Major Mom

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 Major in the Air Force Reserves. It's a wonderful double-life I lead. It 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 wonderful getting to see my 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 Navarre, Florida, while my wonderful husband is assigned to Hurlburt Field, Florida. We've also lived in the following locations since we graduated from Penn State University in 1995: Fort Polk, Louisiana, 1995-1998 Yongsan Army Installation, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 1998-2000 Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 2000-2002 Patrick AFB, Florida, 2002-2005 Raleigh, North Carolina (Dave was assigned to North Carolina State University), 2005-2008 Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 2008-2010 Hurlburt Field, Florida, 2010-present I started this blog in December 2007, thanks to suggestions from friends. We're in our third 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 two military moves (PCS: Permanent Changes of Station) we've had. Sometimes I talk about utter nonsense, such as finding a product called "Piggies in Pancakes" in a grocery store in South Carolina. In my spare time I write for the parenting blog GeekMom.com, I serve on the board of the Hurlburt Spouses' Club, and I'm a Cub Scout den leader. I also enjoy running and playing the violin.

Orange Juice and Other Things We Take for Granted in the Food World…

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As promised, more about the funny OJ picture I posted. There are assorted DFACs (Dining FACilities) scattered among the base. Different foods, different hours, different dining atmospheres. Most of the time I’m eating from the dining hall near my workplace 1-2 times per day…and it was never eating in the chow hall. I’d eat during … Read more

"The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

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I’m seem to be suffering some sort of insomnia. I’ve not gotten more than 3-4 hours’ sleep per night this past week, except for one night — a night off — where I made things worse by sleeping right through till almost morning. This is bad because I work nights here. So I’m living that … Read more

Howie

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So many of you know and love our Howie-the-Wonderdog. From Howie From Howie Howie apparently blew out his knee while running around in our backyard on Tuesday night. We’re guessing he was chasing squirrels, they are the bane to his existence! He was hit by a car while chasing a squirrel in 2002. He now … Read more

My Own Personal CO2-to-O2 Conversion System

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I’ve been getting a number of care packages from my family and friends. Dave and the boys, my in-laws, Paul’s family and Wendy’s family have all sent goodies and they’ve all been awesome. The snacks, books, magazines and drink mixes have been greatly appreciated! This post today is about one particular…unusual…item I received at the … Read more

100 Life Experiences

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I got this from Christina of Sugar Sweet Thoughts <http://christinagblogspot.blogspot.com/2009/02/100-life-experiences.html>, who got it from Must Love Tots <http://mustlovetots.blogspot.com/2009/02/lifes-experiences.html> who got this from Scientific Nature of the Whammy <http://www.snotw.com/2009/02/100-life-experiences.html> who got this from Megan <http://newlywednewlybredinne.blogspot.com/> . It looked like fun, so here goes! Hopefully no identity theft issues with this one… Not sure what an identity … Read more