The Sergeants Buzz

Averting Meltdown

2012-02-05T04:36:00.000-05:00

I've been back at work two weeks. Michael is always one of the first babies dropped off and almost always the last baby to be picked up. Pumping to keep up with him is a never-ending battle ... Friday he was just dropped off with empty bottles for formula because he had nursed so many times after we got home Thursday night, through the night and into the morning. At his eight-week appointment he had gained nearly four pounds since his previous visit. He now weighs more than thirteen pounds!

The boys' lunch accounts were in the negative. Edward's teacher actually sent me an email offering to look into free or reduced school lunches. If the kid doesn't tell me he's out of lunch money I don't give him lunch money. The warning emails for a low balance are actually set up to go to JG's email. I sent them each in with checks for $100.00. That should get us through February.

Friends came over for dinner tonight. We're going to start a new Star Wars RPG. This will be something fun to look forward to, though it defiantly won't be the same with JG gone.

I started training with a personal trainer last weekend. Tomorrow will be my third session. His name is Shawn. I think if he had hair it would be red. He's wicked Irish. I say that because I learned he's from Maine. Shawn is going to help me get better at my pushups. More to come.

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. Zachary is excited his old favorite team (Patriots) is playing his new favorite team. I'm sure JG is going to make a point to wake up early to watch the game.

My housekeeper, Jackie, has been coming every other week since mid-December. These last two weeks at work have clarified my limitations - I need her every week.

I need a lot of things every week. Mostly sleep. I could really conquer the world if I had some. I can't sleep right now - JG and I are not on the same planet today. I hate when our orbits are out of sync.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T00:52:00.003-05:00

2012 is proving to be full of challenges.

Last week I had an MRI done on my right knee - and it turns our I tore my ACL. The injury happened back in February and I went to physical therapy to treat my sprain. When I stopped progressing they sent me for an MRI, but by then I was pregnant with baby Michael. After reading up on that type of injury, 90% of patients who get surgery to repair it make a full recovery. Let's hope I'm in the majority!

JG completed 10% of his deployment. Communication is much better, thus far, than our last deployment and I'm so thankful for that.

In other news, tomorrow I'm officially a master sergeant.

There are only two days left of winter vacation. YES! The boys really needed some good down time after how hectic things were with moving, Michael being born and their Dad leaving for deployment. But, I need a break now. There are so many projects I wanted to get done during my time off and it seems like time keeps slipping away.

Tomorrow the Christmas tree comes down. Maybe after that I'll take the boys to a movie.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T18:31:00.001-05:00

Zachary, 11; Edward, 7, and Michael, 4 weeks, in front of the Christmas tree in the home we just moved into five weeks ago. Although JG and I have skyped since he deployed about three weeks ago the connection has been unreliable. Imagine my joy when skyped was crystal clear as JG was able to join us Christmas morning when the boys opened their presents! Even better, that night (the following day for JG) he received his first care package from home.

JG is very sneaky. On Christmas Eve he sent Zachary to the basement to bring up the gifts he bought and hid. I know that made him feel good and it made me feel special. :)

For Christmas dinner we hosted folks from the office. We hardly made a dent in the rib eye roast (the boys and I had steak and eggs for breakfast this morning). It was nice to have company - it made the day pass by quicker and I always love to feed people. There was one big lesson learned: a 16 pound roast does NOT take 4.5 hours to cook. Only about half the time! Although it was yummy and juicy I would have liked it more rare.

The boys have another week of winter vacation. They've been really helpful with Michael. Zachary is getting really good at giving him a bottle. Edward is able to feed Michael if the baby is sitting in his car seat or vibrating chair. Michael is already trying to launch himself forward with his feet and he's doing a great job holding his head up. His abs are also becoming more stable. I predict he'll be crawling before JG gets home.

I keep thinking about JG's homecoming. I know it's early for this but I just can't help myself. I miss him so badly.

Milestones Begin

2011-12-24T01:09:00.001-05:00

JG has been gone for 18 days, but it feels like months. Maybe it's because Michael is changing so much it makes the time seem like it's passing faster than it actually is. The boys and I got the Christmas tree up today - but now that they're older they put many of the ornaments on the tree before I have the chance to remissness. It did warm my heart to unwrap and display our bride and groom ornament.

Michael has arrived

2011-12-07T20:24:00.001-05:00

This is Michael Luke Buzanowski. He was born on JG's birthday. This is the camera JG was packing for his deployment. He left yesterday. By the time JG returns home, Baby Michael will be six months old and will no longer fit in a camera bag.

I can't tell you how busy and stressful the last few weeks have been for us. JG was TDY for combat skills training in Wyoming and the day he got back we had new keys for our new home on base. We spend that next week moving and the Saturday following Thanksgiving Michael was induced. A week and three days later I dropped JG off at the airport. His mom, Martha, arrived Thursday and she's staying through the weekend to help out as we get the rest of the house settled.

I'm convinced I can "do this" if I can just get more than an hour of sleep at a time. :)

Abbot's Roll of Honor

2011-11-12T22:22:00.001-05:00

These are photos my father sent from a new Roll of Honor that was added to the veteran's memorial in the center of my home town of Abbot Village, Maine. In this first photo, you can see the main road to the right, which is actually Route 15. Between the guard rail you see and the white pickup truck is the Piscataquis River. The store that vehicles are parked in is called Trafton's. The road that passes directly behind the memorial is actually Monument Road - it makes a sharp corner then runs just about parallel to Route 15. That's the road I grew up on. The monument with the statue has been there ever since my family moved to Maine in the early 1980s. The American flag display and the Roll of Honor are new.

Below is a photo of my grandfather, Joseph A. Auger. I'm not sure when this photo was taken. Although my grandfather lives in Massachusetts he visits my dad in Maine several times a year.

My maiden name is Jennifer Auger. I was deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq, from January - April 2007. During my time there I traveled to Camp Victory and Sather Air Base. I wear one campaign star on my Iraq Campaign Medal. One of the most exciting stories I wrote at the time was about the battle of An Najaf. The name of my unit was the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, namesake of the Tuskegee Airmen lineage. It was at this unit where I met Chief Master Sgt. Rudy Lopez for the first time. He was the chief enlisted manager for the medical group. The most media attention we received at Balad, both American and International, was about the theater hospital. In 2007, the hospital was literally a bunch of tents connected together - but the care our wounded military members (and even Iraqis and the occasional terrorist) was second to none. Fast forward three years later and Chief Lopez is now the command chief master sergeant here at Fairchild AFB, Wash., where JG and I are stationed now. The Air Force gets smaller each and every day!

Here's a photo of the front of the Roll of Honor that begins with honoring veterans from the Civil War.

1 cm

2011-11-10T06:06:00.001-05:00

This is JG's second trip away from home in the last month and the boys decided they need to test me yet again. I had two appointments downtown yesterday afternoon and finally got back to the base just after 3:30 p.m. - I had just enough time to pick Edward up from the youth center and Zachary up from home and bring them to the clinic for their flu shots before they closed at 4. Zachary was really excited - it was the first time he wasn't afraid of getting a shot. Normally, it would be Edward who wouldn't have a problem with shots and would show up his brother. Not yesterday. Edward SCREAMED AND CRIED so loud. I was so embarrassed. It took three of us to hold him down. That set the tone for the evening. Edward was fine through dinner until he wanted seconds on applesauce. I told him to grab it out of the fridge - it was on the top shelf and when he reached up with the arm that got the shot it hurt - and Edward had a meltdown. The evening routine of homework then shower was like pulling teeth. Luckily I was able to talk with JG and he was able to talk to Edward. After his shower he was finally pleasant and we watched two episodes of The Avatar on netflix. Edward was tucked in by 7. He needed the extra sleep. I'm one centimeter dilated and fifty percent effaced. I don't believe the baby will come before JG gets home, but I'm stressed thinking about the possibility. And, if that's not enough, we're only two weekends away from picking up keys to a new home on base. Work wakes me up in the middle of the night - I dry run the next day and go over the to-do list - only to be haunted the next day by what I didn't get done or discovering other responsibilities I own that I have to figure out. I dislike IMMENSELY not being the expert and not having the answers.My Ju-Ju girl, loyal K9 of about 13 years is showing signs of aging. I'm in denial of her graying muzzle - but it's harder to ignore a large lump between her two front legs. I need to get her to vet. Last weekend the dryer died, this weekend the washing machine died. JG earned another gazillion reward zone points at Best Buy. They delivered the set yesterday and I was excited, for once, to do laundry. Except, the water spouts where the washer hoses hook up decided to leak - even shut completely off there's a slow drip. It will be fixed today, hopefully.Time for a nap.

My eyeball hurts

2011-10-26T22:36:00.001-04:00

My left eye is killing me. I saw the optometrist today instead of going to my OB doctor. I was sure my eyeball was rotting out of my head it was hurting so badly. I have a bunch of irritated cells on my cornea and the doc expects it's from a viral cold. The cool drops they give for numbing and antibacterial he didn't prescribe me, you know, being pregnant and all pretty much the only remedies available are Tums and Tylenol. Go letter T!So I'm on quarters until Friday afternoon - the entire left face and head feels like it's been struck by a mallet. I had booked Edward a doctor's appointment for tomorrow, but I may have to cancel if I still can't drive. He has a wart and he's also been complaining of stomach pains. JG is in San Antonio this week as a guest instructor for the Air Force Communicators' Workshop. I'm so jealous. That was my baby in 2009, I was deployed for it in 2010 and I was way too pregnant to travel this year. One of the Airman from our office went as an attendee - I can't wait to hear all about it. I am missing JG. Mainly because he's warmer than I am, but I'm sure he's getting better sleep not being woken up by me going pee every two hours and tossing and turning all night.

No nest to nest

2011-10-23T19:28:00.000-04:00

The baby items are piling up in the baby's room, but nothing has been put away - or put together. We haven't even bought a crib yet. Thanksgiving - the week the baby is due (on JG's birthday) is also the same week JG returns from combat skills training for deployment and the same week we pick up keys to move into senior NCO housing, just a couple blocks from here. So, you can see there's no real sense in "getting ready."

We didn't expect to move homes this year - so in preparation for the baby we moved Edward into Zachary's room where he inherited Zachary's new bedroom furniture from last year. Zachary went downstairs into the basement, in the room Aunt Heather used to stay. He's been sleeping on the trundle, though, in the 'nursery' since we found out about the new house. It's at least 10 degrees colder downstairs all the time.

Last night Zachary forgot to take his nighttime insulin - so today he's been on the higher end of his target blood sugar range. He's come a long way in just two months - he's even giving himself nearly every shot he needs to take. His insulin doses are about half of what they initially were to regulate him.

Angry Birds

2011-10-07T07:22:00.000-04:00

About a month ago, JG and I got new phones. Our first smart phones. I had some growing pains with mine. Who knew if you ran Angry Birds in the background it would completely drain the battery overnight? Angry Birds is actually the only game I've downloaded. I only let the kids play the levels I get stuck on - and they get a kick out of helping me.Halloween is JG's favorite holiday - and to beat the rush we bought the kid's Halloween costumes early. Zachary will be the Joker and Edward will be Bumblebee. I'll be eight months pregnant by the time the last day of the month rolls around. JG showed me a catalog that came in the mail with Angry Birds costumes. I broke down and ordered one yesterday. The boys picked out the black bomb bird.Over the weekend we had four of our girlfriend's children at our house Saturday night. I could not imagine having six children. Ever. JG says that should cure me of talking about having a fourth. HA! It felt really good to return the favor to our friend, Heather, who took our boys for two nights when JG and I were in Virginia a few weeks ago. Our kids play together very well and all of us participated in the American Diabetes Association “Step Out" Walk and then we visited four different farms in Green Bluff. We all brought home apples that were so delicious!I was finally able to get in touch with my film class instructor to make up the work for my online class this summer - I'm writing two final papers to secure a passing grade instead of the current incomplete on my transcript. I really wish I knew what I was missing when it comes to time management - I struggled taking one class, I know there are other people who take multiple classes and are still able to maintain work and family commitments. I am not that talented.

Lost in September

2011-10-07T05:21:00.000-04:00

I thought the older you get the easier life becomes. Life has consistently been proving me wrong - especially as of late. By this time in December I will be getting ready to celebrate Zachary's 11th birthday, I'll be on maternity leave with the baby and JG will be deployed, again, and I'll finally get to have an MRI done on my knee . JG and I are both hot for one-year remote tours and I'm wondering if next year will be the year for one of us.

We have yet to order our wedding photos - there always seem to be a greater need dipping into emergency funds. The latest was the boys' trip to visit two sets of grandparents in New England - we didn't count on me flying home on the heels of the call that Zachary was hospitalized. And, we have yet to celebrate our second anniversary - his mother flew in to watch the boys for us so we could spend a weekend away - but duty in Japan called JG away.

Crazy summer

2011-08-28T23:37:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened since June. We discovered Zachary has Type 1 Diabetes, the baby we're expecting in November will be a boy, and I'm razor close to failing my first real college class. JG also has a deployment this winter and I'll be putting on another stripe and assuming more responsibility at work. Life just seems a bit overwhelming at the moment.

But, to mark recent successes, I bought a gigantic can of crushed tomatoes at Costco and didn't get grief for it. Crushed tomatoes = homemade pasta sauce, usually with beef ribs slow cooked for eight hours. Mmmmm. Zachary moved into the basement, Edward inherited Zachary's new furniture we bought last year along with his old room, and the soon-to-be nursery is coming along. Four sleeper sacks, two gowns, baby over-boots, socks, and hooded towel are the only signs in the house we have a baby on the way.

The "flat daddy" of JG (life-sized poster from waist up mounted on foam board) is leaning up against the nursery wall. JG had this made right before he left for Japan earlier this year. Edward left some of his artwork on the walls for his little brother - though I think he forgot about his hot wheels holder that's mounted to the back of his door.

We toured the hospital where I'm going to deliver. I can't believe in just three short months we're going to have a baby in the house!

College Girl

2011-06-28T01:43:00.000-04:00

I started my FIRST college class this week and had to laugh when a fellow student revealed they felt "behind the power curve" about starting classes so late - he's a decade my junior.

In other news, JG signed for his deployment tasking in December.

Bad Dream

2011-04-28T21:35:00.000-04:00

Last week JG and I went to the OB orientation on Fairchild where we got a list of DO's and DON'Ts. The weird ones that I don't remember from the first two times around were no herbal pills or tea and no deli lunch meat. Those two 'minor' things made me even more paranoid about the Vicodin I started to take just one day prior to being reunited with JG. Then I got even more worried when I realized I could have been pregnant before we even left Colorado Springs - at the height of my Vicodin use.

With all of that weighing on the back of my mind I had a dream last night that we went to my first OB appointment. I was telling the doctor about my concern and the nurse pulled out a model of a fetus in a test tube - the baby was missing its entire right arm and had a chunk missing out of its skull. "This is what you've done to your baby," she said.

I hate bad dreams.

Baby!

2011-04-10T18:31:00.000-04:00

The negative pregnancy test before JG left for Japan made me cry. Why was the world against us? But March 30, with JG on the phone, First Response said positive and the blood test confirmed it. The week has been filled with calling family and friends - not wanting those closest to us finding out on Facebook. The projected due date is Dec. 23. Zachary, whose birthday is the 22nd, said "I don't want to share my birthday!" while laughing. Edward and Zachary say they want a brother. Quite honestly, it would be nice to buy pink for a change. Every baby shower I've attended to welcome a baby girl my gift is clothes for that very reason.

A little Buzzling on the way …

2011-04-10T15:08:00.004-04:00

Jennifer’s pregnant.

Wow.

I honestly didn’t think it would be this much of a shock. After all, we’ve been trying for a while now. And really, the most surprising thing is that we were actually in the same time zone, let alone the same room, for long enough to actually GET pregnant. But hey, there it is …

The current batch of minions is doing really well with it too. Edward bought a book from Barnes and Noble to read to the baby. Zachary is excited about having a new baby brother to take care of. As long as it’s a baby brother. I may have scarred them about having baby sisters. I feel justified in this …

Nevertheless, Jennifer really wants a baby girl. So does her friend Martha, also known as her mother-in-law. Really though, we won’t even find out the gender til later this summer. For my money, that means there’s not a whole lot of preplanning we can do. For Jennifer’s money, however, and apparently, it seems to be all hers, we need to look at cribs, clothes, strollers, swings, walkers, car seats, diapers and diaper genies. What kind of wishes do diaper genies grant?

At the very least, at this premature stage, I’m willing to entertain names. Jennifer, on the other hand, finds my names entertaining. I don’t feel like she’s taking me seriously, as she keeps vetoing all my suggestions:

Boba Fett Buzanowski

Tax Deduction Buzanowski

James Tiberius Buzanowski

Megatron Buzanowski

Darth Bacon Buzanowski (since she also vetoed my wanting a bulldog)

Chun Li Buzanowski

Indiana Jones Buzanowski

Should she break the embryo and have a boy and girl twins, we WILL be naming them Luke and Leia. That sound you hear is me putting my foot down …

We expect her to be due around Dec. 23. Zachary’s birthday is the 22 and he’s decided he will NOT be sharing his birthday. I agree. Even if New Baby Buzz is born on the 25th, at least then they’ll share a birthday with Annie Lennox. Sweet Dreams, indeed …

But we’ve wanted to add to our family for a while now, so we’re both pretty excited about it. I can’t wait to celebrate. Of course, that will have to wait at least another week while I’m in Japan helping with tsunami and earthquake relief. Is it too soon to bring home a katana to hang over the crib?

Whether we have a boy or a girl, though, we’re just thrilled to have another little minion to add to the mix. Now to try and convince Jennifer that Mets Buzanowski is perfectly acceptable name …

Normal, Here I Come!

2011-03-19T22:50:00.000-04:00

JG left for Japan today. A week ago I started a blog post that didn't quite finish that I'll share with you now (see below) then I'll fill you in on how JG's adventure came about.

FROM MARCH 9TH: So I've been home from my adventures in Colorado for 2.5 weeks now. The knee injury was a bad sprain so my time at home has mostly been spent visiting physical therapy, studying for promotion and cooking. Two weekends ago JG, the boys and I visited my grandmother, Ginger, and my Great Aunt Brenda at my Aunt Daphne's house. It was nice to take advantage of visiting East Coast family while they were house sitting.

This summer the boys will be flying to visit family in New England. They are so excited. Since leaving Virginia the boys are now enjoying a traditional school calendar instead of a year-round schedule. So, the grandparents want to take full advantage. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all the free time.

Between now and summer vacation we have guests coming to visit us here. JG's mother is visiting us the first week of April. The boys will be on spring vacation and it's also the week of our second wedding anniversary - so JG and I are planning to have a two-night getaway to celebrate. Martha's birthday is also in the month of March so we'll be able to celebrate the occasion while she's here. JG's best man, Mike, is coming here the first week of July with the twins who are now 15. BBQ, fireworks, camping, hiking maybe some boating - it should be fun.

Zachary, Edward and I dropped JG off at the airport this morning on our way to make Zach's morning appointment at Sylvan Learning Center. Surprisingly I didn't cry. I knew it could be worse - so I was thankful of his destination. JG is in his deployment rotation, so if it wasn't Japan for an unknown amount of time it would surely be another six month tasking for the Middle East.

The big joke, since we're trying to have a baby, is that JG needs to wear some groin protection. The other joke is that JG will come home with superpowers. Neither are funny. I take getting pregnant very seriously - so if JG came back with superpowers from a mutation our third child would be even more of a handful.

I need to pick the boys up from their new karate school - they had a parents' night out that they were excited about attending. They wanted to only attend half of the event so they could stay up for a little bit once we're home. 'Super Mom' out. :)

Mile-High Writer's Club

2011-02-19T09:55:00.001-05:00

So, we’re in the air. During take-off JG and I discussed the incident at ticketing. But, I left off at Macy’s 50% off luggage sale. We bought two new large suitcases with four wheels each. Black, of course. They barely fit in the Prius with all the other luggage. I checked three suitcases on my way down – plus I had the backpack. JG had checked two suitcases and carried on his laptop case. As you can imagine it was a tight fit. We decided we’d repack the luggage at the rental drop off.

We were still about 10 miles or so from the airport when we stopped to get gas. I was bored and pulled out the instruction manual for the car. The futuristic control panel had a fancy display for the ‘hybrid system’ but it wouldn’t really explain where the bars needed to be to show that you were driving ‘eco-groovy.’ I was trying to figure out if we were going to burn too much gas in those last 10 miles and would need to fill up again. For a hybrid we had for four days I was shocked we went through an entire tank of gas.

I discovered we were only using the ‘hybrid’ features if the box above the meter read “ECO” – please note this word never came on between there and the airport. I found out the prius has an 11.9 gallon tank. A few miles into the drive back to the airport I got so annoyed “ECO” didn’t show up on the control panel – if it’s a hybrid how come it isn’t doing it’s eco groovy cheer? So, I thought that if the cruise control were activated it would do it automatically. Upon my insistence, JG tried using cruise control but it was broken.

JG was annoyed I was only interested in the car a few minutes before we turned it in.

So, we get to the rental car place, cleared the car and began the repacking process. It took longer than I thought it was. We ended up leaving two of the old suitcases next to the trash can. We timed it just right to catch the shuttle before it departed. I turned back with a bag in each hand to tell JG that my crutches were on the chair. He didn’t hear me. This comes after me telling him in the car that we could leave them , that if I needed then again they’d give me new ones. I guess JG didn’t hear me because at the airport he asked where they were.

So we get to the airport. There’s a line of ten people. There are at least three electronic check-in terminals open. No one is moving; they are oblivious. I swoop in at the one on the end. JG and the dude behind the counter give me a hard time for cutting. (We ended up getting in line … eyeroll.) The conversation JG and I just had on the plane ended with me saying “I’d rather be rude than stupid.”

His bottom line? “The people in line were waiting to be called. And you cut.”

Granted, they probably were, however, each attendant was working two terminals. It’s not like they were being pro-active in the middle of checking one person’s bags to make sure maximum efficiency was achieved by having the next customer get their boarding pass.

Besides, the next person in line was a gaggle of 10 young people traveling together. The amoeba was ruining it for everyone else.

JG got me a wheelchair. That was fun. I got rammed into the doorway of the elevator, a woman’s bag rammed into my bad leg as she entered the train, and I got felt up by security because JG insisted I ride the chair through security instead of walking the few steps through the scanner.

I’m sure another eventful something will happen before we make it through the front door. Tomorrow morning will be an early morning for us. Zachary has his first tutoring session at sylvan. Edward is getting a free evaluation.

Aunt Heather was nice enough to watch the boys while JG came to Colorado Springs for my graduation. He got in the day after I injured my knee. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The graduation ceremony last night was a killer though, up down-up down-up down without being able to put my leg up. Both times I used the restroom I sat for a few minutes in the power room with my legs up in an ottoman.

JG looked handsome in his mess dress. The last time he wore it was for the wedding. Speaking of, we got a call yesterday from the best man. He and his kids are coming out in July to visit for a week. I’m really looking forward to hanging out with other people who like to camp and hike as much as I do. JG has already warned me we’ll be playing a 24-hour session of a Star Wars role playing game.

There - I think we have it all covered now – the French toast, the Air Force Academy and the Crutches.

French Toast, Academy and Crutches

2011-02-18T22:50:00.001-05:00

"You can start with 'I didn't get sent down the escalator in the wheelchair, but I was real close,'" said JG after he asked what I was chucking about.

About 15 seconds prior I was laughing, "there are just so many ways I can start this blog entry."

This morning we ate breakfast and Gunter Toody's - we split a strawberry smoothie and the French toast and the 'Big Rascal' - ham, bacon, sausage, pancake, eggs and hash browns. Then we went to the Air Force Academy - JG has now seen each of the military service's Academies. He was shocked I had never seen a photo of the chapel. It looked like it was going to transform in an F-22 any second.

After a few minutes admiring the beauty of the stained glass and gorgeous mural inside the chapel, we walked to the ledge that was about 50 feet above, looking over the parade field. More than a dozen flights in formation were waiting for something to happen. JG was ready to head back to the car but curiosity got the better of me. "I want to see what happens."

