Check out the end of tour video that I made for Task Force Eagle on You Tube! Many days of work went into this video. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NAxUvXlW2I

Well, the excitement here at home never seems to end. What I thought would be a nice quiet evening here at home turned out to be one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. I have recently installed 4 new lights in our garage so you can actually see in there. Apparently, while doing so a bat flew into the garage, into the basement, and then up into the house (at least that is the only way I can figure he got in there).

In a stroke of luck he had flown into the downstairs bathroom and I quickly closed the door and trapped him. After consulting my dad we decided to close the office and laundry room doors and put a sheet over the doorway into the living room so that he couldn’t get out into the rest of the house. After putting on a long sleeve teeshirt and a motorcycle helmet I grabbed a broom and headed in. At this point you may think I am a wimp for using the helmet, and I may very well be, but he hit me in the head twice so I don’t care.

After he dive bombed twice and tried to suck my blood I whacked him with the broom and knocked him to the floor. I took the broom and pinned him there until I could throw a towel over him (if you ever stay over at the house watch which towel you use). I scooped him up, took him outside, and released him back into the wild.

If you are ever in need of someone to remove a bat from your house don’t think about calling me. I have found out that bats scare the crap out of me. I have already poured myself a stiff drink to calm myself down.

Left: This is actually just after the hunt. A proud warrior with his weapon.
Right: A calmer and smaller version of what tried to end my life.

Well, we are almost done and in some ways its really hard to believe. When we first deployed it seemed like it would be forever until we would be back home with our families and friends. The last 15 months have gone by so quickly and I have learned so much about myself and the soldiers that I work with (both good and bad).
Since I have heard we can’t post pictures for a while, I will have to share them when I get home. I can’t wait to see you all and I am really looking forward to getting back to “real life”. Love you and miss you all!!

Oh yeah, we got our first snow of the season last night! Just in time