Day 87 - 89

Dec 27 - 29. Happy almost New Year to everyone. I got some great pictures from the Bean that I wanted to share with everyone. She is in good spirits and just had a great trip to one of the local schools. I'll publish more when I get the details, but I can tell you she was pumped when we last chatted. I got these pics from Beanie yesterday and probably should have given a little more thought on how to lay them out, but hopefully they’ll provide some semblance of order, but no guarantees. We’ll work from top to bottom.

Here’s the tres amigos (okay dos amigos and uno amiga). Note my lovely bride is in uniform, outside, and with no cover! Man, back in the day . . .

Team DCMA put together gift bags for the local Afghan workers on the base. This is Brian’s container and it was probably the most popular stop on the base for a few short minutes. The guy facing front evidently got a 5-gallon can of stucco for Christmas . . . and he looks pretty happy about it.

Some of the locals that provide critical services (like security) can easily be overlooked. Beanie noticed this security guard observing the gift giving and thought she should share a Christmas package with him. He looks pretty happy to be included though I have a feeling she’s probably not suppose to be climbing the tower.

Nice Black Hawk medivac doing power landing (or it could be a take off, Ken??). Most of the aircraft coming in and out of FOB Fenty are either rotary, UAVs, or prop.

Beanie said the sunsets and sunrises are spectacular, but her camera doesn't really do it justice. Between the mountains, snow, and clouds there are some great vistas.

Apache (with a BlackHawk on the sidelines) brought to you courtesy of the fine people of Boeing, Mesa AZ.

One of the many Chinooks that come in and out of Fenty. Beanie thought it was a good picture that captured the everyday events are going on everyday and far away of which most of us are completely unaware.

Ah yes, evidence of the infamous Christmas Eve bon fires. I guess they did this for several nights. The temps were cool, but not cold - just right for a cup of hot chocolate and an infrared signature that can be seen for miles around!!

Beanie's work place palace. How can anyone be that tidy in a combat zone!! Dad, see the picture on the shelf near the light?? You can see Beanie makes good use of the cards and stuff you have been sending. Poodle, check out the tea pot lower left. It’s a beauty!!!!

Day 86

26 Dec. It occurred to me that we have been discussing the DCMA Team at FOB Fenty, but no one knows what they look like except Beanie - until now! These "just released" photos are now available for your viewing pleasure. That's Brian on the left and Jon on the right and we all know the hottie in the middle. Enjoy.

Days – 75 - 85

15 - 25 Dec. Merry Christmas to one and all. This year’s Christmas at the Cross house is a bit “different” for 2008. I haven’t spent Christmas with my brother since ‘72 (but yes, we are tight!) and I haven’t a spend Christmas without Beanie since ‘74. But, it’s Christmas Day, Beanie is living la vita loca in Afghanistan and I am flying back to Phoenix after spending the last week visiting with Bud & Jean (Beanie’s folks) and Judy & Johnny (Beanie’s sister/brother-in-law) and a few days in Florida with my older brother Doug & his lovely wife, Penny. In tow I have several Christmas pounds secured to my body as well as somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000 calories of cookies and fudge courtesy of Miss Penny. You know me, I’ll be bitching until the last bite!!!!

I’ve had several nice phone calls with Kathy over the past few days. The DCMA team (all 4 of them!) did a real nice job of making Christmas in Afghanistan as enjoyable and memorable as they could. Not sure if Kathy has shared the Advent Calendar story yet, but the wife of a Lt Col stationed with Kathy put together an Advent Calendar for each of the DCMA folks. I was not familiar with the Advent Calendar, but a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Sometimes it’s strictly religious, but most advent calendars are made for children. Basically it’s a box with many "windows", one of which is opened every day beginning 1 Dec and ending on Christmas Day. For the DCMA team, each day had a small gift concealed in each window and everyone had different stuff. Well the whole thing was a huge hit. Each evening the team would have small gathering to enjoy some coffee or hot cocoa and open their advent surprises. The location rotated to each team member’s container. Thanks to all the gifts, treats, and surprise everyone sent, they were able to do a little decorating and carve out a little slice of home in the Afghan countryside. On Christmas Eve, someone scrounged a half 55 gallon drum and they had a bon fire. Yep, I know what you’re thinking – it would make a nice little infra-red target!!! Little bit of life on the edge. Everyone managed to fine some small gift for the other team members and Christmas morning they had a little gift exchange. It sounds like they did a real nice job of helping each other enjoy and get thru the holiday.

I’m really hoping Beanie can find some way to get a few pictures back to me. I really would like to see how the whole thing looks. When we chat next, I hope to have a Tele-Christmas, where I’ll share with her our gift opening & Christmas Cards. I think it will be nice. A special thanks to all you good folks who sent Beanie the treats and trinkets to help make it all come together for her in-country celebration and our Tele-Conference Christmas. Again, Merry Christmas. We’re almost half way!!!!!

