Christmas Shout Outs!

Yes, I know I need to update more often.......

Another 5:30 morning

I don't know why, but Nathan's woken up at 5:30 three times this week. He thinks it's great, because he then has time to play on the computer before school. I had been trying to wake up that early myself - but I certainly don't do it naturally like he does. If he continues to make a habit out of this, I'm going to start taking him to before school care so I can *gulp* go to the gym before work.

Nathan's had a cough for over 2 weeks now. No fever. At first is was just a dry cough that responded to OTC meds. But last Friday it turned 'wet' and he sounded congested, so we went to the doctor. She said it was allergies since he wasn't running a fever, and gave us sudafed to take for 3 days, then claritin for the next month or so. I'm thinking it's the wrong diagonis - the sudefed helps, claritin doesn't do diddly. I usually don't pay attention to medical hysteria, but with the H1N1, and a friend's 12 year old son has whooping cough that has morphed into something much worse, I'm totally willing to camp out at the doctor's office if that's what it takes to knock this out.

The Cub Scouts marched in the Liberty County Veteran's day parade last Saturday. A reporter from the local paper wanted to interview one of the older boys about what it means to honors veterans. Nathan was asked, but once we explained that veterans were soldiers like his daddy, he started crying and moved to behind some of the parked cars so other people wouldn't see him cry. Not massive wailing or sobs, just a few tears and lots of snot. It took about 10 minutes for him to pull himself together. We had another episode on Sunday night. He was fine when he went upstairs to take a shower, but when he came down, he was in the withdrawn, "I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it" mood. Haven't had any problems since.

We've skyped almost every day with Eric. He's been getting up at 3:30 am his time, which makes it 7:30 p.m. our time. Nathan becomes a complete goofball when he's using the video cam, trying to turn on every video effect and moving the camera around. Which only freezes the video. Goober.

Eric looks good. He goes to bed around 8 his time. The worst hours for soldiers is after work when they have nothing to do and they're bored. The bitchy, petty stuff comes out then. He says there's only so much card games he can take, and he doesn't want to get caught up in stupid drama, so he'd rather go to bed early. At least with his early wake up time, he can talk to us, and then get some good solo rehearsal time in.

Now he just needs to come up with some Christmas rock and rock songs.

Videos

Okay, top video is LTC Marcos speaking which was played at the Battalion FRG meeting on Tuesday - which I didn't get to go to since that's Cub Scouts Night.

The bottom video is raw footage of the night Eric left, the plane ride, and a little bit of training when they got in Kuwait.

He's not in either of them, but it helps to see what he's doing.

ToA

This photo is off the Team Marne website. 3rd ID took over control of Multinational Forces North today.

Technologically challenged

So, I've just now realized that I have lost the admin rights to my own blog here. Apparently when I tried to add my yahoo email address to it, so I could log on from either address, I made a mistake. I can't change the layout or anything. And yet I can still post. Strange. I may have to cancel this one and start another.

I did manage to take these 2 photos of Nathan yesterday with my camera phone. For moving pics, they ain't bad. Halloween in the neighborhood was about a 180 from last years. I think it's because the primary ghoul decorators have moved elsewhere. Last year was almost like a block party. This year? Snoozefest.

Now, last year Nathan had a hissy fit when I made him put his costume on and dragged him around the block for trick or treating. For him, the best part was when we got home, I popped open the hatch on the SUV, and we sat in the back and passed out candy. And up until 15 minutes before trick or treating officially began on post, he was steadfast in not wanting to go trick or treating. Yet, surprise, surprise. He sees his friend next door all decked out, and he starts to change his mind. He goes out in the skeleton hoodie to hang with Max. Then he thinks Max and his family are gonna drive somewhere for trick or treating and that he couldn't go. The meltdown of '09 is on.

Turns out they didn't drive anywhere, they walked the block. I got him to simmer down and we both went, too. But there just wasn't hardly anyone giving out candy. so we drove over to Trunk Or Treat by the PX. He didn't really get much there, either. By the time we got back home, there was still 45 minutes of Halloween time left on post, but I guess the ghouls and ghosties had all gone elsewhere, so we didn't have very many takers. Fine by me - got to watch the OU/Kansas game. But now I have way more candy than either of us need. May have to take all the smarties to work and hope the pregnant soldiers eat them all.

Article about the DSTB

This article is about the 3rd ID Division Special Troops Battalion. The Band is one of four companies that make up the DSTB. The LTC Marcos interviewed for this piece is the Commander of the DSTB - so she would be Eric's boss's boss.

www.stewart.army.mil

3ID HQ battalion assumes responsibility of Iraq mission
- Submitted by Sgt. Johnathon Jobson, 1st Brigade Public Affairs -


COB SPIECHER, Iraq - Soldiers from the 3rd Division Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division received the reigns from 25th Infantry Division's DSTB Oct. 29, in a ceremony held at COB Speicher. The ceremony marked the fourth time that the DSTB, 3rd ID, took charge of troops and missions in Iraq.

With the uncasing of the battalion colors, Lt. Col. Nora Marcos, the commander of DSTB, 3rd ID, and Command Sgt. Maj. Byron Loyd, the battalion command sergeant major, officially accepted the DSTB's mission from Lt. Col. Eric Angeli and Command Sgt. Maj. Valerie Greene, DSTB, 25th ID's command team.

"Special Troops Battalion is responsible for force protection and base defense, but we also have a dining facility, quick reactionary force and the entry control point (that we are also responsible for)," said Lt. Col. Marcos. "We have the Soldiers that provide information and situational awareness to the Division Commander."

In addition to the on base responsibilities, the DSTB also has commitments off base. Relationships built with the local and provincial Iraqi leaders and citizens must also be continued, Lt. Col. Marcos iterated. "Right now they are building two schools in our area. They are hoping to finish the contract for a clinic in a community that has never had one in their existence," Lt. Col. Marcos explained. "We are working with the provincial leaders to put those plans together and execute those contracts. The partnership between this fine unit and the provincial leaders is a legacy we intend to continue."

As the Soldiers of DSTB, 3rd ID, have started their year-long deployment, their path has not been a clearly defined one.

Lieutenant Colonel Marcos however, has her own guidance for the troops. "Where do we go from here? We start the mission and we own it," Lt. Col. Marcos said. "We command and control Multi-National Division-North."

For DSTB, the mission has begun. It's now up to the DSTB Soldiers to write the next chapter in the battalion's history books. It's time for them to once again make their country proud.

Gotta make this a quick one before work.

I've had a few moments with Nathan. Saturday he asked me what would happen if Eric didn't come back from Iraq. I guess Eric and I were kinda naive about how much he was absorbing from news and other people. After I assured him that Eric was trained, had plenty of equipment, and was a support soldier, not a combat soldier - he went on to play with his legos.

Yesterday morning, however, he was sad. Wouldn't eat breakfast and wouldn't tell me what's wrong. Kept wiping his eyes, but wouldn't cop to crying. Now, I guess he was fine by the time he got to school and got distracted by classroom stuff. He was his usual goofball self by the time I picked him up.

Haven't really skyped with Eric much. By the time we get home and log on, it's already 1:00 a.m. his time and we're waking him up. Oh well. We'll make visual on the weekend.

The majority of my soldiers deployed earlier this week. We've still got a few stragglers, but for the most part, they're gone. I got to move into the XO's office. Yay for no cubicle life! But I had a call from a wife whose husband hadn't been gone 24 hours yet - he had been hitting the atm in Maine and caused a negative account balance. Seriously, how do you get in trouble with your spouse less than 24 hours after leaving????

