As you may be able to figure out from the date information at the bottom of this post, it is 3:42 a.m. I am awake at this unholy hour because we have a plane to catch. Aside from the fact that I think the air travel industry is playing a sick joke on its customers by selling tickets for flights at this time in the morning, I am pretty excited. I don't want to give away where we're going, lest we be mobbed by the paparazzi, but it's between Louisiana and Alabama and we have some plans involving the family, a lot of food and, as always, some fireworks.
In other news, it's good to know that Backstreet Boys videos are on TV this early in the morning. You can get your awful music around the clock in this country. That must be why we celebrate Independence Day.

We're back in Albuquerque trying to get laundry and errands taken care of before the start of the work week, but I promise to post pictures and stories from our adventures soon. Right now, we're very thankful we were traveling Saturday and not Sunday, when the Gulf Coast is expected to get hit by Hurricane Dennis. Our flights were delayed without the help of a hurricane, so I can only imagine what it would have been like today. Keep the folks on the coast in your prayers, and I'll talk to you soon.

Here are a few photos that tell the story of our week at home. Dan and I got in on Saturday evening, and on Sunday, the whole family went to church together. We take up a whole pew now that there are two spouses to add to the mix! Here's a photo of the whole family, including Aaron and Ryan in their dress blues, looking very impressive:

Next up in the traditional activities was the celebration of Daddy's 55th birthday on July 4th and the Semi-Annual Rice Family Poker Invitational.

This year, we were joined by Audrey's boyfriend, Cade, and Hannah's boyfriend, Daniel. They played valiantly, but it became apparent early on that we were all about to get knocked out cold by the two most inexperienced players at the table: Hannah eventually won the tournament, which entitled her to the $40 prize. But first, Audrey, of all people, drew a series of incredible hands that she so did not deserve. We kept having to explain to her why her hand was better than ours. Here's a photo of Audrey at the height of her winning streak. But as was said previously, Hannah eventually prevailed, which means that Dan's two-year winning streak is over. Ha!

I also got to see Aaron walk on his new leg. Here's a photo of him showing off a little bit. Remember that movie, "The Karate Kid"? That's what this shot reminds me of.

On Tuesday, Aaron and Kelly had to head back to D.C. On Wednesday, Dan, Ryan, Hannah, Audrey and I decided to go bowling. First of all, I seem to have been away from the South for longer than I thought, because I was genuinely surprised at how many people were in the bowling alley at noon on a Wednesday. But the game was entertaining in its own right, especially when Hannah got up to bowl. Hannah does this great thing where she runs towards the line, then stops short, does this little hop, and then pretty much just drops the ball on the ground. It's astonishing how many pins she actually knocks down doing this, but mostly it's just hilarious to watch. This photo doesn't do it justice, but enjoy anyway:

Here's a bonus shot of Hannah and Audrey not letting the fierce competition get in the way of their friendship:

After bowling, we went out to eat at a wings place in Hattiesburg, where Dan and Ryan played some Pacman. Actually, Dan played Ms. Pacman. I think he has a crush on her:

At the end of the week, some of my dear friends from Belhaven days, Robin and Lindsay, came down to see us and brought their significant others. Lindsay has gotten engaged to Chris since the last time I was home, and Robin brought her friendboy Jeremy to meet all of us. Here are Robin and Jeremy. Everyone say "Awwww...."

Here's a shot of everyone chowing down on the amazing dinner my dad cooked for us. We considered going out to eat, but why would we do that when we can get such great food at home? Lindsay and Chris are at the far end of the table, Lindsay in the green shirt, (I know she's glad I took a photo of her eating) and Chris in the striped shirt, just so we're not confused about who is getting married. Lindsay is not marrying my husband. At least not as far as I've been informed.

We had champagne toasts to the soon-to-be-married couple and stayed up way too late talking. But who wants to sleep when you've got such important conversations to have?
Overall, a trip to see people worth celebrating. Here's to friends and family.

