5th anniversary of the war we shouldn't have entered to begin with

because i write most posts days (if not weeks) in advance and post them as i feel, i didn't have anything prepared on this anniversary of the war.

i know this is selfish of me, but when i think about this war and think of the lives lost and the ones we've yet to lose...all i think about is how fucking grateful i am that my brother is done serving this country. i don't even care that the government did nothing for him on his return and that he has regular nightmares about killing people he never knew. i don't care about how terrible they were all treated in iraq, how unprepared the military was to undertake this mission or even how disrespected he's been since he's returned. i'm just happy to have him alive. he was shipped of the day after new years 2003 and i hope to never know the feeling again of having to say goodbye to my baby brother with the distinct knowledge that it may be the last time i would ever see him again.

we have to bring everybody else home too. their mommies and sisters and brothers and fathers and grandparents miss them.

unrelated:

could barack obama get any cooler? dude is working on his bracket. love him.

here are some pictures of that skunk that scared the shit out of us last weekend.

update: and on a very sad note, my mom is putting my other dog to sleep today. she has a fatal liver disease. bailey (boo) was my girl. the princess. and i was her favorite (we princesses need to stick together). otherwise, she was neurotic as hell and hid from all other people that weren't immediate family. kate, my best friend who came over to the house 5 times a week, can only recall seeing boo once. bitch definitely had issues. but she had attitude as well and was assertive (she soooo took after me). she'd sit and stare at you when she wanted petting. if she thought you maybe weren't getting it, she take her paw and tap at you over and over and over as to say, "HOW STUPID ARE YOU HUMAN? I'M TELLING YOU WHAT I WANT, WHY AM I NOT GETTING IT." she'd always been healthy and active and was only 12 so i feel like it's too early to be saying goodbye but according to my mom, she's been pretty sad and on an IV and in a lot of pain. so sad...