Wrapping up 2011

Looking back over the past year, it is hard to believe all the changes.  The two, even three New Year's Eves prior to this one were filled with such uncertainty.  Would Matt be accepted to ASCP (we took a huge gamble on Matt's getting in by filing for an Early Return of Dependents so the girls and I could be with family and I could start pursuing nursing during his Afghanistan deployment)?  And the past two: How would we handle civilian life for two years while Matt completed ROTC and hopefully did not injure himself during Asian basketball tournaments?  Not to mention other concerns regarding civilian healthcare, childcare and school choices for the girls, and my acceptance into--and then juggling of--nursing school on top of everything else.  And now those challenges are behind us.  :o)  The uncertainty that this year brings pales extremely in comparison: I, of course am continually wondering if/when I will have approval to test for my LPN license.  Matt and I enjoy browsing planes and potential bases he can request later in the year--we are feeling hugely optimistic after his 89er ride prior to the break.  I go back and forth a lot about the girls' school for next year too (Montessori with me working, or the public school on base with the ability to spend more time with them and be more involved with their classes by not working as much).  But these are all great and exciting--and largely non-stressful options, and we are so excited about all of them.  :o)

Our break has been wonderful.  A LOT of family time.  Prior to and immediately after Christmas, I was working a lot between my base job and holiday hours at the clinic, but after that, until Matt returns to work on Tuesday, I have had a lot of time off.  I was able to move my base hours up so that I was off every morning by about 11:15 and we have spent a lot of time enjoying the sunny (!) weather, playing with the girls' new Christmas toys, and even venturing out to our cute little mall one afternoon for a Chinese buffet lunch.  And barany chair spinning...lots of it!  I have also been working to reintroduce regular exercise into my schedule.  Both Matt and I gained a bit of stress and busy wait during our move here and adjustment to the pilot training lifestyle and I am looking forward to getting it back off with some friends during the base's Biggest Loser challenge that starts January 9th!  Plus...still hoping to get in good enough shape to knock the OKC Marathon off my bucket list, come May.  For New Years' Eve, we are heading to OKC for the day, for lunch with one of my good friends from nursing school and her new fiance, to get Matt's guitar repaired, and to pick up some fresh seafood for a yummy New Year's dinner.

Here are some pix and videos from our year-end adventures.

Christmas morning:

A holiday greeting to friends and family afar:


Evidence of Santa's visit (cookie crumbs, milk residue, carrot scraps, and a note!):

Lunch at Chen Garden:

Followed by a ride on the mall train:

Enjoying the unusually warm OK Christmas weather:

The girls out for a skate:

Cooking a New Orleans style breakfast courtesy of my oldest's new Princess and the Frog cookbook (egg in a nest and minty iced tea)...we went for a whole Tiana-themed day and made Jambalaya for dinner, too:

Of course, she had to change into her Tiana dress for the occasion!

Experimenting with their new science kit:

Making cake pops in my new pop pan!

For some reason, as much as we move, it is still hard for me to believe that we will be, in all likelihood, ringing in our next New Year somewhere else.  Even though we've moved houses each year we've been Oklahomans, 3.5 years will still be the longest we have lived in any one area since Matt and I met in 2002!  *very hard to believe* And even if Matt goes FAIP, we'll still be moving houses at the very least, although part of me wonders about committing to another 3 years here (length of the FAIP tour)...starting to get a bit stir-crazy, I think, lol.  But that could just be the holidays. 

I can't shake the feeling that we are going east coast or overseas next round, though.  I really enjoy being either somewhere totally new or somewhere near family (on that note, neither of us have ever been stationed near family).  Both overseas and the east coast are good options, although leaning slightly toward the former as far as hunches go.  :o)  And, as always, we will take and be happy with pretty much wherever & whatever we get.

Airsickness: 0, Matt: 1

Matt has rocked two flights since his 3-day spin program and is looking to solo as early as next week.  Quite a change from our previous perspective of thinking he might be eliminated as early as next week.  One of the greatest challenges guys on the spin program face, particularly those who entered IFS with zero flying hours (a minority group in this private-licensed-heavy crowd...it seems like prior E's are the ones least likely to enter with experience, as they generally do not have as many opportunities for experience d/t deployments and all...) is learning a huge new group of skills/terminology with extremely staggered opportunities to use it.

It is difficult enough to have ground school condensed into a few weeks, and then be expected to solo-pilot a jet with 12-19h of training on it.  When you combine that challenge with airsickness and the spin program, flights are cut short d/t to prolonged vomiting, flights are missed for 3-5 days at a time d/t spinning, and opportunities to practice aircraft control are slim/none when you are having difficulty retaining control over yourself (piloting while dry heaving or worse is obviously not safe/permissible).  We had been preparing ourselves for a worst-case scenario of total elimination, and capped our goals at possibly washing back a class for another round of training and spins.

Matt's anxiety/hyperventilation-driven problem seems highly nippable--as evidenced by two great flights and absolutely killing the Barany chair program.  We are super-optimistic and excited about next week.  And it would be awesome to have him solo before the holiday schedules kick in (breaking up his flying time with 4-5 days at a time off, when 1-2 can be hard enough when you are learning to get the hang of things).  And better yet, we have company visiting the next two weeks--what a time and treat watching Matt's solo flight would be!

Dollar ride!

Matt's dollar ride went splendidly.  To start, he flew during sunset, so the view must have been spectacular--although he didn't mention it, noting only that he needed to be landed before dark as night flying had not yet been tackled in his intimidating syllabus yet.  The best part is that he did not get airsick!!  Considering everyone else in his class did, this is some strong evidence of the Barany chair's capabilities.  He said that he "dry heaved" a bit at the end, but the episode was mild enough to be classified merely as what is "typical" of one's first flight in a jet.

