Two Questions

Rick and I are pretty low key when it comes to owning a decommissioned Atlas F Nuclear Missile Base. We turn down the magazine, newspaper or Internet interviews requests and are not interested in appearing in HGTV's You Live In What?. I don't blog or talk about it a whole lot or really take a lot of pictures of Corinth Wet. Personally, we vacillate between being hyped-up and working on it and having the attitude of "crap we own a million dollar hole in the ground." When people do find out about where we live and our renovation project there are usually two questions people always ask.

Question #1:  What did you do with the missile?

Answer:  The Air Force/Government took the missile and the nuclear warhead with it when they left. They didn't want us launching it and starting WWIII or our own country. (Sarcasm intended. I have had fairly intelligent people ask me this and it just floors me.)

Question #2:  Aren't you afraid of radiation?

Answer:  No. The word "nuclear" in Atlas F Nuclear Missile Base refers to the missile and the the type of warhead that was strapped to it. As a refresher, the Air Force/Government the nuclear part when they moved out.

That's my sarcasm for today. However, don't fear, if you read this and ask either question anyway, I am far too well manner and gracious to be that sarcastic in person although I will have to fight to suppress a gut-busting laugh. 

The Lake

Last night after dinner, Rick, Katie and I went over to our pump house on North Lake Anson. It was cooler by the lake which felt great after another 100 degree day. Earlier in the day Rick and our friend Don were at the lake and pulled the pick up tubes for the pump out of the lake. The pump house and tubes were used when Corinth West was an active Atlas F Missile Site. All of the water for the Site came from Lake Anson. When Rick bought Corinth West, the Pump House came with it; therefore, we have a little plot of land on North Lake Anson. Anyway, back to removing the pick up tubes. The picture below is of the tubes.

To put things in perspective, the picture below includes Rick and Katie.

The tubes are 90' long! Rick and Don used Don's tractor to get them out of the lake. For 50 year old pipes, they are in pretty good condition, which is good because I didn't want to have to buy new ones. They would be about $10,000. We will be putting the pick up tubes back into the lake after Rick gets them cleared.

Here are some more pictures from our evening at the lake.

 Katie and I skipping rocks.

 Katie dancing and singing on a sand clump/rock.

 Katie playing with the waves/ripples.

Katie and I on the dock. This dock is owned by the City of Anson.

Today Katie went to Taekwondo in the morning. She said that her throat hurt and her nose had started to run, so when we got home I gave her some "magic medicine". (If we call children's cold medicine "magic" she is more apt to drink it.) She seems to be doing well and it could be an indication of allergies.  We'll see.

Other than the lake adventure, things have been pretty quiet around here. I hope you had the same.

Bronze and Gold

Today Katie took part in her first ever Tae Kwon Do competition.  She competed in the One Steps and her Form.  One Steps are assorted defensive moves where you disable your opponent.  Form is used to describe a series of moves unique to that belt color.  The forms can go up to 20+ and is rather like a TKD dance.

In the Form competition, Katie was required to do her form with another little yellow belt girl.  She started off great, but lost her place when she saw the other girl doing the form incorrectly.  She did manage to get to move 11, but she actually knows up to move 18.  Katie has only done her form once before with another yellow belt, but normally she does her form alone and I knew she would lose her focus because of the other girl.  Anyway, she got a bronze medal in that competition and she was as happy as a clam.  She kissed her medal. The little girl that she competed with got the gold, which I am not sure what they judge on because that girl did not do the proper moves.

In the One Step competition, Katie was once again up against two other kids.  She did three One Steps, Mosquito, Boom and  Elbow.  She did outstanding.  She elbowed the black belt that was acting as the attacker so hard in the chest that he lost his balance and wobbled.  (Katie was standing up and the black belt was kneeling.)  When the places were announced, Katie got first place and won a gold!

