Bad Blogger

It’s been a whirlwind of a month (or more!).  Unfortunately, it has also taken a toll on this blog.  The intent was to try and keep it updated as much as possible but work got really busy (was working 12 hour days) and then I finally got to come home on some R&R.  It has been great to be home but time has flown by, it seems like I only arrived a week ago and yet it is almost time to head back to Kabul.

Secret Sister Swap

I had joined Carla’s secret sister swap but have yet to actually post what I received and from whom.  Well, without further ado, I wanted to thank Joanna (That Thing I Made blog) for the lovely package.  I really didn’t expect the parcel to be sent to Afghanistan, I thought I would get to see it when I got home so you can imagine my surprise (and delight!) when I got her parcel.

  I got a couple of great books (on gardening/canning), some fabric squares (love Seuss!), a Quilting magazine, some Purdy’s chocolates (which were awesome and I am not embarrassed to say that I didn’t share at all!!), a handcrafted bird and a photo/print of a bike in the snow (very cool!).  Joanna’s husband crocheted a scarf and I thought it was totally cool, one of my favourite items – for sure.  The shortbread egg did not make the trip very well.  Unfortunately it takes mail forever to get there so baked goods don’t do well during the summer months.  Thanks again Joanna!  I really liked my stuff

Puppies and Dogs

So, we picked up our new addition a few weeks ago and he is so precious!  Gala and his are getting along well although she is insecure so she tries to steal all the attention from him.  If you try to pet Findlay, she will shove him out of the way.  He is pretty laid back, for the most part and so he lets her get away with it now but we always tell her that he *will* get bigger lol and then she better be careful

Rest & Relaxation

My time at home is almost at an end, time rally flies.  Not that I have done much since being home.  Mostly helping out around the house, getting errands done (vaccinate the dog, bring the van to the garage, kids doctor appointments etc…) and enjoying the time spent with my family.  Luckily the weather is great, or has been these past few days.  Another positive thing about this R&R is that I was on a late one so when I get back to Kabul, there will be less than 2 months before I am home again.  The plan is to head to Newfoundland for a solid 3 weeks of kicking back and enjoying the slow pace.  Ryan *loves* Newfoundland and spends his days outdoors (which we love), the dogs will have acres to run around loose and plenty of rivers and creeks to explore.  We are also hauling a few second-hand ATVs that we picked up so I am sure Mark will be teaching Ryan how to (safely) drive one.  I think I need a crash course too

Well, I should get back to it.  Here is a picture taken of me shortly before I flew home, it was taken outside of the city.

And one final cool picture before I go.  Tank graveyard, leftovers from the Russian occupation.  Looking down into the barrel.  And, it looks like two eyes and a nose…..

 

Just a Quickie!

I have been busy!  Got back from Mazar-e-Sharif a few days ago and haven’t stopped.  I would like to take a few pictures and post them as the weather has been gorgeous the last couple of days.  It is the rainy season here so sometimes we get days and days of rain but when it stops – sunny and hot.

So, we will be getting our puppy in just a few more weeks!  Actually, we will be picking him up when I arrive back in Canada for some R&R.

6 weeks old and he already is making those “please forgive me” puppy dog eyes….

 

Just can’t get mad at him LOL

Now to find him a name that matches.  He is full of energy, gives lots of kisses and is totally goofy.

Heidi

The Faces of Kabul

It’s been a busy couple of weeks but looks like things will slow down for me in the next couple of days. There is another run tomorrow, this time a 15k at 6:00 in the morning and then the 5k at 9:00.  I would love to try the 15k, I have never “run” that far but not sure I can drag my ass out of bed at 5:30, so I might have to be happy with the 5k – we’ll see

Recently went into the city and snapped a few pictures along the way.  This is one that I wanted to post because even Kabul has beggars but not quite the same as we see in North America.  Often people will beg in the streets with traffic zipping by on either side of them.  Some of the saddest to see are the mothers with their children.  Actually, I don’t know whether to be sad or angry sometimes.  The traffic can pass by quite quickly and it would be so easy to have one or all of them hit and killed.  Luckily this street was not as busy.

C’mon Spring!

