Another headline, another blog!
This time, I saw a headline that mentioned the impact your first plane ride has on the type of traveler you will be later on. It got me thinking about the first time I was ever on a plane.
I was 17 years old. That may have seemed old to a lot of people, but where I was from, that was pretty standard. There are probably people where I grew up who have STILL never been on a plane.
It wasn't for a lack of desire, mind you. I remember thinking that I always wanted to go somewhere on a plane. As a kid, my father would take us to the little Dutchess County airport where we would park on the side of the road right on the landing path of the "Command" commuter plane. We would sit on the hood of the car (a-la Wayne's World 20 years before that movie came out), and wait for it's approach. The plane, a huge, loud, clunky propeller plane that probably seated about 25 passengers or so, would come into sight way off in the distance. You could see it before you could hear it. As it got closer the familiar sound of the propellers got louder and louder and the plane got bigger and bigger, almost like it was growing right before your eyes. Us three kids would get all excited as thump of the propellers would begin to shake the car as it got closer. The key was to keep your eyes open the whole time. The closer it got to the runway, I would have sworn that it was going to hit our car and us along with it. I remember screaming "Daddy, daddy it's gonna land on us!!" And he would laugh and say "Keep looking up, Liss! Don't close your eyes!" My hands would finally fly up to cover my ears and I couldn't even hear myself scream with excitement (terror??) as the wheels crossed right over top of our car. We would watch the plane, cheering and clapping as the little plumes of smoke appeared as the wheels made contact with the runway. I am not sure there was ever a time when I didn't ask dad if we could go into the airport and just go for a ride in the plane. Show's how much I knew!
Fast forward to March of 1989. I am 17 years old and getting ready to move to Florida. We were leaving out of Newark, NJ on a morning flight. Dad told me that there would be a car coming to pick us up at the house at 6am. I said to him "A 'car'? Do you mean a limo"? He assured me that it was NOT a limo. Well, one quick phone call changed that. I requested a stretch limo with all the trimmings for us and paid for it myself. Needless to say it was a great trip to Newark. And it set the stage for this event that I had been waiting for my whole life. We get onto the plane and dad took the dreaded middle seat to make sure that I was able to sit by the window. My heart was beating out of my chest from the moment the plane started to back away from the gate. We were probably 4th or 5th in line for take off and as the pilot counted down our position I am not sure how I didn't come out of my skin. When the plane started to speed up I couldn't stop saying "Oh my god, oh my god! We're going SO fast!" The feeling in my stomach as the plane left the ground actually made me say "Wheee!!!!!!" My ears blocked up and the ground passed below us and as the plane banked it felt and looked like we were going to go upside down. This was by far the BEST ride I had ever been on in my life! Better than the Cyclone at Coney Island, even!
I knew going into it that I was going to love flying and that first flight didn't disappoint. I loved everything about that flight. Everything from the safety briefing, to the slight turbulence, to the peanuts, and the brilliance I saw in how they built neighborhoods as I had my face planted up against the window the whole time.
When we left Newark, it was about 30 degrees outside and there was snow on the ground. When we landed in Palm Beach, Florida, it was 76 degrees, sunny, and the palm trees were the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I felt like a rock star.
I loved that flight back then. I still love flying now. I still get excited during every takeoff and every landing. Perhaps it was late in life for a first flight, but thinking about it now, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
A year...
It was one year ago today that Eric asked me to marry him. When I think about it I still get butterflies in my tummy! Valentines day is tomorrow and that he asked me so close to Valentines day really had nothing to do with Valentines day at all. I found out later on that night when we talked about it that he was planning on asking me the week before he ended up proposing.
He was supposed to come with me to a conference I had in Las Vegas and had planned on asking me to marry him then (he went to high school in Las Vegas so the area has meaning to him) but he ended up having to work and couldn't go. So we had planned a weekend away together as soon as I got back, but I ended up stuck in Las Vegas for two extra nights because we had a snow storm in Atlanta/Raleigh and all the flights were canceled (see that, everyone thinks that this year's weather in the southeast is so uniquely bad but we had the same level of storms almost to the exact day as last year. People just don't remember!). So when I made it back to NC he was finally able to propose. Poor guy! All his big plans kept getting spoiled!
