31 Mar 05

Look at that, another month is over. Three down and 9 to go (maybe). I love reading everyone's comments! They are cracking me up so much. I went to the pool yesterday and today and enjoyed myself very much. Dad, sorry we got cut off last night. Talk to you all later, and I'll work on getting more good pictures for everyone. Have a great day.
-Mere
PS I, too, hope that my Cuban wasn't laced with anything because 2 days after I smoked it, I was chosen for a random piss test! Got to love peeing infront of people!

I know that most of you will not be too terribly impressed by this (MOM), but I HAD to smoke a Cuban cigar over here! This is it. I had a little buzz going too. I didn't get sick at least!  

Here is a picture of me and Andrew hanging out. Isn't he cute!?! 

Here is one of my all time favorite pictures that has been taken over here. This is a group of us hanging out at the pool. We have so much fun. If only you could feel how cold the water is from here, but at least you can see how beautiful it is outside! 

This is how big the mouse/rat traps are over here. They are ready to catch a cat they are so big! 

Here is a true to life shot of a sand storm. I can feel my eyes getting gritty just looking at it. My lungs are starting to feel muddy.  

Me sick as a dog, and looking like one too! I could have died that day. Look at my bloody arm. My warm blood dried to it! 

some buildings on the way back from NY 

Me goofing off up at ny with a neckbrace. Don't worry, I wasn't really injured, but my squished face would say differently! 

Pic of me, Ashley, and Jen! 

Me posing by the 4 corners sign that one of us made to great the soldiers! I can't help how cute I am all the time! 

This is Mandy posing for a picture all tucked into bed for a sweet nights sleep. I braided her hair for her. 

Thank goodness I was not around to witness this picture being taken! The crew found a lizard hanging around, so they were picking it up and carrying it around. YUCK! 

Kimmy is holding me like a "baby" at our going away party up in New York! 

This pic may not be MY IV, but it is one of me assisting Goody as she gave CPT Sawyer one. 

Here is Gregory and the "Crome Dome"! One of the girls got it in a care package. We stick it in each others beds at night. Just one of those things to catch you off guard! 

As you can see from this choice shot, I am NOT the only one who enjoys a good nap in the afternoon! Glaze and Pierce do too! 

This is me goofing off in the tents with a pair of Jen's fake teeth. (don't worry Michelle, the ones you sent were way better!) They called me Elroy! 

This is the group of people that were up at New York together. We took this the day before we had to tear everything down. We had a pretty good time up there. Notice there is no sand storm going on at the moment! 

Here is the picture of the camel I promised everyone! I saw it on the way back from Camp NY! See, only one hump. 

27 Mar 05...HApPy EaSTeR!

Happy Easter Everyone! Although it didn't really feel like too much of a holiday today, it was still a pretty good day. I went to church this afternoon (catholic service). It was a pretty good service. I've never gone to a regular Catholic service before. I was lost on some of the repeating things and the whole Father Son Holy Spirit across the body thing, but I did pretty good. Then we went to chow where it was beautifully decorated for Easter in pretty pastels. They had pretty hollow chocolate eggs on the tables for people to take, so a few of us grabbed them. The only problem was that we had to walk all the way back to our barracks, so they melted a titch. That's okay though because the chocolate tasted pretty good. Then I sat outside and chit-chatted the afternoon away. It was really nice. I am going for a run tonight. I'm not feeling very ambitious. We'll see how that goes. Tomorrow I have to do some work. I think it is just a couple of meetings that I hav
e to go through. I thought I'd feel quite homesick today, but I haven't really felt too bad at all. I consider it a blessing. I miss and love you all and hope that you have a wonderful holiday.
-Mere
ps happy belated b-day Em.