I am thankful I got some pix of another guy's dollar ride yesterday, because I really did not capture Matt's well.  I had the zoom lens ready to go, but I have yet to figure out how to take good pictures when both lights and motion are combined and the aircraft lighting really blurred up every pic.  Photos aside, I am thrilled Matt's first flight was in the late afternoon, so the girls and I could enjoy it together.  There were about 5 planes up in the air at that time, so I didn't know exactly which one was his, but I went with my gut and picked one, telling the girls, "That's your daddy up there...flying!"  They were both extremely excited and giggly about this.  Such a different feel in saying that and actually letting them see him in the air, as opposed to just talking about it.  I know they will be beside themselves (as will I) in a few short weeks when we get to observe his first solo from the flight tower!

The "puke chair": a family experience

This weekend the girls and I got to take Matt for a spin, and try out the Barany chair for ourselves.  With his "dollar ride" (first flight, nicknamed such because the students joking "tip" their instructor a dollar when it's done--although they often "jazz it up" a bit [at IFS, Matt drew a picture of his flight instructor as a superhero superimposed over George Washington's face--he does great likenesses]).

Matt definitely seems to be getting better at both taming "flare ups" (mostly by diaphragmatic breathing) and recovering after the spins.  He was passed out in his recliner and burping all evening his first day, and on Saturday he was his usual self within a few hours, and today, after he went with one of our neighbors, I would have never guessed he'd spun at all.  Then again, the Giants also pulled off a big win this afternoon, which undoubtably bolstered his mood a bit as well!  :o)

For the spin sessions, Matt is supposed to do at least 3 reps of 10min/ea every time he rides the chair.  He warned me before we went in that he may try to talk me out of a 3rd spin after he is 2 in, and sure enough, that is what happened!  But he stuck it out and performed fantastically.  While spinning, Matt can simulate dives, climbs, and turns by positioning his head at different angles.  A major key to calming motion sickness is to keep his head as steady as possible.  Apparently, after 20 seconds at a constant pace, the fluid in his ears stabilizes, allowing him to proceed comfortably, provided his head does not move too much.  This definitely helps explain why turbulence causes his symptoms to flare up dramatically.

Spinning (first pic is simulated ascent; second is normal flight position):

Here he is, post-spin, recovering:

The girls and I also got to go for a little spin.  I got [slightly] nauseous almost immediately, but both girls described it as "fun".  The chair is set up in a small fitness room, complete with a TV/DVD player, so the girls were in heaven.  Although they enjoyed testing out a few workout machines faaaar more than Phineas and Ferb (otherwise a favorite).

Checking out the room:

Going for a ride!:

All in all, a fun and educational afternoon and I was glad we were able to help Matt out a bit.  I definitely need to give the girls more credit.  They are probably about 2 years younger in my head than in real life, and it is sometimes easy to forget how much they can handle/how patient they are.  They have also been doing an awesome job in church service lately too (and traditional Catholic, not contemporary, to boot!).

The "puke chair"

When Matt is not in class, at the gym, in the "mancave", or in the house, he is in the "puke chair" (more officially formally known as the "Barany chair").  Matt is probably the most prone-to-motion-sickness person I've met, and this ailment has plagued him in pretty much every vehicle he's tried: roller coasters, cars (only when a passenger), boats, and planes.  He knew his nausea would be a problem going into IFS and looked up relaxation and breathing techniques (calm demeanor and diaphragmatic breathing [to stimulate vagal nerve] are major strategies) and more or less got passenger car-sickness under control months ahead of initial flight screening.

However, airsickness was another story.  By controlling his already-limited diet (he has mild gluten and lactose intolerances) and subsisting on bland, low-acid, low-fat foods like bananas and applesauce (strong flavors like garlic and egg, acidity, and fat are nausea/vomitting stimulants), he was able to obtain clearance for and successfully complete his solo flight, however, due to his frequent status as aircraft passenger during training (and later, as copilot, during routine flights) and his own limited control of the plane when he is flying, motion sickness continues to plague him.  He is definitely a fighter, though, and was in fact the only officer in his flight screening class who opted to stick out the mid-air puking in an effort to pass screening (others voluntarily washed-out).

Vance UPT boasts a 97% success rate in "curing" motion sickness, in large part due to this chair:

Once aerophysiology has oriented you to the chair, you are free to access it (with a partner) 24/7.  You are strapped into the chair and your head rests in the black adjustable headrest in one of several positions to simulate different flight maneuvers.  Your partner manually spins you until and continues to due so until you are at the point where you are ready to vomit.  Then he/she slows you down and your body is allowed to recover...however, immediately upon doing so, you are spun again until your limit is reached...the cycle continues.  The theory is that your body will learn to self-control nausea since it can no longer rely on vomiting for relief.

Worst part about not being permitted to throw up: feeling awful the rest of the day.  Matt will come home after an hour of spinning ready to pass out in his recliner, while alternately binging on peanut butter banana tortilla wraps.  Foul-tasting as vomit is, at least it regularly brought relief.  However, for obvious [control] reasons, you cannot be routinely throwing up while piloting an airplane.

I have yet to visit the chair with Matt, mostly because he is in class during my 3 hours of daily free/errand time, when our youngest is in preschool, and it is not an activity screaming "family affair".  The girls would go absolutely crazy if they saw this thing and probably beg nonstop to ride it (alas, the things we find "fun" as children, lol).  Luckily he has a buddy in his class and now one in the neighborhood as well who are also in need of spinning, so he should have plenty of opportunities to beat airsickness.  :o)