From Mom, October 12, 2009

October 12, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

Monday once again. I finally started on my purple paper as you can see. I was getting real tired of the yellow. I still wish that I could have found green. Maybe I should check office depot. Anyways, I sure hope that you had a great time off this weekend and that you got to do everything that you wanted to do. I bet that your sure excited about your new iphone. With all the apps on that type of phone, you may not need a computer for awhile. Since you can send emails, photos and go online with it. It was real awesome to be able to talk to you several times over the weekend, especially after I got my phone working again, that part kinda sucked. Hopefully next time that sales person is in a similar situation, she won’t make the same mistake. =) who knows. Other than talking to you and Mike and getting Bears crib, my weekend was pretty quiet. Bear got to ride his bike around the back yard both Saturday and Sunday morning. He don’t put his feet on the pedals yet but he can really go. We are having fun with them. Wes had Bear eating oranges on Saturday and he ate applesauce Sunday. It can be hard to get him to eat stuff. Like he don’t eat sandwiches, whenever I make them he just pokes them with his finger or spoon, or tears them up into tiny pieces. In the mornings I put dry cereal into a baggy for him to eat on the my to Ann’s. mostly we are trying to figure out what he will eat and not play with. Of course chicken nuggets are his favorite thing so that always easy. BooBoo is easy, he just drinks his meals. Next month I’m gonna introduce him to baby rice cereal. Rice cereal is versatile, it can be added to the bottle, eaten plain or added to baby food and apple sauce. This is Ann’s last week to watch the boy’s. she says she is moving to Eugene OR. I’m not sure when but for some reason won’t be able to watch them. I don’t know about her. This morning when I dropped the boys off she didn’t even answer the door. Her sister’s baby daddy answered or rather opened the door and walked off. So me and Bear wander in and find her laying on the couch in the living room. She don’t even sit up to F*ing greet her kids. I make myself at home and open the frig and move a couple of items around so I can put Bears milk in. cause I’m sure that if I didn’t that it would just be forgotten on the counter. I don’t know man, you would think that she would miss her babies and be all excited to see them. I hated to let my babies out of sight. When you guys were tiny like BooBoo, I didn’t want to give you up just to be held by someone else. Wes caught me yesterday cradling BooBoo and feeding him a bottle. I think that to often he was just getting a bottle propped up with blankets. He just looks and looks at me while he is eating. He hadn’t been sleeping very well in his crib, every time he was asleep and I put him in there he would wake up right away. So I was thinking that in Mike’s room his head was facing west while in my room his head was facing east. So last night I turned him around and he stayed asleep. Weird huh? Like some kind of magnetic pull of the earth was affecting how well he slept. =) tonight we are going to G&G’s after I pick them up from Ann. Grandma found coats for them at the Goodwill last week so she can see how well they are fitting them. She went on Sunday and found crib sheets for the crib I brought home last Saturday, funny how well that worked out. I had a need and once again the apartments took care of it. I sorted through a bunch of clothes so all the stuff that fits is now in that dresser I painted purple. Another apartment find. Well I better finish this letter so I can move to the next apartment. I love you and miss you all the time.

Love
Mom.