After the band played the Air Force Song (trivia: the Air Force does not own the Air Force Song, I think we should buy it) a loud horn sounded and all the cadets in flights wearing BDUs (the old-school cammies) and yellow ball caps charged a little hill in the middle of the parade grounds. Then, as they left the ground the other flights, wearing ABUs, were marched towards the band.

Still wearing a leg brace and taking pain meds and really pushing myself, JG had asked a security forces Airman to drive me to our vehicle a few hundred yards away. When JG got into the car he said he had a helped a man in an electric wheelchair up the hill because his batter way dying. This wasn't the first time JG would be pushing a wheelchair today.

We met his friend Tammy for lunch in Denver. We ate at a really good barbecue place. It was fun listening to JG and Tammy talk about the adjustment to being in a relationship with someone who has kids. Tammy is a former lieutenant in the Air Force who worked at the AF Academy after she was force shaped. After we described the excitement on the parade field she said they only "take the hill" five six times a year. (I'd still like to know more about it if anyone would like to leave a comment.)

So then, we went to the nearest Barnes and Noble that was part of an outdoor mall. After we parked in a parking garage we surfaced to a chocolate shop. I got dark chocolate-covered strawberries decorated with white chocolate stripes. JG got the English Toffee covered with dark chocolate and nuts. We spent the next two hours at the bookstore catching up on email from the last few days.

On the way to the airport we passed a gorgeous shopping area - JG wanted to stop and buy a new suitcase as two we had traveled with were on their last legs and there were still a bunch of miscellaneous loose items inside the rental. Lucky for us there was a 50% off luggage sale at Macy's.

Oh ... we're boarding now for Spokane. I'll finish this later ...

A Valentine's Day to Remember

2011-02-15T08:28:00.002-05:00

Yesterday while showering I had my foot propped up on the soap dish to wash my leg and out of the blue the entire soap dish fell into the tub. I should have know then that that omen was going to set the pace for the entire day.

I failed my Unit Manager Test with a 60 - by one question. The practice test I had scored at 78, but still joined two study groups over the weekend. I was bummed. Especially after getting perfect scores on my two writing assignments - bullets and a memo. It felt good giving the 'wood chucks' a run for their money - but the failure "red-lined" me from any academic awards. When I announced I failed to the class they didn't believe me. Shortly after Rick asked if I needed a hug. I said yes, but it actually came from Brett. Matt said he wanted to write a memo that said I didn't deserve to fail. I shook it off. There was a competition later that afternoon that I KNEW we were going to win to turn around the day.

Then we watched a POW documentary - and I'd get a little choked up each time retired Brig. Gen. Risner spoke. A great man who I had the privilege of interviewing way back when I was an Airman First Class.

During the Flight Challenge at the gym our flight made it into the finals ... and we finished first in the relay of crazy exercises - both heats. Between competitions Jen said encouraging words that made me smile. In the second round after running in a circle around a piece of paper I sprinted has hard and as fast as I could and one step before the finish line my right knee bent the not-right way as my right foot struck the ground. Because I was going so fast I had to come down on that same leg one more time to try and stop - then I collapse in pain on the aerobic step pushed up against the wall.

"Are you okay?" said one of the instructors. "No," I said fighting back tears.

So the fire department responded. And wouldn't you know it, the same Airman who debriefed me after the popcorn incident (read previous blog entry) was the one who arrived on scene. Despite a pedicure polish gone bad and an overdue wax job needed on my legs I ended up smirking. "I know you," I said. "You do?" said the Airman who looked 16. "Yep. We met last weekend. I was the one who burnt the popcorn."

They splinted my leg and called the ambulance. I had started shivering before the fire department got there and they made me lay down. First Jen was my pillow, and when she got up to get my backpack from the locker room my instructor Sergeant Bradley replaced her. Ezekiel rode in the front of the ambulance. Both Jen and Manny drove their vehicles behind me on the way to the hospital. Kory called my husband. Joel said if I needed a fireman all I had to do was ask. Everyone stayed until I was wheeled away.

Dan, the paramedic who attended to me in the back, gave me synthetic morphine. It was good stuff - I figured I had better take the pain meds while I could get them - no telling what I'd be sent home with. His fiancée just got a job at Yellowstone National Park so the Colorado Springs native will be leaving the area. "They need paramedics everywhere," I said cheerfully. "You can't have any more of that - it dropped your blood pressure too much."

The x-rays hurt like a son-of-a-gun. And luckily when I was over I got Morphine, Motrin and Vicodin. They even sent me on my with a Vicodin prescription. So, I'll be able to tough out the next few days with my leg brace and crutches. I have lots of experience with crutches. :)

After we were done at the hospital we met most of the rest of the flight at Old Chicago where I built a $22 personal pizza. I wanted olives (all three kinds), mushrooms, spinach, tomato, garlic, broccoli and basil. Only the first three toppings are free. I ate half, then just picked out the veggies. Afterwards I realized what I really wanted was a salad.

I'm starved his morning and took my last dose of meds about ten hours ago - I can't take 'em on an empty stomach. I need to hurry up and get ready for the day. JG flies in to Denver in just a couple hours. His timing couldn't have been more perfect.

The Microwave Hates Me

2011-02-09T00:10:00.001-05:00

As of tonight, there's only nine more days until graduation. But, that's not the important countdown. JG is flying here in seven days. Valentine's Day he's actually testing for promotion, which is what I'll be studying for myself once I'm home while finishing the R&R I was owed after my deployment that I still have left to take.

JG and I skyped most of Super Bowl Sunday - we did some online shopping together at Best Buy and Fredericks. I ate a good breakfast at Cracker Barrel that morning and ate my leftover pancake and some leftover chicken from Friday night as a late lunch. Well, I got hungry and decided to heat a "mini" bag of popcorn in my microwave on the popcorn setting.

About three minutes and thirty seconds later smoke was rolling out of the microwave. I hit stop, opened the window, turned on the fan and opened my door and began fanning air into my room. I took the popcorn out of the microwave and threw it in my trash. I was waiting for the alarm to go off. After about 15 minutes of waiting I believed the coast was clear..I was wrong.

On a side note, I wonder how many blogs will be researched decades from now by historians. Just my facebook status alone from Sunday have painted an accurate picture of my day:

is waiting for an open washing machine.
Sunday at 1:23pm (PST)

just went online shopping with JG via skype. :)
Sunday at 4:58pm

wow - my FB friends tore UP the half time show and then spewed it all over their walls. Napkins?
Sunday at 6:11pm

**Insert text message from JG "you okay?" as the skype session abruptly ended**

had a lovely visit with the fire fighters and security forces. 15 minutes before the excitement I sent an email with the sarcastic remark "I just burnt a mini bag of popcorn waiting for the fire alarm to go off." I have the power of jinx.
Sunday at 9:27pm

BINGO Bonus!
Jennifer scored a BINGO in SCRABBLE with the word NEITHER worth 71 points!
BINGO is a play in which you use all 7 tiles in the rack. A bonus of 50 extra points is added to your score.
Sunday at 10:24pm via SCRABBLE

At least the game was over before the alarm went off. And, you can see, my day ended on a high note because I very rarely get bingos during Scrabble.

State of the Union

2011-01-26T00:12:00.003-05:00

While I was in Kyrgyzstan I rarely followed, or cared, about American politics. JG and I have very different political views. I'm a registered Republican, he's a registered Democrat. (Though he'll argue that I'm actually a Libertarian.) We rarely talk about politics, but we did tonight.

I listened unbiased and, overall, I thought the State of the Union address was well done. I was most impressed with his reiterating of parents' responsibility for their children's education and how we need to foster more respect for teachers. Likewise, when it comes time to visit family on the East Coast, how much more appealing would travel by high-speed rail be? America is most innovative when it's driven by incentive. When the stakes are most high, Americans have dug deep and pulled off the seemingly impossible. The sentiment of his speech was well-timed and I hope fostered renewed commitment for compromise across the aisle. Also, I absolutely loved how the President publicly called out educational institutions who have continued to ban ROTC programs and military recruiters after reiterating his promise of the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' Also, his salmon joke expressing how there are too many government agencies involved in similar missions was pretty clever. (One when it's in fresh water, another when it's in the ocean, and yet another after it's smoked.)

Now the ugly. His analogy -- an overloaded plane flying without an engine that will eventually crash -- used to illustrate how useless slashing a budget is if the wrong spending cuts are made, was very hard to swallow. Any time I visualize a plane crash, in any context, I see the second plane hitting the Twin Towers live. Fair? Probably not, but I'm sure I'm not the only American who feels this way. Additionally, the President went out of his way talking about budget cuts to point out the Department of Defense would not be immune to fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, the President did this without clarifying our Nation's security will not be jeopardized. This comes just days after learning China most likely developed its most capable fighter with U.S. stealth technology - one piece of F-117 scrap at a time from the fields of Balkan farmers in 1999. Then later the President said the military needed to have the best possible equipment to do its mission ... begs the question: Is that possible if our budget is cut too?

All the talk about future and budget has made me wonder if we're doing everything possible to maximize our family's wealth by spending and saving wisely. Last year, I would have felt funny using the word 'wealth,' but after six months as a guest in Kyrgyzstan I can argue that the poorest of Americans are wealthy in comparison.

33 Down

2011-01-24T00:05:00.003-05:00

All day long the birthday wishes on my Facebook page kept flooding in. Childhood friends, family, colleagues, new friends, it made me feel very special. The other sergeants in my flight made it a point to tell wait staff at restaurants it was my birthday all weekend long. I even have a souvenir hat decorated with fancy letters drawn in crayon and lipstick kisses from this morning's breakfast. I have to say it was the first time I've ever seen waitresses command the attention of the entire restaurant to turn and look as I did the twist. "Are you serious?" I asked as they told me I needed to do it. "Yes, we made you a hat." The hat said: 'Happy Birthday Jennifer, 21 all over again, I shook my booty at Gunther Toody's.'

Edward and Zachary sang 'Happy Birthday' to me on the phone. It made me miss them even more. My beautiful flower arrangement JG sent me got even more breathtaking as the flowers started to open up. The Facebook status from Saturday morning: "woke up to the beautiful flowers J.G. Buzanowski sent yesterday. Daffodils, my favorite flower because it reminds me of home - we used to have them growing around the house; tulips, one of the featured flowers at our wedding; and eucalyptus, it reminded me of one family vacation when we got eucalyptus oil to help steam out Zach's congestion. Peach lilies and roses - just gorgeous! Thank you, Darling!"

I'm in disbelief I am 33. Mainly because I feel strongly about wanting to get pregnant before age 35. With JG's upcoming deployment I feel like we're in a "now or never" situation. I was actually a little disappointed I didn't find out I was pregnant while being here for a course in Colorado Springs. JG says if I get pregnant in February the baby would likely be born in October - then all five of us would have birthdays one month after another beginning with Edward's in September.

After dinner tonight we stopped at Walgreens. I was thankful. My head cold from last week re-attacked today. Mucinex D was added to my regiment of Zicam and Day/Night Quils. I even bought NeilMed sinus rinse on the recommendation of a classmate. I think I did it wrong, tho. It seemed more of the liquid was coming out the back of my throat instead of out the other nostril. Gross, eh?

As long as I'm better before JG flies down. I'm so excited! Not only is he coming for my graduation night, he's flying in two days early! We'll even be flying home on the same flight!

Weekends

2011-01-17T10:13:00.000-05:00

When I was deployed, I couldn't even imagine what having a two-day weekend was like. What would I do with all that extra time? I had one weekend at home before I left the following weekend for NCO Academy at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

After trying to get settled back into my kitchen my first weekend home I reported to work Jan. 3 to get the rest of my return-from-deployment checklist done. That's when I found out I'd be leaving for the Academy in six days. In that time we managed to fit in getting new brakes on the truck, two trips to military clothing sales, a trip to the tailor, two nights at an indoor water park with adjoining arcade, the best spaghetti sauce I ever made, a hearty chili made with roast, a board game night and a visit with my Aunt Daphne & family.

During that week I met three awesome NCOs. The newly-promoted staff sergeant in our finance office who helped me with my return travel voucher who knows everything there is to know about military travel, pay and benefits; the technical sergeant photographer who just returned from a one-year remote deployment to Afghanistan who you can tell cares about the job and the people he works with including me and I had only known the gentleman for five minutes; and the staff sergeant serving as the command chief's aide who made it possible for another chief on base to give us our NCO Academy pre-pep-talk Jan. 3 as to not interfere with our family's planned mini-vacation.

There are, I think, nine other NCOs from Fairchild AFB here in Colorado Springs. I've met more Fairchild members here and on my deployment combined versus actual people at Fairchild. Crazy, huh?

I'm still adjusting to the time change which is making afternoons difficult to stay awake so I usually drink coffee all day - but I'm dehydrated, I can tell. We're also at a high elevation here and the instructors have been warning us about how we'll feel it when we exercise this week at PT.

Attending the Academy right away is really the best thing for my family and my office. I couldn't imagine being settled and in the grove for two months then come here in March like I was originally scheduled - disrupting whatever routines and responsibilities I would have adjusted to and/or taken over.

The only real disappointment with timing was that the second-row concert tickets I bought JG for his birthday to see Sarah McLachlan the first week of February I'll miss and JG says he doesn't want to go without me. I'm trying to convince him otherwise - we'll see what happens.

JG is planning to fly down to my NCO Academy graduation. I can't wait to see him again. Although we've been spending a lot of quality time on skype this weekend, it's just not the same as actually being there.

As far as the Academy goes I figured I could just blend right in and be under the radar for the next six weeks as I readjusted to being back in the U.S. Well, first day of class they made me the "flight commander" of our 14-person flight based on my date of rank - Dec. 1, 2006. I was very surprised they didn't give the yellow rope to people with line numbers for higher rank of master sergeant.

This weekend was busy - mostly catching up on rest and fun. Friday night I went out with some flight members - Chipotle, Green Hornet and out for drinks; Saturday was the headache reminding me I had too much; Sunday was Panera, waxing, nails and a haircut to ensure my hair fits properly under my flight cap for Tuesday's inspection. And, today, I'm getting my uniform ready and completing two writing assignments.

I plan to take a week of leave when I get home to study for promotion and then again when JG's mom flies out the first week of April. JG and I will be able to do an overnight trip somewhere to celebrate our anniversary. I can't wait! That's probably the best thing about being at the Academy now is that we are assured spending that special day together.

Cookie Sheet

2011-01-03T07:45:00.001-05:00

I've been home six days. The longer I'm home, the longer I feel I've been gone. The last few days have been trying. The boys have been wonderful - and other than having to raise my voice only a couple times transitioning with them has been easy. JG and I are fumbling through the motions. Right now, I know he's upset with me because there wasn't any cuddling before bed.

We had Sunday breakfast at Frank's Diner. The boys were really excited to take me and the food was amazing. We sat at the bar and we watched all the food being cooked. Everything was delicious. Nothing could have been cooked better than what it was. We all had a great time.

Then we went to the commissary where I used great restraint - pardoning the produce aisle. I was rushing as quick as I could, knowing JG wanted to get home to the Giants game. Sometimes being and aisle or two ahead of the cart. I kept brushing off the annoyance of not having a place to put my picks, and we were finally at the end of the aisles. A baby whole turkey into the basket, then I trod down the outside meat row and JG disappears. The kids had been sent in time out at the front of the store while we finished up and for ten minutes I was holding three packs of meat pacing butcher's row looking up the aisles for a glimpse of JG.

When we finally joined again I lost it, in the line, in the checkout, in the truck, in my kitchen. We were discussing what went wrong and why at the commissary in the middle of me cleaning out and washing the inside of the fridge and washing the fruits and veggies we just purchased. I had thick cuts of blade steak to marinade for dinner and I couldn't find my cookie sheet. This wasn't just any cookie sheet. Practically, this is *the* cookie sheet in my kitchen. Restaurant quality. About a quarter of an inch thick with a one-inch lip ... steel. I got it from my girlfriend, Cheryl, who at the time had teenage sons, told me that I had to burp Zachary when he was a baby. Not one baby class I went to as a mom to be said I had to burb the baby. Well, it's missing. I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed to the point that JG took me to Williams Sonoma to buy a new cookie sheet. A wok, a wok utensil, a cutting board and mineral oil later I came home and made Yakisoba - the sauce from stratch. It was yum, tho, I've never had Yakisoba so i don't know how close it is to the real thing. In the store, JG asked me if the cookie sheet missing bothered me so much because it had sentimental value and I said yes.

Me blowing up like TNT about missing each other at the commissary really upset JG. I don't blame him. Despite being upset with me he was wonderful to dropped his game and show me the understanding and kindness to replace a kitchen necessity for me even though I had harped on all the negative things about the commissary shopping trip. JG said he'd be 'over it' in the morning. I hope so. I'd like to make it up to him.

I'm home!

2011-01-01T01:53:00.000-05:00

It's before 5 a.m. of day three at home. JG is on his way to take Mike (the broadcaster) to the airport and Nate (the photographer) is still stuck in Kyrgyzstan. The white and red roses JG handed me after our first December kiss are showing the signs of being in a vase on my kitchen counter. It's only five hours to the new year in Bishkek. Luckily the time change means procrastination and I have all day to figure out what I want to cook for dinner tonight. I got the initial cooking itch out my first day home, but we'll get back to that.

First, I love American internet. This morning I just took Facebook Scrabble turns. Outside the U.S. or Canada you're not allowed - now I can appreciate the copyright issues having previous experience as a trademark and licensing special for the Air Force (JG brought me the Gillette razor to show me the end result of all the negotiations I had with their company and gave Edward an Air Force monster truck for Christmas.)

I love Scrabble. One of the things I was really excited about doing before I left Manas was helping my friend Karly break in the Chapel's new Scrabble board. And, JG got me a scrabble shirt for Christmas. It's very clever because there's no "Scrabble" anywhere, just the alphabet with their point value for the game. "Z-10" looked funny in print and for a minute I doubted that was the value of the letter. I was corrected.

So, if you have Scrabble games in the works on Facebook they fortiet you after 60 days of non-play. But, Heather started a Scrabble game while I was gone and you can't forfiet a game you don't start so I had one Scrabble turn on Facebook waiting for me - a four-way game with her, JG and my mother-in-law.

If I haven't mentioned it yet, JG had a patch made on his last deployment to look like a Scrabble tile and had it sewn on the microfiber towel to cover an Army trademark. (No Air Force license at that time.) It was a "J" to represent the first letter of our names - 8 points if you were wondering.

I had debated on whether or not I wanted to take a shower before I left Kyrgyzstan. I knew the KC-135 would be cold (story coming on that too, wait for it) but at the same time I didn't want to look like an unprofessional dirt bag so I did shower the morning we left - it was a Tuesday. I was careful not to put the towel in my bag - I just folded it and put it in the pouch and carried it separately to the truck. The morning we left.

Nate was nice enough to bring Mike and I to 'Ops Town' at 0500 and when we pulled up to the operations group building I realized I dropped my towel when I got into the truck. By this time I had already a lump in my throat at the thought of saying goodbye to Nate. The night before I had to say goodbye to Karly - I cried when I hugged her, I cried on the walk to Shooters (a recreation center at the Transit Center) and tears were still streaming down my face as Super Troopers played. I told Nate this on the way back to Ops Town and he said not to worry because I won't be crying when I said goodbye to him. I said that I had a lump in my throat all morning, he protested and I said "don't fuck with me" as the tears started.

Nate and I butted heads a couple times on the deployment - despite that we became really good friends. So, you can understand me saying "I hate you" while crying giving him a hug goodbye conveyed more than any other phrase. If I had to fight my way out of a dark alley Nate would be a close-second to Batman if I got to pick backup.

So - Mike and I end up on the KC-135 with more than a dozen other folks wanting to get home. For some their final destination was RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall where the aircrew would take their crew rest for the night before flying into Fairchild Air Force Base. What we didn't know was that Spokane was going to receive nine more inches of snow while we were crew resting. Mike was expecting to fly out the next day - getting back to his family before his originally-scheduled flight leaving Manas. Since we had offered to bring him to the airport we just had him crash at the house - Heather was kind enough to give up her bedroom downstairs and spend the night at a friends.

The kids had wanted to wait to have Christmas when I got home. My first obstacle was getting through the inprocessing line with the maintainers who flew home. While waiting to get my blood drawn I sent JG, the boys, Heather and Mike home until I was finished - which only ended up being ten minutes after they left. As antsy as I was I decided to start walking home. I almost slipped and fell a few times and I waved off three motorists who stopped to ask if I needed a ride. The plow trucks hadn't caught up with the new snowfall. JG asked me if I was crazy for walking home. We parked for a few minutes and I got my second December kiss. The roads were horrible and thankful to be done with the mile drive. Then Mike realizes he left a bag behind so JG ended up making three trips to the deployment reception center. After we had our family Christmas with a special guest photographer Heather left to give Mike space to decompress. I cooked mashed potatoes and roasted chicken with carrots and gravy - and became increasingly frustrated with how the kitchen morphed into a place that I couldn't find anything in. The same reality followed me when making bacon, omelets and blueberry pancakes the next day.

We got Mike off to the airport without incident. I gave him a quick, teary hug at the truck and was thankful Edward distracted me from further tears while I tried to help him find a toy lost in the back seat. Then Zach and JG come back out to the curb .... with Mike's luggage. His flight was postponed until 0600 the next day. I felt so badly for his family who was counting on him being home in less than 12 hours and it was heartbreaking listening to Mike break the news as we fought our way out of the airport craziness. Defeated, we went to have hot chocolate at Starbucks then visited Walmart and later met Heather and the Airman JG supervises and her Mom for dinner then went back to our house to play Apples to Apples. JG made mojitos and white Russians. I had three and right after Heather and the ladies left I crashed for the night. The next morning JG took Mike to the airport at 0430 - and a second goodbye hug proved easier than the first. If I had known this I would have said goodbye to Karly and Nate on two occasions before actually leaving.

As I've written the blog this morning I made baked spaghetti for breakfast and declared needing a break from my missed hobby. JG treated me to lunch today at Red Lobster. Cheddar biscuits rock. And, I'm continuing the theme of eating seafood and fish that I've lacked eating the last six months. At Rusty Moose last night i had seared ahi tuna salad and today for lunch i had lobster bisque, lobster stuffed mushrooms and salmon, steak and shrimp. I watched over-cooked lobster tails being served every Sunday and had refrained so today was a victory in having perfectly cooked lobster meat. Also, I haven't had fresh mushrooms in six months either - not even the pizza hut on manas served fresh mushrooms. So, lots of boxes checked.

We returned a camera lens, picked up comic book boxes and visited a 'First Night' Spokane festival on the way home. The kids walked away with cardboard dinosaurs, some paper rodent on a skate board and a festive hat from the crafting stations. I was nodding off in the truck on the way home and went to bed right away - like before 6 p.m. with JG laying next to me reading comics. We both woke up to a Happy New Year text from his sister Julie who lives on the East Coast and realized the kids were still awake and we needed to get them settled. About an hour left to the new year in our time zone. I'll be able to make it now. Maybe I'll even get 'lucky.'

Taco Tuesday

2010-11-09T09:01:00.000-05:00

There's only six Taco Tuesdays for the PB&J (photographer, broadcaster & journalist) team left here. To do Taco Tuesday right you really have to eat at the main dining facility ((ahem, you're welcome, April) or the DFAC) here known as Ala' Too. Yeah, you can get a touch of Mexican with some enchiladas or a burrito at the two smaller DFACs, but you miss out on heaping piles of shells or tortillas, ground meat or shredded chicken filling and the fixins bar of grated cheese, shredded lettuce, salsa, sometimes guacamole, and fresh whole chopped tomatoes.

On Taco Tuesdays I eat taco salad which means my plate is at least half tomatoes. Today, no chopped tomatoes, but no worries - I'll grab some tomato slices from the sandwich bar. No such luck. I love black olives almost as much as tomatoes so I'll over-compensate on those. No such luck. Just before I was about ready to give up on enjoying lunch, my eyes became glued to snow-white heaven. ***Sour cream.****

Sour cream for me is the equivalent of what BBQ sauce is to JG. It's the foundation of some of the tastiest dips, the key ingredient for a rich Stroganoff, an essential component to most cheesecakes and probably the only condiment I could literally eat by the spoonful. (No, peanut butter is not a condiment, it's a category all its own.)

