Days 103-107

Sorry I havent been on! Im still out of the wire in Afghanistan. I get back to Kandahar tomorrow though thank god. I got lucky today to be even on the computer so Ill make this short. I cant wait to get back to the states. Time is kinda flying for me. Tomorrow it will be April and thats a relief for me! March seemed to pass SOOOOOO slow for me but hopefully April will be better. I really hope everyone is doing ok. Ill write more once I get back to Kandahar tomorrow, I promise! Laters

Day 102

Dyan, you are awesome! :) And Vanessa, stop giving your Ma headaches! hehe. Its ok, Im her favorite now. Well not much new here. Flying out again for a week or two at a time. Just got done this easter service and Im exhausted. Ugh. Time for nite nite. Miss you all.

Day 101

Ah, Faith decides to come back :) Yay! :) Advice with your new bf...enjoy your time with him! Get to know him as your friend and as your boyfriend. Those kind of relationships will take you very far in your life. Oh and Nicole, I totally forgot that everyone reads this blog when I said "the gutter" comment I apologize! lol Looks like Mama fixed you haha :) I hope those boxes come too before the unit leaves back to the states. One more thing before I leave...I found out today that my replacement is ALREADY in Afghanistan! He got here yesterday so my big boss is trying to find out how early I can get back without having to make any adjustments/changes on paper if you know what i mean. He thinks he can get me out of here or at least on the way by mid May now :) YAY! Only a few more months till I get back to my normal life :) Oh and Vanessa, JUST because you have a "new" friend doesnt mean you can NOT show up for Blogfession :) (get it get it?) hehe. Ok, outta here!

Days 97-100

Wow the big 100. 100 official days in Afghanistan. Only 68 more official days left. Maybe shorter once I get a hold of my replacement on the phone sometime. Rumor has it he's anxious to get over here (not a surprise that this place is NOT elegant but no one will tell him that shhhh) so he might come a little earlier than expected. Cross your fingers! I deeply apologize that I didnt write sooner. Since working directly with a Catholic Priest and this week being Easter holy week, it is THE BUSIEST week of the year for catholic priests. So that makes me the busiest! So I might not be able to get back on for a little while again. We will see. I hope everyone is doing well. Nicole, I got your card and picture in the mail. Thank you! :) Yes, your mind was in the gutter but its ok haha :) Havent gotten any new boxes as of yet except for Dyan's the other day. I really do appreciate all the gifts you all have given me. It really, really means alot to me even if I dont bring it up enough. But bad news, I wont have a mailing address once the unit I was working for earlier leaves next week. So I cant get any more mail :( But the thought TOTALLY counts though! :) Ok gotta run for now, hope to hear from you all soon

Day 96

Hey everyone. I had to work the chapel today (bleh) since 6am and probably wont get out of here till a little past 8pm :( But its ok! :) My new boss gave me the day off tomorrow. He also wants me to be his personal trainer (workout buddy). So starting tomorrow morning, he is going to working out with me. Not sure how much a 56 yr old can do with my workout regime, but he seems incredibly fit for his age and size. Anywho, Dyan I still havent gotten any boxes :( This is really starting to bug me now about that. I really do apologize for the mail system over here. But Im glad you got insurance though just in case. Actually now that I think about it, I ordered a few movies from Amazon.com like a month ago and still havent seen them! Oh gosh. Thanks for your comment Vanessa. Maybe you can say more than a sentence next time! haha. And Faith, where you been? And Nicole, I hope you enjoy your spring break. Seems like you have really been kickin butt in school and as long as you do your best, you cant go wrong. Ok everyone, hope to hear from you all soon again. Have a good Sunday!

Day 95

Wow Lynn, you still remember that day as if it was yesterday :) I thought I had a good memory! lol But that sounded about what happened. I still dont remember kissing you though at the end of basic :( Well I feel normal being in Kandahar as long as Ive been here. It feels kinda weird though being here longer than a few days. I did find out that we will be leaving out again on the 25th though for a few days. Still no packages as of today :( Ill keep looking though. The weather is fantastic as usual (except for the hour shower this morning). Suppose to get up to about 85 degrees today. Ok hope to hear from you all soon.

Days 93-94

Believe it or not, Im still in Kandahar :) My boss and I caught a good break. We dont have to leave again for another base until the Easter frame. Which is nice! :) Days are ticking away and its great to be so close to leaving. I checked for packages, and there werent any for me :( I deeply apologize but Ill keep checking until I leave next week. Its been amazingly warmer here (80-90's) and it feels good to run in this weather. Ok, hope to hear from all of my bloggerettes soon. Keep the peace

Day 92

Welcome Lynn :) Very surprised you finally made it to my blogworld. But definitely glad you are. Yes, I remember that night sweetie...it was very nice seeing you back then...wow, that was right after I broke up with Sara right? 1 1/2 yrs ago? Geesh, time flies :) Anywho, Im in Farah now and its actually pretty good here. Very small but I got what I need here. Shower, cot, gym, food and internet :) I usually dont get that lucky with having all the above. Ill probably be leaving for Kandahar tomorrow but only long enough to get our next place to go. Which is like 24-48 hrs. In which Dyan, Ill check my packages if I have any. Same goes with both Faith and Nicole. Ok bloggerettes, who is this "b" person? Never heard of em. Well Hi! if you are still around. Ok hope to hear from you all soon.

