I'm an auntie!!!!
Jon made it (back from Iraq and all the way to the hospital) a few hours after Baby Zadie arrived so now I have a safe and healthy brother, siste-in-law, and neice - what more could a girl want?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
its a beautiful day in the neighborhood
Its snowing again - and its lovely. I always love the first few days of a snow because the plows are concentrating on the runway and they haven't poured out the gravel and ruined its purity yet :-) Nice and thick and fluffy too :-) I'm still busy as always, my latest being tasked to read/grade 12 annual Comm&Info awards packages in 2 days (well, more notice, but it took them that long to send the link and login information). It was pretty neat to see, but on the other hand, soooo very time consuming, and also to judge so many bullets and give them points on my reading. Also, I've been selected as our group Air Force Assistance Fund rep, which I've only done at the sq level in the past and loved it! Good times all around. Have a great day!
Monday, January 12, 2009
i need to write, i need to plan
. . I can't believe I haven't written since October, but on the other hand, I think that makes a good point at where I am in my stay here in Korea. Things are ramping up - work is getting harder and longer and the leadership knows just how to get you. I am happy and busy, but I'm also letting my quality of life slip and little things bother me that shouldn't. When did I stop running again? And when did I find meetings and excuses to skip PT? I had been doing so well yet I allow this to disappear, don't even notice it even.
. . I had previously decided not to join the praise and worship choir at the church here, though I knew all the songs and love to sing, because there were other things that I had planned at the times of the practices and even the performances. I had goals. I wanted to teach little 3rd through 5th grade Korean children English every other Saturday and spent the off weekends exploring Korea. I wanted to learn Korean so I dedicated 3 hours every Monday and Wednesday night to classes, and many hours in between to homework and studies. These events ended in Oct and November, but for the life of me, I've let my priorities slip until I'm at the office from 0700-2300, running in for an hour or two on the weekends when I'm not sleeping straight through. Yes, I can always sing later. I can always attend another church service. But doing it now is so valuable as a time I can schedule to be away from the office. It is something that I love doing and being able to sing now certainly won't inhibit me from singing later. It also helps me be more productive at work. When I know that I can stay late I am not efficient. I may spend an entire day visiting my different shops and putting out fires, putting my actual job on hold until after hours, then working my full day from there... when I can really work that time into smaller productive segments with my troops and still get my job done during the day.
. . I'm starting to feel as if I'm running from my job all day long, which is disheartening. I love my job and I love working things for and with my troops, but tiny little incidents, little pieces of my job that are all situational/personal, are starting to poison it. I hear a name and I cringe - to catch them walking towards me makes me dread the next self-centered, unnecessary, possibly illegal demand they are going to propose. I am malpracticing them before they even open their mouth - yet, in that I'm not disappointed.
. . I need to change my focus. I refuse to give one person the power to ruin My day! (for the rest of today at least) I need to focus less on the impossible and more on what I can do, regardless of if its just redirection instead of the straight and narrow "approved progress." While I can't change the demands, I can accept them for the challenges they are to think outside the box - both in answering the demand and in not letting it affect me. I can refuse the repeating ideas and arguments that I would make if I could make them... and maybe get a few more hours of sleep each night. I can stay positive and have goals again, however small. I can achieve those goals.
. . I need to lay out my plans and execute! ... or watch them slip by and become overcome by events, because they will. I need to make time for SOS. If not now, when? I made the same mistake by not accomplishing my masters earlier, and while I found the perfect program for me, it would have been a lot easier to have started years earlier and even finished at the same time. I have a limited amount of time because I started officially back in August, but its not that. I could probably wait until the last quarter and crank it out in a new place where I don't have any friends yet. I have no excuse not to do my studies. I'm just tired of pushing, always working the overtime at work and still trying to get the extra credit at home too.
. . I thought I just needed a break from overloading classes, but I've had a month off and I'm not feeling excited to start this program at all. Its almost having the reverse effect such that I feel it will almost have been too long again, so long that I worry I'll forget how to study and write again (since it was actually very difficult in that for me coming back to start my masters after taking almost 4 years off). I can do the work - yet my mind is just refusing to budge because I haven't been able to work myself around the issues previously mentioned... yet I know having this focus will help me overcome and rise to the challenges of said issues. I have plans... unrealized. I plan to write more - because though it also takes time, it helps me orgnaize my thoughts, such as they are, and allows me to not rehash them. In a few weeks you'll know if I'm reaching for the sky again (you'll read it here), or if I've lazily let the world fly by.
