Yesterday, you came home from school and told me that you couldn’t fly helicopters. When I asked why, you said the boys in your class said, “Only boys fly. Girls can’t fly.” We sat down and I showed you the pictures of Mommy flying. We went to websites on my computer showing girls flying helicopters and we watched your favorite aviation film, “Flyabout.” At the end of the night, I tucked you in to bed, read your favorite book, “The Mud Fairy,” and kissed you goodnight.

What you said still disturbed me, though. You’re too young to start believing doors are closed to you, based on such superficial reasons.

Don’t let anyone, ANYONE, make you believe that you cannot do something just because you are a girl. There is nothing that you cannot do because of your gender. NOTHING!

Many people will say you can’t follow your passions or that it’s too difficult. But what these people don’t realize, is that once identified, following your passions is necessary to find true happiness.
Difficult, is not impossible. Just makes it harder. Difficult can distract you, send you on detours and even set you back. But it can’t stop you unless you let it.

Following your passion, may require changing your tactics, changing the people you are with, changing the generation you focus on, and even changing your plan. But if you really want to do something; if it consumes your thoughts and influences your dreams, GO FOR IT. Don’t let the naysayers keep you in the barrel of crabs with them. Gender is not a prerequisite for success.

So Tuesday morning, I stood in a long line, suffering the cold and frigid wind as it circled the Tivoli building on campus, just to get the “golden ticket” to gain access to the Event Center where the President would be speaking. The line wrapped around the building, stretched out towards the bus depot and folded back. Students and faculty from all three schools that share the Auraria Campus bolstered each other and formed camaraderies as we waited. It became obvious that the political passions of those waiting in line ran the spectrum from blind support to extreme disbelief. However, the one thing that was common was everyone was excited to actually hear a President speak. None in my area had ever heard a seated President speak. Regardless of political beliefs, we all felt it was our right, and our responsibility, to take the opportunity to hear with our own ears what would be said, without the filter of the talking heads. It was great to be included in such an enlightened circle. As we all collected our tickets, we bid farewell and wished each other luck in getting in to the speech.

Wednesday morning, I met my sister and headed off to campus with an unusual excitement. We were going to hear the President speak. First I would go to class and hopefully afterwards, I’d still get in. My sister would stand in line and save my space. My class was noticeably empty as I assume many of my classmates decided they wanted to hear the President, too. During class several students simply got up and walked out early. I completed the class and literally RAN across campus, in freezing wind and BLOWING, heavy, wet snow that threatened to break my ankles, drag me into the muck and freeze my eyeballs, to find the end of the line. Just as I reached the end, I received my sister’s text message saying she was getting close to the front. Once again, I RAN across campus to find the front of the line and got to her just in time to enter the warmth of the Event Center.

We passed through security with no fanfare, and took up our place far back from stage right on the floor. The atmosphere was festive. The opening band played energetic songs to keep the excited crowd entertained. At one point a charge went through the crowd as a man we assumed was President Obama, peeked out from the curtains in the observation deck. The Man was in the House! Shortly afterwards, the National Anthem was sung, a graduating student came out to introduce him, and he walked on stage to a warm and respectful reception.

For the many who waited in the freezing wind and snow yet still could not get in, and for the many who were unable to get away to gain a “golden ticket,” I recorded the speech. There are other voices from within the crowd as people near me responded to his words, but he can be heard clearly. So with no further adieu, I give to you an unedited recording of the speech.

Ladies and Gentleman, it is with great pleasure, I give to you The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MP3 AUDIO FILE FROM 4shared (30MB)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MP3 AUDIO FILE  FROM GOOGLE DOCS (30.0 MB)

I also started working part-time, about 12 hours a week at a Flight Simulation Lab. Pretty fun actually. I still don’t feel like I’m doing a whole lot of anything but at least I’m filling out the forms and submitting data for review. Plus I get the chance to fly the simulators nearly every day. Can’t beat that. More time to perfect my cockpit skills. It’s not a great salary, but it is an income. Plus I really enjoy just being back in the world of Aviation with people who “get” my passion.

