Update for June

Sorry for the lack of posting. It has been busy and with Cliff's situation, and how little he is allowed to talk about anything, it doesn't leave much for any kind of regular update.

He did post this on his MySpace page (June 6) so in case you haven't seen it...

Did I mention it is HOT here?

So I am almost at the half way point of my little trip with the military. Things have been good here. I have done a little traveling since I have been here in Iraq. Everywhere I go there is one thing all the places have in common. It is hot. I am not talking about "oh its warm outside I think I will turn on the ac from low to mid."

It is 90 by 8:00, and I am talking about in the morning! by mid afternoon we are looking at temps around 120. It is so hot I swear I could bake cookies outside my room on a rock. Now I do have it better than some of the troops here. I share a room with another Seabee. We have ac and I just found out he bought a TV. While you are outside you drink water or Gatorade every thirty mins. I sweat so much my shirts could be a salt lick for deer. I lose 3 to 4 pounds fluxuating every day in water weight. When the wind blows it does not cool it down. Instead it makes it feel like a blast from an oven.

Before I get caught up in my heat rant I have to say that today in the 9th anniversary of the day that I married the greatest woman in the world. I think its funny that we were married on D-Day but Sara doesent think so.

Everyone send me letters or email. You have my address or email if not
ask Sara for it. I love hearing from everyone.

Sweating in Iraq
Cliff

Caleb and I are fine, just trying to juggle work assignments and having him home for the summer. He has VBS this week at church and will start swimming lessons in two weeks. Then he'll have a week of daycamp I signed him up for and it won't be long after that when he starts school in August. The marbles are slowly going down - I actually have to tip over the jar for Caleb to reach them because they're lower - that's a good sign that it won't be long before this deployment is over.

Flowers and Bacteria Infections

That's what we've been doing this week. I've been trying to get our yard and flower beds in shape and our dog Sammy has a bacteria infection that had him pooping diarrhea and vomiting all over our carpet for the last two days. Thankfully, the vet put him on an antibiotic and after one day of the medicine, he's almost back to normal, and my carpet is breathing a sigh of relief.

Life continues on for the Horns - Cliff is on a mission in another location than his regular one and is enjoying the change of pace. Though I don't know what they're doing (of course), I do know it's different from what they were doing before. He also seems to be able to call a little more, every couple of days, for free, which has been nice. He said at this location they're allowed to work out for an hour during their workday and he has enjoyed getting back to the gym, though he admits that there isn't a lot to do after their work hours are over other than work out or watch tv, both of which I think he's getting a little tired of.

The heat is averaging 110 degrees or so each day, and Cliff and his buddies have gotten used to it, I think. He said that when they go inside to their rooms where the thermostats are set to 80, they start complaining it's too cold. He is drinking about 6 liters a day of water and has the greatest farmer's tan in the world. It will probably take years to even out. :)

I have stayed busy the last few weeks with writing assignments and projects and Caleb is winding up his first year of school. Three more school days and he will be done! We are all excited I think. I'm glad they haven't sent any more school work home to do - the weather has been so beautiful the last couple of weeks, it's been hard to keep Caleb focused. He just wants to play outside with his friends.

I am planning to keep him going with his reading and writing this summer so he'll be ready for first grade. He will be going to a new school, Longview Elementary. The town where we live is growing VERY fast, and his current school has run out of room in only four years, so they built a new elementary school and our neighborhood has been rezoned for that one. They will start back in the first half of August which feels really early to me, but maybe the summer will go by fast.

That's what I'm hoping anyway - once Caleb is back in school, it won't be long at all before we'll be counting down for Cliff to be home.

Well, I wanted to update everyone on how things are going. Please remember that Cliff does have email and does like getting mail, though he doesn't always (most often) get to write back. Sometimes he literally just has time to read an email, but he does like hearing from his friends and family. Email me if you need an address.

Please continue to pray for Cliff's safety and his health and that things will stay relatively calm here at home. We appreciate your support!

A New Week, A New Month

Two months are officially done, and we can now count on one hand the number of months to check off until Cliff starts making his way home. A lot of military wives count the days - that's too many for me. We stick with counting months, and using our marble jars.

The marble jars sit on our kitchen counter and have provided a good visual for Caleb. At the beginning of this year, after Cliff left for training in California, I put 300 clear glass marbles in one clear jar - one marble for each day we expect him to be gone - and every morning after breakfast, Caleb takes a marble and puts it into another jar. We are very close to the marbles being of equal height, meaning we're almost halfway there!