This is a photo I forgot to post from when we all went to church. Obviously, it's me and the boys, but it's also gives me an opportunity to tell a funny story. When we were sitting in church, Kelly was sitting right between Aaron and Ryan, and Dan leaned over to me and made the comment that Kelly looked like she could be the President's daughter, sitting there with two Marines for a security detail. It was true - those uniforms are pretty intimidating. Unless, of course, it's your little brothers wearing them. Then it's just kind of funny. Maybe that's why I look less like the president's daughter in this shot and more like a goofy third cousin of the president, but I still like this picture a lot.

I enjoyed this story on cnn.com yesterday. It's about an organization that Aaron has appreciated and been involved with as much as he can, so I thought y'all might enjoy it too. Follow this link:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/12/wounded.warriors.ap/index.html

I think it's pretty obvious what I'll be doing all weekend. If you call, I make no promises that you will be getting whole sentences out of me unless you say "HALEY! PUT DOWN THE HARRY POTTER BOOK!" at the start of our conversation. Call me a nerd. I don't care. These books are highly addictive, as I and any 12-year-old in the world will tell you. Check out the numbers here and listen for the sound of pages turning around you this weekend. This is like Christmas for geeks. I love Christmas!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/07/14/harry.potter/index.html

Overheard in the Wachdorf home at 1 a.m. on a recent morning when Dan woke up to find the light in his bedroom STILL ON and his wife turning pages in the new Harry Potter book.

Dan: "OK, it's time to turn off the light and go to sleep now."
Haley: "No, I'm becoming well-read over here. You should be glad that I'm literate."
Dan: "You can be literate in any other room in the house if you want to, just not in bed. That's not what beds are for."

I still have about 300 pages left, so don't anyone tell me anything if you're ahead of me, which you probably are. (This means you Tim Smith, Daniel Meigs, Rebecca Tredway and Andy.) I promise to post something less geeky in the near future.

Everyone please stop by the comments section and wish Kelly Maxwell Rice a very happy birthday! I believe that this is Kelly's 21st birthday, which means we will have to stop teasing her about being a young'un. I have been told by secret sources (my mom) that Aaron and Kelly have gone to the beach to celebrate Kelly's big day. I think they are gone for a couple of days, so it might be a while until I have an update on them. Until then, Happy Birthday, Kelly! We're so overjoyed that you are part of our family, and we love you very much.

Here's a photo of Aaron and Kelly with Glenn Bratcher, a gentleman who has befriended them in D.C. and whose church they have been attending while they are away from home. Thanks to Mr. Bratcher for sending the photos and for being really supportive of Aaron, Kelly, and the rest of our family, even though he's never met us before all of this.

I just finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I think my head is going to explode. There will be no spoilers posted on this blog, and any comments containing spoilers will be promptly deleted, but oh, people, if you're not done with the book yet, brace yourself. Your head is going to explode, too.
Now I need to go to sleep before midnight for the first time since Saturday. Dan is really thankful that J.K. Rowling only releases one of these books every few years.

