Almost half way there

This just in from Jon. FYI from me -- I made it to San Francisco via Denver and Las Vegas, but made it none the less. I'm having a great time with Judy and Tim (aunt and cousin respectively) and will be heading to pick up Joshua early Friday morning. Then we'll be headed home. Okay, now on to Jon's message...

I am nearing the theoretical (military plans are always subject to change due to emerging circumstances, which is why many Marines have modified their famous motto to "Semper Gumby") half-way point in my thirteen month deployment, and though this is really more of a shifting line in the sand (as opposed to writing on the wall in a Biblical sense) and for most folks in my unit may not herald any changes, the next couple of months WILL result in some changes for ME.

The first thing is that I qualify for and have accepted a fifteen day rest and recuperation (R&R) period (chargeable as leave, or if applicable, PDMRA--which acronym I can explain more fully if anyone is interested) that I will be able to spend with my family shortly (needless to say, I'm looking forward to this).

The second thing is that I will be posted to a different base when I return from R&R, that will mess up my mailing address--my parent command and it's mailing address and post office will not change it's location, so any mail I receive will go to one location, but I'll go to another, and this area does not have a robust mail-forwarding service... As a result (and I never thought I'd ever say this...), please STOP SENDING ME MAIL, Motomail, letters or packages, starting immediately, until I can coordinate with the command mail section at my new location how I can receive mail without it stacking up somewhere and/or being destroyed as "undeliverable." Though this second event is some distance in the future, I'd like to implement this change early enough to prevent any piece of mail from ending up in a "black hole."

Otherwise, things are generally going as well as can be expected; however, some things are much better than can be expected--a recent performance evaluation I received from my chain of command was the most superlative evaluation of my career. I know that of my own strength and will, my accomplishments are wood, hay, and trash--but because of God's mercy and grace, and your prayers and support, His endstate will prevail (as we so often pray, "His Kingdom come!").

Semper Fi, JarHedJon

PS: If you're bored and have nothing to do, try diagramming the first sentence/paragraph of this post. Absent the parenthetical inclusions, it should not be that difficult...