OIF

Hey everyone. Just a little bit of news today. Someone must have gotten another UXO into the camp because we had another drill this morning, and this time they let us know where the thing was. It wasn't near me, but they drill us incase there's an attack or something. That was really early so it wasn't a pleasant wakeup. Then the funniest thing happend. In the chow hall for breakfast this morning, they had a tv set up and playing. Now they've always done this, but this morning was special. They had music videos playing. I got to see some great stuff like that Barbie World song, the Spice Girls, and yes, who do we all love more than anyone??? That's right, The New Kids on the Block. I almost lost my breakfast. It was funny though. But that's it, wish I had more, but I don't. We shouldn't be leaving here for the next couple of days, probably sometime next week. I'll let you guys know when I get there. Until then, goodnight and God bless.

Hey again. Well, first things first, our trip to where we're supposed to be going has been cancelled for a while. It's just for a couple of days so it just means that we get to chill here for a little longer. That's about it. I'm sorry there isn't more to report, but hey, being bored means being safe so I can't complain. Well God bless all, I'll catch you on the flip side.

IMPORTANT: For you who want to, please start sending my e-mail to my Hotmail account. AKO (the service I'm on now, is giving me A LOT of problems. I'm probably not going to send out any more bulk e-mails because they way I see it, if you really wanted to know what was going on, you would check this site anyway. So if you can, please use Calvin4pres@hotmail.com to e-mail me. And if it makes you feel safer, you could carbon copy one to my AKO just in case. But the hotmail really should be enough. Thanks again and George...if you read this, could you change the hotmail to the "e-mail me" icon instead of the AKO one. It's a pain in the butt. Thanks

Mitch

Hey everyone. Another day in the desert. Which I may add is very cold at nights. At least in Kuwait it was nice and warm in the nights. You could sit outside and chat and not have to cover up like you were back at home in the winter. It’s very cold here though at nights and we have no heat in the tent though, which makes for interesting sleeping conditions. I can literally see my breath most nights before I go to bed…so fun fun. Anyway, not much action today. We had a “drill.” It would remind you of a tornado drill at school, you put your stuff on and go to a hard building. They never tell you if it’s just a drill or an actual threat, but no one really cares. The drills are for when there could a threat of air raid or mortar attack. There are no real threats of air raids, but the mortar and rocket attacks are things we do have to watch for. Other than that, I went to the post office today for some training and remembered why I wanted to be a mechanic and not a clerk. But what can you do really? I guess I just work where they need me. Anyway, that’s about all I have for today, pray for peace and God bless.

Well, most of you will be happy to know that these last couple of days have been completely eventless. I'm going to make an attempt to make this site a little more professional by correcting my grammer and spelling. I still can't spell, but I am going to at least make an effort. Anyway, the like I said, I have been so bored the last couple of days that I'm starting to read. Yea, that's bored. I went to a little gift shop here and finally found the transformer I needed to convert the power here, so at least now I can use my electronics. That's a little better. Tommorrow we're going to start doing a little job training and by the end of the week, we should be where we're going to be for the rest of our little stay here. That'll be nice because a) I can finally find out what it's going to be like and b) I can finally start unpacking and stop living out of a bag. That'll be very very nice. Any of you who have been on any kind of travel w/ me know how much I hate living out of a bag. So I'm really really looking forward to it. Well, like I said before, eventless eventless eventless. So I guess that's it. I will instead leave you with a song that I wrote a while back.

"While I'm Gone"

The heat is in the air
It penetrates my bones
The sand is in the sky
Feeling scared and all alone

But I know that my best friend is standing strong at my right hand
And my family's praying
And I know that one true love is sitting heavy in my heart (that's you Amy :)
And you'll never leave me

(Chorus)
And I know that you'll be right here waiting for me
Waiting paitently for my return, my return
Neither sands of time nor land could tear us apart
And I know that you'll be praying for me, While I'm gone.

The beating of my heart
Is drowned out by the wind
The eyes of God look down from the sun
As the waves rise from the land

And I can't pretend that I'm not scared as my feet hit the ground
My knees struggling to hold me up
And I can't pretend that I don't miss the ones I left behind
But your prayers will fill my soul

Chorus again

At home I know you worry
About my future and my fate
And while I can't promise my return
I promise to find my faith

Cause God I Know You're looking down on me from above
Even though I don't talk to You like I should
And every day my faith gets harder and harder to trust
But I'll find you again
(words and music written by Mitch Meadows Jan 2004)

That's something I wrote and finished before I left. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts for me and the other soldiers. It is greatly appreciated. God Bless