Crappy Weekend

The Bears and Gamecocks lost this weekend. My only saving grace was the Panthers won.

I did purchase a vehicle. I went to the Summerville auction last Tuesday. I bought a Toyota Four Runner. It is an older model but if it lasts a year or so, I made out.

My Thanksgiving was alright. We went to Tennessee to see my wife's family. We were able to see the newest baby in the family. He was 7 weeks old and a cutie!

Friday, we got into a fight with my wife's mom and decided we would go home. We drove up Thursday morning and left Friday night. It actually worked out pretty well since we were able to get more work done to the house.

What to talk about?

I had a very uneventful weekend. Most of the weekend was spent unpacking from the move. We finally have a refridgerater and our washing machine was repaired. Our loveseat was delivered Friday and out couch will be delivered Dec. 3.

I went to the Summerville Auto Auction on Saturday. I went just to see what kind of cars were being sold and to see the process. I will be going back on Tuesday to buy a car.

I forgot to mention what our niece/daughter was doing while we were moving last week. Our personal trainer was helping us move. His name is Chris. Nevaeh kept calling him Christmas instead of Chris. We are supposed to watch his dog during Christmas and we plan on inviting him and his wife over for dinner to see how our dog and his interact. We are definitely going to have the video camera out to catch Nevaeh calling him "Christmas".

I hope everyone enjoyed the tour of channel 5 as much as I did! That was very interesting to say the least. I want to take another tour and watch the control room during a broadcast.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving!!

New House

We closed on our house Thursday the 13Th. The closing went pretty smooth. Ever since then, it hasn't been real smooth.

Friday, we started taking everything out of storage and loading the moving truck. My wife angled her car so that her headlights were shining into the storage unit. A few minutes before leaving, I started her car to make sure the battery was still good. No problem. About ten minutes later, we were getting ready to leave and her car would not start. I messed with the car for a little while but to no avail.

We had the car towed. I asked the driver if he would put a boost on the battery so I could get the windows up. He jiggled the cables around a little and the car started right up. There was corrosion on the terminals and prevented a good contact. Oh well!

Saturday morning, we pulled up to our new house and noticed that the back door must have leaked. The flooring around the door had bubbled. Not a good start to the new house.

We finished moving everything in around 11 or so Saturday and had to miss The Citadel game and tailgating with Cydney. :( Hopefully, she will invite us to another game in the future!!

Thankfully, The Citadel one this weekend. Otherwise, all my teams (Carolina and the Bears) lost.

My part in helping the economy

My wife and I will be closing on our new house this Thursday. When we sold our old house, we sold most of our furniture. That brings me to what I am going to do to stimulate the economy.

We spent most of the weekend looking at furniture and cars. We bought a refrigerator last week (one year no interest). We have been looking at sofas loveseats and dining room tables. Our goal is to but these items on credit, one year no interest. I don't see us buying a car for 0% ( a used car that is). We are trying to find a car we can buy for cash. Since I will be deployed for the next year or so, there is no use for us to be paying for a car. I need a car that will last a year or so.

My wife seems to have accepted the reality of me being deployed. I was worried that it would take her a while. We jsut told my dad yesterday. I'm sure he will tell my mom. She is one that I worry about. She spends quite a bit of time in Rock Hill taking care of my grandmother with Alzheimer's. Between work and my grandmother, my mom is a nervous wreck. I don't want to add to her stress.

Another Drill

This weekend, I had to drill. Friday morning I woke up at 3:15 am to get ready and left about 4:15. I arrived at the armory at 5:30 to prepare for a 4.5 drive to Clarks Hill training area (on Lake Thurmond near Augusta, GA).

My worst fear was realized this weekend. I would be tranferred to a unit in Laurens, SC. Laurens is about 2.5 hours away. My drive time to drill will double!! Another problem with the transfer is the unit is being activated to go to Afghanistan next July. Normally, a year's notice is given when a unit is being activated. This all happened this week.

My only saving grace for now is I still have to attend additional training before I am deployable. My training totals about five months. I am hoping to finish my schooling and catch up with the unit in Afghanistan, thus shortening my tour.

Family Reunion

This weekend, I attended my family reunion in the mountains of NC. We had a great time! I think the official count was 75.

Friday, we left for Spartanburg. It was pouring down rain and traffic was a little rough. We booked a room at the "new" Marriott in Spartanburg for $70. What a beautiful hotel!! $70 is a steal at this hotel.

Saturday morning, we headed north. The drive was nice and beautiful with the leaves changing. Traffic cooperated and the trip up to the mountains was uneventful.

We arrived and started mingling with realtives I have not seen in a few years. I have had to drill the last couple of years and haven't been able to attend.

Everyone brings a dish for lunch. We decided a few years ago that most people didn't like taking all of the food home so we started coming back about 6 for dinner. It works out well. We started eating around 1:00 and some of the older folks started singing after eating. We left arouns 3 for a nap back at the hotel.

After dinner, one of my relatives always invites the same group of musicians for music. They are good 'ol mountain men who play bluegrass and old baptist hymns. They are great and everyone always looks forward to hearing them.

We decided to take a different route back. It was about a half hour quicker than our normal route.

Overall, I had a great weekend. I am hoping I will be in town for next year's reunion!!