Rick and I will work more with her on her Form, as well as do the Form with her.  She has to get used to someone else beside her and still stay focused.  She could have taken the gold in that competition because her stances are strong in her Form.  That being said, the competition was valuable as we know what may trip Katie up in the next competition.  Also, we tried to emphasize the competition as a fun thing to do.  Rick believes that the younger she is when she starts competing, the less stressful competitions will be for her once she is older.  I agree with him.

Of course we took photos and shot video of Katie at the competition, and of course I will share them with you.

 Katie with Rick before the competition started.

 Katie comparing belts with another student who is from the Sweetwater Team Chip Tae Kwon Do Center.

Katie waiting for her gold medal in One Steps

Doing a superman pose and showing off her two medals.

After the competition, we headed to our little slice of property on North Lake Anson.  We own a pump house on the lake that was built when the missile site was constructed.  Our missile site is unique in that it got water from a lake as opposed to a well.  Anyway, we needed to do some cleaning in and around the pump house, so Katie got to enjoy the afternoon at the lake.

 Katie and Rick discussing what they need to do next.

Like I said, "little slice of property".  You cannot see the lake because the pump house is actually on a little hill.

We have had a busy weekend thus far and it will continue tomorrow for Katie and I as we are going to the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea at the Abilene Women's Club.  The dancers from Abilene Ballet Theater--where Katie takes her ballet lessons--will be performing a few dances from The Nutcracker.  If Katie really enjoys it I will  take her to the full ballet next week.  I am rather looking forward to our tea because we get to get all gussied up.  Til I have another update for this blog, ciao.

Atlas F Missile Site Lesson for the Day

As you know, I just went down to the Missile base to grab some chicken boobies for dinner.  While walking down the steps, I was reminded of a design feature of the Atlas F Missile Sites.

Abov is a diagram of the stairs and main hallway to the LCC (Launch Control Center).  You enter the Missile Site at the red door.  (The small rectangle to the lower left.  The small blue rectangles are other doors and blast doors.  The last blue door is the entrance to the round LCC, which is not drawn on the diagram.)  You then go down steps reach a platform and go down more steps.  The rest of your journey is right-left-right-left-left-down step-slight right.  Now that is a lot of right and lefting.  However, what I find fascinating is that the hallway was purposely designed that way.  If a nuclear bomb hit topside--during the Cold War in the early 60's I am sure that the Abilene area had a big red Soviet bullseye on its keister--the topside door would be blown off its hinges.  The bomb blast would travel down the stairs; however, each time it would hit a wall it would dissipate a little.  Hence that is why all of the turns.  Blast doors were also installed in the Missile Site as well, but the turning hallway was extra protection.

Now that was your Atlas F Missile Site Lesson for the day.  Quiz to follow at an unannounced date.

Nuclear Sunset

The picture that I have as the header of this blog, as well as the background image, is a picture that I took when we first moved permanently to our home in Texas.  It is a sunset here at Corinth West.  I decided to go with that picture because the vivid clouds were beautiful but also ominous and since we own a decommissioned Atlas F Nuclear Missile Site, I thought it was appropriate.  I don't know what it looks like when a nuke hits its target--so far but with all the loo-loos that have nuclear weapons that may not stay that way--but I hope it looks like a Texas sunset.

The Bees and The Ballerina

As of late, I have become an infrequent blogger.  Sometimes one must live life rather than talk about it.  I may have given up a long time ago if I didn't have the aspiration to turn this into a memory book for Katie.  So I continue to write about things that will only interest Katie.

