Have a Lovely Weekend!

Really, this is all I have. I am bereft of coherent thought at this point, and unintended hilarity might ensue if I write ANYTHING today!

Going With The Flow

The quarry where I work is bordered on one side by the Kishwaukee River. If you follow the local news, the Kish has had some serious flood issues in the past week. It's a strange little river in that it flows north and really isn't more than a creek in size, but damn, can it flood!

And apparently this morning, it has flooded into the neighbor's hog confinement waste pit. Every time someone opens the door to my office, (which is about every 15 seconds) the lovely aroma of pig shit flowing up the Kish comes wafting in.

Old Sarge, who works for the city's water and sewer department at home, is finding my situation quite amusing. Was laughing hysterically, actually.

The Skinny

What have I been up to?

Well, on Saturday Old Sarge and I were volunteers at a golf playday for Wounded Warriors. A young Captain’s mom put this on for 1-75 Cav out of Ft. Campbell. There was a Huey flyover, and instead of a shotgun start, there was a cannon start. Really!
Some of our soldiers, including CPT G:



Sunday was the Heritage Days Parade in Rochelle. Every time we do a parade, more and more of the young vets are with us. My son is the one in the DCU’s and he said the Marine was out of step the whole way:



Speaking of which, Son #2 has decided that the Army Reserves are too slack for him, and he is asking to be released. So that he can go back to active duty with his old unit.



And then there is water. Oh my Lord is there water! When you sell your house, I believe you must claim whether there is a water problem in the basement. If WE were selling, we would have to declare that it is not only wet, it is flowing! (“Rustic turn-of-the-century home with natural springs!”)

Sometime during all these storms we have been having, our upright freezer in the garage went out. Normally we would have realized this, since we go out there every day or two for meat, but Eldest Son’s freezer had gone out two weeks ago, and we have been having beef three times a day so as not to waste it. Alas, ours probably bit the big one at the same time his did. There are not too many smells that are worse than 200 lbs. of cow gone bad in August.

Damn near made me a vegetarian.

Slippery When Wet

I WILL be blogging again soon, just in case anyone has missed me.

This is for the family:

On Again

I just received a text message from Young SGT. He gets out of Rear D on Friday and will be training for deployment. I'm not posting details here, but it is sooner than I had thought.

Whoa.

We knew this could happen if YS got healthy enough from his accident, and it's not like this is our first rodeo- actually, this will make a fourth deployment with our boys. But still, that feeling that the bottom just dropped out of my stomach...

Stop over at his place or Sarge's Tavern and wish him well, okay?

Flavor of the Week

This week's featured brew at Sarge's Tavern is Oatmeal Hefeweizen.

My few experiences with hefewiezen have usually left me in a state of debilitating flatulence, given it's yeasty nature, but I will gladly try it in the interest of quality control if I'm aked.

Non-Hamster Drive!

Woo-hoo! I have a new computer!

And while I put everything personal on a CD last week, I kinda forgot my bookmarks. So if you notice I am lurking, I'm really just getting My Favorites back in order.

Operation Uplink

From the VFW website:

VFW Faces Significant Challenge in Troop-Support Effort; Demand for Operation Uplink Phone Cards Surpasses Supply

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 19, 2007--The VFW and its Ladies Auxiliary are challenging its members to raise money for Operation Uplink, the VFW’s premier military-support program that provides free phone cards to deployed servicemembers and hospitalized veterans.

Responding to an immediate large-scale need for phone cards to our deployed troops in Iraq, the Ladies Auxiliary is promising matching funds—up to $125,000—for every dollar VFW members raise for the Operation Uplink campaign.

Mike Penney, director for the VFW’s Military Assistance Program, reiterated the importance of the popular phone-card program and its link to enhancing the morale and well-being of America’s servicemen and women.