From aunt Tammy, Oct 9, 2009

Oct 9

Dear Jerm,

Hey buddy! Michael just got back from running errands with a big batch of mail and right on top was a letter from you! So very cool. You made my Friday! I talked to Grandma the other day and she said Jimmy went out to check the mailbox and came in very sad looking, because they were hoping for a letter from you, but he was really teasing her, because there was a letter in there from you, he hid it in his pocket from her. We laughed about it because Michael did the same thing to me the last time I was in the car when we went to the Post Office. He came out all mad looking and I was thinking it was only bills, but he got in the car and handed me your letter. Joker. Anyway, G’ma and G’pa went to Yakima last weekend. Donna Cortz died, she’d been in the hospital for a while beforehand. Her service is this weekend, but I don’t think they can go back so soon already. Grandma babysat her when she was a teenager and Donna was little, did you know that? So sad.I heard you had been sick recently, so, I was not expecting a letter from you for a little while longer. I hope that you are over that by now and that you are getting caught up on all that you missed. Financials, huh? What is that like, ‘pay your bills, you are a soldier now? Or how to plan for retirement?It got busy there for a second. The little red engine on the railroad spur next to me is going back and forth, and just now the UPS driver, Brad, pulled in. I bet he’s wishing he was on the golf course today, it is very nice at the moment. He’s coming back, I gotta go get the key from him.I have been busy in the office like you said. I leased a whole bunch of units last month so we have been busy with all those new people learning the ropes. I have a tenant who is a fisherman, stocks the pond here in town for the little kids and takes vets and those that have lost family in the military out on the rivers. He does that all voluntarily and doesn’t have a job right now, so he almost lost his unit this week. I was getting an ulcer over that one. I really didn’t want to see him loose his stuff ~ that is absolutely the worst thing about this job. Anyway, some of the people he’s taken out lately heard about his situation and donated some money to help him out. In the month of September, two of my tenants died, unrelated, but I spent a lot of time on the internet looking for their obituaries. One of them was about three weeks ago, a favorite customer as he was really friendly, loved having those ‘good old boy’ chats with us or Michael out on the facility. I just found his obit earlier today after all this time. All together since we’ve been here, we’ve lost about a half dozen tenants in death. Last year, there was a couple who were at their vacation home in the mountains. The were having work done on their propane system, blew the place up. Another thing that happened this month, I’ll tell you about in a minute. I’ve a maintenance guy here now going through the gate systems for routine maintenance right now. That’s not happened before so, it’s nice that he’s here when we are having a good day, he can look it over. I can’t think he’s been here before unless we were having a problem, like last winter when the weather was so bad and the gate system froze. He and Michael get along really well, he was telling us he’d had heart trouble last month, so they were comparing notes. Loren lives in Vancouver and comes down here to take care of our gate. He also answers our calls to his personal cell number when we are having an emergency.Michael has been busy too, like you asked. The one building that runs diagonall to the rest of the facility, he was able to replace all the door frames finally, or at the very least paint them. That took him more than six months, because we had to ask for the keys then wait for people to drop them off. The last one, I sent several notes asking for the keys, couldn’t leave messages because his voicemail was full. We were about to cut the lock when he wanders in. Turns out the jerk didn’t even open the letter I’d sent. Just assumed they were invoices and sent payments without reading what I’d wrote him. It’s funny you asked about his back. He’d been doing OK, till the other day, he carried the carpet cleaner up the stairs full of water, while I was out walking the dogs one morning. About halfway up he felt a snap. Couldn’t do much for a couple days but stay in bed. He’s better now. Tuesday was the one year anniversary of his heart attack, and Wednesday would have been his son’s 30th birthday, so we were a little misty eyed around here. We took cookies over to the fire station on Tuesday for the guys that helped save his life last year. Hopefully, they’ll get eaten. Maggie and Dori are fine. Maggie went with Dad to check the mail, she was a happy girl home again. I need to brush Dori again, I did it earlier this week, she completely fill the dog brush with white fur. I have been taking her outside several times a day now, so that the evening before bed ritual isn’t so dramatic. It does help when Maggie goes with us, but sometimes without Daddy’s involvement it’s hard to get Maggie motivated. Last night, he was sleeping, I got both of them on leashes and out the door. Dori, for once, got her business done, then we had to wait on Maggie. Oh, I wanted to tell you ~ Last weekend, Saturday, was a really nice day like today, we went to the dog park in Clackamas. When we got there, there was an excited dog, Michael thought it was a cocker spaniel, but it seemed larger to me, coulda been a poodle mix. So, we didn’t go in right away, we walked aroung the park a bit. It’s a nice park, has a nice stream and pathways, someday we might take lunch there and watch the water flow by. After a bit we went back to the gate. This park doesn’t have a small/timid dog area we were hoping for. We waited a while and the excited dog left, we went inside. Met a nice boxer named Sunny, very healthy calm, good for Maggie to meet because she gets too agitated about bigger dogs. We walked a little then took the off the leashes when they seemed calm. Other than short runs back into the house, dori has never gone without a leash on. She was staying on path, and I wanted her to run and stuff, so I called here and ran with her back and forth across back the back end of the field. I can’t imagine that my running was anything pretty, but it was so nice to see her go in the sun, she is very fast. If she ever got away from me, I know I couldn’t catcher her.I talked to Nicole a couple days ago. She called to tell me she was watching a movie, I’ve forgotten what it was now. She posted new pics of herself on face book and myspace, showing off a new hair color. It sounds like she’s been buy working, Brian’s back in school. Mikey texted mequite a bit in the last few days, finally got started with SWIFT and got on the road, I think it was yesterday, 5 weeks to Illinois. That will be so hard for him being gone so long. I guess Ann is babysitting her own kids during the days. I hope your mom can handle all of this, with the dogs and work and Wes’ doctors appointments and all. I guess G’ma and G’pa will be close enough to help a little and Priscilla can help some too as she works part-time. Your mom will probably never complain but I’m betting she’s feeling like her hands are full. I know that her communication with you will probably be like sugar on her breakfast cereal. I hope she is catching al your phone calls on Sundays and getting lots of letters. Did you get a new picture taken in your pickles yet? I’m betting she’d be tickled pink to get a copy of that.You’ve never said anything about it, but I’m hoping the typed out letters are OKFine by you. Today my hands are really bothering me. I think I knitted too much yesterday. My thumb and forefinger on my right hand are really bad, like grinding bones. I finished a hat with skeletons on it for Michael’s grandson last week, it was 100% wool, so I shrank it a bit when I washed it, hoping to make it fit a 3rd grader. As I was finishing it, I heard about one of my tenants getting hurt. They, the man and his wife, were in the Taco Bell here in town, and had a confrontation with distant family members and their friends. The beat up the woman, shoved her into a table, which went into her skull about 2 or 3 inches, he’s screaming at people behind the counter for help, to call 911, help and NOBODY DID ANYTHING. She was life lighted downtown to Immanuel hosp, I think, near Nicole’s place. So after I finished the at, I got out some yarn that Grandma gave me last visit, started a shawl. I’m hoping that it will be like a hug, to comfort her while she’s healing. I must have spent too long on it yesterday, I’m thinking maybe 4 hours or more, now I can’t hold a pen or pick up the knitting without discomfort. My chiropractor was here yesterday, I’m wishing he was here again already to fix the hand/elbow/shoulder what ever I messed up so I could get back at it. Your brother just texted me that he’s in Superior, Montana. He seems happy to finally be working. (handwritten) I got several texts today. I am proud of him that he's working hard. I told him so. I'm telling you too, OK? I love you, looking forward to your next letter, hoping you are still enjoying your adventure.

Love,
Auntie Tammy

PS. Need anything? Got stuff to read?

To aunt Tammy, 04 Oct 09

04 Oct 09

Dear Tammy-

It was very nice to hear from you again. I was wondering whe I was going to get another letter from you. Thank you so much for printing off those pictures from the 4th of July beach trip for me. They are already hanging up in my locker right now. They help me think of happier times. I wonder when the next time is going to be when we are going to be able to do somthing like that again. Anyways it does sound like you are somewhat keeping busy tho with the office and all. Is Michael still doing a whole bunch of work around the units? How is his back treating him? Lately I haven't been doing anything too exciting. Yesterday, I spent all day inside the classroom going over financials and everything. Was about a 12 hour class. Today is Sunday which is supposed to be kind of a relax day and everything but Idk how will that is going to happen. Next weekend is our 36 hour pass and everything and I am pretty excited about that. Being able to go off base and see the outside world once again. The last Thursday we were issued all of our dress uniforms and accessories. I llike to call the uniforms pickles. Just because of the green color that they are. We just started on week 8 tho today. It's hard for me to believe that I have been gone that long. And only 6 more weeks to go. Sounds like the dogs are donig pretty good tho. Except that Dori might need a bathroom buddy at night and stuff to remind her of what she came out ther to do. I also hope that Mike (my brother) gets to figuring out what he is going to do about the boys and everything. I'd like for him to keep them to because they seem to make him very happy. I have always been scared that they were going to be taken away from me once I got attatched and everything. But Im sure that he knows that he needs to get his act together too. Including that whole smoking thing. Well I'm gonna go get my hair cut but I will be waiting for another letter from you soon.

