Text for the Dust Storm pictures

This just in from our lovable Jarhed.

As you can see by these graphic snapshots, I was in a bad dust storm recently. However, this was some weeks ago, and the temperatures have actually moderated a good bit since then, as has the wind and dust--though I expect there to be a relapse into hot and windy weather before it turns fallish for good. My days are hectic here, I'm organizing and supervising projects, doing physical labor (I was out shoveling, sledge-hammering, and otherwise trying to remove some concrete aberrations that are scarring the landscape around the building where I work, call it garrison beautification), and coordinating the activities of a small team that is working to accomplish a specific mission for our staff section. Obviously, my days are much less chair and desk bound nowadays, and though that is good, I must say that it is more frustrating. My days went from being fairly clearly defined and scheduled (generally predictable) to having to deal with people--who of course are not clearly defined, have their own schedule, and are not predictable in the least. I am very busy, actually have less time to myself than I did before (I didn't really think that was possible, but I guess it was), but as always, absence of boredom means time is flying. There's a flu bug going around, but so far I have escaped infection (I can often sense God's hand of protection on me, thanks for your continued prayers for me).

An indicator of the success of the military aspects of our mission in GWOT in this theatre is the apparent and almost dramatic diminishment of this topic in the lead-up to the election. Of course, this is also an indication, perhaps, of the extent of the domestic economic crisis. GWOT, of course, can be blamed for this as well, depending on your view: the international community and some of the domestic crowd do not view the US investment in GWOT to be an investment at all, which has contributed to the decline of the dollar against almost all other currencies, which in turn has contributed to an economic down turn in the US, which has impacted the real estate market, etc. I for one firmly believe our commitment actively counter terrorists wherever they operate, deny them safe-haven and the means to attack us, and to provide war-torn and oppressed people groups with hope, freedom, and choice to be a very positive investment wherever such efforts have been expended. Oorah.

Semper Fi, JarHedJon

A Dust Storm

I was hoping Jon would have time today to send an update, but something must have come up. He did send me these pictures of a recent dust storm. The pictures were taken "between 1500 and 1600, normally the hottest and brightest time of the day. The picture of me was taken from about 8 feet away."

A full Saturday

Saturday turned out to be one of those full, fun days. It started with the annual San Juan Creek Cleanup which is the creek within walking distance of our home. Joshua really wanted to help but we had soccer pictures and a game and would need to leave the clean up at 9:00. So he woke up early and was ready to go by 7:45, so we got to creek cleanup at 8:00. We signed in only to find out we weren't supposed to go into the creek to start picking up trash until 9:00, after the mayor came and spoke, etc. I explained our situation to the organizer and he said Joshua and I could clean up along the edge of the creek. So we picked up trash for about 20 minutes along the path above the creek. Then we went into the creek when we heard the mayor start speaking. We found a car tire half full of water, and managed to drag it to the top of the creek wall just as everyone was heading into the creek at 8:45. Then we tackled the great treasure that Joshua has been begging to remove for weeks -- the Vons shopping cart. A man who was picking up trash gave us a hand and we got it up the steep wall of the creek and rolled it, on two wheels, to the park where we deposited our two bags of trash as well. A good job for one hour of work.

Then we were off to the sports park with hundreds of other little munchkins all dressed in matching soccer uniforms for the annual photos. Joshua's game was 45 minutes later, so I prepared to sit in the shade and enjoy my magazine until I noticed my friend Rosa whose son Jamie is a good friend of Joshua's from school. So I enjoyed a nice long chat with Rosa while her son's game finished up.

Joshua's team was playing a rematch against the team that beat them 3 to 1 last Friday night. The game last Friday night didn't count because it was the second game of the season and the first two games don't count. Yesterday's game was the first game that "counts" this season. The boys were geared up to to play a better game. Plus two of our stronger players who had missed Friday's game were back. Our boys turned out to be the better team on Saturday, winning 6 to 1.

We had about an hour and a half at home to do chores and homework before heading down to Escondido for my niece Emma's 11th birthday party. We had a fun gathering with about 20 family members in attendance. Emma received a brand new sewing machine, which many of us pitched in on and before the evening was over my mom had helped her get it started and Emma was practicing on it. In our family, the desire to sew has definitely skipped a generation. Joshua and Evan are good buddies and played well with Evan's other cousin Eli. In fact they spent hours building a fort out of palm fronds. We headed home at 7:30 pm and of course Joshua was asleep half way home.

It was just one of those great days where you feel like you've accomplished something and enjoyed yourself at the same time.

