Christmas 2009 was one to remember. Our family got the opportunity to go back to Sea World San Antonio Texas, December 26, 2009. I have to say the last time we went, back in the summer, it was at least 110 Degrees F. It seemed that we could not drink enough water and the place was packed with people. Of course this time of year it is a much more comfortable time to experience south central Texas. This place gets really HOT. The shows at Sea World are always great and never seem to get old. I had my beautiful family with me as well as my brother-in-law Joey and his wife Shawna. They are basically still newly weds as they have only been married for about a year now. It was a privilege to have them along so we could get to know Shawna better and get to know them as a couple. We had a blast and it is a great memory. I am so glad we took the time to go.

I think it's really funny how GOD changes our direction in life. I say funny lightly because there are times that I have not even been close to laughing. As a matter of fact it would have been more like crying. The interesting part is that no matter what the struggle is in my own mind, GOD has always provided. I am in an interesting place in life. On a Friday in late August 2008 I received an unsolicited e-mail from a guy by the name of Tony. I had never met Tony. I later learned that Tony had accidentally sent me the e-mail (or so he thought) as part of a mass emailing to his contacts list. The email was an offer to conduct armed Security under a contract for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Hurricane Gustav and Ike. The money offer was great. The very first thought that ran through my mind was , I hope its not like mall security. The duty location was to be southern portion of Louisiana. Ouch. The last time I worked in Louisiana it was not a pleasant experience. As a matter of fact, at that time, I was of the opinion that a passport should be required to travel to that portion of the country. I contacted the hiring company, in Michigan, and they told me to report to an address near New Orleans as soon as possible. I hit the road that Sunday and was at the door of their office by 0600 on Monday. I was in disbelief that I was back in Louisiana but I was excited about what may be next. I spent all of Monday and Tuesday jumping through the paperwork and firearms qualification hurdles and then was on my first post (night shift) in Plattenville, LA. My partner Frank and I were standing there in a dark shopping center parking lot protecting the high tech FEMA motor home that they use for emergency communication, ie Internet and telephone. The electricity was out for miles, so I figured that a needed cup of caffeine (Coffee) was probably out of the question. I wasn't there very long and I realized that the mosquito must be the La state bird. The Prehistoric sized mosquito's were all around. We stayed in a huge self contained "tent city" near Baton Rogue for a couple of nights. After only two nights the "tent city" was disassembled and we were forced to evacuate due to impending arrival of Hurricane Ike. We evacuated to a very quaint little church camp, that the company had chartered, in northern Mississippi. It was three meals a day and bunk beds positioned in an open bay. It was strange because this place was kind of a twist between an experience I had in the Military and the Boy Scouts. I actually chuckled when I first saw it. There were probably twenty or so security people at the camp with us. After three days of sitting idle at the camp I was asked to go to a location they said was south of New Orleans in the Louisiana Bayou country. I said OMG. What the heck is south of New Orleans except the water. It turned out to be Houma, LA which had very good food and some interesting people. I was assigned to a post directly adjoined a large Bingo hall with an interesting charter by the name of Jim. Jim was a colorful character from Long Island by way of Charlotte, NC. He was an interesting to work with. I got to know several great FEMA employees at this location to include an elderly 86 year old woman by the name of Helena Hicks. Helena had been with FEMA for many years and loved to be around and to help people. One day she told me that being here made her feel useful and it was better than sitting home alone looking at the four walls. We stayed in Houma until January 15, 2009 at which time the center closed. I went to another FEMA post in Webster, TX where, believe it or not, they put me in charge of all of the armed security staff of 9 officers. At this point I told my supervisor that I would just do the best job I could. This was a facility with approximately 200 support personnel. I worked at that location until April 2009 at which point I was moved to and an even larger facility with approximately 500 employees and was once again placed in charge of several arms security personnel. It has been an extreme learning experience that has been enjoyable and has taught me a big lesson. Of course things would not have been so pleasant without my family by my side. We have had the opportunity to experience some great things together in LA and Texas to include great food, NASA Houston Space Center, Galveston Island Texas and Seaworld San Antonio. It has been something that my children will fondly remember for the rest of their lives as one of the adventures that our family went on.