Love, Jeremiah

From Mom, October 9, 2009

October 9, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

Yeah, it’s Friday. I’m tired. Lol. Some little boys keeps waking me up at night. Mike sent me a text message this morning saying that he was in Idaho. He was supposed to by up and driving at 4:30am. I guess they ended up staying in North Bend, which is the last town before going over Snoqualmie Pass, outside of Seattle. If he was in Idaho then he would have been going over the Rockies. G&G are going to Shirley’s today to visit for the day. They got your letter Wednesday and were very happy to hear from you. I got 2 letters from you yesterday, but it sounds like I won’t get another till Wednesday since your out in the field. After I picked up the boys from Daycare, I took them to Walmart to get some socks for Bear and another can of formula for BooBoo. Then we stopped at McDonald’s for a make your kids Happy Meal. By the time we got home it was 7pm so I gave the boys a bath and put them to bed. Then I watched Shenandoah with Jimmy Stewart until the wedding scene where his daughter gets married. I stopped there because I don’t like to watch the part where his youngest son gets taken captive by the union army. I think that I fell asleep by 11pm. I’m working in A107 today, not too much to do in here, a couple of closet track, a bath mirror and some other small items. Mike just texted me and said he was in Superior Montana to stop for chow. Swift gave him a $100 advance so he can feed himself on the road. I do think that is good to save as much money as you can. So this plan is a good idea. Since you don’t have a lot of expenses right now, then 30% is good. I was going to put it in to CD’s or something high interest savings anyways. Just forget that its there and let it grow. Good for you. The others that do less my have bills to pay or families to support. You got it made not having any of those concerns. Mike just send me another text saying he’s stopped for the night in a place called Rocker Montana. I think he may be in the middle of Montana some where. He drove for 10.25 hours and went 549.3 miles. I finished up in A107 and moved on to H104 and completed that too. Not much in there to do just a bath mirror and misc stuff. That was the 5th mirror for me this week. I broke one. Sometimes they have lines of flue on the back, so the only way to get them off is to break them. Well its time to get stuff done for the day. I got some key packets to make. Maybe I will hear from you this Sunday, maybe. I love you and miss you everyday.

Love Mom.

05 Oct 09

05 Oct 09

Dear Mom,

Well damn! Everything is kinda a rush right now. We are packing and getting ready for our hardcore camping trip. So I wanted to get a quick letter out before I left. After I’m done with this it’ll be family day pretty much and I will be able to talk to you on my cell phone and everything. I don’t know how long exactly this trip is going to be but yeah pretty much from Tuesday to Friday. So I’m sorry that I can’t write to you after this for a couple of days. But hey pretty much after this then basic is over. Only 6 weeks after the trip and the last two are a pure cake walk. Just cleaning the equipment so it can be turned in, then rehearsal for the final graduation. Pretty hard to believe that I’m that close. Really!! Well I haven’t gotten a letter since sat. but I’m hoping to have a pile of mail when I get back. Be something nice to read. Well hmm I gotta take a shower and get to bed. Sorry this letter is so short. I miss ya lots.

Love ya
Jeremiah
Your fav.

From Mom, October 8, 2009

October 8, 2009

Dear Jerm,

Well it’s Thursday about 4:30 pm. Just about done for the day. I’m listening to Joseph and Scarecrow arguing about driving carts off curbs, haha. Well Mike is on the road, he’s on the way to Chicago and gonna spend the night in Spokane. So now he is finally making a living. Yeah! Grandma said last night that I get you guys gone and get 2 more, like she is making a joke haha. I need to find Bear a bigger bed. His head and feet touch the ends pretty much. So someone will leave one behind. =). Usually works that way. He just needs a regular crib size. What he has now is a portable crib so its smaller that normal. Dillon had one when he was a baby and Shirley was living in the 35’ trailer. Remember that? I think he used it long enough that he went to a twin bed after that. They need better bedding too. They don’t seem to have sheets or real blankets and they need enough so it can be changed if they soak the bed. In a couple of weeks I’m going to take Bears bottle away. =). I don’t want his teeth to rot out from sleeping with a bottle in his mouth. He will cry the first couple of nights a little then forget about it. I’ll do it over the weekend. So I can nap. Lol. Once he is off the bottle we can work on potty training. Hard to potty train when he is constantly taking in fluids. I had a pretty busy day today. I finished up in D101 and turned P206. It was an eviction but not too bad. I had to go back and fix something in another unit. Water was leaking under the sink. Tonight I pick up the boys for the first time at Ann’s. I hope that goes fast cause it can be hard to find a place to park close by. I’m sitting at the compactor while I’m writing this letter. I just watched someone drop their phone as they were bringing they bag back. =). I’m mean to laugh. Well sorry this letter is so short. I had a late start on it. I love you and miss you bunches.

Love mom.

From Mom, October 7, 2009

October 7, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

Hey, Mike just found out that he is gonna be gone for 3 weeks at a time and then only home for 3 days before he is sent back on the road. Poor guy. =) that’s an awful long time to be gone from home and family. I’m sure though that you would be the first to understand that. When Mike told me, I said that was a long time. But we will make it work and not to worry. He will be in training also for his first six weeks and will be driving with someone else until he gets use to the routine. During that time he will be only making base /or standard pay. He gets paid weekly and can have a portion of his pay directly deposited into my account for the care of the boys. He can also insure them medically. Which is good because they would no longer need to receive welfare, which is one of the reasons Mike pays child support. State enforced child support it the state trying to recoup the cost of supplying food stamps, medical, and money to the parent who has custody. Tonight we need to move the little beds to my room and I think a dresser for their clothes. Joseph I livid today because the rule is that what is in the apartment, stays in the apartment. We don’t move washers and dryers in and out or other items of the apartment. It becomes too hard to keep track of where everything is. There’s not enough storage space, things can get damaged and it’s bad/hard on us to do that too. So these people transferred to an apartment and wanted the first bedroom closet doors removed. Joseph said no way and listed the reasons. So over the weekend Joe called Rachel and Rachel said pull them. So Joe had Scarecrow move them and hide them in the office’s golf cart garage. So I saw them in there, thought that was odd, then saw a note on Joe’s desk about doing it. Told Joseph and he was pissed cause they went behind his back by waiting for the weekend to do it. I told him that we should quietly sneak them out of the garage and use them else where. So that they will be gone or MIA when these people move out. Its also a fair housing issue because all residents need to be treated the same. So if we pull something for one person, then we got to pull something for all. Ya see. Well its late in the day and I gotta get finished with my stuff. Love ya and miss ya. Hope you’re doing good.

