Send in the Russians

I'd only been loosely following our recent troubles with NASA's Discovery mission, but I started to take interest when I noticed the headlines were getting worse daily. Delayed, then goes up, but has damage eerily similar to the damage that caused the Columbia disaster. Then NASA says "Oh, it's not a big deal, we've got this under control." (NOT a direct quote!!) Well someone must have felt it was a big enough deal to call the Russian space program. They said "If we've got to go get them, we can get it done in January 2006" (again, not the direct quote!!) Ok, we've now got a back up plan. Still, NASA says we can safely bring the ship home next week. Now there are pieces of ceramic fiber cloth hanging off the bottom, they are supposed to be between the thermal tiles, and there is much debate over the extent of the danger. The spacewalk guys say "Have them fix it" (do you see that I'm paraphrasing all this? My English teacher would die), but it's not that simple. They would have to go under the ship in orbit. Never been done. So... let's recap... things going wrong left and right. Russians prepared to come get our astronauts if need be. NASA not sure what to do. If YOU were one of those astronauts, what would you be thinking? They'd tell me to prepare to come home, and I'd be like "Oh, HELL NO! I'm staying RIGHT HERE. Call me when the cosmonauts are on their way!" I'd be sitting my ass in the ISS. "Honey? Yeah, I'm gonna be a little late coming home from work. Maybe you should go ahead and put my plate in the microwave." I mean, no offense to our space program, but holy shit! We've only been doing this for how many years? I know these ship are old and all, but haven't they ever heard of routine maintenence? So, my thoughts are with the astronauts and their families, may they make it home safely.

To Nate

This post is for my husband, I love you, and appreciate all that you do. We may not have everything, but I'm proud of our lives, and what we've accomplished. Remember that. I love you!!

"That's Something To Be Proud Of" ~ Montgomery Gentry

There's a story that my daddy tells religiously
Like clockwork every time he sees an opening
In a conversation about the way things used to be
Well I'd just roll my eyes and make a bee-line for the door
But I'd always wind up starry-eyed, cross-legged on the floor
Hanging on to every word
Man, the things I heard

It was harder times and longer days
Five miles to school, uphill both ways
We were cane switch raised, and dirt floor poor
'Course that was back before the war
Yeah, your uncle and I made quite a pair
Flying F-15's through hostile air
He went down but they missed me by a hair
He'd always stop right there and say...

That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
That's a chin held high as the tears fall down
A gut sucked in, a chest stuck out
Like a small town flag a-flyin'
Or a newborn baby cryin'
In the arms of the woman that you love
That's something to be proud of

So I'm graduatin' college, that was mama's dream
But I was on my way to anywhere else when I turned 18
Cuz when you gotta fast car you think you've got everything
I learned quick those GTO's don't run on faith
I ended up broken down in some town north of L.A.
Working maximum hours for minimum wage
Well, I fell in love, next thing I know
The babies came, the car got slow
I sure do miss that old hot rod
But you sure save gas in them foreign jobs
Dad, I wonder if I ever let you down
If you're ashamed how I turned out
Well, he lowered his voice, then he raised his brow
Said, lemme tell ya right now

That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
You don't need to make a million
Just be thankful to be workin'
If you're doing what you're able
To put food there on the table
And providing for the family that you love
That's something to be proud of

And if all you ever really do is the best you can
Well, you did it man

That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
That's a chin held high as the tears fall down
A gut sucked in, a chest stuck out
Like a small town flag a-flyin'
Or a newborn baby cryin'
In the arms of the woman that you love
That's something to be proud of
That's something to be proud of
Yeah, that's something to be proud of
That's something to be proud of
Now that's something to be proud of

Requests fulfilled!!

Here are the things you all asked to see, and let's face it, we all have that nosy side, otherwise we wouldn't read each other's blogs! So, here goes!

First of all, since a bunch of you asked to see the projects I'm working on, I figured I'd better show you my little sweatshop workstation. This is embarassing, because I'm usually the only one in there, and there tends to be a flurry of fabric and thread and pins everywhere. N said today it looks like an indoor hurricane.

(note the large box piled with fabric in the center of the picture. I'm so unorganized!)

This is an unfinished project, the one I was working on today. Curtains for our bedroom, as we're re-doing it in a black and white Paris theme. There will eventually be a silver swag, and a new curtain rod.


