My New Commuter Life, Part II: Just Because I Now Live in Florida….

07. March 2011 · Comments Off on My New Commuter Life, Part II: Just Because I Now Live in Florida…. · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

….doesn’t mean I never have to see snow again, right?

Or drive in the snow again?

(As promised in my previous post, here’s the story of why I’ll never buy a Ford Mustang north of the Mason/Dixon line!)

On last weekend’s trip to Omaha, I was fortunate to travel in between major winter weather systems.  Temperatures were in the 50s on my first day there, quite nice!

We were forecasting 1-2″ of snow on Thursday, February 24th.  We told EVERYONE 1-2″, and not just us: the National Weather Service, the television stations, everyone!

What happened was pretty freakish, didn’t last that long, and happened right on top of the afternoon/evening commute home.  I only caught one iPhone screen capture of the event’s Doppler radar.  I wish I had taken more:

You know how folks talk about great things (or not-so-great things) that happen when “all the stars are aligned?”  Well, in this case, several things “aligned” in the atmosphere to make this nearly-horizontal dark green line form across central Nebraska.  I’m not going to get into the wintertime “convective symmetric instability” here.  That line is HEAVY SNOW, and it dumped about 5″ of snow in 3 hours in Bellevue and in areas just south of Offutt AFB.  And the line barely moved for those 3 hours.  It was NUTS!

And I got to drive home in it.  Whee!

I had reported for duty very early that morning, so I figured I’d be heading home around 1:00-1:30pm, but at the last minute I had a meeting that took me to about 3:00pm.  The movement of this line was very slow, and I was itching to leave for the day, so after a few minutes of monitoring a non-moving line, I bit the bullet and left.  If I had left when I thought I’d be leaving, I’d have made it back to where I was staying without incident.  Instead, I fishtailed and skidded all the way back, with heavy snow making things all the worse.

I ending up coming back into my old neighborhood right as my boys’ former elementary school was letting out.  The neighborhood is hilly, and there were cars slipping and sliding everywhere.  Since only 1-2″ of snow was originally forecast, the salt/silt trucks didn’t even come out to prepare the roads.  What a horrific mess!

I couldn’t get that #$%  Mustang up the last hill before getting to the house.  I tried several times, but it just wasn’t happening.  If there wasn’t so much after-school traffic, I might have had the room to roll backwards down the hill, and get enough speed to do it.  But I simply had to abandon the car about a block from where I was staying, and walk in the heavy snowfall, and on unshoveled sidewalks, to the house.  I had my full winter-weather gear, and nice warm boots, at least.  It wasn’t a long walk.  Uphill, of course.

About 1/2 hour later, my hostess loaded a few supplies into her Suburban and drove me back over to the car.  With less traffic, I was able to roll backwards back down the hill and tear with full power up the hill to the house.  And here it is right after I got it parked — POINTING DOWNHILL on the legal side of the street.

How incredibly frustrating — I’m not a bad winter-weather driver.  I could hold my own in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and South Korea.  Even our 2 1/2 years in Nebraska, we were fine even driving our Toyota Prius.  But with this Mustang, I was dealing with a very lightweight, rear-wheel drive vehicle.  Ugh!

The local National Weather Service office had put out this map of snowfall totals from that one event, note how there was 5+” of snow in a narrow ribbon across south-central eastern Nebraska, but NONE in northern Sarpy and Douglas Counties.  Downtown Omaha saw no snow, but 10 miles to the south was buried in 5-6″ of snow that fell in just 3-4 hours.

Image created by the National Weather Service office, Omaha/Valley, Nebraska

There were cold temperatures and snow showers for the next couple days of my stay in the Omaha area, and the snowy weather turned into a freezing rain risk that lasted right up until just a couple hours before my flight out on the 27th.  Since I was heading into work each day at about 4:45am, luckily I could slip and slide around without other cars in the way.  It was nerve-wracking, but I survived.

I’m so glad the next time I head to Nebraska will be well after the winter-weather is done.  I’ll only have to worry about tornadoes next time…

Next up, Part III: a happier post about my fun times on this trip: trying out Ethiopian food, enjoying Pokeno with the girls, and shopping at my favorite store, Trader Joe’s!

