Jon is getting settled into his room and I thought you might be interested in reading about his creativity in setting things up in a way that will work for him.
"I am getting my room set up more and more every day. Today I set it up with a sit-up bar, so I have something I can hook my feet under so I can do situps every morning before my stretching exercises. I also picked up some heavy wire mesh material that I can use to support the mattress on my bed instead of the piece of 1/2inch plywood, which is not big enough to do the job. I also have got a large swath of construction felt that I can use to insulate and cover the window in my room to prevent the transfer of heat and light (the heavy wire mesh and the construction felt both came from three discarded sides to a HESCO barrier that someone has abandoned adjacent to a blast shelter). I'm pretty stoked about getting my room more and more liveable every day."
Thank you for your continued prayers for all of us. Joshua is doing very well. I have complimented him on his great behavior and helpfulness around the house. That is a huge blessing to me. I still struggle with the overwhelming feeling of having to do everything on my own. Of course many of you offer your help, but I'm referring to just "doing life" on my own without my husband, partner, best friend... But overall we all are doing quite well as we finish up our second week of deployment.
Sheryl
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Getting settled
Just got this update from Jon:
"Now that the convoy with all our gear has arrived, I've got started on the NLT Chronological One Year Bible--I plain didn't have room in my "overnight" (which really had to cover six nights) bag for it.
Progress here continues at an almost astronomical rate, a couple of days ago there were ZERO incidents in the whole province over a 24 hour period. Yes, this is probably an anomaly, but the truth is that the people of the United States can be proud of the job our Service men and women are doing here.
I received my first snail mail exactly seven days after I left the States, a post card mailed by Sheryl and Joshua the day I left California! By mid February I should be assigned permanent billeting [housing], after which it will be a little easier to establish a routine (I will no longer be "living out of a suitcase")--which I find is the most contributing factor to my ability to practice discipline.
The weather here is about ten degrees colder than I remember it being during the same season in 2006, but given the indoors nature of my job and the reality that thin-blooded Californians have no credibility when it comes to their perception of what is cold, I will not complain about it...
Thanks for your prayers and support, I have as yet escaped the CRUD that typically accompanies arrival in country AND the bug that is going the rounds even among those that have been here for several months."
That's all for now.
Sheryl
"Now that the convoy with all our gear has arrived, I've got started on the NLT Chronological One Year Bible--I plain didn't have room in my "overnight" (which really had to cover six nights) bag for it.
Progress here continues at an almost astronomical rate, a couple of days ago there were ZERO incidents in the whole province over a 24 hour period. Yes, this is probably an anomaly, but the truth is that the people of the United States can be proud of the job our Service men and women are doing here.
I received my first snail mail exactly seven days after I left the States, a post card mailed by Sheryl and Joshua the day I left California! By mid February I should be assigned permanent billeting [housing], after which it will be a little easier to establish a routine (I will no longer be "living out of a suitcase")--which I find is the most contributing factor to my ability to practice discipline.
The weather here is about ten degrees colder than I remember it being during the same season in 2006, but given the indoors nature of my job and the reality that thin-blooded Californians have no credibility when it comes to their perception of what is cold, I will not complain about it...
Thanks for your prayers and support, I have as yet escaped the CRUD that typically accompanies arrival in country AND the bug that is going the rounds even among those that have been here for several months."
That's all for now.
Sheryl
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
He made it
I received this e-mail when I woke up this morning.
"Well, I got in last night (to my final destination) at about 2000 after an uneventful trip. I'm billeted in the same building as last time, but in a different room--which is going to need some major improvements if I'm going to be permanently billeted there. The heater does not work, there is no plywood base between the frame and the mattress (making the bed very uncomfortable to sleep in), and the curtains are not sufficient to keep out daylight. That being said, it was good to be finally done with traveling, and our stowed luggage should arrive tomorrow afternoon, though I'll live out of the day bag for now. This is because we've been told billeting is temporary until after the transition is complete, after which we'll take stock and allocate the rooms permanently. I'd really like my old room back (unless God has something better for me :), so please pray to that end.
There is definitely a sense of familiarity for me here, especially since I'm in the same building I lived in before. There is also a sense of huge unknowns as well, as I'm operationally spinning up in a totally different area than what I had experience with before. It seems I will have plenty of work to do, so boredom will not be a problem. However, it also seems like I'll be able to moderate my work to 12 hours or so a day, which will help with the whole burn-out thing."
Thanks for praying for Jon these past 4 1/2 days as he was traveling. Now the work begins for him and you can see from his message some ways to pray. We appreciate knowing that so many of you are praying for our family.
