I am in possession of a shorn sheep and I <3 the Military :)

[stoney321]

I just spent over an hour shaving Sally Derg. To say that a half German Shepherd-half Great Pyrenees has a lot of hair is like saying the ocean is kinda wet. Poor thing has just been gasping on our walks, but she's too stupid to drink water out of the ponds/gutters like a normal dog, so. Shave her down it is! (Also, she looooooves the attention she gets. She feels like she's made of velour.) And I've been singing "Laaaaaaaambert! The sheepish lion, Laaaaaaambert! There's no denying that he's a wild and wooly sheep, Lambert the sheepish lion!"

Before I sign off for the day, as I have rewrites to touch up, tick/flea medicine to pick up from the vet, birthday party things to sort out (my daughter's 13th this weekend) I wanted to link y'all to a post that made me absolutely choke up. I make no bones about my respect for the military, for my respect for anyone that puts their life on the line so that I can have a Starbucks on every corner, my kids can bad mouth politicians in school, and so that we here in the US can continue to live our ridiculously privileged lives. Well, some of us here get to.

My son wants to become an army doctor, and has begun the steps to fulfill that goal, so maybe that's why I got weepy. Or possibly because my father is a Vet. And my grandfather served in WW2 in the Navy in the Pacific. And my stepfather was a medic, chopper-jockey, and in Special Forces in the Vietnam war and still carries the scars of his three tours to this day. A girlfriend of mine is married to a man that was a Navy Seal in the first Gulf War and suffers from Gulf War Syndrome. And is one of the sweetest fathers I've ever known - he hides his demons at night, she tells me.

I get choked up seeing military flying on airplanes, not knowing if they're coming or going, but I smile at them all the same. This whole post of "coming home" pictures is absolutely wonderful and heartbreaking and wonderful. You don't have to agree with the war to feel empathy for the men and women that are caught in it and doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. <3

Comments

[aimeelicious]

I am bawling at my desk. Good thing my office has a door! Thanks for that link. *hugs*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I was seriously choked up, too. The PIGTAIL'D DAUGHTERS. *crie*

[elizardbits.livejournal.com]

OMFG have you seen that video compilation (http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40324) of dogs welcoming home soldiers? I pretty much soil myself every time I see it. PUPPEHS ARE SO HAPPY.

I don't really talk about it much, but most of my extended (non-NYC) family is military, both current and ex, in all branches but Army. Out of pretty much everyone I know, they're the only ones who didn't give me shit over working for Lockheed Martin.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

AHHH!!! I lost that link, so THANK YOU for that! (I think there's a special that was done on Animal Planet about soldiers and their dogs during war, too? I need to go hunt that down.)

My ex was a Marine, as well. And Lockheed Martin is a BIG EMPLOYER where I live, so yeah. I won't give you shit for having had that job, either. It's not like it was Monsanto. (LOL, Kassie is going to punch me.)

[elizardbits.livejournal.com]

I. Uh. I made a lot of money off of investing in Monsanto.

It was just an internship, really, but it was 3-4 years after Desert Storm so people were still pretty het up, idk.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Lol, I bet you did! I was a Day Trader for a few years, so I have NO MORAL LEG to stand on, when it comes to profiting in various ways that fall in the grey area.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

LOL, you and Elizardbits both linked to that. BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME. (The last one with the dads surprising their kids? OH MY HEART.)

[elizardbits.livejournal.com]

LOL I R NINJA

[lynnenne]

STOP POSTING THINGS THAT MAKE US CRY YOU EVIL HO.

Hope the girl has a fantastic birthday this weekend! *hugs to all of you*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

HAHA, SUCKER! I'm making you FEEEEEEEL!

We're having a roller rink party and I'm SUPER EXCITED about it! I get to pull out my gold lame skates, WHEEE!

[lynnenne]

Are they really gold lame? I WANTS PICCIES.

[nijireiki.livejournal.com]

JEALOUS.

Of your skates, and the roller rink party. WHAT, YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO GO TO A ROLLER RINK AND DO THE CHICKEN DANCE ON SKATES.

Side awesomeness: You just reminded me that the place I went to as a kid was called "Interskate 91."

[ryokomusouka.livejournal.com]

Slap an American flag on it and it'll make me cry.

My dad's retired Air Force, my hubby is former Navy Reserve, my mom's dad was a Seabee, and my dad's dad worked for Howard Hughes. I've lost count of the friends and acquaintances I have who are/were military.

I've told my kids I'd be PROUD if they joined the military.

