Open/Closed

I heard the name of a local high school athlete today, and it caught me off-guard.
It's such a distinctive name. It could be her. She wasn't mine, but I was ready to love her. My friend Lolly gave her to a couple that was ready, even desperate, for a child of their own. It was an open adoption, so Lolly got to help choose a name. It was an unusual name, and I heard it on the radio today.

I've often wondered about her. Lolly came from a CrAzY family, and while she had a wonderful relationship with her grandmother, she and her own mom were distant, bitter strangers, and that was how she liked it. When she showed up preggers and homeless, her mother was delighted. Here was something she could INSTRUCT her daughter in, and she would HAVE to listen...

She didn't know her very well.

She found herself a job, and she found herself an apartment, and proved to her mom and to herself that she could do anything she set her mind to. I was so eager to be supportive and helpful that I think I never shut up and listened. In the end, I was panicking, because she wasn't READY, and she thought she had to shield me from her decision, because I seemed so eager for the baby. I'd brought up adoption once, but she had shied away, so I decided I was gonna be all the support she DIDN'T get from her family. Aw, crap. I turned into the friendly version of her mom. I couldn't understand why she didn't think she needed a crib, some clothes, anything. What was she thinking? We had to think about the future, here!
And so I found out after the baby went south that Lolly HAD been thinking about more than one day to the next. She chose a better life for her daughter than what had been given to her. Her mother showed up at the same time as the adoptive parents, and made a huge scene, apparently. Just firmed up in Lolly's mind that what she was doing was the right choice for the kiddo.
I'm sad as I read about Quinn's miserable experience as an adoptee. I hope that Michael Anne has had a good run with her parents, and that they are supportive and loving. After I heard her name on the radio, I found the blog Do they have salsa in China, something like that, detailing their journey through the adoption process to adopt a baby (they ended up with twin girls!), and I read it from the start. It gives me hope that they are so filled with joy about those babies.
It's how you assume every adoptive parent starts out. I hope Lolly stayed in contact with M.A.'s family so she can answer questions, and maybe M.A. won't have to struggle with the why's. I'm sure she is a blessing to her family every day--even through the ugly hormonal years. (Sooooo not looking forward to those with Little O)

I Love Nature Shows.

Thursday Thirteen #22

13 Occasions My Inner Voice Failed me!

1. I am SO glad my coworker-with-no-formal-training has volunteered to cut my hair in time for the Honey's Christmas party tonight! After all, she can't make it look any worse than it does right now…hmm, well, I guess we can just use the work scissors.

2. I have plenty of time.

3. Oh, bubby was so cute with that little screwdriver in his hand, wait til his daddy comes home and sees how quickly he can take things apart. I'd better take it away now…where is he? He was just here!

4. Oh, that's silly. Nobody really drinks on the job. Let's just stop all of the dramatic accusations, and get back to work.

5. Ha-ha. It doesn't really mean anything that the only song my new husband and I can think of as "our song" is Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. Nothing at all.

6. Nobody will notice one black sock and one blue.

7. I'll do it tomorrow.

8. He's too nice a guy to cheat. If I'm the bitchy one, and I wouldn't cheat, then HE would NEVER cheat.

9. A manager! I'm going to be a manager! How glamorous! Of course I'll go back to school, but how can I turn down such a fabulous opportunity to earn little to nothing—Ohh, it's salary! I'll be able to take extra time off, no problem! This is gonna be so great!

10. Wow—how mature of him to be living with his sister to save money as he goes to college. I just moved out on my own and got a low paying job in retail, paying my own way. He must be super smart and very responsible to live with his sister and her husband who do everything for him.

11. How cool to move in with your best friend—we'll be just like the Odd Couple—She's neat and I'm sloppy, but friendship can overcome silly obstacles like that! (Thank Dog our Friendship did survive that THAT adventure—love ya, Kat!)

