I had the opportunity to do another VTC (video teleconference) with my family back home last night after the big win by the Huskers. Last time, we only had 10 minute time slots, which went by incredibly fast. This time I got an entire 30 minutes. It was, I'm searching for a word here, ummm, there it is, AWESOME! In all caps which is extra-awesome for me. Erika and Benjamin were there, along with Erika's dad who was at drill at the Armory and came to help with Benjamin, as he can't really sit still for more than 10 minutes. He did good though, he recognized his daddy and waved at smiled at me quite a bit. Erika's dad shared the latest news about what is going on back in Nebraska with the Guard. Nebraska was number 1 last year out of all of the states for Warrant Officer recruiting, which is one of his main focuses of his job. Quite an accomplishment. Benjamin made it about 15 minutes before he got bored and wanted to go play with some stuff. It was really nice to be able to talk face to face with the wife and see her smile and laugh at my dumb jokes. Talking on the phone is nice, but getting to see her and Benjamin in person is so much better. All in all, it was a great 30 minutes and that combined with the Husker W has me in a pretty good this Sunday morning.
Blackfive had a couple of posts this week that caught my eye. They are both charitable organizations that are supporting the troops over here. The first one is called Valour-IT. Here is a quick description:
Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss (Captain Chuck Ziegenfuss' father), provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the 'Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field without having to press a key or move a mouse.
Follow this link to get more information and/or make a donation. There are also updates every few days at Blackfives blog.
The second one that really caught my eye was a project called Snowball Express. This is an all expenses paid Christmas vacation for children that have lost a parent in the war.
Our goal is to make this holiday season as joyous an occasion as possible. The children and their surviving parent or guardian will fly to Southern California courtesy of Southwest Airlines, and will stay at hotels in Orange County that have been donated by corporations such as Marriott and Ayres, among others. Oakley World Headquarters is providing a party for the families, featuring an extreme sports show and major entertainment. The Crystal Cathedral will be hosting a special presentation of “The Glory of Christmas”. The weekend will end on a high note, with a full day at Disneyland/ California Adventure hosted by the Walt Disney Corporation.
You can go to their website at snowballexpress.org to donate. Check out the page called Why for a moving account on why the founder puts this together. Here is the summary post on Blackfive as well with some more information.
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| FIVE-TIME NATIONAL FOOTBALL CHAMPS "Not the victory but the action. Not the goal but the game. In the deed the glory." |
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5 comments:
That is so awesome! I can just imagine how wonderful it was for Erika (and the rest of the family) to be able to see you and vice-versa. Dan called me on Friday and it came across my caller ID from Austin. It turns out he got an internet phone that is a local number for here in Austin. I was so stunned when he called that for like the first 2 minutes about all I could say was "Are you serious? Really? This is so cool! This is awesome!" LOL!
It's really nice to be able to call him now and have him call me and NOT have someone rushing him off the phone after 20 minutes. I think that's what I really like the most! :)
Sooooo, the 'Skers finally won one. (Did I just say that?!) I was happy for you guys that they won b/c it was kind of sad to go through the blogs and see the disappointed comments. We went to a sports bar down here and had some great beer and generally yelled at the bad plays that we made(the first quarter was just a joke for us).
I hope y'all roll over A&M. They're our WORST rivals so I'll definitely be rooting for the Big Red - you know, the lesser of two evils.
Thanks for highlighting those two very worthy organizations!
Mr. Kane, I enjoy reading your blog(s). They're insightful, thought provoking, and entertaining. You guys keep up the good work over there, and keep your sense of humor.
BTW, Kerry IS an idiot! And he calls himself a veteran???!!! What a fricken dork!
My daughter's boyfriend, former classmate of Brent, is over there. Was originally at your basecamp but has since moved on. Sean was in Saturday's paper on the front page (can't remember which section) w/ guess who?? Ole' Chuckie Boy! How cool is that??!
Brent's Mom.
Love,
We had such a good time at the VTC. Ben has been blowing kisses to your picture ever since. He really loves his Daddy!
Erika
Nic we will take care of the Aggies just for you.
Mrs. Beans thanks for stopping by. Beans was pretty pumped about the VTC and I know he enjoyed seeing everyone tremoundsly. I think he even liked it better than picking up the mail, if you can believe that.
Babe I have been blowing to kisses to Ben too since that night! I had something in my eye there for a little bit when we said goodbye but it worked itself out.
Steve –
I am glad to hear that you, Erika and Ben all got to see each other again. I know how much it meant to me to get a chance to see you last summer with Erika and Ben by VTC. Going back to your post a few weeks ago about this not being our grandfathers war, which was a great post by the way. I think all of our hero’s from the past would have given any thing for VTC back then.
Nic –
We will abuse A& M this weekend just for you like Steve said. I can’t wait till this Big 12 Championship game on December 2. I think it will be another barn burner of a game. Also, I can’t wait till spring to get the Horns up here in Lincoln at Hay Market Park for a little 3 game series of Big 12 Baseball.
Ole Buddy B –
Those wings and the perfectly poured glass of beer looks almost as good on Steve’s blog as it did at Mulligans…. NICE
Take care Steve…. HEY KANE… NO FEAR…
Dan W
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