For spring break we went to Portland to welcome back my brother-in-law from Iraq.  He showed us his pictures, and the coolest thing (I thought) was that his group of Marines adopted a little kitten.  They would take it in their Humvees with them and it would eat the same meals the Marines ate when they were out on a "special op."  I actually want to write a creative non-fiction piece about it for Highlights Magazine: THE MARINE WHO MEOWED.

Speaking of writing, I've been really disappointed in the new episodes of my favorite TV shows since the writer's strike.  Earl was ridiculous.  And on CSI:NY the interesting plot ended with a basic chase and gun fight--cliche and anti-climatic.  You'd think the the writers could do better than that after their "break".

Back to my brother-in-law, I sent him on a "special op" of my own yesterday.  See, my in-laws have been planning to remodel their kitchen for a while, so I decided to enter them in the DESERVING DESIGN contest on HGTV.  Scotty is supposed to take pictures of their kitchen for me so I can send in the entry.  

If I was the judge I would definitely pick my in-laws to win.  They use the kitchen tons--canning vegetables, cooking a hot breakfast almost every morning, and even mixing cookie dough to bring with them when they visit us so they (my mother-in-law to be specific) can bake us fresh cookies.  Yum.  As for deserving to win a new kitchen, my in-laws came back from their mission in Africa to adopt their orphaned nephews.  They then raised five boys on a teacher's salary and just recently became empty nesters.  It's been a hard transition with the death of a parent and then Scotty leaving for Iraq on top of that.  They volunteer at church, work with troubled youth, and have coached many sports teams. Oh, I hope they win.