Graduation, Part 3

Saturday. Our last full day with Jesse. (And his last day to be off base with us.) We had pretty good weather so we went down to the Riverwalk and took a river boat tour. It was pretty cool and our guide was really funny. My favorite part was when he told us that there were life vests, but the water was only three feet deep, so if we fell out we should just stand up and walk behind him! ;o) No wait, my favorite part was when he had everyone thank Jesse for his service (which embarrased Jesse...but I thought it was great!) and the applause was so loud that Lily started screaming like someone had pinched her! This is her on the boat telling Daddy that she's fine and she loves him even though she cries whenever anyone but me holds her! (And also when people around her clap and cheer!) We went to a nice dinner...well, pretty nice. I won't complain about the outrageous wait that wasn't really worth the okay-but-not-fantastic food and service. Jesse enjoyed his steak and that's what counts. (And I had a brownie sundae for dinner so *I'm* definitely not complaining!) Then we had to take him back to base. Boo.

So we packed up, went to bed, and got up bright and early to say goodbye to our hotel, the nice lady at the coffee shop, and San Antonio. We only had an hour and a half with Jesse before we had to head to the airport. So we walked around the mini mall and found Jess a good watch to go with his dress blues. And had coffee. And took pictures. And said goodbye...again. Boo.

It actually wasn't that hard saying goodbye. And our flights home went so much better Lily-wise than the first ones. AND we got to see fireworks on the drive home to the Cape. But by the time I drove home to Corning on Monday it was starting to set in...it's been a little harder for me to adjust to this part of our adventure. I had my first meltdown cry-session over it. I was a little overwhelmed with the miss-my-man tears. I think it was mostly because we don't know my move date yet...we don't know the details and it could be a little while.

Ironically Jesse called me in the middle of my meltdown! So here I am crying and he's reminding me that there's a light at the end of the tunnel...even though we don't know when, we know it will probably be by the end of August at the latest. AND he gets to call me most nights. So I just need to relax, settle back into a routine, and enjoy the time I have left here with my family.


Also, I had a long talk with God the next day. I was reminded that he's still faithful and loving and his plan for us is still good. Soon I'll be with my husband again...enjoying the blistering Mississippi heat and watching the oil spill waves! :o)

Graduation, Part 2

It was a little confusing to me that they gave the guys their Airman's Coin and called them Airmen on Wednesday, and then had a "graduation" on Thursday. Bottom line, after Thursday, it was officially official: Airman Aiduk! We got to the base in the morning but because it was raining they had "in house" graduations at each squadron. (What they usually do is this huge parade with all the flights together. I guess it's pretty cool, but I wasn't disappointed to not have to worry about a baby in the hot sun. And Jesse wasn't disappointed to avoid doing drill in front of us...apparently his flight wasn't too skilled at marching together!) So we saw him and his sister flight graduate...it was a pretty quick ceremony, but so cool to see.

Our good friend Josh Peterson came all the way by himself to spend the weekend with us! (Josh is a recently commissioned Air Force officer...I wish I could tell you his actual title...lieutenant or something cool like that!) So now they're Air Force Buds :o) Shout out to Josh - Thanks man, for the time and money you took to come celebrate with us. It really meant a lot to us both. Thank you!

After the ceremony we got to go tour the guys' dorm. It was wierd seeing the place he's been sleeping all this time. The coolest part about being up there was that his MTI came up and introduced himself to us all and really surprised Jesse by all the compliments he gave. He was especially struck by Jesse's maturity and work ethic, praising him for working hard even behind the scenes in ways the other guys never noticed. And he said he was glad to have Jesse in his flight, and wished that he'd scored the extra three points he needed to get Honor Graduate, because he thought he deserved it. I was so proud of my man! :o) After that we got to take him off base and we got him pizza for dinner.

Friday we picked him up and had the WHOLE DAY with him! We went to Luly's Bakery and had their famous 3 lb cinnamon roll! It was the size of a small child and soooooo delicious!

Then we went to the Alamo...in the rain! :o) It wasn't too bad, though. It was really neat to see it in person. We got to walk all around the church and they had lots of neat information and guides explaining things. Interesting fact: there is a hotel a few blocks from the Alamo that is an odd shape...only 14 stories high but really wide. The construction plans were for the building to be much higher, but they realized after it began that the final building would cast an evening shadow on the Alamo, which is illegal in the city of San Antonio. It would be a huge sign of disrespect. So they changed the shape of the hotel! I thought that was cool.

We ate a yummy dinner at Joe's Crab Shack on the Riverwalk and then we had to take Jesse back to base before our car turned into a pumpkin...or he turned into dead meat...or before curfew! Always a sad thing!

Graduation, Part 1

What a trip! Air travel with Lily was quite a bummer...round one she screamed for about 20 minutes before falling asleep...20 minutes before the plane landed! :o) Round two wasn't as bad. I was thankful that no one gave me dagger eyes...everyone was very kind and gave me sympathetic smiles even though their flight was ruined by a crabby eight-month-old! (Jumping ahead a little, our return flights were much better...she slept good and didn't cry much. The flight attendent gave her "wings" to celebrate her first flight!)

