Goodbye 2007!!!

Its been nice, but I am GLAD to see you go!! During 2007, we lost Danas mom,(sad thing), and our basset Harley (sad thing) moved to Colorado (GOOD thing) and watched Breanna ship off to BMT (another GOOD thing). So although we cant complain, I am always glad to see the year go. It means a fresh new year is right around the corner, full of possibilities!

My only new years resolution is to live each day to its fullest, and to laugh. Laughter makes one healthy, I want to laugh a lot in 2008..

We arent having any kind of celebration tonight, Bre is organizing her room, Dana is at work and Frankie and I are watching TV.

I wish you all a great and glorious 2008, may all of your wishes come true. Dont forget to laugh!

Yep!! She is an Airman!

This is what I found when I went into Breannas room tonight.. Yes sir, I think she is an Airman! LOL

The room also was not nearly as cluttered as her room used to be, believe me, the old room was nearly urecognizable with clutter. This one actually has nice neat stacks around.

Today was a rest day for most of the family. I had to go to bed because I worked all night. We are still having problems with Reggie, he has a horrible aggressive disorder. We have sought out a trainer and will meet with her at our house on Wednesday afternoon. Enough about that, I slept horribly and finally got up to collapse in my chair..

It has started snowing here, not sure how much will accumulate but we are ready! Our mountains have all got a nice white blanket of the white stuff and the skiers are ecstatic.

Frankie is still warming up to Breanna, Reggie is still a psycho. Such is the status quo here.. another day another snap and a growl.

A Whirlwind of a Day

Breannas day #1 at home went like a whirlwind. We took a trip to Borders (she was suffering from book store deprivation) and then on to the Super Walmart to buy groceries.

She enjoyed walking around in civilian clothes, but admitted later on that she does love those Air Force uniforms! She also slept in this morning, until 5:00am! I guess old habits die hard, she stayed in bed and then got up and went online to chat with friends.

She has slimmed down so much that I cannot believe it! I am so proud of what she has accomplished. She does look good in that uniform. LOL

I am looking forward to spending time with her in the upcoming weeks, I still cant believe she is home. :-)

more to come......

SHE IS HOME!!!!

Breanna is HOME! It has been a long 6 months since she has been here. Well, actually she has never been "here". We have moved to a new state and a new house since Bre went to Lackland.
She is taller, and thinner and VERY military. And she scared the bejeesus out of Frankie when she walked in. LOL It just dawned on me that the only people Frankie is used to seeing are Dana and I.. too funny. LOL
We took her out for her first meal at home, "Mexican food".. thats her favorite and she has been craving it for months.
The Air Force has been a good deal for her, she is much more disciplined, more mature and actually TURNED DOWN the use of my laptop tonight, instead she was tired and went to bed. This girl used to be able to sit up on the computer all night long without a break, and then come back for more. LOL
We are so happy to have our Airman home...
more to come!

Breanna is on her way HOME!!!

Yes, thats what I said. "on her way home".... can you believe it??? She had her meeting this morning and was granted a convalescent leave and then wham! bam! she got plane reservations, packed up her stuff and headed out to the airport..

She has called several times, she got bumped from her original flight, and caught the 2nd flight out and will be taking a slightly different route. But she should arrive in Denver in good shape. Providing that DIA is still landing planes when she gets there, the snow is still falling, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

This leave is for 30 days, during that time she needs to get herself worked back up to 27 pushups so that she can pass her eval to return to training... she can do 15 right now, so she should be able to do it.

I will take pics and keep the blog updated when she gets home, I am sure she has changed in the last 6 months...

White Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends!! We did have a white Christmas today, it started snowing about 11:00pm last night and snowed off and on until 10:00am this morning. Not much accumulation but its WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!! I havent had a white Christmas in many years, probably about 12 or 13 years now that I think about it. There is a 10,000ft mountain behind those clouds in the above picture.. with lots and lots of snow on it!

Breanna called me at 7:30am this morning, the TI's handed out their trac-phones early today YAY! She sounded a little down and a lot tired. She said the "Christmas Extravaganza" was fun, they had dancing, movies, food, and blow up thingies. (I didnt ask. LOL) Bre volunteered for a work detail helping to monitor the blow up thingies, so she didnt have to dance. LOL

Today they are playing games in the dorm, sleeping and watching TV. Her Christmas gift from us (an Xbox 360) is wrapped under the tree, she will open it if she comes home on Con Leave, or when we get to TX for her graduation. We still have her birthday present here too. :-(

I guess its best not to dwell on all of the holidays, birthdays and anniversaries that we have missed in the last 6 months, but its hard not to.

