What the heck do I do all day?

Well, I can honestly say that I am now 100% employed from home. Two weeks of working, and I think it is now official. I work in my pajamas.

I thought it might be nice if I did a post explaining what it is exactly that I do everyday since I do it, well, everyday.

I am currently working about 20 hours a week for a cardiovascular researcher at Mayo. I have worked for him since 2003 -- the year I quit teaching. I am then working another 20-30 hours a week for the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation (RLSF). I have been working for them since 2003 as well. You can find links for both of these organizations on the right side of the page.

Currently, I do not have set hours for either company. Instead, I have a pad of paper next to my desk, and I log my hours. I check my email for each place often to scan for emergencies and when I need to, I turn my hours off at one place and switch to the other. So, the question remains: what the heck do I do all day?!

Here is a brief summary of each job:

RLSF:

• Create any PowerPoint presentations needed for the Foundation.
• Write/edit articles for quarterly newsletter.
• Write text for brochures.
• Write letters to editor in response to media coverage.
• Interview people for stories for Annual Report or quarterly newsletter.
• Design items in Publisher.
• Write/edit press releases as needed.
• Edit any and all text that comes out of the Foundation.
• Editor for The RLS Scientific Bulletin, a bi-annual publication produced for healthcare providers.
• Produce quarterly newsletter for healthcare providers.
• Run Endnote (reference manager -- this helps "make" a works cited instead of doing it by hand).
• Facilitate editing and writing for website. (We are about to "unveil" a new website. It has been designed by a designer, but I have to transfer all the text from our old site to our new site.)
• Anything else that I currently can't think of involving editing and writing.

MAYO:

• Help edit manuscripts that my boss is submitting to journals.
• Manage Endnote (reference manager).
• Help post-doctoral fellows with any of their manuscript submission or Endnote needs.
• Help submit grants that my boss is submitting to get funding.
• Letter writing.
• Manage his CV and biosketch.
• Organize and submit progress reports.
• Dictation.
• Help with secretarial related activities. (My boss has currently hired an in-office assistant. However, she will soon go on maternity leave. When she does, I will repick up her duties until she returns 10 weeks later.)
• Any other editing/writing needs

So that is what I do each day. I now have a fax machine, a scanner, and a printer here in my little office. I also have a portable phone with a headpiece so I can be on the phone and working at the same time. Although, currently, we are having trouble with the connection and trying to work on that. I attend meetings via conference call at RLSF which works very well. RLSF also mainly contacts me via instant messenger.

Right now, I think that working from home will work well for the type of schedule JB will have. (He officially starts this schedule on July 2nd). It is our hope that I will be able to "work only when he is working". That means that if he has a Thursday off, I can take a Thursday off and instead work on Saturday while he is working. I am getting up in the morning at whatever time he gets up and starting to work as soon as I can. Only time will tell how well this whole arrangement will work out.

I think the hardest thing is how quiet it is all day. My Aunt Janet noticed what I meant about a "quiet house" while she was here. Other than the jets and my chirping bird, we live on a street that is currently pretty vacated. We have no neighbors on any side right now. In addition, the house itself is very solid. I can't even hear JB when he calls me from the other room. I go the whole day without really any external noise. I put on the TV and ITUNES periodically to help change the environment, but it is still very strange how quiet it is all the time.

I'm also nervous about JB's schedule. He is going to have a very busy intern year. Not only does he only get two weeks off total for the year, but he doesn't necessarily have weekends off at all. Actually, he is only required to have one, 24-hour-period off each week. He also, on the average, cannot work more than 80 hours a week. I have heard that the military program is less busy that the civilian program. We will see if that is true or not. Either way, the next year will be very different for both of us, and all of our friends starting their own programs up around the country.

All righty folks, JB just drove off. Off to work for me.

Two weeks in Florida and two years to adopt

Today marks two weeks since I spent my first night at our new home in Florida. So much has happened in two weeks that in some ways it feels like we have been here for years. However, in the same breath, we still have so much to do ... moving is a lot of work ... that it feels like we have not been here very long at all. It's not just the moving part but all the paperwork and requirements that go along with it. We need to become Florida residents as soon as possible (No income tax!). We need to let everyone and their mother know our new address before our mail stops forwarding. We need to contact t-mobile and change our cell phone plan. Our digital phone line isn't getting a good connection. The list goes on and on.

I am back at work this morning after taking most of the weekend off for a visit from my Aunt and Uncle. Actually I've been back at work since Ed and Janet left this morning at about 6am. We have a grant due at Mayo on Wednesday so I have a ton to do. More to do than should probably allow for this "blog break" but hey, I'm taking it anyway. We had a wonderful weekend with our company. I was excited to get to show someone else our new home, the base, and the fact that I finally have a real, certified guest room and guest bathroom!

In other news, I wanted to take the chance to answer a few questions regarding the adoption process we have entered into. I am, basically, as clueless as most of you are. This is all new for me. That being the case, I'll provide as much information as I can. The main question I have had is regarding how long all of this will take.

The answer: quite awhile.

Currently, we are attempting to get some basic paperwork together to submit to "America World", our adoption agency. This paperwork includes a letter from JB's employer and a financial statement indicating our networth. As I have mentioned before, China has some requirements that other countries do not have including networth. We are not forseeing any problems with any of this paperwork, however, until we get all this in, we have not been officially approved to adopt through America World or through China. If for any reason they didn't approve us, it may mean that we are still eligible for adoption, just possibly not through that country. It could also possibly mean we are not eligible through their agency. As I said earlier, we think everything should go through fine, but we have to wait and see.

