a new, tired, commander

hi to all,

It was a good day.  All went just fine.  I got up at around 0630, and
the 1st Sergeant, myself and the outgoing commander (pat blankenship)
all practiced the ceremony then ate breakfast.  Later we had the entire
company out there practicing for the ceremony.  Complete with Choir
practice (the "Army Song" - [you'll know it as the "cassions go rollin
along"]).  We had to cut one of the platoons out of practice early because
there was some "yard work" to do in our sector.  Nothing serious, just
the usual annoyance.  At mid morning, my new boss arrived on the FOB,
LTC Dunlop along with some of the staff.  The rest of the company
commanders in 3-8 showed up later - they had to wait on the "yard work" to
finish (ie conduct analysis and cleanup).  Then the Brigade commander,
COL Sutherland arrived via helicopter.  I invited my old Boss MAJ
Gauntlett to come, so he showed up with COL Sutherland.  COL Sutherland then
spoke to Pat and I in the conference room about any issues with the
change of command or the company.  At 1130, the company lined up and we had
the ceremony.  It's a quick ceremony, only about 15-20 minutes.  First
you salute and play the national anthem.  Then we march up.  The 1st
Sergeant passes the Guidon (company flag) to Pat (outgoing CDR) who
gives it to LTC Dunlop who passes to me, then i give it back to 1st
Sergeant, all in a circle.  Then the commanders march back and speak at the
podium.  Both LTC Dunlop and Pat gave good speeches.  As the new
commander, i speak last.  And by tradition, i'm not supposed to speak long
(what is there to say, i haven't started yet!).  I thanked COL Sutherland
and LTC Dunlop for the opportunity to serve, thanked the company.  Then
I say "this is Chaos 6 [my callsign] signing on"  I march up to the
company formation and take command.  Then we sing and thats about it.  We
were able to order some steak, burgers and hotdogs for lunch.  They
even made two cakes for me.  The indian workers who made them spelled my
name right, but missed spelled chaos (cahos!?).  I was able to sit down
and talk with MAJ Gauntlett for a while.  Then the Brigade commander
few out, Pat flew with him to his next assignment at FOB Warhorse (you
may remember that place).  Then everyone else left.  I spent the rest of
the day moving into my new room and getting my army/commander email
straight.  Its about 2141 now and i'm exhausted.  The good news is that
i've got regular internet actually in my room (finally!), so Heather,
we'll be able to IM much more often.

So, now i'm in command of "Chaos" Company, 3-8 Cavalry, 3rd Brigade,
1st Cavalry Division.

Is it any wonder that I command Chaos company considering how much
"Chaos" ment to us three boys as we grew up.  I new the moment that they
told me I was going to "Chaos" in 3-8 Cav that this was FINALLY the right
company (instead of C/6-9 CAV or C/1-12 CAV)

I command "115" soldiers and are directly responsible for over $75
million dollars of equipment including "14"  M1A2SEP Abrams tanks, "4"
Bradley Fighting vehicles (did you think there wouldn't be a Bradley in
Chaos company?), and "20" armored hummvees.  My area of operations
includes the city of "Ad Dujayl"  [add-do-jail], with a population of over
35,000 people. So i guess my area is like the size of lenoir county. All
the leaders of the city think i'm arabic because of my last name.  That
helps; my name is very easy for them to remember - its a common name
here.  Lets see, I also rate five 1st Lieutenants (a couple are west
pointers).  I'm also the commander of Forward Operating Base O'Ryan
(because i'm the commander of the largest US unit here).  There are a couple
of majors and one lieutenant colonel here, but they don't command anyone
(they do advisory work the the Iraqi Army) and are not in my "food
chain".  Anything related to the base, they pretty much follow what i say,
I'm the commander, despite the difference in rank.  In total there are
over 200 people on O'Ryan that I sort of look out for (which includes
my company).