This is a photo of Avalanche, our family's American Bulldog. We got him in 1998 as a puppy and named him for his solid white color and resemblance to a natural disaster. The week before Dan and I came home to visit earlier this month, Av was diagnosed with cancer and had to be put to sleep. He was a happy, good-tempered dog, but he already had joint problems and other things that meant he was in a lot of pain a lot of the time as it was, and Mom and Dad didn't think it was right to let him suffer any more. It was the right thing to do, but it was a tough decision for them, I know.
I am not the animal lover in the family, since I am allergic to most things with fur. But I liked Av alright even though he was a dog, and he was definitely a source of amusement for our family. To the casual observer, he probably looked big and dangerous and aggressive, but the truth was that had there ever been any intruders on our property, Av would have been happy to follow them around and watch them steal all our worldly belongings as long as they would pet him and maybe feed him something he shouldn't have been eating. With no disrespect to the departed intended in this statement, he was not the smartest dog that ever lived. I can't count the number of mornings when I was living at home that he followed me when I left for work and then sat in front of my car, refusing to move in spite of my honking and flashing the lights at him. When he got like that, eventually you'd just have to get out of the car and shove him off the driveway. His great love in life was to chase the four wheeler that Dad uses on the land because he had a dangerous fascination with anything that had wheels. The result was that he was hit by at least two cars, maybe more. He never seemed to get seriously hurt, though.
His other great pastime was to try to get in the house, where he was strictly forbidden to enter because of his lack of interest in baths and his general bad manners. He knew good and well that he wasn't supposed to be in the house, but the minute you left the kitchen door cracked, he would butt the door open with his head and come on in, even though he was usually apprehended within seconds and forced back out onto the porch. A few times he managed to enter undetected, and on those occasions, he would head straight for the couch, which he seemed to think was his rightful property anyway. Once, when Mom and Dad left town to come and visit Dan and I in Albuquerque, Ryan was left with the responsibility of keeping an eye on Av. The led to Mom and Dad getting a phone call from Ryan asking "How do you get dog slobber out of couch cushions?"
Dad used to joke that when Dan came to ask Dad for my hand in marriage, he should have insisted that if Dan wanted to marry me, he would have to take "Haley's brother Av" off the family's hands, too, "as a dowry." But even though we used to joke about how generally worthless Av was and how the money that was spent to send him to obedience school might as well have been set on fire, it was really because we all loved that goofy dog as much for his faults as anything else.
The week before Av died, our cat of many years, Pounce, also died of a rare illness. It was a very weird coincedence, but in a way it was kind of appropriate. The two of them got along remarkably well for a cat and a dog. They shared Av's sleeping space at the top of the garage stairs in the winter when it was cold, and on warm days, you could find them both sprawled out in the sunlight on the deck within a few feet of each other. They were friends, and it would be sad to see one of them without the other. So now we're a petless family for the first time in probably 10 years. With almost everyone out of the house now, I don't think my parents will be getting any more animals, and that's OK. But it was a sad moment when we were cleaning food off of dinner plates one night when Dan and I were at home and realized that we were still setting aside all the scraps to take to a dog and cat that weren't there anymore. It's always hard to realize that something about home, even if it's a little thing, won't be the same any more.
We'll miss them.

Anyone who is in the Hattiesburg area tomorrow might want to go to this. The Hub City Military Order of the Purple Heart is going to be having a book signing of a book they've put together called "Combat Wounded: Our Story" starting at 11 a.m. Saturday July 23 in front of Garfield's restaurant at Turtle Creek Mall. The book is a collection of the stories of 74 men from around the Pine Belt who have received the Purple Heart. Tomorrow, the proceeds from any books sold at the book signing will go into a fund to help Aaron and Kelly with their expenses when they get back home. This was initiated by the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and we're so thankful to them for their kindness. There is going to be some news coverage of this in the paper and on TV, and Mom and Dad have been interviewed for all of that, so most of you will probably learn about it, but I thought I'd put it up here also. If you want to watch, the news segment about it will be on WDAM tonight as far as we know, so tune in. Mom and Dad are going to be at the book signing because the order wants to take some photos with them, so if you've got time, go out and say hello. Or buy a book. I think we can confidently say that it's going to a good cause. Here's a link to a story the Hattiesburg American did about it:
http://hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050719/NEWS01/50719001&SearchID=73214959736821

Every year, Dan attends a computer hacker-oriented "business conference" in Las Vegas for a week. It's a fun week for him since he likes to play poker and he gets to spend time with a few friends from college and work. It's also Dan Appreciation Week here in Haley Land. I don't mind it too much for the first couple of days, but I'm usually boring myself by Day 3. Usually I catch up on all the girly movies I've been wanting to watch and do any weird projects around the house that I would usually pass up in favor of doing something with Dan. (On deck for this week: Watching the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice and organizing our kitchen drawers ... I know, I'm so exciting.) I'm not sure if I can find Pride and Prejudice to rent anywhere though, so I thought I would ask for movie reccomendations. What have you seen recently that you would reccomend, or what movie do you think everyone should see no matter what? I don't promise to watch them all, but I'm taking suggestions.
Since I've asked for your short list of go-to movies, here are a few from my list, pulled from an article I had to write for work back in December. Note the film ratings, which indicate that most of these aren't for kids, and don't make too much fun of me if you hate my taste.

