Go Mandy - It's Your Birfday!

I can hardly believe Amanda is 25. Okay, well - tomorrow she'll be 25. I always think about her birth beginning on Halloween because that's when I went into labor. It was a whole 'nother world back then.

I called Amanda on the way home tonight and she was shopping (that's my girl) for something to go with the dress she's planning to wear to the Marine Corps ball. It struck me as funny because I had been out shopping in the early evening on Halloween when I felt what I thought might be contractions. We sure as heck weren't going to any ball, though. She was looking for purple shoes, among other things, and that was proving difficult.

Amanda was Suzanne's first child as much as she was mine. She would run to Auntie Suzanne's first thing every morning once she was old enough to figure out how to slip out of the house without waking me up. She knew she could count on being spoiled rotten by her auntie.

She was - and still is - a fiesty, independent, opinionated, intelligent, beautiful and funny girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MANDA : )

Pumpkin Pics

Daniel playing with the freaking drill while Gary is hard at work on his jack- o - lantern. Is it any wonder I have grey hair?!













Lea Anna helping clean her pumpkin out









This one is our departments entry in the pumpkin carving contest this year. We won't know until tomorrow if we won anything or not, but we had some stiff competition this time around.








Happy Halloween Y'all!

Brian vs. The Mailbox

My mailbox looked like it had been whacked a couple of times before I ever bought my house. One weekend I got tired of looking at it and decided to get a new one. It would be an inexpensive DIY project that I could handle myself. Or so I thought.

I got a nicer, bigger mailbox at Home Depot and went out to the curb to remove the old one and replace it with the shiny new one. Ha. It wasn't happening. Between the rusted-on hardware and my lack of proper tools I was ill equipped to get the old mailbox off of the mounting bracket, to say nothing of installing the new one. I don't know how I could let something that should have been so simple kick my butt like that, but it did and the new mailbox has been sitting in my garage since early Spring.

A couple of guys said they'd fix it for me but never made good on their word. Though that might have been indicative of their character in general it was the least of the problems with them. Angela couldn't believe I'd neither managed to replace it nor talk anyone else into doing it for me; she threatened to do it (which would make me look even wimpier) but still it sat in the garage. When Cherie and Kelly came out to visit in July I was still grumbling about it. I think in a way it came to symbolize my love life. Yikes.

So here comes Brian. You might remember him as my partner in crime for the Craftsman house trespassing adventure. Anyway, we were going out on our first date-date: the kind where the guy comes and picks the girl up at her house and everything. We'd gone a couple of places together and talked on the phone a lot before this point so I wasn't really nervous, and he didn't seem to be, either, when he arrived. I grabbed my stuff and we got into his car to head out for our date. He threw it into reverse and promptly backed into that damn mailbox!

I could not stop laughing. If he wasn't feeling nervous and dorky before, he probably was now. Poor guy. I'm not sure he believed me when I reassured him that I had a vendetta against that mailbox and felt no ill will toward him for backing into it. Actually, it was only his side view mirror that clobbered it. Still, the impact made the post lean like the Tower of Pisa. He felt bad about running over my mailbox the first time he came to pick me up. I know this because he said so repeatedly. Then he said he was going to fix it. I thought to myself "I've heard this before," and wasn't going to hold my breath.

I know Brian well enough now that I can bring up the mailbox and tease him about it. It's still not fixed, either, a fact that came up in conversation again while we were on the phone last night. He said, "I'm going to fix your mailbox this weekend." I said, "Can I have that in writing?"



UPDATE: Brian conquers the mailbox!

Says Brian: "I vanquished my foe."

Look at my shiny new mailbox!

My Hearts in the Pit of My Stomach!

I did not know who else to turn to. Not more than two hours ago David and I were on the computer chatting about what to get mandy for her birthday. We got on the phone after he was done to order her gift. I was telling David how I felt we got robbed of ways of communicating because of the assignment he got. Because he got an easy and semi-safer job he gets less perks. Like Internet and phones in his room. So he has to go to this place called an internet cafe which has a limited number of phones and computers. Sometimes the wait is too long and he does not have the time to wait. Me being the big ass I am had to voice my opinion on the crappy deal we got. Either he gets to be safe and we talk less or in more danger and we talk when ever we want. So I thought! I was just starting to calm down when David said he could hear gun fire. He felt it was our guys shooting. I ask if he was wearing his gear. He was not! Someone came into the cafe and order everyone off the phones and computers. We said our I love yous and got off the phone. I will never again complain about what time we do get on the phones ever. I'm scared!