Not much else to say about today.  I did get some video, but you can't
hear very well due to the generator running.  But we did get some great
pictures.  One of the guys in the company is an amateur photographer
with an awesome camera.  I will send the pics when I'm able.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

All my love

Neilson


Neilson W. Wahab
Captain, Armor
Commanding

first day of school

these are the official first day of school pictures of little missy. she was very proud to have her backpack and lunch. miss tracy and miss monica reported that she had a great day. she didn't cry and she played with friends. i did see a photo that miss tracy took of her and she looked to be having loads of fun.

grace reported that she played in the rice table, miss tracy read brown bear brown bear and they went all over the school looking for the brown bear animals! she also drew a picture of herself. at nap time she did sleep with her new friend carlton and their head were together-- apparently it was very cute.

i'm glad she had a good day. she is very excited to go back and that's even better!

more meet the teacher.

miss tracy grace's teacher and flat daddy with grace in her room.
grace and flat daddy working on her t-shirt project
grace still working on her projectmiss monica and grace

pics from meet the teache

gracie and daddy outside the school. see the playground in the background?

pics!

i ordered this outfit from http://www.etsy.com/ the crafter is actually a member of an online message board i frequent (dear hubby she's a pea).

anyway it came in the mail yesterday and i'm thinking that weather permitting this a first day of school outfit :)

OK OK

oh my has it been almost a month since updating? yikes! bad blogger!

yes after being prompted by several people i am updating you all on our crazy life right now.

we'll start with the petite one. little miss gracie is a trike riding expert now. and in accordance with texas state law she wears her helmet every time she rides. she can go pretty far too -- around our looonnggg block. she even navigates the driveways and curbs like a pro. right now she loves riding to the mailbox to pick up the mail in her basket. she also enjoys a ride to the playground around the corner. and yes the picture is sideways but i'm too lazy right now to fix it. :P

neilson is now with 3-8 cav and is very happy. i have had several looongg telephone calls with him and he is looking forward to taking his command at the end of this month. and we are down to 4 monthsish so that is great!

and i am enjoying my last week before school starts. i took the classes to be an FRG leader. the frg is the family readiness group. and grace and i also went to the hood howdy and learned all about ft. hood and the cool things to do.

we had jennifer come stay with us for a week and we had a blast. she and i decided that we need to make it an annual event. (hint hint)

karen and thomas are coming next week to visit. gracie loves having the company at her house and i am anxious to show off our new home.

and it looks like we will be headed north for labor day. :)

oh and neilson and i celebrated one year since he proposed this week (aug 10) and yes that means our first anniversary is coming up soon!

and that i all i know right now. i better get working on knowing more stuff!

yum yum yum yum delicioso

grace and i played hostesses to our neighbors friday night and it was a smashing success. we were celebrating the sale of our house in kansas city so we had about 15-18 people over to eat tacos. everyone had a blast and the little girls stampeeded through the house playing ball, babies, homework and kitchen. they had a blast playing with the toys in grace's room if the trail of debris is any indication.

i successfully cooked for the whole troop and we indulged in tacos (hard and soft), rice (sopa), cucumbers in vinegar ala wade and mandi, watermelon and topped it all of with brownies and ice cream. thankfully i cooked enough and there were some leftovers but not too many. and even better were the complements on the dinner and the house.

it's funny, we've only been here 6 weeks or so and i allready feel like we have some great friends here. there are two little girls grace's age-ish to play with and several baby sitting aged girls who are awesome with the little ones.

i did learn a couple of things from this experience:
1. while odd at first i love the tile floors. spills are no biggie when your whole house is tiled.
2. i really need one of the big cosco type tables.
3. i had a blast and will do this again!

other tidbits you all might be interested in are popping into my head. first, i got a call from neilson tonight and he is safely at balad airforce base. it is north of baghdad and is an army/airforce base and is as big as ft. hood. for reference ft. hood is the largest military installation in the world. he is anxioulsy awaiting to take his command.

