WHEW!

It'll take a while to catch up on what's going on. Lisa and I had a great Thanksgiving. We really have something to be thankful for this year, our new 2 year old German Shepard/Canaan mix dog, Moon. She came from the Humane Society as a stray. She was trained through a prison program, which the director of the Humane Society says has been a great success in placing dogs. The training portion obviously works well. She is well behaved and super sweet.

Lisa is staying in Ohio this week than travelling to Denver for Christmas for a few weeks. I'll be joining her when I'm done in Alabama. I can't wait. I kept waking up last night confused and distressed without her next to me. Of course without her here I'll probably be catching up on posts. I've already got my eye on a USA Today article that has my blood up.

Location Tracker

For those of you following these things, we are currently in Anniston, Alabama. We left Conway, Arkansas on short notice and may be returning there in January. Right now we're in one of my favorite places. I've spent a lot of time around this area in the past and I'm glad I can take Lisa to someplace she hasn't been before. We've done a lot of site-seeing already this past weekend. We checked out Vulcan Park in Birmingham and scouted out camping spots for next weekend. We are staying in a hotel which is the one downside, we're missing the apartment.

There has been a lot going on since the last post and even more since I got married. I don't go out to bars or have any hobbies aside from riding and site-seeing. This meant I had a lot of time to post on the blog. Since Lisa's been with me I'm finding it hard to get my thoughts down. I'm feeling a little guilty, though I shouldn't since I really just write for my own entertainment. It's something I've been pretty good at doing consistently for over a year (which is a real comittment for me). I'm going to try to get back to writing at least once a week. Since I think we'll have a good time here in Alabama there should be plenty to write about.

Weekend Update

Lisa and I went to Ft Smith Arkansas this weekend. The national park there, Fort Smith National Historic Site was the last one on Lisa's list in Arkansas so she's officially ready to leave. Her wander lust is stronger than mine. Of course after the meal we had in Ft Smith I can't blame her. We stopped at a nice looking Mexican restaurant downtown to eat. Right away I noticed something odd. I thought to myself that Lisa would probably be upset. The waiter seating us addressed everything to me, not even acknowledging Lisa. One of her pet peeves is going into an autoparts store and being ignored because she's a woman. She didn't mention it and I didn't give it anymore thought. As the meal progressed though, every waiter who came to our table ignored her. It really was shocking to me and I don't usually notice the odd slight now and again. Lisa was starting to boil. As we talked about it a woman a few tables over overheard us. When the waiter took that couple's order I noticed that he didn't look at her either. She saw me looking and was repressing a grin. At least we weren't the only ones. The waiter stopped by one last time to see if I wanted anything else and Lisa barked at him for the check. He got a funny look on his face as if just realizing that I was with someone and then asked if she would like another beer. Too little too late. After we were out Lisa pointed out to me that there were no women working there, none! I tried to write it off as machismo but it was really just inexcusable. It's one of the few times I've felt guilty for being a man. Fortunately Lisa didn't let it ruin the day. However, she does asked that if you're ever in Ft Smith you don't give your patronage to La Huerta Mexican Grill.

The Latest Glass

Yep,
originally uploaded by soldierant.

Man, I'm having trouble getting anything written down lately. I've got some good news to share though. My wife is no longer the most recent addition to the family. She's been beat out by the zygote on the left there. My youngest brother and his wife are expecting their first baby. As you can imagine it's a pretty happy time in the family. My Mom is fairly bursting. I'm sure my brother will be documenting the tale at his blog, Soldierant as it unfolds. I hope they enjoy the experience of the next nine months, as for me I can't wait to play with the little crib lizard.

Nothing To Say

But that's not going to stop me I guess.

Lisa and I have been back in Arkansas for about a month now. It's been good for the most part. Work is just as messed up as it was when I left. We're in an apartment instead of a hotel which is nice. We've got to do a little site-seeing and we laughed our asses off at The Wickerman, the most unintentionally funny movie I've seen in awhile.

It has been busy since we've been back and I haven't gotten around to documenting how the vacation and wedding went. All in all it was my best summer on record. I got to hang out with the family which is always a plus. Lisa's family flew in from Colorado. They enjoyed their first trip to the Buckeye state. They got to visit Amish country and see the world's largest basket in Dresdan. At the end of their vist we got to show them the American Motorcycle Association's Motorcycle Hall of Fame (that was mostly for Chris and myself). There was the winery outside of New Concord where we had a great gnoosh plate and wine, and I am not even a fan of wine.