25 Mar 05

Hello! My computer arrived in the mail today! I can't wait to get to the other computer lab with it so I can get some pictures posted! You all should enjoy them quite a bit. I hope so anyway. Big suprise that I didn't do too much today besides go to the pool for 4 1/2 hours, but you won't be seeing that for the next couple of weeks because we have a new "RULE" that we can't go to the pool unless we have a conservative one piece on. Mom, I need you to get that sent to me as soon as possible. I don't know what I am going to do for the next 2 weeks during the afternoon without that suit! I am going to turn white sitting in my barracks watching movies all day. Good thing my computer came, I guess. I'll blog you all later. Good day!
-Mere

24 Mar 05...again

Hi Everyone again...I know that all memories stated about me are out of love, but still...just kidding. I don't care what you all say. Mom, your feeling was wrong because I still didn't get my computer today either. I did get your easter card with Troquille's letter in it! I can't wait to write him back. There was some juicy details about the people I went to Basic Training and AIT with. For instance, my drill sergeant that slept with one of the girls actually got out of the Army and MARRIED HER!!! WHAT?!?! That is exactly what I was thinking. Anyway, I'm about to write him back. I went to the pool today. That's nothing new, and it felt wonderful as always. I'm going to go for a run in about an hour. Talk to you all later.
-Mere

24 Mar 05

Hello from the beach! I don't think the barracks are going to be too bad. I slept pretty good last night, but it is so bright in the building all night long. All the lights are even off. I swear that the "EXIT" signs are made with some ultra bright light that is probably illegal in the US. I woke up about 5 times in the night thinking that it was morning, but it was only like 2:30am. I also dreamed a lot last night. I had a dream that I was somewhere singing Ashlee Simpson at the top of my lungs, and it sounded so good. Then I woke up and realized she was blaring in my ears from my headphones. That was a bit disappointing. I calculated it yesterday, and today marks the longest period of time away from my family EVER!! So if I happen to have a break down in the next couple of days, everyone has a heads up on it. Also, to all of you who like to bring up my past, don't think that I can't do the same for each and every one of you. I know stuff, and I can make it spre
ad like sand in a sand storm!!! Stop with the movies, yellow jog pants, and every other mean thing you have been saying. Also, another memory, Kari and Malzey, do you remember when we made up a dance to "Baby, Baby" by Amy Grant and told our parents that they could take us to Dairy Queen as a treat for the great performance!?! We were nerds, but we could dance!Check you later.
-Mere

23 Mar 05

Good day everyone! I am finally moved into the barracks! I don't think it will be too bad. I'll let you all know how things go. We have wall lockers, which is a VERY good thing. Hopefully, they help us all to remain organized. I haven't started unpacking at all yet. We moved in this morning, and I, along with a few others, decided that going and basking in the sun was more important, so we laid out for 4 hours and loved every minute of it if I may add. We took a super cute picture together, so I'll get that posted as soon as I get my computer in the mail. I miss you all, and I'll talk later.
-Mere

22 Mar 05

OMG! I am so exhausted! I had to work all day today. They should really break me in a little bit slower. Last night I didn't fall asleep until almost 4am. This was probably caused by the TWO - 2 hour naps that I took yesterday. Then we had to go clean out some connexes all day, and it was really really hot out. I was sweating really bad. Not at all attractive. I decided to put some mascara on today because I've been feeling really homely lately. Oh well. It comes with the territory. Anyway, it was a rough day. As soon as I came back, I went and took a shower and now I smell like a girl, and I even did my hair all cute like I used too. It just takes a little extra effort over here. Anyway, tomorrow we move into the barracks. I don't know how I feel about it. I think the estogen levels will be so high that if a man walks into the building he will get his period. Let me tell you, there is one week in the month when almost all of us have it at the same time. It i
s not a very friendly week. This blog took an unexpected turn...probably for the worst. I hope everyone has a great week, and I should be back tomorrow. Chat soon.
-Mere

