Chapter 'the next'

Wherein our hero attempts to readjust, has some fun, spends alot of money, and has yet to kiss the pretty girl.

Today's July 4th. We've been home for a little over a week now.

I'm getting pretty good at driving around without poopin' myself everytime there's a bag or large chunk of trash alongside the road.

Fireworks are....interesting. During the daylight hours it's not really a big deal. Firecrackers don't really sound anything like small arms fire, so I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Then I was standing outside last night with all the fireworks going off and that kind of got my attention a little bit. When I'm nervous or whatever I tend to put a wall directly to my back and get kind of hyper-vigilant. I was fine again as soon as I went inside. I wouldn't call it a disorder or anything, just a readjustment.

What else have I done with my time at home? My best friend Scott drove down from Chicago to hang out and kind of drive me around. He also brought me two kick-ass Motorola cell phones. It's funny about those friends you have from when you were young. We sat down and started talking and it was like no time had passed.

I've driven my motorcycle around quite a bit, and yesterday I went and invested in a 'passenger' helmet. It's not as fancy as the Arai that I wear over my bean, but it's still a good safe solid helmet. And it should fit over the pretty girl's heads when I start giving rides.

I also (brace yourselves) started the process to buy a house. I got my mortgage pre-approved for an excellent rate (way better than I thought I'd get with my checkered economic past) and no down payment and the payments while more than what I'm paying in rent aren't really all that bad.

I was planning on hanging out at the pool today, but it's 10:20 and I'm still kind of sitting in bed. I think I'm gonna go grab some starbucks and see what develops from there.

So many things I'm leaving out. My mom threw me a great homecoming party and I think everyone in Lincoln showed up. A very good buddy from Iraq now lives two doors down from me in my apt complex, another lives a couple miles away. So I've got friends in the neighborhood, which is very comforting.

I'll close this up for now and go try to enjoy my day.

Thanks all, and may the force be with you.