Jay's Birthday Trip

Natural History Museum!

Today we are celebrating the big 3-0! Jay is going to see his first dinosaur today!
Pictures and goofy stories to be posted later!

Happy Birthday Jay!

Decide, Act, Don't look back

Thursday's Thoughts

Today's Thought:

There is nothing wrong with change, so long as it is in the right
direction. -Winston Churchill

I'm not normally one to complain about the orders I'm given or the decisions my superiors make. I generaly assume that it is very hard to judge someone's choices without first having been in their situation. I can not stay silent this time however. There has been a long, drawn out weakening of the NCO corps. I've mentioned this on occasion. I believe that a large part of this falls into accelerated promotions at the junior level, and also with the attitudes of entitlement and apathy that most of America's youth carry when they come into the Army. Recently I read an article about the changes planned for the NCO school system. A number of things bother me. The biggest changes that I noticed were at the WLC level, which (for those of you unfamiliar with the system) is the first NCO school a soldier attends. Soldiers will soon no longer be trained on land navigation, with the burden being on the unit to train the individual. I can not support this as not all units concentrate on such a basic skill. There are also plans to take away the lock-down that made PLDC a distinct learning environment, and with it staples such as wall-locker and barracks inspections. You can not teach soldiers without knowing the standards, and I think that taking this focus away from the beginnings of leadership schools just weakens the standards these NCOs will grow to enforce. But the greatest travesty is that the requirement to pass a PT test is being removed. The Army Times reports that "PT evaluations are also appropriate for the unit level before students attend the Warrior Leader Course. Marginal soldiers who are sent to the WLC risk having a negative report follow them throughout their careers." First and foremost why are units sending these "marginal soldiers"? It is the unit's responsibility to make sure that a soldier is fit for school and if a soldier can't get fit then to hold them back from the school. But more importantly what is more important, ensuring that the "marginal soldier" gets promoted, or making sure that the standards are met? Have we truly decided that the welfare and advancement of the individual soldier is more important than the needs of the Army? WTF?!?

Our Flowering Garden

Harley, Then & Now

What I've learned in the past seven months:
I have a high tolerance for the dog I love. Even though she recently completed her mission to eat every last wooden spoon in my kitchen, it took forever (it seemed) to potty train her, she has learned to open the gate so she can escape to the neighbor's house, she comes to give kisses every single time she gets a drink of water, and she farts like a rotting corpse. What I love about her is that she likes to watch tv, especially the nature shows. The other day we were watching "life" and she tried to climb through the tv to get at the polar bear. Her type was breed for bear hunting, coincidence? Any time I move to a new room, she will inevidably be found nearby within moments, to include laying down between my legs and the stove while I'm cooking, and on her too-small doggie bed by the computer or the bead table, or sometimes, even waiting outside the bathroom door for me (she has also learned how to open that door, yikes!) She sleeps perfectly quietly in her crate, even letting us sleep in on the weekends, and anytime someone walks into my bedroom in the middle of the night, she loudly sounds the alarm.

How Fast the Trees Leaf!

In just two weeks the trees went from "budding" to "leafed out" as Miah put it. The trees are so thick with leaves we can no longer see the neighbors across the creek, and we feel tucked in and isolated again, just the way I like it!

Spring Pictures

Getting the word out. Please help!

Pictured: Bonnie Posey holding Mason Posey age 1
Jr. Garmon holding Chase Posey age 3 and Jaclyn Posey age 4. All three of the children died in the fire.
Donations for the Garmon family who lost family members and their home in a fire can be made in person at the store or mailed to:

Phillips IGA
P.O. Box 226
Hiseville KY, 42152
Attn: Garmon Family

Family Clothing Sizes

Jr. Garmon, 62,
36x30 pants and extra large shirt, shoe 10

Juanita, 43,
20 pants and extra large shirt, shoe 11

Bonnie, 23,
5-6 pants and medium shirt, shoe 8

Tyler, 17,
34x32 pants and large shirt, shoe 12

Josh, 27,
30x32 pants and medium shirt, shoe 10

Adrian, 1 year old,
3T-4T and size 9 shoe

Tanner, 5 years old, 5T-6T and size 1 shoe

Time Lapse Planting Flowers

The front yard took less time, and you can't really tell what we did, but the kids had a blast doing the crazy poses at the end. See if you can spot their craziness!

Time Lapse Gardening

We thought it might be fun to try out the time lapse feature on my new camera, as well as my new tripod. I love, love, love this. Look closely, because it goes quickly!