The end of a loooong weekend

Well, here it is Sunday of the Thanksgiving Weekend and it is raining in Tampa. I had a good weekend. I drove to Jacksonville on Wed and met hubby and we spent Thanksgiving with his cousin and her family and friends. We had a ton of food and ended the evening sitting around a bon fire in the back yard. We DID NOT get up early on Friday to go shopping. Speaking of shopping, did you hear about the Walmart worker who was killed by the shoppers? That is so disgusting. No sale is worth getting hurt or hurting someone else over. We did go to Best Buy to check out the big tv's. Then we headed east to St. Augustine which was very crowded. We could not even find a place to park in order to be able to walk around. So, we drove over to the beach, bought a soda and sat on some rocks and watch the waves. And there were some people playing in the water. While it was a nice day it was still very cold in the water. I think that Friday is too soon for leftovers so we invited the cousin and hubby to go out to dinner. Had a very nice evening. We ended up sitting there for 2 1/2 hours talking. I only had a salad because I was not feeling very well. Still wasn't feeling good when I got up on Saturday but had to pack up the dogs and get ready to drive home. The dogs were very happy to get home. Then last night I had friends stop by. They live in Fort Worth and had spent Thanksgiving in Miami with their son and other relatives. It was so nice to see them. They are crazy though. There were driving straight through to Fort Worth from Miami. The longest I did was Dayton to Tampa. Well, I guess that was pretty long.

I should close for now. I have lots of blogs to check out and laundry to do.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Wednesday Hero

Lance Cpl. Samuel Joyce, from Boston, accepts a bagfull of toys during the Toys For Tots 5k Run at Fleet Activities Yokosuka. Runners donated new toys to the local Marine's Toys for Tots program.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Friday Funny

So this lady says that the other day she saw a man driving down the interstate at high speed with a dog hanging on to the tail gate for dear life..



She said if he hadn't been going so fast in the other direction she would have tried to stop him.



A few weeks later her son see's the same truck at the bass pro shop!



The guy is a taxidermist!

FINALLY!

I finally figured out why I was not able to logon to my blog at work. My security settings had been changed. Must have been the last forced update that the VA does. Anyway, I am sorry for not posting. I have really missed you all. I have been able to read and occasionally post a comment. But I had things to say and changes to make and I could not. Now I can't remember what it was I wanted to say. Thank you all for not giving up on me or forgetting me.

I am getting used to not having anyone around. Shay is doing well in FTAC at Fairchild. She is class leader and is meeting new friends. I guess they say that you will hang out with the people you go to FTAC with. A few of them have been eating together now and went to the movies the other night.

My brother just got back from Japan where he was officiating at the World Karate Championships. He seemed very tired when I talked to him.

An dI have just been working and hanging out with the dogs. I have been going to karate class every Tuesday and Thursday and then this Friday will go the the kumite (fighting) class. I love kumite!!!

I took a tile class at Home Depot last weekend. We have some tiles (about 16 total) that cracked from the house settling and I want to replace them. I am ready! I got all my tools needed and the training was great. He let us all get our hands in there and feel how it should feel. Watch out bathroom, here I come!

I wanted to share some more photos from our big karate event.

This is my brother.


Here he is again. This one shows the sweat from the testing.


This is Shay, Jay and me with his certificate.

Wednesday Hero

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody
55 years old from Fort Belvoir, Virginia


Call it breaking the brass ceiling. Ann E. Dunwoody, after 33 years in the Army, ascended Friday to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general.

At an emotional promotion ceremony, Dunwoody looked back on her years in uniform, said it was a credit to the Army—and a great surprise to her—that she would make history in a male-dominated military.

"Thirty-three years after I took the oath as a second lieutenant, I have to tell you this is not exactly how I envisioned my life unfolding," she told a standing-room-only auditorium. "Even as a young kid, all I ever wanted to do was teach physical education and raise a family.

"It was clear to me that my Army experience was just going to be a two-year detour en route to my fitness profession," she added. "So when asked, `Ann, did you ever think you were going to be a general officer, to say nothing about a four-star?' I say, `Not in my wildest dreams.'

"There is no one more surprised than I—except, of course, my husband. You know what they say, `Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man.'"

You can read the rest of Gen. Dunwoody's story here.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Did you miss me?

PS. Yes, Applebees in some areas are offering free meals to Veterans as well. Not in the states of Florida, Alabama or Wasington. Which is where my veterans are located.

I know, I know, I know. I promised pictures many days ago. But in my defense I have been really busy at work. AND for some reason I could not log onto my blog to post but I could logon to comment. WTF

Also, I left my laptop with Shay so I have to go all the way to the back of the house, in the office, to get on the computer. And after working all day it has not been first on my list.

So hubby just left to head back to Alabama so I have some time to load some pictures.

This is my brother. He is my hero. He developed reactive arthritis many years ago and has not let it get him down. Many days he can't even get out of bed because it hurts so much. But if you ask him how he is doing he does not complain.



This is the three of us (Shay, Jay and me). We were in Troutdale, OR for the huge black belt promotion.


And this one is of all the black belts that were in attendance at this even. WOW! You can't see me because Yoshida Sensei is blocking my head.


I will put some more together for you and post them later.

Happy Veterans Day to all of our veterans. Did you know that veterans can eat for free at Golden Corral? Actually, any military personnel can eat for free. Active Duty, Reserve, Retired, Veterans of all kinds.

The Adventure is Over

I am waiting for the shuttle to take me to the airport and Shay has left to report for her 1st real duty day. While it has been great to be with her since September 19it does not help my feelings today. I miss her already!

This week we worked in my brothers house. We took 2 loads to the dump and another to the goodwill. I could have worked another week there.

We did get to see friends and I got three karate workouts in while I was there. Saturday we head to Portland for the big HUGE karate event. What fun we had. I have lots of pictures but I can't post because I am on a government computer right now. Maybe tomorrow.

We arrived back at Fairchild yesterday and tried to get her room as ready as we could. 2 trips to Wallmart and we were done for the evening by 9:30. She stayed with me at the lodge and left this morning to report for duty. Did I tell you I miss her already?

I arrived in Tampa at 10:30pm and hopefully the shuttle will get me home before midnight. I am sure my body clock is totally off kilter and I am going to be so tired for the rest of the week.

Hubby will be home this weekend (with the dogs) as he has 5 days off.

Not sure when I will get to see my Shay Shay again but at least we have cell phones and once her household goods get delivered she will have her computer with web cam. Oh yeah, cable and Internet get hooked up this coming weekend. Maybe she will update her blog then as well.

Gotta run.