Things I didn't know yesterday but know today

Last night was the "Real Truth" party. This is where all the second year residents have the first year residents over for dinner and answer any questions they have about anything. By the time the evening was over, both JB and I were very educated. Here are some things I personally learned:

• No one knows a good mechanic. We got a name of someone else who may know a good mechanic. This is a problem since currently, we can't get the key to turn in our ignition on a reliable basis. I won't even tell you how we are getting the car to start day in and day out (ask me in person). We definitely need to get someone to look at this.
• The best place for a women to get your hair cut at is New Image with Kristi. I also received two recommendations of places not to go.
• Don't get your hair cut at the barbers on base. (Okay, I already knew that but someone still recommended it.)
• Matt and Tiffany bought a couch from Ashley furniture that we really liked. It was our favorite at Ashley's. Their favorite couch at Haverty's is the one we plan to buy. That was a bit strange. (I didn't learn this during the "Real Truth" part of the party, but we rode with them to the party and received this information on the way.)
• JB cannot be more than a six hour drive from the base without taking leave! If he is, and anything "bad" happens, the military won't pay for a thing.
• JB gets a total of 10 working days leave. If he works it right, the resident who does the scheduling will try to get him the weekends on each side of the five days. However, these are not guaranteed.
• He is promised a total of 24 hours off each week in a row. So that means he will get at least one day he doesn't have to work. This could be a day he has to sleep from being on call the night before.
• He is promised to not work than more that 80 hours each week (on average) during a month. This means he could work two 100 weeks and then two 60 hour weeks.
• He does not have any time off during Thanksgiving.
• He will have some time off during Christmas.
• We will need a real vacation during the year at some point. I mean a vacation where we go to a resort somewhere and JB can just sleep the time away. I'm going to start researching right away! He's going to be working a lot.
• There is a place for JB to shower at the hospital. This means that if he wants to run or bike into work, he can. Good information if we are going to try to get through three years of residency with one car.
• We live in the house of one of the upper classman who decided to move off base. That same guy invited JB over for dinner when he was here last August. That means that John ate dinner in the house we live in now before it was our house.
• Nearly everyone in the residency program is married with children. In fact, there was only one person there without a significant other. Her name is Casey, and she is really sweet. She also loves to cook so I think we will have to share some dinners. She is dating a dentist who is working in Tampa. I think there were only two other couples without children and one of those couples is newly married. There were also quite a few people who were pregnant. Being as I am trying to block out the fact that we are still just a family of two, this is difficult when surrounded by that many children. In Minnesota, I had my group of women that were single, without children, or dealing with infertility like me. I truly feel like the only one here. I know there are other women who like me, are still waiting for the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom. I just have to find them. But don't get me wrong, the wives I have met are wonderful women. Super sweet and very welcoming. I just feel a bit different.
• I did meet another couple in the second year who after complications during his wife's first pregnancy, adopted their child. They adopted domestically when the little girl was six months old. It was a great story, and she is a precious little girl.
• John is going to have a busy year.

Today will be my first trip to Pensacola. I'm picking up Brianna from the airport at 11!