In Kuwait

The travel time to Kuwait was long and exausting. The day started Friday as I got up to get the kids off to school. After they left, Katie and went back to bed for a few more hours of sleep since I knew we'd have a late night. After we woke at 0900, we went off to Walmart for some last minute toilletries shopping. By the time we came home, the boys were retuning from school, and I had to pack my bags. Without exaggerating, I would say my bags weighed over 200 lbs. There is no way I can carry them all at once, so I was concerned about how I was going to be able to move them around when we got to our destination.

By 1630, we all piled in the car and took off for Savannah one last time to have dinner. We've been talking abouit going to Vinnie Van GoGo's for pizza for a long time, so we just did it. The pizza was very good...but nothing has yet to compare with Aurelio's or Chicago deep dish like you'd find at the real Uno's or Lou Malnatti's. There was a homeless dude wandersing around the restaurant...all of the seating is outside in Market Square. I guess he was picking food out of the garbage. The manager shoo'd him away a few times. We had several pieces left over, so we boxed them up and found the guy across the street in Franklin Square. We gave him what we had, and although he didn't have the presence of mind to express it, I could tell he was thankful.

After a few hours at home with the boys and a few last games of Call of Duty 2, we again loaded up the car and headed to post. We waited around for a long time to say goodbye. It was excruciating. I could tell the boys were bored and tired, yet feeling guilty because they were bored...and still wanting to spend as much time with me as possible. Finally the time came when our collective hearts were broken as I had to detach from the security of my family. As I write this my heart again aches and tears fill my eyes thinking about that moment when I have to say farewell and "I'll see you in a year...hold on, be strong, I love you". No one should have to endure that moment with their family, yet as long as Soldiers have gone off to fight, families have had to do this very thing.

The flight was long--about 17 hours total travel time to Kuwait. What made the flight extra-long were the two stops in Shannon, Ireland and Leipzig, Germany. The trip made for one long day--we arrived at 0900 on Sunday morning.

When we arrived we immediately began inprocessing, attending briefings, and beginning our training. The time here is designed to get one acclimated to the harsh desert environment. It's windy and hot. Hopefully we won't be here long.