Moving, Thanksgiving in Iraq, and prepping for the Holidays

Hello again everyone!  There has been a lot going on here at Kalsu.  Before Thanksgiving we moved the Troop Medical Clinic into a new building!!  I don't have to work out of tent anymore! My lungs are thankful daily.  The move was a little hectic but everyone worked together and got it done.  All the medics and providers are little happier now that we are in the new clinic.
Thanksgiving:
We kept very busy on Thanksgiving Day.  We started off running in a T-Giving 5k at 630 in the morning.  Several people from my troop ran in the race.  I ended up getting second for females right behind one of the lawyers I do movie night with. Pics below.  Next myself and one of the docs watched the Regimental Support Squadron's dodge ball tournament.  I decided to opt out of playing...didn't want to risk any broken fingers.  COS Kalsu has their big Thanksgiving celebration at lunch.  Officers and Senior NCO's took turns serving Thanksgiving meal to the Troopers.  They decorated the entire Dining Facility with a Wizard of Oz theme.  The Commander of 1st ID, Brigadier General Gibbs, also visited and met with Soldiers for a short time.  The DFAC staff tried to do Thanksgiving right, serving turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and of course plenty of desserts to choose from.  After lunch I was roped into playing in a volleyball game....I managed to find a replacement for the second game.  Volleyball really isn't my sport.  In the evening there was a Protestant/Gospel Thanksgiving service.  Being Catholic this was new for me, especially the Gospel part.  Everyone was very animated. The service consisted of readings, singing and testimonies.  I was also introduced to praise dancing for the 1st time which is a staple at the Gospel service every Sunday. I  ended the evening getting online with my family through skype.  Many of them celebrated Thanksgiving in Virginia Beach together.  Although Thanksgiving was a little different this year, I was very thankful for all I had and the people praying for me.  

GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS: 
Everyone here is getting excited for Christmas! There has been a real effort to get everyone into the Christmas spirit.  Thank you to everyone who has sent Christmas decorations!    I have used most of them to decorate my clinic and a few things to decorate my room as well.  It has really brightened up the clinic for this time of year.  The Regimental and Squadron headquarters are almost competing against each other to see who has the best Christmas display.  My squadron is having a Chu decorating contest to be judged on Christmas Eve.  Christmas Eve is full of events to participate in.  I'll be playing in a softball tournament on the 24th if I can procure a  lefty glove.  MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!  I'll try to post a Christmas blog before I go on leave for my sister's wedding in January.
Check out the latest pictures below...be prepared, there is a lot this time:

The entrance to my new office

Therapeutic Exercise Room

Modalities area: Freezer and moist hot packs, although the hydrocollator that holds the moist hot packs got damaged in the move.

Entrance to the storage room.  We didn't have a storage area in the tent, so this is really nice to have.

Inside the storage room, lots of physical therapy 'toys' in here.

Here's my new office!

Soldier's in my troop getting ready for the 5k

Me and my 'battles'

This is Cat, one of the lawyers with the Regiment.  We had just finished the race.

This is me and my Squadron Commander who also competed.

After the race we received medals and certificates of appreciation

Post race excitement!

A view from the stands of the Dodge ball game.

The DFAC set-up for Thanksgiving

Maybe not the best artist....at least they tried

We even had a yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City.

Here's part of my "Iraq Family" celebrating Thanksgiving.

I couldn't resist a pic with Dorothy and the Lion.

Our cool chef hats we wore while serving the meal

That is Brigadier General Gibbs thanking the Wizard of Oz crew

Here is me attempting to play volleyball

I swear that spells out Happy Bday, use your imagination

Celebrating another B-day in Iraq; Happy Birthday Angela!

A couple of pics of our new clinic.  This is the trauma bay.

Here is the main lobby.

My 'cousin' SPC Hall showing off her Christmas spirit with some antlers sent to me in a care package.

Another gift from a care package, I make all my patients sign in with this pen now.

Just wanted to show off some of my clinic decorations.

I received 25 care packages in one day!! Most came from a wonderful church in Texas, ST Edith's.  Thank you so much.  I believe I gave away all but 2 or 3 of the boxes which was mostly things I received from my immediate family.

Here's the banner from my Mom's class!! It now resides in the main lobby of the Troop Medical Clinic. Soldier's love it.

