Jenny the Military Spouse

RECON: Comic Relief

2012-01-06T15:35:00.003-06:00

Here's the new link for the RECON: Comic Relief program I did in 2009. My segment starts at 7:25 but don't be afraid to watch the other cartoonists (after you watch mine, of course). Cheers! ~ j

"PCSing...it's a Spouse thing!" now 25% off with publisher's discount!

2010-12-20T08:43:00.014-06:00

Purchase PCSing...It's a Spouse Thing! at 15% off with coupon code RESOLUTION305. The book is currently reduced by 10% so that's a 25% savings off the full price!

Disclaimer: Use coupon code RESOLUTION305 at checkout and receive 15% off PCSing...It's a Spouse Thing!. Maximum savings with this promotion is $10. You can only use the code once per account, and you can't use this coupon in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer ends on January 15, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST so try not to procrastinate!

While very unlikely we do reserve the right to change or revoke this offer at anytime, and of course we cannot offer this coupon where it is against the law to do so. Finally, Lulu incurs the cost of this discount, so it does not impact the Author's proceeds of the book.

~ j

The First "Jenny" Book is HERE!!!

2010-11-23T17:39:00.007-06:00

"Jenny" is on hiatus while we suffer through yet another PCS. Please feel free to browse the archives located on the main page of http://jennyspouse.com to get your weekly milspouse chuckle.

OR...You can order the very first "Jenny" book ever and get your milspouse chuckle whenever you want! Just in time for Christmas, the book is located at: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/pcsingits-a-spouse-thing/13835448

Selling for $19.95, it's the greatest gift you can get for any military spouse you know. She/He will see themselves among these 120 pages more than once.

Help yourself to a handful of books this holiday season. Don't leave anyone out! ~ j

Electronic Cigarettes or What to put in a care package...

2010-11-17T16:32:00.006-06:00

The Great American Smokeout 2010 is tomorrow, November 18. (http://www.ucanquit2.org/facts/gaso/default.aspx) This is the perfect time to help your loved one quit smoking.

I know it's tough but they don't have to go cold turkey.

My friend, @Michal Douglas, owns an electronic cigarette company and sells to a lot of military folks. He placed a small ad on my site and, as I do with everyone who advertises on jennyspouse.com, I want to send him a lot of traffic.

But I mostly want to help people quit smoking. So this is a selfish plug on my part. I really believe in this product.

Michal's company is called "America's Best Buys" and you'll get a 10% discount at checkout when you use the code MILITARY. He's doing this just for us so I hope you get over there and take advantage of it. (http://americasbestbuys.com/home.asp)

Michal and his original business partner started marketing e-cigarettes because the business partner was dying of lung cancer, directly related to smoking. I knew them briefly right before he died. It was awful. But the one thing that has always stuck with Michal is that his friend told him, "I wish I'd known about these things a lot earlier."

I can't explain how they work but America's Best Buys will tell you everything you need to know. Do it. Now. Before it's too late.

Why Should We Care About Prince William's Engagement?

2010-11-16T10:16:00.005-06:00

Because Great Britain is our greatest ally and our best friend. In order to nurture a friendship, you must take an interest in your friend's children and family. A sure way to kill a friendship is to show utter disinterest in her family's joyful moments and to ignore their milestones.

Because we've watched this boy grow up and have held him to higher standards than we've held our own children, judging his life on a global level like no other. We should celebrate when he's happy.

Because we know that one day he WILL be the King of England and it is in our best interest that he possess sound judgment and above-average decision making skills. One day every decision he makes concerning Great Britain will directly affect our very best friend and so affect us.

Yes, we should be interested in this and pay attention. It's important.

~ j

"Military Wives Matter" - Get Involved in a Study from Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU)

2010-07-14T18:39:00.004-05:00

Militarywivesmatter.org is part of a nationwide study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and centered at Oregon Health & Science University. The goal of the study is to get a sense of what issues bother military wives most and to provide information about deployment and how it affects families.