Love Mom.

04 Oct 09

04 Oct 09

Dear mom,

I know it was very nice to talk to you also for me. Especially since it was long enough to actually have a conversation. Today I’m going to the PX and its only for an hour. I’m thinking I’m going to use the computer. Check all my stuff and if I have enough time I’m going to call you also. But if I don’t have enough time, I might just have to sneak onto a phone later today. Damn my hand is tired. I just got done writing a letter to gramma and gampa, Tammy and Nollie. So anyways I dk about using the safe box any more for me. Yesterday we had a 12 hour financial class and during that I signed up for a tsp (thrift savings plan) and yeah its going to take 30% of my pay and put it into an account where it can build interest. That’s the main reason why I did it was because of the interest. But yeah. When I get done with my active duty I can take it out all in one lump sum. Do you think that was a good idea? I did the math and with my rank its roughly $460 a pay period and $ 5482 a year. But it will go up as my rank goes up. That way tho I can not worry about having to save money on my own and trying not to spend it. Now I can just work with the money I get each month and now I’m thinking that I’m not going to by any car or something for a long while. I mean Ryan just got done with his three years and I don’t think he had a car at all that whole time. I might just wait till I decide if I want to re-enlist which I probably do and use my re-enlistment bonus to be a vehicle. I’m only going to re-enlist tho if I can do recruiting. That’s the only way. That way I can go to night school. Otherwise I’m gonna have to work something out while I go to school. Maybe the school or the army will give me money while I go to school. But without a job during the day, I can take more classes and get done sooner. I don’t think I’m going to aim for a degree tho. Maybe depends on the situation. I might settle for like a supply job or something. But something simple even tho recruiting isn’t that simple and a lot of them kinda kill themselves. I wanna do it, I think I’d be good at it. And it would be more like a regular job, and I also want it to be in or near Vancouver. Preferably the one by the mall that I went to. that would be the coolest. I will have to talk to a liason or a counselor 3 years from now ya know. They will be able to help me decide if I do recruiting tho I’m going to keep building up my tsp. unless you tell me that you think it’s a bad idea. I think its kinda good idea and also a good way to build and save money. I choose the plan that guarantees that no money can be lost and the interest varies from 3-7 %. So that’s not that bad at all. They were surprised to see that I was putting in 30%. Everyone else was doing like 5% or 7%, maybe 10%. Besides that. Finally on week 8. it’s surprising to me. I can’t believe that I have been here that long. And that I only have 6 weeks left. Its crazy. This coming up Tuesday I start my 3 day hardcore camping trip. That’s gonna be interesting. Then after that I get my 36 hour family day pass. Well I just got back from the PX and they didn’t let me use the phone or the computer. But I did send you, Mike, Teddy and Eli a couple presents you know. So you can be expecting those to come in the mail about the same time as this letter. Maybe a day or two later. But around the same time. Well this is just another boring Sunday haha. If you think its faster to go from Portland then look it up and compare it. If it is faster send those. He is coming from the Newport area. Or is it Toledo. I dk it’s a small ass town that he is from but he is from around both of those areas so yeah. Check it out. We are starting to make plans and all and estimate the amount of money it is going to cost. When I get back I’m going to go through my things and set aside some boxes that I want to be sent to Ft Campbell. And about the truck. I thought that when we talked on the phone, you said that I would get to have it, no problems and everything. I mean I’m not trying to be selfish or anything. I just wanna go and see a lot of family and friends and all that to do. Like Nollie, Andy, G&G and where I’m going for thanksgiving and some friends in woodland. Like every time its between me and Wes he just straight up takes it from me. Happened before. Why would that change? I dk. What ever. I will have to figure that out when I can see you. But Ima take a nap. I miss you and love ya and tell Wes they didn’t have anything in his size that I could find and it’s hard to find anything he likes.

Love ya
Jeremiah
Your fav.

P.S. if Mike isn’t there for that package you can go ahead and open it. It’s not for either of you anyways.