Spending my deployment down-time thinking about the wedding really brightens my day. June is really right around the corner. I can't help but feel that a line from "When Harry Met Sally" is appropriate here: "When you realize that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
He was supposed to come with me to a conference I had in Las Vegas and had planned on asking me to marry him then (he went to high school in Las Vegas so the area has meaning to him) but he ended up having to work and couldn't go. So we had planned a weekend away together as soon as I got back, but I ended up stuck in Las Vegas for two extra nights because we had a snow storm in Atlanta/Raleigh and all the flights were canceled (see that, everyone thinks that this year's weather in the southeast is so uniquely bad but we had the same level of storms almost to the exact day as last year. People just don't remember!). So when I made it back to NC he was finally able to propose. Poor guy! All his big plans kept getting spoiled!
Spending my deployment down-time thinking about the wedding really brightens my day. June is really right around the corner. I can't help but feel that a line from "When Harry Met Sally" is appropriate here: "When you realize that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The power of money
I love the show Say Yes To The Dress. I loved it before I got engaged and love it even more now that I am getting married. Since my deployment I have been relegated to watching episodes that cost me $2.00 a piece, take a full 5 hours to download, and I watch them on my borrowed-from-Eric iphone's 2x3 inch screen. Don't care. Grateful to see it. Even if it is in miniature.
Tonight's show featured a bride-to-be who came in with her mom to shop for her dress. The bride-to-be had a set budget of $5,000. She was paying for her own dress. Props! Now, in what was a very generous gesture, her mother comes in to the dressing room with a gift box. Inside the gift box is literally a blank check. Her mother decided she wanted her daughter to have an unlimited budget and as a gift, decided to pay for her daughters dress.
She had already tried on a couple of dresses (prior to the blank check gift) and the dresses the bride liked weren't necessarily the ones her mom liked. And vice versa. Cut to one of the knowledgeable consultants, who have been doing this for years, and they say that it changes the playing field when mom (or anyone else) is paying for the dress. Suddenly, they have a say in what dress you ultimately chose. *Queue sound of needle scratching across record here!* EXCUSE ME?
I have gotten some fantastic one-liner money advice in my lifetime. Here are two examples: "Never invest anything that you are not willing to lose" (Thanks uncle Dan!)and "Always view money you give to family, friends, co-workers or anyone, as a gift that you will never see again." (Thanks dad!) Don't get me wrong, if you give money to someone and they come to you the next day to pay it back, don't turn it down. By all means accept it. But never EXPECT to see it again. I have seen first hand how money has come between friends, family, and others and ruin relationships. SO not worth it.
Over the years I have developed my own views about the giving of money. When you make a decision to give money away, be it to family, friends, or whomever, you also need to be willing to give up ANY say in how they spend it. If a family member comes to you and says, I need $50 to pay my electric bill or they are going to shut off my lights and you give them $50 and they turn around and spend it on beer and cigarettes, so be it. You can always decide to never give them money again. You are not their boss, you are not a bank, you are not their mother (ok, maybe you are their mother, but this is not applicable to a parent who is trying to TEACH fiscal responsibility to an 8 year old). Money should NEVER come with strings attached.
Watching this particular episode, I have no doubt that this mom REALLY just wanted to give her daughter a very generous gift. It made her feel good. But perhaps, in her mind, she thought that her opinion should count for something since she was now paying for the dress. THIS, I have a real problem with. If you were with me when I was shopping for my wedding dress and you generously offered to make my budget unlimited, but there was a stipulation that YOU had to be happy with the dress as well, I would thank you profusely and then graciously return your check.
Tonight's show featured a bride-to-be who came in with her mom to shop for her dress. The bride-to-be had a set budget of $5,000. She was paying for her own dress. Props! Now, in what was a very generous gesture, her mother comes in to the dressing room with a gift box. Inside the gift box is literally a blank check. Her mother decided she wanted her daughter to have an unlimited budget and as a gift, decided to pay for her daughters dress.
She had already tried on a couple of dresses (prior to the blank check gift) and the dresses the bride liked weren't necessarily the ones her mom liked. And vice versa. Cut to one of the knowledgeable consultants, who have been doing this for years, and they say that it changes the playing field when mom (or anyone else) is paying for the dress. Suddenly, they have a say in what dress you ultimately chose. *Queue sound of needle scratching across record here!* EXCUSE ME?
