July 24, 2004
From the Republic of Texas to the Commonwealth of Viginia
Two weeks without the Friday Five; I’ve been slacking.
But, I have excuses: Work has been very time consuming the past few weeks. I was coordinating a two-week visit to the Iraq Theater of Operations by one the Deputy Commanding Generals from III Corps, at Fort Hood. We also had a few other very important visitors that required a lot of prep work and attention while they were here.
But, I haven’t been half as busy as Michelle. She has completed the move to Virginia! With lots of help from Matt and Lisa she organized the house for the movers to come pick everything up, got the house ready to sell, packed the truck, picked up the pups and drove to Lexington. Special thanks to Kristin for flying out to Killeen to make the cross-county drive with Michelle. Michelle’s sleeping in the new house already and unpacking more and more of our life everyday. Toby and Whitney have both escaped to explore their new neighborhood, but thankfully neither of them has attempted a homeward bound style trek back to Texas.
Pictures of the new house will be forthcoming, but for now here’s how you can get in touch with Michelle to say hello.
She’s keeping her old Cell Phone so that I can still call Fort Hood and make a local connection to her. (254) 338-6512
Her new House Phone is: (540) 348-6225
New Address:
113 Huffman Lane
Fairfield, VA 24435
She doesn’t have the computer hooked up yet, so a call is better than an email for now. But, once she’s up and running she’ll be checking her email again at Michelle@BlueDogTroop.com
Law School Orientation begins on the 16th of August. So she has a few weeks to get her bearings before we all lose her to the study of law till Christmas. Please, drop her a line or better yet give her a call, I’m sure she’d love to hear a friendly voice.
July 09, 2004
The Friday Five
FYI, it was 118 degrees in Baghdad today! In the shade!
1. What was your favorite childhood toy?
G.I. Joe. Big surprise huh?
2. What was your favorite childhood game?
Outdoors Man-Hunt, indoors Trivial Pursuit-Children’s Edition
3. What was your first pet?
My first pet was the family dog, a miniature poodle named Muffy. The first pet that was truly mine was a guinea pig named sniffles.
4. Favorite Childhood Cartoon?
Tie between G.I. Joe and the Thundercats. Snarf!
5. Plans for the coming week?
Nothing exciting here.
July 05, 2004
Cow Kisses Tigger
One more reason for the Sargents to be the Troopers of the Month.
Lisa captured this intimate moment at the Fort Worth Zoo.
I thought I had already posted this one, but I must have forgotten to.
Do you think the cow liked me, or was she just enamored with my Tigger® ears?
Trooper of the Month
The July Trooper of the Month goes not to a person but to an entire family. The Sargent Clan has done a lot to earn this award over the past few months. Any one of the things they’ve done to help Michelle, and support the Vineyards and me would have been enough to clinch the award, but they’ve never ceased to out-do themselves.
Matt and Lisa have been so generous with their time. Matt has been helping out with any and every house project, weekend after weekend; enlisting his brother and braving the scorn of our neighbors. He even helped out with the yard despite his allergy to grass, which Michelle was not aware of until he was already wheezing, but, nonetheless continuing undaunted, tackling the yard work. He accompanied Michelle to the dump numerous times in our stinky truck. When the moving was officially under way, Lisa brought Michelle lunch and opened her own garage as a storage unit for the stuff they wouldn’t take and the stuff I’ll need when I get home. She even made room for Mike and Margaret’s huge mounted Buffalo, Wyatt. Lisa’s folks also made Michelle feel welcome in their home, inviting her to dinner every Sunday... and we mustn’t forget that at LEAST half of goodies sent to Mike, Margaret, and me in care packages are from Lisa and her mom. Lisa’s mom, Barbara, gets special thanks for all the baking. So yummy; it’s hard to share! Lisa's dad, Roger, was a great help too. He helped Michelle get the Expedition squared away before the big trek east. The poor truck was in a sorry state having been neglected for some time during the rush while I was preparing to deply. When Roger was done she was was looking all sparkly and new. Even Tyler has been helping out and sharing his birthday party with his soldier friends in Iraq.
They adopted Michelle as a member of their family; keeping her company and making her feel welcome all the time. She’s never had to worry about fitting-in or asking for help; they are always offering to help before she even knew she needed it. The hardest part of moving isn’t the packing or the cleaning, it’s having to leave great friends behind; we’re going to miss them a lot. But, in the Army we never say goodbye, only farewell ‘till we meet again. Hopefully it’s not too long.
July 02, 2004
The Friday Five
1. What did you have for dinner last night?
Fried Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese and Cauliflower. Not much selection but the food is pretty good.
2. Do you ever get up for a midnight snack?
No.
3. What's your favorite dessert?
NY Cheesecake
4. What’s your favorite beverage with dinner?
Red wine or milk. Since I’ve been here I’ve had neither.
5. Plans for the coming week? Where are you going to watch the fireworks from??
Combat Patch Ceremony on the 4th is the only excitement this week. After the ceremony we can forevermore wear our unit patch on our right sleeve to signify that we’ve served in combat with this unit. Fireworks here can only be bad news, so we hope we don't see any.