In Rick's dubious spare time, he has been working on the missile base.  There is so much do to, but one must start somewhere.  He has been pouring over the blueprints into the wee hours of the morning.  Every once in awhile I will hear him go outside with the blueprints to further investigate.  Rick knows the blueprints inside and outside and could probably build an Atlas F Missile Site from scratch, but interestingly he discovers something new every once and awhile.  Regardless, he has been concentrating on the sewer system and the electrical system.  Getting permanent power, cables--internet and satellite--to the base is number one on his missile base priority list.  As for the sewer system, the septic tank is pretty well empty, as are the pipes--no one has used that system since the base was decommissioned in the mid 60's.  When I say no one, I mean no one human; however, honey bees had made use of the sewer clean out area.  During the summer when I would walk over to the silo to do snake patrol, I would hear a low, constant hum.  I knew they were bees, but didn't know where they were.  Rick guessed correctly that they were in the sewer clean out area.  All though he did not want to, the other day Rick threw Sevin down the hole and went back the next day to fully remove the man hole cover.  Here is what he found.

That is the largest beehive Rick has ever seen.  It was home to thousands and thousands of bees.  As I mentioned he really didn't want to kill them, but he has to get down into the hole.  The amount of honey that was in the hive was unimaginable, and needless to say, made a mess in the hole.  Because of the Sevin, we were not able to salvage any of the honey.  Katie came out to see the "bee house" and Rick explained to her about bees and honey.  (Not the birds and the bees--too early!  However, she has asked questions!)  Anyway, here is Rick shoveling the thousands of dead bees and the honey that had dripped out of the hive and into the hole.  The amount on the pavement is about 1/10 of what is in the hole.

Other news at Corinth West is that Katie has been doing chores to earn money.  A few weeks ago I instituted a cash per chore completed plan for Katie.  She has been helping with the laundry, helping empty the dishwasher, cleaning the counters and feeding the cat for a quarter here, fifteen cents there.  She managed to save $7.30 and today we went to Wal-Mart so that she could purchase a ballerina Disney Princess doll, which she has wanted for some time.  While at Wal-Mart she started to have a change of heart and began picking out items that cost more money than she had.  I had to explain to her that she had to save more money to purchase the more expensive item.  I was so proud....of me, I didn't give in and make up the monetary difference.  I held firm to the "pick a less expensive item or save some more."  She went back to the ballerina doll.  At the register I took her out of the cart and had her put her purchase on the counter.  I counted out her money--all coins--and placed them in $1 piles.  She had to count the piles until she came to six.  Thankfully the cashier was patient and understanding as Katie made her first purchase ever.  Below is a picture of Katie with her doll and receipt from Wal-Mart, and yes I am going to keep the receipt to put in her scrapbook.

That's about all I have to add to this memory blog.

$2 Million Racetrack

I haven't posted in a while. There is no clear excuse other than I have been some what busy with MOPS. It also has been raining for the last couple of days--very un-West Texas like. We desperately need the rain and I am happy for the cotton, but it starts to get depressing when it drags on for days.

Speaking of MOPS, our first meeting for the new year was today. It went pretty well. The table at which I am sitting is going to be a good one. We only had one new member at our table, but we all seemed to hit it off right away. During the meeting the Mentors and the Steering Team had to introduce themselves and share a bit about themselves. I forgot about this. Despite being familiar with the subject (me) I gave a very abbreviated speech.

Katie has been challenging. Today when I picked her up from MOPPETS, she threw a tantrum. She did not want to leave. When I arrived at her class they were still playing and she saw me as the one trying to take her away from fun time with friends. Oh the scene she created!

Somewhere along the line, Katie has learned an obscenity. It's not a typical one, but one that we label as one in our home. It is the phrase, "shut up." Neither Rick or I have ever uttered those words, so where the little sponge soaked up that phrase, I am at a loss. Regardless, when she says it, which is usually when I am reprimanding her, she immediately gets spanked. She has gotten rather clever though. Today when she threw her tantrum at MOPPETS, she started babbling as if she was a baby and then very slickly she slipped in the phrase "shut up" among the non-words.

We are slowly renovating the underground LCC (launch control center) into a home, but we don't have definitive plans for the 175' deep, concrete silo. Well, last week Rick took Katie over to the silo so she could ride her bike on top of it. So for now the silo has a purpose. I am sure when it was originally built they never dreamed it would become a play area for a three year old. Anyway, a few days later I was outside with Katie and she started dragging her tricycle over toward the missile base. When I asked her where she was going, she replied, "I'm going to the racetrack." So now the top of the missile silo will be forever referred to as Katie's race track.

