Oh yeah, I LOVE circus peanuts!  I hope I don’t have to explain to anyone else what they are.  They are a delicious marshmallow candy, (fat free!!) that I have loved growing up and I just got delivered from my good friends Nick and Marlena.  They sent me  another care package with all kinds of goodies and I can not wait to see them when I return.  I have also just received four pair of aqua racer goggles,and three pairs of Brooks Glycerin 5 training shoes.  Four goggles you might ask?  Well, since I have been here, I managed to lose a pair and my really cool pair of aqua racer goggles have a chip in the back piece that tightens the straps, so in the case that does eventually break and I manage to lose a pair, I will be able to carry on with my training.  So what to blog about… it is Sunday here in Beautiful Balad.  I missed my time trial this morning, so I am going to run it tonight in the heat, unless it is dusty, then I will be forced to run it on a tread mill, which will actually be turned into more of a paced 5k, I think I will start out at 5:30 pace the first mile, then work down from there. 

            Yesterday I managed to get into an argument with an Air Force Captain (via email) because I, (a Civilian) pointed out a bottleneck and made a recommendation to streamline the process at one of our camps here in Iraq.  Well in his 18 years of Service this is how it had always been done and things were not going to change…until yesterday that was.  I think he took it a little personal because his emails became more demeaning.  I brought this up to my DCO and I am hoping this guy gets in trouble.  That was one thing I was afraid of running into over here, the thought of animosity of between soldiers and civilians.  I have only ran into one case prior to this where I could tell jealousy was an issue between me and a soldier, and I have had other “could have been” incidents when a soldier approached me and asked who I work for with a pretty hostile tone.  Don’t get me wrong, I support the troops 100 percent, my job here is in fact to support the war fighter, and I am not going to let a few bad apples change the way I feel about our Nations finest.  I pretty much treat people how I would like to be treated, but if you cross me or disrespect me in anyway, don’t expect much respect in return.

            So training and life in general…I am so ready to run on the 6^th of September.  I am pretty fired up just to be back home!  I can’t wait to see my family and friends.  I am starting to realize that I am missing out on life while I am over here.  I am going to be 31 in December and probably the only one of my friends (my age) not married with kids.  Does this bother me?  No and Yes.  No, because I want to make sure I meet the right person.  I am very picky with the women I date.  Here are some simple, more obvious “must haves”, must be into running/fitness, no smoking, must be into your family, must believe in god, must have a career,  must have a college degree, no kids allowed, no crazy baggage allowed, and must be honest, again, must be honest, although usually I can tell that part just by being with that person.  I do know what it is like to love someone, and I know what it like to have that person walk out of your life, so that is another reason I want to make sure if and when I do find that person, all the conditions are right on both sides.  I have had too many friends go through a divorce, and it freaks me out a bit.  Although from the start, I knew they should not have been getting married for one reason or another, but for some, they think that marriage is the white picket fence, and that ring on the finger will make all the problems go away when most of the time it just shields from others what is really going on, and now they are stuck.  I will not allow that to happen to me. 

            Yes, because I love my family and I really want to have one, one day…  I don’t want to be an old dad.  I want to be able to go out with my kids when they turn 21, even if it is just for a drink.  I want to go to the games, be a coach for my kids sports, take them camping, teach them about life not just by informing them of it, but by being out there with them while they learn.  That is what I loved about my father.  He was very involved with our lives growing up.  My mother was too, but my dad was my coach for basketball, he was our Den Scout Leader in Boy Scouts, (Den 227 ROCKED!), he was there for everything, and that is what I loved about him and I know he wanted that  sharing of time with your family to be passed on.  He had mentioned that his father was never really involved in his activities as he was growing up and I know it was because his dad was always working or what not, but still.  I am going to be like my father.  And although it is sad that my children will never get to meet him (because he has passed), they will know everything about him and be able to see how great of a man he was through what he has passed onto me and what I want to pass on to them.  Yes, because I am a romantic guy who has tons of ideas and thoughts I would love to share with my significant other.  All in good time, I know.

            So as you can see, I am stuck in that “Limbo” right now and I know that staying over here is not helping, as I mentioned, I am missing out on life.  But until I do finally return, as long as I have some circus peanuts, a pair of goggles to swim, and some kick -butt Brooks gear, I will survive.

Sherrod out J