Day 90: Thirst Quencher

Just another silly picture from yesterday's outting.

Day 89: Group Date

Well, let me introduce you to the little gang I like to hang out with here at Bagram. We have "Sergeant O'D.", "Dias", and "T". Dias and I have off on Fridays, and the boys work late shift, so we've decided that Fridays are our group date days. Today was the first one. We planned to start the day off around 11:3o, so we could go to the Dfac for lunch before hitting the bazaar (only open on Fridays), but we all seemed to get a late start. We went to Pizza Hut instead. Pizza Hut takes forever, so after placing our order we waited outside for a group to clear off a picnic bench.Yes! We scored a table. Of course, this means 'smoke break' for Dias. Blech! (We all give her a hard time about it.)I don't think he even knows what he's pondering.Pizza's here!...and in less than four minutes (as we're trained) it's gone.Time for goofy pictures...It's quite the walk to get to the bazaar...So, we waited for the bus instead.I see it! I see it!More goofy pictures...Some weird guy we met on the bus...We finally made it to the bazaar, and of course I wanted everything.This little elephant reminds me of my sister. Since I joined the military I've some how developed an elephant collection of my own. It must be a subconscious thing. I don't even know if she still likes them anymore.Dias... is that a whip? How cute. The dolls we bought from these guys were pretty ugly, but they had me convinced that they were made by Afghan women in a work program. We were only at the bazaar for a short time before it was closing (1500). The boys had to get ready for work anyhow, so we hoofed it back to Camp Albert and called it a day.

Day 88: 10 Million Strong...

We carry Flintstone vitamins in our aid station. I have a bottle in my room and one in my back pack too. I'm constanly passing them out to the other Soldiers. They're good for you! Tell your kids, "Sergeant Barefoot said so!" :-)

Day 87: Grape Juice

Yummy! Welch's grap juice came in the mail today! It's probably the only grape flavored thing I'll drink or eat. Grape & cherry flavors just remind me of cough medicine too much. I love real grapes, just not the artificial flavor stuff. Gag!

Day 86: Name Tapes

Oh, I received new patches and name tapes in my shipment yesterday too! I really needed more of these "Barefoot" ones. I find it funny that people are always trying to snatch them. I like my funny little name. It makes me happy, and I'm glad it makes other people smile too.

Day 85: New Boots

Yeah! My new boots came in. I tried to get some at the little PX, but I wear a tiny little size that they don't carry. We're authorized $110 every other month for three months to order new boots or socks or whatever else we need for our uniform while we're deployed, and thank goodness for that, because my old boots had a serious blow out.

Happy Birthday...MOM!

This one is from my combat medic graduation on 12 March 2004. This one was taken at Thanksgiving a couple years ago.

And the final picture I have of my mother was taken the last time I was out with my family back home in November. Sorry I only have three pictures of my mother. I didn't realize until now that the last time we took a picture of just the two of us was nearly five years ago! Sheesh!

Day 84: New Underoos!

I've been waiting for these underpants to get here for quite some time. When I went to the mail room I loudly exclaimed, "I have new underwear! It's the best day of my life!" I just couldn't help it.

Random Craving

I'm laying here in my bunk, and all I can think about are Fire Roasted Tomato Triscuits and extra sharp cheddar cheese! Seriously, I just can't sleep with cheese on the brain!

Day 83: Porta Potties

Two things I miss about home: 1. Indoor Plumbing, 2. Toilet Seats.

Day 82: Tactical Vehicles Only

I should have taken a picture of the golf cart next to this thing. It made me giggle!

Day 81: No Smoking

This picture makes me laugh. Do you see the "No Smoking" sign? Do you see nearly EVERY single person in the picture smoking?! Ha!

Day 80: Thank you, Debbie!

Lookie at what my BFF, Debbie, sent to me! It's a sweet little cupcake pin cushion complete with my signature ladybug. YEAH!!! Oh, and do you see that the dots are made from snaps??? CUTE! I love you, Debbie!!!

Day 79: Irish Spring

I started a new job today working at the brigade command center. I can't show you any pictures of it, but it looks like any typical movie setting of a command center with tons of computer screens, and some person listening to the radio, and some secret intel guy throwing out random bits of information. It's my job to monitor all medical evacuation, or "MedEvac", requests that come from all over the country. It's certainly not the job for anyone who stresses when multitasking. I monitor 14 different windows on my three computer screens. It was super overwhelming when I started, but now I've got the hang of it.