As I write, more great memories come back, I loved seeing the old friends I haven't seen in a few years and seeing them mingle with my family. This is the first time my work and family worlds have collided. It was an odd experience but not at all unpleasant.

All in all it's been a great summer and I've loved having Lisa with me. Life just keeps getting better. We've kept busy so it's hard to post regularly but I'll try because I enjoy it.

The Long Trip Home (For Andrea)

Well we finally got married. It was a beautiful ceremony and from what I've heard everyone that attended liked it too. Lisa and I stayed in Ohio for three weeks which was great but a little too short for me. I'll start from the ending and work my way backwards. Our trip from Ohio back to Arkansas was a comedy of errors. I had to be at work on Tuesday Aug 15th. We left Sunday morning because we wanted to hit Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky and spend a nice relaxing trip. Normally it's a 12 hour drive. We stopped in Elizabethtown Kentucky (which Lisa was interested in seeing) to get gas when a woman pointed out that my coolant was literally pouring out on to the ground. As luck would have it a hotel shared the parking lot with the gas station so we ordered a tow truck and got a room. We had my truck and Lisa's with us so we weren't stuck in the room anyway. We found out that Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace National Historic Site was just ten miles down the road so we drove there for the reminder of the afternoon and had dinner at a nice mexican restaurant. We tried to look at it as an adventure.

We got the truck fixed Monday morning (our original travel day) and headed toward Memphis. We were going to get to Conway later than we wanted but nothing too bad. By the end of the day with about three hours to go, the right tire on my trailer popped. We rushed seven miles back to the last town, got a new tire and took off. Hot and sweaty (my air conditioning isn't working) we got fifty miles down the road and the left tire popped. This time it was too late to get the tire fixed. We were sitting along the side of I-40 in east Memphis in the dark. After another tow truck charge to deliver the trailer to the nearest hotel it was time for bed. The next morning we got the tire fixed, shifted some weight from the trailer to Lisa's truck and headed to Conway.

It was a stressful trip but it was made bearable by Lisa's good nature and just her presence.

Bush Caught Cursing!!!

I'm enjoying the current wave of self-righteous indignation sweeping the country's news outlets. Bush got caught in a candid conversation with Tony Blair, apparently unaware of an open mike. By the reaction of most news organizations you would think this is the first time anyone has ever uttered the word shit before. It seems like most have also conveniently forgotten that it was a private conversation, inadvertently overheard. The morning DJs in Little Rock were outraged that the man responsible for their persecution at the hands of the FCC is cussing on t.v. The nerve of the hypocrite! And I could understand if it were just two small time syndicated DJs but I saw the same accusation from a reporter on CNN. He sounded snide and a little whiny. The funny thing to me is that when I first saw this story I was frozen with terror, my heart beating and thinking to myself, "Please don't say anything to embarrass us." I guess the big hoopla over the salty language is due to the lack of anything he actually said being controversial. If anything, it made him seem like something his speeches don't, a rational leader. There's a part of me that thinks it was set up by Blair and Bush for a little image boost.

What irritates me is that in the same day it was reported that a bill on stem cell research may be Bush's first use of the veto! My God! He's in his second term. He's NEVER vetoed a bill? Reagan vetoed 39 bills in his first term which is from what I understand below average (or was). Even Bill Clinton nixed a bill once, I think. So here we are again, focusing on what doesn't amount to shit while we have a president running around under the false pretense of being a Republican. I guess we all know he's actually for big government so that's not news.

A Moment Of Peace

This week has certainly sucked. I'm watching ABC Sunday Evening News as they are reporting on the Hezbollah rocket attack on Haifa and thinking back to Friday and a happy thought. Lisa's last day of work was Thursday. She's leaving tomorrow for Ohio. She'll be there a week before me, starting to get things ready for the wedding. On Friday she went with a friend to Mix 100's live morning show broadcast. I didn't have work, so thru the wonder of the internet I listened to the show. Lisa was doing a little contest and the DJ's were talking to her. Jane, the female half of the duo, commented that Lisa had been there early and was very polite. That made me smile. It was exciting in some geek/nerd way to hear her on the radio all the way in Denver while I'm in Conway, Arkansas. I guess in the grand technological scheme of things it's not even that cutting edge, with Vonage and video conferencing and a thousand gadgets I don't even know about. I still got a thrill out of hearing Lisa being cute over my computer. She's the peaceful center of my world and as I sit here and watch the world blow the crap out of itself I feel like giving her a call.