Happy Summer!

Today was the first day of Summer! Of course you would never know that if you lived where I live. Today, Whidbey Island, Washington welcomed summer with a scorching 56 degree day!

Yesterday, the day before the start of summer I had to turn my heat on again. I tried to hold out. I was bundled up in winter clothes because I was refusing to turn my heat on just one day before the beginning of summer (you know summer - a time when using a heater shouldn't even be considered!) I finally caved when my thermostat said that it was only 60 degrees inside my house. Since I like the house kept around 70, this was a little cold for me. I am happy to report though, that I know for a fact that at least 3 of my friends up here also turned their heat on yesterday. That fact made it seem a little better to me. I have to admit that I had thoughts of "Come on Brooklet, suck it up and deal with it. Its not THAT cold." So knowing that I wasn't the only one who caved and used the heater made me feel a little less pessimistic. Clearly I wasn't the only one on the island shivering for most of the day.

So today welcomed summer. In typical Washington fashion the sun rose at 4:27am, which meant that light was already coming in my window around 4:00am. The sun set at 9:57pm and at 10:20pm, when Mr. V went outside to take a picture, there was still light. (its a little hard to see in the picture because of the clouds, but there is definitely still light showing through.)

One would think that on the longest day of the year, it might actually feel like summer. Nope. Not this year.

Instead, the local news had a very cheerful weatherman explain that on the first day of Spring back in March, there was a high of 57 degrees. Today, on the first day of Summer, there was a high of 56 degrees. He cheerfully pointed out that while its only one degree, the first day of summer is still COLDER than the first day of Spring, and neither temperature is a "normal" Spring OR Summer temperature. I'm not exactly sure why he was so cheerful.

So needless to say, last summer I experienced the hottest summer in Seattle's recorded history. I don't think this is the coldest summer (yet) but its still pretty darn chilly and not normal in my mind. Next summer should be the last summer I spend here before our next move, so I'm holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, I'll get to experience some normal weather up here!

Today I Love the Navy

And...now Mr. V is not going to Hawaii. This makes me happy. This also makes him happy. Maybe he'll get to spend an entire summer here after all. I shouldn't get my hopes up though. With our luck, in a week, he'll get thrown back onto the Hawaii det. I probably shouldn't get my hopes up just yet. However, at least for today I can be happy :-).

Today I Hate the Navy

Warning - this is a rant, and I'm well aware of the fact that I just need to get over it. However, ranting just feels good sometime :-). As the title of this post states, today I hate the Navy. Basically, I'm just sick of the military screwing up our plans. And yes, I know that I should expect this by now...and the truth is that I do...but it still doesn't make it sting any less.

I guess if I want to get technical, I shouldn't be mad at the Navy, but I am slightly annoyed at a guy on Mr. V's crew. Mr. V's squadron is preparing to go to Hawaii for an exercise. A few crews are being sent and originally his crew was scheduled to go. We weren't thrilled about this because he missed all of last summer here because he was in Iraq, plus he'll miss next summer too. Then we'll be moving again (hopefully). He was really looking forward to spending the summer in Washington because he loves it here, and even I love it here in the summer. Its the best time to do anything around here because the winter is so miserable. So even though he wasn't thrilled about going to Hawaii for a month, we got over it and accepted that fact.

Enter Mr. S - a department head on Mr. V's crew. He didn't want to go on the Hawaii exercise either, because out of all the dets that will be happening over the next few months, Hawaii is the longest one. So Mr. S managed to pull some strings to get his crew off of the Hawaii det. I'm not sure exactly what he did or said. All I know is that Mr. V came home happy because he wasn't going to Hawaii anymore. Instead, he could spend the summer here and then he'll go on a shorter det in September or later. This made both of us happy.

Until 2 days ago.

Now Mr. V is scheduled to go to Hawaii again. He's not going with his crew though, because his crew is still not going to Hawaii at all. So thanks Mr. S. Your brilliant plan worked perfectly - for you, and the rest of Mr. V's crew. But not for Mr. V.

It turns out that one of the other PPCs (Patrol Plane Commander) - we'll call him Mr. G - in the squadron is being sent to some school in Hawaii. Which means that he can't fly with his crew while he's there if he's in school. So guess who gets to replace him as PPC?? Yep - Mr. V. But here's the best part. No one actually knows if Mr. G is even going to get into this school at this time. He's definitely going, but for some reason, no one knows exactly when he's going because he has to wait for an open slot. So the big plan is to send both Mr. G and Mr. V to Hawaii. Mr. G may or may not be in school then because there may or may not be an opening for him. If he gets into his class while they are in Hawaii then Mr. V will take over as PPC. If there isn't a spot for Mr. G then he'll continue to be the PPC for his crew and Mr. V will do nothing. Which means that he'll essentially be sent to Hawaii for a month, with absolutely nothing to do. I'm sure that sounds fabulous to some people, but its really not when he's already been to Hawaii several times, but has yet to spend a summer in Washington. Plus he's a mountain person, not a beach person, so he'd rather be here for the summer.