This is a project I have yet to start. I've cut the cushion for it, but haven't even begun to refinish it. Too much activity right now!


This is my downstairs bathroom curtain. I hand painted the stripes, and sewed the curtain. I still need to find a decorative accent for the area that is bunched, I'm still not sure what I want there.


Toy box for the living room, I covered it in black and camel fabric to go with my living room, redice the eyesore of having crap everywhere.


Pillows I made for the couch


More pillows for the couch.

That finishes up my current set of projects, I'll have to take more pictures once I finish with these.

For Christine: My fridge, I need to go grocery shopping. But, besides whole milk for the kids, what's the one thing we have plenty of?


Coke, of course.


For Mdmhvonpa: my bottom drawer. Bras, swim suit, a couple of books. That's all I'll cop to.


For Nicole: My medicine cabinet. How boring, right? face wash, kids' cold meds, Nyquil, kids' toothpaste. How can one's medicine cabinet be so bland?


All of my meds and stuff are in the kitchen. Note the huge amber bottle in the middle? That's Mortin 800s, the Army hands them out like candy. One of those small bottles on the bottom are my happy pills. See? I told y'all I was crazy. How sane can a person be if they store their medicine with their Pyrex dishes??


So, there you have it. Kim had asked to see what is in MY nightstand drawer, but the sad truth is I don't have a nightstand. Sorry, Kim.I'll be happy to fill late requests, just leave me a comment!

Martha Stewart wannabe

I would totally have more posts coming to you, but I'm way too busy crafting. I guess you could say I'm a Martha Stewart wannabe, minus the whole jail/SEC/insider trading thing. I so don't do that, unless anyone has any good stock info. (Kidding!! I'm kidding! I let my advisor handle that shit anyway!) So, mix my frugal (read: cheap) tendancies with my need to feel creative, and the complete lack of decor in my house, and you have a busy Crystal. Sewing, glueing, shopping, painting, I'm doing it all. I do promise to stop neglecting you tomorrow, and I'll even fulfill requests. What would you like to see pictures of? Use your brain, there will be no nudity, nothing too inappropriate, but basically I'll do my best to accomodate your nosy side. Come on now, there must be something y'all wanna see? Leave it in comments, your wish is my command.

Ranting again...

**Edited** I realize this is long, but I'd appreciate everyone sticking through it. This was important to me, I didn't go back and edit or proofread, because the post comes from emotion.

Let me start this rant by giving a few bits of background. My mom was a single mom most of my life, and worked her fucking ass off to take care of me. My (step) dad is a police officer, and taught me respect for the underpaid and overworked civil servants of our country. My first husband was a soldier (a shitty one but a soldier no less) and my husband is a trained firefighter/emt, but has re-enlisted into the United States Army. I know the sacrifices people make, especially those of a military family. Nate re-joined the Army knowing, without a doubt, he will serve in Iraq, he will have to be away from us, we will all sacrifice. Every soldier in the United States military knows that their duty, the job they are underpaid and overworked to do, comes with great stresses. It's not all peaches and cream. Also, and this is the important part, if you are a female in a "man's world" you'd better go balls to the wall and work your ass off. You DO have something to prove. You cannot say "I can do this" and then NOT DO IT! Do not sign up for it if you can't hang. There are women soldiers who are some tough bitches, they can out do any man, and aren't afraid to give it 110%. They are soldiers, through and through, and they deserve that respect. If a woman signs up and then pusses out, throws the "I'm a girl" card to get out of the hard work, she deserves to get her ass kicked. I depend on the soldiers in the Army to protect my husband in battle, to have his back if shit goes down. A girl who admittedly cannot even shoot straight is not able to do that. That is BULLSHIT.

Here is the site I'm talking about. When I stumbled upon it I immediately felt my blood pressure rising, because this "woman" is a disgrace to my sex, and a disgrace to the Army. I pondered how to deal with my anger at this pitiful display, since I'm a big believer in clicking that little X at the corner, or hitting the back button. Free speech and all that, this is the internet after all. However, I couldn't shake the words from my mind, the arrogance of this writing, and the insults to military families everywhere. What could she have possibly written to upset me so much? I'll break out a few "highlights" for ya.