Here I am trying to get in the Christmas spirit.

We had  a BBQ with the firefighters (who helped with our move) to celebrate our move into the new TMC.

A picture with all the officers in Medical Troop

This display is on Tiger Squadron Headquarters.

These pics got a little out of order, but this is my clinic before the move. I taped everything out before hand to determine the layout.

Some decorations I had in my room for Thanksgiving.  The pumpkins our from the FT Hood PT clinic, I received some fall leaves from a class out of Livingston, TX.

A couple Soldiers that worked hard to help me organize the clinic.

This is how the clinic looked before it was organized.

Getting a little carried away.

Halloween and "Going Outside the Wire".

Alright, I know it has been awhile since my last post.  I apologize and I'll try to make up for it by posting as many pictures as I can :)

HALLOWEEN:
I had a great costume for Halloween, I went as a US Soldier complete with Army Combat Uniform, boots and authentic M4 Weapon.  It was very realistic.  The TMC (Troop Medical Clinic) got into the Halloween spirit and was decked out for a good part of October.  Kalsu held a Halloween contest and talent show on Halloween.  I did my part to try and give away as much candy as possible that y'all have been sending me.  Now we are trying to get the clinic and CHUs decorated for Thanksgiving.

My First Trip!
I went on my first trip 'Outside the Wire' at the beginning of November.  I visited COS Echo, south of us, to see patients there.  I tried my hardest to get a helicopter flight out and back but it didn't work out.  Instead I went on my 1st convoy in Iraq.  It ended up going pretty well.  We traveled in MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles).  This is colossal beast of a vehicle built to withstand IEDs and it does its job very well.  The doors alone probably weigh 300lbs because of the armored plating.  I had a good time at Echo.  A good group of people works out the TMC there.  It was good to get out of the house as I like to say.  I ended up evaluating 25 people over 3 days, so I was pretty busy.  I will start visiting Echo on a monthly basis.

Our TMC will be moving into a new building this month!  This building has been completed for sometime but red tape and good ole government inefficiency has prevented us from moving into the clinic until now.  The best part, I get to move out of my tent clinic into a 'real building'.  By real building I mean instead of a tent with a concrete floor, I will now reside in wooden building with a concrete floor.  Hopefully it will do a better job of keeping the dust, sand, and critters out.  We had 2 kills this week in the clinic.  2 mice lost their lives to our mouse traps that Larry "The Vector Guy" stratigically placed.

I would like to thank everyone once again for keeping me and those I work with in your prayers.  I receive letters and care packages from family, friends, and people I've never even met just about every week.  The care packages have been great!  I keep some things for myself and usually give the rest away to Soldiers in my troop.

-Nicole 

Here I am with one of the medics at COS Echo.

They put up signs in all the Chu areas of different cities around FT Hood to make it feel a little more like home.

Many a conversation has been started based off my nameplate. Not too many Jayhawk fans out here.

This a picture of a re-enlistment of one of our Medical Troop Soldiers.

This is an example of making do with what you got.  This Soldier's toes were crushed by an Armored plate.  There is a special shoe that would help protect his foot...but we don't have any here.  This is how we emprovised. 

I cut out the top of part of his shoe then added shoe insert longer than his shoe and reinforced it w/ thermoplast to protect his toes so he wouldn't keep running into things with his toes.

I reside in 'Harker Heights'!

Getting into the Halloween spirit.  Thanks 'Kraver' Family for the themed nail polish.

This was my Halloween costume, I know a little lame but you got work with what you got.

One of Our X-ray techs getting into the Halloween Spirit.

This hat has been dubbed the official birthday hat for Medical Troop.

This is my 'cousin', a medic who shares my last name.

Getting ready for my big trip.  This is the weapon the gunner uses.

A shot an MRAP.

Time to get on our gear and go.

This me in 'full battle rattle'.  Thats with my body armor, army combat helmet, too much ammo, M4, ballistic eyewear, and complete w/ elbow and knee pads.

I was really excited to find some Jayhawk fans at Echo.  The Medevac unit is from Kansas and Colorado.

Here is a shot of the Lobby in the TMC at Echo.

Outside Echo TMC.

Go TEXAS!! This was also at Echo outside the DFAC.  The Houston sign was the one of the only (if not the only) signs supporting a state and not a country.

The BlackHawk Helicopter at Echo.