Also, September marked another break out for me. I began a new podcast. “The BoXX Office.” It’s a little different from other podcasts in its genre, but I think with a little patience I can make it just as well accepted. Of course it is an aviation podcast, but it focuses solely on what women are doing in aviation and aerospace. I’ve gotten some flack from guys about my focus, but the truth is, this podcast isn’t really focused on a man’s needs. It’s all about celebrating and encouraging women to view the fields of aviation and aerospace as open, vibrant, and welcoming. Too often, aviation and aerospace feel like a “boys club,” that it’s not surprising young girls don’t consider the various roles they can play within. I hope to eventually use this platform as a way to expose and encourage women to “just try it.”

I am hoping to release one 30 minute episode a month focusing on a different type of “plane Jane” and how her job or persona fits and can be inspiring or informative to other young girls or women looking for something to fill a dream.The 30 minute format seems to work better with the way women who do listen to podcasts manage time. Often as women, we are insanely busy and can only give a single task or action no more than 30 minutes, sometimes only 15 minutes. For that reason alone, I intend to keep the podcast shorter than 35 minutes and as close to 30 minutes as possible.

My first two episodes have been released and are gaining some good attention. My first was an interview with Hall of Fame legend, Emily Howell Warner, and the second with the comforting voice of Stephanie Rust, from Denver Air Traffic Control. Additionally on the line up is a former NASA trainer, an Airplane Mechanic, an aviation writer, and a wing walker. The hardest part now, is trying to get the time to do the interviews and edit each podcast. But I’m having fun and learning quite a bit doing it. Probably the most fun about it, besides the interviews, is trying to find new ways to put in movie and film references as well as sounds. I am definitely going to play off the Hollywood “box office” standard. It adds a little something extra, I don’t think people were expecting when they saw the name.

I do hope that I can keep The BoXX Office going. It is my hope that eventually other women will want to join in and do interviews with women in their area. The BoXX Office will be a platform for them to use to get the stories out.

In the meantime, I promise not to neglect my personal blog. It’s just been extremely difficult with the current semester. Also, I am unsure if I’ll be able to participate yet in NaNoWriMo this year, but I’ll open my account again and hopefully  post some words if not a full novel.

If anything, I’m keeping myself out of trouble with all my endeavors, but I must say “The BoXX Office is a fun challenge that I’m enjoying. I hope if you are able, you can give me a chance by listening to the first or second episode. I really look forward to feedback more than stats, but I’ll take the stats over nothing.

Still yet, overall, I’m doing good.

Washington Park Playground, Denver, Colorado

Will someone PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY little girls don’t wear shorts under their skirts anymore?!?! I never see a boys underwear as these children play, crawl, climb, wrestle, tickle, jump and generally get active. But guaranteed, every time I go to the playground, or take my preschooler to school, there is always a girl running around holding her skirt up to show her panty, or rolling on the floor showing her panty, or climbing and showing her panty.

One boy in my daughter’s class commented on a girl’s panty as pretty and the teacher told him that it was not a nice comment. My question is why didn’t the teacher suggest the parents put shorts on the girl? At that age, boys and girls are not sexual so the boy was not making a sexual comment and was probably confused why he could comment on other clothing but not on panties since he could see it. After all, if you can see a shirt or pants, you can comment on them.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but underwear should not be on display in most situations. The color of a girl’s panty is not supposed to be common knowledge. I understand a lot of skirts and dresses don’t come with shorts attached any more, but that does not prevent me from purchasing a pair that match the dress or skirt for my three-year old. I don’t expect my three-year old to remember to hide her panty as she’s playing. I expect her to have fun. Nor do I want some one looking at her panty.

Is this the new trend? If it is, then I’m definitely going to be raising my daughter to be an individual and not a slave to silly, fashion trends. I’m pretty sure when she gets to regular school, displaying her panty will not be tolerated.

My Dissolution Anniversary.

