21 February 2009

The fun part about living in the states....

...is that you get to shop at stores where you can find your size! Woo Hoo!!!

Over the Valentine's Day weekend, I flew to San Antonio to visit my husband (he's TDY through April). The stores located near Randolph AFB are FABULOUS!

If you've spent any time at Vance AFB (my current location), you'll remember that we have very few large stores here. Sure, we have WalMart and Penney's and Sears but they cater mostly to the farm-living community. That means the clothes are a little large and somewhat 'down-home' for me. (I'm not saying anything but OKC was voted the #2 fattest city in America so the stores here are wise to their needs.)

Anyway, after coming from Okinawa where they grow the tiniest people on the planet, I still feel like I don't have anywhere to shop. (I'm 5'6", Size 6)

So I went down to San Antonio -- as previously mentioned -- and shopped my A** off! At Kohl's, I found Levi's for $14 that fit me perfectly and make my butt look high & tight (Thank you, Levi's, THANK YOU!!!). At Burlington Coat Factory, I bought two coats, one leather and one trench, that make me look like I know how to dress (I don't). At the shopette, I found a 2005 Rodney Strong Cabernet for $10 a bottle!

Needless to say, on Valentine's Day, we were both very happy. He because he had his wife in his dorm room and she was looking good; and Me because I was looking good! (...plus we had a great bottle of wine to enjoy!)

Loving life back in the U.S. of A.!

~ j

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

San Antonio is a wonderful place to live and the area is wonderful!

I'm glad you had a great time shopping near Randolph AFB. :)

I love your work!! thank you for it!

Stacey Cannon said...

Welcome to Vance! I know it is a bit "farmland'ish" but there are nice people here. :) I say 'here' because I'm visiting my family in Oklahoma and am just an hour and a half from you! lol.

If you can find a Maurices they have very cute clothes, and I like Stein Mart too. I've been in Enid lots of times, so hopefully you've at least found people to be friendly! We are stationed in DC right now, and that is a shock coming from here..lol

I love your work; you are so talented and I enjoy reading so much!

jennyspouse.com said...

Thanks, Stacey!

You're right, I love it here! We were stationed at Vance years ago when my husband went through the second part of his UPT training. We requested either Vance or Whiting NAS. We're definitely happy to be here and happy to be back in the U.S. of A.!

Thanks again and thank you for your service to our country.

~ j

Minerva FC said...

Oh your post made me miss San Antonio and it's outlet malls so much! I'm in Kansas and really miss the variety of stores in San Antonio, the food and my friends! My husband and I were in Del Rio before that so you can imagine that I'm thankful to at least be in Wichita only few hours from Kansas City :)

Thanks for your funny and oh-so-real comic strip! It honestly made UNT more bearable!

TX Feller said...

I know I’m replying to an ancient post and my request is a little off the theme of your blog, but here goes...

I'm having a devil of a time finding any information about the does and don'ts for federal employees working on military bases. Really, I've spent the last 2 days, over 10 hours each, going through all manner of web searches and getting highly creative with my search words. I finally landed on your blog. It caught my interest and I read some more. And more. I finally landed on this post about S/A TX and Randolph AFB (and Vance, also).

You've actually been to the base where I'm scheduled to interview in a few weeks' time. All my life I've wanted to live in S/A and now it seems it might actually happen!

I wanted to ask some questions about unwritten rules. For example, how do most federal employees dress on a day-to-day basis, at least those with a professional/desk job? Golf shirts and cotton slacks or 3 piece suits? How about for the interview? Or for events when a visiting dignitary is present?

What about private events? Back in the 70s when I was in the USN, civilians (G-Men or not) were given a wide berth. Fraternization rules, and all that. Is that still pretty much the rule? Should I avoid accepting or making offers to go to a sporting event? Should I not say to anyone, “I’m doing a Bar-B-Q next weekend at my house. Bring a six-pack and your wife and your swimming shorts.”

How about on-base events, such as annual commemorations, parades, dedications, etc? I imagine I might get invitations to events such as these. I also imagine they would be OK for me to attend, just as anyone from the public might attend. But suppose I have a better offer that day/evening. Would I be insulting the Commandant (or whomever) if I said, "Thanks, but I was planning on getting my bike out on the hill country back roads." That is, if invited to such events, is it understood that I will absolutely attend if I know what's good for my career?

I don't expect you to know all the answers. I guess I was hoping you might know some, especially since I've spent so long trying to find a place to ask these questions, but mostly I was hoping you might know of a blog that deals with such things.

I found a couple of military blogs that talk about civilian "problems" on base (perhaps better phrased as "problem civilians"). But in reading the forum rules, I wasn't permitted to join the forum or ask questions (or even reply).

Would you be so kind as to share with me any of your observations of employees on base, or point me to blog that has a few posts dealing with such matters? The job itself is a dream come true, and getting to live in S/A just makes it all that much better. I really want to make a great impression from the first second I arrive on base.

I expect to be living off base as a matter of preference, if that should remind you of any social concerns I might need to be aware of.

If you want to post this to your blog, please feel free. I don't know how it would be of benefit to your readers as its not concerned with "spouse" life but "employee" life. Nevertheless, post it if you wish. I only ask you don't post my email address nor surname in the clear. Asterisk them out or something, if you would, please.

You may reply to ricnaff@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading this far and for considering my request. Now, I'll go read the rest of your blog posts. I hope to solve the mystery of Big Dead Tree. Where did BDT come from? Was BDT already dead when she planted herself in your lawn, or was she done in elsewhere and dumped in front of your house on a dark foggy night? Did BDT have any family? Have you searched the Personals in the local paper for notices about any runaway trees? What did the coroner say was the cause of death? (Agatha Christie has nothing on me)

Richard Naff