I enjoyed a 'little' dab on my salad. I was then pleasantly surprised to see it at the Colonel Mac's DFAC to accompany my enchiladas at dinner complete with sliced (then Jenny-Chopped) tomatoes and black olives. Best Taco Tuesday EVER!

Zapped

2010-11-05T23:27:00.006-04:00

You'd think that growing up on a small family farm with an electric fence I'd have been more prepared for the jolt I got late Monday night. I was determined to change my sheets and make my bed with the laptop on the bed, just moving it to the opposite corner I was working on. When I got settled in my new favorite flannel sheets (thank you, Martha) I noticed the battery wasn't full on my laptop.

The power source was secure in the computer - so I knew that the plug (connected to a 220 adaptor piece) had to be pushed more securely into the wall. Standing in my right foot to do this I heard a loud pop, saw a big white spark and instantly felt pain in my right hand and foot.

I'm still feeling bouts of tingles and random sharp pains, tho not nearly as bad as earlier in the week. I've had two EKGs and somehow I got dehydrated enough to suffer a bladder infection. I slept for nearly three solid days. Electric shock isn't widely written about unless addressing symptoms and care for instances severe enough to cause entry and exit wounds. If you google it, you get mostly electric shock 'therapy' (insert extreme sarcasm based on this experience) and - on the accidental extreme - how victims are at risk for cardiac arrest, muscle deterioration and burns.

So, our team has about five weeks left before our office starts rotating the staff. Two of the public affairs folks coming in have each had a prior deployment here both within the last three years. For another it will be her first deployment. The other gentleman is no stranger to working in a host nation environment serving in Air Force News detachments.

There's more that I want to accomplish here than I have time for. Our event calendar is hectic between now and when the new superintendent arrives at the beginning of December. I hope the next few weeks go by fast.

Halloween Three (Not the Movie)

2010-11-01T09:44:00.000-04:00

It's been about two months since I've blogged - spookey, huh?

Halloween is my least favorite holiday. As kids my sister and I would have to be driven the mile or so between houses to trick-or-treat. Rural trick or treating is probably one of the best kept secrets of the country. Most folks in the town of Abbot, Maine, were lucky to get three or four trick or treaters total so homeowners would make elaborate Halloween goodie bags - none of the city "take one piece" nonsense at the hoards of ghosts, princesses and movie of the year characters with the occassional ATV-sized cadillac stroller mixed in. Anyway, most years we were too poor to get proper costumes so we'd decorate paper bags and cut out two eye holes. Well, that childhood memory didn't really bother me too badly until as a teenager I heard crude boys make comments about how some girls would have smoking hot bodies but an ugly face - and you know the saying "put a paper bag over her head." My dreaded nickname in school was also Ogre (thanks to a 'tool' of a maiden name) so that didn't help matters any.

Flash forward a few decades and this year Edward was Darth Vader and Zachary was Darth Maul. JG was Indiana Jones (insert word "sexy") he was equipped with a bull whip we bought during our road trip adventure in April when we stopped in Mark Twain's home town of Hannnibal, Missouri earlier this year.

JG is much better at Halloween than I am. Last year I was Marge Simpson. (Oddly enough it was timed the same week as her debut on an adult magazine cover.) Green dress, pearls and blue-colored hairspray and so much cement-like gel and only one person looked at me. Edward was a samauri and Zachary was a .... drawing a blank .... Scream? Something cloaky with a mask, I know that for sure.

Three Halloweens ago was the only 31st of October the four of us have spent together - it was also a month before JG and I were engaged. The kids were being such 'demons' we outright cancelled trick-or-treating. This was the night that the main water pressure valve in the house burst causing water damage to both bathrooms and the boys' bedroom. I couldn't even imagine what the damage would have been if we had been out trick-or-treating that night.

Yesterday when JG and I were skyping, he made the comment that Halloween was his favorite holiday but he didn't care much to celebrate. This deployment has been by far much more difficult for the both of this compared to his deployment last year. The only thing I've been good at is taking out my frustration, disappointment and anger out on him - something I'm not proud of.

Black Thumb

2010-08-28T05:20:00.000-04:00

So, the strawberry plants I've been writing about have died. No one watered them the week of the airshow.

Pete's Place

2010-08-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

***** It's Tuesday. Nine days after I wrote the bit below. I will be working on my follow through. *****

I'm sitting on the boardwalk at Pete's Place. This is the social hub of the Transit Center at Manas - for both service members stationed here and those traveling into or coming home from Afghanistan. It's a mellow night being a Sunday, and I'm doing the thing I detest the most: taking up an entire table to use my laptop while being anti-social. Supposedly Nate and Mike will be swinging by so we can have our beer. We're allowed two daily here - one of the deployment perks here in Kyrgyzstan.

It's named Pete's place in honor of Peter J. Ganci, Jr., a firefighter who died in the WTC attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Three months later the Transit Center opened to support Coalition Forces and Americans on their way to Afghanistan - then it was named Ganci Air Base and shortly after that it was named Manas Air Base and now we're the Transit Center at Manas.

I'm looking at the outside mural of Peter Ganci with the WTC towers engulfed in flames and smoke. I've seen this same image on posters in many work centers here with the words "That's Why." I want one.

Jam

2010-07-08T11:50:00.002-04:00

Just about every time I write or talk to the boys I ask about the strawberry plants - I was so thrilled to see JG posted a picture. The day I planted the 15 plants (yes, it really holds 15) the boys and JG were having a nerf gun war in the back yard.

Since I've been here, strawberry jam has become my comfort food. Partly because in the two weeks I was at Fort Dix I only got strawberry jam on three occassions. Partly because it's my favorite. And, partly because I have fond memories of going strawberry picking with my family as a kid, then watching my parents make homemade strawberry jam. Here, the only other jelly they have is grape. I know I've elevated the status of jam to "food" but trust me when I say sometime the only thing that looks good to eat is a make-it-yourself PB&J.

Tonight I had barbeque chicken. It was pretty good. Almost ready to declare bbq sauce a food too.

So I've been sending cards home to JG and the boys. They have yet to actually receive one from me here in Kyrgystan. We were told mail takes an average of 2-4 weeks to travel back and forth to the states. I'm just trying to picture being home for a month and still receiving mail from here. I'm running really low on stationary. I actually used my last two cards for the boys then dove into a stack of blank cards with limes on the front. The only sets the base exchange here sells are U.S. Air Force stationary. No thank you. I prefer pink and sparkles and flowers and cute swirls.

In my last post I said that JG would be flying in a KC-135 above Spokane taking photos of the 4th of July fireworks. Nope. The first aircraft broke. The second aircraft broke too. Can you imagine this happening when it really counts? Some of the tankers here at Transit Center at Manas are actually from Fairchild AFB. Day in and day out those work horses of the 1950s are refueling everything that flies above Afghanistan. The Air Force has some amazing maintainers. I'd put any one of them up against a mechanic making a fleet of cars last for 50 years, being driven as hard and as often our our tankers fly.

Hey, it works ...

2010-07-08T09:28:00.001-04:00

So this is one of our projects while Jennifer is away:

I was told there would be no math ...

2010-07-06T22:44:00.004-04:00

Things just aren't adding up. When I sit down and go over everything I have to do in a day, I'm frustrated there aren't 30 hours in a day. That's about what I need. Of course, that doesn't include requisite video game time, so that will have to be factored in somehow ...

But that's the issue. I can't get everything factored in. I never was any good at math ...

With Jennifer gone, it's not just a drain on us at home, it means one fewer people at work. Which means more to do there with her gone. So after a long day doing the work I have, the work she would have and the work that our soon-to-be-deployed lieutenant has, I'm just drained. I'm convinced Jennifer cloned herself last year and is just hiding them from me ...

So at least to help become a better parent ('cause hell, I'm still new at this (does that feeling EVER go away?)) I attended a parenting class on base. Some folks from the Love and Logic Institute came out last month and gave a few talks that I got a lot out of. Basically it involves making kids more responsible for their own decisions by being assertive about your own. I found that by using their methods, I haven't yelled at them at all. Who knew making your voice lower has just as much impact, if not more ...

So I'm ordering the books for Jennifer and me. Last year, we read a lot of relationship books to become better spouses to each other; this year we're gonna focus on parenting. For that matter, next year might be focusing on parenting too as Jennifer and I are talking about having a baby. Which shouldn't be a big deal, right? I mean, how hard can one baby be? But then again, with Jennifer's penchant for breaking things, what if she splits the embryo and there are twice as many of them? The number of dirty diapers doubles, the number of hungry kids in the house screaming for food doubles and the amount of time there is for video games gets halved. Again, with the math ...

Independence ..... Day

2010-07-04T11:31:00.000-04:00

Today was the 4th of July. The wing commander invited local mayors from the surrounding villages out for our festivities and we even invited local Kyrgyz media out as well. I love escorting media - but it was strange having such a back seat with the language barrier. Working with us is a woman named Aigul who isn't only a translator and continuity for the public affairs office that changes its team ever six months, but she is a great communicator and is keen on getting the media what they need. All in all it was a successful day for our team. It was actually the only event we've covered that I wasn't attached at the hip to our photographer and videographer. I spend most of my day transporting media back to the visitor's center when they were ready to leave, hunting down transient soldiers willing to be interviewed by "foriegn" media and just being hospitable. We ate burgers today - my first one in country and my first bag of chips.

Two years ago JG and I spent our first and only Fourth together in New England. We had only been dating for 90 days, exactly, (the same number of days the standard Air Force deployment used to be in the 1990s, but I digress). Our families knew we were pretty serious - we had our first family vacation in May at the home of my now mother-in-law. I'm just excited and looking forward to our first Fourth of July as a married couple. Last year I tried to take the kids to the Air Force Memorial to watch fireworks, but we were walking up as the show was ending. In about twelve hours, JG will fly in a KC-135 during Spokane's celebration while the boys stay with another family we are all friends with. Maybe next year we'll all be together for the holiday.

Waxed

2010-07-02T12:06:00.001-04:00

Breakfast is definately my biggest meal per day. Omelet, biscuit, fresh fruit, yogurt and bacon. I can eat this for six months and not get sick of it. I'm usuallly at work an hour or so before I get breakfast and carry it back to the office in styrofoam. This has now become routine. I have very little other routine right now other then trying to catch JG and the boys when I wake up and when I got to bed.

I finally got waxed today at the little beauty salon here. The woman who waxed me did a better job than then my last two visits at a spa in Spokane. The pedicure was good considering they had to make do with an office chair and a bucket of water. I can see why people make day trips to the Hyatt downtown for their spa. The salon here is definately good for routine maintenance, but to really indulge I'll have to go downtown.

I haven't really found my groove at work yet. I attribute this to being tired. So, I'm going to call it a night while it's a reasonable 9 p.m. bedtime.

Day 10

2010-06-30T13:13:00.000-04:00

I celebrated the end of Day 10 with a beer. A local beer that I cannot pronounce let alone spell. It has a big #9 on the front of the bottle and it's 8% alcohol. Although it's 11 p.m. here and my body is just exhausted I cannot for the life of me get to sleep. I should have had two beers.

I was able to break way from the office this morning to go to my dorm room to skype with JG. It was only Tuesday for him but a trying week in the office. I left the conversation feeling needed and wanted and appreciated just by being there for him and listening.

13 Hours

2010-06-26T15:38:00.001-04:00

It's 1 a.m. here and I think I just screwed up my body getting used to the time change, but it was well worth it. JG and I finally got to talk for more than 10 minutes. My first week here in Kyrgyzstan has been a disappointment to us both - neither one of us feels as if our relationship/communication needs are being met. And I can't tell you how much that hurts.

His issues: trying to establish a routine with the kids while feeling I'm not respecting his time constraints at home and during the duty day, feeling anger and sadness that my first phone call home didn't come until day four and feeling burdened when I ask him to take care of something back home in every instance of communication.

Both of us were miserable this week. My feelings were also hurt, I felt like I had been wronged. When we finally talked today I was of harsh words and harsh tones. Eventually we were able to have a decent conversation. Something the both of us needed.

It was a late night for me and I realized that I had been keeping up my roommate. I feel like the worst roommate in the world right now. Partly because I forgot her name (I did warn her this would happen), partly because when we talk I have the air conditioner right in my ear and she has a really soft voice and I feel embarrassed to ask her to speak up, partly because I've not made my bed the last few days and my stuff has been scattered on the floor, and partly because I should have thought to bring my laptop to work and have the conversation with JG in my empty office.

She's also a wife, she's also a mom and she's a fellow NCO. At one point she got up out of bed and just left during my conversation with JG. About an hour or so later, when JG and I were finished I had turned out the light and started this blog entry. She popped back in to grab her PT jacket and I said "I'm so sorry about that, I didn't mean to keep you up." With the air conditioner and her trying to be considerate by not turing back on the light (not able to lip read) I caught: "no no no ..... it's okay ..... sometimes my husband and I ......." and the only thing I could think to say was "thank you."

Goats Wanted

2010-06-24T08:26:00.000-04:00

The Bishkek International Airport and the Transit Center at Manas share a runway. And, long story short, there's birds who thrive on the insects growing in the hodge podge of weeds and some resemblence of grass. As a guest in another country we can't do more than suggest these flightline areas are mowed more often. My solution? Rig an electric fence and stick a couple goats out to pasture. They'll eat anything and in no time the birds will fly off to better pastures.

Heavy Eyes

2010-06-22T07:58:00.000-04:00

This is me. Tired. Let's see if I can sleep tonight.

Jennifer's Day One

2010-06-21T13:42:00.001-04:00

June 30th last year "The Sergeants Buzz" started with a quick into on Day One of JG's deployment to Southwest Asia. We're 10 days shy of that anniversary and I've reached my own Day One here at the Manas Transit Center, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Yes, that is my electric blanket wrapped around me! I have one roommate - a great change from the dozen I had for the combat skills training at Fort Dix. And because we're in a building our latrine and showers are co-located with us. Even better, I have wifi in my room :)

It was great to finally meet my sponsor in person - we've been Facebook friends for months now, but it's so great to put a face with the name. I did some reading about the country on the way over and was surprised to learn that more than 75% of the country is literally frozen underneath permanent snow and glaciers. The country is relatively small - about the size of South Dakota. And livestock outnumber people 3:1. Now that I'm here, I'm anxious to become aquainted with the headlines more in-depth.

On a lighter note, the rest of the trip from Norfolk to here went smooth. Our entire office came out to greet us after our flight landed. They had already got our dorm rooms assigned and had keys-in-hand for us. The Major told us to get some rest and not worry about reporting for duty until 10 a.m.

Back from the brink; hiatus is over ...

2010-06-20T22:10:00.004-04:00

What a difference six months make. I took a hiatus from blogging and Jennifer has done an amazing job of telling our stories the whole time. She entreated me to contribute on a variety of topics, but we've had so much going on. "That's the point," she put so delicately. And what can I say, she's right. Don't tell her I said that though ...

So to recap in a nutshell ... got home December 24th, scrambled to buy presents for Christmas Day since I wasn't supposed to be home until New Years ... Jennifer's Birthday ... reenlisted in the Air Force for another four years ... Jennifer was informed she was heading to NCO Academy ... I found out it was time for me to relocate (apparently five years in DC is a long time) ... my options came down to Mississippi, Idaho or Washington State -- Fairchild Air Force Base, near Spokane, Washington, wanted us most ... remodeled the house -- hardwood floors, painted walls, redid both bathrooms -- all in time for us to pack up and drive cross country from one Washington to the other ... Jennifer found out she had to deploy to Iraq ... started packing ... Jennifer found out she was going to Afghanistan instead ... more packing ... Jennifer found out she was going to Manas, Kyrgyzstan instead -- or as I like to call it, a little slice of deployment heaven (side note: did the math, I have more deployments than I have permanent changes of station since joining the Air Force) ... more packing ... tried to spend as much time with friends as we could ... packed up the truck ... pulled the boys out of school a month early ... found out I won Air Force Print Journalist of the Year as well as a few other writing and photography awards -- all stuff I did while deployed ... made the drive ... driving ... driving ... driving ...

Funny thing about the United States: They say there are a bunch of states West of the Mississippi, but really, it's just one, so don't let them fool you. It's called Nothing. Much like the villain in "The Neverending Story." Except when you get over that one hill, then it's more Nothing. With the exception of a lot of miles on the truck ...

The trip wasn't all bad, though. Talked Jennifer into staying in St. Louis an extra day to catch a Mets game -- my last for a long time (figures, they lost). We also made it to Hannibal, Mo., which was a bit of a pilgrimage for me, it being the birthplace of one of my favorite writers, Mark Twain. Jennifer also indulged me in diverting several hours to Metropolis, Ill., for the Superman Museum. I even played the song on the iPod as we drove through town. That statue is, well, Super ...

We also made it to our last Five Guys burger in Missoula, Mont., for the forseeable future. That was after the three days of driving through the Nothing. Kinda like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow made out of monotony. The only other thing of note in that stretch was seeing Mount Rushmore, so that was pretty cool. You know, for a mountain with four dudes heads carved in it ...

Jennifer's aunt lives in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, so we stopped and visited with them and had one of the better meals of our trip. They're our closest family, so it's really nice to have them. That and the area there is just amazingly beautiful. You know, for a lake ...

Finally it was Spokane. We got our house, we got unpacked (mostly) and we started work. And it's been nonstop busy ever since. There is always something going on, which is why I haven't felt compelled or inspired to write anything. But as Jennifer pointed out: "That's the point."

She's right, of course ...

She recounted these six months in much better detail than did I, however she posted no photos to go with them. So my contribution will be to add a little color to our last six month adventure ...

But mostly it's time to start a new one. Jennifer is on her way to her deployed location and will be working with some great folks. For Zachary, Edward, me and our dog, Judy, it'll be getting by without Jennifer. We'll have to learn to live without her warmth (in her heart, not her iceberg feet), her companionship (even when she's bossy) and her cooking (that'll be the hardest part) ...

Of course we wish her the best of luck on her deployment, as it's her turn to go, as I tell the boys. So far we're all handling it okay, but, of couse, we miss her already (especially her cooking) ...

Philly to Norfolk - Part Two

2010-06-19T20:27:00.000-04:00

So, my plane was delayed out of Philly, for maintence by an hour. More and more of my combat skills training classmates were showing up at the gate. Our flight was canx outright - I believe it was because the aircraft wouldn't have been able to carry all of the excess baggage. Me and my gear weigh 426 pounds. I know this because the gentleman at the AMC terminal told me. Yes, I asked. I guessed 500. I'm a better packer than I thought. When they canx my flight, I was put on the same flight as Kim. So we've been hanging out today. Cold Stone is two blocks away from billeting. Coffee ice cream with mini chocolate chips and pecans. That was my dinner. Yum.

There was a screaming baby on the plane. I am usually not annoyed with screaming babies having had the experience of flying with a 10-month old with an ear infection. There was a baby sitting behind me who was not screaming. Both 'babies' were about 14 months old. The difference why one was screaming and not the other? Baby behind me had a mother who was talking to her. "Oh, look at the ocean that's where the fish and sharks live. We are going to be landing soon ..." etc, etc. Baby in front of me had both parents who were holding her, but didn't not talk to her at all. No "what's wrong?" or "look at this" or "when we land we're going to ..." No conversation. No nothing. And just when you thought baby couldn't get any more ear-peircing she did. Again and again. Then the flight attendant rescued us all by bringing the baby the demo oxygen mask. I tried my best to remember her name, but all I can recall was that it started with a "v" and it wasn't a common v name like veronic, victoria, viola or valerie. The baby was quiet and happy, but I'm convinced it wasn't because of the mask - it was a conduit for communication. Flight attendant: "oh, it's a hat! you're so clever! oh, i love your shoe - look you've made a necklace. my son likes those things too." The baby made eye contact, was engaged and knew exactly what was being said. So, to the mom and in dad in row 5 of flight 3287 try talking to your daughter. If you don't start now you're going to have a whole mess of problems by the time she's 15.

Philly to Norfolk - Part One

2010-06-19T15:43:00.002-04:00

I had a really good night’s sleep last night. Down comforters, six gushy pillows, thick soft mattress – heaven. I did have to get up early and repack all of my bags. I have five. A hard case for equipment, my suitcase and three A-bags – that’s a lot to lug. Some folks sent their training equipment home. I didn’t.

Kim and I traveled together from Fort Dix to the Hilton Philadelphia Airport hotel. She’s a career photographer who’s now picking up some public affairs slack at her assignment so we had a lot of stories to share. We had dinner on the river at a place called the Chart House. We both wanted steak, but the seafood entrees looked amazing. I got the sea bass with saffron risotto and it was amazing. I had my doubts about the risotto – saffron can very easily overpower a dish but it was perfect. The sea bass was cooked perfectly and they topped it with lobster and crab meat. Maybe today I’ll get myself a steak. Or a really good cheeseburger.

I’ve been sending a lot of cards home to the boys and JG. That was the last thing we learned from JG’s deployment was that cards, letters and care packages meant the most to him. So, I’m trying to do a better job of that during this separation. I desire conversation – whether it’s IMing, webcam or talking on the phone more than anything else.

Edward gave me Yoshi. He’s not made it out of my backpack yet. Zachary gave me a potholder and a mini scarf he weaved “to keep your fingers warm, mom.” The boys are so incredibly sweet. I miss them so much already.

From last weekend

2010-06-19T15:42:00.000-04:00

Sunday, June 13 I wrote this as a word document but forgot to post it.

I’m wearing civilian clothes for the first time in six days. About half of my roommates here are trying to sleep in while the other half of us can’t wait to leave the base. Last night I caught JG on webcam – but it was nearly midnight here on the east coast, so it didn’t last too long. Even without the kids around, 6:30 a.m. is sleeping in. JG let me take his headphone and microphone set with me and it took a bit to figure out that the band goes around the back of my neck instead of on top of my head. He he he. We are still on lock down for an hour. FUN. I also have armory duty for an hour this afternoon.

Final Exercise Done

2010-06-17T20:58:00.000-04:00

The only thing I have to worry about is getting one last omlete, formation without battle rattle, cleaning my M-16, turning it back into the armory and returning the borrowed linens, magazines (as in ammo, not Newsweek), and keys. Then, it's off to Philly to spend the night to catch a flight to Norfolk where I will do some waiting for my flight out of the country.

So, I had an all-time low in customer service today at the Fort Dix Dunkin Donuts. Now, I love their coffee and when I'm on the East Coast I actually prefer it to Starbucks. But, this morning I was in the mood for a hot chocolate. It was served in a plastic cup complete with a lid with the straw hole. When I said I can't have this cup it's too hot, the guy hands me a cardboard sleeve. I had to ask for a styrofoam cup for my HOT chocolate. Eyeroll.

Zero Weeks

2010-06-15T17:30:00.001-04:00

The term "Zero Week" comes from Air Force Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas ... when I went through in 1996 there was two or three days of administrative things that took place before they counted the six full weeks of basic training. I consider my time here at Fort Dix and the subsequent travel time to Manas Transit Center zero weeks. I just want to hurry up and get there so I can count down the time to getting home. It was this time last year that JG was packing for his deployment. We've only had five months together between him coming back at the end of December and my leaving the first week of June. I hope this is not the beginning of a trend.

Compiled at Combat Airman Skills Training, Fort Dix, N.J.

2010-06-12T20:37:00.001-04:00

I've just finished day five of 'CAST.' We don't have internet connection in our dorm and this is the first time I've made it to the library to upload the bits of blogs I've done since I left home Monday. Enjoy.