21 Mar 05

I wish you all could experience the beautiful weather that we are having. Imagine the absolute perfect summer day! That is what we are having right now. I am trying to bask in all of its glory right now because soon I know it will all be over. Then we are going to swelter. Is that the right spelling? If not, just sound it out. It is phenetically spelled right. I went to the pool today for about 2 hours and loved every single minute of it. The pool is freezing cold, but it makes the sun feel better when you get back out. Also, I took 2 naps today. How bad is that?!? I took one this morning for about 2 hours and then this afternoon for like 1 1/2 hours. They both felt so good too. Now I just have to hope to be able to sleep tonight. I still haven't gotten my computer back so that is why I haven't posted any pictures. Soon it should be here though. I'm hoping by the end of the week, so check back frequently! Tomorrow I actually have to do work. How terrible am
I to dread having to work?! I have it too good over here. We have to inventory the FSSP. It stands for Fuel System Supply Point, I think. It is the worst fuel system that the army has...way to many heavy parts with excess fuel in them that have to be lugged around. Maybe I will just supervise from the side...I wonder how long I could get away with that. Anyway, I better get going. I'm just kind of mumbling now. Glad Feia could join the chat! Take it easy and Feel better MOM! I love you.
-Mere

20 Mar 05...again

Hello again...I decided to check my e-mail before I headed to bed. Can't say that anything exciting happened today besides my 2 hour nap this morning and then Brad Pitt's hamstrings in TROY. I watched part of it with some people tonight. Talk later.
-Mere

20 Mar 05

It is only 0734 in the morning and I am already being productive. I went for an awesome run this morning. It was one of those that you feel so good while you are doing it and even better when you finish. Then Mandy and I went to breakfast, and now we are here. I'm not sure what I am going to do today. I might head to the pool, but I don't know if I feel like it. I might just sit around in my tent and read the magazines that Parkers sent me. Thank you very much for the care package, Michelle! The box was so heavy. I loved the contents. I was wearing my "Princess Crown" around last night from tent to tent. I could have gotten into some trouble, but I didn't care. I figured if anyone was going to yell at me, it would simply be because they were jealous that they didn't have a Princess Crown. Some friends and I will take pics with the other choice item you put in the package as well. I can't wait to post that one!!! Also, Mom, thank you so much for the American Id
ol and Simple Life: Interns DVD! I have never watched SL and it was so funny that I could not stop laughing. I might need you to tape me some more episodes. Also, "Girls night" didn't tape right so I couldn't watch it. It kept jumping from one chapter to the next, and it wouldn't stop. Oh well. Three of the four episodes is good enough. I need to give a shout out to my friend, Andrew, up in NY right now. His job is to watch the contracted lights...that's it...watch lights in the desert until the contractors get there to pick them up. It could take a couple of weeks! Good luck to you. Anyway, I'll write back if anything else interesting happens today...so probably I'll write back tomorrow.
-Mere

19 Mar 05

Pretty boring day today. I copied some music and pictures from Deering's computer today, and I also sewed on my unit patches that should have been done about 2 months ago. Oh, well. The government should have had them sewn on before we left Ft. Benning. It took me about an hour to sew on 4 patches, and I only stuck myself about 10 times. No blood was drawn though, so that is a good thing. That is all I've done so far today, and it is already 1:30pm. We'll see if anything more happens. Have a great weekend with all the snow!
-Mere

18 Mar 05...again

Oh what a day. Good news came right when I got back from the computer lab...Our electricity had been fixed! Thank goodness. I watched Nepoleon Dynomite like I had planned along with the rest of American Idol that Mom taped me. Then I rewatched the Home Video #2 where Em, Rae, and Kels did cheerleading moves! I crack up at the thought of it. I love the blurbs of "RED" during the cheers. That gets me the most, and of course Mom's stunting! I love you guys!!! I then watched my Britney Spears Live from Las Vegas for something else to do. It brings me back it time to all the concerts we used to go to. Put that on the list of things that we have to do when I get home. I need to go to a good concert! So I had some time to think today, and for some reason it went back in time to the SD state fair. I was thinking about that time when Lindsey and I got "hypnotized" on stage. I remember every single thing that went on, so I don't really think that I was under. Then I sta
rted thinking years before that when Cassie got a square yard stick with a leather loop at the end, and she MADE Malzey and I walk around with sunglasses on bumping the yard stick from side to side like we were blind! I don't know how those girls could make us do anything. Just thought I'd head down memory lane for a couple of minutes. God Bless.
-Mere

