300

300 days here; 134 to go…

While I am still here, I have stuff to look forward to (only stuff I can get in Iraq - the stuff I look forward to outside of Iraq is too long of a list...)

I look forward to hearing from and seeing photos from home (home is not a location; home is where the family is).

I look forward to having the time to write to this blog (the goal is once a week); and checking every couple of days for comments.

I look forward to the weather cooling off (but I guess I'll have to deal with the rain and mud then).

I look forward to mail call.

I look forward to the days I finish work early… by 2200 (10pm)

I look forward to when the MPs bring in the military working dogs for a rest day in the HQ.

I look forward to football season (1SEP) – by the time the NFL season and NCAA bowl games are over, I will be done.

I look forward to the football games that serve as a reminder that we have made it to the end of another week. I can’t wait to see Appalachian State football win their third straight national championship and the Panthers to make it back to the super bowl. It would also be nice to see NC State make a bowl game.

I look forward to finding out in November if I will become an exchange student with the Irish military for one year. The odds of this are very low, but I submitted for it anyway.

I look forward to days when I have time to take a nice long jog.

I look forward to peaceful flights over Baghdad and the surrounding areas – watching the city go about their lives. The markets are full, the streets are full of cars and children are out on the soccer field playing…

I look forward to having the opportunity to talk to the common citizen of Baghdad and learning the “ground truth”.

I look forward to seeing the progress here; the whole time I have been here I have not seen it get worse. 20 years from now I want what we did here to have real meaning for the world; just like the sacrifices a couple of generations ago directly effected who I married to today : )

I look forward to the end of each day; taking a quick shower and enjoy a bit of silence before falling asleep.

I look forward to taking a day away from my countdown calendar each early morning.

I look forward to the days that no one dies; and even better, when no one is even hurt. That is been happening more and more often recently – but not nearly often enough.

GEORGE