From The Corner Of My Mind

* Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife. It's only been seven years? It seems like yesterday as I watched you walk down the aisle. You were so pretty and I was overwhelmed with happiness. I can only pray that I bring you the same happiness and joy that you bring into my life. Thank you once again for putting up with me. I love you.
* We made it home from our little excursion late Saturday night. Well technically, it was Sunday morning. We arrived at 12:05 am. 2153 miles driven. 43 plus hours driving/riding/idling engine time. Black Beauty averaged 16.7 MPG for the round trip. For the most part, I drove between 80-85 MPH on the Interstates, and 60-65 on the US Highways. We started back home from Georgia on Friday evening after dropping the Soldier back off at the base around 8:00 pm. We made our way south to Mobile Alabama and spent the night there. I must say, Holiday Inn Express rocks. That was by far, the best hotel room I have ever spent a night in. It was also CHEAP! We got up early Saturday morning and took a trip down the coastline on US90 going West until we got nearly to New Orleans, and then we jumped back up on Interstate 10 all the way in to Houston. We stopped in Beaumont for lunch at a place called Floyds Seafood and Steakhouse. Don't hesitate to stop and eat there if you are ever in the area. Great service and even better food! They are also very generous with their portions. We then made our way to TIRR to spend some quality time with Cuz.
* Cuz is doing good. HE is totally off the ventilator and it was so good to be able to talk to him in length about everything and catch up on old times since the accident. He's lost some weight, but he looks really good. He is on schedule to move to the step-down Kindred facility today at 11:00 am. He should get the Halo off on December 23rd and then move back to TIRR for Phase2 of his rehabilitation  shortly after Christmas.  The time he will spend at TIRR for Phase2 will depend on how far he gets along with rehab, and also what range of motion he has. It felt really good to see him again, and to hear his voice in person. He and W-spouse kept us laughing the whole time we were there.
* Thoughts from the trip:
  ** If you have never watched a Platoon of Soldiers marching and doing cadence at the same time, you are missing quite a sight. It was very moving, especially when one of them is a child you helped raise.
  ** The drive across Alabama and Georgia is beautiful this time of year with the trees all changing colors.
  ** Watching your wife see her son for the first time in two months, hugging him and crying, was very moving.
  ** We are a lucky family to be able to support our son, and to have 7 family members in attendance there for him. It was sad to see all the Soldiers standing there alone, not having anyone to come see them for the Family Days. I tried to thank as many of them as I could, and to shake their hands.
  ** I immediately saw a change in our son, from the last time we saw him. Not just physically either,  has he lost nearly 20 pounds, but he is so much more mature. For three days it "yes sir, no sir". That would make anyone proud.
  ** Driving in Columbus Georgia sucks. No right turns on red, the intersections are confusing and hardly any of the streets are marked by name.
  ** Thanksgiving dinner at Ryans Steakhouse is very good.
  ** Driving along the coast of Alabama and Mississippi, there were many ocean front lots that were cleared. No structures on them. We wondered if they just haven't been replaced since Katrina? In one of the bays in Mississippi, one of the realtor signs advertised a 200' x 300' lot facing the bay for $265,000. Just the lot, nothing more. Not even a tree on it.
  ** We saw a Dolphin playing in the surf. Actually, we just saw the dorsal fin.
  ** We drove right passed the place on I10 West where the 100 vehicle pile up happened in the fog on Thursday morning. There was guard rail damage, debris and litter in the median and ditches for over a half a mile.
* Have a wonderful day my friends, see ya Around The Corner!