Sunday the 28th of October, 2007

Well, well, well, it looks like Chucky just might beat Booty (aka LaShawn) to the punch when it comes to blog entries. I figured since she was online so often and this blogging was her idea, then she'd be on here 24/7 or close to that. As it is she's basking in a warm bubble bath while I decided to slip on the computer and steal some time.

Halloween is just a few days away and it's definitely one of my favorite holidays. I had a notion to dress up like Chuckie the little Child's Play doll but time has flown by and I've not gotten anything together so I'll have to be just me. The Booty seems so busy with work that she's not going to dress up either, sad. I enjoy when we are able to take time to play and be fun. Just wait till the baby is born and I get to dress the child up for Halloween! Rest assured I've already got many ideas on what to do with the baby and I to involve matching outfits.

One thing that is sure different this year in Utah is the weather. It's been unusually mild for October with some hazy days but a fair amount of sunny days, like an Indian summer, with highs in the 60's and a few lower 70's. Awesome stuff. I'm not a winter guy, though growing up in Idaho you'd think I'd be. Unfortunately I have a bad circulation problem with my feet and hands that has them shunt blood flow to them at the first hint of cold. Thus, my hands and feet get cold very easily. Not very fun. Plus I'd much rather prefer riding my motorcycles and hiking than skiing or ice-skating. I count down the days until spring arrives and I can ride my motorcycles through the high mountain roads of Utah's mountains. Alas, sooner or later it's going to get cold in Utah.

And then right about the time it gets it's coldest, in January, I'll be flying off to officer's school in Alabama. Yep, 8 weeks in humid cold of Alabama. Folks would tell me that humid cold was much colder than dry colds of the west. Yeah right! No really, they weren't joking. I've discovered a new found dread for winter after spending last winter in the humid cold of Ft. Benning, Georgia. There's a very big difference between 30 degrees of Utah cold vs 30 degrees of humid Georgia cold. In Georgia that temperature made it feel closer to zero. And it didn't help that the winter gloves the Army gave us were nothing more than a wool liner to be worn under a leather outer. I recall one frigid morning we had been sleeping in our "hastys", 12-18 inch deep fighting holes in the ground where we'd sleep and pull watches during the night. We have good sleep bag systems but when you are having to be up every other hour of the night you don't even bothering with trying to get to sleep on your hour of rest time or even about trying to slip into the bag. You lay with your cold gear on, snuggled up and hoping the morning and sun comes. Oh but back to my story. One morning we woke up and it was about 17 freaking degrees!!!!!!!!! Did I put enough exclamation points on there for you to get the picture? Now 17 humid degrees is cold but imagine freezing most of the night in a dirt hole on top of a sleeping bag, wide awake and then having to try and eat breakfast. I say try eating breakfast, because it was so cold you really didn't want to take your bulky gloves off to open your milk or utensils (this particular morning they had arranged to bring in serving for a warm breakfast with paper trays and plastic utensils). All in all I spent 12 weeks in Ft. Benning, Ga which began with 7 days straight of rain then weeks and weeks of freezing mornings topped off by a decently sunny day. I wouldn't want to repeat the experience again but it's something I wouldn't trade for anything as I'm now a proud serving member of the Army National Guard. Next stop Officer Candidate School January through March. Here's to hoping this coming humid cold is less than my last.






This is my dad in northern Iraq (Kirkuk) in 2005 with some members of the Iraqi National Guard and Police. He's one of my inspirations for serving my country at the highest level possible-as an American soldier.