Another week has passed

Hello Everybody,
Another week has come and gone, and as usual, I'm not sure where the time went. This is a good thing, as if every week passes as these last several I should be home before I know it. Again it was busy, though towards the end of the week our mission was the most boring to date.
Our only real excitement came as I was on the 24-hour OP from the 13th-14th. That night we headed into the city to find a house overlooking one of the busiest streets in town; one of particular interest to both us and the insurgents attempting to plant IED's. The walk out wasn't too bad, until our point man (the guy at the front of the group) led us through a "wadi." These are usually some type of drainage ditch, as most of this country is without any type of sewer system. This one was much larger than we had anticipated, and after several steps, left no doubt in our minds as to what we were stomping through. Once we overcame that particular obstacle, we found a house that looked like a good hiding spot. This time the gate was easy to get through, and the front door didn't pose much of a problem either. Once inside the front room, we were greeted with another door that led to the remainder of the house. One of the guys took two kicks, and we were through. Now comes the humor of the situation; as there were no lights on in the house, all we saw was a door that, upon trying the knob, was locked. Once we had secured the house, we turned on some of the lights so we no longer were relying upon our NOD's (night optical devices); the funny part was that when we inspected the inner door that had just been kicked in, not only did he kick the door the wrong way (meaning that it opened out rather than in) but the key was still dangling from the lock. Smart on their part, but looking for keys isn't what naturally comes to mind when we're trying to sweep a house. Live and learn, I guess.
The occupants of the house were the two wives (this remains a polygamous society) and their five children, ranging from about 2 to 14 or so. To the surprise of everyone, one of the girls about 10 years old looked like she belonged on the beach in California rather than this city in Iraq. She had light brown hair, was light-complected, and most starteling of all had bright blue eyes! We couldn't help but stare as she moved from their bedroom to the kitchen. One of the sergeants said "You think that's something, wait till you see an Iraqi with red hair." Still haven't seen that, but I'm sure it'll be tough to miss! As usual, our interpreter will talk to the family, and after we pay the family for damages to the house (in this case two doors) we try talking to them. A couple of us, including myself, have begun to pick up a little Arabic. Its a tough language, but the family always seems to smile, though its usually the smile one would give a young child as it struggles to form sentences. At one point, the little girl with blue eyes tried asking me a question; upon realizing that I had no idea what she asked, she mimicked putting a ring on her hand and pointed at me, asking if I was married. The rest of the guys in the squad thought this was hysterical, and I was teased relentlessly for hours. Oh well...at least I didn't scare her!!!
We didn't use the roof this time, which I was greatful for, but opted to watch from the windows instead. As we peeked around the still-drawn curtains, we had a nearly unimpeded view of the street; only about 50 meters of the road was obscured by a building further down the road. We passed the day peeking through a window, and occasionally trying to learn more Arabic from the family. As night began to fall, we started watching the road more intently, as the insurgents try to use the cover of darkness as much as they can. We heard on the radio that there was a group of people digging in the road, but they were hidden behind the building, obscured from our view. The Bradley down the road engaged them, and then several more Bradleys arrived on the scene. We called them on the radio from the house, and it was decided that there probably wouldn't be much more insurgent activity in the area, so we beat feet to the vehicles 100 meters down the road, and got a ride back to base instead. Beats having to walk back!
Later the next day about 12 of us loaded up and headed to one of the bases close by; our mission: fill 750 sandbags and bring them back. We managed to load 500 before we got word to bring back what we already had. We weren't disappointed, as everyone's back was sore by that point. Back to base for some Motrin and bed.
Since Friday we have been on "static positions" throughout the town, supporting a large-scale raid the Iraqi Police were doing. This means that we've been cooped up in the back of a Bradley for 6 hours on, and then had 6 hours off. We've been on this rotation now for about 4 days solid. This wouldn't be so bad if it was possible to sleep in the Brads, but we all found it nearly impossible, especially since we had all of our gear (including my aid bag) plus whatever we wanted as far as drinks, food, and stuff to pass the time. The worst part about it was how uncomfortable the seats are; they're definitely designed for function and not comfort, a fact to which our back-sides can attest. Mostly we just sat around and told stories; things we did growing up, what we did for fun, what we want to do on our mid-tour leave, and of course whats the first beer we're going to drink when we get back. After spending that much time with the guys, we all know a lot about each other. The good news is that the rotations should be slowing down, and we shouldn't have to go out for at least another 8-12 hours. We may actually get a full-night's sleep!!
The greatest news we received was about an hour ago; there was hot water for showers! For the first time since I left Kuwait, I was able to take a real shower, and it was hot!!! May not seem like much, but after about a month this really made our day! We're hoping that the plumbing is now fixed, but we're not holding our breath.
We're all doing well; seems as though everyone has finally gotten over the cough/cold that was going around. This is music to our ears as medics, as we are running low on most of the meds we'd been passing out. After 3 days of solid rain things are finally beginning to dry out again, though we're not sure how much more of the rainy season is left.
I thought of one thing that anyone could send if they wanted; I always try and give candy to the kids after we take over their house...some small token of good-will, I guess. I don't need a years-production from the candy shops, just a couple bags of the small candies and sweets to hand out. I'm just envisioning a Brock's truck backing up to the front gate of our compound, "delivery for Troy Ruffin...is he here?" I only need a couple bags, and I should be good...its not like I'm in someone's house every day, just a day or two out of the week.
Ok, I should go...need to finish some things around here before I turn in for the night.
Hope everyone is doing well. Keep the emails coming, its always nice to hear whats going on back home.
Thanks for the support and prayers!

Love you guys,
Troy