Katie and Rick on top of the silo.

Katie on her tricycle racetrack.

Rick was in the DC area last week. On his way home, he stopped at Wal-Mart and picked up a present for Katie. It was a Barbie princess outfit with accessories. Below is a picture of our little Princess Ham.


Last week I received Season 5 of Desperate Housewives. Needless to say, I watched the entire season in a few days. Now I am up to speed and ready for the premier on Sept. 27. However, I clearly have watched way too much of that show for Katie can name the characters and will yell out "Desper Wousewises" when I start a DVD.

Last Thursday was our four year anniversary. Rick flew home from DC on that day and because of the weather ended up being delayed in Dallas for a few hours. He didn't get home until 11 pm, so there was no big celebration. I baked a lasagna and bought Rick a card. He bought me a card, a big box of chocolates and a dozen red roses. Like everyone says, it seems like yesterday and yet it seems like such a long time ago that we got married.

Rick flew out to San Francisco this morning and he will be back on Thursday. It's quite a treat to have him gone only for a few days.

Well that's about it. I'll try to get back into the swing of blogging, but I make no promises. Ciao!

Wandering Outdoors With The Camera

I complain about the mesquite as you well know if you are a regular reader of this blog. However, in Spring the mesquite can be rather pretty because the leaves are a lime green, almost neon-like. This afternoon I took my camera with me as Eric and I walked around Corinth West.

Looking up the driveway to the gate. You can see the border that I have been clearing along the drive. I am standing at Station 10 (the name of the original survey spike for the driveway) which means I am 1000' from the center of the road that runs by Corinth West.

A close up of some neon green mesquite leaves.

Our mesquite-less front yard which still needs to be leveled and seeded. The house is to the left and this is looking south. The missile site is to the west which is to the right.

The back of the entrance to the missile site as seen through the trees.

The side of the missile site entrance. The cone-shaped cap on the left is actually the top of the escape hatch for the LCC (Launch Control Center) which like the missile silo is all underground. However, unlike the silo there is no indication that there is a 2400 sq. ft. living space below my feet other than the concrete entrance.

The top of the missile silo. There are two overlapping doors, which each weigh 125,000 lbs., that "popped" open via hydraulics to allow the missile to emerge. The missile sat vertically in the hole and would be raised to the surface. The silo goes down 175'.

I hope you enjoyed a very abbreviated tour of Corinth West. I took more pictures but when I downloaded them to my computer they all looked the same--neon green mesquite.

Hmmm....Interesting.

I gave Katie her liquid antibiotic this morning and she reciprocated by puking it all over the master bedroom. I am currently waiting for her doctor's office to call me back. She obviously needs a different antibiotic. She is feeling better now because she has been hopping around on the hippty-hop horse. Now if I could get her to eat something....

This morning I also got stung a few times by a paper wasp. The little bug(ger) was in the house and crawled up the pant leg of my jeans. I felt a stinging sensation on my leg and when I rolled up the pant leg to check it out, he was crawling around on my leg. I flicked him off of my leg and lost him, but I think he is in the office.

So not a great day while my husband's day involves hob-nobbing with the famous at a movie studio. Isn't it funny how life balances out and is just?! Not! Anyhoodle, I'll write more later because without a doubt something else somewhat amusing will happen. After all it is MY life we are talking about here.

Funny side note: I sit on the Stamford Community Network Board. A few meetings ago the local newspaper reporter attended the meeting because the paper is doing a story on SCN. The president of the board piped up that Rick and I own the old missile base by North Lake Anson. Callie, the reporter, responded by saying, "I'd love to do a human interest story on you and your husband. Stop by the office." Hmmmm. Apparently Rick and I are "interesting" people. I wonder if that is a nice way to say, "You're weird."

