Finally in Kuwait

Well, Jeremy called Sunday night a week ago to tell me he had arrived safely in Kuwait. It was already Monday for him, and he'd seen quite a bit of new countryside on his journey. Since arrival he's been able to call me every day, though the unit has yet to hook into the internet access there at Camp Buehring. His living quarters consist of an 80 person, air conditioned tent. He's sleeping on a cot and living out his duffel bags with no real personal space to speak of, so he's really looking forward to getting to their permanent barracks in Baghdad. Otherwise his time in Kuwait hasn't been half bad. Very light duty, and not much of it. The temperatures have averaged close to 120F during the day, but there's almost no humidity so he isn't drowning in sweat or finding it half so miserable as he expected. In the evenings he actually called the temperature "rather pleasant" even though it's still in the 90s.

Camp Buehring is a temporary staging area for troops coming and going from their permanent post in Iraq. Jeremy said that it's smack dab in the middle of the most featureless countryside he's ever seen. He hasn't been able to get any pictures to me yet, but I did a little google search to see if other people had some pictures of the place, and I thought y'all might be interested in seeing these too. Apparently this little base is furnished with one of the best gyms in theatre, a Starbucks, steakhouse, chinease resteraunt, Burger King, two PXs (military version of Wal-Mart), etc. The food, according to Jeremy, is quite good, and just about everything is air conditioned.

Camp Buehring, Kuwait


The view looking South


Some of the tent "barracks"

Yesterday Jeremy got some kind of little stomach bug that has him kinda messed up. He said he's feeling better today, which is good because apparently his unit is "heading out into the desert" for about three days worth of training exercizes. Todays phone call had to be especially brief due to phone availability, so I don't know much more than that, but he said he won't be able to call again until they get back from their little camping trip. ;)

Here on the home front, Reuben and I got a visit from my Dad this past weekend, which was a really special treat. He was on a rare business trip in Manchester, England that flew him through New York, so he extended his layover for a few days to come see us. We really enjoyed getting to hang out with him, and in typical fashion my Dad was helping me get little household and computer matters taken care of right up to the time we walked out the door to the airport again.

Dad and Reuben

Reuben's been in a growth spurt, he seems to be just a little bit taller every time I look at him, and he's been taking naps like they're going out of style. Right now he's fixated with throwing away trash for me, though his understanding of what is and isn't trash is still in the developmental stage. Every day he does something new that just blows me away, he's so much smarter than I give him credit for.

Reuben Heaven: outside with a ball

Wednesday is my official due date, and I've been having my fair share of pre-labor contractions over the past couple weeks. I have my little bag packed to go to the hospital at a moments notice, but so far nothing quite that excieting seems especially eminent. It's been fun clearance and resale shopping here and there, getting things washed and carefully put away in the new dresser I picked up for Reuben and Anna to share. Each day a few more things get completed and checked off the list in preparation for her birth. The house keeps getting cleaner, more organized, more prepared for others to take it over at a moments notice. The anticipation is kinda fun...and altogether maddening all at the same time. ;)