Happy Afghan New Year!!

Hope this post finds you doing well. Thing in Phoenixville have been rather busy this week. The strange weather patterns seem to be effecting Afghanistan and the US. I am blessed to have a neighbor that insists on taking care of my driveway when it snows. So, I haven't had the opportunity to use the snowblower that Geo and I invested in prior to his deployment. Not that I'm disappointed!

We're in the home stretch of the pregnancy! Monday marks the beginning of our 34th week! Although the baby is growing much faster than at any other point in the pregnancy we're still feeling good and are healthy. Lately I have been cooking up a few big dinners during the week so I can freeze the left overs. I'm sure that I won't want to be slaving over a stove after the Pea is born and if there isn't healthy and semi-convenient food on hand I'll be ordering from my favorite pizza place!

In addition to the yummy healthy food, I've also been making Spring Eggs. I'm so excited to see the snow melt and Spring to rear her head that I'm hoping some candy-making will convince her to hurry! Below is a picture of a beautiful mess I made while working on the eggs.

I dropped the measuring cup into the mixer as it was blending the ingredients!

The Pea's very first experience with her Mom's baking. In addition to the walls and the counter, she was also showered with sugary goodness!

All ready to be dipped and shipped:)

Here is Geo's most recent update:

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Dear Family and Friends;

Happy Afghan New Year! 1386 has gotten off to a rather quiet start fortunately, although some units in the ANA are on stand-by. The weather has been great, and the Afghan tradition is for families to get together for the new year holiday, and find a patch of grass to walk through or picnic on. Surprisingly, in the hills around us, grass has started to grow, and we have seen families going for walks. All of the rain we have been having has paid some dividends.

The ANA brought in a band on New Years Day, and they spent most of the day entertaining the troops on the parade field. They played traditional music, and there were many soldiers who danced (see attached). I have it on good authority that LTC Whitney really "got jiggy with it," much to the pleasure of the Afghans.

I hope the good weather holds out through Sunday. Many of us visit the bazaar that is held out behind our camp that day, and it seems like it has rained every Sunday since we have been here. We get a surprising large number of vendors and wide variety of goods. Even though the guys are learning the art of bargaining well, LT Green may have increased the Afghan GDP with all of the purchases he has made. The little kids, even though they are only selling homemade slingshots and stacks of old currency, seem to attract a lot of the attention of the service members here.

Next week promises to me more of the same -- the ANA will spend a lot of their time in parade practice.

Regards,

GEORGE M. SCHWARTZ
LTC, AR
Commanding