Well, the Army came though an I'm out of my tent. While I'm not in my permanent trailer (another three-ish weeks or so), I am in a trailer. Whoo hoo! It's not too bad and I have plenty of room (no roommate - it's good to be an O-5!) It is not quite the plush luxurious quarters I had on Diego Garcia, but considering I'm in Iraq during a war, my humble abode is just fine. The best part is the only person snoring is me. Ah, the good life.
I also have an office over with my unit and the commute is about a three minute walk (my permanent quarters will be about a 20 second walk). I have a Navy Chief Petty Officer as an assistant although right now he's really running the show while I learn the ropes. He's been here a while and knows who's who in the zoo and just where to go for just about anything. Gotta love the CPO Mess! I have him to thank for my new quarters more than the Army. They didn't see anything wrong with tent living - go figure. Anyway, Chief has been a Godsend and life is pretty good right now. Now that we finally have our computers and phone hooked up, I guess I'm going to have to earn my pay. I must add though, it sure feels good to be part of an operational unit again. Too much staff work gets old.
I began attending the Anglican service here on base today. It was a small crowd for service (about eight or so) but it was nice to be using the Book of Common Prayer again, even though we used Rite I. It felt very comfortable and familiar to be back in a regular worship environment after so much travel and unsettledness. I think we even had wine for communion although I'm not quite sure if it was bad wine or bad grape juice. It sure wasn't what we use at home! But, our little congregation sang and celebrated and enjoyed our afternoon fellowship (service is at 1PM).
With all of the new happenings there are still somethings that never change. The University of Memphis lost a heartbreaker to Ole Miss yesterday in football and it's still about a thousand degrees here. It's always important to be able to count on some things in life.
Cheers, Pearl
PS - I think I'm going to have to root for Appalachian State this year as well - Go Mountaineers!