Tired-Ness...

I have been SOOOOO tired lately...and I keep getting colds and headaches!

I'm pretty sure it's the after-effects of mmy night life... It feels like I barely get any sleep anymore!

Friday night, I went to an industrial show, and didn't get out (ok... I didn't really LEAVE) 'til 2:30 am (because I hung around to meet the band). Instead of going back to my dorms (like should have), I hung out with a couple people I met at Denny's 'til 5 am.

The only reason I didn't want to go back to the dorms because they would have made me sign back in and then I'd have lost my weekend pass... They were also gonna make the people who didn't sign out by 8 am go to a charity clean-up thingy, so I just waited for the 210 bus to take me to Grandma's. (It came around 5:30.) NE-Wayz...

I ended up not getting a lot of sleep and had to get up to go to TWO other shows that Saturday...

Just about all my weekends are like this and I think it's really taking a toll on me... All I ever want to do is sleep!

And then, STUPID ADRIAN hasn't given me the money for HIS HALF of our phone bill!!! He keeps saying he will, but I know THAT LITTLE BASTARD is SPENDING IT!!!!! GOD KNOWS IF I ASK HIM ABOUT IT HE'S GONNA GET BITCHY!!!!!!!!

I'm always stressed, and always tired... I want to take a home leave REALLY BAD, but I'm gonna save it for when I REALLY need it... I am going to ask my counselor to give me an extended vacation this Christmas...

Most importantly, I'm NOT going to any shows for this month. (There aren't any good ones anyway!!!) I'll sleep and save my damn money...

Long Week

Let's see, what's been going on with us this week? Okay....
Gary and I have had nasty colds all weekend that are still dragging on a bit. Now the kids got it.
Daniel had his 2nd grade play Tuesday. I found out after I arrived that my camera's batteries were drained and there was no film left. Little Miss Princess of Stinkers took pictures of the TV, her Suzy doll, and the walls in the house all without anyone having a single clue about it, so I have no photos of the occasion.
Out microwave suddenly died yesterday. I never realized how attached I was to it until it was gone.
Thank God tomorrow is Friday. I am so looking forward to the weekend. I think by tomorrow I'll be able to breath out of both nostrils and Saturday I'll have my new microwave. Yay!

Liubinka is Special Today

Today is Liubinka's b-day. Had a video chat with her and David the other day and that was a treat. Hopefully David will get to call and wish her a happy birthday before the day's out. But just in case he doesn't, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birtday To Me!!!!

Yes today was my 19th birthday. LOL! I had such a good day, and got some great presents. Okay let me start with me people you don't know. Chelsea, the lady me and the kids are staying with, she made me dinner and baked a strawberry cake. She is a great cook. My friend Nikkia Did my hair and gave me $10. My mother bought me a massaging back rest. My Husband bought me flowers and Godiva chocolatiers. No, I did not share, I eat them all by my self! Teresa got me 2 games for my Nintendo DS that Amanda got me. I am the luckiest girl on earth. I got the worlds greatest husband and with him inherited the world best in-laws. And a sister I can get along with. I can't wait till I get to meet the rest of the family!

A,A,A,A's and Just 2 B's

I never thought I would see this day! All three of my kids STAR STUDENTS for the month of October! And all three on the HONOR ROLL! Leya made the straight A Honor Roll again. She does it every year. But this was the twins' first year getting real grades. Out here they get D for developed and U for underdeveloped in pre-k and kindergarten. I had such a hard time with them the last two years I was just hoping to see "C" and pray they would not bring home any "D" or "F" but to see them bring home 3 A's and a B in English. They had a little thing for student of the month and when their names were called over the intercom I started to cry. I just can't believe it - God gave them looks and brains. They so take-off after me!

