Hello interweb. I know I've pretty much given up the ghost on NaNoAnything this year. I probably should feel more ashamed than I am. Honestly, I didn't expect the deployment to be such a soul-sucking issue. I hardly have the desire to do anything but go to work and get every day over with as fast as humanly possible.

I will update you all on some interesting developments from the weekend and current week.

I went to Suzy's. Good times. My camera got mad at me and refused to work. IS2 celebrates again on his upgrade. Sooo...you have all been spared cute pictures of Suzy's baby warmbloods which are absolutely adorable. My horse readers take note: She's got a 6 month old Swedish Warmblood that is gorgeous. If you're looking for a good steal, let me know -- she'd be happy to sell him. He was just weaned.

I am not sure if it was stress or driving that caused my back to crap out on me yesterday, but crap out it did. I came home and didn't move from my bed from 3 PM onward. Despite the meds, I still had a restless sleep and was not a happy camper going to work today. My back hurt all morning. Medicine intake was as follows:
11 AM: Couldn't stand it any longer -- took 2 Lyrica's in hopes that it would kill the nerve pain. Usually the stuff works wonders almost instantly and takes me to a happy place. It didn't do anything.
12 PM: 500 mg of Ibuprofen. Thought it might be an inflammatory issue. It wasn't.
1:30 PM: 1 Vicoden. Did the trick -- relaxed my back long enough to get the pain to go down. It is still sore (especially on the left side) but better. I'm going to take one of my hardcore muscle relaxers tonight and see if it feels better in the morning.

Also - please note: It is not from jiu jitsu, as I have not been to jiu jitsu since last week. Thank you.

My aunt Janny had an opening on Thursday in San Antonio. I wish I could have gone. Maybe one day I'll manage to go to one. Until then, I loved the photos my mom sent to me...thought you all might enjoy them as well. Take a look! The elderly lady with the cane is my beloved Great Aunt Sylvia, to whom I owe all of my grammatical skills.

My new favorite friend, Matt B. , is hilarious. I am posting (without permission...) his Myspace blog regarding our election night debauchery last week. Ah...memories.

So i guess this week started off with a bang. I should back step a bit and mention the drunk blog. I will never drink and myspace again! Its too dangerous, I can not go into specifics, but in general i apparently made an ass out of myself. So that night I ended up hurting my ankle...and then blogging...ok so fast forward to Monday....Election Eve. My friend Will, emails me informing me that I havent voted yet. Little bastard....keep in mind i have voted in every major election for the last 8 years.....LORD! So anyway, I wake up early and head all the way to LBJ Highschool to vote for everyone running against a republican. So.....election night. I head over to the Stephen F. Austin Hotel where Will and Rachel are waiting on results for local democrats.

Upon my arrival i am thrusted into a game of "Paperclip" where you try and spot politcal celebrities and get a picture with them.... The best was meeting Mark Strama. We bumped into him after stalking Mayor Will Winn and some woman that looked like a prostitute. Well Mr. Strama asked if we wanted a picture with him and the mayor...and we said YES! Next thing I know he tells the prostitute (sorry if you are reading this and are not really a hoe) to take all of our pictures. It was a hoot! Almost more so than the dems winning the election!!!

Matt cracks me up. "PAPERCLIP!"

IS2 got an APO. I spent a good part of the day trying to figure out what online stores ship household wares to APOs. It took a few google searches but I got it. There's actually some website that listed all the major big box stores that would ship sheets and bedding to APOs. Isn't the web lovely?

I suppose lastly I will tell you about the adventure my dad and I had this evening after work. I made a return to the barn. Yep. We had to go get the Coke and candy machines that my dad had so kindly loaned to MRS. It was a huge burden on my shoulders because I remember when he dropped them off and how William Watkins (ahhh William...I know, M@, the good old days...) had to help him. And William, who Bay & I always called "our broad-chested man" was pretty strong. So needless to say I wasn't sure how much help I would be as the gimpy assistant to my elderly dad. My only hope was that I'd be able to recruit whatever remaining grooms were around the barn.

It was somewhat fortunate that we went on a Monday (although unplanned). Monday is the day of rest at the barn, sort of like any other service where people come out on the weekends so they close on Monday. Aside from wondering how we would possibly get the machines moved out I was also concerned about running into...anyone.

As my dad and I drove up (and as my dad was teetering on the edge of a breakdown, because I'm sure he too realized the grave situation of us trying to move the games) I first saw Chuy's Suburban, proudly displaying his yellow ribbon, which he had bought "para el Capitan." Chuy supports the troops. And then -- like an image of God himself on the horizon -- there was Chuy walking right across our path, exactly the way I left him: his potbelly draped with his token denim snap shirt.

Chuy cruised over to the truck immediately, saying his hello's and shaking my hand and mi padre's. We then backed the Ram up to the haybarn and Gerardo appeared with a flashlight (the lights were out -- some kind of wiring problem) to guide us in moving the machines.

Thank God, hallelujah, that they were there to help. With the three of them and me operating the lift gate, it was barely possible to load all of the games. It was great to see Chuy again -- I miss the old guy, what can I say.

I was also more than delighted that I did not have to run into one single person who spoke english! It was perfecto.

That's all she wrote.