Mean Dog

Carol and I have gotten to know the Chairman and Director of the Sung Ae Won Orphanage and their family over the last year and a half.  They are great people with incredibly big hearts.  We've also gotten to know their dog a little bit.  Unfortunately, the dog and I are still not very tight.  Check out this video:




Although this little guy tries to take a chunk out of my hide during visits, it hasn't dissuaded me from getting another dog at our next duty station.  The entire family is really looking forward to that.  This mean little dog - well, he's just protecting his turf.  I'll get him to warm up to me one day.  Maybe I'll do like Jack Nicholson and walk around with bacon in my pocket.

Nice Shooting Tex!

Took some of the MSCO Korea Team shooting a while back.  For some of them, it was their first time firing a weapon.  I'm a big fan of doing something you've never done before.  I'm also a big fan of not shooting each other so we did some safety and weapon familiarization training prior to this event.

Check out Carol packing!  That's hot.

Ms. Kang yelled a little bit on her first shot.  She definitely got more comfortable though.

Mr. Yun, otherwise known as the Natural.  He almost got a perfect score - 239 out of 240.  The thing was, it was his first time firing a weapon.  Amazing.

That's Mr. J on the left.  He's our Richard Gere.  Very cool man.  Nothing phases him.


I love doing team building events.  This day was a lot of fun and we left with all ten fingers.  Couldn't keep the snazzy glasses though.  I managed to earn my expert shooting qual on that day too.  That and a dollar will get me a cup of coffee.  Gotta run!

Carol's Cooking

Not sure what I ever did to deserve someone that can cook up a storm like Carol.  Not only is her cooking incredible but its the heart that goes along with her cooking.  For example, if she finds out it's your birthday, she'll cake you.  Carrot cake, pineapple upside down cake, dump cake, angel food cake, etc.  Her recent trend is to brownie people.  See previous post.

Anyway, for my birthday she tiramisu'd me.  I know.  I'm butchering this whole grammar thing with my noun-verb usage.

Here's the last piece of my birthday tiramisu - better known as a small chunk of heavenly mascarpone, coffee and lady finger goodness.

I mean for real, who even knows how to make tiramisu?  I'm talking for real, not the urbanized recipe of:

1. Drive to Costco

2. Buy tiramisu

3. Remove lid without getting a paper cut

The other day, Carol busted out these Vietnamese style spring rolls.  They were amazing.  Peanut sauce and all.  She also cooks a couple of Mom's Filipino dishes like pancit, lumpia and caldareta.  Please don't pass this along to my Mom, but my nephew Brandon even said that Carol's beef and broccoli is better than Mom's.  Blasphemy!

The point of this blog entry wasn't to brag on Carol's cooking skills...well, actually it was.  I'm just so inspired by the heart that she puts into her cooking.  Whether it's making spaghetti for International Day at school, baked goods for the PTA fundraiser, mexican food for the Cinco de Mayo get together, cooking up a storm for the various church functions or just having some of the geo bachelors over the house, she's just so generous with her cooking.  When I was the Maintenance Officer at one of my old squadrons, Carol even cooked special meals for all of my troops - for no reason whatsoever.  The guys working the night shift really appreciated her kind gesture.  They sometimes feel like they're forgotten.  She would take turns taking requests from the various shops.  Whether it was pasta for the jet engine mechanics or pot roast for the electricians, they all seemed to like the home cooked meals.  

The other thing is this.  I've done the last minute dinner invitation thing for various Mr. Big Pants over the years.  Carol has always responded with grace in these types of situations.  She knows she can tell me to pack sand but she rarely does.  I know a lot of spouses wouldn't be so understanding about the last minute guest thing.

So the only negative to Carol's total kitchen domination is the extra poundage that girdles my loins.  Hey, I'll take it.  Thank you Carol for feeding us Cruz boys so well.  Little did I know that cute smile, curly locks and southern drawl that I married over 16 years ago would turn out to be such a maven in the kitchen.  Hate to think what you could do with a double oven.  Watch out!  Until next time -- C2

Wii Fit

Why I should buy the Wii Fit:

Sweet Buns!

Oh yes! After 16 years of marriage, two boys and a gajillion moves, she's still got it people! We recently celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary on Nov 27th. I have no earthly idea what those sweet buns are doing with me.