Once everything is approved, we would move forward with our "Home Study". This is where a social worker comes to your home for a series of meetings to "prove" you are qualified to adopt. Following this approval is a wide assortment of paperwork we have to compile for our "dossier". All in all, it will probably take 4-6 months before all of this is completed.

Once this is completed, we begin our wait for a "referral". We are waiting for the Chinese government to tell us which child is ours. This wait is approximately 18-20 months.

Once we get our referral, we then have an approximately 6-8 week wait before we would fly to China to pick up our daughter.

So, all in all, the wait from the day we decided (last week) until the day we bring the child home is about two or two and a half years. Sigh .... I guess we will all learn patience together won't we? :)

Tara's Trivia

Tara posted this trivia in a comment 2 blogs ago -- but I don't think some people saw it.

Q1. 6 in 10 women would do this for a perfect body. What is it?

Q2. 48 percent of Americans say they would change this if they could.

Anyone?

A Day at the Beach

My Oom Ed and Tante Jan came into town on Friday evening. JB made fajitas for dinner, and we just had a great night talking and hanging out.

On Saturday, JB had to go into work. When he surprisingly got off early (around 1:30pm), we decided to head to the beach! This is the first time I had been in my bathing suit since I got here. What a travesty! The beach was just as I remembered it. Amazingly beautiful.

After our time at the beach, we decided to head to "Destin Commons", a very nice shopping/eating/hanging out place. We had dinner at a casual seafood restaurant, Bluepoint Fishclub, watched the movie Ocean's 12, and then had some ice cream at Cold Stone. It was a wonderful evening. Here's a picture of my Aunt and me before dinner.

Today has been a very relaxing Sunday. It was wonderful to go through our photos from Nigeria with my Aunt and Uncle who could so relate to our stories from their experiences living in Indonesia. I am so blessed they chose this weekend to drive to visit us. I was so in need of some family and distraction -- just what the doctor ordered. My Uncle Ed also helped fix my computer (it was taking forever to start up) and helped me figure out that I can plug my camera card into my new printer without a new cord! No more photos with my camera folks!!! Okay, off to eat some Thai food for dinner.

Follow-up to "What's it like living on base"

Yesterday, my Uncle (Oom) Ed and Aunt (Tante) Janet arrived at Eglin Air Force Base. Our first real guests. Of course our mothers and brother Rob came, but they didn't actually get treated like guests since we were so busy unpacking. (You need a towel? Here's one. It was wrapping the corningwear but it is relatively clean.) It is wonderful to have them here until Monday especially as JB has to work again today.

I also realized that I never answered some of the questions re: living on a military base from a few days back. Unfortunately, our test results came back and for some dumb reason, that shifted my focus and stuff.

So let's shift back. I also thought this might be a good time to introduce some of my blog visitors to other blog visitors.

So here we go.

The first responder was Tara. Now, this gets confusing because this is not Tara from "Team Nigeria" Tara and the blog: http://www.thatbananaisstillgood.blogspot.com/. This is "Plan B" Tara. I actually have never met plan B Tara which is sort of weird since I feel like I know her. I am also not sure if she pronounces her name like "Team Nigeria" Tara (which is Tar-uh) or if she pronounces it like (Tear-a). That would help distinguish as well. So Tara who will soon be a mom via surrogate. If you haven't checked out her blog, you really need to at: http://toplanb.blogspot.com/. She's going to be a mom anytime now. Okay, so anyways, this is Plan "B" Tara.

Tara said... That master line ROCKS!!!! And the public library is awesome :)

Tara is referring to the "master line" at the grocery store. Folks this truly is one of the coolest things. Everyone gets in one line and then the next person goes to the next available cashier. There's even a little electronic board that flashes the number and says "Next" to tell you where to go. I agree. It's really cool. I actually have not been to the public library yet, but my husband, has, of course.

Sonia was next. Sonia is a friend from Hannah's Prayer, my online infertility support group. She had twins awhile back. Rachel, is now in heaven but Isaac Samuel is doing amazingly well despite coming into the world SEVENTEEN weeks early!!! (23 weeks along!) You can click on her blog HERE.

Sonia said... Hi Wendi,This is Sonia from HP. I dropped in to see how you are doing. You made me want to visit you in Fla! :) Anyway, just wanted to tell you I am praying for you! Sonia

Sonia's awesome!

All right. The next comment is from Lesley. I don't think Lesley needs much of an introduction. Lesley and Dave were JB's classmates at Mayo. (Were? That's weird to say.) They met at Mayo and were married a year later. Here is Lesley's blog if you want to visit her click HERE. I'm trying to get Lesley to convert to Blogger since Xanga is old and I can't figure out how to leave comments.

Lesley said... You have a movie theater? And a gas station? Man! It's like a little town. Or a big town. The size of Rhode Island, huh? Oh, here's a question - what's the population of the base? I'm bad with big numbers, but I'll compare to Rochester (90,000) and Chittagong (3 million) for rough estimates. :)

So, in response, yes, it is definitely like a town. You could truly stay on base for an entire year and not really need to go off. I can't think of anything you would need outside of base that you couldn't get on base. Now, I don't know who would want to live on base and never leave it, but it is possible.

