August = HOT

Hey! So while I enjoyed the July heat, the August heat is not so cool. It's been over a hundred pretty much everyday, and maybe goes down to 80 in the night. Still... that's really hot. Instead of the pleasant being in a car feeling, it's more like I live in an oven.

Besides the heat though, life in Texas goes on. I spent the first week at an eye conference in San Antonio. It was fun to be in a big city and be with other Air Force optometrist, several right out of school like me. San Antonio has a river walk running through their downtown with lots of places to eat and a few shops. We spent most evenings there, enjoying the range of eating establishments - from authentic mexican cuisine to a British pub to a dueling piano bar.

(riverwalk)

I also got to stop by the Alamo... unfortunately I couldn't get there during the day to check out the basement. ;) I'm glad I don't live in a big city, a little too hectic for me!

I have started noticing some differences that comes with living in Texas (besides all the boots and hats and y'all's). The sky is blue here the majority of the time, like without a cloud in it. It's rare to have gray days. People drive slow in town, but once you get outside of city limits, it's a whole different story. The speed limit changes fast, ranging from 50 to 70mph on the country roads. And people drive fast for the most part. Probably because this state is huge, it's the only way to get from point A to point B in a timely manner. What I like is that the vehicles who chose to go slower are really considerate and get over. Like they drive on the shoulder until you get past. It's so nice. The scenery also changes pretty fast. About 30-40 miles west of here it becomes very lush and green, then a little farther it's dry flat prairie land, then mountains (little ones), and so on. It makes driving more interesting. I did see my first armadillo... he was dead by the side of the road, but I saw one! It was about the size of a raccoon. And while everything in Texas is bigger, the deer are not. I saw a few by the side of the road and they were scraggly and little. Like goat size. Michigan wins for deer!

Today I went north and found a huge wind-turbine field. It was beautiful! I took about a billion pictures of them, which doesn't capture how cool they were up close. I love wind energy. I think it is peaceful.

That's all the Texas updates I've got for now. Maybe I'll jump over to facebook and post some pictures. :)

July in Texas

Hello!

Life in Texas is pretty good. I’m liking the hot weather more than I thought I would as it is a nice, dry heat. You know that feeling when you get in your car on a hot day and it’s like an oven? That’s what it’s like a lot of the time here. :) which is good for me, because I always liked that. Not that I want to spend a ton of time in it, or do any sort of physical activity in the heat, but really, it’s nice to pass through and makes for pleasant morning and evening temperatures. I really like going downtown and reading in the evening by the river. My apartment has a pool so I go swimming about every other day. For the Air Force, we get 90 minutes 2-3 times a week for physical training. I like to leave work around 3 and come back to the apartment gym and workout, then be able to jump in the pool and swim some laps. It’s very relaxing. Sometimes as I’m floating around the pool at 4 in the afternoon, in 90+ degree weather under bright blue Texas skies, I can’t help but smile at the crazy turns my life has taken to get me here. That realization seems to be my theme.

Air Force life is okay. I am still waiting to get fully licensed so I can actually see patients. My days are spent meeting people, and getting in-processing stuff done. Like getting fit for my gas mask and body armor. I had no idea how heavy that stuff is! I can’t imagine having to wear it around in the desert all day. Let’s hope the crazy life turns don’t take me there. I really like the sergeants that work with me. They are both great guys and know how to do their jobs well. The poor men get a constant bombardment of questions from me, but they don’t seem to mind. As great as they are (confirmed by pretty much every person I meet in the clinic), I have been warned multiple times to keep an eye on them. With me being their new supervisor, I’ve been told they can be pretty smooth in finding what they can get away with, ie leaving early, taking longer lunches, being on facebook… As you all know, I’m not a disciplinarian, so I’m hoping they won’t put me in the spot where I have to get on their case. I don’t think it will be an issue, but it’s a good warning, I guess. Anyway, I should get my license this week. Then next week I actually have a refractive surgery course in San Antonio. So maybe the week after that I might get to look at an eye. Maybe…

I’m quickly learning the optometry clinic is a little secluded. It’s just the three of us in the office, without much reason or need to go anywhere else in the clinic. Everyone I have met has been nice, but I don’t really interact with anyone regularly. This may make for a lonely existence in the clinic. Good thing there are lots of staff meetings so I can get out and see others!

