I thought it was about time to give everyone an official update on Matt. He is no longer in Kuwait and no longer sleeping in a cot in a tent with 60 other guys (as pictured left). He is alive and well and enjoying the cold weather in Iraq before the heat sets in. He doesn't seem to like being in uniform when it is 120 degrees. He is finally settled in his CHU(room) which he shares with another soldier, and now has a little fridge in the corner of his room to keep his mountain dew and Dr. Pepper cold. He said the Hodji version (I'm sure this is very politically incorrect) of Mt. Dew tastes like carbonated lemon water, but the Dr. Pepper is pretty close to the original. He likes to celebrate the small victories, like Dr Pepper and his mini fridge. This time around they are on one of the largest FOB's, which is located in Tikrit. It is complete with two swimming pools, three gyms, a Subway, a Burger King and a Starbucks (although, he doesn't have much free time to go swimming or even work out at the gym).
To get to the Post Office or PX it takes a 20-30 minute bus ride (PX stands for post exchange for all those who don't know what it is. It's basically the military version of Wal-mart). Of course there are several bus stops along the way which make the journey a bit longer. This is usually a time when Matt will catch up on some sleep. Although napping at bus stops and on the bus is not always the best idea. A few weeks ago was the first week he was able to attend church--which is held in a classroom with about 10-12 people and lasts about an hour and a half. He was waiting at the bus stop and woke up about an hour or more later and watched one of the fellow LDS members getting off the bus, on his way back from church. Oops. He works 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week. The hour and half they allow him to go to church is definitely a welcome break from his daily duties.
Speaking of duties, most of you are wondering what on earth he does over there. For the most part I'm kind of clueless, as I have to pretend to know what he is talking about most the time when it comes to work or the military in general. They have acronyms for pretty much everything, which makes him sound like he is speaking in code. He is not on patrols this deployment which means he will never leave the FOB (another acronym, it stands for something-something-base.). Also, he won't ever have to man a gun on top of the Humvee or drive his officers around again (this time anyway). I am definitely not worrying as much this deployment, knowing he is inside the walls of the FOB. But, from what I hear from Matt the threat level is no where as high as it used to be. On his free time he is studying to go to the board in January; if he passes he will move from Corporal to Sargent. Usually after he gets off work we try find time to talk on Skype. He recently got internet in his room and we are able to use our web cams to talk. The girls absolutely love this. Skylar only gets to see him on the web cam on the weekends because she is at school, but Maya gets a pretty decent dose of Daddy every morning. Actually seeing that he is okay makes it a little easier to get through the day and helps me feel like he is not so far away.
I thought it was about time to give everyone an official update on Matt. He is no longer in Kuwait and no longer sleeping in a cot in a tent with 60 other guys (as pictured left). He is alive and well and enjoying the cold weather in Iraq before the heat sets in. He doesn't seem to like being in uniform when it is 120 degrees. He is finally settled in his CHU(room) which he shares with another soldier, and now has a little fridge in the corner of his room to keep his mountain dew and Dr. Pepper cold. He said the Hodji version (I'm sure this is very politically incorrect) of Mt. Dew tastes like carbonated lemon water, but the Dr. Pepper is pretty close to the original. He likes to celebrate the small victories, like Dr Pepper and his mini fridge. This time around they are on one of the largest FOB's, which is located in Tikrit. It is complete with two swimming pools, three gyms, a Subway, a Burger King and a Starbucks (although, he doesn't have much free time to go swimming or even work out at the gym).
To get to the Post Office or PX it takes a 20-30 minute bus ride (PX stands for post exchange for all those who don't know what it is. It's basically the military version of Wal-mart). Of course there are several bus stops along the way which make the journey a bit longer. This is usually a time when Matt will catch up on some sleep. Although napping at bus stops and on the bus is not always the best idea. A few weeks ago was the first week he was able to attend church--which is held in a classroom with about 10-12 people and lasts about an hour and a half. He was waiting at the bus stop and woke up about an hour or more later and watched one of the fellow LDS members getting off the bus, on his way back from church. Oops. He works 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week. The hour and half they allow him to go to church is definitely a welcome break from his daily duties. 
Speaking of duties, most of you are wondering what on earth he does over there. For the most part I'm kind of clueless, as I have to pretend to know what he is talking about most the time when it comes to work or the military in general. They have acronyms for pretty much everything, which makes him sound like he is speaking in code. He is not on patrols this deployment which means he will never leave the FOB (another acronym, it stands for something-something-base.). Also, he won't ever have to man a gun on top of the Humvee or drive his officers around again (this time anyway). I am definitely not worrying as much this deployment, knowing he is inside the walls of the FOB. But, from what I hear from Matt the threat level is no where as high as it used to be. On his free time he is studying to go to the board in January; if he passes he will move from Corporal to Sargent. Usually after he gets off work we try find time to talk on Skype. He recently got internet in his room and we are able to use our web cams to talk. The girls absolutely love this. Skylar only gets to see him on the web cam on the weekends because she is at school, but Maya gets a pretty decent dose of Daddy every morning. Actually seeing that he is okay makes it a little easier to get through the day and helps me feel like he is not so far away.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this blog about the life of Matt. You sound like you are doing pretty good. Hang in there girl.
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