Sing it with me…you know you want to now that I have placed that annoying song in your mind.

This is the TDY that neeeeeeeeever ends… it goes on and on my friends.

(Title idea lovingly lifted from Delta…have I ever said how much I would love to meet her in person?! She’s just seems like a fun soul and is an AF wife, too.)

I know,I know, I shouldn’t complain. When we first got these TDY orders, Bryan wasn’t due to be home until July 17th and it is just now July 1st. But, when we were told about halfway through that he would get to come home early my whole mindset changed. If no one had ever told me, I would have been just fine. Instead now, I keep getting my hopes up daily that these mission will get accomplished and he can book tickets home.

As of when I was in New Mexico with him a couple weeks ago, he was on schedule to be home by Saturday (June 26). That would have been prime, since that was the only day Jacey was home before camp and he would have gotten to see her. Then last week brought fuel contamination issues and then a change of command that halted all flying for an entire day (the commander must think he is important or something…ppffttt;-). This week Bryan actually got a mission accomplished on Monday but Tuesday and Wednesday were no go’s due to weather. Today marks the third attempt for his CO-3 ride. We shall see, if he can fly today and tomorrow, he can come home Saturday but I am not holding my breath at this point.

He is SO ready to be home and I am SO ready for him to be home. We are at 67 days and counting….sigh.

I am trying to figure out if the worst part is that we are so close and yet just can’t seem to get there (he only has CO-3 and an Eval flight to be done) or if it is the fact that we are in a day by day holding pattern. That is one part of the flying world I was not prepared for.

Curse this plane that can’t fly in clouds…LOL!

Sigh.

Wonder if Bryan is awake…nah, I won’t chance it. He deserves to sleep even if my stress is all his fault. Yep, his fault.

He is the one that joined the Air Force after all.

Or maybe it was I who married him after he joined the Air Force. Oh well, it is still ALL his fault :).

(Please note the sarcasm, before everyone and their mother decides to flame me. I am joking and I won’t approve rude comments, so don’t waste your time.)

I realized the other day that by the time this whole retraining/PCS is done with, we will have lived in upheaval for a year. A year. That is a long time, even for miltary life. Going into this, I knew it would be a long transition but I guess it really didn’t sink into me just how long and now that it has sunk in, I am feeling the stress. Even though I entitled the post 28 days, that is ONLY until we actually hit the road for Vegas, not everything that still has to be done on the flip side. Oh and let’s not mention all that still has not gotten done on this side. There is only one word for me lately.

SLACKER.

Or maybe two words.

STRESSED.

When Bryan got orders for this current TDY, the assumption was that pretty much all the PCS prep would be on my plate because by the time he finally got home, there would only be a week before we hit the road to Vegas. Only enough time to outprocess and supervise the packers while they hopefully safely package up and ship our household goods. Well, things changed. Bryan would be coming home early, we just didn’t/don’t know how early (was supposed to be yesterday and now is Thursday at the earliest…grr). Anyway, this got me in the mindset that I could wait for him to help me with the rest of the to do list. Sure, that seems like it would help, taking part of the load off me but in turn it simply has me more stressed because there are still too many things on the to do list not checked off for my liking and less time to do them.

Do you ever have so much to do though that you don’t know where exactly to begin?

Yeah, that’s me.

I really hope after my last 4 days of work this week that some of the stress will leave, but I doubt it. Yoga has done wonders for my mood/sense of peace but I am still a type A, high strung individual and that may never change.

I think part of it too is that this move is so different from any of the rest that we have ever done. This time, we plan to buy a house which throws a whole new set of stresses in the mix. Will we get good rates? Will we even find a house that we like before J needs to start school? Will we find a house with good schools (schools in Las Vegas REALLY scare me and we can’t afford the $15-20K, yes, grand, a year for private)? Do we even have a clue as to what we are doing as first-time homebuyers?

Sigh.

I do a lot of that lately.

