Good Bye Virginia, hello South Carolina

Wow what a busy week, after more than 4 hours of delay on Sunday leaving O'Hare I arrived late Sunday night when my friend Brian Picked me up. You know when you have a true friend who will get you at any hour anywhere. He and another friend of mine did that for me this week. I processed through the week with a few medical bumps but at the end of the day it all worked out. From here I head to South Carolina for more training. I feel bad that I didn't see all of my friends while here in Norfolk, but time was short. If I missed you it was not personal just a lack of time. Thanks to Donnie for saving me in the rain, Angi and Chris inviting me to a great Greek place last night and most of all Brian, Kristi and the girls for taking me home, feeding me and entertaining me. More from South Carolina

3 weeks to go

Well the summer world wind is over and now the countdown begins for me. 3 weeks from today I head to Norfolk for my IA. Not something I am looking forward to, actually not at all. I have been gone before on deployments so being away doesn't bother me much. My plan is try and enjoy each day with the family, I don't come back until spring, so I will miss the winter.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

I just wanted to take a second to thank all the members of the Military for the work that they do. A friend of mine sent me this note in an email and I felt it worth sharing.

This is the day we have set aside to honor those who fell in battle.

Throughout our short history there has never been a generation without conflict. There has never been a time in this country where there is not someone who could be called a war veteran. There has never been a time when there was not a mother, father, wife, daughter or son who has not lost a loved one in armed conflict.

From the “shot heard round the world” in Concord Massachusetts to the most recent exploding IED in Iraq, we have had to continually defend our way of life. The price of that defense is measured in lives, more than a million of lives over the years.

Many have served our country in a number of different ways and there are times for to pay our due respect to them. Today is not that day, today is different, today we remember those who paid all. I honor those men and women who have given all they had for their Nation’s survival. I consider the ground where they are interred, as Mr. Lincoln said, “hallowed”.

We have an obligation today to remember those who fought and died in all our wars, From Bunker Hill to Bagdad. For their sakes we, the living, must remember them and do our best to preserve what they fought and died for.

Please take a moment to say a prayer for all those who are suffering from the pain that comes from losing a loved one in war. Then take another to pray for the country they fought to protect.

It's been awhile

I know my last entry was a ways back, sorry for the delay been busy. Today my friend Chris and I headed to Indiana to get a 1/2 of cow. I have never done it before and was very excited. Obviously I had to get pictures with the beef and no I did not do a Rocky Balboa and hit the beef. I wanted to, but didn't . So now Dawn and I have more than enough beef for the summer. Looking forward to it. How do we celebrate our first night of beef? Bubba burgers... Go figure.

Bocce Balls

IF you have ever seen the movie Splash, you remember a scene where the Mermaid come out of the water at the Statue of Liberty. The tour guide yells "Bocce Balls" when he sees a naked Daryl Hannah walking up to the Statue. Ever since we have been married Dawn and I will yell the same phrase when ever something we come across surprising. Last night, we got our chance to compete. We had a great time rolling the balls at an indoor Bocce pit. Who knew?

Polar Bear 2009

Well that was fun. I really lucked out in the sense that it was 50 degrees out today as we had a very warm day for winter in Chicago. Sadly not so much for the lake. I marched with about 35 Sailors from my ship and we all made the jump with about 1000 people from the base. I played it conservative and did not wear the pink speedo that others chose.

Polar Bear Time

I have done my fair share of dumb things in life but this Saturday should top them all. For some reason I am consumed by the idea of jumping into Lake Michigan on Saturday. I have been told by a host of people how dumb this is, but you only live once. I promise pictures will be posted by Dawn shortly after. And yes lake Michigan in February, shorty is the key word.

Busy and fun week

Whew, Thank goodness for the weekend. I had a fun week, went to the Horseshoe Casino in Indiana and had dinner with my friend Bill, I got the good end of the deal I only drove about an hour to his two but we got to see each other and that's all that matters.

One of the things I promised myself on this trip to Chicago was do and see a bunch of new things. So far I have been to the Bull and White Sox, this year I will see the Cubs (and Yankees) and a bunch of other stuff. We have also had 3 signature dishes. Chicago Deep Dish (Gino's East and Giordano's), Chicago Dogs (Almost Everywhere) and today the Italian Beef Sandwich (AL's) Cool thing is all of these places we see on Food Network and my personal favorite Man vs Food.

-9 before the wind chill

So I get up for work and I look at my clock that displays the external temp..... -9 Holy crap it's cold. I have been told by my happy news people that the temp is around -40 below. What was I thinking taking orders here?

