2/14/09-2/16/09

Happy Valentines Day! Chuck sent flowers and cards for me. He said sorry he wasn't here, even though if he was here he probably wouldn't of done anything for me anyways. He is doing CQ duty and it is 0330. I'm not sure what the CQ stands for. He gets off just in time for wake-up call, so he can't go back to sleep. It is cold again. A few of them are going to start running on their own now since they are in white phase. He is still sick, actually getting worse. One guy is in the hospital with pneumonia, and quite a few with bronchitis. He is finally going to go to sick call, because he wakes up every morning hacking up stuff, and now his throat hurts. He was excited because they were supposed to get a real lunch today, not another MRE. They started their class on "Big Ass Machine Guns" today. They'll get to shoot them later. He's looking forward to that. They marched in full battle gear today and his body is feeling it. He said that everyone else has the aches and pains so he doesn't feel to bad. He is talking to a guy from Arizona and thinking that it'd be nice to go back for spring training again. We all enjoyed that. He is a little upset that he has fireguard again tonight. He had it 6 out of 7 nights this week. He asked me to bake him an apple pie and bring it with for family day, so I'll take care of that for him. He wants to eat it with ice cream when I get there.

2/15/09
Chuck went to the catholic service this am. He really enjoyed it and said that he will probably keep going to that one. The platoon is mad because everyone else has gotten their phone calls except them. He got another haircut and got to restock his supplies. He finally got his rifle cleaning kit he was wanting. He said that one platoon marched by him and was singing the song Hole in the bottom of the Sea. He laughed because I sing this song all the time. My great uncle used to sing it when I was little and it just kinda stuck. He sent out quite a few postcards so people should have received those already. This is his first night without fireguard so he's hoping no one screws it up for him. He asked about his TV shows, but told me he doesn't want to know anything about American idol (my favorite). He doesn't like not being able to watch the news or read the paper because he did these every day at home. He is still getting in trouble for things his battle buddy does. More cravings, lasagna and meatballs from maggiano's. Then he actually got to eat spaghetti and meat sauce for supper. When he continued writing it was right after we got off the phone. He felt the same way I did. That was the quickest 7 minutes ever. He'd like to get to call again, but he doesn't think that will happen. Bed time now.

2/16/09
They had a land navigation class today. He thought it was pretty cool. His spirits are up some when they get to do these cool classes. He said that they bussed them out 20 minutes to the middle of nowhere. They had to match the terrain and find where they were on the map. Then it was time for lunch. That didn't go so well. He was putting pepper on his food and the lid wasn't on tight and he had pepper all over his food. All he got to eat was bread and some beans. He said that he ate extra at dinner to make up for it. Now he is craving Chinese. He thinks that we'll try to find a good Chinese restaurant while I'm there. More marching today at a quick pace. He said it's pretty much a jog. He is having a hard time keeping up since he can't breath, but he's afraid that if he goes to sick call, he could miss training and have to start over again. He said that he is still in good spirits. Last week was rough but since we talked that has really helped him. They got told that if they don't pass their 2 mile run (which is what he's been worried about) that they don't' get the pass for the weekend after family day. It is shower time now and time for bed. He has fireguard duty again tonight, so he'll be tired tomorrow. And they wonder why they are all sick.
That's it for now. I'll keep everyone posted.
Thanks,
Nel