From Dr. Celina Oliver, Department of Research Psychiatry, "We really appreciate anything you can do to help us spread the word. We are hoping to be able to use this research to encourage policy makers to support military families more appropriately. Thank you!"

Announcement from the research team:

Has your husband deployed (or will he)?

We don’t have to tell you how hard it is.? But if you would like to know more about what to expect and how to deal with it, there’s a new website that provides information about a variety of topics military wives have said worry them the most..

Note: They definitely want to know about your depression and/or PTSD but, even if you don't feel that this applies to you, you can be useful in other areas. To find out more, go to http://www.militarywivesmatter.org and sign up for the study. Help OHSU with their research and you might even affect policy for spouses everywhere.

Hats Off to Volunteers! April 18 - 24 Ft. Bliss, TX

2010-04-24T14:10:00.036-05:00

I've just returned from my trip to Ft. Bliss, El Paso, TX, where I spoke at a luncheon for the post's volunteers. The program is headed by Army Volunteer Corps (AVC) Coordinator, Tephanie Hopper, and her staff from the AVC office located in the ACS Bldg. 2494, for those of you who want to join the legion of incredibly motivated volunteers at Ft. Bliss.

The event I attended was called "WHATTAWEDNDESDAY" on April 21st. This was the second in a series of events planned for the volunteers throughout National Volunteer Week (April 18 - 24). The first get-together of the week was "Manic Monday" and featured a salsa class to help get everyone into the feel-good spirit of the week.

"WHATTAWEDNESDAY" took place in the Centennial Banquet & Conference Center and featured free massages, Reiki, makeovers, food and prizes. A local beauty school was in attendance to give free haircuts and manicures. They even did eyebrows and makeup!

The final event of the week was held Friday night at the Centennial. This was the official Fort Bliss Annual Volunteer Recognition Awards Ceremony. Awards presented by: Maj. Gen. Howard Bromberg. Their guest speaker was Brian McNamara of Lifetime Television's Army Wives.

Here is the information Tephanie sent me:

"Each year our nation celebrates volunteers during National Volunteer Week. The Fort Bliss community follows this great tradition established by President Richard Nixon in 1974. We have numerous activities to show appreciation for the volunteers who selflessly support our Soldiers, Family Members, and Retirees. The largest event is our recognition dinner hosted by our Commanding General. The recognition dinner is scheduled to be held April 23rd from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

Our theme is "Hats Off to Volunteers".

The following are some accomplishments of our installation volunteer

program:

2350 volunteers

155,000 hours

3 million dollars worth of hours contributed to the installation.

Volunteer Positions include:

Supporting our youth through coaching sports.

Teaching our family members through Army Family Team Building.

Meeting Soldiers/ Families as they deploy or return from deployment.

Family Readiness Group support

Supporting our Junior Enlisted Family Readiness Group

Soldiers mentoring kids through Partners In Education

Support advocacy walks

Tax Preparation

and MANY MORE!"

How could I say No to an invitation like that? I had a great time, got to meet some no-nonsense Army spouses, and came away with a feeling that this is a group of strong women I could definitely be a part of. I would go back to Ft. Bliss in a heartbeat.

I hope some of them will be in D.C. for Spouse Appreciation weekend, May 7 - 9, 2010. I sincerely hope to see you there or back in Fort Bliss.

You ladies ROCK!

~ j

Jewls' rules for Space-A travel

2010-04-16T12:48:00.006-05:00

This is a repost from April 2008. A lot of people have found it useful over the years so I wanted to post it again. I'll try to add some updates when I get the chance.

Disclaimer: These are my own tips culled from my own experiences which may not be right for everyone. I can't answer all of the legalities involved in Space-Available travel (also called "Space-A" or "stand-by") right now but I'm planning on doing a show with Wendy and Marie of navywiferadio.com where we'll discuss everything in much further detail and depth.

If you're interested in joining the world of Space-A travelers, please check with your local AMC terminal for complete rules and regulations regarding your personal situation and traveler status. And please keep checking back here for the dates of the show. We'll want you to call in and participate with your questions and concerns. Hopefully, we can get enough interest in the subject that Wendy and Marie will be able to get a qualified representative to come on a future show to address all of your issues.

