Just pluggin' along!

Sorry for the delay in writing. It's safe to assume that no news is good news though, for the record. :-)

Nic was promoted to specialist a couple of weeks ago. He's very proud of himself and super happy for the pay increase as it just sits earning interest in his bank account waiting on him to come home to it. haha. They did a little ceremony over there where the commanding officer (I think) comes up to each promotee and rips off their PFC tags and replaces it with the new SPC (specialist) tags.

He's well over the hump now. Just 7 months to go now!! He told me in an email that he wanted to make sure I know how much he appreciates all of our boxes and cards we send him. He said it's hard to show via email how much he loves them, but he said it makes his week when he gets them. So keep up the good work people! I'm still updating the movie list with anything anyone emails me to add to the list.

I am also adding to his boxes each month a DVD with pictures and videos of Miles so that Nic won't miss a beat. He can see him growing just like the rest of us. Starting with month 2, the one I just sent out, I added a place at the end of the DVD for video messages from family members. So if you'd like to do one let me know and I can explain to you how to do it with your digital camera OR we can meet someplace and I can video you. I'm happy to do this for you so just let me know. :-)

That's all for now. I promise when I get back to work I'll be better about updating for you. Thanks for reading.

Doing fine...bored.

We talked to Nic last week. He's doing just fine. Thankfully he said he's bored. :-) That's what we like to hear. I know he'd rather be doing something, but we're thrilled to hear he's bored. He is not in Taji at the moment, but he couldn't tell me over the phone where he was. He said not to worry it's no where exciting, but it's not Taji.

That's really it for now. He's bored so not much to tell. Keep the cards and good tidings coming. I really think they keep him in good spirits maybe more than we all realize. So thanks!

Halfway there!!

Well, first sorry for the delay in posting anything. We've had a bit of an interruption in our daily schedule and his name is Miles. :-) I've spoken to Nic once and emailed back and forth. He's doing fine and things are going like they usually do. He hasn't had any special requests for care package contents so I guess we're doing a good job on that front. He was very excited to remind me that he's halfway done with deployment...and I was also VERY excited to be reminded of that!

He said the rumor (so don't hold your breath) is that they'll start breaking down their unit in December for a return home in February or March. We had expected a March return so a February would be delightful! Like I said though, this is the rumor mill...so take it with a grain of salt. Either way we're over the hump and on the downhill slide now.

He did say his group (I suck at knowing if it's his "unit" or "team" or "squad" or whatever else) was hit with an explosive. He said everyone was alright, but one guy got pretty shook up. He wasn't injured seriously, just rattled pretty good. He said it went off right in front of him, but he was fine. (Can we all thank God for that please?!)

Dad said he talked to him and he had just gotten finished with latrine duty. Sounds horrendous right? Well, I'm sure it was, but not as bad for Nic as it could've been. His job his time around was to carry the blue stuff to dump down in the commode part. He was doing just that when he heard yelling outside. He ran out to see what was going on and the hose had come loose and the one of the other guys was covered in latrine contents. Dad said Nic walked over and handed the guy a towel he had on him and said "You can keep that." :-)

All seems to be going okay though. He's very excited to get home for many reasons...but one is laying next to me asleep at the moment. He's a very proud uncle...and we couldn't be more proud of him back. So keep the cards, letters and packages coming...he appreciates them very much and it keeps his morale high when it's hot as hell and just miserable in general.

Spoke to Nic today.

Nic called this morning at 6:30am. He said it was supposed to get up to 111 degrees today over there. He was not looking forward to that at all, but he said it's pretty typical these days...and it's not even August yet!

He also gave me some tips for care packages. I sent him one and he said what was good and what was not so good. He doesn't have easy access to a microwave...so microwavable foods are not ideal. He said no Skittles or M&M's...they come in the MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) and they're sick of them. I apparently have also burnt him out on Laffy Taffy...so skip that at least for a few months! :-) He said Fruit by the Foot and snack bags of Cheetos/Doritos are always welcome. Also, sending him new release DVDs aren't always a good idea. They get bootleg copies of them all the time so they've usually seen them before we can get them sent to him. So stick with classics or movies that have been out for a while. Oh, cookies are always welcome...cookies of any kind.

So there ya go...that's all I've got for now.

The latest...

We haven't heard from him since Father's Day, but he seems to be doing fine. Mom said when he called on Father's Day he said he was going to call the Guiness Book of World Records because he was sure it was the hottest day in the history of the world in Taji. :-) He and Armanderez were unloading a truck and he said when they got finished they were dripping with sweat, and not just from their skin, their clothes were completely saturated with sweat and dripping. He said it was nasty.

From what I gather (I haven't heard from him personally for a while.) he is doing fine and they're in Taji doing patrols and manual labor. So at least he's not in Sadr City! We'll keep you updated as we hear more...but keep the cards, letters, packages coming. I don't think we can even understand how much it means to these guys when they get mail. So thanks for taking care of our boy.

Need a pick-me-up!

Nic has called us a few times since Mother's Day. He called Dad yesterday and talked to him for a little bit. Dad couldn't tell if he was tired b/c it was late in Iraq or if he was down so we hoped it was just that he was tired. Well, he called me this morning and he is definitely down. It was only 3pm there and he sounded very down. So if you are thinking about sending him something in the near future now is the time. Anything you can send will be appreciated...even if it's just a card with a nice note would be great. He just needs to be reminded that we all think about him all the time and that we're very proud of him.

If you need his address please email one of us (listed to your right) and we will get you his address ASAP. Remember, if you want to send him a box use the "Flat Rate Box" at the post office. It's $8.95 to mail a box stuffed as full as you can get it regardless of the weight. So that helps on postage. :-) Feel free to email any of us if you have any questions as to what he likes, needs, wants, etc. We're happy to help! Just send him some love however you know how.

Nic called yesterday.

He called to tell Mom and I "Happy Mother's Day!" He sounded tired, but relieved. He said they were done with Sadr City, at least for now, which was probably the best news I heard all day yesterday. He didn't know how long they would have to rest, but he did say they would get at least the rest of the evening off to relax and rest up.

He wanted me to make it clear that the photos that the NY Times photographer took were NOT as peaceful as they appear. He said the one of them taking cover behind the stryker was very scary. The rest of his squad were either crying or out of control with rage...but the three in the picture just let their training kick in and tried to stay calm, cool and collected. He said people were screaming, crying, and things were blowing up all around them. He said it was very much like Saving Private Ryan (which I can't allow myself to watch right now) only it's real and he's in the middle of it.

So there ya go. He just wanted me to make sure you all knew the truth about the pictures. :-) He's truly a hero and he's back in Taji safe and sound right now. So we can rest easy for a little while.