New Painting

There is a new painting posted over at my art blog

BUT - I am going to be putting all my paintings on Etsy to sell. I highly recommend this site not only for buying artwork, but for buying custom clothes as well. Everything on etsy is HAND MADE by someone and in limited quantities so you know you're fuckin' awesome cuz no one has your shit, homes!

Anyway - the Etsy shop isn't set up yet. I plan to do that after the holidays (maybe before if I really really work on it.)

I'm also modding the HELL out of some Eloh skins and have been passing my mods out to noobs. Unfortunately they think I am kidding and not giving them a skin so they never put them on :(

Maybe I should just set up a shop of 100L modded skins of weirdness. Who knows. I know its taken me weeks to find just the perfect brush (and hardness) to do makeup. That shit blows ya'll. Seriously.

O M G

OMG.

Can't talk.

Keith's home.

BYE!!!

Much too Much

Some days I feel like I just have too much to do. Well those days only really started after Keith left for Iraq. Sometimes I feel a sense of accomplishment once I've done all the things I need to do - then there are other days I hate the Air Force for sending Keith to Iraq and making me do it by myself in the first place. One of those tasks is mowing.

Gardening is fun for me, but mowing is not. I hate to mow. I hate the sound of a lawn mower, I don't particularly like the wind blowing the grass clippings all over my arms and face, and I definitely hate the fact that the grass never seems dry enough to mow!

Even though I live in what's considered the driest part of England - it still rains more than 140 days a year. This means that one day of sunshine won't dry out the lawn, which then means that my front and back grass looks like a miniature jungle before its dry enough for me to mow ... and I hate that!

I bought myself a sexy Nikon D60 DSLR camera - but I am waiting for the correct SD card in order to start using it. I'm excited to take pictures even though I don't particularly feel inspired to do so. Its kind of hard to explain ... I guess I could try.

In my opinion, I've always been the 'creative' type - even though there are many times I severely lack in the talent department to see my creation through. Being with Keith has really changed my point of view of what's 'good' and what isn't as far as art goes - especially with my painting and photography. I think its because he's so supportive. Even if he doesn't quite 'get it' he still appreciates whatever it is. He's just awesome like that.

So far his deployment hasn't been AS hard on me as I originally thought it would be. Of course I've been depressed a bit - and quite lonely but I've found ways around pretty much everything. For a few weeks I couldn't sleep, but I recently learned that I can sleep just fine on the couch. The bed just felt so big, if that makes sense. I would wake up at random intervals and just lay in this vast darkness with nothing but the sound of Libby (our cat) snoring. BUT! On the couch I can flick on the TV and watch 15 mins of some random crap and pass back out.

I've steadily been losing weight - but it isn't ALL due to my diet. A lot of it is because I'm just not eating - which doesn't bother me - but I'm convinced its a side effect from the mild depression I'm going through. I'm not all dreary and weepy - its more of a manic state at this point. Lots of times I feel overstimulated or just overwhelmed in general and tend to just shut down. I won't talk for a day or two - then I get back to my somewhat normal self. I think such things are to be expected with a deployment though. At least I'm not going all psychotic or anything.

If we were living in America during his deployment, I think I probably would be a bit mental now. But in all honesty - I love England so much that just coming home after work feels good. Some days just sitting in the conservatory with a cup of tea is enough to cheer me up, but of course there are days that it isn't. There are days that nothing seems to pacify me and I just feel restless and stir crazy - which is why I say I'm in a mild manic state. Not chipper or hyper, and not all doom and gloom ... just restless.

I catch myself sitting here at the computer and hitting the refresh button waiting on an email reply from Keith, and I constantly have to tell myself to just walk away. There are days I have to force myself to go watch TV instead of sitting here with the cursor on the refresh button ... its sad, but true.

So yes - as soon as I get an SD card I will be taking pictures of random goodness which I will probably just post on flickr - but I'm sure I will share a few here since family and friends are more apt to check my blog than my flickr page.

I suppose that's enough bitching and whining for now - I should fold some laundry.

Memorial Day

Hit Play and listen while reading. Its me and Keith's "song" .. well the main one.

On with the blog entry:



Once upon a time Memorial Day, to me, was nothing but a free day off work and an excuse to drink beer and eat bar-b-q hot dogs and hamburgers. Memorial Day Weekend was a long awaited three day weekend. Up until the time I was probably 17 I didn't even know exactly what holiday Memorial Day was.