Live From Iraq

It took several false alarms and countless hours sitting up at the airfield, but we finally loaded up on a C-17 Wednesday evening and made our way to Iraq. We've had to run to the bunkers a couple times so far, but life for the most part it feels like Kuwait. The temperature is much more tolerable here... easily 10-15 degrees cooler. The dining facility, however, is fuckin titties. The first night we were here was "Surf & Turf" night... yum. I told Mr. Hajiman I wanted everything and he gave me... well, he gave me everything. A hearty steak, crab legs, lobster tail, shrimp, scallops, crab bites, hush puppies, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, and buttermilk biscuits. Needless to say I didn't go to the gym that night. I did, however, go last night. I'm on a program I call "Body by Brandon." My buddy, Hill B, is my new personal trainer for the next year, and if things go like they did last night, I'll come home a new man. When we got done lifting lastr night, I couldn't do a single push-up. When I went to shave my face, I had to use my left arm to brace my right arm because I was so weak. Other than that, not too much is going on this side of the Atlantic. Luby's going to send my mailing address out, and any questions you have she should be able to answer. I'll get at y'all later.

-Dave

Trespassing

I was on my way to Taste of Atlanta with Brian (more on Brian later - he merits his own post!) on Sunday afternoon when, lo and behold, we drove by an awesome example of Craftsman architecture (see accompanying photo). Unfortunately it was in really, really derelict condition. This photo is 10 or 15 years old so it doesn't show what bad shape the house is really in.

We turned the car around and went to check it out. The front porch was something like 15 feet deep (yes, deep - from where you walk up the steps it was that far to the front door) and wrapped around one side of the house. We wandered around back and there was no door, so we went inside. The ceilings were very high - maybe 12 feet. It had that huge crown molding everywhere, two or three fireplaces, subway tile, hardwood floors...it was so sad that it was falling down. Based on what I have seen on This Old House it could be saved, but it would take a whole lotta money.

I am not fantasizing about buying this house (okay, I did for just a little bit). I do want to go back and take pictures. Who knows...one day I may get to recreate it. I dug around on the web and looked at tax records and other stuff and its ownership is hard to decipher, but it looks like the lot it is on (it is rather large) is going to be subdivided into six lots and, I am guessing, this once-beautiful old house will be demolished. I wish y'all could see it, and if I do get to go back and take pictures I will post them here.

Do you remember Mad Libs?

These are an online generic version, but they are still fun:

http://www.madlits.com/index.aspx

My downside to them is that just about every noun or verb is some version of poop or fart (how convenient for Daniel that these words can be both!).

THE ROOF! THE ROOF! THE...no...MY HAIR is on FIRE!

I don't need water...

I just don't want to be harassed about it by Job Corps staff *cough*MRS.SCRIVENS!!!*cough*...

Yep... After that happened with the Green and Blue hair, I told them I would tone down the colors and try to get something more "NORMAL."

It was really hard to pick out "NORMAL" colors, so I ended up getting the colors below.

I was actually unhappy with the orange color I picked out (I wanted a dark blonde, but they didn't have it at the store I went to) and dreaded what my hair was gonna end up looking like... But it all worked out OK!!!

Because of the way the colors were put on my hair, my head now looks like it's on fire... My friends have started calling me "Ragedy Jazz" (like "Ragedy Anne"... It's kind of horrible) and sometimes CJ calls me "Coral " (like a coral snake...which is cooler than "Raggedy Jazz" but the looser-y one stuck). Despote the stupid nickname, I'm happy with the way it came out.

The only thing I'm worried about is Mrs. Scrivens... I told her I'd tone it down and ended up doing the opposite on accident... There are other girls at Job Corps that get these colors in their hair... I just happened to mix them and becuase of it it stands out A LOT more...

I just don't want to get B**CHED at.

A Final Farewell to Mr. Turtle

Nothing new or exciting is going on here, but I have been up since before the crack of dawn with a strange urge to write, and at the same time still fuming about out what to do with the remaining 100 or so pounds of sand still sitting in a little pile next to my back porch.

