Well we are getting ready to celebrate Liberation day here in Kuwait. This means loads of shaving cream and silly string. Cars driving up town will be on the attack from other vehicles as well as packs of kids. Vehicles battle as they drive and stop at red lights. Some cars have every window and the sun roof occupied by persons armed and firing away. Makes it hard to see sometimes as the stuff covers your windshield.

Other than that Heather and I are just getting ready for our 4 day trip to Dubai in April and our 2 week trip to Ireland and London with the in-laws in July.

Weather is almost perfect these dasy as it is neither hot nor cold right now. Had a wicked dust storm this weekend. I wish I would have had the video camera with us as we drove to a friend of Heather's house this weekend for a birthday party. You could barely make out the cars coming at you at 75 yards. The traffic lights blew all over the place dancing about in the air.

I pass the time these days either swimming and watching sports, looking at house plans and looking for lots to build on or playing the XBOX 360. Softball practice has been delayed until March due to the fact the field is being used until then. Then we have to get ready for the tournament.

Some days 13,000 pounds of explosives is enough to make a guy smile. I love my proffession.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL SOFTBALL TOURNEY

Anyone interested in joining us this April it appears Heather and I may be there for 3 nights and 4 days. Dubai is a heck of a cool place. All the city is clean and impressive. Now boasting the worlds tallest inhabited building. Dubai supposedly has more than 75% of the worlds big cranes. This is due to the ever expanding and building of this incredible city. As you fly in or out you can see the two sets of islands forming a palm. Also you can see the islands forming the world being formed. If interested drop us an e-mail or comment back here. I most likely will be busy with softball the whole time but much beer will be flowing on and around the field. Dubai is not a dry country.

If you have not seen this yet then go right out to amazon.com and order it. It is pretty darn funny stuff. Basically it is a few Arab Americans doing stand up comedy. They have toured all over the Middle East and are going to be in Washington DC this March. They are originally from LA area. If you have seen it post a comment below! Cheers all.

WOW an old one here. This is my class photo from Huntsville after the US Army phase of EOD school back in 1992.

Weather here in Kuwait is getting much better. Slowly but surely we are drifting out of jacket weather. Another 30 days and it will be about perfect out. Been hovering around 15 Celsius lately.

Not much new going on. Work and hanging out at the house. Playing some cards and softball is back in session. We have practice for our international travel squad once a week and pick ups start in two more weeks. That will be twice a week. And I sure need it as I am a bit out of shape.

WOW it is -4 Celsius here this AM in Kuwait. It is so very cold and there are no heaters here in the office or the classroom I use so I pretty much stay in my jacket all day long till I get home.

Charlie Wilsons War

If you have not seen this film then get right out there to your local cinema and see it. Heather and I really liked it alot. Based on a true story about a congressman who got the ball and money rolling into Afghanistan to fight the Soviet threat. Philip Seymour Hoffman is in it as a ballsy and cool CIA guy and Julia Roberts as a rich and powerful lady from Texas.

If you haven't scene the preview for the following movies then go view them on line.

10,000 BC
The Dark Knight
Hancock
Hellboy 2
Semi Pro
Speed Racer

View from the ancient city of Jerash down onto the new city of Jerash. Previous to Jerash this was the ancient site fo the city called Antioch. Yes where according to Monty Python came the Holy Hand grenade of Antioch. If you have no idea what I am talking about go and rent Monty Pythons The Holy Grail.

The treasury of Petra as seen in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is just a small part of the ancient city. To see it all they say takes 5 days. We had only one in Petra. This place was truly amazing.

Besdides Petra we also saw Mt. Nebo, Dead Sea, Jerash Roman ruins and the crusader castle of Kerack(?).

What a trip and what a country. The people are some of the kindest we have met in the region. I highly recommend visiting here. There are just so many sites to see. Ancient cities and old biblical locations abound.

To see more go to Heathers blog, see links this page, for lots of video of the trip.

OK so we did the holiday gift giving thing a bit early. this was due to work schedules the next few days.

My wife is damn cool though as can be seen in the gift she gave me this holiday season. See above. It says "Don Shula, HOF 97, Herb Eisele was a great coach. I learned a lot from him". Pretty cool huh.

