Joy in Motion

For those of you who are not yet moms or dads, you’ll find this story funny.  And a bit disturbing.  For all the rest of you: don’t judge.  You know you’ve done this.

I’m hiding in the closet right now.  It’s a 4-ft by 4-ft little space and almost totally dark.  The only sounds I can hear are JD crying and the constant hum of the a/c unit on the wall.  The dogs are out on the back deck occasionally letting out a deafening bark.  My mom is down in the lobby waiting it out.  The bottom line is, I’m desperate.  We’re in an unfamiliar city, he’s in an unfamiliar (and totally age-inappropriate) packnplay trying to sleep.  If you would have asked me 3 years ago if I’d ever be hiding in a closet praying to just lay down with peace and quiet, I’d have said you’re crazy.  But here I am.

Tomorrow we should get to Eugene and I should get to some uninterrupted sleep at my parents house.  Last night/early this morning I was out in the parking lot, no coat, barely conscious, trying to get the dogs to go pee.  At 3:45am.  Just to top it off, Kona ran after a cat who had decided to set up camp next to the car right outside our door.  Poor thing was probably minding it’s own business when this big hairy beast materialized and chased it into the adjoining Carrows restaurant parking lot.  I barely blinked an eye when she took off into the night.  I just looked at Zoe and shrugged.  After about 10 minutes she came zooming back as if shot out of a cannon.

I have to admit that I’m starting to relax tonight and hope to get a full night of sleep.  There were a lot of things to get done before we left, and I think I’m still unwinding from all of that.  One fun event we attended a couple days ago at the Golf Course on base was the volunteer appreciation dinner for all the chapel volunteers.  Sylia Clouse was kind enough to send me photos she had taken of me, my mom, and John Daniel.  They turned out pretty good!

We also had ‘tea and testimony’ for MOPS the night before we left.  Regrettably I had to leave early to go pack and get JD down for a good nights sleep before our trip.  But it was good to spend time with dear friends who share my crazy motherhood life.  Angela and Ann brought over a basket full of goodies for Mother’s Day a few days before our tea and testimony.  Thanks a million!  MOPS has been great to me and I love all the gals.  Can’t wait till we get started again next fall!

So here are a few photos of Rob in Kabul for those of you asking about him.  He is proud to be there, but misses us terribly.

Here’s an excerpt from an email he recently sent to me:

Gen McChrystal said he spent four days at a
FOB and couldn't take a shower. When he asked the troops about it, they
told him they were waiting for an electrician to come out and hook up
the hot water. Then when he went to Kandahar, he saw all of the
engineering work that was needed to build and sustain all of the
"extras" at the big bases. He wanted to make a shift in focus to the
guys in the field.

FOB stands for field operations base and are traditionally supported by main operating bases that are required to provide backup support to them.  In its most basic form, a FOB consists of a ring of barbed wire around a position with a fortified entry control point, or ECP. More advanced FOBs would include an assembly of earthen dams, concrete barriers, gates, watchtowers, bunkers and other force protection infrastructure.  So apparently, according to General McChrystal (commander, US Forces Afghanistan) the guys who are stationed at a FOB can’t even get hot water much less all the “comforts” of home (fast food, hospital, grocery store) as bigger bases to like Kandahar or Al Uedid.    Gen McChrysal is proposing to re-distribute facilites and basic comforts all accross Afghanistan instead of reserving them for the big bases.  I know Rob would appreciate that, esp. if he gets sick with strep throat again, as there’s no medical facility at Kabul.  And it would be nice to have a legal office there too in case, as recently happened, I need him to get something notarized and send it to me.

Here are a few photos of his promotion to Major, and one of him getting a rare meal in a “restaurant” (I use this term loosely).

I’ve waited and hoped for months…yesterday was finally the day.  Little man and I got to wear shorts.  I went proudly out to a meeting here on base and JD stayed home with my mom and played outside in SHORTS.  It’s been so cold and windy, it’s nice to see some summer peeking through the clouds.

The birds have suddenly realized they had better nest because hot dog days of summer are coming up.    Unfortunately, they decided they’d better nest in my ivy in the backyard.  It’s actually nice to hear birdsong most mornings.   However, it becomes an issue when they start dive-bombing me as I try and play with John Daniel out in the backyard.  The housing maintenance guys are coming tomorrow with their chainsaws.  It pains me to see the baby sparrows lose their nests, but in this case it’s survival of the fittest.

I’ve been trying to upload video on to this site forever and I finally realized that it’s not WordPress that I’m having the problem with.  It’s Vandenberg Broadband…any Amens out there?  This company is the worst I have ever encountered accross all sectors.  They have one (that’s uno, 1, ONE) maintenance guy for 600 residents on base.  They don’t even send bills on time.  I haven’t received a bill for 2 months.  Hey – if you don’t want me to pay for my service I’m not sure how you are making money?!  And the Internet went out for 4 days.  1-2-3-4 FULL DAYS.   For customer service we have to call Galactic Headquarters somewhere out there in another universe (because the 1 employee they have spends his time up power poles and can’t answer the phone).

Anyway, I don’t have enough speed or power to upload video and my camera broke – I was waiting for the day, knowing it was coming soon, but am sad it’s here.  Hopefully I’ll have new photos posted in the next week or so which means I got a nifty new camera!