Sunday, July 29, 2007

Its been a while, hasn't it? I'm in the extrememly hot and humid state of Mississippi. On the coast, and well, it looks still just horridable. The hurricaine did very extensive damage, but haven't we been hearing about it all along for the past two years? Well, yeah, but to see it first hand, makes you wish you could do a little more. There have been leaps and bounds of improvements over the last two years. Depending on how you look at it, there has been a lot done, you can tell by checking out some pictures in the many books covering the subject in local bookstores, on the other hand, not nearly enough has been done when you see the shells of homes and signs spray painted on the side of their home that say, "We are home, no loot, will shoot." It makes you realize what a nightmare the permanent residences are wishing they could wake up from. Knowing that all of their worldly possessions are lost at sea or in a tree somewhere a few hundred miles north of here.... or some other random distance, I'm not sure how far north the storm reached. If you stand on the beach you can see some kids' toys roll up with the tide, covered with sea life indiciative of being held under the currents for quite some time.

Aside from the environment, all is good, I finished my schooling in texas a few weeks ago, and I'm in the midst of my clinical rotations... I have seen the most efficent pap smears of my life, it made me think i need a new doctor when i get back home! I worked 4 days in the ER, nothing traumatic occured, but still much was learned and apprecated. I stabbed countless children in the arm and legs in immunizations, gotta have them for day care and school. School in this community starts on the 8th, so I guess I landed here in good time. It was busy from the moment I walked in until I left at 3pm for a conference I needed to go to.

My running, I wish it was going better. I am sadly, considering not doing the marathon because it seems that it is near impossible to run long distances in the heat and humidity.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

hanging out at the mini mall, trying to solidify my plans for the big move to mississippi for a whopping 6 weeks. It will be cool, I guess. I've come to terms with it and it is looking like even if I don't buy a house, I won't be homeless when I get home... gotta love my man :-) he always fixes things for me. I am looking forward to going home soooo badly! I hope you all are having a good time this summer... and jen it looks like I will get to see you on my way down. I will have a classmate along for the ride, should be fun!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

some day i will get to leave this ungodly heat and humidity. I know it is just the beginning of this weather, too. It will get worse before it gets better. It is only 40% humidity and i'm dying. I really really am!
Ummm lets see what have I been up to? I passed my EMT registry test so now I am officially an EMT-Basic. Yipee... I almost got to show off my life saving skills because a small child was choking on some cantelope at an IHOP but he worked it out before I had to swoop in as a superman. I think more people should know what to do in case of a choking child. Actually I think all people who are expecting a child need to take a CPR class before the child is born. But where does the money come for that? But thank goodness the little one was okay, and the food at IHOP is good. We don't have those in Alaska. We don't have sonic either, and well, their mozzarella sticks are awesome! Yeah more fast food places should offer those on their menu. Not to mention all the frozen yummy stuff. Yeah, needless to say I gained weight when the kids came to visit. Oh yeah, I probably haven't mentioned that. The kids came down to see me for 10 whole days. We saw all kinds of cool storms while they were here. One went on for hours and we were under a tornado watch. We go on lock down when there is lightening within 5 nautical miles so at one time they were there, 5 steps from the door, I was outside ready to get in, but NOOOOO, i was forced back inside... but they let off the lockdown for 5 minutes until there was more lightening right up above me, i was already outside, thanks to a wingman of mine. Being in a leadership position everyone gets to hear about my kids, pretty much every time i open my mouth so the females in my hallway were all sad to see me come back inside the first time.... but they sprung me out in that narrow window of time and I am very greatful to them for making it happen. It was awesome to hang out with my kids watching a crazy active storm through the hotel windows with them!
I got to draw blood from my instructor the other day, it was a demo for the lab we were doing, on blood draws. I got to show off a bit, and that was cool.

Oh yeah, I started talking about the weather from here in texas.... yeah well I bet buloxi is just as bad if not worse, in the weather department.... and that is where I'm going next.

there is a small outbreak of a virus coming from basic training that has made it way to us. We are all using hand sanitizer and washing and lysoling and bleach wiping everything we can to try to prevent the spread. some of the "infected" people are on quarantine where they can't leave their rooms, their roommates have been ordered to move to new rooms and such. If we have sore throats we have to go to the clinic and get checked out... apparantly there is an individual that is still in basic training status in critical condition because of it. My heart goes out to his family ( i think it is a male airman) because those of us who have been there, we don't go to sick call unless you want out, or the ambulance took you there because there was no avoiding it. At the same time the only thing on your mind is get through it as fast as possible no matter what. Blisters, colds, flus, ankle sprains, and any other maladies that commonly strike are ignored and sometimes they get better sometimes they get worse, sometimes you can stick it out until you get to tech school and get it taken care of then. This virus isn't something to play around with.

