able to see everyone and I apologize for that, but I will be back home for good in under 5 months.

I arrived in Columbus after about 60 hours of traveling and was greeted by a clan of family at the airport, many of which I didn’t expect to see, what a great surprise. Once I got home, I saw my truck washed and polished sitting in my driveway, courtesy of my sister’s new fiancé, Heath – (Thanks Heath, and Congratulations to you and Jenny!)

Once home, after eating at Chipotle, (yummy!) I noticed I had acquired a 2’ swimming pool to take the place of my shattered glass top patio table. Evidently, I didn’t want a table anymore – but, hey what a great thing to have when you are drinking yourself into an oblivion, tossing corn-hole, listening to music and visiting with friends. Then the unavoidable happened – someone mentioned the words “Chicken Fight” and it suddenly became a photoshoot…

I had an awesome time in Virginia Beach with my mom, Jody, sis and Heath. I’ve been to a lot of beaches and I’d have to rate it towards the top of my list. If it weren’t for all of the work pedaling the girls around, I’d take them back again! Yeah, that bike looks like a fun time, but let me be the first to say, it’s hard work, not a “leisurely” bike ride!


As for the big move, Jody did get moved to Ohio from Florida although it didn’t really go as planned. We had hired movers to pick up her stuff in Orlando on the 26th, a day before I left Iraq and it was supposed to be there within 5 to 7 days. 20 Days later, on the morning that I was leaving for the airport to go back to Iraq, the movers show up at 5:00am with her stuff. Made for an interesting morning!

The trip back to Iraq went a lot smoother than the trip home. I made it back in just less than 48 hours, everything is still the same. I felt like everything was the same back home except for a few new shops, restaurants and streets. I want to thank everyone that visited with me and for all of the generosity and nice gestures. You all are great!

I will be leaving Iraq again within the next couple of weeks to finally have my shoulder fixed up. I’ll be having surgery in Landstuhl, Germany. I hope to have internet access and will try to keep you up to date with what’s going on.

Here's a good picture of my two girls...

Take Care!