Bryan sent me the 2 pics of him with the MQ-1 a while back and then I edited the class pic for him today and thought I would share them all. It is so awesome to hear the joy in his voice about this new job after 10 years of him hating his previous career field. 9 more sims/flights to go and he gets to come home!

MQ-1 IQT Class 10-09 @ Holloman AFB, NM

Originally, it was not in the plans for me to go see Bryan during this TDY. In between the PCS, me finishing up at work, school, etc compiled with the fact that Bryan wasn’t supposed to have a rental car, we briefly mentioned it and then dropped it. Well, things changed.

Bryan ended up with a rental car all to himself, so he can drive to El Paso to pick me up. Jacey leaves on Friday for 2 weeks in Texas, leaving me all by my lonesome. As for the rest, it will all be here when I get back, so I took the plunge and bought tickets. I fly out after work on Thursday, the 17th and come home Sunday, the 20th. It is a quick trip but worth it, since we haven’t seen each other in 45-ish days (on top of the back to back TDY’s he has had since October) and it will probably be the last couple time we get for a long while since we won’t have anyone to keep Jacey once we move to Vegas.

Even better, Bryan will most likely be home within 2 weeks from when I get back instead of the middle of July.

Yay!

(Disclaimer: This picture is not mine and I claim no credit for it.)

(Picture from Bryan’s 2nd reenlistment ceremony – April 22, 2010)

11 years ago today, I was sitting somewhere, much like tonight, missing my other half. 11 years ago today, Bryan started Air Force basic training, beginning what has turned into a roller coaster of a life, full of ups and downs. While there are days that I wish I had never heard the terms “military life”, I could not be prouder of my husband. He is dedicated to his country and his family and gives 110%, 100% of the time. Congrats Bry, here’s to another 9+ years!

As it appears, life never slows down. Occasionally I’d like to ask God for a time out, but it just doesn’t work that way. I’ve been working on this update for a few weeks now and finally decided to just buckle down and get it finished today. Be forewarned though, it is long since I didn’t manage to get my annual Christmas letter out and am covering a large span of time.

2009 was an exciting, crazy, busy, life changing year for us and 2010 is proving to be much of the same.

We started out 2009 in Ohio, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Pease (Bryan’s grandparents) who we hadn’t seen since before we moved to the UK in 2002. That quickly rolled into a weekend visit from my Mom where Bryan and I took advantage of a weekend getaway, gall bladder removal surgery for me, car shopping, a MercyMe concert and a 3 week TDY to Savannah for Bryan. In May, we participated in our 2nd year of Relay For Life, my 1^st as a steering committee member and later that month, I ran our base’s annual 4.4 mile Gate to Gate race (my finish time was not pretty, but I finished AND I ran the entire thing, quite a feat for the girl that used to forge notes to get out of PE). Soon thereafter, we hit the road for a weeklong road trip to Texas to see family. Jacey stayed behind and spent several weeks between my Mom and Bryan’s Mom’s house. During that time, Bryan and I got a huge dose of the no child lifestyle and let me tell you, the first week is great and then it gets boring fast :). 2009 also brought our 10^th wedding anniversary, my 30^th birthday, Jacey’s 8^th birthday, another road trip to Texas for Thanksgiving to see Bryan (he was TDY again) and then Christmas with my Mom and brother here in Florida.

