Yesterday, I was trying to see if we had even one fish left in our poor little pond, which has dropped four or five feet due to the drought.  When I pulled the trap in, there was an enormous frog, tons of tadpoles, and a stick that was about 15 inches long.  Then the "stick"--a small moccasin--got me in the leg.  I have a bruise half the size of a football, and not even morphine helped with the pain.  Next snake I see in my pond will see the end of my old .22.

This picture was actually taken July 9th, but I was going through my pictures and really liked it.  I didn't take the picture, so I didn't know it was there--Ronald took the picture from the Luger. 

As usual, we spent the night on the water.  There just isn't anything like being on a sailboat seeing such a beautiful sunset, then watching all the stars in the sky come to life.  (Click on pic for larger view.)

...not because I am having overwhelming problems or something, just because I have been superstitious that if I posted something good, it will be like I dropped a mirror and will have seven years bad luck.

Not to say that everything is perfect--my back is out, we had a hurricane (Ike), and one of my dogs killed a kitten.

But my back is about to be fixed. Ike blew down a bunch of branches and knocked out electricity--but we had a small generator, just large enough to run an AC and a portable DVD player to keep me entertained.  The dog that killed the kitten was turned over to the Huntsville animal shelter, and was adopted out two days later (hopefully to a family that doesn't have cats).

The positive aspects of our lives far outweigh the negatives.  Ronald is working for a seafood restaurant and making more money than he ever has.  We bought a small plot of land near Lake Livingston so we could take advantage of their boat ramp to go sailing again.  Both of us are developing hobbies together that we never thought of before.  We are making positive plans for our future.

So, for the first time in at least a decade, I feel at peace with myself.  I don't want this to end.  Which is why it may have looked like I have abandoned my site--but I was just waiting.  Waiting to be sure that my peace was real.  Now I feel the wait is over.

 

We don't know her route, or when she will actually arrive in Iraq, but at least we finally got her official pictures.  She has grown up so much, it makes me feel old.  Her picture, which was taken in the last few months, is below:

Her beret is red because she is attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, though her job in Iraq will be as an MP.

This is very different from her other "military" outfits---dresses she wore to the Marine Corp Birthday Ball.

 

One of Alyssa's "uniforms" for the Marine Birthday Ball