It's Never Too Early....

...to start planning for...

(drumroll please!)

BLACK FRIDAY!

I don't know if it's the thrill of the hunt or what? Or perhaps seeing America at it's gluttonous worst (I've seen outright FIGHTS over $250 laptops at Walmart at 5 in the morning!) But I enjoy the early-morning Black Friday shopping experience. I don't do it every year (I also enjoy sleeping), but on the years that I make it out, my shopping companions and I will plan what order to hit stores (i.e., know who's open at 5am, 6am, 7am, know who's doorbusters end at 10am, 11am 12pm, etc.). I've had great experiences with Susan H. in Virginia, Maryann G. in North Carolina and Diane A. in Nebraska!

I'm not sure if I'll head out this year. We have a trip to Walt Disney World planned for Christmas for our family, and the boys aren't getting much else from Mom and Dad for Christmas. Santa Claus will bring them each a gift and each boy has already made his request. I'll be after stocking stuffers and gifts for my niece, nephews and friends, though.

Anyway, I'm pitching this cool website I heard about via two of my Facebook friends, Louise G. and Robin A.

http://www.blackfriday.info/

Become their fan on Facebook and you're privy to their contests and you'll get their latest ads pushed to your Facebook newsfeed.

I know Christina O. of Sugar Sweet Thoughts also does a good job posting the best deals for the 10 days or so leading up to Black Friday, and I particularly like her postings now because she offers some of the midwest stores' deals, such as those at Menards.

How John Deere Brought My Sons Closer Together....

I've quite a queue of potential blog posts in my mind...mainly things that have been happening in our lives, and every once in a while something happens about which I think "That would be a fun/funny/silly/insightful blog post." I think I'll be improving in the next week or so, as the boys' soccer seasons wrap up for the fall, and I have my week of 12-hour shifts at my new AF Reserve job behind me.

So here's one of our lives' vignettes from this fall...

Lately my sons haven't been getting along so well. Jacob is in this smug phase, where he feels his lot in life is to constantly correct his little brother about everything!

Timmy: "Mommy, may I have shredded wheat for breakfast?"

Jacob: "Timmy, we don't have shredded wheat! We have frosted shredded wheat!"

Timmy: "That's a lie!"

Jacob: "Fine...don't believe me...go check the pantry yourself...you'll then see that I'm right. I'm always right!"

I'd love nothing more than to ignore these little jabs, but it's also happening at school too so I want to continue to work this one out of his system. That's for another blog...for another day when I can look back on this and laugh...

Anyway, even though my boys aren't the friendliest towards each other these days, there is something that bonds them like nothing else: tales of death, maiming and destruction! Moms of boys, I'm sure you understand completely! They're all giggles, truly enjoying each other's company! It's hilarious, even though there's a part of me that wishes they'd be happy with each other over butterflies and puppies instead of how they can kill flies slowly and pour salt over slugs (which Timmy recently learned about).

So here's a photo gallery from our day at the Nebraska State Fair back over Labor Day weekend. I've been wanting to share this and tell the story of how seeing these caution labels on the John Deere equipment was our boys' favorite part of the State Fair. They begged me to take pictures of their favorite labels, then wanted me to print out the pictures. I talked them out of printing the pictures, thankfully. I didn't want to have to explain that one at school...

So here are my boys in front of one of the HUGE pieces of John Deere equipment at the farm equipment "museum" at the fair:

From 2009 09 04 NE State Fair

The boys scoured every square foot of this equipment that they could, as if on a scavenger hunt for caution labels such as these. They'd run around frantically, and one of them found one, you'd hear "I FOUND ONE! OVER HERE!" You'd have thought they found the Holy Grail, they were so excited!

From 2009 09 04 NE State Fair

I call this one "Mr. Twisty":

From 2009 09 04 NE State Fair

From 2009 09 04 NE State Fair

From 2009 09 04 NE State Fair

From 2009 09 04 NE State Fair

Coming soon -- Major Mom's first forays into true "Mom's Taxi"-hood. Balancing school, soccer, scouts, and piano lessons!

Happy Halloween!

I stole this idea from an NCO I worked with in South Carolina (thanks MSgt B!). She has 5 kids so her 5 pairs of pants across the lawn generated so much buzz last year, it was featured on the front page of the Sumter, SC newspaper Halloween week. I was inspired when I was sorting through the boys "can't wear it anymore" clothing pile in their closet. Most of the pants are too small, but I happened across two pairs of jeans that were otherwise fine except for the holes in the knees, I knew they couldn't go anywhere except the trash....


...unless....

From 2009 10 27 Halloween2009

Anyway, I'll update this blog a little more later on. There's lots going on, but nothing earth-shattering.

More Toilet Talk

I haven't done one of these irreverent blogs in a while. This is an accumulation of about 6 months of frustration with automatic flushing toilets when I'm in uniform.

So here is the new Air Force "Airman Battle Uniform". We call them "ABUs" for short.

In fact, let's get up close and personal with that new fabric.

I've a lot of concerns about this new uniform...from not being able to wear Army support combat patches (well, any unit patches for that matter), to the heavy weight of the fabric that made it quite uncomfortable in the Middle East contingency zones. Many of those issues are being addressed, but one of the ones that isn't is a pretty fundamental issue.

The Near IR capability of these uniforms cause problems with automatic-flushing toilets.

Defined by Propper, Inc., the official ABU manufacturer: "Near Infrared (NIR) Signature Management Technology is used by the U.S. Department of Defense to prevent detection by NIR Image Converters. These photocathode devices do not detect temperatures, but rather infrared radiation variances. NIR-compliant uniforms use a special fabric that allows soldiers to appear at the same radiation level as the surrounding terrain, thus making them more difficult to detect. NIR technology also make uniforms less visible in low-light environments by reducing the reflection of light."