My New Commuter Life, Part I: Getting There is Half the Battle

04. March 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

I might have mentioned it, I might not have, but I kept my Reserve position at Offutt AFB, Nebraska even though I now live in Florida.  I’ve received dozens (yes, dozens) of inquiries about why I would want to do that.

Three reasons why I kept this position:

1.) There’s very little else for me to do in weather in the AF Reserves.  I could switch to something non-weather, which is okay, but I preferred to stay in weather.  Call it the Geek in me!  I expect there will more options if Dave ever gets assigned to the Washington, D.C. area after this.  I’ll also only have a couple years left in the AF before I’m retirement-eligible by then. (How time flies!)

2.) This position has a lot of flexibility.  I am known as an “Individual Mobilization Augmentee” type of Reservist (or “IMA” for short).  In other words, I’m like an understudy-type capability to an active duty staff element.  If something were to happen that the active duty element needed more people, I could get called up to help out.  In my previous position in South Carolina, I was a member of a Reserve unit, and I was expected to be present one weekend per month.  As an IMA, I’m presented with times on the schedule that my help would be appreciated, and I balance their schedule with my own…and I’m allowed to stitch together several “one weekend per month” equivalents and not have to travel monthly.

3.) I’d only been in the Nebraska position for about 1 1/2 years.  It took nearly a year to receive all my training for this position, so I was trusted “unsupervised” only since last summer, and I feel that I owe more fruitful time to this position and the team I work with.

Therefore, around Christmastime I worked out with my active duty boss that I could give 4 work days to my shop in late Februrary, and I bought a plane ticket.  For these “one weekend per month” type work periods, I’m expected to supply my own transportation, so YES, I’m eating the transportation costs in this case.  Thank heavens for credit card reward points!

Right after the President’s Day long weekend, I kissed my boys goodbye, put them on the school bus and set off for the airport.  Fortunately, there was nothing hindering my trip TO Nebraska, a small snow event was putting itself together for a couple days later.  I picked up my rental car…as usual they were “out” of the super-ultra-mini-sub-compact cars I usually reserve, so I was offered this Ford Mustang.

I’ve always wanted a Ford Mustang, and this one was a lot of fun to drive…at first.

After I got my rental car arranged, I then went to collect my suitcase. Yes, I checked a suitcase on Delta airlines. But I traveled in uniform, in part so I didn’t have to pay to check the bag, no questions asked!

It was a good thing I was in my uniform…my suitcase never showed up. Even though I flew from Fort Walton Beach to Omaha via Memphis, my suitcase flew via Atlanta and hadn’t arrived. I filled out the appropriate paperwork, and the luggage office clerk assured me that the suitcase would be delivered that night. So I stayed up till about 12:30am waiting for it, but then it didn’t arrive. Boo!

So with my gracious hosts providing me some sleeping clothes, toothpaste and soap, and Delta airlines providing me a cute little toothbrush and a flimsy comb, I had JUST ENOUGH stuff to sleep, clean up and be presentable for work the following morning.

Did I mention my coats were in my suitcase? Uniform yes, coats no. Fortunately, it wasn’t that cold, about 35F.

While I was at work, my suitcase was delivered, hooray!

Coming next…Part II: The Ford Mustang…Worst. Winter. Vehicle. Ever.

More Toilet Talk

23. September 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

I haven’t done one of these irreverent blogs in a while. This is an accumulation of about 6 months of frustration with automatic flushing toilets when I’m in uniform.

So here is the new Air Force “Airman Battle Uniform”. We call them “ABUs” for short.

In fact, let’s get up close and personal with that new fabric.

I’ve a lot of concerns about this new uniform…from not being able to wear Army support combat patches (well, any unit patches for that matter), to the heavy weight of the fabric that made it quite uncomfortable in the Middle East contingency zones. Many of those issues are being addressed, but one of the ones that isn’t is a pretty fundamental issue.

The Near IR capability of these uniforms cause problems with automatic-flushing toilets.

Defined by Propper, Inc., the official ABU manufacturer: “Near Infrared (NIR) Signature Management Technology is used by the U.S. Department of Defense to prevent detection by NIR Image Converters. These photocathode devices do not detect temperatures, but rather infrared radiation variances. NIR-compliant uniforms use a special fabric that allows soldiers to appear at the same radiation level as the surrounding terrain, thus making them more difficult to detect. NIR technology also make uniforms less visible in low-light environments by reducing the reflection of light.”

I won’t argue with the value of this feature, especially at night when enemy forces might be trying to look for Airmen and the protection that NIR capability might be life-saving. I understand that.

I don’t have to wear my uniform often, but when I was in Florida for some training last December, the classroom building I was in was outfitted with the automatic flushers. So every time I had to use the ladies’ room, in the middle of going, the toilet was flushing. I was annoyed, but it wasn’t a hideous mess (I’ll get to that later) so I just tolerated it for a bit. I tried to sit extra still, but that wasn’t the issue. I guess over time the fabric would fade the heat difference of my sitting in front of the sensor.

The solution? Take off my ABU blouse before using the facilities there.

This didn’t come up again for a while — no automatic flushing toilets in the combat zone. Then I started this new job here at Offutt. The bathrooms in that building also have the IR detector so it happened again last week while I was in uniform. Again, I know now to remove my blouse and again, it wasn’t a messy experience when the flush happened — just loud and water-wasting.

But YESTERDAY. I went over to the Offutt BX after running some work-related errands in uniform and it happened again. Sorry, I don’t usually take the time to check, “Hey, is this an IR automatic toilet flusher?” before using it. Like most Americans, I’m not concentrating that much on the actions required to go to the restroom. But this time — it was a very, um, spirited flush in the middle of doing my business. I got SOAKED…and it was doubtful that was totally clean water that sprayed up all over my backside and the back of my shirt. I was so incredibly grossed out, I cut short the rest of my time at the BX (I had planned to browse for some kids clothes) and came straight home.

I have to admit, for me, having to use the restroom, whether public or private, is usually as second-nature to me as breathing. As more restrooms are equipped with the automatic flushers, and as I’m reporting to work in a new location on a new base, I guess I have to take a moment to check for the flushers.

An Article About the Shaw Reserve Unit I Just Left…

10. September 2009 · Comments Off on An Article About the Shaw Reserve Unit I Just Left… · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

This was just released through USAF Public Affairs channels. Enjoy!

True team effort behind squadron’s success

Shared via AddThis

Friday Night Flights

01. August 2009 · Comments Off on Friday Night Flights · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,


Neal: What’s the flight situation?
Del: Simple. There’s no way on earth we’re going to get out of here tonight. We’d have more luck playing pickup sticks with our butt-cheeks than we will getting a flight out of here before daybreak.
Neal: I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Del: Yeah, but by the time the airline cancels this flight, which they will sooner or later, you’d have more of a chance to find a three-legged ballerina than you would a hotel room.
Neal: Are you saying I could be *stuck* in Cincinnati?
Del: I’m saying you *are* stuck in Cincinnati

This is what I was faced with on Friday night. I substituted “Cincinnati” for “Wichita”, which was the city those guys were really stuck in.

I haven’t talked much about my work lately, I guess. Since I came home from the desert, I’d laid low somewhat, taking some drill days in June, and now I’m on this batch of drill days for the first weekend of August. Now that we’re in Nebraska, we have to book my flights to and from Shaw AFB for my reserve work. Not easy. Obviously, I can’t just hop on a plane from Omaha to Sumter, SC…so booking my flights involves layovers in hub airports and rental cars. This travel adds a day onto each end of my trips to SC. The majority of the time there are delays and I tend to make my flying schedules so tight, and missed connections and maintenance delays translate into missed duty hours, which I make up by paying visits to my unit’s troops on their night shifts.

I had quite the time attempting to get from Omaha to Columbia, SC (via Cincinnati) this past Friday, poor weather in Atlanta meant the crew waiting at Atlanta to go to Cincinnati to eventually transport us blew their crew rest — thus canceling the Delta Airlines flight — and I ended up having to spend the night in Cincinnati. Thankfully, our awesome unit NCO worked out a hotel room for me at the local Residence Inn and arranged a flight to Charlotte, NC for Saturday morning. Since lunchtime Saturday, I’ve been working hard, mainly wrapping up loose ends of paperwork and saying goodbye to the people I’ve served with these past 2 years.

And for those loyalists to my blog (all 2 of you?), yes, I remembered my own tips from last December.

Things are a-changin’!

