The Big Day: WINGING

Winging kicked my butt.

Late nights, early mornings, but so much fun!

Uncle Dan arrived in Pensacola on Wednesday evening. We took him down to Pensacola and ate awesome seafood. Uncle Dan converted us to raw oyster lovers. They were so good! I think whenever Blake and I had tried them, they were just bad oysters. These ones, though, were AWESOME. Great meal and great stories from Uncle Dan.

The next day we got up early and headed off for the Naval Aviation Museum. Uncle Dan is a retired aviation maintenance duty officer who now works for Pratt & Whitney. So, as you can imagine, it was mind blowing to go through the museum. Between Blake and Uncle Dan, it was like going through the museum for the first time ever and I learned so many interesting things. Plus, I love that museum. They always have new exhibits, the staff is so friendly and nice, and the Cubi Bar makes good food.

We didn't stay the whole day (though we could have) because we had to get back for the soft patch ceremony. Blake went ahead of us to base because he had some paperwork to finish up. And here's where the messy confusion starts. Blake got orders to report to Mayport on July 26th, as in a week and three days from when he got his orders. Meaning we would have to find a place to live, set up the move, get all our stuff in order in basically five days because of weekends. It was an almost impossible task. So that kind of put a downer on the day. Anyway, on to the soft patch we went.

Lots of funny stories (and frankly, some not funny ones), but it was fun and I finally got to see some of the instructors I'd heard so much about.



After the soft patch we went to Texas Roadhouse because it's awesome to eat there.

The next day was busy. SO busy, it went by in a blur. Most people got to have a leisurely breakfast and maybe the church service. Not us. We had things to do, paperwork to fill out, and things to be stressed over.

First, though, the most fun thing ever in my life. The Sim. Blake has spent many hours in the helo sims (in fact, he's in one as I'm typing this, observing for someone). I've asked many questions about the hydraulics and how realistic it is. Well, I finally got to sit in one. Let me tell you... it is REAL. I sat in the student seat and Blake sat in the instructor seat and it was just like looking out at Whiting. It was weird. The guy running the sim had turned off the hydraulics, which I must say, was not a nice thing to do because I was flying around and my body wasn't moving, but my eyes were saying I was and I got a little nauseous. I didn't feel bad, though, because Blake said he was too.

I took off, flew around Whiting. I tried to hover, which, needless to say did not go well. I didn't crash! And it was super super fun. I could have sat in that thing for hours. Best. Video. Game. Ever.

Then, it was Uncle Dan's turn. The guy running the sim put them on a carrier. Man, was I glad I had the nice solid ground for mine. All that blue water and blue sky was seriously disorienting.

I sat behind them, near the control panel and the guy running it saw my curious looks at the panels and started showing me everything he could do. It was amazing! He was like, "look I can put them in a snowstorm!" And he pressed a button and all of a sudden, there it was, a huge snowstorm and they couldn't see anything. haha. He put it back to moderate snow so they could actually see where they were landing. They did go belly-up once in the ocean and got the red screen of death. They got reset and Uncle Dan successfully landed on the carrier. Yay!

The fun part over, we headed to the moving office to see if it was possible to move our stuff on such short notice. It was. So we did all that paperwork, went home, had lunch, changed into respectable clothes for the winging!

It went by so fast. It was a huge winging class, but it was all a blur. When I pinned Blake's wings on (ever-so crooked), it was the proudest moment ever. Also, the Rear Admiral who was the guest speaker, was SO unbelievably nice.



We did the picture thing and headed to the after party. Speeches, toasts and chick-fil-a ensued. Everyone jokes about how newly winged aviators spend all their time in front of mirrors and can't stop looking at their wings. Well, I was the one who couldn't stop looking. It was unbelievable that the day was finally here. Plus, they're very shiny and I'm like a magpie.

For dinner we went to Frank and Lola Love Pensacola in the new Margaritaville Hotel. The food was really, really good, but it was so loud in the place that I would never consider going back. By the end of the meal, I was a little hoarse from trying to talk/having to ask Blake and Uncle Dan to repeat what they'd said.

It was a beautiful view, though, and a nice place.

The winging party was right next door at the Land Shark Bar. That place rocks. The bar itself is normal, but they have a huge open space behind it with Adirondack chairs and hammocks and palm trees and fire pits. They have a volleyball net and ping pong. It's just a really relaxing place. We stayed there until about 2. Then, I drove Blake, Evan and Uncle Dan home. Everyone (except me, the DD) took advantage of the open bar.

