Home At Last

It has been a while since I last posted, but I have a good excuse.  We were busy moving home.  All went as planned with my mother flying down and riding with Candi, Jarrett, and all the animals, while I followed in the U-Haul behind.  We got to see many cool sights on the way home, like the Grand Canyon.

This little number set us back a bit.  Two blown tires made us stop and then we found that one of the front ones had huge bubbles on the sidewalls.  We are very thankful that all this happened just two miles outside a town.

Once we were back on the road we hit up Bryce Canyon, which was very unique and cool.

However, of all the sites we saw, this was the best...HOME!

We frantically unpacked once we arrived on Thursday afternoon and got things set up so that Candi could go back to work that next Monday.  I followed and went back to the Guard on Wednesday.  Both of us are back to full time work, although I don't know if you consider what I am doing as work.  I am supposed to be helping out in scheduling, but so far it has been a lot of little jobs to include cleaning out a fridge and giving 11 tours to different students and VIPs.  I am not complaining because I am getting paid, not to mention they are letting me take vacation for a few weeks so I can go with friends on a motorcycle trip up through Canada for a week.

I will be working out at the Guard until all my paperwork is finalized and then it is time to figure out what I am going to do when I grow up.  I will then go back to work at MTI and decide if I am going to still fly.  I am still unsure of what my decision will be, but right now we have enough stuff going on with trying to get settled back into a routine.

JJ is doing great and is loving his new home.  He has a crib now and feels like he is pretty high society.  Candi's mother watches him two days a week, with my mom watching once a week, and a family friend picking up the other two days.  Candi would eventually like to move to a part-time position so she could spend more time with the little guy, but we will have to see what works out.

Now that we are home, most of you can come see us and find out the latest news so I will be updating and posting to this blog a lot less frequent.  You can still see pictures of JJ at Candi's website https://picasaweb.google.com/candijeremyp or you can find us on Facebook or reach us with email.  I really appreciate everyone who reads this and thanks to those who post comments.  I have found that quite a few people read this and I am glad we could share our experiences with you and in turn you could keep us in your thoughts and prayers while we were away.  Until the next one, see ya!

New News and a Vacation

We took a quick vacation at the end of this week to Sedona, AZ.  This was the view as we pulled into town and an almost identical view from our balcony of our hotel.  It was one of the more beautiful places I have been.  It was full of places to hike...and play golf.

Candi took the hiking part and I took the golfing part.  All I had to do was find a fill in "dad" to pack the rugrat around and I was set.

Eric obviously did very well because Jarrett could not have been more happy!

I couldn't have been happier, too!  Hiking here was pretty cool.  I have some really cool pictures from the course, but I haven't downloaded them yet.  Stay tuned.

However, I did manage to find time for my family and to reclaim my "dad" responsibilities.  We took Jarrett for his first swim and he absolutely loved it.  He kept splashing and laughing until I finally got tired of getting splashed and took him out of the pool.

I also found time to pack my son myself.  This is from Bell Rock in Sedona.  The place was awesome, but here is the coolest part...

WE GET TO GO HOME...ok, now that I got your attention, it maybe isn't 100% true.  We are very close to getting to return home together and we have one more person to sign off on the latest idea.  Pray that it works!  I said "together" because Candi is going to return home regardless of whether I get to go home or not.  We are flying my mother out to help move her back and if all works out, I will be able to go as well.  Candi, JJ, and my mom will leave on the 6th of June, with or without me.  If I am able to get it all approved, I will load up a U-Haul and move with them.  If not, they will take the dogs and as much baby stuff and clothes as they can fit into my truck and I will wait to bring the U-Haul and Candi's SUV later.  Let's hope and pray the latter option is not the one that gets executed.

I need to get things cleaned up from our little outing, but if I have new news I will let you know...

Oh, besides the fact I put money down for a guy to hold this bike (09 Harley Davidson Streetbob) for me until I get home and can buy it.  Ok, I will keep you posted for any OTHER new news...