I won't argue with the value of this feature, especially at night when enemy forces might be trying to look for Airmen and the protection that NIR capability might be life-saving. I understand that.

I don't have to wear my uniform often, but when I was in Florida for some training last December, the classroom building I was in was outfitted with the automatic flushers. So every time I had to use the ladies' room, in the middle of going, the toilet was flushing. I was annoyed, but it wasn't a hideous mess (I'll get to that later) so I just tolerated it for a bit. I tried to sit extra still, but that wasn't the issue. I guess over time the fabric would fade the heat difference of my sitting in front of the sensor.

The solution? Take off my ABU blouse before using the facilities there.

This didn't come up again for a while -- no automatic flushing toilets in the combat zone. Then I started this new job here at Offutt. The bathrooms in that building also have the IR detector so it happened again last week while I was in uniform. Again, I know now to remove my blouse and again, it wasn't a messy experience when the flush happened -- just loud and water-wasting.

But YESTERDAY. I went over to the Offutt BX after running some work-related errands in uniform and it happened again. Sorry, I don't usually take the time to check, "Hey, is this an IR automatic toilet flusher?" before using it. Like most Americans, I'm not concentrating that much on the actions required to go to the restroom. But this time -- it was a very, um, spirited flush in the middle of doing my business. I got SOAKED...and it was doubtful that was totally clean water that sprayed up all over my backside and the back of my shirt. I was so incredibly grossed out, I cut short the rest of my time at the BX (I had planned to browse for some kids clothes) and came straight home.

I have to admit, for me, having to use the restroom, whether public or private, is usually as second-nature to me as breathing. As more restrooms are equipped with the automatic flushers, and as I'm reporting to work in a new location on a new base, I guess I have to take a moment to check for the flushers.

An Article About the Shaw Reserve Unit I Just Left...

This was just released through USAF Public Affairs channels. Enjoy!

True team effort behind squadron's success

Shared via AddThis

Worm Update

Well, it's been 10 days and this has been very fascinating! This is a great project for kids, my boys are getting a kick out of it.

I've been checking up on the worms every day or so, most days just opening the lid to make sure I don't have any more mass evacuation attempts. But every 3 days or so I would toss in a few food scraps. After tossing in some "sweets" on day 3, things seem much improved. There are usually worms crawling up the sides, but now no more than 4-5 at a time.

Those food scraps did the trick last Thursday. The worms took a couple days, but eventually all migrated towards the banana peels and tomato slices and in 48 hours, had been pretty cleared out. So on Saturday I added about 1/2 lb. of kitchen scraps: apple cores, banana peels, old lettuce and cabbage. And a couple eggs worth of shells, crumbled. I need some more guidance on how often and what techniques to use for feeding, but I'll get a system together soon enough.

Happy Worms! Enjoy some pictures from this afternoon:

From 2009 09 03 WormBin_Vermicomposting

This is the worm bin after 10 days. It's simply COVERED in worm castings now...despite adding food daily, there is no odor.

From 2009 09 03 WormBin_Vermicomposting

A closeup of the worm poop trails. Lovely, huh? This is pure compost, as good as it gets for your garden.

From 2009 09 03 WormBin_Vermicomposting

If you find some REALLY rotten food, you can find a HUGE tangle of worms. This grouping was tangled around a banana peel.

From 2009 09 03 WormBin_Vermicomposting

The top peel was added last night, the middle peel is about 3 days old, the bottom peel was from Friday.

Being Sick Sucks...

I'm just wrapping up a pretty nasty cold, upper respiratory infection, whatever you call it.

Whatever it's called, it sucks.

I don't get sick often. I last got quite sick the last week of February 2008. Yes, you read right: 2008. It was a horrible case of the flu, actually. Once I came home from the desert I felt like a time bomb, I figured if you go too long without getting sick, it's bound to happen at any time.

And for me it was two Saturdays ago, the family had eaten dinner at Upstream Brewery and then took the kids to the Heartland of America Park in downtown Omaha to run around. My throat was getting that telltale soreness that heralds a cold.

Oh crap.

I was right -- Dave let me sleep till 9am on Sunday and I didn't want to move when it was time to get up for church. In fact, I ended up not going at all...

On Sunday and Monday I was in pretty bad shape. Dave took most of Monday off so he could help with Timmy, and he took me to the urgent care clinic so we could rule out strep or H1N1 (a.k.a. swine) flu. It was none of that.

Tuesday was the beginning of improvement, but as is typical with my kinds of colds, I end up with a lingering post-nasal drip that results in a lot of coughing at night. Since I turned 30, I've had a hard time shaking such a cough without a follow up trip to the doctor for some sort of antibiotic.

This one seems better -- instead of the lingering cough, I have this river of snot -- I think I've plowed through 3 boxes of tissues over the past 10 days. My nose is a nightmare...

I need to get better about the blog posts, folks -- really. I used to be so on top of things, until Facebook and that friggin' Bejeweled Blitz that sucks up so much of my time...

I'm getting busier, though -- I'm now involved in my local AMS chapter, PTA and Dave's unit's spouse's group. Jacob's signed up for Cub Scouts and starts piano lessons this week. Timmy and Jacob both start soccer in a couple weeks, too. It's going to be nuts!

My Worms Are Try to Escape!

I didn't get any pictures because I had to work quickly. This morning I lifted the lid to the worm bin and dozens of the worms had dripped off the underside of the lid all over the floor!

Not all of them, but plenty. Timmy got a kick out this!

Anyway, I figured I'd try to improve their habitat a little and added some sweets to the top of the bin. Just a little bit: a couple banana peels and a couple slices of tomato that weren't used for burgers a couple nights ago.

I put back the strays, added the sweets, and replaced the lid. I'll check again later this afternoon and see if they're happier.

According to this website, some escape shenanigans are normal and should subside in a week or so unless there's a bigger problem that I'll need to further investigate.