Monday, June 7

I'm at my layover in Minneapolis-St.Paul. I "refuse" to pay for internet. The laptop is new and i can't find "word" so I'm testing out this sticky note program. Wondering how many characters I can type before it locks up. I don't like this scripty font. I get that they want to make it like a 'real' sticky note, but come on. Just figured out you have to launch a program called "microsoft works task launcher" in order to access microsoft word. I had breakfast for lunch here at the airport. Don't even remember the name of the restaurant, but do know that it's sit down. For only a buck or two more than 'fast' food here you don't have to worry about getting your own refills, you have a dedicated table and you can settle your belongings so there's no awkwardness while trying to pay, hold your food and maneuver around people. Well, the sticky note program doesn't not seem to have a character count cap and I've lost interest. How I LOVE copy/paste!

Tuesday, June 8

Well, today was the first day of Combat Airman Skills Training. Mainly it was a day of equipment issue and a two-hour lecture on how to survive, evade, resist and escape if needed. Breakfast was just okay – I got distracted from the omelet bar when I saw a heaping tray of fresh scrambled eggs make its way to the serving line. Those “eggs” will have to take a back seat to veggie and cheese omelets for the rest of my stay. I’ve been here twice before once for a course called Phoenix Readiness back in 2003 and for Advanced Combat Skills Training in 2006. I should have known about the eggs. On a surprising note the red delicious apples were nice and crisp – not mealy. I’ve actually stopped buying that variety at the grocery store. I did some light grocery shopping Saturday and it was so depressing not to be able to buy food for meals that I’d normally be planning for the week. JG took the moment of not rain to try out the weed whacker. We bought an electric one to save on the moving hassle of having to drain the liquid, etc. For the same reason we bought a manual mower.

Saturday, June 12

Thus far I’ve made two trips to the base exchange. The first trip I picked up cards – one for JG, Edward and Zachary. Also bought a lock for the wall locker I’m using. I swore I packed it, but could not find it in my bag. Until five minutes ago. Of course. The second trip I bought a notebook and a stationary set. And toothpaste. I was getting by on SpongeBob Square pants bubble gum flavored toothpaste. Ick. So today was a training day, even though it was a Saturday. Tomorrow is our day off, but I’m pulling a shift to watch weapons. I’m also getting my nails done. I’m shocked I’ve not ripped them apart, so I’ll get them done short to last me another month. I called JG a few minutes ago, but forgot he was running a game today. One of the photographers I’m deploying with is in my flight. It’s nice to meet someone I’m going to be working with for the next six months before actually getting in country. I lost JG’s lcd flashlight my first night here. With the extra time tomorrow I’ll put more effort into looking for it and maybe even find it. Yippe.

Red Dead Redemption

2010-05-28T12:06:00.000-04:00

This is the newest addition to the PS3 family. I'm told it's awesome.

Two weeks

2010-05-22T00:10:00.000-04:00

I have two full weeks to cram the rest of my inprocessing, outprocessing, unpacking, family time and work obligations in before I leave for the rest of the year. I have lots of worries as I'm about ready to switch roles with JG from this time last year. At least this go around we're at least mentioning my deployment, but we're agreeing not to talk about it.

Friday

2010-05-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

JG and I are proving to work well together. We make a great team. This makes me smile. :)

The house is getting there ... some things need a place, need to be unpacked .... but this is definately HOME.

Second Saturday

2010-05-01T09:15:00.002-04:00

We've been in Washington 10 days and I'm still on EST. Everyone in the house is out like a light, except me. But, that's really okay - it seem to be the only time there's absolute quiet in the house. Yesterday was a crazy day. The DMV here is split into two completely separate departments: licensing and registration. And when I say "split" I mean not even in the same building. I had to make two trips. Over the phone they said since we were military we only needed our current driver's license and our military ID. The kicker? My Alaska driver's license didn't have a photo since it was renewed when I was in Virginia, so the couldn't count that as a form of ID.

We go home. JG finds my SSN card and we program the gps back to the "dmv." Only the gps remembers the first dmv address for the registration instead of the one for licensing. After that minor irritation I'm told that the SSN isn't enough to get a 'real' license. I had to get one that said "ID not verified" because I needed a third form of identification. I was (okay, AM) so annoyed still.

The kids were with us for the second trip to Spokane. We knocked out getting ink for the printer at Best Buy and picking up the last Star Wars Saga Edition game book at Barnes and Noble. We came to the reality that we couldn't get the house put any more 'together' until we found a solution for the computers so we spent more at Best Buy than we planned then added a trip to Staples.

We have three computers. The laptop that we got right before JG deployed last year; the home desktop that used to be in the master bedroom; and the previous home desktop that used to reside in the entertainment center. New house, new plan: Zachary got our computer desk in his bedroom with the older desk top. We needed a new desk for our desktop and a monitor since Zachary had ours since his computer used to use the television as the screen.

The original plan to turn the smaller room in the basement into a library and sitting room changed when we bought a desk that wasn't going to fit in the living room/dining room. So now, the new LCD TV/Monitor will go downstairs on the desk with the desktop and will eventually have a game system hooked up to it.

The basement is a good 10-15 degrees cooler than the upstairs and it's unfinished. So, we went to Home Depot and purchased carpet, a pad, an exacto knife and gorilla strips. Setting up the office is our big project for the day. I want to get started, but my attempt to get JG out of bed with me failed.

So now, I'm on the lookout for a velveteen type of thick fabric on sale to drape about a foot inside the walls of that room to help contain heat. I'm sure by the time the family is up and ready it will be free comic book day at one of the shops downtown. Big day ahead!

Grounds

2010-04-27T19:43:00.000-04:00

Today was our last day setting up the home and JG and I report to our office tomorrow morning. The daycare issue is still looming. I have to say there was a night and day difference between registering Edward at the Child Development Center and Zachary at the Youth Center. Last Wednesday, Edward was registered, enrolled and had a start date for Monday. Zachary is still in "the process." Meaning Wednesday we filled out paperwork to be able to pick up more paperwork Monday. Monday will filled out paperwork and returned it just to get a call today to have more paperwork done. And we still don't know if Zachary will be enrolled and if so what day he will start OR if this all in vain because he needs to go on a waiting list. SIGH.

At my last office I had a coffee pot marked soley for water. This was for tea or oatmeal without having a coffee residue taste. Last week at our first trip to the commissary I made sure to buy coffee filters and coffee. Monday I finally unpacked the box that had the other half of the coffee pot and was so excited I proceeded to make coffee only to realize I bought coffee beans and not ground coffee. So, today, at our fifth trip the base exchange here I bought a coffee grinder. So yummy, I'm finally enjoying real coffee in my own home!

I'm wearing a red apron. With all the time and messes in the kitchen I feel like it's about time I owned one. The last time I had one was when I was four. It was blue. The red matches my pot holders, floor mats, kitchen aid, food processor and our new dish set. I like red now much better than when JG and I met and the only color of anything he owned was black and red. Our new comforter is black and red too - but it's very elegant, not overly masculine.

The house is finally starting to take shape although not all of the furniture is placed. We are debating on making a library out of one of the rooms in the basement. More to come on that.

Between S.D. and our first weekend at home

2010-04-24T22:24:00.000-04:00

There's not a whole lot between Mount Rushmore and Spokane, Washington. The only significant things worth mentioning are that the Five Guys in Missoula, Montana is going to be worth the three-hour drive once a month. Also, my Aunt Daphne is awesome.

We stopped in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for the night and she met us a the hotel, drove us to the lake and put out a feast she made herself - crabmeat pasta salad, grilled chicken skewers with homemade peanut sauce, fresh veggies and fruit, crackers, wine, coconut pie - it was amazing and even more so eating on the road for more than a week. Something I've always loved about my aunt growing up is that she always treated my sister and I like we were adults. I was reminded of this when Zachary came off the playground to eat with us and she told her son to move some things out of the way so he could sit closer and be part of the conversation. It was so nice and so strange to be sitting with my now adult cousins who I've only seen once at the wedding just about their whole lives.

About seven miles from Fairchild on Route 2, JG was pulled over for the second time this trip. The only thing that seemed strange is that the law enforcement officer only cared for JG's driver';s license and not the registration or insurance. Weird, huh? He asked where we were going and we said we haven't got there yet. Luckily, JG got another warning.

After visiting with my Aunt and her family the next day, Tuesday, we went to base, checked in with our office, got our keys to our new home, unloaded the truck and trailer and returned the trailer. Day two, we started to put that mess away and started the process for getting the kids enrolled in school and daycare. Day three household goods arrived and Zach had his first day at school and Edward had his Kindergarten assessment. Day four Edward started school and we unpacked some boxes. Today the house is still a wreck, but we're taking a break to meet a long-time pen pal of JGs. I made salad and garlic bread.

The spaghetti lunch was great but mostly because the boys were so excited to have other kids to play with. We rounded out the day with more shopping for the house and topped off with dinner and pie at Marie Calenders.

Before Rushmore

2010-04-19T00:12:00.002-04:00

We’re on the way to Rushmore. We’ve got a solid three hours to go before we get there. Yesterday we stopped for dinner at Famous Daves. The wait was crazy. From as best we could tell it was like one of five restaurants in Sioux Falls. Good food though. JG and I tried Famous Daves in Virginia.

BBQ sauce is on the lesser scale of condiments (but essential in slow cooking or grilling, just not as an afterthought on meat). Ironically enough, of the five sauces at Famous Daves JG and I enjoy the same one best – Sweet and Zesty.

Before dinner JG was listening to the second Mets/Cardinals game – the score was 0-0 when we left for dinner and, from his mom’s voicemail still 0-0 but this time in extra innings. We call MiMi back and she announces the game as it’s happening for us off and on over the next two hours. Ended up being won in the 20th inning – 2-1 Mets.

Amidst all of that I was able to convince JG to let Ju-Ju in the cab after showing him how pathetic she looked shaking in her kennel. The temps had plummeted from the 80s to the 50s.

The Comfort Inn where we wanted to stay didn’t allow for pets and we were too tired to make it to Rapid Falls last night, so JG smuggled Ju-Ju in and out of the room. She is such a good dog. If only the boys were all well-mannered!

The goal today is to make it across the South Dakota, Montana boarder – then either stay in Western Montana or Idaho Monday night. We'll see what happens.

Ju-Ju

2010-04-18T00:20:00.000-04:00

Ju-Ju hates me. Every time we let her out of the kennel in the back of the truck she heads straight for the cab of the truck after going potty.

Never, ever has she ridden anywhere else but with me in the cab of the truck. The way she’s looking at me this week breaks my heart. I feel especially bad since I’m sure she was about ready to have a heart attack earlier this week when we were driving through Ohio. We pass an identical-model Dodge Ram then a few minutes later it’s keeping pace with us – I look over and the husband, wife and kid are waving frantically and mouthing “your gate is open.” So, we pull over and sure enough the tail gate was down and the glass door to the topper was wide open. Luckily, everything was packed tight enough we didn’t lose anything. My poor Judy-girl.

Staying to nights outside St. Louis and renting a car to go to Hannibal and to the ball game was a great idea. It gave Ju-Ju a chance to chill all day and we didn’t have the stress of maneuvering the truck and trailer through the fan-fare.

So aside from the Belgian waffles, the other reason we’re staying at the Comfort Inn with dedication this entire trip is to accumulate free nights. The two consecutive nights in Alexandria during renovation week and our two nights in Missouri only count for points as one stay. Good to know. Not every stay is equal in points – so where on earth they get their stay two nights get one free slogan I have no idea.

We dropped the car off at Enterprise on our way out on 70 West this morning. Luckily on the way to the ball game yesterday I asked JG where it was and he pointed out the exit. I’m so glad I asked because when I followed him this morning, I didn’t have room or time to merge ahead of an 18-wheeler so I had to yield and merge after him, completely obstructing my view of JG driving the Chevy Impala. But, I knew the exit and the day was saved.
We ate at Sonic today for lunch. Not nearly as good as I remember. But everyone else seemed to like it. We parked and got Ju-Ju out of her kennel as we ate at the picnic tables. Zachary gave her a bite of chicken from his chicken, bacon, cheese toaster sandwich. She is such a good dog. I lift her on the tailgate and say “get in your kennel” and she does. “What a good baby girl,” I tell her as I give her a treat. I bought a new natural brand that has glucosamine in it. The vet said I can give her that supplement in pill form to ease her arthritis. A new home is a great place to start new habits and when JG and I take our vitamins, the kids take their gummy vitamins then I’ll have Ju-Ju take her supplement. To make it easy I may just put it in a bit of soft food.
I’ve got to go negotiate a stopping point for the night with JG. Soon I hope to get photos posted and some of my writing tightened up for an easier read. I’m kicking myself for not looking into a wireless card for the laptop before we left!

Scalper

2010-04-18T00:18:00.000-04:00

Right now we’re just outside Kansas City getting ready to pick up 29 North. Sioux Falls is programmed into the GPS, but I don’t think we’re going to make it that far today. We have an appointment Tuesday afternoon to pick up our keys for the new place at Fairchild. That’s the only thing driving our schedule right now.
So, after Hannibal and the nap yesterday we went back into St. Louis. We hit the waterfront by The Arch and the kids were able to get their flat pennies. And just in time too, we were able to get through the gate they left open although the river tours, gift shop and café were closed. Then we went to Busch Stadium. JG asked a police officer at the corner if there was parking ahead. “Yeah, but it’s expensive.” I’m laughing to myself because the parking, directly across from the stadium, was only $15.
We stood out on the quick walk – and because it was obvious we were from out of town between the Mets jacket and sweatshirt – we had every scalper in the vicinity try to sell us tickets. Now, we’re not ticket snobs, but they didn’t have what we wanted (four seats all together behind home plate) so we made our way to the ticket counter. They must have been desperate to sell – our friend we left on the corner manned by police sought us out and we abruptly ended the conversation with the ticket attendant on the promise of $60/ticket. Our friend brought us to a season ticket holder who had three seats in a row and a seat in front on the aisle of section 153. (11-13 and seat 10).
The seats were FANTASTIC. We knew they were well worth the “face value” the guy was asking ($100/each) but his runner, our friend, only got us out of line by saying $60, so that’s all we were willing to pay. Our advantage: the game was only 20 minutes from starting and the odds of selling four tickets in one shot were dwindling.
We made it through two bags of peanuts, three hot chocolates, two sodas, three hot dogs, chicken fingers and two nachos with cheese without any incident. Edward, although fidgeting, was being very well behaved. But, not still enough for the woman sitting next to him. “You need to sit still,” she says to Edward who is no wearing Dad’s Mets jacket and is trying to get his hands out of the ridiculously long sleeves. She then asks me what grade he’s in. “Kindergarten, he’s only five,” I say. “Oh, I’m a first grade teacher,” then leans in to Edward and says, “do you know what respect is? And what it means to be a good listener?”

Edward’s eyes get big and he turns to me with perfect manners, “Mommy, may I please move seats.”

By this time Zachary has made friends with the woman sitting next to him. She’s a lot younger, a lot cuter and a lot more friendly. She even tells Zachary she’ll even sing the Jose song with him when he gets up to bat.

Now back to poor Edward. Dad rescued him onto his lap, which allowed for dead space between me and the teacher. We have a 20 minute conversation where she’s convinced we’re stationed at Scott AFB and are PCSing to Fairchild AFB. I’ve already told her a few times he went to school in Virginia. Turns out her and her husband have been retired from the Air Force for 18 years. He was a fighter pilot who went to survival school in Fairchild in the 1970s. Now he’s a chiropractor. Anyway, she talked about how it was really hard for her to become a civilian again after her husband retired.

Please don’t take this as slam against military spouses or their sacrifices to our country – but I took offense to her saying *she* had a hard time becoming a civilian. You can’t become something you already are, right? Law enforcement officers and firefighters have a more dangerous job then I do serving in the Air Force. I’m sure we don’t hear their spouses saying it was hard becoming a a civilian again.
Anyway – about the fifth inning the kiss cam came on the big screen and JG switched places with Edward (yeah, I made the mistake of sliding over one and this facilitated the conversation further.) JG kissed me. We weren’t on the screen, but that’s okay. We’re way too cute together for other people to handle anyway ;)
With JG sitting next to me I was finally able to focus on the game. Unfortunately the Mets lost. Cardinals got a grand slam and we left at the end of the eighth inning. 1-4 Cardinals. This morning JG tells me the Mets had scored two more runs at the top of the nineth. “You’re so lucky they didn’t end up winning the game or I’d be angry with you that you made us leave.”

Before we left the retired gentleman and his wife the teacher left. Then I leaned forward to the cool couple who were sitting in front of us and said “did you hear Edward ask me if he could move seats?” They laughed and said they couldn’t believe how she wanted to instill classroom rules at the ballpark. “He wasn’t even doing anything wrong! Poor kid!”

Stairs on top of stairs

2010-04-17T09:49:00.000-04:00

“It’s always funny when old people curse,” said JG on the drive back to our hotel in O’Fallen, just west of St. Louis today. We visited Mark Twain’s home of Hannibal. The town would be a contractor’s dream if the townsfolk could afford the repairs. There was about a dozen flights of stairs up to a lighthouse running right next to a local’s backyard. JG asked the woman who was tending to her yard what it’s like living next to a tourist attraction. “Well, people say only one of two things: nice view or oh shit more stairs.”

We ate at the Mark Twain Family Restaurant. When I saw they made their own homemade root beer I ordered a float. The root beer was so good. When we asked if they sell it we were ready to purchase two gallons until we realized they package it in used milk gallons and they don’t seal it. The restaurant could make a fortune off their root beer if only they’d invest in a little packaging and marketing.

JG had chili in a bread bowl. JG has a thing for bread bowls in general. As single guy he’d purchase just the bread from Panera and keep a stock of canned soup in the pantry. The chili was actually very good and they showered the entire thing with shredded cheddar. JG’s meal and the root beer were the only things worth writing home about so we’ll move on.

I could not imagine cooking in an 1800s kitchen. You’d have to start the next meal of the day immediately after the one just served. I got a kick out of looking at the kitchen that was attached to the pharmacy across from Mark Twain’;s house.

So we rented a car for this adventure. We figured it was worth the $50 not to lug the truck back and forth. JuJu and Indy are vegging out at the hotel room. Indy really likes her carry case. I put her out on the bed and she tucked herself into the kennel on her own. JG laughed when I put Animal Planet on the TV for them.

OOOOOh. So, good news on our living situation. The privatized housing company said there’s a newly remodeled house for us if we want it. I was thrilled with the floor plan – one story, so that will make life a lot easier for Judy, aka Ju-Ju. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and its own bathroom. The washer and dryer are located downstairs in the basement. There looks to be considerable storage space down there.

(Friends of ours in Spokane said they would take Indy for us – so we’re able to live in housing now.)

With any luck we’ll have a firm mailing address that we can change on the road.

Superman, Part 2

2010-04-15T22:43:00.000-04:00

JG was driving when we were pulled over. The law enforcement officer startled me as he approached the passenger side first. He asked where we were going and I said we were PCSing to Washington State but were on a detour to the Superman museum. He smirked and that's when I knew we weren't getting a ticket.

When he handed JG the warning he said that he knows Superman is important, but we had to slow it down. JG thanked him for the warning and we were off. Speeds were not mentiond purposely as our mothers read this blog. :)

Anyway, the Superman Museum was phenominal. The amount and variety of ***stuff*** could have filled a museum three times that size. We took photos in front of the giant Superman statue. We took photos at the cardboard cutout for Superman and Supergirl. And we indulged at the gift shop. A shot glass for Aunt Julie's collection. A Green Lantern glass for JG. A pink superman logo tank top that JG described as "sexy" and another matching pink superman T-shirt. T-Shirts for the boys and they each picked a toy. We got a magnet for the fridge. JG has comic PJ bottoms that I will steal eventually. Kryptonite rock candy rounded out the shopping trip.

In the truck I discovered a prong on my engagement ring broke clean off. The diamond is secured, but I sure am paranoid and curious how that could have happened.

The plan from there was to drive to Hannibal, Missouri, but to make a quick stop at Air Mobility Command Headquarters to say hello to the public affairs office. We did that then were well on our way then JG saw the exit for The Arch and it was another site-seeing adventure. Needless to say we didn't make it to Hannibal, we're right outside St. Louis.

We tried our best to get the boys flattened souvenier pennies, but the riverboat tours center and cafe was closed and the machines were on the other side of the gate. JG was determined to hop the fence, but luckily I offered another solution. Horse and carriage ride to take us somewhere else that had them. :)

By the end of our ride, JG's allergies kicked in. He's passed out right now - out cold after some Alegra and Sudafed. Edward is out cold too. Zachary is watching King of the Hill. Time to get some rest. Tomorrow it's off to Hannibal then back to St. Louis. Mets are in town.

Up until the Superman Museum ...

2010-04-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

So, we just left Effingham, Illinois. Yes, I said Effingham. I think this may be my new G-rated swear word.

I have to say I’m addicted to the Belgian waffles. I think I mentioned this before. What I didn’t mention is that in Virginia I had bad luck with waffles. The week our bathrooms were under renovation we stayed at the Comfort Inn for two nights. Our first morning there I made a few waffles – electrical sparks flying out of the rotating joint. (The hing that opens rotates 180 degrees for even cooking.) The next morning they displayed frozen waffles and a toaster. Then, our last few visits at Silver Diner yielded zero waffles as their waffle maker was broken. So, with bad waffle luck left behind in Virginia, I’m thoroughly enjoying our road trip breakfasts.

We just got on 57 South. We’re on our way to Metropolis. I’m nodding my head yes at the geeks who know this is home to the Superman museum. We’re driving a total of four hours out of the way today to accommodate the landmark. Fittingly, JG is wearing his new Green Lantern T-shirt I bought him during our last trip to his comic shop, Big Planet in Vienna, last weekend. It remains to be seen if he will actually throw away his old one it was meant to replace.

Edward is wearing his “Samurai costume.” It looks like a red cape. It’s really his preschool graduation robe.

So yesterday we were taking note of the Air Force museum’s photojournalist display and realized that their “Air Force News” display needs an update. It’s now called Defense Media Activity. But, it was really cool seeing the bylines of some our colleagues we know personally. Varhegyi, Tudor, Weckerlein, Cooley and Ricardo are just some that I remember.

My favorite photo was then-Tech. Sgt. Cecelio Ricardo of Heroes Hwy, the entry for the wounded to Balad Air Base, Iraq’s tent hospital. His combat camera news team came out to Balad while I was deployed there in 2007. Shortly after they left, I found myself staring up at the highway’s American flag after being flown out of Sather Air Base with a broken leg. And that, is another story for another time.

So, the DSi XL we bought Edward yesterday he tried trading with his brother who has just a DSi. Edward does not adapt well to change. At all. He’s quiet and playing with it now, but I’m not sure how long that’s going to last.

Okay, I have to write down this quote before I forget it – story for next blog entry: “You act like you’ve never been pulled over before.” Followed by: “You act like it happens to you all the time.”

Back and forth on travel Day One and Day Two

2010-04-14T22:59:00.000-04:00

I’m wearing my SHRUTE FARMS BEETS T-shirt. We’re leaving the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. I’ll have to post this the next time I have wi-fi but a lot has happened since we left Monday and I didn’t want to go too far in this trip without writing.

So we left Monday. Late. Way behind schedule. We’ll just skip over my meltdown about that. It was already going on rush hour traffic when we stopped at the Air Force Memorial one last time.

Speaking of the memorial, at our going way luncheon last week JG’s supervisor, Master Sgt Russell Petcoff, presented an Air Force Memorial paperweight to him. The memorial means a lot to us since we were married there, but especially for JG since he’s been covering the Air Force Memorial since they broke ground to build it about four years ago. This was also where he had his reenlistment.

If Sergeant Petcoff’s name sounds familiar to those of you who follow Air Force glogs, it probably because he’s done some blogging for U.S. Air Force Live.

So, back to Monday. We drove less than two hours into the trip and we stopped for the night at my friend Melissa’s in West Virginia. It had been about six years since we saw each other last. Since then we’ve both divorced and upgraded the caliber men in our life. The boys had a blast playing with her kids. Lelia is just one year older than our Edward, and since she’s a girl Edward was enamored. Zachary and Rudy played much better than when they were three and one.

And when we left West Virginia (skipping the part about the teary goodbye) we it was like we couldn’t leave West Virginia. We weaved in and out of the state two more times on the way to Ohio.