The dating days back in '92.

Showing off the sweet buns in her wedding dress.

And here's our front side.

Fast forward 16 years. Still very happily married. Here we are jamming to Michael Jackson on a shared Ipod just a couple of days ago in Thailand. Seems like just yesterday I was thinking, "nice butt." Yup, I'm romantic like that.

Carol has put up w/ multiple deployments, an insane amount of family separation, crazy work hours even when I'm not at sea, thousands of dirty diapers, countless nosebleeds, way too many poop stories, two complicated c-sections and enough crabby patty attitude from me to drive anyone bonkers. Thanks for taking the journey with me. I love you and look forward to the next 16+ years! Until next time -- C2

Phuket, Thailand!

For this past Thanksgiving break, the family went on an Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) trip to Phuket, Thailand. These trips are good package deals that are subsidized by the military. Our anniversary happens to fall over Thanksgiving break so that usually makes for some good celebrating and relaxing.

Phuket was my kind of break. Lounging on a gorgeous beach and saddling up to the pool bar is my idea of a great vacation. Carol and I both enjoy sightseeing but we're not one of these couples that breaks out the Frommer's Travel Guide and does the Bataan Death March to get all the check in the block tourist sites in. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just don't like to feel like I worked a double shift when I'm on vacation.

Prior to takeoff, Jake reviews the safety specifications of the airplane.

On almost every trip, the boys' favorite thing seems to be the hotel pool. Nothing wrong with that.

Speaking of pool bars, here's CJ enjoying a nice mocktail. I have to admit that I got caught reading "Twilight" by a Navy buddy while lounging poolside. I might as well have been drinking a Fresca too. Hey, I was just trying to find out what all this hype is about.

We took a boat ride out to Phi Phi Island. Leonardo Dicaprio did a movie here called, "The Beach" a few years back. Unfortunately for Jake, he was behaving pretty badly so I had to take him to "The Bathroom" on "The Beach" for some attitude adjustment. I was gonna say "The Beating" to keep the not-so-clever alliteration going, but we don't do that to our kids - everyday. Kidding of course. Don't want any Child Protective Services folks "beating" down our door.

It reminded me of the place where they found King Kong or where "Survivor" gets taped. Very beautiful. By the way, "ph" is pronounced with a "p" sound. For example, Phuket is pronounced "pooket" and Phi Phi is pronounced "pee pee." After going to the bathroom on the island, it was cool to be able to say that I went pee pee on Phi Phi Island.

CJ enjoying the crystal clear water.

Pharadise!

Jake was wiped out after Phi Phi Island. This is CJ making fun of his little brother on the boat ride back. Notice Jake's half opened eyes while he's sleeping. This is an unattractive trait that runs in the Cruz family. I've been accused of sleeping with my eyes open. I can't confirm this of course because I'm usually asleep when trying to confirm this accusation.

Gotta do an elephant ride while in Thailand! Warning. It is a bumpy ride. Lots of fun though. The scenery was breathtaking. Especially when Carol's elephant took a BMW sized dump right in front of us. That was worth the price of admission. Of course I caught it on video.

Here's our elephant rider.

Here's our elephant rider digging for gold in his ears with this green little stick thing. He was going to town with that thing! I couldn't take my eyes off of him. It was like watching a train wreck. And then he switched ears. My goodness. In my mind I was saying to myself, "For the love of God, please don't put the green stick in your mouth!" I'm convinced that if I would've videotaped this ear digging and put it on Youtube, it would've gone viral.

I love this picture. I think this elephant was born and raised in captivity. They are still an endangered species. Although this specific safari company had a good reputation for taking care of their elephants, they did show us this hook type instrument they use to prod the elephants to move in certain directions. I was not a fan of that hook. Besides, I didn't want Carol to get any ideas.

Truly amazing creatures.

Now that was a fun family outing.

Beautiful Patong Beach. The beach was a very short walk from the hotel. There's someone parasailing in the background. There were also some topless Europeans on this beach. In this instance, it was a good thing that CJ can't see very well without his glasses.

Creating our sand castle masterpiece.

After we constructed our multi-layer fortress masterpiece, Carol put a feminine touch to our manly work by adding starfish and seahorse accents. Dang it woman!

The boys modeling their new necklaces. CJ got a shark's tooth and Jake opted for an elephant. Of course Jake had to get his best buddy Hannah a matching necklace too.