*Pictures and notes pending from my amazing Thanksgiving trip to China. I'll probably post date them to be found on the side bar, but if I'm feeling energetic I'll link them from here too ;-)
. . I had previously decided not to join the praise and worship choir at the church here, though I knew all the songs and love to sing, because there were other things that I had planned at the times of the practices and even the performances. I had goals. I wanted to teach little 3rd through 5th grade Korean children English every other Saturday and spent the off weekends exploring Korea. I wanted to learn Korean so I dedicated 3 hours every Monday and Wednesday night to classes, and many hours in between to homework and studies. These events ended in Oct and November, but for the life of me, I've let my priorities slip until I'm at the office from 0700-2300, running in for an hour or two on the weekends when I'm not sleeping straight through. Yes, I can always sing later. I can always attend another church service. But doing it now is so valuable as a time I can schedule to be away from the office. It is something that I love doing and being able to sing now certainly won't inhibit me from singing later. It also helps me be more productive at work. When I know that I can stay late I am not efficient. I may spend an entire day visiting my different shops and putting out fires, putting my actual job on hold until after hours, then working my full day from there... when I can really work that time into smaller productive segments with my troops and still get my job done during the day.
. . I'm starting to feel as if I'm running from my job all day long, which is disheartening. I love my job and I love working things for and with my troops, but tiny little incidents, little pieces of my job that are all situational/personal, are starting to poison it. I hear a name and I cringe - to catch them walking towards me makes me dread the next self-centered, unnecessary, possibly illegal demand they are going to propose. I am malpracticing them before they even open their mouth - yet, in that I'm not disappointed.
. . I need to change my focus. I refuse to give one person the power to ruin My day! (for the rest of today at least) I need to focus less on the impossible and more on what I can do, regardless of if its just redirection instead of the straight and narrow "approved progress." While I can't change the demands, I can accept them for the challenges they are to think outside the box - both in answering the demand and in not letting it affect me. I can refuse the repeating ideas and arguments that I would make if I could make them... and maybe get a few more hours of sleep each night. I can stay positive and have goals again, however small. I can achieve those goals.
. . I need to lay out my plans and execute! ... or watch them slip by and become overcome by events, because they will. I need to make time for SOS. If not now, when? I made the same mistake by not accomplishing my masters earlier, and while I found the perfect program for me, it would have been a lot easier to have started years earlier and even finished at the same time. I have a limited amount of time because I started officially back in August, but its not that. I could probably wait until the last quarter and crank it out in a new place where I don't have any friends yet. I have no excuse not to do my studies. I'm just tired of pushing, always working the overtime at work and still trying to get the extra credit at home too.
. . I thought I just needed a break from overloading classes, but I've had a month off and I'm not feeling excited to start this program at all. Its almost having the reverse effect such that I feel it will almost have been too long again, so long that I worry I'll forget how to study and write again (since it was actually very difficult in that for me coming back to start my masters after taking almost 4 years off). I can do the work - yet my mind is just refusing to budge because I haven't been able to work myself around the issues previously mentioned... yet I know having this focus will help me overcome and rise to the challenges of said issues. I have plans... unrealized. I plan to write more - because though it also takes time, it helps me orgnaize my thoughts, such as they are, and allows me to not rehash them. In a few weeks you'll know if I'm reaching for the sky again (you'll read it here), or if I've lazily let the world fly by.
*Pictures and notes pending from my amazing Thanksgiving trip to China. I'll probably post date them to be found on the side bar, but if I'm feeling energetic I'll link them from here too ;-)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
thanksgiving in china
I apologize for posting this so late, but it has been rather busy for me here... so the least I'm going to do is slip it into the right date for records purposes. Here goes... enjoy!
. . We (Nicki, Mark, Stan and I) decided to take a "Fantasy Cultural" tour of Beijing, China for Thanksgiving. It always gives me a kick that I end up doing all of my trips over normal holidays, so I took 4 days of leave over a 4-day weekend, but of course, catering to the military, a lot of folks can only get those days off, and I suppose I would be one of them anyway. We began our journey from just outside Osan AB at 0400, and while we had been assured that there would be cabs "around," the street looked pretty desolate and we didn't look forward to walking the mile+ hill in the cold with our luggage, a taxi finally drove past us about a block up. Because the scheduled military bus system would have taken us almost 2 full days to get from Kunsan AB to Incheon Airport/Seoul, we were heading to a local bus station. We purchased the tickets almost out of pure luck and slept most of the way to the airport. Once we checked in, there was thankfully more sleeping upstairs in the "relaxation" area for the airline. Our 3~4hr flight touched down without incident in China.
