I realize that this blog has been awfully neglected of late, and I promise to update it soon. If you leave a comment telling me what you want to know, I will do my best to answer your questions in my next post, unless you ask about Dan's continuing monkey campaign or whether or not I finished washing all our laundry this weekend. (No, I didn't, OK? I'm a bad housekeeper.)

A few quick notes:
Aaron called this week to ask me to email a photo of him to "this producer at The Today Show."
"Yeah, did I tell you I'm going to be on the Today Show?" he said. Apparently, he's going to be on The Today Show sometime between now and Christmas. We'll try to get a more specific date nailed down sometime in the future so you can all tune in.

Best wishes to a dear family friend, Jill Howell, who got married this weekend in Alabama. I wish I could have been there to see the Howell family and share in the festivities, but I understand the Rice family was well-represented, which is as it should be since we pretty much think we're related to the Howells anyway. We love you, Jill!

With that, goodnight. I will write soon, but now it's time to get ready for a whole new week. Wow.

My baby sister Hannah (or Hammer Roo) has a boyfriend who is currently living in the Boston-ish area studying photography. We like Daniel a lot, so recently we took a vote and decided to let Hannah go visit him up there. (I'm kidding, of course. Actually we flipped a coin.) Anyways, he just posted some pretty great photos of her on his website, which you can see here. They are all fantastic photos, because Daniel is very talented, but I'm partial to the ones of Hannah for obvious reasons. I will be filing these photos away under "Evidence That My Siblings Stole All the Genes for Good Looks/Life is Not Fair."

I love Time magazine, because I think they do a better job than most of finding stories within stories. Today, they paid back my love with a really good piece about religous themes in C.S. Lewis' beloved Narnia books and, therefore, the upcoming film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Personally, I think it's going to be tough to do a film version of that book that doesn't touch on some pretty deep themes, much like I think the Lord of the Rings just wouldn't have been the fantastic series of films it was if the key moments of dialougue about good vs. evil hadn't been included in the film. But I'm sure it's a more complicated issue when you're trying to make a film that honors the spirit of a book that people love so passionately and will also be a financial success. Thus, I enjoyed this. But for less intellectual reasons, I enjoyed reading it because judging from the trailers Dan and I have downloaded off the Internet for the film, the movie is at least going to do a great job of showing me the world of Narnia that I imagined in my head when I was a kid, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it. I think that's one of the biggest challenges for a film like this, because ultimately, everybody who read those books saw Narnia a different way in their mind than anyone else did, and that's a deeply personal thing. I'm not ashamed to admit on the Internet that I actually cried during the first ten minutes of Lord of the Rings, before anything had even happened, because the Shire that Peter Jackson and company created was just so perfect that it was like stepping back into my childhood mind the first time I read that book. That's a hard place to get back to once you become an adult, and it was so beautiful.
Religous or not, I hope the Narnia movies can deliver that.
Because really, I just want to see Aslan.

On Thursday nights, primetime television is pretty lame. (Am I the only person who just can't beleive that ER is still on the air?) So the way Dan and I amuse ourselves on Thursdays is by watching Iron Chef, the most unintentionally hilarious show on television. If you've never seen this show, you must watch it, because it's fantastic. It's a Japanese reality competition type show that pits celebrated chefs against one another in a timed contest to see which chef can create the best four course meal out of the same key ingredient. The unveiling of the ingredient of the evening is the greatest moment of the show, because the crazy little man who is apparently in charge makes a HUGE production out of it, and there's all this dry ice and dramatic music and the man is always sporting a hair style that has got to involve at least three cans of Rave hair spray and wearing these insanely elaborate outfits that look like something Liberace left behind. There are a lot of capes. Then, the rest of the show is dubbed in terrible English translations, and it's just hands-down better than anything you're going to see on NBC.
Recently, thanks to Iron Chef, I realized why primetime television in America is just so awful these days. Someone in corporate network television America who evidently has no sense of humor whatsoever, in a collosal lack of understanding of WHY Iron Chef is actually popular in America, has gone and made an American version of Iron Chef that is just about ... the cooking. And that's not funny. It's not funny at all. Martha Stewart does shows about cooking, and they don't make me laugh.
Thank goodness for cable. Tonight's ingredient is salmon.