I grew up in a part of the US where there are three loves of everyone's life: God, your country, and guns. Even in such a small town (about 10 thousand people - the biggest town in the county) everyone has at least 2 people in their family who is in the military. There's not much to look forward to as far as 'growing up' where I came from. It isn't unusual for girls to start having babies at 15 and be married by 17. Having babies and getting married is all there is to look forward to in all honesty.

Strange that no one ever really told me what Memorial Day was. I wasn't even sure what a VFW Hall was - but I knew I saw it out by the highway. For all I knew it was another Eagle's club or whatever. As an adult I did finally learn what the holiday was about - but that didn't change anything. It was still a holiday to take a mini vacation somewhere, or just grill and have beer. Not this year. Not anymore.

I haven't conformed to the military. I'm not in the military, I'm just married to it - so why should I? I show up to the Air Force functions where the dress code is usually black dress/black heels wearing my bright colored loud clothing. I introduce myself without waiting for my husband to do it. I don't call the Colonels 'sir', instead opting to call them by name. I'm the opposite of every other military spouse I've ever known. I'm even dreading my hair this summer.

Today was different. I was asked by my squadron commander to participate in a Memorial Day celebration. I had assumed burgers and hot dogs because that's all anyone was talking about all week ... but I was wrong. She gave me a dress code sheet, which made me curl up my nose - but I complied. It was being held at the base chapel, which made me curl up my nose - but I complied. I showed up 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, and immediately had kinda wished I hadn't come.

Everyone was dressed the same - which basically means we all got the same sheet of paper. All the women there seemed to already know one another - so I just took a seat at the back and sat quietly, still unsure of what was going on. At first I thought maybe it was a church service of some kind - which made me panic a little because I don't know any church hymns ... but there was no chaplain.

The base commander took the podium and gave a speech about what Memorial Day means. He talked about how, as spouses of deployed soldiers, we should be the last ones to celebrate with beer and burgers. Immediately I thought "I'm home alone - you really think I'm gonna bar-b-q for myself, dude?" So the honor guard did their thing, there were a few speeches from base officials - then a group of women stood up and took the podium. What the hell was going on exactly? They each took turns talking about their husbands who unknown to me - had been killed in battle over the past two years.

Suddenly I was mad. I was mad at all the people at home cooking on the grill and drinking beer with their friends. I was upset that all those people having big backyard bar-b-q's were taking the wrong approach to Memorial Day. I was upset with myself for being so selfish in just being happy I had an extra day off work. These women were the embodiment of Memorial Day ... and I was some kind of spectator. Why did my squadron commander do this to me?

Why did she have me attend a lecture blindly .. and why did I show up?! It isn't as if I'm not having a hard enough time with Keith's deployment, but now I had to listen to these dead soldier's wives and for that hour I was filled with dread. What if that were me? No, it could never be me. Nothing will ever happen to Keith ... but as I was thinking that one of the wives said my every thought out loud ... and I hated her for it.

Three different times I wanted to walk out. I didn't want to hear any of this! For me its better to let bad things just linger as passing moments in the back of my mind - I don't want it to be force fed to me like this. I was angry, I was shocked, and most of all - I was suddenly scared. That could be me - and no matter how much I don't want it to be - suddenly it was a distinct possibility that it could be.

Okay I've rambled a lot and have gotten into far more emotion than I had set out to ... I just want to say this:

Memorial Day: for some it is just an excuse to take a trip. Lots of folks get together with friends to do the cook out thing ... and for some people it isn't any of those things. While you're out at the lake fishing, or having friends over to cook out, or if you've taken a road trip somewhere - just try to remember that this is a national holiday to remember soldiers. Maybe you don't know a single soldier or maybe you're against this whole war -- no matter how you look at it there are still people left behind. There are families left behind who don't take trips or bar-b-q with friends because not every holiday should be about boisterous celebration.

I miss Keith.

Alllll Byyyyy Myyyy Seelllffffff

Ha you know you're totally singing that song now!

Anyway, the adjustments so far haven't been all THAT bad. At first I was really scared thinking "Oh man what am I going to do with myself without Keith" but I think I've coped quite well. I think it was more mental than anything - and I've finally realized that I'm not ALONE I'm just by MYSELF!