High Fidelity, R
Based on the excellent best-selling novel by Nick Hornby, this is a dark comedy about dissecting the ruins of failed relationships. Cusack's character, Rob, is a mid-30s record store manager who has recently been dumped by his long-time girlfriend, Laura. In an effort to determine why he keeps getting dumped, Rob replays his top five worst breakups, and even contacts the women who dumped him to ask them why he keeps getting left behind. As depressing as that sounds, it's actually a very funny movie made better by sharp writing and a side-splitting supporting cast that includes Jack Black as Rob's music-obsessed slacker store employee, Joan Cusack as Rob's tightly-wound sister, and Tim Robbins, the man Laura dates after breaking up with Rob.
This movie, like the book before it, also delves into the odd connections between the music we like, the people we love, and the mistakes we make over and over again. As Rob asks in the opening scene: "Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

The Big Kahuna, R
As a fair warning, this movie basically consists of three guys sitting in a hotel room talking about the big questions of life for two hours. Unless you find this kind of thing enjoyable, you might be bored to tears by this movie. But it certainly helps that one of the verbose men is Kevin Spacey, one of my all-time favorite actors. Spacey was the driving force behind bringing this story, which was originally a stage play, to film. Spacey plays a cynical, hardened salseman, on a business trip with his likewise bitter and recently divorced co-worker Phil, played by Danny Devito. The two of them have been sent to a convention with the sole purpose of meeting and making a sales pitch to a top-dog sales executive they refer to only as "The Big Kahuna." Along for the ride is a recent hire named Bob who is young, newly-married and announces early on in the film that he is a born-again Christian. The ensuing conversations are thought-provoking. So if you're in the mood for a movie to make you think. this is it. Another warning: Spacey's character uses a lot of foul language in this movie, so it's not one for the kids.

Sense and Sensibility, PG
Emma Thompson's brilliant screen adaption of this classic Jane Austen novel is a joy to watch, and asks a very good question: When a girl falls in love, should she let the man know how far gone she is or play her cards close to the vest? Emma Thompson plays Elinor, older sister to Kate Winslet's Marianne. In the course of the film, both sisters fall for the charms of two very different men. Elinor is smitten with the always-charming Edward Ferrars, played by Hugh Grant, but she keeps her feelings to herself when it becomes apparent that objections from his family will keep them apart. Marianne falls for a firtatious rake named Willoughby, but doesn't have the sense to keep him guessing. The story follows both girls in the trials and tribulations brought on by their different approaches to love. It's not one for the guys, but the ladies will give it a full box of Kleenex rating.

The Family Man, PG-13
A high-powered Wall Street executive named Jack is celebrating Christmas Eve alone by working until midnight and then stopping into a convenience store on his way home to buy some eggnog. While he is in the store, the man in line in front of him pulls a gun and begins threatening to shoot everyone in the store if he isn't given the money for a lottery ticket he believes is worth $250. The cashier insists that the ticket is fake, but Jack steps in and gives the man the cash to save everyone's lives. He walks out with the man, and they talk. It soon becomes apparent that the man Jack is talking to knows too much about him to be some guy off the street. The man tells Jack that he has the power to grant him one wish, anything he wants. Jack replies that he has everything he needs and he has no regrets. But the next morning, he wakes up in a house in New Jersey, lying in bed next to a woman he almost married after college but instead broke up with in order to give his career his utmost attention. The angel/God figure from the store tells Jack that he is getting a glimpse into what his life could have been like if he had made different choices as a younger man. The question then becomes which life will he choose?