The Third Battallion, 25th Marines, the group that Aaron deployed with, has come home. Praise the Lord. There are 900 Marines in a battallion; in the 3/25, 48 were killed and 150 were wounded during their seven months in Iraq. That is a lot of people for one battallion to lose, and I know that for the families with Marines in this group, this has been a long, scary seven months. Aaron has some dear friends among those men, and it's my understanding that he traveled to Camp Lejune this week to see them when they arrived there. Our joy at their return knows no bounds. We have been anxious for them every day.

Here's an article about the group from Ohio, who suffered particularly heavy losses, coming home.

I talked to Aaron and Kelly tonight, and it seems they have been busy. The biggest news is that they are in the process of getting their paperwork in order for Aaron's discharge from Walter Reed. You would think that would be fairly easy, but it's actually a several-weeks-long process of paperwork and final meetings with doctors. If all goes well, they should be back home in Mississippi before Thanksgiving. Aaron and Kelly got married on November 18 of last year, so it would be really great if they could be home in time for their first anniversary, but we'll see. Please keep praying that Aaron's final checkups will go well and that all the paperwork will be in order as soon as possible. I think they just want to go home now, and the rest of the family would like that too.
If recent events are any indication, Aaron is in fantastic physical shape and could clearly kick my butt or anyone else'e for that matter. A couple of weeks ago, Aaron and Kelly both participated in the Army's Ten-Mile Run, which turned into an 11.5 mile run because of a last minute re-routing. There are usually a large group of amputees who run, and of that group, Aaron has had his prosthetic the least amount of time ... just over two months in terms of how long he's been able to wear it consistently. But he ran the whole thing straight through in two hours and actually finished first of all the leg amputees, which was pretty cool. Kelly also put in a great showing, finishing about 20 minutes behind Aaron, and proving once again that she is a better woman than I am, because I'm not sure I would or could run 11.5 miles for anyone, ever. Aaron was interviewed at length by a reporter from Sports Illustrated who was covering the event, and if he surfaces in the article, we'll let you know. I am starting to wonder if Aaron wears some kind of special shirt at these events that says "I (Heart) Reporters," because reporters just seem to be drawn to him by some magnetic forcefield. Being a reporter myself, I would probably bet that it has something to do with the fact that Aaron is really articulate and finishes his sentences, but I'm also not abandoning the special T-shirt theory.
That's about it for tonight. I hope that the next thing I have to tell you is that Aaron and Kelly are on their way home. That will truly be a good day. Thank you all for your love and prayers for Aaron and Kelly and all of us. We love you.

"And the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together."

It's Arrested Development!

Dan is at Wal-mart right now buying the second season of Arrested Development on DVD, which was released today. We've been counting down, and I am so excited. TV shows on DVD are really the worst invention that could possibly have happened in terms of my personal development, because it's so easy to just hit that button and watch another episode. But I really don't care. Because ... IT'S ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT!
If you call us sometime in the next few days and we don't answer the phone, well, you know why.

Dan sent me a link to this, and although I was kind of confused at first, once you read the little explanation below it, it's pretty funny. Hurricanes and floods are not funny, but sometimes the TV people covering them are quite entertaining. This is one of many reasons why I write for newspapers.

Aaron's big appearance on The Today Show is supposed to air tomorrow, Tuesday October 18. Aaron found out today or we would have given you a bit more notice. The Today Show is an NBC program and airs from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. according to the web site. Aaron said the producer told him she thinks the story he is part of will air in the second hour of the broadcast. But check your local listings for time information, and if you want to be sure to catch it, tune into the whole thing. And if anyone tapes it, let me know!

As some of you may have noticed as you watched all three hours of the Today Show, Aaron was not on TV this morning. So sorry about that. All we can figure is that the segment Aaron was part of got bumped off the schedule for today. No new word on when it might air, but we'll let you know anything we hear.

So since you all tuned in to your television sets today and didn't see what you were looking for, I thought I'd give you something fun to watch. I'm stealing this from Rebecca, who stole it from Jason, but it's worth plagiarizing.
This is a link to the page for Bob Ebel, a guy who apparently directs commercials involving kids. Read Jason's post about it here.
Click on the fifth and twelfth images on this page, and follow this link for another one with the kid who is going to have just cracked you up saying "We're doing business here."
Enjoy.

