Monday, March 10, 2008

Extra Time

The Aquarium


Well, I had a little extra time to head home this past weekend and see Courtney. I took her to the Rilpley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, TN. We had a great time. In the picture right here, I was taking her picture and then she noticed the large sting ray and it scared her to death. We all had a good laugh.








This is one of my favorite exhibits at the aquarium. These are spider crabs and are found on the bottom of the deepest oceans. Courtney really enjoyed these too.











Sea dragons. These are very funny to watch. I am determined to have an aquarium in my house one day with these in there.









Courtney really enjoyed the jelly fish. I took several pictures of her looking at them, but due to the low light, I did not get very many good ones. I had a hard time getting her to stand still so that she would not blur.










This is one of the first exhibits in the aquarium. There are several fish in there to include Pacu and several types of catfish.












We had a lot of fun at the aquarium. When I picked her, the first thing that she wanted to do was go there and see the "fishies". Mom took half a day off so that she would be able to spend as much time as possible with us. Mom and dad went with me to pick her up and we had a great day. I took everyone to Texas Roadhouse and we a great time there too. It was supposed to snow on Saturday and we were all hoping that it snow enough for Courtney to play in it, but it just flurried all day. Courtney was really disappointed as were the rest of us.

I know that in a previous post I told you all that mom and dad were going to come to Clarksville to see me and help me get moved this past weekend. Well, the day that I leave got changed and I was able to come home for a few days and mom and dad are waiting to next weekend to come up here and see me.

I came on Saturday night so that I could spend Sunday and Monday packing and moving my stuff to storage. On the way home from Sevierville, I got pulled over. 89 in a 70 is not a good thing. That is what I get for not paying attention to how fast I was going and being a hurry to get home.

Sunday I was able to pack, repack, and repack my bags for Afghanistan. I am worried that I will forget something. That is something that I do not want to do.

Today I had to disconnect my computer and move my dresser and computer desk to storage. I am trying to make it so that there is not much to do while mom and dad are here. I am getting down to the last days and trying to most of them here. I have been packing and cleaning so much, that I hope that I never move again. It is too much of a hassle, but I chose the life and I know that it will happen several more times in my career.

I got to spend some time with Johnny, Jitka and Lucas while I was at mom and dads. I even got to talk to Jeremy a few times. It was really great to see them all. I am glad that Johnny and Jitka are living in Jeremy's house. That way it is not sitting empty all the time. I am glad that Jeremy has great friends that he can count on.

Jeremy

In talking to Jeremy, I found out he had his MRI on his ear and it is looking good for him. He does have some hearing loss, but that should be all. But that is not all the problems he has had.

The Nose

He was doing Comabatives, training that we both to go through, and had a guy in an arm bar. The guy was trying to get out of it and slammed Jeremy and broke Jeremy's nose. Jeremy called me that night and told me about it. He said there was blood everywhere, and he was hurting pretty bad. He a very long ride to the hospital that night. He kept telling that is felt funny when he would feel it. He as laughing while he was telling me about it, so it must not have been that bad.




He called me again last night and I talked to him for quite a while. He is making some really good friends and is getting excited about going to Iraq. He told me that he got all his equipment issued. In talking to him, I told him that he was lucky that he did not issued the cold weather gear that I got issued. That crap takes up a lot of room, but I guess in the desert you do not need that stuff, unlike the mountains where I am going where it gets below zero in the winter.

I really hope that he is safe and realizes that there are a lot people worried about him, praying for him, and waiting for his safe return to Tennessee. I hope that one day we will be able to deploy together. That way we can harass each other on a daily basis. He is going to try to email me pictures and anything that he wanted posted here. I will try to keep you all posted as often as I can on him. I hoping that I will be able to continue to post here once I get overseas. This is going to be our way of keeping in contact with everyone while we are gone. We look forward to any comments that you will leave for us. All you have to do is click on the comments link under each post, and follow the directions. If my mom can figure it out, anyone can. Sorry mom.

Well it is time to get off of here and get to packing again. I am waiting on a buddy to show up so that I can move the computer desk and then I am done for now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey it is Phil

Nice Nose!!! Good thing that didnt happen while he was in Germany... might not have made it back with a schnoz like that!! LOL ok that was mean.. I check this all the time just havent commented yet.

I like what you are doing John. Its really neat and I am proud of both of you and constantly keep the two of you and your family in my prayers.. godspeed man ttyl!!