Its been really nice that he can call me every other day or so - even though we really don't have much to talk about. We more or less end up repeating everything we sent in an email that one of us hasn't gotten the chance to read yet LOL! Still its comforting hearing his voice, and hearing that he doesn't sound stressed or anything - just a little tired which is probably just from jet lag.

I dropped him off Wednesday (the 7th) but pulled out before the bus did. I was whining the night before "Pleaseeee don't make me watch the bus leave!" and by golly I didn't! No way. I sucked it up for the most part, and had a lot of reasons to.

#1 There were a lot of people on those two buses. I'm sure they JUST got done doing what we were doing and didn't need to be 'set off' by seeing me bawling

#2 The other couple of wives there were totally stone faced - and they were toting babies! If they can handle saying goodbye, I can too damn it!

#3 I had a oral surgery appointment within the hour and thought I should be focused on that


So I shed a few tears driving to my appointment - but the bitterness of saying goodbye to my husband for 5 months was overshadowed with the fact that I was about to have two wisdom teeth cut out of my mouth with nothing but a few shots. Local anesthetic only - because I had no escort.

I sat in the car for about 10 minutes psyching myself up. I reminded myself how much of an awesome badass I am, and walked in the door. They took me into the oral surgery hall right away where I sat in that stupid chair that makes weird squeaky noises that almost sound like farts. Now, at that moment I thought that I was only having one tooth removed because A) Its military - they only take care of what is necessary at that moment and B) no one told me otherwise. I was wrong. Both bottom wisdom teeth were coming out.

No problem. I'd handle it. So the Captain doing my surgery gives me about 3 shots in each hinge of my jaw and walks out to let it numb up. Her assistant then starts talking to me while she's setting up the tray "Wow I can't believe you aren't being put under. I mean .. -everyone- elects to be put under." Immediately I panic a bit thinking that I've made the wrong decision, but still psyched up from my self pep talk I say "Well I don't have an escort because I dropped my husband off about a half hour ago to go down range .. plus I have a pretty high pain tolerance." She just kinda stood there silently for a moment and said "Better you than me, sister!" Oh god what have I done?

About 10 minutes later the Captian comes back, and yes I'm numb. She puts the random 'keep your mouth open' instruments in my mouth and starts cutting on my gums with what feels like a primary school kid's safety scissors. It doesn't hurt - I can just tell that its scissors which grossed me out a bit. Even though I couldn't see anything - I could just imagine what it all looked like. She makes a statement about seeing the tooth and starts trying to pull it. The lady did everything but put a foot on my jaw while pulling on the tooth to no avail. She then tries to crack the tooth to take it out in sections, which doesn't work either. Then she says "Uh ... ma'am? We're going to have to remove some of the bone."

Of course I can't answer her or I would have said "BONE?! What bone? Remove it? HOW!" but before I get a full paniced thought out of my head I hear what sounds like a table saw. Oh fuck. She's going to use that in my mouth! So she starts sawing and telling me while sawing that the roots of the tooth are fused to my jaw bone so she has to saw around it. Now it starts hurting, but of course I'm pretty much just powerless. 15 minutes pass by and she's finally done sawing and moves to the left side.

The same thing happens: scissors, pulling, splitting attempt "We'll have to saw this side too. Your roots are actually bent outwards at the end like fish hooks" More pain, more dizzy feeling from the vibrations in my jaw. Finally its all over and she packs my face with gauze and sends me out the door.

Of course I got meds. Not enough, if you ask me. 10 Oxycodone didn't even scratch the surface. My face was swollen, my cheeks were swollen, I was bleeding, and my jaw was bruised. Yes, this was an awesome decision.

I had taken Wed, Thur, and Fri off work and went back to work on Monday. Monday I was still in a lot of pain but had already taken all my pain medication. Tuesday the pain had gotten a bit worse. What did it feel like? Well it felt as if a dentist was drilling on my teeth without waiting for the numbing agent to fully take effect.

I rang up the oral surgery department and said "I'm miserable and I'm out of medication. I expected to be in quite a bit of pain after a surgery like that, but its been nearly 7 days and I am in more pain NOW than I was hours after surgery." They got me in immediately.

