Well, we graduated. All the pomp and circumstance was more or less a half-hearted effort to try and act like a real university. ACSC did an OK job, but I really don't like having to sing military songs at my own graduation ceremony. Neither did the 500 other people that were there. I think we were the most unenthusiastic chorus ever. Most people just wanted to get home to start their next adventure in the Air Force. Some of us were just really hungry (me). It was nice actually having days where the whole of it wasn't planned, scheduled, or scripted. In the 97 degree heat, it was also nice not having to wear a uniform. I packed the trailer, randomly snagging men from Fam Camp to help me life heavy things. I think the desire to life heavy things for women is ingrained in male DNA. Or was that pack mules? I'm just so excited to NOT be reading military history or doctrine that I've already finished 2 books and a plethora of magazines. I can't wait to get my hands on the Alden Library at home!
We stuck around for the week, not telling "Lonnie" that we were waiting for him. He thought we left Thursday, but instead we totally surprised him today by hiding in the tornado shelter and then knocking on the camper door after he arrived! The kids don't seem to fully understand that we are leaving Alabama permanently. As we were driving away today I was saying "Bye Maxwell, Bye Montgomery" only to realize that Ayla fell asleep before we were even off the base. We are in Huntsville tonight and I'm wearing the kids out in the hotel pool. Best. Idea. Ever.
For all my faithful followers, this will be one of the last posts I do. This project was all about a year in a trailer with the family in Alabama. We weathered tornadoes, escapee children, fire ants, and many other things this year. We travelled the South, ran our butts off, danced like no one was watching, and made new friends. This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, even with the late nights, mountains of reading, and 2 months without "Lonnie". We will spend a month in New York with family (Lonnie is still in Kansas) before heading to our new home in Wichita. For those who are wondering, our Colorado home in the Black Forest did not burn and the family living there is OK.
Thank you all for reading, laughing, crying, and being there for us in all the many ways you were this year. May you all take the opportunity to have great adventures yourselves!
Slainte. Go raibh maith agat!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Is That Your Child...?
So I know I said I would be too busy to post this week, and really I am. However, the Universe thought it would throw me a number of curve balls during the busiest week I've had so far. Now I think I mentioned this is Gathering Of Eagles (GOE) week. I'm on the planning staff and we've had about 11 months of planning this "hall of fame" type event that has on-stage interviews, sponsored meals, distinguished visitors, a commisioned painting and history booklet, blah blah blah. Anyway, it's a lot of work and the whole team is basically doing 16 hour+ days this week. So on Monday, my Eagle (we all have an Eagle-hall of fame inductee-that we sponsor and interview on stage) was flying in with his wife. In the morning, I was tying up loose ends in class and the GOE team was working on logistical things, like picking up 15 rental cars for the Eagles. On the bus to the rental car place, I get a text from my babysitter Alyson that read exactly like this: "Hey Kelly we have water coming from outside looks like something burst so I'm calling maintenancce to come and check"
Breathe deeply. Really, this is how the week's going to start? I start thinking "It's probably the external water hose; it was weak. Maintenance never comes out, but that was a good thought. I don't really have time today to fix this problem. This is why I got married, so that I would never have to deal with this crap." On the bus with me were about 5 guys who are on the GOE team that also live in Fam Camp. They did a rocks-paper-scissors-Trex for who would help me with this, all of them claiming it was "soooo easy to fix". I also texted all the men I know living in Fam Camp who were NOT on that bus with me. None were home. I then called Baird and he walked me through what to tell Alyson to do, like turn the water off. So she did that and after I got the rental car for my Eagle I had some time and ran home. None of those "helpful" men on the bus came with me. I fixed that damn hose myself in the 90+ degrees with 90% humidity cursing both "Lonnie" for being in Kansas and other men for not being more like him and helping me.
Tuesday was awesome. My Eagle, Lt Col Danny Berg, is a great guy and his wife Lorraine is so sweet. We had a great dinner Monday night, and on Tuesday we took Kai on the trolley tour of Montgomery. Kai warmed up to them right away. He also scaled a 12 foot wall before we realized it! We had a huge event at the local baseball stadium and I had time to talk with Pearl Judd, a WASP pilot from WWII; "Bud" Traynor who was the Operation BABYLIFT pilot and saved 170 Vietnamese babies when his C-5 crashed and his awesome wife Pam; Dick Cole, who was Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot for the famous Doolittle raid (he still drinks beer and parties!); and Gen (ret) Ron Fogelman, the 15th Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Yeah, our Eagles are some pretty amazing people! Bob Hoover, the greatest pilot who ever lived (go ahead, Google him!) said to me after posing for a picture, "When God was handing out Goodies, he gave you more than most!" Was I just hit on by a 97 year old man? Yes, yes I was. And enjoyed every minute!