Nathan's a genius

Must come from my side of the family. ;)

I had a parent-teacher conference yesterday. Ms. Lumpkin says he's a pleasure to have.

He came home one day and he told us that he had scored a 700 on a reading test. But when he tells us stuff like that, he doesn't include context so I had no idea really what he was talking about. It turns out that means he's reading at a 3rd or 4th grade reading level. So she's been unofficially sending him next door to a 3rd grade class to read with them for an hour every day. He seems to be enjoying it, and the 3rd grade teacher says he's been fitting in just fine. No signs of frustration.

She can tell when he gets frustrated. He comes real close to crying. She mentioned a standardize math test, which had stuff on it that they hadn't covered yet. He was not wanting to turn that paper in until he had completed everything. And actually it took some coaxing from the teacher's aide to get him to turn it in. And yet he's way beyond the other kids on stuff like 3-digit numbers.

But in any case, she wanted to know if I'd give permission to have him tested for the gifted and talented program. I said sure. If he's tested and placed in the program, he's spend half the day with his regular class and half with the gifted class.

She said he's talked a little bit about Eric being gone, but hasn't acted out or had any behavioral issues.

All in all, a very positive report. He's got his daddy's looks and his momma's brains!

Hola and como esta, people!

Been much better since Sunday. Figured that was a necessary cathartic moment. Probably won't be the last, but keeping busy seems to be the key.

Nathan got braces tightened on Monday. Now his bands are glow-in-the-dark green. (Hint: if you're gonna give the kid something and it comes in a regular or glow-in-the-dark version? Go with the glow. 'Sall I'm saying).

Scouts last night. Too a certain extent, being the den leader has become easier, and yet on Mondays and Tuesdays, I'm still like "oh crap! what are we going to do?!?@#". Last night another mom organized a Great Britian theme crafts the Scout Expo on Saturday - and then I found out the Pack isn't sponsoring a booth after all. *sigh* Hello? Someone wanna clue me in to this stuff?

(Just to add to your trivia repertoire - scouting was started in February, 1909 in Great Britain. It came to the States ten years later.)

Works going okay. We've got a battalion Family Readiness Group (FRG) steering committee meeting tomorrow, so I've been busy getting ready for that. We have one committee member who is a drama queen. She's getting forceably booted out, but since she's the company commander's wife - I'm expecting fireworks tomorrow when she comes to the meeting. Our brigade just went online on Facebook, and one of the wives in our battalion is already posting stuff to stir the pot. FB is convenient in a lot of ways, but I'm not sure it's really an asset to the military.

Haven't talked to Eric all day today. I skyped with him at lunch yesterday, but with scouts, it was way too late to call him when we got home. But I talked to his mom tonight and she had just talked to him, so I guess all is well. We're packing up a box to send out to him. Nathan has cut out a foot from a piece of paper and put an OU on it to put in the box.

Pity Party

I won't lie - today was a grande pity party for me. Dunno what set it off - can't really pinpoint one thing. Just nothing was going to make me happy. But what can ya do? You put one foot in front of the other, make your to-do list and keep on going. Toilets ain't gonna scrub themselves - although I am wondering if Nathan is old enough to pressed into manual labor.

I did manaage to get several things done on the to-do list - the aforementioned bathrooms and grocery shopping and culling out his clothes that won't fit him this winter. He's finally conceded to wear long pants - I had to turn the heat on today.

We also started the grand rebuilding of the Lego "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull" project. So every nook and cranny was search for lego parts. Now, I know for a fact we are missing one of the original unique pieces. But I figure with over 40 different lego sets big and small, we could probably rob Peter to pay Paul. So all 40 sets are now in a big heap in the living room. Eric would probably have had a conniption fit at all the little pieces every where, but oh well. This is not a one day project. Of course, this was supposed to be a "joint" sorting project.... seems like Mommy's the better sorter, and therefore needs to do most of the work.

Skyped with Eric twice today. Was nice that it was the weekend for me, so he could call during his daylight hours. Looks like he's hauled out about half of the stuff the previous occupant left for him. They're still getting their operation set up, but he seemed pretty pleased with what they've done so far.

He and Nathan had a staring contest through the webcams. I know Eric's happy to see me, but let's face it, I won't appreciably change in the next year. Different sotry for Nathan. The webcams are really for the two of them to keep connected. Nathan admitted tonight that he almost started to cry when we dropped Eric off (of course, he was in full-fledged tears actually), but he did say that he was a little sad Eric was gone. (Of course, he calls him 'nutball' and 'eric loser pants' while the camera's on. Just a different kind of love, I guess).

Boomer Bust

Well, shoot. We struggled hard and gave it a pretty damn good effort. I've already had one Longhorn fan raze me on-line - and we weren't even on a football board!

Eric got to watch the game on Armed Forces Network in his room with a couple of other guys. We video chatted for a few minutes after the game was over, but since it was 11 p.m. his time, he was ready to call it a night.

So far it's just been like he's gone on a business trip. I've talked to him every day, at least once. And we skype. Nathan seems to be adjusting well. There hasn't been any obvious moping or behavioral changes. He has, however, expanded his wardrobe, as you can see by the pic. (The kid insists that he doesn't want to get dressed up and go trick or treating. maybe this is his idea of a compromise.)

Fall has finally hit coastal Georgia. I believe the temp was only up to 65 or so. But it's been cloudy/rainy for the past few days, which is kinda depressing.

Work is still good. My soldiers are going to deploy in the next 2 weeks or so, so the headquarters are hopping with soldiers all the time. It's definitely been an eye-opening experience for me to be in the 'real' Army with this job.

Tomorrow will be the grand reassemblage of Nathan's lego collections. He wants to rebuild the biggest one - which I already know we've lost pieces to. Hoping that if we take all the collections - most of which are broken up anyway - and just dump all the pieces together, we can cobble together at least one complete set. *sigh* good thing I've always liked legos.....

http://www.stewart.army.mil/frontlineonline/currentFrontLine/FLCurrentNews.pdf

This is the post newspaper. Top right article on the front page is an article about the battalion that Eric left with. Doesn't mention the band specifically, but this is his group.

Mailing Stuff

Here's the Post Office's presser about mailing for the holidays.

http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009/pr09_082.htm

Day 5

Yeah, I'm thinking this day count is going to be depressing as the number gets higher.......

Anywhoo. Had the first skype call to Eric tonight. He got to call his sister too. He spun the camera around so I could get a look at his room. Pretty much a box with only one window, covered by a towel. Lots of leftover stuff from the guy before - who happens to be another band guy he knew from Fort Sill.

He was tired - had been up for 24 hours. He said it was really interesting to see all the other nationalities at the camp, foreigners who the Iraqis had brought in to take over stuff - Koreans, Philippinos, Malaysians.

Nathan was not interested in making a video call. Apparently, he had to learn the hard way (again) why he shouldn't take toys to school and after school care. Some how the bakugon in his pocket magically disappeared. And since it was part of a connector set, he'll never be able to complete the Markus Dragonoid again. Very devestating. Since this is the upteenth time this has happened, I'm not as sympathic as I could be.

I have discovered the cooking dilemna already. Get home at almost 6:00 and look at the cooking instructions on the pork roast. "Cook for 65-75 minutes in a pre-heated oven." Yeah, not interested in waiting until 7:30 to eat. At least since Eric was always home earlier, he usually already had dinner started - at least these longer-cooking meals - before I got home. *sigh* Will have to drag the crock pot out in the morning.

