Bang Head Here

Wednesday night, a guy on one of the TDY crews called Alan to see if one of his crew was on the promotion list to Major, so he could let him know before the list was released publicly.  Alan didn't have the list at home, so he offered to do something nice and drive back to work to check.  It's not far and the kids were in bed, so it should have been easy enough.  But what always happens when you try to do something nice?  Throw in the fact that he's a Dayton and it can't turn out well...

He gets to his computer and sees a weird message on the screen and a seemingly unresponsive computer, so he turns the computer off and then back on.  When he turns it back on, his entire hard drive is wiped.  So, he calls the Com Squadron and they tell him they were patching Widows 7 through (with no notice, on a day that was several days before when they said they were going to do it).  "Well, fix it," Alan tells them.  "We can't," they reply.  "You'll have to call back in the morning."  So, Alan comes home, disappointed that he couldn't let the guy know whether or not he was promoted.

In the morning, he calls Com, who sends some guys over.  They tell him that the patch had some sort of glitch and that if there was an interruption of power during the patch, it would erase the hard drive of the computer.  They knew the patch had the glitch, but went with it anyway.  With no notice.  So he has possibly lost years and years and years (16!) of archived data and emails and reports that he uses every single day.  Had they done the patch when they said they were going to do the patch, he would have had all of his data backed up.  They took his computer apart and took his hard drive to see what they might be able to recover, but it doesn't look good. 

All because he tried to do something nice.  That, my friends, is a true "Dayton day-to-day."  It's hard to be a Dayton sometimes.  If you're the praying type, say a little one for Alan.

Me Today

I'm supposed to post a recent picture of myself next.  I really don't have many pictures of just me.  After all, my life isn't just about me anymore (I tried to fight it, but it's no use).  Here is the most recent picture with me in it that there is, taken yesterday at our squadron Easter picnic:

Here's another recent one, on my Survivor Anniversary, with the cake that Adam and Alan made me :-) 

Movin' On Up

Effective 1 October, Alan was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force.  WOOOOOOHOOOOO!  Pay raise!  Kidding aside, this was a really big deal.  Not only because it is quite a respectable rank, but because the process is pretty competitive.  Additionally, we have several close friends who have worked just as hard and are outstanding Officers who were not chosen for this rank...yet.  There is hope for next year.  You just never know - such is the military life.  But we made it!  Alan made it.  And we thank God for once again providing so that we may continue in this life we love.


On Thursday afternoon, there was a promotion ceremony at Alan's squadron.  Alan's boss gave a great recount of Alan's career, which was amazing to listen to.  It's unbelievable just how much he has been through and how unique his career in the Air Force has been.  The opportunities he has gotten have been amazing.  It was nice to re-live it all for a bit, knowing that he and we made it through so many difficult times.  It is customary for family members to remove the old rank and place the new rank on the shoulders, so Adam and I handled that part and Adam did a great job.  Anaya and Audie also attended the ceremony with minimal fussing, so that was nice.  After the ceremony we had a little reception.  Here are a few pictures from the day:

Really, Commissary?  You haven't done this enough to know that the "C" in "Col" should be capitalized?  Standard.

 Lt Col Daniel, speaking

 "Making it official" (Reading the Promotion Order)

 Me pinning on the new rank:

 Adam's turn to slide on the shoulder boards!

Repeating the Oath with his new rank

Lt Col Dayton, speaking

HUGE shout-out to Sarah and Michelle for holding the babies so I could just enjoy.  While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and give a shout-out to my friend, Angie, for her photography skills - Thank you, Ladies!!!

Flowers for me...the bling came later

Adam with his "surprise" from Daddy...he got a few more surprises later, but was thrilled about the balloon :-)

 Our family :-)

Our family with Alan's boss and our good friends, the Daniels

  

The reception at the Tee House...Great view of the East China Sea

All in all, it was a good day.  What can I say?  Silver looks good on the man.  At the ceremony, just before speaking about me, he told the quote, "Behind every successful man is an astonished woman."  Well, that's untrue.  I'm not astonished.  I knew he could do this and I'm proud of him and all he has accomplished.  I know he has many more great things in store and I'm excited to be along for the ride.  I might even claim some responsibility for his success ;-)

He's Kind of a Big Deal

The other day, as Alan was getting dressed for work, Adam was asking him about the patches on his flight suit.  In particular, he wanted to know what all the different wings meant.  When Adam asked about the wings on Alan's chest, Alan told him "those wings let Daddy fly in the Air Force."  Adam's reply?  "Well, that means you're pretty much big."  It's hard to convey it through typing, but he said it like he was inferring that Daddy was a "big deal," as opposed to just a big person.  I would imagine it makes Alan feel pretty good, to know that his boy thinks he's kind of a big deal ;)

Here's a recent video and a couple of pictures of Adam swimming - he really started to improve this past week and just took off!  On one hand, I'm so glad he's learning to swim, but on the other hand - he's getting a little too brave for his britches.  I almost liked it better when he was afraid of the water.

Get 'em

A couple of nights ago - or mornings, rather - I finished feeding Audie at about 4:30.  I went to the bathroom, turned on the light, and was fixin' to pee when I saw a huge spider on the wall.  Eeewww.  I.  Hate.  Spiders.  Hate 'em.  They're my kryptonite.  I'm totally convinced that any spider, no matter what size or color, can bite and kill me.  Hate them!  So I walked out very slowly - just in case it was one of those flying, aggressive spiders that bites anything it sees.  Just in case.  I woke Alan up and told him there was a really big spider in the bathroom.  He got out of bed to take care of it, because that's what he does.  Well, 30 minutes later our bathroom looked like this:

For the record, it was pretty much the fastest spider to ever walk the Earth.  We did not defeat it that early morning.  We climbed back into bed at 5 a.m. wondering how in the world it escaped.  I spent the next day living in fear in my own bathroom.  I knew that sucker was probably watching me from his awesome hiding spot.  And there was nothing I could do about it.  But, alas, being the super-tough spider that he was, he returned for Round 2.  When Alan and Adam walked into the bathroom to dry Adam's hair, there sat our nemesis right in the middle of the counter.  He stared Alan down, as if to say, "That's right.  I'm back and I've been working out.  Now let's finish this."  Alan backed out of the room with Adam, sent him to his room to play and returned, closing the door behind him.  Just him and the gargantuan spider.  Mano a mano.  It was a battle for the ages, but Alan emerged victorious.  For that, I am grateful.  Killing spiders - that's another reason I married him.