Today I went to the HMS Surprise (the ship they filmed "Master and Commander" on), a Russian Foxtrot submarine, a Steam Yacht, and the USS Dolphin test submarine, with my good friend Rob and his daughter Clara. The ships were all very interesting, thought I am absolutely certain that Sarah is glad I went without her!!

My Counter Piracy Brief at EDO School

Here is the brief I gave as part of my EDO coursework. It is in two parts because YouTube has a 10 minute time limit and the presentation was 15 minutes. The quality is poor because it was recorded on a really old VHS tape, and then digitized by my video camera - but hey, it got done.

Ultimately, I didn't really like the way it turned out. I did some things very well but others very poorly. From my perspective:
Goods - excellent transitions between slides, organization of the brief
Bads - way too many verbal ticks (umms, uhs, ahs, etc)

What do you think?

EDO School, so far

We are in the second day of school now, and so here are some photos of where I am and what I'm doing.  The first photo is the schoolhouse (note the propeller and Terrier missile), the second is my desk with monster study material, and the third is the cool rental car I’m driving (a Chevy Malibu)

Very Cool Video

This is an amazing bit of linguistic art!



H/T: Daryl

Triplets Play in the Snow

We had our first real playtime in deep snow yesterday! The snow here is roughly 10 inches (almost thigh high on them!!) and nicely powdered for play! They have never seen anything more than light dustings before.

Detached...

I have said my last goodbyes to those on LABOON, and now head off into the unknown... But first - Christmas!!

Silent Monks Singing Halleluia

Hilarious and Blasphemous all at the same time!!!

h/t: Bostonmaggie

Wrapping Presents with Daddy

Probably not my smartest idea, but one I’m glad to have had – especially after the fact. These are those roses I keep being told to “stop and smell” along the way…

I got the house!!

Yesterday evening I signed the lease on the fantastic home in Charleston that we will be renting while I'm down there. Two days of house hunting down there and I found the location of the YMCA, the Walmart, Barnes and Noble, Indoor Gun Range (no word yet on if they rent guns or not), and the Lowes. I'm very happy with the house and the location just 10 minutes from work!! Here are a couple of photos:

Deployment Summary

I'm back from deployment and would love to post pictures of it but my laptop died before I could backup the photos. I have a couple options to get them back, but it'll take some time. Anyway, it was a busy 7.5 months with both diplomatic support and Counter-Piracy Operations as a part of Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO. Laboon visited
Sigonella, IT
Alexandria, EG
Haifa, IS
Thessaloniki, GR
Lisbon, PO
Malaga, SP
Souda Bay, GR (at least 10 times; it's a logistics hub)
Taranto, IT
Split, CR
Muscat, OM
Djibouti, DJ

I'd recommend any of them except Djibouti; that's a hellhole. The counter-piracy stuff was fascinating, as we were among the first on station, so we were developing the tactics as we learned. Very interesting interactions with many other nations, including a conversation with a Russian task group that would not have occurred if we were operating as a US ship rather than NATO.

I'm glad to be back!! And even more glad to be on vacation! I'll post some pics if I get my laptop harddrive back up and running.

We're Surviving...

It's been a week and a half, but we're surviving. Much of the time has been so busy I don't have much time to think about John, but I know we all miss him. Daycare twice a week has helped immensely. The time off doesn't always mean I'm sitting at home doing nothing, but it means I am getting things done in a day that would normally take me a week to get done.

Our sitter is a lovely Scottish woman, and she loves the kids. They stay well fed, and have a few other kids their age to play with. It has really helped all of us, not just me...but I think I like it just little more then they do. : )

Heather is being much more girlie every day, John is as "helpful" as ever, and William is as happy as ever. We are doing surprisingly well. We hope you are all doing well too. Cheers.

Heather

Heather is slightly below the growth chart, but I have to keep reminding myself that she has always been small, and will probably always be small. She is able to push my buttons, but not as much as John can. She has found that she likes to be in front of the camera, and is as much of a drama queen as ever.