Come to find out I had dry socket in both sides. The person who saw me was amazed that I had somehow not completely lost my fucking mind going through all that pain for almost 7 days. "High pain tolerance" was all I said. He put some clove tasting shit on what looked like a packing peanut, crammed it into the incision point and within 10 minutes all the pain was gone. He thinks that I've had dry socket since the day after surgery since they had to saw so deep into my jaw to remove those teeth.

Luckily I have no more wisdom teeth and I stand a very high liklihood of never having to go through any of that again. I'm really looking forward to my first full night of sleep in a week :)

I'd also like to thank Willow for offering support during Keith's deployment. Right now I have a few good weeks of activities planned out (there's a Bazaar this weekend and next weekend is the annual Beer Festival in Cambridge, and a week or so after that is Strawberry Faire!) but I'm sure at some point the 'novelty' of being by myself will wear off and I won't be able to fill a Saturday with an activity like I can for the next 4 weeks or so.

So I"m off to bed now ... I hope no one EVER has to experience all that dental bullshit. I seriously was wishing for a coma at one point!

Updatus Majoritus

MAJOR UPDATE ALERT!!!!

I have been reallllly busy the past few weeks, and for good reason I assure you!

We found out a couple weeks ago that Keith is deploying. Where? He can't say - all I know is that he was issued dessert gear. He's been really busy getting shots every other week as well as us having to go to appointments at the legal office. I don't really want to go into a lot of detail about it because honestly I've JUST gotten myself somewhat used to the idea of everything.

Yes, of course I'll be worried. I'm really just trying to not be a big baby about everything because I don't want to stress Keith out. I think that he would have taken the news of his deployment a LOT harder if I had reacted all like 'OMG NOOOOOOO' or someting.

I already have lots of activities and whatnot planned for myself this summer - and have found a great friend in Tree. Its also nice working on a military base and having access to at least talk to other spouses of deployed peeps. Just kinda eases the stress knowing that someone is going through the exact same thing - which makes one automatic thing you have in common with someone!

This will be the first time in two years (roughly) that Keith and I have been apart - which makes me go :( but at the same time I'm looking forward to seeing how I handle alone life. I'm sure the cat will keep me company - and if she doesn't I have a few canvases on top of friends and work. The first month I think will be the hardest but once I get into my own 'groove' it should get easier.

I did a painting over the weekend. There's actually a funny story that goes with it. Guess I should show the painting first.


So this is my painting ... and I call it "Boldly Go". Its my little "Ode to Star Trek" you could say. why? I don't know! I just know that I thought of how Captain Kirk always got to shag the hot aliens while on other plants - but what if SPOCK got his hands on one?! What if there's a Spock love child roaming some galaxy far far away?! And there you have the inspirational thought which started this painting. There's a bit more to it, but I sat it on my lap and took the pic with the webcam on the laptop ...



So yes that is the jist of everything. My husband is deploying to a dessert somewhere on the globe and will be gone for at least 5 months and I've just been trying to mentally prepare myself for everything. Seriously though - I almost lost it when we had to prepare his will. That was the HARDEST thing ever. For those that don't know me - I don't do funerals. Ever.

Alrighty! Well Keith got Grand Theft Auto IV a whole day earlier than its even released - so I've been sitting here watching him play... enjoy the screenshot :D

One Day I Will Get a Break!

So the past week or two I have been really busy - both with work and with Keith. Keith had been working on videos for an Air Force banquet, and I was busy playing executive producer.

The banquet was good, actually. Fancy three course meal and all that - but the problem was .... I didn't fit in. This still REALLY bothers me! I was looking around at all the other wives and how differently I was dressed, and couldn't help but feel like I should just hide behind Keith's coat tails. I don't have a picture at this moment - but when I do I'll post what I looked like to prove that I didn't look THAT odd but I definitely stood out.

Honestly though, I think my appearance was welcomed by the commanders, Colonels and others. My off beat appearance caused lots of people to take notice of me first instead of greeting Keith first - which I think will make him more memorable to them when it comes promotion and award time next year. But its all over with now so I feel much better!

