It's Been a While, I Know

Surprise! Yes, I am still alive and kicking. Once again I do not have a really good reason for being away for so long. Work has been pretty hectic but that is really not a good reason. Although as result of the craziness at work, I must admit, my moods have been on a bumpy road. I won’t go into details but let’s just say they are times when I wonder what I was thinking! As I mentioned in an earlier post though, I have no one to blame but myself. I am thinking though it will start improving in the next few weeks as I will have more opportunities to do more actual teaching and less administrative duties. I have always preferred working rather than shuffling papers and going to meetings. I guess I should of remembered that a couple of months ago. Other than that and my foot, my life is pretty blessed. As a matter of fact today it has been one year since I returned from Afghanistan. As for my foot it isn’t that big of deal, it appears I have a pinched nerve in my foot and if the current treatments do not work it will require surgery (that does not really appeal to me). With me being a Marine though it is kind of important (required actually) that I not only be able to walk to do my duties but as you may know Marines like to run too. That is really hard to do with a bum foot. Well this is a short post, I will be back later (not 2 months either) with more updates.

Today’s Quote: When we worry, we believe more in our problems than in God’s promises.

What a Week

This has definitely been a week of ups and downs. Unfortunately, it seemed to have more downs than ups. It started out well…on Monday I reenlisted for 3 more years, which will take me to 21 years of service in the Marines. My wife was presented a Certificate of Appreciation for her unfailing support and understanding during my career. As nice as it was, I still think words can ever justify the great person she is for the sacrifices she (and my children) have made during my career. Other than that it hasn’t been so great. Right now my eldest, who has recently begun his teen years, has been challenging the limits and the patience of his parents. I fully understand this is a normal process and I was probably much worse at his age….I guess I am just being selfish and not wanting to go through the process. I am learning from it though so there is a good side to it. The other ups and downs stem from my work. I have a small instructor staff that works for me and I am ecstatic that professionally we are agreeable on almost all points. From a professional stand point that is great, it makes my job that much easier. From a personal stand point I am struggling…part of my responsibility is to be there as a mentor/advisor with personal issues. Unfortunately I have strong moral opinions contrary to a couple of issues and I am trying desperately to find the right words to say. I don’t want to come across like I am judging them (because I am not) , yet I am compelled to help them, especially when it concerns unborn children and marriage. I do want to end this on a positive note though….so here it goes. If you notice on my blog, there is a new widget on my blog for C28.com. It is a Christian store that sells some pretty cool stuff. I have already gotten a pretty bold T-shirt from them at the tobyMac concert I went to. I also have recently ordered some vinyl stickers for my car. I highly recommend them and if you wish to check them out just click on the widget. So if you are looking for something that’s stylish, makes a bold statement for your faith, from clothes to jewelry, check them out. I believe you will be glad you did. Well that is about it for tonight. Just remember challenges come and challenges go but without challenges we would never grow. Good Night!

Today’s Quote: The man who lets his children take second place to his work will live to regret it.

Family Time is a Good Thing!

As I mentioned in my previous entry, the football season is almost upon us and my family and I have been enjoying the pre-season games. As a matter of fact, my wife and I are currently watching the Charger vs. Seahawk game. Unfortunately, my wife is disgruntled because the Chargers already took Phillip Rivers out. I offered my opinion that all the quarterbacks deserve an opportunity to play. I won’t go into details but her response was very critical of the backup quarterback for the Chargers. We (my family) are primarily Panther fans but I believe my wife secretly appreciates the Chargers more. Don’t tell her I said that. I think more importantly than the football games themselves, is that fact that we took time not only to “recharge out batteries”, but spent time enjoying time together and having sharing opinions and thought on something we enjoy. Actually my youngest son just likes to hang out. As far as physical accomplishments today, my wife was quite industrious today and accomplished quite a bit today…me I just vacuumed a little and gave my son a bath this morning. I am happy for my eldest as he played with some of our new neighbors today. Before we moved there weren’t any kids in his age group and some mocked him for being homeschooled. The kids he played with today actually thought that my son’s homeschooling was cool because he didn’t have to walk to school. You really have to appreciate the honesty of children. I guess the overall essence of this entry is, as I have mentioned before, spending time with your family is critical to a family’s foundation. Unfortunately, time is the one thing we cannot buy more of or get back…I learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago when I was focused on being the best I could at work but not so much at home. I fell victim to the misnomer that a man’s primary mission is to provide for the family. Well, actually that is true but not in the sense that we often think. Our primary provision should be love, compassion, knowledge and our time. Dads, if you are reading this… I offer this advice…I truly believe your kids would rather have you than all the material things. Well, I guess I should wrap this up. Until next time, may the Lord provide the footing for all your steps.