Let us now continue with

jewls' rules for Space-A Travel...

Don't be a diva. In the Air Force, most of the airplanes available for Space-A travel are C-17s and KC-135s. Yes, these are cargo planes and air-refuelers. If you get one of these airplanes, for the next 8+ hours you'll be sitting in a jumpseat, most likely webbed canvas, straight-backed against the airplane's frame. You'll use the bathroom in a rudimentary version of an airline lavatory but without the amenities even that implies. For instance, the KC-135 we took to Hawaii didn't have a working sink in the lav but the crew was happy to supply alcohol wipes. Usually, one lav serves the crew and all of the passengers (we had about 44 men, women, and children on that flight, excluding the crew).

No open-toed or high-heeled shoes are allowed in Space-A travel and I would think twice about wearing a dress or shorts. The planes fly very high and it's very, very cold inside. Carry a jacket and a small pillow.

Travel light. Some airplanes have weight limits. Before leaving the house, my husband and I weigh everything, including carry-ons (laptops, cosmetic totes, etc.). Our magic number is 30 pounds total per person. Twice we've gotten the only two seats available on both a C-12 and a C-21 because the weight limit was 30 pounds per person (or 60 pounds total because we were traveling together).

My husband and I bought backpacks specifically for our Space-A trips: they're lightweight and small enough to fit in the overhead bins but long/tall enough to carry all of our stuff. They have special wet/dry pockets as well as clips inside the compartments for keys, etc. We bring just enough clothes to be tourists in. If you're planning on bringing dressy outfits, the backpack option may not be for you. If you shop when you get to your destination (I certainly do...after all, isn't that the point of the trip???), you can mail your items and extra clothing back home via the USPS at the nearest military base. All that's needed here is a little planning and time management. You might even get to use the internal mailing system known as MPS and send your package back to your home base for free. Ask your USPS clerk.
Be prepared to take lesser accomodations. Our trip last week was to Hawaii. We deliberately made no plans for a hotel because we wanted the freedom to take whatever was available. As soon as we landed at Hickam AFB, we started calling all of the military installations on Oahu, asking what billeting they had available. There were absolutely no rooms anywhere so we called a travel agency that ultimately got us a room at the Waikiki Resort Hotel located barely one block from Waikiki Beach (...and barely one block from Island Soap & Candle Works!). We stayed at WRH for three nights before deciding to branch out and see the other side of the island.

For the next couple of nights, we stayed on the USMC post, Kaneohe Bay, on the Windward side of the island. One of those nights was spent in the BOQ (Bachelor Officers' Quarters) for $40 a night. The building was WWII era with hand-crank windows and thickly-painted closet doors but it was all part of the charm. (A lot of Hawaii's WWII military buildings are still in use and some of those on the Schofield Barracks Army post still have strafing marks all across the fronts and sides of them from the Japanese attacks.)

Be aware that many military billeting facilities only have internet available in the lobby or "commons" areas. Don't be shy about showing up in your jammies, with your hair up in a towel...nobody expects you to be beautiful in these places (remember, they're all paying $40 a night, too!). Take your laptop and affect a look of deep concentration and nobody will look at you twice.
Be prepared to take more expensive accomodations. Our last night in Hawaii was the worst for finding a place to stay. It seems Spring Break doesn't occur all at once in the U.S.

The first week we were there, everything was booked because of Spring Break. The second week we were there, everything was still booked because of the second wave of Spring Breakers.