“That’s what the VFW is all about,” Penny said. “Taking care of the troops. Without a doubt, Operation Uplink is a huge part of that mission, which is why the VFW’s immediate challenge is to replenish our phone-card supply.” [Click to donate]

Funded solely by donations, Operation Uplink’s coffer is depleted because of an unexpected surge in demand. According to VFW Adjutant General Allen “Gunner” Kent, weekly phone card requests now average 10,000-15,000, compared to last year’s average of 5,000 to 8,000 requests.

“At the present, we simply cannot keep up with the demand and therefore are having difficulty fulfilling phone cards requests,” Kent said.

The challenge that has been laid upon us is to raise $250,000 by the VFW National Convention, which begins this weekend. The way the story came to me last week was that the VFW is desperately trying to get phone cards to 3ID and 1st Cavalry, which are deployed right now. If you remember, I flew to Ft. Hood with a bunch of 1st Cav soldiers going home on R & R.

If you happen to have some spare dollars this week, you may make a donation at Operation Uplink.

Just in case anyone was wondering, my apple butter didn't turn out (I threw it out), my apple cinnamon jelly didn't set (I threw it out), and I spent so much at the grocery store that the steam cleaner will have to wait a few paydays. Pffft!

I'm blaming the humidity lest my reputation as a canning goddess is besmirched.

We went to Savanna on Sunday for a District VF*n*W meeting. It has been way too long since Old Sarge and I have been over that way. (And Young SGT, Mike Ramirez says to tell you hello!) We enjoy it there alot; it is one of the old river towns along the Mississippi. Our new District commander is a tool, though. He just has NO leadership skills whatsoever. He did ask me how Young SGT was getting along, and I told him there was a good chance he may still deploy in November.

Commander Tool: Well, hopefully we will be out of there by then.
RM: You mean you want us to lose?
(Old Sarge is doing the two-step on my instep at this point)
Commander Tool: Uh-uh-uh....
RM: Since I COMPLETELY disagree with that, we should probably change the subject.

When someone can give me a rational response to "And then what?", I'll listen. Until then, I refuse to keep my mouth shut.

Still Hot

Today is the birthday of one of my very favorite singer/songwriters, well, before Karl Rove gave me the Soul Kiss and made me a Republican.

Oh wait, actually Jimmy Carter made me a Republican.

Anyway, my dirty little secret is that I have adored Dan Fogelberg since his first album came out.






Same Auld Lang Syne has always had a special place in my heart. Oh so many years ago, I was home in Illinois visiting my parents with the Eldest Son. I went to a high school basketball game one night and there, beyond all chance, was my high school sweetheart. He had gone to the University of Illinois while I had headed to Arizona State, but we had kept in touch on occasion, even after I had married and had a child, and he was engaged. We watched the game, and then went up to Lowden Park, where we had spent so much time before. I remember sitting on the rock wall below Black Hawk statue, watching the river, shivering a little from the cold, and talking. This was the time when our lives would go in different directions from here on out, and it was an unspoken good-bye, I think.

When I got home, I was sitting in the dark in the dining room, listening to the radio. Same Auld Lang Syne came on. It started to snow outside and I cried.

I would call anyone a liar who, no matter how good they have it, how much they love the one they have, doesn’t look back on the First Big Love and wonder What If? Not that you would change a thing, but … you wonder.

Happy Birthday, Dan, and thanks for everything.

Add the 3, Divide by 7

If there is one thing that will make me (more of) a crabby bitch, it is trying to weigh what I have to do against what I want to do. When I have to make a list of priorities for my very limited free time, it just downright sucks. Case in point: this weekend I would like to get the following done:

Get groceries – mandatory
Buy a steam cleaner – want to
Steam clean nasty carpet – NEED TO
Make apple butter and apple jelly – want to
Pick tomatoes and maybe can them too- want to

Pretty ambitious stuff. Now take Sunday completely off the table because I have a VF*n*W meeting in Savanna, and try to cram all that into Saturday.

Gads. What to do???

That's About Right...

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Very popular, one of you is not enough.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

H/T to Mrs. Who

Beer- It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore!

This is certainly an interesting concept- a forum for military brewers!

Yes, it seems the extremely talented and good-looking Young SGT has opened an new website devoted solely to the soldier and his beer.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to introduce you to:

SARGE'S TAVERN!

Baby Blob

Well, that's what he/she looks like at the moment.

I know you other mothers out there remember the first time you heard your child's heartbeat, and really realized "Holy Crap! There's someone IN there!" The Girlfriend was just over the top at hearing it; I just had to smile.

So...March 17th! Maybe we'll have a St. Patrick's Day baby!

Dedicated

Stork News

Eldest Son and his Girlfriend are having their first ultrasound this afternoon! I think it's early yet, but if there's any news, I'll post it.

Speaking of news....?????

U NVR NO

Really?

IP Address 134.205.120.# (The Pentagon)

Well ,make yourself at home!

Stolen Valor

If you haven’t read this book, Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History, I highly recommend it.

It's been probably seven years since I have read it, and I think today that I would seriously question some later parts of the book, namely ones that deal with PTSD. At the time, I was convinced that there could be a bit of fraud involved in using PTSD as a claim. Not anymore- I've met too many returning soldiers in the past few years to doubt it.

But that aside, Stolen Valor lays out a good case for why our soldiers came home to the kind of treatment they received, as facilitated by the media and the John Kerry's of the world. So much of what happened to the Viet Nam vets is happening again today, when a little turd like Scott Beauchamp is headline news, but so few people know who Brad Kasal or Nick Popaditch are, hell, some people can't even tell you who Paul Smith or Jason Durham were or why they are so special!

I'm going to have to read this again, but I have a feeling that parts of this book are extremely relevant to how our Armed Forces are being treated today.

In the Can

I am having a good laugh with Tammi this morning, on what a pain canning can be.

Pain, my ass. Obsession for some of us.

I have spent all weekend fretting because I don’t think I’ll get a second picking of green beans. Only half the tomatoes are producing, and they have to be picked early before they rot on the ground. It has been pretty wet this year, plus the tomato cage has not been built that can withstand Old Sarge’s Killer Tomatoes. We had homemade spaghetti sauce last night that would make the saints weep, it is so good. There are jalapenos and onions to be frozen, and I haven’t even started on my jellies yet. Soon though. I made my first attempts at drying my own herbs this weekend, too. We’ll see how that turns out.

So how does this happen? I have half my pantry and a good portion of another closet full of jars. I haven’t bought green beans or beets in well over a year. I haven’t bought beef in YEARS and very little pork. I’m already rearranging the freezers in anticipation of the Great Slaughter of October ’07.

When did I become the Mother Earth type?

That Explains EVERYTHING!

I found this over at Hot Air :

WOMEN in their 40s are more likely to binge drink on a night out than younger people, research has found.
Men's drinking habits peak during their late 20s but women's alcohol intake reached its heights 20 years later.

So, we not only peak later sexually, but we have to drink ourselves silly because our men can't keep up? (So to speak)

Hmmm...

I got this in an email this morning and it reminded me of somebody.



Kinda. I think the chair is the wrong color and the cat is definitely wrong.

Any guesses?

Again With The Sideways

Dear Kopy Kat Copier Supply,

First, let me say that our first nine years together were lovely. Really. You always came through for me when I needed you.

However.

You replaced my copier lasy year while I was in Georgia with a copier/fax. I hate it. It hasn't worked right since I've had it. Simply, it misfeeds like a muthafucka.

You may assume from my snotty tone that, if I request a service call AGAIN to fix the damn thing, it does not mean that I am eager to wrap the phone cord around myself and my cubicle, try to open every orifice on the machine and get my stylish white eyelet blouse covered in dirt, dust and toner. That's what I called YOU for.

Assholes.

From Left Field

You know you have hit a new low in blogging when all that you can think to comment on is that all the fresh corn, beets and blueberries in your diet makes for interesting converstion poop.

Not that it's happened to me, mind you.