This soldier and her husband are dual military, they are both enlisted soldiers. They are serving TOGETHER in Seoul, Korea. Let me tell you about the tours of duty in Korea. Seoul is the capitol of S. Korea, decent place compared to the rest of the country. This is not such a bad tour. Camp Casey, on the other hand, is on the border of North and South Korea, it's a scary and shitty place, one no one looks forward to going. She's in Seoul. Nate did his very first tour of duty in Casey. Her whining about her location was lost on me after hearing his stories. Also, my good friend Debbie's husband (who is currently in Iraq) just recently served 18 months in Casey. It's just as shitty and scary as it was in 1997 when N was there.

Part of being a soldier is shooting weapons. You go to the range, you practice and "qualify", you have to be able to perform certain tasks and hit certain targets. Not unreasonable, right? Especially not from a soldier who has been in a few years, this ain't their first rodeo after all.This wonderful "soldier" complained that she had to go to the range and fire, even though she had some "mystery neuro/muscular disease" and had been excluded from normal training for over a year. She was bruised and scraped from firing the big mean guns, and from dropping down to the ground for firing positions. They even made her use a black machine gun, which burnt her little hands. Oh, the HORROR!

Said mystery disease had also excluded her from daily PT (physical training) and PT tests. Her meanie chain of command was making her take a PT test, and didn't they know she was MUCH too fragile for that?! After all, she should be entitled to receive a paycheck from taxpayer's money without fulfilling ANY of the requirements of a soldier. Who do they think they are to ask her to train?! Speaking of training, she had to do NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical... think hazmat) training. I mean how frivilous, we KNOW there is NO possibility of an attack with nuclear, biological, oir chemical weapons! The NBC training involved wiping a charcoal based product on to simulate how one would act in such an attack. She got DIRTY. Someone call the ACLU, they made this soldier get dirty!!

Let's move on to how disrespectful and arrogant this "soldier" is about deployment and military life. As I said before, she is married to another soldier. The sad thing is she has been to PLDC (primary leadership development course) which means she is at least a sergeant. Her husband has not yet achieved that rank. The are due to go out to the field to train in August, which happens to be their anniversary. Oh, darn, they'll have to spend their anniversary training for war. Bummer right? Well, her husband is now going to PLDC for that month instead, and this means he's getting promoted. She will be in the field, with no way to contact him, while he is IN SCHOOL for a month. No way to say "Happy Anniversary, Honey!" Are you feeling sorry for her yet? Well, what about the thousands of couples who are separated for a year or more while the soldier is in IRAQ. I guess their plight of missed birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, BIRTHS, DEATHS, and other life events is trivial compared to her husband being (safe) at school while she is (safe) in training. Poor thing!!

Iraq. She goes on to explain how the peace keeping armistice mission in Korea is the same as the LIVE FIRE comabt missions in Iraq. Granted, in certain parts of South Korean Army operations (read: Camp Casey) there are some scares, missles overhead, etc. However, in Iraq, at this very moment, there are insurgents firing weapons at our troops. Live weapons. RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) IEDs (improvised explosive devices) AK47s, suicide bombs, and everything in between. We lose troops on a near daily basis, killed in action in the combat zones of Iraq. This is not happening in Korea, and the fact that she even tried to compare the two is a slap in the face to every soldier, every spouse, every family member, and every widow that has been touched by the Iraq conflicts. There is a soldier N knows who took a sniper shot to the face and lived, is back here to tell about it. Another who was hit IN THE MOUTH with an RPG that didn't detonate, and he lived to tell about it as well. These are the LUCKY ones, because most of us know at least one soldier who came back in a body bag. Most of us have been to the memorial service, the roll call and 21 gun salute for a fallen troop. I'd pack the bags for my husband in a heartbeat if I was told he was going to Korea instead of Iraq, because I would feel confident he would live to come home safely.

The complaints about the menial tasks, the boring, redundant classes, the field training, the PT? All lost on me. Those are the safe bets, I guarantee there are thousands of soldiers who would trade places with her RIGHT NOW. Still, I'm glad she is where she is, because she's not a good enough soldier to be trusted with my love's life, my children's Daddy, my SOLDIER. This is my thank you to those who do it right, who give it their all, even if it means their life. This is also my "Fuck you" to every enlisted member who shirks their duty, who doesn't give a shit about anything they promised to do. No one put a gun to your head and made you sign the paper. No one said it would be easy, no one promised it wouldn't hurt sometimes. You took an oath to protect America and Americans, and I take offense to your failure to do so.

