Angry Birds

I thought calamities only happened when my husband was on a trip… Apparently, they can happen anytime. A few weeks ago, I felt like maybe I should be on one of those shows on Animal Planet.

 Our new neighborhood is really nice. There is a pool and a gym within walking distance of our house, so I am loving it.

 Since, it’s readily available and this is the off season for my job, I’ve been visiting the gym. Plus, the young student pilot’s wives who hang out at the pool look like they’ve stepped off the cover of a fitness magazine… But I digress.

 I’ve been happily walking back and forth to the gym each day, since it’s so close. The other day, on my way there, I noticed this bird kept flying really close to me but I didn’t think much of it and went on with my work out.

 On the way back, was another story. I passed the same building where I noticed the bird, but this time, he was making a loud noise and flying really close to me. Before I knew it, he was dive bombing me! Now, I have been attacked by mocking birds who have a nest nearby, but this was a little sparrow! This bird literally chased me down the street. When I told my husband he just laughed, but after walking the dog down there, he also confirmed that there was indeed, an angry bird present.

All weekend, I would drive past and see the little bird keeping an eye out. It appeared to have a nest under an eave of an empty townhouse on my street. When Monday rolled around, I was dreading my walk to the gym because it scared the bejeesus out of me to be chased by this thing. I was starting to feel like Tippi Hedren, knowing this bird would be there as I rounded the corner. I decided to jog in hopes that the bird wouldn’t notice, but alas, he saw me and managed to get one good dive in before I reached the gym.

On my way back from the gym, I decided to just run, which is something I avoid like the plague. I work on cardio, because hey, it’s the first rule of Zombieland but I see no reason to run until the actual zombie apocalypse… Here I go again, getting off topic… So that little bird once again chased me down the street.

I’d only just escaped (the bird must have a “territory” or something) when a student pilot came out of his house and said, “Hey… everything ok?” I was tempted to yell, “we’re under attack!” but as previously mentioned, the bird had retreated, so I just looked ridiculous. I gave him a red faced smile (I am not cute when I run) and an out of breath “hello” and continued on my way.

 This was the week that I was also attacked by ants (another story) and jumped on by a giant dog… My best friend said I need to have my own show, “When Animals Attack Lindsey.” Needless to say, even though it’s within walking distance I have been driving to the gym ever since.

New base!

So, it’s been a while, huh? It's been a busy few months! We moved to our new base, so getting settled has been an adventure. Here’s a little bit about that…

 It’s definitely a small town, but it’s nice having my husband home more than a few days at a time. It’s also nice to be able to make plans and not have to cancel them! A few weeks ago, we went to a concert. Together. It was fantastic. I know that probably doesn’t sound like much, but at the previous base if we wanted to make plans, he would have to use leave days, even on regular days off and base holidays. Pilots don’t get regular days off.

 As usual, we live off base. The base housing here seems way nicer than any other base we’ve been to, but we still have no desire to live on base for a variety of reasons. The new place is nice, more room than we need, but it works out well. We were able to put our adorable little house up for rent with a property manager and it was rented after only 2 weeks on the market! Since I was raised Catholic, I buried Saint Joseph in the front yard. I know that’s supposed to be more for selling your home, but I figured we needed all the help we could get in this market and the house did rent really fast! I don’t know anything about the tenants (people keep asking me this), it’s why we have a property manager… We’re not “landlord” types.

 The thing I miss most is probably decent shopping. When you grow up in Florida, you know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix and the nearest one to us is an hour away now. The Kroger here is kind of sad, and the commissary on base is really small. There is a good farmer’s market, though. I also miss the amazing outlet mall… The mall here is kind of limited, so I will need to do some shopping when I visit home (Florida) or my wardrobe may start to suffer.

 Miraculously, nothing was damaged in the move! The one really nice thing about moving with the military is they do almost all of it for you. Some people elect to try to move themselves and the military will reimburse. (You can actually make some decent money this way if you’re smart about it.) However, we are lazy and if we had to pack ourselves, we’d give up half way through.

 Another thing to be thankful for is my job. Since I telecommute, I can work anywhere and my leaders and team mates have been so incredibly supportive of me! I really can’t thank them enough!

 I don’t want to speak too soon, but I haven’t been contacted by the spouse association here, which is amazing.

 There may not be a ton to do here, like our last base, but at least it’s close to things, which helps. At our last base, it was estimated that my husband spent 2 out of the 4 years we were there away from home, I am looking forward to having him around a little more :) The next update will be a little more fun, I promise…

Dodging a Bullet

Sorry, it’s been a while...

Every once in a while something happens to help you realize you made the right decision. I think life has a way of showing you how you dodged a bullet. Just before the holidays, we were reminded that we made the right choice.

As previously mentioned, we are moving in April. The location is not my favorite, but I don’t think any base will ever quite compare to the one we’re currently at. The new base is not the worst location, but it’s not the best, either. I love the town we live in, and I will be sad when we move, but I’m starting to feel a little better about it.

Shortly after my husband had committed to this new assignment, the pilot who arrived here a few weeks after him and has the exact same training and qualifications was selected as a non-volunteer to a base in Oklahoma. Meaning this pilot is being forced to move as an instructor. Basically if my husband hadn’t taken this assignment, he would have been next in line.  

If you know me well, you know that I really did not care for living in Oklahoma. Nothing personal to the people of that state, I just was so not a fan of the 2 pilot training base locations. (Oklahoma City was very nice, but it was a few hours away.)

Both pilot training locations are in very small towns. I have nothing against a small town, in fact, our next base will be in a small town (and we actually live in a small town outside of a larger city), but Oklahoma was my own personal form of torture. It was just miles of nothing. I’m a pretty cheerful person, but I was miserable there. Even my happy-go-lucky husband described it as “Grapes of Wrath depressing.”

I think a major part of that stems from the fact that it rained for 20 days straight when we lived there. I am talking non-stop rain for nearly a month. Where I am from, it rains every afternoon in the summer, but then it stops. This Florida girl needs to see the sun once in a while, so I don’t go crazy!

Also,I was a theatre kid, but listening to people sing Oklahoma! to me while I was stuck there stopped being amusing real fast.

I can’t say I’ve ever experienced real depression in my life, but I wasn’t in a good place when we lived in Oklahoma. It wasn’t for long, but being so far from family, friends, and the ocean combined with no sunshine, was not a good mix for me. I was certain, at the time, that this was the circle that Dante forgot.

I’m hopeful that the next assignment will be good, but no matter what, I will try to remember: “We’re together and it’s not Oklahoma.”