Fond Farewells

Sometimes the only way to say goodbye to really good people is with an old fashioned shin-digg. And so the Carrier Program Office said goodbye to one of it's own, Juan Rodarte and his wife Melody. He's the guy in the middle of the first picture; his wife is the woman on the left of the next picture. Everyone else was there to celebrate the good times we've had together and to wish these two a fond farewell-with cigars no less, courtesy of the departing. Enjoy the pictures.

Pictures of Pregnancy Progress

Wastin' Away Again, in Margaritaville

Thank you to the Photographers, Tony and Dave, who let me borrow their photos of this event. I have tried to touch them up a bit where possible. Also note, there were some pretty big waves that caused blurring and spray across the lens of the cameras, so some of these shots are a little blurry. Enjoy!

What a Blog Squatter she is!

Okay, yeah, I get it... you haven't seen a post in a while. But me own dear wife?!? How could she leave me such an anonymous comment as to why I haven't updated my "freaking" blog.

But I admit, much that is blog-worthy has happened, and yet so little time has presented itself to tend to prose.

Those truly die-hard fans will recall that many moons ago I posted about the mysterious disappearance of one Christopher Kirkwood-Watts. And said truly truest die-hardest of fans (yeah, I know I'm counting zeros here, but it's my story and the fictional prerogative is mine) will have noticed that in the comments section of that particular post was a response from none other than the aforementioned celeb'u-tant. What, perhaps, you don't know is that we connected via "the email" (what I wouldn't do for some good old fashioned Finger Quotes, ala Dr. Evil, circa Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery-- well actually now that I think about it, the amount that I would do is actually quite small... say, take out the trash type of magnitude) and that shortly thereafter Mr. K-Watts and I had dinner in Seattle. Yea, truly, the World Wide Web is the best thing since the partitioned bread loaf.

Not to mention that we also have a baby on the way that is all of 6 weeks till delivery! Yeah, that's definitely blog-worthy-ness if ever there were such an honorific.

In the interim between then and now, then being the last significant blogging event and now being when you are reading these words, my camera -- that thousand words per shuttered event, passed into the great electronic ever after. It's a feeling of nakedness to walk into this great big world without the safety of my megapixels. And while it is a great excuse to invest into the next amazing adventure in photography, new and improved, bigger and better... the old F-717 had been with me for many a year and had provided thousands of memories. Adieu my good friend; adieu.

I have traveled a couple of times this year: once to Norfolk, where I also stopped in DC and followed up with an ankle exam in Seattle. And while DC was a stop for work, it was very good to be able to stop and visit old friends and enjoy company and conversation in a greatly enjoyable "non-work" atmosphere.

A recent trip to Hawaii was no less enjoyable, though it would have been much better with spousal companionship. Alas, that was not to be this trip. There were some photographers in attendance at one of the most enjoyable outings of the week: the Catamaran Trip around Diamond Head. I'll include some of their photos (slightly touched up) in this post and work on getting more posted as time allows.

Much more has happened of course, like the birth of Asher William Stewart on April 23rd. Like the contact from my biological father and all the pithiness in the ensuing conversations. Like my mother (in law) heading to Japan at the end of the first week of June. Like the trip to Bremerton mid May, and soon after the trip to Texas. Many things to share. Just no time to share them.

Au Revoir, mes Amis.

Wabi Sabi

Have you ever found yourself having a haiku kind of day? We did...

L: The house seemed so empty this morning. It made me realize what a great weekend I had with my husband. Thank you for taking out the garbage this morning. I love you.

This would have been much cooler in haiku.

:*

:j
Empty house, you're gone.
Memories of yesterday.
All gone, like the trash.

L: See? Much cooler. I think I'm printing that one out and posting at my
cubicle.

:j
You are so funny!
Like that one girl at band camp.
Only funnier.

L:
I am not as quick
You are good with poetry
Now I am smiling

:j
Smiling now is good;
You're smiles last night were better!
T'was true poetry!

L:

How do you do it?
You never cease to amaze
Get a distraction

:j
I yield! I give up!
Please no more Haiku's today.
My brain hurts like mud.

L:
Hurts like mud? Yeah, I think you're reaching on that one...

Just how does mud feel?
Stepped on by all, no one cares
Contemplating rain

Poor mud.

Something in the Water

Someone else is pregnant! We just heard the big news last week and we're already brimming with excitement. More news when it's available.

:j

Don't Be a Hater

It should be no surprise that I'm not a big fan of McCain. I still think that the Republican ticket would be a lot better off without him as the focal point... which is why I was pleasantly surprised to hear that there is a movement afoot to put a much more palatable face side by side on the 2008 ticket: Condoleezza Rice.



There might just be hope for the McCain ticket, after all. He certainly won't find a better qualified, more intelligent running mate. And at the very least, he will she will get my vote.

GO REPUBLICANS!

Six Month Glamour Shots

Baby is strong enough to be felt when she's dancing to music, which when combined with Dr. Pepper seems to really get her groove on. Below she's posing for all her fans.




:j

Working 9 to 5 5 to 9...

EDIT: Never blog when you're tired. Lilah did not return to Washington, she returned to Japan. Anyway, It's been a busy busy couple of weeks. With Lilah getting back to Washington Japan on the 28th of February I've been trying to slow down a bit. And I did manage to get down from 76 hours of overtime in two weeks to 67 hours overtime in two weeks and THIS pay period will be even closer to the normal 50-ish hours OT for the pay period.

Lilah is also working again. She's doing some really fun web programming for SRF-JRMC as the external web content web master. Her hours are much less than mine of course, but the socialization and new friends she's found make this a pretty good opportunity.

Anyway, if you're interested in getting ahold of us, be patient. We're hard to get in touch with right now. Weekends are the better choice and we do love phone calls!

:j