Thanksgiving preparations

The first Thanksgiving dinner I ever flew solo on in the kitchen was also my first Thanksgiving with Matt (and, incidentally, took place over a year after our wedding d/t a speedy courtship and then my deploying a week after we tied the knot).  I innocently thought the entire meal could be prepared on Thanksgiving day [after sleeping in, no less!] and ended up highly stressed and with a broken Kitchen-Aid stand mixer about 2h into it.  Nowadays, I spread my shopping out over the week prior (I always try to get 15 items at a time from the commissary during busy weeks so I can just zoom through the self checkout aisle) and start cooking 1-2 days before.

Pix from our first Thanksgiving together...I cannot believe how young Matt looks!  I think I always look the same, lol.  Not sure if that's too good a thing though...

I love the combination of fancy wedding china and us basically wearing pajamas...lol.  In our defense, we had just moved to CA from Japan less than a month prior and our main furniture had not even arrived yet.  We are eating on a small square folding table on loan from the Airman's Attic.

Matt is enjoying 4 1/2 days off to celebrate and get some family time R&R (and, on a side note, he flew his first acrobatic routine yesterday--consisting of flips and sideway S's) and we are fortunate to have another visitor this week, one of my brothers--who is also the girls' godfather.  The girls and I made the extremely boring drive to OKC today to pick him up (seriously, the most interesting sites are extremely large [wolf-like] roadkill that we have seen on each of our last 4 trips out of Enid and various types of junkyards).  Even though it is only 2h, I always need to arm myself with coffee--particularly as there is hardly anywhere to stop along the road should the boredom start to take its toll.

On another note, I finally learned why it is so small-town out here, despite the presence of a very populated and single officer-heavy air base.  The flat and vacant fields that stretch for miles to every side of Vance are absolutely perfect for emergency landings, should a student ever encounter a problem in the air.  We are acclimating well to Enid, and always try to break the long airport drive up with lunch and window-shopping at the OKC Mall.  :O)  Girls are huuuuge Disney store fanatics.

Now that we are home from our drive, I am prepping for my first gluten free and dairy-light Thanksgiving.  I am basically combining recipes from two of my favorite blogs (a gluten free one and a crock pot one) and my brother is preparing a poached fruit dessert.  We are planning on a fun day of board games and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (we did not have a TV service last year, so this will be a huge treat for the girls!).  Either Thursday or Friday, we are planning on a trip to the movies, to watch the new Muppet flick--a childhood favorite of Matt, my brother, and mine--and a cast the girls adore too.  The big question is...will be brave the poorly-reviewed, but conveniently-located Oakwood Mall Theater or drive to the cute little 3-screen we passed while driving through Kingfisher, OK (about 30-40min away).  I am leaning toward the latter.

Month of the military child

In addition to Thanksgiving festivities galore, November also hosts the Month of the Military Child and the girls loved the celebration on base.  It was nice to see the entire chain of command get involved--the wing commander and his wife even handed out medals and care packages to each child with a deployed parent.  This is something I might not have appreciated as much before I was a parent, because I have now experienced firsthand, and repeatedly, the struggles each child faces when their parent leaves--no matter how young they are.  Even while Matt's participation in ROTC and pilot training have left him stateside the past three years, the time commitment and schedule uncertainty of these endeavors certainly take their toll on his relationship with the kids, and they are such amazing troopers.  They have developed such a good and patriotic attitude about his and our family's mission and have developed such a strong, special, and unique (in terms of unprecedented roughhousing) bond with their dad.

I was also in considerable awe when I saw how many dual-military parents served at our AFB.  Considering Matt and I met in the military--and saw dual careers in our future--until pregnancy hormones hit and I decided to separate after 5 years' served--primarily d/t fear of dual-deployment--although probably even one deployment would kill me [I am an extremely hover-y mother...the most time I spent apart from either one of my girls was when I was in the hospital giving birth to my youngest--and my oldest still visited every day].

Here are some cute memories from the day:

Hula-hoop & ice cream eating contests:

Glamming it up with camo face paint:

Memorial Marathon

The first Sunday of every May marks the OKC Memorial Marathon.  Last year, I ran the 1/2 (13.1miles) during a freezing cold rain and hail storm--and I figured this year, running the full would be a major no-brainer.  I loved training for the 1/2--and participating in monthly stamina-building 5-10K events from January onward--including a mile fun run with the kids.  Plus, this is a *major* bucket-list item for me.  However, pretty much since Matt up and packed for pilot training last July, my exercise regimen--once a solid and looked-forward-to part of my day, became non-existent, except for some very light evening push-ups/sit-ups.

