DKelSmith Weblog Aficionado Average Debonair Man vs. the Vicissitudes of Life

Information Technology II I am sitting in the breakroom at the IT building after taking a quiz. Tomorrow I will have my final exam, and I will be done with the School of Information Technology. I will be sorry to see this time period pass. We go in at 0830, and we end at approximately 1600. Soon we will be going to Basic Electronics back at Greeley Hall and I think we will be back to the 1700, 1730, or even 1800 release days. I talked to my wife last night, and she told me that she was safely back at home with the kids. I could hear my daughter screaming in the background, and I could hear my sons running wild. I really wish I could be with them. The week that my wife spent with my really whet my appetite to be back with them again. Well, I suppose we are about midway through the course, so I shouldn't be complaining too much. Well, that is all for now...back to class.

Missing you... Renee, Just in case you ever wonder, you are my everything. I love you with all of my heart. Thank you so much for coming to visit, now that our ways had to part, I realized how you have made me whole.

Mack... I marveled at your strength, The way you smashed bricks to dust. Grinning over warm gin, working side by side next to Dad. Vain stories told by the dozen, in a crude way, of the blessed younger days, Vietnam, street women and cheap wine. Every day you always had a smile, You always did something for somebody, for nothing. You were good, but you were bad. Nobody ever tried you, Nobody ever would. Damn...it's so ironic.... Even Cancer couldn't do, what a sharp curve on a highway could. Dkelsmith My dad's best friend died in a car accident down in Alabama this past spring. His name was Mack Bowie. I don't know what made me think of him this evening, but nonetheless I have been thinking about him for the last few hours. Mack was younger than my father. I am not sure how old, but perhaps in his late 50's or early 60's. Mack was a strong man, I remember when my Dad was remodeling our house,

Melancholy... Main Entry: melancholy Function: adjective 1 a : suggestive or expressive of melancholy ..sang in a melancholy voice.. b : causing or tending to cause sadness or depression of mind or spirit : DISMAL a melancholy thought2 a : depressed in spirits : DEJECTED, SAD b : PENSIVE I would have to say that merriam-webster.com cannot adequately capture the feelings I have with any word. But, I suppose melancholy is the most adequate description available. I have been sent TDY to Ft. Gordon and that equals approximately four and a half months away from my wife and kids. Renee came down last Monday to visit me, and now she is preparing to leave. This has to be one of the fastest weeks of my life. I hate the fact that she is leaving, but I know that she has to go. I miss her, I miss the kids, I miss all things familiar to me. I do have to admit that this time away has given me new perspective on my relationship with my wife and my children. I suppose that I hav

Taking things for granted... I suppose the worst thing that people do is to take others for granted. But, I can look back on my behavior towards my wife and kids and easily say that I took them for granted. I see that now that I am not in a position to be around them all the time. I suppose I took all of the time that I could have been spending with my kids for granted. I can't think of the number of times I was tired after getting home from work, and I turned down an invitation to "come play" with my kids. How many times could I have sat and played with them instead of laying down for a quick nap. I also look at my relatioship with my wife and wonder the same thing. It is just amazing to think back on the number of times that I would be in my own world, doing something I wanted to do instead of talking to her. It is so easy to read a book, watch television, fart around on a weblog , or otherwise not interact with my wife after a long day. I suppose I