So we decided to go to the MWR hotel - The Hale Koa - right on Waikiki Beach and take anything they had...even if it was a closet with a Murphy bed inside. Turns out, they only had one room, oceanside, overlooking the beach, the pool, and the courtyard. Darn the luck! Of course, we took it. It cost us $179 but ended up being worth every penny. At sunset, we sat out on our deck above the palm trees and the ocean and watched a flotilla of sailboats move lazily past. It was quite romantic.
Be prepared to have NO accomodations. We met a young spouse who was traveling back to Okinawa from her Space-A trip to the east coast, stateside. She told us she and her baby had slept in the AMC terminal at Travis AFB because there were no rooms to be had anywhere. She didn't make a fuss about it. She knew the Space-A ropes and just shrugged her shoulders.
The trip home. "Space Available" means just that: Space Available. Period. Military aircraft are not obliged to carry passengers. It's their perogative and our privilege. You may or may not get the flights you want, either coming or going.

The military flights from Hawaii to Japan, or even to Guam, had dried up during the last few days of our stay. We finally had to buy a commercial ticket on Saturday to get out of Hawaii (we were sad to go but, after a week of tourism, our vacation money was running out). We flew back to Tokyo because there were no commercial flights to Okinawa for another week (fallout from the ATA closure). We checked into the Kanto Lodge at Yokota AB and started working on getting a Space-A flight home which means we packed our stuff and trucked over to the AMC terminal every single day until we got lucky on the third day.

Old School travelers see it as a game. They laugh when they don't get a ride and then they stake out their position in front of the schedule monitors that hang from the walls of the terminals, telling each other which flight is likely to go and which "TBD" flight will drop to "0" under the PAX column.
Space-A Speak. Some buzz-words to know when you're in the Space-A rotation are: Show-Time for Roll Call or simply Show-Time (this tells you what time they'll call the names of the lucky few chosen to be on today's flight...show up early and get yourself checked in or they won't call your name at all), Seat-Count (how many passengers will be allowed on the flight you want...this number is listed under the column usually called PAX on the schedule and more often than not says "TBD" - To Be Determined), and Weight or Weight Limit (how much weight you will be allowed...a combined total of your checked and carry-on baggage).

When you're stranded in the terminal after your show-time of 0400 has been delayed, these are the topics that will be discussed over and over by everyone around you. Use your new buzz-words and join in on the conversations. You'll learn so much about how to be a successful Space-A traveler that you'll be "hopping" every chance you get.

My husband is somewhat of a guru on how to find obscure information on every subject imaginable so he gave me the following links to share with you:

spacea.info - everything you wanted to know about Military Space-A Travel
takeahop.com - how to sign up online and more.
pepperd.com - Derk Pepperd's Space-A message board
spacea.net - John D.'s Military Space-A Travel Pages

I hope you've enjoyed this article. Please share it with others and please keep checking back for the date of the upcoming navywiferadio.com show on Space-A travel.

~ jewls

Attention Macon Residents! Vote for Comics!

2010-02-16T14:36:00.011-06:00

The Macon Telegraph is running a comics contest.

They recently ran a "favorites" poll and only received 1500 votes, resulting in SSDD (Same Shit, Different Day). The favorites were:

1. Blondie
2. Beetle Bailey
3. Family Circus
4. For Better or For Worse
5. Zits
6. Garfield
7. B.C.
8. Snuffy Smith
9. Andy Capp
10. Hagar the Horrible

Now they'd like us readers to vote on comics to ADD to the line-up above. No word on whether they're keeping all of those golden oldies but I say "Let them go!". It's time to give the younger, more contemporary voices the exposure they deserve.

I commend The Telegraph on some of the new additions they're proposing: The Knight Life, Get Fuzzy, F-Minus, Frazz, Cul de Sac, Retail, and (my favorite and the only entry by a female cartoonist) Rhymes with Orange, but the examples they include don't show even half the talent and genius behind these strips.

For example, the Rhymes with Orange entries were notated "Hil is on vacation" and were drawn by guest cartoonist Mo Willems. Are readers judging whether they like Hilary or Mo? Hil's faithful readers will "get it" but newcomers might not. I fear these particular samples will knock her out of the running.

The F-Minus entries are dull and don't show Tony Carrillo at his best. I encourage readers to catch up on the F-Minus archives in order to get a better sense of Tony's very special style and humor.