So we finally make it to today, the day of my interview. I was so nervous and so was my Eagle. He was so worried he would swear alot or pass out. I told him I'd go shot for shot of whiskey with him beforehand, but we both agreed that might lead to more swearing. We had a great interview in front of about 400 people. Tonight was also the big BBQ for 1000 people that I was part planner for. We did a great job preparing, so when I showed up with the kids, there was nothing to do but enjoy the food and the static airplanes. We had arranged a C-130 to be there, and it was all opened up for people to climb around in. The kids loved that! Orion like running up aft ramp, Ayla liked swinging from the front stairs, and Kai liked the cockpit. At one point, I was trying to round up the kids and as I was strapping Orion into the stroller, I look up and see Kai ON TOP OF THE AIRPLANE!!
"how the hell did he climb on top of a 2 story airplane"
"OMG he's going to fall and die"
"how did NO ONE see him crawling up the side of an airplane"
"I'm totally getting arrested for this"
"Please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall..."
"Be calm, don't scare him"
"Jesus, REALLY! How did he get up there!"
I run towards the front of the plane, yelling at Kai to get down. I get to the stairs and start to go up into the cockpit area and I see that there is actually a roof hatch and a ladder up to the top of the plane. It was open for people to look out of and so the minute I realized that it was purposeful and I wouldn't go to jail and lose my children, I calmly called Kai down and immediately strapped his ass in the stroller. Good God child, did you really have to give me that kind of heart attack? Now, for those of you wondering what I was doing with a camera instead of watching my kid scale an airplane, this was actually done after the original incident. I let him go back up so I could get a picture. The good news is that all the kids lived through this, I didn't have a heart attack, and we all got to hang out more with my Eagle, who is a critical care air evacuation nurse and helped rescue American hostage, John Solecki, from Pakistan in 2009.
Breathe deeply. Really, this is how the week's going to start? I start thinking "It's probably the external water hose; it was weak. Maintenance never comes out, but that was a good thought. I don't really have time today to fix this problem. This is why I got married, so that I would never have to deal with this crap." On the bus with me were about 5 guys who are on the GOE team that also live in Fam Camp. They did a rocks-paper-scissors-Trex for who would help me with this, all of them claiming it was "soooo easy to fix". I also texted all the men I know living in Fam Camp who were NOT on that bus with me. None were home. I then called Baird and he walked me through what to tell Alyson to do, like turn the water off. So she did that and after I got the rental car for my Eagle I had some time and ran home. None of those "helpful" men on the bus came with me. I fixed that damn hose myself in the 90+ degrees with 90% humidity cursing both "Lonnie" for being in Kansas and other men for not being more like him and helping me.
Tuesday was awesome. My Eagle, Lt Col Danny Berg, is a great guy and his wife Lorraine is so sweet. We had a great dinner Monday night, and on Tuesday we took Kai on the trolley tour of Montgomery. Kai warmed up to them right away. He also scaled a 12 foot wall before we realized it! We had a huge event at the local baseball stadium and I had time to talk with Pearl Judd, a WASP pilot from WWII; "Bud" Traynor who was the Operation BABYLIFT pilot and saved 170 Vietnamese babies when his C-5 crashed and his awesome wife Pam; Dick Cole, who was Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot for the famous Doolittle raid (he still drinks beer and parties!); and Gen (ret) Ron Fogelman, the 15th Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Yeah, our Eagles are some pretty amazing people! Bob Hoover, the greatest pilot who ever lived (go ahead, Google him!) said to me after posing for a picture, "When God was handing out Goodies, he gave you more than most!" Was I just hit on by a 97 year old man? Yes, yes I was. And enjoyed every minute!
 |
| Bob Hoover: my new suitor |
 |
| Holy crap! Kai is where?! |
I about lost my sh*t because in my head all the following thoughts were occuring simultaneously:
"how the hell did he climb on top of a 2 story airplane"
"OMG he's going to fall and die"
"how did NO ONE see him crawling up the side of an airplane"
"I'm totally getting arrested for this"
"Please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall..."
"Be calm, don't scare him"
"Jesus, REALLY! How did he get up there!"