Outside of work, I wander around in various stores and try to explore new areas. Like I mentioned, I do enjoy the river walk downtown and coming to the coffee shop. The search for a good church continues. The problem with this town is that it isn’t that big, yet there are about a billion churches! So every church I’ve gone to has a pretty small attendance (like 20-40 people). I guess I like bigger churches. Today I actually found one with lots of people! Like a hundred or so. There is one more church I wanted to check out. I need more Sundays in the week. I signed up to volunteer with the Humane Society, which has a very small presence here. I've learned animal rights/protection/care isn't a priority here, but the Humane Society is starting to make a difference. I spent several hours Saturday walking dogs and playing with them. We were at a pet shop for a mobile adoption. Animal lovers are a funny breed of people. :) No, I didn’t come home with any pets of my own… yet.

So I don’t get too bored I am trying to find things to occupy my time. Ideas? I’m working on my guitar skills, hopefully my neighbors can’t hear me. As I told Dustin, I have no rhythm ability, so while I play chords well, actually strumming to a beat seems to be beyond me. I’m working on it though. And I do want to learn Spanish. I was going to go with Rosetta stone, but they are expensive… Maybe I can find a good deal on ebay. I have about 3 books going – Mere Christianity, Nanny Diaries, and a short story collection by Ray Bradbury. I also am looking for good cupcakes and frosting recipes (if you have some, send them my way!). This is a delicious hobby, but not so good for maintaining my waistline, lol. I wouldn't care about it, except that it can’t expand because then my uniform pants don’t fit. I really should have puffed out my stomach when they fit me for those. :)

I still can’t decide if I want to keep blogging… maybe I should be more like Kim, and just give little entries about things I notice. Texas is like another country after all. And since I mentioned her blog, you all should check it out http://kirribillikim.blogspot.com/ (hope you don’t mind that plug for you, Kim).

That’s all I got. Hope everyone is having fun with life!

(Fourth of July pops concert and fireworks... sing the Indiana Jones theme for the fireworks)

The End

Get ready for a long post!

Well, I have successfully graduated from COT. The last week was our simulated deployed environment. We slept in tents on cots, which was kind of like a big slumber party since it was a tent of about 10 girls. :) The MRE's weren't too bad, but were very hard to eat for breakfast. The first day we had the medical course. I was going to be a lab tech, but got pulled out to be a patient instead. Patients got plastered in makeup for various ailments and then sent out to go wither around on the ground screaming so the security forces could find us, drag us to the med tent, and then we got fixed up there. It was pretty boring to be a patient; a lot of waiting around to go out for a few minutes of acting.

That afternoon we moved on to the high ropes course. The course was various obstacles 35 feet in the air strapped to a wire with a frayed rope. It was fun,a little scary too. Then we did a rock climbing wall, had to walk out on a telephone pole 40 ft in the air, and repelled to the bottom. The next day we had to carry a person strapped to a stretcher through various obstacles. It was a cool experience but I was sooooo glad to go 'home,' back to the dorms to shower and put on clean clothes. I didn't realize how bad we all stunk until we got back indoors in the dorms.

(hanging out on my cot... at COT?)

Wednesday evening was a special dinner at the Officer Club with delicious food and time to meet and socialize with other people. I met two other optometrists and we had fun talking about school and boards and where we were all heading next. I will see them again in August when we all have to attend a conference on refractive surgery. Yay eyeball stuff!

Thursday... wrapping up, awards ceremony, packing, and parents! Since we were moved to first class status, I was able to leave base and go pick up mom and dad at the airport. We had dinner and talked and hung out for a bit at the hotel. I headed back to base since I was super tired. In the morning was graduation. We got checked out of our rooms, took the rest of our stuff to the cars, and lined up for our parade.