Day 4

First day back into a routine since Eric left. Nathan seems to be doing alright. The ususal whinings about showers and teeth brushing, but he's been pretty easy going about the new world order. He's still determined that we'll win that million dollars from McDonalds and either get Eric returned home or buy him a beach house.

I'm feeling better. Theraflu tastes nasty, but seems to get the job done.

Lessee, I guess I talked to Eric yesterday morning around 7, and this afternoon around 2. He's been able to talk to his sister a couple of times and left a message for his mom once. He should be where he's psuedo-permanently going to be stationed sometime in the next 24 hours. I know he's gotta be happy to get there, unpack and enjoy a little bit of privacy. (He's been staying in a large tent on a cot along with a bunch of other soldiers). I personally would have snapped with the lack of privacy.

I just found out today that I have yet another briefing with the CG (Commanding General) on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Seriously? I've already sat through 3 other briefings with him. I doubt the mission has changed any in the past 2 weeks. And since my usual babysitter just deployed, I'm thinking childcare is gonna be a problem.....

If you want to mail a package to Eric, here are the postal service's guidelines:

http://www.usps.com/supportingourtroops/welcome.htm?from=household&page=troopsupport

Day 3

Day 2 was okay. Nathan and I tried to go to breakfast at McDonalds. Who knew they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30? So over our brunch, Nathan again brought up the 'we-should-win-a-million-dollars' thing. This time, instead of saying we could call Eric's boss and have him sent home, he said we could make Eric's dreams come true by buying a beach house. (Eric says if we ever win the lottery he wants to buy a beach house). So, for all the smack talk Nathan does to Eric, the kid does pay attention.

Trip to Walmart for supplies. *sigh* I gotta cook now. :(

Nathan got a new video game, so that pretty much kept him occupied for most of the day. The 'meh' factor kicked in for me. I just had no interest or drive to do anything. Goodness knows, I have plenty of piles of stuff to tackle.

Got my first emails from Eric last night (this morning) about 1:00 a.m. The new phone worked like a dream. I could read the emails and respond without getting out of bed. Thumbs up for the new smart phone!

No telling how long he'll be where he's at. Could be a day, maybe a week. He emailed from a kiosk, and then called me later from a payphone. Unfortunately, his brand-new laptop now has a cracked screen. He'll either try to get an external monitor or buy a new one once he hits his duty station, so we can still do skype. It's new enough, it's probably still under warranty, but getting that handled from the middle east? Probably simpler to just drop the cash at the local PX.

The phone call sounded clear as a bell. No lag time between what he said and what I said. Soooooo much different than OIF 1. Plane ride sucked. They're staying in a huge tent with cots, so there's no privacy. Takes standing in line 1-2 hours to use the phone. The high temp yesterday was 90, but zero humidity, so he was a relatively happy camper.

Said he's been eating at the chowhall and the food's pretty good. Yes, there are KFCs and Subways and Baskin Robbins, but he has absolutely no desire to eat at any of them. These are like walk up shanties.

Nathan and I both have the day off today. I'm debating whether to cancel the bear den meeting tomorrow. It would probably be good to go ahead and do it so we're busy and in a routine. But since I'm the den leader, I'm not focused enough right not to actually plan the darn meeting. That might be asking a bit much at this moment.

Day 1

Yeah it's been awhile. Days march on, blah, blah, blah. Fast forward through 4 months - I've got a job, Nathan's in second grade, and Eric left yesterday for Iraq.

I've discovered that this is just a different deployment than the first one. Eric went in in OIF 1 back in 1993 with the 101st to invade. Now he's in there in OIF 7 with the 3rd ID as the 'closers.' Last time WE ALL thought there WMDs and that we'd be out in 6 months, tops. Nathan was 18 months old and didn't have an inkling that daddy was gone, and I didn't have any kind of routine that was factored in by Nathan's naps. Eric's protective gear wasn't much more than what a football player wears, and he would drive around Mosul with just another guy in a jeep and no weapons.

Now, thanks to Congress enacting every complaint ever voiced, he's got enough weight to cripple a horse that he's got to wear. You have to be certified to wear the body armour. He's got to get in a faux vehicle in full battle-rattle to get spun upside down to similate a rollover into water, and practice cutting his harness straps. Hello? How much of Iraq is underwater?

Okay, rant over. Protections are better, but there is something to be said about going too far the other way.

Anywhoo. Yesterday was just interminable. Everyone was supposed to report at midnight. That's fine for the adults - harder on the kids. All day that mighnight deadline was hanging over our heads. Nathan was NOT happy about being woken up.

It didn't help that it was literally 89% humidity and 86 degrees at midnight. I'm not sure if we set a heat record, but if not, it was close. Eric was sweating like a racehorse.

There were a lot of people there, congregating in the parking lot. Lots of people were hanging around their cars, sitting on their tailgates. Portable lights. We managed to get Nathan out of the car for about 5 minutes. We could have stayed to hang out with Eric for another hour or two, but we decided it was best to just stay as long as Nathan could deal. He started crying and not wanting people to see it, so he and I left. I'm sure Eric was probably relieved to see us go so he could focus on getting him and his group ready to go.

Once we got home, Nathan decided he'd rather sleep on the couch than in a bed. He pulled the blanket over his head and just cried. That just killed me, to hear his little sniffles. It probably took me another 2 hours to fall asleep.

Was awakened this morning by Eric's brief call that he was just getting on the plane in Savannah. Nathan told me that he had been up since 5:30. I hope we both sleep in tomorrow

He seems to be taking it all in stride. We went to lunch at McDonalds - and they've started their yearly Monoply contest. We got Park Place. If we find Boardwalk, we could win $1 million. Nathan said, "if we win a million dollars, we could call Eric's boss and have him send him home from Iraq, couldn't we?"

We drove into Savannah for some retail therapy. I dragged Nathan to Hancock Fabrics, but didn't buy anything. Then we hit Barnes & Noble - he gets 2 books and I buy a book that I hope will give me some ideas for our bear scouts meeting, but again - nothing that I wanted. Then the final coupe de grace at Toys R Us. Yet another Star Wars lego thingy.

Got home - went out to Subway for his usual pig sandwich, then Eric called almost the minute we walked in the door. Calling from a payphone in Germany. Sounded tired from being in a plane for 12 hours. Probably another 6-10 before he's 'settled' where ever he's gonna be for the next 2 weeks or so.

Nathan decided to make me a sign for the sliding doors out to the back patio "Water the plants outside 2 to 3 times a week." (I don't water the ferns outside - Eric does. It's been a running joke that they'll be dead from lack of attention while Eric is gone.) Nathan's looking out for his daddy!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Old pic of me and my dad, but one of my favorites. My grandparents's 50th wedding anniversary~ probably 16-17 years ago. Me, my dad, my grandparents, my uncle and cousin. Could have found a pic of me as a toddler and dad with LONG orange hair and and a handle-bar mustache, but I didn't want to dig that far into the photo black hole.

The other pic is from a band gig last week. While it would have been better taking it from the front, I still like the look of the two of them together.

Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you!

I don't care who you are, this is funny!

Paula Deen's, y'all!

Okay, so the in laws made it in yesterday. They came to the post around 4:00 - we drove around post, went out to dinner and showed off the house.

Today was Nathan's last day of school, which featured a banana split party (yea, for the sugar rush......) Anyway, there's a picture from the party, plus the award he got from his teacher. Note the reason: "The most unusual and broad information." That's my boy! :)

We met up with the in laws for lunch at Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons. Now, in order to eat there, one must show up at the restaurant at 8:30 in the morning, to get the reservation time for later that day. So the sister-in-law and her hubby stood in line for 20 minutes or so to get a 1:00 time. We all chose to eat off the buffet (except for Nathan, who since he already ate lunch at school and had the banana split, chose not to eat, and instead played his gameboy the entire time we were there).

