Well, its been a hectic last week and a half! We ended up moving into another apartment in our same complex; Thursday and Friday were filled with what must be close to a million trips back and forth between our two places, and on Saturday morning we blessedly had the help of a few friends in moving some of our bigger items.  Patricia was flying in on Saturday night, so it was a mad dash to get things looking halfway liveable (can't have her going home to tell my mom we live like hobos!). 

Patricia's visit was a whirlwind, I wish we had more time to visit a few different places.  We did make it to Oklahoma City to 'Stockyard City'- near the world's largest stockyards- why this is laudable is beyond me, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers.  There were a few western themed shops there that were fun to poke around, and we had lunch/dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse.  No, not the same Cattlemen's chain found in California! We all agreed our food was only mediocre, not worth the trip or the price, and the situation only deteriorated after we left the restaurant only to see a truck full of young cows being brought to the yards for slaughter.  Apparently people enjoy the notion of eating super fresh beef, but honestly I think that the whole setup was sickening and was thereby reduced to tears!

After Patricia's departure, the remainder of the week found Lance preparing for his nav-checkride, what is generally acknowledged to be the beginning of the end of pilot training, and me trying to sort out the house.  I suppose going through this mini-move is good preparation for the imminent moves these next few months are set to bring.  Lance passed his nav-check, and it seems to have served as the greenlight for us to really start processing that we're nearing the end of the program and to begin entertaining the potential possibilities for what can happen next (always accompanied by a hasty knock-on-wood- gotta love superstitious pilots...er, pilots-to-be--KNOCK ON WOOD!)

Despite the business of the last month, I've still struggled with not having a solid job.  Occasional substitute gigs and volunteering at the library have kept me decently occupied when not moving or entertaining, but I'm looking forward to a fresh start somewhere new.  On the flip side, I've also come to see that some of my attitudes towards my situation have been a little selfish.  Lance successfully finishing pilot training is the big goal in both of our lives for the time being, and I'm thankful that I get to be around enough to support him through it.

I'm gonna catch this blog up real quick, because things are about to get a little crazy up in our house, and I wouldn't want to go on without detailing the awesome visit I had with my best friend, Sarah! Unbeknownst to me, she and Lance planned for her to surprise me here in Oklahoma.  When Lance came home with a bouquet of flowers, my suspicions were piqued, but nothing could have prepared me to then find Sarah standing in the doorway!  Clearly, the two of them are permanently made "Best Husband" and "Best Friend", respectively.

Between going to different high schools, Sarah's studying abroad in Italy, and then on to different colleges- its been a very long time since we've had a good chunk of time to catch up properly and just hang out since for years its been last minute coffees, BART trips, lunches, and oddly timed phone calls.  However, I'd be lying if I didn't say I had a mini-panic attack at finding out I needed to entertain my worldly friend in the middle of nowhere for 8 days!

We more than made do though; remember that art museum that was tragically closed when Lance and I wanted to visit? Sarah and I finally visited (and Lance escaped what were surely torturous hours of cultural musings).  We went to Oklahoma city and maybe/probably saw Toby Keith, we did art projects, went antiquing, and learned about the Chisholm Trail at a curiously detailed museum in Kingfisher.

Lance took us out to the airstrip to look at the planes, it was the first time I got to see his new aircraft, the T-1.  It was not as big as I thought it was, I couldn't imagine having to sit in it for 4 hours at a time!  Sarah's visit was well timed because, in addition to still being very busy with flights in general, Lance also went on another cross-country overnight flight.
I really can't get over how lucky I am for all of the great people in my life that care about me so much- as good a person as I try to be, nothing I can do can compare to the awesomeness of them!

...and now for something completely different...

As grateful as I am for my friends and family- one thing that I am NOT grateful for is the leaky mess of our apartment (ok, fine, I'm thankful to have a roof over my head- I would just rather it not torrentially leak through our kitchen lights, electrical outlets and cabinets).   This is not the first mention of its yuckiness in this blog, but it will be the last- we are moving.

On base housing requires a 6 month retainer, and since we don't want to risk indicating that we want to FAIP and then being stuck here for the long haul, we are remaining off base and in the same complex.  Wary as I am of the management and maintenance, the apartment we are moving to was our friend's old one, and doesn't have a history of problems like ours.  Its risky, but at least we avoid moving and storage fees that would have come with moving somewhere further and inevitably smaller.

In all fairness, I'm really only writing this because I'm housebound waiting to get the keys and the greenlight so I can start moving.  Hopefully the bulk of little things can be moved today and tomorrow, because my sister Patricia is coming to visit on Saturday!  Lance's class is having a fundraiser tomorrow, and he is preparing to have his 'nav-check' next week.  Supposedly things get a lot better and its into the home-stretch after that.