little missy got a stomach bug and treated the employees of target to a clean - up opportunity *oops*. after a rest at home we decided to go to walmart (too embarassing to go to target) to get some medicine and 7 up only to have the same reaction (but this time i had a bag for her). can't wait for daddy to be home so he can run to get these supplies or he can stay with the princess while mommy runs. little missy also gave me the opportunity to wash the bedspread on our bed tonight. thankfully she seems to be feeling better and is sleeping well. we'll keep to the brat diet tomorrow and hopefully she'll be on the mend.

for all you sweating it out in your home state you'll be happy to know that texas has yet to hit 100 this summer. in fact i don't think we hit 90 this past week. they are calling for mid 90s this week so we can get to the pool. i can't believe we are heading into august and have had such a mild summer. i think God is watching out for His hot blooded followers that are new to texas.

oh and how can i forget??? tuesday afternoon we are getting new appliances. ft hood family housing agrees with me that our stove and dishwasher are ghetto and they will be replaced with new ge appliances. goodbye sunray, goodbye white westinghouse you will be ummm... ummm... missed? hee hee

oh and one more thing. of course with his move our favorite soldier has a new address. email me if you want his new address and i'll be happy to send it to you but due to opsec i will not post it.

many blessings.

He Likes to Move it Move it

Some of you might not get the title of this post -- it referrs to the meer cat song (or are they lemurs?) in Madagascar. But the moving thing does refer to my darling hubby. He is moving and getting command very very soon and this is a big relief to everyone. I have a feeling this last part of this deployment is going to fly for him and he is going to be very very busy and that's a good thing.

Oh and Gracie and I caught an awesome show on Discovery this week. It is called Build it Bigger and I will admit that the host is a weinie -- really he is. But the topic we caught was all about tanks and how they train with them, and rebuild them and all sorts of cool stuff. I highly recommend it if you want to see what it is that Neilson gets to play with.

Grace's comment about the tank was a question. "Mommy, when I grow up and drive the tank can I wear my Barbie helmet?"

So watch out Army, the new uni is going to be the pink Barbie helmet with flowers -- quite fetching if you ask me.

It's Done

I finished Harry Potter 7 in an all day reading fest. I won't spoil it though!

You Know You're From Kansas City....

Ok I totally stole this from someone on myspace (thanks amy!) and i'm totally ignoring the hatin' on the 'dotte! (that would be referring to the unkind remarks about wyandotte county aka my former home)

