Post #687: FTW
Let me start by saying that I’m pretty buzzed at the moment, so we’ll see if we can get through this post without any major errors…
I don’t even know what I came here to write. I was supposed to have my fitness test today, but because “it was too windy,” it was cancelled, and rescheduled until the 1st of February. And, that sucks. I was psyched to do it today! I was pissed for a little while afterwards, but blew off some steam by…well, running anyway. Then I went to Applebees to get some steak. After that, all was better with the world.
Post #685: Inching Closer to 12,000…
I don’t really have anything specific to blog about this evening, but I did want to mention that I’m only about 400 visitors away from the 12,000 mark. Not bad for a simple blog page that’s been live for 4 years. I’m averaging about 3,000 per year, so I’ll take it.
Other than that, it’s been a decent and quiet week thus far. Another three day weekend is around the corner. This week has been the first of my Nutrisystem journey, and I’ve lost 2.4 pounds over three days. If I could lose about 15 more, I’ll be right where I want to be. Those of you who know me, know that I’m already a skinny twig, but 145-150 is right where I was before I joined the service, and that’s where I want to be once again.
Post #684: Resolutions for 2012? None.
To fully grasp what this post is referring to, please read this one first!
When 2011 began, I laid out exactly what I wanted to accomplish throughout the year. The good news is that four out of my five resolutions came completely true. The only one I wasn’t able to fulfill was starting the social club, but that’s still on the back burner for right now anyway. Technically, because of that one, I didn’t succeed in accomplishing them all, but I’m still considering it a victory for me.
I’ve actually been thinking over the last couple of weeks about what I wanted to accomplish in 2012. Obviously, there are still things I want to do before the year ends, just like every other year, but this year I plan on just seeing what happens as the months progress. Even though typing them all out helped me to succeed in 2011, this year I want to see if I can stay motivated to make 2012 “complete” without the guidance. We’ll see how it goes as the year goes on…
Post #683: Back in Georgia…
So here I am – second full day back in Georgia. Last Friday was pretty good – I saw Tia one last time for dinner before retro, and we went to Applebees. Retro was amazing actually…it felt just like old times, no pun intended there, lol. I saw almost all of the past regulars who I’ve been so used to meeting up with, and that was nice.
I landed back in Jacksonville at about 9pm Saturday night, then drove the two hours back home to Valdosta afterwards. I had most of Sunday off, but had to open the airfield at 7pm for a couple of hours. It wasn’t bad, but then I had to go back to the base today for a briefing which lasted about an hour. I officially go back to work tomorrow morning at 6:45, so why I’m even still up…I have no idea.
48 days until the Daytona 500!
Post #682: Only One Full Day Left in Maine!
Well, another adventure back to the great state of Maine is coming to an end. I have to admit, back when I first booked my trip a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t really have high hopes of being able to see the people I really wanted to see, mostly because I was coming home on such short notice. But, like it always seems to do, everything worked out good for the most part, and those people I really wanted to see came through in the clutch! I want to thank everyone who came either to my house to see, or came out somewhere to see me, wherever it may have been at the time. I had a blast doing lunches, dinners, and parties with the people who mean the most to me. Tomorrow it’s one last day of fun before it’s time to pack up and head out Saturday morning to the airport in Portland…
So, I suppose it’s time to do a little recapping! This past week has been hectic. Saturday was of course New Year’s Eve. The crew all went out to Silver Street Tavern and Spirits (formerly the Blues Club) to celebrate. We arrived about 7pm and had dinner, and I had some pretty amazing Baked Stuffed Haddock, I have to tell ya! We did our usual bouncing up-and-down stairs to check out both DJs. Upstairs was retro music, downstairs the typical hip-hop and top 40 club hits. Tia and I left at around 1am, and I think the others, with the exception of Jeff, left at 2am when the place shut down for the night.
Sunday was a stay home and relax day. My dad and I watched football all day, and that’s ok with me!
I had an awesome time on Monday going up to Tia’s house and visiting with her family! We all ended up playing the Xbox Kinect, and I liked it so much that I came home and bought one immediately afterwards that night! It really is addictive, and it should be a good, active way to compliment the Nutrisystem food that I also ordered today…haha. Yes, you read that right…!
Quite honestly…I didn’t really do a whole lot of Tuesday. I was mostly interested in just watching the Iowa Caucuses all night. In case you haven’t heard, I’m supporting Ron Paul for 2012. I consider his third place finish a victory for the RP camp. We push on to New Hampshire now!
Wednesday evening I went to Oakland to visit with Jess again. We had fun playing Wii and watching her daughter show off, lol.
And today was pretty fun. Jeff came to the house around 11:30 this morning and then we went to lunch at Governor’s around 1pm. Lunch was good, I had a lobster roll… 
We burned off the calories at Marden’s, Mr. Paperback, Bull Moose, Kmart and Walmart. We made the rounds I guess you could say. Not to mention we were being stalked by crazy phantom girls. Don’t ask. 
Earlier in the post I mentioned that tomorrow is my last day of fun before I head back to GA. Well, it’s 12:40am almost, so I guess it would actually be TODAY that the day of fun happens. Tia and I plan on hitting up the Asian Cafe in Winslow, then going to my last retro party for at least another six months. Pending and barring no deployments, I should be able to come back to Maine around August. We shall see how things go, but that’s what I would like to do if things go as planned.