Confused yet? I tried asking why its even logical for both of them to go to Hawaii. Why can't they just figure out if Mr. G is going to school then or not? It seems to me that it should be possible to figure that out before they even leave, and if he doesn't get into the school then, then Mr. V won't have to go. But apparently its more logical in the Navy's mind to send them both - just in case.

And the best part? Not only does Mr. V get to go to Hawaii, but now he still has to go on the shorter det in September! So needless to say, I'm not at all thrilled with Mr. S' plan to get his crew out of the Hawaii det. If they had just gone to Hawaii as originally planned, then they wouldn't be going somewhere else in September. Now Mr. V gets to go both places, and I get another 2 months without my husband.

On the bright side though - its possible for me to go visit him in Hawaii. We did this when we were still in Jacksonville. He flew a plane to Hawaii and then had nothing to do for 5 days, so I flew out there to hang out with him. The trip was amazing because all it cost was my plane ticket. They had flown into the Air Force base there, and the Air Force put them up in a 5 star hotel right on Waikiki Beach - for free. So all we spent was the money for my plane ticket, and any food, souvenirs and activities we did while we were there. We got an amazing vacation in Hawaii for 1/10 of the price of what it would typically cost. I can't really complain about that.

This time around, assuming that Mr. G gets into his school, I won't be able to see Mr. V every single day, but I can fly out there and spend time with him on the days that he won't be flying. I'm considering it. They are staying at a hotel right on Waikiki Beach again. I just don't like doing things by myself. I know that in this lifestyle I have to learn how to do things by myself, but I just don't find it fun to do touristy things without someone with me to enjoy them. Am I capable of going places and doing things by myself? Yes. Do I want to? No.

So now I have to figure out if I want to go visit him while he's there. I have to admit that while I had an amazing time the last time I went to Hawaii, I'm also not a huge beach person, and while I had always wanted to go to Hawaii, it never topped my list of places to visit. At the same time, I'm feeling really bitter about the fact that I'll be husbandless for a month. Especially when that month is a month that I know he really wants to be here for. So who knows. Maybe I'll decide to hop on a plane and fly down there for a week or 2. I might as well make the best out of the situation!

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from the last trip to Hawaii I took back in May 2008. And a link to the rest of the pictures.

Hawaii

(inside the original crater of the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island)

(outside of a lava tube - part of Kilauea)

(I've never been a huge beach person - but I do love palm trees!)

(Mr. V and me by a waterfall pool)

(no clue what this beach is called - but there were sea turtles there and that was cool :-) [see the link to my full album for the sea turtle picture])

(Waikiki Beach - I actually got my feet in the ocean because I couldn't go to Hawaii and then say I never went in the ocean. And I'm wearing the shorts because of the horrible burn/tan line on my legs from that day.)

(On the balcony of our hotel room - right on Waikiki Beach)

(A random guy on the street was putting parrots on people's shoulders and taking pictures)

(at the bottom of Kilauea volcano - as you can clearly see - this was a road until lava covered it)

Matter of Trust - Gulf Coast Oil Spill

My husband is from Louisiana, so this oil spill in the gulf is really affecting him and bothering him. Aside from the obvious fact that oil spills are horrible for the environment, he's also pretty upset that until a few days ago, there wasn't a lot of news about the spill. Sure there were stories about it, but the main facts were kept hidden from the public (just do a google search today and you'll find several articles from several different news sources talking about the fact that the extent of the oil spill was kept hidden from the general public). The fact of the matter is, there are millions of gallons of oil that have been leaked into the gulf, and its not slowing down any time soon.


So instead of complaining about the government and big businesses and the "wonderful" way they have covered up the extent of the spill, I thought I'd tell you about an organization called Matter of Trust.

Matter of Trust is an organization trying to provide ways to help clean up the oil. Right now they are collecting human hair and animal fur to make booms to soak up the oil. Their website states that we wash out hair to remove oils from it, so why not use our hair to soak up oil? Hair salons, pet groomers and individuals around the entire world have been shipping boxes of hair and fur to this great organization. In my cat filled house, we've been filling a box with fur taken from brushing the cats, to mail down there.

Obviously, even with the amount of donations that they are getting, Matter of Trust can't remove all of the oil on their own (especially since there seems to be no plan to stop the leak any time soon), but the way I see it is that any amount, no matter how small, helps.

Plus, at the moment, I don't believe that the hair/fur booms are actually being used in the gulf, because the idea of them has been rejected, but if you look up some news articles, read the Matter of Trust website and/or visit their Facebook page you'll see how the organization has been pushing for their use, and how more people are starting to understand that they work. So hopefully, in the very near future, they will be put to use completely. In the meantime, volunteers are working to make miles and miles of booms to be ready to go as soon as possible.