Cliff is doing fine. He said it is getting very hot now, in the low 100s, and they expect it to get to 120 very soon. The heat is causing some problems for him with his skin - he said his hands are very dry and cracked, and no amount of lotion seems to be helping. He's also getting cold sores on his lips because of the heat. But other than that, he is doing well. They are wrapping up the project they've been working on essentially since they got there, and should be starting some new things soon. I think he's looking forward to that.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed him and written him letters. Please continue to let him know he is missed. If you do not have his new snailmail address, please contact me at sarahorn2003 @ hotmail.com and let me know you need it. He does also check email, so feel free to contact him that way too, though he doesn't always have time to answer back.

We'll update again soon!

Another Month Says Goodbye

Well, we're at the end of April. One more month down, several more to go!

Cliff is doing fine; they are working hard and it is starting to get very hot. This morning when he emailed, he said it was raining, so they were working on other things than what they've been doing.

He gets to call once or twice a week and emails when he can get to a computer. He isn't traveling, they're in one place most of the time so that helps. He's been doing a great job writing letters, especially for Caleb. That has helped Caleb a lot.

I am getting ready to undertake a big project here - organizing our attic and getting ready for a yard sale! :) I was teasing Cliff, "aren't you glad I'm doing it now?"

I heard from Fox17. They are running the next part of the series May 7, 8 and 9. I'll do my best to post links as they're up.

As always, please remember that Cliff does get email, and he loves to hear from you. He does have problems sometimes opening e-cards, so standard email is probably best. Thank you to everyone who has sent cards and letters this month.

April Update

Well, sorry for the month of time that's passed since we last posted.

As I expected, March flew by. Caleb and I had a great time at the beach with my sister Karen for Caleb's spring break (which coincided with our birthdays), and Cliff made it to his destination in Iraq with no problems, and even got to call three or four times along the way.

I then had a writer's conference I went to in California which was wonderful, and Cliff's parents came and stayed with Caleb for the week. They were a huge help to us, as was my mom, and I am very grateful for all the support.

So, we are now in countdown mode and dealing with the new challenges as they come. I've said since Cliff left in January that it would hit Caleb the hardest after he left for Iraq and unfortunately, I was right. He's had a hard time with Cliff being gone the last couple of weeks since Cliff can't email or call nearly as much as he did when he was in California, and due to the classification of his job and his location, there is no web came or photos allowed, so we haven't been able to see him, which for a visually-oriented 6-year-old, that's hard.

But, we're taking it one day at a time, and Caleb's teacher has been wonderful with him, and I'm doing as much as I can to keep him connected to Cliff. We'll post pics when I have time, but we got a "Flat Daddy" made of Cliff - this has become a really popular thing to do for military families - you take a picture of your service member and get it made into a lifesize picture which is mounted onto foam board and cut out. There's actually a company that does them now, free for military families (though I think they're now charging shipping because of the demand), and all I had to do was take it to a craft store and get them to put it on matting board for me. Caleb likes carrying "Flat Daddy" around with him and he even took a ride in the car with us to dinner last night.

Cliff is trying to send more cards and emails to Caleb and let him know what he's doing, and assure him that he works more with bulldozers and building than with guns. Caleb has been worried about him getting shot, so Cliff was able to get a picture approved to send us through email that shows him in a bulldozer (will post when we can). That seemed to help Caleb quite a bit and he's had a much better week this week.

Cliff is working long hours and doesn't have a lot of access to a computer anymore due to some job responsibilities being shifted around, so we're hearing from him by email a couple of times a week and by phone once a week or so. He said the days are very long, and it's getting hotter. There isn't a lot of down time, that's for sure. One funny thing - he and some other guys are working on building an ottoman - he asked me to send some black "pleather" and batting to cushion it. The ladies at Joanne's got a kick out of that one. I hope he'll be able to get permission to take a picture of it. I'd love to see how it turns out!

I have been extremely busy finishing up ghostwriting projects for the one publisher I've been steadily working for. Just turned the last one in, and now I hope to do a little more freelancing. I've missed writing for magazines. Also, I'm turning my attention back to Wives of Faith and AGreaterFreedom.com. I know I've allowed myself to be distracted quite a bit with other things this past year, and I feel like it's time for me to get back to those - God has really laid it on my heart that that's what I'm supposed to be doing.