I run towards the front of the plane, yelling at Kai to get down. I get to the stairs and start to go up into the cockpit area and I see that there is actually a roof hatch and a ladder up to the top of the plane. It was open for people to look out of and so the minute I realized that it was purposeful and I wouldn't go to jail and lose my children, I calmly called Kai down and immediately strapped his ass in the stroller. Good God child, did you really have to give me that kind of heart attack? Now, for those of you wondering what I was doing with a camera instead of watching my kid scale an airplane, this was actually done after the original incident. I let him go back up so I could get a picture. The good news is that all the kids lived through this, I didn't have a heart attack, and we all got to hang out more with my Eagle, who is a critical care air evacuation nurse and helped rescue American hostage, John Solecki, from Pakistan in 2009.
 |
| Kai, Ayle, Lt Col Berg, and Lorraine enjoying BBQ |
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Apocalypse soon...
Welcome to June and almost a whole month without "Lonnie". Knock wood: the camper is still intact and I've only been locked out by the kids once, the car is still running and is finally clean, no one has been to the ER, and Kai was only lost in the world's largest aquarium for a mere 10 minutes. All in all, we are winning! This is the last week of Air Command and Staff College and our last week in Alabama. While my classmates are winding down, I am just gearing up for the Gathering of Eagles program (http://www.goefoundation.com). Check out the website, I'm totally on it as a team member! We get to meet and work with famous air power legends, but it's a solid week of 16+ hour days, the culmination of an entire year of work. I've been emotionally wrestling with leaving the kids with babysitters for all the waking hours this week. I finally realized that there have been WAY more things that I've done to them that will require therapy than simply a week without me.
So there won't be any blogs from me this week. I'll catch everyone one up at the end, prior to our graduation next Monday. That's a day I'm really looking forward to, not because I haven't liked it here, but because I am ready to move on to my next challenge as Chief Nurse of the 931st Aerospace Medicine Squadron at McConnell AFB, Kansas. For once, "Lonnie" and I will be stationed together. Yes, military serendipity at its finest. My new reserve position will be a "one weekend a month" type of scenario, but will be guaranteed to take much more time then that. However, I'm not really focused on the new job (although I should be), I'm more concerned on how we are going to get through the next 12 years (length of time before "Lonnie" retires) without losing a home to a tornado. I've researched Dome Homes, Berm Homes, old military silos, and not living in Kansas as all viable options. "Lonnie" continues to point out that our house is in a neighborhood where all the houses are from the 1920's and have basements. My answer is, "well, the every-100-year-killer-twister is most likely going to hit there then. Those houses are tempting fate!!" He was not amused with my statistical prediction. The good news is that we won't be living in our trailer, which pretty much would have ensured we'd be homeless before the end of the year.
The kids are starting to grasp that change is coming, mostly by screaming "we want to go home" while we are sitting in the trailer. Um, we are home. Either they keep transporting through time and are living in another place, or just simply want to live in a house again, I'm not sure. Regardless, I think the confined space is starting to get to them. The traditional sibling fighting, tattling, antagonizing, etc has been in full swing. The role of "Lonnie" is being played by Kai who orders time-outs, and Ayla has been parenting by announcing all the things she does not like about her brothers' behaviors. Orion ignores the other too, thereby filling in the role of kid.
If we survive the week, I'm sure the story will be awesome!
So there won't be any blogs from me this week. I'll catch everyone one up at the end, prior to our graduation next Monday. That's a day I'm really looking forward to, not because I haven't liked it here, but because I am ready to move on to my next challenge as Chief Nurse of the 931st Aerospace Medicine Squadron at McConnell AFB, Kansas. For once, "Lonnie" and I will be stationed together. Yes, military serendipity at its finest. My new reserve position will be a "one weekend a month" type of scenario, but will be guaranteed to take much more time then that. However, I'm not really focused on the new job (although I should be), I'm more concerned on how we are going to get through the next 12 years (length of time before "Lonnie" retires) without losing a home to a tornado. I've researched Dome Homes, Berm Homes, old military silos, and not living in Kansas as all viable options. "Lonnie" continues to point out that our house is in a neighborhood where all the houses are from the 1920's and have basements. My answer is, "well, the every-100-year-killer-twister is most likely going to hit there then. Those houses are tempting fate!!" He was not amused with my statistical prediction. The good news is that we won't be living in our trailer, which pretty much would have ensured we'd be homeless before the end of the year.
The kids are starting to grasp that change is coming, mostly by screaming "we want to go home" while we are sitting in the trailer. Um, we are home. Either they keep transporting through time and are living in another place, or just simply want to live in a house again, I'm not sure. Regardless, I think the confined space is starting to get to them. The traditional sibling fighting, tattling, antagonizing, etc has been in full swing. The role of "Lonnie" is being played by Kai who orders time-outs, and Ayla has been parenting by announcing all the things she does not like about her brothers' behaviors. Orion ignores the other too, thereby filling in the role of kid.
If we survive the week, I'm sure the story will be awesome!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)