Ode to Mr. Turtle

Farewell Mr. Turtle,
With your neon yellow lid
Upon my back porch
I thought you were safely stashed
Till the evil landlord decided to walk past

Bad Landlord! Evil Landlord!
May the fleas of 1000 camels
infest your shorts!


I made a real good beef pot pie for dinner last night. I found out if I simply simmer the veggies in with the browned meat for an hour or so even the carrots come out tasty. Lea Anna was heartbroken however, when she found out there were no apples or other goodies in it. After eating all the crust off (she called it "the pie cracker") she tried to talk me into making another one "with sugar in it".

Adrian vs. Bear!( and making exploding heads)

Herro peoplez! A couple weeks ago I dragged hector & Ruben with me on a trip to the L.A. Zoo. Our goal: T obeat the crap out of a bear! And naturally (since we had no car) we had to take, the metro. We got up and left at about 9:30 and left to catch the rapid dowtown. Once we got downtown we stepped out, and the mass amount of smog began viciously assaulting hectors poor lungs which are used to breathing cleanish-like air of torrance. While we were heading to get to the next stop he kept complaining abouthaving to throw up and the foul smelling bacon wrapped hotdogs didn't help. When we got on the next bus about 2 rows behind us was a crazy hobo/hitchiker/skateboarder that was yelling at the invisible people on his lap things like "I'm gonna kill you!" and "Go to hell!" This was Hectors first encouter with a metro crazy so he was pretty freaked out. When we got to the zoo we didn't see a bear enclosure on the map so I was feeling pretty bummed. So we walked around, seeing some kick-ass things like rattlesnakes, a white crocodile (who was hiding like a coward in the bushes!)and a rhino who had a MASSIVE cigar in his pen! (It was actually a wooden toy-like thingy) we were headed for the tigers pen 2 of them were fighting which was cool but those bastards stopped once I pulled out my camer. After that we saw awhat I 've been looking for, the bear. I immediately got excited, and handed Hector the camera and got ready to jump in and beat it up, but right as I was about to hop in that bear ran like a coward and hid inside his little cave. After that I got depressed, I was hoping that wed have a massive battle , but when I saw him turn tail and run I just got sad and decided it was pointless so we decided to just leave. Before we left we decided to get some munchies and as I sat moping over a 20oz soda that cost 4 bucks, something came that would turn this dissapointing day around and that something was: a bee. The first thing it did was swing at my hhead, which I quickly dodged but that sucker wouldnt let up and swung at me agian and missed by less than an inch! I then grabbed my empty cup and swung at it, but it did a matrix dodge and then attacked agian causing me to nearly fall over. I got up as It tried to put a finishing sting in me, and I grabbed a bunch of straws and began chucking them at it, but that crafty bastard dodged them ALL! It then tripped me over knocking me and the table down, but right as it was about to get me with its stinger, I grabbed a cup that was rolling on the ground and struck with all my might and the bee then fell dead. Once I recovered from that we leftwe sat for about half an hour waiting for a bus. While waiting hector beat up a cricket hiding in a trashcan. The first bus that was heading downtown skipped us, so I made his head explode ( evidenced by an ambulance passing by after I cursed him, mwa-ha-ha) and we eventually got home, Hector made it through the pollution Okay, and rubin kept bothering hobos for the rest of the day.

A Camping We Will Go

Cumberland Mountain State Park was filled up so we went to http://www.deerrunrvresort.com/
It was absolutley gorgeous, even if the bathrooms were a kajillion miles away from the campsite so we ended up driving there most of the time.


Everyone stay off the sidewalk, look who's driving now!


Ms. Suzanne


I told ya it was a long walk to the bathrooms. At least it was pretty.


My rug rats

marching down the avenue...

I've been in Kuwait for over a week now and I must say I am unimpressed. The food here is great, but everywhere outside smells like shit. By my measurements, this post is approximately 19 million miles across, and it actually gets bigger in the middle of the day. Since I arrived, I've been looking all over post for my rucksack, but didn't have much luck until today. We were packing some things up on the other side of post when a guy in my platoon saw a rucksack with my name on it. Luckily the sun had already set when it was time to hump it back. I'm still missing a couple of things, but my NCO's are taking care of the rest.

