Here we are about to eat out Christmas game hens. We did beer-butt chicken in our oven.

I'd like to tell everyone that Santa delivered this for me......unfortunately, I fell a little short in the "I've been a good girl" category! So I'm posting this and accepting donations for next year. Remember folks......there are only 362 shopping days left! Seriously, I went golfing last weekend and they had several models of golf -carts, but this one was my favorite. I'd fit right in at "The Lakes"!

Me and the tree on Christmas day! We wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year! We love and miss you all!

Shaun in front of the kitchen Island where we hung the Christmas Wreath his Dad and Sandy sent us. It was nice to have the smell of real pine in the living room.

Me and all the stuff! We had a nice quiet day. It is simply nice just to have a day off for once.

Here is the starboard side of the loot we scored this Christmas. Thank you to everyone! The elephant is a hand carve Alabaster Stone elephant with another elephant inside the body of the elephant, you'd have to see to believe.

Just half of the loot we scored this year. We love all the gifts and thank everyone!

Ok, here is me and the Christmas wreath which Shaun's Dad and Sandy sent us. It is really neat to smell the pine, which we haven't had access to since the spring. Just a little update and holiday cheer. We are alive and well, and counting the dates till June, that is for sure! So Merry Christmas to all!

Finally, here we are in front of our decorated Christmas tree. It has been a VERY long 8 months, and visiting with Janice and Kathy has helped get over the hump of this tour. We have 6 months left and are looking forward to a great June return. Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. May your Holidays be half as bright as the light which Janice and Kathy brought to our Thanksgiving. Truly the season to give thanks and to be thankful for all that we have....starting with each other!

Here is Shaun and the tree. Thanks to mom and Tracy for the "Big Lots" ornaments. Janice and Kathy also brought some ornaments from home to help decorate out tree.

Here is Janice with two local business men while on the patio having lunch at Trader Vic's. We almost sold her......

The next day we went to the big mall and had lunch at Trader Vics. This is Janice and I out front. Trader Vics makes you feel like you are in a tropical paradise.

Abdul's shop is two stories, and you can see the stacks of rugs. There is truly something for everyone's taste in this store. There are many types, compositions, and color variations for all the rugs...Abdul rang the bell and gave a lesson in "rug shopping 101" for the two teachers.

Well, Janice and Kathy did indeed travel half way around the world to be with Shaun and I for Thanksgiving. Of course, what would a trip to the Persian gulf be without a little Persian rug shopping. In the middle is my rug vender: Abdul.

Here is our new executive desk we had made. It is solid rosewood with three black leather panels on the top. I've been wanting to purchase one of these for the ultimate house, and thought this is the time to do it. For now we have it in the spare bedroom with the other computer desk....aka....."The Man-cave"!

Here I am at the race track, they have a static display of a local fishing dhow. You'll see these a lot out to sea and in the bay areas. They tend to be the preferred vessel in this region, no matter the country. In the background is the famous Bahrain Raceway tower.

Here are all my guys at the Formula 1 race track in Bahrain. Bahrain host a Formala 1 race every year in the spring-time, this year the race is March 14. So, as part of the raceway, they have go-carts and a mini race track. All of us went this past Friday and had a great time. It's like sitting on the ground with a lawn mower engine strapped to your butt. It was crazy fun....a little hard on my back, but worth it.

Me, Vince, and Master Chief getting ready to tee off during the Captain's Cup golf tournament. If you have a chance look up "Royal Palm Golf Resort" + Bahrain. It's quite lovely, and the only real golf club on the island. The four of us played in this "best ball" tournament.....and normally "bogey golf" would be good golf, but not in best ball tournament play! But we had a fantastic day, and hey, a day on the golf course beats the crap out of a day at work anytime!

Here is Shaun and his boss Vince, and the Command Master Chief ready to tee off!

Here is Shaun assessing the tee shot with the typical Oil Derrick in the background....how fitting for a golf course in the middle of the Persian Gulf. The guy in the background is Shaun's boss: Vince.

Here is my honey and I on the Royal Palm Golf Course in Bahrain. It is the only golf course with grass. There is another course here in Bahrain, but it has oiled sand for fairways, and you carry a grass rug to hit your ball on. The greens are green oiled sand. This course is very nice, but also expensive, but we had a lovely day!

