Uniform Modification

One week! If all goes according to plan, I will be home ONE week from today. Just the idea of it is exhilarating. I am mentally prepared for things not to go as planned but hopeful that they will. The journey home should take almost two days, a chunk of that will be spent in Kuwait and the other big chunk is, of course, the long flight home (about 14 hours total). I recall sleeping soundly on each of the three legs over. Each time the plane got to altitude my eyelids got heavy and then, as if sprinkled with a fairy dust of sorts, I was out. I was amazed but later took it to be a sign of emotional exhaustion. So, the question I'm pondering now is will I sleep on the way back or just be too excited? If I had to put money down- I would probably say no sleep, but at the same time I know just being here takes a toll, so maybe (hopefully) I will.

My countdown to R&R was assisted by a very busy week. My colleague Jill was out of the office from Tuesday to Friday so I played Deputy to our Boss in addition to my normal duties. On top of our regular battle rhythm, a recent attack on the Bayji Oil Refinery had us scrambling to put together briefs and coordinate a visit. Forget daydreaming out my new window, the week flew by! I was happy for Jill to return yesterday morning and after a debrief of sorts I disappeared in the afternoon for my Saturday half-day. A little nap that has become part of my Saturday afternoon routine turned into a three hour slumber. It felt good and now I am ready to tackle this coming week.

In addition to work, I have two planned targets to hit these week before getting on the plane. The first is a six mile run with the girls on Tuesday night, and the second is a JPME test before heading to the airport. Both are milestones I wanted to reach before R&R, so fingers crossed they go well. The run will require almost four laps around the NEC, one more lap than my current high. And the test will mean my remaining downtime is spent studying, same as it has been for the past couple weeks. It feels good though to make progress on both goals, and I know it will be a great feeling to head home with both ticked off.

I did have one very humorous moment this past week. On Thursday afternoon a dust storm rolled in turning the blue sky orange. Not wanting to venture back and forth, I stayed a little later than usual so that I could get dinner and then just head to my CHU for the night. It was so bad by the time I was ready to leave that I decided I had to fabricate some kind of protection from the insidious dust. I was not worried about my clothing getting dirty, just my lungs! A properly prepared military member would have had their issued cover-up, but no- I did not. A dust storm was forecast for Friday, not Thursday. So I took an available bright blue wash rag, cut a little slit in two of the corners, and then my friend Dustin rigged some 550 parachute cord through the slits to create a pretty nice veil that hooked over my ears and completely covered my nose and mouth. I added my sunglasses for eye protection- I was looking good! Admittedly, not professional, but I justified it as resourceful and necessary to prevent a future trip to medical. Not only did I amuse myself, but my coworkers got some good laughs too and insisted on capturing the get-up on film. The sledgehammer, well, they just thought it fit the look. And, in case you are concerned, issued protection is now in my cargo pocket, I am ready for the next dust storm!

Love,

Krista