. . Our fir
st day had a few stops but thankfully we got fed in a timely manner and the tour didn't rush us from exhibit to exhibit. The tour staff automatically had our room alarms set to get us up at 0600 every morning, allowing us to have a fabulous breakfast in the hotel before we started our day, and I'm sure to keep us off the streets at night. The stops were longer than some tours I've been on through military ticket and tours, and the tour guide Sherry/Shelly (Mongolia native) was exceptionally fluent and knowledgeable on both current tmes/statuses as well as the history of Beijing and China.
. . Our fir
st day had a few stops but thankfully we got fed in a timely manner and the tour didn't rush us from exhibit to exhibit. The tour staff automatically had our room alarms set to get us up at 0600 every morning, allowing us to have a fabulous breakfast in the hotel before we started our day, and I'm sure to keep us off the streets at night. The stops were longer than some tours I've been on through military ticket and tours, and the tour guide Sherry/Shelly (Mongolia native) was exceptionally fluent and knowledgeable on both current tmes/statuses as well as the history of Beijing and China. . . The second day we went to a park where the "older generation" hung out. To make room in the job market, depending on the gender and type of work, Chinese retirement occurs when they
are 40-55 years old, as opposed to our 60-year standard. The people there weren't very old at all and so engaged themselves in song and dance, card games and a version of hacky sack. We proceeded along to the Temple of Good Harvest and the Temple of Heaven. We went to Tiananmen Square in the afternoon and saw the Monument of the People's Heros and were reminded that were indeed in a Communist country (though you really wouldn’t' notice it in most cases). A Jade factory finished off the day. I may have bought a life-long green and purple bracelet that only I can wear... mostly because its so darn hard to get off ;-0 But there was a tour on the history of jade in China as well as some amazing pieces as a part of the museum side, before we were led to the gift shop area. 
. . We did the Great Wall that next morning
and boy what a morning! The hike was challenging -1748 steps - the view amazingly beautiful. All the steps were made of rocks cut the same height, but that meant that some steps were one layer and others were six layers tall, being a stretch for even my long legs! On such a beautiful day, it was very worth it. After a filling and much needed lunch, we went to the Summer Palace. This includes the 2400'+ 
Long Corridor ending at a life-size marble ship to party on in the manmade lake, and just beyond that a town built that looked like the set for Mardi Gras or a priate's port on the water. The servants were paid to come and pretend to sell their wears to the royal family. This third night we went to a market street where you could find pretty much anything for sale in a easy grilled or carmalized on-a-stick version... shrimp, fruit, scorpions, seahorses, and a lot of other things I didn't recognize or didn't want to.
are 40-55 years old, as opposed to our 60-year standard. The people there weren't very old at all and so engaged themselves in song and dance, card games and a version of hacky sack. We proceeded along to the Temple of Good Harvest and the Temple of Heaven. We went to Tiananmen Square in the afternoon and saw the Monument of the People's Heros and were reminded that were indeed in a Communist country (though you really wouldn’t' notice it in most cases). A Jade factory finished off the day. I may have bought a life-long green and purple bracelet that only I can wear... mostly because its so darn hard to get off ;-0 But there was a tour on the history of jade in China as well as some amazing pieces as a part of the museum side, before we were led to the gift shop area. 
. . We did the Great Wall that next morning
and boy what a morning! The hike was challenging -1748 steps - the view amazingly beautiful. All the steps were made of rocks cut the same height, but that meant that some steps were one layer and others were six layers tall, being a stretch for even my long legs! On such a beautiful day, it was very worth it. After a filling and much needed lunch, we went to the Summer Palace. This includes the 2400'+ 
Long Corridor ending at a life-size marble ship to party on in the manmade lake, and just beyond that a town built that looked like the set for Mardi Gras or a priate's port on the water. The servants were paid to come and pretend to sell their wears to the royal family. This third night we went to a market street where you could find pretty much anything for sale in a easy grilled or carmalized on-a-stick version... shrimp, fruit, scorpions, seahorses, and a lot of other things I didn't recognize or didn't want to.. . The
Forbidden City was quiet lovely - and expansive. There is this one part that would have been the size of a small town on its own, grown up or cut down from a rock garden. The paths and decorations were rock, the doorways fell under natural rock arches, pretty amazing all around. At the silk factor, for the multi-cocoons
(double pupae+), first the bugs were pulled out then 7 sets were pulled over the small frame, then that was taken out and combined on the larger frame on the right 10 times... so 140 or more silk worms just to finish one "layer" off the large frame. This single layer (~140 silkworms) was pulled over the size of the quilt they are making, twin to cal-king, and these ladies do a wonderful job with speed... a lot of folks from the tour tried and found it to be almsot impossible to get it to 1) pull, and then 2) pull evenly... but I was impressed by the quality. There was a silk fashion show then following that between the main part of the silk factory and the clothing sales area.