For those not in the know on this my great grandfather gave Don Shula a scholarship to college and was his college coach for football at John Carrol University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Here is a picture of the basement in the new villa we now have. We are co-renting this property with Tera and Devin Noel also from Kwaj.

Devin is getting pretty excited as his wife is moving here in just 2 short days. Then our family here at the villa will be complete. Picric however is going to have to learn to live with another kitty. She is a bit spoiled and is not the greatest fan of anything else that steals peoples attention.

In another week some guests will be visiting us for the New Years. And soon we shall be atop Mt Nebo looking upon the promised land.

Happy holidays to all of you out there and have a great New Year!

If you liked the movie Donnie Darko then may I suggest you check out the newest Richard Kelly film called Southland Tales. This sophomoric release seems to be following it's predecessor by not doing super well at the box office but will more than likely be another cult classic. Donnie Darko opened poorly and most folks never heard of it till DVD. Now it is on the imdb.com all time top 100 list. Not too shabby.

This new film has quite a star studded cast as well. I suggest checking it out if it is still at your local theatre!

I seriously love my new phone. There are few things I would do different or expect on a newer model but all in all it is pretty sweet. The touch screen works well and is super fast. The video quality is crystal clear. Phone clarity is excellent. I have used it to call all over the world and have had no issues with sound at all. Mine is unlocked so all I had to do is throw my chip in from my previous phone here. Everything syncs to Outlook which is nice and pretty cool seeing as the phone is Apple and the sync goes to a Microsoft product. I would definitely recommend this phone to anyone out there.

I really wish we could have made this going away party for Steve, Teresa and Griffen Fuchs (Fox). Best of wishes and luck go out to them on their journey to Texas! Does this mean the end of the Criminals?

Speaking of softball the big Middle East tourney in Dubai is in April if anyone is interested. Our third baseman believe it or not is an old Marine buddy of Steve's.

Freezing cold today. It is definitely jacket weather once again. I even had to turn on the heat in the car today. The mornings come close to zero Celsius during winter here.

This weekend we are having some military folks over for an EOD operations planning meeting as well as to enjoy some food. Should be a good time.

Still working out the kinks but looks like no matter what we are going to Jordan for New Years. they have alcohol there and even make there own beer and wine in country. We will see some desert castles, Petra and many other cool ancient sites. Pictures will be posted here upon our return as well as on my myspace page.

This weekend we should be getting our tree and putting it up. So send me, I mean us, presents to place under the tree.

Merry Christmas all!!!!!!!!

Amman, Jordan is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world and is where we may go for a long weekend if Benjaneer comes to visit us.

Well my apologies for having not posted in a few weeks. We have been knee deep in moving our household. We now reside in a villa with Devin & Tera Noel, also from Kwajalein. Although Tera will be following soon as she takes care of some stuff state side first.

Work has been busy as of late as I am teaching a month long school starting in January. Lots and lots of power point presentations!

Also we are hoping that Benjaneer will be coming to visit for New Year here. If he does we think we will be going for a 4-5 day weekend to Jordan and see Petra. For those not in the know that is the cave temple type place from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade. They also have a collusium and many other neat things to see and experience. The dead sea may be a bit too cold to play in though.

Weather is chilling off fast and they say in the morning next week it could dip to under zero celsius. Thursday we get our first rain in almost 6 months or more.

Well thats all the news thats fit to print for now. Cheers all.

Here is a house we would be interested in if we could buy right now as opposed to next fall. Nice English Tudor built in 1927 on a wooded lot. Price is $497,000.

Today in Kuwait......this morning the radio said it was 56 Farenheit outside. Looks like we are moving into the colder season here. Workwise I spent the day in the desert doing a recon on a piece of ordnance. Tomorrow we go back to dispose of it. Right now it is 5:10 PM and Heather is still at work. I am just about ready to cook dinner so it is hot and on the table once my little princess arrives home.

Well that's it for today. Check back again later for more exciting news.

Anyone who buys me this for X-mas is my new instant favorite! Cars I am looking at for when I get back to the states include the Porsche Carrera, Maserati GT (seen above) and the Project Eagle Lotus, coming next summer to the car shows.

I have sold my Porsche so we can put more money away for the house which we hope to get next fall in Colorado Springs. See below. So now I am back in dream mode.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!!!!! Cheers.