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Thanksgiving Day this year was a much different experience than Thanksgiving 2006. Last year we celebrated the holiday in Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia, with our great friends from church. I think we had about 30 people over that day. Everyone pitched in bringing unimaginable amounts of food, drinks, and desserts. It was a blast! Fortunately, there was no blast here for Thanksgiving today.

I won’t bore you with the details of my day, but I will skip right to the highlight - lunch. The DFAC pulled out all stops for the Thanksgiving meal. We were able to get some photos of the feast, so I’ll just post a few here. I hope you enjoy these creations as much as we did!

Having procrastinated the floor cleaning, I was not ready when it came time to depart to pick up my parents from the airport. As all people who pull things out at the last minute can attest to, I can accomplish what I have delayed doing until the last minute, but there are always unforseen circumstances that catch me in the end. Right before I was set to leave, I logged on to check the flight status and was dismayed to discover that it was arriving 20 minutes early. I had arranged to pick my parents up at the curb and needed my cell (mobile) phone, so they could call me. There are families that park their cars, walk into the airport, carry balloons or flowers, hug in greeting, help with the luggage, and walk together to the car. Melochs are not one of those families. Picking up at the airport involves standing at the curb, catching a shuttle or a bus or if we’re feeling really gracious, a ride from someone we know. When I realized I was now 20 more minutes behind schedule, I grabbed my phone to make sure I could call my parents and let them know I was on my way. I discovered that the battery was dead and realized I had not yet purchased a car charger for my phone. I gave Josiah instructions to call my parents from home when their plane landed and tell them I was on my way. I had initially given myself an hour to get to the airport. Even with their flight arriving early, I thought I might just make it. I keep a small notebook in my purse that contains a myriad of information: phone numbers, restaurant recommendations, to do lists, directions, etc. I opened it up to the airport directions and started driving. I spend the majority of the first 6 months in a new location getting lost. (In Australia, I combined getting lost with occasionally driving on the wrong side of the road.) I followed my written directions and was soon approaching Reagan airport. At this point I realized that since my parents were flying into Dulles airport, I had been reading the wrong directions. I had taken the interstate through the middle of DC instead of following the one that curves around the west side. That’s alright I thought, I’m sure I’ll be able to figure out how to get over to Dulles from here. Abby and I then proceeded to go on an unplanned tour of D.C. and Maryland to view the Capital, the National Cathedral, and parts of D.C. I was pretty sure I shouldn’t stop in. At the end of our circumspect route, we entered the toll road to Dulles. When I drive this road, I believe the length of it grows. If they would just put signs on it giving the distance to the airport, it would help. The first sign could say: “100 miles to Dulles”. Then I’d drive ten more minutes and the next sign would say “99 miles to Dulles”. I know it is not that long of a road, but it feels like that long of a road. When my parents checked in for their flight, they had not been assigned seats next to each other, and they requested to be moved. In an unexpected blessing, they were moved to first class. They were really happy with the silverware, good food, dove bar, and comfy seats. Reality struck back quickly, however, as they stood on the curb and realized that there was no limo waiting for them.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a packet of letters from the kids in Gabe’s 2nd grade class at the Stafford Campus of Fredericksburg Christian Schools. It was very uplifting to read the letters they wrote and to look at the pictures they drew. I am encouraged everytime I think of these kids praying for me! Here are the letter and picture from Gabe:

The kid’s asked a lot of different questions. I’m still working on my reply. I really need to ge that finished this week! The most popular question is “What do you eat?” If you remember the DFAC post, I get to eat just about anything I like. In fact, every Sunday night a steak and seafood night. Unfortunately, the steak doesn’t come close to the steak in Dubbo. Another question that caught me off guard was “Do you have a pet?” That got me thinking about Army regulations.

As an individual operating within the Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) Area of Responsibility (AOR), I am accountable for the prohibitions found within MNC-I General Order Number 1 (GO-1). The purpose of GO-1 is to:

Identify conduct that is prejudicial to the maintenance of good order and discipline of all forces assigned to the MNC-I or present within the MNC-I AOR.

Some of the activities that are prohibited are gambling, possessing drugs, and consuming alcohol. Among other restrictions, I am also not allowed to adopt any wild or domestic animal as a pet or mascot. So the answer to the question is “No, I don’t have a pet”. While I don’t have a pet (or even a mascot), each evening, a gecko hangs out on my window eating all of the bugs attracted by the light.