As for our population, we are slightly less than Chittagong. Actually, slightly less than Rochester too. We aren't sure exactly, but we've been told the population living on base is somewhere around 10,000.

Okay, so let's move on. The next comment was from FunkyMonkeyJunk. Her name is actually Andi, and I repeatedly have people ask me how I know her. I actually only know her from online. I believe, actually, she found me. I posted a comment on another blog and she linked from that comment to my blog, and we've been fast friends ever since. You can call her Andi I guess, but I like to call her FunkyMonkey. I am interested to learn where the name: FunkyMonkeyJunk came from? Anyways, she echoed Tara (The Plan B Tara's) comments:

FunkyMonkeyJunk said... Wendi, thanks for the details...so cool to hear about your surroundings! And that one line at the grocery store...super cool. When are regular grocers going to learn how awesome that is?

All right, so then came Rachel. Rachel is Hans' fiancee. Hans is/was one of JB's classmates. Rachel is awesome, however, despite her awesomeness, she has one fault. She does NOT have a blog. Rachel, any thoughts on that? I still can show you a picture of Rachel though from an old post. Click HERE to see who she is. Okay, so here was Rachel's question.

Rachel said...
I think it sounds like a resort! And if John is one of the highest ranks, who does he have to salute? What if you forget to salute? Are you in big trouble?

So Ebby will come on in a bit and answer this as well, but I actually asked JB about this. There is about 10% of the base population that outranks him, and he does have to salute them. I'd have to have him give you the list, but I think it's general, colonels, lieutenant colonels, and majors that outrank him. As far as forgetting a salute, truthfully, people don't really handout push-ups. John said that if he wanted to, he could talk to the person and find out why they didn't salute. If they just forgot or weren't paying attention, no big deal, but if it was disrespect, they'd seek out that person's "boss" to deal with it. I don't think John would ever do anything if someone didn't salute quite honestly.

All right, so then, there is Nicole. For a reminder of who Nicole is, click HERE to read a recent post discussing Tara's (Bannana is still good Tar-uh) visit with Nicole.Nicole said...
Hey Wen,I'm kinda, sorta reconnected to the rest of the world now. My apartment complex has computers we can use during business hours. Sound like you are in a very cool place! Hopefully the Johnocracy is prohibited within the boundaries of the base...If you could, send me an email from your email address. I'd like to have it to type you longer notes. nicolestroud@yahoo.com

So I'm thinking Nicole didn't have any questions or comments re: the military. I've emailed her and haven't heard back so ... Nicole ... still waiting. Nicole is a classmate of JB's as well. Or was a classmate. She's at Johns Hopkins now! When she refers to the Johnocracy, she is referring to something John started on our six week Africa tour. Basically, he decided that we were operating in a Johnacracy. This meant that JB held ultimate rule-making capabilities for, well, everything. The funny thing is, we all sort of let him, and willingly fell into the dictatorship without question. He made certain rules that held firm like: "No lamenting over past relationships on this trip" and "Ajit may not sing when he is listening to his IPOD" and other such things.

What makes it even funnier is when we got back, we met Nicole's new leading man (who will, most likely, become her final leading man). His name is Bay. He's one AWESOME guy! JB, in passing, told Bay about the Johnacracy. Bay, in turn, adopted the Bayocracy. Nicole was not too pleased with this. We thought it was hillarious.And then, there is Ebby. If you don't know who Ebby is, well, I'm not sure how you can know me and not know Ebby. I am also not sure how to explain her. Ebby and her husband Ronnie (along with their four kids: English, Veronica, Hunter, and Cole), lived by us in Kentucky. We met at church there. Well, when JB found out he was going to Mayo, Ronnie was graduating from college at the same time. To make a long story short, they decided to move to Minnesota too! (But don't call them stalkers.) It was awesome. They are so awesome to us, and we are just waiting for them to decide to move to Florida!

Ebby Ray said... If they don't salute he could make them drop and give him push ups. My daughter is a lower rank than him in the Air Force and I am hoping that there comes a day when they are both in uniform and she forgets to salute him. It would crack me up if he made her give him 20. The best part is that she would roll her eyes at him and say, "Jooooohhhhnnnnn", which then could result in more push ups. I have to get her out to Eglin sometime soon! :)

So, I'm sure JB could give English push-ups just for the sake of it. But it is true that if they both ran into each other, outside, in uniform, she'd have to salute John. Ha ha for that!

All right, moving on to our last comment from my not-so-twin-looking-sister-Gabbi. Gabbi is my computer wiz sister-in-law. Actually it's more that she can find anything online that I need whenever. She also spots every single mistake I make on my blog without fail. You can check out Gabbi's blog HERE.

Gabbs said... LOL Ebby!!

So, I don't really have a comment about what Gabs said, but I wanted to include her even though her comment was only two lines long.

If you have read this far in this post, congrats, because I'm not sure I followed things myself.

And speaking of base, I wanted to add one more thing. Apparently, at 4:30 every day, they play the National Anthem. At this time, you are supposed to pull your car over, roll down your window, and get out of your car if you are in uniform while the Anthem plays. This was very confusing to me. All of a sudden I am pulling over (since everyone else is) and sitting on the side of the road watching people stand outside their cars. I had NO idea what was going on. I didn't roll down my window (because I didn't know I was supposed to) and so I didn't hear the song. I had no idea what we were doing. I asked JB later, and he explained it. So now I know. Just another lesson re: living on base that I had to learn.