As for my running, im ashamed to say i haven't done much outside of mandatory physical training.
Honestly i could make time for it, I really should. I think i am going to. But I cannot run outside in this freaking heat. I just can't.

Dorkness OUT!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

96 baybee

Yep that is the score of my first Unit Test. 1 of 6, these are the ones that count for the GPA here, the little quizzes we take almost every day don't count for grade, just to keep you in the class.

I may or may not end up a student leader, it now depends on how well i can march, not myself, but how I direct a flight of no more than 38 people! So we'll see
everything else is good, tho. I start EMT training tomorrow, I'm doing CPR and life saving today, not like I'm not already certified, but I didn't think to bring my card with me and I'm too lazy to call home to get it sent.

Not much else to talk about, I keep busy, I don't get enough sleep and sometimes starburst jellybeans and goldfish crackers are considered a meal for me... sooooo yeah

Captain Dorkness OUT!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

amanda goes shopping

I rode on a public bus not knowing if I was actually going to get to where i actually wanted to go. I was wearing my blues, so yeah, I kinda stuck out... along with the other 100+ people in the same outfit...er uniform.... I made it to the mall, and did I mention I was travelling alone... at least it was daylight out :-)
I spent money, like duh, what else do people do at the mall?

Oh hey, I don't have a lot of time so someone needs to remind me to tell y'all the story of the dude who hit on me on the bus, on the way home.... yeah totally oddness!

Okay, uh so whats goin on here... got good grades so far... the unoffical GPA as of now is a 97.5 but all the quizzes we have taken don't actually count for the GPA only the end of unit tests count.
I am in the process of applying for a student leadership position... it would be cool if I get it, but also goes against the rule to stay under the radar around the TI type people, although they're not called TI's here and they don't have the same responsibilities. But if anyone knows me, they know I tend not to fly under the radar. I'm more like that mosquito that flies right into your windshield, right where you need to look out to see the road, then you turn on your windshield wipers and apply ample amounts of washer fluid, and I don't go away, I'm still there, just smeared, and now you really can't see... in otherwords I'm in your face all the time, talking really fast!
Did I mention my MTL (kinda TI guy) is from Alaska, too? I was stoked, after he hunted me down and I found out I wasn't in trouble.
It was good.
I've done good so far, and I make my bed everyday, and I even vacuum with a dust buster hand held thingie.
Enough of this for now! Bye!
Captian Dorkness out - - yeah like that promotion I just gave myself, who knows maybe next week I'll be Major Dorkness, huah!

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Man oh man, I need to update my pic! So much has happened since I left for basic. I am happy to announce I made it through, and on time. It is amazing how out of shape I was when I got to basic, and even more amazing, how much more IN-shape I was compared to a lot of females, and males, too I guess.
I'm chilling at the mini-mall, wingman-less because they all went out to the club tonight. We have to go everywhere in our BDU's so no clevage showing for them :-) I don't really to the whole dance clubbing thing so I'm here, alone. I am supposed to meet some other non-dancing females from my basic training flight at the day room to watch a movie in about 6 minutes, but since I just figured out how to make my computer work with the WI-FI here, I'm going to hang out a bit longer. I don't mind being alone in a crowd of people. As a matter of fact being in a large living area with 48 other females, isn't large enough no matter what the dimensions. It was pure craziness. I made friends and everything because they are the only ones with the same experience as me for the last 6 1/2 weeks. Even someone from a different flight, or squadron wouldn't quite understand what we went through.
The hardest part of basic training, for me, was going so long without communication and physical contact. The physical contact issue surprised me the most. We left church one Sunday, and several families where there with an airman who had just graduated the previous Friday, I wanted to hug this old man, just craved it... and he was grandpa-ish so nothing sexual was there. But I craved a hug from a male who wasn't in green, and wasn't looking to procreate. So yeah, weird. My little people and S. came down for my graduation. It was definately anti-climatic, the ceremony, not the visit from the fam.

I want to give a shout out to how much I love S. and my little people, and I think they are so very AWESOME for being by my side even though I am so far away and missing so much of their lives right now... but they keep on plugging away, and smiling and telling me they miss me, and Desi keeps telling me how she's saving candy for me everytime I hear she's eating some. So cute, and so untrue!

