Day 69

Almost to 70! Nope..nothing special about 70, it's just a nice-lookin' round number. Better yet, it's T-30 days until Day 100. And when I get to 100...well, I will have passed my halfway point. So now you know...I'm not on a one year deployment. Let's just say it's an odd ball number ... not 6 months and not a year. You'll have to wait and see what it is later. Trust me...stick around to the end. That's going to be one heck of a post on the day I step on U.S. soil then hold my girls in my arms less than a week later. Stock up on tissues now! And since we're telling secrets not yet revealed until today, I'm in Afghanistan. Yes, you all knew that. If you didn't, please tell me where else we are "officially" in a war in the world. Give up? Nowhere. Well...not technically. Supposedly, the one in Iraq is done but if you believe that, then you don't dig enough and don't click on my link on the right to see where our fallen are being killed. Iraq is still hot...not hot like here, but we still have soldiers there and soldiers are still dying there. Back to Afghanistan: no more details than that. It's a big country and I could be anywhere. I will spill the beans at the end but that'll do for now.

Today was like all others, basically. 12 hours in the office, a few meetings attended, and a strong calling from the northern part of the country. I received a few messages and calls today, looking for help...primarily in the area I've been planning to help in and go to. Obviously, my recognition of the need up there is real as they beat me to the punch. In a nutshell, that part of the country is so scattered, they're not really sure how to procure what they need to maintain what they have and build more. The supply chain logistics in a worse-than-third-world country is challenging, especially with no Wal-Mart on the corner and instead, a house made out of dirt and mud. So that's all a work in progress and a daily grind to develop how I'll move forward and assemble my team.

On the home-front, I started out the day trying to find Scarecrow. She finished camp yesterday and knew she was somewhere...either home or at one of her grandparents. I found her with my parents...in the ER! Turns out for my dad that Vicodin and no food in the tummy = a very sick dad. After a battery of tests, he was sent home with a clean bill of health. Lesson learned, I'd say. I'm very relieved, too...relieved it was nothing else more serious. So eventually, Scarecrow made it to bed but not before I got to talk to her about her week at camp. One word prevailed: "Awesome!" She loved it and Tin Man is finishing camp as I type this right now. This was the first year for Tin Man where she spent the night all week long. Apprehensive at first, but since no calls came home, she must have loved it. I can't wait to hear about it! She sure is growing up fast. I want them to both get home quick because my 3rd DVD I read to them at the USO along with two books is waiting for them at home...along with a few surprises I slipped in there. The United Through Reading program is awesome and I'm so appreciative of it...via the USO at military installations around the world. This time, I combined my reading to them onto one DVD so they can watch it together.

I spent a lot of time in my own little world today...day-dreaming about my passion back home...that being trail-running and ultra-running. Tomorrow is a big 100-miler back in "Kansas" where a lot of my friends are heading to. Plus, lots of other friends have been posting lots of pics throughout the Spring of the trails. I sure do miss them. I dug up this one picture that basically tells how I've been feeling today. This photo is of me back in February when I spent hours on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. Ironically, it was the week that I was there for training for my deployment here. Standing on the ledge (which I was on), arms and fingers outstretched out into nothing but God's creation...how liberating and amazing. Just looking at this photo transports me back to that ledge and the peace I find on the trails. I won't lie...I'm a bit envious of my friends hitting the trails this weekend and every weekend. Oh, how I miss them.

Tomorrow is going to be a bit annoying. I could tell before I left around 7pm tonight that people were taking vacation days back in the States...in their quiet, little cubicles. I can always tell by e-mail traffic when they show up, who shows up first, and who is the late one. The silence was deafening today. So tomorrow...annoying because I know all the work I did today and sent their way won't even be read until late Monday (your Monday morning). I'll stay busy, though. Hopefully, I'll get out of there by mid-afternoon and go for a run. Speaking of running...again...there's a Father's Day 5K run on Sunday. The only thing that stinks is that Sunday is the ONE day I can sleep in...and this race starts at 5am. The reason is because it shuts down the main drag which is bad once the base comes alive in the morning. The jury is still out on the race...3.1 miles isn't exactly something I get excited about and I haven't been training to race so I'd probably be better off just doing a long run. We'll see...  Well, tonight's a wrap and so is Day 69. Oh yea, I almost forgot...I had dinner with some Afghan soldiers tonight. That's a first! The average education/intelligence level of an ANA (Afghan National Army) soldier? 2nd grade. The reading/writing/etc. I hope that puts this place in a little bit better perspective. They really do need our help...and we're providing it. Have a great weekend everyone and choose to make it great.

Goodnight, everyone.