From Mom, October 6, 2009

October 6, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

Its Tuesday morning. Mike is at his first day of orientation. He texted me a little bit ago, saying that he just did his UA and is going in to have his physical. Today was my first day to wake the littles up and take them to their mom’s. I was 43 minutes late to work. Haha. Everything was going fine until I checked their diaper bag and discovered that BooBoo had almost no formula and Bear only had a few diapers. So I was looking around to see if there was more somewhere else. Nope. Mike called me while I was doing this and informed me that that was all they had. So I ended up having to go to the store with the boys in tow, to get the needed supplies. Then of course I get stuck behind idiots driving 15 miles under the speed limit. Argh! Mike should have said something last night about them needing stuff. I can’t read his mind. Formula is expensive by the way. It cost $15 for one can and it only last for something like 2.5 days. Hopefully tomorrow, things go more smoothly and we will get a routine established. I’m afraid that one morning I’ll forget to take them. Lol. I never told anyone this, in fact I completely forgot about it until just now. Your father, aka sperm donor, wanted to give Mike up for adoption to this couple he knew at the time. Mike was about the same age as BooBoo is now. I probably would have left him a lot sooner but I wanted to have you. I didn’t want Mike growing up an only child and there were no guarantees that I would have the chance to have another kid in the future. So there you go. See women plan these things out. I was determined to have you two. And I wanted to have kids young. I didn’t want to wait around for some guy to love me. I know full well what I look like, even then. I didn’t want to end up not having babies because of restrictions on my life. So I have you and Mike, best 2 things that I ever did. Good thing to because Wes can’t make babies and the treatment to do it artificial is so expensive. So, no regrets on the matter, ever. Sure it wasn’t always easy, but it wasn’t ever impossible. It would have been nice to have more money, but you guys always had food to eat and clothes to wear. That’s all I have to say about that. Hey I forgot to tell you that the barn on the way to HD came down. The silo is still up. I was kinda sad about it because they didn’t let if fall on its own. A couple of tractors knocked it to the ground. The new Winco has a roof on it now and the parking lot in front of it is paved. There were trees waiting to get planted off to the side. I’m pretty sure that something else will be built in the area in front once they widened the road a bit. Like fast food, mostly like a hamburger place like Wendy’s and a taco bell along with some smaller stores or shops. Yakima is like that for me. Its familiar but at the same time so different now then when we left it 12 years ago. Pen just died on me. I managed to make it again to the dog park last night, Wes went too. We got there about 6:30. there were about 3 other dogs there, everyone behaved good, yeah! So I did some serious ball chucking to make sure all the tongues got ran out before we had to leave. Dog park hours are only daylight hours. So we were only there for about 45 minutes before we had to leave. So they have gotten to o 3 days in a row. Come winter they will only be able to go on the weekends. Sun sets too early to go after work. Well I had better get started on this apartment so I can stay ahead. I’m not expecting a letter today since it is Tuesday. So I’m looking forward to tomorrow and see what the letter carrier brings. I love you and take care of yourself. Watch out for your mates. Miss you. Love Mom.

01 Oct 09

01 Oct 09

Dear Mom,

It’s a new month already. Whoo! Well I didn’t get any new mail from ya but I did get the letters that I missed from being gone. There were 3 so that’s just as good. Well its good that Mike is getting a job that he wants I just hope everything works out for him. I’m sorry about your feet tho. Maybe you should try to get some shoes that increase your arch. Or maybe get some boots ya know. Mainly I think you need some Dr. Scholl’s heel inserts at least but those might get chewed up possibly. I think that I’m coming to the conclusion that I also got the sickness from Teds. I just contracted it from one of your letters. That’s what I’m starting to think. Well back to my evil scheme. I’m still pondering, just no pressing as hard as before. It wouldn’t be selfish because I’d be giving her a place to stay too. And helping her go to college if she wanted to. Quincy isn’t doing to hot, his money is disappearing, he is missing $2000 for some reason. Thank you very much for the stamps. Today is also payday for me too. So I might have a little under 2000 in my math is right, which it usually is. I miss going over to Gramma and gampa’s. I know I’m going to when I get back tho. Today we were issued our class A’s and class B’s. ya know our dress uniforms. I must say I looked like a pretty spiffy pickle haha. I might wear that or my camos home. Most likely my camos cuz those are just cool. And I don’t wanna spill anything on my pickles. Haha. I like calling them pickles but I also got my beret haha cool beans, right. Well getting those pretty much took up all day and tomorrow we have a god damn 6 mile ruck march. I should turn in early. So I will talk to you later and in tomorrow when I write you.

Love ya
Jeremiah
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From Mom, October 5, 2009

October 5th, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

Monday again, the day started out all foggy this morning. Then all that burned off and it was like perfect. The temperature was just right, you know the kinda nice day when the sun actually feels good when it shines on your face. I finally finished the work in N106 today and got done in H206, basically just the kitchen faucet. Now I’m in M204 and looks like I got a lot of stuff to do in here, faucets, bath sink, 2 light fixtures, all the blinds. I’m thinking about going to the dog park again tonight for about an hour. Dave has a dog outside the whole weekend that seems to be forgotten about. Because it would bark ever so often or so to see if anyone would let it inside. So I kept the dogs all with me all weekend so no one could blame our dogs for the barking. I just talked to Grandma. They just got back from their trip to Yakima. Donna Cordz passed away sometime last week, they are holding a memorial service for her next weekend. I guess all a person can really say is that she was a good person even when bad things happened to her and now she is no longer in any pain. I feel bad mostly because her kids are only in their mid 20’s, it seems too young to lose your mother. Donna and the kid’s Dad got divorced when they were very young. He was screwing with one of his employees. So she raised them in a 2 bedroom duplex. They didn’t have much really but they got by okay. I made each one of them an afghan before we moved away from Yakima. I’m sure hoping I have a letter waiting for me when I get home. I think that it makes time go by quickly, or it seems to, thinking about the next little bit of news from you. Wes went and paid the car insurance and water bill today. So that was the last of the bills that needed payments for this month. I guess that means the cycle will start all over again tomorrow. I had someone send my an email asking if I had any available puppies last night. I replied back about Pony, but I still haven’t heard from them. It would be good to get her placed before she gets too much older. She’s 10 weeks now, so its time. I’m still showing traffic on my website so I haven’t paid to advertise her yet. I’m hoping to avoid that. I know if I place an ad that she will get sold pretty fast and the ad lasts for a whole month, then I would have emails all the time asking about puppies even if I change the ad to say no more puppies left. Not that the interest is a bad thing. I just like being able to have puppies to sell if someone is asking. Cause if I don’t then they go somewhere else. My back is feeling pretty much back to normal again. I’m still taking it easy. You know the key is to keep on moving if you have a muscle strain otherwise you can get all stiff, and that causes more problems. Well I gotta get stuff put away so I can go home and see what’s going on there. Take care of yourself. Don’t forget to wash you hands A LOT. Love you and miss you.

Love mom.