(parade, I'm in the back row with the rest of the shorties)

After the ceremony and saying goodbye to my flightmates, the parents and I hopped in the car and headed out for Texas. We drove to Longview, TX the first day, about 600 miles. The next day we went the rest of the way to San Angelo. Texas' highways range in speed from 50 to 70 mph, constantly changing. There were a few roads that were 70mph in the middle of nowhere, with curves and hills and no shoulder. Dad was driving and enjoying the freedom of the road, while I held my breath, just waiting for some weird Texas animal to run out in the road. :) We made it to San Angelo without any problems and got checked into my apartment. The first few nights we stayed at the base lodging, like a little hotel on the base.

The movers came with my stuff Monday afternoon. They dragged it all in while I checked off the inventory list, then they dumped the boxes, took the empty boxes and packing materials, and left. Mom and dad were such a great help getting me settled. Mom helped arrange things and organize, while dad helped me build a bunch of furniture. They both helped me spend lots more money on apartment stuff, and bought some cool things to add to my new place. We did some touristy things, but mainly worked in my apartment, and ate. :) San Angelo has a lot of places to eat.

I went in to my clinic tuesday morning. I met my sponsor for the first time, who has been very helpful getting me started. I met a ton of people and did some computer training. I don't go in again till next tuesday, after the holiday weekend. My clinic is a smaller building with all the medical clinics rolled together. The optometry clinic is tiny! I have two techs (a Staff Sergeant and Tech Sergeant) that have been there for several years. They both seem really cool and will be really helpful getting me started. There is a reception/waiting area with a few waiting chairs and the Sergeants' desks, a very small pretesting room, and my office/exam room. The desk is literally right next to the exam chair. It was funny, as I met people and was introduced, they'd say hi and chat a little, but as soon as my sponsor threw in that I was the new optometrist, people would light up. Apparently, I'm much needed there; I have a long list of referrals waiting, a bunch of diabetics due for their annual exam, the personnel needing exams, and a bunch of new recruits to the base. Good to know I will be busy... when I actually get to do exams. I have the law exam to take this week, then I should get my Texas license around the end of July.

The parents left wednesday afternoon. It was hard to see them go. I was left with the sinking feeling of being alone here. But after a few hours of wallowing in loneliness, I got busy arranging my apartment, watching tv like it was my job, and studying for the law exam. I'm feeling better already and enjoying my time to just be. :)

I will make the best of my time here, because when else will I live in Texas? I'm searching for a new phone so I have more minutes to talk to people in Michigan (and other states too). There are some small towns around here people recommend checking out. I have a friend in Austin (who is in the Air Force), so when she is home next I will probably go there to see the city, i hear it's pretty cool. I'm sure I'll make friends with work people quickly, as it is a small and close-knit group here. And most importantly, I'll hopefully find a church to get plugged into! The weather so far has been mid-80's and rainy (which makes everything flood). I have a pool right across the parking lot, so I can go swimming whenever I want, even in the rain. I've got plans this weekend for a bbq with other officers from base and there is a pops concert downtown as well as fireworks on the lake.

So that is life in Texas so far. I'll post again after I've been at work for a bit. crazy, crazy, crazy... never thought I'd be in Texas as an Air Force optometrist, but it's a twists that make life more interesting. :)

Love you all!!

Heading into the home stretch!! One week to go! This week went well, and went by fast. Monday was our test, I did okay on it. Tuesday we had a timed 5K to run in the morning. I did mine in 28.32 minutes, which is faster than I’ve done before. Right after that though we had to run back to our rooms and change into “service dress” which is our blues and jacket. We all looked very nice, but it was hot. We all had to give our briefings (just to the class). Mine went wayyyyy better than my practice run the night before. I actually lost points for using the podium because our flight commander said I was too short for it. He can have those points; I was quite happy behind my podium. I got a nice middle of the road score on that. I wasn’t looking for anything more. I know that I will have to give talks while in the Air Force, but it will be something I know about and am familiar with. I think the main problem I had preparing for this briefing was that it was on oil production. Why would I know about oil?

Wednesday and Thursday we had leadership courses. We were put into smaller groups and each graded for leading a small group through a complex situation. (Again, this is secret stuff and if someone on their way to COT finds this blog, I wouldn’t want to spoil it for them, so sorry for not delving into details) Of course it seems easier when you aren’t leading, but my situation was really complex, plus I had to battle a couple of dominating personalities in my group. I got another middle of the road score, and was quite content with it. I want to excel in my field and duties, but honestly here I feel like I am just trying to survive and graduate. Therefore, these mediocre scores don’t bother me.