Sipping on a coconut on Patong Beach. Carol's putting on a good front for the camera. She thought the coconut milk was nasty.

Big old jellyfish. Either that or my elephant rider finally picked out what he was digging for.

The only thing wrong with this trip was that it was too short. We could've easily stayed out there another week or so. Work calls though. Along with the beaches and seeing some of the sights, we did a good bit of shopping and had some really good Thai food. Finding Thai food was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be though. It reminded me of trying to find good Chinese food in Hong Kong. Impossible!

I've had two trips to Pattaya Beach, Thailand for work in support of the Cobra Gold military exercise. While many folks enjoy Pattaya, the adult playground thing just wasn't my speed. Maybe a few years back it would've been fun, but not anymore. It actually left a sour taste in my mouth for reasons I won't go into here. So coming to Phuket with the family was not only a great vacation. It was also a reclamation of sorts, helping to erase the negative vibes I had about Thailand because of my Pattaya experience. Phuket was simply awesome.

Hope everyone out there is doing well. Until next time -- C2

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's Day to all those patriots out there. Thank you for doing what you do. The Cruz men have definitely done their part in serving their country. Dad led the way.

Dad as a brand new sailor.

Dad serving in Danang, Vietnam.

My oldest brother Alan was the first of the siblings to join the military. He served 10 years in the Navy. I think this was on one of his deployments to the Mediterranean Sea.

Onboard the ship.

Bernabe bucked the trend and joined the Army. Nothing like an early morning shave in the field.

Bernabe was a field artillery guy and served in Desert Storm. He did time in Germany, Hawaii and New York also.

Me onboard the USS John F. Kennedy.

Nothing like a Navy homecoming!

My little brother Lee getting pumped on one of his multiple deployments to Afghanistan. Lee served as the Green Beret medic on his Special Forces team. Getting big - good. Growing stache - not so good.

Lee's team after a major fire fight in Afghanistan. That's Lee in the middle.

Our military folks can't properly do their jobs without the support of family and loved ones. Here's the Cruz clan waiting for Dad. That's Dad's ship in the background, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Again, have a great Veteran's Day everyone. Off to San Diego now for two conferences. Until next time -- C2

Laundry

I'll be the first to admit that Carol probably sees things in the dirty laundry that she'd rather not see. This particular pair of underwear had her extra confused:

Before you start worrying that I have an imbalanced sphincter problem, let me explain this picture. No, my butt does not have an aiming problem. While I was at the KFS Conference in Hawaii, I forgot to bring my shoe shining cloth. I ended up using this clean pair of underwear to shine my brown shoes. Can't be looking like a slob at an important conference. So that's the shoe polish stain you see on the right side.

Well, I thought nothing of it and threw the pair of underwear in the laundry when I got home. As a general rule, the Cruz household usually avoids the topic of skidmarks in normal conversation. I guess the sight of this pair of underwear was just too vexing for Carol so she brought it to my attention. After my explanation, we had a pretty good laugh.

Don't know why I shared this with you other than the fact that my last two posts were all business, work related and devoid of humor. I'm back! Until next time -- C2

Lotte Giants Ballgame - Sneak Peek

We finally made it out to a Lotte Giants baseball game at the local stadium. It was an absolute blast. Since it's late over here, I'll give you a quick teaser:

Yup. That's the woman I married.

Needless to say, more to follow...Until next time - C2

Summer Vacation Part 3

So the theme of this blog entry is HOPE.

After hitting south Florida for a few days, we were back in Alabama with Carol's family to finish off our vacation. We visited with family and friends, hit the Alabama Adventure water park in Bessemer, celebrated CJ's 11th birthday, went to a fish fry at Martin and Amy's house and had an awesome time at cousin Leenie's Lake House.

This was while we were picking blueberries. HOPE springs eternal!

There's nothing hotter than a beautiful southern belle driving a big old pickup truck. Uncle Sammy let us use his truck while my car was in the shop.

CJ was HOPING to hit Cracker Barrel on his birthday. We easily acquiesced to his request. We hit Toys R Us, saw the new Harry Potter movie and celebrated with the Alabama cousins. It was a good day.

I like hanging out with cousins too. Here I am surrounded by Carol and her cousins Angela and Diane. Why am I thinking of HOPE chests?

