Thankful

I woke up to a bout of Post Partum this morning. Yeah, great timing, don't you think? And it was definitely a case of me not knowing why I was so upset. Really, one of those cases of depression that you can't explain. Guess it's the hormones coupled with the lack of sunlight and trying to get better while taking care of an infant who has been quite fussy recently, and me learning the ins and outs of motherhood and baby care. I guess all I really can do is hang in there, and as long as I keep my mind off of the baby blues, I will be ok.

Because really, I have a lot to be thankful for. I can honestly say in the last couple of years I have been genuinely happy. I have long since learned that there are a few things that matter, and this little infant at my side is one of the key ones at the moment.

In the spirit of getting my mind back on what matters most, and enduring this short bout with depression where I know I'll be back up and loving life again, I decided to make a list of what I'm thankful for.

My Husband, Gus: When he asked me to marry him, I'll be honest and when I said yes, I was thinking, 'well, it's not official, I can back out of it later, right?' because I didn't know if there was anybody out there I could be happy with. I didn't want to disappoint him. I won't say that we have a perfect marriage, I don't think those exist, but we have a pretty darn good one, and I can say that I genuinely love him. We compliment each other so well, he tempers me, I can't help but know that I was waiting for him, and he was waiting for me. How we met was a total fluke, I don't know anybody who have a courtship like ours was, but we were meant to be together. He is my soulmate, if such a thing exists. I feel very blessed that I have him in my life. I'm glad he chased me down and eventually chose me to be his wife. And he puts up with a lot from me.

My daughter, Kaia: She's only nine days old today, and I have an entire lifetime to get to know her. She has given my life a whole new perspective, and i see things in a way I have never done before. I used to be quite selfish, without really meaning to be, but I guess it comes with being the youngest and growing up in this generation. My life has changed completely upon marriage, and becoming pregnant and having a baby has changed it even more so. My entire outlook on life is completely different now, and it has honestly been for the better. I don't think I would trade what I have right now for anything. Not to mention that she is pretty darn cute. Gus and Kami genetics proved to be a winning combination. I can't wait to meet the person she becomes.

My Family: I am blessed with a very close family. We genuinely enjoy each other's company and look for excuses to get together all of the time. It is also good to know that when push comes to shove, when you reach hard times, they have your back. We have helped one another out so much, and I know if I need help with anything, they are a phone call away. It's funny how very different each of us are from one another but how each of us completes the family unit, and how obvious it is when a member is not there for family gatherings. There is definitely a hole there.

Then of course, there is my other family. I married into an amazing group of people (and still learning who they all are) and have been welcomed and accepted with open arms.

Friends: There is an old saying that goes "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other Gold." Sure, it's a bit cheesy, but the idea behind it is very much true. There are only a handful of friends I have managed to hang onto from my childhood, and those few friends I have I feel very blessed to know. I have made some fantastic friends in the last few years as well.

Facebook: Yes, it is a time waster, and a sucker of souls, but me, the person who falls out of contact with everyone I meet, has found the perfect tool for staying in contact with people that matter to me, plus a way to share my life with those who matter, and follow along on the adventures of my family and friends. Now, I'll be honest and admit I don't know why I need 353 friends, and Facebook Drama can be quite annoying, but social networking is an amazing thing.

Craigslist: It is odd, I love the concept of Craigslist, but without it, I wouldn't have met my husband. Yes, it is an odd story. Plus, I love the ability to barter for things and the treasures you can find on there, often for a great deal.

My Home: Part of home making is making a house into a home. I love the peace and tranquility of where we live, sure it's out in the boondocks, or so I keep saying, but the atmosphere is something you won't find in the suburbs of a city. We may not be here forever, but I would be content to grow old and die here.

Tricare: I told Gus he cannot leave the military until we are done having kids. I think we will be having one more (unless an accident comes upon us) but Tricare is great for child birth. They covered everything with very minimal out of pocket expenses.

My Health: Aside from that pesky depression issue, I am blessed with great health. I'm already bounding back from my pregnancy (though far from 100%) and I was grateful that I was strong enough to endure labor without caving on drugs. In time, I know I'll be in great shape again, and next year I plan on taking advantage of it.

Painkillers: I am not 100% yet. I am very thankful for painkillers.

Horses: I love horses, I have been a horse nut since I was about seven years old. And I have two of them. I am very blessed I am in a position to own a horse and can afford too.

