Grandma knows best

Wanted to take a moment to thank my Grandma Nancy for the huge care package she sent my way. Her box of goodies arrived a couple days ago, and my co-workers and I were impressed with the magnitude of her giving. Here is a picture of me standing next to some of the loot, which was proudly displayed for co-workers and guests to share in. Thanks Grandma!

Grandma knows best!

Wanted to take an opportunity to say thanks to my Grandparents for the awesome Christmas care package they sent my way a few days ago. Grandma put together some peanut butter cookies, some peanut brittle, and a batch of snicker doodles to boot (my favorite). All were delivered in decorative Christmas tins. To top it all off, she even threw in a bright red stocking packed full with Salted Nut Rolls! Well done Grandpa and Grandma - I appreciate it very much!
Me with the prize - a Christmas stocking overflowing with Salted Nut Rolls. Terrific.

I wanted to take a picture of the tins full of homemade cookies, but before I could get that done my co-workers and I had polished them all off. So I had to settle with a picture of an empty tin - take that as a compliment Grandma!

It's Christmas time

Christmas is in the air, even here in Iraq. Our dining facility has had Christmas decorations up for weeks, and we've actually had a run of cold weather over the last few days, which makes it feel like winter (kinda). As we all know, Christmas just isn't Christmas without a tree. Well, evergreens aren't very common out in the desert, so any plans of putting up a tree to celebrate the holiday season rests on family and friends back home. Fortunately for me, my girlfriend Nicki's family has come through and delivered a little slice of holiday goodness to my roommate and I. The Blazek's sent a box of holiday snacks and goodies, highlighted by the pre-light Christmas tree they thoughtfully included. I wanted to put this post together as a thank-you to the Blazek's for their kindness. Here is the tree, in all it's splendor.

Close up of the tree. Gorgeous, no?

The tree is just so festive - it really sets off the room!

Return to sender...

Way, way back on the 1st of June, I decided to send my lovely girlfriend Nicki a little present. She was a fan of the Desperate Housewives TV show, and so being the generous boyfriend I am I purchased the first two seasons of the show on DVD from the Iraqi bazaar. I then rolled on down to our local post office to send off my gift. Again, this was on 1 June, 2006. Well, I waited and waited and waited, but Nicki never reported receiving the package. I came home on leave in July, and the package still hadn't come. August went by, September past by - still no package. Well, at this point I felt comfortable making the assumption that Nicki would never see that Desperate Housewives boxed set. Of course she was distraught and crying in sadness, but we both found a way to move on and put the tragedy of the whole deal behind us. I've since sent other items through the mail, but have made sure to pay for a couple hundred dollars worth of insurance, for the added peace of mind and to hopefully avoid another Desperate Housewives type debacle. Well fast-forward to today - 15 November, 2006. A full five and a half months since I sent the ill-fated DVD boxed set Nicki's way. What do you suppose I received in today's mail?
Here she is - the package that probably has more miles on it than a 1992 Honda Civic. 5 and a half months! Craziness.

Apparently, there was a mix up with where exactly Nicki was living. This is kind of understandable, since she was in the process of moving from one apartment to another during this time period. That was back in August however ... where has this thing been sitting during September, October and November?

I still can't believe this package made it's way back to Iraq. I assumed it was long, long gone. Well, now I will re-label it, roll on down to the local post office and send this package of goodness off on it's way once again.

October 1st

A few random thoughts...

• What a game last night. SGT Kane has documented our saga with AFN and broadcasting the KU game, so I won't go into great detail here. Head on over to his site for the details.
• As far as the game itself - wow. Listening to it over the radio was tough, but I imagine sitting in the stadium watching the horror unfold before my own two eyes may have been even worse. All I have to say is that I hope Billy sits down with his defensive coaches and irons out the wrinkles, because that defense will cost us at least one or two games this season if we play as poorly as we did against the Jayhawks. Props to the offense and Zac for hanging tough and to the team as a whole for grinding out the victory.
• SGT Kane is back from leave. He is documenting his time back in NE through pictures and stories, a la my own R&R leave posts upon my return from leave a few months ago. Click on the link to the right to read all about it.
• October 1st is a good day. We are now knee deep in our 7th month here in Iraq. Having 6 months in the books and behind us is a great feeling. We're on the down hill slope now.
• I received a new toy today in the mail - a brand new PS2. The one I was using is 95% toast, and toughing it out over the next 5 months without my trusty friend would be just impossible. Now that my new PS2 is here, I can reunite myself with my favorite time killer - NCAA football 2007.
• My brother Joseph is turning into quite the world traveler. He is currently deployed with his Navy unit, cruising the big blue sea on a ship. Read about his travels here.
• Just to give this post a little excitement, I'll post a picture of Nicki and her lovely mother Dianne, tailgating before the NU-KU game yesterday.

Shenanigans

One of the highlights of my time spent back in NE had to have been the welcome home party that the Kool's threw for me. Nicki's mom Dianne and her husband Kent graciously hosted my friends and I in their back yard, allowing us to socialize and have some good times all night long. Nicki did a lot of the leg work, inviting what seemed like every friend I've had in the last 10 years to come say hello to their favorite guardsmen serving in Iraq, have a few drinks, and enjoy a warm summer night in Nebraska. Here are a couple of pics from the party.

Hanging out with some of "the guys" - Shaun, myself, K-Mart and Wags.

Two of my brothers made the trip from the farm to say hello, despite being in the midst of detasseling season. The scary thing about this picture is that I appear to possibly be the shortest Hanseling of the bunch. Yikes. Jacob, myself, Nicki and James.

Me with two lovely ladies - the hostess of my welcome home shin-ding, Mrs. Kool, and her daughter (and my g/f) Ms. Blazek.

Nicki and I with Wags and his girlfriend Hannah, whom I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time at the party.

Thanks again to the Kools for hosting, all my friends for showing up and saying hello, and most of all my lovely Nicki, for putting the whole thing together.