Friday… we didn’t do much. We had parade practice in the morning, a few classes, evaluation/review time from leadership exercises, and then a lot of free time. Free meaning we were in our classroom, but we played some games and talked. Our Flight Commander spent about an hour in there talking with us and telling his stories of time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Friday evening we got introduced to the Officer’s club; basically a posh club that every base has for its officers. It was cool to get to laugh and hang out with people in a sort of normal environment. The building itself was interesting. It is really old and there were lots of old Air Force pictures. I love old pics so I was captivated by them.

And we are now second class status, so we have off base weekend privileges. Yay! And we can sit however we want at meals and put elbows on the table and talk.
This weekend we exercised our privileges by going off base a lot. Saturday we had a flight lunch with our commander. He even let us call him by his first name (not that anyone did). We had delicious pizza and had fun with each other. For dinner we went out again. My carload of people went to a bookstore just to wander for awhile. After getting back to the dorms, I joined some other people in a rousing game of catch phrase for a couple hours. Honestly, I haven't laughed so hard as I did friday and saturday with the people in my flight. Not sure if things are really that funny, or if it's just 4 weeks of keeping a straight face. Whatever the reason, I think everyone had some good, side-cramping laughs.

Today (sunday) I went to church for the last time here. I worked on a few final assignments and organized the mountains of papers I've collected while here. It was a load off to get rid of so many. :) Tomorrow we head out to the field, simulating a deployed medical environment and are going to do a high ropes course. We get to live in tents and eat MREs for a few days. I’m excited about everything except the MREs. I get to pretend to be a lab technician (for some reason apparently optometrists aren't needed in the field med clinic), I'll bring back those undergrad research skills.

So things at COT are winding down, we have more time to chill, and sleep since all the tests and projects are done (I actually got 8 hours friday AND saturday nights).
Graduation is friday and I’m excited to see mom and dad at the end of the week! Just in case you were all thinking about Texas as much as I have been, it's currently 105 degrees there. Just saying...

First off base adventure = animals!

Although the impending doom of the test and briefing is fast approaching, I went to an animal shelter for community service. It was so fun to be in civilian clothes and talk with new people. We even went out to eat after words at a really good bbq place. One other girl in my flight also went and total we had about 30 people there.

We got to walk a bunch of dogs and run them around in a field. My dog was so sweet! I think we were as excited as the dogs to run around and be free. It was 97 degrees out though, so quickly the dogs and officers realized the temperature and everyone went looking for shade. Dogs panted, people sweated, it was fabulous.

Next up was the cat room! I got to play with kitties for awhile. I held a bunch of cats and played with kittens. Nothing like a room full of lovey, meowing cats to brighten the day!














Then we washed the dogs (about 50 of them). They set up two little pools and we got the dogs in, splashed water on them, shampooed and scrubbed, and then rinsed with a hose. It went pretty fast, with lots of chaos and everyone was drenched with soapy water, dog drool, sweat, and more sweat. We smelled incredible afterwards. Most of the dogs were okay with the bathing, some were pretty skittish though, as would be expected. I was impressed with how well all the dogs were, they were so cute.

After our romp with the animals, the Major with us suggested a yummy restaurant and we all enjoyed the food and relaxed atmosphere. My fellow flightmate and I sat with the Major, who is a fantastic person. She was really nice and talked about life in the Air Force and her experiences.

This ate up about half of my day, so I didn’t actually work on my project at all, which is troubling to me. However, playing with animals and relaxing for half day was well worth it. 13 days to go!

(sorry for weird formatting!)

Week Three

(Flight Pic!)

Yay, the end of week 3!! Only two weeks to go, which is fantastic. Next week brings challenges on a timed 5K, second written test, a presentation, and two days of running leadership groups. We got upgraded a ‘class’ level so we also are enjoying some new privileges here. We can now whisper at meals, we don’t have to wear the hydration packs in the hallways, we can go to our cars (no driving them though), and buy snacks at the shoppette. Wooooo. Really, it means a lot to us. :) Oh, and we have base privileges so we can explore the rest of the base, I hear there are some fast food places somewhere.