The Worms Are Here!

I'm actually following through with this cockamamie idea!

From 2009 08 26 Red Wiggler Worms in Bin

Yes, that's my hand holding those worms, and no, I'm not squeamish about it in the least.

I had ordered my 2 lbs. of red wiggler worms from Gardener's Supply last week, and they arrived this afternoon! It was just a few minutes before Jacob came home from school, so I waited until both boys were home before I put them in the bin.

It's somewhat anti-climatic. You dump the worms into the prepared bin, and they burrow down out of the light.

That's it.

It'll be many weeks before I have anything else to say about this, but here are some pictures of what things are like in our basement for now. After I took these pictures I mixed in the soil-like material with the shredded paper and cardboard, put on the lid and walked away:

From 2009 08 26 Red Wiggler Worms in Bin

From 2009 08 26 Red Wiggler Worms in Bin

From 2009 08 26 Red Wiggler Worms in Bin

"Momma Said There'll Be Days Like This...."

First, thanks for answering the poll -- I guess changing/washing linens once-per-week is the standard and I need to be better at it :-)

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

I'm at it again.

Now that the school year and academic year is in full swing, it's time to get involved in stuff again.

"What stuff? What else could you possibly pile on?"

Lots. Jacob's on his way to being the Spawn of the Overachiever with soccer, piano lessons and Cub Scouts all starting up in September. Thankfully soccer is only 8 weeks. I know how much Jacob loves it...he'd give up everything else to fit in those 8 weeks of soccer!

The piano lessons and Cub Scouts will be new for Jacob and I wonder how he'll do with each of them. I'm certain the scouts will be fun, he loves camping and learning about nature. The piano lessons? Well...as much as Jacob loves music, I predict a struggle when I ask him to practice for 15-20 minutes every day. He's already gotten a head start on his books (Faber and Faber "Piano Adventures") but it's on his own and I think once a schedule is attached to it we'll see resistance.

Then again, I could be wrong about all this and he'll embrace it like a champ!

Timmy's going to be involved in soccer after Labor Day weekend, and I'm debating piano lessons for him, too. He might be on the young side in some respects, but he really enjoys playing with our piano (we have a digital piano) and his teacher still has a couple spaces available.

As for me, I start my new AF Reserves job next month, plus I've taken on secretary duties for our local AMS Chapter. Last week I also offered to become webmaster for the Spouse's Group where Dave works. I'm looking forward to serving all of these functions as well as I can.

Right now I have an evil cold. Nothing super-debilitating, but enough that I can't fill my days with activity the way I usually want to. This week I wanted to get some items repaired (our cuckoo clock, a necklace), plus sharpen our knives, plus clean out our basement storage. None of that is getting done this week, I'm afraid.

I can keep up with the bare minimum this week (laundry, cooking, keeping the house straight), hopefully next week will be better. Planning for Jacob's birthday party is forthcoming, along with Timmy's back-to-preschool activities just before Labor Day.

A Neat Idea: A Coffee Can Ice Cream Maker

On Wednesday Timmy and I visited the Offutt AFB Community Center for a "Moms, Pops n Tots" (MPNT) Open House/End of Summer Party. Since Timmy was in preschool in the mornings last year, we never made it to the MPNT sessions. But this year maybe we'll show up when we can, since he'll be in afternoon preschool starting after Labor Day.

Timmy had a really nice time, there's a big play room and an arts and crafts area. For yesterday's party, there were a food spread and face painting.

What caught my attention was when one of the Community Center ladies (Ms. Villi, I think was her name, she's wearing a red shirt in the picture below) brought out the supplies to make ice cream using a coffee can ice cream maker! I'd never seen this setup before. It was essentially two coffee cans: a 1 lb. can embedded inside a 3 lb. can. Fill the inner can with the ice cream ingredients. Then you surround the inner can with ice and rock salt inside the outer can. Seal up both cans well -- so the salt doesn't leak into the inner can, and so you don't get melted ice all over the place. Timmy's adding rock salt below.

From 2009 08 19 CommunityCenterParty_IceCreamMaker

From 2009 08 19 CommunityCenterParty_IceCreamMaker

Roll the can back and forth for 10-15 minutes. You have to periodically refill the ice and salt.

From 2009 08 19 CommunityCenterParty_IceCreamMaker

But when it was done, it was no-kidding ice cream! Made with pure ingredients! The kids loved this (although it was hard to keep the preschoolers rolling the cans for the full 15 minutes...we parents ended up taking over).

Considering I have all the supplies for this sitting around the house anyway (well, I'd have to work through a 3 lb. can of coffee, I have a recently-emptied 1 lb. coffee can already), I think this is worth a try!

From 2009 08 19 CommunityCenterParty_IceCreamMaker

From 2009 08 19 CommunityCenterParty_IceCreamMaker

The Latest HAP Afghan I'm Putting Together: 24th PTE Design V94 - Lisa R.JPG

I just received this afghan in the mail today to put together. I do this in support of The Handmade Afghans to Thank Our Armed Forces Project.

I love the colors on this one!

Click here to view these pictures larger

My Latest Cockamamie Hairbrained Idea: Vermicomposting!

"Vermi...what? Okay Major Mom, now what are you trying to do????"

All summer I've been basking in yummy veggies being harvested: lettuce, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and hops! Earlier this season I was using my compost to fertilize things and that really helps -- but over the past month the balance in the compost has been thrown off and now my compost is this nasty slimy stinky mess. I've already had to clean out the sludge a couple times this past month and things aren't improving. Too much moisture, not hot enough, not enough "brown matter" such as dry leaves.

This fall I will be able to work in the leaves as they fall from the trees, but until then, my compost is more or less useless. I can buy stuff to help things along, and I've done that before, but I think it's a bit late in the season to make it worth the $20 cost. Heck, it gets so cold here in the winter, the compost will not really get back to work until springtime.

