The Black River

Just a pretty picture, down the road from my house:

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

Frequent sightings of roving bands of 20+ turkeys are normal here in the "North Country" - Its not everyday I see them in my backyard though - I actually took this picture from inside my livingroom. Too bad I don't have a gun and a bigger freezer. Maybe next time!
And Sarah, before i get a smart-ass comment from you - No, there aren't 20+ turkeys in the picture, I couldn't fit them all in one frame. Still might be a misplaced modifier though, dang....

A better picture of the cat....

I still need a good name for her!

My Moment of Weakness

Emotional duress will lead most people to make decisions that they normally wouldn't make. In my case, that decision was to adopt a friend's cat. Everyone, meet "Pretty Kitty."
Just before Matt deployed I talked to him about how I wouldn't be as lonely if Goldie were still around. I would love to get another dog, but I just won't be home enough to take care of one. A cat would be much easier - that's the comment I made without thinking, next the woman who had just announced that she had to find a new home for her cat because she was moving. Damn, I'm a sucker. Oh yeah, and I'm allergic to cats (although giving them regular baths keeps me from sneezing). So here is my new cat, caught hiding underneath the stairs because she's pissed that I gave her a bath. Any good names for her?

Things That Suck

No, not Matt. But Matt deploying for 15 months, that sucks. Here is a picture of us yesterday acting like it wouldn't:

When we were deployed (at the same time) before, I never gave much consideration to what it must be like on the "other side" of a deployment, to be the stateside spouse. I can now easily say that I would much rather being hanging out in Iraq than to be attempting normalcy at home while I'm worried about Matt.... And that's as emotional as I'm going to get in this blog.

Of course my opinion might change slightly in a few days when I'm leisurely watching football in the recliner while Matt is melting in Kuwait's 140-degree heat. Yuck.

More on yesterday's suckiness: the whole process took waaaaaay too long. Talk about pulling the bandaid of slowly - The Soldiers all had to report at noon for accountability, then had a full six hours of saying goodbye again and again in between more formations and weapons-drawing, before finally getting on the buses that took them to the plane. Six friggin hours. Miserable. Not to sound old-school, but four years ago the same process took about half an hour from the time Matt dropped me off until we had to say our final goodbye, a nice ripping-off of the bandaid.

Here's a picture of his company waiting for the buses yesterday:

NYC and the Alma Mater

These pictures are from last weekend, Matt and I had a 3-day so we visited our old stomping ground for the first time in 6+ years.... Our first stop was Garrison train station, where we caught the view of WP from across the river while waiting for our train to the city. Matt said even the sight of the academic buildings made him sick to his stomach - so we thumbed our nose at all those poor cadets by throwing down Coronas.

That night we hit the city and did the typical dinner & show, and yes, it was glorious. Below is an excellent picture of the bike-taxi-guy's back. Is this a new thing by the way? I don't remember ever seeing the bike taxis in the city before but they're all over the place now...