Here I am in front of the Great Pyramid. You can see the decay and wearing. I am uncertain as to how long the pyramids will be around at the rate of polution from Cairo and the lack of care being given to them. Cross it off the bucket list! Bottom line, you can get more and better information, if you rent a National Geographic DVD, and watch it in HD! Best part of Egypt.....seeing it with Shaun and having a few days together!

One of the few pictures with the two of us, as you can only trust other tourists with your camera. There are plenty of "locals" which offer to take your picture, then you'll have to pay them a "tip" in order to get your camera back......we got the gouge from others in my office before going. Thus, a nice Canadian couple took this, then we returned the favor for them. A great picture!

A Camel-dude. There are many of them all around the Giza Pyramid area. They are looking to give rides, and pictures.....all for a fee of course! The entire area is filled with con artists, beggars, and general hazards to tourists! But it is a cool picture!

Here is the beginning of our day at the Pyramids of Giza. The Great pyramid is on the left and the second pyramid is on the right. What is the difference you ask.....I have NO idea, repeating what I was told.

As I have mentioned before.....Friday is their Sunday here, thus Brunch is served on Fridays. Jen and I went to the best Brunch on the Island......@ the Movenpick hotel. Here we are in the middle of it all. Do you like Jen's "Austin Powers" shirt....."it's shag-a-lishious"! You might wander where Shaun is......this was a girl's outing.....he was in Dubai on holiday.....I mean business. hahaha!

This is a picture of the building being built in front of ours. it is roughly a football field away from out patio. Yes, you are right......there are no safety lines....barriers.....and very few hardhats (must be an import supply issue). The guy nearest the edge is standing on a 2x8......crazy!

Here he is.....my Steeler man! Shaun's Dad sent him this Official NFL hardhat.....he couldn't wait to do something around here where he could wear it. He is hanging our Persian rug.....it's called: a Koom, and this particular one is a "Dome" design. What makes rug more rare than other are 4 things: composition (silk, cotton, wool, and the combonation of them), knots per square inch....this one has 1400, the very rarest have 1650, size (round, square, retangular, runners....etc) square is extremely rare, and the family name and city in Persia where it's made are stitched into the design. Ok, that was Persian Rug shopping 101......next lesson......

Here is the livingroom, and you can see onto the patio and the view from inside the house.

Sorry, this didn't post correctly.....internet on the entire island is painfully slow, thus you'll just have to tilt your head. This is our patio and the view.

Thus, here we are spending a day packing up....tomorrow comes moving day. My guys will be over here and we'll be moving approximately 1/2 of a mile down the road to a new high-rise, which is land locked, but does has a water view, huge patio... Oh, did I mention that it is twice as big as this place...not that the two of us need the space. It's kinda funny if you look at all the boxes of stuff.....for two people that came here with two suitcases each....we sure do have a lot of stuff!

This used to be all water, and now they are pushing out and soon what is water at the bottom of the photo nearest to our house....will soon be dirt. It will stay like a land fill garbage dump for approximately 2-3 years then they will build on it, like all the land here in Bahrain. Apparently you can only plan to have waterfront property for 4-5 years max before they reclaim the land from the sea.

The garbage doesn't stay on land, it get's pushed into the bay as the reclaim the land around our house which was once bay-front, but will soon be land-locked. This is a picture of the rocks along the bay right outside out windows.

About 3 weeks after Shaun and I moved in, they started filling in the bay front which is right behind our place, and one of the reasons we picked this place. They not only filled in the bay with dirt, but garbage, plastic, construction waste, etc....as you can see from the picture above. It looks like we are living next to a land fill.

Ok Mom, here is me at work....this was taken @ 0630 am.......and it's already 98 degrees and climbing.....to coin a phrase: "It's Hotter than Hoopy!". This was taken today 24 Aug 09.

Here I am with the Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Ray Mabus was a gracious Southern Gentleman that I enjoyed speaking with. It is not too often in my business that you get the opportunity to converse with policy makers and high end political appointees, thus it was an honor to spend a few minutes with SECNAV.

Here is Shaun and I at the dinner for the SECNAV. Thought it was a great picture of us.

Here is the waterfall. there are diver scluptures all along the fall. It is roughly 50 yards in width and runs at least 5 stories up. They really don't do anything small in Dubai. The last time I was in the city of Dubai, 1993......needless to say, it has changed A LOT!

Later that evening we went to the world's largest mall: Dubai Mall, which houses the world's largest indoor aquarium, an ice rink, and a five story waterfall. This was an Arabian horse sculpture at the mall.