You know you're from Kansas City when......
you know that Kansas City is actually two cities in two states, Kansas and Missouri, and you make sure people know which one you're from....
if you live on the Kansas side, you think Missouri drivers are pokey and frustrating. If you live on the Missouri side, you think Kansas drivers are crazy and erratic....
you know just how fierce the KU vs MU rivalry is; and that you'd best pick a side and stay loyal....
your airport is known as KCI (Kansas City International Airport) yet, the airport code is MCI.... you tell visitors that your city is the "City of Fountains" and they look at you blankly because no one outside of the city has EVER heard it called that, even though we do have over 200 fountains sprinkled throughout the city.... (second only to Vatican city in # of fountains -- really!)
you've given the following answers: "Yes, we have tornados." "No, I don't know Dorothy." "No, I've never met the Wizard and I've never been to Oz."...
you whined through the 90's about Marty ball and now wish he was back so the chiefs could just make the playoffs....
you Christmas shop at the Plaza and ice skate at Crown Center in the winter....
you know better than to try and drive through "the triangle" at rush hour....
you've been told that you're going to hell or asked to help a guy put a "down payment on a cheesburger" when walking through the plaza....
you know to get off the interstate if you're headed into downtown and the traffic report says there's an accident at the Benton curve....
you know what color gunther cunninghams awful glasses are....
you've had a skyscraper at Windsteads....
you remember how awesome Ward Parkway used to be, and now complain that you have to go to Town Center...
you've said "but we were in Missouri, so the cops just let us go"...
you very rarely actually go downtown, unless you're going to a convention at Bartle Hall, a concert at Kemper, or a play at one of the downtown theatres....
you've barhopped in Westport....
you've ridiculed the giant shuttlecock sculptures on the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art to your local friends, but defended them to out-of-towners....
you have ever defended dick vermeil for being such a cry baby....
you've bragged to others how close you live to the Meth capital of the world, but thank God its still far away enough to not make you feel white trash....
you've had Brian Busby come to your school to talk about Weather....
you've had a Gates BBQ employee scream at you, "Hi! May I help you?"...
you've gotten in a fight in gradeschool over the MU/KU allegiance....
you call Cure and/or Nativity "Our Lady of the Lexus".... (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah this one cracks me up - these are two very rich Catholic churches in Johnson County)
you know who Tech N9ne is, and freak out during "We reppin KCMO, the fellas and the ladies know"...
you think St. Louis sucks, but have no evidence why....
the term "Wyandotte County" itself has made you laugh.... (hey now!)
you know where George Brett's house is....
your driving directions always involve Ward Parkway or State Line....
Wyandotte County confuses the hell out of you....
you're mad because Nebraska Furniture Mart used to delivery to Kansas City for free, all the way from Omaha, but now that they have a big new NFM store right here in KC, you have to pay for delivery....
you think that every year is the year the Chiefs will win it all....
you've spent many a day riding rides and eating park food at Worlds of Fun....
you've watched the American Royal parade and rodeo and sampled BBQ at the annual cookoff....
you'll only buy a drink at a baseball game if it is advertised by a man yelling "LEEMONADE LEEMONADE LEEMONADE"... (the only lemonade i will drink!)
you know the royals suck, but you refuse to let any Cardinals fan forget about the 1985 world series....
you know that KC has a Jazz district down at 18th and Vine, but you've never been there....
you can't find a steak worthy of your pallette outside of KC....
you know that if you don't get to Suicide Hill by 8 AM, you're gonna get nothing but dirt....
you know the name Buck O'Neil needs to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame....NOW....
you have had some of the best bbq in your life... at a gas station....
one of your guilty pleasures is Go Chicken Go, despite how disgusting it really is....
you've eaten a meal that was delivered to you by a model train...
regardless if you're from the suburban wannabe KC area, you still tell people from out of town you're from KC; and that's because it sounds so much worse to say you're from Shawnee Mission, Leawood, Overland Park, Liberty, Harrisonville, Belton, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, Mission Hills, Olathe, Odessa, Longview, Grandview, Raytown, Mirriam, Riverside, Kearney, De Soto, Fairway, Gladstone, Excelsior, Leavenworth , Ottawa, Prairie Village, Raymore, Bonner Springs, Parkville, Tonganoxie, Unity Village, Westwood, Peculiar, or Riverside. I mean come on, how lame is that?

Happy Birthday Dad!!

and Daddy Dee :)

Mom sent me this picture of Dad and Grace last week. I think it was taken in late May or early June but I could totally be wrong. And today is a great day to post it since it's got 'da man in it!

Happy Birthday Dad/Papa!

And in this corner...........

coming out of retirement.... Heather! new lead teacher for the two year old room at st. christophers. insane yes i know. hee hee i'm so excited.

Welcome

I know that our change of address postcards are finding their way across the country and they included the address of this blog. So if you don't mind, post a comment so I can fulfill my curiosity and find out who reads my crazy ramblings!

Crafty Goodness

I finally unpacked my scrap stuff. There is a wonderful storage room right off the utility room that has become my creativity zone (well and extra kitchen storage and the waterheater room but let's not get picky). There are fantastic built in shelves that hold all my supplies and room for the baker's rack and table for my sewing machine.

In celebration of this feat I made some little morsels of craftiness. And the photos are the evidence. Here's what you're looking at:

- a little green dress for Grace made from some pre-smocked fabric from Walmart

- a chipboard album of the Fourth of July for Neilson

- the first real 12 by 12 layout I've made in at least a year!

Enjoy

Living Room Pictures

The other night Neilson pestered me to send pics of the living room--- and he's right, I've been poking around on taking them and sending them so here they are!

Let me describe what all you're looking at....

The plaid sofa was Neilson's. It came with the four blue floral pillows shown. The other furniture was my 9 year old living room set that mom and I slipcovered and recovered (using a staple gun heh heh). We still have some art to frame and hang up and there is a whole other side of the room that is currently filled with boxes so no pics just yet. Please notice the bazillion pillows too! Mom and I were busy making pillows while she was down here.

Love the red shag rug from Target, the mirror and photos behind the couch and Grace loves the floor pillows and well let's be honest, she loves all the pillows so they are often on the floor being lilly pads, or built into tower or made into a nest.

Fourth of July, Buses and Feedom Fest OH MY!

Today we celebrate our nation's birthday. Of couse on an installation this is a huge deal and Ft. Hood didn't disappoint. We hit Freedom Fest this late afternoon/early evening. It had rained earlier in the afternoon (what's with this weather?) so we got a later start than anticipated. No worries about our tardy start we had a blast! I took quite a few pictures so I broke them up into several posts since blogger only lets me do 5 at a time.

Our day started with getting onto post and parking our car in one of the designated parking lots to catch the shuttle to the stadium. As luck would have it a bus was at the stop as we pulled in! Grace was so excited to get on the bus. She squealed and announced everything she saw. I think you can see from the pictures how delighted she was! Heck, if the bus thrilled her that much maybe we'd just stay on it all day!

Freedom Fest 2007

I know she's a cutie! After our adventure on the bus we got o Freedom Fest which was held at Ft. Hood stadium. My main reason for wanting to go was the Army "static display" now I wasn't sure but I thought that it would mean army toys for the kids to climb on and I was not disappointed. I took so many pictures I had to divide it between two posts. But those are little Miss Grace on a Bradley fighting vehicle and an Abrams tank (Neilson if I've screwed up the names let me know and I'll fix it!)
Let me tell you that girl was not shy at all. She climbed down in every hole and played around and had to be bribed out!! I asked the soldiers in charge of the displays to please get the shots of her in the driver's seat and other place (sorry Neil don't know what it's called) and they obliged. Grace also befriended those soldiers and asked them to pick her up and help her down. What can I say, the girl loves soldiers. She had a blast climbing on "Daddy's tank" and I think I know a certain soldier who will love these pictures!

More Pics

Hippity Hoppity

After spending some time at the Army's static display Grace was ready to play. There were many "moon walks" available for jumping and Grace made quick work hopping into a Dora the Explorer jumper and then a Cinderella jumper. I don't think she' ever been in one before. Though she was a bit timid at first eventually I had to drag her from them or bribe her with a grape snowcone --- thus explainin the purple tongue! ahhhhhhh carnivals

Parting Thoughts From Freedom Fest

After enjoying a snowcone, bouncing in the jumpers, perusing the arts and crafts and poking around the static display we made our way back to the bus. I had no intention of being in the stadium for the fireworks -- too many people and no way to make a quick getaway if needed.
We extited Freedom Fest from a different gate and ran across this historic firetruck/monster truck. Grace wanted to drive it but had to settle for sitting on the wheel. They also gave her a poster/picture as a keepsake.

We also stumbled across the Ft. Hood Fire Department "safety house". For those of you unfamiliar with safety house it is a camper trailer that has a kitchen, living room and bedrooom. Firefighters take the children through the house and teach them about home safety, dialing 911 and how to escape from a smoky room. Grace did a wonderful job and learned a bit about safety I hope!

We made it safely back to the bus stop and enjoyed a nice ride back to our car. Honestly I think Grace's favorite part of the whole day was the bus ride! When we got back to our car there were three helicopters (Neilson could tell you what kind) flying in circles right over our head. This got our little missy pretty fired up. She informed me that she was going to ride on a helicopter when she growed up. We had to snap a picture of this amazing sight before we loaded into the car and headed to get something to eat.