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Now that I’ve moved from FOB Diamondback to FOB Marez, I have to reestablish my daily and weekly routines. This first item I addressed was my running routes. On Friday, I ran a loop around Marez and measured it to be approximately 3.5 miles. Saturday’s route was basically a sideways figure-8 (or infinity) through the FOB, which was about 5 miles. Then yesterday, I ran a figure-8 that measured at 5.2 miles. I’ve mapped out another route that looks to be about 10 miles. I’ll probably run it next Saturday. I think I like running here on Marez better than on Diamondback. Because of the airfield, Diamondback was completely flat. While I’m not a good hill runner, the small hills here on Marez offer a nice change of pace.

The other routine item I had to consider is the barber shop. I visit the barber once a fortnight, usually Saturday afternoon. Coming out of the Marez DFAC yesterday, I noticed a small hajji shop in the parking lot across the street. In the Middle East, Hajji is an honorific for a Muslim that has completed the pilgrimage to Mecca. The American troops have adopted the term as their own and use it to describe anything from the Middle East. It is used as both a noun and an adjective. So all of the small shops on the FOBs run by non-US personnel are referred to as hajji shops.

Pop’s and Omar’s shop is a mini-mall in one room. You can see from the sign all of their different offerings. The jewelry is sold by weight. So if you want to buy a gold necklace, they weigh the necklace and calculate the price based on the value of gold for that day. The tailor makes custom suits. I’m not sure when I would have an opportunity to wear a suit, so I guess I’ll hold off on getting one made. The whole shop feels almost as if it could have come from Itaewon, the tourist trap area in Seoul, South Korea. I was able to get a reasonably good haircut. However, it is much more expensive than the barber on FOB Diamondback. I had to pay $5, whereas on Diamondback I only paid $3! Also, it doesn’t come with the scalp massage they give at Diamondback. Life is rough!

Each day of my life I am not concerned with knowing every stranger’s name who crosses my path and how old they are, but for Ezekiel this is vital information.  When he talks on the phone, he will ask the caller, “What’s your name?”  If someone asks how old he is he will reply, “I’m 3.  What number are you?”  I am required to give him the name of everyone I talk to, be it telemarketers, store clerks, or old ladies standing next to me.  He is relentless.  “What’s her name?  What’s her name?  What’s her name?  What’s her name?  What’s her name?”  He won’t stop until I tell him and then he commits it to memory.  If, I hang up the phone on a telemarketer without listening carefully for their name, I’m doomed.  “What’s his name?  What’s his name?  What’s his name?  What’s his name?  What’s his name?”  “I don’t know” is not an acceptable answer.  In Australia, a telemarketer from India called me and told me his name was Bruce.  His pronunciation of Bruce made me sincerely doubt that Bruce was his real name.  If he called me now that I am back in America, would his name be Bob?  Anyway, along with having to know everyone’s name, Ezekiel will periodically make rude comments about the person.  He doesn’t use the term man or woman yet.  So, instead, he says, “I don’t like that girl.”  “I don’t like that boy.” in reference to various people that don’t appeal to him.  In the midst of trying to correct him on this rude habit, he looked over at the lady next to me and said, “That girl’s got a big nose!”  I told him to apologize for being rude.  He said “I’m sorry” followed closely behind by “That girl’s got a big nose!”  I figured it was best to just move along.  If he doesn’t have a name for something, he makes one up.  This afternoon when I was driving in the car, I heard him in the back having a conversation with his fingers.  He would hold up a finger and say, “My name is Lala, I like to dance.”  (This is chanted repeatedly on the inane show Yo Gabba Gabba.  The kids or characters insert their name into the phrase)  He continued through all ten fingers and they had names like Umi and Umu and Aza and Holly Hobby.  When that was done, he told his fingers that all his friends were in Iraq and he asked them one by one if they wanted to go to Iraq too.  They all agreed to go to Iraq and then he counted everyone of his fingers who were going to Iraq and they all cheered.  I will admit that it was probably a mistake to buy him a camouflaged jacket.  Then, the only bathrobe (dressing gown) that I could find close to his size was camouflaged too.  The first time he put his bathrobe on, Abby said we should buy him a pipe.  He does look hilarious in the thing.  In fact, he came downstairs wearing his bathrobe tonight to tell me that he needed “warm and toasty”.  When I tuck him into bed, I say, “There, now your warm and toasty.”  So, while most kids ask to be tucked in, he needs “warm and toasty.”  If you come in contact with the boy, be prepared to give your name and age.  I can’t promise he won’t insult you, but if your lucky he may invite you to go to Iraq with him to see all his friends. 