Dana and I are apart today too, both of us have to work. There are no holidays in emergency medicine, it sucks.

On a lighter note, I wish you all a joyous Christmas today, full of love, laughter and happiness!

"Permanent Party"

I talked to Bre today, she was in good spirits, planning for the "Christmas Extravaganza" tonight. She has been told that this is a party where everyone on base, the street flights, fit flight, fever flight, and med hold are all herded into one central location for a christmas party. She is looking forward to the CANDY... LOL

She has no idea what else will happen there, as long as she can find candy.... life is good. She is most definately my child.

As of December 27, 2007 (3 days from now) she will be considered "Permanent Party" in the USAF. According to Bre, this means she has had residence on an air base for a total of 180 days and this will enable her to have VA benefits, if separated from the AF as a "med board". This sounds a little more promising than anything that we have heard so far. (that shoulder surgery still looms in the back of my mind).

I cannot believe that soon, she will have been at Lackland for 6 months! Thats just amazing to me. Her strong will and determination has kept her sane and made her continue to try for 6 months... I could never have done that. She is truly amazing. And did I mention that she is my hero?

So, on this Christmas eve, I want to give thanks to God for my daughter, my airman, my soldier who has tried harder than anyone can ever imagine, to fulfill her dream, who has worked so hard to achieve her goal. I pray that 2008 brings her happiness, success and that airmans coin. I am SO proud of her.

2 more days...

Until Christmas. This isnt going to be my first without Bre, but it will certainly be the hardest. She has spent Christmas with her father in the past, most of the time she was on the phone with us though, complaining and wanting to come home. LOL

Now that I think about it, she is still doing the same thing! She has 2 new work details. One involves a cleaning closet and some kind of disagreement with the laundry people (I dont even want to know about that one) and the other has to do with (and these are her words) "checking in the newbies". She is always excited when she can boss people around, and she has been tossing around the thought of being a TI for a few months now, but her TI's are telling her its not worth the effort. They say its a thankless job..... ok that makes sense...

The above picture is Bre and her recruiter Ssgt Cromwell, taken right before they left for the hotel the night before she processed. She was terrified.

Today is bright and sunny in Western Colorado, on the cool side but no storms.. yet. We are hoping for a white christmas right along with the rest of you!

Today Dana and I are celebrating our Christmas, we both have to work over the next couple of days.. Merry Christmas to you all!

In a nutshell

So, in a nutshell, she is waiting. Her incredible strong will has brought her this far, she has motivation, and desire. We are SO proud of her.

I get to talk with her every day or so, sometimes more than once in a day. She had an appointment with an orthopedist on Friday and surgery was recommended. He told her that if she didnt have surgery then she would have permanent damage... BUT she couldnt have surgery because it was a waste of the governments money... WHA?????

Ok, mom, stay calm. As a seasoned medical professional I have learned to try to assess each situation before I go absolutely apeshit. They wont do surgery "BECAUSE IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY?"

After prying myself off of the ceiling I have decided that we have waited long enough and been patient long enough. It is time to contact our Congressman. Frankly I am ready to contact our Congressman, Senators, Governor, the Mayor of Grand Junction, and as many people wearing white collars that I can find!!!

Just another turn in the road. More to come....

and 2 steps back.....

This blog is dedicated to the hard work, perserverance and strong will of my daughter Bre. Bre has wanted to serve in the USAF for the last 5 years. She overcame HUGE obstacles (losing over 90#) to qualify for enlistment. Finally, the day came for her to be processed, she was SO excited. She swore into active duty.. what a thrill

Her first 3 weeks of BMT was uneventful, but after an unfortunate bout with dehydration, her right knee was discovered to be swollen. Within 48 hours she was transferred to med hold for evaulation and treatment. 10 weeks later, her knee was healed and she returned to training..

We were thrilled and excited to attend graduation, week 3 of BMT went by without a hitch, week 4 brought Warrior Week and off they went to be soldiers in the field! On Thursday of Warrior Week Breanna and several others were made to do "pushups until they dropped" and she tore her ACL in her right shoulder.

And its back to med hold... now, almost 8 weeks later, she is still there. What a rocky road she has been down...