This is a day, I choose to recognize what I have done to better myself. It is the day I measure if I am still moving forward or if I succumbed to the depression that was darkening my days. When I filed divorce, I was afraid. The idea that I might fall into the stereotypical view of a divorced, single, “minority” mom was horrifying to me. But I made a pledge to myself and my daughter, I would make every effort to avoid it.

My first dissolution anniversary, I marked my success by recognizing that I had physically removed myself from his influence and begun the process toward building a happy home for my daughter to grow in. I had remembered how to laugh again, and no longer needed to fake a smile. My daughter and I bonded in safety and even had developed our own language. It was a great first year.

My second dissolution anniversary, was marked more by the mental progress I had made. It was a difficult year. I found myself, unemployed and struggling even more financially than before. I was angry at the successes of the men who had hurt me and frustrated with the  circumstances that made me feel conspired against. But it was a good anger. Something that needed to come out. I had been bottling up my feelings for so long, I hadn’t realized how badly they needed to flow. I cried a lot and gave myself license to do so. When my anniversary came around again, I realized that I was cleansing my soul and was now able to begin the process of healing. It was a rough year, but a good one.

My third dissolution anniversary, today, I am marking by the changes I am doing to make a positive change in the lives of both my daughter and I. The most profound change, is I’ve finally returned to school to pursue my passion in aviation. This time, I know I won’t be “guilted” into dropping out because of another’s selfish desire to gain that which was not earned. Although, not financially stable, I’ve paid off one major financial burden and put a serious dent in another. I’ve given my daughter a space of her own to explore her world and stretch her imagination. Personally, I have grown spiritually. I have regained my sense of self that I didn’t realize was missing and expanded it. I am more confident in my abilities now than I may have been in my entire life. I’m more positive in my self-sufficiency than I have ever been. I’m stronger. I’m able to begin honest planning. I’ve even made a few new friends. I don’t know what the next year holds for me yet, but I know if I continue this pattern of seeking the good, good will come. I still have a lot to overcome, but I’ve also overcome much. My daughter is happy and knows she’s loved. My personal future is brightening. And my faith in myself is restoring.

It has been an impressive year.

You do not owe me anything for this. I have chosen to do it all because I love you in a way that can’t even be truly expressed. You owe no one for you life. You are free. Don’t let anyone make you believe you owe them. You do not.

Now I’m not going to go into detail about the story, if you haven’t heard of it yet, you will. Or you can just click a link and visit the website. However the basics are, it’s the summer of 1979 in a little town in Ohio. A group of friends are working on a super 8 film to enter in a contest and while filming a “substance” scene, they experience something incredible and very scary. There is a big scary “monster” and lots of confusion among the populace as would be expected during the years of “The Cat From Outer Space.”

This is a movie, I think people will either Love or Hate. I saw it by myself on the huge IMAX screen, so I had few distractions. My take on it? I enjoyed it, BUT it’s a full on RETRO kick! All the way back to 1979, in EVERY way but special effects. Heck, they even had people calling foul on the Russians. Almost forgot about when America was comfortable with blatant governmental and political propaganda geared towards children.

The movie was fun. I laughed. Probably more that I should have. It was almost like when I would sneak out to the movies with my friends. As I left the theater, I felt like I should be looking for my bicycle in the rack outside instead of my car in the parking lot. Definitely a movie to see with as many friends as you can muster.

This is a movie that you stay for the credits. Guaranteed you’ll leave with a smile if you do. Or at least a happy smirk.

Only Downside: I wasn’t able to connect with a character. In that sense it wasn’t very 1970-80′s “Spielberg-esque.” But you’ll definitely catch a little E.T. The Extraterrestrial, The Goonies, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind vibe every now and again.

I do recommend the movie. I don’t think I would pay to see it at full price, and the IMAX was cool, but really didn’t add anything special to the show. But it was fun. A definite time warp to summer’s long gone. If you can, go see it. And after, relive a little of the glory days and go have ice cream with all your friends before jumping on your bicycles and pedaling home at break neck speed.

