New Scent

So I was sitting at work, minding my own business, and I caught a whiff of something absolutely terrible. I stuck my nose down into my tan T-shirt to make sure it wasn't me. And it sure was me. It smelled like oranges and piss.

I looked at the Staff Sergeant sitting across from me and said, "My shirt smells like oranges and piss."

To which he responded, "Is that a new Tide scent? I tried mountain spring and shit once and I didn't like it."

Epic.

Dracula, Bwa ha ha!

There has been a new edition to the DeGraf / Buckley homestead. Meet Dracula!

I know, I know. She's so flippin' adorable and tiny! How could I have given her such an ominous and dark name? Well, she may look innocent, but she's packing a grill full of razor wire in that tiny mouth.

She appeared out of no where in the middle of the night. Just like a spooky vampire story.

We were having a party with the garage door open. The kitten crashed our party and instantly won me over with her cuteness. Her tiny meow was all I had to hear to know I had to have her. I begged James to let me keep her. He was standing his ground firmly to keep the house feline-free.

I brought the kitten in the house anyway.

I knew in order to smuggle the kitten into permanent pet-hood I would have to integrate her into a friendly relationship with Picasso. Getting James to go along with my scheme would be much easier. It turned out Picasso really liked the kitten. But the feelings were not mutual. The kitten reacted to Picasso in such a frenzy of fur and claws that she accidentally bit two boys (one happened to be James-- poor choice, kitty).

She drew blood.

I made the excuses that they just needed time to get to know one another and everything would work out just fine. James wasn't buying it and told me to put the kitten outside. I sadly did put the kitten out. But the next morning I woke up to tiny meows outside my bedroom window.

Now she's our pet. Our pet Dracula.

Obama Is My Homeboy

After the much anticipated slaying of Osama bin Laden, President Obama came to Fort Campbell, Kentucky to talk to and to congratulate the Soldiers. It was a pretty small gathering of Soldiers chosen to hear the president speak, and what do you know? I got chosen to go!

Air Force 1 loomed over the air field on Fort Campbell as we entered the hangar where we were to hear the president speak. It was standing room only by the time I arrived. Approximately 800 Soldiers sat in bleachers and crowded around the tiny stage at the front.

I waited 2 hours. There is always a lot of unnecessary waiting when it comes to any Army operation. The hangar doors closed, we all cheered. We waiting another hour. 800 breathing, stinking Soldiers wallowing in their own sweat. When President Obama finally entered the stage, he wasn't wearing his suit jacket. I wished I could downgrade my jacket!

President Obama spoke to us about how proud he is to be in command of the World's greatest military. He promised a withdrawal of 100,000 Soldiers out of Afghanistan this autumn. He pumped us up and motivated us.  It was so cool to get to hear my Commander In Chief speak. It was the first time I'd ever been in the presence of any president.

After he was done with his speech, he came closer to the crowd. A lot of Soldiers turned and tried to get out of the stifling hot hangar leaving a ton of open space near President Obama. Always the opportunist, I marched myself right up to the side of the stage, extended my hand and what do you know? He grasped it. He looked at me, smiled and said, "Thank you for your service."