The Telegraph gives us a total of fifteen strips to choose from but we're only allowed to select FOUR. That's right. Only 4.

If you live in the Macon area, go to this link from macon.com. Please read all of the entries and judge them fairly and wisely.

Help upgrade the comics pages from Same-Old-Thing to Smart, Progressive, and Finally Funny.

That is all.

~ j

Update: I don't know why they even held this contest. The only ones they chose from the list were Frazz, Get Fuzzy, and Rose is Rose. And those are only available online. They're not running them in the paper. Maybe they're going to insert them on Sundays or something. Still, they don't even have a link online to F-Minus or Rhymes with Orange. I don't get it. :-(

This week's "Jenny" comic is UP!

2010-01-10T11:45:00.008-06:00

This week's "Jenny" comic is UP!

"The Newness" from Chandra's Handbook. Enjoy!

Don't forget to go to the archives at jennyspouse.com and vote for your favorite Jenny Comics from 2009...

Saying "So Long" to the Big Dead Tree

2009-12-24T08:14:00.031-06:00

The Big Dead Tree

Ever since we moved into base housing (July '09), we've been surrogate owners of a big dead tree in our front yard. It was somewhat embarrassing because all of the neighbors could see it.

After all, it was big. Bigger than our house.

The neighbors, well-meaning souls all, would stop and render their opinions, "Your tree is dead", and their advice, "Hang some plants from it, dress it up a little". We always thanked them but there wasn't much we could do about it.

The ultimate decision was made by others, of course, and so it was that, on Monday morning, a truck equipped with a cherry-picker pulled up in front of the house and released two men determined to bring down The Big Dead Tree.

I felt sad. The Big Dead Tree hadn't been bothering anyone. Anyone at all.

Except, of course, my husband who kept having to drag the branches off the roof and out of the lawn to the field across the street. The Big Dead Tree dropped branches day in and day out. Some of the bigger ones crashed to the ground with a vibration that made the house shudder but most of the smaller ones fell unnoticed and simply lay quietly in the yard. Not bothering anyone at all.

The two men rode that cherry-picker basket up and down all day long, the incessant noise from their chainsaws threatening to explode the contents of my brain, until The Big Dead Tree was stripped bare.

Limbs and branches had been falling falling falling, booming against the ground in angry, noisy protest. Our house shook and trembled in response throughout the operation. When the sun set, the men left and The Big Dead Tree stood cold in the yard as if finally accepting its fate.

It was now a tall, bare, stump.

The next day, more men came and took their chainsaws to its body. The tall, bare, stump was cut into sections that boomed to the ground. The windows shook when they hit.

Soon, all that was left of The Big Dead Tree was a pile of logs lying in a mound of sawdust. It was the last time our yard would be littered by the old nuisance.

The men cleaned up the yard and took all signs of their activities with away with them. They left the yard clean as a whistle...

...no more Big Dead Tree. No tree at all, in fact.

Now that's sad.

******
~ j

All I want for Christmas is a Fern Glade beret

2009-12-21T12:48:00.011-06:00

This is the Christmas present I made for my daughter. It's a slouchy hat from the pattern Fern Glade. You can find it at knitty.com, my favorite site for alternative knitwear patterns.

I've used this pattern twice before and absolutely love it. I'm looking forward to making another one for my mom.

My yarn of choice is the bamboo-blend, "Spa", from Naturally Caron. The color of this hat is 'naturally 0007'. I've used 'ocean spray' for this pattern but I also have 'rose bisque' and 'soft sunshine' in my stash, patiently awaiting their turns.

The only adjustment I advise for Fern Glade is to take out the K1 stitch on Row 14. (Now that I look at it again, the editors have struck that stitch out and all is right with the world of Fern Glade.)

If you decide to knit this one up, you might want to use a stretchier yarn than I did. Knitting the headband too tightly or loosely can backfire if your yarn can't compensate and bounce back.

Lastly, I don't use circular needles. Just can't get a good rhythm going with those things. So I use dp needles. No matter which you choose, you'll need U.S. sizes 3 and 6.

