Catch up

Ok, wow, it's been a while! I'm going to start with Labor Day weekend 2 weeks ago. I did make it out to Montgomery and I did take my motorcycle out there. It was a great ride! I did get rained on after the first 30 minutes or so, so I pulled over, took 10 minutes to get my gear on and back on the road, and sure enough, it stopped raining and got really hot. So, I had to pull over again and take everything back off. This time, I rigged up my I-pod to the tank cover and put one of the buds in an ear so I could listen to some tunes on the road, it actually worked quite well! I had a great weekend out there with a couple of movies, a lot of chatting, and I even helped Luke beat this tough boss on the Justice League Xbox game he's been playing. I came back later on Sunday to beat the heat and had a pretty uneventful ride back. The next day I did my shopping, some studying, and pretty much just chilled before starting back into everything the next day. That whole last week was just awful as far as weather. We still flew every day, but I had 2 incomplete sorties due to the weather.

This past weekend was pretty tame; I just stayed around here. But, on Friday all the computer upgrades I ordered all came in! So after hitting the gym I started to put everything together. The memory was really simple, but the video card created a real problem. I ended up taking the entire computer apart which wasn't easy because it a small flat 'space saver' and not a nice roomy tower. Then I hooked up a whole other power supply to everything to see if that would fix the problem. It didn't. Turns out after hours of messing with it that the fix was a lot easier than I first thought. Also turned out that the computer wasn't doing what it said it was doing per the setting I was giving it, hence all the problems, but in the end I got it all figured out!

Of course, at that point after all that hard work I just HAD to test it out. Sure enough, it made everything a LOT faster and smoother. Finally, after 'testing it out' until 4 in the morning I realized my head probably hurt because I'd been up 24 hours straight by that point, and I should probably make myself go to bed...good idea. So needless to say I slept in just a little bit Saturday before getting some errands done. Sunday was good with some really solid sermons Sunday morning and Night. Pastor said he was glad to see me back. I had to explain I wasn't playing hookie, but that I'd been out of town the last weekend and going to bed super early on the wednesday! :) Oh well, it's just really nice being somewhere that people notice when you're gone!

This week the weather's been a lot better, but still hit or miss. Our schedule's been great though because our reports have been a little after 6 so that it's not too early, but we still get out at a good time. So, I've been able to hit the gym every day this week, and have just taken today off so I can go at it again Friday and earlier on Saturday. Cindy and I are in a competition to see who can lose 10 lbs the fastest, and I'm not keen on losing! Game's on, girl!

Anyways, I'm now down to only 4 flights left, including the formation check. So, time is drawing close to when I'll be T-6 complete! Right now I'm scheduled to check on Tuesday, so we'll see if the weather cooperates for that or not. Here's hoping!

Sadly, I know a lot more has happened, but at this point everything from the last 2 weeks is just running together. Oh yeah, I got on pro cap last week for failing another EPQ, and I also got off of it no problem, so that was just a whole bag of fun there. Umm...what else? Well, I'm sure I'll think of things I can come back and add later, but I just had to get SOMETHING up here after such a long break.

Oh, Rachel Fosdahl called me last night! I got it while I was in church, but I called her back on my way home. We chatted for a good hour or so just catching up on everything. She did get accepted to med school at Texas Tech, which is really exciting! So she's about to finish up her first class (block schedule) and has the big test next Friday. It was just really nice to catch up as we'd talked quite a bit for the first couple of months after my breakup in February but not as much the past couple of months. For those of you who don't know, I've known Rachel and her family for pretty much my entire life (since I was 2) and definately and literally for as long as I can remember. I haven't seen her or her family in years and years, but it's so cool to be able to keep up with an old friend like that. Anyways, it just meant a lot to me and I had to share.

Speaking of keeping up with old friends (though not from quite as far back in my history) Heather caught me on facebook the other day and we IM'd for quite a while as well. It's just so neat that there are people/friends out there who are willing to take the time to not only just chat but also share prayer requests and concerns close to them. So glad your aunt does not have cancer, BTW, praise the Lord for that!

Anyways, I do appreciate all the friends and family I have to pray for me and keep in touch with me. Being out here 'alone' isn't always the easiest thing, and the Lord has really blessed me with some great people in my life who still influence me from even across the distances.

Finally, today is 9/11. Never forget. Praise God for this country and for those who are overseas right now fighting for our protection and freedom! Never forget.