A number of women, both military & civilian, who I work with in my base job have began to train for the full/half (all are first-timers) and I have decided to jump on the ship.  I will probably have to start with a light couch-to-5K program and work up from there.  There is a city running group that meets Saturday mornings at 6:30am, a time when Matt is generally home and not studying (and therefore I could be free).  There is a gym literally right down the road from us, and I have heard it has a hang-out room for kids to play in while the 'rents hit the treadmill/weights.  Perhaps I will check that out tomorrow?  The biggest perceived barrier to working out right now, of course, limited time.  I am working 2 jobs, plus shoulder about 95% of parenting responsibilities and also have to make sure Matt is good-to-go each day with clean clothes and lunches (which become increasingly challenging to prepare as he piles on the dietary restrictions, lol).

However, I made time to train for the half last year, despite being in nursing school/clinicals, shouldering a similar amount of parenting responsibilities, and having Matt occupied with ROTC.  The challenge is definitely mostly mental.  Bring it on.  :O)

Decorating for the holidays

While I may not be into buying used thrift store beds, I definitely am into buying used thrift store Christmas trees!  This year's tree went up about a year early this season, d/t an unbelievable find (rotating, pre-lit 7" tree for $42) at our local Hope Outreach store.  :o)

This year's new ornament: coffee & beignets from New Orleans.  A great trip and an afternoon snack my oldest talks about to this day.  :o)  Hoping to also find a cute T-6 model to add to our collection, since that is Matt's aircraft this season and since he wasn't able to accompany us to Louisiana.

Living with a pilot

Means lights out at 8pm...throughout most of the house, as Matt prefers to sleep in his sleeper chair/recliner d/t heartburn and snoring issues [that leave him with an a.m. dry/sore throat] when he lies flat.  I have been eyeing a used hospital-style adjustable bed at the local thrift shop to encourage him to move his sleep to the bedroom, but something about a used bed just feels too gross/bed buggy.  It seems like every couple of months he develops a new problem.  Right now he has also eliminated gluten and soy from his diet (with the exception of miso soup) and is in the process of completely eliminating dairy, relying on the calcium fortification in Xagave (his fave brand of agave nectar) for his dietary needs.

This is what I have to clean and watch reality TV around every evening:

And another thing; to streamline personal hygiene needs, he insists on keeping his facial astringent on the spice rack.  I have been petitioning for him to move it to his gluten free cabinet by the microwave, which, at least once a month, he promises he will do.  For now, I will just get used to sharing the shelf space.  :o)

T-6 solo flight

He did it!  Matt overcame his motion sickness and developed his flying skills to the point that he was able to fly solo today!  It was amazing to watch.  We were able to view the whole thing from the flightline control tower and he did a fantastic job.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous at first, especially since the kids were watching too (they would never recover from actually witnessing a crash or something), but after seeing him nail his first "touch and go" (landing with an immediate takeoff again), we were able to relax, develop some real faith in his abilities, and enjoy his half-hour flight, during which he circled the tower a good 5-6 times and did a lot of landings.  We were lucky enough to capture some of it on film!



Daddy and his girls:

After the solo, it is customary for the pilot student to get dunked in an extremely cold and dirty tank in between life support and their classroom.  Supposedly, if you outrun your classmates (who try to catch you), they owe you a case of beer, but Matt's gluten intolerance and alcohol aversion made him an easy catch and he excitedly walked over to the tank with his guys.  :o)

On another note, Matt can also now shave off his mustache.  Pilot life is rich in tradition, and another one is growing out your 'stache until you solo.  This is also the best/fullest mustache he has ever grown!  Very impressive.

Fall music program

The girls' school put on an absolutely MARVELOUS holiday program this week!!  A great thing about private school, in my opinion, is that far fewer subjects are taboo.  The program was filled with heartwarming and darling Thanksgiving, Christmas, and patriotic songs.  Oh, and my wreaths garnered all of 1 bid at the silent auction.  I am glad someone at least seemed to like them, but as the bidder was my oldest's teacher, I am not sure if it was a pity bid or one out of genuine interest, lol.  They would look cute in her always well-decorated classroom, though.  :o)

The girls took their holiday outfit selection very seriously.

Each class performed three songs.  Here are my youngest's:






And my oldest's:






It was a great day!  :o)  Sorry daddy had to miss it; but he has been super-busy prepping for a potential solo flight this week!