I have gotten some fantastic one-liner money advice in my lifetime. Here are two examples: "Never invest anything that you are not willing to lose" (Thanks uncle Dan!)and "Always view money you give to family, friends, co-workers or anyone, as a gift that you will never see again." (Thanks dad!) Don't get me wrong, if you give money to someone and they come to you the next day to pay it back, don't turn it down. By all means accept it. But never EXPECT to see it again. I have seen first hand how money has come between friends, family, and others and ruin relationships. SO not worth it.
Over the years I have developed my own views about the giving of money. When you make a decision to give money away, be it to family, friends, or whomever, you also need to be willing to give up ANY say in how they spend it. If a family member comes to you and says, I need $50 to pay my electric bill or they are going to shut off my lights and you give them $50 and they turn around and spend it on beer and cigarettes, so be it. You can always decide to never give them money again. You are not their boss, you are not a bank, you are not their mother (ok, maybe you are their mother, but this is not applicable to a parent who is trying to TEACH fiscal responsibility to an 8 year old). Money should NEVER come with strings attached.
Watching this particular episode, I have no doubt that this mom REALLY just wanted to give her daughter a very generous gift. It made her feel good. But perhaps, in her mind, she thought that her opinion should count for something since she was now paying for the dress. THIS, I have a real problem with. If you were with me when I was shopping for my wedding dress and you generously offered to make my budget unlimited, but there was a stipulation that YOU had to be happy with the dress as well, I would thank you profusely and then graciously return your check.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The weeks are fast, but time is slow?
I find it very odd how my concept of the passing time can differ so greatly. On the one hand, I really feel as if the WEEKS are going by quickly. Monday-Sunday seems to fly right by. But when I look at the calender, the total time spent here seems to stand still.
As I sit here tonight, listening to gunfire and eating a brownie I wonder if this is what it feels like to live in East L.A.? I hate the gunfire. I haven't gotten used to it. It makes me jump. I can tell it is not intended for us (right now), but I never know when that might change. It takes a toll to be stressed this regularly. I can feel it.
I am sure that my stress is no worse than anyone else's stress. The world today is a stressful place. You never know if you are going to lose your job (and subsequently your income/livelihood), and that is EXTREMELY stressful. Especially if you have a family. People have lost their life savings in the market during this recession and THAT is stressful too. What if they are 60 years old and lost it all? Not like they can go back to work and start over for the next 40 years to make up for it. Those are life-affecting stresses too.
I guess what I am trying to say is that although stress comes in different forms, when you feel it day after day it takes a toll no matter what kind of stress it is. I am looking forward to going home and transitioning from this environment back to my not-so-stressful one. I am also hoping that the time spent here as a whole catches up to the quick pace of the time spent week-to-week.
As I sit here tonight, listening to gunfire and eating a brownie I wonder if this is what it feels like to live in East L.A.? I hate the gunfire. I haven't gotten used to it. It makes me jump. I can tell it is not intended for us (right now), but I never know when that might change. It takes a toll to be stressed this regularly. I can feel it.
I am sure that my stress is no worse than anyone else's stress. The world today is a stressful place. You never know if you are going to lose your job (and subsequently your income/livelihood), and that is EXTREMELY stressful. Especially if you have a family. People have lost their life savings in the market during this recession and THAT is stressful too. What if they are 60 years old and lost it all? Not like they can go back to work and start over for the next 40 years to make up for it. Those are life-affecting stresses too.
I guess what I am trying to say is that although stress comes in different forms, when you feel it day after day it takes a toll no matter what kind of stress it is. I am looking forward to going home and transitioning from this environment back to my not-so-stressful one. I am also hoping that the time spent here as a whole catches up to the quick pace of the time spent week-to-week.
Friday, January 28, 2011
What happens when I go home?
I have not written many posts regarding my deployment. That has actually been intentional. It isn't for a lack of great blog fodder, it is because I have a sensitive job and I would rather err on the side of caution than perhaps write about something that may compromise anyone. Don't get me wrong, I am not James Bond. But better to be safe than sorry.
