The Eve of the Departure Ceremony

Well today was highly productive. I somehow managed to jump right out of bed this morning at 0500 and got on the road pretty quickly. Man I am so thankful for my Community Coffee. The commute to Lafayette isn't bad at all and i have been making the 1 hour drive to headquarters each morning since October. But the 6 cups of coffee (fluid cups not physical cups) make it even more pleasant. I have also really been enjoying the cold mornings. I must have been made for arctic weather because I still haven't needed a jacket and its been pretty cool. I guess if I was standing around outside for a good while I might consider it, but its been fine just for short durations.

So today I put out a few fires. I kept getting bombarded with questions and requests for information(RFI's)from the battalions all morning. I was also still waiting for the stupid training horseblanket (a giant multi-color spreadsheet that is literally 36" tall and 56" long when printed). It took 1st Army (our higher command at Camp Shelby) a full 24 hours to get that to me. They refused to e-mail it and wanted me to download it from the server that I did not have permission to access. It took my boss chewing some you know what over the phone to get that problem fixed. I hate going to him for help with stuff like that but sometimes being a Captain is not enough...but being a Lieutenant Colonel...thats almost always enough! LOL!

So anyway, I guess all that I really did today is chase down answers to questions and coordinate some meetings. But it made the time pass quickly and I felt productive. I guess that counts for something. Once we get to Camp Shelby on Friday...thats when it'll really hit the fan. We'll be busier than we can handle...but we'll somehow manage.

So tomorrow is the Departure Ceremony at the Cajun Dome Convention Center in Lafayette. It starts at 1030 and my parents will bring Katherine and the girls to meet me there. I guess that it is a very significant event for our unit, the community, and our families, but for some reason I am just not that excited about it. I have a conference call right after the ceremony that I need to call in to so I can coordinate a shift in some training for the brigade...I know I'll be distracted by that. Whats funnier I guess is that I am more worried about whether the girls will be able to sit through an hour ceremony without having a meltdown. LOL! Its amazing to me still how much things have changed from just a few years ago...now that I am a husband and father.

Well, I promise, these posts will get much more entertaining as the days drag on and my imagination runs wild from boredom...LOL...but seriously. Things will get much more interesting once we move to and start training at Camp Shelby.

Good Night All!