So if you haven't heard of Matter of Trust I encourage you to check it out! Their mailing address isn't posted on their website because they have several different locations in the gulf to mail boxes too, so you will have to join, and then have a mailing address emailed to you. A few weeks ago I received an address in New Orleans to send boxes too, and then about 2 weeks later, I received another email with a new mailing system. Basically, the state you are living in determines which address you are supposed to mail boxes too, in order to not overwhelm one place specifically. I'm not sure if the mailing system has changed again, but that is the reason behind not posting this info on their actual website.

In my house we groom the cats pretty often, and all we do is throw away the fur that comes off of them. I figure I can take some time out of my day to put the fur into a box, seal up the box, drive to the post office, and mail it out to do my small part in helping the clean up effort.

Spring?

I'm a pessimistic person. I always have been and I probably always will be. I'm aware of the fact that I often rant and complain about things that I should just get over or deal with. But with that being said, I feel like this rant is completely warranted. WHERE THE HECK IS SPRING???

Its June 2nd. The temperature on my computer says 56 degrees. Thats the temperature for Oak Harbor, Washington at 4pm on June 2nd. And this isn't a freak incident. Its been cold for months now. And while I know 56 degrees isn't freezing, its also not Spring weather, and with the rain that won't go away, its VERY cold here right now. I've been using my heat more than any person should ever have to use heat during the spring. So seriously Spring...where are you?? Summer arrives in just a few weeks, and since you haven't made an appearance yet, I'm a little worried that Summer will also chose to not arrive in the Pacific Northwest.

This is the weather report that was written for this area for yesterday, June 1st:
SNOW COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS WILL CAUSE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS ON THE CASCADE VOLCANOES. PERSONS VENTURING INTO HIGHER ELEVATIONS ON THE VOLCANOES SHOULD FACTOR THE INCLEMENT CONDITIONS INTO THEIR PLANS AND ROUTE SELECTIONS. (Have I ever mentioned that we are apparently surrounded by 5 active volcanoes?) I don't live in the mountains. I live on an island sandwiched between two mountain ranges, but that weather report alone is just wrong for this time of year, and trust me, its not that much warmer at the bottom of the mountains.

I seriously hate the weather up here. Nothing is consistent, and nothing is normal. Last winter it was freezing and it snowed endlessly. That was followed by a summer that was the hottest in Seattle's recorded history, and in an area lacking air conditioners, that really sucked. Now this past winter it was pretty warm for most of it, but now thats followed by a cold Spring! My gas bill has a little graph on it that shows my gas usage for each month. Since January, my usage has actually been INCREASING each month. So why on earth is it getting colder? I spent Memorial Day weekend in Seattle bundled up in clothes that no one should have to wear on Memorial Day! All of my friends from New Jersey had Facebook statuses up about the tourists that are arriving at the Jersey Shore for the summer, and all I could think was "Why on earth would anyone want to go to the beach this weekend?" Oh right...its hot everywhere else in the country.

There's something very wrong with the fact that I'm probably going to have to turn my heat on tonight. On June 2nd.

Is it time to leave this place yet?!?

Stars on Ice - United States

I don't think is likely that my excitement from the Olympics will die down any time soon. As I mentioned in my last post about Sears Stars on Ice in Canada, I was hoping to convince Mr. V to go with me to Smucker's Stars on Ice, which is the American version of the show. Its actually the exact same show. Its produced by the same people, group numbers are choreographed exactly the same, etc.... The only differences are the people who perform in the show (and since they do their own routines, that's obviously different too). Mr. V appeased me by agreeing to let me buy tickets to the show and since he could care less about ice skating we balanced out the weekend by spending one night in Seattle and touring the city before going to the show. In the 2 years since we've lived here, that was actually his first visit to Seattle (excluding the airport) so he enjoyed seeing the sights there, and I enjoyed my skating show. All in all it balanced out quite nicely and we both had a great time.

So this time around I got to see Meryl Davis and Charlie White (Silver Medalists in ice danicng - They also train with, and share the same coach as Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Gold Medalists and my favorites!), Evan Lysacek (Gold Medalist in men's figure skating and 2nd place in this season's Dancing With the Stars) and Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao (Gold Medalist's in pairs skating), and a handful of other world champions and Olympic medalists from years past.

As expected, everyone was amazing and it was another great show!

The Canadian version of the show was awesome because of the fact that there was a free autograph signing session the day before the show. Not only was it a free event, but we were also all given fairly large posters to have autographed, for free. The American version worked a little differently. Instead of having free autograph sessions, you have to join the fan club and apply for a Meet and Greet pass. There is really no benefit to the fan club, other than the fact that you're guaranteed at least one meet and greet pass a year. So since I'm a starstruck person obsessed with the Olympics this year, I shelled out $30 and joined the fan club. The other difference is that you aren't guaranteed to meet the entire cast. You're only promised that you'll meet one skater and you won't know who that person is until the meet and greet actually takes place. I definitely prefer the Canadian version of meet and greets better. The show's website has a message board that I had been following because people were writing about their meet and greet experiences in cities around the country. Some people met several skaters, while others met just one. The last post that I read before heading to Seattle was from someone who got to meet one skater, and it wasn't someone super exciting. So I was hoping for a good meet and greet, but I figured I'd most likely be meeting one of the random people in the show that I didn't even really know of.

After the show, people with meet and greet passes met in one section of the arena, where we were prepped for how it was going to work. Everyone there was shocked and thrilled when the lady in charge told us that it would be Evan Lysacek that we would be meeting! I have to honestly say that I wasn't expecting that! He's definitely the most famous and most well known of the cast, so having prepared myself for meeting someone uninteresting, I was pleasantly surprised to find out I'd be meeting the best person there!

So....here's my picture with Olympic Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek!

Stars on Ice-Canada

After going to the Olympics back in February, I found a new love of ice skating. I always watched figure skating when I was younger and was always fascinated by it, but somewhere along the way, I lost interest and stopped watching. The 2010 Olympics is what jump started my love of it again. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was lucky enough to get tickets to see the compulsory dance portion of the ice dancing competition and my friend and I had a blast!

When I found out that the Sears Stars on Ice show was going to be coming to Vancouver, and it had Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (gold medalists in ice dancing) and Joannie Rochette (bronze medal in figure skating), along with a handful of other really talented skaters, including Kurt Browning (who I remember watching when I was in elementary school!), I had to get tickets :-). Mr. V wasn't lucky enough to go to the Olympics with me. He had to work that day so he had passed his ticket along to a friend of mine. I had hoped that he would be able to come to the Stars on Ice show with me, but of course the Navy had other plans. He's in San Diego for an exercise right now, so his ticket again got passed along to my friend. I was a little disappointed that he couldn't go, but to be honest, I really don't think that he cared so it ended up working out perfectly. My friend who came to the Olympics also came with me to Stars on Ice, but she almost didn't. She was supposed to be gone over the weekend too, but her plans changed, so we got wrapped up in Olympics excitement again and headed off to Vancouver!

The day before the show, I found out that the skaters would be at the Sears in Vancouver signing autographs. I had nothing to do that day, so another friend of mine (Mrs. M) and I headed off to Vancouver for Day 1 of ice skating fun.

My mom used to take me to autograph signings when I was younger, and she's the one who always waited outside of Broadway theatre stage doors with me. Plus, working in my high school's television production program gave me the opportunity to meet and work with some pretty famous people - actors and athletes. So based on those past experiences, I can say that I was very pleasantly surprised by the way these skaters acted.

I have honestly never seen people who seemed so genuinely happy to meet and talk with their fans. Obviously, I didn't expect them to be mean, especially at a planned autograph signing. But I truly got the impression that they enjoyed being there, that they wanted to be there and that they actually appreciated their fans. I went there expecting nothing more than an autograph and hopefully a picture, so when it was obvious that they were really there to have fun with their fans it made the whole thing so much nicer. I feel like that kind of appreciation is really rare in most cases, especially by athletes who can be successful without even having any fans. I mean you may not be famous if no one comes to see your movies, but you can still win a gold medal even if the world hates you, you know?

I'm glad that I went to the autograph signing because I already really liked most of these people (I have to be honest and admit that I didn't know who they all were at first), but I like them even more and have so much more respect for them, now that I've had the chance to meet them and see how they interact with the people who support them. To me, it made the show the next night even better. I guess I'm just a person who has more respect for people who actually respect others and appreciate their fans.

So the autograph signing was great, and the show the next night was fantastic. I like watching competition skating, but the show was interesting because it wasn't a competition, and it definitely seemed more like entertainment rather than work. It was definitely full of energy and we definitely left the show full of energy. I'm already looking forward to going to the show again next year! (plus the American Stars on Ice is coming to Seattle in 2 weeks, so I'm hoping I can convince Mr. V to go with me to that show. A handful of the American medal winners will be in that show.)

Here are some pictures from the autograph signing. My friend has a great camera, so she has some amazing pictures from the show itself that I don't have at the moment to post here. So for now here are the autograph signing pictures, and when I get copies of the other pictures from my friend I'll post those too.

(with Cynthia Phaneuf and Kurt Browning)

(Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon)

(Shawn Sawyer and Jeffrey Buttle)

(Scott Moir - I love this picture)

(with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir - gold medalists in ice dancing)

(with Joannie Rochette - bronze medalist in figure skating, and Adam Rippon)

(another one with Kurt Browning - he hung around for a while after the others left)