November was very nice...
Too bad it's over =P
Our unit's Birthday Ball was a good time. Mandy came down, and we had fun. We had a portrait done, and hopefully we'll get that before Christmas. We got a couple of commemorative "2d Reconnaissance Battalion" pint glasses which makes for some pretty cool schwag if you ask me. Nothing like beer that is "Swift, silent, and deadly" ;) We were going to attempt a slow dance (my leg is still a little gimpy), but by the time we got around to it, it seemed like they were done with slow dances for the time being, so we ended up taking off. We stayed in a hotel in Jacksonville the night of the ball, and then the next two nights we stayed in a nicer hotel near the beach. Unfortunately, after a week of nice sunny warm weather, it got chilly and overcast that weekend, so we pretty much stayed in the hotel all weekend. We still had a great time though. It seems like any time I spend with her is a great time :)
Thanksgiving was fabulous. I got off Wednesday at 0730 and made my way home. My truck was a bit unhappy (misfire in cylinder three - actually started the previous week, but it was still getting along, so I kind of put off fixing it), and I probably wasted about six gallons of gas getting home. Carly and Justin (Mandy's roommates - Carly is Navy and works with the EA6B Prowlers at NAF Washington, Justin is her husband) procured supplies for Thanksgiving Dinner (I unfortunately was tapped out after the previous weekend, fuel, and replacement parts for truck). I did however, help with the preparation. I got up around 0630 on Thanksgiving morning to start the turkey and then started the gravy a few hours later. Carly made a really tasty green bean casserole (or maybe Mandy worked on that one?) as well as a sweet potato casserole and a couple of pumpkin pies (all of which were delicious). Mandy took care of the mashed potatoes. The turkey turned out well; could have been better, but it was still pretty good, and gravy was quite good if I do say so myself. Next year we will go for a bigger bird, and I think I may experiment a bit with the turkey and gravy seasoning... maybe add a bit of a cajun twist with some trinity in the bird and starting the gravy with a roux. Speaking of food, I introduced the household to banh cuon and gio che lua (a Vietnamese dish consisting of thick rice flour noodles and sort of a seasoned pork loaf with fish sauce, cucumber, bean sprouts, lettuce, and fresh herbs... very tasty and pretty healthy too). Justin wasn't a big fan after trying just a bite of the meat (freak - the only person I've met on the planet that doesn't like the stuff lol), but the girls liked it.
Sunday I changed the spark plugs and ignition wires on my truck (a 2001 Kia Sportage). It was a lot more of a pain than the only other such job I've done (on a '79 Buick LeSabre), but once I got the intake plenum off, it was a lot easier than it looked. I replaced the stock spark plugs with Bosch Platinum plugs, and it runs at least as well as it did new, if not better. I'm pleased. Gas mileage is at least as good as before too. Oh yeah, I also ran some fuel injector cleaner through the system and installed some Rain-X windshield wiper blades. The new wiper blades are great too. I've replaced the blades before with Kia factory blades, and those things are just crap. When I replaced them last time I barely noticed a difference, but the Rain-X ones are great. We'll see how they fare through the winter (especially with a drive to Illinois for Christmas). I'm contemplating replacing the air and fuel filters before that trip; we'll see how much of a hassle the fuel filter appears to be, if it looks tough I may just go with a new air filter for now.
All in all, the last couple of weeks have been great - lots of time with Mandy :) I won't get too see as much of her for the next couple of weeks, unfortunately though. She has to work next weekend, and the following weekend I'll be in the field. I'll still go home next weekend and see her in the evening of course, and the weekend I get back from the Bn FEx I'll see her. A week after that we'll have a whole eight days together though, and the meeting of the family as well! I can't wait :)
I have a few pics from the Ball and from Thanksgiving - not many, but I'll post a couple tomorrow.
Our unit's Birthday Ball was a good time. Mandy came down, and we had fun. We had a portrait done, and hopefully we'll get that before Christmas. We got a couple of commemorative "2d Reconnaissance Battalion" pint glasses which makes for some pretty cool schwag if you ask me. Nothing like beer that is "Swift, silent, and deadly" ;) We were going to attempt a slow dance (my leg is still a little gimpy), but by the time we got around to it, it seemed like they were done with slow dances for the time being, so we ended up taking off. We stayed in a hotel in Jacksonville the night of the ball, and then the next two nights we stayed in a nicer hotel near the beach. Unfortunately, after a week of nice sunny warm weather, it got chilly and overcast that weekend, so we pretty much stayed in the hotel all weekend. We still had a great time though. It seems like any time I spend with her is a great time :)
Thanksgiving was fabulous. I got off Wednesday at 0730 and made my way home. My truck was a bit unhappy (misfire in cylinder three - actually started the previous week, but it was still getting along, so I kind of put off fixing it), and I probably wasted about six gallons of gas getting home. Carly and Justin (Mandy's roommates - Carly is Navy and works with the EA6B Prowlers at NAF Washington, Justin is her husband) procured supplies for Thanksgiving Dinner (I unfortunately was tapped out after the previous weekend, fuel, and replacement parts for truck). I did however, help with the preparation. I got up around 0630 on Thanksgiving morning to start the turkey and then started the gravy a few hours later. Carly made a really tasty green bean casserole (or maybe Mandy worked on that one?) as well as a sweet potato casserole and a couple of pumpkin pies (all of which were delicious). Mandy took care of the mashed potatoes. The turkey turned out well; could have been better, but it was still pretty good, and gravy was quite good if I do say so myself. Next year we will go for a bigger bird, and I think I may experiment a bit with the turkey and gravy seasoning... maybe add a bit of a cajun twist with some trinity in the bird and starting the gravy with a roux. Speaking of food, I introduced the household to banh cuon and gio che lua (a Vietnamese dish consisting of thick rice flour noodles and sort of a seasoned pork loaf with fish sauce, cucumber, bean sprouts, lettuce, and fresh herbs... very tasty and pretty healthy too). Justin wasn't a big fan after trying just a bite of the meat (freak - the only person I've met on the planet that doesn't like the stuff lol), but the girls liked it.
Sunday I changed the spark plugs and ignition wires on my truck (a 2001 Kia Sportage). It was a lot more of a pain than the only other such job I've done (on a '79 Buick LeSabre), but once I got the intake plenum off, it was a lot easier than it looked. I replaced the stock spark plugs with Bosch Platinum plugs, and it runs at least as well as it did new, if not better. I'm pleased. Gas mileage is at least as good as before too. Oh yeah, I also ran some fuel injector cleaner through the system and installed some Rain-X windshield wiper blades. The new wiper blades are great too. I've replaced the blades before with Kia factory blades, and those things are just crap. When I replaced them last time I barely noticed a difference, but the Rain-X ones are great. We'll see how they fare through the winter (especially with a drive to Illinois for Christmas). I'm contemplating replacing the air and fuel filters before that trip; we'll see how much of a hassle the fuel filter appears to be, if it looks tough I may just go with a new air filter for now.
All in all, the last couple of weeks have been great - lots of time with Mandy :) I won't get too see as much of her for the next couple of weeks, unfortunately though. She has to work next weekend, and the following weekend I'll be in the field. I'll still go home next weekend and see her in the evening of course, and the weekend I get back from the Bn FEx I'll see her. A week after that we'll have a whole eight days together though, and the meeting of the family as well! I can't wait :)
I have a few pics from the Ball and from Thanksgiving - not many, but I'll post a couple tomorrow.