Things are good, I think I start actual school on Monday, and I slept in until 0930 this morning when one of my friends woke me up so I would go and do laundry with her.... I am the soap-keeper as we figured it would be more cost effective to share soap, and washers since we don't own enough clothes to warrant a whole load individually :-)

I'm down some weight, the scale doesn't say I've lost much, BUT those around me can't get over how much thinner I am.... so the pushups have buffed up my arms some, and my middle is smaller, and my bootie is also, thank goodness, smaller as well!

I have a roomate that I don't know, she's from a different squadron, she is alright so far, I think. I don't talk to her all that much, and she's not totally on top of her game so far, and she speaks spanish to her bf, I don't get to eavesdrop on her like she does me... but if I give her time, maybe she'll get her act together and I won't have to drop kick her out of a third story window.

We have a student leadership class here, as far as my rank goes, I'm expected to apply. I would welcome the added duties just so I have a good excuse to not go out. These females have a hard time just taking I made a promise to myself, my boyfriend, and my kids not to. I know they think I'm stupid, but I know I won't be the one waking up in the morning naked next to a strange ugly guy who's wearing my panties on his head, and don't remember how we got to where we were, or how to get home from there.... that maybe a bit extreme because there is such a thing as drinking responsibly, but I'm not taking any chances AT ALL!


Oh yeah for those of you who are current or prior service people, guess what one of my jobs was in basic? I was a road guard! One of the crappiest jobs you can get that isn't a leaderships position... I guess it IS better than chow runner :-) I didn't mind it and I think my improved run time in PT is because I did so much more sprinting than those who marched mid pack. Running in dress blues with dress shoes is not all that much fun, especially when you're low on deodorant and aren't sure when you'll have another opportunity to buy some more :-)

Kool my itunes is done downloading, YAY music... something else I desperately missed during basic.

I'll see about posting a new pic for y'all post basic training.

Luv ya!
Dorkness OUT!

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

6 days. I leave in 6 unbelievably short days. I wish I was more prepared physically, but no matter where I am in my fitness, I'll long for better. I will take what I have and do what I can. I've been doing pushups, 15 each hour. I'm up to 75 today... and I have more hours to go. My form isn't the best right now. I'm sure I can put more effort into better form... but man my arms are getting quite tired. But I bet sloppy pushups still have a benefit.

I ran on the treadmill the day before yesterday. I felt sick last night so I laid low. My tummy still hurts from vomiting yesterday, stress much? or food poisoning.... it shouldn't take 6 hours to eat chinese for breakfast/lunch/ almost dinner, too :-) it sat out at room temp all that time and my tummy was full, and I had a bad encounter with my mom on top of it. My tummy just couldn't handle it all. :-(

Dorkness out!

Friday, January 19, 2007

Yay! It isn't blocked anymore... the IT department here at work apparantly decided that I should spend my work time more wisely... I guess they must have realized I work harder than they do... I just do it better so I have more down time :-)

So now that I can post again, do I even have anything to say?

Lets see....hmmmm.... well I can do 15 pushups at one time, but of course I tested that after doing 8 sets of 10 yesterday to equal 80 pushups throughout the day... then I did something similar so over the course of several hours I had done 35 pushups... then tried to see how many I could do at one time...
so far today I've done 65 and it is around 4pm here.

My daughter is selling girl scout cookies for the very first time, so if anyone wants some cookies, let me know!

What else... man, it has been a while since I've posted, huh?

I have drill this weekend so I'll be getting my orders and out processing, which is really goofy since I'll have to re-inprocess once I return after school, but whatever, I'm getting paid regardless of what goofy shenanigans they have me do.

Uhmmmm what else... man, I'm boring.

Oh! I went and saw Rocky Balboa last night a.k.a. Rocky 6.... it was alright... one part made me think, and the rest, was well, predictable there just didn't seem to be much of a story. Just an athlete who still had something left in the basement and needed one more event to get it all out.

Well, okay, I guess that is about it.
Dorkness OUT!

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Why did I think that masters swim teams were just for people over 40? Like you can only swim up to and through college, then hang out in lap swim until your 40th birthday? I realized today, because I'm a bit slow, that I've been reading about certain people's master swim workouts and such, and I realized that these people aren't over 40. They're dang better swimmers than me, but not old :-)
So I googled master swim teams for my area, and wouldn't you know it, they described themselves as being for people 18 and up. Their oldest member is in their 60's. And you don't have to be olypic elite either... so guess what I might be doing this week :-)

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

PMS Tri

I may have just thrown away 53 dollars :-)

I signed up for a triatlon the 6th annual Power Maiden Sprint Triathlon... it takes place June 16th 2007. So I have no idea if I'm going to be in Texas that month. I don't have a bike right now and I don't know if I'm going to buy one... can you rent for a few months? Maybe I can get some kind of a deal. I won't have a car, so I guess I'll have to rent one to drive there... oh and the whole thing of even leaving base. I'm not sure where my restrictions are. I'll have to apply for leave because I'll be more than 150 miles from base... and that's only if I'm in Texas. But you know what, I have something to look forward to while I'm gone. And that will occupy some time and thought, and if nothing else I can work up a sweat, and get all exhausted so I don't have the energy to wonder about my kids at home. So if I've wasted 53 bucks then so be it. I have a goal!

