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Preparations for picking up the kids from school have developed into a pattern. This pattern is not set by me, however, it is set by a five year old child.

One hot day this fall, I made a cup of ice water and put in the car for Zeke to drink once I picked him up. I had also brought a small baggie of snacks. Zeke appreciated this, but was unhappy the next day when his water and snacks were not there. “You forgot my water, Mommy,” he remarked as soon as he got into the van. Everyday, henceforth, the pattern for school pickup must include a glass of water.

Zeke returns with me to school later each day to pick up his brother and sister. Before we depart, Zeke finds a toy or game to keep himself occupied while we wait in line.

On Wednesday, I told him it was time to find his toy so we could depart. After a minute with no response, I walked into our office to find him playing with the little ceramic heater, turning it off and on; warm to hot. He looked up and said, “I’m playing with this a few more minutes.”

I then began to talk to him (Abby would term it lecture) about obedience. I said, “Zeke, remember how you and I talked yesterday about obeying right away and not obeying slowly because that is disobeying to go slowly on purpose.”

He replied, “Do you write it down?… The things that you say?… I don’t write it down.”

Mike Miller and I went to Aski Mosul yesterday to visit an ongoing project to repair a drinking water drinking plant. Aski Mosul is a small town northwest of Mosul on the Tigris River. Yesterday’s trip took two hours to get to the site. We spent about 15 minutes on the site. Then we took about 1 1/2 hours to get back to FOB Marez. Trips like that can be very frustrating especially when you see that the contractor hasn’t made any progress since the last visit.

This project started in November 2005 and was supposed to last 6 months. Almost 3 years later, we expect the contractor to finish sometime early next month. I’m sure you’re wondering why it has taken so long. So am I! Throughout the life of this contract, there has been a lot of interference by the provincial government. Representatives from the water department have directed the contractor to change pieces of work without getting the proper approvals from our contracting office. So every time that happened, we had to stop all work and get the proper approved modifications in place. I’ll be glad when this one is done. I hope we can finish it before I leave, so I don’t leave the mess for my replacement to fix! In the tradition of the Army, for the first 60 days after he replaces me, he can blame all of the bad stuff on me. After that, he owns it.