Cooking with pumpkin

My new thing in the kitchen this year has definitely been taking advantage of seasonal fruits and veggies (even if I do tend to buy fall's #1 produce, the pumpkin, canned).  This year's recipes have include:

Pumpkin chili (we subbed ground turkey for ground beef and also turned it into a crock pot meal):

Pumkin soup (recipe I found on the WW website, that may no longer exist), which we loaded up with so many fresh veggies that it ended up having more of a low-cal [40/serving] feel.

Pumpkin seeds from our cute kitty-bat jack-o-lantern.

And pumpkin apple dessert pizza:

Yum!

The dollar ride dollar

It is customary in IFS/UPT to give your initial IP a personalized dollar as a "tip" when they take you up for your first flight in a new plane.  Matt made his initial IFS instructor a super-hero style dollar (perhaps for tolerating--and then triumphing over--a huge amount of motion sickness).  Unfortunately, no picture of that one.  Matt recently showed me his film footage of IFS...mostly hallways and windowless dorm rooms.  No planes/flying, lol.

For his initial T-6 ride, Matt went all out.  On a side note, I am pleased with how widespread and accepted Facebook stalking has become, as I no longer feel the need to hide my own tendencies.  He looked up his IP's profile (who is not on his "Friends" list due to professional boundaries).  Fortunately, he did not block his photo albums.  Matt was able to obtain a pic of his IP's put, who he speaks of about as much (perhaps more) as Matt talks about our kids.  He found a store on Ebay that specializes in altering the faces of dollar bills, while still keeping them as legal tender and ordered this:

It was a hit!  And reaffirms my longstanding belief that just about everything you can think up is on the internet somewhere.  :o)

Holiday crafting

Due to nursing school/military wife-ing/mom-ing, my crafting hobby has been put back burner for the past couple years.  2/3 commitments...I can still juggle stuff with, but when I had all 3, it was tough.  My #1 hobby is crocheting, but that, unfortunately, is still on hold because I am making myself finish a small cross stitch pillow I started about 2 years ago before I start up again with blankets, purses, home decor, and clothes.  At the rate I'm going, I may never resume, but hopefully in the next couple of months.  I am hoping cross stitching will replace snacking during reality TV time at night, lol.  :o)

Anyway, the girls' school has their bi-annual holiday silent auction this week, so I thought I'd use some residual yarn from a huge splurge 7 years ago to whip up some artsy yarn wreaths, an idea I got from Etsy.

I opted for a scenic look, a traditional wreath look, a Japanese look, and an Advent calendar.  As I have been wanting to make the girls an Advent calendar for about 3 years, we are keeping that one for ourselves.  :o)

Auction wreaths:

Our wreath (tootsie roll midgees in each of the origami envelopes, and two dangling holiday chocolates in the middle for Christmas Eve):

Chili cook-off/Enid eatin'

Now that I am working on base (and *loving* my job), I am also really really enjoying quasi-military employment life.  I always loved the camaraderie and unique sense of mission and unity you experience as part of the Uniformed Services and as a contractor, I get a large chunk of that back, coupled with the great sense of purpose integral to any work in the healthcare field.

Since I started work (about a month ago) the Medical Group has participated in/hosted two basewide exercises, several commander's calls, a Christmas party in the works, holiday collections for community children-in-need, and a chili cook-off.  Due to my training schedule, limited hours (20h/wk), and the huge backlog of work I needed to catch up on after finally securing computer access, I haven't gotten to participate in as many events as I'd like (particularly in terms of potlucks as I LOVE to cook and try out new recipes on crowds--but with general home cooking, plus regularly preparing lunches for Matt and the girls, supplying Matt's scorpion flight and the girls' school with baked good treats every couple of weeks, and preparing for company/the holidays, I haven't been having a lot of extra time in that department).

I do however, love a cook-off, so I decided to enter a pot of sweet potato chili in the mix.

I initially thought I'd go with Indian chili (a Rachael Ray recipe I have been wanting to try for quite some time), but that recipe was too much shopping (would require a trip to the BX on top of the commissary, for beer) and complicated cooking (I prefer dumping things in a crock pot for mass-quantity weeknight cooking).  I thought a sweet potato chili (vegan) recipe would be fun, fresh, different--and therefore pretty popular against a sea of mostly beef and bean dishes varying primarily by degree of hotness.