I still feel like I'm working a LOT - and I'm starting to have some serious problems with my feet. I have a strip of bruise down the bottoms of each of my feet and its starting to worry me. At first it was pinkish and made me think "Oh great I have athlete's foot!" but as the week went on it went from pink to black to blue and now a steady purplish color - so its definitely a bruise. I don't know what would cause a bruise on the bottom center of my foot but I hope its nothing serious. I know, I worry about the stupidest shit.

Later this week I hope to do an actual vlog with a little editing and post bits of us going to work ... y'know our daily routine. I know that sounds really boring - but lots of my friends and family and Keith's also ... well they check my blog and much prefer my vlogs to reading my text. Most my family hasn't seen me in over a year now so they like being able to watch me talk.

Okay! Going to find some dinner and hopefully I remember to vlog this week!

Holiday Recap

My holiday was really hectic - even though we didn't go anywhere. Keith and I had our Brit friends over for Christmas dinner and in some ways it was completely hysterical.

Right now I can't remember everything we had - but I made a lot of things which they have NEVER had before. Candied yams, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and pecan pie. I also made a huge friggin' ham, and they brought sausages, spuds, duck and beef. I even picked up a few gifts for them. I ground up some Columbian Supremo coffee for Tree, a 6 pack of IBC Root Beer (which is like the BEST root beer on the face of the planet) for her man, and got her daughter a silly little SpongeBob tin which she squealed over.

We were going to go to London for New Years eve to see the fireworks, but Keith had to work New Years Day so that was out of the question. We wouldn't have made it home in time for him to go to work, but have decided that next year we simply MUST find a way to go.

I had some more dental work done this morning, and I'm hoping that my monthly visit to Dr Barker will be over soon. She's a splendid lady, really - but let's face it: its still a dentist. The entire right side of my head is numb which is making it very difficult to drink my tea!

Keith got me all 7 seasons of Buffy on DVD so we have been watching a few episodes every night. He's really suprised that he likes it. I've been using his tablet more than he has - but he said when he gets an itch he'll play with it.

I'm glad the holidays are over and things are calming down. It seems though this week I will spend hours every day cleaning the house to get it back in order. We had this place SPOTLESS and it seems we got really lazy over the holiday.

Not sure if I posted anything about it - but we got our pictures taken with my haircut and everything was fine. I sent a scanned copy to my friend Stef and it got her "awww" of approval. Keith started his workout routine the other day and I'm sure it won't be long before I follow suit. He said he ran a mile on the treadmill and it was 'a good warm up' and I nearly shat myself. WARMUP?! That would be two days worth of exercise for me! Bah.

My SL stuff has slowed to a crawl. I don't really have the energy for most of it. I don't want to make things - and I don't even want to film anymore. Machinima is the new DJ of SL. Remember how EVERYONE was a DJ once upon a time? Well now days everyone is a 'machinima artist' or 'filmmaker' in SL which makes me want to just spit. Its like .. drawing a stick man and calling yourself an artist. Yeah SOMEONE will consider it art - but overall its just shit. I'm just as stupid for even getting any kind of emotional 'work up' over it but whatever.

We got a magazine in the post this weekend - which had a two page spread of a video we did - which is very cool. Its in French so I can't read it but that doesn't make it any less awesome. I'll have to scan it later and post it. The name of the magazine is VoxPop so check it out if you're in France!

Hmm what else. Did I mention the house is a mess?

Oh. And when coming onto the base today my car was thoroughly searched - which almost made me late for my appointment. I don't know why I am always the one to be 'randomly' searched but it always works out that way. I guess I should be all "well at least they are making sure things are secure" but even though I think that LATER at the time I'm just frustrated.

When you pull up to the gates and they check your military ID and your other card that has all your vehicle info they say "Hello ma'am - if you'll pull up inbetween the cones and wait for further instruction your car is selected for random search." So you pull up - still holding your cards to enter the base and hand it to a guy holding an M16 and with a 9mm on his hip and he smiles and asks "Consent to search?" Right - like you REALLY need my verbal concent, buddy! I mean c'mon! I replied with "Yes sir!" of course - it isn't like there's much of an option. So then he moves to let me open my car door and says "Open all compartments. Hood, trunk, console, glove box - anything that opens." So I open everything in the car - pop the hood and the boot (boot means trunk here in England) then get out and open all four doors.