The New Guy and the old guy

The celebrity and my ex-husband post was the easiest by far, the only delay was digging up a picture of the Ex. So, for today's lookalike contest...

This is DJ Qualls, star of The New Guy, and more recently plays a role in the new film Hustle and Flow.



This is my ex-husband. When we met (in high school) he even had the same long, shaggy hair Qualls often sports. My friends and I noticed the resemblance one night while partaking in some illegal activities and watching Road Trip, another movie Qualls was in. You can imagine the laughter that ensued.

It's not you....

Funny thing. I actually have a few different blog posts in my head, but all of them take enrgy and focus I seem to be lacking right now. So, I do assure you I will get on these posts ASAP, and in the meantime here's a sneek preview.

I am going to rant about a blogger, something I normally wouldn't do, but this person has offended me as a military spouse, and as a woman. She will be receiving her prize of a new asshole.

I'm going to show you just how closely my ex-husband resembles a certain movie star, and it's not a good thing.

I'm going tell you where the fountain of youth is, with photographic evidence to support my theory.

So, stay tuned for all of these riveting stories and more, as soon as I can expand my attention span beyond that of a gnat. Worth the wait, right?

June Bugs

I despise the little fuckers. They are one of the nastiest little creatures I've ever had the displeasure of coming across. For those of you lucky enough to not know what they are, they are these flying beetle things, incredibly annoying and yucky. They are stupid, too. They fly into walls repeatedly until they drop to the ground, where they are stuck on their backs like turtles for a few minutes. Every time I see this I watch and hope it never manages to right itself, rather suffers on it's back until it dies. I giggled tonight when I saw one stuck in a spiderweb, and you know I must really hate them when I'M ROOTING FOR THE SPIDERS! Also, I was being a smartass and said to N "They ought to be called July Bugs, they weren't nearly as bad last month." He didn't get it right away, and really who can blame him, because it was a totally lame remark. Now you see how dorky I really am. Anyone know how to get rid of the little bastards?

Where there's smoke...

I've been on a redecorating spree, and tonight I decided to move our sparse furniture in our bedroom. I kicked N out of the room, despite his repeated offers of help, and went about my rearranging. On my 3rd arrangement, I went to plug the alarm clock back in, and noticed it was playing static (it's a radio alarm clock). I couldn't get it to turn off, so I picked it up to start fiddling with it. Well, it had been possessed, and began smoking in my hands! I yelled for N to come help me, QUICKLY, as I unplugged it. After a short discussion about how he would wake up in the morning (my cell alarm) and what kind of alarm to pick up at the PX tomorrow, he decided to plug it back in. Again the static, again it wouldn't turn off... and again it smoked. Ok, time to throw it away. Of course we had a good laugh about it, and I'm quite grateful it decided to catch fire in the evening and not while we were asleep or out of the house. One more thing for the to do list tomorrow.

Inhale, Exhale, Repeat

I decided to pick up a Pilates dvd, and try to get myself into shape. Well, after my first workout I can definitely say I've learned something, I am incredibly uncoordinated and don't know how to breath properly. Who knew breathing took such effort? I tend to hold my breath during exercises, and we all know that's not good. Also? I'm bony. My hip bones were digging into the floor during the leg exercices, so much so that I was tilting over from it. Ever try to balance on your hips? Not easy. Oh, and since your "powerhouse" (read: abs) are the core of Pilates, I'm in some trouble. I didn't have nice strong abs at 18, and I certainly don't after carrying 11 lbs of babies in them. This ought to be fun...

Shit list!!

My cable internet provider is on it, because we lost cable (we as in ALL of Ft. Riley) Saturday night/Sunday morning, and JUST got back up. Moving on, y'all are on my list, too, because 3 days with no posts, and not one of you bothered to email me and see if I was dead or anything! Cori is on vaca, so she has an excuse, but everyone else must now start kissing up! Ok, I suppose I'll let it slide this time. Anyway, I've been busy cleaning my whole house and sewing throw pillows for my couches, because what else can I do when my time sucker is gone?So, now I'm off to get caught up with all of you, and finish the pillows, I'll post more later.