Word of warning - there is no margarine, no skim milk, no canola oil in the cooking. It's all FAT, baby! Everything was wonderful and tasty and you'd take your first bite and think, this is heaven in my mouth! And you'd keep eating because goshdarnit, it's Paula Deen's and this is 'an event'! And then by the end, you're groaning asking yourself, why did I eat all this? By the time you get to the chocolate gooey butter cake or the homemade peach cobbler, you have to be rolled out the door.

My father-in-law and Nathan decided to retire to their hotel. The rest of us took an historic trolley tour. I thought it was very entertaining, but the guide would drone on about housing prices in the historic district. Now, apparently I need to check out "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" to truly appreciate it all.

We got back to the hotel and found Nathan playing in the pool. Tomorrow the beach!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

The picture above is from the Warriors Walk, a sacred space at Fort Stewart to honor those who have died in the service of our country since 2003. As of 6 May 2009, 418 soldiers have been honored with a redbud tree and a plaque in their honor. To walk along this walkway is to feel pride and sadness at the lives protrayed therein. Some markers and trees are well kept - there may be Christmas lights in the branches pictures of family members in frames in the plot, maybe a catholic icon, with a flag rippling in the breeze. Others have not been touched since they were planted. A tattered flag and a name plaque are all that separate it from the next. How to compare the sadness of one who was obviously loved enough to be maintained - long after the dedication ceremony - and one who's plot hasn't been touched?

Did you know, the average age of widows attached to this post is 21-26?

I have made my peace with the possibility of Eric dying in the line of duty. I drove to Savannah this week, and on the long ride - I once again mentally planned out his funeral. I have planned his obituary, his funeral and how to tell his friends and family. For the first time, however, I realized that I might have to deal with other overwhelming issues - the possibility of amputation, PTSD, traumatic brain injury. I am not prepared for that.

Atlanta Braves

The band is traveling to Atlanta tomorrow to play the pregame and 7th inning of the Atlanta Braves' night game. I believe the game starts at 7:00 p.m. EST - if you get the game on TV, you might be able to see them play the National Anthem at least.

The band also now has a page on facebook. 'Marne Bands' Hopefully it'll be a good way to keep up with pics and activities, especially once they deploy.

We had an FRG meeting this week. I'm the newsletter editor. Given technology today, it would seem to me that either the facebook page or a dedicated web page is best, but I think we'll still do a hard copy to mail to family members who want the info but don't do internet.

We've had rain for 6 days straight. It'll clear up by the time the inlaws make it out - just in time for the steamy goodness of the 'sub-tropics' that is Georgia. The pennywort (thanks Linda's mom! for the I.D.) is THRIVING with the rain. *rolls eyes*

Getcha game face on....

band gig

http://www.wsav.com/sav/news/local/military/article/the_third_ids_cg_visits_area_veterans/12710/

so here are three different videos of the same event. You can't see Eric in either, but it gives ya'll a taste of what he does.

3RD ID Visited VA Hospital - the coastal source

3RD ID Visited VA Hospital - the coastal source

Posted using ShareThis

what is growing in our back yard?

Everyone else has grass in their back yards. We have these lilypad things. Either lilypads or bean sprouts. Whatever it is, the frogs really seem to like it.

Feel the Marne love

Okay, so you should be able to tell that I'm tinkering with the site. I wanted to upload the official 3rd ID song - Dog Face Soldier. I ended up including all the stuff I've downloaded from Amazon.com - but just snippets. (and some stuff is stuff Eric needed to learn for the rock band, not necessarily stuff I would have picked myself). I'm not techy enough to pull those out.

Anywooo. When Eric was with the 101st, they had a fight song - a Rendezvous with Destiny. Very inspiring, good esprit de corps. The 3rd ID - not so much. It's a freakin' show tune!!! You expect Judy Garland and Andy Rooney to start singing it with a chorus line behind them! Click on the mp3 player, and it's the 2nd clip.

Here are the words:

This song was used in the Audie Murphy movie To Hell and Back, based on this autobiography of the same name, and is the official song of the 3rd Infantry Division. You can here it played, and sung, on their website at http://www.stewart.army.mil/Display....F-F8EA940979C2 8)

I Wouldn't Give A Bean
To Be A Fancy Pants Marine
I'd Rather Be A
Dog Face Soldier Like I Am

I Wouldn't Trade My Old OD's
For All The Navy's Dungarees
For I'm The Walking Pride Of Uncle Sam

On Army Posters That I Read
It Says "Be All That You Can"
So They're Tearing Me Down
To Build Me Over Again

I'm Just A Dog Face Soldier
With A Rifle On My Shoulder
And I Eat Raw Meat
For Breakfast E'V'RY Day

So Feed Me Ammunition
Keep Me In Third Division
Your Dog Face Soldier's A-Okay

Now, imagine every soldier in the division standing at attention at 6:30 a.m. before PT singing this.

I gotta keep up

Okay - since Mom's birthday - I've had a birthday (yea, me), we've had Mother's Day (yea, Moms), Eric marched in the Glennville Sweet Onion Parade (yea, onions?) and we went to the beach (yea, us!)


So the first pic is Nathan and his BFF, Max - who is in his class and lives next door. Look like a couple of delinquents. Max was home sick for 3 days with a fever during the height of the 'what the heck is swine flu' period. All I could think of was how many times that week he had been in Nathan's room and coughing. But apparently he's fine now.

Mother's Day was very nice - Eric took Nathan to get a high and tight, then Nathan took me to see Star Trek (loved it!), then Eric cooked steaks. About as wonderful as it could get.

So the band was marching in the Glennville Sweet Onion parade on Saturday, followed by a pouch concert at the fairgrounds. He is on the back row - first one on the right. I always thought Georgia was known for the peaches, but it seems every little town hawks the onions. We were supposed to get some freebie ones, but what would we do with a 20 pound sack of onions?

Yesterday we went on an adventure. Supposedly you can see the space shuttle from the coastline when it lifts off, and there was a launch yesterday at 2:00. Eric got the afternoon off and we pulled the kid out of school early, hopped in the car, and drove down to Jekyll Island. Nathan complained about the car ride - but it was all forgotten once we hit the water. Warm water, gentle waves, not crowded - we really couldn't have asked for a better time. Now, Eric and I BOTH saw two dorsal fins in the water. We're assuming they were dolphins (since we saw plenty o' signs for dolphin tours), but just to be on the safe side, we didn't get any further in than waist high. Eric didn't really relax - he kept scanning the waters looking for trouble. Nathan and I on the other hand were having the time of our lives. At the time the shuttle went off, we saw 5 or 6 different contrails in the sky. No way to know which one (if any) was the shuttle - but I'm going on record that we saw it.

Happy Birthday, Mom

Happy Birthday to my mom, my best friend. I love you.

Hair Gel

Okay, so the pic of Nathan is from Thursday. He decided he needed to do his hair as a mohawk. So I hauled out all my hair goop, explained the different ones, and he said he could do himself. I made the mistake of leaving the room...... (Note to self - supervise next time.) He had taken a huge blob of hair 'glue' and glopped it on the crown of his head, and it was hardening before he could shape it into the mohawk. Lots of 'crap!' on both our parts. He starts trying to wet his hair down, and I'm trying to comb the extra out. He rolled off on his scooter to school, and I worried that he would be teased. He came home without any tales of woe, so I'm guessing it was okay. Eric was appalled that I let him go to school like that.