That said, I have been doing a job that is pretty fricken useful for a lot of people. I have a purpose over here. Opinions on "big picture" aside, the folks that are here need what I am providing to them.
But what happens when I get home? I already knew going in that 90% of what I do at home is bullshit. I am working hard to try and reason it out in my head that I am putting effort into an AFSO21 meeting or some other such malarkey that can only be created by those who have no real mission and must justify their own existence with such drivel, because if I don't I will be unemployed.
I have been trying to build a mental bridge connecting something, ANYTHING, that I do day to day at home, that added any value to the service that I am providing here. I have found none. Nada. Zip. Believe me, I have REALLY looked. Even if just in some small way I could see that what I do back in the clinic directly impacts the mission I currently support. I used to be pretty good at finding that link. Explaining it to the young Airman who worked for me and paint a picture for them about how what they are doing that day adds value to the big picture mission.
But I believe at the job back at home we have lost our way. Lost sight of where our focus needs to be. Lost sight of the question "What value does what I am doing at this very moment add to the mission downrange?"
I am sure this isn't true for everyone. I can't just blanket-label all aspects of the military. I can only speak to what I know and the job I do when I am not deployed. I have long felt this way about the job I do at home, but even I didn't realize how right I was until I got downrange. I guess a part of me hoped I was wrong, but I wasn't.
I have to work. I have to stick this thing out for another 8 and a half years until I retire. I can't just quit. Especially not in this economy. I am grateful to have employment at all. Perhaps that is where I will have to dedicate my focus. The one that will get me through to the finish line while keeping my sanity in tact.
See that? Sometimes just banging it out on a keyboard helps me see the light...
That said, I have been doing a job that is pretty fricken useful for a lot of people. I have a purpose over here. Opinions on "big picture" aside, the folks that are here need what I am providing to them.
But what happens when I get home? I already knew going in that 90% of what I do at home is bullshit. I am working hard to try and reason it out in my head that I am putting effort into an AFSO21 meeting or some other such malarkey that can only be created by those who have no real mission and must justify their own existence with such drivel, because if I don't I will be unemployed.
I have been trying to build a mental bridge connecting something, ANYTHING, that I do day to day at home, that added any value to the service that I am providing here. I have found none. Nada. Zip. Believe me, I have REALLY looked. Even if just in some small way I could see that what I do back in the clinic directly impacts the mission I currently support. I used to be pretty good at finding that link. Explaining it to the young Airman who worked for me and paint a picture for them about how what they are doing that day adds value to the big picture mission.
But I believe at the job back at home we have lost our way. Lost sight of where our focus needs to be. Lost sight of the question "What value does what I am doing at this very moment add to the mission downrange?"
I am sure this isn't true for everyone. I can't just blanket-label all aspects of the military. I can only speak to what I know and the job I do when I am not deployed. I have long felt this way about the job I do at home, but even I didn't realize how right I was until I got downrange. I guess a part of me hoped I was wrong, but I wasn't.
I have to work. I have to stick this thing out for another 8 and a half years until I retire. I can't just quit. Especially not in this economy. I am grateful to have employment at all. Perhaps that is where I will have to dedicate my focus. The one that will get me through to the finish line while keeping my sanity in tact.
See that? Sometimes just banging it out on a keyboard helps me see the light...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
"Coupons on a first date?"
Y'all know me. I just love headlines. Then I like to just run with them, often times without even reading the accompanying article. Today's headline was no different. The headline said "Coupons on a first date"? At first, I thought "HOW TACKY! He better not break out coupons on our first date!" But then I thought (as I am getting better at doing as I get older,) well, so what if he used a coupon? If you are on a date with a guy who uses coupons, why would you want him to be something he isn't because he is on a date with you? Doesn't that just amount to his being fake?
I have always had a real problem with people putting on fronts. Pretending to be someone they aren't for the sake of appearances. I realize this is one of the biggest reasons I will not get ahead in this world, corporate or otherwise, but I stand true to who I am. I am the person who will call the baby ugly. Take it or leave it.
When it comes to dating, lord knows I am no expert. Eric is the first guy I had "dated" in over 10 years. However I am a pretty good listener and REALLY good at human nature. One thing I would hear time and time again from both men and women is that a person 'changed' once you began a relationship. "He used to make dinner for me, but he doesn't do it any more." "She would want to watch football with me on Sundays. Now suddenly she not only doesn't want to watch it, but she doesn't want ME to watch football either! WTF?"