While Matt and I loved the dish, I left work that afternoon with nearly half a pot left (which is even less when you take into account my spilling a bit on the way into work that morning).  I was really surprised that most people seemed to come in, get a bowl of something beefy (maybe mixing/sampling one or two [of 10]) pots, and vote based off of that.  But then again, I came in, got a bowl of only sweet potato chili (not a big beef eater, and I definitely get more than my fill on our Saturday nights), and then opted not to vote (obvious bias, lol).  As I was eating, I overheard two older men laughing at the "idea" of vegetarian chili, which Matt had warned me about--some folks are definitely more comfortable with what they are used to, and it is always hard to distract a predominantly male group from large pots of meat--particularly in a small and familiar town, lol.

Needless to say, my pot did not place, but we gained a tasty, fresh, and healthy new recipe and meals for about two weeks in the process!  :o)

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!

Happy Veterans Day!

We had a great Veterans Day this year.  Matt had the day off for some much-needed R&R (particularly after his FIRST MOTIONSICKLESS flight yesterday morning!!!), I had some fun training at my clinic job (and purchased my first pair of non-school uniform scrubs--a Mary Engelbreit pair, purple, with owls), the girls had pizza day at school (always a plus!), and as a veteran couple, we both enjoyed a lot of support from our local community.  Since my first active duty Veteran's Day, at Ellsworth AFB in 2001, I have been touched by Golden Corral's support (free buffet dinner for anyone who has served).  At the time, it was on of few organizations that I noticed that really reached out to/supported vets.

Today, nearly everywhere you looked, someone was offering a free meal or thank you to veterans (Chili's, Applebees, Hooters, Outback, Golden Corral, and too many others to list).  I enjoyed a free 6" chicken teriyaki sub from Subway for lunch and we took the family out to Golden Corral (Matt's favorite diner) for dinner.  On the downside, we accidentally got the date for Golden Corral wrong (their celebration is actually this coming Monday), but the silver lining was that we were not waiting in line for nearly two hours (as I did back in the day at Ellsworth) and Matt got to binge to his heart's content on iron-rich steak for next week's flights while the girls and I probably ate a bit too many chocolate fountain-dipped treats.

This weekend, the city is getting in on the action with a much-anticipated parade on Saturday (which we will unfortunately miss--but for a good reason--picking up family at the OKC airport).  We are so happy as a family to be part of the military culture and service and find ourselves regularly inspired by both its history and our peers.  Happy Veterans Day!  :o)

Carpets and yards

Carpets and yards have really been my only two complaints about base housing, with the exception of the fact that only about 20% of dog owners here seem to regularly obey the leash law (no tethered dogs without owners present, no off-leash dogs ever).  When we moved into our cute little duplex, everything was in great order except for the carpets.  They had an unbelievable amount of stains, but I comforted myself with the fact that, of course the carpets were shampooed between tenants, so at least I could rest assured knowing that while they may not look clean, they actually are clean.  There were two stains in particular that were driving me batty, so a couple of weeks ago I took out my carpet shampooer to have at 'em and try my luck.  Wouldn't you know it?  They lifted right out.  While I was thrilled by this, I was also a little displeased that the carpets were not cleaned prior to our move-in.  Particularly as we had to wait (and live in a moldy Best Western) for nearly two weeks after the prior tenants left so our home could be "cleaned".  We have moved many times over the years, and even the two ghetto-ish apartment complexes we lived in routinely shampooed between tenants.  That said, I still love base housing and our home, it was just a surprise and a good reminder not to assume things.

On another note, while I was shampooing the carpet around midnight the other night, it was like a dream come true for Matt.  He lay sprawled out and reclined on his special chair that he likes to sleep on (the upright angle helps his heartburn and snoring), with his beauty mask on, and the noisy hum of the carpet shampooer in the background.  He smiled and said, "It feels like I am relaxing in the First Class section of a plane," lol.  :o)

The only other real complaint I have had has been the yard service here.  Granted, it is free/included in our "rent" (base housing has our full BAH routed to their account each month to cover rent, utilities, maintenance, etc.), however our front yard is basically 45% dirt, which has become 45% mud thanks to the cooler, rainier weather--and I cannot get a thing to grow in our front flower bed because the two massive branch-shedding trees beside our house block all sunlight from filtering in--although they are great bases for hammocks/swings.  But, as I stated before, we are very happy here and actually consider our current home to be our favorite residence since our time in Misawa, Japan, about 8 years ago, when we were dual-military, pulling a double housing allowance and living in a huge hardwood-floor 4-bedroom home with heated toilet seats and floor drains in the bathroom.  :o)

Saying no

So...this week I found myself inadvertently semi-committed to not one, not two, but THREE part time jobs.  The med-surg position I initially turned down due to not being able to count on Matt's being home consistently at night came back with a flex position offer that I apparently couldn't turn down.  I told myself it was because I wanted to test out my options, etc., before deciding on one main job to pursue after taking a summer vacation with the girls.  But really it is because I absolutely hate saying no.