We had our first snowfall yesterday.  We received approximately 2 inches.  I love snow.  Having grown up in the North, snow was an expected part of life.  My parents called from Minnesota to say they had gotten 6 inches over the last several days and were expecting more.  Everything looks so lovely covered in snow.  Snow hides all imperfections and soon everthing is white.  The snow could not, however, cover up my imperfections as a parent.  My children were not prepared for winter.  I had given away all of our snow things when we left Minnesota for Hawaii; and in Australia, the kids wore jumpers (sweaters).  We were seldom in need of a coat.  Yesterday at school, the classes went outside to play and Gabe had to borrow a coat from another kid.  My kids had been wearing jumpers (sweaters) and hoodies like good Aussies.  So, ending my procrastination, last night we went out and bought coats.  I’ve lived in so many different climates, it takes awhile to figure out if they’ll need coats.  Even if it is a climate that demands a coat, I never know if the kids will put their coats on when I am not present to command it.  Anyway, it had snowed throughout the night and I awoke to 26f (-3c).  I had hope in my heart that school would be delayed and I could climb back into my warm bed.  Unfortunately, although there were many schools delayed throughout the area, ours was not one of them.  Growing up, there was no better day than a snow day ( a day when the weather forces the cancellation of school).  It is a get out of jail free card: no school, no commitments, play in the snow, drink hot chocolate, a free day to do whatever you want.  One thing I loved about New York was that they had snow days all the time.  Alas, no snow days for us yet.