From Mom, October 4, 2009

October 4, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

It’s Sunday again and I have waited patiently by the phone all day. No call. I was hoping I would get to talk to you today given the topic of your last letter. I sure hope that you are fully recovered and feeling better. Didn’t you get running shoes issued when you got to boot camp training? You should get some shoes ASAP. Yesterday I got my painting done in my room. I repainted the floor in the dogs room, it needed it after the puppies were on the floor in there. Poop ya know. Then I painted the floor in my room and the walls and inside the closet where the four crates used to be. Poop ya know. I also touched up the wall in the dogs room, poop ya know. So anyways that’s one project done. Until next time, well after the next set of puppies, poop ya know. Before I started painting, I took the dogs to the dog park for a couple of hours to wear them out. I should have check the trunk in the car for the dog park inventory cause I didn’t have the ball chuck-it. So that kind of sucked. I just ended up walking around and tossing the ball by hand. I swear Hiedi just looked at me when I threw it and was like “are you kidding me?” cause I could only get it about 20 feet away from me. So anyways to make up for my ball throwing styles, I took everyone back to the park again today, WITH the chuck-it. Yah, that was so much better. We stayed for 3 hours and they were all so tired when we got back home. I picked up poop in the back yard and then gave all the dogs, including Pony, a bath. Sometimes I think that my life revolves around poop. Haha. I found the Dog Park rules for Ft Campbell, they are basically the same as they are anywhere else except for the aggressive dog limitations. I was thinking about your friend with the dogs, and I think that how many he is allowed will depend on where he is living. Like there maybe a limit on how many pets if it is in an apartment instead of a house. He will have to find out when he gets there. He also needs to already have a request for dependant housing before he gets there. It is like normal rental living, there will be deposits to pay on everything, so he needs to make sure to have the funds saved for that. You can’t rely on that being taking care of for you just because your in the army and it’s army housing. Anyways it is getting late and I need to get some sleep, I hope you are well and everything. Tell the guys all “hi” for me. Take care of yourself. I love you and miss you everyday. Love Mom.


Fort Campbell Dog Park Rules and Regulations
1. Owners are responsible for their dog and any injuries caused by their dog.
2. Dogs must be 4 months of age to enter.
3. Dog must wear current rabies and identification tags at all times.
4. Always dispose of your dog's waste in the trash receptacles. Accumulation of dog waste on the ground may prompt closure of the park.
5. Dogs must be leashed before entering and leaving the fenced area.
6. Dogs in heat are prohibited.
7. Dogs without supervision are prohibited.
8. Dog food, human food or glass containers are prohibited.
9. Children under 10 are not allowed in the park. Children must be supervised at all times.
10. DOGS PROHIBITED FROM UTILIZING THE PARK:
Aggressive or potentially aggressive breeds of dogs. These dogs are defined as Pit Bulls (American Staffordshire Bull Terriers or English Staffordshire Bull Terriers), Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Chows, and wolf hybrids.
11. Dogs exhibiting any of the following types of behavior will be required to exit the park immediately. A propensity for dominant or aggressive behavior as indicated by any of the following types of conduct may result in suspension from the park:
1) Unprovoked barking, growling, or snarling at people approaching the animal.
2) Biting or scratching people.
3) Escaping confinement or restriction to chase people.

Tips for a Successful Visit!
If your dog is not accustomed to interacting with other dogs, start out by visiting the park during non-peak times.

Maintain awareness of the activity going on around you as distracted dogs may not look where they are going.

Puppy Playtime
Puppy playtime (4 months and under) is offered in the Small Dog area at the South dog park from 0800-1000 Saturday and Sunday. Recommend puppies are current on vaccinations.

**IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY OR ANIMAL CONTROL ISSUE PLEASE CALL THE MILITARY POLICE DESK AT (270) 798-7111.
**PLEASE CONTACT OUTDOOR RECREATION AT (270) 798-2175 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