I need to get used to ...

• The fact that our refrigerator here does not automatically shut when you open it. (I've left the door open quite a few times already.)
• Trash day. (What the heck is trash day? There was no such thing as that in the condo.)
• The fact that our refrigerator door swings the opposite way. (JB says he can change this around. Didn't know that was possible.)
• Shaving my legs. (Wait! I can wear shorts two days in a row now.)
• Sleeping with a lighter blanket. (We keep waking up hot because we are sleeping with our same Minnesota blankets.)
• The fact that JB cannot hear me call his name in the house. (It's way bigger than anything we've ever had.)
• The fact that the cold water in the sink is really warm. (In Minnesota the cold water is always FREEZING!)
• A small dishwasher. (You can't even fit a small plate on the top rack.)
• The fact that there are a lot more bugs.*
• Shoes in the house. I've been here just a little over a week and am beginning to think this may be a losing battle. After living in Minnesota for four years, shoes in the house grosses me out. (Do you know where those things have been?) But honestly, if I asked the cable guy to take off his shoes here, I think he'd leave and never come back. (In Minnesota fix-it guys take their shoes off or cover their shoes with booties.)
• Always having ID on me. I don't need it to get off-base, but I need it to get back on! (I got my new ID the other day and got to keep my old one. I'm leaving one in the car permanently.)
• The fact that there are a lot more bugs.**

*On Saturday, a wasp flew into the living room. I had no idea what to do. JB wasn't home. I tried to call him, but in order to get cell phone service I would have to go outside past the huge hornet. So, I covered up the bird (if that huge wasp stung her, I think she'd die) and opened up the back sliding glass door and the front door. I then hid behind the sink and prayed that I wouldn't have to resort to the "shoo ... shoo" method and make the wasp angry. Good thing for Mr. wasp he decided to leave a few minutes later!

**I forgot how much I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE palmetto bugs. You know, those big, horrible cochroaches. We haven't found them alive in our house, but we've found them dead. Yuck! Honestly, if I would have remembered this, it might have factored into our decision to come to Florida. Seriously! And to be quite honest, JB hates them almost more than I do. I'd rather see a snake, a mouse, anything other than those big honkin' cockroaches.

Follow-up

Well ... I wanted to post something just to let everyone know that I am doing okay. To let everyone know that JB is doing okay. And to let everyone know that we are doing okay.

I actually said to JB last night, "I'm a little worried about how well I am doing. Maybe I'm not processing this correctly." JB replied with an analogy that while sad, is true. When you have lost so many times, it doesn't surprise you as much. Unfortunately, that is the case. We've taken so many calls like the one we took on Tuesday that it, quite honestly, wasn't a huge surprise.

I was extremely blessed that one of the physicians JB is working with agreed to help me get my blood work ordered on Tuesday. She is a fabulous woman who herself has struggled with infertility. When she asked if I was ready for the test, I burst into tears, and she stopped and asked if she could pray with us! Pray? Of course she could pray! Would I say no? A few hours later she called JB with the results, and I in turn, called Mayo with the results. At least this time I got to tell my Mayo nurses the bad news instead of the other way around.

I was also blessed that for whatever reason, JB was off on Tuesday. After the results came in, he bought me ice cream (Sonic!), we ordered pizza (which had to be reordered when a thunderstorm rolled through and knocked our pizza place out of commission), and we watched the movie: Little Miss Sunshine. Those of you who know me well know that I am not a laugh-out-loud type of person. It's not that I am not happy, I just don't laugh that hard that often. I laughed pretty hard during that movie, and it felt good.

I also spoke with my best bud Kristi. Kristi is always the person I call or email first with my results. This time she had grown impatient and happened to call me just a few minutes after we found out. She and I cried a lot together, and later that night, she called back and we cried some more together. Sometimes, you just need a friend to cry with. Kristi did a very good job crying with me! Apparently, when her husband Lee came home, their daughter (my goddaughter) Logan immediately told her Dad that Mom was upset and when Lee asked why, Logan told him it was because "Wendi needs babies." I smiled when Kristi told me that and started crying all over again.

I also had lunch yesterday with the only friend I have here at Eglin -- Jenny -- whom I met through our mutual friend, Roberta, in Minnesota. Jenny was a Godsend, and even though she is moving in a few months, I was encouraged when she told me that she'd like to try to have lunch with me weekly until she leaves. I was so blessed by that! She has a three week old son through IVF, but she is so like me in so many ways. Just having someone to give me some feeling of familiarity is so helpful. She also like hush puppies as much as I do which is great!

I spoke with my physician at Mayo yesterday afternoon and shared our decision -- that we are going to take a few years off of infertility treatments. And I tell that to everyone who reads my blog as well. We are still believing for our miracle, but we are done, for now, with shots and pills and calendars and blood work. We are thoroughly exhausted and just cannot bear to go through all this even one more time. God can work a miracle without that, and if He would like to, we'd be happy to let Him.

So ... we have called the adoption agency and will work this week to re-start our application for a Chinese adoption. I'm sure you'll be hearing enough about this in the weeks, months, and years to follow to leave you wishing I stopped talking about it, so I'll just leave it at that for now. But we are definitely proceeding with adoption and plan to see it through.

