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!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