Once in Ohio we saw signs for a Toy and Train museum, but right now they are only open on weekends – would have been nice to know this before exiting the highway. But, it wasn’t all at a loss. They boys posed on a big train car that was in the parking lot.

That’s when I took over driving and made the executive decision to stop for the night at 4 p.m. I gps’d the nearest Comfort Inn (make-your-own Belgian waffles in the morning, don’t jusdge). The had an indoor pool that we enjoyed before dinner at the Olive Garden. JG commented on getting a room on the first floor right next to the side entry door. “This is what happens when you stop for the night early – you get a good room, lots of parking space for the truck and trailer.” To which he replied, “No, that’s what we get for staying in Ohio.” Well, I have all week to prove him wrong 

Okay – so it’s very rare I get a bad meal at the Olive Garden. Well, JG ordered one of my favorite chicken dishes for himself – the scampi, so I figured I’d order something he enoyed se we could share with each other. I got the stuffed Chicken Marsala (bacon!) with the garlic mashed potatoes. Well – they were the worst mashed potatoes I’ve ever had out. I ate allt he mushrooms, took a bite of the chicken then sent the plate back.

Now, this morning on the way to Dayton we stopped at Best Buy to get a replacement DS for Edward since the used one he got from his brother at Christmas completely broke broke – first the hinges, then it was unable to charge. Ofcourse it breaks on the way to Melissas, the first hour of the trip.

Also, in the first hour of the trip the alarm went off at he Dulles Toll Road. We gyped them a quarter for the extra axle we had with the trailer.

Okay, so we’re at Best Buy today and JG goes to pay and realizes that he doen’t have his debit card. The last place he used it? Yep. Olive Garden. We put a hold on the card, then called the restauarant and asked them to shred it up.

We had fun at the Air Force museum. The only thing I was excited about seeing was the Hanoi Taxi. I was there when the last C-141 was retired there by the 445th Airlift Wing, AirForce Reserve, years ago.

Second favorite was the four of us crammed into the “photo” booth that makes a drawing.

So, I realized that my favorite thing to do at museums is to watch the videos. I need to file that for later.

In the time I’ve written this we’re now five miles from the Ohio, Indiana boarder. On the list is Scott Air Force Base and Hannibal, Missouri.

It's 5 a.m. in the morning

2010-04-12T05:29:00.000-04:00

I made the trailer reservation. Indy seems to like her travel case, but she was really cold this morning. She's sitting in my lap right now. There's three hours to kill between now and the time we can pick up the trailer. I also rented a dolly. So worth the ten dollars. I also got insurance.

We ate at Uno last night. The boys made their own pizzas. JG had chili. I had the haddock. I love haddock. Next to seabass it's my favorite white fish. My mom used to make baked haddock fillets with canned whole tomatoes, two onions cut into rings and on top of that thick slices of a sharp Vermont cheddar and it was served over thin spaghetti. One of my all-time favorite dishes.

I'm hooked on Food Network's 'Chopped.' The last time I watched it I was really annoyed the judges keep talking about how you can't mix fish and cheese.

Now that I made myself really hungry for breakfast I'm going to tackle the day. Hopefully we can be out of here by lunchtime.

Not as planned

2010-04-11T21:03:00.001-04:00

It's Sunday night. Originally we were supposed to already be on the road to Washington. By Friday, it was apparent that the goal was too ambitious so at our last appointment at the Pentagon we changed our departure date to Monday.

JG and I fought over how much of what we kept out was going to fit in the truck and we had plans to visit a friend in West Virginia tonight so I said, "Fine. I give up in this argument, go get the trailer." I figured I could suck up doing things his way for now and along the road trip I could condense and repack so by the time we rolled through Montana the trailer would be returned and we'd be arriving our final destination the way I had wanted to leave Virginia. My actual, genuine buy-in to his plan happened a good hour after every U-Haul in a 100-mile radius closed. Although there was a U-Haul less than 10 minutes away, JG was compelled to get my full buy-in of the trailer plan right when I told him to get it. He told me, "you said 'go get the trailer' begrudgingly."

Looking back on it, how adorable is it that he wanted me to believe he was right?

I threw away JG's Star Wars popsicles that were in the freezer. I was so obsessed with cleaning out the kitchen I didn't even think twice. I felt bad when I realized that he didn't even had one yet, and that when he bought them he was serious about eating them and that they weren't just our BBQ gag favor.

So I bought Indy, our snake, a travel case. It's a nice canvas one with mesh screens that you'd expect to see a chihuahua in. It's pink. I like it. Then, the boys and I bought sunglasses today at Old Navy while JG was in Home Depot returning the excess flooring and tile and weird odds and ends we didn't end up using for the rennovations. I even bought sun glass pouches. I like the pouches. Mine is pink.

Know your audience

2010-04-08T04:58:00.001-04:00

So as we're leaving the book signing JG says.

"He reads our blog."

And I feel like a jerk because Mr. Moore knows I would have preferred to be packing for the move.

Today is the day before our "final out" at our unit and this weekend we leave for Washington. The biggest angst about the move has been figuring out where we would live. Why? Privatized housing discriminates against most pets that aren't either feline or canine. I find this particularly ironic as our pet snake who pees in a cage (and her pee crystalizes at that) is zero property risk wheras dogs and cats have been known to chew base boards, claw carpeting, tinkle on the carpet or ruin blinds. So after a month of trying to figure out finances of living off base or on base with a mortgage here in Vigrinia and no prospective renters yet, we have friends in Spokane who will take our ball python, Indy, so we can move into base housing.

In other developments this week I am married to the Air Force's Print Journalist of the Year and number one feature writer. Also, he placed second in the photojournalist category. Way to go, JG! Kisses.

Christopher Moore

2010-04-06T20:32:00.002-04:00

If I didn't have WiFi right now waiting with JG I'd be going CRAZY. His favorite author, Christopher Moore, is going to do a book reading and signing in about 20 minutes. JG is reading his newest release, BITE ME, as I'm blogging. And not that there's anything wrong with blogging - I love you all - but there's about a million more things that need to get done before the move. We leave in five days. SIGH.

We went to Mr. Moore's book signing last year when he released FOOL. About now, if JG were reading over my shoulder he'd make a 'single guy' joke relating to the timing of the book release with our wedding. Yes, Christopher Moore got an invitation. No, he didn't come. He signed my copy of Lamb. I was only about halfway through it when he signed it. He cared enough to ask how I liked it. I said "so far, so good" and that's how he signed it.

Yesterday JG and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We started the day by taking the kids to the "boss's house." (This is what JG likes to call the White House.) It was the annual Easter Egg Roll and we were almost first in line. We were able to get tickets because JG had deployed last year. Next to the income tax return it was the second-best perk to him being deployed. The kids had a blast.

SIDENOTE: It just occurs to me I'm the only one here with a laptop. It will probably be rude, especially sitting in the front row, if I don't put it away while he speaks :UNSIDENOTE

As a kid I remember seeing the White House Easter Egg Roll featured on the ABC/CBS nightly news (Dad would switch back and forth between the two over the years, but never NBC). Anyway - I imagined that the "roll" would have been at least 50 feet or so. I seemed as if it were only five, but JG is convinced it was more like 25.

After that Zachary did hula-hooping and then both of the boys did Basketball and Tennis "phonics." JG walked one of the volunteer tennis coaches over to me and introduced me. Turns out she was Billie Jean King. She was not wearing a name tag. If she was I honestly wouldn't know who she was anyway. You could tell she was really having a blast working with the kids. I overheard her tell another parent that they (not sure exactly who "they" is) just started a 95-year-old and up tennis league. If only I had that much spunk now! :)

Then we went over to another sporting area and the boys played catch. Edward decided it was easier to play catch without a glove. It was cute.

We ran into some friends while we were there. The Zachary family drove up from Florida to attend. Stacia was so cute showing our Zachary her service coat nametag :) The Lapetoda family commuted in from Maryland. JG says I gave him a nasty look when I saw him conversing and taking photos of a blonde. I think April saw it too - she teased me. It was funny - which brings me to .... So the other day I was reading Cosmo at the salon and it said not all women want to steal your style, your job and your man. Well, there's enough of them to warrant caution.

SIDENOTE: Is there anyone else is this crowd NOT reading his book? :UNSIDENOTE

He's here. GTG.

Camping out at home

2010-03-29T10:43:00.000-04:00

The laptop is on a folding table and I'm sitting on a blow-up mattress. Any minute the contractor will start rennovations and I'm stuck wondering what color paint to do the livingroom. Home Depot made an appointment for us to purchase the other half of our materials this afternoon. We bought the first half Saturday and was a little dissappointed their 10 percent military discount is capped at $200.

I found an exotic pet boarder in Maryland today. Wondering if long-term boarding may be an option for Indy. The contractor who runs Fairchild Air Force Base's privitized housing won't allow "large constrictor snakes." Indy may look intimidating to a person who doesn't like or understand snakes, but trust me, she's no anaconda.

The movers came last week and hauled away most of our belongings. I have a few kitchen essentials, four suitcases of clothes and odds and ends that, fingers crossed, will fit in the back of the truck.

Next weekend JG and I celebrate our one-year anniversary - hopefully by next Monday we wont't be too exhausted to enjoy it.

Crunch Time

2010-03-21T13:29:00.000-04:00

The movers will be here in less than 48 hours. And not only will they be "here" they will be at our 10x20' storage unit. Almost everything in the storage unit is already boxed, but not everything is marked. And not everything here at the house is separated into the "we" move and "they" move piles. I feel disorganized. I have more boxes of "things to go to other things" than I know what to do with. And, believe it or not, I feel like I'm running out of boxes. We've never had a box shortage.

I'm wondering how much stuff we can fit in the back of truck as I'm debating on packing two or three PJ sets for each kid.

Sigh. Back to work.

30 Days Away

2010-03-12T12:08:00.000-05:00

That's right. In less than 30 days we'll be driving cross country to our new assignment, stopping to see the Air Force Museum and Mount Rushmore along the way.

Between now and then we have more things to do than we have time for and it's beginning to take its toll. This morning JG and I went to Bolling Air Force Base to take care of some outprocessing and we stopped at Starbucks before heading back to work. I tell JG that sitting there "relaxing" is stressing me out because we have so much to do.

Possible Orders Pending

2010-02-19T07:35:00.004-05:00

JG and I just got notice we might be moving to ... Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. We requested early reporting so I can still go on my deployment this summer. We could be moving as early as April.

Remember how some of my very first blog posts revolved around all of the bathroom remodeling catastrophes? Well, the bathrooms still aren't fixed and that needs to happen ASAP, among other things, to make this place rentable after we leave.

The contractor is coming today to give us an estimate. Wish me luck!

One Thousand Million

2010-02-06T20:53:00.006-05:00

"That's how much snow we have," said Edward. The local news is calling it a blizzard. The picnic table in the backyard is no where to be found ... buried under 18 inches of snow. I have the most wonderful husband who has taken our beloved dog JuJu outside all day to do her business and I've been in the house nice and warm.

Today was productive. It had to be. We lost last weekend all together. After Zachary got the flu, it hit Edward, then me, then JG. By the time Thursday night came around I was starved. Ofcourse that was the night that everyone was at the grocery store.

So, last month I turned 32. I unwrapped a pink Wii fit cover and the movie "Julie and Julia." Then, JG suprised me with a shopping trip to Best Buy and we walked out of there with one thing - a Kitchen Aid mixer. (Gasp.)

This weekend I finally got to use the Wii Fit Plus I got for Christmas and I took the red Kichen Aid mixer out of the box. I got to try the Kitchen Aid's meat grinder attachment we got as a wedding gift (thanks Rubios) to make chicken maple sausage for breakfast with french toast.

Although the patties, made with chicken breasts, didn't end up dry it lacked the nice fatty, greasy goodness of real sausage. So, tomorrow for lunch, I'll add lots of garlic and ginger to the mix, brown it up and make eggrolls.

I did have a moment of panic when the sausage was being cooked ... the electricity flickered four or five times. Luckily it didn't go out. The sausage was saved. And, believe it or not, I didn't break anything today. (Big smile at JG.)

Friday Reflections

2010-01-30T13:59:00.008-05:00

So much has happened in the last six weeks I don't even know where to begin. It's snowing ... I guess we can start there. It's the beautiful kind of snow, but it's not going to last long with rain projected for later this week.

Zachary was up all night sick. I'm hoping he's going to pass out for a nap here shortly. JG got up with him at least once an hour all night long ... poor Zachary hunched over or on the toilet. Most people blame being sick on the last thing they ate ... we had Five Guys so it HAS to be a virus and not a food-born illness.

JG reenlisted yesterday to serve another four years in the Air Force. This decision did not come lightly in the midst of the hardest time in our career field I've seen in 13 years. On the way to pick up the kids for the ceremony I broke something. Anticipating the boys and another passenger I immediately opened the trunk to put in my gym bag to make room for another one of JG's colleagues who wanted to witness our family's committment. The key was stuck going in so I shoved it in hard, popped the bag in, shut the trunk in a hurry, slid into the drivers seat and starting to put on my seatbelt as I crank the engine. Well, it didn't crank, it was stuck. I pull out the key thinking I may have put the wrong one it. But, no, it was the right one, crooked and all. WHAT?

As I bring the key upstairs to my office where we have a drawer full of hammers I wonder if someone tried breaking into our trunk and that how the key thingy broke. I pass by our deputy director in the hall and show him the damaged key. The colonel did a really good job, but unfortunately it didn't work, the HOV lane turned into 3 passengers only and I only had about 15 minutes to make it to the Air Force Memorial. I was so bummed we wouldn't be able to have our boys there. My husband drove to work that day and had the other car key on him. So, with car filled with moral support and the presiding officer he hands off the key and I say "I'll see you there."

Usually, when I break something, it's far worse than I first realize. So, as I'm in the elevator going down into the parking garage I hoped that I didn't bust the ignition by forcing the broken key in it too hard. But, luckily, the car started without incident and I was on my way. Seven of us, freezing cold, stood underneath the three spires of the Air Force Memorial in 20-degree weather.

Also, yesterday, I found out that I'm going to the NCO Academy in April - a six-week course in Alabama. Two weeks of Combat Skills Training happen two weeks after I return from there and about a week later I'll be on my six-month deployment. I can't tell you how relieved I am that I have firm dates to plan around.

I've come to the realization that we're not going to have a sense of "normal" between now and the time that I leave. JG made the comment the other day that he doesn't feel "home" yet. There's been a lot of adjusting for all of us since he's been back. I'm so thankful that we get to spend our first anniversary together. To make up missing the reenlistment to the kids, maybe we'll go visit the Air Force Memorial on the day our family became official.

Home and back agan ...

2010-01-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

I'm home!!!

It's the final countdown

2009-12-14T04:35:00.005-05:00

We're finally down to about 16 days before JG gets home. I've not done a single Christmas preparation. The closest thing to "holiday" I've come to is attending the office seasonal party. I brought the boys, they had babysitting there, and quite honestly that was the only reason I was able to attend.

Last year JG and I went together and his mother sat the kids for us. Martha had taken me to get the dress which was no easy feat as I was on crutches from and ankle surgery. You should have seen my face at the Officer's Club when the event was on the second floor and there wasn't a working elevator. Can we say Cathedral ceilings?

I was daydreaming about how sweet JG was last year. He requested our song "At Last" by Etta James. We 'danced' right there at our table. Here's the photo Ms Carolyn took of us with her cell phone.

This year Gary and Amy Coppage were taking portaits again and it was all I could do not to cry watching our wedding slideshow they had playing. Gary had the first retirement ceremony at the Air Force Memorial and he jumped at the chance to shoot our wedding.

JG and I haven't even picked out photos for the albums. Heck, we haven't even sent out thank you cards yet. (I'm refusing to do them by myself.)

Those things will have to take a back seat to our splurge at the indoor water park Great Wolfe Lodge in Williamsburg and some overall reconnecting. Looks like JG will most likely be home before the New Year so we'll be starting 2010 exactly where I want to be - right by his side.

Last game of the season ...

2009-12-08T09:32:00.015-05:00

It's like the cliched start to an action flick: We need you to come out of retirement for just One. More. Mission. Chances of survival are slim. Odds are stacked against you. Oh, and there are kids invovled. Only I'm not really coming out of retirement. We're in the United Arab Emirates, so pretty safe. And the only hindrances to mission accomplishment are our own internal struggles to release information without anyone sounding like idiots. Oh, and there's no kids involved. But otherwise totally like a bad action movie ...

As a semi-related sidenote, New York Mets catcher Brian Schneider (Happy belated, Backstop!) And I were born on the exact same day. Other than him being bigger, stronger, more in shape and talented, there's hardly any difference between us at all. So it occurs to me that I could totally be playing for the Mets right now instead of deployed to the Middle East. Let's go Mets ...

We were actually requested to come out to the UAE for a pretty high-profile gig. As a service, the Air Force takes a lot of flack over the F-22 Raptor. There are lots of good arguments on both sides of the issue whether or not we need the jet. Much of that comes from it having never fought a combat mission or been tested in the Middle East. Well, that second point is no longer valid as a half dozen Raptors are out here for an exercise. To hear the pilots and maintainers talk about it, the jet performs beyond expectations. And there is another indisputable fact: The F-22 is just awesomely awesome ...

The best thing about being here, as awesome as the Raptor is, is the fact that this is, for all intents and purposes, our last mission before we go home. It's been a long six months of emotional and professional roller coaster rides. Jennifer and I continue to make plans for all the ways we want to reconnect as husband and wife, as parents to Zachary and Edward and all the other relationships we have with friends. Basically, just making sure we're meeting each other's needs. Talking about everything we want to do - family vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge, playing video games together, etc - has kept us all very excited about homecoming. Although I don't think Jennifer is quite aware of how often we'll be eating at Five Guys Burgers & Fries ...

But for now, it's focus on the mission so we can end our tour strongly. I've had the chance to take a lot of pictures again, so that's been cool. Also have a couple of stories in the works that I can't wait to get sent out. And while I've written before about how Yoshi should get an F-15E Strike Eagle as a secret vehicle in the next Mario Kart, I think I have another suggestion as well ...

Holidazed and Confused ...

2009-11-26T01:47:00.010-05:00

Today I’m in Afghanistan “celebrating” my 33rd birthday. What’s funny is this isn’t even my first birthday at Bagram Airfield. Three years ago, I turned 30 here. The Army guys I was stationed with at the time bought some biscuits from the Popeye’s Chicken here and that was my cake. This year, we had pizza the night before as this year, like every few years, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day. So for me, today isn’t especially about my birthday, but rather, celebrating that a year ago today I asked Jennifer to marry me and she said yes. Believe me, I’m still just as shocked …

The day started early for me too. The aerial photographer on our team, Staff Sgt. Mike Keller, is flying in an F-15E Strike Eagle over Afghanistan today. It’s the first time something like this has been done over here, so it’s really cool that it’s our team involved. What’s also cool is that he’s flying with the 335th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., my first duty station. But Mike had to be at the squadron at four in the morning, so someone had to bring him. But it’s okay because he’s taking Yoshi up on the flight with him. Seriously, the next Mario Kart game needs to have a Strike Eagle as an unlockable vehicle. Missiles > turtle shells …

Driving back to the office, I saw someone running. Now, it’s great and all to want to stay in shape, but for cryin’ out loud, it was 4:30 in the morning, really windy and 25 degrees outside. Then I saw another runner. This one was wearing shorts. And that’s when it hit me. I don’t like *anything* enough to do it at 4:30 in the morning in 25 degree weather. I don’t even like cuddling with Jennifer that much. But then again, her feet are usually about 25 degrees …

And to be honest, I actually miss her cold feet. I miss the boys jumping on us as we try to sleep in on the weekends. I miss having to take the dog outside. And that was my second revelation for the morning. Even the less fun aspects of family life, it’s still my family life, and I really can’t wait to get back to it. So for my birthday, I don’t want candles; I’d rather light a fire in our fireplace. Because sooner or later, Jennifer will inevitably attack me with her freezing feet, and then I’ll know I’m home …

Peanuts, Cracker Jack ...

2009-11-24T10:26:00.016-05:00

We’re heading into the bottom of the seventh inning on this deployment. Just a few more weeks to go and I’ll be heading home, or as Jennifer calls it, “Back where you belong.” Can’t really argue with her on that. A little bummed, however, as no one sang “Take Me out to the Ballgame” for us …

But we did have lots of treats. My team had some extended downtime between missions for the first half of November, which was nice because we’ve quick-turned from one mission to the next for a while now. And when we got back from Iraq, I had a bunch of care packages waiting for me from family as well as my contacts from AnyAirman.com and Operation Write Home. And yes, we even had thematically appropriate seventh-inning stretch snacky snacks …

Jennifer sent lots of Halloween treats like stuff to decorate our own cookies and lots of candy. So while I didn’t get to dress up and go trick-or-treating with my sons this year (one of my top five regrets during this deployment), I did get to celebrate my favorite holiday a little bit. She also sent a pirate piñata. I swear my intentions were good and I wanted all nine of us in the combat camera section to get a turn to swing at it. But I went first and, armed with a baseball bat, in one swing showed the pirate why ninja are better …

The time was also really good for our family. Jennifer and I did a lot of pre-reconnecting - talking about things we want to do once I get home and even settling of some old arguments. Difficult at times, wonderful at others, positive all the way around. Marriage at a billion miles from each other is a lot more difficult than either of us thought it would be. But we’re growing and making progress as a wedded couple. Despite the times when we want to choke each other, we are still good about acknowledging our love for one another and maintaining the goal of resolving our disagreements. Even when I’m not as correct about things as I usually think I am …

Right now I’m hoping to get home a few days after Christmas. I asked Zachary point blank if he wanted to open presents on the 25th or wait until I got home. Without missing a beat, he made the family decision for us and said he wants to wait until I get home. I’m really proud of him for that decision and it means a lot to me that he's willing to wait so we can enjoy the day as a family. Being a dad from a billion miles away is just as trying as being a husband and the time apart has been really difficult for the boys, too. And really, all I want for Christmas is to be with my family again. Santa better come through for me on this one too. He still owes me for that LEGO train set I always wanted. And if not, well, he can ask the pirate about my batting skills …

Home Stretch

2009-11-20T04:28:00.003-05:00

JG's homecoming is way overdue if you take into account how much the kids and I miss him. I've gone back and forth between feeling anxious and excited about the day he comes home. In some aspects the distance has made us stronger, but in other ways weaknesses are quite apparent. More than anything else I crave proximity.

Now some random thoughts.

Until last night, I forgot how much I enjoy the Burger King fish sandwich. You have to remmeber to order it with cheese. It comes with lettuce. It's the size of a Whopper. Yum.

I hate checking the mail, mainly because our mailbox key needs to be inserted and turned "just right." Also, more than 90 percent of it is junk mail that clutters the house.

What's your favorite line of the month?