Jeep Pictures

As promised, here are the before and after pictures from the Jeep project. This Jeep is a "gift" from my friend Debbie to her hubs, who is currently in Iraq. The first rear bumper we put on didn't clear it's tow hitch, and the bolts didn't line up, so after much cussing and sweating Debbie had the company send a new one. The new one came today, and I'm happy to report it went on quite nicely.

This picture is a partial "before", as the light covers were put on by Debbie. The rest is stock Jeep.


Here's me, quite sweaty and posing with a beer after getting the old (rusted) bumper off, and the nice new one on.


Front bumper, next up for that is the winch plate.


This was the troublesome rear bumper, we installed the tow hitch and bumper.


Again, the rear bumper... we kick ass, if I do say so myself!


As far as future mods, the winch plate has been discussed, as well as new fenders, and the new top needs to be installed, plus some locked cases inside, but the overhead one has to be done after the CB is installed. Neoprene seats are going in, and the D, Debbie's husband, wants to change the paint/exterior. Oh, and we're waiting on the nerf bars. Hurricane Dennis is to blame in that delay. There are probably more, but that's all I can think of right now. Psst... Debbie, feel free to comment and correct me. Oh, and I DON'T have chicken legs! **wink**

Huh?!

Did you know the British National Anthem is the same tune as "Our Country Tis of Thee"? Did we rip that song off of England? What?! I've never heard it before, but N and the kids are watching the All Star game and there was an instrumental version of the British Anthem played. I'm so confused now!

Blatant Mommy Bragging

You've been warned, this post is just the blatherings of a proud mommy, and may cause nausea.

My little girl is an ARTIST! Yes, an artist, dammit! She opened up my (defunct) dayplanner and started scribbling on the notepad. Usually her drawings are just scribbles and lines, but I looked at what she had created, and saw a face. I thought I might be assuming there was meaning in the lines that wasn't really there, so I asked her. "It's Mommy!!" I pointed to the "features" and asked her what they were, and she told me they were eyes and mouth, with a tone of "Duh, Mom". So here is my daughter's first "person" drawing, her representation of me!! I know, I'm being silly, can't help it!

Meme!

This is stolen from Tish, and various others around the 'sphere. Don't laught at me!

10 years ago: We moved into the first **house** I ever lived in, and my sister was a newborn. I was 12 years old.

5 years ago: I was in the beginnings of addiction, and an abusive relationship. The only good thing that came from that summer was my newfound love of Sixers basketball.

1 year ago: A custody battle with my ex was making life stressful, I was praying to all the powers in the universe to keep my children safe with me.

Looking back like that, the last 6 years have been a lot of ups and downs. It just so happened that the 2 in question were some of the downs, you'll have to trust me when I say there were many positives over that stretch, too.

Yesterday: I painted my toenails, watched a movie with Nate (Hide and Seek, it was very good!) talked to Cori, did some laundry. Pretty boring weekend, but it's hotter than hell right now!

Today: Cut Nate's hair, swept the floors. Had my neighbor and her kids over, the kids played with play-doh downstairs while we chatted and watched some of the race. Talked to my grandmom, got my mom's answering machine, picked up more Coke and cigs at the shopette, swept the porch, and checked email. More boring-ness!

Tomorrow, I have an early morning Dr. appointment, that ought to be fun, considering my sleepy-head tendencies. The house needs to be cleaned, I'll get right on that.

5 snacks I enjoy: Pop Tarts, chips, sharp cheddar and crackers, cereal (yes, it's a snack to me!!) popcorn.

5 bands that I know the lyrics of most of their songs: Dave Matthews Band, Bush, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, I can't think of a 5th I know lots of song lyrics, but not all from one band.

5 things I'd do with $100 Mil: Make sure my family (immediate and extended) and close friends were living comfortably, invest, donate to charities, travel, buy real estate.

5 Locations I'd like to run away to: The carribean, Europe, California (to see Cori!), The Outer Banks, NYC

5 Bad habits I have: 6 pack of Coke a day, smoking, picking at my skin, not knowing when to shut up, procrastinating.

5 things I like doing: hanging out with my family, reading, blogging, listening to music, sleeping

5 things I would never wear: I've got nothing... I hate to say never, lest I embarass myself.

5 shows I like: Rescue Me, Desperate Housewives, Fire Me Please!, Everybody Loves Raymond, Judging Amy

5 Movies I like: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Wizard of Oz, Lady and the Tramp (yes! the Disney one!!) oh, crap... I don't know. There are so many good movies, who can keep track?

