85 Days to go!!! (Give or take a couple)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day!! Mine was quiet and uneventful….which is perfect! Another week down and about 11 or so more to go. Work has been ok. We’ll have slow days and busy days but there seem to be more slow days than anything else, which is fine by me. The days still pass rather quickly. I should be heading to Germany within the next couple of days. I have to have some tests done at Landstuhl that they couldn’t do here. I don’t know how long I’ll be there but I should be coming back to Iraq when all is said and done. Heather is heading back to Germany. She just finished up her 15 month tour and is awaiting a flight home in Kuwait. With the way the timing looks, we should be able to meet up while I’m in Germany for those tests. We’ve talked for a few years now but have never been able to meet. This should be fun and I’m really looking forward to it! Have a safe trip, Heather!!!

I read the entire Twilight Saga in less than a week. There are 4 books in the saga and they are all fantastic! I couldn’t put them down. All I did on my last day off was read! It was absolutely wonderful!! I can’t wait for the movies. I know in general that movies based off of books are never as good, but I really don’t care. I enjoy seeing what I read and what I pictured in my mind come alive on the big screen. Now that I’m done with the Twilight books, I’m starting up Anna Karenina again. It’s a little more difficult to get into than other books I’ve read, but I’m not giving up.

My sister and her husband recently moved to Sioux City, Iowa. They are doing ok but I know Erin really misses home. She’s a co-manager of Journeys while her husband is a manager at Finish Line, which is why they moved in the first place. Erin wants to strangle the other co-manager and I really don’t blame her. If I were there I’d probably help her. J This guy sounds like a real douche bag. I can’t believe the company has kept him around as long as they have.

Cory and the kids are fine. They are heading up to Nebraska this weekend and next weekend for weddings. This weekend his cousin Cameron is getting married and next weekend his brother Joey is getting married. His brother is graduating from the Border Patrol and the day after he gets married, both he and Erica are moving down to Texas. What a busy weekend for them!! Yet another family event I’m missing. Haylie had a doctor appointment yesterday. The doctor wanted to see if there was any urine that was backing up into her kidneys to cause her frequent UTIs. Of course there wasn’t. The test came back normal. The baby birds the kids were taking care of are no more. The last baby bird didn’t make it L Cory said it was fine the night before but when he woke up it was dead. Haylie is still modeling her clothes for me. Actually, I’m reminding Cory to take pictures of her whenever she wears a new outfit.

My company is starting to finalize our leave dates. It looks like there are going to be 3 blocks of leave; two in November and then one in December. I really wish they would make it one big chunk but I’ll take what I can get. The first leave block covers the concert that Haylie and I are going to in New Jersey, so that’s good. There was a little bit there where I thought I would have to navigate the streets of New York without my tour guide. Since leave is starting the week prior, he’ll be able to show me and Haylie all the sites. I am getting so excited for this trip. I’m going back and forth between asking Cory and Kevin to come with or not. I think it would be something really neat to do as a whole family, but I already told Haylie that it was going to be just me and her and she seemed to really like that idea. Flights to New York are cheap so maybe we all can go for a weekend sometime before we (hopefully) move to Europe.