So here I am, compostless. With little hope until springtime.

It rained a lot this past weekend...and while I was working on my garden just after a 1/2" soaker, I noticed the plethora of earthworms surfacing. And how fabulous the soil is when lots of earthworms are working through it -- the soil remains aerated and rich. The boys and I dug up a couple hundred worms and tossed them into the compost bin -- hopefully there are enough yummies still in there for the worms to help things out some.

That, of course, led me to hopping on the web and learning more about the worm casting process. Fascinating! With little more than a plastic bin and the old bills and papers I shred anyway, I could continue to generate compost all winter long!

So on Sunday I did it -- I ordered a batch of red wiggler worms that should be here by mid-week. In the meantime, I started preparing a bin so that as soon as the worms arrive they can go in.

I found many commercially available household worm bins for sale, usually for $75-150. But really, I think this is something I could do myself.

First I found one of the many storage totes that I tend to break out for PCS time. You'll see that this one was marked "Christmas" and last year was filled with legacy Christmas lights. Over the past couple years we'd converted to LEDs, so I just tossed the old lights into a paper bag. Anyway, I drilled some 1/4" holes into the bin, across the bottom and along the top half.

From 2009 08 17 Vermicomposting

From 2009 08 17 Vermicomposting

Then I filled the bin with shredded paper and some paperboard, such paper egg carton material. Then wet down the paper to a "wrung-out sponge" consistency. The worms now have a new home waiting for them.

From 2009 08 17 Vermicomposting

I'll be sure to let the world know how this turns out!

First Hops Harvest!

Today we harvested our first batch of hops! We're expecting 1-2 more harvests before the end of the season. Today we probably got enough for Dave to brew 1-2 batches of beer. It's in the food dehydrator right now and our house smells like a brewery!

New Poll ------------->

After almost a year of having all my questions in life answered, I've a new one.

This one is coming up because I'm getting really sick of maneuvering all over Jacob's top bunk changing sheets...unfortunately, Jacob sweats so much in his sleep, that's what drives our changing his sheets more than anything. Nonetheless, it got me wondering, is there a standard for changing sheets that's regarded as "normal"?

Enjoy!

Some Summer Color to Enjoy!

First I thought I'd share some of our new friends in the garden.

From 2009 08 11 BlackSwallowtailCaterpillars

From 2009 08 11 BlackSwallowtailCaterpillars

From 2009 08 11 BlackSwallowtailCaterpillars

Go ahead...say it....

[Blog reader gets up from computer and does a heebie-jeebie dance] "EEEEEWWWWWW!!!!! Stop! Make it go awayyyyyyyyyy!"

For my friends from Florida, not sure how many of you gals realized that I had quite the butterfly garden going in my backyard.

I had planted dill in my herb garden here, not for caterpillar food, but for people food. Dave and I enjoy lemon-dill seasoned fish throughout the summer (although I haven't made it quite yet this summer). And now that the caterpillars have attacked my dill, not sure whether we're going to have much dill left by the end of the week.

These are black swallowtail caterpillars, and I currently have about 20 of them, in various stages of their lives, munching away at my carrot tops, parsley and dill. I don't mind...butterflies are a good thing, and you have to start with very hungry caterpillars to get more butterflies.

The boys are fascinated by this, and every day they've been checking on their progress. It'll be interesting to see if the caterpillars form their chrysalises nearby. I propped some sticks up at the base of the dill/parsley/carrot plants.

And now for something completely different. I thought you might enjoy this slideshow of my summer flowers. I've never had prettier flowers, but I have to admit things are getting a bit sloppy in the front yard. I ought to trim things back, but the goldfinches are having a blast with those sunflowers and I'd have to cut it all down before they've eaten their fill. Enjoy!

What is a Military Wife?

This was sent to me by an Air Force wife who's soon leaving us for (I think) Florida. Or was it New Mexico?

**********************************************************************************
What is a Military Wife?*
By Jane Hubbard Hyde

A Military wife can be tough to describe.

She is a southern belle, a northeastern mets fan, a California 3rd generation re-cycler, a Pacific Islander.

She is short or tall

a tomboy

a fashion diva

a physician's assistant

a Republican

a Democrat (yes, even THAT!)

A Military Wife is a career gal

a home-schooler

a scrap-booker

an accomplished cellist

an auto mechanic

What is a MILITARY Wife?

They may look different and each is wonderfully unique

But this they have in common.

lots of moving---

moving, moving, moving far from home

moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of course

moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house

moving curtains that won't fit

moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours

moving away from friends moving toward new friends

moving her most important luggage; her trunkful of memories

often waiting-

waiting, waiting, waiting for housing; waiting for orders; waiting
for deployment; waiting for reunion; waiting for phones calls;
waiting for the new curtains to arrive; waiting for him to come home
for dinner----AGAIN!

They call her "military dependent", but she knows better

she can balance a checkbook

handle the yard work

fix a noisy toilet.

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors, and toggle bolts.

She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move, --
--all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.

Reinvents her career with every PCS; locates a house in the desert,
the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all "home".

She MAKES them all home.

She is fiercely IN-dependent

Military Wives are somewhat hasty

They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career
alternatives, churches and friendships.

They don't have 15 years to get to know people.

Their roots are short but flexible.

They plant annuals for themselves and
perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other.

They connect over
coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of friendship
and favors and record addresses in pencil.

Military Wives have a common bond.

The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands his commitment
is unique He doesn't have a job, he has a "mission" he can't just
decide to quit he's on-call for his country 24/7 but for you, he's
the most

Unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign

TDY

PCS

OPR

ACC

BDU

And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.

She is the long-distance link to keep them informed, the glue that
holds them together.

Military Wife has her moments----

She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to
move to Siberia.

But she pulls herself together.

Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to
the flag, and a wedding picture.