Jon's visit from the big wigs went well and he should be a little less busy for a few days. I'm hoping he'll be able to write an update that we can share.

Happy Fall,

Sheryl

On the mend

Thank you to those of you who prayed, sent e-mails, brought food and took over my PTA responsibilities.

I was able to get into the doctor on Tuesday. He told me I had "what's going around." My doctor was actually getting over it, and thus the mask he wore. No one is immune from germs. He prescribed some medicine that would help my symptoms and could cause drowsiness. I was hoping it would help me sleep, but last night it worked just the opposite and I was awake tossing and turning for hours. Oh, well, so much for drugs.

The good news came from Joshua's pediatrician who assured us the red in his eye was caused by allergies and not the awful pink eye. He gave us a bottle of sample eye drop that cleared the pink up immediately and helped with the itchiness. So Joshua was back at school yesterday.

I'm trying to take it a little slower. My amazing PTA Team (especially Melissa H. and Rhonda) took charge of the 1st PTA meeting of the year and led like champs. I owe them and all of my PTA Board a huge thanks!

Jon is staying healthy, although sometimes a little short on sleep. He is preparing for important visitors soon and so is busy with various projects as well as plans for the VIPs. Thanks for keeping all of us in your prayers.

Sheryl

First sickness of the season

I have been sick with a sore throat and runny nose since Sunday morning. I kept Joshua home from school today because he complained that his throat hurt bad when he woke up. But most of the day he seemed fine. This evening I notice one of his eyes is looking pink. No discharge, but we'll see in the morning. I have my first PTA General Meeting tomorrow night so I am hoping and praying I'll be able to lead it. Talking hurts so I have 24 hours for my throat to recover. I'd appreciate your prayers.

Sheryl

Update on Donna Moran

I just received this update from my father-in-law on my mother-in-law Donna.

"Again, thanks for your prayers. Although Donna is still very tired she continues to heal rapidly. The partial plate is working though she can't really put any bite pressure on it as yet. The Navy blue, purple, gold and pea green colors have faded significantly since yesterday. Still applying intermittent cold packs and topical salve to the bruises. Both seem to be helping. Oh, got word from Medicare yesterday afternoon. The definitely will not cover anything in any way that involves oral surgery and teeth...sigh."

Thank you all for keeping Donna in your prayers.

Sheryl

Assembly of a Table

While Jon was home, we tried to find a bar table that would go with the three bar stools we had. I finally found what we wanted online, but of course it came today, long after Jon had left. But with Joshua's help I am proud to report that I assembled it and it works great. I even got out Jon's power drill, found the correct attachment and got the screws in all the way. What a feeling of accomplishment. Of course Joshua had to take poor Bristles outside so he wouldn't have a panic attack.

You may notice in the picture another table in the kitchen. My work table has been in the kitchen almost the entire time Jon has been deployed because Joshua and I love puzzles and we usually have one that we are working on. The current one is too large to transfer to any other surface, so we'll just have two tables for a while.

Sheryl

Flat and Sandy

A little news about Jon's new post along with a picture of the flat, sandy landscape.

"I'm trying to get on a schedule at my new location that will permit me to get up early enough in the morning to run (days are around 118 degrees now, so it is too hot to run after about 0630, peaks by 1500, and is usually above 90 degrees even an hour after the sun goes down). There is a Episcopal/Lutheran Eucharist Sunday at the chapel near me at 0900 tomorrow, I should be able to make that. I hope I'm not gaining weight, the food is good here at the MOACH (mother of all chow halls, this building is about the square footage of two football fields)."

Sheryl

Soccer Begins

Today was Joshua's first AYSO soccer game with this year's team, the Blue Smashing Warriors. There were a number of changes from last year's U8 (under 8 years old) to this year's U9 (under 9 years old), not the least of which is the much larger field. But our team has been prepared well by volunteer coaches and so they played quite well in their first game. They did win (2-1), but the first few games of the season don't "count." But that is another change -- this year the games will count and there will be play offs at the end of the season (if our team can find another volunteer referee). Jon is a trained AYSO referee but unfortunately his commanding officer doesn't seem to think Jon should be sent home early to fill our need for another volunteer ref. Go figure!

Soccer Mom, Sheryl

Prayer Request for my Mother-in-Law

I received news from my father-in-law on Thursday that my mother-in-law Donna had experienced a bad fall.

"Donna tripped on a curb around 12:00 noon today. She hit the ground face first. I got her up and off to the emergency room for 3 1/2 hrs. Then to the dentist's office. Upshot is that she will have oral surgery tomorrow. In addition, her lower lip and left hand where scraped and bruised quite badly. They are suspicious of a fracture in the facial bone as there is air in the sinuses. Won't know until the oral surgeon checks that out. Meantime, she is on pain pills and antibiotics and a liquid diet."

