Today is Blake's birthday and he just boarded a plane for the first leg of his journey back to finish his deployment. This is going to be a long trip, and he probably won't get back to his unit before the middle of next week at the earliest since they spend so much time waiting for flights back and forth.
While he was here, he got to visit most of his friends in Houston and got to spend some time here in Austin with us. He went to church with us Sunday morning and got to meet everyone there first hand. He is taking back cards and Bibles for people in his unit that the church gave him. He's left his address with everyone he could think of with instructions on what to send. The only real disappointment that he had the whole time was in not getting to see his brother. I really wish we could have made that work out.
He was very impressed by our new neighbors after spending time in Kathy's Garage, the local hang-out where adult beverages are consumed and the problems of the world are quickly resolved. He got to see Carl's paintings and railroad setup, a most impressive display. And, he bought himself a Playstation 3 and a couple of games and left it at our house till he comes back. Mwa ha ha ha ha...
Guess he's going to learn first hand what it's like to have to travel on his birthday, something that Dusty became an expert at. We'll miss him, but he'll be home again soon. Please keep him and the others with him in your prayers.
More when we know more...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Able to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound...
Got an update from Blake when he called this morning. He's having a blast in Houston with his friends, but he called saying he was having a problem with his ipod. It wasn't playing the audio over it now. He was afraid it had a virus from one of the computers he had charged it to, but I didn't know. He's going to take it to the Apple Store in Houston and have one of them take a look at it.
While he was on the phone, he told me that just before he left for R&R, he had taken another PT test and had spectacular results this time. He was afraid that he would have trouble passing because of the altitude, so he went all out on everything. His score was 370, which didn't mean too much to me until I learned that 300 was a perfect score. Apparently, if you score higher on the repetitions or time, you can get points added to your score. He ran 2 miles in 11:30, did 115 sit-ups in 2 minutes, and 90 push-ups in 2 minutes. This placed him at the #1 spot for his brigade for this test, so he got a patch to wear on his PT uniform and the recognition of his sergeants. He said that the PT test is something that is looked at very seriously for promotion, and he wants to make Specialist before he comes home from the deployment this summer.
Tomorrow morning, he's going to take a friend of his who wants to join the Army out for a hard day of training. From what he said on the phone, it's going to be quite an exhausting day. This is one of his best friends who once said that Blake was an inspiration to him because he had gotten his life in order with the Army.
Sounds like fun, but glad I'm not doing it. More later.
While he was on the phone, he told me that just before he left for R&R, he had taken another PT test and had spectacular results this time. He was afraid that he would have trouble passing because of the altitude, so he went all out on everything. His score was 370, which didn't mean too much to me until I learned that 300 was a perfect score. Apparently, if you score higher on the repetitions or time, you can get points added to your score. He ran 2 miles in 11:30, did 115 sit-ups in 2 minutes, and 90 push-ups in 2 minutes. This placed him at the #1 spot for his brigade for this test, so he got a patch to wear on his PT uniform and the recognition of his sergeants. He said that the PT test is something that is looked at very seriously for promotion, and he wants to make Specialist before he comes home from the deployment this summer.
Tomorrow morning, he's going to take a friend of his who wants to join the Army out for a hard day of training. From what he said on the phone, it's going to be quite an exhausting day. This is one of his best friends who once said that Blake was an inspiration to him because he had gotten his life in order with the Army.
Sounds like fun, but glad I'm not doing it. More later.
Monday, December 1, 2008
...When Your Phone Rings at 3:00 a.m.
Blake made it home last night, and like any typical 24 year old, he headed for his friends' house. We're expecting him here in about a week to a week and a half. Till then, he'll be in Houston with friends. He missed seeing his friends before he left because of the hurricane, so he's taking a little longer there now to do the meet and greet thing.
It was a long trip home. He left last Wednesday evening and arrived Sunday evening after stops to Kuwait and Germany along the way. He says that he's gotten his packages that everyone sent to him and was very grateful for the treats and miscellaneous stuff that makes life a little easier over there. The one thing he mentioned was the mayonnaise packets that were in one of the packages. Who would have thought, but thankfully, someone did.
Of course, last night, his first night home, the phone rang in the middle of the night. We were terrified because that's just the way things have been when Blake's been home. It was an alarm company trying to reach someone who apparently had our phone number before we did. It was a relief, as you can imagine, but I held them on the line longer than a typical wrong number call, just to make sure. You really never know what to expect with Blake. ;-)
Well, I'm sure there will be more news over the next few days, so when I learn more, I'll drop a line up here.
It was a long trip home. He left last Wednesday evening and arrived Sunday evening after stops to Kuwait and Germany along the way. He says that he's gotten his packages that everyone sent to him and was very grateful for the treats and miscellaneous stuff that makes life a little easier over there. The one thing he mentioned was the mayonnaise packets that were in one of the packages. Who would have thought, but thankfully, someone did.
Of course, last night, his first night home, the phone rang in the middle of the night. We were terrified because that's just the way things have been when Blake's been home. It was an alarm company trying to reach someone who apparently had our phone number before we did. It was a relief, as you can imagine, but I held them on the line longer than a typical wrong number call, just to make sure. You really never know what to expect with Blake. ;-)
Well, I'm sure there will be more news over the next few days, so when I learn more, I'll drop a line up here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)