MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I don't know how these pictures are going to show on the final publish, so I'll just explain them as I go and you can figure out which one I'm talking about! Shayna had a good Christmas, I got her a rose gold ring with pink diamonds all the way around the band, she loved it! We may add more diamonds though, of course every woman likes more diamonds! haha. I had a good Christmas, I'm home first of all, I got a lot of Bengals stuff which would make anyone on the planet happy! The new Explorer also makes me happy, I love that vehicle. The cat, Mohinder, is happy as you can see by the picture, he's posing by the fireplace with his growing belly resting also! The tree that is pictured is our last minute Christmas decoration, no ornaments or star but it did the job! We'll put the big one up again next year. It's pretty sad when two of the presents are almost as big as the tree! Thanks to everyone that sent gifts, they were awesome and needed. The weather has been pretty good here, a little below freezing in the morning and then warming to mid 50's F in the afternoon. Work is going well, we went to computerized documentation while I was deployed. So now I'm really the new guy again since I really don't have a clue yet to what I'm doing on the computer! haha. I'll get it sooner or later though. Back on the duty call again also, my first duty day is Monday, then I have duty Wednesday through Sunday, so no drinking on New Years, that's fine with me since I didn't have anything to drink from March through November, good practice. Well that's about it for now, I'll write more next weekend. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year to follow.

Dave

Home Sweet Home, really this time!

Finally home! Time to relax.....not! We have a lot of things to do now, unpack the bags and the box I sent home from Kuwait, a ton of laundry, setting up the new wireless printer (which isn't happening as well as I thought it would!), oil changes for the cars, taking Shayna's car to a repair shop (she was hit by another driver the day before leaving for Wisconsin), etc. etc. etc. We are really happy to be home, although we were really happy to have the opportunity to see all, and I mean all, of our family and friends! It was exhausting for Shayna. On the way back across America I asked her what was the first thing she was going to do when we got home and she said she wanted to lock herself in the room to get away from me for about an hour, and then laughed. I guess I can be annoying sometimes, well probably a majority of times! haha. We are doing great, and no she didn't lock herself in the room.

The first picture is of Mike, Suzanne, Herb and Shayna. We went over to Mike's for a couple of drinks and some good food, it was really nice seeing them again. Mike and I played soccer together from the 4th grade on through high school. Herb and I have been friends going on 20+ years, still close.

The second picture is of me getting my tattoo. It looks like it hurt a lot, but it really didn't I was hamming it up for the photo! I told a lot of you I was going to do it, and it's done. It's an American flag in green and black (the colors of our IR flag on the uniform) and it says, "Home of the Free because of the Brave". It is dedicated to all of the US and Coalition fighters that have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. That fact hit closer to home this past week when one of my cousins friends lost their life in Kandahar. My thoughts are with his family, I'm really sorry that it happened.

The third picture is of Mohinder our Bengal cat. I cleared out a huge area for him in the Explorer, complete with a blanket and two pillows from home. He couldn't care less about all the room, the first two days he spent with his head jammed in the floor board near Shayna's feet! The third and fourth travel day he came around and started to explore the Explorer more and even tried to help drive, not a good thing while driving through a snow storm in Colorado!

The fourth and last picture is of my dad (Bob), mom (Teresa) and their neighbors, Bill and Monica (yes that's their real names and no there were no cigars present!). We went to a Northern Kentucky University basketball game and watched it from a private viewing box from my dad's company. It was fantastic.

I'm glad all of the trips are over and I'm almost looking forward to going back to work. I can't believe I said that! We have a great group at the hospital at NAS Lemoore, should be a good last two years in the Navy. Take care and I'll update again in a week or two.

Dave

Home Sweet Home, again!

Well we are now in Northern Kentucky! The pictures above were taken last week when we were in Cleveland. The first is of Shayna in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she was freezing and didn't like the picture, but I obviously did! The bottom left picture is taken on the deck in front of the Hall of Fame, Cleveland is in the background, and the bottom right is us in front of the Christmas tree set up in the lobby of the Marriott in Warrensville, OH. It's been a great trip so far. We've seen a lot of family and it has been fantastic. Grandma and Aunt Dianne are doing well in Cleveland as well as my Mom, Uncle Rich, Aunt Kathy, Grandma Fulks, Ryan, Shannon, Missy, Ty and their children. Ty and Missy's son Chad really wants to join the Navy as an officer, using the Naval Academy as his avenue to success! I'm really proud of him, and I get the feeling he is going to achieve his goal, that would be fantastic.

My Mom and Dad, Bob and Teresa are looking good and feeling good! We are staying at their place and it's as comfortable as usual. We had a good party last night with Teresa's side of the family, so I didn't run this morning! It was nice to see Dennis, Linda, Wanda, Rick, Eric, Randy, Tony, Sharon, Rob, Bill, Melinda, Amy, Josh, and everyone else. Shayna did another 2 miles in the pool at Silver Lake fitness center and it was flawless as usual.

I feel sorry for the guys back in Kandahar, I guess that it's starting to heat up again and get busy. As in previous messages that can be a good and bad thing for them. Good because time flies and bad because people are getting injured. Hang in there, you'll be home soon.

Well that about wraps it up for this week. More visiting to come this week and then we're hitting the road for the final time on Friday for the 3.5 day drive back to real HOME! woohoo. Take care.

I revamped the countdown clock to show the number of days to the Navy retirement. The Navy has been great to me, but everything must end, only 650+ days to go!

Dave