5 famous people I'd like to meet: the 5 members of Dave Matthews Band

5 biggest joys at the moment: Nate, Shane, Maddie, my gmom finally getting her check, my friends.

5 things that are keeping me from being utterly miserable: my determination, my family, Coke, my computer, the air conditioning.

5 fave toys: My computer, my camera, my cable modem, the satellite dish, Debbie's Jeep.

5 people to pass this to: You guys know the drill, I'm offering it for the taking. You know, memes belong to the world, dammit!

Please be safe

I'm normally not one to get up in arms about hurricane season, as I've lived in South Florida, and experienced them myself. However, with Hurricane Dennis growing in strength and barrelling towards the Gulf Coast, I hope everyone out there is safe and continues to stay safe through this storm. I'm really starting to worry for my friends and family in that area, I hope the storm passes quickly. Please be careful everyone!!

**Sob**

I've been downgraded!! First Maddie downgraded me from Mommy to Mom, which broke my heart. Then, as if to add salt to my wounds, TTLB downgraded me on the evolutionary chain to a RODENT!! Oh, the humanity... I've lost my marsupial purse, and I'm a rat named Mom! **runs off weeping**

Twin bonds

Katy had a picture of her twins hugging and being loving to each other, and she noted how amazing the bond between twins really is. This made me think of last night, because in the wee hours of the morning I got to see this bond in action. Shane frequently wakes up and mumbles for Mommy, but goes right back to sleep. Last night I heard him calling out "Sissy!! Sissy!!", which is his name for his sister. I went up to comfort him, and get him back to bed, and as I was tucking him in Madison woke up. I looked over at her and her face was covered in blood!! **insert Mommy panic moment** I went over to her, and took her into the hallway, calling to Nate to wake up and help me. Her little hands were covered in dried blood, as well as her face and hair, with some fresh spots on her sheets. We figured out that she had a nose bleed during the night, and took her into the bathroom to clean her up. She was just fine, although a little confused, we're pretty sure she was picking her nose, and caused the bleed. How Shane saw the blood as her back was turned and the room was dark is beyond me, but he always knows when Maddie is hurt, and vice versa. It really is a beautiful thing, one I feel privileged to witness.

Super Hot Saturday

Today is hot and humid, one of those suffocatingly sticky days. We're lazing around the house, watching movies and keeping cool. My feet (and hands for that matter) have been looking ROUGH from working on the jeep barefoot. Any guys reading just cringed in horror, because what kind of idiot works on a car without shoes on, that's just asking for a broken foot! Well, there were no broken bones involved, but needless to say my pedicure had gone to shit. Therefore, while N took the kids to the video store, I decided to give my doggies some pampering. Don't they look pretty? I just love nice manicured toes! The polish is such a light pink it's hard to see, but you get the idea. Ladies, are your feet looknig summery? If not, take 10 minutes, and whip them into shape... you'll be happy you did!

Hot potato!

Busy Mom passed the hot potato, and now it's my turn. Catch!! You better catch it or I'll hit you with it!

Self Portrait Friday!!

Today's self portrait Friday theme was bedtime routines. I forgot to take it last night, but I do the same routine in the morning (backwards of course), so pretend that window behind me is dark. It would have been way too difficult to get a picture taking my contacts out or washing my face, so I went with the brush teeth portion of my routine. Don't look if you are eating, or faint of heart.

My week in pictures

My brothers-in-law were in town. Here are the "boys", Nate, Jake, and Dusty.


The kids and their uncles...


Jake is the baby of the family, he just graduated high school and is joining the Coast Guard. Here are the kids and their Uncle Jakey


Dusty is the middle son, enrolled in college, enjoying being 20 years old. The kids call him Uncle Ducky, a nickname he loves.


Last but not least, the construction crews cut my cable line earlier today, and I was bored. Me and bordom are bad. Jake had asked me to give him a mohawk a on Sunday, which I did. Today I decided to give Shane one as well. Actually, N did the cutting, but I told him to. I know, we're horrible people, but Shane LOVES it. We'll probably cut it all off in a couple days.

Are you kidding me?!

Tish, this will make your blood pressure go up, you have been warned. Actually, this will make everyone's blood pressure rise, but Tish is particularly incensed by the subject.

