My New Job: SAHM

I'm sure a few people have caught on to the fact that Jaxon is past 12 weeks of age and I'm not back at work.  I keep getting asked the question, "When do you go back to work?"

I have made the decision to resign.  It honestly was not a hard decision to make.
(Although it is hard to admit.  Why?  Because so many people have an opinion this subject.)

I plan to write a separate post on why this decision was made (like 45 other posts, it's half written in my drafts folder).  It was a combination of what Nick and I thought was best for Jaxon and the actual job itself.  Neither one was right for me or for us.  But more on that later.

Let me tell you, adjusting to life with a newborn is HARD!
Did you know they don't have schedules?  Even trying to get into a routine is difficult.  (Schedule runs by specific time whereas a routine is not time specific, but more so the same activities/tasks in the same order).
Just when you think you've got them figured out, they go and decide to change things up.  Today he love my playmat. Tomorrow he'll hate it.  And Friday he'll love it again.  For three weeks he's sleeping 9 hours through the night and then suddenly he decides to wake up every 40 minutes.  One day he'll nap for an hour and the next day his naps are 15 minutes tops.

But I wouldn't trade this for anything.  Y'all, this kid.  He makes my heart swell and every day I feel like I'm going to explode from love.  Being home with him everyday, while incredibly difficult, has been so rewarding.  I know being a SAHM isn't for everyone and some can't afford to do it.  While we can't live the same lifestyle we were living before with now only having one income, it's possible for us, and we knew this was the right decision for our family at this time.

So now you all have your answer.  I don't have a date I'm returning to work at my old employer because I have a new boss.  And he happens to be the cutest 3 month old to grace this planet (I'm not baised at all).

Flight School Update

So this has been a long time coming and I've completely slacked on this.  I don't know if I've done a flight school update other than when he finally started Primary.

Nick with the T-6B Texan II he's currently flying.

For those that need a refresher, Primary is the last of the three phases of flight school we came down here for.  Nick started back in April and while it should take about 6 months, there are a lot of factors that can slow the guys down.  Weather is a major one.  During the months of June, July, and August, it rained pretty much everyday.  This caused Nick to rarely get to fly.  He would go two weeks without ever getting in the cockpit.  Then after 14 days of not flying, he had to have a mandatory warm up, (meaning it did not count towards his flights for completion.)  It was just a mess.
The other hold up was tires and available planes.  Primary at NAS Whiting Field now flies the T-6B Texan II planes (they just phased the T-34 out).  The tires on these planes are much smaller and therefore they were going through them more quickly than they could replace.  So a lot of times they would be scheduled for flights, but there wouldn't be an operating plane available.

The beginning phase of Primary is called "Contacts" and that's, simply put, where the guys learn the basic of flying.  They are flying visually looking outside of the plane at the world and learning the basics like how to handle emergencies and how to land the plane (and in emergency situations).
Contacts took Nick approximately 15 weeks to get through, which was about 14 flights.  You might remember THIS post about his solo flight.  That was at the end of Contacts.

Following Contacts was "Aerobatics".  That is exactly what it sounds like.  He gets up in a plane and does all kinds of loops and rolls and "fun" aerobatic moves.  (I say "fun" because he liked it but I do not hink  it sounds fun at all.  It sounds downright scary and it's even scarier when it's your husband up there doing them!  I won't begin to tell you how nervous I was when it came time for his aerobatics solo!!!)  This only took about 4 weeks, but he was med-down for 3.5 weeks due to a really bad sinus and head cold (which might not seem like a big deal to most people, but for a pilot this is a huge deal.)

After Aerobatics, Nick started the "Instruments" phase.  This is simply where he learns to fly just by the  flight instruments in the cockpit.  They practice these flights by having him fly at night when it's pitch black outside and he can't really see or by sitting in the backseat of the plane, which provides limited visual.  Nick just completed this phase today.

This past weekend he did his cross country flights.  Technically, the guys don't really go across the country.  Common places they to fly are Chicago, Nashville, Savannah, Key West, etc.  These trips are usually 5 or 6 flights (roundtrip).  Originally Nick and his on-wing (his instructor all throughout Contacts who wanted to fly Nick's cross country with him) had discussed flying to St. Louis since it's Nick's hometown.  But they weren't able to because of cold weather.  The T-6B isn't properly equipped with anti-ice "things" and with it being pretty cold in St. Louis, it wasn't a good idea.  Not to mention they don't have much room in the plane for belongings, and therefore it'd be hard to pack coats and warmer/bulkier clothes.  So it was off to the Keys!  Nick and his on-wing partner, and a quite a few other guys and their IPs (Instructor Pilots) headed to the Keys!  They stopped twice on the way there, totaling two flights there (and three flights back, knocking out five flights).  They all went out Friday night, drinking and having a good time.  Saturday Nick was hung out (kid never drinks and then decides he can down some shots and 6+ drinks lol) and they spent most of their night flight planning for the next day.