P.S. - Nicole, Im gonna email ya today since I went back and retrieved your email on an old blog

Days 87-91

Ohhhhh my gosh *bleh* Alot has happened since I was on 5 days ago. But I dont have much time to talk so I have to be short about it. I have a new boss (my old boss is leaving next week). So with this new boss, comes a new agenda, and keeps me out of kandahar like 2 out of the last 2 1/2 months I got left here. Im in a place called Shindand now and we leave for Farah tomorrow. So I will be flying around like crazy the next few months. It makes the time go faster though which is cool but limits my internet usage by alot since Im not promised an internet connection everywhere I go. Anywho, Ive been good though. I still do occasionally miss family and friends back home (I know how ya feel Nicole and sometimes I dont even give myself much credit with what Im doing!) but I find ways around it. Working out has helped tremendously and as well with all this traveling. Dyan, I havent been in Kandahar since the 10th and there wasnt any boxes from anyone then so they are probably there now. I might have a chance to get them in a few days. Ill see what I can do. Also Nicole, I apologize for not emailing you yet but do you mind emailing me personally to give it to me again? I think you told me on here and I rarely go back and read my old blogs (saving that till i get back in the states!). So email me at either hotmail/yahoo account and promise to send you pics. And Dyan, you better tell Vanessa to email me very soon. I KNOW why she hasnt been on lately ;) She thinks Im dumb but Im not heheh...so if she reads this anytime soon, she should email me. You better Vanessa! :) Wow, this turned out pretty long. Im a fast typer I suppose cause it only took a few minutes. OK Im outta here. Till next time

Days 83-86

Hola Bloggerettes! Sorry it took me so long to get back on once again. Well Im back in Kandahar (yay!) but only to be told that I got a new boss and he goes out of the wire more than my old boss! Which means I might be in Kandahar only a few days at a time (bleh!) Other than that, Im in great spirits. Working out has been such an awesome success :) Im starting to get muscle where I thought Id never have it! My arms have greatly improved as well as my delts and pecs. I feel like Im in a brand new body. Perfect for the summer like I planned! Who said that New Yr resolutions die out after a month? its been almost 3 1/2 months and Im still steaming ahead! Gosh, I sound like Richard Simmons (argh) but not nearly as hairy and bigger! hehehehe. Geez, Im starting to sound like Dyan now...all wired up (Im kidding, you know I love you :) Ok just wanted to tell you that Im alive and well and got confirmation by the big boss in Ft. Meade that I will be back in the states early June. Good, cuz I already paid for my vacation and my car :) Everything else in my pocket is for fun! Yay! Ok, shut up Ricky.




Dyan, I heard you just laugh ;)

Day 82

Well I lucked out...they improved the bathrooms and internet here :) And according to the soldiers that are living here, its been warm the last 2 days very unexpectedly. Just last week they said it was 10-15 degrees. Yesterday when I got here, it was 65 degrees. Today its suppose to be up to 70 degrees. I def. lucked out of this place. Well Im going to make some phone calls today. I try to call everyone at least 1-2 times a month when I can. My MOTHER is the only exception of course and I can her like 2-3 times a week. So if I dont get to everyone on this blog, Ill see ya on here still ;) Ok partners, Adios!

Days 80-81

This I apologize is another short blog. Im leaving AGAIN to another base only to be stuck at that one till Tuesday. The one Im at now is called Qalat. Not too bad I guess but I heard the other one is like the one I went to a little over a month ago. Remember that really cold one with the "weird" bathrooms? Anaconda ring a bell? Just like that one I heard. The only good news I got today is that when I get back to Kandahar on Tuesday, within a week or two I leave to go back to Bagram :) I cant wait for that. The leadership is soo sooooo weak here. Ok Ill talk to you all laterz...just the thought of coming home soon is what keeps me motivated at this very moment...

Day 79

This is to be very short. Ill be out of the net for at least a day or more. Just found out that Im going out of the wire again for a mission. They gave me like 6 hours in advance which is very crappy. Im cranky about it because Im up too darn early for this crap. Oh well. I guess it goes with the job. Hope to hear from you all soon

Days 77-78

Well as you all may know, I am back in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Im not exactly all bummed out being back though. I leave this area in less than 30 days due to the unit Im attached too leaving back to the states in April. So everyone is in SUCH HIGH SPIRITS now. I expect that in the next 3 weeks or so because of them leaving. Which of course puts me in a good mood as well. I haven't mentioned lately on my progress of losing weight. Im here to tell you not ONLY did I meet my ideal weight but I surpassed it by like 6 pounds lol. I wanted to be a healthy 175pds. Im now at 169pds. So if I gain a few pds before I leave, Id be actually happier! :) I definitely cut pretty much all the fat that I wanted too. I believe I sent some pics to Vanessa, Faith and Rachel to see my progress. Nicole sweetie, I dont have your new email address anymore! Please send it to me and Ill show you too. I feel great about this achievement because it only took me 3 months to get where I really wanted to be instead of the 6 months I thought it was going to take. All I have to do is maintain from here. Anywho, also want to let you all now that I do got the new pictures up from my vacation on my photo album. http://photos.yahoo.com/rcortez3865 . Be sure to check them out! Ok enough of me for now. Hope to hear from you all soon

Ricky p.s. - Nicole and Faith... I see that both of you want to send me some stuff for my B-Day :) Thank you for thinking about me ;) I guess I can ask for a FEW things..not really a big birthday kind of guy. I would LOVE to have Mach 3 razors (expensive as you will both find out). Also some Trident WHITE Cool Rush gum. Kinda expensive but SO GOOD for your teeth! And Tuna packs are great too! You know, the new ones that came out in freshly sealed packages, not the canned kind. Speaking of which, thanks Dyan for your package! Im sorry I havent gotten your other one yet though. :( Ok thats it for now, If I think of something later, Ill let ya know!