We are committed to the seven "sticky babies" still waiting for us but are going to let some time go by before I take any more hormones. As I spoke with my physician today, I was reminded that technology is changing rapidly and maybe, by the time we are ready to go back for the remaining seven, we will have new insight into the reason we continue to not get pregnant. My physician and I briefly discussed surrogacy and whether my uterus is causing relatively good embryos to not survive. We discussed a lot of things. And then we decided to not discuss any more things for awhile. For now, we are going to put all that aside and focus on adoption. When it is time to go back for those sticky babies, we'll discuss how and when and in what fashion. Today, I'm done discussing infertility treatments.

So, I think that sums everything up pretty adequately. I'm sure I'll have much more to say as time moves in.

Blessings friends!

Blog-jack

Here is the link to the song Wendi just posted the lyrics to:

Mountain of God

Oh well ...

Negative IVF #4. Can't really think of anything else to say so I just want to share song that's been ministering to me. Gabbi, if you know how to link this to the song online, feel free to blog hijack and link it for me. :)

Hugs,

John & Wendi

THIRD DAY LYRICS

"Mountain Of God"

Thought that I was all alone

Broken and afraid

But You were there with me

Yes, You were there with me

And I didn't even know

That I had lost my way

But You were there with me

Yes, You were there with me

'Til You opened up my eyes I never knew

That I couldn't ever make it

Without You

Even though the journey's long

And I know the road is hard

Well, the One who's gone before me

He will help me carry on

After all that I've been through

Now I realize the truth

That I must go through the valley

To stand upon the mountain of God

As I travel on the road

That You have lead me down

You are here with me

Yes, You are here with me

I have need for nothing more

Oh, now that I have found

That You are here with me

Yes, You are here with me

I confess from time to time

I lose my way

But You are always there

To bring me back again

Sometimes I think of where it is I've come from

And the things I've left behind

But of all I've had, what I possessed

Nothing can quite compare

With what's in front of me

With what's in front of me

What's it like living on a military base?

So I have had a ton of questions from people about life on a military base. I am going to attempt here, to answer some of these questions. I'll probably look back at this a year from now and realize that I had everything screwed up, being as I only have a week of experience to draw from. But I'll do my best with what I know.

How big is the base?
The base is the size of the Rhode Island! It is actually the biggest base in the world. However, it is important to understand that a very small portion of that is inhabited. This base is used for training so it has a lot of wooded areas and other types of landscape that I'll never venture onto.

How do you get on base?
Every time we come on base, we have to show ID. If it is before 7pm, only the driver has to show ID figuring the driver is JB or myself. If the driver is a guest, everyone in the car has to show ID. Anytime after 7pm, everyone in the car has to show ID. All guests must have a guest pass. JB and I have permanent IDs.

Does JB get saluted?
Yes, yes, yes. This is very strange. The rules of saluting are as follows: you only salute outside and the person of less rank initiates the salute. JB is a captain so as I understand it, he outranks about 90% of the people in the Air Force. This means he is getting saluted a lot. There are the "enlisted" and there are the "officers". JB is an officer. Officers usually come in with education. This is an advantage of ROTC. If you are in ROTC in college, you enter the military as an officer and not enlisted. Anyways, anytime we are outside, and we pass someone in uniform, JB is usually saluted. Every time we go through the gate, he is saluted. Inside, saluting doesn't exist. (I think this is because going to the grocery store would get exhausting!) You also take off your hat anytime you go inside. If you come visit, the first time you see JB get saluted, it will take you off-guard. I'm getting used to it.

What kind of shopping is on base?
The grocery store is called a "commissary". It is a regular sized grocery store. My favorite part about the grocery store? It has one "master" line that you wait in and then the cashier's highlight their light and a computer says "next" when it is your turn. This means there is no "guessing" which line is faster. You get the next spot. I love this! There is also a place called the "BX". This is like a big Walmart, and everything is tax free. There are appliances and furniture and TVs and clothes and stuff like that. There is also a mini mall where you can get t-shirts and other memorabilia. In addition there is a liquor store, a few fast food places, gas stations, a movie theatre, and probably some other stuff I don't know about yet.

Do you live in a neighborhood?
Yes. If you were in my neighborhood and didn't know it, you'd probably have no idea you were on a military base. The "military stuff" is in different sections. Anyone assigned to this base can live on base except unmarried officers. I'm not sure why, but apparently, they don't have housing for unmarried officers. If you live off base and rent, your housing must be approved.

Is there crime on base?
Apparently there is some crime but very limited amounts. The security on base is very tight. It gets tighter based on the current "threat level". There are also very few accidents because you have to drive SO STINKIN' SLOW on base. On most of the base the speed is 20 or 30!

How far is the hospital from your house?
The hospital/clinic is 1.7 miles from our house. However, driving at 20mph, this takes longer than you would think.

Are there hotels on base?
Yes! Hotels are very cheap. Like $25 a night! We have to book them for you though if you want to stay.

What other activities are there on base?
Well, like I said, there is a movie theatre, pools, a workout center (which I haven't seen yet.) I walked by a little kids' splash park the other day. This was so cool! There are also tons of playgrounds, and I am sure there are a bunch of other activities I don't know of. I know there is a public library. Let's see ... of there is a rental area where you can rent anything for athletic activities, boating, camping. Ummm .... I can't think of anything else right now, but I am sure there is more.

