A Soldier's Diary

Ok so I found this on the Fox News website, now before my liberal brethren move on, I just thought it was interesting. It's an online diary written by Captain Dan Sukman with the 101st Airborne Division based at Ft.Campbell Kentucky.. Two things struck me when I saw this for the first time..
1. Captain Dan- of Forrest Gump.. "Look, Captain Dan has Magic Legs"
2. I am sucker for my boys in the 101st!!

Another thing that kind of touched my heart about Captain Dan was in one of his entries he said this: "My parents asked me what I miss most when I'm in Iraq. My answer to that is being able to go to a bar and chat it up with a pretty woman." That just kind of broke my heart... I'm sure there are other things he misses but that was the first thing that came to mind...

Anyway, I am going to post his entries here on my site. Now of course his entries will not be as informative as Chairborne Stranger's site, but I like this guy and it's my site so I can do what I want... So there!


Luck o' the Irish
Thursday, March 30, 2006
By Capt. Dan Sukman

Meet Capt. Dan Sukman
BAGHDAD — Editor's note: U.S. Army Capt. Dan Sukman is serving a one-year deployment to Iraq. For previous entries and his bio, see the Soldier's Diary archives.

March 29, 20061600 hours
Before I begin this entry, I need to address a fact that was brought to my attention. I once mentioned how Tuesdays have always bothered me. A fellow officer recently reminded me about Fat Tuesday. He is absolutely correct, which just goes to prove that there is an exception to every rule.
I caught some of the news on TV in the chow hall this morning. We really don’t watch much TV here, and as I said in the last entry we mostly watch movies via DVD. TVs are located in the chow hall and the gym, and for most of us, the few minutes we spend in the chow hall is about all the TV we see. I think most of us prefer it that way.
Anyone who has lived overseas is probably familiar with AFN, the Armed Forces Network, although a good many of us refer to it as A Lot of Freakin' Nothing. (Some use a stronger word.) AFN has three stations: sports, news and movies. The shows are up to date, and thanks to the commercials AFN broadcasts I have memorized every Medal of Honor winner since the Civil War and numerous obscure facts about all 50 states.
(While watching the news at breakfast, I was joined by a couple other officers on our staff. One of the topics of conversation was another dreaded meeting we have scheduled today. It’s a planning meeting to go over some of the operations we will be conducting over the next few months. I will not discuss the operations, but I want to talk about the soldier who leads most of our planning meetings.
Maj. Graham Shannon is our brigade planner. He is responsible for planning all future operations. It is an incredibly detail-oriented and tedious job, often requiring long hours in the office thinking up different courses of action or ensuring his Power Point slides are just right. With all due respect to those I work for and with, he is without a doubt the best officer I have ever served with. And by the way, he’s a British officer from the Royal Irish Regiment of the British Army.
Graham has been with our brigade for about a year-and-a-half and with us on the deployment since Day One. He played a large role in planning all the training conducted prior to deployment, during the deployment to Baghdad, the operations here and he has even started planning our deployment home.
Throughout, he has brought to the fight all of his knowledge gained from the British Army. When you think about all the places the British have been, it’s easy to see how well he understands counterinsurgency operations. I guess that’s why British food is so bad; they've been too busy learning how to combat terrorism over the years.
Graham is with our brigade because of a unique relationship our unit has with the British Army. He is actually from Ireland, and as I stated earlier, a member of the Royal Irish Regiment of the British Army. When he finishes his tour with us, he will be replaced by another British soldier. The only frustrating part about working with him is when I read his e-mails, the little voice inside my head reads them with an Irish accent.
Soldiers, no matter where they are from, are alike in many ways. Just because Graham's a Brit does not mean he misses his family less than any other American soldier. Just like Rob, whom I talked about in a previous column, Graham has a young daughter, plus a lovely wife who is nine months pregnant. And just like all U.S. servicemembers here, you will never hear one complaint come from him.
Just like friends in any other profession, we all anxiously await pictures of a soon-to-be born son.