From when I came home from the desert, I immediately began to ask about job openings closer to home. I’d received several leads. Fortunately, Offutt AFB is a big base with a number of Air Force Reserve opportunities. Unfortunately, most of their positions are filled. But someone who works at my Major Command Headquarters had some inside information about a possible opening at US Strategic Command right there at Offutt. The work is very very very similar to the work I did when I was assigned in Norfolk, VA.

I submitted a resume just after the July 4th holiday, and this past Monday I’d received word that I’d been hired and I could start in September! I’m so happy about how much easier my Reserve work will be now! I just have to drop the boys off at school and head to work…instead of dropping off the boys, driving to the airport, flying on two flights, renting a car, driving to Shaw AFB….then doing the whole thing in reverse 2-4 days later.

I will seriously miss my job in South Carolina. It’s among the most rewarding work I’ve ever done, and I had so much fun! It’s personally challenging, especially with the deployment earlier this year. But I will seriously NOT MISS the commute.

Hopefully we can use this saved time to really truly explore the great things the Central Plains States has to offer: Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Yellowstone National Park, skiing in Iowa (yes, IOWA — 40 minutes away!), etc….

Deployment Reflections

23. April 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I’ve been mulling this one for a while…

I’ve been home about 11 days now.  For the most part, things have been fine.  I’ve gotten back into the routine…somewhat.  I have to admit, having the new Macbook has been more of a distractor than anything else in terms of keeping to the housework, the kids and a couple of loose ends related to my deployment.

I figured I’d write about some various things on my mind these past couple weeks.  Not everyone who I mention necessarily reads this blog, but perhaps one day if someone Googles a person’s name, this post will come up.

First off, I owe a thank you to all of the folks who helped me prepare for this deployment.  This is a varied listing, from MSgts Lehman and Beaupre, who made phone calls and arranged for a lot of my training to be done from Offutt, to MSgt Curtis at Air Force Weather Agency, who made my local arrangements for weapons, chemical/biological warfare training, and answered my questions about medical outprocessing.  These senior non-commissioned officers made magic happen so that I could leave for the deployment from home instead of from South Carolina.  They even arranged it so I could get some drill pay to compensate me for the time spent just doing online training — about 40 hours worth!  I also need to thank the Veeneman and Anderson families, who provided hours of Timmy babysitting when there wasn’t space in the Offutt Child Development Center.

Thanks to everyone who sent me e-mails and care packages while I was gone.  This includes the Goldman, Warlick, Buckler, Vollmer (both the Nebraska and New York Vollmers), Fox, and Gifford families.  You listened to my requests for St. Patrick’s Day goodies, 100-Calorie Chessmen, toilet paper,  and single-serve sugar-free drink mix packets.

Thanks also to those who made my deployment experience outstanding while on shift…this could never be done without great people who continued to find a sense a humor, kept things “real” and kept their chins up even when things weren’t going hunkey-dorey.  There’s no way I’m going to include all the names, but you know who you are.  I learned so much about leadership, officership and military professionalism in general.  I will carry those lessons for the rest of my military career.

To the members of the weather team with whom I had the honor of serving: Maj Matt Hauke, Lt Joey Clevenger, AGC Angel Rossy, MSgt Chris Canarina and SSgt Mike Main.  To Lt Clevenger and SSgt Main in particular, they were my night shift compadres and I don’t know how many times they kept me in line — their seasoned, experienced work in CENTCOM helped keep me looking good!  Thanks!

To my deployment buddies — those who emerged from my crazy active duty past to cross paths with me halfway around the world: Maj Rose Lathrop, Maj Kasi Traweek and Capt Paul Bryan.  Thanks for taking time out of your schedules so we can get together for Friday coffees and Saturday pizza/gyro lunches.  I was reminded of “Sex and the City” where the gals got together every weekend for lunch at a diner and would talk about anything and everything — Paul, I know you’re not a gal, but you could gossip/chat/emote as well as the rest of us!  Rose and Kasi, congratulations on your engagements, and Paul, congratulations on your new baby — I owe you a blanket, it’s coming this week, I promise!