We'll keep you posted! As always, if you'd like to send Cliff a card or a letter, feel free to email me if you don't already have his address.

Thank you for your prayers,

Sara, Cliff and Caleb

We're off!

Won't be posting for a few days. We're headed to the beach in just a few minutes! Please continue to keep Cliff in your thoughts and prayers and us too. Even fun times are a bit bittersweet for me because I always think about Cliff and what he would be doing if he were with us.

I've turned off the comments until I get back. Have a great week everyone!

Playing in the Sand

Cliff has made it to his destination in Iraq. He actually was online yesterday when I jumped on to check email, and we were able to instant message for quite a bit. It was great to hear from him, and he is getting his bearings around their new base. He's got email/computer access now due to some of what his job entails, so that's a bonus and an answer to prayer. Usually, unless you have a computer you're required to work at, Seabees don't have much access to email/phone and have to wait in long lines when they can call.

For those that don't know, his group's mission/assignment changed a couple of weeks before he actually left, and it is heavily classified. This means no pictures and no specifics of what he is doing (no, even I don't know!), though we know it is construction, which Seabees are usually used for. The good side to all of this is I believe he is actually in a safer situation than he was going to be and he was able to say yesterday that it is much "cooler" in terms of potential action than they were expecting before they arrived. That's a very good thing.

He is bunking with one other guy who he doesn't know very well but he may get to move in with a buddy of his. He said the food is good and the work is long - a lot of hours in the day that stay busy. His biggest wish right now is DVDs of his favorite tv shows - The Unit, Studio 60, Criminal Minds, and of course Lost. I'm supposed to be burning all these to DVDs for him, saving them on Tivo, but I've been bad about finding the time to sit down and do it.

Yesterday, after I got off the computer with him, we headed to Caleb's birthday party. He turns 6 on Wednesday of this coming week and so we had a party for him at the local jumper place. 12 of his friends from school and church showed up and they had a blast. He got some great presents and had a wonderful time. It was hard not having Cliff there - he would have been on the jumper inflatable things with Caleb, and he always adds his special touch with jokes and making things fun but we videotaped and took pictures, so I hope I can make some videos for him soon and send them out.

While Cliff is experiencing his first full week in the sandbox, Caleb and I are also headed to some sand of our own. The beach! This week is Caleb's spring break, and also happens to be both of our birthdays (mine-the 19th, Caleb's-the 21st). Yes, I turn the big 30 tomorrow and my sister is flying down from NY to come with us. We were given a free 4 day 3 night package from Cliff's work so we're heading to Pensacola. Looking forward to some fun, though unfortunately, I have writing work that has to be done so the laptop is coming too. At least the office walls will change a little! :)

Thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers. If you would like Cliff's new address, email me and I'll be glad to pass it on.

God bless,

Sara

Bizaars and Water Bottles

It's 2:30 in the morning, and I just got off the phone with Cliff. They're in Kuwait, and he had some time to call and I was so glad he did!

Though I probably should have rolled over and went back to sleep, I wanted to jot down some things we talked about so I wouldn't forget in the morning when I tried to remember and when I tried to tell everyone else.

First, he sounded great. Sounds like he's catching up on sleep - he was his old self, joking and describing things in huge detail which I have always loved about him. He told me about the bizaar that's nearby that he and his friends have walked through. He said there are a lot of knock off kind of things being sold, as well as Saddam dollars and even sheer lingerie which he said they jokingly said, sorry, you don't have my size.

He said there's a KFC, McDonald's, Subway, Pizza place and a Chinese restaurant, as well as a Hole-in-One Doughnuts that says they're the best doughnuts in town. Cliff laughed and said they're the only doughnut shop in town.

They've run into a lot of international troops, not just U.S. He said they've seen guys from South Korea, and a couple of other countries my brain can't remember right now, and also some "Aussies." They passed a group of them, and one of them said something like "Cheers, mate" and Cliff's southern-drawled friends kind of looked like "what did he say" and Cliff said, "he said hi." No doubt having Lucas, our Aussie friend, has helped Cliff with Aussie lingo. :)

They've also been hydrating a lot. Cliff said wherever you go, there's water bottles for the taking which has been great, but the downside is they've had the need to "go" almost constantly, even at night when they're trying to sleep. But the good thing is it's not just one guy, so they've been going in packs to the bathroom, even in the middle of the night. And they always make fun of us ladies for doing that! :)

Caleb actually got to talk to him and hear his voice - I almost forgot that he had crawled in bed with me, so I quickly put him on. He was coherent enough to remember to tell Cliff about figuring out what Aunt KK was going to do at the beach with him - earlier tonight, when he was taking a bath, I was talking to my sister, Karen, and she gave him some hints about what we're doing - she said, we'll need a bucket and a net. As soon as I got off the phone with her, he said, are we hunting crabs? So of course I had to call her back and tell her. She thought that was pretty funny. Cliff did too.

