Yeah right...

"I'd like to see you gain a few pounds"...were the words that came out of my Doctor's mouth a year ago this month. I suppose I had fallen maybe a bit underweight due to stress last year...well, come to think of it, 2007 and half of 2008 were kinda paltry. In 2007 we left Okinawa to come to southern New Mexico.
There are no words to describe the horror as we drove into Alamogordo. Well, maybe there are...barren, run down, depressing and dusty.

It was a cruel trick to move us from a beautiful tropical island, with the nicest people in the world, and the best food...to here. (although i will say, the people in this town are very pleasant)

Moving is stressful, especially when you have to move somewhere that you don't want to, thanks to the Air Force.


Having to get used to driving on the other side of the road and car was hard for a while after 4 years of driving in Japan.
Living without the extra money the military gives you just to live oversees was amusing.
Going without good Japanese food was Herculean.
Not having the beach anymore was painful...I've heard close to here, there's a dried up lake bed that you can take a tour to go see, and you actually have to pay to do that. hmmm, sounds too good to be true!

Now almost 2 years later, wouldn't ya know, this place has grown on me. I recently had a friend ask me how I liked living in Alamogordo. In the beginning, I got along with the reality of living here like 2 cats with their tails tied together. But now, I like it and am going to miss it when we leave. With being in the military, it's easier if early on, you learn to accept change. Anywhere you go, you can find the positives.... even if all you found and saw first were the negatives. I've learned that you have to have an open mind and learn to change your way of thinking. "There are always flowers for those who want to see them" (i can't remember who said that)

Once I became at peace with this place, I gained some weight. I'm now at a healthy weight, which feels better and I feel I look better.
My BFF Katie, agrees with me. To quote her, she said " When you were really thin, you looked gross". Thanks for your honesty Katie! That's a true friend that could say that. At least now, I have some junk in the trunk.

Don't be hatin that I complained about being thin, because even though i was thin, i was too thin, and gained things with it. For example:

a. I became anemic from being underweight for too long and had to take iron pills, which by the way, anyone who's had to take iron pills knows the pain i speak of when i say 'had to take iron pills'....


b. My immune system was as cowardly as the lion that ran with Dorothy... as useful as a chocolate tea pot. I got 6 colds in the fall/winter of 2007 and beginning of 2008, all of which turned into a sinus infection minus 1. And got the stomach flu 3 times.

c. Insomnia. Have you ever felt like your brain was a television that was continually channel surfing?

d. But my favorite symptom of all has been the bone loss...although it's not as bad as it could have been. Makes exercise burn, but it's kind of a good burn, ya know?

Since I've gained weight throughout the school year, i want it to be in 'the right places"...since swim suit season is coming up and the kids and I live at the pool all summer. Although, as it turns out, the pool on base had a h-u-g-e sink hole underneath it and could have collapsed at any minute last summer, but didn't, thankfully. Whew! Who knew we were livin on the edge and lovin it. They've been re-doing the pool all winter and spring. I personally believe the sinkhole got there from a fun, tunnel happy digging family of groundhogs. They could sink a house if they had enough time.

There's things I'll miss about this place when we leave it, like:
*There's no traffic, because it's a small town
*No road rage
*A lot of war vets retire here because it offers a simple and safe life and I like being able to thank them for their sacrifice.
*The winters are easy and the summer evenings are pleasant.
*The town absolutely hands down "supports the troops". Which makes it nice when you're husband is in the military.
*The base here does alot for the military families.
*The town offers free lunch everyweek day during summer break, at multiple locations for kids ages 1-18. One of the places does a bbq in the park everday, and it's gooooood.
*The movie theater in town shows a free movie every Tues and Wed during the summer...not even the grown-ups have to pay.
*Because it's New Mexico, we only have to pay .40 cents for Allie's school lunch, and breakfast at school is free every morning.
*They have fiesta's all the time.
*The zoo has a great park and only costs 20 bucks for year pass for the whole family.
*There's hardly any crime, and the townsfolk are humble people.


But my good friends that I made here have all moved which makes it easier for me to move. But the most important thing is that we go somewhere that will have the best services for Chase's autism. We need a bigger city to supply that for us. Hopefully we'll hear something soon about where we're going. The military knows which side of the bread gets buttered, and I'd like to know too! Hopefully just one more month of waiting....