The hunting must be good because tonight there are 5 geckos on my window!

This is my first post in a new category - Must Have Deployment Gear.  No matter what Mugs may say, I don’t collect a lot of personal field gear. I will admit to possessing an astounding array of boots and gloves, but if your hands or feet are uncomfortable, you’ll be miserable the whole time you’re in the field! Anyway, I do believe that the right tool can make all the difference.

Someone recently sent me a collection of comics from Bob on the FOB. One of the best is titled Geardo. According to Bob on the FOB, a Geardo is “someone who spends at least 50% of each paycheck (before taxes) on the latest & greatest gear, just to have the latest and greatest gear, regardless of whether or not that gear will actually help the wearer perform his/her duties.” See Geardo and other comics at http://www.bobonthefob.com/pastbob.html.

The first item in my Must Have Deployment Gear list is the spork. For my birthday this year, Mugs and the kids bought me various small pieces of deployment gear. My spork is one of those items.

This awesome spork is from a company called Light My Fire.  If you would like to purchase your very own Light My Fire spork, you can find it online at Campmor.

When I finished my run tonight, I stretched for 10 minutes. Make sure you tell Lay Fong that I’m still stretching; I don’t want to get in trouble again. Anyway, after showering, I used my spork to eat a bowl of Smart Start cereal for dinner. I know in my last post I heaped praises on the DFAC, and now I’m writing about eating cereal for dinner in my hooch. Technically, it was DFAC food, since I brought the cereal and milk from the DFAC. But that’s not the point of this post. This was all made possible by the spork. I carry the spork in one of the cargo pockets on my ACUs and am ready to eat at a moments notice!

While Mugs and the kids are sitting around eating bowls of chocolate frosted sugar bombs cereal while watching the Food Network, I’m dining on the fine cuisine of the FOB Diamondback DFAC. The Army DFAC is typically referred to as the Mess Hall for very valid reasons. On a normal Army installation, soldiers that live in the barracks are allowed to eat in the Mess Hall for free. Even with this authorization, most soldiers choose to eat off post as often as possible. There is always one person in the crowd that enjoys the Mess Hall. One such individual is Chris Coleman, a friend of ours from when we were stationed in Germany. He and Mugs were Platoon Leaders in the same company when we were Lieutenants. Once when we were on the subject of food, Chris commented that he loved eating at Waffle House. Seeing the looks of shock on our faces, he went on to explain that he preferred Waffle House because “It’s the quantity of food that matters, not the quality.” Hopefully that helps you put his enjoyment of the Mess Hall in perspective.

Anyway, the DFAC here in Mosul does not deserve the Mess Hall moniker. This is the most impressive DFAC I have ever seen. Due to OPSEC, I am unable to post any pictures of this magnificent structure. You may recall the explosion in a DFAC in Iraq around Christmas in 2004. The blast killed 22 soldiers and wounded 66 others. That occurred here in Mosul on FOB Marez, right across the road from FOB Diamondback. Because many soldiers congregate at DFACs, these facilities are considered high-value targets. So we take every possible measure to ensure the safety of our soldiers in the DFAC. I will not discuss anything here that violates or compromises OPSEC.

In the FOB Diamondback DFAC, the options are endless. At every meal the mainline has a couple of options for the main dish as well as several alternatives for side dishes. For example, at breakfast this morning, from the mainline, I got bacon, hashbrowns, and a biscuit with creamed beef gravy. While at lunch, I had General Tso’s chicken over rice, also from the mainline. But if the pickings on the mainline are not to your liking, other choices abound throughout the facility. In the morning, when I have a little more time on my hands, I wander over to the omelet bar and have a made-to-order omelet. For the fast food junkies, burgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and even cheese sauce are in abundance. Some days it’s even possible to get jalapeño hot poppers.

But wait, that’s not all. If you call in the next 5 minutes, I’ll also throw in the Ginsu knives!

I’m running out of room and haven’t even mentioned the taco bar, pasta bar, potato bar, soup bar, salad bar. Have I left out any other possible bars? I guess the only bar not in this DFAC is the kind of bar not authorized for US troops in Iraq. But at least there’s Coors non-alcoholic beer in every cooler in the DFAC. I laugh every time I see someone with their near beer.