Still in Arizona

Another week in Arizona...fortunately it is ten degrees cooler than normal because mid to high 80s is still pretty warm.  However, it is supposed to reach 105 sometime in the next seven to ten days. Hopefully, (and I have been saying this for over a month) we will be gone before it gets too hot.  With that being said, we did get word that my commander here sent an email to others in the the chain of command that says that he will take the heat and ok me to go home on June 1st, if he hasn't heard back with a decision on the matter of me going home.  Not sure how it will all play out, but at least it seems like steps in the right direction.

In the mean time, we continue to see the area in preparation for leaving.  This past week, I took the first three days off and we went to the Pima County Air and Space Museum.  It has over 250 aircraft and some really cool exhibits...those of course being the ones inside...get it...the ones outside are really hot...never mind!  They have all the usual planes that you can name, but they had some ones I had never seen or heard of, like this B-36B with six prop engines and four jet engines.

However, that wasn't the biggest excitement on Monday.  The biggest excitement came as a result of my posting last week where I said that things don't happen to Jarrett on my watch any more.  God knew I may have spoken a slight over statement, so he reminded me to quit running my mouth.  I get lots of these reminders in life, I just don't do so well on the implementation.  Anyway, this is what the latest got me:

I was watching Jarrett and had laid him on our bed and all was fine.  Then snot started pouring out of his nose, so being a good father, I jumped up and to grab a tissue.  I either bounced Jarrett off the bed in my hurry or he did a couple quick roll overs, either way it ended with a thud and a lot of screaming.  Even though it looked bad, I wasn't as concerned about the skinned cranium as I was the fact that his screaming ended abruptly with him falling to sleep.  A call to Candi and the doctor and we decided it was ok that he fell asleep.  Turns out, either way he will blame me for brain damage, whether it be genetic or neglect. It actually looked worse the day after when the scrapes scabbed up.  When we go out in public, I always say loudly, "I won't let your mother hit you ever again!"

Even with that on my resume, Candi left me in charge the next day and went with some friends on an all day bender at IKEA.  You know it is going to hurt when she asks to take the truck for more hauling space.  Jarrett will have to go to a community college now, but we got some nice things for our house when we get home.

Wednesday, we went to the Desert Museum outside of Tucson where we finally saw javelinas.  Everyone here has seen them attacking their pets, going through their garbage, or just running around the subdivisions, but we haven't.  We thought they might be something along the lines of UFOs or aliens, but we finally put all doubts to rest.  Although it was called a museum, it was more of a zoo of local wild animals and birds.

Other than that, I went back to work on Thursday and the rest of the week was pretty uneventful.  Jarrett continues to beat the roosters out of the gate in the morning.  I don't know if it is the fact that Arizona doesn't do the whole daylight savings thing and it is light about 5:00AM or what, but he looks to be a morning person.  It is ok during the week (Candi would disagree because she could sleep in), but 6ish on the weekends just isn't cool.

We are planning on going to Sedona with my old classmates for this weekend.  I guess it is a consolation prize for not being able to continue North to Idaho.  More on this trip next week.  Until then, see ya!

p.s.  Travis, did you actually mention my name?  Generally, if you say my name instead of just saying you know a Herc driver, they will let you fly.

Starting to Make Some Progress on Going Home

We aren't packing yet, but at least we are thinking about it.  I signed a waiver this past week, which in a nutshell asked to be remove from the A-10 course so that I wouldn't have to face a board to determine my future.  It was what I felt the right thing to do was, but I wanted to make sure the guys back home in the 190th FS were on board.  They confirmed that what I was thinking was probably the best choice and now it has to get approved all the way up to the top.  The process to get all the signatures here and back East could take a long time.  However, everyone said that I should be able to move home while this process was running its course.  So I did a quick ops test and asked to go home...well, it wasn't that easy.  They have to get approval from everyone who has to sign this packet, so it could take a long time as well.  Although, they approved the orginal request to "leave", but what they approved was that we could go home on vacation.  It was cleared up and re-asked that by "leave" we meant gone for good.  Hopefully we will get an answer as quick as we got the one for vacation.  Only time will tell!

