Short and Quick Post

Greetings -

I hope everyone is doing well. Happy days here in Indiana. Our unit has decided to give us one LAST 3 day pass to blow off some steam and enjoy the last bit of freedom that we will see for a long long time. We start our pass tomorrow and have to report back to base on Saturday night. Bad thing is that we are limited to a 50 mile radius, good thing is that my Jilly Bean is flying up here to spend time with me. I am so excited to see her again, it'll be nice to spend some alone time with her and to spend an early 2nd year anniversary with her. Our actual anniv is the 17th of March...yep...St. Patrick's Day but we'll celebrate early this year while we are together. I report back on Sat night and we leave EARLY next week for Afghanistan...by this time next week, i'll be there.

Jill's flight get's in around 7pm Eastern and I check into the hotel tomorrow at 12 noon. It'll suck having to wait on her but believe me...i'll take advantage of my time. First thing I'm going to do is to take a HOT bath and a 3 hour nap...HA! I'm so looking forward to some quiet time alone and also with Jill. I tell you, sleeping in open bays with 50 guys pretty much sucks. No privacy and the constant noise level is enough to drive anyone crazy.

Well, not sure if you saw or not but on the right side of this page is our mailing address for Afghanistan. There is really NO need to send anything but if you just want to send something. Anything and everything would be appreciated...just so long as I does not melt or explode. As much as i'm going to miss Dr Peppers....I don't think they would make the trip..hehe.

Well, I need to get going. I hope all is well and know that each of you are in my thoughts.

-Jimmy

Good Day Good Day!!

Hola que paso amigos!!

        I hope this finds you well and happy....as well and happy as I am.  No, not happy that i'm here and that i'm away from my family BUT, happy to be married to the love of my life...my best friend, the mother of my two boys and ALSO to be surrounded by good friends here.  Not only that....we have our ship date to Afghanistan!!!  You may be asking WHY we are happy to have our ship date??? well, it's because now there is a light at the end of the tunnel to end our misery here at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.  For those that have not ever had the pleasure to visit Indiana...it sucks.  It's truly the freakin arm pit of the U.S.  This place has left such a bad taste in all of our mouths that we are just ready to get out of here.  Not only that, it'll be nice to finally get our feet into the sand box and start some combat missions.  The sooner we get over there...the sooner we get back.  

     Not alot going on here today.  Had a day off, AGAIN and went to the mall with some of the guys.  Spent some time at Barnes and Nobles and did one of my favorite things....sat in a QUITE place with a venti cafe mocha and read a book and looked through some snow skiing magazines.  Looking forward to taking a ski trip with Jill, Darian and Brady.  Anxious to get Brady's little piggy's in the snow.  I've already missed a ton of Brady's "Firsts" and will miss more over the next year but I REALLY want to be there when he experiences snow for the first time.

    It's a quiet week here, Thursday and Friday are going to be spent at the rifle and pistol range and tomorrow's temp is supposed to drop into the low 20's with a chance of snow.  Yeah for me!!! :-(.

    Anyways, I have to run.  Be safe, chin up my friends and I will talk to you soon.

Peace Out!!

-Jimmy

Bored to Tears

   So, here it is, another day here and gone.  Not much went on today, woke up...went to breakfast with some of the guys, took care of some admin things and then went into town for din din and a Wally World (Wal-Mart) run.  

   

     There's a bunch of us here that are alittle peeved for the fact that since getting back from our 4 day pass back home, we haven't really done very much.  Actually we haven't really done anything at all.  This time wasted could have been better spent at HOME were we could have actually spent some more time with our families.   Ugh, i'm not much of a complainer so i'll drop it there.  For those that do not know me, i'm pretty much "That Guy" that will just suck it up and move on without a second thought.  This is just the way the Army runs, you can bitch and moan all you want but you know...in the end, your still going to have to suck it up and do it anyways so why waste the energy in complaining about it.  Don't get me wrong friend, I have NO problem grabbing Dave or Q and chewing on their ear telling them how stupid something is but that is just me venting before I run off to accomplish the task.  

