A Beautiful Bird

This weekend, I received this beautiful picture... in a round about way, but this nice picture was taken from the window of my cousin's house.

How nice it must be to be able to have this view outside your window.

Turkey Day Funny

Courtesy of one of my pen-pals... (or is that key-pals?)

What Turkeys Need To Know But Don't

1. By limiting your corn intake to 175 kernels a day, you can lose
thirteen pounds or three hours baking time, whatever the case may be.
2. There is no such thing as the friendly ax-man.
3. Hiding inside old Jack-O-Lanterns never works.
4. Running helps you lose weight, but you will never fly, ever.
5. Stop writing to Benjamin Franklin; he's dead, and you lost that
National symbol argument long ago.
6. No one buys the "you can't eat a turkey with glasses routine."
7. If anyone asks you about your drumstick size, be afraid; be very
afraid.
8. Sweet corn meal is NOT low in calories. Stop eating it.
9. Pretending to be "just a chicken" is not very smart.
10. If there are not pigs or geese on your farm, you should probably
worry about Christmas as well.

Thanksgiving 2007 - A Time to Reflect... And Look Forward

Today was Thanksgiving. For me, it's a bit of a landmark date.

It marks a period of transition. It was Thanksgiving Eve when the whole family arrived from Germany, schlepping our most important worldly possessions with us.

First time I've ever been met at an airport by a TV news crew... Wanting to document the saga of E's journey back.

It marked the closing of the Germany chapter and the beginning of what (we thought) was to be a long stateside one. Amazing what we didn't know.

So, Thanksgiving 2007 marks the beginning (in my mind) of "It's Been One Year..." One year since the whole world changed.

I have a lot to be thankful for... My father, for one. His support has been immeasureable, setting a bar so high, I can only dream of one day meeting that standard with my children. Last year, as we prepared to evacuate (I use "evacuate" due to the nature of our departure) Deutschland... Our adopted home... He realized the effort it would take. This man (and his willing accomplice, Patricia, ex-wife #2) FLEW to Europe just to help us move and make the journey back. And in the year since, in so many ways, including shouldering the ultimate responsibility and burden, I am indebted. I am thankful for my Dad. And love him dearly.

I am thankful for my Angels... M*A (and the angel family), PJ, Andrea, Miss Birdlegs, and countless others, who've defined Angels in whole new ways. Whether it was being there to listen, or to help me keep writing - when just getting out of bed was hard, to knowing when to whisper a wise word... Or just a needed hug.

My Dad has his own Angel, in the form of Miss D... Who's also embarked on an unplanned journey, and without whom, four lives would be much emptier. She's a teacher... In and out of the classroom.

I'm thankful for memories... As painful and tormenting as they sometimes can be.. For just as powerful is their hurt is their *simultaneous* joy.

And for my visions of the future. M & T. Veritable beacons of Hope and Life itself. Watching them grow learn, and develop... And sharing it with them. Two children who've sacrificed much and demonstrate how to keep moving forward. With Hearts full of unending Love, so pure and innocent, and minds already wise with Life's Lessons... I can look at them and see a time machine - able to look into the past, at what was... Just one year ago... And also all that is to come.

For all of this, I am thankful. For as hard as each day is, keeping the sea of thick blackness at bay, these are the beams of sunshine that make it worth going to see the next day.

With Soldiers Like These...

I know I am honored... and believe we ALL should be honored, to count Specialist Hoyt as one of our Army Strong Soldiers.

Don't know who he is?

Not surprised. I did a search for him on CNN.com. Nada.

So, maybe you'll need to mosey over to FoxNews to read about him.

Specialist Hoyt was injured in an IED blast on 13 November while he was on foot patrol. Five feet away from him, one of his comrades was killed by the blast.

What was his reaction?

Specialist Hoyt told his officers his job wasn't finished, and then... RE-ENLISTED!

Like I said... we should all be honored.

The Crud

Great. Just $*@# great. I have "The Crud". Spent all weekend trying to stave it off, to no avail. I was doing shots of DayQuil like it was Friday night at the club (... and the beer bottle glasses just weren't doing enough to help the last girl there* ).

Already thrown up Breakfast #1 AND replacement Breakfast #2. Yay.

Please, oh please, let this be gone by Turkey Day.

(* - Gratuitous sexist comment just to liven up an otherwise disgusting post. Hey, they can's ALL have pictures of cute and adorable children featured... )

A Special Day

Today is a very special day.

Five years ago, I was in India. Running up what had to be one of the most expensive phone bills I've ever had. 8,887! miles away, my daughter was coming into the world.

Delivered by caesarean, she was a beauty. Let's take a peek back, shall we?


(She's still inside - so comfy)


(She's just been hatched!)


(Being born is hard work!)


(Very happy Mommy...)


I finally got to meet my little girl about two months later.

This is my very first look upon her... E had a friend be ready with the camera when she walked in. I don't think I've ever been more excited or nervous to meet someone.


