Abbot's Roll of Honor

These are photos my father sent from a new Roll of Honor that was added to the veteran's memorial in the center of my home town of Abbot Village, Maine. In this first photo, you can see the main road to the right, which is actually Route 15. Between the guard rail you see and the white pickup truck is the Piscataquis River. The store that vehicles are parked in is called Trafton's. The road that passes directly behind the memorial is actually Monument Road - it makes a sharp corner then runs just about parallel to Route 15. That's the road I grew up on. The monument with the statue has been there ever since my family moved to Maine in the early 1980s. The American flag display and the Roll of Honor are new.

Below is a photo of my grandfather, Joseph A. Auger. I'm not sure when this photo was taken. Although my grandfather lives in Massachusetts he visits my dad in Maine several times a year.  

My maiden name is Jennifer Auger. I was deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq, from January - April 2007. During my time there I traveled to Camp Victory and Sather Air Base. I wear one campaign star on my Iraq Campaign Medal. One of the most exciting stories I wrote at the time was about the battle of An Najaf. The name of my unit was the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, namesake of the Tuskegee Airmen lineage. It was at this unit where I met Chief Master Sgt. Rudy Lopez for the first time. He was the chief enlisted manager for the medical group. The most media attention we received at Balad, both American and International, was about the theater hospital. In 2007, the hospital was literally a bunch of tents connected together - but the care our wounded military members (and even Iraqis and the occasional terrorist) was second to none. Fast forward three years later and Chief Lopez is now the command chief master sergeant here at Fairchild AFB, Wash., where JG and I are stationed now. The Air Force gets smaller each and every day! 

Here's a photo of the front of the Roll of Honor that begins with honoring veterans from the Civil War.

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This is JG's second trip away from home in the last month and the boys decided they need to test me yet again. I had two appointments downtown yesterday afternoon and finally got back to the base just after 3:30 p.m. - I had just enough time to pick Edward up from the youth center and Zachary up from home and bring them to the clinic for their flu shots before they closed at 4. Zachary was really excited - it was the first time he wasn't afraid of getting a shot. Normally, it would be Edward who wouldn't have a problem with shots and would show up his brother. Not yesterday. Edward SCREAMED AND CRIED so loud. I was so embarrassed. It took three of us to hold him down. That set the tone for the evening. Edward was fine through dinner until he wanted seconds on applesauce. I told him to grab it out of the fridge - it was on the top shelf and when he reached up with the arm that got the shot it hurt - and Edward had a meltdown. The evening routine of homework then shower was like pulling teeth. Luckily I was able to talk with JG and he was able to talk to Edward. After his shower he was finally pleasant and we watched two episodes of The Avatar on netflix. Edward was tucked in by 7. He needed the extra sleep. I'm one centimeter dilated and fifty percent effaced. I don't believe the baby will come before JG gets home, but I'm stressed thinking about the possibility. And, if that's not enough, we're only two weekends away from picking up keys to a new home on base. Work wakes me up in the middle of the night - I dry run the next day and go over the to-do list - only to be haunted the next day by what I didn't get done or discovering other responsibilities I own that I have to figure out. I dislike IMMENSELY not being the expert and not having the answers. My Ju-Ju girl, loyal K9 of about 13 years is showing signs of aging. I'm in denial of her graying muzzle - but it's harder to ignore a large lump between her two front legs. I need to get her to vet. Last weekend the dryer died, this weekend the washing machine died. JG earned another gazillion reward zone points at Best Buy. They delivered the set yesterday and I was excited, for once, to do laundry. Except, the water spouts where the washer hoses hook up decided to leak - even shut completely off there's a slow drip. It will be fixed today, hopefully. Time for a nap.