Home for Christmas

On Tuesday, December 21, I flew home for Christmas. The flights were rather uneventful, except for the annoying girl behind me who wouldn't shut up about how she moved from Alabama to San Diego to start a church. She clearly did not pick up on social clues, either, because it was pretty obvious the person next to her wanted nothing to do with that conversation. After a stop in El Paso, then a layover in Dallas, I was on my flight to Birmingham. My dad came to pick me up at the airport, and brought Layla with him! I missed my little girl.

I didn't do any Christmas shopping in San Diego, because I didn't want to check any luggage, so I had to do all my Christmas shopping last minute in Birmingham. I hate Birmingham Christmas traffic; it's miserable. With two days to get all my shopping done, I thought I did a pretty good job. All my family was taken care of, and I could get my friend's gifts after the holiday when I saw them next.

Went to the Christmas party at BJ & Ruby's house, and convinced Callie to go along with me. Sorry, Callie, now you'll be expected to be at all future parties. Just ask my mom. We got there a little late, right as some people were leaving. The first thing Janna said to me was, "You smell the same!" So, that was nice. At least I got to see the Hagemans & Heards for a minute. After BJ reprimanded me for not updating my blog while I didn't have Internet service, he made me a drink. I wanted vodka, but they didn't have any juice for mixers, so I decided to come up with my own concoction: vodka & Kool Aid Jammers tropical punch. And it was good. For my refill, I upped the ante to whipped cream vodka & said Kool Aid Jammer. Delicious. Christmas morning, I didn't have a headache from the alcohol as much as I did from the copious amounts of sugar I drank.

Next on the adventure list was having a reunion with Audra & Callie. Lunch started at 1:30, and we left around 5. We had so much to catch up on, and ok, gossiping about people we went to high school with. Some of them we found on twitter, too! Anyone from c/o '02 reading this?

The next day Callie & I met up with Coach Hogan, our jv volleyball coach. It was amazing seeing her, and she looks exactly the same! When we played for her, she was pregnant with her 2nd daughter (and still playing on the court with us), and now that daughter is in 7th grade! How wacky! It was so good to catch up with her, and I really hope we get to make that a regular reunion.

I got to see a lot of people, but I also missed some folks. I'm really bummed about that. Layla is flying with me to San Diego, and she's never flown before. I'm quite nervous about it. Hopefully she's getting some sleep down in cargo, and will be happy to see me when I pick her up in San Diego!

The weather is supposed to be awesome in San Diego this week, so I'm thinking of taking Layla to the beach. If I do, I'll definitely take pictures.

I won't be home for a while, so I'll really try to stay on top of updating this thing. Love you & miss you all so much!

Short-Term Goals

I thought I'd update you all on a list of my short-term goals while I am here in San Diego. For those of you who know me (and perhaps those who don't), this is a pretty extensive look into my personality.

1. You have to show your ID & car pass every time you come on base, and my goal is to get to know the guards at the gate & make them laugh with my musical choices each morning. Yesterday I listened to Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love" and got nothing. So this morning I upped the ante and listened to Seal's "Kiss From A Rose", hoping they'd appreciate the wordplay. Nothing. That's some of my best stuff, too. So this goal isn't off to a great start, but I'm hoping once I'm more familiar they'll begin to appreciate my efforts.

2. I want to learn the face painting techniques they use to disguise themselves. If I get to do this, I'll post a picture.

3. There's makeshift volleyball courts (both court & sand) on base, and yeah, I wanna play.

That's all I can think of right now. Also, I go home for Christmas tomorrow, and I'm excited!

Meg McSwain Is No Friend of Mine

You know who sucks? Meg. My supposed "best friend" has not read my blog once. AUSTIN READS MY BLOG! I don't even care, Meg. I don't even care. Your move, McSwain.

I Leave The State & All Our Coaches Leave, Too. Coincidence?

Yesterday was my first day at work, and I spent all morning trying to set up my email.  I haven't used a Windows computer in about 5 years, boy was my face red.  Anyway, today I decided to decorate my little cubicle, and by the time I'm finished it will look like Auburn exploded in here.  I plan to get a big flag & put it up in here too.  When I opened my drawer this morning, I found a Tennessee football magazine; a little gift from Scott, who got his PhD there.  Cute.  I told him I could have returned the favor by putting my Auburn magazine in there, but it was too important to me to just give away like that. 

Met some people, saw some things. Can't tell you about them.

That's really all I have.  Getting cable/internet at my apartment this weekend.

Stennis Trip

For the past two days, Ryan & I have been working at Stennis Space Center with SBT-22. These guys are the SWCC operators, which stands for Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman. These are the guys the SEALs call when they need to be extracted under heavy fire. They are badass.

Knowing very little about the SWCC before I got here, I didn't really know what to expect. They're incredible. Everyone we met, both UPitt employees & military employees was nothing short of amazing. Fortunately, we will be working with both SWCC & SEAL out in Coronado, so I hope that we will have the same experience these UPitt guys have had down here.

I'm also a little clearer on my biomechanics role within the lab. In the past, the motion analysis testing has been the only one where the guys have gotten zero feedback from the UPitt testers, and unfortunately, it's one of the most interesting tests. Previously, the data has just been collected at the remote labs & sent back to UPitt for processing. Now that UPitt is going to have a total of 6 working labs, they simply will be unable to process the data themselves, so I will get to have a hand in the on-site processing of our motion analysis data. Ideally, I will be able to process the data, explain to them what the numbers mean, and if any intervention is recommended, send them over to our physical therapist. The best part of that is, the guys we'll be seeing in Coronado are students, so the earlier the detection of improper mechanics, the better. Hopefully these guys will have fewer injuries down the road because of the work we're doing in our lab.

Here's a really good video on SWCC

Too Much Seltzer Can Really Ruin A Good Punch

Well, this is my last official day as a Birmingham resident. I'm sitting in the airport, just said good-bye to my dad, making this the 2nd time I've cried in an airport in the last 2 weeks. For vastly different reasons each time.

I had a wonderful farewell, thanks to Janna & Austin for throwing me an amazing going away party. Everyone was there, it was wonderful. Janna & I took the liberty to make the punch. To quote Janna, "I think it's funny that I pulled up the recipe like we were actually going to use it." How cute. From what I can remember, the recipe called for champagne, pomegranate juice, citrus vodka, and 1/2 cup of seltzer. The seltzer is the only ingredient we measured, because "too much seltzer can really ruin a punch." We eyeballed all the other ingredients, adding to the recipe as we saw fit. And it was delicious.

Callie brought our Pizitz yearbooks, and everyone agreed with me that a certain someone had a crush on her in our middle school years. If only we could see the future, Callie. If only. Callie says she peaked in middle school, but I'm pretty sure we peaked in high school. It doesn't get any better than wearing SCUBA goggles & life vests to school. You're absolutely right, too, if we Romy & Michelle'd our high school reunion, no one would be surprised at all.

Carrie apparently almost died in the fire. I'm glad she didn't, because that really would have taken all the attention away from me. It was my party after all. We also tried to do "Light as a feather, stiff as a board" to Carrie, but no one was taking it seriously, and that really pissed Janna off.

A very big thank you to everyone who was at the party, Janna & Austin, Callie, Michael & Cassidy, Matt & Carrie, Michael & Christy, Matt & Kristie, BJ & Ruby, Sharon, Carly, Ellen, Paula & Ashley, Sarah, Tara, and Ryan. I love you all so much, and will miss you terribly.