Graduation & What You've All Been Waiting For...

Pictures of Anthony with cool glasses and no hair. I finally had time to download the pictures and get this blog updated (sorry, I've been sick). I didn't get any pictures without his hat though because he has to have it on when he's outside. But hopefully you can use your imagination. Or you'll just have to wait until Christmas.

First, here's a picture from the Airman's Coin Ceremony. It's the first time Anthony saw me. Notice that he is not doing so well with his serious military face.



Graduation was on Friday, and it was freezing cold. I did not plan for sitting outside in 30 degree weather in Texas. So I had to scrap the skirt and go with pants, but I still was under the impression that it would warm up soon, so I just grabbed a sweater instead of my coat. Then I made the mistake of getting to the Parade Grounds as soon as the first bus showed up, so I got to sit in cold bleachers for an hour. The plus side was that I got a front row seat in front of Anthony's flight, so I found him easily.

Anthony's to the left of the girl in the gray hat

I also sat next to a really nice family that was smart enough to bring blankets, and the mom kept wrapping me up in one. One of the daughters had a little boy about Will's age, and the poor thing was so upset about being out in the cold that his mom didn't get to see any of the ceremony. So while I missed Will, and Anthony and I both would have liked for him to be there, I'm glad I didn't bring him with me. It would have been too hard on all of us, and I was really glad to be able to enjoy the different ceremonies. Unfortunately, it was mind-numbingly cold, so I don't remember a whole lot of what was said. I did enjoy when they recited the Oath of Enlistment. I know I heard Anthony shout out his name, even amongst the 700 others doing the same. He agreed that he said it pretty loudly.

After the ceremony, I had to get on the bus and go back to the squadron to meet him. Stupid rules about the band. I was afraid I would miss him because I wasn't sure where they were going to show up, but after wandering around for awhile, someone told me the band was marching up to the dorms. I found Anthony and he got to show me the dorms. I also was warned several times not to touch his stuff, or anyone else's. They had to be inspected again before they could be released. Anthony said he appreciates me even more for all of the work I have to do around the house. Although he never had to work in the kitchen, so he still refuses to do dishes. But he sure can make a bed!


The last official part of the weekend was taking pictures with the flight. Since the band flight doesn't get to march by everyone at graduation, their TI wanted to let them do that and get some pictures. They also took a flight picture in front of one of the planes. Of course the plane they chose ended up having not the nicest picture on it, but they were already there.


So we took our own picture in front of a slightly less scandalous plane.


Then we were free for most of the weekend. We visited the Base Exchange, went to a hockey game, and went to Denny's. Anthony wanted to eat as much as he could. He said he never got enough, and apparently he did not make friends by telling everyone in his flight about all of the food I would make him at home. Everyone I met said he talked about me all the time, and food was a big part. I'm more than a little afraid to be weighed at my next doctor's appointment. Living on fast food and Oreos for four days cannot have been good.

By the time Sunday came, I was not ready to go home. It was a wonderful trip--one of the best I've ever been on--and I hated to say goodbye. But at least I know he'll be home soon for Christmas. Anthony's flying in Saturday December 20th at 4 p.m., and he'll be here until Sunday January 4th at 2 p.m. Enough time to have a baby and then head right back to school. He's in Wichita Falls, TX at Sheppard AFB, and so far it's been a lot of sitting around at meetings. He is ecstatic that the last kid who was in his room left a bunch of items, including an 8GB Zune. That's mostly what I hear about. He does get more liberties than he did at Basic, so he's been able to call each night for just a little bit, which is nice. And he'll be done with Tech School on March 23rd. We probably won't know which base we'll be assigned to until closer to that time. But we do know that he'll be working on the F100 and F119 engines:

That definitely limits the number of bases we could be assigned to. He put down on his "Dream List": Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona and Florida. Our other possibilities are: California, Alaska, Japan, England, Idaho, and Nevada. So we could be pretty much anywhere and in all kinds of different climates and cultures. From what I've been reading, it sounds like most first duty stations last for 2 or 3 years, but that probably depends a lot on the military's needs as well.

Here are a few more pics we took on the last day, when it was finally nice enough for Anthony to take off his coat and show off his 4 ribbons. Check out how tight his shirt has to be too. The blousing straps that hold it down are strapped to his socks, so the dress blues are NOT comfortable. He kept asking me to bend down and pick things up. 8 months pregnant and I'm the one more capable of reaching down to the floor.