But just like most things in life, it was not without it’s little dramas. I was lucky enough to come across an Aeromedical Examiner (AME) who was running a special of the first medical done with him is free. The only catch was that it needed to be a First or Second class medical. Not a problem. I had always intended to get at least a Second this time around, but found myself opting for the “adult” examination. Team 40, baby!

So after filling out the paperwork, a nurse with a student intern “shadow” called me into the back of the office for the basic exam: blood pressure, weight, height, near vision, far vision, etc. Apparently, I did well in all those categories. Then came the “adult” portion of the test. The EKG. For some bizarre reason, I had thought this was an invasive x-ray procedure. Imagine my surprise when the nurse said it was just measuring electric impulses to my heart. So after having probes taped to my body, I easily passed.

But then came the “drama.” Finally, I was ushered into a little room to wait patiently for the AME to arrive. Of course, I had a book, but luckily didn’t have to wait long. He came in as friendly and happy as any doctor, I’ve seen. He had me do tests of balance, flexibility and coordination. Then he got into my medical history. He was VERY concerned about the fact that I had a child. He said new FAA regulations have brought about changes in “acceptable medical conditions.” If you have a hospital visit that extends past 24 hours, then you need to have a doctor’s approval to return to flight. Okay… I kind of understand that. But at the same time, I know very few women who have a child nowadays as an “Out Patient” event.

Then the next bomb dropped. “I see you had a C-Section. Was that by choice or a medical necessity?” The doctor determined it was a medical necessity to save both the lives of my daughter and myself. Oh boy, did that open up a can of worms. He launched a battery of questions: Why was it necessary? Clampsia? Which organs shut down? How many seizures? How long was the hospital stay? Why didn’t I leave within 72 hours? Why didn’t I return to work sooner? Did my doctor give me a clearance to return to work? How long was my post operation therapy? Were there any complications not directly associated with the pregnancy? Have I had any pregnancies since the one requiring the hospital stay?

Whiskey Tango FOXTROT?!

Yeah, that’s when I asked him, if these are the same questions he asks fathers regarding the birth of their children. That stunned him for a moment. Then he realized he was being kind of an ass. He admitted it wasn’t any of his business about why I haven’t been pregnant since and that as long as the doctor cleared me to work, over three years ago, it is highly unlikely the pregnancy or surgery would result in my inability to fly. Especially, considering my flexibility and balance that he had previously tested.

In the end, I walked out with a shiny new First Class Medical and a bit of a crumb on my shoulder regarding the possibility that something like child birth is now on the FAA’s list of possible reasons NOT to grant a medical certificate. It may have just been the manner in which he asked questions, but it put me off.

Anyway, just sharing. Most of the pilot’s I know will never be asked questions about child birth so they’ll never know of this little double standard. The new FAA regulations are silly if they really do force women to choose between flying and becoming moms. If they do, people who understand the legalese should really take a look. Just my two cents anyway.

Anyway, one of the biggest things that comes up, (nearly everyday) is my HAIR. Apparently hair is a big topic and mine draws attention. I don’t know why, but I often have someone asking me where I bought it or what I do to it. The funniest thing is when people complain I don’t wear my hair “natural.” That baffles me because I don’t understand what “natural” is if I don’t wear mine naturally. Does that mean, not brushed, dried, or clean because that’s all I do.

Now people who know me well, know I’m not a girlie girl, so being extravagant with my hair is not something I do. I wash it. Dry it. Flat iron it. And if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll wear it down and actually put a CURL in it. But most often, I just put it up and ignore it. For clarification it should be stated that it is a common misconception that I have African-American hair. I do not. I am a mixed race child, and my hair is also. It mostly acts like native Polynesian hair. However, the new “political term” is multicultural hair. Either way, traditionally African-American hair care products are too heavy and Caucasian hair care products are too harsh. However, I have found one product that amazingly seems to work and I hope they never change their formulas.