Is JB always at the hospital/clinic?
He will have two rotations that are at a hospital outside of the military and the military base, but otherwise, yes. The hospital and the clinic are attached. Throughout the year he will be doing various rotations (ex. general surgery, dermatology), however, one half day a week, he will be in the clinic seeing patients. He is assigned 70 patients that he is solely responsible for. These 70 stay with him throughout his three years of residency, and more are added to that everyday.

Okay, so that is all the questions I think I have gotten. Are there any others? If so, post a comment, and I'll answer it. Don't worry. There aren't any stupid questions (unless you are Josh and try to write something sarcastic -- and NO, Josh wasn't the one who sent me flowers yesterday!).

Mail!

Our mail finally got forwarded to our home! YAY! With the mail came another amazingly special card. I've never, ever seen a card that was made so perfectly for us. It said:

I wish
I could make things
happen for you
the way you want them to.

I know
how much a child
would mean
to you.

I'm still hoping
and believing for you ...
and keeping you in my heart.

Thank you anonymous friend. To see our struggle on a card makes me understand that I'm not the only one in the world feeling this way right now. Heck Hallmark made a card about it!!!

THANK YOU FLOWER FRIEND!

I just had flowers delivered from a friend (whom I will allow to remain nameless so that everyone doesn't feel intimidated by him/her). :) Anyways, THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FLOWER FRIEND. I cannot even begin to tell you how this brightened my day. I was just praying, telling the Lord I needed some help because I have been having a rough couple of days waiting to give my blood and determine whether this cycle is a yes or a no. Then, here comes the Fed-Ex truck and gorgeous flowers!!!! I am so blessed.

Sometimes just a little thing can readjust your day. I got a wonderful e-card from my mom this morning as well that also helped.

Thank you all for all your love and encouragement. JB can vouch for the fact that I really, really, really need it.

Wedding Photo

My dad sent me this picture this morning. Apparently the CD of photos from Keith and AD's wedding now exists. I hope to order some photos and share them with you as soon as possible, but for now, here is the one picture I do have. That's my dad with his mother, then my brother and his wife, then my mom, then my mom's parents, and then, well, then me and JB. Enjoy!

Camera phones shoot cruddy pictures

Well I really need to buy a new cord for our camera. These pictures I am taking on my phone are fairly crummy. But at least you get the idea. Here is JB with his new grill completely set up. (He will be moving it outside now -- don't worry.) I think he is going to grill something tonight. Our first grilled out meal! This is in our humongo living room / formal dining room that we have no furniture for.

In other news, last night, JB's classmate Matt called and asked us out to dinner. They are the ones who live around the corner that we met the other day. His wife Tiffany's mother is in town for another two weeks so she watched their year old son. We went to the Crab Shack in Destin and sat outside. It was a fun time. They are die-hard Texans (and Aggies, Christo!) and were very good company. He is in aerospace medicine (which means he will be a flight doctor) and will most likely be in the military for career. So this is their first move of many. I'm sure we'll go out with them again.

I tried Dungeness crab which is apparently a west coast delicacy. It wasn't my favorite so I think that is enough of that kind of crab. I may have to stick with Snow crab. I like King crab, but it has prickly things all over it that make it hard to crack. I also really like hush puppies. I have managed to basically eliminate french fries from my diet after years of trying, but I think it may take me three years to get these things out of my diet. Or, I may just forgo trying and eat them. Those things are so good!!! And they are served with every meal. I'd venture to say if I went to a Mexican restaurant here, they'd serve hush puppies. Okay maybe not. But you get the idea.

Eating here presents a different problem though. Everything is seafood, and while seafood is good and pretty healthy, seafood is expensive. I think we are going to have to limit ourselves to like one night a week or less to try to prevent all of our money from going to the fish!

This morning we also began our search for a church. We tried Calvary Chapel Emerald Coast here in Fort Walton. It's only about 12 minutes from our home and that's with the fact that all the roads on base are like 20 mph. It was okay. We've definitely learned that different regions present different churches so we'll have to adjust all over again and find the one that fits us best. I'm sure we'll eventually find the church that God has for us. I'm not sure this was it, but we'll see.

If you think of it, please pray extra hard for me these next few days. The reality of getting my results is starting to sink in, and the emotions that surround that can often be overwhelming. I always covet the extra prayers, and right now, I really need them. I've done great up until now, but now, I'm starting to feel a heavier weight that is difficult to bear. I know the Lord will take care of me and appreciate your prayers at this time.

Rosanna

I got word from my mom that Rosanna Bianchi went home to be with the Lord last night after a fight with cancer. She was the mother of one of my very dear high school friends, Michelle. She also attended my parent's church and was one of the sweetest spirits you could ever meet. Please, please, please pray for their family if you think of them.

Adjusting

Yesterday was my first full day working from home. It was ... strange. I got up with JB at 5:30 am, mainly so I could hang out with him a bit before he left at about 6:45. I also wanted to start work. My goal is to "work when he is working". So that's what I plan on doing. He gave me my shot, and we both broke to different rooms to do our devotions, followed by breakfast.