CJ lost a bet with his cousins and had to dress up like a girl. CJ was HOPING I wouldn't post this picture. Darn.

Speaking of girls, CJ does not look forward to getting tormented by some of the younger girl cousins. In the past, Amanda, Madison and Sarah have given CJ a hard time - you know, boys are yucky chants, chasing him around, etc. According to CJ, things were a lot smoother with the girls this year at the family fish fry.

Carol's brother, Martin and his wife Amy hosted a family fish fry. It's become a nice Harmon family tradition. Here's Amy holding a new Jack Russell Terrier puppy. CJ said that dog is so cute, it's ridiculous. He reminded us of Fred as a puppy. Amy, thank you so much for the great food and hospitality. You and Martin are always great hosts! Some of you out there know about the Texas Margarita. We've got Martin and Amy to thank for that awesome yet simple recipe.

Some of the Harmon family at the fish fry.

Carol and her sisters, Julie and Martha. Julie is the proud owner of Loco, the ridiculously cute puppy. Despite being half a world away, through Carol's influence, Martha is now addicted to kim chi.

The Forsyth and Cruz kids.

Uncle Sammy is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet in your life. He's so great with the boys. I always enjoy fishing with Uncle Sammy. We always HOPE to catch a lot of fish, but even if we don't, the company is always great.

This is Uncle Sammy's famous bucket of change. The kids always HOPE he breaks out the bucket for them. The way it works is whatever change you can scoop up with your two hands is yours to keep. It's a treasure chest for the little ones.

Heather and Carol have been friends for a long time. Our families got together for dinner one night. Heather has always had a kind heart. She is currently helping to gather new and used baby and kids' clothes for the orphanage that Carol and I volunteer at. Thank you so much Heather! BTW, if you know of anyone that doesn't need their kid clothes any more (newborn up to age 6) please let me know. Our orphanage can definitely use the clothes. I'm really HOPING that some of you can help with this one. Contact me and we'll set something up.

Chilling with the boys on the lake behind Uncle Sammy and Ruth's place. I caught 9 largemouth bass here one morning. It was awesome!

Ah, the lake house! Carol's cousin, Leenie and her husband own this lake house on Lake Martin. Leenie invited the cousins over to the house for some fun on the water. Fishing, boating, waverunners, tubing, eating and just hanging out with family - it was a spectacular time.

Leenie and Carol. Thanks again Leenie for everything! Leenie runs the Spirit of HOPE Youth Ranch, a great non-profit organization that helps restore HOPE to children that are not in the best situations. Check out the site at www.sohyr.org. You can also check them out on Facebook.

Martin brought his bass boat down to the lake house. Martin, Marty and I got a couple of hours of fishing in that morning.

Got this one on a topwater plug.

Another one on a crankbait.

Carol and Angela are ecstatic after a successful tubing excursion - successful cause they didn't get flung off that thing at high speed.

Here's CJ after tubing solo with Uncle Marty. CJ couldn't get enough of tubing so I took him and his cousin Josh out for one final run together. They both fell off a couple times and went skidding across the water like they were rocks being skipped. I wish I could've taped them. The looks on their faces as they were bouncing up and down on the waves was priceless. They said it was better than any amusement park rides they've ever been on.

Martin's boat goes pretty fast. Hey, gotta get to the fishing spot first.

Chilling on the pontoon boat.

Carol's brother Martin is driving. Sam is on the right. Russell is in the middle while his fiance is at the front of the boat. The reason Russell is not sitting next to his fiance is cause he took her on a crazy ride on the waverunner and scared her silly. She was mad as a hornet.

Don't ask me what Jake is doing.

Totally wiped out after a memorable time at the lake house.

One last picture that I'll close on. It really seemed like Fred was suffering and on his last legs - severe coughing all night long, passing out, getting sick and just barely moving. It was terrible. We were really praying and HOPING for him to get better. Well, after seeing the cardiologist and getting the new medication, Fred is doing great! Here he is having a great time at the lake house. That made my vacation. He was even trying to get amorous with the other dog at the lake house. It was good to see him so happy.

A very sincere thanks to all the Virginia, Florida and Alabama family and friends that helped make this vacation so great. One year down in Korea and less than a year to go. I know it's gonna fly by. HOPE you have a great day. Until next time -- C2