My new ride

So I am getting a new ride... It's a 2005 Jeep Liberty (see pic)... I LOVE it, and it fits my personality very well... My momma wanted me to get something a little more prissy, I told her nope, I want the JEEP!! And to Eunuch's disappoint, it's NOT a hybrid...

But I have been a little sad today thinking about saying goodby to the Black Beauty , aka my 1999 Black Nissan Altima. She's been a good car and has served me very well, but it was time to move on...

My cousin Tracy and drove it all weekend... We took up on the highway and let her go...

It's got a V-6, which I've never had before, so I am going to have to be careful...

I really haven't had anything witty or charming to report lately... Things are fine, in fact they are better than fine but I have been in a blogger funk lately... So if my entries are less frequent I hope y'all won't mind...

This weekend should be a good one.. I'll have my new Jeep and it's supposed to be beautiful!! AS pk would say, perfect beer drinkin weather...

and remember, I love y'all more than my luggage!!

~Beachgirl

You can't always get what you want...

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

I love this song... and it's chorus has become sort of my anthem. I was watching some mindless show last night and it's "theme" was to just go out and get what you want, and of course in TV land, the girl goes up to the guy she's in love with and says, "you're what I want" and they fall into each other's arms and they live happily ever after. Then the cold reality that is life kicks in, "that's a bunch of crap" is the thought that crosses my mind. If I could just go out and get what I wanted, the man of dreams (who is an actual person and a good friend) would be mine and I would be his. But that's not the way life works, I wish it was, but it's not.

This man is the most amazing man I have met thus far in my life. He's kind, funny, a little goofy, he loves music, and sports. Oh and handsome, did I mention handsome?? But the thing is, he doesn't "know" he's handsome... We have been friends for almost 2 years now. I know he cares for me but as far as dating goes, we're just not there yet and we might not ever really get there. We are still great friends, which is wonderful, with the exception that he is in a freakin warzone, so I don't even have him here to hang out with... That was the great thing about being with him, no matter what we were doing we always had fun. I found that I could just be myself with him, he just had a way of putting me at ease... I miss that more than anything...

Now I know what some people will say, don't wait around on him, and I have dated others, but honestly none of them compare to him... The right guy is out there, I know that and I look forward to meeting him.. but for right now, I would just settle for someone fun that I could hang out with, maybe watch some basketball with, something along those lines... I have always gotten along better with guys than I have with girls...

So the song says you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might get what you need... So I guess that's what I need, my friend, nothing more nothing less...

A Great Weekend

I had a fantastic weekend. After my birthday illness weekend I think I deserved a good one and I GOT IT!! I didn't really go anywhere exciting nor did I do anything extraordinary but I just simply enjoyed life.... Here's how it went:

Friday:
My friend Stef and I went out Friday night, it was St.Patty's Day and college basketball was going strong so we went to a sports bar. I for one was in heaven b/c it's the kind of bar that has like 4 games going at once on big screen TV's across an entire wall...I was literally in heaven.. I have to give props to my friend Stef b/c she's not that big of sports fan but she hung in there with me... We left that bar and headed to another one just down the street to meet my friend Scot. Now, he could be a potential dating partner but I'm pretty sure I ruined that..However the Kentucky game was really good and I ended up standing at the bar with a bunch of guys watching the game instead of talking to Scot.. Next thing I hear is Scot telling me he's headed to the East Side for a pub crawl. Not, hey come with us, but just basically saying "hey- I'm outta here".... I felt bad but the game was on... I sent him a text mail later and I'm sure everything is fine, I think.. I had such a great time though just being out among the peeps...