He still has one hand on his M16 while he puts one hand behind my back to usher me into this little cubby hole of plexi glass or something while another soldier walks out and rummages through my car. "I left my handbag in the car. In case, you know, you all wanted to check it too." The "usher" then tells the bloke searching my car that my handbag is in the car. While in the glass fort I'm asked random questions like "Where are you going?" and "How long will you be on base" while secretly wishing I had taken the other entrance into the base.

Of course everything checks out fine and he hands me my IDs back and close the hood, boot (trunk), 3 doors and slip into the drivers' seat. I close all the inside compartments and stick my base pass on my dash and head off to my appointment. Then once I'm in the dentist's chair and she's sticking a needle in my cheek I silently wish they would have searched more so that I didn't have to be where I was right then.

Military life - gotta love it.

Dinnah

I don't have a lot of time to post because I have a lot to do and I'm hardly dressed.

Keith and I will be doing a feast thing with his entire squadron this afternoon. I even baked a carrot cake for the thing! I'm not a very good cook - unless its desserts. I can make the HELL out of some desserts!

I still have to ice the cake, dry my hair, and maybe slap on some makeup. I haven't decided on the makeup bit - but we'll see!

Suddenly I found myself distracted by the clouds moving outside.

I've decided to buy all Keith's Christmas presents on eBay since its cheap and easy. Its much more simple than me taking him to work and hitting the BX in hopes that they have what I'm looking for. Instead I can just log on and place a bid on the SAME THING that I know is there -- but for half the price and I don't have to worry about hiding it because it comes IN A BOX that I can just open and wrap while he's at work. Huzzah!

I'm sure we'll take pictures today. We haven't really taken the camera with us much of anywhere lately ... definately will have to stop that!

Ugh I know its been a few days ...

Keith and I drove around Norwich for like TWO hours the other day on our way to attempting to find the RSPCA so we could adopt a cat. Needless to say we never found it and were both just upright frustrated when we left. On a lighter note we liked the place so much after driving around that we took a trip back there Sunday to be tourists. We went to like 3 cathedrals (hey on Sunday churches are always free to go in) and had a good time of it. Even though neither of us are Catholic or even Christian for that matter - we still enjoy visiting cathedrals here in England. I mean c'mon they look awesome aaannndd you get to light candles (for a small fee but hey whatever FIREEEE) and a few cathedrals even have really relaxing cloisters. We went to the refectory in the Norwhich Cathedral and had coffee and tea before we walked back across town to the car park. Great fun was had by all. And it didn't even rain!

So I was really bummed about not getting a cat still. I actually moaped! My emo-ness kinda made Keith go "Awww poor shang". He checks the bulletin boards from work (because you can only check them from a government computer) and has found us two computer desks (both practically FREE), two tables for the lounge room aka living room and we splurged on a 42" plasma TV (even though we haven't bought a television liscense yet in order to watch anything). Even with all this new stuff in the house I was still bummed.

A day passed and Keith comes home super early from work. He rang the doorbell (as he usually does because I'm here so there's no need for him to take another set of keys) and as I open it his entire BDU top is covered with hair. I said 'Fuck's sake what happened to you?' and he just stood in the doorway with a big grin and said "Well .. her name is Libby and a Master Sargeant was about to board a plane for a new base and has been trying to find someone to take her." I poked my head around the corner but saw nothing and insisted he was just toying with me. He scurried off around to the car and brought out a cage which held ... a cat!

I squeed a bit as he brought the cage in the house and opened it in the hallway. A pretty white and grey cat hopped out and started rubbing on my leg. I jumped around a bit before giving him a big hug and thanking him of course. Oh and I kissed him too. Dur.

So my new buddy Libby was born July 4, 2005 - ex cat of a Master Sargeant. Born on the 4th of July (American Holidy - Independance Day) and her name is Libby which is short for Liberty. Could this NOT have been any more meant to be?! No, it couldn't (and don't you even TRY to argue!)

I've got lots of dental work ahead of me, apparently due to what I was told today at the dental clinic - and I'm not happy about that one bit. I won't go into detail cuz teeth stuff is just gross but the wisdom tooth I had caused a few cavaties on top of needing a good cleaning. So about once a week for the next 6 months I will be going to dental appointments. Rawr. :(

So far so good with everything, though. I'm trying to set up outings for Keith and I to take every weekend - this weekend I'm hoping to plan for a beach picnic or something along that line. We'll see though. I mean .. we aren't far from the ocean and the beaches so we should totally go. I really just hate that whole 'tourist' feeling. Keith is a TOTAL tourist. He stops and takes pictures of sooo many things and even though it embarasses the SHIT out of me I'm glad he does. We come home and we go through the camera and I'm like "Awww that's a good picture!" because I know full well that I wouldn't do that.