Right now we have our two extra rooms set up as: (1) my office (2) a library/guest room. Eventually, if we are blessed with a child in this home, we'll probably make my office a child's room and move the office to the dining area in the kitchen. We have two dining rooms. What the heck are we going to do with two dining rooms! This kitchen area has three windows and would make for a sunny spot to work. The library/guest room will be John's room when guests aren't here. He didn't ask for much in this new house, but a room that I wasn't typing in was one of his requests. For graduation, his father, a master carpenter, promised bookshelves of JB's choice. So those will eventually join the room and make it a real library instead of a room with a futon and book boxes stacked in the closet.

Anyways, so back to the strangeness. I ended up working from 7-5 yesterday and didn't take any breaks except a brief pause to have these two glorious pieces of machinery delivered! How awesome are these babies?!

I laughed at an email Lesley sent me yesterday. She and Dave have moved into their house in Rochester and for the first time in their married life, have a washer and dryer in their home. (In our condo, there was a laundry room downstairs.) Lesley wrote how awesome it was to throw in a load and then "putter" around. I agree! It was the biggest sacrifice I had to make when we move into the condo. Lesley didn't know what she was giving up in the condo. But I knew, and I'm glad to have them back.

All right, I can tell I am going to have trouble staying on task with this blog. Back again to the strangeness.

So anyways, I ended up working 10 hours -- about 5 hours for Mayo and 5 hours for RLSF. I've got some catching up to do from the time I took off to move. I am used to working distance for RLSF as I have been working primarily out of my home for them for the last year. But it is new for Mayo, and I was concerned about how it would work out. Yesterday went great. The only problems currently (no phone and no printer/fax) will be fixed this week. The only major frustration was having to go out to the front porch every time someone needed to talk to me.

What was strange was how quiet everything was. I was actually glad for the company of our little lovebird, Twain(ette). I let her come in and sit on the back of my chair for quite some time, and she seemed to enjoy that. However, with JB gone all day and not knowing anyone here, it's very strange to just be by myself all day. I'm sure I'll get used to this more. I'm sure I'll get to know more people and take more breaks. Right now, I can't exercise, but when I can, I hope to take breaks throughout the day for exercise. For now, however, all this quiet will take some getting used to.

The only friend I have here is Jenny. I met her through Roberta last year when I came to visit JB on his rotation. She and her husband were dealing with infertility. Last week she had her first son -- Jackson, through IVF, after a very long and bed-ridden pregnancy. She emailed me and said we should get together next week. I'm excited about that. Unfortunately, Jenny's husband is a fighter pilot, and they are being moved to Texas in August! Oh well. At least I'll know someone for a little bit.

We are excited that our first guests will be here next week. My Tante (Aunt) Jan, and Oom (Uncle) Ed are coming to visit for a few days. After they leave, Brianna V. will be coming up for a week. I am so blessed by the company. Even though I'll still be having to work when company is here, it will be wonderful to have some people around. (Hint-Hint-People!)

John finally got home about 5:30 or so yesterday evening. We sat and talked for awhile, and he showed me his schedule for the next year. That was another thing that was a bit scary. He will be quite busy. He is starting with the most difficult rotation of all -- Labor and Delivery. Two weeks of the month-long rotation are nights. He will then have two other two week periods that he is on night call for different rotations. I had originally thought he'd be on nights only four weeks this year, but it looks like it will be six.

Following this rotation, he does a month in Pensacola at a different hospital. Apparently this is a good rotation but the hour drive each way makes it a little taxing. In total, during the year, he gets two weeks that he can take off for vacation. He can spread these out however he wants, but there are only certain rotations that allow for a break. Other rotations do not have the option of taking a break. He knows for sure that he is not allowed a break at Thanksgiving. He has the option of taking some time at Christmas but a lot of that will be determine by our test results next week. I am hoping he will have to save that two weeks for a special gift in 2008.

Aaaah ... test results. This has been a pretty easy 2ww (2 week wait) mainly because I have been so distracted with surprising the family in Fort Lauderdale, driving here, and moving in. But now that things are settling down, I am counting the days until I go in for my blood work. John is working on finding somewhere here that I can get that blood work done being as we are no longer in Rochester. It shouldn't be a problem. I will then have to call my results in to Mayo as they require close contact regarding my status. I, as always, am not going to give the exact day I am getting the results just because I like to leave something to surprise, but I get them next week, and of course, I'll let everyone know as soon as I am ready. For now, no news is good news. Hard to believe try #4 is about to culminate into an announcement so soon.

Right now, Saturday morning, JB is helping his classmate Matt who lives around the block get some sod. Apparently you can get as much sod as you want for free at the "self-help" store. This is good because our yard is currently grass-less. Since Matt has a truck, JB can help him and then borrow the truck (and Matt) in return at a later date. Not too shabby a deal. When he gets home, we hope to go for a walk. I would LOOOOoooveeee to run here. But I'm praying that it will be a long time before I can go for a run.

We'll find out next week.

Clothing Model

Check it out! I am now a clothing model!!!

RLS FASHION

Just click on "order form" to see me in action.

How did I do?

First real day in Florida

Yesterday was the first day that I sort of spent in "normal" fashion. By this I mean, I worked.

The Internet/cable guys finally showed up at 10:00 yesterday morning. I think they were in a pretty sore mood due to the fact that they told me the wait at the service entrance to the base was over an hour long. Then the one tried to move my desk out from the wall without his buddy to help him. Since his buddy had muscles like you see on those body builder shows, I have no idea why he tried this and ended up nearly breaking the leg on my desk. It's not like there weren't two guys there! Three screws popped out before he decided to stop and ask me for help.

