Post vacation ramblings

One problem with coming back from vacation is there are too many thoughts running around to blog about. So i will just do my normal rambling blog. Hang on, this one may be longer than usual. 8)

One thing of interest (to me) is the show Jon & Kate Plus 8. I was a late comer to this show but i enjoyed the real life depiction (well, as portrayed and edited by TLC) of the day to day life of a family trying to make it through life. For me it was starting to get old when they moved into their new $1m house. It was becoming less and less like an "everyman" type of show (which is why i think i like Deadliest Catch more. I am saddened (for lack of a better word) by what is happening between the parents Jon and Kate. For the record i am siding with Jon, but he is not without sin in this whole situation. One thing that bothers me is that during the interviews you see Jon sitting to one side of the chair, leaving room for someone else to sit down (or maybe it's just the way he likes to sit in sofas, etc.), but when kate is being interviewed she sits center, or to one side with her feet propped up taking up the whole seat. A petty thing on my part, but for some reason it bugs me. I am praying for a miracle there... For a long time i've enjoyed American Chopper on TLC. The tie in is the resent crossover between Jon & Kate Plus 8 and American Chopper. I love how the guys at OCC can just take a picture in their mind and then fabricate it and make it 3-dimensional. But i've also liked motorcycles since i was a teenager. For a long lists of reasons i've never bought one. I've ridden them, and loved the experience. I may get one if i ever experience a mid-life crisis, but i think i am destined to never own one of my own. I have been itching for some NFL Football lately. I am still nervous about the Panthers chances this year, but it is only 62 days until the Panthers first pre-season game against the NY Giants. 47 days until "summer-camp" opens. 9-7 is all i ask from the Panthers this year. Anything more than that will be gravy. Recently it seems my beloved and i have been exposed to a lot of deaths lately. People that we know losing a husband, or a co-worker passing away suddenly. Last night we found out that our dental hygienist that we have known for over fifteen years was murdered Monday. There is one thing that every human being on earth will do... and that is die, but it still kind of shakes your world a little when it happens in close proximity to you.

Recently i was tagged in a note of a friend on facebook on a list of first. Here were my replies:

1. Who was your FIRST prom date? ~~~ Prom? I was not cool enough to even consider going to Prom, which was a requirement back in my day. 2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? ~~~ I married my FIRST love... if you're talking about infatuation... then no. 3. What was your 1st alcoholic drink? ~~~ Beer. I was made to sip it before bed time when i was very young to supposedly keeping from crying in my sleep. Must be why i can't stand the stuff now. 4. What was your FIRST job? ~~~ Paper boy. I loved walking around with my dog (a corgi), Lord Spaz. 5. What was your FIRST car? ~~~ Was some beat up, non-functional, Datson. The first car i ever got on the road was a '72 Plymouth Satellite. 6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? ~~~ The day is still young. 7. Who is the FIRST person you saw this morning? ~~~ Rob, co-worker. 8. Who was your FIRST Kindergarten teacher? ~~~ Um... i barely remember my college professors names. 9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? ~~~ I believe it was to Chicago to visit my Grand Father. 10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? ~~~ Billy, and no. I haven't seen him since i was 13. 11. Where was your FIRST sleep over? ~~~ See 8 above. 12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? ~~~ Does praying to God count? 13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? ~~~ My own. I was asked to be the best man at my brother's first wedding but i turned him down. LONG story. 14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? ~~~ I'd rather not say. 8) 15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? ~~~ Jethro Tull, Baltimore 16. FIRST tattoo? ~~~ Has yet to happen. 17. First piercing? ~~~ Are we counting stitches? If not, none to date. 18. First foreign country you've been to? ~~~ Germany, i flew over to visit my brother at Christmas time. 19. FIRST movie you remember seeing? ~~~ The Big Bus with my dad. 20. When was your first detention? ~~~ See 8 above, but i do know it was a frequent occurance 21. What was the first state you lived in? ~~~ I believe it was New Jersey, but i was born in Washington DC and lived there a spell. 22. Who was your FIRST roommate? ~~~ Besides my brother as a kid, David. Not Dave, his name is David, and God used him to teach me a lot of things. In many ways i miss him. Our personalities may not have been 100% compatible, but we were real brothers in Christ. 23. If you had one wish. What would it be? ~~~ Ooh, tough one... right now it would be that i could have enough money to pay off my mortgage and then be able to set up self sustaining funds in order to be able to give often and generously to a decent list of charities and friends. 24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance? ~~~ I would LOVE to learn how to play the Irish Whistle. 25. Who do you think will be the next person to post this? ~~~ Not a clue, but i am interested in reading some of them.

And last, but not least for today...

When i retired from the National Guard last summer there were two other "old timers" who also retired within a month of me. We had decided to try and keep in touch and started meeting for breakfast every other month or so. Well, since then it has grown from the three of us to over thirty invites being sent out. But, more importantly, other "old timers" from within my old battalion have organized an association to help keep the history of the the artillery in MD alive. They have formed the "Maryland Regimental Artillery Association, Inc." to accomplish this. While i am not a member yet, i am hoping to perhaps join in the near future. Although it is a sad occasion, i am looking forward to the deactivation ceremony in August. Of my twenty two years of service in the Army National Guard, the last nine years that i served in the Artillery were the ones i enjoyed the most.