Then came the update today:

"We got home from the oral surgeon. At this point Donna is sleeping albeit with much soreness and pain as well as substantial swelling across her face. The oral surgeon found that in addition to four broken teeth that her upper jaw bone was also broken.
He was able to get the teeth out and the jaw bone together and positioned correctly. However it will be about 2 weeks before any chance of getting a temporary bridge. She is not able to talk at this point and her diet for 24 hours is restricted to ice cream & such. We would appreciate your continued prayers for her rapid recovery and healing as she is planning on meeting with her former high school student for their 50th class reunion -- in TWO WEEKS."

I echo my father-in-law's request for prayer. Thank you for joining us in praying for Donna's healing and recovery.

Sheryl

First Day of Third Grade

Joshua started 3rd grade on Tuesday, September 2. His teacher is Sra. Garcia-Serrato and we have heard wonderful things about her from the parents whose children had her last year. Joshua is the class helper this week and so spent a good portion of his day handing out papers that needed to go home and be read and signed by the parents (my homework). He even had homework, although not much. He needed to read 30 minutes in a Spanish chapter book and then do an activity with his family and write a paragraph about it in Spanish. I thought that was a pretty creative idea. We had a new puzzle, so Joshua insisted that I help him get it started since it was his homework. This year he will stay with Sra. Garcia-Serrato all day. In the past the 2-way immersion students went to a different teacher for 20 - 50 minutes a day for English class, but in third grade they will spend the morning studying in Spanish (reading, writing and math) and spend the afternoon studying in English (social studies and science). We continue to be thrilled with the 2-way immersion program and the way Joshua is excelling in all subjects as he has been learning them in Spanish. Now of course he is very excited that he will get to read in English.

My PTA work started weeks ago with planning for the new year, but my first official board meeting is Wednesday, so I am off and running. I appreciate that my busy schedule will help the next 6 months move by a little quicker.

Blessings to you all.

Sheryl

Jon's move

Just got this update from Jon regarding his move.

"Well, I'm here safely, it was quite a trip (more exhausting than I thought it would be), but things are going well. I had a long day (was at work before 0900), and then rode to the landing zone (LZ) for the chopper ride at 2330. We waited for a little less than the expected 2 hours, and were in the terminal at our destination by 0330 or so. The thing that made it exhausting (besides the late hour) was lugging my sea bag and carry on, wearing my full body armor, across about 100 yards of heavy gravel to get on the bird, and the same thing getting off the bird -- and it was still over 90 degrees. Needless to say, I was dripping sweat the whole way (as was everybody), and the sweat that gets trapped by your clothes under the body armor does not have a chance to evaporate, so it can get pretty miserable. I was in bed by 0430, the containerized housing units (CHU) are fairly decent (I'm in my own CHU for now, though it is a two man CHU, and I'm slated for a room mate when everyone else gets here. Also, I'm not in my "final" CHU, as there is some shuffling of personnel going on; I should be moved to my final CHU sometime in early October).

I woke up around 1130 after I crashed (slept, no aerial mishap), and I had a BAD head ache, so I took some aspirin and went back to bed for an hour. I got up at 1230, and it was a little better, but didn't truly fade away until a couple hours later after some food, some more hydration, and some caffeine. I rearranged my room, I think my head might have been downhill (I don't think my CHU is exactly level), so hopefully I won't wake up with a head ache tomorrow. I fixed it so I can do my sit ups and exercises in my room, that's a good thing (the mechanism will be portable to my new room when I move). I feel fine now, but am taking extra care to stay hydrated."

Thank you for your continued prayers. Today was Joshua's first day of school, so I'll post something about that tomorrow.

Sheryl

An update from the front

Hope you had a relaxing Labor Day. I did! My extended family has been having a Labor Day BBQ together in Southern California for about 21 years with very few skipped years. Joshua and I enjoyed the pool, great company and delicious food at my cousin's home in North San Diego County. But Jon did not have the day off. He sent this information a couple days ago.

"Sheryl was forwarded a couple news article from one of my unit's Key Volunteers (Sheryl can tell you more about Key Volunteers than I can). Penned by Robert Burns and Jonathan Steele in two separate articles, the following paragraph is representative of the success that deployed service members and civilians have achieved in GWOT...