2009-10-29T19:23:00.007-04:00

1. Drove kids to Massachusettes this month to visit two sets of Grandparents.
2. Air Force Communications Workshop coordinator - huge success.
3. Drive two to Massachusettes -- arrived exhausted.
4. Blew 60 watt fuses in the heater/AC system.
5. Paid $60 to be told I didn't trip the breaker all the way.
6. Nodded off only an hour into trip home with boys.
7. Stopped for night early afternoon got in two good naps before checking out before midnight.
8. Two naps cost three charges of $100 each on my debit card.
9. Idiot manager at Comfort Inn.
10. Competent sales director at Comfort Inn.
11. USAA thought Comfort Inn manager was an idiot too.
12. Bacon, cheese and eggwhite omlets are yum. Don't judge.
13. Good friends made it possible to go on temporary duty in San Antonio: Mike, Heather and Julie.
14. Julie made video of Judy's limp.
15. Judy is my dog I nickname JuJu.
16. Heather sat JuJu first, before her dental surgery.
17. Doing lunch with Heather tomorrow.
18. Picked JuJu up last night, busted kids bedtime.
19. Edward loves to nap in car.
20. Zachary won't stop talking in car.
21. "If Daddy's not here to protect you, I will and if I'm not here to protect you, Edward will. I love you, Mom, so much," said Zachary.
22. It didn't make me cry, I had tears rolling down my cheeks before that.
23. Motivated to become potential bone marrow donor.
24. Zachary says the things I told him is 80 percent processed, he's still "typing" what adopted means in his mind.
25. Crosswalk complex discovered between Market Square and Riverwalk. Gitty over diagonal crosswalks.
26. Blinking man bad, blinking hand bad, solid man bad.
27. It's nice to be needed, but my phone wouldn't stop ringing.
28. Came home to a freezing house at 5:30 a.m.
29. RAGE. I hate being cold.
30. Bought two packs of fuses at Home Depot.
31. Lectured by home depot man that fuses are hard to come by in the spring.
32. Visited with Grandfather, he survived lunch with the great grandsons.
33. Wonders why there are pillows stacked on top of the step stool in the kitchen right now as I write this.
34. JuJu hurt her paw upon transfer from Heather to Julie.
35. Julie posted picture of JuJu on Facebook.
36. Heather's last blog post is old.
37. Can't figure out why MY mail key won't work, but the spare Mike has does.
38. Thankful the drip in the bathroom is gone.
39. Entertaining the idea of a bathroom rennovation party.
40. Car goes to shop AGAIN tomorrow.
41. Paying off two debts tomorrow.
42. Found blue hairspray to be Marge.
43. Loves the electric blanket.
44. Misses JG terribly.
45. Indy, the snake, is hungry.
46. Bought a wool coat. It's cream colored. Matched brown or black shoes.
47. Lost an earing back. JG bought me more already.
48. Suitcases still aren't unpacked.
49. Car inspection due. Oil change due. Due for wipers.
50. Commented on 30 blog posts. Hope it makes people smile.
51. I have three Halloween costumes.
52. Raynauds turned my right elbow blue too.
53. Zachary has ringworm. Luckily it's not a real worm. I looked it up.
54. Forgot how much I love quiche.
55. Will only eat sausage pizza with bacon. It's a texture thing.
56. "NO!" to Zach's question of "Do you miss my birth dad?"
57. Blended lattes at Cold Stone suck.
58. Wait staff at Boudros sucked twice.
59. Almost forgot to pay the mortgage.
60. DTS worked. Weird. (Defense Travel System)
61. Lost every Mortal Kombat game except one ... a nearly flawless victory. I rock.
62. JG has Halloween care package waiting on him. Hope he gets back to his deployment home base soon!
63. Admired her seamstress friend Liz's handiwork.
64. Bought a bag of dark chocolate Saturday and there's more than half left still. ODD.
65. Hates pre-made breakfast sandwiches at rest stop Burger King.
66. Can't figure out why they don't make biscut sandwiches at the rest stops.
67. Upset the gasoline pump operators didn't wash her windsheid.
68. Zachary stepped on my bad ankle as I was tucking him in this week.
69. Became a Mary Kay consultant ... in it for the discount, their skin care is amazing.
70. Irriated Starbucks at rest stops aren't open 24 hours.
71. Started preferring dunkin donuts coffee again.
72. More than 400 hits on our blog since we started keeping track.
73. Ate half a jar of mini sweet pickles as a snack at work.
74. PFB, you know who you are, witnessed my success against Adobe.
75. Still haven't played my voice messages from last week.
76. Gray is not natural. I don't care how old you are.
77. Salon employee told me she "liked my shape" asked if I needed a brazilian and offered me wine.
78. FEDEXKINKOS open 24 hrs. Pay attention Starbucks! 6 a.m. is too late for hard core road tripests.
79. Flat boots can be sexy.
80. Lamb chops. Mmmmmmm. The accompained red wine went to waste. Bitter bites.
81. Blockout new game addiction.
82. Pulled Professional Development Guide into plain view.
83. Excited I found the honeymoom photos.
84. OfficeDepot closes at 6 p.m. on Sundays. They suck too.

Feeling KRABby, thinking ahead ...

2009-10-22T10:57:00.030-04:00

Kirkuk Regional Air Base, or KRAB, has to be one of the worst names for an installation ever. "Where ya headed?" "Oh, I've got KRAB." Or for the more insulting, K-RAB (rhymes with Ahab, as in the captain) and is used by the same type of folks who call our "A-Rab" hosts "Ragheads." Ah, tolerance, understanding and partnership. Then again, I was stationed at Seymour Johnson ...

Kirkuk is home to one of the places where Americans are training Iraqi pilots so *their* air force can protect *their* airspace and we can get the heck outta Dodge. We covered this mission at Camp Taji (thesergeantsbuzz.blogspot.com/2009/07/so-this-is-what-iraq-is-like.html) except with helicopters. Here they're flying Cessnas for intel gathering and some other stuff. Some people fly Cessnas for fun or even in races. In high school, my orthodontist took me up in his Cessna. Wonder if he knows he could be a pilot with the Iraqi air force if that making six figures a year in Southern California doesn't pan out ...

On the whole, Kirkuk is pretty nice. It's one of the places where we'll be drawing down troops sooner rather than later. Progress! It's a lot like Taji in that the mission and attitude is focued on getting Iraqi training programs up and running so we can leave and not come back. People here aren't burned out and bitter like in Baghdad. We aren't shelled daily like in Balad AKA "Mortar-itaville." Where's the salt ...

It's still really nice to have a break from the rigors of deployment, however, and we had a great visit from the USO this week. They brought a bunch of cartoonists on a tour through the Middle East and stopped by here. They were all really nice and went out of their way to talk to Airmen and Soldiers stationed here. It ended up being a fantastic experience for me for a few reasons. One, I got a really good story out of it (www.kirkuk.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123173934). Two, Rick Kirkman, who draws "Baby Blues" did some drawings for the family - Hammie with a lightsaber for Zachary and Hammie holding Yoshi for Edward; Darryl and Wanda for me and Jennifer ...

But I've also decided on what I'd like to do once I get out of the Air Force. I've long been a fan of the USO and what they do to support military members and their families. And on these tours, they bring photographers and entertainment directors to make sure everything is taken care of for the celebrities who come out to help us forget, if only for a little while, that we're in a war zone. So I think I want to be one of those guys. Working for the USO would have its own rewards and I'd still be doing the writing, photography, media and community relations kinds of things I enjoy in the Air Force. Of course, that's not for another 12 years or so. But it's nice to have an idea of what I want to do once I get promoted to the rank of civilian ...

The three hats I wear ...

2009-10-16T05:18:00.025-04:00

The message on the screen offered a ‘thank you’ for choosing to watch a movie in their theater. As if there’s another choice. But here at Joint Base Balad, Iraq (because it would hurt the feelings of the other services if continued to just call it Balad Air Base … and don’t get me started about the new “Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Station”), I actually did get to sit in a real movie theater and eat real movie theater popcorn with real movie theater popcorn butter. Or “butter,” as it were. Now if only I could have watched a real movie instead of the predictable and trite “Surrogates,” starring Bruce Willis and playing at a theater near you. Unless you’re deployed, in which case it’s only playing at *the* movie theater …

So we’re back in the ‘raq to cover a couple of missions. Of all the things that make this assignment difficult, the traveling is the worst. Well, that’s not entirely true. The being away from home is the hardest part, obviously. But the hardest part of the actual job is the traveling. Being in a variety of countries and working with lots of different people is cool, but the actual flying part takes its toll. It routinely takes us an entire day, if not more, to get anywhere from our home base. Not because the places are so far away, but because air transportation is so unpredictable and prone to outright cancelation. And here I thought BWI was bad …

What it does give is a lot of downtime either waiting in the passenger terminal or on the long flight itself, where, because space is so cramped, you’re absolutely glad they use Dial. Because of the limited number of flights at any given time, most of them are packed with people, cargo or both. Reading is difficult because there aren’t exactly overhead lights. There’s no beverage service either, unless the loadmaster is good enough to say, “Hey, Dude, you want a water? It’s in the cooler over there,” but even that is the exception rather than the rule. We’re allowed to bring our own food and drinks, but there really isn’t much room for more than a single bottle of water for the entire five-hour-plus flight when you’re carrying your helmet, body armor, rifle, pistol, ammo for both, first aid kit, bag of clothes, bag of work stuff, partridge in a pear tree …

So with all the downtime, there’s lots of time to think, reflect, daydream, ponder, reverie, fantasize, recall, imagine, consider and muse about all sorts of things. Like, for example, all the words you can come up with that are synonyms for “think.” Also gives time to remember how much you miss your wife and kids. And because we’re traveling every other week, if not more, there’s a lot of time for that missing. My pal Tech. Sgt. Joseph Kapinos (read his blog at combatcorrespondent.blogspot.com/) recently lamented on how he’ll explain to his daughter the time he missed watching her grow up. I’ll be honest; I wonder how Jennifer and I will be able to justify all our time deployed away from our boys. “Wonder” … missed that one …

At home I see myself wearing three hats – Husband, Dad and Airman. It’s the requirements of the my Airman that has me literally wearing three hats out here -- one for each of the uniforms I wear, depending on the mission. All those hats and uniforms make it a real pain to pack. Especially when I’m trying to bring some extra snacky snacks along for the flight and can’t fit them in my bag …

But I also know that it’s because of that Airman hat that I’m able to provide for my family and wear the other two. Conversely, it’s wearing the Dad and Husband hats that make me a better Airman, I think. And though I’ve been an Airman a lot longer than I’ve been a husband and a father, I’m finding my priorities have changed dramatically in life. No more thoughts about bases or assignments I wanted to apply for that would take me all over the world and away from home. Not now that I share my home with someone other than my snake. Or rather, OUR snake. And OUR home. OUR dog. OUR television. OUR bed. HER kitchen, but I don’t mind that so much. Besides, MY PlayStation …

But I don’t have the answer as to how we explain why we have to be away so often. We haven’t told the boys yet about Jennifer’s looming deployment next year. I just hope that she’s assigned to a specific base and doesn’t have to travel as much as I do. Jennifer’s idea of packing for a trip involves at least five bags. And that’s just for overnight …

For now, however, it’s mind on the mission and not how much I’d rather be having lightsaber fights with the boys, playing Scrabble with Jennifer or doing anything together as a family. Can’t dwell on missing them while we’re out on a patrol in an Iraqi village. “Dwell” … that’s another one I missed …

Edward

2009-10-06T21:49:00.009-04:00

Edward and Coral got 'married' sometime last year. They go to the same daycare together. Edward just turned five last month and started Kindergarten. He's a 'klubmate' in the before and after school program so he doesn't get to see Coral as much anymore. Edward was so excited when he saw Coral's mom last week and told her about the note I put on Coral's cubbie and that Coral would need her pajamas for the play date. (I think this is the only age I'll be able to laugh at that.)

Saturday, the boys and I met Coral's whole family at a nearby elementary school to play. Edward had a blast showing off on the monkey bars and avoiding the 'lava' while Coral ran around saying Edward was her true love and that she was a princess. When it was time to say goodbye, Edward reciprocated the mint Coral had given him at their greeting with Goldfish. He opened the mini bag of crackers by himself. The bag was ripped too far and I knew that he knew it was going to make a mess. After handing the bag to Coral he reached into our truck, literally pulled out half a box of tissues and handed it to Coral's mom. "Just incase," he said.

Tonight Edward had a karate test. He earned his yellow belt which means he's proficient at three defensive measures. The tests are very private and I couldn't observe him. After his test we waited about 20 minutes for Zachary's class to be over and Edward still had enough leftover energy to run up and down the sidewalk repeatedly. I suspect they could drill him harder next time.

Speaking of time, Edward knows that his Daddy comes home right after Christmas. The last couple of weeks he's stopped asking when Daddy comes home and instead has asked how long it is until Christmas.

Karate seems to be helping Edward pass the time. And when he's not obsessing over his new Spiderman alphabet writing workbook, riding his new bike or lining up his cars in a perfectly straight line he's either watching or playing a video game.

Edward is absolutely fascinated with the Ghostbusters video game. It plays out like the third movie that never got made, so I'm told. He watched Daddy play it and win right before he deployed in June. JG had a Ghostbusters patch made for Edward and put it in a package that arrived this week for the boys.

The awesomeness of the patch wore off quick as Edward realized Daddy sent 'cereal.' A box of Fruity Pebbles, and one each individual servings of Fruit Loops, Cocoa Puffs and Apple Jacks. I hate sugary cereal. I grew up on plain Cheerios, Crispix, Kix, Shredded Wheat, and Corn, Wheat and Rice Chex. And Daddy knows I refuse to buy the 'good' stuff for the boys.

Edward loves being told he is a good listener and that Daddy and I are proud of him. Tonight it was easy to give him praise. He had taken the four boxes of Capri Suns (only 100% juice in this house) and put them in the fridge. Then, Edward said he was going to put he empty boxes in the recycling bin for me outside in the shed. He came in and got four drinks out of the fridge and laid each on a coaster in a perfect row on the end table. I'm guessing he got the fourth one for Daddy. Edward also keeps checking the freezer to make sure the two birthday cupcakes are in there for Daddy.

The new five-year-old got ready for bed without being coached and was satisfied with one bedtime story. Zachary was out cold for the night before I had even went in their room to tuck them in. Edward looked over at Zachary and said if Zachary was sick in the morning that Zachary could stay home with me and he would go to school like a big boy.

Awe.

Back in black ...

2009-10-06T06:30:00.012-04:00

If someone attempts to stab me with a pen, but I succeessfully deflect it, would that be ... a writer's block ...

Sigh. I know. Who still writes with pens? But I've been finding it increasingly difficult to write over the last couple of weeks. I think it's been a mixture of the doldrums of being deployed, dealing with issues back home and whatever other excuse I might be able to come up with. Fortunately, a change of scenery has helped. Right now we're in a country I'd never visited before, covering missions I've never written about. But there's always gotta be something that goes wrong. I think it's a law or something ...

After working through some of the initial job-related difficulties (we're not exactly seeing eye-to-eye with the local public affairs office and we're not allowed to drive ourselves anywhere) we were able to meet up with the flying squadrons here "at a location somewhere in Southwest Asia." The other guys on the team have been able to get flights on the refuelers here, but I've spent my time hanging out with the guys who fly U-2s and Global Hawks. They've been really helpful and even let me go with them in the chase car a couple of times as U-2s would launch or land. In fact, here's the intro to my story about the U-2 mission ...

With or Without You knowing, Airmen are on The Fly at the highest Elevation over areas Where the Streets Have no Name as pilots take great Pride in their Desire to fight Vertigo or become Numb and keep One Beautiful Day from turning Bad, because Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own and rather than troops having to Walk On or Running to Stand Still, these aviators Stay for A Sort Of Homecoming, because although Some Days are Better than Others it’s still better than a Sunday Bloody Sunday. Zooropa.

Okay, not really. But it's what I *wanted* to write. Instead I wrote about a captain flying his first mission out here and another story about why the reconnaissance squadron is important. I even was able to borrow a camera to take some pictures, which was nice since mine is still broken. I loathe only being able to do one aspect of my job. That's my biggest complaint about my time out here. Except for like, the being away from my family and in a war zone part ...

There are two things going on with my time at this base though:

1) I'm excited to write again

2) I'm reminded of why I enjoy being in the Air Force

I'm pretty happy with the two stories I've written here so far and have plans for a couple more. So it's nice to be out of that funk. But also it's been great working with the people here. The folks at the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron have outright said "Hey, you're part of the squadron while you're here," and they've bent over backward to help me. The majority of the people in the Air Force really make this more than just a job and something I like being a part of. That and getting to tear down an open runway in a sports car at 90 miles an hour is just awesome ...

So between having cool things to write about and working with people who make my job worthwhile, I feel like I've got my groove back. The trip to this base has been pretty good for the most part - decent Internet, good mission, a room with a bed, not getting shot at. Not sure where we're headed next, but wherever it is, I'm looking forward to it. My only hope is that I'll be looking forward to it through the viewfinder of my camera and not one I have to borrow ...

True. Very true.

2009-09-30T17:41:00.000-04:00

"Times are tough, but they'll get better soon, Darling. I miss you terribly. Love, JG"

That's what the card said. One morning last week, flowers were at my desk before I was.

We were arguing again just two days later.

Things are strained. Every disagreement leads to an argument about how we argue. Our efforts to dissect the IMs and/or emails to figure out where our communication went wrong has only shined a spotlight on how imperfect we are. Baggage and bias have skewed our views on acknowledgment, forgiveness and apologies.

Actual words are less than 10 percent of communication. Well, when words are all there are to go on internet delays during a live chat, lack of or use of the wrong 'emoticon' and even word choice makes the 90 percent margin for error a guarantee.

JG and I were talking about how were we at the halfway mark of his deployment when his countdown application registered 48.5 percent. It was about a week before it officially hit more than 50 percent. I swear time stood still for hours at a time.

I took the kids out to Silver Diner for dinner tonight. We had made friends with the manager, Jackie, before JG left due to an unfortuante hummus incident. "We guarantee our restaurant is sparkling clean, and that goes for the food too," Jackie had said. Anyway, Jackie greeted the kids and I warmly. She asked how JG and I were doing. After listening for a couple minutes she broke in with "that's only because you miss each other so much."

True. Very true.

"I'll have ... that ..."

2009-09-29T12:37:00.000-04:00

To be fair, I didn't know what it was either, but the gal in front of me in the chow line was willing to brave eating ... whatever it was ... so I figured I would as well. I mean, hey, enough barbecue sauce and you can make anything taste good. And thanks to my mother-in-law, I actually have a bottle. Now if only someone could send a bottle of merlot. Three dollars for half a plastic cup of box o' wine is killin' me ...

Our team has had some much-needed downtime this week so we could say hello to the new folks, adieu to those headed home. We were even able to get off base and go downtown. I did some shopping, some haggling for coworkers over what they were buying and spent some recreational time with colleagues. Stacia Zachary and I go back a long time. We went to basic training together, technical training, conferences, more training and she's been another sister for me. Like I need any more ...

But we said our good-byes as she heads home to her family and in her stead is another friend, Joseph "Kap" Kapinos who keeps a blog at combatcorrespondent.blogspot.com/. Kap and I go back a few years too. It's a small career field and getting smaller by the day as more and more people get fed up with the constant deployments and time away from family. While that's what we three discussed mostly, it was intended to be more a trip to increase morale, not beat it into submission. So we had ice cream ...

I also scream, because our mission now is "elsewhere in Southwest Asia" at a base in a country that doesn't want us to talk about the base being in their country, which presents a great challenge for me as it's kinda my job to talk about the people and the mission at that base in that country. But I have it on good authority that the food is good. Which is great, because I didn't pack my bottle of barbecue sauce ...

On a more positive note, Jennifer and I are hashing out disagreements a little bit better now that we're on the downward slope of our time away from each other. At this points it's just hitting little milestones - holidays, birthdays, holidays that are also birthdays that fall on Thanksgiving ...

In the meantime I've started writing to Zachary's class and got a nice note back from his teacher. I remember during Desert Storm writing to deployed servicemembers in school. Now I get to be on the other end of it. An old friend from college also wrote a nice piece in the Northcoast Journal about Jennifer and me (www.northcoastjournal.com/issues/2009/09/24/yo-afghanistan/). I'm finding writing to be a really good way of staying connected to the world back home. I think E.T. had it all wrong. All he needed was a good Web cam connected to his Speak 'n' Spell ...

Livin' on a Prayer ...

2009-09-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Deployments are their most difficult about halfway through. The excitement and bravado and newness of it all has worn off, but you've still got just as much time as you've already served before you're heading home. When I first got here, my dear friend Stacia was at the point I am now. She took great satisfaction in reminding me of what I told her then: You're better than this ...

I keep telling myself I volunteered for the deployment, knowing what I was getting into. I guess it's just not working out the way I'd hoped. So taking the advice from another colleague and his blog (http://ironichipocrisy.blogspot.com/), I want to do what I can to "affect change." I've started writing down some things I think would make the assignment better for the person filling it as well as for the Air Force. Unfortunately, the only change I seem to be affecting these days are the pogs-as-nickels/dimes/quarters they give us out here ...

The other change being affected is my and Jennifer's relationship itself. Our marriage was so new when I left; Jennifer and I barely had time to enjoy each other in our matrimonious state. But struggles in communication, priorities and expectations are taking their toll and we're struggling through the days. If I were home, it would certainly be easier -- the struggle would be more like a wrestling match, and that's always fun. It's just hard to wrestle over the phone or email. Besides, they randomly monitor and wouldn't THAT be embarrassing ...

I'm finding myself unfulfilled spiritually as well. The military is finally deploying a Buddhist chaplain (http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_buddhistchaplain_090809/), which is good news. The bad news is he doesn't get here til December and will be somewhere in Afghanistan right as I'm preparing to leave. Then again, maybe he and I can spend Christmas together ...

I don't quite know how I got into this funk. I'm waiting for my boss to tell me that I have a bad attitude. My planned response is "yeah, that's 'cause my attitude is bad," but I'm not sure how well that will go over. I'm trying to bounce back and enjoy little things again - Jennifer sent me some totally grubbin' peanut brittle, have a stack of movies, books, magazines and crossword puzzles, and the HBO John Adams series. So lots of entertainment options. I should probably try to do some work also ...

I think my crummy mood started while I was in Panjshir. But there was one bright spot. The staff there regularly hike up this mountain behind the compound. I got up early one morning, just as they were about to set out to conquer "Blue Hill." The major there said I should try it, and so aww, hell, I went. Got about 3/4 of the way up before I almost passed out. Head was spinning, breaths were labored; I was miserable. But I was almost there. So the same major sat with me a minute until I was ready to go. One of the medics said I should probably turn back, which was good and practical advice. But as Jennifer points out, sometimes I'm just too stubborn. I finally made it up there and it was nice to have that victory. I'd accomplished something! I'd decided to take my troubles and like James Baldwin, "Go Tell it on the Mountain." I'm looking at you, fellow English majors ...

So maybe that's what I need. A challenge and (hopefully) ensuing victory. We're headed back out again soon, probably to Iraq again. There are some great folks we'll be working with, so hopefully a change of scenery and quality work will help me snap out of this. It just dawned on me that I'm hoping to improve my mood by GOING to Iraq. Irony is a cruel mistress ...

But wherever we end up going for our next mission, the fact remains that I'm just about 50% done with this deployment. Oh, we're halfway there ...

To Be & Another Piece of Paper

2009-09-17T15:08:00.002-04:00

A couple blog posts ago JG broke the news that he will be reenlisting this year despite concern with our career field's deployment rate.

Our career field manager who manages the entire public affairs, broadcaster and photographer enlisted force stopped by last week to visit the Air Force Public Affairs Agency. For me, the three most surprising facts he shared were: PA deployments increased by more than 60 percent this year, state-side broadcast positions were only 35 percent manned and photographers were at a 1:7 deployment dwell rate (pardon combat camera).

And, after listening to the numerous other challenges and how he and the director of public affairs have been working to translate senior leadership's empathy into action, I am now rooting for a 1:1 dwell. (Insert Gasp Here.)

Why?

Anyone can be pulled at any time - making the deployment selection process more 'intimate.' Deployments would be based on an individuals dwell rate. For example, when I deploy next March my dwell rate would have been a 1:5 (thanks to five ankle surgeries). When I come back, my dwell rate starts over at 1:1 and I'm racked and stacked against every other individuals' dwell rates who are not currently deployed, rather than just those within my band.

Also, it gives PA leadership even more justification needed to plead their case for more manpower and to prevent further cuts.

I'm confident that after this long year ahead of us JG and I will be able to PCS and have two years of two-parent stability for our boys - and a baby.

Lately I'm feeling a sense of relief, particularly because of facts and figures, but mostly because there's a bunch of people who care. Supervisors and others in each of our chain of command shared their concern about our situation and empathized that enduring those circumstances long term would have serious consequences for our family. I've also been really impressed with the career field manager's candidness on these and other issues.