As an aside, Blake met the other two guys and their wives, who are also going to Mayport. They said their orders had gotten changed to a later report date and Blake's was too, but no one could find him during the winging to tell him because everything was so busy.

We got back, Uncle Dan went to bed, and we headed over to a friend's house where there was supposed to be another party, but instead, we sat outside of his house for 45 minutes because he'd locked his house key inside the house. Good times.

We all slept in Saturday. Uncle Dan's plane didn't leave until later so we headed downtown for lunch at McGuire's, which is always delicious. I'm seriously going to miss that place. Just like I miss McGillicuddy's in Montpelier. I'm sensing a trend in my life.

We dropped Uncle Dan off at the airport, dropped Evan at his truck down at the beach and commenced to vegging out because Blake and I were completely worn out.

The story has a happy ending. Monday morning, bright and early, Blake went to base to see if his orders had changed and indeed (after phone calls and much confusion), they were. In fact, we were already on our way to Jacksonville to look for a place to live when we got the call that his report date had been changed to a more reasonable one.

We went anyway, though, and have found a very nice 3br house with a medium-sized commute. But that is another story...

Winging Banner!

I asked Blake what he wanted for a winging present. He said, "I got a motorcycle." I really couldn't argue with that, after all, it's very pretty and very shiny and very expensive. He already knew I was going to make him a winging banner so we called it a present.

Thanks to Whiting Field's SOSA instructions, I knew what materials, what quantities, and directions. For a novice like me, though, there was still anxiety.



The Cutting: this was the easiest, if most labor intensive part. I spent an entire Sunday cutting out Congratulations LTJG Blake Shaffer. I couldn't cut out the helo or duty station because we didn't know those. So, it was just me, a pair of brand new Fiskars scissors, yellow cloth and Bridezillas. Those women are batshit crazy, but hilarious. At the end of the day, my letters looked awesome, but I had to ice my hand to quell the swelling in my middle finger and the pain in my wrist. Yes, I should have done the letters in increments, but it was fun and Bridezillas was funny and I just couldn't stop.

The Borders: I had to cut my borders twice because the first ones, while cut to instructions, were a bit sparse looking on the large expanse of banner. So, I recut them a little bigger and with room to fold them over the back for a crisp edge.

I also cut the blue background of the banner a few inches longer on each side to make a flap for the 1" wooden dowel I used to hang it. The dowel in the bottom was more for stability than anything.



Then I used double stick tape to tape the letters onto the banner and see what they looked like. It was exciting. :)

Then.....



The Wings: The scariest part by far. When I went to Hobby Lobby, I was directed to two types of gold lame. The nicer looking one had an obvious tendency to fray. The other was more stable. I decided to be daring. It paid off. The key was in the SOSA instructions. Before cutting the wings, peel back the wonder under a bit first. But first, the drawing.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I am the world's worst drawer. You know those pictures you make in elementary school of slanty-sided box houses with lopsided windows and a huge, squiggly tree in the yard? I still draw like that.

Yes, this is tracing, but I only wanted to do it once. So, I taped up the wings pictures (which is a pixelized mess, but definitely works for the basic outline). Then, I added an extra step to the directons. Instead of using a Sharpie and immediately tracing the wings, I turned them around, and used a pencil to trace the wings onto the paper wonderunder backing. I filled in details too. It was definitely worth it because I needed the practice. Then, I turned it around and Sharpied away. For a non-artist, I think they came out pretty good.

The real anxiety came when it was time to iron on the letters. One wrong move and the whole thing was ruined. I ironed two or three letters at a time. I freaked out during the whole word "Congratulations."

Then, a week and a half later, Blake got orders. Final destination, Japan. Once again, the ironing freaked me out, but here it is, the final product:



The whole time I made this, I said to myself, "it doesn't have to be perfect." It was stressful, but fun and hopefully, he'll have it for a very long time to come.

Orders!

Woo Hoo!

The day has finally arrived. Orders! Not only do I get to finish the winging banner and post pictures, but we get to look for a place to live... temporarily.

Japan, here we come. I am so excited to live there and in my heart, Japan was my first choice (even if it wasn't first on Blake's dream sheet). The not so awesome news? Training for the SH-60 Bravo takes around a year... and it's in Florida. That's right, the state we were so eager to leave behind has claimed us once more. At least we get to move, though. We'll be stationed at Mayport in Jacksonville, FL. The hunt is on for a place to live. We didn't have a chance to contact the housing office today, but word is, there is a waiting list for housing. Bummer.

So we shall see.