In other exciting news, my email got hacked and it sent a lot of graphic and inappropriate links to a lot of unsuspecting people, like my Air Force bosses and elderly church folk.  Ironically, the first response was from the latter and I believe the link was actually opened.  OOPS!  Sorry for all of those who got these wonderful emails and there is no need to open the links.  However, if you were going to pay money for some pills, enhancement equipment, or send money to a poor African prince, please skip all the unnecassary steps and just send me money and get nothing in return.

Candi is doing well and is getting some last minute or last days or last months shopping in and is going to make here first trip to IKEA this Tuesday with some of her friends, up in Phoenix.  I am figuring out ways to strap a car seat into a golf cart, since I took the day off to stay with Jarrett and give Candi some "girl time."  I will try to teach JJ golf, but I am a little concerned he is going to be an "open mouther!" 

When I try to teach him, he just sits there, stares, and leaves his mouth open!  Before you say it, he didn't learn it from observing his father...I don't stare.  Jarrett continues to grow and is eating baby food now, and we are even introducing dog bones...

...and before you judge me, it was Candi's turn to watch him. I would never neglect my duties of watching him! I learned that lesson when he fell off the couch on my watch.  Well, I might not have learned it on that one, but when he fell off the bed, I started to take notice.  However, I think what really drove it home was when I was checking out at the grocery store when I realized JJ was still in his car seat in the car. In my defense, I was in the express line, so I wasn't there for a long time. Anyway, I have learned to watch him when it is my turn!

As I mentioned, I am taking time off next week to watch JJ, but I am also taking off a couple more days so that Candi and I can get some of the sightseeing done before we leave.  We are planning on going to the National Knitting Museum and a few other must sees in the Tucson area.  I will let you know how they turn out!

Happy Mother's Day

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to my mother, all other mothers, and to the first time mother in our family.  JJ started off Mother's Day by giving his mother a tooth, with a nice box of screaming.

We waited in bed for a very long time and were almost late for church, before we finally decided that JJ wasn't going to serve breakfast in bed to his mother. Even with her son being lazy and unthoughtful, I think Candi still likes the little guy anyway.

We also decided to take the opportunity to sweat a little while we waited the ten seconds for the timer to get a family photo.

We do have a little news on what is next in our lives.  I have been given the choices of (1) taking a legal route to try to get back into the A-10 program, (2) go back to being rated as a C-130 pilot, or (3) trying to get out of the Air Force all together.  I have to have my decision by Thursday.  If I fight it, which I don't think I will because I don't feel I have a strong enough case, then the hearing will be on the 17th.  If I get a waiver to go back to the C-130, then it could take months, but I might be able to come home right away since there is no need to be here while awaiting the necessary paperwork. We still haven't made up our minds on what our decision will be, since there are so many questions to be answered before we can.  However, the closer we get to making a decision, the closer we get to Idaho.

On to very important news, I spent the weekend looking at several different new Harley Davidson motorcycles and I am having my "Boise Buyer" hot on the trail of my next bike.  Now, we just have to hide and wait.

I have been going in each day and for the last week and a half, have been putting in respectable days work.  It is pretty boring administrative work, especially when the alternative is hurling projectiles at the ground from a flying machine.  Candi is still working and taking care of Jarrett.  She gets out occasionally to have coffee with women from church or with the wives from my old class.  It continues to be in the high 90s, so we bought us one of those things that high rollers have...a swimming pool.  Ok, we really bought it for the dogs, but I thought if I sat in it, then the old neighbor lady behind the block wall might let us use hers.  She offered to let us use it back in January, but now we need it.  She has lived there for five years and has only been in once, but she still pays to have it maintained.  I guess I will have to keep yelling to Candi, "I sure wish we knew someone with a pool" while our windows are open.  Well, that is about all from Tucson; maybe we will have some good news and guidance by next week's blog.  I would just like to say thank you to all those who read this, comment, or email.  I don't always respond, but I read all the comments and emails.  Thank you for caring!

