Southwest Asia, January 2009

My DH’s promotion, Hurlburt Field Memorial Air Park, September 2011

(Updated 8 July 2013)

My name is Patricia, but in the blogging world I became known as “Major Mom” thanks to a friend in the Air Force Reserves.  As soon as he had said it, the David Bowie song “Space Oddity” went through my mind.

I am a mother and wife first – an Air Force wife, that is.  My husband proudly serves in the Air Force as a weather officer.

I also continue to serve my country as a weather officer in the Air Force Reserves.

It’s a wonderful double-life I lead.

Leaving the active duty Air Force in April 2005 was a very difficult decision for me — I had our second son in early 2005 just before the 10-year-point in my career.  It was already tough having to turn my oldest son over to a child care center every duty day — 50 hours per week.  So in spring 2005 I took advantage of a Reserves job opening for which I was qualified in Norfolk, Virginia — my hometown!

It’s truly awesome getting to see our sons grow up, and be able to help out at their school, on their sports teams (I’ve coached soccer before) and as a Cub Scout den leader.  I’m not sure I’d have had time for that if I had remained on active duty.

We currently live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, while my wonderful husband is an assistant professor of physics at the US Air Force Academy.

We have lived in the following locations since we graduated from Penn State University in 1995:

• Leesville (Fort Polk), Louisiana, 1995-1998
• Yongsan Army Installation, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 1998-2000
• Beavercreek (Wright-Patterson AFB), Ohio, 2000-2002
• Melbourne (Patrick AFB), Florida, 2002-2005
• Raleigh, North Carolina (Dave was assigned to North Carolina State University), 2005-2008
• Bellevue (Offutt AFB), Nebraska, 2008-2010
• Navarre (Hurlburt Field), Florida, 2010-2013
• Colorado Springs (USAFA), Colorado, 2013 – present

I started this blog in December 2007, thanks to suggestions from friends.  We’re in our fourth home since I started the blog.

I used to send out captioned photo albums — from AOL Pictures to Shutterfly albums to Picasaweb albums. Instead of flooding everyone with photos, now I can use this blog to send out the highlights.

I’ll talk about anything on here — usually I’m talking about the kids, but I’ll also delve into the local scene wherever we’re living, and you’ll also see some great posts about the three military moves (PCS: Permanent Changes of Station) we’ve had.  In addition, the posts from January through April 2009 feature a deployment to the Middle East that I took. Sometimes I talk about utter nonsense, such as finding a product called “Piggies in Pancakes” in a grocery store in South Carolina.

I also am an assistant content editor for the parenting blog GeekMom, where I get the chance to delve into my inner Star Wars and Disney geekery, as well as being able to write posts about meteorology, STEM careers and military science. See my GeekMom posts here.

Finally, I enjoy running, skiing, hiking, and playing the violin.