And she goes.

She packs.

She moves.

She follows.

Why?
What for?

How come?

You may think it is because she has lost her mind.

But actually it is because she has lost her heart.

It was stolen from her by a man

who puts duty first

who longs to deploy

who salutes the flag

and whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her
Military husband,

She will remain his Military wife.

*Disclaimer: I'm not your normal military wife, since I'm still part-time military, sometimes my husband has to bear part of this burden.

Friday Night Flights

Neal: What's the flight situation?
Del: Simple. There's no way on earth we're going to get out of here tonight. We'd have more luck playing pickup sticks with our butt-cheeks than we will getting a flight out of here before daybreak.
Neal: I guess we'll find out soon enough.
Del: Yeah, but by the time the airline cancels this flight, which they will sooner or later, you'd have more of a chance to find a three-legged ballerina than you would a hotel room.
Neal: Are you saying I could be *stuck* in Cincinnati?
Del: I'm saying you *are* stuck in Cincinnati

This is what I was faced with on Friday night. I substituted "Cincinnati" for "Wichita", which was the city those guys were really stuck in.

I haven't talked much about my work lately, I guess. Since I came home from the desert, I'd laid low somewhat, taking some drill days in June, and now I'm on this batch of drill days for the first weekend of August. Now that we're in Nebraska, we have to book my flights to and from Shaw AFB for my reserve work. Not easy. Obviously, I can't just hop on a plane from Omaha to Sumter, SC...so booking my flights involves layovers in hub airports and rental cars. This travel adds a day onto each end of my trips to SC. The majority of the time there are delays and I tend to make my flying schedules so tight, and missed connections and maintenance delays translate into missed duty hours, which I make up by paying visits to my unit's troops on their night shifts.

I had quite the time attempting to get from Omaha to Columbia, SC (via Cincinnati) this past Friday, poor weather in Atlanta meant the crew waiting at Atlanta to go to Cincinnati to eventually transport us blew their crew rest -- thus canceling the Delta Airlines flight -- and I ended up having to spend the night in Cincinnati. Thankfully, our awesome unit NCO worked out a hotel room for me at the local Residence Inn and arranged a flight to Charlotte, NC for Saturday morning. Since lunchtime Saturday, I've been working hard, mainly wrapping up loose ends of paperwork and saying goodbye to the people I've served with these past 2 years.

And for those loyalists to my blog (all 2 of you?), yes, I remembered my own tips from last December.

Things are a-changin'!

From when I came home from the desert, I immediately began to ask about job openings closer to home. I'd received several leads. Fortunately, Offutt AFB is a big base with a number of Air Force Reserve opportunities. Unfortunately, most of their positions are filled. But someone who works at my Major Command Headquarters had some inside information about a possible opening at US Strategic Command right there at Offutt. The work is very very very similar to the work I did when I was assigned in Norfolk, VA.

I submitted a resume just after the July 4th holiday, and this past Monday I'd received word that I'd been hired and I could start in September! I'm so happy about how much easier my Reserve work will be now! I just have to drop the boys off at school and head to work...instead of dropping off the boys, driving to the airport, flying on two flights, renting a car, driving to Shaw AFB....then doing the whole thing in reverse 2-4 days later.

I will seriously miss my job in South Carolina. It's among the most rewarding work I've ever done, and I had so much fun! It personally challenging, especially with the deployment earlier this year. But I will seriously NOT MISS the commute.

Hopefully we can use this saved time to really truly explore the great things the Central Plains States has to offer: Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Yellowstone National Park, skiing in Iowa (yes, IOWA -- 40 minutes away!), etc....

How to Ride an Escalator with Crocs

1.) Stand in the CENTER of the step.
2.) Stand STILL!

"We Hold the World Ransom For....FOUR...BILLION...STUDS...."

We have a Nintendo Wii. Some of you know that already...Dave got it as a graduation gift last summer when he finished his PhD. But of course the kids have all-but-taken-over it with some of their games.

From 2008 06 13 DavePhDDefenseWii

As a family we have a great time playing games on the Wii. We have a modest selection of games, most of which are family-friendly...the grownups can have just as much fun with Boom Blox as with Rayman's Raving Rabbids.

Before our move from NC to NE last summer, after Jacob had a such a great time playing on his friend Daniel's Wii last spring, we let Jacob take his own money and choose a game. He chose Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Last summer we were outright worried about Jacob, he seemed obsessed with the game, and it wasn't till he started school in August that his attention was diverted enough that we didn't have to seek outside help. All he wanted to do was play Lego Star Wars, and he didn't seem very happy with the world otherwise. I think it was his way of coping with the move. It wasn't easy for him.

During the school year, the boys are only allowed to play Wii on weekends and holidays, and we're usually pretty busy on weekends and holidays, so it wasn't often at all. I think that helped Jacob come off this "I'm only happy when I play video games" phase.

Fast forward a year, and Jacob is still working on that same Lego Star Wars game! Unlike last summer, Jacob isn't obsessed with it, but he still enjoys completing one or two tasks at a time that would eventually lead him to "finishing" the game: earning 160 gold bricks and all the cool bonuses. He doesn't fuss anymore when we tell him he has to stop playing to do other things.

As of this morning, Jacob was at about 140 gold bricks, and was about 85% finished with the entire game. This has been about 300 hours worth of play time over the past year (the game tracks this for you, aren't they kind?)

Timmy decided he wanted to start his own game. On occasion he'd play with Jacob, you can bring up a 2nd player to "help out" with tasks, and when Jacob was in a patient mood, he'd let Timmy participate. This week Timmy was delving into his own game, and he's about 5% through with lots of help from the rest of the family. Timmy isn't bad, he just misses some of the finer points.

Then the unthinkable happened this morning: Timmy started another game today and accidentally saved it over Jacob's 85% worth of work! I was sitting right there next to him advising him NOT to save it in the game-save space that Jacob already occupied, and he did it anyway.