Saturday:
I slept until 10:00 am, which is EXTREMELY late for me, but it was so nice. Then I downshifted into super cleaning mode. The upstairs of my house was desparate for some attention, so I stripped the bed, turned the mattress, by myself (which is actually quite funny to watch).... all the while watching the UT men's basketball game (no need to hate on my team, b/c I will go completely postal on you if you do). It was a good hard fought game and really came down to a few key plays at the end. I am so freakin proud of that team for getting as far as they did, no one expected it from this program and surely not from a new coach... I hope that a men's basketball dynasty is in the works, considering the women have had one for YEARS!!! WORD!
So Saturday night I went to a St.Patty's Day dinner with my J and her mom at a Catholic Church in Franklin. It was nice, they had a buffett, a band and an OPEN BAR, IN THE CHURCH... I'm not kidding.. I am Methodist and we just don't do stuff like that, I mean we enjoy the cocktails but not IN THE CHURCH... I have to hand it to the Catholics, they know how to have a good time... even IN THE CHURCH....

Sunday:
I went to church, our Senior Minister is on vacation and I really did not care for the sermon given by one of our associate pastors, mainly b/c she ripped it off of a guest speaker we had the previous Wednesday night...I thought it was in EXTREMELY poor taste. Simply b/c it was not original thought, and I had just heard it Wednesday night, I felt a little cheated... It was like watching a re-run on TV...
Sunday night was Compline. It's a service that dates back to the Midevil times, where the monks would chant their prayers. In our church, the service starts about 9:00 in the evening (it only lasts for 30 minutes), the sanctuary (which is gothic in nature) is lit by candlelight. There aren't many people there, so you are encouraged to lie down in the pews or just find a way to make yourself comfortable in order to calm your mind and just be at peace as the men's choir chants their prayers. It's a great way to sort of clear your mind of its cobwebs and focus on prayer, which is what I did... I devoted most of the time to uplifting of my mother who is going through an extremely hard time at work. You would think after having a heart attack at 56, it would be smooth sailing from there. But it has been just the opposite and it breaks my heart. But I know God is with us and it is comforting... I also lifted up my friend that is in the 101st, his brigade has been involved with Operation Swarmer, I prayed for his safety and the safety of all of our service men and women...
But mostly, I thought about my sweet grandmother. Yesterday was the anniversary of her death. I cried silently for a little while but then my heart began to swell as I realized that death, as we learn during the season of lent, is not the end but simply a new beginning. I miss her so much but she is where she is supposed to be, with God, at peace living her eternal life that was promised through her belief in Jesus Christ.. for that reason I rejoice and celebrate her life.

Ok so it got a little heavy there at the end but it was simply a great way to end a great weekend.

March Madness Baby!!

So many of you all already know, I love college sports!! Especially football and basketball..The college level is where sports are still pure and fun! My mighty Vols finally made it to the big dance. After years of a floundering men's basketball program, I am hoping that Coach Bruce Pearl is our saving grace. He was named coach of the year by Sporting News, an accolade that I feel is well deserved. Not only because he has brought the team to the big dance but he has also restored the fan base of the men's basketball program at UT..and after such a poor football season, we deserve this!

I have filled out my bracket and I have picked Duke to win it all.. No I didn't pick UT, I'm a fan, but I'm not stupid...Now, who do you think will win it all?? AND who do you think will be the cinderalla team?? Between the tourney, NASCAR, and spring practice starting for football, I am sports heaven!!

It's march madness baby!!

Goody Bags..

So a comment from Dr.Ken got me to thinkin' about a topic, Goody Bags... he asked if I gave those out at my party over the weekend or maybe that was just a Chicago thing (b/c that's where he lives)... I told him,
a.) there was no party b/c I was as sick as dog that just went through last week's trash.. a bout with the stomach flu will get you everytime
b.) the goody bags are not a "chicago" thing...

Let me explain..

The Goody Bag is something that is usually handed out at children's brithday parties at the end to thank everyone for attending said child's birthday party. It usually follows the theme of the aforementioned party an example being Thomas the Train... The bag is filled with candy and little trinkets that children will enjoy...

I explained to Dr.Ken that there are varying degrees of goody bags here in the south... There is the child's birthday goody bag, but here in the south we give out goody bags for other things..

The Bachelorette Goody Bag:
Filled with everything the bachlorette will need for her raucus night out... the items in this goody bag can get very raunchy so I will not dare to mention them in the daylight hours.. But just use your imagination..