I'm now the treasurer for the cub scout pack. Wheeeeee. The old one passed everything over to me and said that by her tally we have $300 or so in the bank, but the bank statement says we have $600. And she hasn't kept all the receipts. Can't wait to straighten that mess out.

Looks like I'll also be doing something for the FRG (family readiness group). This is the support group for the families while the soldiers are deployed. Not sure just what yet - newsletter or treasurer or 'care support'. Hopefully my experience this deployment will be better than the last one. It should be a lot easier to communicate with Eric this time, via cell phones and computers. Of course, that brings up the whole 'op sec' issue (operational security). (note to self - find email from the last time between Eric and his mother about his return flight.)

The band is doing a parade today in Port Wentworth, but Eric wasn't needed. I can't believe they aren't playing the world famous Vidalia Onion Festival today!

Eric has almost 200 friends on facebook. He says it's better than a HS reunion - because he wouldn't actually GO to his reunion.....

Homework? Seriously?

Okay, who assigns homework for 1st graders over spring break? Seriously. Nathan is supposed to write in a scrapbook daily during spring break. I finally learned in life not to procrastinate. Nathan, however, does not want to learn this lesson. Granted, it would be easier to have something to write about if we had actually gone on a vacation, but we didn't. Don't get me wrong, Nathan has enjoyed his break - sleeping in until 9 or later, flexible shower times, playing with his buddies on the block.

But apparently that sameness seems to be stymieing the kid's creativity. "What did you do yesterday, Nathan? Just write that down." "I don't remember." "Well, you played capture the flag with Max and his brother. You rode your bicycle. You played with the kittens down the street. You played video games." "Those don't make any sense." "What do you mean, they don't make any sense?" "Those sentences aren't good enough." "Okay, well, make up your own." "I can't think of anything." This cycle rapidly devolves into tears, snot and enforced incarceration on the couch until he manages to think of something. Yesterday the whole fiasco lasted about an hour and a half. I left Eric to deal with it today while I went to the commissary.

Happy Easter!

Wow - I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted!

Went to the post Easter Egg hunt this morning. You see Nate dog and his loot. His personal best of 64 eggs. Much more organized than hunts at other posts we've been too. I surprised that he didn't want to do the inflatables and games, but it was a nice 45 minutes or so.

Right now he's out riding bikes and playing with the neighborhood kids. Band aids and scraps are a now a regular occurrence. This is a picture of him on his way to school - a Miami Ink extreme sports helmet, a Speed Racer see-through backpack, glasses, braces and his socks pulled up to his knees. He's definitely the big man on campus.

We're not doing track and field any more. One of the male coaches was laughing about how slow he was to another adult at a track meet. That, plus a couple of miscues about where he was supposed to be for 2 field events, made me so angry I was crying. (I hate that, because no one takes you seriously when you cry). They obviously have given up on him to focus on kids that are fast enough to make the state track teams. It would be different if I could see them working with him to improve, or to encourage him even when he comes in last. But they didn't. We talked about the message we were sending by not making him finish, but come on - if the coaches don't care, why should I force the kid to do an activity where he knows he's always going to come in last?

But he stayed in long enough that he did show improvement (at least to us) and he can get a cub scout badge for it. We'll see about either baseball or some beginning martial arts, instead.

His report card came in. Kid's a 'pleasure to have in class'. But we knew that already, right? He's adjusting to the braces. Tooth brushing is definitely a 2 person activity now.

I got contacts again. Hoo-ray! Plus a new bike! Hoo-ray! We might actually try a family bike ride tomorrow afternoon. Eric's cooking rib eyes for Easter dinner. And nothing says Easter like red meat.

Still no news on the job front. I've applied for several jobs on post. I've never applied through an automated system before - all my other jobs have been a small non-profit orgs. So it's been a learning experience to figure out the keywords to adapt my resume for every job. There's 3 jobs I've applied for where I've made it past the preliminary round and my application has been forwarded to the selecting official. And I have no idea what magic inbox they're languishing in, 'cause it's been over a month. Oh well. It'll happen....... eventually.

Eric is swamped at work. Things are gearing up the deployment in the fall. Apparently, however, either things change so radically between deployments (and the 3rd ID band has deployed 3 times already since 2003), or nobody took notes, because it seems like they're having to re-invent the wheel. Which is aggravating. But I seriously think Eric's temperament, life skills and his past experience during deployment is going to make a huge asset for his unit.

Spring time is beautiful here. The azalea blooms are so big and bright, they look like plastic flowers. I saw a japanese maple in bloom and was so struck by the red coloring that I actually googled it. (Because believe me, I didn't know what a japanese maple was 2 months ago.) The mugginess and heat is starting to creep up, however.

Look Ma! No training wheels!

Okay, so yesterday Eric and I were constantly talking about trying to find something that Nathan can be really good at. Something to get his confidence up. We finally agreed that we just needed to buy him another bike.

Now, the in-laws bought a 20-inch bike for him at Christmas time, which was just a smidge too big. Had to get training wheels (and FYI, supposedly TW are okay for 20 inch wheels, but not really). But with us living on Greble road, there was really too much traffic for him to get really comfortable with it. He fell over a few times, cried, and we didn't really make him try again.

But now we live on a cul-de-sac with 20 other kids. He's tried riding his bike, but since the TW weren't really fitting on well, he's still falling over. Still pouts and tears. I didn't want to buy a smaller one, because, let's face it, he'll outgrow it before the end of the summer.

But after track yesterday, we decided to go ahead and get the bike. So I took him down to WallyWorld to get one. Found one that was 18 inches, already had the TW on them. Went to check out through the car department. Big burly guy behind that counter told me that I was making a mistake. It was too small for him, and all his friends would just laugh at him. I really just needed to take him to a big field and let him fall a couple of times. I have never come so close to calling out a clerk in my life! Nathan was standing there listening to him. I'm thinking to myself, thanks, dude. I'm trying to give my child some confidence and you won't shut up. He finally seemed to register the glare I was throwing his way.

Anywoo. Got the kid home with the bike. He spends about two hours zipping up and down the street, then comes in to ask Eric to take the TW off. So the vids are his first attempts. I was taking another vid when he came full-speed ahead and crashed into me and Eric while we were standing next to the car. Luckily we were there to break his fall... You really can't see Nathan in the first vid until the 17 second mark. But the smile at the end was worth it.

Our kid can ride a bike! Eric now feels validated as a parent. Now, we just need to conquer the swimming thing this summer.

Track & Field

Okay, so this was our first track and field day. It was blue vs. orange. Nathan is on the orange team (please, no OSU jokes). We. were. not. prepared.

Practices last for 1-1/2 hours. I assumed that the meet would last about the same. Wrong! Warm up was at 8:30, meet started at 9:00. We didn't leave until 3:30!!!! They started out with 1600 meter races (4 laps). Well, Nathan wasn't going to run the 1600. No sense waiting around in the stands. So Eric and he came back home for an hour. I went with them back and we just hung around for another hour before any of his events started.

(Sorry, no audio) So the first video is his attempt at the standing longjump. We missed practice on Wednesday because he got braces on that day. So the vid is his very first attempt. Ironically, the technician that put the braces on him was at the event, smoothing out the sand. The 2nd vid is him running the 100 meter. Crappy visual (will be looking for new camera before Eric deploys). Anyway, Nathan is in the 1st lane, which is farthest from where I'm standing. But he'll be the last one, so you can't miss 'im.

