A lack of oxygen

...makes me snort.

Apparently.

And only when laughing.

So, John and I decided to head to Lowes today to get some plants for our very sad front-of-house area.  Even though we are moving from the premises in 9 weeks.  It seems like the thing to do on such a nice day.

Whilst shopping for flowers, this exchange happened:

J:  I hope they have good flowers in Germany.
Me: I'm sure they have flowers in Germany.
J:  I hope they have *GOOD* flowers in Germany.  They're probably aggressive German flowers that overtake other flowers.  Like the French lilacs.  Whose blooms are white.

And then I laugh so hard I snort.  Five times.

In other news, I'm working on other posts.  But not hard enough.  I've been a bad bad blogger.  More later!

Digesting the News

From Royal Wedding Detox....to THIS?

Osama bin Laden has been killed and the US has his body.

Let me reiterate...OSAMA BIN LADEN HAS BEEN KILLED!!!

This is...this is huge.

I was tuned into CNN, MSNBC and Fox News (for once, they all agreed!) mostly because John hates hearing reporters say the same things over and over again whilst burning time waiting for the President to make his statement.  So we channel surfed.

At first, disbelief.  Then amazement!  Then joy for justice!  Now...I'm a little torn.

The reactions from people on facebook and twitter (love social networks) are mixed and so am I.  People are celebrating a death.  How does that seem right?  And yet, it can be argued that it was the death of someone murderous and evil.  Someone who organized attacks on our country and other western countries and killed thousands of people.  Not just thousands of Americans.  Thousands of Afghans and Pakistanis.

It's hard to be diplomatic with an organization so convinced they are "right" that they strap bombs to their own people in order to try to blow *you* up.

And there is the kicker.  The US is responsible for the death of the "ring leader" of the organization so to speak.  We could hope that now Al-Qaida will just crumble from within.  That will most likely not happen.  And now I realize that we need to be extra alert for repercussions.

(anyone remember that SNL Weekend Update with Tina Fey when quoting the statement that we need to be on high alert after 9/11 and her replying "Bitch, I can't be any more alert!"  Hilarious.  I love Tina Fey.)

Yet...I can't help but feel some sort of satisfaction.  I can almost feel the sense of relief from the people who were directly affected by 9/11.  A sense of closure.  Of..."finally."

I am aware that if were not for those attacks, that my husband would not have had to serve 3 tours in the Middle East over the past 8 years, risking his life and being responsible for hundreds of others in his command.  I would not have had to endure 15 of the longest months of my life worrying about the possibility of his injury, capture, or being killed.  I am aware that our deployed soldiers are probably in greater danger at this moment.

To conclude this muddled post, I'm not quite sure what I feel.  Overall, I think an important step has been achieved.

What I'm most certain of is this:  war sucks.  Conflict will continue.

And I'm equally certain that I am grateful to our Armed Forces.  For our protection.  For their sacrifice.  For volunteering for the hardest job there is.  And I'm proud of my husband for his contributions, however indirect they may be.

EDIT:  (the following morning.)  I finally figured out how to express my thoughts.  I am overjoyed that he was captured.  I am satisfied (but otherwise ambivalent) that he was killed.  I'm uncomfortable with people dancing in the streets in celebration much as extremists danced in the street after 9/11.

Royal Wedding Detox

I swear, I watched so much coverage of the Royal Wedding on Friday, with a brief interruption for a dentist appointment, that I dreamed of the Royals on Friday night.  In my dream, they were very down to earth and good friends of mine.  William especially.

Of course, right?

The rest of the weekend has been spent in detox from the event.  I am slightly tired of hearing about the event, but still read and watch what I see on TV and online...as if paying more attention will let the couple know of my very real wishes of happiness for them.

But I digress.

In all this coverage, I noticed a few parallels between the nuptials of the new Duke and Duchess and John and I's wedding.

Wills will not wear a wedding band.  While, John has a wedding band and it was a part of our ceremony, he rarely wears it.  He forgot it completely on our trip to Houston last weekend.  (more on that later.)  It doesn't bother me as I thought it would.  It does look nice when he wears it though.

A Rolls Royce Phantom IV from the 1950s was used for the arrivals.  (Of Prince Charles and Camilla, I think.)  John and I's getaway car was a Rolls Phantom IV.  It looked very similar, except ours was white.  (and gorgeous!  I highly recommend going that direction instead of a classic stretch limo.  It had so much character!)