Anyways, at least by the time they left, I had Internet! Unfortunately, we are also going to have to get a regular "old fashioned" telephone as well. Bases are supposedly notoriously bad as far as cell phones are concerned and that is definitely the case here. Sometimes the phone will ring in the house, but no one can hear me when I answer it, and I am forced to run outside to chat. It's quite the ordeal. Anyways, we should have that on Tuesday.

I spent the rest of the day (11:00-5:00) trying to catch up for both my jobs. I don't think I need to worry about being bored whatsoever with both these positions to keep me company. Currently I am not splitting them up. I am just writing down hours whenever I switch from Mayo to RLSF. We will see how this works. It may be better, eventually, to be "on the clock" in the morning for one and "on the clock" in the afternoon for the other. We'll let time be the judge of that.

JB is currently doing a month of "in-processing" so his days aren't exceptionally hard or long. It's a lot of "getting to know" you stuff, photos, paperwork etc. Yesterday, he got off shortly after lunch and went and bought us a washer and dryer (should be delivered today) and microwave (here already!) We also went and looked at sofas and mattresses yesterday. We will celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary this month and JB bought our mattress a year before we were married. That's a decade on this mattress. We are contemplating a move to the tempurpedic. Well, mainly JB is contemplating a move to the tempurpedic due to the fact that he sleeps next to a restless, rising frequently wife. They are quite amazing beds. As for sofas, we have been married nine years and have NEVER purchased a sofa. We are currently on our third hand-me-down, and we are thinking it may be time to buy something we really like. We'll take some time with this. We found one yesterday we really liked but goodness are they expensive. I also went and got a fax machine/printer/copier yesterday for me to use in my home office. This will come in very handy.

After our shopping, JB said he wanted us to quickly walk over to one of his fellow intern's house. Matt lives right around the block with his wife Tiffany and their year-old son William. We left to go to their house at 7 and it was nearly 8 before we got there. Let me just say that this is a VERY friendly neighborhood. Everyone was outside, and everyone was wanting to get to know us. Everyone also remarked that we are John and Wendi (like from Peter Pan). How come I really haven't used this line before? That's great!

The bay is one street over from our house, and we actually have a spot for public water access. In addition, we met the base commander (which JB said was a huge deal!) and his wife. They have built a gazebo in their backyard but since it borders the public water access, they have said it is for everyone to use. The gazebo and water is awesome! The colonel is awesome! His wife is really awesome!!!!! Not anything like you'd imagine some big-wig's wife to be. She told me she would soon be by with cookies.

We finally got to Matt and Tiffany's. Tiffany is actually very tall as well (6'1") and was recruited to play college volleyball. She was also a communications/English major. I think she and I will get along very well. They seem like wonderful people and neighbors.

JB is going to try to find me a place to get my blood work done next week to get my results. Other than that, no news is good news.

Here's something I read this morning which encouraged me. Have a great day everyone!

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD.

Blessed is the man

who makes the LORD his trust,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods.

Many, O LORD my God,

are the wonders you have done.

The things you planned for us

no one can recount to you;

were I to speak and tell of them,

they would be too many to declare.

HEY EVERYONE!

• I am on Eglin Air Force Base.
• Gabbi posted pictures for me while I was offline.
• Gabbi rocks!
• I live on a street called Tapoco.
• Finding my way from the west gate to my house is confusing.
• It’s weird to show ID every time I come onto base.
• I need to get a new ID that reflects my husband is a captain.
• I need to get a new ID that reflects that my husband is active duty.
• Signing in guests takes a long time.
• My moms thought it was funny to make jokes with the woman in uniform while they were getting signed in.
• The woman in uniform had a bullet proof vest on.
• Our moms claimed this was because they were overtired.
• The guard didn’t laugh at all.
• Our moms said she didn’t have a good sense of humor.
• I finally have Internet access (obviously).
• The jets going overhead are very cool.
• The jets going overhead are very loud.
• Cell phone access on base is not good.
• We are ordering a landline phone ASAP.
• We will keep our cell phones because both our families have T-mobile.
• We will have to sit on outside to talk to our families on the cell phones.
• We have a screened in porch.
• My mother, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law Robbie are Godsends.
• Our house is very big.
• I have not lived in a house since I was 4 and living in Thorton, Illinois.
• Our house is 50% larger than any place I have ever lived.
• I do not have the furniture for a house this big.
• We have plenty of room for guests.
• Please come visit.
• Our grass is non-existent.
• JB is excited to have a yard.
• JB will eventually help the grass grow.
• Sonic is very, very good.
• If you come to visit, I will take you to Sonic, but I will have to limit my intake.
• Our bird is having some adjustment issues.
• I think she liked Minnesota better.
• She is chirping a lot.
• JB started his month of “in-processing” yesterday.
• There are 10 people in JB’s internship class.
• There are 8 men.
• There are 2 women.
• The 2 women are single.
• The 8 men are married.
• About half have children.
• About half live on base.
• JB looks cute in his uniform.
• JB will be mad that I wrote that.
• I am now online and will be back regularly.
  

Office Pic

Here is a pic of Wendi's office: