Waking up in the morning

Do you ever wake up and just feel like you can't move? Well, that was the case for me this morning. I had huge eye bugers affixed to my lids like cement in between bricks and a desire to move like a fat kitty cat wanting to exercise. Why was it so difficult waking up in my finely furnished trailer in Mosul, Iraq? Well, allow me to elaborate....

You see, I just returned from an incredible two or three week adventure in southern Iraq where I covered intense combat and captured great moments of soldiers with my Nikon. Today, I worked in a Palace, behind a desk and air conditioning. Now, to the sane person, this might sound like more of an appeasing venue to toil away at. But for me, my heart and soul is with the infantry chasing bad guys. My job is perhaps more important sitting in a chair behind a computer, as I'm a squad leader in charge of several very bright, young soldiers. At this wonderful desk, at which I currently sit, I help soldiers become better writers, teach them how to use their cameras and of course motivate them for the rest of their time in Iraq by acting goofy. Sometimes when I saunter to the Palace, all floored with shiny, yet unaligned, marble stone squares, I think of how much I'd rather be outside of the wire with people shooting at me. Crazy, I know, but I enjoy this. Then, I step into the office... where one of my soldiers has a huge smile on their face, wishes me a good morning and asks how I'm doing very sincerely. Ah.... the effect of youth and pleasantness is underrated.

My troops make waking up with crusts on my eyes not such a bad thing after all.