John

John is growing right on schedule, and driving Mommy crazy. He's aggressive, stubborn, and hates to listen to me....I don't know any family like that. : ) But, I couldn't think of ever not having him. Although sometimes... : )

William

William is growing right on schedule, and his speech therapist says we may be able to ween him out of the program soon. He's very...very expressive now, even if his words aren't always there. What makes it all good, is that he is still able to go and play by himself, while his sibilings fight in the other corner. : )

WE'VE REACHED 20 POUNDS!!!

Our little Pixie has finally reached 20lbs. Okay, she had just had lunch, she was dressed, and had her shoes on, but the scale said 20lbs! She still has to face the back of the van, but we are getting closer and closer. : )

Maybe she'll face forward before John goes...we hope. : )

...And Lo it is Done!!!

As some of you may know, we bought an outdoor playset for the kids. Because Mommy as a jungle gym only lasts so long. : ) (ignore the metal ladder in front.)

It all began with a call saying that the delivery was just 10 minutes out, instead of setting a time. Then the deliverer couldn't get it to the back yard. That night was a downpour, and the next day was spend removing the wood from the boxes to dry out. Then came inventory to find pieces missing, and finally rain every other day, as well as late work days, all to hinder progress on building. Now, after a few weeks, it is finally built, and the "kids" love it. ( I use quotes, because John was just as happy to finish it before the never ending underways.)

We are creeping closer to having full blown 2 year olds. And "they" lie when they say it's the terrible two's, Heather started months ago, and John was soon to follow, while as always, William has taken his time in beginning to throw temper tantrums. But we're holding strong...I still have all my hair, with out having to artificially color it. : )

We hope to see some of you at holidays, and hope they are wonderful.

Cheers From The Lukacs Clan

19 MONTHS!!!

Okay, Here we are...a little delayed...but the kids are 19 months old, we walk, we talk, we even know how to say no...Heather likes that word.

There isn't a lot knew going on here, just growing mostly. Heather is finally breaking free of her 9 month clothing, while William is setting strong into the 18 month clothing...it's still a little big though. : ) John is slowly pulling form 12 to 18 month clothes, it depends on what it is really.

For those who do not know, John got selected for a promotion. This means that sometime in the next year, beginning October, John gets to put on his LCDR (Lieutenant Commander) bars, and a nice pay raise comes with that. He doesn't get it immediately, because the way they are chosen now break apart the ranking since most people graduate about the same time. I'm just thrilled that he made it...along with many of his good friends. : )

We are all still holding up, much has gotten done while John has some vacation...as he's posted, and now we have to get back to another form of reality.

Hope all is well in your homes, and we miss you so much.

P.S. There is yet another family wedding next year...Congrats to all...and we stop for a little now? : )

Cutting the kids hair

We cut their hair at home - the key is to distract them with a TV show...

Painting the house

We've only been living in the house over a year - I guess it's about time for us to finally make it our home. And since I have about 2 weeks of leave, we have done some remodeling. First, we painted the den:

The start:
hmmm... I don't appear to have a "before" picture. I'll ask Sarah if she does!

Midway Thru:
Finally:
Next we are doing the Master Bedroom:
The start:

Midway:

Finally:
Not there yet!!

Lastly, I have changed out the ungly (and broken) Venetian mini-blinds with new cloth blinds. They look soooooo much better!!
More to come!!! I still have a week left!

Surface Warrior Ball

Hello all! We have updated you on the children several times, but now I shall tell you all about us. We're alive. : )

Work is busy for John even though they are going into the yards, while time at home is more available to him, we still can never seem to get a lot done.

I am surviving. Of course, I get tired, and do what I can to entertain 3 kids with growing energy, while keeping some form of sanity...no comments from the peanut gallery on that one.

As you know there was a family wedding a couple of months ago, and since then we have found out that there are going to be 2 more in the next year. It seems that the family is just getting to that age, and have been for the last couple years.

This picture we are posting is from the Surface Warrior Ball. It was loud, packed, and there was a lot of handshaking, but it was great to get out and see people we haven't seen in years. Reconnecting can only be good for our future.

Which brings me to the last note. We have been up and down, back and forth, but there may be a change in our Navy future. We won't be getting out, just a little shift. Nothing is set in stone, the Navy is usually written in jello, but it is a possibility.

Otherwise, we are doing well, holding strong, and enjoying some of the nice warm days, ignoring the smoke from North Carolina as best as we can. Hope you are all well too.

Cheers!!