[kita0610.livejournal.com]

Did you ever see the one with their DOGS welcoming them HOME?

OMFG I cried like a baby.

OK SO I AM THE THIRD ONE TO POINT IT OUT. THIS IS JUST PROOF OF ITS AWESOMEOSITY.

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

I was already teary with the photographs and now the videos have me crying. So. Much. Love.

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

I make no bones about my respect for the military, for my respect for anyone that puts their life on the line so that I can have a Starbucks on every corner, my kids can bad mouth politicians in school, and so that we here in the US can continue to live our ridiculously privileged lives. Word.

I bet Sally feels like a Velveteen Sally.

[minstrel666.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love the pics! I wish the returns of our servicemen wouldn't be so exploited by both sides of the parliament for their own purposes (I'm talking Poland, not UK. I do not follow UK politics, mine are confusing enough).

I never went into service (because of college) and it seems I will no longer have the opportunity to (we're phasing mandatory service out in favour of a fully professional standing army), but I have respect for the military, especially since my neighbour back home is in the airforce.

When it comes to war stories, I can only regale you with some army anecdotes from my father (who went into mandatory service during the People's Republic era for the required 9 months) and the story of my grandfather, who was part of the underground Polish army for only a couple of weeks (he was deemed old enough just before the Sovet steamroller made its way over the country), yet was still incarcerated for 5 years by the Party for it.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, ugh, what a horror for your grandfather.

[rubywisp.livejournal.com]

i never deployed anywhere myself, but i remember waiting for my biodad to come back off a cruise when i was a little girl, waiting for my (now ex-)husband to come home after the gulf war. god, these tore me up, but in a good way.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Those pics of kids gripping their dads just tore me up. <3

[strtmyorange.livejournal.com]

Love, love Pioneer Woman's site. Have submitted to many of her photo contests but this is the first one that's made me cry like a baby AND smile, both at the same time.

[lunasblues.livejournal.com]

I thought I was the only person who remembered the "Lambert the Sheepish Lion" song.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

LOL, we sing it all the time in my house. And "Little Toot" and all of the other great old Disney shorts!

[anelith.livejournal.com]

Those pictures would move a heart of stone.

Occasionally our paper puts in photos of the folks who regularly meet the soldiers coming into Bangor, Maine -- for some reason that airport is a frequent thoroughfare for the military. Anyway, these people, most of them retirees who can spend the necessary time, will show up at the airport at the most godawful hours (2 a.m. or thereabouts) to make sure that every returning soldier gets a welcome. They may not know the people greeting them but they will feel welcomed. Of course it would be much better to find your family waiting for you.

Give the big 13-year old a "happy birthday" from me! I can't believe she's going to be a TEENAGER.

Maybe I should shave our long-haired cat. He's looking for cool places to lie, like the glass-topped coffee table. Poor kitty! (And we have AC, so it's really not that hot in here.)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Remember our big cat, Scrappy? We had to shave him every summer, too. Boy, what an act of courage that took, lol! Oh, but they loooooove it once it's done. Velour kitties!!

<3 <3 <3

[escritoireazul.livejournal.com]

VELOUR PUPPY! Love that.

I knew better than to look at the pictures, though I did anyway and cried, but I really, really knew better than to watch the videos, because I've seen them before, and yet I still looked and now I'm out of tissues.

[ladycyndra.livejournal.com]

Whenever I see men and women of the military around, I stop and silently wish that they be safe. Thanks for the pics. ^_^

I also remember that song!

[nijireiki.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA, I HAVE TWO PYRS! I could move out of my parents' house today, and I wouldn't be able to get rid of all the hair for years. My older boy-dog, Sleepy, is incredibly vain, and kind of cringes and tries to cover his butt with his tail if we even trim his leg fur, so, yeah. My girl-dog, Sofie, is a lazy fatty who ends up frothing at the mouth if we walk two blocks, but she's lousy on a leash, so we just don't bother and we let her play and poop in the backyard.

AND LAMBERT!! I know my sisters and I might be the only members of our generation to know about that, but MY DOGS ARE TOTALLY SHEEPISH LIONS. (Then again, I was genuinely surprised as a kid when no one ever understood what I meant when I tried to do the "Applecore-Baltimore" joke/prank from Chip and Dale pre-Rescue-Rangers.) When Chronicles of Narnia came out, we joked that Sleepy was Aslan's broke cousin trying to hit him up for a job. Aslan always avoided eye contact.

DOGS ARE GREAT.