    Which brings me to yet another topic...that being, how AWESOME it is to have good friends to vent on.  You know...I was lucky when I went to Iraq because I had awesome friends like Steve, Donnie, Kennis and Flo.  The luck continues on with this deployment with 2 of my best friends in the world, Dave and Q.  Dave i've known for close to 12 years, Q, i've known that goober for damn near 16 years.  Both I love as much as I do my own brother and it truly warms my heart knowing that they are on this deployment with me.  It's kinda like having family there with me.  

    Well, I started out this blog with not alot to say.....I apologize for rambling on.  This truly is a cool thing.  It helps to just get some things off my chest.  I appreciate you stopping in, i'll try not to bore you throughout this next year.  I hope all is well in each of your lives.  To my family and friends back home....i miss you all.

Jumpmasters Show You to the Door

-Jimmy

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My very first post

   Listen Up!!  Here we go Here we GO!!  I've gotten the nod from the Loadie, I've stood up, hooked up, looked the Safety in the eye and told him to control my static line.  Here I go, turning towards the jumpers as they look at me with anticipation, Looking them in the eyes, clapping my hands and thrusting them forward with a LOUD and thunderous, "10 MINUTES!!!!"'  "GET READY!!!"

  

   Here it is, Feb 14th, 2009.  Valentine's Day.  THIS, a day that I will never forget.  It's funny, I've had a good life thus far and it seems that I tend to remember dates, good and bad.  I'm the WORST at remembering names and faces...two of my closest friends in the world, Jumpmaster Dave and Jumpmaster Q can attest to that....but dates? i'm on it.  I remember the 10th of Dec 2005 as the date I got back into country from Iraq.  15 Dec 2005 as my first date with my Jilly Bean, 14 Feb 2006 as the date I professed my love for Jill, 3 July 2006 as the date I dropped on one knee in Chicago, IL to ask Jill to marry me, 17 March 2007 as the date that I married the love of my life, 29 March 2008 as the day God smiled on me and placed my newborn son Brady in my arms.  Those are the good dates, the bad dates? January 4th 2009, the date that I said goodbye to my wife and two boys.  

    You know, I'm not in the least bit, bitter.  I'm extremely proud to serve my country, to answer that call yet again.  I find myself at times jealous, jealous of people out there, those that have a life, living carefree, knowing that they will be sleeping at home next to significant other, kissing their kids goodnight, planning the next upcoming weekend.  I'd be jealous for all of about 30 seconds before I remind myself that I chose this life.  I chose to be in this uniform as hard as it seems at times.  I miss my family, I miss holding my wife close, the softness of her skin, the words of love and encouragement that she is always showing me.  I miss my kids, I miss helping guide Darian through all the turmoils of being a teenager, I miss being outside with him on a sunny Saturday afternoon doing yard work.  I miss my baby boy Brady, I miss seeing all of his "Firsts", I miss his little giggle, I miss hearing him say Da Da.  I miss him so very much.  

     So back to the original topic, Feb 14th 2009.  This is the first Valentine's Day that I will be away from my Jill and God willing, hopefully my last one away from her.  At least for another 60 years.  The day was good in the least.  My Valentine's dinner was with my Alpha Team Leader, Marceau, Q, David, Kinra and our sniper section.  I'm here at Camp Atterbury Indiana, all training complete.  Only thing left to do now? wait for the flight that will carry us to Afghanistan where we will spend the rest of 2009.  Lucky us right??

     Anyways, i'm not bitter, i'm just ready to get this deployment over with so that I can enjoy all of those precious things in life such as my family.  It's funny, it's times like these that make me realize just how precious family and life really are.

I hope this finds you well.

More to follow,

GREEN LIGHT!!! GO!!!!!