Day 148

It was nice sleeping in today. Of course, I had to keep forcing myself back to sleep to be able to say that. I have found that if I roll onto my left side and curl up in the fetal position, I'll fall right back asleep. Don't ask me why...it's kind of freaky, actually.  It's like a switch...do it, and I'm out.

When I finally did get up, I took my good 'ol time and eventually headed in around 10am. I did what work was waiting (not much) and then just worked on personal stuff. "Dorothy" is starting her graduate degree next month so I worked on our family calendar until she finishes in the summer of 2013. I actually have my Navy drill schedule until then, as well, so it was good for planning purposes to lay it all out there. After lunch, I headed into the Afghan bazaar and just walked around for awhile, looking at some of the locally-made crafts. There are many things I think I'd like to buy but don't want to try to ship or transport home. Outside the Afghan rugs and scarves, a big thing is handmade stone and glassware. It's really "archaic" looking and I wouldn't mind getting some but it's so fragile, I wouldn't want to ship it and it's so fragile and bulky, I really don't want to try and carry it 7,000 miles home. Oh well... After getting back to the office and finishing up a few things, I headed on back to my room and started on my project which you see to the right. Unlike the Army which deploys as a group and does all kinds of things like t-shirts, sweatshirts, backpacks, etc. and has those big, public homecomings and parades when they return, us Navy folks are individually mobilized. We travel with no one, have none of those little extras, and fly to our local airport like anyone else and are greeted by waiting family and friends. So, I've been thinking for months about making my own takeaway that would last a long time. I found these heavy-duty backpacks here for $25 and thought I'd grab some patches and sew them on. So, I picked up the backpack a few days ago and got the last few patches I wanted and then sewed them all on today.  You like how I remained anonymous?!?! That's my Gerber knife laying on top of my name. Anyway, this backpack material produced many holes in my fingers and a little bit of blood but after about 4 hours of sewing, I finished. I'm actually really happy with the finished product. I think I actually did a good job! This pack should last for a LONG time. It's a really nice one and heavy duty. 

Just a little bit ago, I Skype'd in to my niece's birthday party to sing happy birthday to her. She turned 9 today. It was pretty cool as not only did I get to sing with everyone, but I saw my girls and all my nieces and nephew. I even saw my 86 year old grandma, my only remaining grandparent. While the connection was crummy and we couldn't get the video to stick, I really appreciated the few minutes to talk and see everyone. It was worth it, for sure.

That's a wrap on Day 148, folks. Tomorrow is Labor Day which means nothing here. It's just another Monday but it will be slow as our folks Stateside are off until Tuesday. But, it is the beginning of another week which is always good. Enjoy your day off if you get one!

Goodnight, everyone!