More Air Force news!! :)

I know I have some readers who were linked here because of the Air Force connection, and admittedly I blog very little about our life in the Air Force.

Why, you ask?

Because, every time Art gets a set of orders, they say Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. It's happened three times now.

 Casual status... Laughlin. 

UPT... Laughlin. 

PIT... Randolph (a whopping 3 hours from Laughlin). 

FAIP... Laughlin.

Acronym check: UPT, undergraduate pilot training. PIT, pilot instructor training. FAIP, first assignment instructor pilot.

In short, it hasn't been that exciting, or that Air-Force-esque. Art goes to work in the morning and comes home for dinner every night, except for a few weekends when he's cross country. When I think of military life, that's not really the situation I think of.

It's got me pretty spoiled, actually. But since we now have our B-1 assignment, a set of orders that DOESN'T say Laughlin, that's all about to change.

When I posted about our B-1 assignment, I mentioned that we were still waiting on word from the U-2 squadron to see if Art could fly that airplane instead. Since the U-2 guys came to an air show here in Del Rio about a year ago, it's all the man has talked about. The B-1 news was exciting, overwhelmingly exciting, but I knew a little part of Art (and a big part of me) was still holding out hope that an email would show up asking Art to interview for the U-2.

Well... IT DID!!!!!!!

Last week Art received word that they were interested in interviewing him sometime in the next few months. Several people from Laughlin have been hired recently, so we are hoping that his reputation and superior flying skills (my words, of course) will speak for themselves.

He has not gotten the job yet and would kill me if I started talking about how awesome California is and how it's always been a dream of mine to live there and how PERFECT of an assignment it would be for both of us. So I won't.

BUT this is fantastic news for our little family and I totally believe he will kill this interview. I certainly will post if and when that happens! :)

Teaching causes bipolar disorder. I'm certain of it.

Yesterday, I was looking at jobs in Abilene in just about everything BUT teaching. This is for several reasons, not the least of which is that sometimes I feel burned out. I'm sure every teacher has felt this way, especially the first few years, but sometimes I can't help but think that I do NOT get paid enough for all the garbage I go through during the day. Not to mention all the work I bring home, whether it's actual papers or emotional work. It takes a lot away from my ability to fulfill my obligations to my family, and I hate that. And I can't imagine what it would be like if my husband wasn't so independent (HE packs MY lunch every day, for goodness sake) and we had mini Bulls. Sometimes I dream about a job where I get to work from home. People make money sewing, quilting, crafting, and blogging... so why can't I? I dream of that life.

And then days like today happen. Today, my district gave me the day out of my classroom to observe other teachers with my mentor, Brenda. Because I'm certified 4th through 12th grade, we went to the Freshman campus for first period. (Yes, our school has a totally separate building just for 9th grade!) I consider myself a smart person, but for some reason it didn't dawn on me that the students currently in 9th grade were in 8th grade last year, and, therefore, my former students.

I saw them. A LOT of them. For those of you that don't remember my first year as clearly as I do, I went home crying a lot. My kids were bad. Disrespectful, sleepy, truant, lazy, insubordinate... you name it. I wasn't that great either, and that was probably part of the problem. But anyway, I would not have ever imagined that so many of them would run up to me with mile-wide smiles on their faces, telling me that they miss me and they are so excited to see me. Even the student that my mom lovingly referred to has "The Boy with the Hippo" gave me a hug. Last year I never would have believed that could ever happen.

After that emotional roller coaster, I got to see a lot of classrooms that are different from mine and get some good ideas for how to better manage my class. It is so nice, every once in a while, to get a break from teaching and do some of the other stuff, like planning, that we are required to do but not really given any time to do it. Brenda watched me teach my toughest class and had some good feedback for me as well. All in all, it was a very good day, and a good way to break up the monotony.

Then, from 5-7 we had Open House, and I got to meet some of my kids' families, which is always so awesome. I wish more of my parents had shown up, but it was so nice getting to tell my parents how much I love their kids, because of course the only parents to come to open house are the ones with great kids.

So, I guess, there are good days and bad days, just like everything else. I'm not sure if I'll teach forever or not, but in the midst of all the craziness and the stress, it was so nice to have a day to recharge. And see my kiddos from last year. :)

In the words of my philosopher husband: "Would you just decide already if you like your job or not?!"

Yes. No. Yes. No. Yesno. Yesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesno.

Is that so hard to understand??

WE HAVE AN ASSIGNMENT!!

I really wanted to post about our Dodge Journey adventure before this, but it seems crazy to me that I've waited this long to post about our next assignment! We have been waiting for this news for... count them... FOUR AND A HALF YEARS now, and last weekend, while we were in Lexington for my dear friend Erin's wedding, we got the call.

Ready, people?

Art will be flying the B-1 (pictured above), and we are moving to Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas!! This may not seem like exciting news, especially for those of you who don't know much about the drop process, but it IS! Yes, I'm going to be a Texan for another (unknown) amount of time. BUT, Abilene, is a much bigger town, about the size of Dayton, and the B-1 was our first choice on the dream sheet. So, this was incredible news and we are so blessed.

So, what does the B-1 do, exactly? It does two really really cool things:

1. It breaks the sound barrier. (Confession: I can't really grasp what that even means. Looks neat!)

2. It rains hate. Serious. Hate.

I'm so proud of my husband. It truly feels like finally, finally, he is getting something he really deserves for all of his tireless work. I am so glad that he's being recognized for being amazing at his job and I feel so blessed and lucky to be by his side.

And... I'm gonna say it... I feel so blessed and lucky to be MOVING. Bring on the Starbucks and the Targets and the highways and the Michael's and the diversity and the sushi and the non-Walmart grocery and everything else that's in Abilene that isn't in Del Rio. I'm EXCITED!! We don't know any dates yet, but April-May timeframe is the best guess at this point. Unless something crazy happens and we leave way earlier than that, I'll still be finishing the school year with my kiddos. And I'm definitely going to sob uncontrollably on the last day of school. So I have that to look forward to.


We are still waiting to hear back from the U-2 squadron. The U-2 is a special request assignment that Art is still eligible for. It's truly the plane he's dying to fly, but since it's not on the dream sheet, we put B-1s first. The U-2 squadron is just outside of Sacramento, California, so there is still a chance (we are really really hoping!) that we will go there instead.

But lemme tell ya, if we don't get the U-2, we already have our second choice, and it's a pretty splendid place to be. I am loving life!