I'm Back

I'm Back...I have been on hiatus for awhile and a lot has happened. For one I am now "Retired MSgt Marcel Pieters" and I have to tell you it feels a bit weird. I have nothing but time on my hands and I am not sure what I need to do with myself. I served 20 years 7 months and 2 days in the United States Air Force and it has been an experience. As I look back upon my life in the military I would have to say that it has been fun. I travelled the world and got to do some incredible things along the way and I am really proud to have served with the men and women of not only the Air Force but other branches of the military as well...I think I am going to miss it.
These days I am staying home and looking for another job. I have been retired for a week now and I am already driving my wife crazy. Everyday she asks me "why don't you get a job?" and for both our sakes I need to get one soon. I am looking to return to my old job of Senior Management Analyst but not as a military member but a civilian. No longer will I be MSgt Pieters but Mr. Pieters. I talked to my old boss and he is definitely trying to get me hired back on but it may take a while. Federal Jobs take a while to fill so I guess I will just have to keep looking and see who offers me a job first. I may take a tennis coaching job at the local high school while I am waiting for a real job but I will have to wait and see.
That's it for today and I am sure I will have plenty of time to blog more often than once a quarter. Till next time

Blog Slacker

Well the wife says I am a Blog Slacker...which I probably am but what can I say...I have to be "in the mood" to Blog. I am going to try and blog at least once a week to get in the habit regardless of if I am in the mood or not so, bear with me.

Early on in the week the weather was finally warm enough to pull out the bike from hibernation and hit the trails. I biked 20 miles on Sunday and 20 miles on Monday. It sure was nice getting some exercise and fresh air but I can tell I haven't biked in a couple of months (sore butt). I need to start training now because I plan on doing a 100 mile bike ride in June and if my butt is sore now after only 20 miles I cant imagine how it is going to feel after 100. The picture above was taken last year when I biked the Colorado Trail. I had a great time and camped overnight. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can explore the trails again. The woman loves cold weather but for me bring on the warmth!

The Australian Open has been on TV all week (which I could watch all day long). I record most of it so I can fast forward through the matches I really don't want to watch. I am trying to limit my TV watching time so I don't turn into a couch potato. I also need to start training for the 2009 Tennis Season which I plan on coming out strong this year after my dismal injury-laden 2008 season. I have something to prove to myself and my competitors that this "Old Man" still has a few good tennis matches left in him.

I hate being sick and for the past few days me and Mr. Toilet have become close friends. I am pretty sure it was something I ate and it seems over the years that my digestive system has been very sensitive to food. I think It has something to do with all the medications I have taken for the past ten years for my heart. I guess it helped with the heart but messed up the rest of me. It's funny how man in their infinite wisdom to cure an ailment will create another. It seems the doctors believe they have extended my life by trying all of these procedures to cure me but I believe that it probably has shortened it. But, in the end, God only knows and that is something I am sure I will ask him when I get to heaven.

I'm off to California tomorrow for work. We are conducting a new study for the Space Industry to determine if they really need all the people they have. It's funny but every Manpower study I go on everyone says they are working so hard and they need more people but if you really look deep into the organization most of the people down at the lower levels honestly say that either they have enough people or there are too many for the amount of work that they do. Space is unlike Fighter Aircraft (which I have worked for in the past) who actually work at least six days a week twelve hour days (they have lots of work and not enough people). I think people in the Space Industry should switch jobs with those in the Fighter world for a year and then they will realize how lucky they are that they are not working in that realm. Of course this will never happen and politics will rule over actual fact and the customer will get the people they want as opposed to the people they need...Se La Vie!

Well, that was my week in a nutshell and to quote the wife "Later my Peeps!" -->

A New Year...

2008 is already over and it has brought some joys and sorrows.

Joys -

Although 2008 was a tough year for a lot of us we did see some joy in our lives this year.

First of all, after numerous attempts to get promoted in my Air Force career, I finally was promoted to Master Sgt. God is good...and of course with the new rank comes more responsibility..overtime.

My good friend Gustavo got married. He met his wife Polly on e-harmony (which I find funny). I guess those internet dating services actually work.

Other friends of ours, Jason and Christina, gave birth to a cute boy, Oliver. Oliver was also blessed by his Grandfather Ross while still in mama's womb.


My youngest and most beautiful child (sorry boy) turned 18. She's a senior this year and I am so proud of her. She has been diligent with her school work (debate) and her acting (takes after her mom). She had a lead role in the play Aladdin for her school and she did an awesome job!


My favorite son finished his Associate in Applied Science degree in Biology and next week is headed to Blackburn College in Illinois. I will be driving him there and for those of you who read this please pray for us that his car makes it in one piece (it has over 200K miles on it). Of course Lauren is having mixed emotions about soon becoming an empty nester. Time for mom to let go and let these young adults make their contributions to God and their lives. We are excited to see them get married in the next 10 years and us become grandparents.



Lauren still enjoys every minute with me (of course she does) and still enjoys driving her mustang.

We also got to spend time with the twins up at Aspen and we had a blast. Of course they were really glad to spend time with their favorite uncle. :)

Lauren and I also got to spend time with our good friend Paul before he passed away.

Which leads to the sorrows...

2008 brought sad goodbyes. I had to say goodbye to two good friends of mine - Ross and Paul.

Both of them were my brothers...we had great relationships and good times.

Ross was and is a great encourager. I always liked comparing Ross to Barnabas (one of the original apostles) because no matter how bad you were feeling or what you were going through he would always come along side and not only help but cheer you up at the same time.

Paul was my mentor and close brother. When comparing Paul to the original apostles I always thought he was a mixture of two...Paul and John. Early on in our relationship he was more like the apostle Paul who was constantly teaching me how to walk with Christ, not only instructing me by his words but by how he lived his life. He truly was a man who not only knew the Word but he lived and modeled it. As I grew in my relationship with him and Christ, he became more like John. He had a soft heart and was the kindest most loving man I have ever known on this earth.




I miss both of my brothers and look forward to seeing them again someday.

I also lost my favorite Aunt right after Christmas. She was my mom's best friend and when we were young our families always visited. She treated all of us as her own. She married when she was in her 30s and was married for over 30 years. In high school, I lived with her for three years. She was a kind lady and although I can remember times when she got mad at me and would try and give me spanking...but in actuality it was more like a love tap. Now, there is only one left on my mother's side of the family - my uncle Johan. I will miss my aunt terribly and I thank God we had such a great relationship. She lost her husband (my uncle Andy) around 10 years ago. He was the love of her life and she was never the same after his passing.



And that's all I have in this blog posting.

May the Lord be with you and cause His face to shine upon you in this upcoming year.