18 Mar 05

Look at that. I wrote back the very next day. Actually, I have nothing to do, and it is only 10:40am. I decided that my handprinted thighs need a day of rest from the pool, so I was planning on sitting in the tent and watching a couple of movies. Then come to find out, we don't have any electricity in our tents or the showers today. That is going to be fun. It is already starting to feel like a green house in there. No airconditioning when there is no electricity. What a bummer. I'll have to figure out a different way to entertain myself...maybe I'll take a nap! What a life. Oh, I might go rent a bicycle from the base today. What fun would that be?!? The only downfall is that you have to wear a helmet and reflective gear at all times. I would feel a little geekish. I can't say that I've done anything else too exciting. Oh yeah, I watched SUPER TROOPERS last night. I wasn't any too impressed. I was planning on watching NEPOLEAN DYNOMITE, but with the lack of
electricity, that probably won't happen. I hope everyone has a great day.
-Mere

17 Mar 05

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!! I didn't remember that it was a holiday until I went to eat lunch at the DFAC. It was all decorated. We can't celebrate with festive clothing here considering none of our uniforms have green in them: just brown, tan, and gray. What a drab wardrobe! Today, I had to go to a briefing on goal setting. It was pretty interesting. Then I spent 3 1/2 hours laying out at the pool. Don't worry though, I was wearing SPF 15 at all times. Funny story: I didn't put sunscreen on my legs yesterday, and then I must have touched them because last night when we were taking a shower I saw that I had a hand print on the back of both thighs! How tacky is that?! I am so imbarrassed. I tried to get it to fill in today, but it didn't happen. Subject change... Camels do roam around aimlessly over here. I did see a couple Camel Herders (like a shepard), but there are real high ways and stuff here. The camels were grazing in the median! I am not kiddin
g. Talk about reaching out and touching them. Not much else to tell for today. I hope everyone stays clear of the pinches back home.
-Mere

14 Mar 05

Greetings from Arifjan! I am back at my original base now. We got everything all packed up last night and today and headed back this morning. I was greeted upon my return with THREE (3) wonderful packages! Thank you so much Eileen, Em, and Mom. Eileen, I broke open the cookies and shared them. Everyone says thank you. They weren't even stale yet. Quite delicious. I also loved the DVD that was made for me too. Kels, Rae, Em- wonderful cheerleading moves! Tams, Barb, Mom- loved the bedside conversation! It was all so cute, even the kids doing the Army Crawl on the kitchen floor. They are all growing up so much. I look forward to the reinactment of Quentin for the next video...So now for what we were doing up there...We ran a mission called Four Corners. How or why it is called that, nobody knows, but what happens there is soldiers coming back from Iraq have to stop there. They come directly to us once they get through the gates. They can't eat or sleep or anyth

ing before we see them and what they do is drive their convoys (sometimes 20 vehicles and sometimes 120 vehicles) through our lanes that are all set up nicely and organized. Here they drop off anything that they don't want anymore, which should be just about everything from boxes of MREs to water to cots to fuel to a broom in the back of their vehicles. It is the beginning of the whole process of getting their mindset out of war and into going home because that is where 99% of them are headed. We heard many horror stories about how mean and rude they were going to be when they came through with all their gear, but they were nothing but super appreciative. It made us feel like we were helping them out in a small way. They all seemed to have a look of relief on their faces from knowing that their year was up, and they were heading home to a much safer place. I personally was responsible to take all of their extra nuts, bolts, fire extinguishers, spare tires, engines, etc

