Ohhhhhh what a fantastic feeling to know it's just around the corner... that time... the time to head back home. It's probably one of the most relaxing feelings you can possibly know! :) Soon I will be sitting somewhere... with no responsibilities to worry about... drinking a beer by the pool. What an awesome thought! I've been gone 6 months and a week now, and yet it still feels like yesterday (to some degree at least). It certainly hasn't felt like 6 months. It may have felt longer to those at home who have been waiting for all of us for all this time, though.
So... as I have been planning to do... the following is going to be a "somewhat" chronological depiction of the time here in pictures. Some of these pics I'm sure you've seen before, but many you haven't. So do enjoy my final blog post from the desert land of Iraq. :)
There I was... the first couple days in the desert... and what did I discover??? SKYPE! What an awesome communication tool! It truly keeps you as close as humanly possible across the thousands of miles between one another.
These are just a couple pictures from our times on Skype over the past 6 months. There were some fun times here with those at work as well... A1C Phillips and SrA Kyles... just a couple of our fine young Airmen here. :) 
There was of course the living space here... mine as I call it... a POD. The official acronym for the living areas are CHUs. Believe it or not... I don't even know what the C in CHU means. Combined or Collective... Housing Units. Or... PODs. :)
Early on in the deployment Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, and Jim Lovell came to pay us a visit and speak for us here at Joint Base Balad. It was definitely a monumental event for all in attendance! We were certainly a captive audience to say the least. What do you say Billy Marshall? "Why I say... That was a fun time Sgt. Latshaw... yes... yes it was." And it certainly was just that... an AWESOME time!!!! :) Meeting the first Americans in space and to walk on the moon doesn't happen every day you know! 
Then there was the Trace Adkins concert on November 2nd. A grand time was had by all. He put on a fabulous show for us, and as you can see from the picture he was quite personable... and TALL! LOL He stands about 6' 6" or so. Thanks again Trace! 
Then there came the holidays... I don't have any pictures from Turkey Day, so I will move into the Christmas pics momentarily. I'm having an issue getting my Charlie Brown Christmas tree to upload... but I'm not giving up yet! LOL I have a few other pictures to throw in here in the meantime. :)
Smile, laugh, kill... I wanted my picture with these 3 rocks for the longest time... then finally I got someone to take it one day when I had my camera at work with me.
That was a fun one... there are a couple others later on that I thought were pretty fun to be a part of as well. Fun is never really a bad thing to have you know, and this is one place it's really important to include it in your daily routine. Otherwise, you're liable to just go crazy! Arrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!! Ha ha hee hee hoo hoo!!!! Then what do you end up doing? You take your picture with a Christmas tree that has a RADAR on top in place of an angel!!!! YIKES!!! Now who wouldn't laugh about THAT? :)
They did a good job with this poor old tree... which was real by the way. The needles all over the command post would definitely make one agree. LOL At first it looked more like a sad old evergreen bush that was already half in the grave, but our hard-
working Airmen made it come together as best as they could. Not bad I must say! Christmas morning was very nice... I held onto my Christmas gifts until then, too! It wasn't an easy thing to do, either! I had lots of them! It was so worth waiting for, though. It also just so happened to be on my day off, which made it that much more enjoyable! The gifts were plentiful! The blanket came well before Christmas, and it was just in time, too! I was soooooo cold before it arrived. I even got to try on a couple "non-military" clothing items that were sent to me 
as well!!!! Now THAT felt GREAT!!!! Good times indeed!!! It was really nice to have a little bit of home in my pod for Christmas. I am very thankful for all the wonderful gifts and treats I received from everyone. Thank you so much! :)
The holidays came and went as quickly as all the other days here, though, and soon it was January already! January meant the NFL playoffs, and the Steelers were rollin' in them!!! As you all know it didn't end well for my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, as they were defeated in the Super Bowl by 6 points by the Green Bay Packers, but it was one hell of a ride they gave us once again! As quickly as January came it was gone as well... it was a fairly cool month... but nothing compared to 
an Idaho winter! February felt even colder to me honestly... at least the first part of it. There 
was even a day I saw a few snowflakes or sleet mixed in with the rain. This was the damage 4 straight days of rain caused here. It was like this EVERYWHERE, too!!! As you can see Mike was sizing up whether or not he would be able to make it across the "river". :)
Also in February there was a very special event that I was able to attend. We had a guest speaker who is not only an accomplished author and a religious man... but he is a Vietnam veteran and a hero by just about any standard. His name is Mr. Dave Roever, and he certainly did not disappoint! :)
February was a month of knowing the time here was getting close to the end. And as Februrary came to a close... there were things that had to happen. Well... for me it was getting those all important pictures to remember the time by before it was too late. Rolling into March the thoughts were really homeward bound! Once you get into those last couple weeks it really starts to sink in. It's almost over... and soon we will all be seeing our loved ones and enjoying the luxuries that being in the great U.S. of A. has to offer! I give a special thanks to my dear wife for being more supportive during the past 6 months than anyone could possibly ask for. I also thank all my readers, followers, friends, family, and anyone else I've failed to mention for all the awesome support you've all provided to me and all of my comrades.
This won't be my final 
blog by any means. I will certainly continue to blog in the future as it's not only enjoyable but highly therapeutic. :) These last 2 pictures are our T-Walls in the Kingpin compound. Farewell Kingpin!!! Parting is truly such sweet sorrow, 
and I can say I've enjoyed my time here. It's definitely been a learning experience and at times even fun! :)Peace, Love, and Poker
P.S.... since I started putting this whole thing together... I have left Iraq and am currently in Qatar! :)
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