The weather here had been pretty cruddy.  Rain, rain , rain which generally means – MUD.  There are no paved roads in this camp, everything is dirt and gravel so I am not a big fan of the rain.  However, the other day the rain turned into snow and it continued to snow all night.  Ugh.  I thought we were on our way to an Afghan spring.  Anyhow, luckily, the sun did decide to come out and the snow started to melt – quickly.  Sooooo, lakes of water everywhere.  I took this picture just to give an idea of the amount of standing water we are dealing with.  I was also quite happy to see the mountains.  We don’t often see them here because of the smog but every now and again we get an awesome view.  One day I will try and get a picture of the same spot, with smog, what a difference!

I hear Ontario is getting more snow, I will keep my fingers crossed that some warmer weather comes your way

Heidi

Cowtown Run

So, every year in Fort Worth, Texas, there is an event called the Cowtown Marathon.  Since there are so many Texans in Camp Phoenix (I suppose), some Americans organized a shadow run (5K) here in camp.  It was held on February 23rd, which turned out to be a pretty nice day.  We are getting spring-like weather here and so lots of rain.  We still did run through the mud but overall was pretty fun and although I didn’t come in first (no chance of that happening LOL), I didn’t come in last either.  For some reason I can’t upload my picture to photobucket, so if you want to see pictures, click the link (HERE) and it will take you to the Op Attention facebook page with the picture(s).

Some pictures that I was able to upload were the ones of my favourite three puppies.  I am hoping to get another dog so I went back to the breeder where we got Gala.  Her dog Dharma, had a litter of 8 puppies about 2 weeks ago.  They are all cute as heck but I do have my favourites.  Of course, it is based purely on looks and so my choices will probably change as they develop personalities.  And then I have to consider Mark and Ryan as well, hoping to find a pup we all can agree on.

The pups in this litter were named after Greek god/goddesses/mythical figures.  These names are just used to identify them, because honestly, who wants to refer to the pups as “blue merle male #1″?  ugh.  So, without further ado, my puppy choices:

Atlas (blue merle male)

Talos (red tri male)

Themis (Black tri male)

Aren’t they adorable??  I am such a sucker for the puppies, if I had the room I would probably want a whole pack of them.

Heidi

Creepy

I know that not everyday will I have something interesting to talk about so I figured, at the very least, I would post a picture and talk about it.  At the very least, family and friends would get to experience a bit of this country with me.  So, without further ado, here is my first picture:

Legoland first floor

There are a lot of different buildings and quarters on this camp.  Where I live it is called legoland because from the road it looks like a bunch of lego blocks stacked together.  As you can see there is a wooden “boardwalk” the runs all the way through the halls and around the perimeter.  The second floor looks just like the first except they don’t have a “roof”.  The thing is, not only is the main floor very creepy (especially when the lights go out and it’s pitch black), but when it rains or snows, everything from the second floor boardwalk melts and drips on your head.  Ew.  Each of these rooms opens to the outdoors which means a trip to the toilet includes putting on clothes and a pair of shoes.

That’s all I’ve got for today

Greetings from Kabul

I wasn’t going to do any blog posts while I was away but I joined Carla’s swap and it was a requirement   I guess, if anything, I can keep people up to date on what’s happening here with me.

First off, I would like to say that it is not hotter than Hades here.  I got here in October and by November it was cold.  By December it was snowing.  Just sayin’….  Right now it is starting to warm up but it still freezes at night.  Must admit, not envious of the weather everyone is experiencing on Ontario and Quebec right now

One of the more exciting things happening right now is that I am hoping to get a puppy.  we love Gala so much that I have been bugging Mark to get her a friend.  we decided to go back to the breeder where we got Gala, Extreme Aussies, and Dharma is about to explode (seriously, she’s huge LOL)

This is a picture of her, isn’t she pretty?

That’s all I am going to write for today.  I am tired and I have to save something for next time.  Believe it or not, my job is not too exciting.  I will try to show you a bit of Afghanistan though.

Good night.

Labour Day Weekend

It has been a great weekend so far!!  Drove home on Thursday and on Friday, once Mark got home from work, we drove into Ottawa to pick up Gala.  Ryan has been so excited and was outside playing with her at 6:30 Saturday morning.  The weekend weather has been gorgeous and we have taken full advantage of it.  Today we took a walk to the Petawawa dog park, and strolled around the neighborhood for about 2.5 hours.  Everyone was pretty tired and so we relaxed on the deck in the afternoon.  Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Gala in our backyard

Ryan and Gala playing in the backyard, love the look on Ryan’s face….