On another note... Samantha informed me that my Irish Spring is not for girls. It's totally boy soap, and I totally did not know!

Guest Blogger: Ella (My Sister)

"Goofy" Just a funny picture of Lilly. This was the original photo: This is the same photo just flipped around

Day 78: Injection Training

Once again we had some serious medical training at the aid station. We've been practicing our injection techniques. No one volunteered to be the dummy for this one, so instead we injected an onion ring with ketchup!

Then of course I had to eat it! Yum!

Quiz: What's Your Word?

I'm still having a difficult time uploading over here. The internet is SO unreliable. I've still been surfing other blogs when I can though. I found a few fun quizes that I thought I'd share with you. Post a link in the comments to your quiz results. I'd love to see what everyone else comes up with.

Your Word is "Peace"

You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of. Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you. While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life. You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

What's Your Word?

Oh, and Carla has blog candy! Check it out HERE!

Day 77: Card Wall

I love my card wall. There aren't too many cards outside of the mass I received when I first arrived here during Christmas time. We've all felt a little forgotten since then, so it's nice to have a display that reminds me that I'm not alone over here no matter how much I start to feel otherwise.

Day 76: German Chocolates & Weird Boys

Boys are so weird... This guy gives me chocolates and a cute little teddy bear for Valentine's day, but now he doesn't want to talk to me ever again! What's up with that? Ha!

Uploading

I'm still having a heck of a time getting pictures to load. I'm two weeks behind on getting them loaded. I'm still actively taking photos though. Today we had a training experiment in the aid station. We figured it'd be much better if we actually injected our food with condiments instead of dipping them. I have the whole thing in photos, so you won't miss out. I also documented the huge snowfall we just had during the past two days. There was so much that it even went over my boots. I went through half a dozen pairs of socks yesterday. It was quite annoying. Anyway, my sister, Ella, did blog about miss Lilly Belle today, so check that out by clicking HERE. She's fairly new at blogging, so send her a warm blogland hello! My cousin, Chelsea, also has a blog. You can visit her site HERE.

Day 75: Paper Roses

One of the Soldiers from another section got wind that I like to make paper roses from crepe paper, so he asked me to make a bouquet for a girl he likes here on the FOB. I totally forgot about it until last night, but I managed to squeeze out four in record time.

Day 74: Wattage Issues

It gets dark pretty early around here, or so it seems that way. I have to rely on my little lamps to get around in my room, but they're so dim that I need two. My room isn't even that big. I can reach my little arms all the way across and touch both sides at the same time. Perhaps I'm having wattage issues?

Day 73: Salsa Outtage

We're only allowed to buy one bag of chips at the PX per day, but salsa is unlimited. I bought two jars on Monday, and I'm already out! Sheesh!

Day 72: Girl Scout Cookies

Yeah! Mom sent some yummies in the mail. Ever since I was a Girl Scout myself I have absolutely loved Peanutbutter Patties! They haven't even changed the picture on the box since I sold them years ago.

Day 71: Sun Chairs

Well, the cold didn't last too long. It's practically "hot" today!

Day 70: Super Snow

We've had more snow here than I've ever seen in my life. It's beautiful! Although... I have fallen down a million times already. My bum is pretty sore!

Day 69: 20 Pounds

Yeah, I received my 20lb bear in the mail. That means I've lost 20lbs so far on this NutriSystem thing. It could also be the fact that I don't have to drive by all my favorite fast food places on my way to and from work either though! Ha!

Day 68: Stethoscope

I asked if we could order new stethoscopes for all the medics, and the boss said, "yes"! They just came in, and for some reason mine isn't black like the rest. It's a yummy rich crimson. It's not exactly the military black I was expecting, but it IS my favorite color!

Day 67: Loofah Love

I really love my loofah in all it's pink glory.

Day 66: Sweet Smells

I can't believe that the little PX had Victoria's Secret lotions and perfumes! Ah, I smell like a GIRL!

Day 65: MWR

MWR (Morale Welfare & Recreation) is the organization that provides all the entertainment here on base like the shows that come through, the computer & phone labs, movies, ping pong, pool, books, and on and on. It seems like the civilians here get to take advantage of these services more than we do, but at least we have SOMETHING! :-)