The Air Force: The military can be frustrating at times. But in this economy, my husband has a stable job and his unit has stepped up and helped us several times. I am grateful for the support network that they offer, and along with the rest of the armed services (noteably the Army, of course) for keeping our country safe.

My Unit: I have an awesome army unit. They are very supportive of me, especially considering my present circumstances, and I know they will do what they can to work around it. Because I am now a new mom, I am looking more and more on getting out, but if I do decide to stay in, this would likely be the unit I would stay with until i retire. I've got two years on my present contract left, but I'm in good hands.

Cell Phones: Ok, in truth they are a pain in the butt, because we did manage to go without cell phones for centuries. Now we have smart phones, which are enormous wastes of time, and I don't think we could live without them, but in truth, it is nice to always be able to contact somebody, especially if you need to talk to somebody right then. Or even texting, something I didn't do until about two years ago. Kind of crazy, actually.

Emoticons: I used to be horribly annoyed with them, but I have grown quite partial to this guy -> :P

My Car: I have a great car. It's practical, it's reliable, it gets good gas mileage, and it gets me from point A to point B. And it's paid off! I am glad I have the means to get around. And my lead foot has decreased in weight quite a bit over the last few years.

Chickens: They eat just about anything, they are amusing to look at, and they lay eggs! When you find yourself with a rooster, they also make for a great chicken noodle soup! Plus they are cute, which I find myself kind of amused to discover that chickens are quite cute.

Cats and Dogs: endless amusement, there is something very soothing about a purring cat on your lap, and I have two friendly barn cats that have instant purr mode as soon as I start petting them. I also have a crazy dog that likes to herd them, and they aren't amused. Watching them interact is quite entertaining.

The Gospel: I don't like to get to religious on my blog, and I am not the most religious person out there, but I am grateful for having the church in my life. I need to make a better effort to go, however. Lately I've been more of a heathen. With the new little one, I do want to raise her in the church with a set of moral standards and it is something I want to share with her.

Freedom: I am an independent person, I am grateful be to be an American and with all the rights and privileges that come with it.

Guns: Yes, I am a gun nut. I love guns, for a variety of reasons. They are empowering, and they certainly level the playing field. I am thankful for the security they provide. and of course, most people who follow my blog know me for my bad ass pose with one.

Sleep: I think I am about to crash now. Must be the new mom in me. But first, I need to feed the munchkin.

There are many more things I am thankful for, this is just a rundown of some of them. Indeed, there is quite a lot to be thankful for. Just some things to remember when the baby blues start getting me down.

That Time Of Year

Tis the Season! You know, when you go out into the roads trying to find those last minute gift ideas or whatever else you need to buy and then you wonder why you left the house in the first place?

There's been snow on the ground since November 22nd, which was when we had our freak blizzard. It melted in town but out in the boondocks where we live, it's hung around a little while longer. Giving a young married couple with no kids a lot of thoughts on what to do besides the obvious. I love winter, it's a great time of year, but you are limited on what you can do especially if you are looking for ways to conserve money.

So I am looking for things to do with my man (besides the unspoken obvious) that doesn't require us to continue to dive into the bank account. He's got the next week off from work, you see. So, it's list making time!


The Unspoken Obvious (come on, we're married)

Working Out (middle of week two for P90X!)


Horse Back Riding (we're feeding them anyway, might as well put them to use)

Surf Internets (certain sites are not conducive to maintaining healthy bank accounts, Craigslist comes to mind)

Watch movies (loves Netflix!)

Play Video Games (Wii, Playstion 3, Xbox 360, and older consoles, we have plenty to use)

Play Browser games (biggest time waster in the history of time wasters!)

Snowboarding (alas, money issues arise, expensive hobby, but we got the equipment as long as we don't mind making the trek to where the hills are)

Writing (loner activity, doesn't excite hubby much)

Blog about Random Crap (sure my readers would appreciate this, especially if they like me blogging about random crap)

Photography (what is it with men and taking pictures anyway?)

Bake cookies!