After being at the base all day we went back to our hotel. This is the pool area....the pool was a kidney shaped olympic size pool with a waterfall that stretched the entire length. Great way to cool off. They delivered beer in frozen acrylic tumblers that were floating in an ice bucket. I have to say...one of the best and coldest beer I have ever had....second only to the beer from the tap of Coors brewery in Golden Colorado.

Went to Dubai UAE last week. There is a Canadian Base with some of our Sailors working there. I took this picture with an old UAE jet on base. We call Palm Springs and Palm Desert the "desert" but this is really the "desert" as you can see from my surroundings. It was 126 degrees where I stood, when this picture was taken.

Many of you remember my Chief Engineer from the THACH. Well, she's all grown up and has a ship of her own....she is the Commanding Officer of USS DEXTROUS, an MCM. She and her crew are out here for 7 months, and she came to dinner Friday night. It's always good times when Jen is around, although it's hard on Shaun to defend himself from a duo like us!

Here is my honey standing next to the humidor. Trying to keep the cabinet humidified has proven to be a bit of a challenge....but I'll keep working to get the humidity for my Cuban Honeys... just right!

Here is a photo of LCDR Rich Shettler and I in front of their fortified tent in which they process Sailors on the way home. The Warrior Transition Program reclaims all the Sailors Body Armor, equipment, and weapons. Then they hold some seminars to help the Sailors adjust to coming home. It's roughly a 3 day transition process that we put our Sailors through before putting them on a plane for Balitimore International Airport. On the day that this was taken....it was 121 degrees outside, which was quite pleasant considering that the day before was 132 degrees. When referring to Kuwait.....hot and dusty is an under-statement. The sun rises here early, by 0500 it's full-on-sun, so I walked over to the gym @ 0530 in which it was quite pleasant outside (mid 90s) and by the time I walked out of the gym @ 0700 it had crested 100 and was heading verticle quickly! I'm keeping track of all these mini-adventures and I'm seriously considering making them and the photos into a coffee table book.....need a catchy phrase for the book...any ideas, let me know!

Here is Dr. Sheep (yes that really is his name) and I by the pool last weekend. I think the Spiderman float is a nice touch! The boys went to the fish market at 0430 and got a HUGE red snapper, shimp, clams and we had a BBQ to say goodbye to one of Shaun's men.

Ok,

Here it is finally...my humidor, 6ftx3ftx24inches deep. And of course, it is fillled with Cubans! On the top I had hand-carved camels added as a unique feature.

This was the shower and toilet facility at Balgram Air Base. It is two conex boxes with make-shift shower on the top one and toilets in the bottom one. These are locker-room style facilities. Makes me thankful for everything I have and the country I live in.
Kandahar is located in the flat lands of the desert, which was 117 degrees during the day and not much cooler at night. The base had a square area in the middle of the camp called the Boardwalk in which there coffee shops and fast food. Everyone carries a weapon 24/7 even if you are in pt gear. There is no civilian clothes authorized and the base is dry, although the French PX did have non-alcoholic beer. With each step you take, little dust blooms explode under your boots. It is the finest dust, much like talcum powder.
From Kandahar we flew to Balgram which is surrounded by mountain ranges. It's a bit cooler in the day, around 110 or so, and much cooler at night (around 93 degrees). Had a really hard time sleeping with all the bomb, and aircraft noise, I'm told you get used to it, and there are bomb bunkers everywhere. I slept in what they call a "bee-hut" it's a 10'x24' plywood structure in which my room was 1/4 of the structure with a bed and tiny closet....and trust me, that is great living for a Captain! Most live 8 person to 1 structure, open bay (no walls) style.
It was truly a great experience and I look to forward to my next adventure in theater. Shaun and I are getting along and working through each day. We have 50 more Taco Wednesdays (normally named Taco Tuesday lunch menu), 17 more haircuts, and 11 more pedicures.....not that I'm counting or anything! Love you all!

Here is me in front of the camp of Khost. It is an isolated outpost and the vehicles on either side of me are armored MRAPs.

This is the city of Balgram as we lifted off on our way over the mountain ranges to the city of Khost. All of these structures are composed of a mud mixture, with most of the roof tops made of thatch or tin.

Me in the back of the helo. A lot of gear and body armor.

Here I'm getting ready to board the MH-60 helo over my right shoulder. We took an hour ride over the mountains to the city of Khost

Here is me in front of a rocket bunker in Kandahar Afghanistan. These bunkers are made of cement T-wall, with sand bags on top for added protection. This one just had some added art work.