We got into San Antonio a bit tired from the day of travel and baby crying. It was so nice to settle into the hotel room. I was a little nervous and plenty excited...and all the adrenaline was good because none of us got much sleep that night. (Lily! And having to get up early to leave). We found a decent place to get coffee and we navigated our way to Lackland Air Force Base...which is HUGE! The size of Corning, people! :o)

Let me just say a little blurb here about bases...they really are like little cities! And it's so weird because the only way to get in is with your handy dandy magic military pass or ID. They have everything you need...grocery store, gas station, Starbucks (X2!), movie theater, churches, bowling alley, lots of restaurants, department store, dry cleaning, day care, bank, and a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.

So we got to Lackland and started lining up down the road that the "Airman's Run" would take place...this was our first glimpse of Jesse in 8.5 weeks! I got a little teary-eyed. It was impressive. We didn't really get to see much of him...he was in the middle somewhere...but it was so cool to see his Flight run by. After that we went to a parent/spouse briefing about all the rules and what to expect for the weekend. In the meantime Jesse and the guys were changing and getting ready to march back down to us for the Coin Ceremony.

This was a little funny because we got pretty bad seats, so we were mostly seeing them from behind. So I'm standing there staring at his Flight trying to find him. I found a guy with what I thought was a scar where Jesse has a scar on the back of his head...but I couldn't be sure cause this guy was so darn skinny! :o) Now don't get me wrong here, I knew he was going to lose weight...I was just a little unsure that it was actually him. (So enter the embarrasing dilema of taking pictures of and staring at what you hope is the back of your husband's head and not some other guy!) But it WAS him! He lost 14 pounds! It was so cool to see him in his dress blues. Handsome as always. But he carried himself with a sense of pride that I'm sure only comes from getting your butt kicked for 2 months! :o)

Oh yeah, and it's really really hot in San Antonio. I tried not to whine too much but I was always happy to get inside! And we were even lucky...it was overcast or rainy due to hurricane Alex so we didn't even get much direct sun. Just blistering, humid heat! I am so not going to like being a southern belle for the next year or so! ;o) But I think I can manage, for the sake of my darling hubs and the wonderful Air Force that will tell me where to live for the next four years...and I will cheerfully say "Sounds great, Sir!"


After the coin ceremony they were released for Base Liberty...free to hang out with us anywhere on base. We drove around, explored the base a bit, and took him out for dinner. Seeing him again was SO AMAZING! I mean, it wasn't a big huge thing...just such a relief to be with him again! He was a little nervous about following the rules and kept checking my watch for the time...it was pretty funny to see him so antsy about it! :o) But we got him home before bedtime and headed back to the hotel.

My husband was officially in the Air Force. It was so weird to say!

Tomorrow!

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow..."

Tomorrow we are on our way with Mark and Toni to San Antonio, TX! We'll get to see Jesse on Wednesday and Lily can give him this big, crooked, toothy grin that I love! :o)

I can't believe that BMT is almost over! I talked to him briefly last night and everything sounds good. He was much more chatty about things...the most like his normal self that I've heard so far. It's amazing that we get to see him soon! I'm SOOOOO thankful that the time flew by. Now for the wrap up, graduation, and transition to Mississippi! Here we go!

Graduation

I got some mail from Lackland this week! And it contained a whole packet of info that made me very happy! It was the schedule for Jesse's graduation, which is a whole day earlier than I'd thought! Plus, there are ceremonies the day BEFORE his graduation that we get to attend on the base, and THEN we get to spend some time with him!

I'M SO EXCITED!

It looks like Mark, Toni, LJ, and I will leave for San Antonio on Tuesday. Then we'll be ready for the fun stuff on Wednesday. Events include the "Airman's Run" (which sounds funny to me...I guess we get to watch him run by in unit formation...do you think I'm allowed to bring a sign - JESSE ROCKS - ??), the Airman's Coin Ceremony (no clue on that one), and the Honor Graduate and Top Physical Readiness Ceremonies. Then comes my favorite part...base liberty for the rest of the day until 8pm! Base liberty means that he gets to hang out with us as long as we stay on base! YAY!!!

Thursday July 1st will be his actual graduation. I guess there will be a graduation parade (I hope they throw candy!) followed by my next favorite part...TOWN PASS until 8pm. This means that Jesse is free to come off base with us and go exploring in San Antonio! Double YAY!

Then he gets town passes for both Friday and Saturday from 9am to 8pm. I'm so floored about all this time we get to spend with him...I totally wasn't expecting it! And then Sunday he has base liberty all day but we'll have to leave him alone for most of the day because that's when we fly home.

So basically, only 5 more weeks till I see my best friend again. (Or 35 days if you want specifics!)

In other news, Jesse's into week 3 and it looks like the big things they work on this week are Self Aid/Buddy Care. Serious medical training to know how to take care of all kinds of wounds and injuries on their own. This is great news for me, since Jesse and I agreed as soon as I got pregnant with Lil that I would handle the barf and poop but wouldn't be cool with the blood. So not only is he stuck with injury duty, but he'll actually know what he's doing! :o)

That's all for now. I'm off to Pookie's to hopefully get lucky and find some maternity clothes that actually fit!