Sledding (damn, we need a sled. Hmm, see snowboarding)

Combine sleds with Horses! Or Snowboards with Horses!
Build a Snowman (wait for the powder snow to get the right consistency)

Fireworks! (we live out in the boondocks, this will likely be a new years thing since we're hosting this year and I've got a tote full of them)

Do Art (I got a whole room downstairs dedicated to a studio, as soon as I get it organized. . . hmm)

Organize Art Room (so I can do above)

Clean house (*sighs* yes, when you've got nothing else going on, this is probably a good one to fall back on. A clean house is a great feeling)

Work on long neglected Webcomic (best done when honey is not home, because he would undoubtedly grow bored)


Read (again, loner activity)

Visit a Bookstore (I used to LOVE doing this, should do more often)

Indoor Rock Climbing (got all the gear, if it wasn't below freezing out it would be FREE!)

Hot Cocoa, a Fire, and cuddling (can lead to unspoken obviousness)


So, that is SOME items I came up with. I'm sure I can figure out some more. So, any suggestions? Think childless married couple who often acts like big kids themselves, because that's us to a tee.

EDIT - MORE Items to consider!

Scrounge through crap and list on Craigslist for a little extra mullah

Rearrange furniture (though probably to soon to do this)

Clean out the garage/shop so hubby can have his space

Come up with to do list for little projects that need to be done around the house (honey's love honey do lists I know! Hah!)

Look for a job in this crappy economy so we don't have to worry so much about finding free things to do

Lighten the Mood

Email making the rounds right now, potential to go viral if it hasn't already, I don't forward emails but thought I would blog it if you haven't seen it yet. This is brilliant, unfortunately the outcome is to be expected.

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

Scott Smith

Classic. . .

Ho-Hum Stuffs

So, after being snowed in for the last week or so, I'm finally getting out of the house to go do something more constructive. Like spend time with Family and Friends.

And there is a very strong possibility at this moment that I might be going back to Knox, but it's not confirmed. This is the last time I will speak about it. If I suddenly post a blog saying "I'm in Kentucky," you'll know I'm in Knox, and I won't blog about what I do there until I get back.

But in the meantime, I'm off to enjoy some family bonding time. Blogging will probably slow, since I haven't been online for two days. It's been kind of a nice break actually (unless you count playing rockband II as being online)

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Wish

Read this story of a little girl who only wants Christmas Cards for Christmas, as she is suffering from glioblastoma multiforme, which is a rare brain tumor, and she has been given only a few more weeks to live. I'm sure she will appreciate them even if she gets them after the holiday.

Right now she has lost most of her motor skills. She is confined to bed and cannot really do anything or play with the gifts she is getting from
people, but she LOVES getting cards - she has gotten so many from people she does not know and jus t loves to have grandma read about the people who send them and see their pictures and is so proud of all her cards. Her room is just filled with cards.

When asked what she wants for Christmas she said she wants to see how many Christmas cards she can get. Many people have passed this wish along to their churches, prayer groups, friends and family. There are school groupswhere children are making her cards. People are including pictures so she can see who it is that is sending her the card.

More info can be found Here. I've got a card in the mail.

UPDATE : Link fixed. Or should be at least.

Happy Halloween

I dressed up for Halloween this year. . . sort of.

You see, I'm on the road right now, driving home *YAY!!!* and I wanted to have something comfortable and easy to wear, and not having to do anything with a mask.

I actually had this idea a long time ago, four years ago in fact, but I couldn't make it work then because I couldn't get the right kind of stickers. Well, when I was in NYC this year, I managed to pick up some buttons to make it work. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get the shirt but I picked that up a couple of days ago.

Now the question i have for you is, can you figure out what I am?



I walked around wearing this all day (er, not the jacket) and nobody seemed to notice anything strange unless i pointed it out to them. And then they laughed. One person told me I should be careful, I might get attacked.

I am, afterall, currently in Illinois.

But it goes with the season, don't you think?


Left side


Right side

(I can't help it, I love that "Barack to the Future" Button)

Merry Belated Christmas

My Christmas was pretty low key, actually I opened my presents on Christmas Eve (sock on Christmas). Because of my ever expanding family, and the fact that my family is encouraging me to find somebody to settle down with to buy me Christmas Presents, I don't get a whole lot other then socks and clothes and a few random items. Which is Ok, I have been told several times in the past that I am incredible difficult to shop for.

One tradition we have in our family is the White Elephant Game, it helps cut costs on christmas, and this year we were told to bring one good gift and one gag gift so that by the end of the night we would have two gifts, one good and one bad. I sort of ended up with the bad gift I brought which is ok with me because it was pretty funny anyway.