The Bridesmaid Goody Bag:
This is a goody bag given by brides filled with little gifts to thank bridesmaids for being in the wedding..Now, this is of little consolation because the bridesmaids have spent enormous amounts of money on a heinous dress, and shoes that they will never wear again...

as a caveat to this, I must say my best friend paid for my dress and I have worn it again... but this was a one time event!!

This goody bag usually contains, a trinket of some kind, usually the heinous jewlery the bride wants you to wear with the heinous dress and shoes she has picked for you and YOU have paid for...

The Baby shower/ bridal shower goody bag:
This usually goes to the hostess of the party.. It is usually a smelly candle or smelly lotion of somekind, you know something that goes directly into the re-gift closet (a little secret that all southern women have, when you get a gift you do not like, it goes into the re-gift closet so you can give the heinous thing or things to someone else.. b/c after all one person's trash is another's treasure)..

and Finally....


The Funeral Goody bag
Now as tasteless as this sounds, let me explain... In the south, when someone passes on, people bring food to a central location for the family of the lost loved one... Because in the south, that is one thing we never lose... our capacity to eat! For instance, when my mammaw died we had more food than we knew what to do with, so when well wishers would stop by the house we would send them away with a plate of food i.e. the funeral goody bag... Now, after the funeral, everyone goes back to the house (it's never really quite clear whose house everyone should migrate towards, but somehow, everyone just knows where "the house" is, it's a southern thing I guess).. That's when people will bring plants and flowers back to the said "house" from the funeral home.... Sometimes people will send the most awful arrangements, they mean well, bless their hearts but heavens, those things can be bad.. So send that ugly plant or arrangement along with the extra food home with the well wisher.. Tell he/she would have wanted them to have it... because heaven knows you sure don't!

I hope that has cleared up the goody bag question, b/c I know y'all were dying to know!!

Remember, I love y'all more than my luggage!!
~Beachgirl

It's my birthday!! Well almost...

So as many of you already know, my 31st birthday is Saturday. I have always loved my birthday because I didn't have to share that day with anyone else, people celebrated that day b/c I was born!! It was all about me, most things are, but this day is seriously all about me... My parents always made a big deal about it, even after my parents divorced, there was always something from daddy on my birthday. But as I get older and people have come and gone from life I start getting a little more emotional about the b-day...

For instance, my sweet Mammaw always sent me a card for my special day, it was always signed "Love, mammaw and granddaddy" and the year was always written in the lower right hand corner. She passed away a few years ago and since then I always miss her around this time of year, especially b/c she died about a week after my birthday. A year after her death my aunt (her daughter, and my mother's sister) died suddenly and was buried on the anniversary of Mammaw's death. So March is really no longer a happy time for my family and that's ok... They really try to put on brave faces for my birthday and as the years have passed it has gotten a little easier, but the pain is still there.... I actually expect to go to my mailbox and find a card from Mammaw, but I know it won't be there. I've said it before but it bears repeating, I still miss her and would give everything I own, to hear her sweet voice tell me she loves me...

Also, my dear friend that helped me celebrate last year (the one who sent me the flowers for Valentine's day) is deployed in Iraq, and I really miss him, especially b/c he LOVES a good party!! He actually made me 2 CD's for my birthday last year, he called them my Booty Shakin 30th birthday Cd's... I have been listening to them all week to get pumped for the big day... But I would give just about anything to have him home and know that he is safe... That would be a marvelous, marvelous gift...

But we will celebrate!! My friends are taking me out so it should be very fun, I am really looking forward to it... With the exception of the Junior League event I have to work the day of my birthday, yep I have to be there at 6:30 am... I know, I should have just said, nope, I'm not going to be there, it's my birthday but I have started a new tradition. It started last year when I turned 30, I felt I had everything I needed and was more than blessed so what was I going to do with useless gifts?? You know those gifts that usually consist of some awful smelling bath salts or lotion and you have to pretend to like, all the while knowing it was going in the re-gift closet at home...So I asked my party guests to make a donation to my favorite charity, which was Nashville Cares (and HIV/AIDS awarness group). So this year I thought I would actually give back to the community and work a charitable event on my actual birthday... I am also asking my party guests this year should they choose to give me a gift to make it in the form of a donation to the House of Mercy, where I am a Board Member... No, I'm not Mother Teresa and I am not looking for praise... I just want to give back... The Lord has truly blessed me, and He teaches us to help the "least of these" so that's all I'm doing, just what the Lord says...

