Friday, February 18, 2011

4 Day Weekend!

OK, so I'm really excited about this weekend. I got home from work today to find a new set of floor mats, window vent visors, and a set of side step bars for my truck on my front door step. Naturally, I had the floor mats and window vent visors installed within about 10 minutes of getting home. They look great! I'm waiting on a new set of mud flaps before I tackle the side step bars though, hopefully they'll come in tomorrow. I also picked up some new speakers, an amplifier, and a subwoofer today. It'll be a while before I can actually install them, but I'm really excited about it. My plan is to get a new bezel from Dodge made for a double DIN receiver, and then get one of the cool new receivers with integrated bluetooth and a USB input to go along with it. I'm thinking maybe next month or April? That means I've got until then to figure out how I want to install everything, how I want the box for the subwoofer to go in, and get ready for the install. Oh, and I finally broke down and made an appointment to get my windows tinted on Monday. I want to do it before it starts getting hot out here, I'm sure it will help a lot. It feels good to finally get started on the plans I made in Iraq for my truck!
This weekend is actually full of fun things to do. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to take Jackson out to the Canyon for a little jog, and I'm planning on doing a couple of projects I've been putting off for a while. Saturday I'm headed out to the range to blow off some steam, as well as put some holes in targets. It'll actually be the first time I've fired my 308 since I got back from Iraq, and it'll be good to put a few more rounds through the 9mm. I'm almost to the point where its broken in and I'm comfortable with it. Sunday I'm pretty much planning on doing nothing. I know it'll probably never happen, but one can hope. I may go out to the motorpool and play some catch with Jackson, that'd be fun.
Anyway, short post to let everybody know I'm still breathing. Looks like its gonna be fried chicken and baked beans tonight for dinner, then sitting back and watching the brainsucker for a little while. Turning in early, well deserved ;)

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Apologies

I've found it a bit hard to write lately, I know it has been months. Its not that I haven't had time or anything, there's no excuse so I won't try and make one. I've just not done it. Hopefully this will break down the wall a little bit, and my next post will follow much sooner. Everything is changing. Everything that was once familiar is now complicated or nonexistent. Losing my grandfather on my mother's side so closely to my grandmother on my father's side has been something that hasn't been easy by any means. For the entire year I was gone a looked forward to the Holidays back at home, spending time with family and thinking back to Holidays past. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's celebrations this year have not only been the first ones since my return from combat, but also the first holidays without them. You can feel the tension and heaviness on both sides of the family, and its hard to watch from 1600 miles away as we try to pick up the pieces, dust off old pictures, think about the way it used to be, put what we can save on a shelf, and move on. So many moments, memories, traditions taken for granted. It makes it even harder that I wasn't able to be with them for their last ones. Its hard enough to see my family go through this, but because they've never been where I have and never done what I did, because they were there when I couldn't be, they can't know what its like for me. Knowing I'll deploy again makes it even harder, there is a lot that can happen in a year. What won't be there when I get back this time? What will I miss out on while I'm gone? What will I wish I had done before I left? Questions without answers.