How to scare the daylights out of me...

I came home today to find my DishNetwork is not working. Uh, this means no local channels, no satellite channels, NO DORA, NO DIEGO, NO FREAKING BACKYARDIGANS!!! The SOONEST they can come out to fix it is Monday, yes NEXT Monday. I may just die. Not to mention I have Desperate Housewives and Entourage to DVR, and I can't do that without service. I can't even WATCH DH without service. I think I'll go cry now.

Filed In: Daily Insanity

A Different Christmas poem

I've come across this twice today, once in an email, and again at MajorDad's, so I thought I would post it as well.

A Different Christmas Poem By Michael Marks

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done, For
being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "
Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

Filed In: Dogtags and Combat Boots

Pictures, as promised

Well, I attempted to retrieve pictures off my digital, since soem of you had asked for updated pictures of the kids, but both cameras are currently dead. The one that has pictures on it just will not work, no matter what I do, which pisses me off since I've only had it since September. My Canon's charger died, so until I get the one I ordered in, I have no access to that either. Anyway, I have one decent picture from Halloween, so here you go.



As you can see, Maddie's hair is finally growing back in. I will take pictures with my phone later today, and post them. We were at the zoo for Trick-or-treating, and they had a blast, but keeping them in one spot long enough to take a picture was nearly impossible. I'm going to be VERY upset if I can't get my Vivitar working again, because there are quite a few pictures of my kids on there. And it goes without saying that they are the last ones to have their hands on it, so it's probably in electronics heaven now. *sob* I should get a bunch from this week, because they were visting their aunts in NE, hopefully I'll get those by the end of the week.

I also promised pictures from my birthday party, so here ya go...


Me and one of our hosts, Mike


Mike the Pilot and me, it was his birthday too. **note: gorgeous necklace was one of my bday gifts, love it!**


Ryan, MTP, and Tasha


Me, Pat, and Meegs, they are so cute... and yeah, this was towards the end of the night.

This party was an interesting night, to say the least. It will probably be a long time before we allow certain people to mix their own drinks, after the debauchery of that night.

Filed In: Daily Insanity

Big surprise

I laughed when these results popped up, because I really do have the Philly accent. It's not like any other East Coast accent, and there is a huge difference from South Jersey/Philly to Central Jersey/Lehigh Valley to North Jersey/NYC. B grew up about 40 miles north of my hometown, and our accents are totally different, and neither one of us has that "Josiey" thing going on. I'll take my Phildelphian accent over that any day.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Filed In: Daily Insanity

Germ factories

The kids seem to have brought home some kind of plague, and I'm paying the price. TheraFlu is some nasty stuff, in case you were wondering. I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck, twice. If anyone needs me, I'll be sweating out this fever, and praying for death.

Filed In: Daily Insanity

Meme

Blame Nicole for this one...
10 first

First best friend - Nicole Harris
First car - 2001 Lexus RX300
First love - probably Zach Devenny
First vacation - Either Cape Cod, or Boynton Beach, FL. My grandparents had houses in both places most of my life, so I travelled a lot as a baby.
First job - Working at my family's deli, Nixon's General Store
First piercing - my ears when I was a baby, and a bunch of times as a child... they kept closing up
First concert - Bush at the Civic Centre in Philly (Razorblade Suitcase tour, Veruca Salt opened)
First record/cd bought - Probably Skid Row
First real love - IDK, honestly.


9 latest
Latest alcoholic beverage - Um, either a UV Blue Lemonade or a Sex on the Beach
Latest car ride - to Walmart, ugh!!
Latest movie watched - The Wild
Latest phone call made - Tasha
Latest jacuzzi bath - probably in 2001
Latest played cd - a burned mix
Latest time you cried - either yesterday or the day before, I had a total breakdown
Latest meal - I can't say I've had an actual meal today (B will bitch at me when he reads that!!), so Chinese last night??
Latest curse - Fuck!!

