Thanksgiving Weekend Travels

Great Thanksgiving Weekend, dinner at my Martinsburg Families house. Got to spend time with some friends and meet some new ones. A road trip down to Kentucky to see the kids and back. Never had a two hour layover at a rest area for a snowstorm and a 11 car pile up before. I also had to take sideroads on the way back in Maryland because of a huge accident that had traffic backed up 10 miles anf at standstill. People were actually playing soccer on the highway. Glad to be back home one piece and watching football. I am also glad to have my truck back and Cole-Hope you enjoy your birthday present too.

Playing with Bambi

I went to see a little friend the other day. Our little Bambi was found wondering around lost in a field with no Momma deer in site. Some guys at the the facility I work took her in to give her some shelter and nurishment until they can figure out what to do with her. She is adorable and loves the attention.

I had an interesting morning feeding the local Gater down here in Baton Rouge. He got a whole frozen chicken. Tomorrow, I am thinking double cheese burgers.

Inside Special Forces

I saw this on Hulu today, its a National Geographic Special of Inside Special Forces. Alot of the the guys on this video are good friends of mine from 5th group. Some are still with us, some are not. Its a good insight into what the last couple years of my military career was all about. These are my brothers in arms....... Inside Special Forces

Drinking with the Captian

Went out the the guys last night to a country bar "Texas" last night. We all had to have a drink with the Captian. Good times.

Back on Bourbon Street

We went back down to New Orleans the other night for dinner and some fun. This time I took the video camera. This is just a couple of the clips from the night that I put together. We had good time, but want to go back down with a group people to get crazy sometime.

A night in Naw-Leans

I was so happy to get a call from my good friend Kieth the other day inviting Radka and Me down to visit with him and his girl Elizabeth in New Orleans for the evening. We had a great time. we started off with a great dinner and drinks at a local brewery on the Mississippe River. I was great to get caught up on good times. Kieth and I haven't seen each other in about 8 years. We took off right were we left off. It was nice to meet Elizabeth. She was very fun to hang out with. After dinner we all decided to take a walk down bourbon street. That was a blast. Drinks in hand and walking down the street, listening to all kinds of music. We stopped in at this little bar for a couple of drinks and even tried some Torantuala Bites. (Blue Tequillia) Not bad at all. We had a great night. I am really looking forward to getting together with Kieth and Liz again soon. Its Party on........

A walk to the Mount of Olives

Radka and I decided to get out of the apartment and take a walk around. We walked down to the Old City. We entered through the Jaffa Gate and ended up on the Via Dolarosa. We followed it out the Lion's Gate and walked down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane and Mary's Tomb. We decided to walk up to the top of the Mount of Olives. Walking up, we passed the Church of Maria Magdelene and the Dominus Flevit Chruch. Once on the top of the Mount, there was a guy giving camel rides. Radka had never been on a camel, so she wanted to give it a try. She got to ride a camel around the top of the Mount of Olives overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. Not a bad deal for just wanting to get out of the apartment for a while. It was a good walk.

If you want to see some more pictures from the walk, just check out my photo album of the day. Mount of Olive Walk . Feel free to leave us some comments.

I just wanted to take a

minute and say how proud I am of my daughter Nicole. She has become an amazing young woman. She turned 18 a couple of months ago and will be graduating high school in June. First she sent me a message today, just saying I love you. Then she let me know that she has been accecpted to Kentucky Weslyan College. I am excited for her and I know she will do well. Good luck sweetheart. I love you too.

A new adventure

I have recently started on Facebook. It is intresting to see how many people are on there the I know. People find you from people that know you. Even some of my family that I havent talked to in years, are now able to drop me a line and see what going on. I am still trying to get the hang of it and get to know how to use all the items, but it looks like it will really help me in my goal to keep in touch with everyone around the world that I know.

Vacation is OVER....

Well its back to work, but first a summary of my vacation.

