First it was recovering from the excesses of Thanksgiving. Now it is catching up on work. Yesterday my oldest, Jenny called. Her husband, William, is in Iraq right outside of Sadr City. Maybe you've heard of it? It's in eastern Baghdad. She is living at Fort Carson, Co. She was telling me the story of coming back on base after getting her hair done. She had Evan and Robyn with her. She was picked for a random inspection coming through the gate. They wiped a cloth over her steering wheel and ran it through a magic gizmo which told the MPs that Jenny was a bomb maker. The checked three times. Then they closed the gates and all the local cop and MP cars, with their lights flashing, arrived. The MPs tried to get the local bomb sniffing dog to come but he must have been taking a nap. After an hour they let her go. She told them it was probably something from getting her hair done. Then to make the day perfect she took the kids to see a movie -- Happy Feet. They had planned on this but the bogus bomb scare put them late for the movie. Robyn really wanted to go so they went half way through it. The got in and had to sit in the first row. Then Evan dropped the popcorn and then crapped his pants. It made for a fragrant movie. When she got home there was a message from William that ended with "There is a big explosion. I've got to go."

Fighting rages as Iraq leaders seek calm

Two mortar rounds hit a U.S. military post in eastern Baghdad, setting it on fire and leaving a dark cloud of smoke above the Baladiyat neighborhood, police and witnesses said. Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed that "indirect fire rounds" hit the area, but declined to provide details. No casualties were reported.

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William got hold of Jenny today and he's fine. The mortars apparently hit the motor pool.

And the war in Iraq has lasted longer than WWII. We beat Hitler, Mussolini, and Japan in less time that it will take to lose in Iraq. The people at the top should go to jail for this.