My firstborn, who also happens to be a Marine, is currently in an undisclosed location in the Middle East conducting an unspecified activity. While that may seem odd to folks who read about the locations of Marine units and what they're doing all the time, Boyd Jr is with a Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is embarked (or was embarked...who knows?) aboard several Navy amphibious support ships. The Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps, in case you didn't know) is usually very closed-mouthed about future (and sometimes current) locations of Navy vessels.

So anyway, I won't be hearing from him for a while. But fortunately, he got a chance to celebrate his birthday a little early while they were in Bahrain.

And before you ask, his four siblings, wife and two daughters are doing fine, too.