And I thought I graduated from high school long ago!

Apparently my boss puts letter grades on assignments. I am not even kidding! One of my co-workers got an A- on his "paper." Other co-workers got a B and C, respectively. I guess that is what comes of being a homeschool dad. That is the only explanation I can give... =/

So, how does it feel to be THAT old and unmarried?

How do you answer a question like that? I didn't really know what to say when a friend posed this question to me the other day. I mean, on a day-to-day basis it doesn't feel like anything. It's not like I wake up in the morning thinking, man, I am still single! I pretty much go about daily life with little thought to my relationship status (or lack thereof). There are days, however, when I think back to my childhood and my general expectations at that time. I distinctly remember how I felt one day 20 years ago upon finding out my choir director's age. My first thought was, wow! she is too old to still not be married! She at least had a boyfriend at the time, so it was only a matter of time before that would change. Of course, the paradigm from which I was working was based on all I had ever known... all the women in my family got married young. I thought that was they way it was supposed to go. So, now that I have grown up and reached an age that no other woman in my family has managed to attain while still single, my perspective has changed a bit. I don't mind that I am still unmarried. But I do not like the idea of little kids looking at me and thinking what I thought of my choir director so many years ago. I just don't want to be thought of as old. What can I say? I can be a little vain at times... =/

Déjà vu (all over again)

I had a rather interesting (notice, I did not say good) experience yesterday. I had to fly out of town for work... while I was there, I met up with some of my Army buddies, whom I had not seen in a year (ironically, it was the same day a year ago that I left Ramadi). It was great to see them again and catch up, but it was also really hard to say good-bye again. However, I had work to do and little time to dwell on it. Then, as I sat at the airport, it happened... the strangest thing! Everything was very familiar because I had been to this particular airport quite a few times in the last several years... that is not what was strange. I was waiting at the very same gate as I did a year ago... the last leg of a very long trip home. Images flashed through my mind... so real, it was hard to believe it was only a memory. I could see myself, wearing a Ramadi firefighter t-shirt and a beige hat, Adidas bag in hand. The memories kept coming... February 2008... I had left all the newly acquired friends I had made in Iraq - friends who were like family to me - and was headed back to see my real family minus one. I still had not faced the reality of my grandfather's death until I was there in the airport one year ago. The control I had over my emotions was tenuous at best... it was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears right there among hundreds of complete strangers. Fast-forward to real-time... February 2009... suddenly all the feelings and emotions of that day one year ago rushed back. The sense of dread and apprehension of the immediate future returned in full force. I'm not sure I have ever had a place bring the past into the present in such a way before. Like I said, it was an interesting experience... it was a true deja vu...

Someone, PLEASE tell me it's a joke!

I had not had a chance until today to take a look at the $900 billion stimulus bill and all the provisions within it (I still have not read much of it). CNN was good enough to provide the public with a list of things some Republican Congressmen took issue with. I read through the list and was shocked and apalled to say the least.

Here is the list (courtesy of CNN.com):

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.

• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.

• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.

• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.

• $500 million for state and local fire stations.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.

• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

• $850 million for Amtrak.

• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.

• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

"...and now we feel safe."

When people find out that I spent a little time in Iraq, inevitably they ask "so, what do you think about what we are doing over there?" Anyone who knows me, knows I am optimistic about what we've done in Iraq, but then again, I saw mostly good. I was never around for morter attacks or suicide bombings... So I am always happy to hear that there are Iraqis who agree with me. As the Iraqis are going through another iteration of elections, it is interesting to see how far they (and we) have come. One Iraqi, when talking about why he was voting for Maliki, said the following:
“I like him because he was successful in improving the security situation and started reconstruction. The important thing for us at that time was safety and now we feel safe.” I think that statement speaks for itself. For a country that has only ever known war, the ability to feel safe is huge! So, what do I think about what we are doing over there? I think we are doing a great job, and I look forward to a day when the Iraqi people can feel safe enough with their own government and military that our sons and daughters can come home for good.

A game of lyrics

Naomi's FB post inspired me to do one of my own. It is amazing to see what kind of music has been hiding in your playlists until you play it on shuffle! Anyway, here goes. =)

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: Don't look them up on Google or any other search engine (you cheater!).
Step 5: If you like the game, post your own.
Step 6: After a week, any songs left, I'll just post the answers

1. We were strangers, starting out on a journey, never dreaming what we’d have to go through
2. We’ve come so many miles through steep hills and valleys
3. When you feel the sunlight fade into the cold night
4. Two days chasing me around, I go crazy when you’re outside my world
5. Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?
6. Got the kinda face everyone knows
7. Oceans apart day after day and I slowly go insane
8. Our concentration - it contains a deadly flaw
9. Sometimes slowly time brings revelation
10: I got no money in my pockets, I got a hole in my jeans
11. She’s cold and she’s cruel, but she knows what she’s doing
12. Went back home again this sucks gotta pack up and leave again
13. Why do lovers drift apart and how does love fade away?
14. Closed off from love, didn’t need the pain
15. I – I sit in silence here, I'm filled with wonder once again
16. We have seen the light.
17. Good King Wensaslas looked out on the feast of Stephen
18. 90 miles outside Chicago, can’t stop driving, I don’t know why
19. I used close my eyes and the time would pass me by
20. I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid
21. Down on my knees again tonight, hoping this prayer will turn out right
22. Got introduced to you by a friend – you were cute and all that – you set the trend
23. This is the way that I state my independence that I'm no longer connected to your memory
24. Staring at a maple leaf leaning on the mother tree
25. I followed all the rules, well, at least I'm trying
26. Wise men say only fools rush in
27. Take it all down, Christmas is over, do not despair, but rather be glad
28. I watch the western sky, the sun is sinking
29. Sonny came home to her favorite room
30. She stands through my shadow, she sees something more

P.S. I had to skip a few because they were instrumental only (no lyrics) and then I skipped all the Arabic lessons (thought you might appreciate that). =)