Another Week in Tucson

Not a lot to report this past week.  I pretty much stayed inside, glued to my TV and Internet in order not to miss a single minute of the royal wedding coverage.  I can't believe she wore that dress... Ok, so I didn't watch any of it, but it was mentioned on ESPN.  Instead, I went in to work each day for a half day.  When I wasn't organizing shelves and making copies for higher ranking officers, I was working out or taking care of Jarrett, so Candi could work.  I did find time to get a sunburn playing golf...yes, I finally got a round of golf in this week.  The weather has been in the 90s and looks to stay mid 80s to mid 90s.

The biggest news around here is that Jarrett got his first tooth this week.  He was surprisingly easy going and not at all fussy...until today!  He is making up for lost time as I type.  But, of course I am busy, so Candi has to deal with it.  It is amazing how fast you can get yourself busy when he starts to cry, in order of getting out of taking care of the tornado warning siren.  When he goes off, RUN FOR COVER! I have a picture of it, but this site is not letting me upload it right now.

JJ did have a doctor's appointment because last time he was a bit smaller (percentage wise) than he had been in previous doctor's visits.  We got him on a strict weight lifting workout, coupled with protein shakes...and formula and rice cereal... and he is now back in the percentile he was in before.  I keep telling them, he isn't going to be that big!  Look at his parents.  Not a lot of people look up to us...and I am talking about physically.

Candi is still working from home and seems to be taking on a little more now that I am home a bit more to help out with JJ.  I don't know any more news on my situation, but I am going to see if all this waiting can be done from Idaho.  Of course, I might wait until it warms up a bit more in Idaho before I make that request.  We are not sure what direction God wants us to go, but we are trying to figure it out.  Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated during this time.

Don't forget to see the pictures of Jarrett on Candi's site: https://picasaweb.google.com/candijeremyp

Easter in San Diego

On a whim and a phone call from my dad, we decided to go to San Diego for Easter.  I had a very vigorous work schedule, but was able to get Friday and Monday off.  We went "up" to San Diego on Friday afternoon.  It is about a 7.5 hour drive when you have to stop every few minutes for the baby.  It was actually me, needing to go the bathroom, but I played it off on JJ.  "Candi, I think we need to stop, I smell a dirty diaper again."  She would reply, "but he is sleeping." But, being the good dad that I am and not wanting him to sit in his own filth, I stopped and changed his diaper...and while we were stopped, I used the opportunity to flash snakes and road runners along side the road.

It actually wasn't that bad and Jarrett did great.  He slept or eat most the time.  Candi sat in the back to entertain when he was awake, and as long as he had his shades on, he was good to go.  He is getting his first two teeth and has been surprisingly good SO FAR!

In San Diego, we got to see members of my family that we hadn't seen in over seven years.  It was good to hang out with them and catch up a bit. 

We also went to the beach to see water...since it is such a rarity in Tucson.  It was nice the day we went, but the water was still too cold without a wetsuit.

Then on Sunday, we took JJ to his first Easter service.  Candi didn't let me dress him in the Easter dress that I bought him, but he did get a new shirt for the occasion.

As far as my situation goes, I was given the regulations that outline what could happen.  It was helpful to read all of it, but until paperwork is done, it doesn't mean much.  We did learn that if it goes the long route, it could be a four to five month process.  Hopefully it won't go that long, since there is a short route, but we will just have to wait and see.  Until then, I will continue to clean supply rooms, make copies, and put together publications for a few hours a day and then go home to the real work...taking care of Jarrett.  Notice there is no mention of golf in that day, but I am not bitter...