8 have you ever

dated one of your best friends - yes
been arrested - yes
fallen in love at first sight - no
been in a TV program - I don't think so
had your heart broken - yeah, who hasn't?
said you love someone without meaning it - no
made a prank phone call - yeah

7 things you wear

1. t-shirts
2. jeans
3. hoodie
4. fleece pants
5. watch
6. necklace or dogtags
7. undies


6 things you've done today

1. Hit snooze one too many times
2. Made lunches and packed clothes for the kids
3. Rushed to work
4. Worked all day
5. Talked to Tasha for a while
6. Surfed around on the web

5 favorite things

1. My kids (although they make me want to throw myself in traffic most days)
2. My friends
3. Laptop
4. Camera
5. My hoodie (yeah, I've officially claimed it, never getting it back *wink* )

4 people I can tell anything
1. Tasha
2. Bobbie
3. Brian
4. Meegan


3 choices

Black or white? Black
Summer or winter? Summer
Chocolate or chips? Chocolate

2 things to do before you die

1. Get my undergrad and Masters
2. Raise my children to be productive members of society

1 thing you regret
no regrets


Filed In: Daily Insanity

Randoms

First, I log into Bloglines for the first time in a couple weeks. No big suprise here, over 2000 feeds that are unread. Wow, talk about behind, that's so far gone you might as well just start over!! So, I read a couple, make some comments, let people know I'm alive. If I haven't gotten to you, I will, bear with me. Now, CMHL... honey, your site and my computer do not get along. I don't know what it is about your site, but it freezes my browser, and crashes the whole damn thing every time I try to access it. I love you, but will never be able to comment. Sorry!!!! Now, I'm back to the trenches, hopefully I'll be caught up before my 30th birthday. Speaking of which, I have some pictures to post from my 24th birthday party back in September. That was an interesting night, one which I will address at a later date. ;)

Filed In: Daily Insanity

Non-stop

I have been going non-stop for the last two weeks, and it's finally kicking my ass. If anyone can figure out how to add a couple more hours to the day, please let me know, because 24 isn't cutting it. I've been pulling overtime every chance I get, but it means feeling like I'm never home, and my kids now live at the sitter. It's worth it in the end, because Christmas is coming up, but I'm tired!! I've got an interview for team manager on Monday, I'm hoping I'm not dead by then. Honestly, I feel like the house is a wreck, and I can't muster the energy to care, it's terrible.
Other than working way too much, I've been busy with the kids, and trying to have a little fun along the way. I swear I have a million things that I think of to write about, and by the time I sit down to type it up, I've forgotten. So, in the interest of seeing if anyone is still reading, I'm opening up the comments for open questions. Anything you have ever wanted to know, go ahead and ask, you'll PROBABLY receive an honest answer. Want pictures of something? Ask, and ye shall receive. I need something to get me posting again, so this seems like a good way to do so. That said, ask away!!!

Filed In: Daily Insanity

Tides of change

Things are looking good for the Democratic party... so far we have a nice lead in the House, tied in the Senate, and as for KS, we are now a "BLUE" state for Governor, with no real results in on the Congress races. I am beaming looking at the breakdown so far, because a lot of traditionally "red" states in the mid-west are now "blue". It appears that Bush and Co. have driven their party into the ground. I hope this continues into 2008, and we can rid ourselves of this ridiculous administration (Obviously we'll be rid of Dubya, but do we want to get stuck with another moron like him??) and anyone affiliated with it. I love elections time, and am slightly obsessed with the up-to-the-minute interactive maps right now.

Filed In: Daily Insanity

Vote

Elections are Tuesday. Go vote. It takes a few minutes of your time, and makes a big impact on our government. I'll be at the polls before work, come hell or high water.
I'm one of of VERY few Democrats in my family, I was raised thinking the Republican party was the only party, and there was simply no other option. I called my grandmom to ask if I could vote this time, even though I didn't make it to the primaries. I mentioned my party affiliation, I think she still can't come to terms with her own flesh and blood being a Blue party member. :)

Filed In: Daily Insanity