Day 74

14 Dec. Hey folks. Just a quick note to let you know that Kathy's email anomaly is back. It looks like some emails originating from outside the DCMA domain (any email address that does not end with @DCMA.mil) are not making it through. The work around is to just replay to any email that you have received from Kathy and then it seems to get through. I got some more pics that I'll post as soon as I have some witty narrative to post with them - yeah, I know - it could be a while. Cheers

Days 67 - 73

7 - 13 Dec. It seems like the days have screamed by in the last couple weeks. Not sure if it’s a Christmas thing or just my own poor time management skills. I just returned from Charleston, SC. It’s a very nice area and I can see why folks seem to be flocking to it. During my travel I did get to chat with the Bean on multiple occasions. Her spirits continue to rise directly with her ability to do what she considers a “good job”. It seems like her team is growing tighter, but her QA, John is preparing to rotate back to the world. Oddly enough, he works at the General Dynamics C4 Systems campus as me in Scottsdale. I hope to spend a little time with him when he returns to get a “real” debrief!! LOL. Kathy had a real nice treat on Friday. At FOB Fenty, the Special Operations contingent is a separate organization within the base. They have dedicated chow halls, etc. Remember, many of these troops are designed to look like the locals so they have long beards, wear local garb, etc. They invited the DCMA team (The DCMA team is Kathy and what I like to refer to as “The Boyz – the three guys on her team) to join them for lunch. As luck would have it, it was steak and lobster day. Had they known Beanie’s panache for pounding down lobster, they may have rethought their initiation. Beanie polished off three, count’em, three lobster tails. For those of you that know Beanie well you’ll quickly realize that Beanie’s love of lobster is directly correlated to the availability of drawn butter so I’m guessing a cup or two of drawn butter probably accompanied those lobster tails. In her defense, she was to shy to go for the third tail on her own, so one of the guys went thru the line and got it for her. I would love to have heard the conversation between “The Boyz”. I suspect it referenced a hollow leg and “for a little girl she can pack away some food!!” I LMAO when she told me the story. It’s a good sign of stress reduction. Unlike me who feeds a fever, feeds a cold, feeds stress (you get the picture!!); Kathy tends to not eat when she’s stressed out. Yep, I think she might have been chillin’ that day.

Kathy has received a couple of boxes from folks and if she hasn’t contacted you directly, she sends her thanks. Her mom & dad sent her a little Christmas care package that had a package of Christmas pot porri (like I spelled that right!). She loved it. She spread it around her office and said it looks great and the spruce/pine smell really brought Christmas to her container. Nice call ma!! I did the same thing at home, but I used beef jerky. Me and the kitties sit around with a content smile on our face. She’s also got books, hot chocolate, and a bunch of other nice things from many of you. Your thoughts and efforts really do make a difference. Nothing is nicer than a card or letter from home, even in the digital age.

I head out to North Carolina on Tuesday. I’ll be there till Thursday after which I am heading to Alabama to see Kathy’s Johnny & Judy (Kathy’s sister/brother-in-law), Bud & Jean (Kathy’s folks), and then down to Florida to spend a couple days with my brother Doug and his bride, Penny. I fly back to the valley on Christmas day where the kitties and I have a wild Christmas party planned for all the strays in the neighborhood. I hope to get a couple more blog entries in over the holidays, but in the event that I fail miserably, on behalf of the Bean, me, and the kitties, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and fabulous New Year. Once again, we thank you all for your continued support, friendship, and camaraderie. Cheers.

Days 57 - 66

28 Nov - 6 Dec. A happy Saturday to everyone not working today. Apologies for the extended absence, but you know how hectic things are this time of year. You would think it would be very easy for me. Beanie did all the Christmas shopping before she left. All I have to do is pack and ship, right the traditional cheesy Cross Christmas letter, and keep the kitties alive. But as always, getting "things done" has turned into another Beanie Appreciation Course. BTW, for those of you that have been breathlessly waiting, the 2008 TTCCL has been crafted and approved by Beanie so that will be going out soon.

Yet another positive development, Kathy's email "anomaly" appears to be corrected so you can email her at will. As always, Kathy will respond as best the work conditions will permit. I've been able to chat with Beanie on a reasonably regular basis. The workload is still unyielding, but it seems the better days are outnumbering the "less better" days. She's been working quite a bit with the Pay Agents. These are folks from the outlying camps that are tasked with the additional duty of traveling to FOB Fenty to secure the funds required to pay local business that support these outlying camps. These local businesses are critical to keeping the outlying camp functioning. Without them critical support functions such as translators, security, and general mission support can fail. It's very challenging as the Pay Agent is a supplemental job - you know, in addition to fighting the war and staying alive. The more I see our troops in action, the more amazing I find them.

The mail system also appears to be improving. The last two boxes I sent to her made it in less than two weeks. Though mailed the same day, they arrived 3 days apart. Kathy said it seems like the base continues to grow. Lots of construction and an extremely active OPS tempo. The more I talk to her and learn about what's going on, the more challenging I see her work becoming. It seems like the toughest part her job would be the inability to get way from the job and wind down. I know for me, after a few months of 7 day; 80 hour work weeks, I would start to wear down. I mean really - not even a golf day??

Well, we're over one third (Day 66 of 180) of the way through. This New Year's Eve will be more special than others as it will mark the first day of the downhill slide - we can start counting down from 90 day.

That's about all for know. I am on business travel to Charleston this week, but will try to get an update or two posted. Our best to you all. Cheers