Dear Cody, 08/29/2011

Hello son. I missed last week so my letter streak is now restarting. Good job on your last test. That puts you at a 90 or above on every test based on the grades you told us about.

We have been pretty busy the past couple of weekends. Two weeks ago Deema and Deepa came down for a visit. We had a good time. Nothing too exciting just good family bonding stuff. Last weekend we actually did not leave the house except to hike around the lake a couple of times. We have been getting stuff ready for the paperwork for the Qatar assignment. Your mom is getting excited about Qatar. This will be her first international living experience and she seems to be looking forward to it.

This weekend we started on your mom’s quest to burn through ~$300.00 in gift cards before we leave for the international assignment. She has ~20 cards to use up. I swear I will spend $100 in gas driving to places to spend the $5.00 that is on some obscure card that can only be used at one location. This weekend we went to Costco to burn $20.00 and ended up using that and $45.00 out of my pocket. Sigh!!! You know your mom and shopping. Good thing we have your high MPG vehicle to offset the gas costs. The Touareg will be done tomorrow so your mom can start driving her car instead of yours. She won’t burn entirely through your warranty.

Your mom also had her first appointment with her stylist. Guess what? 80 pairs of shoes is not enough. She needs at least three more! And 85% of our walk in closet stuffed with her cloths is apparently not enough either. She needs a couple of skirts, jackets and blouses for work. I can’t believe I hooked her up with the stylist. What the hell was I thinking? I sure miss you being here to help me keep myself out of trouble as far as your mom's shopping is concerned.

How is your relationship with your room mate going? You have mentioned the last couple of calls that you don’t care for him too much primarily because of his incessant Wii and Xbox gaming. I bet you have not missed the irony of his behavior and how much it annoys you.

Thanks for giving your mom a call on her birthday. We both enjoyed talking with you. Your energy and interest in what you are doing is obvious and your mom and I are thrilled that you are so engaged in what you are studying and engaged in the USAF. We are proud of you.

Now for a “call your mom” mini rant from your dad. “An hour a night on WoW with Oregon” and you can’t manage one 30min call a week to your mom and a 15min call a week to your Deema and Deepa? Really? And how about a 5min call a week to your dad. Come on kid. Toss your dad a bone here will ya? All I am asking from you is 50mins a week. If you don’t start calling your mom every week when we deliver your car it may not have an engine! }:)

We are planning on heading down to Biloxi so see you for Labor Day weekend so we will give you a call to make sure you have our visitor’s access set up. Expect Deema and Deepa to come with us and we will drop off one or the other of the cars for you. Still not sure if you get your car or the Maz. Depends on how much we have to pay to get rid of yours.

We are starting to get stuff staged for disposal or storage. You will need to send your mom a comprehensive list of your stuff that you want to keep. We are going to empty the house and get rid of just about everything before we leave for Qatar so whatever you want you need to tell your mom and we will box it up and save it for you. We are either going to give all of the furniture to Dana’s parents or your mom, Deema and Deepa are going to take a U-haul road trip to Oregon and give it to your mom’s family. Pretty much all we are taking to Qatar is our clothes and a few personal items. Everything else is gone …… soon.

Well, I have to get back to international assignment paperwork. I have a notebook for 2” of reading and forms I am filling out. I hate paperwork. That is why I married a bean counter. To handle the paperwork. But, off I go to slay another forest worth of paper.

I love you son. And …. CALL YOUR MOTHER. Really dude, call her.

Love, Dad.