We should be headed for Iraq sometime soon, but until the wheels are up, nobody will know exactly when that is. I will be living in a two-man room with some random asshole, but the Army is making up for it by providing me with free internet access and AFN. People are saying the DFACs are better in Iraq, but the poo smell is worse... I don't know if that balances out, though.

We've been pretty busy, but still miss home. I talk to Luby just about every day and I've been able to talk to the kids a couple times, too... I miss them a lot, though. As soon as I get settled in Iraq, I'll be able to post pictures and stuff... there's a new policy that prohibits us from taking pictures off post, so you'll primarily see soldiers doing dumb shit and lots of sand. Until then, I'll be on my back.

-Dave

He did the monster mash...

I went to my friend, Charles' birthday last night... It was kind of ok. (There's was A LOT of rap music and...stuff). The best part about the party was seeing my friends again becuase I don't see some of them enough.

*****

I'm SOOOO looking forward to Halloween this year. (Unlike last year) I planned it out ahead of time and everything. I FINALLY have A LOT of awesome things to look forward to this October! Not to mention, it's gonna be a SHIT-LOAD to write about.

I'm going to have to seperate my blog/journale entries in different parts again!

Oct. 9th-Wumpskate (Goth/Industrial Roller Skating!)

Oct. 13th-Friday the 13th! Horror Movie Marathon (with my beloved friends). Break out the popcorn!!!

Oct. 19th-Hanzel Und Gretyl

Oct. 27th-KMFDM

Oct. 28th-Mad Monster Party '06

Oct. 29th-SLEEP !m! (><) !m! (I am soooooo going to need the rest!)

Oct. 30th-$PAYCHECK$

Oct. 31st-Santa Monica Halloween Parade! (The Freaks WILL come out at night!!!)

David Heads to the Big Sandbox - Liubinka's in the House

David took off yesterday - once Dick Cheney and his entourage were out of the way - headed for a year of deployment somewhere in Iraq. We don't have an address for him yet, but either Liubinka or I will send it around when we do.

I've asked Liubinka to post David updates here and to let us know how she and the kids are doing. Hopefully she will not be shy about it, because I'd hate for all of us to have to gang up on her and nag her to the point of exasperation ; )

Welcome to the blog, Liubinka!

Even MORE Random Art Crud!!! (Because art is fun...)

These are pictures I made for my friends, Nez and Doogie...

I liked them so much that I just felt like posting them.
(Sorry if they come out too big... I forgot to change their resolution!)

OCTO-GIRL NEZ!


DEVIL DOOG!

Technology Is NOT My Friend!

I need a new god-damned flash drive! The one Job Corps gave me was waterlogged awhile ago, but now Butt Plug (my older one) won't work in the Macs at my school! Every time I insert it, the dlash drive burns out the USB port for some UN-GODLY reason! (At least that's what the COMPUTER says...)

It only works on my computer (and most likely) other PCs... However, I NEED the damn thing to work on the MAC so I can do my work.

*sigh* It looks like I won't be going to my show this weekend... One of the local bands that I support are playing at The Key Club, but I gotta use what money to get a stupid, new Flash Drive... And what REALLY sucks is that a GOOD one's gonna cost me AT LEAST $50!

...GAH!!!

THIS BLOWS!!!!!

Just Give me a Botttle and a Big Ol' Cup... So I Can Get ****ed Up

After a year of playing around with our deployment schedule, my chain of command finally made up their mind. I will be heading to the airfield to get on a plane at 0220 Wednesday morning. After a short stint in Kuwait, I'll be heading over to [insert name of camp here] in Iraq to do [fill in name of mission here]. After an undetermined amount of time, I'll come back to Texas to party with my family. Like I'm told on a daily basis, "I won't lie to you, but the truth is constantly changing."

If I have Internet access, I'll be on Skype video-chatting when I'm not busy. I love it it works great... at least it does on this side of the water. I'll als make sure my mailing address gets posted so you can send me sucky-chewies.

-dave

p.s. -- everyone needs to get a psp and a nintendo ds... they kick ass