Remember this? Well, a miss of my mouse, and I ended up at the Killeen Daily Herald site today, only to see this headline: "KPD captures suspect in girl's kidnapping". Hmm... that type of thing is unusual for the area, so I read the article.

From Staff Reports:
Killeen police have arrested a 22-year-old Killeen man in connection with Friday’s kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl.

Michael Andrea Larkin Jr. was arrested just after 7 p.m. Wednesday after a search warrant was executed at 3408 Bamboo Drive.

At the time of his arrest, Larkin was out on $40,000 bond and on house arrest from an earlier arrest and indictment in connection with a March 2005 kidnapping and sexual assault that occurred in Copperas Cove, according to KPD spokeswoman Carroll Smith.

Police acted after receiving a tip from a resident advising officers about a subject who matched the description of the suspected kidnapper.

The 7-year-old victim of Friday’s kidnapping also made a positive identification of the suspect in a photo lineup, Smith said.

The girl was kidnapped Friday evening from in front of her home in the 1800 block of Meadowbrook Drive in Killeen. The child was not assaulted and was released in the Nolanville area an hour later.

The case was screened Wednesday by the Bell County District Attorney’s Office, a complaint was returned, and a search warrant and an arrest warrant were issued charging the suspect with kidnapping.

Larkin, a former Fort Hood soldier, was expected to be arraigned this morning at Killeen’s city jail by a justice of the peace, Smith said.

“We know this man has hit once in another town, and we believe he hit twice here,” Smith said. “It’s a relief to have this arrest.”

Police believe Larkin also may be connected to a June 8 kidnapping and sexual assault that occurred in the 1800 block of Kingwood Drive in Killeen. He has not been charged in that incident, Smith said.

In the Copperas Cove incident, Larkin reportedly entered Hettie Halstead Elementary on March 9 and waited in a girls’ bathroom, where he then reportedly inappropriately touched a 7-year-old female student.

Larkin was arrested and was out on $40,000 bond.

He was indicted later that month by a Coryell County grand jury on charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in connection with the incident.

Larkin was a member of Company A, 15th Main Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood. He was scheduled for a Chapter 14 discharge from the military last month, a 1st Cavalry public affairs spokesman confirmed at the time. The discharge cites the commission of a serious offense.

As a result of Larkin’s then-pending discharge, 52nd District Judge Phillip Zeigler signed a bond amendment in late May requiring that Larkin wear an electronic monitoring device once he was officially released from the military.

According to court records, court and military officials viewed Larkin as a flight risk.

Court records detailed Larkin’s acquisition of a vehicle and a previous attempt to purchase a plane ticket to Los Angeles after being placed on restriction by his chain of command.

“Our officers put in a lot of long hours on this case, so it’s great to see their work pay off,” Smith said. We don’t want this to happen again.”

This case continues to be investigated and further charges are pending, Smith said.

This asshat struck at least once, likely twice or more, all because the courts didn't bother to revoke his bond. He was an obvious flight risk, had disregarded orders from his command while still in the Army, and showed an all around lack of respect for authority. I know, let him go free, and kidnap and molest other little girls. That sounds like a great idea!! I hope they hang this asshole for what he's done, but it'll never happen.

Bored and boring

I have nothing to say. Is that possible? I have a cold, and have had houseguests (they left today) so I should recover from my absence of posts shortly. Oh, and I'm working on setting up Bloglines.com feeds, since Cori swears by them now. I am only short way into my links, but I'll definitely post an update once I get used to it. Happy Thursday, the weekend is almost here!!

Hello out there... anyone??

Jeez! One little national holiday and everyone disappears! Where the hell did everyone go? I've got houseguests (my brothers-in-law) and I'm still blogging. Slackers, all of you. There are only so many times one can check their email, message boards, and blog to find nothing new. I demand everyone get back to entertaining me!!
Anyway, I've been helping my neighbor with some modifications to the jeep she bought her hubby while he's in Iraq. We've put new bumpers and a tow hitch on it, nerf bars are coming soon, and we're waiting on a replacement for the gas cap cover she ordered, since the powdercoat was flaking. Once we finish with that, I'm not sure what we'll tackle, since there are a few things we would rather not handle, like wiring the CB. We know almost nothing about vehicles, but we're determined to do this by sheer girl power, and we've been doing a kick ass job. I'm going to ask her if I can post pictures here, because I'm that damn proud of us. We don't need no stinkin' men!! Needless to say after loosening rusty torx, lifting heavy parts, tightening the new hardware, and everything else involved in this "project", I'm sore. I did elicit a bit of loving teasing from N, because he says only someone as cute as me could get away with wearing gardening gloves to work on a car. (Hey, the skin on my damn hands is all tore up, I had to do something!!) On the other hand, apparently it's sexy to watch a woman work on a car, so maybe it's not all for nothing.
So, how did you celebrate your 4th of July? If you aren't American, what did you do this weekend? Is everyone alive and well out there?