Wow, what a good time. I got to spend alot of time with with both family and friends. Everywhere we went they put out a bunch of good food and not to mention all the things to drink....... We spent the last week up the the mountians of the Eastern Czech Republic, on a ski trip with my mother in laws students. The lodge was nice and warm and the beer was good and cold. We could litterally walk out the back door of the lodge and be on the lift. It was really fun. The first day there was a little rough on me for skiing, but once I got my snow legs, I was good to go. By the end of the week I was skiing like a champ, or at least a chump. It was kind of embarrasing getting beat down the hill by a bunch of 7th graders, but what you gonna do when they have been on the slopes since they were four years old. I had a really good time. By the end of the week, I was wiped out though.

But now the vacation is over and its time to get back to work. I am in a new location for me in the big snadbox at an "Undisclosed Location" Three months of Sand, Wind and Heat. Oh well, someone's got to do it. I am already looking forward to my next vaction. Only 103 days to go.

A night out for the boys.....

This is Ondra, Martin, and me at a pub in Ortrokovice.  When the three of us get together, there always seems to be some drinking involved.  The last time we were together was Easter of 2007.  ( Which is a story in itself ) 

Martin is my brother in law, but we might as well be brothers.  I know Ondra through Martin, and have only had the chance to hang out with him three or four times.  I only get to see Ondra about once a year or so,  but every time we get together, its like we have known each other for a long time.  I always have a great time with these guys and the other night was no different.  Notice the green liquor in the shot glass.  I don't even know what they called it, but it was pretty good.  Especially after the third one.  Anyway Thanks guys for being not just my drinking buddies, but my friends. 

Skiing in the Dark

As if I wasn't having enough problems standing on two slippery sticks in the snow,  our friend decided to take us to another slope so we could ski at night.    As it turned out, I guess that if you can't see where you are going, you don't worry about falling so much.  I did much better this time.  The slope was not as steep and without so many bumps in it.  Because it was smoother, I was able to actually make it down the hill several times WITHOUT falling.  So this time I was actually skiing, not falling.  I did get wiped out by some guy that came flying by me at 100mph.  Actually he wiped out right in front of me, and rather than run him over, I made myself fall to keep from hitting him.  I guess I figured it was safer for me to hit the ground, than try to avoid him on the ski's.  

Well we have a whole week of skiing planned for next week.  I will try to polish my "skills" a few more times before I go professional.  

Well, it was a quite day today, not much going on.  Radka and I  took the dogs out for a walk around the village today.  It warmed up to a balmy 32 degrees,  so it wasn't so bad.  The dogs had a good time.  As you can see below, poopy is having a good time looking for mice.

Last night was bowling with Jarik, Sharka, Philip and Dominica.  I think we all had a good time.  I bowled a 156,  a career best for me I think.  Then it was back to their house for some food and drinks.  We also stepped into the Sauna for a bit.  That was really relaxing.   Overall a good time.  I really enjoyed it. 

Ok, so I tried again.  Skiing that is.  This time was a little better.  I didn't let the mountain beat me, I beat the mountain.  I just kept hitting it and hitting it until we came to an understanding.  I did get a little better this time,  I was still falling, but not as much.  I was able to go down the run more often and quicker each time.  I did have a couple of really good face plants though.  We went back to the same ski run with some friends of ours.  We got to spend more time skiing this time, and I spent less time on my ass.  Radka really helped me a lot and kept me from getting frustrated with myself.   Although I didn't realize it until the end of the day, I got beat up pretty bad.  I was wore out and my legs felt like rocks when I went to bed. Overall it was a great day, and I look forward to my next ski trip. 

Another day, another snowfall

Well it snowed again today.  What A surprise.  We walked the dogs around the outskirts of the village and let them run wild.  We also got invited to go skiing tomorrow.  I hope this time I can make it down the slope one complete time without falling.  Well at least there is a good warm lodge at the bottom of the hill, with cold beer in it.  If I make it back in one piece, I will post again.  We are planning on trying to take some pictures also.  Although I told Radka, none of them can be with my face planted in the snow.  

And Here we are

Well, This is the start of my blogging adventure. In an attempt to communicate better with the people I know and even with some of those I don't know so well. I am going to try to keep this blog as up to date as time will allow me to. I would like to keep this blog up to date with new activities and events of things that I am doing, places I am going, and events that are going on.