Sheryl
"Well, I got in last night (to my final destination) at about 2000 after an uneventful trip. I'm billeted in the same building as last time, but in a different room--which is going to need some major improvements if I'm going to be permanently billeted there. The heater does not work, there is no plywood base between the frame and the mattress (making the bed very uncomfortable to sleep in), and the curtains are not sufficient to keep out daylight. That being said, it was good to be finally done with traveling, and our stowed luggage should arrive tomorrow afternoon, though I'll live out of the day bag for now. This is because we've been told billeting is temporary until after the transition is complete, after which we'll take stock and allocate the rooms permanently. I'd really like my old room back (unless God has something better for me :), so please pray to that end.
There is definitely a sense of familiarity for me here, especially since I'm in the same building I lived in before. There is also a sense of huge unknowns as well, as I'm operationally spinning up in a totally different area than what I had experience with before. It seems I will have plenty of work to do, so boredom will not be a problem. However, it also seems like I'll be able to moderate my work to 12 hours or so a day, which will help with the whole burn-out thing."
Thanks for praying for Jon these past 4 1/2 days as he was traveling. Now the work begins for him and you can see from his message some ways to pray. We appreciate knowing that so many of you are praying for our family.
Sheryl
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
News from the Persian Gulf and San Juan
Last night as I was heading to bed I checked my e-mails for one final time and noticed that Jon had sent a message just a couple minutes previously. I got on my computer and sent a quite note to see if he was still online and saw a message pop up before I had even sent mine. We spent the next twenty minutes sending messages back and forth. It's a rather weird way to be connected, but it's better than nothing. Fortunately we both type fairly fast.
Sometime today (our time) he should be making his final flight to the destination where he'll be for the next 13 months. I'll let you all know when I hear that he has arrived.
I have received a few e-mails asking for an update on the mold situation. When the worker came out to address the problem he wanted to use a special solution to wipe away the mold. He showed me, "Look the mold is gone." Yeah, right! (deep sarcasm) When I didn't agree he asked, "So you want me to cut out the drywall and put in a new piece?" Yes, that was exactly what I wanted. He was eventually convinced when he took off the baseboards and saw the mold on the backs of them and that the wall really was damp. He cut everything out and left space under the walls so air could circulate through both cupboards. We'll wait at least a week and then see if things are dry enough to replace. I have also been instructed to keep an eye out for any signs of more mold. Everything is documented and I have been assured that if something shows up in the future, it will be covered, even if the warranty is over.
On to a lighter note. Two years ago, the night before Jon left the first time (February 16, 2006), Joshua lost his first tooth. Sunday morning (two days after Jon left this time) Joshua lost his 5th tooth. Maybe this demonstrates how we fall apart a bit when Jon leaves. Or maybe this is a reminder that losing baby teeth is a normal part of life so that a new big tooth can grow in, like it is supposed to. I'm not going to say that a family being separated for a year is a normal part of life, but everyone has times of great difficulty to deal with and THAT IS life. The trick is learning to allow a new healthy life to grow up instead of a bitter, angry one. So Joshua and I will both be losing baby teeth and growing new big ones this year. Hope you do too.
Sheryl
Sometime today (our time) he should be making his final flight to the destination where he'll be for the next 13 months. I'll let you all know when I hear that he has arrived.
I have received a few e-mails asking for an update on the mold situation. When the worker came out to address the problem he wanted to use a special solution to wipe away the mold. He showed me, "Look the mold is gone." Yeah, right! (deep sarcasm) When I didn't agree he asked, "So you want me to cut out the drywall and put in a new piece?" Yes, that was exactly what I wanted. He was eventually convinced when he took off the baseboards and saw the mold on the backs of them and that the wall really was damp. He cut everything out and left space under the walls so air could circulate through both cupboards. We'll wait at least a week and then see if things are dry enough to replace. I have also been instructed to keep an eye out for any signs of more mold. Everything is documented and I have been assured that if something shows up in the future, it will be covered, even if the warranty is over.
On to a lighter note. Two years ago, the night before Jon left the first time (February 16, 2006), Joshua lost his first tooth. Sunday morning (two days after Jon left this time) Joshua lost his 5th tooth. Maybe this demonstrates how we fall apart a bit when Jon leaves. Or maybe this is a reminder that losing baby teeth is a normal part of life so that a new big tooth can grow in, like it is supposed to. I'm not going to say that a family being separated for a year is a normal part of life, but everyone has times of great difficulty to deal with and THAT IS life. The trick is learning to allow a new healthy life to grow up instead of a bitter, angry one. So Joshua and I will both be losing baby teeth and growing new big ones this year. Hope you do too.