Oh, and I got the lamp, with a new lamp shade. :) It will be going to Knox with me next summer.

I've got a slew of things to do tomorrow, since I got the day off. Including a trip to the mountain to get a little night snowboarding in.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Decorating the Tree

I've gotten a little into the Christmas mood this year, I was noticing how unchristmasy it was feeling without the tree up so I decided that it was time to go decorating it.

We have a fake tree that we used last year, and I found a few cheap ornaments to put on it as well as some given by the parents so that our tree isn't completely barren, but I found that I kind of like collecting ornaments. So I went out and bought some today.

Our tree is far from anything fancy, in fact probably no presents will go under it (those will be under the parent's tree where we will most likely be spending Christmas morning with our sock and all) but because of the need to feel like it's that time, well, a tree is a given.

Unfortunately, ornaments get to be expensive, so I think I'm just going to spend some here and there each year until I get a nice little collection going. And yes, the dollar store is a great place to get some inexpensive ornaments (that can also go on the backside to help even out the weight and everything. I even got a couple little rocking horses for the tree that came from my trip in Innsbrook Austria.

No hallmark collector ornaments or anything like that for the time being.

Last year was the first time I decorated my own tree. This year is the first year I'm actively seeking to improve on it.

Collecting fancy little ornaments. Hmm, I see a tradition in the making!



I've got a snowboarding ornament, and now a bunch of fishing themed ones, as well as some fun reindeer playing Twister. I need to go get another pickle from the mall. I also think I want to get a military themed ornament, and maybe some art related ornaments (not crafty, I mean art related).

The angel at the top has special significance, she was made by my grandmother.

Thankful

So, today is Thanksgiving, and tomorrow is Black Friday.

I was thinking about my retail job and my army job and how different they are from each other. I was working last night and I had this customer who just wouldn't leave me alone. And I just had to smile and say 'it's alright, that's what I'm here for.'

When you work retail, you have to kiss the customer's behind.

I love being in the army, especially in my line of work, becuase I mainly deal with people of a lower rank then me and if I feel particularly annoyed by them or want to tell them off for whatever reason, I can just let my feelings fly. I don't have to act nice if I don't want to. I can be bluntly and plainly honest. It is a liberating feeling.

Anyway, onto the thankful thanksgiving post.

I'm thankful for a lot of things. I think I'm more thankful right now then I have ever really been in a long time. I can tell you that I have matured tremendously this year and have grown an appreciation for what really matters in life. I'm thankful I am a practical person, even though I still have my little expendatures on the side like my Guitar Hero III for the Wii that I just purchased on a whim. I'm thankful that I have the family that I do, and how I fit into my family, and the knowledge that no matter what I do, they will always be there to support me if I need it, even if they don't agree with my choices. I'm thankful I've survived for 27 years on this planet without any major catastrophies and without killing anyone. I'm thankful for Turkey, Cranberry Sauce and homemade Mashed potatoes. I'm thankful for the ability to laugh at myself and accept myself for who I am. I'm thankful for the simple things in life, a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head. I'm thankful that I do have a car, as I know how much it sucks not having one. I'm thankful to live in a place where it snows and there are mountains nearby. And an emergency room that is accessible in case I need one. I'm thankful for Chocolate covered raisins and banana chips. I'm thankful to be an American and to have experienced everything I have experienced in life thus far.

And I'm thankful for the option to sleep in until Noon. I know, I should have hung onto that morning person routine as I'm a more functional person that feels like I get much more done if I wake up before seven but dang, I'm a night owl by nature.

Besides, today was my birthday and I indulged myself by sleeping in and playing guitar hero III.

Which I suck (I haven't been practicing on my guitar like I should be) but it's still a lot of fun and makes for good old fashioned family entertainment!

Christmas, 2006

I consider myself a practical person. And apparently, I'm very difficult to shop for on account that, well, I'm a practical person that doesn't need a lot of stuff, and if I do, I tend to buy it before somebody else can. I've been told by my family members that I'm one of the hardest people in my family to buy for.

Christmas was considerably toned down and not very commercial from Christmas's past. To help with the family, I let them know what I wanted, and more specifically, what I could REALLY use that I couldn't necessarily provide for myself, or that I can never have to much of. I asked for socks (got six pairs :) and a recipe book with some of my mother's easier to make recipes in them. I prefer not to get things that are kitschy that clutter the house, like figurines, decorations, or picture frames (which I never use) unless there is a picture in the picture frame and I can hang it on the wall. Gift certificates are always nice and save people a lot of trouble.