Poor guy came in last in all three races, the 50, 100 and 200 meters. He might not have been dead last in the softball throw or the longjump, but he certainly didn't place. Eric and I can both see improvement in his stride, but he's definitely not in his element. We're thrilled that he's active, but we've got to find something that he can be good at. He was pretty accepting of the fact that he was last, but if he spends the next 2 months at the back of the pack, it's gonna be hard to keep him motivated.

Braces

With a strawberry smoothie 'stache.

Raingutter Regatta

So instead of having green beer at O'Connells, our St. Patty's Day centered around the Raingutter Regatta. Nathan won 2, lost 2 - no medal, just a participation ribbon.

Poor kid today gets braces put on.

Screw the Irish!

Excuse the vulgarity, but Eric is not feeling the irish love today. They had a parade last night in Savannah, in which he got rained on (in a wool uniform). Then crammed into a room with 2 marching bands, to stand at parade rest, listening to speechs for an hour and a half. I got to hear about the steamy, stinking condition of said hour long into the night last night. It was hot and miserable enough that a few of the Citadel band members fell out of formation. Apparently Eric thinks that should have been a clear signal to the folks with the microphone that the evening needed to end.

So he's being the St. Patty's day Grinch this morning. He doesn't like Christmas, doesn't like St. Patty's day, or - come to think of it - any organized holiday. Good thing he didn't get tagged to march in the 5 mile long St. Patty's day parade in Savannah today. But, in honor of his Irish heritage, just a shout out to his 3rd great-grandfather, Patrick Behan. Which makes Eric 1/32 Irish. Sorry, no picture.

We're celebrating St. Patty's day tonight by going to cub scouts, for the Raingutter Regatta. No green beer at O'Connells for us.

Well, the bloom is off the rose when it comes to track. It was fun the first day last week, when there were tons of kids running around in the gym. Practice on Monday, however, was an eye-opening experience. Two full laps around the track as a warm-up. Then a group stretch for 10 minutes. Then two 300 meter races. Then two 200 meter races. Then two 100 races. And finally, one 50 meter race. Now, that's A LOT of running for a little kid, particularly one who's not used to it. There were tears shed. At one point, a female coach had to take him by the hand and led him to his start off point. And he didn't go willingly. And of course, he was the last in every single race. He was 100% miserable by the end of practice on Monday. On Wednesday, I'd say he was only 95% miserable. Supposedly, they'll eventually do the 'field' part of 'track and field.' I keep trying to encourage him that he'll do better on the softball throw, but it's hard keeping him enthused about it. (Getting the official track club t-shirt does help, however.)

Eric is currently listening to soft-70s rock in the kitchen while he makes a low-country boil, AKA a 'frogmore stew'. He actually has the day off tomorrow. He has spent the past few days inventorying weapons, getting his anthrax shots updated, and preparing for parades, concerts and change of command ceremonies. Saturday he gets to do a parade in Evans County, GA for a Rattlesnake Roundup. Yee-haw!

Maybe I short start tweeting instead of blogging. I'm becoming intimidated by the blinking cursor while I think of what to say. At least with twitter, I can easily keep to the 140 character limit...

Eric's birthday has come and went. Poor guy had to play a troop arrival ceremony at 1:30 am on Saturday morning, so he was in bed early. We didn't do anything special - Eric doesn't get into celebrating birthdays. (Me, on the other hand, it's a different story. I don't need presents, but gosh darn it, you better remember it and fuss over me a little!) Anyway, Eric was looking at his facebook page and said, 'when did my friends get so old?' Welllllllllll. It's tough when you feel like 23 on the inside, but time marches on. I found my first grey hair not too long ago. I got Eric two hanging ferns for the back patio and 2 lawn chairs. Nothing special, but he's been wanting hanging plants out there since we moved in. (I'm pretty much devoid of inspiration when it comes to gift-giving. I get you what you tell me you want. No surprises.)

So Eric had maybe 4 hours of sleep Friday night, then we had the district pinewood derby race on Saturday morning. Double-elimination, Nathan came in 2nd, then 1st, then 3rd. So with 12 little boys, he didn't place in the finals. Which led to some sulking on his part - the participation patch and certificate do not compare to a trophy. But after a trip to the shoppette for a super big icee, he decided he needed to wear his scout uniform for the rest of the day.

Nathan is turning into mr. social butterfly. He drops his backpack off after school, gets a snack, then hits the door. Other than food, bandaids or potty breaks, he's pretty much outside until dark. Certainly not how I was as a kid!

Chariots of Fire

Here's the first real day of track and field practice. He's the one in the red shorts.

"Charley 1" Cryer is back home - enjoying a few days off before getting into the swing of things at work. (Charley 1 means that he is qualified to play in any of the specialized bands in the army - Heidelburg, Belgium, one of the bands in the DC area, etc.) That's all well and good, but in about 6 months his unit is deploying, so he'll be hitting the ground running when he gets to the office tomorrow.

Which may be a culture shock to both him and his unit. He's spent as much time at school as he has spent here with the unit.

Yesterday was the first day of track and field. Nathan decided that he wanted to try it rather than soccer. Eric and I had our doubts, but he was a lot better than we expected him to be. He's always had a pretty stiff gait, but he's really loosened up since his last organized sports attempts. They spent just as much time stretching as actually running, so hopefully we'll make some headway on those pesky hamstrings. I think he'll do better in the softball throw and shot put than the running.

Today was picture day. He decided that his long-sleeve black Pirates of the Caribbean t-shirt with shiny red designs on it was the fashion statement to make.

Birthdays!!!

Happy Birthday to both my sister-in-law and my uncle!

My uncle has some of his creations posted on Youtube. Little different.

Hope you two have a great day!

Charlie 1

Eric passed! No 30 day extension! He'll be home on Friday! YIPPEE!!!

Yawn. Can't believe I stayed up to watch the entire Oscar broadcast last night. I haven't even seen ANY of the movies! We have got to get a babysitter occasionally and go on grown up dates...

Lessee, what's happened since the last post -

Tuesday Nathan proved he was my son. He came walking home from school with his face buried in a book. Nearly collided with a tree. My parents will tell you that I tried to do all my chores with a book in my hand, like vacuuming my room. I remember once they told me to go outside and play - I sat in our driveway on my bicycle while I read. Wasn't going anywhere, just sitting on the bicycle seat with a comic book.

Went to scouts that night. Boys finished their activity early, so one of the dads took them outside to play football. Nathan enjoyed that until they started a new game. Dad gives the ball to one boy, who is supposed to run around while the others chase him, then dogpile on the runner. Whoever steals the ball next gets becomes the runner. Dad picks Nathan first. Nathan stands there surprised for a moment, then starts to run. Only gets about 3 steps before he gets dogpiled. Now, Nathan is not used to that kind of rough-housing. Tears ensued. He got a pep talk from the dad, but was fragile for the next 15 minutes or so.

We discovered this weekend that it's a lot tougher than it looks to build a house of cards. I don't remember what started us on this, but Nathan was determined to make a 3 story structure. Never quite got there, but it was entertaining.

He finally made some connections in the neighborhood yesterday. Some kids were playing in the field behind our house. Nathan recognized one and went out to say hi. From that point on, he was gone. He came in a couple times, but basically I didn't know where my kid was for about 2 hours. Eric would have been so pleased. (I know I was - finally got to concentrate on recovering my rocking chair.)

Speaking of Eric - they had snow on Sunday in Virginia. He has basically finished his coursework. I believe today and tomorrow are feedback sessions. He's just got to do his last audition on Wednesday, and then should be home on Friday. He's ready for his Groundhog Day existence to be over.