I owe a special “thank you” to Maj Paul Gifford — yes, that same Paul you’ve heard me talk about for quite some time.  He’s the one who stepped up with me to divide our 179-day deployment in half.  For this to work, we both had to be medically, physically, and duty qualified.  We were putting an incredible amount of trust in each other and I thank Paul for coming through on his end of the bargain…

Last, but certainly not least, the biggest thank you of all goes to my awesome family:

Dave: if you remember, I got the “invitation” for this trip the same week you were feverishly making edits to your dissertation for that last Dr. Lackmann signature!  This past July.  On top of finishing your dissertation and getting the family ready to move, you cleared your mind enough to give me the chance to press forward with preparing for my trip.  I know you weren’t jumping up and down saying “Please go, Patricia!”, but you helped me work out the timeline, helped with childcare during preparations and — most of all — played SINGLE DAD for 4 months during the worst winter you’d ever experienced.  I wondered if you had a catastrophe-free week: Howie’s ACL injury, all 3 of you with colds, flooded basement, van repairs. Getting to talk, via phone, webcam or even IM chat with you was the highlight of my time over there…thank you!

Jacob and Timmy: to my babies!  You two are amazing — Jacob, you continued to thrive in school and trusted that I would be home in “100 days”.  Timmy, I can’t believe how much you’ve grown since I left — you’re now READING and talking so well!  I loved talking and web-chatting with you while I was away, hearing your stories always put such a smile on my face.  Thank you for all the letters and artwork, too.  Jacob, your Groundhog decorated our weather section for about a month, while we celebrated a Groundhog’s Day…over…and over…and over.

While I was deployed, I found out there are some limited job opportunities here at Offutt, so I’ll be transferring units later this summer.  I love my unit at Shaw, but it’s time to move on and minimize these commutes.

I don’t plan to volunteer for another deployment.  If I get sent over, I’ll serve honorably…but it does lead me to a new question: “What now?”  A couple options have crossed my mind — at the forefront is looking into becoming a math teacher.  There’s a program called “Troops to Teachers” that is supposed to offer some flexibility for getting teacher certifications.

In closing, I was so glad I was able to be part of the Global War on Terror.  I was in grad school on 9/11 and I remember feeling like the most useless member of our military — I remember trying to donate blood and being told that the Red Cross wouldn’t even take my blood because I had spent time along the Korean DMZ.   To be able to see how we’re running our war, and seeing how incredibly tough it is to forecast the weather for Iraq and Afghanistan, was an experience I’ll never forget.

It’s Good to be Home!

11. April 2009 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Greetings from Detroit! I’ve two legs down on this journey, three to
go. The flights from Doha to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Detroit
were more or less without incident (save a broken shoe heel from an
overambitious beverage cart that I didn’t notice till I had
disembarked).
I’m now getting ready to board my flight to Colmbia, SC where folks
from my unit will meet me at the airport to get some of my equipment
and perhaps have me sign a couple forms.
Then I will continue my journey home from Columbia to Chicago, then
finally homeward bound to Omaha.
I found some wonderful gifts for the boys at the Doha Duty Free shop,
including some European Easter candy that I remember getting at
Eastertime in 1980 in Hong Kong….when I was the same age as Jacob!!!
I can’t wait to see my boys again!!!!

Books Read on this Deployment – The Complete List

11. April 2009 · Comments Off on Books Read on this Deployment – The Complete List · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Books Read on this Deployment
1.) The Marching Season, Daniel Silva: 16 Jan 09
2.) Angels and Demons, Dan Brown: 20 Jan 09
3.) Deception Point, Dan Brown: 25 Jan 09
4.) The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillipa Gregory: 3 Feb 09
5.) Marley & Me, John Grogan: 5 Feb 09
6.) Cruel and Unusual, Patricia Cornwell: 11 Feb 09
7.) Point of Origin, Patricia Cornwell: 21 Feb 09
8.) Black Notice, Patricia Cornwell: 1 Mar 09
9.) Holy Cow, Sarah Macdonald: 7 Mar 09
10.) Blow Fly, Patricia Cornwell, 16 Mar 09
11.) Trace, Patricia Cornwell, 23 Mar 09
12.) Book of the Dead, Patricia Cornwell, 31 Mar 09
13.) The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury, 10 Apr 09

Things I Won’t Miss About This Place

10. April 2009 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be here than Bagram or Balad. The trips off base were great and I’m glad I took the risk to venture out there. But this is still a deployed location and I had to do without quite a bit.