Besides, I gotta lot of making up to do for my college years!! Whew!! Jesus saw fit to get me through those days alive and pretty much intact, so I fell I owe it to him to do some good now..

So happy birthday to me, happy brithday to all of us... Birthdays are a celebration of the life God has given us. Let us rejoice and give thanks!

Doh! I got tagged!!

So Laurie aka buggy tagged me... sorry it has taken me so long to post it... I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm too lazy...

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was 21 and still in college, not focused on school but where were we going to party that weekend.. Wait, I don’t think much has changed! Just kidding!! I’m not in school anymore! WHATEVER!

What were you doing one year ago?
Getting ready to celebrate my 30th and most fabulous birthday… I had moved into my new house, and I had just re-joined the church and felt like my life was really on track for the first time… Then I got off track, then I got back on, then I got off again….. well, you get the point. But for the most part right now, I’m back on…

Five snacks you enjoy:Before South Beach: plain potato chips, french fries, peanut m&m’s, nachos, salt & vinegar potato chips
After South Beach: baked whole wheat tortilla chips (that I make myself), fruit, peanuts, jello, sugar free chocolate ice cream

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
1. It Takes Two (Rob Base)
2. Rocky Top
3. Amazing Grace
4. Humpty Dance
5. Sweet Home Alabama (or as we like to sing it in Tennessee F#@! You Alabama, Florida kiss my a$$ too)

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Take care of my momma
2. pay off my house
3. give back to the church
4. start a foundation of somekind
5. buy a new car

Five bad habits:
1. worrying about things that are out of my control
2. falling in love with the wrong people (or the people that won’t love me back)
3. tanning
4. not doing my chores
5. procrastinating

Five things you like doing:
1. reading
2. volunteering
3. sleeping
4. sitting on the beach
5. hanging out with the Steel Magnolias (a group of my most southern friends, you know the kind that say if you can’t say something nice about someone come sit next to me)

Five things you would never wear, buy or get new again:
1. Anything with shoulder pads
2. jeans that zip at the ankle
3. parachute pants
4. jellie shoes
5. reeboks princess tennis shoes

Diets do wierd things to you....

Ok, so I am back on the South Beach Diet... I decided to go on the diet last year when I weighed in at a whopping 200 pounds, which, for me was devastating... I was extremely uncomfortable, I was snoring at night and my dating life had all but come to an abrupt halt... So the first week of January of 2005, I started the South Beach Diet, by week 2 I had lost 13 pounds... and the diet wasn't that hard... It became a way of life for me, lots of whole grains, nothing white, no sugar, no fried foods, and basically no fast food. I felt great.. By the time July rolled around I had lost about 35 pounds... I felt wonderful and I looked pretty darn good. I was proud of myself...

But when my mom had her heart attack July 5, I fell off the wagon and stayed off the wagon until a few weeks ago when I went back on the diet... My spare tire is back, I only gained about 10 pounds , but I feel every bit of it, and it feels awful!!! So here's where the craziness begins. One of the ladies I work with, we'll call her Toni, is obese. She's getting ready to have gastric banding done... Which is fine, but it drives me nuts, b/c she still eats everything fried, burgers, french fries, real cokes, and dessert, lots of desserts... I wonder how much weight she would lose if she just stopped eating all of that crap.. Now I'm being hypocritical, b/c up until a few weeks ago I still eating that crap too... People that complain about their weight while eating twinkies, that's what drives me nuts... I have committee to a lifestyle change, to be healthier, and to eat better... No, it's not easy but it's worth it in the end....

So now that I cannot have certain foods, I am keenly aware of those who can.... It almost grosses me out to see people eating fast food now... That's what I mean, diets do wierd things to you...