Bubbles, spoons and forts

So Nathan and I are safely back home. Nathan was excited when the plane lifted off, not so much when it was a time for a landing. I had to listen to his assertion that he was airsick for the last 10 minutes of every flight. Complete with pantomime vomiting into the bag.

The highlight for Nathan - aside from jumping from bed to bed and an extended pillow fight with Eric - was finally learning how to blow a bubble. He and Eric practiced for about 20 minutes to get it right. (I never learned how and don't really feel the need to learn now). The highlight for Eric was going to see 400-year old corroded spoons from the original Jamestowne settlement. And all I got was a lousy t-shirt, because Eric wouldn't let me tramp around in cemeteries through James City and Surry County.

We got in Friday afternoon. Eric had rented a car and met us at the airport. He looks good. Looks like he's probably lost 10 or 15 pounds. We stayed in his room at the Navy Lodge (guest housing). Now, when we visited him out there in 2004, he was staying in the barracks for music students. Basically a dorm room, 1 twin size bed, and cinder block walls. The toilet plumbing wouldn't flush most of the time we were there, so we'd have to use the toilet in the lobby. We didn't get a roll away bed, so Nathan (age 3), Eric and I all tried fitting on the bed. I finally gave up and slept on a pallet on the floor. Nathan was at the age that Dora the Explorer was cool, so we had brought 1 DVD with us. Eric and I were heartily sick of it after 3 viewings, and believe me, we put up with more than 3. This time, however, Eric is staying at the guest housing. 2 queen size beds, plumbing, and a kitchenette - he's definitely got it better this time. He actually cooked steaks in the room on Friday. (For those of you wondering why were were in navy lodging - the School of Music is actually for all the service branches. I suppose at one time, there was a school of music for the army, the navy, etc., but at some point, the powers that be decided to just have one, probably as a cost-cutting measure.)

Eric went off practicing Saturday morning for about 4 hours. Nathan played the PS2 while I got re-acquainted with my laptop - aka 'my brain'. Our sightseeing adventure for the day started at Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA. There has been a fort of some type since Jamestowne was settled, but it really is known for Civil War action. It is also the headquarters for a lot of TRADOC activity (Army Training and Doctrine), so there is an army band there that does a lot of ceremonial work.

Once we left there, we headed to Fort Story in Virginia Beach. It was a very picturesque location. Visitors would of course, know that it is an army post, but you can easily see the beachfront type construction of the homes and some office buildings. There's also several historical sites there. The English who settled Jamestowne actually landed at Cape Henry (Fort Story) first, before settling at Jamestowne. The pic of Eric and Nathan is from the spot where apparently the settlers first came ashore.

Valentine's Day dinner consisted of dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, the three of us. Now, that's romance!

Sunday, Eric took the day off from practicing, so we decided to hit the colonial triangle - Yorktown, Williamsburg and Jamestowne. Eric and I thought it was all cool - Nathan, not so much. Sightseeing at old battlefields doesn't hold much attraction for him. He kept asking why Eric had to read every historical marker we passed.

Yorktown was nice. There is a historical Yorktown, plus York, plus the battlefield. People still live in Yorktown, but just about every structure has a placard detailing it's place in history. The mind boggles thinking about what the real estate asking price is for those places! We paid $5 for the driving tour CD, which was obviously recorded about 20 years ago. The pic of Nathan standing on the brass plaque that Eric is reading from is from Yorktown. Nathan was being particularly petulant at the time and Eric was going to make him get off the plaque. I'm like, "if it can handle the bird poop, Nathan isn't going to hurt it." We did see the cutest little deer crossing the road as we were on our tour. It was like a pygmy deer, but it and it's bigger companion didn't seem too put out by our presence in it's woods.

From there we decided to go to Jamestowne. We weren't really planning on stopping at Williamsburg, but we needed food so we made a slight adjustment to the schedule. Ended up driving through the campus of William and Mary. Very pretty campus. Lots of foot traffic to dodge. Kind of like Campus Corner during Dad's day weekend (not so many as a football weekend, but definitely noticeably busy.) We ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant. The kid's menu mentioned the chicken nuggets were 'gently fried'. Nathan had to pick those, they were good, and now he looks for 'gently fried' on every menu. Nothing says colonial Virginia like Mexican food.

Finally made it to Jamestowne. Actually, there is Jamestown Settlement, historical Jamestowne and Jamestown Island. Don't be fooled - if you want to see corroded spoons from the original 1607 settlers, you want the historical Jamestowne, NOT the Jamestown Settlement, which is a re-enactment and massive gift shop and museum structure. We, of course, ended up in both places. (The Magellan GPS locator in the car could only do so much). The picture of the 3 of us is from the historical Jamestowne. It really is a beautiful location. You can see why the settlers would have picked that spot.

The cemetery comment at the beginning was for looking for George Cryer, the earliest Cryer I can locate. He paid taxes in James County, VA in 1704. Which means he was a landowner within 100 years from the founding of Jamestowne. You can't get much more colonial than that. I never thought Eric would let us explore that far from the base, so I had not done any preparation research before going to VA. It would have been really cool to find his cemetery plot, but NOOOO... He's so mean to me!

Kidding. All things work out as expected, he should be home in 11 days. Yippee!!!!

So that was our trip in a nutshell. Nathan is already showered and watching a Pokomon marathon before bed. As it is after 8:00 p.m. EST, I'm sure Eric was in bed around 6:00 p.m. to get ready for school tomorrow. I'm desperately waiting for Nathan to go to bed so I can decompress from traveling with him. Yeah for school tomorrow!!

Flying today

Okay, so I'm not a big 'signs' person. But we're leaving for the airport in 2 hours, I turn on the tv, and a plane has gone down in New York, killing everyone on board. I didn't need to see this.

I'll post again tonight.

That's what little boys are made of...

This was from last Sunday. I broke down and took Nathan bowling twice in one week. This time we brought along his BFF. They both beat me. Nathan came home on Thursday and told me that Brandyn wants me to buy a plane ticket so he can come with us to visit Eric. "Because he missed Eric so much!" Okay... Even if I had the spare cash, wouldn't even consider it. He's nice, but when they get together, they are just so active! I can't imagine herding both boys through the airports.

Let's see, that was Sunday. On Tuesday was scouts. We met at the scout hut on post and the boys painted flower pots as dual table decorations for the Blue & Gold banquet, and gifts for their mothers. Now, you get 7 or 8 little boys together, and you get the following. "I like to move it! Move it!" (The theme from the movie Madagascar). Which becomes, "I like to poop it! Poop it!" Which leads to diarrhea jokes. Then someone starts mixing paint, which leads to, "That looks like baby barf green!" More bathroom and vomit jokes commence for the rest of the night.

Thursday Nathan decided to have a bad attitude for about 2 hours after school. This culminated in him saying, "no, you need to watch your attitude, or I'll leave and never come back." (So wasn't expecting that until he was older!) When I told him those kind of words would get him grounded for a very long time, he started crying again and stomped upstairs declaring that he wasn't ever coming down for the rest of the night. Well, 45 minutes later, hunger wins again. (Like it never even happened).

Today we went to go see the Pink Panther 2. Now, I like Steve Martin as much as the next gal. The original PP movies are classics. The first song I learned to play on the piano was the PP theme. Doesn't mean that I see the need to make these movies. Nathan, of course, thought it was HI-lar-IOUS!

Not much going on. Nathan and I went bowling with the 3rd ID Band on Thursday. They were having a family get-together at the bowling alley. I guess since Eric's gone, they didn't think to call us until the day of. Which was okay. Nathan won one and I won one. It's two days later, and my back muscles are still sore from throwing the ball. That was actually a big step for me - I really dislike going someplace by myself when I don't know anyone there. I did recognize one or two people, but since most everyone was in civies, I didn't make a lot of connections between names and faces. Apparently we're going to have another get-to-gether/meeting in February, which is supposed to be some sort of psueo-Valentine Day dinner, but Eric still won't be back by then.

