Katie's new address

AB Trummel, Katherine M
320 TRS/FLT 032 (Dorm A-7)
PSC3
1320 Truemper St. Unit 364048
Lackland, AFB, TX 78236-5570

ARGHHHHH! FRUSTRATION!!!!

Thursday afternoon while I was at work, talking with a customer on the phone, my cell phone rang. Since I'm an experienced military mom, I knew to keep my cell phone handy until we knew that everything was finalized and Katie was staying at Basic.  When I glanced at the ringing phone I saw Katie's ID flash up and my heart soared and sank at the same time.  A call from Katie! YAY! A chance to hear her voice, a chance to get a feel for how things are going.  OH NO! What could be wrong?  Why are they letting Katie call?  Is there a problem?  Are they sending her home?  Computers still have a long way to go before they can process at the speed my thoughts and emotions were flying through my brain as I lunged for the phone. (I don't even remember putting the customer on hold!)  


I grabbed the phone, flipped it open and heard my daughter's voice saying "This is your daughter, Katherine, please garble, garble garble."  
"What? You're breaking up!" 
"This is your daughter, Katherine, please garble, pen and paper,"
"Yes, I got that, I've got the paper"
"This is your daughter, Katherine, please blah pen and paper. I am going to give you my add....garble, garble."
I ran out of the building like my life depended on it thinking that might help the reception. NOPE, it's still garble, garble, garble.  All I can pick up is her tone which is starting to rise.  Oh no! I'm getting her upset, NO don't let that happen!
"Katie, I don't know if you can hear me, I cannot hear you but I want you to know I love you! I'll figure out your address and I love you! I just want you to know that I love you!" 
I had no idea if she could hear me or not because all I kept hearing was "garble, garble, garble...." Then suddenly I heard "54505! I LOVE YOU TOO!!!!"  Then silence, the call was over and I'm standing in the middle of the employee parking lot, looking at my cell phone, while I'm crying.  I am so ready to reach through that phone grab any TI by the throat and strangle them for not allowing a simple phone call from a decent connection.  


Yes, my daughter is the one going to Basic Training, and my son was the one going to Boot Camp, but why do the TIs & DIs have to mess with MY MIND and MY EMOTIONS?  I've paid my taxes, I'm a good citizen, I've raised two kids who felt it was their responsibility to do something for their country.  How am I rewarded? BY THESE HEART WRENCHING PHONE CALLS!?!?!?! How dare they!  I've been trained by the best, the Marine Moms!  We're willing to take on the entire Marine Corps for the sake of our kids, so yeah, I can take on the Air Force too!  


Now I tell myself calm down, calling down there and ripping on someone's hide is only going to make it worse for Katie in the long run.  But, GRRRRR, how I'd love to get my hands on SOMEONE right now!!!  


So to sum it up: No, I don't have Katie's address yet.  I'll have to wait until the US government gets around to delivering an address card to me.  I'll post it as soon as I know it.  Please keep Katie in your prayers!

OFF SHE GOES...

into the Wild Blue Yonder! Climbing high into the sky......

Ah, how many times have I sung that song with my father? He was in the Air Force and very proud of it and now my daughter is following in his footsteps. He was always teased about having "his head in the clouds" and dreaming about flying. We always teased Katie about "being a space cadet" and dreaming about NASA and orbiting satellites. Now, just as Dad predicted she's about to "catch her dream". Oh, Katie, I'm so happy for you!!!

Yep, she's on her way! We just got "the call" from Katie at Basic Training saying that she's there and her new life is beginning. I asked her if it was what she expected so far and she just kind of grunted and said "I guess." She sounded nervous, resigned and excited at the same time. I'm sure right now she's wondering what the heck she's gotten herself into, and telling herself, "if such and such can make it through this, so can I!!"

Katie has always been a "doer" and waiting around to see what happens next is going to drive her crazy. This first week will be the hardest on her, simply because it's mainly wait and wait some more. Once she gets into the training, she will flourish but I'm sure right now, December 11 seems like a LONG TIME AWAY!

So here's to Katie, who comes from a long line of explorers, those who had to see "what's out there?"

Circle of Life

I received a phone call from a very dear friend of mine this morning. His mother had passed away during the night. He said that she died in her sleep with her family gathered around her. He commented on how peaceful she looked. She had been ill for over a year and had COPD so each breath was a struggle. Even though she's no longer in pain, it's still hard to let a loved one go.

Two hours later a friend that now lives on the west coast stopped by work and said "hi". She's 6 months pregnant with her first child and looks wonderful! It was so much fun to listen to her talk about the pregnancy and the anticipation that she and her husband are having about this soon to be new family member.

Later in the day while on my walk, I got thinking about the two lives. The one who has just left us and the one who will soon be joining us. May God bless them both.

It truly is a circle of life. May we always treasure it.

Walking with Butterflies!

Yesterday afternoon I decided that my four mile walks would become my "power walks", the ones that I'm really going to push myself for time. I need to make sure that my 1/2 marathon pace is less than a 16 minute mile and so far I've been averaging between 16 & 17 minutes. I figured now is the time to start pushing myself and get those times down.