E called this picture "So, this is Daddy!"


Five years. She's such a joy in my life.

I remember her first birthday - I was able to sneak down on a quick pass from Army training.

First cake - can't you tell?


Life is good...

Life is VERY good


Grandpa


Marmee

Second birthday, we shared in Germany (girl gets around, doesn't she?)... The family had just arrived a month earlier...

Third birthday. Sigh. M's third birthday will always be linked... to... Cancer. E received her diagnosis on 18 November 2005. And M STILL had a party that day. To this day, I am in awe of E's strength.

M's birthday in 2006 was a tad bit truncated as the house was being packed and we were in full swing for our evacuation to the States.

And now, it's 2007. Five years old. A whole handful of fingers!

M has grown so much. She's extremely intelligent. E and I were often struck with wonder, pride, and just a tad bit of consternation, as we watched her devilish self learn how to hide sweets. And her first Easter, sorting the candy by type and color. Watching her learn and develop. She still speaks two languages, remembering her German well.

I could write pages, I'm sure... but I reflect on how much this little girl has endured, and the strength that oozes from her. She seems wise beyond her years. So grown up... And more to come!


Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

(Also, happy birthday to Josie and Charlie!)

PTSD

I can't comment too much on this topic. Not even sure what I'd comment.

But I've read this over and over...

Something to Think About

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently. - Warren Buffett

The Coup Was Successful!

The coup was successful! I'm happy to announce that there will be many changes coming shortly.


Taken during the recent visit to the Pentagon...

Cat Caught WebSurfing

Did you know that cats often like to surf the web? They even read blogs...

They just don't like to get caught doing it.
F

Can Never Have Too Many Children Pictures

We're going to make a Jack-O-Lantern


Reading is FUN! (And so are cool shoes)

Some Things in Life Can't Be Avoided

Some things in life can't be avoided, right? Recently, there was even this article about a cow landing on a car in Michigan. If you can't avoid falling cows, what can you avoid?



Well, apparently, for a deer crossing the highway, you can avoid motorcyclists.

Enjoy.

Pentagon Visit

Today, as part of my duties, I drove to the Pentagon. My unit's Command Sergeant Major, about six Sergeants Major, Two First Sergeants, and several Master Sergeants, and my NCO were going to take a tour. There may have also been a Partride in a pear tree, somewhere.

My day started at 0400, with being at work by 0500. Had the van set for full VIP service, and was ready to go. We finally departed around 0545 for the drive to DC.

Nothing like arriving in DC during rush-hour.

And there's also the joy of blissfully cruising the (largely empty) HOV lanes while the regular interstate sits in gridlock. (Hint: Use carpools or Metro... you'll get to work sooner.)

We get to the Pentagon, make our way through, and wait for our tour. A nice PFC from the Old Guard came and led us on our short tour. He was resplendent in his Dress Blues. I found it amusing that he stuck with his script insisting we call him by his first name. Right.

We started off at the Medal of Honor room. It included the recently added name of LT Michael Murphy, USN. There are both too many names... and too few.

We were led through several different themed corridors... until we reached a very poignant destination.

The America's Heroes Memorial. It's set in the Pentagon at the spot where American Airlines 77 slammed into the building. The very spot. And when you look out through the window there, you can see the USAF Memorial. One of the interesting facets of that memorial is that the center spire is aligned along the flight path of flight 77. You look out the window and can see the evocative path of the plane's approach. Chilling. Stunning. And, for me, for whom the USAF Memorial has always symbolized the soaring of flight and of the Thunderbirds, it was a complete reversal.

From there, we were led along an interior corridor and stopped after a good walk. The guide told us that we were now standing at the spot of the furthest point of impact of the plane into the building. We turned around, facing outside... and we were several hundred yards inside. The corridor was so long... It's beyond description the idea of the plane making it that far through such a stout building (remember, the workers on the other side of the Pentagon had no idea that anything had happened). The effectiveness of the attack was crystal clear. And yet, simultaneously, the futility.

I think I'll always remember that visit today.

Since When Do I Qualify?

Great, just great...

Another one of those funny emails gets forwarded around, and wait-a-second... I fall into the group it's talking about.

Lovely.

Take a look:

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up;
Like walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ...uphill BOTH ways yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a dream Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn’t have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the stupid library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter ..with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and screw it all up!
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn’t have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Play station video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids". Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I’m saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-tards!

And we didn’t have microwaves; if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire ...

imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.
You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

A New Blog

Another new blogger is taking the first tentative steps into a whole new world.

Take a look over at Miles on the Wind.

Tell her the SCEagle sent ya...

Need Some Blogger Help

Nothing exciting in this post. Just looking for some help with Blogger. Want to expand the size of this template a bit, so the main posts and the sidebar are a bit wider... basically a higher resolution compatibility. If you can help, I'd appreciate you dropping a line in the comments. Thanks.