30 Sep 09

30 Sep 09

Dear Mom,

Sorry I haven’t written you in a couple days. Kinda a long story but I will try to keep it short. This last Sunday when I called you and such I wasn’t feeling to great and well anyways, I went back to bed of course and got woken up by a couple of people in my squad because they said I was convulsing or shaking like I was shivering. Anywho I told them I was fine but no they wanted to take my temperature. I knew I had a fever and the chills and aches but I wanted to just tough it out. Well anyways I had a temp of 101.7 so they go running to tell the DS. And I just wanted to go back to sleep but no. the DS took me to the hospital, pretty much called my a pussy then I explained that I didn’t wanna be there at all either, then all I got done at the hospital was my vitals. The ds wanted to leave early which I had no problem with. Then the next day I took the PT test cuz I missed the last few. Well while I didn’t know it some people were complaining to the DS how worried they were about me, which I know they had good intention, and yeah I end up getting yelled at for not going to sick hall so they send me and then I got sent to the infirmary or quarantine for two days. Making me miss the .50 caliber, MG-19, the 240B and 249 saw with night fire and tracer rounds. Gay, and today I missed throwing grenades. Pretty lame. That place stank of sickness too. I’m pretty sure I got sicker from being there. But that’s why I haven’t written you and that’s what I have been up to pretty much but now I’m back in the barracks waiting for everyone else to get back from the grenade ranges. So I had an upper respiratory infection, viral infection, and a fever all at once whoa. Other than all that lameness. I’m fine now kinda mad that I missed training and I hope I will get to make it up. I hope I have lots of mail waiting for me from you. That would be really nice. I’m sure I have at least a couple since I haven’t been here to get any of my mail for the past couple of days. The one nice thing about going to the death house was that I did get lots of sleep. I asked them what the quickest way outta there was and they said to just get lots of sleep. So yeah. I feel kinda well rested but I still feel like I could hibernate for a week or two. Haha. I just remembered haha tomorrow’s payday. Whoohooo. So last Monday or Sunday after I got done writing you, I drew Zach a little birthday cake and said happy birthday. Then send it off to his dad’s house. I have no idea if it’s going to get to him tho because I don’t know where he is living now. Or even if he is living considering he wasn’t being to smart before I left. But ya know I sent if for old time’s sake. I’m sure that if he did get it that it would at least make him smile. Maybe realize how cool of a friend I am or was to still remember all that shit. I got it easy with Andy b-day tho since its right after mine haha, but if ya wanna be cool and get technical its like 20 hours give or take haha. I hope your doing okay and all. Wonder how the little ones are doing. I was thinking about maybe asking Mike if he wanted to try and see if he could get a place with me on base but I don’t know how that would work out for him and the boys. But like it would be a good stable, obviously safe, place and the army has day care and stuff. Maybe he could try and get contracted by the army at that base as a truck driver. They even use trucks to transport troops so who knows. But that’s just another idea. Not so crazy as the last, but still kinda about housing. And he already got clearance for a government job. So he should be fine for this. I dk. Like I said just another idea. Just trying to be a good brother and uncle. But I’m pretty sure I can do something like that. I think it might be more convincing if I were Godfather but I’d have to look into it if he wanted me to. Its kinda up to him I guess. Anyways. I have a 6 mile ruck march on Friday, and I think I get my class B’s and maybe class A’s tomorrow but I’m not 100% sure and somewhere between now and Friday I have a long financial class that I have to attend and all that jazz. I need some actual running shoes soon, haha. These soccer shoes that I got are causing me to have pain and can cause me to have stress fractures which can send me home and put a pause on my training. For I think I got some minor shin splints and my knees are starting to hurt. the DS’s here have a saying that for every year your in the Army, you can add 3 years to your body age. Cuz it gets kinda rough on you. I damn believe that shit. Quincy and I were talking about how when we get outta here and into our duty station we wanna get some new boots. Apparently every shoe company makes at least one style of Army combat boot. He is talking about going with Nike. I’m thinking Nike or Adides, haha. I bet those would be really comfy, not like these ones that we got are so bad cuz they really aren’t but I bet there are some way better ones out there. =) but I dk. I’m still focusing on saving money. Right now isn’t that big of a deal to me because its worse than prison in here but after, when I get to my duty station and especially when I get deployed, is when my saving game begins. When I deploy my pay just about doubles.=). So that will be pretty nice means more money to save. Gah. I was thinking about how you were talking about fleas in one of your last letters and it reminded me, the mosquitoes here are damn huge! They could sit on a quarter with all legs on the edge. But that also make them easier to swat. Like I’m seriously thinking there is something up with Georgia because all the bugs are bigger than normal here. I saw a gypsy moth that could cover my face. Crazy shit man. I don’t know why but for some reason I want to watch the Lion King when I get back so I might have to get you that.=). I just have the urge to watch Rafiki jump around, and hyenas march like Nazis. It’s been a long time since I have watched it. Plus you being a gramma ya need more kids movies since you don’t have a VCR anymore. Haha. Well damn I just got a couple letters haha. One from you and one from gramma and gampa and two from some friends. Well I already knew what you thought of my idea, haha. But yeah, the drive will probably go by smoothly. Snow or not. We will just have to leave a day early to make time for snow drive. And yeah like I said I will get the gps app on my iphone. I’ll make sure I get a car charger too. Found out there is going to be a concert on the 2nd so that is nice. Haha. Well I got some letters to write but I will write ya tomorrow. I miss ya a lot and can’t wait to talk to you again.

Love ya
Jeremiah
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From Mom, October 2, 2009

October 2, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

I didn’t get a chance to write to you yesterday. I got all caught up on stuff at work and basically went to sleep when I got home. I replaced yet another water heater yesterday and I broke it. =) I had it all filled up and let the air out of the pipes. So I flipped the breaker back on and about a minute later I heard this gurgle noise coming from it and thought to myself (cause no one else was there) there must still be air in it and that I should flip the breaker off. And just as I was thinking that, I heard a poof sound. So I flipped the breaker off and opened the top element panel and sure enough I could smell burnt electrical. So I drained the water heater and pulled both elements. The bottom one was okay but the top one was peeled open like a banana. And of course I’m out of elements. So I’m currently waiting for those to get delivered. Then I went and found Joseph to confess my sins. Lol. Found him in B201 doing the move out walk thru. So he got to have a good laugh. The water heater in B201 wall all crocked and leaning a bit. So Joseph put his foot near it and presses down on the floor. And was like all whoa. The floor is all soft. So I went and got my stuff and got it all drained and pulled out. Called Joseph back over to look at the floor and he pulled out all the rotten stuff. If it wasn’t for a floor joist running under it, that heater could have fallen through and landed on top of the one downstairs and taken that one out too. Fun huh? So anyways, in the process of doing all that yesterday, I strained my back a little too much so today I’m all sore. I should have taken a hot bath last night but I didn’t. Usually when I do that I have no problems the next day. I really need to tonight, if I want to get anything done this weekend. I sure hope I can sell Pony soon, I want to pay a few months on the phone and car insurance. Then all that would be left is the water bill and the garbage. I can make Wes pay the water bill and the garbage isn’t that much, like $50 for 2 months. Mike called me a bit ago and said that all his stuff came back okay for working at Swift. Yah!! He does his orientation next week and they are advancing him $100. He will be getting paid every week. The advance is good because he was kinda worried about feeding himself on the road. I told him loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. I don’t think he was too impressed with that idea. We still don’t know a schedule for him yet. He told Ann that he’s keeping the boys. Ann keeps saying. I can take them and then I can’t take them. Back and forth. She loves them and all but she doesn’t really like taking care of them. So she is going to have them on a regular visitation. And we will work out the day care situation between Wes, G&G and Priscilla. Priscilla only works part time. So that will be a little help for them financially. I will care of them at night and on the weekends that Ann doesn’t have them. The dogs and Bear are getting used to each other, except when they are overly excited. But most of the time they do okay I believe that there is a 3 dog limit at Ft Campbell by the way. Pit bull or Pit bull mixes are not allowed at the dog parks there. They can be at the base but just always on leashes or back yards that are securely fenced. I don’t know what kind of dogs your friend has, but just in case. You know the aggressive nature can be bred out of pits just like it was with Rotties and Dobermans. I didn’t get a letter from you yesterday. That would have been your Monday letter. So we’ll see what I get today. =) Well I better get back to moving around and work. My leg has fallen asleep. I love and miss you.

Love Mom.

