End of an era

I am done with my Bachelor's degree. I got my last grade today. MY degree progress report is full of zeros in the part where 'remaining credits' is at. I will GRADUATE May 9. It's been interesting not having homework.....I like it...

Supposed to start my job sometime this year, if AFPC gets off their butts.....must not want me to work for them that badly huh????

Ziggy gets home next week, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm writing more.....


More to come

So......

Well, contrary to popular belief, I AM still around.....I've just been really really busy. Seriously.

The last time I updated was about 6 months ago, before I went back to the US for a while. Wow, so much has happened.....

First off, 3 and a half weeks in Georgia with my parents. Yea....not so much. My Dad didn't recognize most of us, which sucked. He gets stressed easily when thigns aren't 'normal' for him, and so us in the house threw him off. My mom doesn't see this, I swear the woman is in denial, which is kinda understandable. So the kids and I did ALOT of travelling. As in AVIS will probably never rent me a car again...I put 3000 miles on a car in 3 WEEKS. Yea, I'm all for unlimited mileage when I rent a car. Went to see Other while I was there, he requested my presence before he left for war climates. The only reason I mention this is because of the instance that took place on the way there. I'm whipping down the highway, making fabulous time on my way to South Carolina, when I get pulled over. Crap. I'm not gonna lie, I was speeding. Did I care when the cop asked? Not too much. well, to make a kinda boring story short, come to find out, VDOT (in their infinite wisdom) cancelled my driver's license. I had sent proof of living overseas so I could have address exemption on my license. Rather than giving me the exemption, the asshats cancelled my license. THanks to the ticket, I found out. The REALLY funny part about this is that the State Trooper that pulled me over was supposed to arrest me for driving without a license. Which he was kind enough NOT to do.

As if the ticket wasn't enough, I got rearended in North Carolina, at a stoplight. In a rental car. Could my trip get ANY better??????? Of course......

I do not speak to my biological mother. For good reason, too. Threatening to hunt down your daughter and kill her and her whole family tends to dampen family relations. ANywho, I went to see my grandmother, at the beach. She takes the boys out for some fun at the amusement park, while I stay home and write a paper. The doorbell rings, and I open the door. To see my biological mother standing there with her idiotic boyfriend grinning like a cheshire cat. I slammed the door and went on about my business.

My time in Washington, although busy as hell, was the highlight of my summer in the US. School kept me busy, and so did training for my half marathon. I was there for 2 weeks when Ziggy got there. My half marathon.......

Let me state first off that I HATE flying. Abhor it. Loathe flying with every fiber of my being. NOT AFRAID of it......I just hate it. This being said, there is no intercontinental rail system, so therefore I cannot ban myself from flying. I took a flight to Las Vegas from Portland. And after that landing, I will NEVER EVER NEVER fly into Las Vegas again. EVER. I had vomit in the back of my throat when we hit the ground, it was THAT bumpy of a landing. The poor Chinese lady sitting next to me couldn't speak English, but she was nice enough not to yell at me for nearly hurling all over her. The worst part of my trip to Vegas was over....I got to the hotel, checked in, and went to eat at a restaurant in Circus Circus that was supposed to be the best steak on the strip. Not so much.

The race. The Extraterrestrial Full Moon half marathon was freaking awesome!!!!!!!! My goal was 3 hours. I didn't hit that, but I was able to finish and walk around afterwards without dying as soon as I crossed the finish line. I finished in 3 hours, 15 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself (I still am). Great event, lots of people, but it was so well planned that you felt like family. The scenery....let me tell you about the scenery. You get bussed out to the 'Black mailbox', dropped off, and you run back into Rachel, NV, to the Alienn Inn, for breakfast. Full moon.....bit chilly, but once you were moving, it wasn't bad. Along mile 4, I started talking to a guy who'd had a friend that worked at Area 51, which was somewhere off to our left as we were running. We chatted for a few miles, and went our seperate ways. at mile 7.7, the grade finally went downhill. It was a steady incline until that point. THe desert is gorgeous, the moon was great, and my head lamp made it to mile 11. At mile 11.5, my legs started protesting heavily. Mile 13.1, I was so glad it was over....but it was great. I enjoyed it so much, I ran one at Windsor castle a little over a month later.

Vegas on the whole, was nice. I can now say I've been there. the best part of the trip, other than the race, was the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor hotel. OMG. I adore everything Titanic. The exhibit was great, but the piece that they had on display last was worth the horrible plane ride into Vegas. It was known as the 'Big Piece'.....a section of the hull of Titanic, hanging from a crane, in this huge room. I coulda passed out right then and there. I stood there, open-mouthed at the closest thing I would EVER get to being at the Titanic. The only time I've ever had that feeling of awe at history was when I was standing at the grave of Elizabeth I of England.