Sheryl
Monday, January 21, 2008
Another flight toward final destination
I just got a couple e-mails from Jon and thought I'd post parts of them for you all.
"We got away from [the first Persian Gulf country] with less than 48 hours there, but it was a near thing... We had a 1530 muster with all our gear, and were supposed to head out to the flight line for a 2000 flight, which we did, but the plane had a problem, and we sat there for an hour and a half while they tried to fix it... If you've ever sat in C-130 canvas seating for two hours, you'll know how hard that is on your buns, and two hours was longer than our flight was supposed to be. We finally transferred to another aircraft, and then endured the flight into country, our buns had totally had it by then. Made it into country at about midnight, and I went over and read a little while, then went to bed. I could have gone over to the transient area to watch the game, but didn't really feel like it--instead I read a little and then crashed. We'd missed the first quarter of the Patriot-Charger game anyway, standing on the flight line and dragging our gear to the transient quarters (I think I tweaked my shoulder a little, or maybe I just slept on it wrong--I'm in bad shape, having not PT'ed since early December, so I'm "looking forward" to getting back into a routine which I hope I'll have enough discipline to maintain). I slept pretty much through until 1100, and just finished chow, which was good. I've got one more leg of my trip to make, [hopefully it will be within the next 48 hours]. Well, some things have changed over here, but other things are the same. Generally, though, the changes are definitely for the better, even the little observable things to a Marine in transit."
Thanks for your prayers.
Sheryl
"We got away from [the first Persian Gulf country] with less than 48 hours there, but it was a near thing... We had a 1530 muster with all our gear, and were supposed to head out to the flight line for a 2000 flight, which we did, but the plane had a problem, and we sat there for an hour and a half while they tried to fix it... If you've ever sat in C-130 canvas seating for two hours, you'll know how hard that is on your buns, and two hours was longer than our flight was supposed to be. We finally transferred to another aircraft, and then endured the flight into country, our buns had totally had it by then. Made it into country at about midnight, and I went over and read a little while, then went to bed. I could have gone over to the transient area to watch the game, but didn't really feel like it--instead I read a little and then crashed. We'd missed the first quarter of the Patriot-Charger game anyway, standing on the flight line and dragging our gear to the transient quarters (I think I tweaked my shoulder a little, or maybe I just slept on it wrong--I'm in bad shape, having not PT'ed since early December, so I'm "looking forward" to getting back into a routine which I hope I'll have enough discipline to maintain). I slept pretty much through until 1100, and just finished chow, which was good. I've got one more leg of my trip to make, [hopefully it will be within the next 48 hours]. Well, some things have changed over here, but other things are the same. Generally, though, the changes are definitely for the better, even the little observable things to a Marine in transit."
Thanks for your prayers.
Sheryl
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Safely in the Persian Gulf area
I received my first e-mail (of hundreds to come) from Jon. He arrived safely in a Persian Gulf country that is not his final destination. He slept more on the flight from Europe to that country. He may be at this stop for a day or two before starting the final leg of his journey. Thanks for continuing to keep him in your prayers.
I don't think I mentioned that Joshua and I had a great time at the SD Zoo yesterday. Here is Joshua's favorite picture of himself with his favorite animal -- a Meerkat. Right after taking this picture a man with his family noticed Joshua's hat and jokingly asked if he'd been to Camp Fallujah. Joshua said no but that his Dad had been there and was on his way back. It was nice to receive the condolences from a family who truly understood. This Marine was only recently back and not sure when he might return. We are definitely not alone in this experience.
All for now.
Sheryl
Friday, January 18, 2008
Leaving the country
Jon called my cell this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. California time. He was in Bangor, Maine, where the citizens of that town have continued, for years now, to support the military personnel who come through their airport. There are community members at the airport at any time of the day or night to welcome military personnel who are headed out of country or coming home. They also provide free cell phones for Marines and others to use to call home. That's how Jon was able to reach me this afternoon. What a blessing those dear people are up in the northeast corner of our country.
Jon's flight out of March Air Force Base in Riverside, CA, left on time so they only had to wait there for a couple hours. Those of you who know Jon won't be surprised by this, but Jon was able to sleep for 4 hours on the flight from California to Maine. That is great news since he didn't get much sleep last night (an hour and a half).
By now he should be winging his way over the Atlantic to parts in Europe before heading south to the Persian Gulf region. Thanks for your prayers. I've included a few pictures of our Escape camp out and our final good byes.