So what was my haul this year? It was pretty humble really. Six pairs of socks, a pair of pajamas (I'm currently wearing), a cookbook, a frame with my last name done up fancy, a gas card (SWEET!), Pajama Bottoms (seperate from the Pajamas), a CD, a breadmaker (brother/roommate's idea, and therefore combined gift), a couch quilt. . . or something?, and a few other gifts.

My big gift for me is going to be a new laptop that I'll be purchasing this week. Its kind of going to be a necessity with school, my current computer doesn't have the capability of running this software I'll need. I've also decided on a rule for it. I will only go online for official school business. Playing, surfing the internet, writing stories, whatever, will be reserved for my beat up but otherwise dependable but not to the degree I need it to be current laptop.

I'm also going snowboarding with my season pass this Thursday. YES. I'm going. And nothing short of a blizzard or me just waking up with no motivation to move will stop me.

Hope everyone had a merry christmas, and here's looking to 2007!

Halloween Aftermath

So Halloween has come and gone.

I got dressed up briefly for answering the door, but it became to much of a hassle to finaggle with the costume so I put it to the side and answered the door with a Ferret on my shoulder. I was a demon cow pirate.

I guess I'll put up some pictures in a little bit.

Meanwhile, we watched Night of the Living Dead (classic), Return of the Living Dead, (cheesy) and Evil Dead 2 (cult fave!). Mostly we had them on in the background.

All in all, exactly 27 trick or treaters throughout the night. I still have some candy left, which I really don't need.

Also, put up a Halloween Centric Comic. Lot's of laughs. Or not?

In The Halloween Spirit

I mutilated a Pumpkin this week. Its been a while since I carved a pumpkin.

I had to plan out the pumpkin of course.

My sister's pumpkin is the 'cute' one.

Once I got the idea of what I wanted to do, I grabbed the knife and dove right in.

If you put anything that can be used as a weapon in my hand, I guess I get this happy look in my face.


This is the final product. Um, nothing too fancy. I've never been an artist at carving pumpkins.


The two pumpkins in the front were done by my niece and nephew. They are 3 and 4, and we thought maybe they were a bit young to be handling knives, so we gave paint brushes instead. There were faces on those pumpkins for a minute. . .

Bloomsday Aftermath

Oh, The Pain!!!

I know better then to run a 12K roadrace cold turkey, but due to total lack of motivation lately, I haven't been working up to running Bloomsday like I probably should have. Which has caused me to be in a wee bit of pain the next day, which makes walking down stair cases torture.

But still, I found this running of Bloomsday (Spokane's own personal holiday) to be a kick in the pants. For lack of a better word.

I ran it with my brother, sister and their spouses (who are incidentally also related to each other, but I promise its legal). Bloomsday has a new way of doing things, everyone starts at the same start point and each individual has their own computerized chip chaffing their ankle to time when we go across the start line all the way to the finish.

I thought i did fairly well, considering I had ran this thing cold turkey. Its a 12K road race, and I did it in roughly 1 hour and 35 minutes. I could stand to get out and run a bit more, and I likely would have gotten a better time if I didn't take my iPod with me. I had to stop to adjust it every time it fell out of my ear or just to set it up.

Meanwhile, I ended up running most of it to Linkin Park, I needed something pretty high energy to keep me going and get my mind off of the fact that my body didn't like running that much, uphill and what not. All in all, I think I ran about 95% of it. Not bad in my opinion. Not bad at all.

The t-Shirts are this orange color, normally something I likely wouldn't wear, but I thought they were cool.

Now however, I'm suffering from the aftermath of running that much cold turkey. Stairs are torture to walk down and my thighs scream at me every time I want to do something simple, like get out of bed.

Still, all in all, I have made this a good motivation to take this opportunity to get my soar muscles into action and run regularly. . . starting tomorrow.

That Time Of Year

Santa visited us here in Kosovo.

I asked for a Pistol for Christmas.

See previous post as to why.

I Wish You a Merry Christmas

One more week of class and I'm done with school.