2008

Last night my mother in law asked me what I was thankful for 2008. It took a second to think about, was it going to shore duty, moving to Chicago (ha ha), the new job? Nope, nope and Nope.

Oddly enough it was my diagnosis of Diabetes, believe it or not.. Since I have been diagnosed I have lost 60 lbs since last December, for the first time in a long time I am comfortable, my Navy Physical run time is down to a mile and half in 11.50, fastest for me in my entire 19 years, and I don't look like a blob in my pictures.

Funny thing about being a diabetic, when I found out in May, I went through many different emotions from being scared to pissed. In fact thinking back it was just scared and pissed, scared about would I be able to stay in the Navy, would I die, what would I eat to how would I go on?

I am happy to say that being a diabetic is not the end of the world, but rather for me a new beginning. Yeah it sucks not being able to eat some stuff I used to love (egg nog has like 35g of sugar) bust mostly I had to cut my portions down and just steer clear of other foods all together. Once I got a hold of my eating the daily pricking of my finger, I enjoy statistical tracking of my blood sugar, now runs about 100-110 a day and you can have fun plotting it on excel. The funny part is how others act around you when they find out you are a diabetic. Some people treat you like a freak, others like you deserve your own handicap sticker, readers.... I am here to tell you that if you eat right and take care of yourself, most of us will be fine.

So back to 2008, it's been a great year, we moved from the Sunshine to the Snow as my dear wife calls it and have moved into the best house we have ever had. I am glad, for us as a family, my wife and daughters deserve this house, they have given up so much for me to run around the world, a payoff like this is exactly what they should have. I love my new job, taking care of the kids (young Sailors) is more rewarding than I ever figured would be, now I have to finish getting my degree in the odd off chance I get out in 2 years.

Dawn and I hit the magic 15 this and didn't do much for our anniversary, I hope to fix that this year with a trip that I hope she will like. Lindsey is growing up quick and Emily is right on her ass, it seems like when Lindsey does something, Emily does the same. I love them both very much and no matter how much all of my women drive me crazy I wouldn't want my life any different.

If it wasn't for my sister I would have never started this blog, so you can blame her if you hate what I write. I wish I spent more time with you, I hope to get better with that this year. If plans work right, in the next few years we'll be allot closer.

Thanks for reading my blog, I wish you a Happy New Year and a great 2009.

Stone Moutain Fun

Made my first trip to Stone Moutain. Really a good time, if you are ever in Atlanta I suggest the visit. Funny thing they have a snow moutatin here where you pay 25 bucks to go sledding, silly people I'll let you come to Chicago and sleep in it for free...

Cold Out

Yes that does read 6.4 degrees. I miss Florida right now.

A day in Chicago

Jason and I went downtown today, saw Wrigley Field, the Sears Tower and walked around a bit. It was a great time.

First Work Snow

Here is our First snow of the season.. It's all down hill from here.

Sending Christmas Cards

One of the cool parts of my job is the gross numbers of kids that pass through my doors. On any given day I have over 650 men and women who cross my path. It amazes me everytime I ask for an artist, an athete, or someone who can sing or just about anything, because I get it. My kids come from all over the globe and every backround. Today's picture is a picture made by my students for Christmas. Our building is named after the USS Cole DDG-67 and for the Men and Women who gave their lives for their country. The assignment was take this 10 foot tall piece of wood and paint a Christmas card for the base contest. What you can't see is the Solar Christmas lights on there that really make this card good. Our contest is this week and I'll get pictures of all the cards and post them for you to see. I do hope we win.

On the homefront, my least favorite time of year as a kid was today, report card day. I am happy to say Lindsey and Emily made the honor role with all A's and B's. A great day for a very proud dad.

Dog's Life

I wonder what she does all day. how much can one dog sleep in a day? Really..

First Duty Day in the Bag

Well after 8 months of not standing duty I had my first duty day yesterday. Not very exciting but I'd rather have it that way. The real excitement is at my building, my kids are building a Christmas card. 12 feet tall. Details and pics to follow.

CYA.

Please Help my friends.

This is a mirror from a friend of mine. Please read it and contact your representatives. Adoption is difficult and can suck for couples. Help make someone's Christmas and put this family together. They've been trying to adopt a little girl from China for a very long time and they've hit another snag in the process. In a nutshell, can you write a letter for them? I'd appreciate it

Details:

As you know, we have been waiting to adopt our Molly for years. Now we finally have our referral and we are caught in a paperwork disgrace that is keeping our daughter in an orphanage for no other reason than red-tape – poorly administered red-tape at that! We were supposed to bring Molly home in September, but we are still waiting for our US visas to travel. It is the US holding us up – NOT China.

