Week In Review (21 March- 27 March)

This week was interesting to say the least. Pretty steady business as we get ready for a long training out at Twentynine Palms, CA. This is the last hurdle before deployment. I showed up Monday morning thinking we were flying out on Wednesday, but that got moved to tomorrow which actually worked out best for me because I had a ton to get done around the house. I felt like I was in meetings for most of the week. The first one started at 7am each morning and I usually wouldn't get a breath until around lunch. Had a few more guys stopping by thinking about getting married before deployment, but not as much as a few weeks ago when it was pretty much all I did that week.

The weekly visit to the brig was interesting because as soon as I sat down to wait for the first Marine I came to see, they called away a fire drill. So twenty minutes later I finally got back in to see my guys. None of them will be there when we get back, so I hope that that was my last visit for a while provided no one else does something to get put in there.

We got issued a bunch more gear for deployment but aren't allowed enough bags to carry it all to CA, so I just picked what looked most needed and will pack the rest when we deploy. I can't believe how much gear we are required to take with us everywhere we go. Supposedly, the people in charge of our embarkation are pretty picky about how much gear we take and such so that has been fun playing within the rules to pack all this stuff. Hopefully, I've gotten everything within the limits.

The Passover Seder meals also arrived this week. Of course they would arrive after we had shipped everything to CA on trucks so it has taken some favors to get the 8 meals loaded on the plane. I'm really looking forward to leading the Seder in a few weeks, though some of the food items aren't looking too appetizing, especially as they are MRE type foods.

It has become quite apparent that deployment is right around the corner. I am finally in contact with the chaplain for the battalion we are relieving and getting as good a lay of the land as possible and beginning the turnover process. I am sure we are both excited but for opposite reasons.

The weather was nice and I got to run along the river after work a couple of times this week. I will miss this time of year where the weather is pleasant, though a bit schizophrenic. Hopefully it's not too hot in CA during the day and we can get some workouts in during any free time that may arise. I am trying to get some approval from the network people for access to the blog while on USMC computers so that I can post updates from the field, especially care package needs once we are deployed.