Quote of the Day: “Many fathers are willing to give their children everything except themselves.”

Latest Happenings

Last weekend we went to the beach and had an excellent time. Well…right up to the time we left at least…my youngest son didn’t want to leave quite yet, so he got a upset. It’s not like he never gets upset, the problem is the insensitivity of other people who just want to stare and make “dirty” faces at a child who is the size of a young man, but cognitively is an infant… it is just disappointing. On a separate note, this is the first time we went to the ocean all year…the sad thing is we are only about a twenty minute drive away! Oh well, let’s move on, shall we? Other than that I am trying to get up to speed on my responsibilities for my newest job. Essentially, my instructors and I are responsible for teaching hydraulic and airframe systems for the V-22 Osprey. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do much teaching since my other duties will prevent me from taking a full class schedule. As for my family the transition from summer to school is still a work in progress. I am learning not to come home too early for lunch or from the days end. The good news is: The football season is about to start. So if you want some good inside information check out my son's blog. . Unfortunately, like father, like son and his blog has not been updated for a while. He does have some pretty funny observations for all 32 teams. That is about it for tonight’s edition. Until next time…may peace of our Lord be with you.

Picking Up from my Last Entry...

Let’s see, where did I leave off? Oh yes, starting a new position in the Marine Corps. Originally after all my Osprey training was complete, I was supposed to return to my previous unit. There was just one little hiccup. One of the Marines who worked for me, got promoted to the same rank as I. I am extremely happy for the man, but on the down side the squadron rates only one person at my rank for our section. So, I had to start looking for a new home (which I have learned it pays to be proactive in that area. That way, if I wind up somewhere that isn’t my cup of tea, I have no one to blame but me). I did some looking and discovered that the position for the Airframes supervisor at the formal training school for the Osprey was going to be available soon, since the current one is getting ready to retire. So after making requests to their people and my people, I was given a reporting date of 3 August. Not so bad because it is on the same base that I am on now. I do however feel very blessed by our Creator. Just a month ago I was pretty sure I was going back to play in the sand (Afghanistan) in less than a year. Then you think of the strain it puts on the family, especially having two children with autism. More so, I believe the strain on my wife. It is hard enough for both of us to keep up the pace around here at times. I could not even fathom doing it alone. She is quite the special woman. I am pretty excited about the new job though. It will be a new experience for me but more importantly, I will finally have some good family time. I should wrap this up, just let me say this. Don’t worry about the mistakes from the past, learn and move on. Do not worry about tomorrow, because no matter how much you plan there is still uncertainty. But, live everyday for what is, a gift, that is why it is called the present. Below are a couple of pictures. One is the grand daddy of aircraft, the Phrog and following that is its replacement, the Osprey. My apologies for the choppiness, I guess I am more tired than I thought. Until next time, may you find peace and comfort.

Above, one of my squadron's Phrogs in Afghanistan, below the Osprey.

Busy, Busy, Busy !!!!

No really, it is the truth! Once our trip for Virginia was over with, we started making preparations for moving. Did I ever mention, how much I love moving? I should almost be a proffesional by now, since I have moved six times in the last 18 years, two of those in the last two years! Actually this one went pretty smoothly compared to the others. I think the best thing my wife and I did this time is we didn't let it control our family's life. Nomally when we move , we go full bore until it is done, which results in missed meals ( or just as bad poor ones), kids routines messed up, and somewhere by all parties involved, a good version of their own breakdown! No, this time we took our time and although it took longer than usual, I think everyone fared much better. I picked up the keys on the 10th of July and two weeks later, we are almost done. All that is left is: the fence, swing set, trampoline, and a few more boxes. Did you notice how I saved all the fun stuff for the end? Well, that is all for tonight, between work, moving and old age (turned 37 yesterday) I am pretty worn out. Next week starts a new job positon for me in the Marine Corps, but that will be another entry. Until next time, may peace be with you and your loved ones. Good Night! I also posted a couple pics of the new house. Now for real this time, Good Night!

Needs a little yard work

Living Room Area, doesn't it look cozy?

