Letters from Kids

I received a package from a friend a few days ago and in that box contained a few letters to me from two 5th graders in Maryland. They took time out of their school day to write us letters. They were both a great read. One was from a boy who told me that his hobbies were baseball, basketball, doing math, playing video games, eating cheeseburgers and hotdogs. That was great, because I eat enough hotdogs and cheeseburgers to consider them a hobby too. It was a nice letter. Next a young lady wrote to me to tell me about her pet hermit crab and did not forget to tell me how smelly it is.

They both wrote about how proud they were of us here and how hard it must be for us to separated from our families. They asked if I could write back only if there was enough time. Both were very thoughtful and I appreciated receiving them. I already wrote both of them back and included some pictures of the area. I am hoping they get to share the letter and pictures with the rest of their classmates. I hope to send them a souvenir from here in the future.

Gift Boxes Received

A big THANK YOU goes out to the residents and employees of Treyton Oak Towers in Louisville, Ky. These wonderful people took up a collection and purchased items for troops deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. The items arrived just a few days ago. I was surprised by the size of the box and the contents! There were all kinds of items for Valentines Day and to help us pass some of our free time.

Last night, I stayed up until around 1:00am passing out the candy for everyone I work with. I wanted to make sure that when they arrived this morning, they would be able to see a nice pile of candy. There were many people who were very surprised. A lot of people wanted me to pass on a thank you to you guys for making their day special!

Thank you!

Workin' Out

Tomorrow, I begin what will be a challenging experience. Along with a few other guys, we are beginning a max work out plan. We will be determining the maximum amount of weight we can lift, then we do a little math and based on the numbers will determine how much we will lift and what muscle groups will be utilized. It is a continual program with no end; it will not plateau until I feel that I am where I want to be physically. In addition to this program, I have already been running 2-3 miles a day. I took a break on Sat and Sun but will begin again tomorrow. I should be thoroughly sore and ready to get some sleep tomorrow night.

Speaking of working out, Margi has been relaying to me how much she has been working out on the treadmill. I am proud of her and she knows that when she tells me her accomplishments, I am proud of her and I continue to look forward to the day where I can hold her again.

We were able to chat today for a while through the new feature in GMail, Google email. It is the only chat that I can use while deployed. We were able to chat for sometime today in between my work. It was great to hear from her and I look forward to chatting with her tomorrow. For all those who are familiar with Napoleon Dynamite, don't be jealous because I have been chatting with my hot babe online... You would have to see the movie to understand.

Movie Night

Well it is movie night once again and this week we are watching 40 year old virgin. I am sure it will be funny, as the reviews have been pretty good. We decide which movie we will watch by voting via email. The movies are good, but what makes it better is being with your friends and enjoying their company. Of course, what would a movie be without pizza and "near-beer"? We take up a collection and have someone go to the Pizza Hut stand to order the pizza. They are quite pricey, but worth it. The "near-beer" is even better ice cold.

I received a box today from Treyton Oak Towers! It was incredible, there was something for everyone in it. You put a lot of smiles on the faces of Soldiers here. Thank You!

It is a real treat to tell the people here all about you guys back in Louisville and how much they would like you if they had a chance to meet you. Thanks for everything! Scott

Morale Night!

It has been 5 weeks into this "trip" and a break is needed. Last night we had an office moral night. We waited until 7:30 pm to begin the festivities. The line up of entertainment was incredible, we had Cranium, Scrabble, Dominoes, and a Play Station 2 tournement in Madden 2006 Football. All that attended had a good time.

We ordered pizza from the Pizza Hut stand here and bought some "near-beer" to enjoy with the pizza.

We only had one "situation" during that night. It was someone tripping over the cord for the PS2 and bringing the game to a halt! After a few nervous moments, the game was reconnected and playing resumed.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the packages and well wishes sent to me while deployed. Thank you. I know I have neglected the site somewhat and will attempt to begin posting more often.

When It Rains, It Pours

We had another day and evening of rain, followed by about an hour of thunderstorms. You know what that means - MUD!

Let me paint a picture for you. There are main roads, sidewalks in the main areas of the palace, however, in the living area, they are on the opposite side of the living area and would add about an extra 15-20 minutes to the morning walk to work. The only thing that separates my living area and a road is a large 15 foot deep ditch/drain. So for me to get to that road, I must walk through about 60 yards of mud. Slipping and sliding and some of you know that I am clumsy and trip over my own feet. This is a daily challenge. It sounds funny that I am complaining about mud, but it is not like the mud that you experience in the states. The soil composition here is completely different. As you walk, the mud will accumulate on the bottom of your boots with each and every step. Before you know it, you have grown about 3-4 inches. I thought to myself, I will just use the curb to wipe some of the mud off. This helps, but most of the mud stays in the tread of the boots and then tracks mud all through the palace.

Help is on the way!

Thankfully, my father-in-law Gayle Ellis Sr. sent me a boot scraper in the mail. It was a great gift to receive here and many people asked if they could use it.

Wait, that is not all he sent. For those of you that know him, know that he is quite the prankster. When I was opening the box, I had a visitor in the area, COL Rich Cardillo standing by. So, I open the box and pull out a couple of bags of beef jerkey, but underneath was a long black plastic comb. Laughter filled the room as I read the note that was with it. "Maybe you can use this to scratch your head or back" ha ha lol. Well, most of you know that I do not have hair - any. This added to the joke, and yes, everyone enjoyed it.

There was a couple of days where our access to the blogs were blocked. I contacted the helpdesk and provided the CG's blog policy that they said they were not aware of. It was turned back on soon after that.

The Palace Tour

Its not very often that someone offers to give you a tour of the al Faw Palace. Today was one of those days.

The corps historian from Fort Bragg offered to provide our office a private tour. We accepted. This gentleman is also a professor of history at the University of Kentucky. Go big blue!

The Qasr al Faw Palace was one of Saddam's newer palaces. The Al Faw Palace is named after a southern town that was occupied by the Iranians and then won back in a bloody siege that cost thousands of lives. It is set on an artificial lake, so still it looks like blue-green glass. All around the lake are Roman-style villas. Saddam reportedly had the palace built to commemorate his nation's "victory" over Iran. He would bring guests there to watch or hunt the wildlife and relax by the lakes.

We start out in the front of the palace, where there are writings on the doors and on the columns. He pointed out that the markings on the columns and also throughout the entire palace are saddam's initials. If you look at the center of the top, you will see a green circle, the initials are there.

Next he led us in side and told us about a particular chair that is now a "tourist" attraction. People from other bases come to see it and have their picture taken in it. It was a gift from Yasser Arafat to Saddam.

After a few jokes about the chair, we move onto the center of the palace where a huge chandelier hangs in the middle of a large walking area. He cautioned us about walking under it, since the supports are not the greatest example of construction. However, around the chandelier, there are words that say in Arabic, God is Great and also there are short writings about how God will grant Saddam victory.

After hearing all about the chandelier, we were let to the top floor where we were shown the writings throughout the entire palace
with Saddam's initials incorporated into the wood carvings. After
walking a couple of hallways, we were escorted to the roof. As you can see from the picture to the right, the only way to get there was a very small door that led to this ladder which leads to the roof. We are lucky since a very limited number of people are allowed to go up there. The gentleman that was providing the tour was able to answer a lot of detailed questions as we went around.

Now once we are on the roof it is bright with a strong breeze blowing, the sky is a very rich and beautiful blue. There are some white clouds, but mainly a very clear day. We could see to the center of Baghdad and for miles around. It was a pretty amazing feeling.

As you can see from some of the pictures, it was a sight to see. I have attached a few more pictures for you to see.