French Kiss, PG-13
Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline star in this blatant chick-flick about a woman named Kate whose doctor fiancee goes to a medical conference in Paris and calls a few days later to tell her that he met a "French godess" and the wedding is off. In spite of her horror of flying, Kate gets on a plane to try to find him, but along the way she gets tangled up with a Frenchman named Luc, a jewel thief who first uses her to try to smuggle a stolen necklace into the country, then tries to help her find her fiancee, then, (because, after all, this is a Meg Ryan movie) falls in love with her. Ryan's performance as the highly-neurotic Kate is truly funny, and Kline shows off his acting versatility as Luc, the cynical thief who does his best to get under Kate's skin.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, R
I am not a big Jim Carrey fan. Somehow, Ace Ventura, Pet Detective just didn't do it for me. But this movie, which stars Carrey and Kate Winslet as two ex-lovers, is excellent. Joel (Carrey) and Clementine (Winslet) had a relationship that lasted about two years, but at the start of the film, we learn that they have recently broken up after a serious fight. But when Joel begins to have second thoughts about the breakup and goes to see Clementine to try to patch things up, she does not know who he is. He learns that shortly after they broke up, she decided to undergo a ground-breaking medical procedure to erase her memories of him. Shocked and hurt, Joel decides that he, too, will have the procedure done. This film is, at times, confusing because certain events are shown out of sequence, but it provides an excellent backdrop for the characters to work through the questions of why the heart remembers a person, and what it would truly take to forget them forever.

This month, our very good friends the Lowrances moved away. Sam and Shanelle Lowrance, and their children, Annabelle, 2, and one-year-old Samuel, have been very dear to us in the last year and a half. They were stationed in New Mexico with the Air Force and attended our church here. We became friends almost immediately after we met, largely I think because none of us are natives to New Mexico and although this is a beautiful state, people who have just been relocated here find the lack of trees remarkable. We really enjoyed each other, and Dan and I learned a lot from knowing a couple not much older than us wading through the deep waters of parenting small children, something we hope to do ourselves one day but find somewhat intimidating at the moment. Annabelle and Samuel were very obliging in allowing us to babysit them from time to time with only minimal screaming and crying, and it was helpful to us to see that they survived being under our care for a few hours at a time unscathed. Perhaps, one day, our own children will be willing to put up with us. Their new station with the Air Force is in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, which is good for them because it put them nearer to their families in Alabama and Tennessee, but bad for us, because we had to say goodbye to them. It's always hard to say goodbye to good friends, and it almost made me resolve not to become friends with Air Force people anymore, until I remembered that two of the best friends I have made in New Mexico, Shanelle, and my dear friend Kate, are Air Force wives, and that knowing them was worth feeling sad when they moved away. I am now especially sad to lose Shanelle, who cooked me lots of dinners when I had to stay late in Valencia County (where Sam and Shanelle lived and I work) to cover night meetings, and who trusted me enough as a friend to go out and eat sushi based solely on my assurances that it's really fun to eat raw fish dipped in wasabi. Here is a photo of Shanelle and I before we left on the night of the Japanese cuisine adventure:

And here is a photo of the whole cute family:

Godspeed, friends. We will miss you. Save that guest room for us down in Florida. We like the beach.

Here are some photos from Kelly's 21st birthday celebration and a long overdue update on how things are going at the Washington D.C. offices of the Rice family. It's kind of complicated, so follow me closely here:

Kelly is in Starkville, Mississippi right now getting furniture moved into the new apartment she and Aaron will live in when they are done with Aaron's rehab. My mom, her mom and her dad are all helping out with that endeavor, which also involves getting a lot of Aaron and Kelly's things out of storage where they were put before Aaron was deployed. Kelly should go back to D.C. sometime this weekend.

Aaron is still in D.C. doing his physical therapy at Walter Reed, but he's not alone this week because

Ryan is up there visiting him. That's right, Aaron and Ryan are alone, unsupervised, in a large city. It's very frightening, but I hear they are having a good time together.

So for now, with people pretty busy, there isn't much else to report. Please pray for Kelly's travels to be safe and that she will be able to get everything done that she wants to do this week. She wants to have a nice place for her and Aaron to come back to after months of living in hotels and hospitals. Also pray that Aaron's healing process and physical therapy will progress as they should and that Ryan will have safe travels.

Here are some photos that Mr. Glenn Bratcher sent to me from the evening that he and a couple from their church took Kelly, Aaron and Ryan out to celebrate Kelly's 21st.

This is Kelly getting carded and showing her ID to the waiter after ordering a drink, while Aaron laughs at her, like all good supportive spouses are supposed to do:

She was given her drink on the house as a birthday gift from the restaurant. She looks very happy with it. Aaron is still laughing at her.