It was not until I found myself in tears twice this week--once at the prospect of going through the whole new-job paperwork/physical/training/orientation hassle a THIRD time (even the most flexible of jobs rarely offer flexible training/orientation hours, which means a lot of juggling) and I do enjoy having at least a couple hours of downtime/day to have a cup of coffee, watch reality television, and catch up on housework; and a second time after realizing that my dreamiest job of the three (flex med-assistant and future LPN at a variety of clinics) unexpectedly decided to start my training next week, eating up every afternoon with company we have coming, and throwing the kids' 3pm pick-up routine into chaos.

Matt and I are very good at balancing each other.  He encourages me to both relax and set boundaries and I encourage him to wear more than just long underwear when he is waiting at home for the cable repair man.  He gave me a great pep talk this morning that helped me back away from my newest job opportunity and explain to my clinic employer my situation with the kids and family.  The result: the world did not end, and things are working out splendidly on all fronts and I am looking forward to a great week with family next week that includes a tour of the flightline/Matt's plane and the girls' school Fall Program.  :o)

The Beast

Today, Matt finished the second day of his 3-day motionsickness spin program.  And, for a second time, came home feeling fresh and non-nauseated.  He was called "a beast" on the chair and one of the experienced program directors told him she has "never seen anything like him" and believes he could outmaneuver anyone on base in terms of not getting sick on the chair.  He clocked 45 "advanced maneuvers" today, without getting motion sick once.  The typical difficult spin session averages about 22-25.

This was a huge shock and relief to us, as it shines a bright bright light at the end of the tunnel.  Matt's instructor believes his airsickness is due more to nerves and hyperventilation than anything.  Matt's typical stress level is atypically low, however since IFS started, I have never seen him as stressed, so it is not surprising that he brought some of those nerves with him in the air.  The biggest problem seemed to be talking himself through maneuvers (and thus having to take frequent gasping breaths through his oxygen mask in between sentences).  He told me that basically he has been talking nonstop through every flight (verbally going through everything he does and checks in the air), but that that habit has been affecting his oxygenation since it is more difficult to breath when you are flying.  This theory was tested by having him "chair fly" in full gear--and sure enough he was motion sick in minutes.

Matt will take to the skies again on Thursday!  We are very optimistic that his trainer is right and that he can get a real handle on his airsick situation!  :O)

Potluck parties

While being an AF pilot student's wife is undoubtably easier than being a deployed airman's wife (in the peace of mind department), it definitely has its challenges, particularly when you are also a parent.  Last week, as the more veteran AF person in Matt's flight, I decided to try to start getting us wives and kids together to share stories and find support during the program.  There are two other wives in Matt's flight (one in his scorpion class, another in the rhino class), and both have adorable little kids.  One has a 3-month old and the other has an 18-monther, plus one on the way.  So it was a great mix, having all the kiddos together and it will be wonderful welcoming a new little member a couple of months down the road.

We were dealing with some food allergies (dairy, shellfish), but still put together a nice little spread: seared orange chicken breasts, asparagus with lemon vinaigrette, artichoke dip with tortilla chips, roasted potatoes, crescent rolls, carrot zucchini cake, and pink fluff.  

The girls at the kiddie table:

All segments of the AF were well represented: we are an active duty family, one of the other families is Reserve, and the other is National Guard.  Experiences in training vary in each sector: for instance, Reservists are assigned a particular plane from the get-go and have a standing duty commitment (the latter is similar to the 12-year commitment Active Duty members must accept prior to training).  Guard members also enter pilot training knowing what they will fly, however their assignments from there are much more up in the air, with commitments being much shorter (~1 year, max) and base-specific, as individual Guard units operate on state levels.

After sharing stories and mostly talking about kids, the hubbies were all released early due to weather and came over to finish off the rest of the food.  :o)  It was a great evening and hopefully will become a monthly thing.  

Wagon rides to the commissary!