A part of me is wondering what I was thinking when I signed up to take classes this close to going home, but for the most part, it's been nice to refresh up on my Deutsches Sprechen, and I forgot how much I love science. I'm a geek of the worst sense.

Still don't know my grade for the Harry Potter class.

My family apparently got my christmas message. I didn't want to say anything about it, it was sort of a surprise that I wanted to do. Back in early November, they gave us the option of recording a message to send back to a news station in the states where you can wish your family and friends a merry christmas. They will then air it on TV and let your family know when it will show up.

Well, my initial message was something along the lines of me saying "This is SGT Erickson in Camp Bondsteel Kosovo, I just want to wish my family and friends back home a Merry Christmas, I'll see you soon!"

For some reason, I got the brilliant idea that I should wish my family a merry christmas all by name.

Well, considering I've got 5 brothers and sisters, plus my parents, after rambling through their names, and wishing their kids a merry christmas as well (and conveniantly forgetting the spouses) I was wondering if this was such a good idea.

It took me two times to record it, most people just said it and went on.

So, Mom, how was it? Was it as bad as I think it is?

The Star Spangled Banner - Handle with Care

Today is Veteran's day, for those of you who did not know. As such, on my first deployment, I have attained true Veteran Status to the point that I can sign up at my local cahpter of the VFW.

Well, on any patriotic event here in Kosovo, we have a formation. Today was no different. I'm not going to comment much on the formation itself, besides the fact that it was foggy and cold, and fortunately very brief, but I would like to make a point to bring up today's rendition of the National Anthem.

I don't know where to begin.

See, to me, the Star Spangled Banner has in times past envoked emotions within me that have led me to shed tears. It is a powerful song of incredible influence over a crowd. I remember standing up at Basketball games in High School and face the flag with everyone else in the crowd as my throat would start to hurt and I tried to keep myself from crying. It has often had that sort of impact on me. I have always loved this song.

The one fault of the song is that not just anybody can successfully sing it. I know I can't, not at the top of my lungs at least. In fact, one of the greatest criticisms of this song is the fact that it attains octaves that most normal human beings can't reach.

It is a song that can bring you to tears, or cause you to cringe in pain.

Today, I cringed in pain. I stood there in formation, at the position of Present Arms, trying not to do anything to give away my displeasure at how the song was performed. It was sung by three or four people trying to harmonize together (I don't know the exact numbers because I could not see the stage due to the brilliance of putting the tall people to the front of the formation and making all of us pipsqueaks stand toward the rear) who I would wager by themselves would have performed the song well. But singing it together, well, at one point I thought they were screaming into the microphone, it sounded awful. I don't think they even practiced before hand, because if somebody would have heard them singing together, they would have canceled that right then and there and found a different arrangement.

This performance rivaled that of Rosanne.

I love my country. I pray that I never have to cringe at the performance of its national anthem again.

This is Halloween!

I love Halloween. Its the one time of year you can totally dress as something you're not and get away with it. Maybe because I'm a fantasy nut, but whatever the case, I'm just one of those people that enjoys living in a fantasy world.

Though today, I kind of did the soldier routine. I thought about putting on a star and being a general for Halloween, but some people might not take to kind to me impersonating an officer. Even if it's for halloween.

So what did we do? Well, we had the option to dress up as long as it didn't interfere with our work duties and the costume could be worn over our uniform. Yeah, I know, takes all of the fun out of it, and there isn't a lot of costume options here in country unless you utilyze the internet.

Gosh, what did soldiers do in the good ol' days to get by each day without the internet anyway?

So, they still had a costume contest and a haunted house, which was basically sponsored by Task Force Med Falcon. Kind of last minute I was asked if I wanted to help with the Haunted House (which was made out of one of the Bunkers, so it was really a Haunted Bunker), and I said sure, why not? It turned out to be fun, I was positioned behind a tarp with holes cut through it and as people passed I grabbed them. Kind of one of those unexpected things, as it was kind of dark in the Bunker with scary music playing in the background and people popping out of coffins and chewing on their own arms (we even had a Mummy!)

Yeah, I guess there are good things about being deployed in a Fairly calm area such as Kosovo. You can't do 25 K roadmarches in Iraq, that's for sure, and I'm not sure what kind of places they have around those parts for Haunted Bunkers.

And I think I'm over my anger issues. I just need to take a chill pill now and again and stop making mountains out of molehills. I think we came to a mutual understanding and now we are on good terms. Hopefully this can remain this way for the rest of this deployment.

