this is what tired looks like

hi all, sorry i've been invisible for so long. i got back two weeks ago and i think i've been just as busy as i was in iraq. crazy. i worked until 3 am today/tonight and it's a sunday morning! so, in that honor, i took a picture of me at the office with bags under my eyes. (I'm more vain than i admit, so i made this pic black and white so it wouldn't look quite as bad as in color. in color, my skin would've looked a bit green and pale at the same time.) So can you believe I'm still smiling? Well, I'm Latin and so that means I was born with a gene requiring me to ham it up in front of a camera. It's a proven fact....at least for my family.

i still have a couple of blogs saved that i wrote while in iraq, but i haven't had the chance to clean them up and post them yet. i'll see what i can do soon.

on another note, my mom just got back from nicaragua and she said my uncle sergio down there read the blog every day. i don't even know him. so, HOLA TIO SERGIO! I look forward to meeting you in July.

1LT Partamian

One of Michael’s and my greatest friends in life, 1LT James Partamian, is training in Kansas right now before he goes off to Afghanistan. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog you have read how intrigued I am with the MiTT (Military Tranisition Team) mission. Well, James is going to do something similar to that mission, but in Afghanistan. To be perfectly honest, I’m kind of jealous that he gets to do that, but I am concurrently so happy that he will be involved in such an important mission. I hope the following for him: first, that he will be safe so he can come home to his beautiful wife and baby girl; second, that he will have a really, really fulfilling experience; third, that he can maintain the level of energy and strength he will need to get through the next year. I would ask that you please keep this true patriot in your thoughts and prayers. He is keeping a blog that you can check out here: http://www.partamian.net/blog/

A big hug to James.

Fashion Statement

While in Iraq and Afghanistan I noticed that many Department of the Army (DA) Civilians, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Department of Defense (DOD) Civilians, or DOD Contractors wear the same uniforms as our service members. I’ll be the first to say I’m opinionated and quirky and not always politically correct, so in that vein.....

... Although this is pretty miniscule, last week in Kuwait I commented to my co-worker, Chris, that I didn’t think I would wear the uniform, I would, instead wear civilian clothes. Of course I would be honored to wear the uniform; I just feel the uniform should be reserved for our Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines. I personally don’t think I could bring the level of honor or respect to the uniform that it should command. I understand that a lot of civilians work with the military and are part of the team and contribute to the DOD mission, but...I’m just saying, no disrespect to anyone, just my opinion.