Oh yeah, and I said my estimated 300 meter time is going to be 20 minutes, because I honestly have no idea how long it should take me to swim that long... but it is in a pool so that will be friendly for a first timer :-)

Happy new year!

Since my new years resolution is to just make it through 2007 mentally and physically intact, knowing there are going to be a lot of hurdles to jump through, It only made sense that the first supposedly non-holiday day I go to the gym to find it closed until 9am. 9am is roughly an hour after I need to be at work :-( Oh well, can't I get some kudos for waking up early and peering through darkened windows, wistfully, wishing I had enough sense to check their holiday hours before dragging myself and my sister out at 530am?

So I feel as if I'm already behind for the year. I did do some pushups and situps last night, and I'm feeling it this morning. I'm so sad....

Happy new years to all!
Mine has actually started well, I got some extra time with my kids, and that is always a good thing... of course now I need to clean up the damage from all the extra trash and whatnot left in the wake of christmas. It has truely been a whirlwind of events that the kids haven't even opened their presents (unwrapped, but not disengaged from the store boxes)!
So that is on the agenda.

So next month it is, I go on an adventure that I will never forget. I am bracing myself to be strong for this. I was told by a very wise person yesterday that everything will be here for me when I get back. Nothing is ever going to change with my ex, or my kids... the mess, the chaos, and the unwavering love from my kids will be here when I get home, so don't worry about leaving. It is a drop in the bucket. I know that it is for the good of my family, and yes, my kids don't want me to go, and we are all sad over it, but in the end I'm the adult and I see the big picture better, so I need to be confident in my decision and just go. Make the most of it, and be the best that I can be. Then figure out the minor details as I go and follow my plans when I get home.
A house is definately in my future when I get home.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Went to see night at the museum last night. I had hoped to take the kids to a 7-ish showing, but alas we were in north pole still at 615 and the next showing was at 640, totally not enough time to scramble in to town, get junk food, and get seated.
So we went to a 935 showing... the kids seemed tired on the way TO the movie. I had to enourage my 7 year old to stay awake. She is my morning person and doesn't seem to stay awake during movies much. But really once the movie got going, they all stayed awake and attentive.
My youngest curled up on my lap, and I had my son on the left side and my other daughter on my right side. That's the way I like it. All my kids nearby while we engage in family time, even though when we are all staring at a huge screen surrounded by complete strangers, you can't really call it quality time, but it is nice just knowing that we are together.
I did pretty good last night not thinking about being gone soon. The preview are really what throw me. I see a movie that I think "that'd be cool to take the kids to," then see when the release date is and realize we will be on opposite ends of the continent at that time :-(
Ah well, it is only 7 months and really this last year has gone by so darned fast that 7 months is only a drop in the bucket, right?

Oh yeah, as you can see, our swimming plans got changed. I had forgotten to grab a suit for my youngest from her dad's house, and well, I wasn't feeling up to par physically last night so a relaxing event just suited me better. I promised the kids that I'd try to snag them from their dad later in the week for some swim time. If he is working graves, I can't see how he'd care, he goes to work the same time swim starts AND I'll return them to his house and his wife before he gets home, or maybe he can just want to pick them up when he finishes his shift the next morning... who knows. Maybe he'll just decide that he doesn't want to be nice and say no. I hope not, for the kids' sake, but if so there is still time during this break to do fun things... AND I have planned time off in January. YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!

Have a good day all, and maybe some day soon I'll regale you with tales from the gym... just as soon as I experience them :-)

Thursday, December 28, 2006


I guess we are going swimming tonight. Open swimming is always a very chaotic time to swim... but maybe my little people will play amonst themselves so I can get a few laps in... you know to train for my virtual triathlon... I'm not sure how I'm going to do that... it has to be indoors and the pool at the gym is closed until January 9th, so I'll have to do my swim at one place then drive 30 minutes to another place and do the bike and run on a stationary bike and treadmill respectively.


My daughter had a choice of going out to eat (her idea) or go to a movie ( my idea, since we got a bunch of gift certificates for christmas and my award for being the employee of the month for the lab (YAY)), but somehow we ended up agreeing on just going swimming.