Forbidden City was quiet lovely - and expansive. There is this one part that would have been the size of a small town on its own, grown up or cut down from a rock garden. The paths and decorations were rock, the doorways fell under natural rock arches, pretty amazing all around. At the silk factor, for the multi-cocoons
(double pupae+), first the bugs were pulled out then 7 sets were pulled over the small frame, then that was taken out and combined on the larger frame on the right 10 times... so 140 or more silk worms just to finish one "layer" off the large frame. This single layer (~140 silkworms) was pulled over the size of the quilt they are making, twin to cal-king, and these ladies do a wonderful job with speed... a lot of folks from the tour tried and found it to be almsot impossible to get it to 1) pull, and then 2) pull evenly... but I was impressed by the quality. There was a silk fashion show then following that between the main part of the silk factory and the clothing sales area.Wednesday, October 29, 2008
lt minnig's going away
Lt Minnig's Going Away - this post isn't really about the actual going away event, although it was a lot of fun - great food/great conversation... this is almost an ode to a pretty special young lady who made a huge impact on the few months I've been here at Kunsan. Most folks talked abouthow great a sponsor she was (which was so impressive that I actually took notes!), but when we talk about her sponsorship we're actually talking about how she takes care of her troops, on and off duty, and how she takes care of the mission - no question about it, she gets it done. It's that same drive that has her beating me in every PT run we go on even though her legs have half the length of mine; the same drive that has earned her award after award for going the extra mile as SafetyMonitor, Voting Rep, and CGO Quarterlies. She is usually upbeat, sometimes funny, and always professional. After two-plus years at Kunsan (with the frantic ops tempo) she is going to work with the US Army in Italy - I know she'll do wonderful things there. What a great young leader!
Friday, October 24, 2008
korean
. . Well I finally finished my final for my Korean 111 class and got my grade - B+... but I don't know nearly as much as I'd hoped when it comes to using it in real life. I keep a notebook with me and I'm confident writing and reading/speaking now (not really comprehension), so when I talk to Koreans I pull that out and have them write down phrases, which helps.
. . I'm also teaching English to Korean students at a local elementary school, every other Saturday. They also help me with my book, and they're super willing to help me learn too. I've got 16 3rd graders for the first 2 hours, 4th and 5th graders for ~20 mins each, in turn. Right before I got to go home, I saw the 3rd graders practice with their recorders and bells for a holiday concert - I was singing along with them too :-) Music is a part of every class, which is really neat. The students are so eager to learn and they help me with my pronunciation too :-)
. . I'm also teaching English to Korean students at a local elementary school, every other Saturday. They also help me with my book, and they're super willing to help me learn too. I've got 16 3rd graders for the first 2 hours, 4th and 5th graders for ~20 mins each, in turn. Right before I got to go home, I saw the 3rd graders practice with their recorders and bells for a holiday concert - I was singing along with them too :-) Music is a part of every class, which is really neat. The students are so eager to learn and they help me with my pronunciation too :-)
Friday, October 10, 2008
hispanic heritage celebration
A few of my troops are members of the Hispanic Heritage Club and they just hosted Kunsan's First Hispanic Heritage Dinner w/ Dancing -- what a wonderful evening! The festivities included a dinner made from traditional family recipes (Mom - they copied your amazing white chicken enchilada, but it just wasn't quite the same) and a group of Hispanic dancers performed 3 very different dances with wonderful music. The guest speaker was my group commander, the Falcon, and he shared some of his family's past with us - a past that highlighted the importance of family while serving one's country. I was very touched by some of the documents he shared with us, a letter between his uncles from April 1945, then later a newsclipping of the "brothers" (his father and 4 brothers) who were reunited after 9 years of service and travels. It was a strong tradition of military heritage, supported by the significant role of "familia." It ended with a piniata and Latin Dancing. I was so glad I was able to be a part of this event!
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