E-mail

I was surprised this morning by an e-mail from Clerie. She sent me a photo: she's the one with the gorgous smile. Here is some of her e-mail:

"Right now everyone trying to gel again. It seems a little more difficult, but that is because I think some people see our tight knit group and think it is a clique or something, so they don't try to join in. People are starting to accept our invitations to do things with us now though. I think that will be better.
"I miss playing games in the evening. Now we do the P90X workout (which I think is awesome) at night, and we wake up early to play games in the morning before chow. I don't want to stop working out, because I feel like I am already noticing a difference in the way I feel and the way I look, but at the same time, those games we played each night were the best distraction and stress relief ever.
"I think what is making this more difficult this time around for me, is that this is becoming more real. The reality of the situation is that what I am doing now is what it is going to be like for the next year. I am going away for a very long time.
"But over all, seriously, things are going good. I am learning a lot, especially about different weapon systems. So far we have shot the M16 on the range to qualify, with our gas masks on, while wearing Night Vision Goggles, and in a situation where you had to load your weapon, and then turn around and hit a target behind your back. I also shot an M230. It is a grenade launcher. I was awesome at that! (One of the best in our group of 50.) I hit the target right on each time, even at 300 meters. (The gredade kill radius is 5 feet, so you are only required to hit them within 5-15 feet.) So that was fun to learn to do that.
"Tomorrow I will shoot the M249 (SAW) the M240 (Medium Machine Gun) and the 50 Cal (mounted in a HUMMV)
"We wear body armor, helmets, and carry our weapons around with us where ever we go. It is good training to get used to it. I am already starting to get so used to carrying my weapon, I check to see whether I brought it in the shower with me (I obviously don't do that :))
"I love you so much.
"Please give Jonathan a big hug from me, and tell my family I love them!"

Wow. When Clerie talks about carrying around big guns, it reminds me of my biceps. Talk about big guns. I really ought to get a concealed weapons permit so that I can wear long sleeve shirts again.
It was so much fun to get an e-mail from Clerie. Feel free to e-mail her, or to e-mail me and I can pass it along.
The whole being apart for so long hurts to think about. I hate being apart, so I try to keep focus on where I am.
So I put the baby seat on my commuting bike. Plenty of my co-workers have a bicycle in their cubicle each day, but how many of them have a bicycle with a BABY SEAT in their cubicle, huh? That is the epitome of cool. It's going to be all the rage at work, I'm sure.
Did I mention I have a pink camera?