P.S. =)

Okay so anyways it’s almost 4pm Friday. I’m hungry and my back’s hurting. So I’m back to laying on the floor here in N106, writing to you. I was just up at the office talking to Joseph about how crappy our health care coverage now is since it got changed last year. Honestly the only reason I have it was to cover you. I’m not sure if I will keep it next year. I don’t feel like the benefit is a real benefit. Joseph is composing a letter to the company’s president. I am thinking about it also. After all if no one ever voices their opinion how would things ever change? I’m not going to finish this apartment today. I’ll finish Monday. Now I’m just counting down the minutes until I can go. I’m laying on my side and can only see the paper with one eye so I can’t seem to stay on the lines very well. =). Do you remember Donna Cordz? I don’t know if you do. You used to play with her son when we still lived in Yakima. Well she found out that she had pancreatic cancer and that she only had about 3 months left to live. That was right after you left for boot camp. They took her off the feeding tube about a couple weeks ago. Shirley says that when they go off the tube, it’s only a few days left for them. So I don’t know. She may have passed away already. Dk. Pretty sad. She’s only about 10 years older than me, her 2 kids are about 10 years older than you and Mike. Grandma used to babysit her and her sister when they were tiny. I used to babysit her kids when they were tiny. You see there’s kind of a close connection there. Families intertwined kind of thing. Tomorrow marks 2 months since you’ve been at Ft Benning. I haven’t called your phone since August 1st. it still seems weird not to talk to you all the time. I keep busy with work, dogs and all the guys living in my house. You always are there with me in my thoughts. I replay your letters and contemplate letters to write to you. I wonder about what your doing and compare your time zone with mine. A lot of time your getting up just as I’m going to sleep, like your on the other side of the planet. =) I emptied my apron and tossed it in the washer. It’s pretty dirty. Even without soap it will be an improvement. The new office person started yesterday. She seems nice so far. We’ll see. I had almost $3 in change in my apron, 3 pens, work keys, nail clippers, 1 apartment key tag and my note pad. Plus little pieces of trash that seem to fall in there. I keep sitting up in front of the heater to heat up my back muscles. I can hear the washer spinning, almost dryer time. Well that was painful. I’m going straight to the tub tonight. If my muscles don’t loosen up. I won’t get anything done this weekend. I gotta get my room painted including the floor. I’m gonna have Mike move the little beds to my room before he goes out on the road. I also need to get that new fan I bought put up so I have light in the dog’s room. I have my reading light in there now and it really doesn’t put out enough light. I think I’m gonna remove the A/C unit from my window. I haven’t used it all week. Next year I plan on getting one for the other window. Maybe I should make curtains with a fold up flap of the A/C so it doesn’t get all stuffed around it. I was going to make flat curtains anyways. Uses less material so it costs less. Those two t-shirts you gave me don’t fit. I guess Army size aren’t the same as Hanes sizes. If you get me a sweat jacket, get one that’s bigger. =) My phone’s dieing. I gotta get ready to go home. Love you more.
Love mom.

27 Sep 09

27 Sep 09

Well I just got done reading three of your letters that I got today. Ya know that I told you that if you need help with some money I would do it. And since I don’t have any in the box that all you have to do is get in contact with me somehow and let me know. I will send you a check. But yeah I have no problems doing that for you. I know you will pay me back after the off season of puppies. Let me know. Thanks for the picture of Sadie. I am kinda thinking about taking her. But it depends on what I’m allowed to have and do and also on where I live. Like if I do my crazy plan/idea then I will probably get my apt. or something which would be way nice. I would much rather live with a chick again then a bunch of dudes again. Fuck. I don’t want to live in barracks like these again. I found out that I’m not the only one with that crazy plan/idea. There’s a kid in here who is planning and marrying a 30 year old lesbian. Haha. I thought that was hilarious. That’s cool that Mike might be getting full custody. I just hope he works out a child care plan or something. I wonder if the boys will be around when I get back in November. I wish I could have called you last week. They never gave us the opportunity. Hopefully today they will since it is Sunday. It seems like your letters came late tho this time. It took me a whole week to get them. I’m sorry you don’t get my letters everyday. I write to ya everyday. Send a letter out 6 days a week. Found out I have a PT test tomorrow morning which is good since I missed the last one cuz of the dentist. Quincy might miss it again tho. He hasn’t taken one yet since he has things that always come up. We are pretty sure that we can both pass anyways. At least we hope so. Next week we are doing all the big ass guns and shit. Like Monday I think we are doing the .50cal and the MK19, then throughout the week we are doing the M240B and the M249saw. Then there is a few others. Fucking shit, they aren’t letting us go to the PX again. They choose people to go for everyone. Fuck that shit. Gah that pisses me off. When we switched to white phase they let us have a 3 hour pass. Now we are supposed to get more privileges. What the fuck. Whatever. Well I don’t know if I’m going to be able to call ya now. I dk. Well damn I just got off the phone with you for the longest time. That was very nice. Made up for that missed time we needed. Even tho you talked down on my evil plan. Meanie. Like I said many times I’m still going to ponder it. Ahh I just got back from chow and there was more cake which was waaaaay better than the cake from earlier. Had coconut shavings on it too. So yeah back to my pondering, its pondering. I will just have to judge it when I find a worthy contestant ya know. I will be able to tell if you are right. So hah. Anyways it was really nice to get to talk to you. Especially for so long. Was almost as nice as the PX. Except there I was able to sit down. I have my friend Razor and he wants to know if there is a dog limit at Ft. Campbell. He has a family so he will be in his own housing. Like I want to be. Haha. But he has three dogs. Wants to know about that. So if you could let me know so I can let him know. That would be cool. Anyways I won’t find out about the Christmas break probably until I get to my unit. But I still do think I will. And I called SGT Dickson about Hometown Recruiting and told him to call you with the answer. So also let me know about that as well. If he doesn’t call you in a couple of weeks you should call him. The reason I had to leave a message is because I think he doesn’t answer it on Sunday. And don’t forget those directions haha. And let me know if you are thinking about getting them books. =) Tell everyone hi for me and give them my best. Maybe an address. Haha. Can’t really think of anything else to write. I miss ya bunches and think about home constantly.

Love ya
Jeremiah
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