Day 171

I woke up today to an e-mail that Dorothy had just gone to bed 5 minutes prior but I did a little begging and got a 9min Skype call with her. I wanted to hear about her day. Turns out, the package I sent showed up which had gifts for her and my girls inside. I had found these cherry/walnut jewelry boxes that were handmade near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan for the girls. I double-wrapped them in bubble-wrap and they made it home safe and sound and the girls LOVED them. I also sent a few handmade bead bracelets for the girls which they were wearing when I talked to them this afternoon. For Dorothy, I had her name written in Dari, one of the two main languages here over her name in English. This was on a wooden triangle nameplate for her desk. It also has an American flag and Afghanistan flag embedded in the wood on each side of her name. I hope she liked it! Also on the romantic side, I sent home a hand-carved tissue box. Yes...I'm a romantic. So that's how the day started....perfectly.

The day itself was fairly quiet and steadily busy. While I had some alone time in the office today, I turned on some tunes via my iPad, specifically Steven Curtis Chapman's new CD called re:Creation. It has some new songs and a whole lot of his classics mostly with just him and his guitar. It's one of my all-time favorite CDs of his and love the re:Created versions of his classics. One song just kept ringing in my head long after the music stopped: "Not Home Yet" It's clearly not talking about our "home" on earth here and overall, is very uplifting and helps keep your focus on the "prize" that awaits but it also hit home with regards to my earthly home here in "Kansas." It just felt "goooooood." Tonight, I dug up the original from 1997 and have embedded it below. If you're reading this post via e-mail, you can follow this link to watch it. Great song and a great message. I actually met him once back in 2001 and also saw him once in concert. He is one of the few artists who I really want to see again, too.

The day ended up being a super long day and it was 8pm before we finally left. We had a conference call with the new team Stateside (ya know..the one formed because my point paper, etc. got the other one fully removed) and then had one major issue we had to get an answer to before we left for the night. No big deal, though. What else am I going to do? If I'm doing the job I was sent here for then if it's long days and 80 hour weeks that I need to work then so be it. It's temporary, after all.

Once back in the room tonight, I worked on the blog/website for the January 2012 trail race that I help with. I handle the online registration and the website. The site needed freshened up since registration opens this Saturday. Afterwards, the new show "Terra Nova" came on so I watched that and now, here I am. Just as soon as I wrap this up, I'm calling it a night and hittin' the sack. This day went fairly quick and I'm ready to get to hump day and start moving towards the weekend. Speaking of which, I'm sure you now know how we have our "Hail and Farewells" every month to say hello to the newbies and goodbye to those who are leaving before the next "Hail and Farewell." Guess who's getting a "Farewell!" this weekend...  :-))))))

Goodnight, everyone.