Jacob's year of hard work is now gone. I checked online: once it's gone, it's gone.

Every single character: gone.
Every single spaceship: gone.
Every single minikit: gone.
Every single Power Brick: gone.
4 BILLION STUDS: gone.

(Did you realize that the video game tops out at 4 billion studs? You can't get any more than that.)

All he had left to do were the Bounty Hunter missions and a couple of the bonuses.

While there's part of me who is thinking "It's only a game...", to a 6 1/2 year old, this is going to be a HUGE deal! Jacob comes home from camp in an hour and I know there will be tears flowing, angry language and (if I'm not careful) punches flying. I'm dreading this like you wouldn't believe --

I had called Dave in a panic, he and I discussed a punishment for Timmy -- while it was indeed an accident, Timmy didn't listen to Mommy when she was helping him. He's been on a somewhat stubborn "I can do it myself" phase, and hopefully today he's learned that sometimes he should listen to the grownups.

Timmy's punishment: he won't be playing Wii until Jacob has caught up. Jacob will not take anywhere near 300 hours to get back to where he was, thanks to cheat codes and completion guide websites that we can access to help us remember how to complete all the tasks. But it'll probably still be several weeks.

If I had backed up the saved games, there might have been hope, but I honestly didn't give thought to doing such a thing till now.

Lesson learned: for those of you with Nintendo Wiis, use that SD card slot on the console to SAVE YOUR WORK! You can back up your games. Just follow the instructions here, where this parent had a similar incident 1 1/2 years ago with Super Mario Galaxy.

If you're wondering what that title means, just hit play here:

Pumpkin #2

No other female flowers pending at the moment.

My Next Patient...

From 2009 07 21 Garden

This one will be ready to open up on Thursday morning, with plenty of male buds also ready to pollinate!

Pumpkin and Hops Updates

First of all, a week after the artificial insemination, here's what we have for a pumpkin so far:
This is about 1.5 lbs. and about 10" circumference. I'm so excited at this!

Unfortunately, the next several female flowers haven't been opening up, but they can be really sensitive to amounts of water it receives. There are 4-5 more buds pending, and I'm keeping tabs on it...

Someone on Facebook commented about the breed of pumpkin he was growing, and it wasn't till then I realized I don't know what breed this pumpkin is going to be. It could be a pie pumpkin, a jack 'o lantern pumpkin, or maybe one of those state fair pumpkins?

We'll all just have to wait and see....

Break break.

I'm not sure whether I'd mentioned it on my blog, but we are also growing hops in our backyard. We ordered some rhizomes this past spring from American Brewmaster, the store that Dave frequented for his beer-making supplies while we were living in NC. After consulting billions of websites (here's one) looking for how hops are grown, we learned that Nebraska is at the ideal latitude for growing them, and if the soil is good, and they're planted in the right place, we could get enough hops to nicely augment Dave's homebrewing.

So Dave ordered two rhizomes of Centennial hops this past March (at $4 per rhizome, this seems a much better deal than $4 per ounce for hops cones themselves!), and we potted them in pots in April to give them a head start. This is from April 9th.
The first week of May, Dave rigged up the trellising and we put the hops in the ground!
There was little progress for a month or so, Dave and I got a bit worried. By Memorial Day, nothing was climbing...

Picture from May 26th.
Just before our vacation, we saw evidence of some real climbing, and by the time we got back from our vacation, the vines had reached the tops of the trellises! From June 29th.
Just after July 4th, flowers started to appear up at the topmost parts of the vines, and I've been having a pretty hard time getting good pictures of them...here's what I got today (July 21):

We weren't expecting flowers this year. Hops are perennial vines that usually use its first-year growth to focus on strengthening its root system and establishing itself. But whatever we get will be great, and can be preserved for future brews. We're just starting to see the flowers, flowering is allegedly going to continue through late August/early September, so I foresee plenty for at least one batch for Dave and his friends to enjoy this fall/winter.

After all, the world is just coming off of a hops shortage, and the homebrewers takes the brunt of such shortages....

Cheers and happy gardening!

A Barenaked Ladies Concert

Many of you saw the photo I'd e-mailed out yesterday -- you can quickly post to your blog with your telephone and that's what I did.

"What's the big deal? So it's a blurry picture of a bunch of guys playing on a stage....it could have been anyone"

You're right, it could have been the band that was playing earlier, lots of classic rock covers...not bad. But it wasn't, it was the best I could do with my phone camera. If you want better pictures, I'll steal these.

Five years ago, Dave and I had tickets to see the Barenaked Ladies in Orlando. Unfortunately, I got really sick and Dave ended up going with one of our friends, Andy, instead. Dave is the bigger fan, but the concerts are a lot of fun and I'm sorry I couldn't go.

While we were on vacation, we were listening to one of Dave's live tracks from an "Everything to Everyone" concert and Dave said, "Boy, I wish we could see one of their concerts again, it's a lot of fun." So one day on the internet during our vacation, I checked their concert schedule and there it was: Council Bluffs, IA on July 18th. Whoa...that's SOON!

With some further investigation, I learned that BNL was playing at a Ribfest outside of the Mid-America Center to launch the RAGBRAI bike ride event which started in Council Bluffs this year. And that if you used the promotion code "RAGBRAI" on Ticketmaster, the tickets were half price (although, with all of Ticketmaster's fees and charges, it ended up more 2/3 the price). Whoo hoo!

Dave and I went and had a great time, enjoying some Tennessee ribs -- some of the best I've ever had -- and then finishing up just in time to get a decent view of the concert! BNL played for about 90 minutes, and by then many of the people were taking off to prepare to start their ride (I guess folks were free to start at midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning). We debated sticking around afterwards to meet the band, but we couldn't figure out where on the Ribfest ground the band would be afterwards, so we ended up just leaving.

