24 December 2007, It's been an interesting month. The ice storms that raged through Oklahoma put us without power for 7 days before the electric company got it back up. By the third day we had gone out and bought a generator. I spent a couple of days cutting up the downed trees and have to move all the branches to the curb or brush pile. The power's been back up for a week now but was flickering Saturday as the wind was pushing snow in the state. We had driven down the highway and noticed that the lines were blowing quite a bit. OG&E came back out and tethered the power lines to make them more stable and to avoid any further damage. Most of the snow melted yesterday, but on this eve of Christmas, on the north side of buildings and houses we still have a little snow left.
Last year I had a White Christmas in Afghanistan. I am blessed to be home this Christmas with my family. We are having our Italian dinner with family at the in-laws tonight and then Christmas day out at our place.
May your day be blessed and your travels safe. Merry Christmas.

04 December 2007, Well, I just keep changing uniforms. Yesterday ended my week on the streets and today I'm in the classroom getting Army training. The weekend went pretty good. I worked a car accident Sunday morning. I always have issues trying to figure out how someone has an injury accident in the middle of a residential street at 1030 in the morning on a Sunday, but someone made it happen. The driver of the vehicle hit a parked car. I spoke with the owner of the parked car asking him for his identification and insurance information. This is required for the accident report as well as the guy getting his car fixed by the other driver. Well, he was Hispanic, which isn't a problem for me. He tells me he doesn't speak English, still not a problem. I'm not fluent in Spanish but I am capable of getting vital information and relaying some commands. I asked him for his identification in Spanish, surely this will work, right? No, he still doesn't understand me. [As an officer I deal with a lot of Hispanic people on a daily basis. My views on the illegal immigration in this country are simple. I understand why you would want to come here to live, but if you came here because of what we offer don't try to change it to be what you came from, you left for a reason. I don't understand that small population of male immigrants who just seem to want to work enough to buy beer and stay drunk, why bother exerting this much energy to come here when you could do that where you came from?] I turn around and exclaim, "How can you not understand English or Spanish?" Well, I'm finally able to get things done and move on to my next call.
Be safe and have a great day.

02 December 2007. Well, things are going good here. Mrs. Dub is glad to have me home for the holidays this year. I worked Thanksgiving Day so we have our big meal that evening after work. Mrs. Dub's family on her mother's side is Italian and one of the Thanksgiving traditions is to make canoli shells the day after Thanksgiving. They've been doing it for years. Mrs. Dub was in the middle of it from start to finish this year. I was in it for most of it. The family made over 300 shells this time. The shells stay good all year and each family will take a number of shells and fill them when ready to share with friends. I'm really looking forward to Christmas because being a part of an Italian family means the Christmas dinner is Italian. I really do love it.
I'm hoping to resolve the Internet problem at home in January. The dial up is just so slow I hardly ever even bother getting on it anymore. You noticed? Sorry. We stay busy enough at work that I don't normally have time to mess with it there either. Speaking of plans for the new year, I have submitted my package to continue my bachelor's degree. If all goes well I'll start classes on January 14th. I need to pick up the pace as my little brother is in Ft Worth Texas and is working on his school too. He applied for Ft. Worth Police Dept and is now just waiting to here back from them. Keep your fingers crossed.
We put up the Christmas tree and I decorated it yesterday. This year we have a 9 foot pre-lit tree. It's bright enough that I'm afraid we will be attracting ships in the night or causing planes to land in the back pasture. There's been some traditions where people hang the Christmas tree upside down from the ceiling. Mrs. Dub suggested that, but I'm not sure how that would work, it looks cool, but I don't think so, (at least this year).
Well, I better take off for now. Be safe and have a great day.