Now, Nick only has the "Formation" phase..  That is where he will fly with another plane in formation flying.  Just as you see jets, such as The Blue Angels, flying in formations.  Formation flight is typically something only military aviators do and is one of the things that sets them apart from their civilian counterparts.  It seems really bad ass but also so scary to know they are flying so incredibly close to one another.  Forms should really only take about a week but it's likely he won't start until after the new year.  (The reason is the guys are only flying Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, next week and it's unlikely he'd fly three double days.  It's much easier to make him wait because as I mentioned before, after 14 days of no flights, they have to fly a mandatory warm-up flight.  But if those 14 days are in between phases, such as Instruments and Formations, they won't need to give him the warm-up.)

This means Nick could be selecting his platform in the second or third week in January!  EEK!

He's still enjoying flying but he's really stressed out.  Every day he has two events, which means lots and lots of prep.  He spends hours doing jet logs.  I have no idea what they are but I know they take a long time, and even longer when you have two flights to prepare for in one day.
He is just so busy.  His flights are usually in the afternoon into evening.  He wakes up early, prepares for his flights (doing whatever he has to do), then goes into work, flies (which causes him to come home so completely exhausted), showers, then goes straight to the office to start preparing for the next day's flights.  Some days he completely skips dinner to keep working.  Then he goes to bed around 1am to get up and do it all over again.  I feel so badly for him.  He has such LONG days and he's so stressed out.
I look forward to when these days are done.  It will be nice to have my husband home when he's home.  If that makes sense.  Even though he's home a good portion of the day, he's not home.  I can't talk to him or enjoy time with him.  And if you know me, it's INCREDIBLY hard to have someone in my house (someone whom is my best friend and I love very much) and have me not be able to talk to him!!!!!  I'm thankful I'm able to sleep next to him each night, but it's a HUGE tease having a husband home, that's not REALLY home.  But we don't have too much longer of it! Thank goodness!!!  (Not to mention it will be nice when he's finished and my office can be organized and stay clean and I don't need to pop Xanax anymore!)

So next is Forms, then SELECTION!!!

Platform selection is where Nick will choose the type of aircraft he will be flying.  This will also dictate if we stay here or if we move.  The choices are Rotary (helicopters), Maritime (P-3/8), or Jets.   All throughout Nick's time in Primary, he's pretty much been between Helos and P-3s.  Until two weeks ago when he attended a brief about P-3s.  He found out the Maritime community also now has a Triton, which is a UAV.  This plane is operated by a pilot from the ground.  The lifestyle is awesome in that he NEVER deploys and it's pretty much a Monday through Friday job.  It's almost like a normal non-military job!!!  But Nick doesn't want that.  He wants to be IN a cockpit and flying.  Because of this, he does not even want to put Maritime as a option for fear of being forced to go the Triton route.
So helos then, right?  Wrong!  In the last two weeks, Nick has also seriously been considering jets.  It's out of nowhere.  Yes, he loves jets.  Yes, he thinks it'd be bad ass to fly them.  But it's always been his last choice for a few reasons.  The main two being he does not want the lifestyle of jets nor does he want to complete the main missions of the jets.  Which are two huge reasons.
So now he's really confused and stressed out.  It's a HUGE decision.  This decision will dictate what Nick will be doing for the rest of his career.  It also really decides what our life as a family will look like and where we will and could be stationed.  It's just a lot to think about it.  I will 100% support whatever decision he makes.  I just want him to choose whatever platform will make him happiest.  If he's not happy at work, he won't be happy at home.

I'm just ready for this time to be here so we can start planning and have a more clear vision of our future.  So I know when I'll finally be able to go to nursing school.  So I'll know if we'll be moving in January or not!!!!

Nick's First Primary Solo

You might be thinking, "didn't Nick solo last year?"  Yes, but this is waaaaay different and much more bad ass.

I'm going to try to keep this very simple to understand given that the majority of my readers are not familiar at all with the military lingo, especially the aviation world.

If you recall THIS post, Nick soloed in a small Piper plane.
Today, he soloed in the T-6B Texan II.

It's a very powerful and bad ass plane.  I don't really know much about it because planes aren't my thing but it's pretty powerful and they go pretty freaking fast.  I mean, the majority of Nick's flights he's pulling a significant amount of G's, thus wearing a G-suit.  It's a pressurized cockpit and thus he wears the sweet masks you see on Maverick and Goose in "Top Gun".

Nick started Primary (his last phase of the three part training before finding out the type of aircraft he'll be flying) in April.
On June 01, 2012, Nick had his very first flight in the T-6.  Due to lots of weather delays and not having planes (will cover this in the blog post I will write next week (I promise) updating you all on flight school) it took him way too long to get this first part of Primary over with.  He's in a phase called 'Contacts' which is basic flying with visually seeing outside the cockpit, visually using ground references and not flying through clouds or any bad weather.