OK.  That's really it.

I did also really enjoy watching the carriage ride from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace as my friend Craig had given me a walking tour of the area in 2005.  So I kept saying "I've been there.  I've been there too!"

I can't wait to go back!

Eagle Pics

This post has been delayed by several months.  We just found a USB cable that would work for downloading pics from our super fancy camera.  Of course, John's newer computer has an SD card slot, whereas I have to download the old fashioned way.  Don't let the bitter cold gray pics fool you...it's greener, brighter, and more flowery now in the QC than the pictures display.

So the back story is that when it gets colder, we have a migration of bald eagles come through the Quad Cities.  Usually the ground is frozen and/or covered in snow, and so they start to prefer to fish out of the river.  These pics were taken out by Lock and Dam 14.  (For reference, Lock and Dam 15 is located adjacent to Rock Island Arsenal.)

(If you care.)

They like to hang around these Lock and Dams because fish get churned up downstream of the dam and it makes for easy fishing.

Of course, it's also easy fishing when you have photographers lining river and throwing in frozen fish to get good shots of flying eagles.  They had lenses the size of my arm.  I had our new Nikon D3100, and a small zoom attachment.  John purchased it as a Christmas present for "us" with his miles and some supplemental funds.  (He had a lot of miles, but not enough to fly us anywhere good.  When we wanted to travel.)

(If you care.)

He can also claim some sort of photography background, as he took pictures for his school paper in college.  I took 2 photo classes in high school.  I fancy myself the artistic type, but truthfully, I know I suck.

As it was butt ass cold when we took the pictures, John stayed in the truck where I braved the weather to take pictures of the eagles.  (so that's what you get!)

I loved them.  They are so large, and so beautiful.

Here are the eagles perched in a couple of trees.

Random eagle factoid #1:  Female eagles are larger than males.

Random eagle factoid #2:  From ages 1-5 years old, juvenile bald eagles are mistaken for golden eagles because they don't yet have the trademark white head and tail feathers.  (I believe you tell them apart by the feathers on their legs.  Bald eagles have feathers, while golden eagles do not.  Don't quote me on this - I learned these factoids at a luncheon in January.)

Random eagle factoid #3: Eagles like to return to their same nests year after year.  They will return to the same nest and add more and more nest material to it year after year.  There is a nest in Florida that weighs close to 90 lbs!

Soaring.  Have I mentioned it's difficult to focus on a flying object against a  gray sky?

Coming in for a landing!

Random eagle factoid #4:  Sometime last spring, John went outside to use his grill and found a dead fish on his patio.  I think an eagle dropped it there.  I also think he was making a request to have it grilled as long as John was out there grilling his meal.  Everyone knows eagles prefer grilled fish.
(disclaimer:  no one knows if eagles prefer grilled fish.)

Random eagle factoid #5: Eagles have fantastic eyesight.  In fact, if you could put a newspaper on one side of a football field and an eagle directly across from it, that eagle could read the paper!  (If eagles knew how to read.)  (this one is true.  They can see with great detail even at fantastic distances.)

I know it's out of focus!  It's still cool.  (dammit)

This was just a few short days later when we didn't technically get much snow...but the wind blew it all in front of our house!

In the meantime, I'm reading books and practicing with the fancy new camera to be able to take wonderful pictures whilst we are stationed in Europe.  I promise that the photos will get better!

Exploration

There is one definitive perk to being married in the military.  (to me, at least.)  And that is the opportunity to explore regions of the country and world with your spouse that you may have not ever visited let alone lived in.  This exploration, of course, stems from government mandated moves every 2-3 years.  So if you can get past that part, the silver lining is a slew of new experiences.

Before I moved to the Quad Cities, John was stuck here by himself, working 12-16 hour days as the Aide de Camp for the Commanding General on post.  His phone calls often consisted of the his wish for me to be there with him (instead of in Colorado) so he would have someone to come home to and someone to explore the area with.  (At the same time, he also didn't want me to be there as he had very little time to himself and his life was basically consumed with work - which would be no fun for me.)

So, after we married (and after he switched out of the Aide job for a less intense position) I moved to the QC.  And we explored.  Restaurants, attractions, firework displays, on post events, shopping, nearby areas...  It's not always the most exciting because it's the frickin Quad Cities.  But it's still fun to explore together.