As soon as I got back to Washington, it was full wedding madness as my SIL got married. Fun time, but busy busy busy.

I got back to the UK in time for the boys to start school....and I went back to school. And then we moved into base housing, and I love my new house.

I am currently in my last 2 classes for my degree. I will be done in a couple weeks, and I can't wait. I graduate in May. YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I think that's enough of an update for now........

So my update

Yea, I've left this hanging for a while. I apologize. School and such has had priority over my blog life.

Running. Well, it seems that my running has plateaued out my fitness, despite the fact my allergies are waging war on me. So I think I need to step up the speed work. Over the weekend, I was running at RAF Mildenhall, and kicked it into gear to where I was doing sub-9 minute mile times. I wasn't holding it for very long, but it was impressive for me to see that. So I think I may have to get off the treadmill with my speed work. Which is ok, I suppose. I would rather run outside that on a treadmill anyways. Am I gonna finish this half marathon to which I have commited myself? One way or another, yes.

School. Only one class this summer. recent American history, from World War 2, forward. Have I mentioned my loathing for American history? No? Well, now I have. I loathe American history. Yes, sounds rather unpatriotic. But it is me, and I am patriotic, dammit.

Laundry. Well, the laundry is working because I am getting ready to start packing for my sojourn back to the US for the summer. I just dread security and flying. I ahte that part. I'm just ready to get this trip going.

We'll see what happens

Yorktowntop

Yes, I am still in the UK.........half marathon hasn't happened yet, it's in August. I'm still training for it, though. I just want to finish vertically.

I need to write on here more......will do that again in a few hours

WHat was I thinking?

The number 13 doesn't normally strike fear into my heart the way that it would with others. Not a number to be afraid of in my family. Why? Well, my brother was born on Friday the 13th. 13 has always been lucky for the Neals. So I signed up for a half marathon. It's the E.T. Half Marathon. Run on the E.T. Highway, outside of (where else?) Area 51 in Nevada. Seriously, how cool does this event sound (it's run at midnight because it's Iraq-hot during the day)??? Aliens...midnight...top secret squirrel shit happening over your shoulder...get the idea? So to get the 'full' experience, I signed up for the event that starts at the 'Black mailbox'. Yea, the place where folks meet to watch for UFO's over Groom Lake in Nevada. Hey, if you're gonna go to the E.T. running events, might as well get the full experience, right, START AT THE BLACK MAILBOX. And the event that starts at the 'Black Mailbox' is the half marathon.

Did you catch those two words?? HALF MARATHON. Meaning 13.1 miles. Half of 26.2 miles. 13 M-I-L-E-S. We're talking 2 2/2 to 3 hours of abject agony on my body. Because I wanted the full alien experience, and signed up, paid money to run 13.1 miles. WTF was I thinking? I am now terrified of the number 13. 6 miles, I got. 7 I can do (painfully, but I can do it). Why did I think I could pull off 13?????

Let me take you back to Balad AB, Iraq, 4 years ago. Me, running my first 5k, cursing Paul the whole way. And now I dare aspire to 13 miles? Surely I am Icarus flitting around the sky, right? I've been training, but I dread my days I run long distances. I am terrified of anything over 7 miles now....why? Who knows, but I'd say mostly fear of failing miserably.

Well, here goes nothing

So I've had this story knocking around my head for a while, and I think it could be a novel. So I started writing it. May eventually look into getting an agent and seeing if I can get it published. So, here goes nothing.

Year in Review

Well, being as it's New Year's Eve, it's time for my year in review. I look back on this last year and am in awe of the changes that have taken place.

For anyone who doesn't know, Viriginia was not a good place for Ziggy and I to be. Virginia, and the atmosphere of where we worked, along with several other factors, nearly ended our marriage. This is how 2008 started for me. Stressed and strained marriage, getting ready to move across the world. So what did I do for New Years 2008? Went to Washington State with the little people. We were gone for nearly a month.

February brought things to a head between us, literally 48 hours before we got on a plane to move to England. So we moved.

Living in England has done wonders for us and our marriage. School is going well for me, Joseph's doing good, and the little people are doing well. We have really worked on things between us, and gotten ourselves back to where we were before we moved to Virginia.

So what does 2009 hold? For starters, I will graduate from college with my Bachelor's degree. MiniZiggy will start school (thank God!). We will pay off the truck. I will run my first half marathon. Things are good now. And we are working to keep them that way. As for everything else, we'll see what happens.....