I ended up getting a day off today, though it was unplanned. The mission was to head up north to handle security for women attending some meeting. We had to take a bunch of extra people and my seat got filled by the females we were required to bring in order to search the women before they enter the building. To be honest, I'm not upset at all. We didn't send our vehicle out today, so most of my crew ended up either slotted into other trucks or got a (well deserved) day off...including my truck commander (TC) who, until today, hadn't had a day off. Period. The greatest thing about getting an unexpected day off is that everybody just thinks you're out on mission, so I can sleep, watch movies, or update this thing uninterrupted. It's fantastic. Another bonus is that I can play my Texas country, bluegrass and singer/songwriter stuff without listening to my roommate's (rather uninformed) criticism. He'll come around. I'll make sure of that.

In other news, I am constantly encouraged and inspired by the kindness of friends and family back home. It's incredible the ability to rekindle friendships and forge new ones even though I'm (approximately) 7,128 miles (11,470km) from home.

Those of you who are interested, I was awakened two nights ago to loud booms and sounds of something landing on my my chu (compartmentalized housing unit -- army speak for a trailer). Turns out Mosul gets thunderstorms too. I thought I was back home in west Texas -- after, of course, my heart started beating again.