.
-anything that they had extra on their vehicles. It was great to help them out. Plus, the 40+ days went really quickly. I still can't post pictures yet because my computer just got mailed back to me today. Hopefully, it will be here in the next couple of weeks because I GOT A PICTURE OF A CAMEL TODAY!!! Yes, I saw it with my very own eyes! Up close and Personal! You all will love the pic! Anyway, I best be going. Talk to you all soon!
-Mere

10 Mar 05

Sorry that I haven't been writing for a couple of days. I have an excuse. I was puking my brains out yesterday. It all started at about 3pm. I had gone for a run yesterday morning, and I guess I didn't hydrate myself very well after it. Then I was all nervous about putting a bid in on a house back home, plus there were other factors as well. So anyway, I started getting a really really bad headache, and I couldn't get off of my bed. I yelled for Yurick to come over to me, and when she did my face was completely white. She dragged me outside. (I must remind you that she is quite a bit smaller than I am) and over the garbage can outside of our door. I stood there for a couple of minutes but couldn't puke, so I decided that I needed to go to the bathroom (in a port-a-potty). I left the door unlocked just incase something happened to me. So I did my business and then I started dry heaving. I kicked the door so that Yurick would come in. So there I am sitting on the
toilet throwing up in the urinal in a portapotty. Talk about miserable! Then I went inside and was okay for a while. I laid down but couldn't sleep, and I started drinking water quicker so rehydrate myself. I would never trust someone to give me an IV of saline to hydrate me faster, but at this point I was desparate, so I asked one of my friends if she'd give me one. I was hoping that she would take like 15 minutes to get all ready so I had time to change my mind, but she was at my side in less than 5 seconds flat! I'm not even kidding. She loves giving IVs. She got it all rigged up and ready and tried to stick the needle in my left arm first. It didn't work too well because when she hooked the bag up it started bubbling which means that the solution was going straight into my arm and not my vein, hence the reason that arm hurts so bad. Also, I must state that it hurt so bad the whole time she was doing it. I had another girl take pictures of the whole thing, and ev
ery single facial expression that I had was true to life. I'll make sure to post one of those when I get back to Arifjan. So after the first arm didn't work she asked if she could try my right arm. I wanted to say no so bad because of how bad the first one hurt, but I agreed. This time she got it to work, but in the process she stuck the needle in as far as it could go. I swear I could feel it in my bicep! When she had to pull the one part out to hook the saline solution to it I could feel warm liquid pouring all over my arm. I started freaking out asking if it was my blood. They swore that it wasn't but wouldn't let me look either. After she had me all rigged up, I found out that it was my precious warm blood running down my arm. (I know how you all like graphic details.) Anyway, they ended up draining 2 bags of the stuff in me really fast. I don't think you are supposed to do it that fast because like 30 minutes after they were done, I started throwing up again,
but this time it was in my shower towel. I held it out infront of me as I ran all the way through the tent again puking the whole way. I even started crying that I wanted my mom. Again I felt better after. It then happened two more times, none of which were very much fun. Eventually, I started feeling slightly better, and I woke up feeling like a new woman. I went to work this morning for a little bit, but I started feeling a little weak so they brought me back to the tents to sleep for a while. Now, I am here. Nothing else has really been going on. We started cleaning up our lanes and getting ready to head back south. I'll tell you everything that we did later. Hope you all have a great day. Glad you could join us, Cassie.
-Mere

7 Mar 05

Another day of not having to go to work until 1pm. I am starting to enjoy this. Yesterday, we only had one convoy come through, and we were done by about 7pm. It was a quiet day in the desert but warm. I don't know what we have planned for us when we get to work today. Malz- The Naked Man Story is HELLA funny. I could see you and Kim shaking in the kitchen with a naked man outside your door. My question is, What were you afraid of? You had a DEAD BOLT between the two of you. I don't have dead bolts here, only zippers, 550 cord, and some cots. I can't wait for the reinactment. That will be sure to crack me up. I can't think of anything else that is going on in my land. I need to start taking more pictures before we leave this place. Maybe that is what I will do today while we are waiting for a convoy to come in. Once I get done with this mission, I will explain exactly what our mission has been up here and what my role in it is. You will probably fall asleep r
eading it. Oh well. I guess that's all for now. Blog you later!
-Mere