"Fewer Marines needed...
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine commandant said Wednesday that forces can be reduced, as the military moves to hand over control of the region. Conway said Marines told him, "There aren't a whole heck of a lot of bad guys there left to fight." Driving through once-dangerous cities, he said, "Our vehicles seemed to go largely unnoticed as there was much construction and rebuilding taking place." Toward the end of 2006, the Arabs who were leading the insurgency decided to join hands with U.S. forces to jointly fight the extremists, and violence levels plunged. The father of a family who drove through said: "It is safe. I had no fear about bringing my wife and children."

To say things have changed dramatically since I first deployed here in early 2006 would be the epitome of understatement. It will doubtless take decades for the full nature of the changes that have been wrought, with impact across the globe, due to the vision and initial guidance of our politicians, the determined and adapting leadership of our military, and the steadfast and brilliant execution by all those "in the field"--some in uniform and some not, but all warriors, none the less--for the greater good.

Semper Fi,
Jon G."

Address change

When Jon returned to his base, his move was delayed a bit. However, it looks like plans are moving forward. As you may remember, he wasn't sure what would happen with his mail. Below is the result of his meeting with the postal service. We'll see if it works. This will be the address for letters and packages. For Motomail go ahead and use the same old address (you won't find 'AAAB' as an option in the address book) and we'll see if they forward it or not. As a side note, Cory, he did get your card, and had a good chuckle. Thanks!

"Following coordination with various authorities, I've been informed that my mail should be good to go -- the following address is supposed to work, albeit with possible delays:

I MEF G2 (AAAB)
Unit 42540
FPO AP 96426-2540

Just a reminder, now is NOT the season for chocolate or anything that melts. It is always the season for ground coffee (Freedom Press grind is preferred). Thanks for your continued prayers and support!!!

Semper Fi,
Jon G."

Moving In Day

Today my cousin Kimberly, her husband Nate and their 9 month old daughter Natalie arrived after a long week of traveling from Minnesota to La Jolla, California. We had about 2 dozen family members there preparing their home for them, unloading their truck and welcoming them to the neighborhood. Nate is in a Masters program at University of California in San Diego (UCSD) and they have married student housing. Their upstairs apartment is a reasonable size with a great view of grass and gardens from their porch. They are about 15 minutes from Kimberly's brother Ethan who lives in San Diego. Others in our "clan" are 30, 45, 60 minutes and more away, so it was wonderful to gather together to help them get settled into their new home. We'll all be seeing each other again on Monday for our traditional family BBQ at another cousin's home.

Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Sheryl

Address update from the Jarhed

Just got this from Jon. As soon as I have his new address, I'll post it on the blog then everyone can flood him with mail in honor of Veteran's Day on November 11 or the Marine Corps birthday on November 10.

"Things are going well, I'm plugged back into work, but mightily refreshed after my two weeks R&R (the vacation made a huge difference, and projects that were overwhelming me when I left appear almost trivial now -- though I'm sure there is a diminishing law of returns on my new energy level). I will be working at a different base in the near future, it is a very secure and established work environment, but I've been informed I will be unable to receive mail there until after 1 November. I would ask that you refrain from mailing me anything until after that date -- once a piece of mail gets thrown in the "undeliverable" stack, who knows whether it will ever get to me, and in the meantime it will doubtless clutter up someone's work space. Thanks.

I know there is a constant desire to know how things are going over here, and what the indicators might be that we are achieving success. I experienced an event today which was to me about the strongest indicator that I could have imagined that our mission here is close to accomplished--random periodic urinalysis tests have been implemented for service members here, and mandatory urinalysis tests are required upon return from R&R. This is about as clear a signal as you could wish for heralding the cessation of combat operations (kind of like the number of late night pizza orders at the Pentagon signaled the kick-of of Operation Desert Storm).

Thanks for your prayers and support, and I'll keep you posted."

Interesting Travel Conditions

Jon has arrived safely back at his home base and is still expecting to move to a new base shortly. He sent this description of the second to last leg of his trip back.

"The flight in was typical, the C-130 stretched cloth rack seats were as uncomfortable as usual, but this time around, I had my poncho/bleacher seat combo on hand as a seat cushion, so it was bearable (I had it on the way out, as well, which is how my buns survived the four hour convoy on bench seats in the back of a seven ton). Interesting this trip was the air turbulence, which had us jinking around quite a lot, and at the end, we were in a pretty steep turn when we hit some turbulence which seemed to put us into an even steeper turn, I think that's the most G's I've ever experienced in an aircraft. For what seemed like about ten to fifteen seconds, I could not lean forward, my back was pressed back into the seat (my back was facing the starboard side of the aircraft) by the G's. One guy (fortunately at the other end of the aircraft) threw up (the turbulence was at the end of the trip), but the smell never reached me (and the upchuck never made it rolling up and down the floor as far as my pack). As is typical in these flights, I was fervently praying that I would not be the one to get sick, and that God would bring us safely in. It's actually been a long time since they lost a C-130, but statistics don't provide much comfort when YOU are the one on the aircraft. It's pretty hazy here, but we may get out of here tonight back to home base, but we don't know yet. I just got out of breakfast, scrambled eggs, hash browns, a large biscuit, cup of coffee, and a large glass of mango juice. Not bad for being back in a combat zone."

