Update from the Sandbox

Ok, so I have been in Iraq for a little over a week now. Living conditions are much better that I was led to believe, and I have internet, so yay.
I just got back from a two day mission in Mosul that really only took about half a day to complete, but I got to fly in a blackhawk for the first time in a combat zone. My current location (though it can change at a moments notice) is COB Speicher, where we are doing a mission that involves fiber optics. I do not know where I will be headed to next, or when I'll be heading out from here.

Is it hot here? Yes, but I really can't tell, it feels like a hot day back home to me. I do get cold in the mornings when my squad does PT... and its only 60 outside. The smell is not nearly as bad as I remember it being, but then I was in Baghdad with stagnant canals and sewer water running through the streets - though Mosul did have that same stench.

I miss home, and my wife and daughter, especially since they both have a lot of medical problems that they are dealing with right now. I miss being able to cuddle with my wife at night and get a good nights sleep. I miss my daughter's laughter and playing with her -  I even miss her trying to climb on me. I miss my church, really I do; I miss being able to attend the Divine Liturgy - which has been described as Heaven on Earth - and I miss partaking in the Eucharist, I miss the friends that I have made there... mostly though I miss the free coffee and dough-nuts after service.

Although I do miss home I know that I still have a while yet before my deployment is over and I get to go home to my wife and daughter. Overall I am doing very well, right now I get plenty of down time, but that can change at any time. I'm anxious to see where else this deployment will have me going.