Damn, I hate being mad at people.

(my left foot would have won the grossest costume award, it looks nasty!)

Avast, Ye Scurvy Land Lubbers,

Today be 'International Talk Like A Pirate' day, and I be celebrating in full force, and we be making it International indeed.

Aargh. . .

Though we pirates in the confined to the land mass of the balkans celebrate our holidays a wee bit early. The Treasure Hunt was most successful, and I be adding to my collection of Jolly Rogers and Fine Tunics of Cotton.

But alas, we ran awry when confronted by scurvy dogs that brought out the guns and aimed balls of water at we, attempting to send us to Davy Jones' Locker. We managed to hold out and fight another battle.

All posts made on this fine day will be in Pirate Speak.

Aargh!

The Fourth in Kosovo

So, another holiday in Kosovo has come and gone. And I am now back at work.

It was nice to get a two day weekend for once (we work on Saturdays) but not entirely.

Monday started with a Formation to Celebrate the independence of our great nation, which also had dignitaries from Kosovo and some of our other multi-national allies who attended. Fortunately, the last couple of days have been overcast, unlike the hot Tattooine type cloudless skies that have been beating down on us for the last month or so.

Still, the formation was the last place many people wanted to be. Most people expected to have the day off, so that just means a chance to sleep in. You don't know how much this little luxury means to a lot of people.

Anyway, in the middle of the Star Spangled Banner, a formation of Apaches flew over our head, Eight in all, five in the lead and three in the rear and did a cool little formation thing. Wish I had my camera, but alas, I was in formation.

The rest of the day, I was a bum. Meaning I didn't do a whole lot of anything. I wanted to play with fire works but we are in a combat zone known to many as Kosovo. No fireworks for us. I came up with a great idea of firing tracers up into the sky all at once, but that would have probably not been a good idea. *note sarcasm*

One of my friends suggested this to get my firework fix. I did a lot of clicks to get a grand finale going a couple of times, so I'll take what I can get. You know, you take for granted things like Fireworks on the Fourth Of July until you are in a place where you can't see them. And to think in the past, I got into my Bum phase and just wrote off the whole firework experience so I could do something less important.

They had a lot of activities going on all weekend, I wanted to get in on a few of them, but I had a PT test on Sunday where I strained my leg running that 2 miles, and now I'm having difficulty moving. But the sacrifice was worth it, I passed the PT test and now have to heal my leg so I can shave two minutes or so off my run. I already improved my situps by 18.

And then it rained all Sunday and most of the activities got canceled. And somebody threw a grenade in Pristina and now all unneccessary missions have been canceled until further notice.

Yesterday was actually a really pretty day, overcast which helped things cool down and it looked like it wanted to rain, but refrained. The Multi-Nationals came and competed against us, we had a Tug-o-war competition and the Greeks kicked our butts. It was rather funny watching them wave their flag around and chant "Hellas! Hellas!" over and over again as they creamed all of the competetion. And they kicked butt in Soccer too.

Yes, nothing like celebrating Independence day like getting your butt kicked by people in other nations. Hah.

A few British soldiers even showed up. We asked them if they were celebrating the Fourth of July with us. The irony was a little, well, Ironic. We chatted with them for a little while, they were pretty cool and all, and we even offered to buy them some drinks (non alcoholic of course, seeing that Bondsteel is a no drinking zone). All but one declined.

Then of course, I called home and talked with my family for a while. That felt good. After a while, since phone calls are limited, I went to my room and chatted via Yahoo IM. A few technical difficulties later, I was forced to go to bed finally, as I had to get up early for work. Today.

I realized how much I really miss the states. It will be good to be home, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying myself here as best as I can.

Tis the Season

A few months back, my brother Jerardo was looking for a video game for Xbox that he just couldn't seem to find. However, I could order it through my work so I did.

For some reason, it proved to be a pain to get a hold of because it wouldn't come in for quite some time.

Anyway, I left for training, am back in town on Christmas Leave, and low and behold, the game came in a few days ago.

So I bought it with all these intentions of wrapping it up and surprising him with this hard to find game.

*grumble grumble* He bought it four days ago.

Now I know what my parents mean when they lament about how hard he is to shop for.

The thing is, I'm the same way.

Merry Christmas Everyone.