Just one more thing to love about living on base!  Grocery-getting doesn't get much better than this.  :o)

Saturday night steaks

We have never been a big "red meat" family.  I am much more of a fish/veggie eater and Matt prefers poultry.  The kids like just about all meats, finding just about everything to "taste like chicken".  However, Matt has been wanting to amp up his energy and iron prior to each week of flying/spinning/throwing up, so we have started cooking steaks on Saturday nights.  I don't have a lot of experience with steaks, particularly as we are currently grill-less, so I am enjoying experimenting and trying out new cuts and recipes.

Last weekend was a sirloin cut, cooked rare (me) and medium-well (Matt and the girls).  I just followed basic directions for preparing steak, and rubbed each piece with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic, before searing in our cast iron pan and then transferring to the oven.  I also learned that for as-is natural-flavor steak, ribeye is apparently the best cut.  Our sirloins were tasty, but I will probably give that cut a try next time.

Tonight we are marinating a flank steak, which is best served rare-to-medium-rare (120-130F).  I cannot believe how big this thing is (1.99 lbs).  It is currently sitting in the fridge, in a gallon-size Ziploc, soaking up the flavors of salsa, lime juice, olive oil, and garlic.  Kids are getting a kick out of preparing dinner in a bag, lol.  :o)

Update (many hours later): steak was delish and all 1.99 lbs were consumed.  :o)

That was one big hunk of meat!

7 years young and gorgeous!

Happy 7th birthday Petunia!

Matt is still on his 15 days of 12h shifts, so the girls and I had our own little party for our sweet girl.  I was planning on just giving her a bone or something, but the girls wanted to go all out!

I found a "just add water" cake at PetSense (the only major pet store around here...it is nice, but doesn't have a wide selection of stuff--for instance, I went in there hoping to find a snuggler bed and [nonrelated to Tunia's big day] a shrimp for our fish tank so I wouldn't have to clean it as much...and it didn't have either of those things, which are staples at a lot of other pet stores).  Anyway, we went with the cake mix, two squeaker toys (elephant and lady bug--two of the girls' favorite animals), two heart-shaped bones, and a Kong Senior with a peanut butter cheese-whiz-ish refill cannister.

Little sis was in charge of the vanilla cake:

While big sis recreated an apple dessert recipe that she learned at school for the rest of us:

She had a great time playing with all her new loot and got a lot of exercise in to make up for the cake!

Tunia is a sweet and very loyal dog and has been such a good sport over the years.  For such a homebody, she has tolerated our military moves very nicely.

T6 training

Matt is entering Phase II tomorrow...

Apparently, this is what he is going to be doing.

He'd been talking about "turns" and "spins" for the past couple weeks...I'd assumed he just meant turning (N/S/E/W) and flying around in circles.  Turns out he meant spiraling upside down and free falls.

Wow...  No wonder it's been a rough couple of weeks on his GI system!

Yuck.

So, Matt shared an interesting story at the dinner table tonight.  It is no secret that, excepting the past three days when he has been medicated during flights, he has been throwing up a lot.  Pilot students are responsible for bringing their own puke bags on board...and disposing of them afterwards (might not seem like a lot to remember...).  Well, apparently on his final flight last Friday, that second step slipped his mind and apparently we had two bags of vomit sitting on our coat rack in wax-coated paper bags inside his flight bag all weekend long.  I am *amazed* I did not smell them.

Gross though that is, I am also pleasantly surprised that Matt both discovered and cleaned up the situation himself.  Apparently the vomit had started to eat its way through the bags and soiled his flight gear as well. Back in the day, he would have asked me to take care of this sort of thing, much like he asked me to plunge his clogged and soiled toilet for him a few weeks after we'd started dating.  I am not sure whether this step on his part is due to maturity...or the fact that I am always bringing up the toilet thing, even after 8 years of marriage.  Either way, I love it!

Last day on meds

Matt had another great flight today, thanks to his meds.  We are both very curious/cautiously optimistic to see how he flies without them.  He asked his flight doc why, if the motion sickness program here boasts a near-100% success rate, pilot students cannot medicate their way through their solo, for a more accurate/fair assessment and chance to learn skills.  Apparently, according to the doc, the meds and spin program are a sort of screening program in themselves.  Not only do the meds give Matt a chance to experience flying a jet at its best, but they also help build his confidence/decrease his nerves for future flights--as one of the causative factors of motion sickness is, in fact, stress.  The condensed 3- and 5-day spin programs assess the more physical aspects of motion sickness, as well as projected ability to overcome.  And Matt did note marked improvement across the course of his first 11 spins.

We are hoping for the best!