OK, kids. Supposedly, the segment of the Today Show that Aaron is involved in has been rescheduled for tomorrow, October 20, in the 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. hour. Obviously, we won't know if that's true until it airs, but tune in if you can. The Today Show runs from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the east coast, but check your local listings. It's a looooong program. Love to you all.

Well, I was all geared up to watch the Today Show when Aaron called and said that as of the east coast end of the show, his story had not appeared. From watching the show so far, I'm not sure what our pressing need is to know the latest updates on gastric bypass surgery instead of seeing Aaron. But I'm probably biased just a little.
Sorry it wasn't on.

The wonders of Google never cease. If you type "(Your name) needs" into google, it will generate a random list of statements about your needs. According to Google, these are the things I need. I should give credit to my friend Chuck, from whose blog I stole this. Drum roll please:

Haley needs a fair amount of exercise and would probably do best with a fenced in yard, walks and playmate to help.

If Haley ever needs any of the money, the court has to be petitioned for any and every penny that is released.

Haley needs help circumventing security protocols.

Haley needs to avoid procrastination and try to be more reliable and punctual. (That is so true.)

Haley needs to be more involved with family.

Haley needs a lifestyle.

Haley needs to put on some weight. (Survey says ... not true!)

Haley needs to fix the streets.

Haley needs more details to make the posters.

Haley needs a home with no other cats or dogs. (You hear that, Dan?)

Haley also needs new glasses. (I do! Mine are so old and bent!)

So there you have it. My needs according to Google. Feel free to help me get or do any of those things.

Greetings to the readers of Missing Mississippi. This entry is mostly for the benefit of those of you who have been following the story of my family since my brother, Aaron, was deployed to Iraq this time last year, and was injured in March. I can't tell you how much we have appreciated the outpouring of love and support we have received from old friends as well as people we have never met through this site. You have been an enormous encouragement to us.
Aaron and Kelly are within a few weeks of completing Aaron's rehabilitation at Walter Reed hospital and returning home to Mississippi, and I think we were all starting to think that this particular part of our family's story would be winding down soon. But it seems we are about to start another chapter of this story. As you know, I have two brothers, Aaron, and his twin brother, Ryan. Ryan is also a Marine Reservist and about a week ago, he told my family that he will be leaving for Iraq in January. We knew that Ryan would be deployed eventually, but had believed that this would not happen for at least another year since he is attached to the Third Batallion, 25th Marines, Aaron's batalion, which just returned from Iraq. But now it seems that Ryan will be deployed as part of a single platoon made up of members of the 3/25 who have not yet been deployed.
Ryan’s deployment will follow much the same timeline as Aaron’s in the sense that he will most likely leave for 29 Palms, California in January and start his seven-month deployment to Iraq in March. We don’t yet know where he will be going.
Please be in prayer for Ryan’s safety, and please also pray for my family. We will need a lot of grace for this.
We will also need the continuing prayers of all of you who have been so faithful to keep up with us this last year. So please keep stopping by to check in on us, and I'll keep you posted. Thanks, we love you all.

Call Cara! (Because today is her birthday. Happy 26th, Cara! I'll soon be joining you in the Four Years to the Big 3-0 Club. I did remember to call Cara, so that's good.)

Call K.R.! (Initials of a public relations gal I needed to check something out with. Turns out she knew what I needed to know. Here's to good information.)

Email B! (Initials of our realtor, who we are hoping is going to help us buy our first home soon.)

I know they make these things called "Palm Pilots." I actually have one. But I can't seem to stop inking up my left hand with personal reminders for the day. Some people get tatoos, I write on myself and wash it all off at the end of the day. It works for me ... it's kind of my personal version of the Palm Pilot. The Haley's Hand Day Planner.

Your IQ Is 95

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Below Average Your General Knowledge is Average

See, this is why I'm a writer and not a rocket scientist.

I've been wanting to wait until I could talk to Aaron and Kelly to post this, but at the rate things are going right now, I don't know when I'll find time to call, so I'll just go ahead and spread the very basic good news:
Aaron and Kelly are coming home to Mississippi for good next week!
Mom says they will leave Washington D.C. on Thursday and get into Starkville on Friday. I know they are thrilled to be getting back home. Please pray for a safe trip for them. It's a long drive, but one I know they are happy to make. Thank you for your prayers that Aaron's discharge from the hospital would go smoothly, and for everything else. We love you.