Wow, that's wonderful about Captain Kearney!!!!

I asked my friend yesterday about shipping for free from the base, and she thinks you can but she's going to check with her hubby-I'll probably find out from her tomorrow.  How great would that be, that would make the best case scenario that I can find the best deal on the pump/filter around here.  I'll let you know when I find out for sure, and then I'll put my nose to the grindstone and find that pump!!!  (Oh, and btw I do have strep, so does my dh, so does my 4-yr-old... the strep tirfecta.  My 6-yr-old has no signs yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time...we're SO Much fun right now!!! LOL)

Oh Kristen,

I'm so sorry you're all sick with strep   I sure hope you all get well soon.  I'm glad you're willing to do so much for the Operation Afghanaswim (which I shared with Justin), but please take care of yourself!  You won't be much good to anyone if you're ill.

Hugs,

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share this with you. Justin is not where the pool is right now so that's why he can't get us a picture. Below is his response to my last email.

As for getting you a pic of the pool... im not shure when i'll be back over there, supposed to move over there soon but could get delayed a week or two. But the pool is about 30-40 feet long 10-15 feet across and 4 feet deep. We'll be adding a wall to it internally so that is when we'll build a hole for the filter. Well please tell everyone on the KOP forum that we really appreciate there help getting the funds together to do this for us, were pretty excited and again thank you Renae.

Thanks so much Renae.  It's all very confusing to me.  Justin told me that painting the pool vs. a liner will work fine.  He did ask if there was a way we could have the paint be blue so it would look nicer.  I told him I'd check into it.  I check with the company that Tony provided a link for.  It sure would be nice to put this together for the guys.  I'm sure lots of the guys/gals will go there for some well deserved down time too.

Love ya,

Sharon

OFF Topic of the POOL:

 We had a couple  packs ( 20 ) of hand warmers donated for the Care Package drive

Do you think its to late to send Hand warmers to the OutPost?   Some of those remote outposts are pretty high up and might even still be experiencing snow... 

any thaughts??

i was told over a month ago that it was in the 70's already...

SouthWick Hello!

I search engined hand warmers and a contact in Afghanistan asked to hold off as they do not have storage space to hold them until next winter.

One thing about Afghanistan, taking into consideration the shipping time, you will be able to send them over in five months.

If I hear of anyone requesting I will let you know.

Blessings, door

A message from Cayleb Lee......

our mail (company) is going to be cut off at the beggining of june or the end of may time frame. if you could let other people know that it would be great. thank you

This is B co... still at the Korengal and it's outposts. They'll be there a little while after mail stops and warmer weather is harder out there.... so mail away right up till the cutoff! Shelly

Thanks for the BCo update!  We've still got plenty of time to load them up with drink mix and misters for the heat :)

Speaking of the heat, I'm on the lookout for that 200lb 1-ishhp sand filter   I tried a couple of places this week, but no luck yet (I was really hoping Costo would have a fantastic to-good-to-be-true deal, but they only had the aquachem filters, boo).  I haven't connected with my co-worker yet about shipping, but I'm still holding out hope it can be free if we drop it off at the base.  I'll update again when I have some news!

Hey Everybody,

Got some news from Justin. We may have a small, but heavy problem. There is no sand where Justin is now. He saounds in great Spirits, though, that's good to hear.  His comments below.

Wow it sounds great. This is reallly coming along well. So im a little confused about the sand filter, now we dont have actual sand here where im at its mostly rocky with alot of dust. So the only thing that would get in the pool would be some small leaves and dust from the helicopters. Also see if the filter is good for incoming rocketts, jk.

I'll write to him and explain the Sand Filter, but we will have to send sand. Guys, let me know if there is anything else I can do on this end.

Also, I got the CD's mailed today!!! FINALLY!!

God Bless You All!

Renae

Hi Renae,

The filters that use sand aren't cheap, by any means.  The sand they use is heavy and they'd need alot.  I wonder if we wouldn't be better off trying to find 2 regular filters.  Tony, if you see this, what's your opinion?  I'm pretty tapped out so I'm not going to be able to pitch in as much $ as I would like to.  I've checked on EBay and haven't seen anything promising.  One filter (sand type) had the filter, no hoses, sand, nothing.  It did however tell what type of sand is needed.  When I searched that, my heart sank.  The stuff isn't cheap either.

My cousins have pools and I'm going to call them tonight to see if they know something that will help.  They live in Chicago, so I'm hoping they've got 'great' rummage sales there where I could pick up a couple of pool filters cheap, but ones that still work.  Lots of times as the kids get older and stop using the pool, the parents sell it off to have their yards back again.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks.

BTW, I have Cayleb's old mail address @ KOP, is it still the same?  I haven't heard from him in ages.

Sharon,

 I think you are exactly right!! I am going to research myself and see what I can find. I really don't think they care if the water is sparkling clear! The chemicals that I sent are suppose to get out any "bad bacteria", so they will be fine there as well. I'll let you know what I find out.

Hugs to All,

Renae

Well, bummer.  I guess even though I realize our boys in Afghanistan are in the mountains, my auto-pilot brain still thinks *everyone* is in the desert.   I can't imagine the cost of shipping 200lb of sand, so I imagine that's out of the question.

Tony, do you know anything about the AquaChem filters?  I'll admit, I didn't spend too much time reading the labels on the filter or the chemical tub because they weren't in the running, so I don't even know if I can ship those chemicals according to postal regulations, but if they'll work I'll find the $.  (Even though I'm getting my but kicked by taxes, medical bills and the cost of oil/gas, I seem to find that when our soldiers need something, and I decided to throw the budget out the window and just get it, the money seems to show up.  It's like "Someone Else" is taking care of it. )

Okay, I guess we're waiting on Tony the Pool Guru to chime in and give us all new hope and direction.

Has anyone checked out Craigslist.org for the pool supplies you're looking for? They tend to have a wide variety of things listed for sale, esp. in the larger city sites, such as Chicago. Might be worth a look...

Hello everyone,

I was waiting to post the info about the cut off mail date until I literally heard it from my hubby. He was able to call last night and confirmed ITS TRUE! lol  MAY 31 is really about the last date they will receive mail.  Yes they may receive some a few days after but the "Safe" cutoff date to make sure the guys get their packages would be to say They will not receive anything after the 31st of May. 

I hope that everyone is doing well. I know I haven't been posting too much on here but I still read up on all that you are saying.  The pool sounds like a wonderful idea.  I hope that it all works out for everyone.  We are keeping busy here at home and quietly counting down the months. haha  Italy's weather is crazy lately. We go from warm to cold to right now 2 weeks of rain, we had about 8 hours of the two weeks that were dry, yes to the yard kept me busy that 8 hours! haha Looked like I was about to go and buy some goats to chew down the grass. haha

I hope everyone is doing well.  Thank you to those who have been sending in donations for our homecoming event.  Our single soldiers are going to have a nice surprise to come "home" to.  We are focusing more on them do to lack of parents/family members able to see them in. Thank you again for all your support.

Angela