12. If I don't open that, it means it's not going to happen.

13. How different could self rising flour be?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Wednesday Hero

Spc. Jordan William Hess
27 years old from Marysville, Washington
Company C, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment
December 5, 2006


"Specialist Hess died of wounds received on a battlefield upon which no markers or memorials exist, yet his name will be etched upon the small part of each of our hearts that has hardened to stone by the realization of his passing. I will take Specialist Jordan Hess’ name to my own grave, in the hope that I can somehow preserve the honorable life that he led,” said Capt. Ian Lauer, commander of Company C.

Spc. Hess was a study in contrasts who loved a challenge. He had a warrior's spirit and was thrilled at the chance to serve his county, his parents said from their home in Marysville. He also was content to look for his muse in various forms of art, including glass-blowing, photography and poetry. It was this balance that people will remember most about the 26-year-old who was critically injured Nov. 11 in Ta'Meem, Iraq, when an IED detonated near his combat patrol.

A three-year veteran in the U.S. Army, Hess spent more than a year in Korea as well as time in Germany, always looking for an overseas assignment, Bill and Tammy Hess said. They knew their son was on his way to Kuwait the last time they spoke with him in October, and they suspected he had been deployed to Iraq as part of a tank unit when they didn’t hear from him for several weeks. After his injury, Hess was flown back to the United States and treated for several weeks at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. His parents, as well as his six brothers and one sister, were flown there to be with him.

"None of us wanted to see him hurt like that," Bill Hess said. "But one of the greatest blessings in my life was that we were able to say goodbye."

Hess was an avid wrestler from the time he was young, and news of his death circulated at Lake Stevens High School, where he attended until 1999. "He was a strong-willed, independent young man with a unique sense of humor," the Lake Stevens wrestling coaches said in a statement. "The Lake Stevens wrestling community today feels a strong sense of loss."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

He was a glassblower, a photographer, and a poet. Not exactly the warmongering stereotype my anonymous commenter had in mind, and that's the point of these posts. These folks aren't sterile numbers, they are lives sacrificed, ended too soon. The people's choice awards were on last night. NOBODY MENTIONED JORDAN WILLIAM HESS. Whether you believe in the war or not, remember the soldiers with their lives on the line, and honor the sacrifices they and their families are making.

Mission Impossible: kitchen cabinets

Here's what I gleaned from the twenty e-mails today. 

 

Drink water.

Lay out your clothes before you go to bed.

 

Your mission for the day is to toss sippy cup lids that fit nothing, OR, alternately, toss sippy cups without lids.  Personally, I'd keep one on hand for your cousin's kid that only drinks things that are violently pink and always spills on the lightest item in any room.  C'mon, you know that kid.  In my life, it's usually MY kid.  

 

This applies to :

the gladware that is permanently orange

the old deli container that you lost the lid to 

The rubber headed spatula that always falls off the stick when you are scraping out cake batter

that taco bell spork that's been riding around in your silverware drawer forever  

your epic collection of half unwrapped fast-food straws 

 

 

Mission Impossible: Fridge

Today, I have declared, is Tupperware Evacuation Day.*

(a.k.a. the night before trash day)

 

As a part of my COMMITMENT to a cleaner, more streamlined house/life/existence, I am posting this for my bloggy friends to witness.  JOIN ME!  We will start a REVOLUTION!!!!!!!  (Okay, other people just DO this stuff, but I need some fanfare to get excited about it)

 

I re-subscribed to fly lady, and this time I asked for the one-a-day email, so they sent me one e-mail in 19 parts.  I like the fly lady stuff, I do.  But NINETEEN things?  Okay, one was just a reminder to drink water, but NINETEEN?

