With only a week and a half left...

My most important goodbyes have begun. After visiting my sister and her family for a 3rd week in a row, saying goodbye to them this time around was for good. It was kind of crazy thinking that the next time I see them, Tony will be at least six and a half years old, Danny will be almost three. It will be tough not seeing my nephews grow up in person, but I'll still do my best to be in their lives for the time being. Jaz got pretty emotional saying goodbye, it kind of broke my heart but at the same time I'm sure I'll be in touch with her a lot so I'm not really worried about it. I'm pleased that our Thanksgiving was extremely satisfying. It was me, mom, Jaz, Luis and the kids, Luis' parents and his sister, my tio Anuar and his family as well (wow horrible sentence structure, oh well). The only thing that would have made it better would be if Enesly could have joined us, but it is what it is. The cool thing though is that if everything works out, she'll probably be staying with me for a few weeks sometime next year while she's on break from school. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

No other big updates really, I have 11 days to go. I wish I could say I'm escaping the cold weather with this upcoming move, but the truth is that it may very well be much colder where I'm headed. I guess I should just try to enjoy everything that's left throughout this upcoming week and a half. I have a few dinner dates planned all week, along with moving my mother to her new apartment on Wednesday. Perhaps the most exciting thing coming up soon is TJs return on Monday. I get to pick him up early in the morning from Dulles. It's been about a year and a half sine I last saw him, so it will be sweet hanging with him before he returns to Australia and I'm out to where ever I'm headed. More to come soon, stay posted :-)
-WanderingTerp

Farewell to an old Friend.

I know I must say this to open up every new post I write, but this move truly is becoming more and more realistic...so much that it almost starts to feel unrealistic. Does that make sense? Today is somewhat of a sad day for me as I am bidding farewell to an old friend of mine, this friend has been there for me these past few years on so many occasions, the melancholy is settling in.

As I've stated before, the only things I really plan on taking with me to Germany are my clothes. At first I thought I would be taking my dear car with me as well, but I've decided against that and as a result I've sold it. My SAAB and I have traveled over 50,000 miles together, and although all 50 thousand of them may not have been the most pleasant of memories, I will surely take with me only the good lessons they taught me. Together we have been through many agonies, pleasantries, women and girlfriends (not sure if most of those were agonies or pleasantries), friends, cities, states, days and nights, and times apart. I think that perhaps the reason I've had so much emotional attachment to it is because of my time spent overseas with the Army. That's ironic.

I remember that while going away for my deployment I wondered what it was that I would miss the most. I soon found out. While stuck in a shit hole missing out on being 22, it was obvious that I longed for my family, friends, and then-girlfriend greatly. But of all the material things I had left behind, my SAAB was what I missed the most. It represented the liberty I no longer had, and it also represented the liberty that was awaiting for me during my homecoming. One of the most treasured rights and pleasures I've had in my life has been my ability to drive; to be on my own, go where I wanna go, when I wanna go...that's the life for me.

As I move on to another exciting chapter in my life, I begin closing the one I've been on for so long. Even though I wish I could recount all the memories I've had with my dear car, I will always remember things such as making spontaneous road trips to the beach or far away states with friends in each seat, me singing my fucking lungs out while alone, the one emotional tantrum I threw a few months back when Nick was there (thanks buddy), driving throughout campus with Edward in the winter when it snowed and throwing snowballs at pedestrians, the times I don't remember being in my vehicle, and last but CERTAINLY not least, the tens of traffic tickets I got out of for having my Iraq War Veteran bumper sticker on the back :-) That thing was lifeline!

Cheers to you ya old rag! I hope the next one treats you better than I ever did. Auf Wiedersehen!!! 

Continued Progress

Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps. Today you turn 235 years old. Not that I'm a Marine or anything, I'm just showing some love to our brothers/sisters in another uniform. This whole military thing is becoming more and more of a reality with each passing day. I'm certainly not building up anxiety, if anything I'm only getting excited. GAH I really can't wait to start making some moves and start my life over. I've been going through all of my paperwork that I received when I signed up again, and based on a few codes that were listed there I did some research online about what the process should look like. I am now about 95% sure that I will be stationed somewhere in Germany. To me, that's awesome! I have to start learning German soon, but I also do not want to fill my agenda with too much. Today I finished French Level 3 on Rosetta Stone, which means I'm officially an intermediate French speaker. OH YEAH!!!


In a little while I'm gonna be heading out to run some errands and then do my work out for the day, I still have a ways to go in order for me to be in the shape I want to be in. Tomorrow will be a special day as well, because it's going to be Veterans Day. Unlike Memorial Day, this day allows us all to celebrate ALL of our men and women that are war veterans and have sacrificed it all to defend our god given freedoms. I won't go off on a rant about this or anything, but last night I read a quote from President George W. Bush, he said, "Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity." Regardless of your political, religious, or spiritual standpoint, I find this to be VERY inspiring. It really resonates with the things I believe. I'm happy to have served my nation, I look forward to continue doing so, but most importantly, I am infinitely grateful for those who came before me and those that serve today. Also, my hopes and come-home-soons go out to my boys Edward Hernandez and Ivan Baires who are currently in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively.


One last update. I CUT OFF ALL MY HAIR. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but I appreciate the change. You be the judge.

Cheers!

31 Days To Go!

When you think of certain states like Delaware, not much ever comes to mind other than the best trivial facts they're known for. In Delaware's case, it's often dubbed, "The First State", and judging by their license plates it's definitely not a lie.

This weekend has been pretty much all of the same as other visits; lots of sleeping in, junkfood, television, and not to mention all of the headaches from hearing both Tony and Danny screaming all day long! The nice thing is that it's given me time to think about all of the things I need to accomplish in these next 31 days before I leave! So much to do, and it seems like so little time. I went ahead and got my mother a new apartment because the complex she's living in now is gradually becoming worse and worse and I want to have the peace of mind when I'm gone that she'll be in an okay place and taken care of. With that comes packing up all of her things, moving her, and unpacking everything again. It sucks considering how much of a pack rat she is, ugh.


Similarly, I've already started packing up all of my belongings. Truthfully, I've actually been selling most of mine, and the only things I've actually packed have been my clothes as that's all I really plan on taking. I have to start thinking about selling my car too, that's gonna be a big process in its own. The list could go on, but as soon as I get back into town on Tuesday I gotta hit the ground running. I'm also meeting that same day with the girl that is apparently running the investigation for my top secret clearance. When they ran my first investigation 6 years ago, TJ told me the investigator chick was a babe, so let's cross our fingers for this one :-)

Anyways, I could go on about all of the things I have to do, but I have it all in my head. For now I gotta start feeling a little better, Luis and I went out to play basketball yesterday and I think I  might have caught a cold. That and I've been working out a lot harder this week to prepare for my initial PT test coming up when I arrive, needless to say I'm feeling shite and sore. I'm due to return here to Delaware for Thanksgiving, so Ill try to see as many of you as possible before then. Thanks to everyone that is sending me messages on Facebook trying to set stuff up, I'm really making the effort to mark you guys down and spend some time with y'all. Trust me, friendships are important to me, and if you want to see me....I WANT TO SEE YOU TOO!

Cheers!