We are writing to ask for your help. In hopes that it will make a difference, we asking friends to please help us execute a more aggressive letter writing campaign in order to try to get things moving. We have been in touch with our Congressman, Senator and the Governor in Maryland as well as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. Some have been more helpful than others, but no one seems to have been able to make a difference so far.

If you could please bring this matter to the attention of your local representatives in Congress and in the Senate, it might have some impact. This link provides email address: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/. We know that a lot of local officials are in transition at the moment, but this information should be good for the next couple of months.

If you have time, we’d also like to ask you to please contact the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. Zoe Lofgren is the Chair (address below + email on her website. http://lofgren.house.gov/). Here is a link to a list of committee members: http://judiciary.house.gov/about/subimmigration.html. Please note that Randy Forbes is from Virginia (http://forbes.house.gov/zipauth.html) and Anthony Weiner is from NY (http://weiner.house.gov/).

In hopes that it will simplify the process for you, I’ve also included a basic ‘form’ letter that you can feel free to alter in any way (below).

I know I’m asking a lot of you in your busy lives. We can’t thank you enough for your help and look forward to sharing happy news soon.

Katharine and John


Suggested Information for Letter

I am writing on behalf of my friends John and Katharine Curtin and their daughter Molly. Thank you in advance for your help with this most important matter.

The Curtins are in the process of adopting a child from China. After a very long wait, they finally received their referral for a beautiful little girl from Hunan Province who is currently residing in the Chenzhou orphanage. Her Chinese name is Chen XiDi and her American name will be Margaret XiDi Curtin – Molly.

They were supposed to take custody of their daughter on September 2, 2008. However, they cannot travel without approval of their I-800A (Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country). Although they were already approved for an I-600A (the ‘pre-Hague’ version of this form) they had to file for the I-800A when they moved to Maryland in June 2008.

Even though they have a child waiting for them, no one will help them expedite their application. Worse yet, they have had no feedback at all since they filed their paperwork and the adoption community continues to hear about long waits and bureaucratic hold-ups. This all means that their beautiful little girl is left sitting in the orphanage when she should be home with her own loving family.

Every extra day that a child spends in an institutional environment contributes to developmental delays and complicates the transition once they are placed with their adoptive family. The longer Molly is waiting in the orphanage, the more difficult the adoption process will be for her. There are also concerns about her health since many of the babies were hospitalized last winter during the snowstorms that resulted in power losses and loss of heat for 8 days. If this resulted in asthma, as is apparently common in this region, she may need treatment. And now, as you may be aware, there is a major health crisis in China that endangers all children – tainted baby formula – which is causing kidney stones and even deaths.

Please help our friends bring their baby girl home.



Subcommittee on Immigration
The Honorable Zoe Lofgren, Chair - Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law
102 Cannon House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone (202) 225-3072


Other officials we have contacted:
Maryland State Senator
The Honorable Barbara Mikulski
503 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington D.C., 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4654

Maryland Governor
The Honorable Martin O’Malley
100 State Circle
Annapolis, Maryland 21401-1925
410.974.3901

Congressman for Maryland’s 8th District
Congressman Chris Van Hollen
1707 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5341

Cold and Fun

Today is a day to remember all of those who have gone before us to defend freedom and democracy around the world. I hope that if you reading this you took time to remember someone who served in the Armed Forces or Department of Defense. With the silly season behind us of who is going to lead our country behind us we need to concentrate on the future and how we can get this great country back to wear it once was.

Anyway I got up this morning to go to the girl's school to Participate in a salute to the Military and found that we had our first frost. By my math it was my first frost in 3.5 years. Sure it gets cold in Florida but not this cold, and by Chicago winter standards I have been told this is nothing compared to what is coming.... Anyway, Ice on the car, and we went to school and then breakfast with our friends and then I went back to school where I was the guest speaker to the 4th and 5th grade class. I had planned to speak about the Military and the history of the day today, but it became a 45 minute Q&A session with questions ranging from where was my favorite place to have I ever killed anyone. I assured everyone that I am not a killing type and my favorite place was the Straights of Magellen in South America.

The best part of my day was how happy Lindsey seemed that I came in. Making her proud is better than anything I could ever do. I stopped down to the caferteria and saw Emily and came home. What a great day. Tonight is Lindsey's first Cheerleading event, the boy's team has the season opener tonight. I am very excited and can't wait..

ID Please

My baby has reached another plateau in her life... No not that one, she got her Navy ID. When depenents turn 10 they get an ID card. We celebrated by seeing Madagascar 2 and Emily puking at 0300. Fun weekend ahead..