Josiah turned 13 on November 1st and wanted to go to the Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate his birthday. Thinking how much less work it would be for me compared to hosting a party for his friends, I readily agreed. Then, I looked at the cost of the place and was reminded that it is always beneficial to have all the information prior to committing to something. You would think I would learn that eventually. After coming to grips with the price, Grandma, Grandpa, and Zeke’s participation in the event was eliminated in cost cutting efforts. They stayed home and had an exciting water adventure of their own. Mom dropped the phone in the pond. Zeke was thrilled with that turn of events, and told me about it in great detail when I arrived home. Grandma wanted it hushed up because of concern for my Dad’s blood pressure. One of the problems with having me, my Mom, and Abby in the same house is that nothing stays hushed up for long. Anyway, Josiah, Abby, Gabe, and I set off for the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. It is located approximately 2 hours away. Halfway there, we stopped at the Barnes and Noble in Richmond, and they were finally able to get the books they wanted with their gift card. I guess it’s true that the third time’s the charm. When we arrived, we stared in utter amazement at the place. It is a giant hotel with a giant indoor waterpark. After four years in Hawaii and Australia, supersized America still occasionally shocks me. Upon arrival, we received an unexpected blessing. We were given a free upgrade on our room. We stayed in a loft suite which was huge. I had to change our initial reservations when my Dad was ill and the woman was very understanding. I’m not sure if she put us in for the free upgrade, but it was very appreciated. We then went into the waterpark and the fun began. I am quite certain that Gabe would have been content to play the entire time in the massive climbing tree fort: dumping buckets of water on people’s heads, turning on water funnels, and pulling chains that squirted water at people. He really loved the gigantic bucket on top which was filled with thousands of gallons of water and would drench everyone every five minutes. If you needed to get down in a hurry, you could ride a water slide down. My favorite rides were the tube slides that were a bit like the bobsled track in Australia without the danger of flying off and breaking your leg. Josiah had the most fun at night, when the tube slide was competely dark. He thought it most enjoyable to ride the tube backwards on that occasion. We were all quite challenged on the boogie board wave. It was a rush of water soaring upward at a 45 degree angle. You stood at the top, holding a boogie board and jumped down onto the wave. You would ride down the wave and then push back up and ride down and push back up for as long as you could control your board. There were teenagers releasing and catching their boards, performing rolls, and going from laying down to kneeling on their boards. Josiah did finally accomplish kneeling on his board, but one time he decided to land on the wave with his knees already on the board. The wave rolled him and his board up and out the top. It was a spectacular wipeout. I congratualted him and said, “if your going to wipe out, you might as well wipe out with style.” Soon after, I didn’t follow that advice, I wiped out without any style at all. I lost my board and almost lost my swim top. The guy had to cut the power on the wave so I could stagger out. The next day, when I was standing in line to give it another go, the woman behind me was asking if I had done it before, so I told her about my less than stellar performance. She said that she couldn’t believe I was taking it so well. I told her it gave the kids a good laugh and a knock to my pride is occasionally needed. Thankfully, I had a successful run that go and so did she. As we stood in line watching everyone’s attempt, I was thinking that Martyn and Alex should build one of these things in their back yard. We also spent some time in the giant wave pool catching the waves with our tubes and in the lazy river where you just float along on your tube. The two biggest rides were a river rapids ride and one called the tornado. You sat in 4 person rafts and really got a thrill. Gabe went on both once. Josiah and Abby went several times. When you start on the tornado, your raft drops over the edge into a giant funnel and then your raft goes back and forth across the sides until you finally drop through to the slide. When we all rode together, Abby was facing backwards when we went over the drop. She was holding on for dear life. It was quite a ride. She and Josiah rode it again, but because they were so light, they didn’t achieve the break neck speed that you get from a weighted raft. Josiah and I got to experience that break neck speed to a level of fright quite unexpected. Abby and Gabe were back in the tree fort and Josiah and I decided to ride the tornado one more time. When we got to the front of the line, there was a big fat guy who was trying to convince the lifeguard to let him go down alone. The lifeguard told him that you had to have at least 2 people on the raft. So, Josiah and I got on the raft with him. Here is where my knowledge of balanced weight loads went out the window. Thinking that Josiah wouldn’t want to sit next to the guy, I told Josiah to sit opposite the guy. Josiah went over the edge and my knowledge of balanced weight loads returned to me. He was as light as a feather and with the weight load coming behind, I though for sure we were going to flip that raft. The next several moments were sheer terror and hilarity as we barrelled back and forth across that funnel on the edge of disaster. We were flying. When we landed in the pool at the end, the guy looked completely dazed and Josiah and I were laughing so hard we couldn’t stop. So, if ever you’re inside the tornado, take the fat guy with you.

A good pair of sunglasses is essential to survival here in Iraq. Actually, I have found that 2 different pairs of sunglasses are better. I prefer one type for day to day FOB life, while I use a different type for going outside the wire. I have a pair of the Uvex XC that I was issued while preparing for deployment at Ft. Benning, GA. I wear them everyday in and around the FOB. But when I head off the FOB, I switch to the WileyX which I bought at the military clothing sales store at Ft. Belvoir, VA. The WileyX sunglasses have a much tighter, closer fit to the face. They also have more of a goggle-type setup, while the Uvex XCs are a single lens system. So the WileyX pair does a better job of keeping out the blowing sand. Both pairs of sunglasses came with interchangable lenses. In limited visibility, I can put in the clear lenses, so I can still have some eye protection even when it’s dark outside.

Here’s a picture of me wearing my WileyXs while flying in a Blackhawk.