I have been slacking, I know :)

Well, I know, I have been slacking! I wish I had a good reason but I really don't so I won't make one up. It has been busy around here but not that busy. Since I haven't posted anything since late May, I will pick up there (or pretty close at least). In June, my in-laws came down for their semi-annual visit and celebrated our son's 13th birthday as well. It wasn't a huge celebration since we were saving the big part for late June to go see Toby Mac and others at Busch Gardens (more on that later). Where was I, oh yes, in-laws visiting. Overall it was a very nice time. My wife took her mother for a ladies day out and enjoyed lunch and had planned on going shopping. I say planned because my wife's car a 2003 Taurus had died on her in the parking lot. I must say they both handled the situation very well. My father-in-law went to pick them up while I watched the kids. Afterwards, he and I went to look at the car. We were able to jump start it and I drove it home. I did a little troubleshooting and all things pointed to a bad alternator. Which is kind of hard to believe, I mean the car is an '03 but it only has 20,000 miles (my wife doesn't drive much). I bought the alternator and after several hours of frustration her car was up and running again. Now back to the birthday part. My wife (the awesome baker/cook that she is) made my son a cake that looked like an Oreo cookie. It was delicious! Overall it was a good birthday for my son and excellent time with family. Shortly afterwards we got notification we would be moving houses due to renovations (military housing on base). With address in hand, my family and I checked out our future new location. The house in itself looked very nice but the location was not so great. Where we live now, it is a quieter area, with a small woods behind, good yard space and distance from neighbors. Allowing for a good play area for my kids and security for my youngest. Unfortunately, our new location had the exact opposite: Very busy (a stone's throw from the Community Center), short drive way (too close to the street), a busy street, and minimal yard. However, we have learned to trust God in all things and figured there was a reason. So we began making plans...then I learned my neighbor and co-worker was assigned a house in what my wife and I deemed as ideal. So after speaking with him, he said he would be willing to, if the assignment office agreed. So I went and spoke with the office, explaining how it would be better security and peace of mind for my youngest son. They agreed to it, so now we have a new location which is almost identical to where we live now. If any of you out there have children with autism, I am sure you can understand how important keeping things the same is. I know in our situation, when we moved here two years ago, it took us about six months for everything to settle down due to the diffrences in house lay-out and area. It wasn't a pretty sight. Well now on to the exciting stuff. As mentioned earlier, I took Tyler to Busch Gardens for a Toby Mac concert. We left on Saturday morning and arrived late afternoon. After getting settled in to the hotel, we went and looked around historic Williamsburg and had dinner. We returned to the hotel with hopes of going into the pool but settled for strolling around the area. The next morning we woke up early and headed back to historic Williamsburg to pick up a souvenir for the wife, who appreciates early American history. I was able to pick up a set of antique candle lanterns(at least replicas of them) for her and a couple of battery powered flickering candles for them. From there we headed over to the hotel to grab supplies for an all day outing and headed for Bush Gardens. We arrived as the park was opening and proceeded inside. The concert (our real reason for being there) wasn't going to start until 4 p.m. So we enjoyed the sights and looked at everything the park has to offer. At about 2:30 we headed over to the concert area and noticed it was getting crowded so we went in. First up was Brandon Heath (who did an excellent job), next was Mandisa (she was excellent as well although my son wasn't pleased with her old school stuff and wanted to hear more of her album music, and then it was tobyMac, who both my son and I enjoy very much. We both were able to get a T-shirt and had an excellent time. Which is really where I want to appeal to Dad's: Dads please listen, it isn't what you do that builds the memory for your child, it is being there that builds the memory. Last night for instance was the 4th of July celebration. Last year I wasn't able to take Tyler since I was in Afghanistan with fire works of my own. Last night though, we hopped in my truck and went to the local fire works. We waited for about an hour for them to begin and in that time we just talked. It wasn't anything fancy but it was important for my son and me as well. As I have mentioned before, if we do not take the time to teach and spend time with our children, someone else will. Well, I should wrap this up. We start moving on the 10th of this month and there is much to do. Yesterday I took down the swing set and the trampoline and that alone was an all day affair...So if I am not back for a few days...it will be alright I am just trying to move. Less than a month after that I start a new job position in the Marine Corps. Sometimes life just seems a little crazy! Until next time may the peace of God be with you and may you follow his calling. Before I go though, another couple of pics from Busch Gardens.

Tyler on the slide above and on the rope bridge below