From 2009 07 18 RAGBRAI_Ribfest_BarenakedLadies

Their concerts are fun -- a lot of improv and fun banter. Of note was Ed Robertson picking on the sign language lady standing in the front row with her very own spotlight, signing the entire concert, songs and all. He was trying to talk really fast, or use really strange words to try to challenge her. He then lauded her for doing so well with their two "brand new" songs that Ed claimed he didn't even know the words for :-).

I was tickled at all the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese pasta that gets tossed up onto the stage during the song "If I Had $1000000".

From 2009 07 18 RAGBRAI_Ribfest_BarenakedLadies

PS: I don't get to go to music concerts a lot. I guess I average 1 concert per place I've lived, but I don't even think I saw any when I was living in FL. In Ohio Dave and I went to a Stone Temple Pilots, Godsmack and Disturbed show that had us fearing a random urinalysis for the next 48 hours or so. The last famous act I got to see live was Harry Connick, Jr. in Cary, NC 2 years ago. That was amazing.

Trust Me, Its the Barenaked Ladies

:-)

...And We Have PUMPKINAGE!

I consider this a success:

Before:

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

After:

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

If the pollination hadn't "taken", the bulb behind the flower would have yellowed and fallen off the vine by now. This was about 52 hours after the pollination, and the bulb has at least doubled in size.

I'll keep you updated on the progress on our pumpkin!

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match....

I have this incredibly HUGE pumpkin plant taking over my backyard...

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

And that's just the part of the one plant that's come through the fence and is actually bleeding into the front yard!

Anyway, I've grown pumpkins in the past and the best I traditionally do is 1...at most 2...pumpkins! This time around, I'm going to try my hand at (drumroll please!) hand-pollination!

I'd read that those enormous pumpkins you see winning blue ribbons at county fairs are typically hand-pollinated. And those who are super-serious will even use plastic bags to ensure the male and female flowers keep as much of their pollen on hand as possible!

How does this work? Well, for those who didn't realize, plants in the squash family -- to include cucumbers and pumpkins -- have both "male" and "female" flowers on the same plant. Male flowers are typically bigger and are on a longer stem, while female flowers will have a bulbous piece just behind the flower...which is what eventually becomes the squash itself when pollinated. On a pumpkin, the first you'd see male flowers -- LOTS of male flowers -- and then after several weeks (at least 4 weeks in my case), you will see female flowers appear. I've had less than 6 so far.

Here's a male flower. Note the thinner stem and the stamen in the center:

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

And the female flower. The bulb behind the flower and the multiple "stigma"...with an opening in the center for? You guessed it -- the male flower's pollen!

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

So here's the deal. You have to do this early enough in the morning that the flowers are all still open. Most pumpkin flowers will shrivel up by mid-day, especially on warm days. You pick a male flower off its stem, and pluck off the petals, exposing its "manliness":

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

Then you rub the male and female innards together...this is rated NC-17, sorry!

From 2009 07 14 Pumpkin Pollination

Now...some folks who have tried that have reported that you'll see evidence of success in as few as 12 hours -- the bulb will begin growing. In an unsuccessful pollination, the flower would fall off and the bulb will turn yellow and shrivel off the flower.

I'll check tomorrow morning for evidence of success/failure of today's pollination. There should be another flower ready to attempt tomorrow.

And the Search is ON!

We're looking to replace our time-tested, wonderfully reliable 2003 Honda Odyssey. It's a great van, we love it still, it took us from here to the east coast and back last month without incident, which was great! But it's starting to get a bit old, and every trip to the dealership for an oil change ends up uncovering numerous other problems.

Here's a shot of Old Faithful when she was just a pup, still in the lot at Space Coast Honda, Rockledge, FL, on March 17, 2003:

From HondaOdyssey

I love the Odyssey for its smooth ride, spacious bucket seating for the boys in the middle row, and the option for a 3rd row of seats when you want to carry EVERYBODY, such as my boys and my 3 nephews on a road trip with my sister to Florida in 2007:

From 2007 08 03 VollmerBabaTriptoOrmondBeachFL

Dave loved that when the 2nd and 3rd rows of seats were removed, he could transport his train layout:

From HondaOdyssey

Cool, huh?

We also like having the flexibility to tow stuff, if need be. We've used the van to tow trailers, including this nifty camper last September:

From HondaOdyssey

(Mind you, it was horrible not being able to see behind us for the 4-hours-each-direction drive between Omaha and North Platte.)

But I have to admit, I'm getting a bit sick of driving a minivan. It was fun for a bit, but I'm not sure I want to continue. Those newer vans are pretty nice, though -- perhaps I can stick it out for one more vehicle cycle? Bottom line, the minivans can hold Dave's layout for a train show, and that's a very convenient thing for our family. Not to mention transporting the boys' friends around if need be.

What if I didn't have to get a minivan again? What do I want? THIS! The Hybrid version. I had a chance to ride in one earlier this year -- thanks Louise -- and it was so so so so nice!

Pros of a Highlander Hybrid:

1.) It's a sexy SUV. I don't have to feel quite so -- um -- matronly driving around town.
2.) It's a hybrid -- what can I say? We absolutely love our Prius and might be willing to invest in another Toyota hybrid.
3.) It has an option for a 3rd row of seats, many SUVs don't have that...

4.) We can still tow stuff with this particular hybrid, up to 3500 lbs. on a Class II hitch...not all hybrids can!

Cons of a Highlander Hybrid:
1.) Price -- the version I'm interested has 3 rows of seats, and it's the "Limited" version. Of course it's the most expensive...it'll hover right around $40K. We haven't had a car payment in quite a while, so we need to make sure we can sustain the payment with our budget.
2.) Having a hybrid, as great as it is for the environment and gas budget...takes a certain amount of faith. Thanks to years of watching my Dad with tinker with his '70-something Honda Civic, I know minimal amount about automobiles. (Don't look now, but that's my 1989 MULLET!)