Maybe I'll stop by storage and get a different swim suit... mine seems to be a big too big for me right now (?) which is odd because I haven't lost any weight really... maybe it just got stretched out from the drag or something... who knows.

So happy day!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Looking forward to spring, so enjoy my new tacky color scheme!
since I can't buy a house, I'll buy a bike. Actually I'm wanting to do a triathlon while I'm in training down in texas. Of course, that is added to the long list of other things I want to do while I'm in the CONUS. I'm doing research for bikes right now. Actually I've been doing that all day long. We've definately come a long way from the good ol' huffy generic fits everyone kind of a two wheeled contraption of our youth... and the youth of others :-) since apparantly I'm not as old as I feel sometimes :-)
I have to decide if I should buy it down there while I'm away and undoubtedly will have more shops to choose from, or if I want to buy here before I go and have it shipped to me while I'm there. If I buy here, I'll have the ability to utilize a local shop and will have that shop to help me in the future when I need it. Also if I buy in the dead of the winter when everyone else is looking at snowmachines and snow shoes, skiis and skates, I'll probably get a sweet deal. And the BF gave me an awesome gift certificate so I could take it in and put it towards a good bike (YAY!) Which sounds way more productive than buying clothes, now that won't fit when I come back, or worse yet, don't spend it until I come back and risk losing it or it expiring even though there isn't an expiration date on the card. Oh dear, life just doesn't need to be this complicated, does it?
Man it is 5:15 and I sure am ready to go home, actually I was ready to just not come in at all, but I gotta show up to build my PTO bank so I can take time off with the kids in January. People think I'm silly to take time off other than their xmas break, but they're only in school from 9am to 330 pm, sooooo.... really that is just enough time to do the administration type things before I go... or even to spend time at storage to organize things better so the awesome BF can find the things I want and can send them to me :-)

So I hope everyone had an awesome xmas, I know I did.... and there are so many games at home calling me... my neice got a new pair of shoes so she'll go to the gym with me. She may be only 11 but she is taller than me and if they don't pay too much attention to her she'll pass as older and be allowed on the cardio equipment... it'll help her stay in shape for b-ball until she goes back to Minnesota... she comes from a K-12 school so the Basketball program starts a bit earlier than schools up here... and well, if an 11 year old girl is 5'6", well let her PLAY!

Dorkness OUT!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

My son has a writing assignment due each week. It is coupled with his spelling packet.

This week is:

All of us have moments when we feel proud of something that we have done. Write a paragraph that describes a time when you felt proud. Tell what you did and why you were proud.

Any one want to answer that?

I wrote a reply and sent it to his teacher so he could see it.

But I'm curious to see if anyone else has something they're proud of!
Dorkness out!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

The holidays are here. My mind is going a billion miles a minute trying not to forget anything.... good thing santa visited me early with a blackberry, with the promise that the box will be wrapped and under the tree on christmas morning. I've been able to put everything in the calendar, or make notes on phone calls. That is a really handy feature I'm finding lately :-)

So as of today only 7 weeks left, and I can't believe how much I still feel like I need to do, but naturally once I get home, I don't want to do any of it! How funny is that?

Have a good day everyone!
And thanks to those who gave me happy birthday wishes!

Sunday, December 10, 2006


she is a girl!
of course this girl had to buy a dress, shoes, a new bra, and the nylons to make this look go together... damn halter top dress :-)
ah well, it was good times, and next time I'll find comfy dress shoes.... is there such a thing?

Had an awesome weekend so far... and I got extensions for my online classes, so that is awesome since I really don't need to fail this semester :-)

have a good one, all!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

You Are Dasher

You're an independent minded reindeer who never plays by the rules.

Why You're Naughty: That little coup you tried to stage against Santa last year

Why You're Nice: You secretly give naughty children presents.

Monday, December 04, 2006

"These Four Walls"

Wasn't that long ago
I was skipping school with a lunchbox
Pigtails in my hair
Where did the time go
One minute I'm playing in the sandbox
How'd I get to here from there
Making lunches and folding clothes
Is not the most glamourous life I know
But I've got so much more than most

[Chorus]
I'm not famous but my kids think I'm a star
Im not rich but I've made a million memories so far
I may not be a model
But My man thinks I could be
I may not be from royalty
But in these four walls
I'm the queen

I had it all planned
First I'd make it big in Nashville
Then take hollywood by storm
But it was in God's hands
There were three little lives that would need me
To one day be their mom
I wouldn't trade it for anything
Those movie stars don't have everything
I know I'm right where I wanna be

[Repeat Chorus]

I had to let it go, but I have no regrets
I would have never known this kind of happiness

[Repeat Chorus]