this past week has been a pretty good one... just three more to go until i'm out of here. (oh, and i plan on keeping this up after my deployment; it just won't be about Iraq anymore)

last night i went to the Brit house and watched Wales beat England in rugby. rugby has got to be the best sport out there....MUCH better than American football (never did get into that game). it all moves faster and you can actually see the players and their frustrations; it's also not as commercialized or media-centered as the NFL is. speaking of the NFL, due to the Superbowl, they were letting us have two beers per person at dinner tonight. not for New Year's; just Superbowl. apparently we know where the commander's priorities are. ;-) anyway, i've not only not seen as many smiles in the chow hall before, i've never seen as many people in there before. no one wanted to skip dinner tonight! i really think they should do as the Brits do and allow a two-drink limit. morale would be higher, and if they policed it carefully enough, there shouldn't be any mihaps with the program. of course, who am i to say so?

back to the grind tomorrow. this day off was blessed. i hadn't had one in three weeks or so, and i loved sleeping in until noon and then doing pretty much nothing the rest of the day. i put some more music on my iPod mini and walked around outside enjoying the fact i didn't have anywhere to be. it was nice to be allowed to relax and unwind.

my replacement should be here soon. when he gets here, i'll show him what to do and then i'll slowly back off. it'll be nice, i hope. too bad i can't be in the first group to go, on the 15th of Feb, but i've got some good friends here who will help the time pass until March 1st. then, i'll be off to El Paso to drop off my gear and then finally home. i'm sure it will all be extremely surreal.