 

 

 

*If you live at my house, it's not technically Tupperware.  Instead, it's time for me to cautiously lift the aluminum foil on the forty two plates and bowls that my poor Mexican Honey's mother has sent home with us so that he can have home cooking.  He is such a Mexican male, however, that it would never occur to him to re-heat something for himself, and I find that behavior and/or misguided belief that I will wait on him hand and foot regrettable, to say the least.  So they sit, unloved, under their aluminum foil, until it is time to harvest dishes to go back to my MIL's house again. 

mmm....books

I was sent three Marian Keyes books by my dear friend Jen, and they were good in a lighthearted chicky sort of way. The third one that I read, Rachel's Holiday,was a little heavier. It dealt with an addict, and it was interesting to see the process and the behaviors of addiction. In an alternate universe, I could see that being me. I am, once again, very grateful to have never gotten sucked into a druggie life. Sadly, I have watched a few friends fall prey to their addictions, and they lost everything that they ever held dear.

But what got me started on all of this, was that one of the blogs I stop by, Still Life with Soup Can, has reading tastes pretty similar to my own, and now I know that there is a new Robin Hobb series (Yay!) and another of the books she's currently reading looks good, too.

Little O is NOT a good bookstore shopper. It's a cruel kind of torture to be so close to that many books, and be trapped at the Thomas table at Barnes & Noble. I have become that odd creature that I always shook my head sadly at, the supermarket buyer. The alternative is to do the flying scan as we quickly cruise the B&N aisles, looking for known authors, and grabbing what I hope is the beginning of a new series. No more unknown authors for me, unless I find them mentioned in a blog.

There are days that I miss working in the bookstore more than I can express. Challenging conversations about books and current affairs, trying to match a half remembered plot with a book I'd shelved maybe twice--great stuff! I never asked a politically incorrect question about someone else's parenting skills, when I dealt with bookstore customers. Honestly? I never even had an opportunity to until they moved the B&N into the mall. That's when the customer base began to slide--I blame it on the cafe' and the cushy chairs. All of my B. Dalton's were in malls, and people were still human beings. sigh.

Anyway, I have a Gift card for the mall with B&N in it, and now I'm trying to figure out a way to sneak over and spend it all on me. Mother of the year, that's me!

This one's for CRSE!

My Mafia name is Giuseppina Castiglione.
Take The Mafia Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

MOM

I was talking with my mom the other day, and I finally know what to get her for her birthday.

She told me that my father, who is retiring in March, is no longer talking about going to work with an old friend.

He thinks he wants to just be a retiree, play a little more golf, hang around the house, maybe do some travelling.

You'd have to know my ADD father to know how funny this is.

Easily 75% of his time is spent playing or figuring out when he'll next play golf. If he's not working to support his habit and stay out of her hair, my mom will strangle him. He'll be found with his latest super-cool putter wrapped around his throat. Since my mom's birthday is in February, and she loves her some sudoku, I'm taking her to a professional. That way she doesn't end up with something that looks like this:

Prison tattoos are just no good unless you've got Martha for a cell mate.

Krypto vs Ignatius

Sigh.

These are the days I regret my no-cable-T.V. stance.

I can't afford it.

We spend too much time glued to the damned thing now, as it is.

My kids are still happy about Saturday morning cartoons, and I love that. But then I sit and I watch with Little O.

Krypto, the dog from Superman's planet. His song is awful. He's fighting Ignatius the evil iguana, who's messing with the city's power supply to operate his giant bug zapper, so he can have a snack.

All of the good cartoons are on cable.

I'm sorry, Little O.

Where was this when I was stuck in Management Hell?

I was a terrible boss.

I loved and adored my employees, even when they were useless flakes and even as I knew that they were sabotaging me with their crappy performances when I wasn't there.

I hired 'em because I liked them, and it was usually okay. But I was always late with reviews. I would make sure that they got their measly raises, but the review itself? Pure agony. Where was this Performance Appraisalsoftware when I needed it?
Up until now, I've never worked for a company that would have shelled out for the software, but I'd have probably sold my right ovary if it would have helped me write reviews. I even dreaded the GOOD reviews.

I was so disheartened at my last management position that I happily took the low man on the totem pole of customer service just so I would never again be in the position of being stabbed in the back by an employee I had hired and trained. My co-workers are going to give me an ulcer the way they ride my manager like a bad pony. I swear there's not an ounce of compassion or empathy in 9 out of 10 of them. But if they have a crisis? They tear up and sob on her shoulder.