Shortly after posting the paragraphs above, I got another short message from Jon with a current update.

"Got up this morning and did my stretching and exercises, and then went for a three mile run. It hurt a little, but I took it easy, and there are some stiff parts now, about an hour and a half after the run, but hopefully nothing that I can't overcome. It is a real blessing to have had that extra day in Kuwait to catch up on sleep, and to already feel "acclimatized" to the time zone on my first day back at work. Speaking of acclimatized, it is a little hotter here than when I left, about three to five degrees a day hotter, but that's a small enough gap to assimilate. It was about 80, I'm guessing, when I was running this morning at 0545, which I can handle. I had a Motomail from Joe waiting for me, that was very encouraging that he thought to do that, send a Motomail to be here when I got here... I also got a Motomail from Lina, sent before she left for her trip to Canada to play piano at a friend's wedding (a friend she met at Sakeji)."

Thank you for your prayers and notes to Jon. Please remember that he is moving shortly, so please hold all mail (Motomail included) until I send his new address.

This is Joshua's last week before school starts so we are going to have some play dates with friends and do a few fun things before the school routine begins.

Sheryl

Delayed in Kuwait

I received two short e-mails from Jon this morning. He is delayed in Kuwait for now and not sure when he'll restart his journey back to work. He wrote, "Waiting around with nothing to do is further demoralizing to folks already demoralized by having to come back after only 15 days R&R..."

All for now.

Sheryl

Jon is safely to the next step of his jouney back

Jon called this morning to let us know that he arrived safely in Kuwait around 2000 today. He is looking forward to a good night's sleep before muster in the morning when he'll find out when they head to the next step of their destination. He was encouraged by a group of girl scouts who served goodies and greeted all of the Marines who were in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport preparing to head "back to work" yesterday. He said that all along this return journey many people shook their hands and thanked them for their service.

Thanks for your continued prayers for his safety as he heads back.

Sheryl

Out with the Old and In with the New

The title for this blog was not my idea but suggested by my husband to report on his departure and the arrival of the newest member of our family. Yep, we have acquired our first guinea pig. Joshua has begged for a dog or a cat and finally a guinea pig for years. In our small mobile home where animals must be kept in doors, Jon and I did not feel comfortable with either a dog or a cat, but gave in on a guinea pig. With all of our traveling this summer, we put off getting the little creature until the end of the summer when we didn't have any more traveling scheduled. So yesterday we took a trip to Pet Smart and invested in "Bristles" (named for the stiff hair on his head). Animal and humans are all doing well so far in our co-habitation.

So that was "In with the New" and here is the "Out with the Old" part of the story. This morning we were up and out of the house a little after 0500. We had checked Jon in and had his boarding pass last night so we didn't need to get to the airport too early. As it turned out, since he was traveling in uniform, the Orange County airport TSA officials had him go through the "Employee" security gate so he didn't have to wait in line at all. Of course a pilot and a couple flight attendants had to wait for him to get his boots off since he still had the same screening to go through. But he got through security by 6:00 and headed to his gate where his flight was to depart at 6:45.

There were some tears but I was so tired, I drove home in a fog and went back to bed and was able to sleep for 2 hours. Joshua couldn't sleep and so played with his Legos until I woke up. Then we headed to the beach with good friends from school. We were there about 5 hours and expect to sleep well tonight. It was a gorgeous day and Joshua and I both enjoyed time in the waves. Jon was able to call from the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport before he caught his connecting flight. He hadn't slept on the first leg of his flight due to a bit too much caffeine. Hopefully he will sleep well on other portions of his travel. He isn't sure how long it will be before he can call again.

When he arrives back at the base where he was before, he will only be there a short time before moving to a new base. Once I get his address at the new base, I will post it on the blog, but in the mean time, please do not send him any letters, packages or motomails.

Thank you for your prayers and encouraging e-mails. We are glad to be counting down the final 6 months of our family's separation, but it is not easy. And of course we still have an unsure future when Jon returns next year. We really appreciate your continued prayers.

Sheryl