XC v. Super Bowl XLVI

Matt will have some competing interests the weekend of February 4^th-5^th.  After passing his check ride last week, Matt is cleared for his first Cross Country flight…and it is scheduled for Super Bowl weekend…and the Giants are playing, to boot!  The first round of XC flights in Matt’s class took off and safely returned last weekend and now it is Matt’s turn, along with some other guys.  This is a very exciting milestone for them and the IPs usually pick somewhere fun (though hopefully not too fun…as Panama City “gentlemen’s clubs” are apparently very popular hotspots, complete with their typical $300 tab…I am *so* grateful to be married to a pilot trainee who has 1) most of his wild days out of his system and 2) was never really all that wild to begin with).  It still blows my mind that it is not shockingly uncommon to see an airman (both officer or enlisted, more typically the younger folks who have their first real taste of freedom/independence from their parents in the Air Force), who has managed to throw away his/her entire career in one weekend of poor choices.  Anyway, this is not really about that.

Matt is very excited about his XC and also hoping he has an early-sleeper and early-riser IP who will be interested in making it back in time for the Super Bowl.  The guys leave on Friday afternoon for their flight and return 2 days later.  I can’t imagine him flying with someone who isn’t interested in watching the game…even if “your team” isn’t playing, most folks still seem to want to watch it…even I sometimes do, lol.  Matt is learning instrument flying now (flying without sight, relying on controls, gauges, etc., only—essential skills for flying in poor weather) and spending a lot of time in the simulator.  It should be a nice break for him in terms of motion sickness and a real opportunity to shine and catch up with his peers in terms of flying skills. 

He has passed 2/3 solos (he only has 3 during his entire training…T-1s, which start in March, don’t have solo flights as part of the syllabus).  And all he has left on that list is a formation flight (he will fly 10”-6’ away from another student/IP).  That is probably the one that will be most nerve-wracking for me.  The pace of training here never ceases to amaze me!

Exciting times

Two great things today:

1) I found a gluten-free pasta that everyone in our family loves (we are *not* fans of the corn-based packaged products the commissary stocks): homemade gnocchi!

2) Matt passed his check ride!!  Woo hoo!!  He actually got a "good" overall, which is even better than he needs to pass!  We were really hardcore with diet, spinning, and relaxing for him last night and in the morning, and I am so happy that it paid off.  Tomorrow he may be flying his first mission across state lines...to Wichita, KS (about 2h away by car).  Cross countries flights are coming up soon too!  What a change in our feelings and confidence about training, almost day-to-day, lol.

Party city

In the past two weeks, the girls have been to 4 birthday parties--quite a few considering they've only had one other one since we moved here in August!

Venues have included Chuck E. Cheese (~1hr 45min drive from where we live), Leonardo’s Discover Warehouse, and Skatetown).  We have long been fans of Chuck’s (and have even made the drive just for a day trip) and are members here at Leonardo’s.  

Leonardo's pics (in this toasty winter weather we've been having...):

 

The Skatetown party provided a great opportunity to check out somewhere new—and we will surely be going back.  I 100% did not think my 5 and 3 yr old daughters could hold their own at a roller rink, but, well-equipped with their Christmas skates and safety gear, they took to the floor like fearless adventurers.  My 5 yr old was already trying jumps and backward moves, and both participated in the limbo and hokey pokey.  Neither is a fan of falls…which are sort of inevitable when you are learning to skate.  However, the difference between falling on scratchy concrete v. the smooth roller rink floor is amazing.  Without a scratch or bleed to prove it, as far as they are concerned, the fall did not hurt.  :OD

 

I even got out on the floor with them (on skates) and had such as good time that I am going back with the girls on my Biggest Loser team one of these weekends for a group workout.  Hoping to get a little skating in by myself and then have Matt and the kiddos join us for the 2^nd hour.  Saturday mornings there is a beginner session (I am definitely a beginner!) from 10am-noon that features a free lesson for the young ones, and calmer skating in general.  Very excited!  :OD