We Had Joy, We Had Fun

When someone is ill the house starts to smell sick. That is how our house smells despite my burning of Strawberries 'n Creme candles. To get some fresh air in Katie's lungs and because it was a gorgeous afternoon out there, I took Katie outside. The warm air and sun on her face did her some good. Our outdoor activities consisted of drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, blowing bubbles and swinging on the swing set.

(Time for a confession. I admit that I use Katie as my cover when it comes to doing various activities, such as playing with Barbies, building with her Mega Blocks and drawing with sidewalk chalk.)

Here is our art work and good wishes for tomorrow, Valentine's Day.

Here is Katie creating her signature yellow squiggles.

Here she is swinging on her swing set. She calls playing on her swing set "weeing" because that is the sound I make when she swings or goes down the slide.

Here she is walking around on top of the missile silo, which is one of her favorite places to stroll about.

She doesn't have the fever any longer, but she is still far from recovered. Like all little kids, she gets clingy and whiney when ill. All of a sudden this fiercely independent and ingenious child cannot do for herself, but we are more than accommodating to pamper her and just sit and hug her. It is absolutely important to us that Katie knows love and safety in our arms.

I leave you now with one wish which is that on Valentine's Day you know love and safety in the arms of someone who cares about you unconditionally. Ciao.

Sundials, Angels and Honey

Saturday was an active day. We headed out to Buffalo Gap to have lunch at Perini's with fellow Atlas F Missile Site owners Hugh and Patsy. Texas Monthly says Perini's is the third best steak house in Texas. Considering how big Texas is and how many steakhouses there are, that is really saying something. It was the second time that I have eaten there and once again I was not disappointed. Anyway, David, Hugh and Patsy's son, graciously picked up the tab for lunch and Rick vowed revenge. You see, Rick always likes to pay.

After lunch we motored over to their Atlas F Site. Hugh, or Buddy as he is known, is quite the character and a very interesting person with whom to talk. They bought their site from the military after the decommission, so they have owned it for quite a few years. We were in Nolan County which has wind farms. A wind farm is where they erect those gigantic turbines that are used to produce energy. As far as the eye could see there stood these white angels gracefully twirling their long arms.

We drove through Mulberry Canyon on our way back. We stopped in Abilene and finally got home about 6 p.m. Katie was cranky for the last two hours of the road trip. She barely touched her lunch and had run out of milk. Remarkably, Eric didn't poop in the house even though he was inside for most of the day. At his age, he just can't hold it anymore, so I was proud of him.

The new development on the Katie front is that she has a new name for me. Today, she was tapping me on my leg to get my attention. As she did so, she was saying "Honey, Honey" and she has done that several times today. She picked that up from me because I call her Honey a lot and she has learned that term of endearment.

Appetite and Parts Needed

I've been absent lately because of that vicious stomach bug that is going around. Katie got it first and I have been wiped out since Saturday. I have ZERO appetite, which reminds me of a great line from The Devil Wears Prada "I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight. "

Here's my question/rant for the day: Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get parts for an 40+ year old Atlas F Missile Site? Even though all of the sites were built exactly the same, the military does not have a warehouse of parts since they no longer construct Atlas F sites. I see a lot of custom-made items being ordered. In 1960, it cost $2 million to build a typical Atlas F site. Today, one site would cost $14.5 million. The part that cost $275 in 1960 will cost about $2000 today and that is without the additional cost of custom creation. Oy vey! Lots of $$$$$.

Of Course

Today, while Rick was getting the pool ready for winter, I was walking around on top of the silo checking out all of the clearing we have to do. (For those of you not familiar with an Atlas F, the entire complex is underground so the top of the silo is ground level. Over the years the earth has settled quite a bit, so the silo cap is about 18" above ground level now.) I walked onto the top of the fueling shaft, and of course there was a rattlesnake down below on the concrete. I was apprehensive about shooting into concrete, so I got Rick's attention. By the time Rick got there, the snake had slid into a square cut out in the concrete and went underneath the concrete slab. Rick waited patiently for an hour or so, and it did not come back out. We even tried smoking him out to no avail. It is possible there is a tunnel underneath the concrete and he may have exited elsewhere. On the positive side, we got the weeds and brush cleared away from the the fueling shaft.