Oh and due to us getting lost in Norwich last week - Keith went out and bought a TomTom wich is a GPS thingy. Anyway - we can download maps and such to it and we won't get lost again! Our bikes and other crap all showed up Monday so I'm thinking we might take a bike ride through Thetford Forest - but not sure when yet. I don't really enjoy playing travel agent- but I do like getting out and doing things with my badass husband. And yes .. he is a badass.

Oh! Almost forgot! Here's a picture of Libby! She's a total sassy bitch. Seriously lol I love this cat!

YaY!

Everything with our house is sorted! So we are moving in over the weekend - and we will be getting loaner furniture till September which will be delivered early next week :)

Things are just brilliant, honestly. I am so so excited to be in our new house. We've even got phone and all that sorted and we will even have internet in like 10 days.

Nothing has been even a fraction as hectic as I expected it to be. Keith and I both passed our driving test so we've been out driving in the Fens a bit and driving from Mildenhall to Hockwold (we don't live IN Hockwold but its on the way. We technically live in Feltwell).

We sit and enjoy the drive - even though the first trip though when Keith was driving I was a bit jittery in the passenger seat. We've each rubbed up against a curb (or kerb here in the UK)

I love love our house and area. Still lots of pics to come once we've settled in. I've tried getting in touch with Tree thinking she'd like to meet up since she only lives in Cams - but no luck yet. I'll make friends, damn it! Even if I have to make friends with Air Force wives. Alright I really don't want to stoop that low ..

So far so good! Though Keith and I have been drinking more beer and have most definitely the cider (omg we're major cider drinkers). We also really enjoy hitting pubs for food once a week or so. The pub near where we'll be living only serves food at certain times so I already know we're going to miss the 'food all day every day' thing we have here at Bird in Hand. All good things eventually come to an end, right? Even when its pubs!

Tomorrow will be the last time Keith and I use the cafe here at RAF Mildenhall. Of course he'll be working here - but hopefully soon the internet will e running at the house. We've already got our computers since we shipped those seperately.

Not sure what else to say ...

Willow - gratz on keeping the job! Oh and hurray for the normal scan! You're gonna be Mumx2!

Jelly - Sorry that I couldn't make the wedding :( Everything will be sorted soon.

Stef - WTF you're like never online when I am - and you keep a sleep schedule similar to the time zone in the UK! Rawr!

Thursday May 25th - Thursday May 31st

Well we made it in one piece - but not without a story or two. Yeah yeah, I know. I can never get from point a to point B without something happening. Its fine by me for the most part because if it weren't for those stories my life would be pretty damn boring.

One of the tiniest jets ever took us from Oklahoma City to Chicago. It was cute though - and on take off it was like being in a little race car. Keith and I were kinda bummed when we got the print out for our tickets because our seats were rows and rows apart ... but they assigned new seats when we got to the airport. It was really cool watching everything disappear underneath us though.

Airport food is crap. Sheer crap. I will never eat another cinnamon roll as long as I live thanks to the Cinnibon place in the airport in Oklahoma City. O'Hare in Chicago had slightly better food - but since we'd been up at 3am .. and it was only like 9am they were all still serving breakfast. We didn't want breakfast :( We were ready for lunch. So we grabbed a couple sandwiches and a couple drinks which came to like $30 USD! Yeah major suckage.

From Chicago to Heathrow I slept mostly. I was awake off and on but not for long. They gave us crappy food on the plane, but I ate it anyway cuz hey - free food, right? It was pretty crowded on the jet to Heathrow. The seats were uncomfortable, and I didn't figure out that you could maneuver the head rest around until we were only about an hour from landing.

Alright so we landed at Heathrow airport around 10:30pm. The guy who was supposed to meet us at the airport couldn't make it so we had to call a courier. This doesn't sound like a big deal .. but it costed us 160 pounds to get here :( And yesterday 2.04USD = 1 Pound so yeah it was anything BUT cheap.