GRRR Grrr grrr

Okay, back to my lovely sponsored post.

I love toys that make your life easier. Give me a review writer and a software program that you could enter 8 different college student's schedules in, and I could have ruled the world. Okay, the mall. But I could have ruled.

I am beyond that now, but my boss actually gave me a pretty well thought out review last year. One more piece of evidence that she SHOULD be a manager and I should NOT. Heeeeeyyyy-do you think she already HAS the software?

Thursday Thirteen #22-Resolutions

I, Jennfactor10, being of sound mind and questionable bodyfat, hereby declare the following 13 things to be happening in 2007:

1. Fewer sodas--44 oz. of soda is the equivalent in sugar to eating an entire chocolate cake. They gave that statistic on the radio a few years ago, and that was when I worked at the mall and would chug 2-32 oz. sodas a day. Talk about Panic! Not to mention the whole carbonated bevs leaching the calcium from your bones thing....all of those sweet little hunchbacked old ladies? Yeah, not looking to be one of them.

2. Less Coffee--since leaving the mall, I have broken the Mocha habit, but I still have a LARGE cuppa Joe each morning at work. Enough coffee goes into my system during the weekdays that I get a headache on weekends if I don't have something caffeinated.

3. Eat Breakfast--I skip breakfast all the time, and I know that's BAD. I need to start my metabolism if I'm ever going to lose weight.

4. Cook More--I need to save a little money, and cook real meals more often.

5. Bedtime--This is for Little O, who has always stayed up until daddy gets home, but she's getting older, and the Honey is going to have to get used to her being asleep when he works late--It's getting too hard on all of us!

6. I will get the Honey to the Doctor's this year--he doesn't wanna go for love nor money, but this is the year....

7. Keep House. I will subscribe to the flylady again in hopes of having a clean and shiny sink (And forty-two emails a day). Does anyone out there know of a bitchy fly lady that gets to the point and is a little more bitter about it? I appreciate the encouraging words, but I need the gist SOONER when there are forty posts to wade through. Maybe flylady light, or a separate flybaby email list?

8. Blog Blog Blog. I will post regularly and this year I will figure out photos since Flickr is not fond of the new blogger. It's boring without them!

9. Get off my butt! I will resume meeting Bre in the park to become the object of scorn and ridicule as I try to wiggle away my jiggle. Is it significant that this is listed far away from the better eating/less coffee numbers?

10. I will rid my house of all the clothes that we have not worn in the last year. Seriously, this is an ongoing issue for me.

11. I will re-arrange the furniture in my house for better feng shui. Okay, I'm kidding, but I will put things back into their logical places--my "experimental furniture grouping" was an unqualified failure.

12. Oh, Big O, you are in for a Homework REVELATION!!!!!! No more of this work that is done, but not turned in.

13. I will get my will done (i bought a do-it-yourself kit like two years ago), so that there is no question about my wishes for my kids.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
**Update--another of the people I've lost contact with that I TT'd (Like TT#4 or so...) googled herself and found me again! Yay! That make Three of Thirteen! I encourage you all to try it!


C'mon baby, give me a little Linky Love!

Wednesday Hero

Sgt. Brent Dunkleberger
29 years old from New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania
1st Calvary Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team
December 11, 2006


Sgt. Dunkleberger was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed by an RPG when his convoy was attacked while on a security mission.

"We can't put into words right now the grief we feel, but we can put into words how proud we are of Brent. He chose to serve our country and give his life for what he believed in," said William Dunkleberger, Brent's father. "we thank the community for the outpouring of support and ask everyone to continue to pray for us. We also ask the media to respect our privacy during this very difficult time."

Sgt. Dunkleberger graduated high school in 1996 and enlisted in the United States Army in 2003 and became a tank driver for the 1st Calvary Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team.