Now, in reference to restaurants, is the purpose of exploration to try every single restaurant?  Or is it to find that one restaurant that becomes an old favorite?

We have a local favorite.  It's called the Riverhouse.  It's SUPER close to post, has a variety of good food (fried shrimp, buffalo chicken wrap, meatloaf, baked chicken dish, enchiladas, prime rib...it's all good), plus house made chips with garlic dipping sauce, not to mention a large variety of beer.  It's not fancy, but it's comfortable and nearly always delicious.

And yet, every time we're trying to decide on where to go to eat, if we're not considering a specific genre of food (Chinese, Italian), I almost always default to The Riverhouse.  And then I feel guilty for not giving any more restaurants a try.  Like they're not getting a fair shake. Or maybe I'm just getting too much into a comfort zone, and I would never want to be accused of that....

And then I think I'm just being silly.  And I order up some chips and garlic sauce!

Still an idiot at times...

I went to Palmer today for an adjustment.  Palmer offers FREE chiropractic care to active duty military and their dependents, and since I don't know any doctors real well in the area to trade with, that is where I go for my adjustment fix.

The cool thing?  I ran into John's boss (for all intents and purposes) there waiting for his appointment.  I knew he went there, but I wasn't sure how often.  I think it's cool he realizes the value of care.  We need WAY more of that in the military to make a push to have it available everywhere.

I called to him.  "Col ___!"  (anonymity.  and all that.)

And there it was.  The deer-in-the-headlights look.  Of course I knew him and had met him and hear about him frequently when John comes home from work.  But he has met me once.  Maybe twice.  I realize this is common.  That being said, why can't I prepare to introduce myself properly?  Why??

He stood up, I shook his hand, and I'm pretty sure I said "I'm John's wife".  (I included our last name.)
I failed to tell him what John's wife's first name is.  I think he knew somewhere that John has a wife and her name is Jen as I know he speaks about me at work...it was just putting it together.

But I at least could have slipped in my own name!

I used to be a PRO at introducing myself!  (and really?  how hard is it for crying out loud?)  I had to do it constantly in practice when networking and speaking to patients who I hadn't yet met.

And this is the disconnect.  For when I moved on post, I noticed immediately when trying to get things done (car sticker, gym membership) that nobody cared what *my* name was.  They needed John's name to process anything.

I  guess this thinking has bled into re-introducing myself to other people too.

All semi-embarrassment aside, we continued to chat.  We talked about chiropractic and how wonderful it is and how he really likes the conservative route of care to handle his issues.  He asked if I was excited to go to Germany and talked about how his wife (who I actually know a lot better and who knows my name as we are on the Steering Committee together) is fluent in German and how they are trying to be stationed there again.  He mentioned that he has been sending the new commander-to-be in Germany info about John and his skills.

I tell ya, hard work pays off.  So does networking.  As long as they know your name.

Fantasy vs. Reality

Disclaimer:  I couldn't find a better word than "fantasy" when searching my noggin for the past 10 seconds, but this really isn't about "fantasy" at all.  It's really about what I envision - good or bad.

Take, for instance, Germany.  As I am clicking through Rosetta Stone lessons, reading German phrase books and various travel books, I envision Germany and our post as a little village with old women wearing black tights and head scarves shuffling through town and walking among tall cottage-like buildings spaced right next to one another to buy bread.  I'm picturing narrow cobblestone streets.  And horses.  And, occasionally, men strolling through with their travelling cloaks.

I'm picturing a very old world, rustic style Germany.

That's when I freak out and wonder if I'll be able to have my make-up shipped out there.  (as it turns out, Ulta is one such place that ships to APO addresses!  More free plugs for Ulta!)

However.

I have seen other pictures (proof, even) of a much more modern country.  (um?  obviously?)  Yes, the streets are narrow (so I hear - which is why we've opted to sell John's humungo American truck), and hey, they may even be paved with cobblestones, but there are still plenty of modern conveniences to be had.  The post, for example, will have many things we need at the Commissary and PX.  For some reason, I was picturing this bubble of modern times (the post) in an old world setting.

I have no idea where my expectations come from.  Maybe I'm reading too much Harry Potter.


(I found all of these pictures on a google image search.)