Lackland Air Force Base

Hey all,

We made it to San Antonio in time to meet Dad and Gail at our hotel and then went to the base for Amber's coin ceremony. This is where all of the recruits are awarded the coin of graduation from boot camp. These commemorative coins are a big deal in the AF. Amber will officially graduate tomorrow. She was awarded "base liberty" which meant that she could go any where on the base. Tomorrow she has a town pass after the graduation.

She really looks different! Much more secure and sure of herself. It's amazing how much a person can change in just two months. I guess that's the whole concept of boot camp. She has orders to learn supply management. She is not really sure of what she will be doing, but she is excited to do it! She just wants to get her college through the AF. She will be in tech school here at Lackland for the next six weeks and will be assigned her next duty station in a few weeks. She requested many bases over seas, but they will put her where ever they want to. Welcome to a government job!

Hope you are all well. I love you and miss you ...someone...Kiss Keiko for me.... Darby?

Last week of the summer

I know I haven't been very sharp about posting my schedule. This week is going to be fairly hectic.
Rick is at Tinker today working overtime and I am being lazy. Tomorrow we are both going to be lazy.
Monday is a definite clean this yucky house day. Tuesday, I am going to Tecumseh in the morning and then meeting my writing group in MidWest City at Rose State Library at 2:00 P.M. That should last an hour or so. I'll stop at Panera on the way home, Darby.
Wednesday, 7/30, I am paying bills, scooping litter and getting ready for San Antonio. I am also mailing Beth's giant birthday present.
Thursday morning, we are leaving for San Antonio. Rick's dad will leave Florida on Monday to meet up with us.
Amber graduates from boot camp on Friday. We will spend Friday and all day Saturday with her. Then we will leave for home Sunday (August 3rd) morning.

That takes care of the last week of summer.

Estelle Getty

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2450286/Estelle-Getty.html

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/07/estelle-getty-w.html

The Mundane

Hey...very boring housekeeping notes so I don't forget....

-I just cleaned out the microwave and it was filthy! Please remember to cover food when re-heating or cooking and wipe up spills quickly before they set. Michael...that means you :)

- Also I moved all of the bandages into the medicine cabinet in the "kids" bathroom to save on the clutter of the hall closet. So if you need neosporin or a piece of gauze...it's in the medicine cabinet.

-Beth...the AESA is at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront on General McIntosh Blvd. The exact dates are October 29-Nov. 2. So we will spend Halloween in Savannah!!!! I am looking for B&B's.

Tangents

-I just got word from my professor that our symposium conference proposal has been accepted for the ACTER conference in Charlotte, N.C for Dec. 4-6th! I would like to fly into RDU on the 3rd and spend time with my favorite oldest daughter and see her lovely new home!

-I am also thinking about AESA in Savannah for October 29-31st. Mike and Beth, if you would like to join me for a few days in Savannah, then I will get a room with two beds. I think it is at the Hilton.

-I also have the SOPHE conference in San Antonio at the end of September, but I don't think I can afford it. This is going to be a busy fall! I talked to the new principal at the high school yesterday. She is the former counsellor from the middle school where I worked and it was great seeing her again. I hope the students don't eat her alive!

Things are going well here. Amber should be graduating in a few weeks. It is hot here, but July in Oklahoma...oh well.

-Oh Beth, I made a recipe from the shelter's cookbook and it was fantastic! Katie wanted to know why they put pictures of dogs and cats through the book...she thought they were pictures of the main course!

Crystal Visions

Rick and I are back home after a conflicted trip to CA. I was able to go back to Fallbrook and see the elementary school where Bethy attended kindergarten. It looked so much smaller! Rick also drove by the old apartments where we lived for a year: Fallbrook Manor. That looked exactly the same. I saw the parking space where that old Nova was parked and Leslie climbed into the engine when the coyotes ran though one evening. Brought back a lot of memories. We drove through Camp Pendleton, but I had forgotten all of the streets and we got lost.

As most of you know by now, Amber will be in boot camp for a few more weeks. Her projected graduation date is now August 1st. I think she will make it then. So we have to postpone the trip to San Antonio until the end of the month.

I hope you all are well. I love you,
mommy

4th of July Eve

Hey all,
Just some updates on life. Rick and I are getting ready to go to Anaheim on Saturday morning (at 6 am...WHAT WAS HE THINKING????). Mike...I am going to visit Molly Malone's Pub in L.A. which is where Flogging Molly got their name. They had been playing there week after week and going no where when one of the band members said, why are we doing this? we aren't getting anywhere. We are just flogging a dead horse. Then the other member said no, we are just flogging molly. The name stuck and they went on to greatness!

-Good news for mommy... I have been accepted to the AESA conference in Savannah, GA at the end of October! This is the third year in a row for this conference. Hope it helps get me a job.

-I heard from the Institutional Review Board and they wanted four MINOR revisions on my research. I have completed them and mailed it in, so by the time I get back from CA, I should be able to start interviews. I have projected my graduation date of May 2009. I really think that is feasible.

Hope you are all well.
love,
mommy