(just some of us girls (my roomie is on the left))

Monday was our first test (the very first one I took at the end of week 1 didn’t really count). I did pretty well, only missing 2 of the 35 questions. Although our flight commander thought that was still a bad score. Tuesday I got shot. Well, shots… two to be exact. I don’t like needles. They lined us up, took our social security number, then stabbed us with needles as needed and sent us on our way. Wednesday was leadership exercises, similar to before, but we were out in a big field and got ‘rubber duckies’ aka, hard plastic guns. It was about 95 degrees out and 110% humidity, but nice to be outside a classroom. Our flight has a variety of personalities, but a few too many dominating ones. The leadership exercises don’t always go over so well since different people want to be in charge of the situation, which really just makes chaos. You know me, I’m pretty quiet and non-dominating (except to mom, then I’m bossy ;) so I just stand back and watch. However, I am trying to step it up in my own leading. Our flight officer in charge and I are the only captains in the flight (the rest are 2d lieutenants, under us in rank), so the flight commander expects us to be running things. It’s weird stepping up into such a… higher feeling role than I have ever had before. It’s hard for me to be commanding and to have to get on people’s case about things. This comes with the position I’ve chosen in life though. I want to be a good leader/supervisor, as much as I want to be a good optometrist for as long as I am in the Air Force.
Side note for clarification – flight officer in charge is a girl like me, brand new to the military. The flight commander is a hardcore Air Force officer in charge of us.
Thursday I got to be the person walking in front on the flight with the flag. As dad said, I get to be the dork for the day. :) I managed to carry it around all day without dropping it, running into a door way, or stabbing anyone; the tip on those things is deadly! I did take off walking in the opposite direction of my flight once because I was thinking about getting ice cream at dinner. Derrrrr. I mean, that’s not obvious or anything when the flag bearer walks away from the flight.
Friday, we wore our ‘blues’ for the first time: hot, itchy stiff pants with a crispy button up shirt that wrinkles if you look at it wrong, but that you are supposed to keep wrinkle free. Plus the hat… the little wedge that almost falls off. And very shiny shoes. Seeing everyone in their blues was cool, we did look pretty nice as a group, all dressed up compared to the heavy, baggy camo uniform (which is referred to as ABUs). I actually missed that uniform since everyone looks frumpy in it and there’s lots of pockets and room to move. The blues keep you pretty rigid, desperately trying not to get wrinkled or to have your shirt come untucked or to get any scuffs on the shoes. Ahhh the joys of a uniform. Oh, also Friday morning was our final physical fitness test. I improved in all my areas, personal bests for pushup (28!) and the run (1.5 miles in 12 minutes!) Small victories for me. My flight commander’s encouraging words for the morning “your face looked creepy when you ran.” Sigh. Deep down, I know he likes us… at least a little.
Fill in the rest of the week with classes. And eating too much at meals. And no sleep.
Tomorrow I actually get to get off base for a couple hours to do some community service. And wear real clothes. I can’t wait to be done here. Now, I have to go work on a briefing about OPEC and oil production levels.

(pic: my flight at the assault course)

Sunday note

Hey everyone,

A lovely member of my flight has a wireless card that works on my computer. That means I can have internet!! yay! Hopefully I can be a little better with my posting now, and then they won't be so long to read. :)

Today I went to church and we had communion, which was really nice. Then they had a potluck for us and coffee and cake. mmmmm. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we still have to eat in the dining hall. So I will have had 4 meals by the end of today. My second lunch was just a salad though. :) I weighed myself this afternoon and I've only gained 2 pounds while being here, so I guess my inner fat kid isn't completely taking over. Tomorrow is a test and the end of the week brings our fitness test. We are hoping to get academic flight of the week this week, so everyone send some prayers that the Foxtrot Fuzziee Wookiees all do well on our test!

Now I am off to write my weekly letter about my morale. I better write it while it's high. Yay again for cool people that hook me up with internet access!