Here’s a list of things I won’t miss about being here…

1.) Wearing reflective belts at night even though the AF Physical Fitness uniform is covered in reflective screen printing.
2.) The dust.
3.) Eating breakfast at dinnertime, and dinner at lunchtime, and lunch at breakfasttime.
4.) The dust.
5.) Having a first sergeant come up to me outside to ask me to tuck in my fitness shirt all the way. Like he was standing there waiting for me to arrive to give him something to do.
6.) The dust.
7.) Wearing reflective belts at night around my uniform, and around my backpack.
8.) The dust.
9.) Trudging home from work in 90 degree temperatures along the roadside while a young Airman whizzes past me in an air conditioned 2009 Ford F-150 with no other passengers.
10.) The dust.
11.) The smell of ASS in the trailers when we weren’t able to open the doors periodically. One giant collective fart.
12.) The dust.
13.) The smell of dead animals right outside the entrance to the dining facilities. There’s no better way to perk up your appetite.
14.) The dust.
15.) The dining hall main line servers (not military) who always would offer me TWO steaks, TWO pieces of lasagna, TWO Belgian waffles. What, did they think I wasn’t fat enough?
16.) The dust.
17.) Having to walk 90 seconds to the latrine if I have to pee in the middle of my sleep time…and having to remember to tuck in my uniform shirt and put on my reflective belt first.
18.) The dust.
19.) Having to reduce my entire life down to the contents of two suitcases.
20.) The dust.

I’ve Been Taken Off the Line

08. April 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

“Taken off the line?”

Yeah, I guess it’s a reference to putting a fighting unit in reserve after serving on the front lines for a while. That’s how I feel now. I’m no longer on the work schedule. My mission is to get home safely.

Paul is here, he’s fully trained and now has the helm of the weather team’s night shift. The training was a very busy time, and not without drama…we have to shoehorn the training here with real-world events and real weather issues. I’m popping in and out of the workcenter, mainly to say “goodbye” to the various people with whom I had the honor of serving alongside, but don’t ask me anything about the weather over Iraq or Afghanistan. I don’t know!

I also had some non-weather related drama this past week, with lots of troubles scheduling a flight home. I was cleared to leave anytime starting today, and about 6 hours ago I received my flight information. What a relief. I wasn’t as concerned with when I’d be headed home as much as simply knowing something to pass on to the family and colleagues. I should be home by the end of this weekend.

I went to my last weekly social tent call this past Tuesday and as is tradition, I put some money on the bar to celebrate it being my last week. It certainly didn’t hurt that I had taken 2nd place in the Air Mobility Division’s NCAA Bracket contest, much to the chagrin of the 20 other guys who didn’t appreciate my “Barbie’s Dream Bracket” prediction of UNC v. Michigan State for the championship game. I had predicted Michigan State to take it all, but oh well.

I got a lot of great pictures from Tuesday but here’s a sampling I’ll share. Working the night shift was awesome, we could be honest with each other and focus on getting the job done without the politics of day-shift issues like pretty Powerpoint slides for the generals.


Here’s proof that my replacement did indeed arrive and is doing well. That I didn’t kill him during our training! Ha ha! Just kidding! Paul was a great student despite the brutal schedule we gave him!


Me with some of my night shift colleagues. Yes, I’m the only girl in the picture above, but there were other ladies around…


See? That’s Sarah on the left (Royal Air Force) and Mel on the right (Royal Australian Air Force).


This is for Jacob. This young man, who goes by “Buddy”, flies A-10s in the war and has been temporarily assigned to our unit here for a couple weeks to serve as a liaison between his squadron and the air war planners. His patch is that of the Expeditionary Flying Tigers and I told him about how that’s Jacob’s favorite airplane, the Flying Tigers A-10! He gave me a unit patch for Jacob!

Now that I’m “off the line”, I have been converting my sleep schedule into more of a swing shift schedule, to better match Central Daylight Time. I have the time to work on this blog entry, upload about 50 new pictures, and I also have a chance to work out 1-2 more times before I head to the airport. In fact, I think I’ll go to the gym right now!

Just like on my trip here, I’ll send a note or two on my trip home, so long as I can pick up WiFi on my layover in Europe, and once I’m back in the states my phone can hop back on the AT&T network and I can write more often!

I absolutely can’t wait to see my boys again — knowing it’ll be this weekend some time is such a great feeling!

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