He is survived by his wife and four children.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

Four kids lost their father, two weeks before Christmas. It just breaks my heart. I read about people treating soldiers like dirt, or heaping scorn upon military families, but I have such trouble wrapping my head around that concept. The very definiton of hero, the essence of all that a human being can aspire to, is somone who knows they will be sent to war, and still volunteers. I don't think you vounteer for the military out of an absurd love of guns, I think you do it out of patriotism and a need to give back. My anonymous commenter can call me a war mongering ugly American. But I dare her to come on my blog and talk about our soldiers.

Pay Per Post/ HP --what a hoot!

Click on the box to go watch this video!

So there is a site, PayPerPost, that will drop a little cash into your PayPal account if you blog about selected topics. REALLY? Because you have probably noticed by now, that I'll talk about just about anything.

Then I got to thinking. It went a little something like this:

No you won't, you big chicken, If they want you to write about hemorrhoid cream, you are going to starve before you type out anything of the kind. You're no Kevin Charnas, able to tackle any topic without fear, and, dare I say, with Gusto.

But then I went to the site, and the video is a hoot! I want the Postie Patrol to come for ME! We could have a three way competition for fabulous prizes, me, Kim, and Bananas! If they show up at my work, I guarantee, it will be ON, and it would be on for prizes far less spectacular than the ones Robyn competed for in the video!

I don't know that I will be able to support my family based upon my future PayPerPost earnings. We'll have to see what kinds of things they have. But If Little O gets a book from Amazon, or Big O gets a hoodie sweatshirt to replace the forty-ninth one lost this year (what is it with that boy and outerwear?), how very cool!

I think this is just a riot. Where are the jobs that let you go out and get people into scavenger hunts? I don't know if I want to work for HP, or PayPerPost, or some demonically clever marketing firm, but this is the kind of thing I adore. I excel at goofball enthusiasm. "CATFEEEESH!" is going to be incorporated into life at work, I guarantee you!

HP wants me to make clear that this post is brought to you by HP.
Digital Photo Printing
They also wanted me to include their link to all of their toys.

Is it so very wrong to adore this idea? Is it just further proof that I love cheesy marketing? You, my four loyal readers, will have to tell me if I am outta my gourd.

So Now Iraq does it better that we do?

How long has Polly Klaas been gone? Laci Peterson? Why are those bastards still alive, and on OUR dime, but Iraq can take care of Saddam within 30 days? Hell, they didn't even need the full thirty! If we cleared out death row in California once a year, how much money could we spend on education? Could we make crazy Sherriff Joe in Arizona the head of prisons nationwide?
I will grant you that DNA testing should never be denied a prisoner on death row. But twenty years of appeals is ridiculous.
I do not doubt that Stanley "Tookie" Williams was a better man when he died than when he was sentenced. Age usually makes you a little wiser. But the men he killed were denied the chance to age and wise up, and he was sentenced to death. I found it wierd that because he had a publisher and famous friends, people suddenly thought his sentence should have been commuted. He did a lot of good in his later years. But he did a lot more bad in his early years.
I dunno. I would certainly never claim that there is ANY easy answer in death penalty cases. But it seems like the courts of Iraq took care of business a lot beter than we do. (Yes, I know, he was a dictator that killed millions, and maybe that sped things up, but still. Richard Allen Davis snatched Polly out of her own bedroom. Why is he still here?)

***************************************

This concludes the conservative rant from the side of Jen that screws up all of those "Are you a Tree-Hugging Liberal?" quizzes.

I think I need out of customer service.

I just had a man call and he got everything that I told him wrong.
His mother was hysterical when she got on the phone thinking we weren't going to service them until next week. I said, no, that's not at all what I said.
Well, my son is mental and doesn't understand things.

And I know better--but...

I said, Then why would you have him call?

We finished the phone call, I got her straightened out about her service, and I got a ten minute lecture about how hurtful it was of me to have said that. Knowing that I was in the wrong, I refrained from asking her if it wasn't HURTFUL to put her son in a position that he is unable to handle, and then tell everyone that he is "mental"???????????????