The biggest event of 2009 though has also spread into 2010. In September of 2009, we found out that my oncologist would be deploying in January and then separating from the Air Force once she got back. I was going to be losing my favorite doctor and one of the main reasons we had not pursued any job/location changes. With that no longer holding us back, Bryan decided to look at the retraining list. Bryan has disliked being a maintainer for a long LONG time, but did what he felt was necessary for the best stability for our family and medical care for me. When we looked at the retraining lit, imagine what was there, Bryan’s dream job, UAV (or RPA, the AF can’t make up its mind) Sensor Operator! The next few weeks were spent getting all the necessary paperwork and medical forms together to submit a package. On October 21, 2009 we submitted the package and on October 26, 2009 he was approved and had class dates. So much for the 21 duty day wait to hear something. That sent life into a crazy spin that hasn’t stopped yet. Bryan left for his first 4 week class on November 18, 2009, another 4+4 week class on January 13, 2010 and left for his final 12 week class this past Sunday (April 25, 2010). On February 12, 2010, Bryan graduated BSOC (basic sensor operator course) and is now an official RPA sensor operator. Jacey and I flew out for the week of graduation and had a great time. Let’s not discuss the flight in though; we flew in on the one day in a blue moon that DFW got numerous inches of snow. Let’s just say that Jacey and I now know DFW airport like the backs of our hands and Bryan can pass a test on less than 2 hours of sleep. Bryan also reenlisted last week for another 5 years, so the Air Force has us until 2015. I can’t figure out if that is a good thing or a bad thing!

With this new job, also comes a move. We will be heading to Creech AFB, NV (outside of Las Vegas) at the end of July once Bryan is back from this final class. There, Bryan will be working on the MQ-1 Predator. We plan to live on Nellis AFB (Creech does not offer housing) for the first year while we learn the area, where good schools are, etc and then plan to buy. Hopefully housing will stay as affordable as it is there now or get even better. While we are sad to be leaving here, we are excited about the move as well. We will have been here in Florida for 5 years by the time we move and that is an eternity in the military and to this girl with gypsy blood.

As for Jacey, Jacey is bored out of her mind in 2^nd grade, but there isn’t much we can do at this point with only 7 weeks left of school. She has gotten 1 B thus far this year, with the rest being A’s. Jacey finally found an extracurricular activity that she loves and that is baton twirling. They had their end of season recital today and then she will have a twirling day camp in May. Hopefully we will find twirling on the Vegas end, since this is the first out of many activity attempts that she has loved. Otherwise, she spends her time going to H20 (her Wednesday night church group), reading, playing the Wii and having an unhealthy obsession with the old 90’s show “Full House”. I can’t complain too much, it is better than most shows they have out nowadays. She has really sprouted in height this year, but is still just as slender as ever. Built like her Daddy, she has that long, lanky figure that most would love to have. She on the other hand, thinks she is too skinny, while we tell her she is just perfect the way God made her. It sure does start early. She is ready for school to be out and summer to start. She flies to Texas to spend 2 weeks with my Mom right after school ends and then has her first weeklong overnight camp as soon as she gets back. She is thrilled about both, especially getting to fly by herself (she’s only been flying since she was 7 months old, Miss Frequent Flier :).

And me, I’m doing okay. Tired is the new normal I guess, but we as humans have this insane ability to adapt and when I can’t, I give in and take a nap :). Work still remains the largest item outside of Jacey that keeps me busy, but my last day will be July 1^st in anticipation for the move. As if that wasn’t enough though, we are gearing up for Relay For Life which is this Friday, April 30^th (there is still time to donate, if you feel so compelled – http://www.buchorn.com/blog/2010/03/20/relay-for-life-2010/). Being event co-chair this year has been an interesting ride, we have a fabulous steering committee and the event chair is my partner in crime, but I am ready for it to be over so I can shift my attention more towards the move prep and have one less thing on my plate. I had my last “official” oncology appointment here at Eglin back in March and she gave me the all clear to wait until we get settled in Vegas to go back. My white blood cell count is now 29, higher than it was when I was diagnosed (it dropped quite a bit from diagnosis levels after I lost weight) but, Dr. G is not worried because it is not jumping at alarming levels and I am doing okay otherwise. I still battle the night sweats and chills but those will be here at different intensities for probably the rest of my life. Dr. G knows the oncologist that I will be seeing on base in Nellis and has already contacted him to pass on information. I am really going to miss Dr. G, but if she trusts the new doctor, I will too. Anyway, I need to get this wrapped up, so enough about me.