The slew of parties has also gotten each girl thinking of how to plan their own.  My oldest’s is next month and she wants an all-girl rockstar makeover party with a music-themed/shaped cake, Chic-fil-A lunch spread, and stuffed guitar pillow party favors for attendees.  She is incredibly specific.  :O)

The new year has also given me a better handle on Daisy Scout happenings and I am so loving Girl Scouts.  I cannot think of a more well-rounded, community, peer, and family-oriented activity for girls to be involved with.  A snapshot of our activities these next two months: field trip to the fire station (as part of our Gerri petal "Respect for Authority"), cooking cultural food while modeling traditional clothing from and teaching about Indonesia for Thinking Day (each Troop in the Council selects a country...we are going with Indonesia since one of our girls was adopted from there), crafting with residents at a local nursing home, participating in the service at our local church for Girl Scout Sunday, and of course some tasty cookie activities to boot!

I have been blessed with a great co-leader whose daughter my two adore.  Here the girls are crafting/baking with [edible] Press Dough (homemade cookie dough they can shape using a ton of accessories they received for Christmas) while us adults plan out the next couple of meetings & outings.

Some great globs of dough colors to work with:

The finished products (post-baking).  They held their shape super-well!

The girls enjoying their treats:

Since this is in theory a pilot training blog, I guess I should update a little on Matt's training.  We've kind of been in a holding pattern due to his motion sickness, so there hasn't been much to report.  After throwing up 4xs his first flight back after break, he had a successful flight, followed by a successful solo, and two days of double turns (back-to-back flights, including solos).  Things were going great and he was one ride away for his final check ride of the unit...when he started throwing up again.  I suppose I am partly to blame for this last bout of motion sickness.  One habit Matt has taken up since pilot training started...and one which I may be partly to blame for modeling so wonderfully for him these past 9 years...is stress eating.  Basically when he is nervous, anything (besides gluten) is fair game.  After his last check ride, and after being the only one in his flight to hook a check ride (something he has been relentlessly hard on himself about, unfortunately, despite my efforts to assure him that no one in his class could mind and they all know he is giving it his best--seriously, despite his struggles with motion sickness and busy family life on top of training, he consistently takes time out to help and study with classmates struggling with academics--which is the area he is strongest in).  Anyway, since he was flying early in the day, I planned a pre-flight snack of rice (following BRAT diet guidelines) and a post-meal lunch of rice--with shrimp an veggies in a peanut butter sauce.  Well...guess who stress-ate the whole thing right before his flight?  So guess what is his lunch for tomorrow (despite a very early check ride)?  One tupperware of rice and fat free hot dogs (his go-to meal) and another containing a large salad with some steak on top.  No one I know stress eats salad, lol, even though we'd all be a lot better off if we did!  Here's to a great flight tomorrow!

& to close...a cute picture of Tunia in a holiday sweater...that it has been too warm for her to wear out on her walks lately!

Ringing in 2012: Bricktown adventure

For NYE we traveled to OKC for the day to have some fun with the kids, repair Matt’s guitar, and pick up some crab for New Year’s dinner the next evening.  It was great returning to our old stomping grounds and we had a fun-filled day of lunch with friends, botanical and children’s gardens in Bricktown, and a trip to the mall.  What seems like such a busy day now was a fairly normal weekend for us back in the day.  It is sooo nice to be more laid back now and to see the kids better able to enjoy time at home and with the family as opposed to always having something scheduled or official to do.  When Matt and I first met (in northern Japan), we never really took advantage of the travel and cultural opportunities our surroundings offered us.  I don’t think we really started maximizing our surroundings until about 1/2way through our tour at Travis AFB, where our oldest daughter was born.  Now I have the tendency to want to experience everything everywhere we go (a pursuit that makes our moves so much easier and more exciting), but something has to be said for pacing ourselves.  Particularly with Matt’s schedule nowadays and with me working, we have become more homebodies, but I am still hoping to get in a weekend in Tulsa and in Wichita before our tour here is up.  Also high on  my list: Hot Springs, Arkansas.  This was supposed to be a major highlight of our road trip move from TN to OK back in 2009, but most of the fun was cut out of that trip when our car broke down 3 hours into it.