Sheryl
Big Yawn!
It was a short night and an early morning. We were up and out of the house by 2:00 a.m. Jon had to check in at 2:30. He was done checking in and getting his weapon by a little after 3:00 but the chow hall didn't open till 5:00 and they weren't scheduled for final muster until 5:45. Well, I was prepared. The back of the Escape was full of sleeping pads, sleeping bags, comforters, pillows and lots of blanks. After half an hour of squirming around all three of us actually fell asleep for about an hour. Then it was breakfast in the chow hall and good byes in the freezing (okay, temperature is all relative, but it was in the low 40s and breezy and I forgot our warm coats). After muster the Marines boarded their buses and headed off at 6:30. They'll be at their next stop for a number of hours before flying out with various stops on their journey to the other side of the world. I'll keep you posted as I hear from Jon.
Joshua and I had plans to go to the San Diego Zoo today, but at 6:30 I realized they don't open until 9:00. Fortunately my sister lives in north San Diego county, so we stopped by her place at 7:00. Joshua is enjoying their Wii and I was able to get caught up with Sandy over a cup of tea and make this post to my blog.
All for now.
Sheryl
Joshua and I had plans to go to the San Diego Zoo today, but at 6:30 I realized they don't open until 9:00. Fortunately my sister lives in north San Diego county, so we stopped by her place at 7:00. Joshua is enjoying their Wii and I was able to get caught up with Sandy over a cup of tea and make this post to my blog.
All for now.
Sheryl
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
You won't believe this
For those of you who have faithfully read this blog for the two years that I have written it, you will not believe what I found in our new house yesterday. As I removed the table leaves from the closet in the utility room, I discovered that the wall of the closet was covered with fuzzy mold covering the bottom foot of the closet wall. As you probably remember, we got rid of our old home due to mold that was inside the walls and subfloor but never actually showed its furry face on the inside of the house. UGH! All I can figure is that the wall sucked up a lot of water when we had that leak prior to our move-in and the mold has finally sprouted -- or whatever you call it.
I have been assured by the company that we bought the home from that someone will be out, hopefully today, but I have not gotten any calls so far this morning. I don't know how they will get rid of it, but I they cut the wall out and replace it. I want to make sure there isn't mold beginning to grow in other walls. The other side of the closet had some mold showing.
And so the saga of our house continues. I just wish that I didn't have to deal with it by myself starting in a few days. Oh, well, the one upside is that the frustration of this house problem does help to cover some of those sad feelings.
To top it off, Joshua has been home sick all week. I thought he was having allergies on Sunday, due to the winds, but by Monday afternoon he had a temperature and was vomiting. Poor kid, he has been pretty miserable. I am keeping him home today but his cough seems to be getting better and he hasn't had any more problems with his stomach.
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.
Sheryl
I have been assured by the company that we bought the home from that someone will be out, hopefully today, but I have not gotten any calls so far this morning. I don't know how they will get rid of it, but I they cut the wall out and replace it. I want to make sure there isn't mold beginning to grow in other walls. The other side of the closet had some mold showing.
And so the saga of our house continues. I just wish that I didn't have to deal with it by myself starting in a few days. Oh, well, the one upside is that the frustration of this house problem does help to cover some of those sad feelings.
To top it off, Joshua has been home sick all week. I thought he was having allergies on Sunday, due to the winds, but by Monday afternoon he had a temperature and was vomiting. Poor kid, he has been pretty miserable. I am keeping him home today but his cough seems to be getting better and he hasn't had any more problems with his stomach.
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.
Sheryl
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Update
I am sorry that it has taken so long to get pictures posted of the house. We had our open house last weekend and so we were working hard to get everything ready for that. Since then there has just been a lot of work preparing for Jon's departure which is less than a week away.
But this morning I went out and took a couple pictures outside and a few inside so you can get an idea of what the final result looks like. We love it! There is a picture of the entire house from the north east corner and a picture of our huge 9'x33' front porch. I'll have to get a picture from the west side so you can see the car port and Jon's shed. Inside there is a picture of the living room (2/3 of it fit in the picture), dining room/library and my huge wonderful kitchen. Enjoy the tour.
But this morning I went out and took a couple pictures outside and a few inside so you can get an idea of what the final result looks like. We love it! There is a picture of the entire house from the north east corner and a picture of our huge 9'x33' front porch. I'll have to get a picture from the west side so you can see the car port and Jon's shed. Inside there is a picture of the living room (2/3 of it fit in the picture), dining room/library and my huge wonderful kitchen. Enjoy the tour.
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