Some of you may have noticed, but we have changed out email addresses and website url. The old digital-drama.com accounts will not be valid much longer, so please update your address books (please leave a comment if you want our new email addresses and don’t already have them…leaving them off of the blog for spam reasons). These addresses will travel with us to Vegas and beyond. Bryan and I are also on facebook if you haven’t already friended us and want to.

• Website with blog and photo/video album links – http://www.buchorn.com (the photos and videos are also completely up to date now if you would like to take a peek)

So, with that I will close this already way too long update. Hopefully I won’t wait another year+ to get one out.

Happy birthday love! I wish I could be there today to celebrate with you, but sometimes, that is just how this military life works out. I am so proud of you and can’t wait till you come home!

We fly in Thursday evening and graduation is Friday. Then Saturday morning, we’ll meet my Mom halfway and she will have Jacey till Monday evening. Can you say alone time after a month apart ;). We are going to hit The Melting Pot on Saturday for an early V-Day dinner (I didn’t like the V-Day menu and that is all they are serving on the 14th), mariachi mass on Sunday at Mission San José, the rodeo and Trace Adkins on Tuesday and then we’ll celebrate Bryan’s birthday on Wednesday (it is on the 20th but we won’t be there). Oh, and don’t forget REAL Mexican food…yum! We fly back home on Thursday, the 18th and while J goes back to school that Friday, I don’t go back to work till Monday, the 22nd. Woohoo! Can you tell Jacey is excited too?!

Bryan is doing well in his 1U0X1 training. He has made a 97.5, 95 and 92.5 on his tests so far and only has one more on the 12th. Poor guy is so ready to be done though and he still has one more class to go after this one, plus 3 months of FTU once we move. They definitely never said retraining was fast…LOL! He is excited though, because they went last week and got sized for their flight suits (they get to start wearing them as soon as they graduate this first class) and yesterday, he got his name badge in.

Still no word on orders though. Everyone else in the class got them this past Monday, except 4 people and of course we have to be one of those 4. It’s really a no brainer, there is only one base option for us medically but it would be nice to have the *official* word. They plan to call the chief tomorrow and find out what the hold up is, since it is not normal for some to get them and not all. We shall see.

Anyway, I’d better head to bed. Even though I don’t have to work tomorrow, I do have to get up with Jacey and then go get my allergy shots, hit the gym (I really wanted to run outside but the rain won’t allow that) and the commissary for a few things to get us through the next few days till we fly out.

So, we all know Bryan is in San Antonio for his last two retraining classes before we PCS. These two classes were only supposed to be a Saturday and a Sunday apart, thus he would be there non-stop for both, equaling 9 weeks. Jacey and I were going to fly over for his graduation when he gets his wings (after 11 years of this mess, we both agree I get to pin his wings on:). We didn’t know beforehand it this would be the first class or the second class. If it was the second, we’d just buy one way tickets and ride back with him. If it was the first, we’d be there for his birthday weekend. Cool either way.

Well, we found out that he gets his wings at the end of this first class. Okay, cool, we can celebrate his birthday with him. Wrong. Come to find out, his RIP is wrong and they are graduating a week earlier. Fine, whatever. But, because the start date of the second class hasn’t changed, he *may* have to come home in between classes. AFPC has a policy that if there is more than 7 days between classes, they have to send you back home. Why? I mean really. Why pay him almost $900 in travel money twice over per diem costs for 7 days that would no way equal $900?! So, the instructor is trying to find out what they plan to do, send them home or possibly move up the start date of the second class by a week. At this point, I don’t care, just figure something out. I can’t buy plane tickets until they do. If Bryan has to come home, we’ll just buy one way and ride home with him (and save $380). If not, we’ll buy round trip, but I need to know. Not to mention, if I decide to use my frequent flyer miles, my booking/usage fee doubles if I book less than 21 days out. Grrr.

Am I really going to make it through 9+ more years of this?!