Additionally, I have no chemicals currently in my hair. In fact my hair hasn’t been touched by a professional since December 2008. Partially because I haven’t found a stylist I will trust and mostly because I have no money. Unemployment makes me prioritize. Housing, transportation, food, clothing, education and play for my “mini-Amazon” are priorities over salon visits in my universe. I have HAD relaxers in my hair. Mainly because they made it easier to tame the frizzies induced by the high humidity of Hawai`i. However, Colorado, being the “Roof of America” lacks an excessive amount of moisture in the air.

After speaking with several of my friends and one in particular who implored me to make this post, I have agreed to do it. The focus on my hair by both, women and men in Colorado has baffled me. Regularly receiving praising comments on the beauty of my hair coupled with remarks that it can’t all by my real hair amaze me. I have A LOT of thick hair. It used to be much, MUCH thicker than it is now. I’m actually somewhat happy that pregnancy thinned it out some. Now I can actually wear it in a pretense of style.

But this post is not about what people say about my hair, so much as it is a picture post to show the various states my hair passes through in hopes that I may show people who claim not to believe my hair didn’t come out of a bag. I have nothing to hide. I have wild hair. I love my wild hair. I took all the following pictures on the same day. It normally takes me one hour from beginning to end to wash, condition, dry and flat-iron my hair. This day, it took 90 minutes because I used my LAPTOP camera to take pictures. Also, I did not do any post production work on these photos. Well, except for the very last one. Hope you’re ready for this ride.

Here we go. This is me… Naturally!

After listening to discussions and watching heated arguments of people ranging from 24 years of age to “too old to care,” I have compiled my own list of “You Might Be….”

Now some of these may offend some and make others think. You may or may not agree with me, or you may add to them. This list is by no means a complete list of all things Americans should know before delving into the pool of “Political Rhetoric and debate.” These are just my observations after listening to the sensational political arguments that have plagued our nation for over two years, and have caused even our international friends to wonder about our sanity as a nation.

So with no further ado, let’s begin.

1. If you cannot recite the Pledge of Allegiance without a cheat sheet, you might be a Political Idiot.
2. If you don’t know how many colonies comprised the birth of our nation, you might be a Political Idiot.
3. If you don’t know the name of document The Preamble belongs to, you might be a Political Idiot.
4. If you can’t recite The Preamble, you might be a Political Idiot.
5. If you don’t know what The Preamble is, you might be a Political Idiot.
6. If you don’t know three inalienable rights, endowed by our creator, you might be a Political Idiot.
7. If you don’t know the name of the document that lists the inalienable rights, endowed by our creator, you might be a Political Idiot.
8. If you don’t know the year America declared her independence, you might be a Political Idiot.
9. If you don’t know how many branches of government there are, you might be a Political Idiot.
10. If you can’t name the branches of government, you might be a Political Idiot.
11. If you don’t know why the founders of our Country divided the government into as many parts as they did, you might be a Political Idiot.
12. If you’ve never heard the term “Melting Pot,” in reference to America, you might be a Political Idiot.
13. If you don’t know the name of the College that elects the President, you might be a Political Idiot.
14. If you don’t know what document the Amendments, amend, you might be a Political Idiot.
15. If you are a woman, and don’t know the amendment, or what year it became law, that you have the right to vote, you might be a Political Idiot.
16. If you know the names of the cast members of more than one “Reality Show” but not at least one name of a member in each governmental branch, you might be a Political Idiot.
17. If you don’t vote in your local elections, be it for school, city, county or state, you might be a Political Idiot.
18. If you don’t know the CORRECT way, let alone that there is a CORRECT way to display the American Flag, you might be a Political Idiot.
19. If you cannot find your home state or the Capital of the United States of America on a map, you might be a Political Idiot.
20. If you don’t know where your ancestors came from and how they came to America, the Land of Opportunity, you might be a Political Idiot.
21. If you have not felt compelled, even once, within the last ten years to donate to the American Red Cross or other local charity, you might be a Political Idiot.