I'm also impressed with the director of public affairs. I'm quite thankful he overlooked me answering my direct line today with a rushed "Tech. Sgt. Buzanowski" as I had to put a company wanting an Air Force License Agreement to use the Air Force Symbol on hold. (www.trademark.af.mil) The Colonel called to give me kudos on the work I've been doing on the trademark program, he said he's been hearing my name 'everywhere' but in a good way. He asked how 'Buzz' was doing on his deployment, asked me how the family was doing and told me that he and his wife will be holding a get together at their house next month for all of the spouses of deployed members in our directorate.

Funny in a way to be thought of as a 'spouse.' I really didn't think much about it until today. I find myself socially awkward around other spouses who don't wear the uniform.

So get this - my original deployment tasking was changed meaning I no longer deploy in March, I deploy in May ... but a 30-day combat skills training course in April. I'm so excited that JG and I will get to celebrate our first wedding anniversary together.

Signing that piece paper was much easier.

Tanks for the memories ...

2009-09-09T10:10:00.000-04:00

Our team is deployed to the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan right now, assigned to cover the mission of the provincial reconstruction team here. I'm a big fan of PRTs and spent a lot of time with them on my last tour over here. The teams work directly with the people in the villages to figure out what they need and how to help them get it. In the past, it's often meant a direct handout, but here in Panjshir, they're focused on teaching them how to govern themselves, how to request aid from their provincial leaders, how to get the people to work within the system to accomplish their goals. Yes, we're teaching the Afghans bureaucracy ...

But that's not such a bad thing and here it really seems to be working. Panjshir is considered to be the crown jewel among the provinces in that there aren't any real security issues, so our Airmen, Soldiers and (the) Sailor at the PRT here are able to get out and help mentor them on building schools, creating infrastructure and getting this place up and going so, well, WE can be up and going and not have to come back. But there's a catch; there's always a catch. Unless you're watching a Mets game, in which case there is usually a catch, sometimes a catch, hopefully a catch ...

Panjshir, like much of Afghanistan, is mostly mountains. So to get to the sites where our folks tell them, "This mixture of cement has too much water, so it won't hold the bricks," or, "Bathrooms can NOT drain downhill into the village," and the like, it means long drives over and around said mountains. I honestly was scared a few times we were going to slide down the side of one of the roads just barely wide enough for the Toyota truck we were in. But the folks here know these roads and how to get to the most remote villages. After that, it can sometimes be a hike ... a hike UP the mountain. These kids actually do walk two miles uphill through the snow just to get to school. So apparently, all of our parents went to school in Afghanistan ...

But that's where the story is, so along for the ride I go. Now for some, it's clowns to the left, jokers to the right. For others, it's between a rock and a hard place. Me, I sat between our mujahadeen guard and a guy "from the State Department" during one of our forays. So between the company I was keeping, the mountain we had to climb and the ever-present forces of gravity should our driver zig instead of zag, it's been an adventure. Knew I should have taken my Indiana Jones hat with me ...

And while Indy mostly fought the Nazis, in his last film he contended with Soviets (and aliens, apparently ...), which is exactly what the people in Panjshir did (fight Russians, I mean, not "archeologists from outer space"). The people here have been at war for 30 years. They repelled the Soviet invasion and there's evidence all over the countryside. Old Soviet tanks and personnel carriers litter the countryside, rusted metal hunks of a failed endeavor. The Panjshiri also kicked the Taliban out because they persecuted the people and tried to strongarm them into fighting against us. The Panjshiri instead chose not to. So we've very much learned from the examples before us, which is refreshing. And if we ever get to the point where we lose our way here in Afghanistan, well, we've got some reminders ...

Weekend at Donley's ...

2009-09-03T11:35:00.000-04:00

I spent the weekend following around the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Donley, as he traveled around to several bases and visited with Airmen. It's cool because I did the same sort of thing last time I was deployed with Michael Wynne, the SecAF at the time. We went to like eight different bases and he spoke to hundreds of people. Everyone and their brother wanted a picture with him (okay, I did too ...) so my job was to said pictures. Which was a fantastic opportunity. Until my camera broke ...

Right before I'm supposed to get on the plane, the shutter and autofocus go out on me. So there I am trying to make the thing work and for the life of me can't figure it out. The shutter speed adjuster won't go past 250, won't autofocus and I have to double tap the button to take a picture. Can not for the life of me figure out what happened. So I had to beg, borrow and steal cameras from other public affairs offices, which were very helpful and generous, to do my job. But there were still times when I had to use my D3. So I had to manuall adjust for lighting, speed, focus and hit the button twice every time. Or as my fellow picture takers call it, photography ...

For now I'm just trying to get ready for my next trip out. I've got almost 3,000 pictures to go through because everyone wants their photo, which is understandable. I mean, even Yoshi was demanding I get his photo out ...

Actually the Secretary was pretty cool about it. But the best was while I was headed to Jalalabad (side note: it's my second time to Jalalabad and I wrote about it last time while I was there; mostly about how fun it is to say: Ja-la-la-bad). So there I am on the C-130 (ugh) headed out to J-bad and I take a photo of Yoshi in a seat. The wing commander from Bagram Airfield, Brigadier General Steven Kwast, asks me about my dinosaur companion and I give him the quick version of the story - our youngest son loves Yoshi, I'm taking pictures of Yoshi's adventures around the Middle East. So he says to me, "Hey, you should take a picture of him with the three-star!" So yeah, Lieutenant General Gilmary Hostage (my new big boss out here) took a photo with Yoshi ...

Back on the homefront, I've been trying to work with Jennifer on getting the boys on track with their schooling as well as maintaining our own relationship. I'm still very much learning how to be a husband and father and it's difficult to do this from afar. Sending home videos, emails and pictures of Yoshi help. But next year, when she's deployed and *I'm* the one at home scares the heck out of me. I mean, I can barely feed myself, how am I going to take care of them?! But one issue at a time, right? My biggest challenge has been staying focused on my job because I'm so concerned about what's going on at home. But then again, I've had focus issues all week. Stupid camera ...

Just a Piece of Paper

2009-08-27T18:14:00.000-04:00

Just a piece of paper - that's how I referred to it. The official notification for my March 2010 deployment to Baghdad. It sat on my desk Monday. And Tuesday. Wednesday I was called into an office and asked why I hadn't signed it yet.

Instead of getting around to the pile of administrative formalities, this piece of paper and everything it represented was now singled out and staring me in the face.

Six months without.

Tears rolling down my face I signed.

I wrote my husband. He called me immediately.

Past, Present and Future ...

2009-08-26T08:10:00.000-04:00

A couple of days back from Afghanistan and I'm leaving right out again. That's how these things go: "downtime" is spent getting ready to leave. Had a few days to recover from the solid days of work at Bagram. Unpacked, did laundry, repacked. Made some decisions, made some obserations, made time to catch up with an old friend. Also had some wine ...

After much deliberation, consternation, contemplation and acceptification, we've decided the best thing for our family is if I reenlist for another four years in the Air Force. The increasing number of deployments is daunting, but the bottom line is I still enjoy what I do in Air Force Public Affairs and that was always the agreement I made with myself. Only it's not just my self I have to worry about anymore. As part of my reenlistment, I'll be eligible to sign up for the new G.I Bill benefit that allows me to transfer the money for college to a wife or child. Basically it's how we're going to send at least one of the kids to school. I figure it's the best gift we can give them for putting up with the months they spend without us. Although if you ask Zachary or Edward, I'm sure it would be a video game. Most of the time I would agree ...

Had a disagreement with my team, however, on how best to perform our mission. There are still some major differences between the way Combat Camera and Public Affairs operate. But despite some growing pains, I think we're slowly starting to understand each other a little better. More than that though, I've done a little soul searching about deployments in general. Or at least the ones I've been on. I do a lot of grousing and griping while I'm deployed. And I always go home with a lot of memories and stories. However, I really need to cut back on sentences that start "Back when I was here last ..." or "When I was deployed to ..." Ugh. I'm becoming THAT guy ...

So my goal is to try and find some perspective that next year I will more than likely look back at my time here as a fulfilling experience, despite any temporary personality conflicts. Because back when I was here last and when I was deployed to Afghanistan, that's how I ultimately came to consider those experiences. Oops, I did it again ...

While deployed, every emotional response amplifies because of physical distance, time difference, connection issues, etc. Every small misunderstanding becomes something so much worse. Jennifer and I have already worked through our fair share of what would be normal relationship difficulties, but they've been worse and more difficult to find resolution to because of our being separated by so much. It's absolutlely our faith in each other and our family that is getting us through those days. And when it isn't relying on each other, it's relying on our friends. Especially when they buy you a drink ...

I ran into my old pal, Rick Wagner, here yesterday. Rick joined the Air Force a couple years after I did. We used to hang out when we lived in Humboldt County, California. We had a lot of the same hobbies and our dads were both in the Coast Guard, so I've always liked Rick. And now here we are in Southwest Asia. A small world it is. Unless you're Yoda ...

Name Your Pets

2009-08-20T18:41:00.001-04:00

Zachary, 8, and Edward, 4, are still alive. This is a miracle considering the outright insubordination I corrected all last week. Luckily we had a great weekend and we got through this week with little hassle. Though, some days, I wish we lived on a farm.

When my sister and I were growing up it was not uncommon for us to do hours of chores each day to help sustain our family's little farm. We did chores regardless of our behavior. This was especially true during summer vacation when we had to help stack at least a dozen cords of wood to dry so in the fall we could throw it in the cellar for the ultimate Tetris game. We'd also have to weed endless rows of every vegetable imaginable sustainable by the New England climate.

Today I shake my head in the produce aisle. When veggies would sprout and start to grow there would be overcrowding and we'd have to 'thin' the rows in order to make room for the plants to mature. These discarded plants that we fed to the cows often looked better than what I sometimes see at the grocery store.

When I get really annoyed with Zachary I say "You know what Grandpa with the Chickens would do when mommy gave him attitude growing up?" Then, I'd proceed to tell him that in addition to being punished, part of being a member of the family meant pitching in and helping out. For my sister and I it meant stacking wood for so long our hands would blister, picking potato bugs off the potato plants with our bare hands, hauling pine brush for entire days leaving leaving our hands sore coated with pitch, and carrying garden snakes down the road and throwing them in the woods away from our property line. (My dad still hates snakes.)

My kids have no idea the labor that goes into their dinner plate - and not just veggies and meat - they don't have any concept how cheese, jams, pickles, applesauce, sausage, or bread are made. I do make them watch Food Network and HGTV with me.

Backing up to the hamsters ... you don't name food. That's a rule. That right is reserved for pets and dairy cows. The hamsters were never named, therefore, they were food. And, for the record, I feel it necessary to say we will never own a rodent (or fellow reptile) larger than Indy, the 5-foot ball python, can eat.

Although snakes didn't bother me growing up, there's a big difference holding a garden snake the width of your finger and a snake the width of your arm. I'm not afraid to admit I was a little bit intimidated when Indy and I were first introduced. JG has had her since she was a baby, back in his early college days.

It was January when we decided to let the boys get hamsters as a reward for taking such good care of their goldfish. We ended up with two male dwarf Chinese hamsters. This breed is especially favored because their teeth are about half the length of 'normal' hamsters. (Remember this detail for later.)

Indy had stopped eating in October to hibernate - fast forward to June and she only ate once in that time frame.

Since May, JG and I had joked about feeding the hamsters to Indy. Why? For one, hamsters are nocturnal, we found out. Snakes are too. This is not coincidence. Every night we'd have to take the hamster cage out of the boys' bedroom and put them in the second bathroom. Invariably, one of the kids would wake up in the middle of the night, pee and forget to close the bathroom door. Squeak, squeak, squeak of the wheel. We were getting sick of the kids ignoring their pets and whining when it was time to clean their cage. If I wasn't reminding them daily to feed and water the hamsters they would have died from starvation and dehydration.

We should have predicted the hamster's short longevity when Edward jumped on the top piece of the hamster cage that was lying on the floor as Zachary was cleaning the cage that first Saturday, cracking it. (Remember this too.) We said if we didn't we wouldn't tell the kids and see how many days it took them to figure out what happened.

A Saturday of me asking Zachary to clean the goes by and turns into an entire week. Then another Saturday and Sunday passes, and a Monday and by Tuesday I was annoyed with the smell and growing increasingly worried about Indy.

I see that we only have enough wood chips to clean the hamster's cage one more time. Then it's a $40 investment for another large bag and four more months of commitment to the hamsters. I put Indy in her feeding box and without hesitation she had lunged for Hamster One within a few seconds. I reach in the cage to get Hamster Two, but I can't find it. I disassemble the cage, running my fingers through the nasty shavings and it is no where to be found.

I'm convinced JG fed Hamster Two to Indy before I thought of doing it for real. As I'm disposing of all the hamster evidence JG reveals to me he didn't feed Indy. So, where is Hamster Two? He escaped we're sure thanks to that crack at the top of the cage.

We don't think anything of it until Zachary wakes up to pee an hour later and we hear "I found my other hamster!" followed by "Where's my cage?!?!"

I tell him we'll talk about it in the morning and not to worry I'll catch the other hamster. Luckily he's too tired to argue or to give me the third degree and stumbles off to bed.

Remember the bathroom renovations? Well, both bathrooms are stripped of floors and one-inch holes are in the wall's sheet rock along the baseboard area about six inches apart. The hamster has decided to play a twisted version of 'Wack-A-Mole' with us that's more like 'Catch-a-rat' and no one catches rats better than Indy. After two hours of JG and I trying, I sit on Edward's step stool in front of the sink with Indy on my lap. I'm waiting. I'm ready.

Hamster Two pops out from behind the water heater and attempts to go through one of those holes just inches away from me. The hamster is determined to fit, Indy is busy sniffing the tub, so I reach down and grab him.

He bites me. Hard.

His teeth are stuck in me and I'm screaming to JG that I have the hamster and his teeth are in me. JG is yelling at me to put the hamster down so it stops biting me. I put Hamster Two in the sink. I put Indy in her box. JG puts Hamster Two in the arena. He loses.

The next morning Zachary asks me if we fed the hamsters to Indy. I say yes. He starts carrying on and crying and telling me how mean that was. I put him on pause after a few minutes and said "Zachary, what were your hamsters' names?" Silence for a good ten seconds before "Well, there was the fast one and there was the slow one."

The only thing Edward had to say about it was "I'm telling Daddy on you." Then he laughed.

I rest my case.

It's the little things ...

2009-08-18T13:28:00.000-04:00

It’s been a bittersweet few days here at Bagram. Had the opportunity to escort a Belgian documentary film crew around the base, had one of my pictures make the Air Force “Week in Photos” (www.af.mil/photos/slideshow.asp?id={0B79E04A-1AFB-4339-B660-F0A349E38BB9) and Jennifer and I have made strides in staying better in synch with one another. I’ve taken almost 2,400 pictures here and have four stories done. Professionally, I haven’t felt this fulfilled in almost a year – what I’ve been doing here has been noticed and appreciated and I know I’m contributing in a place that needs me to be here. But throughout all of this, in the quiet moments of the night when I can’t sleep, things get a little more somber. And it’s not just because of the lousy year the Mets are having …

This much closer to the war, the realities of what happens out here become a little more apparent. I’ve talked to a surgeon and a pararescueman about the emergencies to which they’ve responded. I’ve listened to Marines talk about their combat patrols. I’ve spoken to F-15E Strike Eagle aircrews about what they’ve done to provide air support as they’ve listened to the fight on the ground over their radios. And I’ve even heard the stories from a couple of reporters about the firefight they were in just a couple hours from here. But good storytelling is my job and passion – I love a well-told tale. Besides, it gives me more stuff to tell my son, Zachary, who always wants to hear me spin a yarn. And I really think he’s getting sick of my own war stories …

I’ve mentioned the Pat Tillman Memorial USO at Bagram. It’s a great little lodge-looking building where people can go and relax. Like every USO, the people who volunteer there are happy to support the troops. It’s built on the same ground where the passenger terminal used to be – where I was when that afternoon we found out about Pat while watching CNN. But before there was a building for the USO, there was a small closet that USO volunteers used to pass out drinks, treats, magazines, etc., while people waited for flights to parts unknown. Someone’s grandmother was here running it and I’ll never forget how she took my hand in both hers and just said “thank you” as tears welled in her eyes. She was there, in a war-torn country by choice and she was thanking me?! It was then that I decided I’d start actively supporting the USO whenever I could …

My other favorite charity is AnyAirman.com. Like the USO, I’ve also written about AnyAirman (www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123030909). Essentially, I’m a point of contact for them while I’m deployed, so when people want to send cards, letters or care packages to just anyone who’s out here, they send them to me and I get them to an Airman who could use the pick-me-up. So if anyone just wants to support deployed Airmen, the USO and AnyAirman.com are the charities I usually advocate. Although these days I usually find myself supporting the efforts against J-BAMS, but JenniferBreaksAllMyStuff is a force that can’t be stopped. My father-in-law tried to warn me, but she’s a really good cook …

Operation Shoebox (http://www.operationshoebox.com/) is another great organization to support deployed troops. They sent about a thousand boxes out here this week for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines at Bagram. We got candy, magazines, crossword puzzles (woo-hoo!), comics pages, cards, letters, flags, gum, Q-tips (which I *just* ran out of), tissues, wet wipes and just a whole host of other things. What they sent us truly made a difference this week for all the folks out here. You’d see people sitting and reading the letters or looking for their favorite candies. The notes inside downplayed their efforts to get us the creature comforts, but really, those “small tokens of appreciation” went a long way here. It reminded me that it’s the little things that really count. And that made me think of 1st Lt. Molly Cook …

Molly Cook was stationed at Seymour Johnson while I was there. It was the week of Thanksgiving 2003 and our office was pushing to get the base newspaper done. I decided to do a “Man on the Street” section and asked “For what are you most thankful?” to a bunch of people. But I refused to accept “My family” or “my kids” or “my wife” as an answer. It took some teeth-pulling, but I finally got some great answers (The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, pumpkin pie) and Lieutenant Molly Cook said, “Chocolate. Doesn’t matter what kind – white, milk, dark – just any kind of chocolate.” When the paper came out, she was embarrassed about her answer in print for all to see. But for the next several days, people kept bringing her chocolates and leaving little treats on her desk. Those little kindnesses from people made her smile the whole week. They told that story at her funeral a few months later …

So in those quiet, somber, insomnia-ridden nights, I think of Molly Cook. I try to remember that small efforts like a piece of chocolate were enough to make her smile. I think of the communities in Florida who got together in a high school gym to put together care packages of candies, cards and sundries for thousands of people they’d never met. I think of the grandmothers who volunteered to go to third-world countries just to make sure an Airman had a crossword puzzle while he waited for a flight to Uzbekistan. I think of these things and I remember it’s the little things in life that can make such a big difference …

Penny for your thoughts …

2009-08-09T06:27:00.000-04:00

Like a bad penny, Bagram Airfield keeps falling in my path. I was first here in 2004 for about a week and was sitting in the passenger terminal when we found out about Pat Tillman’s death. I came back in 2006 to work for the Army’s 10th Mountain Division. Now I’m here again and much like our home base, it’s odd to see what’s changed and what’s the same. For crying out loud though, they still have the lame wooden shacks for people to live in. In the winter, there’s no drainage, so it floods between the buildings. Then when it freezes, the pools of water ice over. Seriously, you can literally skate from your room to the bathroom when you wake up at two in the morning to go to the bathroom. So it breaks up the monotony of walking at least …

But our team is here to work with the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs office. A good friend and colleague back in D.C., Capt. Dave Faggard, is in charge of the shop, so at least we’re in good company. I went to advanced contingency skills training with him and two of his Airmen before our deployment, so it’s kinda cool to see them again. He and I discuss our career field and its future alot, especially when it comes to the use of social media. He's the guru on it for the Air Force and we see eye to eye on a lot of what needs to be done on both the officer and enlisted side of things. Although the good captain and I have found a way to work out our differences …

Our first story was to cover the military working dogs here. Bagram is unique in that it’s the only base out here where Airmen provide all the perimeter security. Part of that is done by the dog handlers and their canine companions. The folks who work in K-9 units are typically really good folks and are a staple for community relations visits back home. Everyone loves seeing them and their dogs so when we do base tours, we always try to hit up the K-9 folks. They’re also a lot of fun to take pictures with. Except when the handler misses the dog coming out of the tunnel and 80 pounds of German shepherd fury comes barreling at you and your camera, only you don’t see it coming ‘cause you’re just trying to keep the image in focus so it comes as a total shock when the camera slams into your face and you’re on your butt just trying to figure out what the heck just happened. You know, for example …

The other cool story out here is the F-15E Strike Eagles. The squadron out here is one of the squadrons I used to cover back at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., so it’s awesome to see those guys again. I actually took pictures of one of the jets during a refueling mission last weekend, so was able to give the squadron a disc of photos, which they loved. They have a sign on their front door that says “The mission is the 18 year old with a rifle. All else is support” and they have a great attitude about providing cover for the guys on the ground. No fighter pilot ego at all; just straight talk about doing what they can to keep troops safe. Because usually, you know how you can tell if a fighter pilot is in a bar? He’ll tell you …

We have a few other missions that we want to cover while we’re at Bagram, so we’ll see how that works out. We’ll be here for a couple more weeks and hopefully cover the Afghan elections, which in a larger sense, is symbolic for why we’re here to begin with. If it works out, we’ll be headed out with the provincial reconstruction team. When I was here last, I did a lot of missions with those guys and it was one of the highlights of my last deployment. We’d go into villages and bring them food, supplies, medicine. I’d bring a bag of candy with me to hand out to kids. It still amazes me that they’d run through snow with no shoes on just to get a Jolly Rancher. Then again, so would my kids. Then again, so would I …

Speaking of the family, Jennifer and I are struggling through communication missteps. The Internet connection here is pretty spotty, so we don’t get to email or instant message each other very much, let alone send photos or anything else. It sometimes takes me ten minutes to open a single email. Other times it can be pretty decent, but it means getting up at 2 in the morning. That’s the one thing that makes deployments easier. We don’t need more bingo games; we need bandwidth …

But when we have been able to talk, we’ve worked out a lot of issues. The time difference (8 ½ hours in Afghanistan) and distance away (a gazillion miles) only compound the usual difficulties that creep up in a relationship. I’m still learning how to be a husband and a dad, and fortunately, everyone has some advice. My “favorite” has been “the first year of marriage is the most difficult,” since Jennifer and I are spending most of ours away from each other …

In the meantime, I’m just trying to stay busy, as it helps the time pass faster. There are lots of good stories about Airmen out here, so I’m just trying to do what I can. And sometimes that means letting the aforementioned 80-pound Doggy of Doom chew on your arm …

Aliens!

2009-08-07T15:58:00.000-04:00

I've decided that there's never going to be a 'normal' between now and the time that JG gets home. For one, things keep breaking. And although some of my friends would say that's par for the course, fixing what's broken on my own is not.

With every renovation project or appliance upgrade there's a whole new slue of problems to fix. Why do you think I've taken a break from the bathroom remodel? What if, in the process of replacing the water stoppage valves, I accidentally bust the hose and a plumber needs to come out? Aliens!

And why are Aliens relevant? Well, I always prepare for the worst case scenario complete with backup plans and the need to talk out every possible option for each way things may go array. Usually, by time I get to Plan C, JG will will make the comment "and what if the Aliens come?"

The latest thing to break? The computer chair. It now looks like a lounge chair. I'm typing with perfect posture though.

In addition to things breaking, the kids started school Monday and two weeks before that they started karate. So, that has impacted our weekly routine significantly. In addition to making sure the kids are clean, fed and clothed, I've added getting to karate lessons on time and making sure homework is done each night. Even before these changes, it was, and continues to be, a huge challenge to get out the door on time each morning. On the upside, the kids are busier so they should have less time to dwell on how much they are missing their dad.

I've decided not to ride the metro while JG is deployed. The old routine was to drop the kids off at daycare, drive to the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station, park, catch a train, transfer from the blue to orange line at Rosslyn, take the orange line west to Ballston (heard as Boston to anyone not familiar with the DC Metro), right to my office building. This daily 2.25-hour commute is now only an hour and a half a day thanks to driving. It also gives me a chance to listen to our wedding CD. So, forgoing the metro subsidy I've been paying $95.00 a month for parking at work.

