I love my baby!!!

Yesterday Amber and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. It turned out to be a quite day for us. I came home early from work and brought her some flowers, a card and some not so good tasting ice cream. After some ice cream, I took a nap and we then spent the evening with the kids. I had contemplated about us going out but never really made the effort. In the long run it was the best, because the house lost power for about 1 and a half hours. I am not so sure that JoLynne my drama queen daughter would have been able to handle it. I have attached a picture of us, before we were married. The occasion was Amber's homecoming in September 1993. She is even more beautiful now, than she was then.

( : I LOVE YOU BABY! : )

NPR

Well were on the NPR site for our experience in Washington DC. I have attached the link. You hear us talking about 3 mintues in to the clip. Here it is:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99080047

Madi was excited to hear her voice. The woman you can hear the most is my mother in law Adele. She was stating that she does not like crowds in case you missed it.

DOWN WITH RCA!!!!!!!!!!

Momma always said "You should always talk about someone as if they were in the room", well I am sorry mom but this time no. I would like to take you back about 16 months or so. While we were living in Hawaii, my lovely wife Amber made a purchase. She bought a DVD/VCR burner. The whole purpose of this was to be able to transfer our home videos to DVD. Anyway, she went with the machine that was a little more pricey, but was wanting a good quality machine she picked out a RCA model. Within two months, the machine quit working altogether and we were never really able to burn any videos worth keeping. We went back to Walmart and they were kind enough to trade in the machine with a new one. We took it home and after a month or so, we started to have problems again.

Because it was pass the 90 day limit, we had to work with Thompson Inc (RCA) to try and get a replacement. I called the company and explained the situation. I asked what I need to do to get refunded. I was told that they will not refund the money, but that we had to send the machine to them in Texas for repair. I told them that we were about ready to move from Hawaii to VA. I was instructed to state in the letter to have them ship it to VA. It would take 6 weeks to get it back.

7 weeks later, we have safely arrived in VA, and I called them to ask where our machine was at. I was told that it was sent to our address in Hawaii. Hello!!!! I was able to stay calm, but was starting to get upset when I asked who signed for the machine and they said no one, that they just left it on the door step. It took another 2 - 3 weeks, to get from Hawaii to us in VA. Again they shipped to the wrong address in VA. Well, by this time Amber and I wanted strangle something, but at least we had the machine. I did not even bother to take off the protect plastic, I had a feeling that we would be shipping it back. Instincts were right and in October, I had to send it back due to it not working properly. They received it on November 11, 2008. I was told that I should have a replacement machine by December 11. So on December 12, I called and asked where my machine was. They were not sure and asked if I could call back in a couple of days. Around the 20th of December I called and was told that they would not be able to send me a machine and would provided a full refund. All I had to do was to fax in the receipt and with in a few weeks, I would get a check. Last Thursday, I called to get status. Guess what, they acknowledge receiving the paper work, but had yet to cut the check. I was told that I would be receiving the check in 6 - 8 weeks. This were I lost it!!! I told them that there company sucks, and the customer service was terrible. I would never recommend RCA to anyone and that I would be contacting my legal office to see what legal action I can take against the company. I then hung up the phone.

Anyway, I will never purchase a RCA product again. I searched the web and found that a lot people have had problems with repairs and refunds with RCA.

What do you get?

What do you get when you cross a six year with Mac Photo Booth? Here are some of the fabulous photos that I found while looking through photo booth. Madi has the habit of taking a lot of pictures when no one is looking.

Oh the sweet military life

My supervisor received a call from our assignment office at Head Quarters. All the SKC (E7) billets in the Tidewater area (Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampton Roads) has already been assigned to other Chiefs. My SKC is probably going to turn in his retirement papers and well since my first 4 picks are gone I will be left to the wind. My next three picks were in Seattle and California. She (assignment officer) is supposed to call back on Monday.

***You might ask "Whats up with the boat?" It was the only picture I could find on my computer with the Coast Guard logo. I was stationed on it in Hawaii. This picture is from when we visited the Solomon Islands.****

2009! It is finally here! Last night was the first time that I was unable to celebrate New Years Eve with Amber. It is kind of amazing that I being in the military have gone 13 years being able to celebrate each new year with her. I was lucky enough to have duty in the barracks. I was preparing for the stumbling kids coming back from their celebrations, but I was not woken up once. It was very peaceful. I guess the highlight of the night for me was seeing Robbie Maddisons sick jump in Vegas. In case you missed it here is the link:

http://expn.go.com/expn/blog/moto

You might have to cut and paste, but it is worth it. I should my two year old son today "Wookie", and his eyes lit up and he said "COOL". A couple of more years and he should be good to go for his first motorcycle. It reminds me of my best friend from high school, Steve, who did a crazy vertical jump like Robbie. It was no where near the height, but it was still awesome. I think he scared the crap out of his self. It is late and already the 2ND of January, will continue again tomorrow.