He's in DC right now. They played at a retirement home/nursing home, and at Walter Reed Hospital. They've also had some sightseeing stuff built in - driving around the Mall, Arlington, etc. They got to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. The guy in charge of the military detail there let them go into the guard's off-limits area, and explained how they did everything. Which sounded pretty cool. But Eric realized that standing motionless for 2 hours as part of your duty is most definitely NOT the job for him. Tee-hee! They'll be returning to DC later this afternoon.

First place, baby!

That's right - the new kid won first place in his den, out of 11 boys. He ran 4 heats - came in first once and second the other 3 times. Car weighs 4-3/8 oz (5 is the max). We're going to district next!

So I understand that there's serious ice and cold weather back home today. Here, Nathan wore shorts to school. Now, it has gotten cold here. Here's a self-portrait of me, bundled up before going for a walk last week. No one ever takes pictures of me - and I'm usually horrified when they go - but I decided to take a pic of myself. Eric laughs at my 'save darfur' sweatshirt - but it's warm!

Notice the #43 car. The kid decided that he didn't like the green stripes he had painted on it. So mommy stands outside to sand the paint job down and repaint. Keep your fingers crossed - the derby is tomorrow. My dad has corrected me - he did not actually cut his finger off. Just a cut vertically through the nail. (And the slice on the forearm with the rotary saw, and the ...)

I finally finished re-quilting these two quilts. My mom's aunt made them for her when she was a girl. I took them with me to college and they just became mine. But by then, they were coming apart and the batting was coming out. I guess back when I was pregnant, mom dismantled the quilt squares with the intention that either she or I would reassemble them. I have carried those cotton-picked blocks around for 7 years! That's through 5 moves, stored in an old piece of luggage. I finally resolved to myself that I wasn't moving them again like that. It's taken me 6 months, but they're finally done. I love these quilts. I would never make the pattern myself, but I just love them. They are for display only! They are not going on a bed where a cat is going to hack up a hairball on them or a little boy will spill his fruit punch on them.

I suppose that's not so important in the grand scheme of things. Just one of those items on my to-do list that have been weighing me down. I'm trying to knock out as much of my to-do list as possible before I find a job. And I'm trying to get into the habit of exercising, so that when I'm working, I'll still make exercise a priority. Blech. I did buy a new exercise DVD that I like. It's amazing to me that I ever made it through 7 years of marching band - I obviously can't tell my right foot from my left.

I made our flight reservations to go see Eric. Nathan is very excited to go on a plane. I think he's just as excited to have Eric chase him around the hotel room (something that mommy just doesn't like to do).

Eric had the sniffles yesterday when I talked to him, but he sounded better today. He's acting first Sgt this week for his class. Apparently his brand of leadership is a shock to others in his class. His basic philosophy is that you figure out how to handle things on your own, the army isn't going to hold your hand for the simple stuff. Anyway, they're doing a field trip later this week. They get to got to Washington to play at Walter Reed. Not sure what else they're doing while they're there.

So if you have a facebook account, look him up. Somebody at sometime got him to register, and now he's got people coming out of the woodwork. Some who he insists he doesn't know. He says it's addictive - someone links to you, then you look at their friends and find people you haven't thought of for months. And he's right. I looked yesterday and found all sorts of people - people I went to high school with, the flag instructor I hated in high school, my cousins on my mom's side - even my uncle! I just don't get the attraction. It's not like I dislike the people I went to high school with - I guess I'm just not hard-wired to maintain long distance relationships. I can't imagine creating a profile on one of these websites and looking for people I haven't seen in 20 years (yes my 20th high school reunion is this year). The only reason I blog is to keep family and some friends posted on what we're doing out here. Oh well. To each his own. So invite Eric to be your friend, and be sure and add him to whatever silly online games you can do on facebook. I'm sure he'll love it!

New World Order

Kumbaya and all that. Michelle Obama was beautiful and those kids are SO much better behaved than mine. But really, Yo-Yo Ma ROCKS!!!!

We celebrated the first day of the rest of our lives by going to a scout meeting. Oh - the trials and tribulations of the pinewood derby! Which is next week. Eric had roughed out a car before he left, leaving it up to us to sand and paint it. Well, Nathan was upset that Eric didn't ask his opinion on how the car should look. So when we went to the boy scout store 2 weeks ago, he finds a Speedy Secrets to the Pinewood Derby book. We buy it and a new block of wood. Now he's looking at me to cut out a Indy car body, the most complicated template in the book. Okay - we don't own any power tools. I've never wood shopped anything in my life. I bought a little dremel power tool and prayed that I wouldn't cut off my finger like my father did once upon a time. Eyeglasses are not a proper sawdust barrier. But I think it turned out okay. I got major props from the other moms for handling the woodcarving myself. The important part is that both he and I seem to be finding a place in the group.

Howdy ya'll!

Haven't really had much to post about. Just me and Nathan doing our thing.

Nathan did get his report card yesterday. It's the first one since we came to Ft. Stewart. He meets grade-level expectations for readying, speaking/listening, science, social studies, art and p.e. He's making steady progress towards grade-level expectations in writing and mathematics. I looked at the 1st grade standards for both, and I'm thinking the standards are more appropo for 3rd or 4th grade! "writes for different audiences and purposes, embeds the language of literature in writing, describes spatial relationships using geometry and algebra" ?@?#?@?!?#

You all will be pleased to note that his project on the paiutes earned him an "E" - exceeds expectations. Whew! All that effort Eric and I made on the wickiup paid off! ;)

Spent 3 hours yesterday trying to get rid of a trojan horse on the computer. That's Eric's job, not mine. I'm trying to knock this post out as quick as I can, because I saw an electric company truck in my backyard. I'm sure I'll be without power any minute now.

I'm loading msn messenger on this computer, so anyone who wants to IM me, let me know. I did have yahoo on the laptop, but Eric has assured me that he's deleted it. Claims my laptop is running at lightening speed. Hmmpt.

The cold spell that has hit most of the nation is finally reaching into our neck of the woods. We'll actually hit into the teens on Friday night. The local weathermen are saying it hasn't been this cold in 40 years. Cold snap happens just when Nathan's got a 4 day weekend. Will be hard pressed to come up with activities to stave off cabin fever.

Eric is doing well at school. Had his first bass lesson on Tuesday. Teacher apparently have him some mind-twisting exercises, which take him hours to complete. Now, Eric has always been someone who can practice for hours. I admire that about him, because I never was to have such single-minded focus. He's also moved into a different location. He was staying in the barracks which was like a Motel 6. Now he's moved into navy lodging, which is apparently several steps up. Even has a kitchen, so his attitude about the stay has greatly improved.

Update on my mom's health (for those of my far-flung friends who ask me occasionally) Talked to my mom on Tuesday. She went to her new oncologist last week. She had been going every 3 months, getting blood work tested. He tells her that she needs to come now every 6 months. And if someone did blood work today, they wouldn't find any evidence of the cancer. Now, that doesn't mean that she's cured - it's a manageable disease at this point. She was talking to another patient while she was at the doctor, who had been diagnosed 2 years earlier. I guess that lady had much the same treatment as mom. Her cancer was starting to creep back in. So mom will continued to be monitored. But they're continuing to make breakthroughs. Who knows what will be on the horizon in 2 years?