Even the status of my ankle recovery has changed. (For those of you who don't know, I broke both right leg bones down low into the ankle in April 2007 while deployed to Iraq. I've had a total of five surgeries, two of which JG has been with me for within the last year.) My orthopedic surgeon released me from his care last week and my physical therapist said that I've had enough improvement to finally begin the walk-to-run program as I continue physical therapy! For the first time since the original break I've just now been able to put enough pressure on the ball of my foot to gain momentum for the next step. Maybe there's hope for high heels after all?

Lots of little things about my routine has changed. And I'm reminded of this every time JG and I chat online or talk on the phone. There's also a growing amount of frustration on my part which I think can only come from being an active-duty spouse coupled with an unfair double standard. In a general sense, I feel that I'm expected to share every detail about what's going on in my life, with the kids and with the household, however, when I ask 'how was your day' or 'what do you have going on' I get the equivalent of one-word responses. When in reality, if JG said he was covering a particular unit or shadowing a certain subject matter expert or conducting interviews all morning that would be relevant and I would feel like I'm included in knowing about his day-to-day. I don't feel like we are sharing equally with one another. This bothers me.

I find it hard not to get upset when he asks about what's going on at home. Not only do I feel like I'm being deprived of knowing what's going on in his world, he's also making it known how he would do things differently in mine. Am I reading into questions like "how come the car isn't fixed yet?" or "what have you done on the bathroom this week?" and "You're making the kids write every day, right?" or "it looks like you're going out to eat a lot lately. Why?" and "Isn't parking and gas expensive?" Maybe. I try not to let this bother me because I know this makes him feel like he's still involved. My life here is predicable. He knows what my job, for the most part, entails. He knows I work and the boys are in school Monday-Friday. He knows the boys go to karate classes Tuesday nights and again Saturdays. He knows the weekends are spent trying to catch up on chores and getting ready for the next week.

So, no, I'm not content saying to myself like so many civilian spouses that "my husband is deployed so he's really, really busy, but I'll get to hear all about it when he gets home!" We share the exact profession. Knowing what he's doing matters to me. And knowing that he's taking just a few moments to share with me matters even more.

From living both sides of a deployment, being deployed is much easier to deal with. You can be a workaholic without guilt, you only have to worry about your own primal needs and the time passes much, much quicker. Yes, it sucks missing out on your family and I'm not trying to belittle that fact - it comes at a cost. But, while deployed, you're not shouldering the weight of the house and running everything in it while maintaining your own career and doing the home station mission.

So please, if you see the Aliens, tell them to stop breaking our stuff so I can concentrate on more important things.

Buckle Up ...

2009-07-30T13:01:00.001-04:00

It certainly has been a bumpy ride this week, more figuratively today, in fact. Speaking of today, this is the one month mark of my deployment, which means I'm 1/6 of the way done. Hey, you take little victories where you can find them ...

And we could certainly use a little victory in our lives right now. Jennifer and I are still in our quandry about life, liberty and the pursuit of a family while still living up to our military obligations. No answers yet on that front. Lots of advice from folks, which is appreciated. My friend Jessica suggested looking at the situation through the eyes of 65-year-old JG and Jennifer and how we'll want to reminisce. My friend Chris echoed those sentiments, only adding the notion of ensuring the wine cellar is stocked. Good call. I could very much use a glass of wine right now in fact ...

We're fortunate enough in this location to get to have a couple of drinks a day. Which is pretty cool for a Muslim country close to a war zone. The wine is okay, but I think it's actually box o' wine. The beer selection is meh. Last time I was here we had Guinness. I seriously need to try to get to Kyrgyzstan again. They have good Russian alcohol. And if there's anyone who knows how to drink ...

But no former Soviet states today. Close though. Today we went on a refueling mission over Afghanistan on board a KC-135 Stratotanker. It was the first trip for my son, Edward's, toy Yoshi, which he was good enough to send to me. See, my last few trips I've had a little green bear wtih me. I would take pictures of LGB everywhere, from Uzbekistan to the DMZ in Korea. But Jennifer suggested instead that now that I've got a family, something new comes with me on my trips to remind me of them. So Yoshi gets to have adventures now. Better than hanging out with a plumber, but maybe not as cool as throwing spikey turtle shells at Toad ...

Actually, our current assignment is pretty cool. We're going up on air refueling missions and then working with the intelligence folks to get details on where the jets we refuel go and what they do. Thus illustrating how tanker operations contribute directly to helping folks on the ground through the use of superior air power. Pretty cool story idea. The lieutenant helping me on the project even rises above the stereotype of military intelligence. Here's to hoping that when I sit down to interview her she rises above the stereotype of lieutenants ...

In the meantime, I'm trying to do some soul searching so I can try to figure out what to do about our lives as a whole. It certainly is asking a lot of our family, immediate and extended, to support us as we continue our military service. Not to mention the toll it takes on a relationship, like missing all the end of the year holidays this year, our first anniversary and the summer next year, as well as the end of year holidays again. In doing the math as it stands now, it will be summer of 2011 before Jennifer and I will have spent more days together since our wedding than apart. It's such a mixed bag of emotions: anger, disappointment, overwhelming sadness. A little more anger ...

We keep looking for the silver lining, and I think it's with the people who support us. Jennifer and I are fortunate to have a group of people who love and care for us and support us in what we do. It means a great deal, especially while one of us is away. But this is the first 30 days done. One month down, five more to go ...

To Be or Not To Be

2009-07-28T16:33:00.000-04:00

Dual military that is. The active duty-to-active duty reality hit us harder and faster than expected, on a Monday morning no less.

I've been tasked to deploy just weeks after JG returns from his deployment. He's expected home last week of December or first week of January, then I leave for combat skills training Feb. 9-22 and then report to the AOR (area of responsibility - just a fancy word for 'desert') by March 31.

When I return from my six-month deployment in September 2010, JG will be hot to deploy two months later. And not wussy, worn brick red - we're talking fire engine red. Why? The public affairs enlisted force is sitting at a 1:2 dwell. This means the rate at which we are deploying is 6 months deployed, two 6-month deployment cycles home, then 6 months deployed and so forth.

So, how will the dwell impact our family while I serve the remainder of my commitment through March 2012 and if JG decided to reenlist for another four years in January 2010?

Total months since marriage April 2009 until March 2012 = 36
Months separated by deployment = 23 (not including mandatory deployment training)
Months residing together = 13

What it boils down to is we'll have between 2-4 months of time together between one of us being deployed. Sitting at 16 years of service come March 2012, this deployment analysis above assumes I will deploy again in October 2011 in order to finish the last four years of my career. If I decide to separate at 16 years, I will have an extra five months at home with JG before he deploys again in 2013.

JG can decide to separate in January when he'll have 8 years of service completed, I'll be just shy of 14 years. We want to have another child and we planned on doing so after we PCS'd (moved on to the next assignment/base) and we planned to do this before I turn 34 in January 2012.

"Honey, I need to conceive between the time you get home in January 2010 and April 2011," I say. (This is so sexy, right? Total buzz-killer.)

But wait, he deploys in November 2010 and won't be back till May 2011 so conception needs to happen before then just incase we have trouble getting pregnant.

Conceiving before my deployment right when he gets back will only allow him to be with me for the pregnancy and he'll probably miss the birth and at least the first six months of her life (yes, we are having a girl). She will only be a year old and would only know life with both her parents for four months before I'm deployed again.

The alternative would be to conceive after I return from my deployment in the month of October 2010, then JG would be gone during most of the pregnancy, but would be home for the birth and the first 10-11 months of her life before he deploys again. I would deploy right when the baby turns six months old if our career field is still at a 1:2 dwell.

My fear? Even if JG decides to separate in January, I may decide to separate from the service while I'm pregnant anyway (servicewomen are giving this option, subject to commander approval) and I've just screwed both of us out of a career. Why? It was so hard leaving Zachary at age 6 and Edward at age 2 for a deployment ... I can't imagine how painful it will be to leave Baby Girl at the fun phase of eating 'solid' food.

And these scenarios don't even begin to cover all things considered. Our assignment manager is telling us to expect orders when JG comes back from his deployment. Added pressure logistically to get the house ready to rent (another blog to follow on the rennovations) and juggle my training requirement, family bonding and a PCS move between January-February or worse, left to JG to handle alone after I'm gone.

Granted, JG can decline the assignment by separating, but then we run into being stationed at virtually every Air Force base that has a public affairs office. This means we could end up at a less-than-desirable location such as obscure bases to go unnamed in the Midwest (no offense, but no thank you) since only one career needs to be accommodated, not two. (We cannot work in the same office where one of us would have any authority over the other. This becomes a non-issue if the assignment manager only needs to accommodate one career.)

Since we are at a 1:2 dwell, are they bringing back reenlistment bonuses for public affairs? (If so, it's important to note that if you reenlisted while deployed you get to keep the 20 percent that's normally deducted for taxes.)

Could one of us possibly get a joint assignment (as in working for a command or unit made up of all the military services) or an Air Force special duty assignment that's considered 'non-deployable' so that we are able to spend 12 months together as a family while only one of us deploys?

What will all these deployments do to our boys? Do we choose our careers over having a baby? Do we postpone having a baby and accept the health risks of me carrying a baby in my late thirties?

If we do stay in, what are our career options? With a critically-manned career fields it's almost impossible to break away four to six years to become first sergeants, professional military education instructors or basic military training instructors. They would also just as unlikely grant permission for us to cross train into a different career field altogether.

There are so many unanswered questions right now. JG and I are left absolutely heartbroken over the situation. And you know what? I'm angry. No, I take that back. I'm pissed.

How did the career field I've been apart of my entire career succumb to this? I had volunteered for deployments as an airman at my first assignment at Kelly AFB, Texas, and at my second assignment as a staff sergeant at Eielson AFB, Alaska, but didn't get to go. Those were the days when the folks in the same deployment 'bucket' used to fight over deployments. Now it's 'where are you going?' not 'do you get to go this time?'

At my third assignment I had my first deployment ever as an 11-year technical sergeant. In contrast, JG who joined right after 9-11 is now on his fourth deployment. For years we've been on the 'critical list' with career fields you may expect like security forces and EOD. I would have loved to have seen the look on the at-the-time Air Force Chief of Staff's face the first day Public Affairs appeared on that briefing slide. You have to wonder if the other general officers around the table chuckled. And I'm seriously asking: Has anyone outside of Air Force Public Affairs (up the chain) taken this seriously?

I have three friends in immediate proximity, all OUTSTANDING public affairs NCOs, who have made the decision to separate. Each are in a different phase of that process with one now a member of the Air Force Reserve and my response to each of them was 'I can't imagine being in a position to have to make such a hard decision.' Ladies, I still can't imagine because I am still in shock.

If Air Force leadership assures Public Affairs leadership they are legitimately trying, well, maybe I can too. But today, I'm discouraged, I'm confused, I miss my husband and the boys miss their Dad. For the first time in my adult life I'm questioning if my personal values and Air Force values are in alignment. Air Force Public Affairs will somehow manage through the new steady state of the 2000s, but how will the Buzanowski family?

Ta-Ta to Taji ...

2009-07-25T10:07:00.000-04:00

Out of the frying pan (105 degrees, Camp Taji, Iraq) and into the fire (115 degrees, home base), but we're back and out of the Iraq. Before we left, I decided to go on a photo safari around the area to give a better idea about what life was like there. For instance, unless it's a living area or a road, there is very little that's paved. But it's a friggin desert, so it's not like there's a lot of grass either. No, instead we have lovely rocks to walk on. Rocks are better when they're used for a hot stone massage. But that will have to wait until I get home. Or at least Kyrgyzstan ...

There were lots of things that stood out for me walking around Taji. For one, a lot of their internal security is provided by third-country nationals. Basically, they hire folks from other countries to come in and man gates and whatnot. And they're really good at it. Friendly without letting their guard down. And willing to teach you a smidgen of their language if you ask. Jambo! Another thing that got me while at Taji were the "speed bumps." I mean, they may LOOK like they're tank treads streteched across the road, but no, those are the speed bumps. And they work. In fact, the only thing that would work better? An actual tank ...

But they've got those too. In fact, they call it The Petting Zoo. In a secluded and heavily guarded part of the base, there's tons of old Iraqi army equipment that they're taking apart and destroying or recycling. In addition to rows of tanks and trucks, there were shipping containers filled with old beat up rifles and such. But in one conatainer was the collection of special weapons. Lots of stuff from gold-plated weapons to 1800s-era flintlocks to crossbows to homemade rocket launchers, the collection was eerily odd. I mean, I'm no gun nut (I prefer swords, natch) but after all the hours I spent playing GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64, well ... I'm the Man with the Golden Guns ...

But I know some folks wanted to know more about the practical side of life at Taji. Like most bases around Southwest Asia, there is water everywhere. Cases of it everywhere you look. In some places, you have to bring it into the bathroom with you to brush your teeth since the water, for the most part, isn't potable. But in Iraq, the bottles come in liters. The water's not bad, as long as you can wash it off before you drink it. Dirt plus water equals drinking mud. And if you want to drink mud, well, that's what the coffee shops are for ...

We had great places to stay, if you don't mind the view of a concrete wall from your room. I know those are there to protect against shelling and whatnot, because nothing is worse than walking on shattered glass. Just ask John McLane. What they should do is paint scenic vistas on the other side of the concrete walls, then it has the illusion of a room with a view! We also had a place to shower and go to the bathroom. But for crying out loud, they need better reading material than issues of Maxim from a year ago. It wasn't the issue date that was bad, but the least they could get is Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated or something decent. Heck, even a Highlights would have puzzles to help pass the time. Then again, if you're reading Maxim and run out of toilet paper ...

Our team flew out on an Iraqi helicopter and that time we were the first stop, not the last, so we made it just fine. No vomit or anything! Once back in Baghdad, the local combat camera folks took care of us. Had a few hours to powernap and get on a flight. Fortunately, we were able to get out late that night on a C-130 Hercules. Much thanks to the Minnesota Reserve unit out of the Twin Cities for getting us the heck out of there so we didn't have to wait until the following day for a ride that would in all likelihood have been far more cramped than we were. For those who've never flown on one, seats on a C-130 are metal pipes with thin material spread over them, with the same thin material stitched into a cargo net for the seatback. There's not a single way to get comfortable in the things. Some revelations from our flight:

- Body armor does not make a good pillow

- Neither does a helmet

- Nor, as my cohort Mike Keller pointed out, does a rifle

- The only thing that sleeps on a C-130 is your butt

So the other thing I discovered is that my three-year-old iPod doesn't last two hours on its own. So I need a new iPod. If this trip is any indicator, we have plenty of waiting in passenger terminals in our future. The one in Baghdad had a TV in it, but they were showing the horrible "Fantastic Four" movie. Correction, they were playing the horrible first one, not the horrible sequel. In fact, a revelation: Comic book movies are never just "okay." They are either very good or very, very bad. For every "Fantastic Four" or "Daredevil" or "Catwoman," there's a "Spider-Man" or "X-Men" or "Dark Knight." Revelation, supplemental: A comic book trilogy in which the first two films are really good, the third movie will outright stink. There's a lot of downtime while you're waiting for a flight and your iPod is dead ...

You can check out any time you want ...

2009-07-21T03:16:00.000-04:00

So I puked in the helicopter. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Our time here at Camp Taji is coming to a close. I've got a half dozen stories and took about 800 photos. The Airmen here have been fantastic in helping us get what we need, whether it's a place to crash, interviews, a vehicle, whatever. Much thanks to Tech. Sgt. Rico and Lt. Col. McNerney. And to the dining facility that always had Cocoa Puffs. They're my new comfort food out here. Not the healthiest of snacks, but it's got the riboflavins ...

Our job here was to cover the Airmen who are assisting the Iraqis as they get back on their feet. We spoke with guys working on the mission support side of things and they really seem to have things together. On the operations side, where they're flying helicopters day and night, things are a little slower to progress. But there's promise. All in all, it's been a pretty good mission, with good people, quality stories and a room with a bed instead of a tent with a cot and 20 other people in it with all their gear and no way to lock up our belongings so you never know if you'll come back to find your stuff gone or sold on eBay. I've heard stories ...

So really, I'm not in a rush to leave. In fact, had a couple of moments I'll never forget. While talking with an Iraqi lieutenant, he asked me how I could help him start a base newspaper. He wants to be able to get information out to his troops. Told him I would talk to some folks and see what we could do. But there's no Air Force public affairs presence here; it's an additional duty given to one of the gunnery instructors. But that's a different issue altogether ...

A day later I'm having lunch and next to me is one of our own lieutenant colonels reading Stars And Stripes while he eats. So I ask him what base he's from and if he reads the paper back home. "Oh, no, absolutely not," he tells me. Which I find intriguing, considering how he's pouring through his copy of Stripes. After talking with him a bit more, for him it's a credibility factor with his base newspaper back home. With Stripes he knows he's getting reporting from the Fourth Estate instead of "What the wing commander wants me to know about." Which puts me in a really difficult place, and I don't mean the back of a Volkswagen ...

On one hand, an Iraqi officer wants an avenue to communicate via mass media with his troops. On the other, one of our officers only wants news and information from an outside source not part of the military. So if what we, in our career field, try to communicate to our own internal audience already has a bias against it, how do we get past that bias and reach people? I really don't have the answer, but really, I just found the dichotomy of my conversations good food for thought. Funnily enough, tastes like chicken ...

We're getting ready to head back to our home base. We tried to get back Sunday night, but ran out of gas and had to come back to Taji. Where I had aformentioned room with bed still waiting for me. Yeah, I was real broken up about it ...

The back of the Mi-171 helicopter was hot and the exhaust from the engines was blowing inside. We spent the first 90 minutes practicing maneuvers, so lots of ups and downs and banks and whatnot. I'd never thrown up on a flight before. But there I am with the little plastic bag, desperately trying not to spew all over my body armor or anything else. I'd made it three hours just feeling horribly nauseous. I was trying to keep my mind off it, but it's funny when you feel queasy how memories of other times you felt that way come flooding back. Like that night after too much rice pudding at the Lebanese restaurant in Doha where Major (now Lt. Col.) Dave Honchul wouldn't stop to let me buy a new shirt before we went through the checkpoint to get back on base so I had to sit there with sick all over the front of me ...

So the plan is for us try to get out of here in the next few days. We'll see how that works out. Honestly, I could stay here for another month and be happy. Except that I have care packages waiting for me and I really would like to be someplace where I'm not paying $20 a week for Internet access. So that's the pot at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, however, it means we have to go back through Baghdad. This time I'll remember to bring breadcrumbs so I can make it back from the latrine instead of accidentally walking into someone else's room. They're called door locks, people ...

Hot Air

2009-07-16T18:53:00.000-04:00

So, the Home Depot total for bathroom remodeling just passed the 400-dollar mark. Why did I get discourage and stop my exact cost factoring? Two trips to the Home Depot Tuesday night to fix the dryer vent, which doesn't even travel through the bathroom.

You know when an old appliance is moved you get a chance to clean the floor before they put the new one in? Well, I wanted to clean out the vent. It travels above the boys' room before going to the outside and on laundry day their room is at least 20 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. A couple weeks ago I had inspected the dryer vent from the outside while the dryer was running and air was not coming out, so I figured there was too much lint built up inside.

I stick my hand up the ratty-looking elbow - layers of caulk and nasty duct tape and start to pull out some fuzz. I stick my hand up further and realize I've just run out of pipe. I felt lint coated on dryer lint all over the ceiling's sheet rock, all over the insulation and the electrical wires in a two-foot radius all around the 4-inch vent hole in the ceiling.

After some more feeling around I discover the vent duct more than away from where the elbow had been dangling. I was pissed. I've never seen such a half-ass job. Oh, wait. Yes, I have. The original PVC toilet flange was installed wrong making the bolts poke through two tiny holes instead of the long curved slots where the bolts are supposed to slip in straight down. Oh, and the sheet rock and cement board gap for the underpar shower tile job.

Needless to say I killed the laundry monster's nesting spawn then cut a bigger hole in the ceiling to fix the problem. Any you know what? I gave up. Luckily my friend Heather has more patience than I and was able to figure out that if we cut a foot off the 5" vent part it would angle into the ceiling and over the existing 4" one.

I all but jumped for joy when, for the first time ever, the Buzanowski home had mechanically-made hot air blowing through that vent.

Samurai Cape, Ornery Snake

2009-07-12T19:10:00.000-04:00

Back at the home front, it was a busy weekend. Friday night Martha, JG's mom, breezed in on for two nights on her way up to Long Island. She spent two days killing the laundry monster. The last load was put in at 3 a.m. Sunday morning just a couple hours before she headed north again. It marked the end of the 30 efficiency-sized loads that cycled through the basket-thumping washer. Luckily the new washer and dry get here this week.

Saturday morning Martha watched the boys while I went to the Tile Shop's 9:30 a.m. installation class. After learning about all the new tools I'm going to have to buy, I studied the ins and outs of prepping for and setting liquid cement. See, the floor isn't level. With walls left to patch and paint, shower grout to remove and a window to strip next on the to-do list I excused myself from class knowing that tiling was another two weeks away.

When I got home it was time to get Edward motivated for his trial karate lesson. I almost cancelled it because he was throwing a fit about going. "Karate is not my favorite thing," he said. This is the same child who watches Samurai Jack, plays the Samurai Jack PlayStation 2 game and wears his pre-school graduation robe as a cape when he goes in the backyard with his 'katana' to fight his light saber-wielding big brother.

We arrive United Studios of Self Defense dojo and Edward goes from whiny to super-shy. He followed directions and was smiling the whole time. As soon as we got home he asked to watch his yellow belt instructional DVD.

Zachary is already a yellow belt. Unfortunately we had to pull Zachary out of karate last fall because he was struggling so badly with his homework. The school tested Zachary and found out he had a learning disability. Between the phonics tutoring through his after school program and the school making him an individual education program I'm optimistic he'll be able to manage schoolwork and his hobby. The busier I keep the boys the less time they will have to miss their Dad.

The dojo is just a block away. Right across the street from the kids' dentist. They both have their six-month cleaning this week and good timing because Zachary has a loose molar. It's driving him crazy. Therefore it's driving me crazy.

After going out for lunch the boys and I went down for a nap. I was out cold for two hours. I could have slept through the entire night. But, it was time for a commissary and base exchange trip to pick up things for the next round of care packages.

That night for dinner I made eggs, real bacon and hash browns - you know the ones you bake in the oven that looked like they came from McDonald's? Mmmm.

Sunday morning Uncle Mike and Aunt Clare came over. Mike's kids from California and my boys went to the pool with Clare while Mike and I hit Home Depot for more supplies. Industrial sized stripper, gloves, flange repair parts, two fence posts, mini piece of sheet rock, wallboard compound, door jam, nails, chalk line, tile spacers and joint tape.

Later on, after pretending to help Mike fix the hole where wall and baseboard used to be between the tub and sink, I went back to Home Depot en route for pizza. I needed a Flathead screwdriver. Only costing 89 cents I had to by the matching Phillips head. I also picked up a new razor blade tool after discovering the tile boarder around the tile was placed over sheet rock, not cement board and there was a half inch gap between the two. I need to remove the tile boarder all the way around and do something decorative that won't crack on the sheet rock.

Mike was JG's best man at the wedding. Also, a professional studio photographer Mike shot our engagement photos. (Scroll way down at the bottom of the blog. See the piggy-back photo? Mike shot that.) At our rehearsal dinner we had our family sign the matte and the next day displayed the framed photo at the ballroom's entrance to our wedding reception. It was also at the rehearsal that Clare brought me a corsage and she read us the note that JG gave to Mike and Clare on their wedding day. It was extremely sweet.

Sunday ended with feeding Indy, named after Indiana Jones, JG's ball python who is about 11 or 12 years old. He's had her since she was a baby. She had grabbed the rat in the lower abdomen and it took longer than normal to cinch the kill. I was really afraid the rat was going to bite Indy. The second rat must have just passed out. When Indy let it go to align herself to swallow him, the rat started breathing again, then stood up and started walking around. Indy didn't seem care and ignored it. Monday night, Indy finished eating without incident.