Today on September 14, 2012, Nick went to base for his check ride.  This is basically where he briefs and then flies the plane with an instructor in the back, who essentially passes you saying you're knowledge enough and safe enough to pilot the plane by yourself.  Nick rocked his checkride and was given the go-ahead for his solo.

He came home for lunch and as any male who doesn't fully understand how women operate, gave me about 30 minutes to shower and get ready to go back to base with him for his solo flight.  However, I was not able to shower, blow dry & flat iron my hair, do makeup, and get dressed in this time so I met him at base after his brief.

I arrived right as Nick was walking out to his plane to take off for his solo.  The next almost three hours I was a nervous wreck.  I was shaking (and for some reason thought I could paint my nails to pass time??  I looks like I let a four year old paint them).  I attempted to read but couldn't concentrate.  I finally just succombed to the nerves and sat there shaking and sweaty.  So much for makeup and trying to look cute =/  It might sound silly, but to any aviation significant other, you can relate and understand the nerves that accompanying knowing your husband is flying.

Proud and nervous wife waiting in the car

The hangar and the flight line on the other side of it

Unfortunately, I was not able to actually watch him fly.  Unlike IFS (which was a small civilian airport with less than 10 small distinguishable training planes), where Nick takes off and lands for this solo at NAS Whiting Field is much, much larger.  It's a military airport with limited access, with over 100 identical training planes.  There would simply be no way to know which plane was his, and probably not even able to see him.  Not to mention, unlike IFS, he's not flying in a rectangle above us.  He takes off from NAS Whiting Field, flies around, makes his radio calls, and did about 4 landings and take-offs in an "out-lying field" (which is really tiny airport) all for about an hour and a half. Then he comes back to NAS Whiting Field.

About 3 hours later Nick called saying he was safe (silence the butterflies) and asked me to meet him at VT-3's line shack (VT-3 is his squadron).

VT-3's Line Shack (fancy, huh??)

The Flight Line

Despite the fact that he was dripping with sweat and smelled like complete ass, I was so happy to see him.  I could not possibly begin to describe how proud of him I was.  Seeing his smile just filled my heart.  I love seeing that he absolutely loves what he does for a living.

Taking off his gear

Taking off his gear

After some pictures were taken, it was time for VT-3's tradition of being throw in the "pool'.  It's a small metal pool and each student in their squadron gets throw in after they complete their solo flight.  I was not looking forward to this part because I had seen that pool on other days and it was gross.  Black water and full of slim (and I'm sure bacteria).  It honestly looked like a pool that hadn't been covered up all fall and winter.  Thankfully for Nick, the pool was cleaned out just hours before his solo flight.  Not sure how he got so lucky!  (Sure sucks for all the others that went before in the previous weeks!)
Quite a few guys from his class came back to base (because it was about 5:45pm by this point) for his solo and to do the honors of the pool dunking.  Guess people like Nick or something??? ;)
Just after he took all his gear off, he was throw over the shoulder of a classmate and throw in the pool!
Check out the video below:

Mike, Nick's on-wing partner, congratulating Nick

I am so thankful I was able to be a part of this.  It's a pretty big milestone for them and it's something to celebrate (he will have a tie cutting ceremony in a few weeks so stay tuned for that.)
I am so thankful I get to be a part of all of his milestones.  I know not all wives are able to attend their husbands functions so this is not something I take for granted.

Nick putting his gear away

Nick's helmet, mask, and G-suit

Walking through the hangar to head home

So what's next?
Monday Nick will start the next part of Primary, Aerobatics.  Which is just what it sounds like.  Aerobatics with the plane.  Doing barrel rolls, loops, and all kinds of "fun" stuff.  (I put that in quotations because flying makes me sick and the thought of doing those things in a plane does not seem fun to me.)  He will start out with CAI's (which are explained in the next post) on Monday.  On Tuesday, he will do aerobatic simulators.  Then on Wednesday he will start his 1 of 4 aerobatic flights with an instructor.  After completing those 4 flights he will have his aerobatic checkride.  When he passes that, he will have his aerobatic solo.
The weather is finally nice again.  No more rain all day, every day.  The great weather coupled with the fact that Aerobatics isn't very long, he should be soloing in about a week and a half!

I tried to make this as easy to understand as possible.  It's hard to explain because Nick explains things to me as if I'm another aviator and I understand what he's saying.  I don't.  I usually look at him as if he has 6 heads.  He tries to explain it in laymens terms but it's still hard to follow.  Writing this post, I found myself talking in aviation lingo that I do know and had to change things repeatedly forgetting that you all don't understand how I'm talking.  Sorry =/  If anything is unclear, please comment or as most of you do, shoot me an email via the "Contact Me" link.