Cut to tonight. Rick was cleaning up his yard tools and heading down to the shop when, of course, he came upon an ornery rattlesnake. I was outside, but up at the house. I heard him yell something, so I yelled back "What?" He replied, "Get the shotgun." By the time I got to where Rick was, the snake had moved off into a cactus. Rick just shot into the cactus and it stopped rattling. It was either a very lucky shot or Rick shot the rattle off of the snake. Then the snake moved quickly, not the movement of a dead snake, so Rick shot again. Finally dead, Rick used a rake to get him out of the cactus and sure enough the first shot just took the rattle off.

Rick deposited the dead snake into a garbage bag. Since our garbage gets picked up tomorrow, our garbage can was already street side. So we took the golf cart up to the street to throw out the dead snake. And of course, on our way back, Rick spotted a fingerling in the driveway. Rick shot him, bagged him and we had to make the trip to the garbage can again. With the snakes killed Friday night, Saturday and today, that makes six dead rattlesnakes in the garbage. I am sure that is a record here at Corinth West.

There is no way to know if the snake Rick shot on the way to the shop is the same one that went into the hole. I'd like to think so, but I am a smart person, so of course the hole-dweller is probably still out there. Besides, Rick said the one he shot didn't smell like gasoline, which is what we used in our attempt to smoke him out.

Here is a picture of Rick eating lunch on top of the fuel shaft while he waited for the rattlesnake to emerge. The round concrete is the silo. I took a few pictures, but I like this one because you can see the silo doors.

Searching For Spikes and Stars

A few months ago we found the original survey spikes that the US Army Corp of Engineers set when our Atlas F Nuclear Missile Site, Corinth West, was built. This past weekend Rick and I were again pouring over the old blueprints for the missile site. I love studying the blueprints because it makes me understand the missile site better. My husband actually got the blueprints from Dyess. They were in a box in some basement on base and they are a complete set. They have been scanned and put on CD so we don't have to page through the fragile pages.

Anyway, we need to re-stripe the driveway and we also need to cut back the trees and brush so the driveway will have the original 5' shoulder. (Now you may understand why I was complaining about mesquite the other day!) We also called on our knowledge of trig as we figured the angle of the drive in relation to the current position of magnetic north and true north. Rick also figured out the Texas Plane Coordinates for a mystery stake we found in the driveway. It turns out that it is a stake that marks a property line.

It is fascinating that the missile site's orientation is linked to the location of Polaris, the north star. In addition, the Atlas F missiles "knew" their targets based on the targets' position in relation to Polaris' position. As a side note, each Atlas F site had two targets and to this day that information is classified, but it's pretty safe to assume at least one of our site's was in the former Soviet Union.

During the Bay of Pigs, the Atlas F missiles sat out of their holes, as well as when loading exercises were performed. I often wonder what the cows thought when this tall structure in the field next door kept on appearing from and then disappearing into the ground. The first time I saw the inside of the silo I was speechless. The word that immediately came to my mind was ominous. The silo itself is 175' deep--all underground-- with a radius of 52'.

Someday I aspire to know and understand as much as my husband does in regard to Atlas F Missile sites and ICBMs. However, it may be years and years before I do because dear hubby is a smarty pants and knows A LOT about everything and he has the paper to prove it. Gotta tell you it's rough when your husband is a member of Mensa.

Here is an interesting fact about missile that sat in our hole. In January 1968 the Atlas F missile was used to launch a satellite. That bird got to fly.