6 Mar 05

Ah, the day already started off positive. I didn't wake up until around 8:30am. Emily called to chat for a bit, which is always good. It I have to be at work in an hour. The days seems like it is going to be a bit warm. I hate having to wear so many clothes. It is certainly not like lifeguarding here. At least the wind isn't blowing like it was the other day. We didn't get done with work last night until almost 11pm. Remember I was there since 7am. I can't complain though, it is rarely that I am at work that long. I just wanted to check in. Time to go to chow.
-Mere
PS I had the best game of Phase 10 in my life yesterday. I kicked everybody's butt!!!

4 Mar 05

Oh, what a day. We had the worst sand storm yet. I truly think it may be worse than a blizzard back home. It fills your eyes and lungs and throat with dirt. Yuck. The day was still quite uneventful. Tomorrow I have to go to work at 7am, so I will probably try to make a couple of calls before we start doing anything. Zeek, so glad you too could join us. I miss you all.
-Mere

2 Mar 05

Hello Everyone. Yesterday was a great day off. My family went and looked for a house for me to buy in Brookings, but it looks like that one won't work out. If anyone knows of some homes for sale (reasonably priced) let my dad know. I want a bit of a fixer-upper. Chad- I'm so glad to hear from my second cousin once removed! We have quite a few females here who are in great need of some hair therapy. I love Aveda products. I was just telling my mom that she needed to find me some heavy duty moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner for my mangy hair. The water here beats the crap out of my hair. That would be so cool if you could send a care package to us! Thank you so much. Another eventful thing to add to my day yesterday, I played a little Rummy 500 last night and came in 2nd. I was pretty happy. It's not the best, but we had fun. Anyway, I'll talk to you all later. Have a great day!
-Mere

2 Mar 05

Hello Everyone. Yesterday was a great day off. My family went and looked for a house for me to buy in Brookings, but it looks like that one won't work out. If anyone knows of some homes for sale (reasonably priced) let my dad know. I want a bit of a fixer-upper. Chad- I'm so glad to hear from my second cousin once removed! We have quite a few females here who are in great need of some hair therapy. I love Aveda products. I was just telling my mom that she needed to find me some heavy duty moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner for my mangy hair. The water here beats the crap out of my hair. That would be so cool if you could send a care package to us! Thank you so much. Another eventful thing to add to my day yesterday, I played a little Rummy 500 last night and came in 2nd. I was pretty happy. It's not the best, but we had fun. Anyway, I'll talk to you all later. Have a great day!
-Mere

1 Mar 05

Would you look at that?...Two months have already gone by. I hope the next TEN go by just as quickly. Two months ago today, I was flying over Germany ringing in the New Year on a C-17 (big, loud plane). Today, I am sitting on the internet writing e-mails. So yesterday I had a horrible headache all day long. I didn't want to take anything because I was hoping it would go away. Finally, I decided to take 500mg of Tylonal and head to bed at 7:30pm. I fell asleep like a rock right away. The problem arose when I woke up again at 10:30pm when everyone was asleep and couldn't fall asleep again until 4:30am today. I had to get up for the day at 5:45am. It was not a good situation. I guess on the bright side, I will sleep good tonight when I go to sleep. I wrote a couple of letters yesterday that will be placed in the mail today when I go to chow. I wrote back everyone that sent me a letter or package yesterday. Rae J, thanks for the care package. I loved the contents.
Plus, the kids' drawings were beautiful. I will hang some of them up when we move into the barracks once we get back to Arifjan. Other than that, nothing new is happening. We were supposed to dig a trench today to bury an internet line, but THANK GOD that fell through. I swear it was supposed to be like a mile long, and then they still couldn't promise that it would work. No thanks. I have the rest of the day off. I hope all is going well. Take care.
-Mere