Gala in the pool, she loves it.

Some quiet time with Evan.

Can’t believe the weekend has passed so quickly and I will be back to Valcartier tomorrow.  Luckily only a few weeks left.  On the bright side, I have been reading a lot!

I decided to participate in Carla’s Sunday night chit-chat, you are supposed to start off with a favourite picture.  I chose this one that was taken with my iPhone.  When I was in Brossard, Quebec, we stopped for lunch at a micro-brewery restaurant called Les Trois Brasseurs.  I ordered the “Maxi Poutine”, the fries were deep fried using beer.  MMMMmmmm.  Bad for your waistline though….

Reading?

I downloaded a book called Amber Frost off of the Ontario Library Services website.  I love that with my library card number and pin code I can download available library books.  I have about 10 on hold (the max) and another 10 or so on my wish list.  So much better then spending money on books you may or may not like.  I download them to my phone but I believe you can download them to Kindle/Kobo and iPad.

Watching?

No plans.  May watch “Storage Wars” that are recorded or the movie “Contagion” that Mark hasn’t seen yet.

Listening to?

Right now Ryan and Evan are watching Scooby Doo.

Cooking/Baking?

We made homemade mini pizzas for supper.  I would like to bake some muffins tonight and maybe get a soup started.  All depends on how long we can maintain energy, everyone is pretty tired today

Happy you accomplished this week?

Picked up the dog and got her settled in.

Looking forward to next week?

It’s my mom’s birthday next week, hoping to drive to Laval and hang out with her a bit.  Also looking forward to seeing my younger sister and her kids.

Do you collect anything? Purple elephants? Unicorns? Etc…

Not really.  Got a decent collection of stamps for card making though.

Valcartier

I have been in Valcartier for almost a month and took a couple of pictures, I really should get out with the camera more.

This is the 5 Brigade statue at the entrance to the base.  It has the crests from all the units on it.

This statue is also by the entrance to the base.  I didn’t actually read the plaque.  Maybe next time.

My room.

And that is all I’ve got for today.  For some reason I thought I had taken more pictures but when I downloaded them there were only these ones.  No big deal, I’ll take some more next time I am out for a walk.

In other news… keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to leave tomorrow for Petawawa.  Rumour has it we will be given the day off on Friday and if that’s the case I am hoping to start driving ASAP.  Ryan is looking forward to me coming home although I’m not sure if he is more excited to see more, or that we are picking up the dog…..

August Update

A month has passed so quickly!  Once we got back home from Newfoundland I spent a week trying to get things at the house organized, it’s amazing how much stuff you can accumulate over the years.  When Mark and I were in Shilo we had a small 900 sq ft PMQ and two young babies and we were happy as hell.  Now we are sprawled out in a house twice that size!  We have too much crap   Anyhow, Mark has been selling some stuff on Kijiji and I have made numerous donation to Value Village.  Then I spent another week at work, or mostly at work, getting ready to leave for CFB Valcartier.

Speaking of Valcartier, I’ll get some pictures of the base and post them here when I remember to take my camera with me.  Training has been steady but there has been a fair amount of time off (read:  lots of time off).  I have been doing a lot of “running” although I am slow as hell.  Hopefully, if my will power holds out, I’ll be able to lose a few pounds.  I am going to be in Valcartier until the end of September although I am heading home again for the Labour Day weekend.

We are getting a dog!  I went home this past weekend because Mark found a dog that he and Ryan fell in love with.  We drove to Ottawa and visited and decided then and there that we had to have her.  She is an18-month old  Australian Shepherd and her name is Gala.  We are very happy to be getting a dog that needs a good home (she has had a few families already) and no worrying about training and dealing with a puppy.  Mark is planning on picking her up in a couple of weeks which should give him time to get things ready at the house, and I can ensure we have all the stuff we need (bowls, leashes, brushes, toys, etc…).  Ryan is so excited he can barely wait.  I think this dog will be a great addition to the family and she is absolutely going to love visits to Newfoundland!