Idzeeboo's Blog

Wow. Almost a month since my last blog post. I knew that once I started the academy, what little free time I had would be gone. Good news! I had my first exam at the academy a few weeks ago and got a 100%! It was a legal exam which covered a months worth of material. Although I was a bit nervous and expected to pass with ease, I did not expect to ace it. It is hard to believe that over a month has passed since I started. Hopefully, September 11th (my projected graduation date) will be here before I know it.

Thanksgiving was OK this year. It was strange not having Paul there. In fact, it did not feel much like Thanksgiving at all. Were it not for the Macy's Parade and the traditional football games, I would have thought it was just another day. Maybe next year will be better.

We are looking around for a used car for my oldest son so that we can quit playing his chauffeur. His budget is for between $1000 and $1500 so it may take a while to find something that actually runs good. My neighbor offered his truck but at over $3.00 a gallon, that 38 gallon tank would take a months pay for him to fill it up!

Most of my family will be coming for Christmas this year and we can't wait. It will be only the second Christmas in my kids lives that they will get to spend with their Memere and Pepere and they are wicked excited about it. There probably won't be any more Christmases after this one with all my kids at home. Adam should be graduating in the spring and wants to go into the Coast Guard. There is no telling where he might be next year at X-mas time.

Gotta run but I will try to post at least once per week from now on. I'm really not sure how many of you actually read this blog but I will pretend there are a bunch of you!

One week at the academy down and about 46 more to go! The first week went pretty well - all things considered. The stupid uniform company did not have all of my stuff ready for the start of the academy so I have been wearing business attire. There are several other students who do not have uniforms either so at least I don't stick out like a sore thumb. The instructor who handles PT at the academy was out last week so we did not have to exercise on Tuesday as planned. Unfortunately, he is back and we will be PT'ing tomorrow. I am NOT looking forward to that! The curriculum so far has been all about law. Constitutional law, case studies and a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo for starters. Boring but necessary.

I still think about my brother-in-law, Paul a lot. For some reason I seem to have slipped into a bit of a funk and will frequently 'see' things that had to do with his death (usually just before I fall asleep). It is very much in the front of my mind recently and I don't know why. I guess it is a normal part of the healing process. A part of me still does not want to accept the fact that he is gone although I know for sure he is. It just doesn't make sense. Perhaps I feel this way because there are still unanswered questions about the circumstances of his death. Additionally, I feel kind of spooked about the possibility of my immediate family being involved in some sort of fatal accident and it keeps me up at night.

On a brighter note; THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!!! Go Bo-Sox! Now if the Bruins would take notes from the Sox and the Patriots, I would be a REALLY happy man! The Jaguars won a squeaker over the Buccaneers this weekend, improving their record to 5-2. Our starting QB is out with an injury so I did not expect the Jags to win but it's nice that we did. I'll take a close win over a blow-out any day because it makes for interesting watching.

I have almost NO time for studying which makes blogging even harder but I will do my best to keep you updated at least once a week.

With much sadness, I said goodbye to my goatee of 12 years last night. Boy does it feel funny! My chin is cold! I had to shave it for the academy which starts Monday. I figured I would treat you to a before and after photo. Enjoy!

My oldest son decided to get a tattoo for his eighteenth birthday. So, Saturday morning we headed out to the local tattoo parlor with several prototype designs in mind. The tattoo artist (Dave) was quick to come up with a design that he thought was good. We thought it was great! Here is the finished product:

It took about an hour to completely 'ink' it and Adam handled the pain pretty well considering. I have had a few myself and they do hurt...

I will post some additional pictures in the family photo album soon and I also have some videos of the process. Cool!

I had my third ride along with the Nassau County Sheriff's Office this weekend. It was boring and relatively uneventful. The night ended early after the officer's car had several mechanical and electrical problems.

I will be going to get my uniforms for the Police Academy toady. I should be finding out soon when the exact start date of the academy will be and I'll probably start to get nervous about it all. If I can get through the first month of the academy, I should be OK.

I might have time to squeeze in one more ride along, perhaps with JSO, before I begin the academy classes. After I start, there will be almost no time for anything.