She is evil and ignorant, and now I feel evil and ignorant.

It's a ten minute testing frenzy!!!!!

I think some of these are a little off...but I was sweatin' thinkin I was gonna be Elizabeth Taylor (Not that there's anything wrong with that)!

What Classic Bombshell Are You?
Audrey Hepburn

You are Audrey Hepburn! You are the epitome of class. You are elegant and regal. You love to express yourself in many ways, including dance. You also love helping people.

Take this test

My girl Jen sent me a BOX full of good homemade Christmas treats, but since they all have nuts, I have to eat them up before the Honey gets home. Shush, Jennifer. There were NO caramels. Do you hear me? They didn't make it in the box. (note to self--get rid of the caramel wrappers)

We now resume our Quizzing freefall:

You Date Like a Woman

According to studies on dating, you date like a woman. You tend to take romance seriously, and you're not really out for a fling. A mental and emotional connection always comes first for you. And rushing the physical stuff is likely to turn you off. You're highly selective when it comes to dating, and some may say you're too picky. You know what you want, and when you find it, you're ready to commit.

Do You Date Like a Man or a Woman?

This one was so off base, I may have to give up blogthings all together. Is all of this based upon sense of humor vs. a great ass? Not at all correct.

You Are Pretty Logical

You're a bit of a wizard when it comes to logicWhile you don't have perfect logic, you logic is pretty darn good. Keep at it - you've got a lot of natural talent in this area!

How Logical Are You?

Okay, Blogthings can stay.

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

But this Quizgalaxy stuff....Now I'm Camilla Parker Bowles?
I stole this one from CRSE at Zamphir.

	Here's What Jennfactor Will Get for Christmas!
The Honey will get you a pony.
Big O will get you socks and underwear.
Little O will get you a shiny new car.
Santa will get you five pounds of cheese.
Satan will get you Francis Bacon's Left Femur.
'What Will you Get for Christmas?' at QuizGalaxy.com

My Christmas Gift to Myself...

Let me be frank, the radio stations in my town suck donkey.

The station that we found tolerable changed formats, and while they didn't SCRAP the old tunes, they cut the number of songs down by half, and incorporated a little more of the MTV vibe than was there before. So as we listen at work, it's really the same fourteen songs, played over and over again. To add insult to injury, now we only like six out of the fourteen songs, anyway---ARGH!!!!!!

In a desperation move, we went to AM.

Woo HOO! We have the most AWESOME station, 1420 KSTN. They played James Brown and AC/DC in the same hour. Funkytown and the remake of Don Henley's Boys of summer--four freaking decades of good tunes.

We agree that not all of the songs are songs that we like, but you know what? We can live with it, knowing that we won't hear that song again for weeks--instead of twenty minutes from now. Bre and I keep exclaiming to each other--The original "wild thing" just came on. Yesterday they played three in a row from Puddle of Mudd.

We are going to write epic letters gratitude and praise that a station like this exists anywhere, let alone on the AM band. I am telling everyone I know.

The DJ's shut the hell up and play music, not a lot of commercials, it's AWESOME!!!!!!

Okay, they play the obnoxious Mancow radio show in the mornings, but that's how we know we're not dreaming!!!

********************************************

My phone line at the house is all jacked up, so e-mail posting from work is the only option right now. sigh.

********************************************

My girls, Jen and Bre, are my Christmas angels this year. I guess technically it's Jen and BooBoo, Bre's dog. But I would like to say in this very public forum how much I love and appreciate you both and your Xmas generosity. You guys made me cry in a good way.

Wednesday Hero

Sgt. Roy A. Wood
47 years old from Alva, Florida
ODA 2092, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
January 26, 2005



Sgt. Roy A. Wood, a Special Forces medical sergeant, was fatally injured when the vehicle he was riding in was involved in a traffic accident near Kabul, Afghanistan, during a return convoy from Qalat to Bagram Air Base.