From HondaOdyssey

But with a hybrid, so much of it is computerized, you can't merely open the hood and see/smell/hear a problem. Instead, you have to take the vehicle to the local Toyota dealer and pay for a "diagnostic" test. Where the maintenance guys merely plug in the vehicle to a computer and the computer tells him/her what the problem is. With our Prius, we would get this red exclamation point that indicates a host of problems...only this "diagnostic computer" will tell us the real problem. That type of troubleshooting isn't necessarily for everyone.
3.) We'd get the 3rd row of seats and a towing capability with the Highlander, but we'd lose the immense cargo space. That's something Dave and I have discussed quite a bit -- how many more times does Dave intend to show his layout? He's in the midst of expanding the layout, meaning his ability to transport the layout in the back of the van might have some problems soon...who knows?

Running a close 2nd behind the Highlander Hybrid (in my opinion) is a 2009 Odyssey. Yep. Another minivan. I think Dave is leaning more towards the Odyssey -- after all, we love the one we have, why change, right?

My New Addiction

"Hi, my name is Major Mom and I have a problem."

"Hi Major Mom!"

I'm addicted to a silly little game on Facebook. It's called "Bejeweled Blitz" and Facebook went and made it interesting by turning it into a challenge against my other Facebook friends. So if I hear about one of my friends beating my high score, I'm on Facebook trying to beat him or her.

Unlike the classic game "Bejeweled" that's available on the web, the version on Facebook is timed. So it's as many jewels as can be cleared in just 1 minute.

I'll spend HOURS on this! It reminds me of how I was with Tetris back in the late 80s/early 90s! A lot of it is luck, but there's quite a bit of skill involved, too. I think Dave was worried about me for a while because I had a period where I did this instead of, say, laundry, dishes, or cooking dinner.

Jacob even plays this game now, but he prefers an untimed version on Popcap.com, or else the version on the game on Webkinz, where he can earn Kinzcash for his pets.

So if you're wondering where I am instead of blogging, I'm probably wasting my life away with video games.

Stupid Mulberries

As most people know, Nebraska is more or less rolling prarielands, with very very few trees.


The part of Nebraska we're in has more terrain to it, and it also has some nice wooded areas. Particularly along the Platte and Missouri Rivers. We live about 5 miles north of the Platte, and I guess about 5 miles west of the Missouri, too. Cool.

Anyhoo, we are fortunate to have 3 very tall trees in our backyard. Most of the houses in our neighborhood have a couple tall trees, in fact. We have two honey locust trees on the right, in this picture. The leftmost tree is a white mulberry (I think).

From 2009 06 30 StupidMulberries

From 2009 06 30 StupidMulberries

We have had many issues with the two locust trees, most recently a night of thunderstorms had us waking up to this large branch dangling:

From 2009 07 04 LocustBranchWindDamage

Yesterday I trimmed the bottom of the branch, to get the leaves off the ground, and we'll call our property manager to take care of the rest of it this week.

But this post is about what a pain in the rear the mulberry tree has been. We moved into this house on August 1st of last year. I guess we were at the tail end of the mulberry dropping season, there was a little bit of mess, but not a ton. When we got back from our vacation last weekend, our back patio was pock-marked in mulberry stains:

From 2009 06 30 StupidMulberries

We love our backyard. The kids have a cool swingset, they have a flat place to play soccer, Star Wars, fetch with Howie, etc. But lately it's been a pain because they're tracking in the mulberry ooze, bringing the deep purple juice all through the house, all over the carpets. Dave has been powerwashing our patio every couple days. Here's the bottom of my running shoe:

From 2009 06 30 StupidMulberries

So now the kids have strict orders to remove their shoes the second they come inside. Usually not a difficult thing, but Saturday night Jacob ran in looking for one of his Nerf guns and didn't remove his shoes first: a fresh mulberry on the bottom of his shoe left perfect little circular prints all over our family room, stairs and living room as Jacob was searching for his toy.

As for Howie, we have to make him sit as soon as he comes inside, and then take a wet paper towel to wipe his paws. I shampooed the carpets last week, which Howie really enjoyed -- really, he seems to like the smell of the Rug Doctor shampoo.

There's very little else we can do -- we'll just have to keep our grill covered, our patio furniture covered and tend to avoid that part of the backyard until mid-August. Boo.

What's That on my Webcam???

This is a New One...Blog TV

We met our new neighbors -- Dave and Jamie, and their two sons. They live in the house behind us, since their house is at a slightly higher elevation Yes, even more boys to top off the overflowing supply of little boys in our little corner of Bellevue. Just kidding, since two boys left that house, with two more to replace things it's still even.

Dave-the-Neighbor and Dave-the-Husband seem to get along really well, exchanging beers and fireworks tonight, and will probably do the same tomorrow night.

We also exchanged website addresses and I've been intrigued by Dave-the-Neighbor's "Blog TV" site. (I got permission to put the website out there for the world to see). Dave-the-Husband and I both checked it out and it's a rather interesting concept. Dave-the-Neighbor merely sets up in his basement, doing what he usually does on his computer, whether it's paying bills or e-mailing friends, but he has his webcam on, and we can hear whatever he's listening to on iTunes. He takes requests, and if you have something to discuss, he has a chat capability up such that you can chime in on anything. If you become a Blog TV subscriber, you can also hook up your own webcam and do that type of talking.


Since I've met Dave-the-Neighbor in person, and his wife, and his children, and I know where he lives...and where he works, I checked out the website without any qualms. But it's certainly a brassy thing to do, to put yourself out there LIVE.

Dave-the-Neighbor's site is neat, but I'll definitely stick to my primitive mainly-text blog! I don't think I have the commitment for the live online stuff --