In other news, we went back to the watch store at Tanger Outlets to return Blake's awesome watch. The salesman (who looked like a lost, shy member of the Jonas Brothers) mistakenly told us we could replace the icky plastic band on the awesome watch with a beautiful metal one. We got home (1.5 hours later) and found out they don't make either the watch or the band anymore. I know it's an outlet, but shouldn't the salespeople... I don't know... maybe have correct information?! Oh well. We got to go back and shop, which is never a bad thing. Except, the first half was better, infinitely better. You can't compare the outlets of Charlotte Russe, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Le Creuset to the second trip's Bose, Black and Decker, and some terrible, terrible, random book store.

Tomorrow, the Pensacola Beach air show. Sunday (please, God) we're going to veg out. Monday the work begins because a week from today...

WINGING!

Fireworks & Keys

Fourth of July. Last year, we went downtown and watched Pensacola's fireworks show. It was great. Very crowded, lots of lawn chairs and lots of people setting off their own fireworks. I remember thinking, "are those people crazy? They could shoot their eyes out, kid."

Flash forward a year.

DIY fireworks. Thank you, Sheldon fireworks of Alabama.

You know what's crazy? Growing up in a state (New York) where fireworks are so illegal that if you so much as touch one, they put you away for life. Then, moving to a state where they are not only legal, but you can buy them at Wal-Mart.

This is Sheldon Fireworks:



Let me clarify. This is half of Sheldon Fireworks. As soon as we walked in, all the guys' faces lit up like someone had just given them a big ice cream cone with sprinkles. At least, that's the only thing that would make me smile like that.

It was a little scary at first. I mean, come on. You're in a warehouse of high explosives with random people who, for all you know, could have quit school after the fourth grade. The No Smoking signs everywhere aren't put up just for the irony.

So we all stocked up and headed out to Orange Beach. Note: We couldn't bring them back to Florida because only Alabama allows the "good" fireworks. The ones that shoot into the air and explode in large, brightly colored bits. Because, those are dangerous and could kill people. More on that later.

The beach was windy. From the second we stepped out of the cars, it was like a high-priced exfoliation. Sand buffeting the legs, the face, the hands and worming its way into the very fabric of everything we wore.

We set up the grill and, eventually, got to grilling. That food was good. A little sandy, but some things can't be helped.

As the sun set, the clouds came in and it looked like rain. The guys were all like, "oh, the radar looks fine. The radar doesn't lie." and the girls were like, "thank you aviators, how do you explain the water droplets hitting my face?"

Fireworks commenced. It was crazy. The wind was out of control, as were the men lighting the fireworks. I had sparklers. Just call me Indiana Jones, lover of high-flying adventure.

One guy we were with is from Texas and has experience with the "good" fireworks. He knew what to buy for the biggest explosions. As the night wore on, the big ones came out. Fireworks, I mean.

It's a mortar. You know, like in warfare. Same concept. Almost same result... You get a tube that you dig into the sand so it's stable, you put in your mortar and BOOM. Except, you know what doesn't work so well? When your tube isn't stable. Because the force of the explosion is substantial and if you don't bury it, the force of the firework will cause the tube to fall sideways and fire laterally... into the people setting off their own fireworks a hundred feet away... into the two guys and their father who have their own stockpile of very flammable materials. We almost eradicated an entire family line.

It was a beautiful firework, but it lost its charm when its light only served to show the horror and fear on the other people's faces. Oh well. They understood. They'd been there before.

The other thing that doesn't work so well? Putting in the mortar upside down. Because then, and this is the exciting part, it doesn't launch at all. It explodes at ground-level, barely giving enough time for the men people who lit it to run away with a hearty "oh shit."

Amid all this excitement was another drama. Blake lost the car key. As much as we all searched for it, we all knew it was gone. So we hitched a ride home with someone and had to drive all the way back to Alabama the next day.

But.

It was a good thing, because we went to the outlet mall in Foley. So, I'm not complaining. I got a dress for the winging that I'm very happy with. :)

Also, Blake got an awesome watch, which we have to return this weekend. The thing about shopping at outlet malls is that a lot of the stuff is discontinued. So it was with said watch. They don't make it anymore. Therefore, they don't make the bands anymore so Blake has almost no hope of replacing the rubber one with a sturdy metal one. Why the company doesn't make bands a more standardized thing, I have no idea.

Again, I'm not upset because we only got through half the stores on Monday and when we go back Friday, we can visit the other half. So, things all work out in the end. Well, at least, for me they did.

p.s. When Blake paid for our drinks and fudge at the Fudgery... the lady told him to "have a fudgey day."