Nickle Annie

Ok, so I'm still a little late on this, but you guys should know to expect that by now!!

As I mentioned in my last post, Nicole from Nickle Annie was my 10,000th visitor. Woo!! I feel honored! Let me tell you a little bit about this wonderful blogger. Nicole is a SAHM of 2 children, a wife to Kevin, a Canadian (y'all are so NICE!) and an all around sweet gal. Of course, she's fun-loving and has a little bit of a bad girl side, no matter how sweet she seems. Want proof? The pink dildo says it all. Then, for more PG rated fun, there are the adventures of her daughter's scout camping trip, her son and the farting horse, and her word association game.

Like most of us, Nicole has her struggles and insecurities. Her weight loss ticker tracks her progress as she works to slim down. (Honey, you look GREAT!) I'm sure all of us can relate to her battles with her kids over clean rooms and attitudes, and the stress of parenting. She's trained in Early Child Development, so it's comforting to know it happens to the best of us. She has her lazy days, and isn't afraid to admit it, we'd start a lazyass anon but it's too much work!

Nicole is also a photographer, as is her husband, and is in love with Flickr. If anyone has an extra free Flickr Pro invite they are willing to part with, could you please send it to nickleannie at gmail dot com? She totally deserves one, and we'd all benefit by getting to see her lovely photos.

With that said, head on over and snoop around. Let her know if you share her love for Sportacus, if you need a hug (see? REALLY nice!!), need some Avon, or want to grab a beer. Thanks Nicole, for being such a sweetie!!

Almost there!! **updated**

Updated: I had comments disabled here, unintentionally, so comments are no re-opened.

'm almost to 10,000 hits since December 28th, 2004. I actually have 2 different counters, but going by my Bravenet counter (which is lower) I've been keeping an eye on the tally all month. I'm pretty impressed by the jump in hits lately, because I still cannot believe people actually come to read my ramblings. So... follow in the steps of a few other bloggers, I'm offering you something in return. Whoever manages to capture a screen shot of hit 10,000 will get an opportunity to guest post here (if you want to), as well as a post written about them and their blog. Who doesn't love reading about themselves? Yay!!

Stuff Portrait Friday

Go over and say hi to Kristine, who features Stuff Portrait Friday. The theme was a picture of your keys... I have the house key, van key and remote, grocery card, Hallmark card, and Petsmart card. Oh, and the Snoopy key chain, for no particular reason.


A picture from your front door. The crap in the back of the picture is my neighbor's, the ones I complain about.


Something from a previous relationship. I could have gone the obvious route with a picture of the kids, but I decided to go with my living room tables. Actually, I bought the whole suite during my first marriage.


Ok, now go tell Cori that she needs to get her butt in gear. She could also use some hugs. Please and thank you!

"Friendly" Pawn Shop

This is a pawn shop outside of Ft. Riley, in Junction City, Kansas. There are a couple things you will ALWAYS find near a military base, a pawn shop, a titty bar, a check cashing/pay advance, a dry cleaner, and a "guaranteed financing" store. Of course, when we saw one of the pawn shops, we couldn't help but laugh...

"Cut Rate"!?!

I'll bet Jack & Dick are VERY friendly!!

You can see the level of maturity you're dealing with here at Insanity.

Self-portrait Friday!!

Katy over at The Grass Isn't Greener has a "Self-portrait Friday" and this week's theme is tattoos. I only have 2, unlike my husband's countless artwork, and this was my first. Juliet was a high school nickname, I got this tattoo at 17 on a spur of the moment trip to Philadelphia. It's on my right shoulder, closer to the middle of my back, I'm going to have the "Juliet" covered and the tattoo expanded next time we're in Texas.