And in a few hours it will be payday. Not too many more of those left over here. There's not too many things I'll miss about this place, but an Iraq paycheck is nice to see.

Two more payments on one of my loans and I'll be debt free. The most recent one went out yesterday, and I think I may be able to double up this month. Very nice. There aren't too many things to spend your money on over here if you keep away from the bazaars and such. Toiletries is pretty much it, along with the occasional carton of cigs.

I haven't really been smoking that much since I started runing the bleachers. I'd like to quit soon, I was doing pretty good on Chantix (I had actually gone about 5 weeks without a smoke) but I got sent home short notice on emergency leave when my sister passed away and left it in my dorm. Lots of stress back home and I was puffing away again. I tried to pick up the Chantix where I had left off when I got back, but the first week has some kind of additive that helps you adjust to the chemicals in the pill. I tried jumping right back in where I had left off after being off the script for almost three weeks. Bad juju. Messed with my head pretty bad, I was going through some pretty intense mood swings. I will say that Chantix worked better than any other method I've tried. After the first week I really didn't want a cigarette at all. I have no doubt it would still be working if I hadn't missed so large of a gap, but hey, what're you gonna do?

Communication is good with my girlfriend. She's got a lot going on in her life right now with a sister having a baby and another getting married soon. We don't get to talk as much as I'd like, but we still make contact every day and make as much time as we can for each other. It's tough, but since I've been here I've seen at least five marriages end, and God only knows how many breakups. I've got a good one. She's hard-headed, and it's hard to deal with that sometimes, but it's one of the things that helps us stick together. She's one hell of a woman, and I appreciate everything about her.

Lovely. One day closer. I'd better leave some things to blog about if I'm going to make up for yesterday! Peace~

Kelsey