Groundhog Day

The title of this blog just about says it all. I didn't think it'd happen this quickly but I've now come to realize what others before said was true. It's truly groundhog day here everyday. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily, it's just mainly the reason why I haven't blogged in a while. Everyday seems to meld with the day prior and its pretty easy to forget what day of the week it is. On the plus side though, it does make the time pass quicker.

And speaking of time, a highlight to the last few weeks was getting a chance to run into an old friend from way back. Travis Mitchell and I used to mix it up on the baseball field in our former years, usually providing more moral support for the team than actual substantial support by way of runs scored. Its important to note though that that moral support was enough to solicit enough sympathy votes from the rest of our team to get us both elected to the league's all-star team and the chance to play in the all-star game. As was our style, we lost that game in glorious fashion...we weren't invited to join the traveling all-star team. So fast forward 15 years and here we meet up again in the dining facility in Afghanistan, hoping to emerge more victorious from this venture than the last one. TBD.


Even though the days repeat and repeat and repeat, there's great things in all of them. Every morning I find myself blessed to watch the sun rise over the Hindu Kush from either 0 feet or 20,000 feet. Gives the Sierra Nevadas a run for their money to say the least. And thanks to a second mom (Debbie Henderson) who made me memorize Psalm 121, in addition to my own mom who reminds me of the same verses, I'm daily reminded, "I raise my eyes toward the mountains, where will my help come from?..."

Another highlight of the week that keeps the days at least a little distinct from the previous ones is Friday night dinners at the Army chow hall. Every Friday night is surf 'n turf night at the various dining facilities. Its a rough life, I realize. None the less, just because its surf 'n turf being served doesn't mean that its good surf 'n turf being served. The lobster tends to be sub-par and the beef so undercooked that the cow might still be grazing out at pasture, or so overcooked, I wonder if a piece of leather may be slightly more yielding to my palate. But for some reason, the Army chow hall puts a little more TLC into their work and come up with a much better selection of steak, lobster, and crab legs. Combine that with a near-beer and some ice cream and I can't find much to complain about. So a crew of us always roll over there about 45 minutes before the place opens up on Friday nights to ensure good seating and top choice of the night's delicacies. Makes Friday's just that much brighter.


Couple other highlights to the last few weeks. Some of you probably saw the news and saw that the President made a trip out here real quick. Didn't get to see him speak but did get a chance to watch his birds takeoff into the sunrise. That's a pretty lookin' airplane for sure. Also, I got a chance to rub elbows with Toby Keith this last week. He was out visiting and performing at several different bases around the 'Stan and he made a stop here. Someone from my squadron worked some magic and got him to stop by the squadron the next morning after his concert to meet everyone. I didn't get a chance to make it to his show, but I did snag a picture with the guy the next morning. I'll try to post it on my next blog. Don't have access to it right now.


And finally this week, to close things out I wanted to make sure y'all got an update on the mustache. Its still coming in quite nicely if I do say so myself. Even had the pleasure of combing it out the other night. I was real proud of that. And today, I got the biggest compliment of all. I was told that my mustache reminded several people of Clark Gable. So, maybe not quite Tom Selleck status, but I'll take what I can get. Hoping to take it to a whole new level here in the next month or two. Fingers crossed.