The Dog is Going to Get Spoiled

Twenty years ago, I loaded my gear, boarded a C-17, and several hours later found myself in the middle of Baghdad, Iraq for what would be a long year at the start of the Iraqi Civil War. That first deployment would mark a major change in my military career and my life.  Sometimes it seems like not that long ago. I can still feel the heat of the end of the Iraqi summer. I can still smell the fetid open sewage and rotting trash.  I can still hear the "whump" of mortars coming into the base.  Then I remember that in those twenty years, both my parents passed, I got married, had two wonderful boys, watched Sam get married, and I retired from the Army!  It's then when I realize that 2004 was a long time ago.

2004 was so long ago that Samantha grew up, went to school, and became an Army officer - among other things. Being the father and retired "Senior Army Leader" of a young officer, I have to walk the line between sympathetic listener and dispenser of sage advice.  

Shortly after Sam and Mitch got married, they announced that they were buying a dog. A puppy to be exact. A Golden Retriever puppy. A whole $2400 worth of puppy. Prior to getting the dog I dispensed my fatherly advice, "Now is not the time to get a dog. You are both very busy with your careers and the Army could send you both away at the same time." I followed up with, "I am not watching the dog if you get deployed."

 

Do. Not. Get. A. Dog.

So now, of course, the fucking dog is our guest for the next three months because both Sam and Mitch are away from their home for extended military duties.  

Yes, Sam is deployed in the Middle East. Twenty years after I deployed, she is now living the life that I remember so well.  Sam tried describing her base to me.  I stopped her and said I could describe it to a T without ever having been there. T-Walls? Check.  Generators droning somewhere nearby? Check. Container Housing? Yep. Sunshades, connexes, gravel parking lots, NTVs? Got 'em all. Sam is away learning how other places in the world work through the lens of military operations.

Buoy is a very well trained, two-year-old Golden. She is a big, clutzy dog that laps up water everywhere when she drinks, comes bounding into rooms with reckless abandon, and pulls on her leash. She plays with her toys and somehow shoves them farther under the couch than she can reach. She knows shen you are eating something and will sit at your feet and stare. I call her 78lbs of dumb and 2lbs of super smart. She brings an energy to the house that our ten-year-old dog, Lucie, does not have.  

Samantha, being who she is, sent Buoy with operating instructions. Two pages of when to walk the dog, how far to walk the dog, training commands, plus all of the feeding and veterinary information.  

 

Now are lives are filled with a temporary addition that seems like grandparent training. I don't follow the instructions, I spoil the dog with table scraps, and let her bark when Lucie barks.  I think of it as giving a grandchild a chocolate cookie and Coke after 7pm before returning the toddler to the parents. And, you know, that's what you get for not following dad's sound advice. 

 

Woof! 

The Toilet is Smoking

Grant almost got me one this one.  His sense of humor is funnier that either of his siblings and rivals mine.  His is better because there is thought that goes into his jokes.

I had only been home from Kentucky for less than 24 hours when he came into the kitchen to state that the toilet was smoking.  He said it, but could not keep a straight face as his cheeks started to turn upward. I was just entering my what-the-eff-now state of mind when I saw him conceal the smile so I played along.

The toilet is smoking. 

Stogies apparently.   

Good work, Grant.  Good work.

Almost There

Wow. How giddy am I right now?!  

Here is the back story: 

With a big summer ahead of us, Lisa in her new role at Meredith College, TJ starting a real paying job as a Camp Counselor, Grant heading off to Camp for a month, and me heading to Kentucky for a summer assignment, there isn't a lot of down time for Lisa and me.  A modern family with teenagers, we are busy!

Nonetheless, I was able to find three days on the calendar for Lisa and me to get away after the boys were gone and before I go to Ft. Knox.  I hinted to Lisa that we should use our Disney Vacation Club membership to go to Walt Disney World for a few days and spend a day at Epcot. Lisa said yes under the condition that we could stay at the Polynesian Resort - a very exotic, and very hard to get resort. Lisa picked it because she hung out in the resort's lobby back in February when I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  She commented along the lines of, "I want to stay there!"  I went on the website and was Waitlisted - the Disney equivalent of "nice try, but sorry, no."  Then two days later I received an email that our reservation went through for a suite with a view of the lake and Magic Kingdom!  This was a win. 

However, as they say in the commercials, "Wait! There's more!"  

Moving forward, I made reservations at some awesome Epcot restaurants. Pizza in Italy. Steak in Canada. We even scored a reservation at the Villian's Lair, a DVC member only lounge at the top of Bay Lake Tower about thirty minutes before the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. Everything was looking up for a short and wonderful DWTK (Disney Without the Kids) trip.  

Then came Tiana's Bayou Adventure. 

For the uninformed, Tiana's Bayou Adventure replaces the former Splash Mountain, a log flume ride with a 50' drop. Splash Mountain was problematic with its theming - or at least the history of the film the theming was taken from, Song of the South - and it was ready for an update.  Honestly, retheming the ride based on the Princess and the Frog makes perfect sense. The water, music, and characters from the movie easily fit into a get-wet ride. 

The refurb has been closely watched by Disney Files for months. Because it rises high into the sky it is easy to see over the construction walls around it and fan pages and blogs are full pictures and theories of the ride's story line.  There are official videos out there demonstrating the state-of-the-art animatronics.  Then, Disney released the official opening date for the end of June. 

This week Samantha told me that DVC members have an opportunity to preview the new Tiana's Bayou Adventure, two weeks before the official opening. And it turns out, it is on one of the days that we will be there! 

Fittingly, Juneteenth. 

I found the registration page and with nervous anticipation, I watched the timer on the window count down from the 3 hours and some odd minutes when I first entered it to 0:00 and was redirected to the website. Starting at 352 in line, I watched the number quickly go down until I was in and entering our information and clicked submit.  

We. Got. In.  

It makes me grin just thinking about it. Disney has always been a member of this family. The Brown family has had many wonderful memories with Disney: races, cruises, vacations, holidays and even nights in front of Disney+. We are looking forward to another one very soon! Some of the very first people to ride a new Disney attraction!

In fact, we're almost there!