Weekend

I went to the USC-LSU game Saturday night. I had a blast (minus the game's outcome and traffic). While tailgating, we ran out of propane for the grill. I had to find a gas station that had propane. Luckily, there was one close to where we were tailgating.

Yersterday was a trip to the new house. The only left is the paint (or repaint) and the punch list. Closing is on Nov 13!!

I'll be heading up the the mountains of NC this weekend for a family reunion. We have it in Franklin, NC every year. I wish I had the money and time to have a housein the mountains. It looks like it is peak season for the leaves changing.

Uneventful weekend

I went over to my brother's house to watch the Carolina game. The game's outcome was perfect. I hated to see The Citadel lose. However, Sunday, my two NFL teams lost (Bears and Panthers). 1 for 3 with my sports teams is par for the course.

I plan on attending the Carolina/LSU game this weekend. This will be my first game this year...pretty pathetic.

Not much to write about

I had drill this weekend. Nothing spectacular.

My Cubs were swept from the baseball playoffs. I am not happy about that. I really thought that they had a chance to go all the way this year. As we always say in Chicago, "Maybe next year!"

The White Sox are still in the playoffs and the Bears had a great win yesterday. I think the Blackhawks will have a great year. Maybe somebody from the windy city will make us proud this year.

The Gamecocks also won this weekend!! I could have had a complete sweep if the Cubs would have won a game this weekend. Oh well!

Chicago

I spent Thu-Sun in Chicago. I was in my buddy from high school's wedding. My wife and I arrived in Chicago Thursday afternoon. We checked into the hotel and looked at a couple of stores. We then went to the John Hancock building for a drink on the 97th floor. What a view!! Unfortunately, there was smog so the view was not completely clear but it was nice.

After the drink, we headed up to Wrigley Field. We took a couple of pictures and had an appetizer at Harry Caray's tavern. We then returned to our hotel for dinner. We walked over to Morton's for a steak. We didn't realize how expensive Morton's was. Our bill totaled $160! That is the most expensive meal I have ever ate. Thankfully, it was a business expense for my wife.

Friday we headed up to where I grew up. The rehearsal dinner was nice and the wedding was long but nice as well.

Sunday we headed back to O'hare for our flight back.

I miss Chicago! Our trip was too short but we plan on going back next year for a longer trip.

Uneventful Weekend

Nothing very interesting happened this weekend. Saturday's highlight was booking our trip to Chicago. My wife and I will be in the Chicago area Thu-Sun. I wish we were going to be there longer, but school and other factors prohibit it. The Cubs did clinch their division this weekend!! Go Cubbies!!

We did book an interesting "chic" hotel through Hotwire, Hotel 71 (hotel71.com). The hotel looks really interesting and modern. In addition, it's right on the Chicago River. I'm sure my blog next week will be all about our trip to Chicago.

What a crappy week. My car's heater core went out on me on Thursday. I was stuck on I-26 for about 45 minutes waiting on a tow. Then I found out that AAA only covers a tow for 3 miles unless you have the premium membership. What a waste!! If you know of anyone selling their car/truck, let me know!

We were going to Myrtle Beach this weekend but with my car dieing and gas increasing, we decided to stay in town. My wife's business partner has a condo at the IOP connector and we stayed there this weekend. There was one stipulation...I had to help them move their bedroom furniture. No problem I thought.

They arrived late on Saturday morning cutting into our beach time. Then we tried to move a 500-pound entertainment center. Big mistake. I was on the bottom while the other guy was at the top. He let go and I was pinned between the railing at the entertainment center. Just a little scary!!

We did make it to the beach on Sunday! The weekend wasn't a complete waste.

My Second Blog

This blog will be easy to write. This past weekend was my first drill as an officer. I went to a unit that I was in Kingstree (58 miles from home). The unit has great leadership. The CO and XO are great guys who are experts in the transportation field.

I met two of the three platoon leaders and they seem like great soldiers.

When I arrived Saturday night, it appeared as the unit would be activated Monday for hurricane duty in Florida. Everyone was busy preparing the trucks for duty in Florida. When Ike turned, the unit was not getting deployed.

Sunday, I drove an Army "semi truck". This was the first time I drove a vehicle that size. The truck I drove did not have a trailer on it so the ride was a little bumpy. I drove roughly 60 miles and now I am a licensed driver for military tractor trailers.

I found out on Sunday that I will be drilling with a unit in Laurens. The trip will be ~160 miles each way. That means there are going to be some early mornings in the upcoming months.

Being an officer is much different that being enlisted. Most of my work will be behind the scenes. I won't be out with my soldiers conducting PMCS (preventive maintenance, checks and services). Another change will be having to pay for my meals from now on. Officers are paid more so we now have to buy our meals at drill. We also pay for our uniforms.

We'll be heading to Myrtle Beach this weekend for a mini getaway. Chances are, my blog next week will talk about our trip.

This is my first blog EVER (I am 33 years old)! I feel like those old people who never want to change. I love change, I just never jumped in on the blog highway.

A little about me. I am 33 years old and spent the first 19 years of my life near Chicago. I graduated from The University of South Carolina in 2000 with a degree in management. Currently, I work for the Department of State as a contractor. I received my commission as a 2LT August 16. I have been married for three years and my wife and I have custody of our 2 year-old niece. My wife and I are currently building a house that should be ready mid October.