I got news for you folks, the "change" was dating YOU. They were simply unable to keep up the act and slowly became themselves again. He wasn't the kind of guy who made dinners, and she never liked football to begin with. They were only doing these things to lead you to into believing they were something they weren't from the very beginning.
I was guilty of such things when I was much younger. 20 years ago I led a guy I was dating to believe I liked football. A disservice to myself that I have never repeated. I think, now that I am marrying a man with whom I was friends with before we ever started dating, I can totally relate to the concept of 'friends' making the best couples. There were never any periods of being on our best behavior for the sake of appearances for the other. I didn't wear makeup when we were just friends, and I didn't start wearing any when we became a couple. It took 3 trips to 3 different stores and a weeks worth of research before Eric decided on the right TV for his house. A little much, maybe, but that's ok. It's his TV. He can take whatever time he wants to research it.
I also wouldn't have cared if Eric broke out the coupon book when we went out to dinner after we started dating. If he was the coupon-type, I would have known that already. And that would have been fine by me.
I have always had a real problem with people putting on fronts. Pretending to be someone they aren't for the sake of appearances. I realize this is one of the biggest reasons I will not get ahead in this world, corporate or otherwise, but I stand true to who I am. I am the person who will call the baby ugly. Take it or leave it.
When it comes to dating, lord knows I am no expert. Eric is the first guy I had "dated" in over 10 years. However I am a pretty good listener and REALLY good at human nature. One thing I would hear time and time again from both men and women is that a person 'changed' once you began a relationship. "He used to make dinner for me, but he doesn't do it any more." "She would want to watch football with me on Sundays. Now suddenly she not only doesn't want to watch it, but she doesn't want ME to watch football either! WTF?"
I got news for you folks, the "change" was dating YOU. They were simply unable to keep up the act and slowly became themselves again. He wasn't the kind of guy who made dinners, and she never liked football to begin with. They were only doing these things to lead you to into believing they were something they weren't from the very beginning.
I was guilty of such things when I was much younger. 20 years ago I led a guy I was dating to believe I liked football. A disservice to myself that I have never repeated. I think, now that I am marrying a man with whom I was friends with before we ever started dating, I can totally relate to the concept of 'friends' making the best couples. There were never any periods of being on our best behavior for the sake of appearances for the other. I didn't wear makeup when we were just friends, and I didn't start wearing any when we became a couple. It took 3 trips to 3 different stores and a weeks worth of research before Eric decided on the right TV for his house. A little much, maybe, but that's ok. It's his TV. He can take whatever time he wants to research it.
I also wouldn't have cared if Eric broke out the coupon book when we went out to dinner after we started dating. If he was the coupon-type, I would have known that already. And that would have been fine by me.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Actual conversation...
So this is an actual portion of an IM conversation between myself and my sweeter than honey, albeit ultra-geek fiance:
Eric: xoxo
Oh yeah, one more thing
me: yes baby?
Eric: meant to share this comic with you. This guy has some great geeky comics, so feel free to browse his site, but this christmas one was pretty good...though a warning, it's probably one only a computer geek can appreciate
me: Oh, this oughta be good...clicking now.
me: hmmm...
Is it a flow chart?
I don't get it.
I think you were right...only a computer geek could UNDERSTAND it. No matter what it was suppoesd to be, I can totally relate to his parents!
Eric: In comp sci, trees and heaps are technical terms for data structures, and would be drawn like they are in the comic lol!
me: Oh my.
Eric: xoxo
Oh yeah, one more thing
me: yes baby?
Eric: meant to share this comic with you. This guy has some great geeky comics, so feel free to browse his site, but this christmas one was pretty good...though a warning, it's probably one only a computer geek can appreciate
me: Oh, this oughta be good...clicking now.
me: hmmm...
Is it a flow chart?
I don't get it.
I think you were right...only a computer geek could UNDERSTAND it. No matter what it was suppoesd to be, I can totally relate to his parents!
Eric: In comp sci, trees and heaps are technical terms for data structures, and would be drawn like they are in the comic lol!
me: Oh my.
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