Time and distance

I really miss my family.
Being deployed and missing family is one thing. This is entirely another. On deployment, you are rarely given the opportunity to think of missing family. And when you do get the opportunity, it's not like you can just drive or fly two states away and go see them. In that regard, deployments were a little easier. Being in our empty house, and seeing our things, the kids' things... the empty crib... that is harder than anything right now. Psychological warfare. At least I can call them... any time I need to. And my email is not screened or limited by size. LOL.

My daughter is recovering from her first cold, and her and Mommy can't take anything for it. My youngest son just got over a 48 hr flu like virus. Soccer day is today, and I am wishing I was there for that too. I also wish Thanksgiving would get here faster... that's when I'd like to have them move back down. I for sure get to see them then. Until then, all I have are pictures.

Pics from Hawaii

I took all of these... let me know if you want a bigger copy.

1_mile_east_of_banzai_pipeline_N_Shore 

1st_attempt_at_art_cityscape_waikiki 


diamondhead_pre_sunrise_waikiki 

surfer_west_waikiki 


2nd_attempt_at_art_cityscape 

sunrise_waikiki 


sunrise_waikiki_diamondhead 

boardwalk_waikiki 

Back from Hawaii

Waikiki is fun, but way to fast paced for my taste. It's also a good thing I love sushi, since the other food choices were way overpriced. (As well as Internet Servvice... only 10 bucks a day... that's why there is a gap)If you wanted the 2 cheeseburger meal at the g0lden @rches, it was only 7.99 before supersizing. I can't eat that greasy stuff... lol. I could get 2 meals worth of sashimi and crab/tuna rolls for the same price. The North Shore, especially Sunset Beach and anywhere east of Waimea Bay was much more relaxed. That would be the best place for a surf bum to live... I love it there.
I could live in a tent on the beach... lol.
The business side of the trip was long hours, 10 hour days, reminiscent of my Navy days. We (my business associates and I)only had 1/2 a day to sight-see, just before our flights back to the mainland. I have to bring my wife next time, but it may be awhile with the baby being so small and all. I really haven't been keeping up on this blog at all, time is short. I think I should have alot of free time with my family staying in KC until mid to late December. I'll have some pictures up in about 2 hours or so. I have to shrink them down *in file size* first, and I still have to clean my house. Yes, I slept all weekend instead of doing housework. Jet lag sucks...
At least I still have a house to clean and a yard to mow.

Introducing my daughter !!!

Drop me a note if you want to know her name... *family and friends only*

Born 22 SEP 05 @ 10:03

Weight: 8 lbs 12 oz

Length: 20 inches

We left Slidell on August 28th at midnight, and decided to go home to family in KC Missouri. We had not been home since then, and were now waiting for the arrival of our baby daughter. My wife and 2 sons will be staying in KC until sometime around Christmas. My father and I are went to Slidell on Sunday 26 September to assess the damage to our house in Slidell. The house took minimal damge, no water or flooding. The roof lost a few shingles and I lost my chimney, and one tree on the house. The fence in my back yard is also gone. I had to get back to work on the 4th of Oct, so Dad and I gathered up some clothes for the boys and some *non maternity* clothes for my wife and left for KC on the 29th SEP.

The worst thing I think was coming back to a horrible stench:

Power went out in Slidell on the 29th of August around 3 am and was not on in my neighborhood until the 19th of September... We had about 6 lbs of Chicken in the Freezer over the Fridge. My neighbor was a former New Orleans PD crime scene photographer, and said that in all his years doing that, the smell of those refers with spoiled meat was so much worse than any homicide he ever had to shoot pictures on.

The fridge is outside, and *airing* out... lol. I bought a small college dorm style fridge until I get my insurance check to buy a new normal sized one.

I am back in the house now, and am still cleaning up the debris in the yard and around the street. Internet is up and down, as well as the phones. I leave for Pearl Harbor on Sunday for 2 weeks of training Navy personnel how to use software.

I hope to write more soon.

Neo