I had no idea what jet lag was, but I was fully aware that I was known to get carsick when I'd ride in the car with my family on long trips. Its roughly an hour from Heathrow to Mildenhall. We were on the M1 when I felt a little queasy. I figured it was just because I was tired from all the travel. About 30 minutes later I suddenly felt REALLY sick and told Keith. Before he could say "Want me to tell him to pull over" I started to throw up.

I covered my mouth with my hands but knew that wouldn't be near enough to save the interior of the driver's brand new Volkswagen. So I lifted the bottom of my shirt, made a pouch, and continued vomiting into the shirt. It only took him a moment or so before he quickly pulled over and I jumped out of the vehicle and continued to blow chunks. Keith started rummaging through the suitcases and found me a new shirt. I tore off my other one and put on the clean
one right there on the motorway without even a glance. The driver told me to sit up front because it would keep me from feeling quite so sick .. and I did.

The full wrath of my spew hadn't hit me until we got home. There was vomit all inside my bra .. it was just horrid. I apologized over and over again to the driver but he assured me that everything was fine. I was most proud of myself for not getting a drop inside his car. It was all over me instead. I'm still embarrassed about it - but what can ya do?

Things are really hectic and probably will stay that way for quite a few weeks while we try to get a car, house, and while Keith gets settled in with new co workers and whatnot. So far it hasn't been so bad though. Holy crap the pigeons in England are HUGE! They're freaks of nature and that's no joke. They are really eating high on the hog I tell ya. And there are bunnies everywhere .. which I giggle about.

So we arrived in the UK at 4am Friday - and Saturday we hopped over to Cambridge for the beer festival. We thought the best way to dive into the beer over here was in this forum. This was our first major encounter with English culture. People think that just because most everyone in the UK speaks English that they have the same culture, customs etc as Americans and that's just not true. Keith and I knew this before we came - but there were a few surprises right off the bat.

We were at the beer festival for quite a few hours, and we were so astounded by how many small children were there. We didn't mind, of course because we saw it as a good thing that parents spend so much time with their kids. In the states if adults are going out - they call a sitter. Anyway - there was a whole section dedicated to entertaining children. We were there with a couple guys in Keith's squadron, and since they have been in country for more than 5 years they were giving us pointers.

Pub is short for public place. There are kids in pubs. Its just like going to a Chili's in the states. Yeah they serve alcohol, but that isn't always all. The drinking age is 18 here - and drinking is a very social thing. Cambridge is a very liberal town - and most towns in the UK for the most part are far more laid back than most places in the states. No one cares here if you're American. There are so many tourists here from so many countries and everyone overall is just soooo nice! I for one, totally wasn't expecting that much hospitality right out of the gate. I never expected strangers to strike up conversations while bellied up to the bar waiting on a pint (or half pint in my case after a couple). My family had all told me how shy UKers were, but then again I'm sure they hadn't taken into consideration the places we'd be.

There does seem to be a lot of smokers, but the laws are so different here. You can't just smoke wherever you want. There are designated areas nearly everywhere so it isn't as if you have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get from point A to point B. In the states (at least in Oklahoma and Missouri) you can pretty much smoke anywhere you want - but not inside some places. Most restaurants have smoking and non-smoking sections. Not here. Nearly everywhere is non smoking - and usually you have to be like 15 feet away from buildings to smoke. Keith and I were both VERY happy about how environmentally conscious the UK is. There are all these colored barrels for different rubbish (glass, cardboard, paper, garden trash, and kitchen trash) and go out on different days. Its just second nature to recycle here - and we totally love that.

Everyone here has said "Do not just stay near the base and definitely don't just spend your time in Britain." And we haven't planned to. We do plan to first explore the UK before we head to France, Germany, Italy etc. Just like Saturday we're going to Leed's Castle .. in a couple weeks we're going to Salisbury and Stonehenge ... we plan to do a lot of traveling while we're here. We're going to stop worrying so much about money and just kick back and enjoy this
opportunity to completely submerge ourselves in history, culture, and customs.

Though we've only been in the UK for a week - we both already love it. It already seems this four years is going to fly by. Tomorrow we're off to find a house and get a car. Cheers!

PS - There are no air conditioners! Why? You don't NEED them here!