Thankfully, the delay and echo I'd heard the first time he called went away during this phone call within the first 10 seconds so we were able to talk echo free so it was like he was calling from the street over. We got to talk about 10 minutes I think, before there was a "beeeeep" which Cliff said was the warning that the phone would cut off in a minute. So it was quick "I love you's" and "be safe" and we hung up. Such a great feeling to be able to talk to him.

Well, it's almost 3 now, so I'm headed back to sleep. Dreaming of Kuwait bizaars and water bottles. :)

Thank you, Bangor, Maine

I got a call from Cliff about midnight last night, a very welcome but definitely unexpected treat. Turns out they had to wait most of the day to fly out and had only just arrived in Bangor, Maine.

While it was a surprise that he wasn't halfway across the world at that point, I was absolutely thrilled that they had a layover in Bangor. I read an article probably a couple of years ago about that airport and the Bangor volunteers. Ever since the war started in 2003, these incredible folks, many veterans themselves, have greeted and sent off every service member who passes through there, whether they're coming home or heading out, whether it's 12 noon or 12 midnight.

They pass out cell phones for the troops to use and that's how Cliff was calling me. It was such a huge gift and knowing that it came from people who don't have to do it but do it anyway made it even more special. Knowing that my husband was receiving applause and hugs and well-wishes before he flew off to a war zone is something that I won't soon forget.

Here are a couple of links to articles I found about this special group if you'd like to read more.
Please continue to keep Cliff and his unit in your prayers.

How Mainers greet troops: hugs, fudge and 41 cellphones (slow loading)

Maine Group Greets Troops

Mainetroopgreeters.com (I'm assuming this is an official site of this special group of volunteers)

Sorry for the lack of posting. Life has been busy! We were able to go see Cliff a couple of weeks ago for Family weekend and had a wonderful time together as a family, despite dealing with Los Angeles traffic, LOL. We spent Saturday at Disneyland and it was so nice to just be together.

Cliff looked really good and I could tell he's been working out! I'm going to make this short because with the time change, Caleb and I are both in need of a nap. Cliff has headed overseas. It was hard saying goodbye because we've gotten so used to talking to each other on the phone every day and seeing each other on web cam at least a couple of times a week. It will be much different now. Not sure when we'll hear from him again, and it may be quite a while before we see a picture of him since he wasn't allowed to bring his camera.

March will be busy for us here though - we have birthdays, spring break and I've got a writer's conference I'm going to that I'm excited about. With Cliff's departure from the States, we can finally start officially counting down until the time he can come home. We are more than looking forward to that! Will try and post more later this week...

Sara and Caleb

One Month Down - Nine to Go

Sorry I've delayed on the posting for awhile. We have all been pretty busy! Cliff is doing well, continuing to take his classes. This week was a little lighter and it's been nice to talk to him a little more. He found out he is probably going to be a class leader but he's been stressing to me that it's not exactly an honor, more like an obligation because of his rank. The class leader is responsible for making sure everyone else does what they're supposed to and goes where and when they need to—probably really similar to what a kindergarten teacher would do! I still think he will be good at it - he is such a great people person with the guys he's with and I know everyone likes him and respects him. He has a reputation for getting things they need when they need it.

I have lots of photos I need to post... just gotta find the time to do it.

We have had two snow days this week so Caleb has enjoyed being home and playing in the snow. School is going good for him - he has lots of homework we work on each week and is writing quite a bit in his school journal now. We also try and write a letter from him to Cliff once a week. We are hoping to get him enrolled in karate very soon. He gets to go to a free class next week.I've also been very busy - taking care of Caleb, the house, writing letters and sending packages to Cliff, and keeping all my other plates spinning. Wives of Faith is growing, we're expecting 12 ladies next Tuesday night for our Feb. meeting! I'm working on another ghostwriting/editing project that I just found out got approved today, and had the exciting phone call from my agent that she had a major publisher I haven't worked with before express serious interest in my book for reservists and their families! Really excited about that and I'll be working on the proposal this weekend. The editor is thinking about coming down to Nashville to meet me - wouldn't that be cool! I got to tell Cliff about it this afternoon and he was also really excited.