Someday, I'll post pictures of the site as it is today. We are slowly renovating the LCC (Launch Control Center) into a home and are slowly reclaiming the land from the mesquite. Sometimes when I realize how much we need to do, I feel overwhelmed. When that happens, hubby asks, "How do you eat an elephant?" and my required response is "One bite at a time."

If you want to learn more about Atlas Missile Sites which include D E and F, check out the links on the right rail. There is another site called www.siloworld.com. However, that site has not been updated for over a year and it can be difficult to navigate. Also, the site was created without regard to any browser but Internet Explorer.

Home Improvements

Looking back at previous posts I realize this blog has turned into a Katie Blog. In reality, there is so much more going on in our lives in addition to Katie and her development.

For example, our house was hit by a small tornado/hail/straight line winds back in April. It wasn't until July that the insurance money came through so work began last month on rebuilding and improving our house. The siding has been replaced, as well as the roof. There is still soffit work, painting and numerous outdoor electrical projects to be completed. In the roof replacement we ending up replacing the entire sub roof with radiant barrier sheathing. Basically it's plywood with what looks like aluminum foil on one side and helps by reflecting up to 97% of the suns radiant heat. Rick also had octagonal vents put in gables of the house and vented soffit all around the house. He will then add fans in the attic to keep air moving through that space. Hopefully all of these improvements will help with our $500+ electric bills in the summer months. I will post before/after pictures when the house is complete.

Abilene Regional Airport is remodeling the outside of the airport. On one of the numerous trips to/from the airport Rick noticed a stack of light poles with goose neck lights. Rick began making phone calls and learned that the poles were the old ones from the parking area. He got in touch with AEP (the electricity service provider) and was able to obtain 17 25' light poles for the base. ALL he had to do was remove them from the airport. With the help of friends James and Tony, the three of them loaded all of the light poles and lights onto two trailers. The work was back breaking to say the least since all told the items weighed 3 1/2 tons. Next challenge was to get the lights and poles off of the trailers.

This is where Grant, James and Marion's son, stepped up to the plate. Rick and Grant had to maneuver the truck with trailer backwards down the curving driveway to the Quonset hut--not an easy or quick task. They then used Thomas', another friend, wrecker to unload the poles. In the end we ended up with $10,000 worth of lights for the base basically for "free". I put free in quotes because it required the kindness of our West Texas friends to accomplish this task. Thanks James, Tony and Grant. Isn't if fun being friends with Rick?!!

Rick started in a new position at the company for which he works. The company basically eliminated his old position and it looked like he was going to be out of work. However, Rick interviewed for another position in the company. It was a stressful few weeks before Rick got the other position, but it sure is a statement on this nation's economy. Every company seems to be reducing and refining.

As for me, I am looking forward to the coming cooler season. In September, the MOPS group that I belong to will begin again. This year I will be a table leader. This past Monday I had a meeting and Katie was able to go to MOPPETS, which she loves. At my meeting we were able to work on our boxes for our tables and I have been crunching my brain for a centerpiece for my table. This year's theme is Adventures in Mothering. I have started making a three ring circus, but we will see how it goes. I'll post pictures if my creation doesn't embarrass me too much!

One Reason Not To Own A Decommissioned Nuclear Missile Site--The Add-Ons

"Can I get a helicopter?" That has been the question from Rick's mouth for the last few weeks as he peruses eBay. (He used to ask if he could buy an airplane.) It's a running joke between us. He asks and I curtly say, "No." Sometimes he asks several times a day. To most big boys, owning either air transport vehicle would be a "when we win the lottery" dream. However, my husband is an expert debater and I can see his logic wheels turning. "But honey, why not? We already have the runway for a plane and a pad for the helicopter?" What can a wife say?

Pax per potestatem

The picture I have in the "About Me" section on the right rail of this blog is actually a picture of the patch worn by the crew members of the 578th SMS who manned the twelve Atlas-F Launch Facilities around Abilene. The inscription of "Pax per potestatem" is Latin for "Peace through strength."