Night shift

I just got your care package! IT ROCKS! Who thinks to send silly putty? That is so cool. The sewing needles are great also. The candy is going around and the troops are very thankful. I am going to keep the caribou bars to myself and a select few. The magazine is great, as I am on nights now I will have the time to read the whole thing. (the Blowpop minis are a big hit.) SSgt Mitchel is chowing down on the Skittles.

Things are going well, I have been nominated to attend a class on combat leadership. It lasts for three days for four hours a day. I will be able to go to the evening class so sleep deprivation will not be an issue.

I have been playing at least five games of chess a night and am starting to remember how to play. Hein is the guy I play the most and we are at about the same level. I play more by the book and he plays more from the hip. By the end of the week I should have the game down and win more, but it is really just fun to play. I got the Easter card, I found it on my bed when I dropped my gear off in my room. (Madey says hi, he asks how you are doing and how are the kids. He would really like some pie. "I'm reaching. I'm reaching.")
Thank you and happy Easter to you also.
I am going to be moving into a new area later this week or next which will be nice as I will have only one roommate instead of six roommates. I miss you tons.

Your son, Ryan

P.S., I you have any old science and discovery type magazines we here in Balad eat that kind of thing up.

P.P.S., Madey says, "I love you and will always remember your pleasant smile"


Mom writes back:
Your email is making me smile! Sure I can send Vic's old Scientific American's. I'll try to pick up a Discovery or some other reading material, too.
Combat leadership? Sounds like graduating from that class will take you out of the base. Hmm. You said you were nominated? By your peers or superiors?

Madey has a great sense of humor. I don't know who Madey is, but I'll think of how to send pie without it sloshing all over inside the package... Might have to be pilettes. (Not to be confused with pilots.)
SSgt Mitchel will get more skittles and I'll send you another book to get the best on Hein. Tell him to keep sharp. He's got the chess game attitude, so you better read carefully. Will you get to play chess with Hein when you move? Do you get to move because of the class? Will you still see these guys enough to pass on skittles and pie-lettes?
Gairm and I haven't been playing chess since I was gone so much to Grandma's. Helen came home from Hawaii today and I came home from Edina. I'll go again tomorrow. Mom said she was a little frightened that I was going to go. She was depending on me and doesn't always know how much better she is. She is still weak and isn't over her COPD, of course. But she is getting sharp again.
Saturday is her day to set up her meds for the week in her little plastic pill box, so I'll go and do that with her. Then I go to a class on marketing my book. There is a book fair for authors at the Bloomington Civic center a mile from our house.

I love you so much, Ryan. Keep a white light around you, a forcefield. Ask for help. Be present and all that good advice. The next two months seem really long now. The last two months seemed reasonable. Training is good. Get all the training you can, hon. You have some excellent gifts to share with your men. And I don't mean skittles.
Love, Mom