His 24-year military career with the Army Reserve and Army National Guard was distinguished and unique. After receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in 1979, he was first assigned to the Army Reserve’s 421st Quartermaster Company (Light Airdrop Supply).

While assigned to the 421st, he received training as a quartermaster officer, a parachute rigger, and participated in both basic airborne and jumpmaster courses.

In January 1982, he left the 421st to begin an association with U.S. Army Special Forces that would last until, and beyond, his death.

His first SF assignment was to the Army Reserve's 11th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Meade, Md., where he served in the 3rd Battalion’s Company A as the detachment executive officer for Operational Detachment-A 1175.

In May 1983, he became Detachment Commander for ODA 1175 after returning from the Special Forces Detachment Officer Qualification Course.

In October 1984, he left ODA 1175 to become the Company Logistics Officer.

He served in a variety of positions at the 11th SFG over the next 11 years, including operations officer and support company commander.

After four years at USSOCOM, he served a year with the Army Reserve’s 73rd Field Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., before switching from the Reserve to the Army National Guard and renewing his association with Special Forces.

He was assigned to 3rd Bn., 20th SFG in December 2001, where he served for a year as the Battalion Surgeon, supervising medical coverage of three Special Forces companies and one support company.

In December 2002, he resigned his commission to become a Special Forces medical sergeant on Operational Detachment-A 2092, Co. C, 3rd Bn., 20th SFG.

He, with ODA 2092, was mobilized in July 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

At the time of his death, he was pending appointment as a Special Forces warrant officer, a position in which he would have served his team as an assistant detachment commander.

During his service, he received the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Reserve Achievement Medal with Silver Hourglass device, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Basic Parachutist badge, the Parachute Rigger badge, the Ranger tab and the Special Forces tab.

Sgt. Roy Wood leaves behind a wife and two children.

These brave men and women have given their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

Blogs Partcipating In Wednesday Hero

Right-Wing & Right Minded
Hooah Wife & Friends
Yankee Mom
Bear Creek Ledger
Mail Call! Supporting The Troops
Yeah, Right, Whatever
CrosSwords
Gazing At The Flag
Gawfer
Ohio Military Reserve
DeMediacratic Nation
My Point
A Day In The Life Of.....
Blue Star Chronicles
Prying1
Pet's Garden Blog
Pictures From My World
Freedom, GUNZ, Glory and EBYJO
Gunz Up
Say No To Politically Correct B.S.
Did You Ever Get The Feeling
A Rose By Any Other Name
My Weekly Thoughts
Rightwing Guy
Trying My Best To Support The Troops
American And Proud
Maryannaville
Not Ready For My Burqua
Perry Nelson's Website
A Fresh Start
Right On!
Echo9er
Befuddled
Potpourri
Conservative Cowboy
Petrus
Pettifog
Tanker Brothers
Chicagoray
Gop3
ArmyNGntcfamily
Soldiers' Angels New York
My Republican Blog

Sgt. Wood, a Father and a Husband, someone's Son, someone's best friend--has been dead for almost two years. How much have your children grown and changed in the last two years? How different is your life now? I say again that regardless of your politics, or your opinions on this war, anyone serving in our military deserves gratitude and boundless support. The names of the fallen should be read at every big league sporting event, every stupid awards show, and each and every day. Not in protest of the war, not in support of the war--in Remembrance. These men and women have died serving our country, and their names should be remembered. Our soldiers and their families should know that we do not forget their sacrifices.

WTF Tuesday

I'll have to come up with a new name for it, because WTF Weds and the Weds hero posts seem at odds.

It's the golden rule, people. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Don't comment mysteriously and then refuse to post your profile so others can read YOUR blog. Even better, don't use MY blog to comment when a friend has to enable the moderate feature to keep you in check.

I don't know if it's a lack of cojones, a lack of courtesy, or a lack of common sense. But Play Nice!
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My plate seems so full of holiday-ey things right now, I'm sorry bloggy friends. I have to tune into real life for a bit, but I'll be back! (And not in a schwarzenneger sort of way)