I was going to post some of my pictures over the last several days, but I think I’ll hold off until either tomorrow or Saturday since this one is pretty long as it is. That being said, have a good night, and I’ll check back in this weekend!
Post #681: ‘Speed Buy’ sounds cool, but…
So after filling my cart at QVC.com, it gave me two options: ‘Go to Checkout’ and ‘Speed Buy.’ Speed Buy sounded cool, so I clicked it expecting to go right to the payment page and skip all of the BS that going through a regular checkout usually has in store. After clicking it, it said, “Congratulations, your order has been placed and we’ll be expecting your check within 15 days!” WTF?? Expecting my CHECK? Come on now, this is 2012! Luckily the phone lines weren’t busy and I got an operator to change that for me, and she gladly accepted my credit card…
I mean for Christ’s sake. Expecting my check?? Please…
Post #680: Happy 2012!!
This post is mostly to share some of the pictures I’ve taken while with friends and family over the last several days here in Maine. At the end of the post I’ll type up a few updates also! So, here we go!
Jeff!
Maggie
Katie!
Faith
Don't ask. It's a picture Faith drew for me while bored at my party. But it's cool!
Jeff and I bought two stuffed animals to leave at Ayla's house. What a sad story, but it doesn't hit you in the heart until you drive by and see the house and the mini-memorial.
This past week has been a wild one. I’ve enjoyed the business of running around and seeing those that I’ve missed over the last year. One thing that kind of irks me, though, is taking so much time out of my year to come back to Maine just to see those that I miss a lot, just for them to let silly things get in the way and then back out of plans. I don’t much care for that, and call me arrogant, but I do think me coming back home to visit is worth a drive in a quarter-inch of snow. Luckily, there have only been one or two minor cases of this, which still puts me on track for a good record during this visit…
So anyway…I had dinner with Tracie at Governor’s on Tuesday, lunch with Jeremy at Applebees on Wednesday, spent the afternoon with Jeff on Thursday, had my house party Friday evening, went out to the Retro Party at Champion’s Friday night after the party, and then tonight was the New Year’s Eve bash at Silver Street Tavern/Spirits. It went well, but we left about an hour early. I still had a good time, and we ate dinner before it all kicked off. I had the best baked stuffed haddock ever!
Tomorrow is a stay-at-home kind of day.
Post #679: It’s War
We’ve been at war with bugs and insects since the dawn of time. We’ve been at war with countries in the Middle East since the dawn of time. If a new breed of Middle Eastern insects ever comes along, we’re really screwed.
Post #678: Surviving Christmas Weekend
I left Valdosta by car on Saturday morning and headed to Jacksonville. I arrived at the airport around 5am, and security was pretty painless. I don’t think I spent more than about ten minutes in line, which isn’t bad at all. The airport wasn’t all that busy, and certainly not as busy as I had expected it to be on the last good travel day before Christmas. My flight to La Guardia in NYC was very smooth, and the views over Manhattan during our arrival were spectacular. I had a clear and awesome view of the Statue of Liberty, as well as the new Freedom Tower being put up where the twin towers previously were. It really was a good reminder of why I do what I do on a daily basis, even if things sometimes do get stagnate and cause me to second guess my decision, which doesn’t happen very often.
I arrived into Portland quite early, and Jeff met me at the airport. For lunch, we stopped by Buffalo Wild Wings and drooled over the waitress we had. Actually, it might have been the fried pickles I was drooling over, but regardless, I was drooling because of something or another.
I made it back to Fairfield with Jeff right around 2pm. We made excellent time on the interstate. It was good to see my dad when I got to the house.
Maggie making herself comfortable on my luggage. Maybe it's a hint she wants to go back with me?
The rest of Christmas Eve was good. I went to my Uncle’s house for a Christmas Eve party and saw his side of the family for the first time in three years. We only stayed for about an hour or so but I was dead tired. I passed out after I got home around 9pm which was ridiculously early for me on a Saturday night. But, then again, I hadn’t slept in about 30 hours so it was about time, lol. Christmas was good. My dad and I ordered Chinese, watched a movie, and then I went and saw my friend Jessica around 8pm. We visited for a few hours, did a lot of catching up, and then I left her house about 1am.
Today has been a good day. I went to JC Penney to try to get a couple new button-up shirts because I forgot two of mine back home, but I only found one I really wanted to get, so I did. I headed over to Walmart to get some soda for the fridge afterwards, and saw my friend Jeremy. Actually, he was the only one I saw there that I recognized. That place has changed so much it’s unreal. I miss the days of walking in and having 20 people yell “hi” to me. I grabbed a few Bolley’s hot dogs after that, then came home and spent the afternoon with my dad. We watched ‘Meet the Parents’ this evening, which I could watch every day of my remaining life!
That’s about it for now. I’ve typed and rambled on enough. I’ll post again soon with more updates as I do more this week. Tomorrow it’s dinner with Tracie, and then Wednesday is lunch with Jeremy.
Until then, see ya!