I can't remember if I put this in the previous post or not, but Fox17's first series on our family will air Feb. 19-22. For those of you out of town, you will be able to see it online, and I'll be sure to post the links here as they run.Well, I better run. It's Friday night and Grammy is coming to pick Caleb up for their weekly sleepover. I think I will probably run out and get something to eat and come back to the house and work on my book proposal.

Please continue to keep us all in prayer, and if you think about it, please drop Cliff a line in the mail or feel free to send him an email as he can still check (whodeeni @ msn.com) it.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Sara, Cliff and Caleb

Routine, Routine, Routine

We are getting into a routine since Cliff left. Morning routine is pretty much down pat but then we had a good one going before. The evening routine is a bit more tricky but we're getting there.

After I pick Caleb up from school, I do my best to put my own work away and focus on him. This means snack, a quick tv break, and then sitting down at the kitchen table to work on homework. Did I mention that kindergarteners in their second semester are expected to learn like first graders? We just got a note today saying that there will be a whole lot more homework coming home starting next week. Oh joy.

After we do homework, I get dinner ready and then we sit down to eat. Cooking for two people, namely an adult and a 5-year-old is a bit of a trapeze act. You never know if the smaller one is going to grab on or push away. So far, the score has been in favor of the kindergartener. Mom apparently can't cook if she doesn't cook pizza, cheeseburgers or Taco Bell. But Mom is headed to the grocery store this weekend to see if I can find some things that will be more appetizing without junk food becoming our extra food group.

Once dinner and dishes are done, which Caleb is usually pretty good at helping with, it's a little free time while I try to remember to set stuff out for the following day; clothes, snack in the backpack, water bottle ready to fill, lunch box ready to fill. By 7:30 I try to get his bath ready and story time and bed time after that.

The routine could be good but it usually doesn't work out that perfectly because the person we love hearing from most usually calls and then the routine gets thrown out the window. We never know when Cliff will be able to call so when he does, of course we want to talk! We've gotten to do the video phone several times and we've all liked that. We've also been able to send videos via email which has been fun. I'll try and post one of Caleb's soon, if it's possible to do it here or on the website. (And yes, photos are forthcoming as well.)

Routine is also hitting my work processes. I am continuing to juggle passions and projects with Wives of Faith, AGF, ghostwriting/editing and my own book proposals I'm still trying to finish. We're getting there!

Time to run - it's Friday night so - you guessed it - no routine and we're heading out to eat dinner with my mom.

Have a great weekend.

How would you say I'm doing?

The question I have heard the most since Cliff left for mobilization has been "how are you doing?" This is not necessarily a bad question in itself. It's meant well, it's offered usually in friendship, concern, and a little nosiness thrown in for good measure.

The question however isn't the most interesting part of the conversation though, and neither is my answer. It's the reaction of the questioner to whatever it is I say.

If I say I'm doing good, I'm looked at like "sure you are; your husband just left for almost a year for war, you can't be doing good."If I say I'm OK, I'm met with the eyes that say "aw, you're trying to be strong, good for you you poor husband-less woman."If I say I'm making it, it's been tough but we're hanging in there, I'm looked at like "WHOA! She's not doing well now, how in the world will she make it when he actually heads overseas!"

I can't win. So I have come up with a new response to "how are you doing?"

I just start hitting people with my shoe.

A New Year, A New Experience

This entry will be short but I promise to post more in the next day or so.

Cliff made it off fine for his mobilization and deployment. The goodbye was the hardest thing either of us have ever had to do, but God helped us get through it and we are now settling into our second week with Cliff starting his classes, and Caleb and I getting back into the swing of things here at the house. We have been able to talk to Cliff every day, and even have gotten to do video calls using our nifty webcams - Caleb and Cliff actually got to play tic tac toe and checkers last night online with each other! That was great, especially for Caleb who has been missing his daddy.

I think if there's anything this deployment has done up to this point, it has reinforced how we can't take each other for granted. We missed Cliff starting the day he left, and I know he is missing us as well. We are grateful for our family and we know God is going to grow and help all of us during this year apart. Something I try to remind people and now I will remind myself: God is in control - here at home, and even in Iraq!I will write more later and Cliff hopes to send some pics of his new "digs" for me to post this week as well. Maybe we'll even get Caleb involved.