Now that that tangent is out of the way, here are some highlights of our weekend OKC trip:

Since our last trip to the Myriad Botanical Gardens, a gorgeous and exercise-friendly children’s garden was added.  Much more fun, creative, and educational than the standard playground—and we probably spent a good 90 minutes playing there.  It was also great to see that there since normally we spend a lot longer in the Botanical Gardens crystal walk around this time of year—as in the past it has been decorated to look like a storybook wonderland.  This year, the decorations were limited to lights and some attractions around the exits (a sleigh for posing for pix, etc.)--however, it was still gorgeous--and the children’s garden more than made up for it in terms of activity level for the kids!

Botanical Gardens:

Children's Garden:

Picked up these cute shoes from the Disney store.  My youngest loooves princess-style shoes that are durable and comfortable enough for regular wear.  These were on clearance, but one size too big (plus the slip-ons never stay put on her chubby little toes).  We went ahead and bought them.  When I got home, I took pink Velcro straps off of one of her old pairs of sneakers and sewed them onto these.  Now they fit and stay on like a charm…although now I think I like them even more than she does, lol.

 

New Year’s dinner surf ‘n turf spread:

 

We did a second trip to OKC this Monday (just me and the girls) for their best bud’s 5^th birthday party—at Chuck E Cheese!  What a blast!  We hadn’t been to this particular Chuck’s in about  years and they had a lot of great new attractions (like a carousel-themed rocking horse ride that both girls adored). 

 

The birthday girl in the ticket grabber fan thing…made out pretty well for herself—over 500 tix earned!

Back in the saddle

Well, the holiday break is over, Matt is back in training, and the girls are back in school.  The girls eased right back into their routine—with 1 birthday party each to look forward to this weekend--and are excited about swim lessons at the Y resuming next week.  Matt has his first flight since the >2wk long hiatus on Tuesday…and I wish I could say overcoming motionsickness has been like riding a bike (in that once you have it down, you have it down), but that has not proven to be the case.  Despite spinning religiously over break—and even turning down the opportunity to roadtrip again to New Orleans to keep up our Barany chair routine, and despite a rigorous professional spin on Monday, Matt still threw up a whopping 4 times yesterday afternoon.  To cap it off, he is battling a cold, which is affecting his sleep.  He went to see the flight doc about that and his motion sickness (every time you throw up or report motion sickness during flight, you have to be cleared by the flight doc in order to proceed with training).  He was prescribed some Mucinex and grounded from flying until Monday (there are very few meds you can fly while taking d/t side effects).  Because he needs to fly every day to keep motion sickness at bay, it will in all likelihood be a lot of spinning this weekend, but then square one again on Monday. 

In my opinion, they way the training routine operates certainly does not help matters anyway.  Matt is slightly behind in academics (but still over a month ahead of syllabus) due to the bout of rough flights he experienced prior to the break.  You are not cleared for the next block of academics until you pass your check ride for the previous block, so he has some catching up to do.  Academic classes are held in the morning, which means for the foreseeable future, all his flights are in the afternoon, which is a far worse time to be flying, simply because he has eaten more.  When he can hop right out of bed, grab oatmeal w/flaxseed and a banana, and head off to his plane, results are muuuuch better.  It makes the cycle more difficult to beat.  And another thing that makes me extremely anxious about the program is how easy (in my opinion) it is to regain solo-flight status after a long bout of rough flights.  Of his past 10 flights, Matt has encountered problems with motion sickness or disorientation on 7 of them, resulting in “hooks”.  No matter how many he hooks, as soon as he passes 2 in a row, he will be qualified for his aerial solo.  He has assured me that when this time comes, he will play it extremely safe and do the minimal required in terms of maneuvers, so as not to pull too many Gs, etc. (increase susceptibility to motion sickness), but it still makes me nervous.  This is not the first time I have felt like the program may move too quickly for the new guys (those entering training with zero hours), but I am one of those wives/moms who always worries about everything and Vance does have excellent safety and success stats to back up its judgment.

Well, here’s hoping for the best and for Matt to have some pleasant flights next week.  :OD