This is the whole group at their table at Buccca di Beppa's, which is a wonderful family-style Italian place where they bring the food out on big platters and you pass it around the table, family style. From left, I am told, we have Ken and Beth Gibson, friends from church, Kelly, Ryan in all his bald-headed glory, and Aaron. Did I mention that Ryan let me shave his head when we were home? It was fun.

And that is all I know for right now. Thanks so much for continuing to stay updated on our adventures, and please keep praying for us. We love y'all.

"I take no leave of you, Miss Bennett! I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention.I am seriously displeased."
-Lady Catherine DeBourgh, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Wouldn't it be great if you could still say things like that to people when they annoyed you? "I send no compliments to your mother." That's hysterical!

Clearly I've gotten into my A&E Pride and Prejudice box set and I am enjoying it immensely. I think I will start using the phrase "seriously displeased" if nothing else. Count on it.

You must all see Spellbound. It is wonderful. In 2000, the year after this documentary was made, I go to go to the National Spelling Bee for one day to cover the girl who was representing Mississippi there. I didn't expect it to be a big deal, but when I got there and ESPN was broadcasting it and these children, some of them really little kids, were up there spelling these incredibly obscure words that no one, NO ONE has ever heard of since they were invented, I found myself cringing a little, not wanting to look at that much pressure. This documentary follows eight of the kids who were in the 1999 bee and tells all their stories ... every single one of which is compelling enough to make you root for them. It's like you can't decide if you're more nervous for them or their parents ... it's awful! But really, really good at the same time. It's an incredible work of journalistic storytelling. I loved it. Many thanks to Charity and Jessica, who both recommended it to me. I think the part that touched me the most was the dimension of all these kids who are so smart and so dedicated getting to the national level and finding 200 other kids who are like them, like them in a way that no one they know is like them, and finally they fit in. It's how I felt when I went to a summer journalism program in D.C.,which is where I went to the spelling bee as one of my first real assignments. It was like finally I had found my people ... people who think newspapers are fascinating and it is wonderful to talk to strangers and write down what they say so that other people can read it. That's a weird thing to enjoy when you think about it, but then, every kind of hobby or interest you have makes you a little different, and a little weirder, than most people you know. That's worth celebrating. Watch Spellbound.
Now I must get back to the other suggestions y'all left. I have a lot of movie viewing to do.

Dan is coming back in about two hours. Yayy! I am really over hanging out by myself. Last night, I rented three movies, one of which was scratched so badly that the DVD wouldn't play, one of which I've seen, and one of which I didn't like. Thankfully, I had bought a book I like, but it generally got me to thinking. If that happened on a night when Dan was home, we would have just talked or whatever and it wouldn't have been a boring night. But since he's been in Las Vegas, it was pretty sad. I'm glad Dan is coming back.
In other news, here's a brief tutorial on How to Make Your Car Smell Like Trash, as I did this Friday:

1) Leave work early because you've worked your 40 hours and decide to go to Barnes and Noble.

2) Buy Damien Rice's "O" album because you've heard so many people say it's wonderful.

3) Get in your car, put in the CD. Like it a lot.

4) Go home. Get absorbed in cleaning the house because you've got a houseguest coming next week.

5) After a couple of hours, decide you need to go to Target to get a new CD folder to replace the dilapidated 250-CD holder you've had since you were a senior in high school. You're not doing anything! Why not reorganize your CD collection?

6) Decide to take out the trash you've gathered in your hours of cleaning on your way out of the apartment complex. Put it in your trunk.

7) Get in your car and immediately become so absorbed in the brilliance that is the Damien Rice CD you left in the car that you forget to stop at the trash compactor on the way out of the parking lot.

8) Go to Target. Get your CD folder and then wander around for another half-hour. Because Target is awesome.

9) Get back in your car which now has reached the prerequisite 100 degree heat level of Albuquerque. Notice that your car smells funny. Not funny "haha." Funny "Like a dumpster." Realize your mistake.

10) Drive back home as quick as possible and deposit your trash in the proper receptacle, thinking about how much you appreciate the fact that your husband usually takes care of the trash situation.

Just in case you wanted to know.