Mike & Sam decided to go with me and since Mike has to walk 3 miles for his PT test this week and he has to do it in less that 45 minutes, it made sense to let him set the pace. I wasn't able to keep up with him but I didn't drop too far behind him.

My first mile is always slow so I was pleased when the split showed 15:48. Less than 16 minutes. The second mile involves walking on a county highway and I don't like walking on it when I have Sam the dog. I just don't trust her around cars that are doing between 60 & 70 mph. (I don't trust the cars either.) Because of that I really pushed myself on that stretch and wound up passing Mike when he slowed down to keep track of Sam when a truck went by. You can imagine my delight when I hit the mile marker and my split was 14:49! YAY! I CAN DO IT!!

Except I was exhausted and two miles from home! My nephew who runs marathons told me that he always eats his "energy treat" at the 3, 6, 9 & 12 mile markers and that's what I was planning on doing but after pushing myself so hard I was pooped. That's the one thing he really emphasized was not to let yourself get pooped out, so to make sure I take my energy supplement when I need it, not according to some schedule. Since I had brought along the Jelly Belly Sport Beans, I decided to give them a try. Most people I've talked to said they didn't like the jelly beans but these had been freebies and since I like orange I had brought them along. I ate three and washed them down with some water. They really weren't bad and the tangy flavor made my mouth water. This was MUCH BETTER than the dry power bar I had tried a couple weeks ago.

Not knowing what to expect from these beans and pushed on at the rate I had been going. I was tired and was reminding myself how cool it was walking in Indy where there had been so many things to look at and distract myself with. Rows and rows of corn and soybeans gets a little monotonous. I was wishing for SOMETHING to distract myself from how tired I was, because I was getting a little discouraged.

Then the magic started.....not from the beans but from God. Mike & Sam were walking about 20 feet ahead of me on this dusty, gravel road between two green cornfields but they were stirring up thousands of yellow sulphur butterflies! I kept waiting for the flock to lessen but after an 1/8 of a mile Mike looked over his shoulder at me just grinning! "Can you believe this? It's like a fairy tale!" I told him I felt like I was in a Disney movie and we both started singing "Zippity Do Dah, Zippity Ay, my oh my what a wonderful day!" I have no idea when the jelly beans kicked in but by the time I hit the 1/2 mile mark, we were laughing and skipping among all of these thousands of yellow and tiny blue butterflies! There were clouds of them and just the three of us to enjoy them on this deserted back road. Oh what a beautiful fantastic memory! And my split, even with us joking and skipping around was a 15:32! Not too shabby while having such fun.

I can't tell you what my final split was because Sam (our 10 year old Lab) pooped out on us and decided three miles was her limit and she was done. She struggled to push herself but then finally went up into the shade of the cornfield and laid down. I stayed with her while Mike ran home and got the truck. Sam & I rode home, so I didn't really get my 4 miles in.

Sam's doing fine now and the vet's office suggested that her old bones just told her enough, it was time to rest. Today when I put on my running clothes, she pulled herself up and came out and looked at me as if to say "ok, I can do this...." When I told her she wasn't going with me today, she gave a big sigh and walked back to her bed and plopped down. I'm waiting for her to conk out and then I'll sneak out. I want to go find the magic butterflies again.

Good Advice

Tired of feeling broke? Want to feel rich? Who doesn't? It's simple, just count your blessings and you'll realize how wealthy you really are.

Walking in the Rain

Last week was a bad week and I'm not sure what this week will bring. All I knew was when I woke up this morning I HAD to go for a walk. Last Monday I was sick with the flu and had to cancel my workout with my trainer. Tuesday & Wednesday was spent helping the guys get ready for their fishing trip, and I gave up my workouts. Thursday was a day of confusion with an abrupt change of schedules on the guys part so I again cancelled my workout with my trainer. Friday is always a bad day for working out, it's just too long a day at work. Saturday was spent working out in the yard planting flower beds. (Now, that's a workout for the legs!) Sunday & Monday were MY days to goof off and spend the day as I pleased. I alternated between cleaning two houses, watching TV and starting a new book. It poured rain all day Monday and the Y was closed, so that was the excuse for not doing a workout.

So back to this morning, I woke up and HAD to walk. It was cloudy when Sam & I left but no sounds of rolling thunder. By the time we reached the pathway a light drizzle had started. But since I didn't hear any thunder we continued on. When we reached the road it was a steady rain but still comfortable and it felt good. It's 63 degrees, a little on the cool side but I was dressed for cool weather. I wasn't dressed for the rain and then about 1/3 of a mile out, the skies opened up. It still felt good but I knew I should turn back when my running partner, a Labrador, turned and looked at me, as if to say "are we going much farther in this?"

Visibility was getting lower, so Sam & I swung around and headed for home. We only got in maybe 3/4 of a mile. But it felt so good to stretch our legs. Plus they say rainwater is good for the complexion.

Have a nice day!