I hope you enjoy creating Fern Glade as much as I have. You can find the author of the pattern, Megan Marshall, on ravelry.com or at her blog, I saw her STRANDing there.

Happy Knitting! ~ j

Fort Knox creator and USO team up for Military Kids

2009-12-18T15:04:00.006-06:00

WASHINGTON, December 17, 2009

Fort Knox cartoonist Paul Jon has created five special pieces of line art for a USO coloring contest for kids. The art features the Fort Knox characters, Major Joe Knox, his wife, Jane, and their two boys, Donald and Wesley, as well as typical scenes of USO events for kids. The top entries will be featured on the USO's blog site throughout the week of December 27th.

The USO reported an immediate, record-breaking response, with more than 130 downloads of the art in the first two hours the contest was posted. You can read all about the contest on the USO's web site

Fort Knox Cartoonist Paul Jon is a military brat himself, and he approached the USO with an offer to help military families. The USO came up with this project to give children something fun to do for the holidays.

Paul Jon is the son of an Army colonel whose tours of duty included Fort Leavenworth, Fort Jackson and Fort Knox. In addition to his daily and Sunday Fort Knox duties, Paul Jon runs the creative services department of a software company, and his artwork has appeared in newspapers, magazines and online publications across the country. He earned his B.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina. He is married and has two beautiful goldfish.

"Jenny" picks up two more papers!

2009-11-22T12:38:00.014-06:00

Beginning November 13th, "Jenny" will appear in two more newspapers: the Eglin Flyer and the Hurlburt Patriot. The following write-up appeared in both editions on launch day:

By Kenneth Books, Managing Editor

Beginning in this issue, the Patriot will feature the comic strip,“Jenny, the Military Spouse.” Written and drawn by Air Force wife Julie Negron, the strip follows the day-to-day life of a young woman thrust into unfamiliar surroundings as the new wife of a young Air Force lieutenant fresh out of flight school. She finds herself having to adjust to new surroundings, new terminology, new ways of doing things and a new breed of people—airmen and their spouses.

The strip is often found in so me unsuspected places. Look closely at the refrigerators in the Lifetime TV show “Army Wives” and you’ll see “Jenny” hanging there.Negron started her comic while her husband was stationed on Okinawa. According to an interview published Oct. 7, 2007, in Stars & Stripes, “Negron, a self-taught illustrator, started her drawing career creating editorial cartoons for an Oregon newspaper when an opening suddenly came up. The previous cartoonist had just died.

“I read about it in the paper,” she said sheepishly. “And I went down the very next day.” She was hired the same day after a brief interview. She worked at the paper for a couple of years, drawing cartoons on assignment. When Negron moved, she drew cartoons for the base newspapers wherever her husband was stationed.

Inspiration for the strip comes from things that have actually happened to her as a military wife and from suggestions from readers. In addition to Jenny, the strip is populated by Cassie, a blonde, beautiful and somewhat bubbleheaded wife of a fighter pilot, Patty Lynn, the spouse club president with a near-psychic ability to obtain information before anyone else, Jenny’s husband, “DH,” a slightly nerdy and sometimes clueless foil.

According to Negron, Jenny will always and forever remain a new military spouse, childless, naive and often lonely for a husband whose service obligations frequently outweigh his marital ones. She’ll always be surprised by what she sees and what people say to her.

And she’ll be in the Patriot every week from now on.

Sounds good to me! ~ j

"Preparing for Severe Weather"

2009-11-12T16:03:00.006-06:00

On a dark & stormy night, in a modest little house,
the only one up was the military spouse.

She was restricted to quarters under TC1E,
thanks to a storm called Typhoon Man-Yi.

She watched it all night but no damage was dared,
for not even Man-Yi can beat a spouse well-prepared.

This is not a drill: Preparing for Severe Weather
or “How Kadena AB’s Military Spouses took on Super Typhoon Man-Yi”

The night Man-Yi’s outer arms found the island of Okinawa, none of us slept. The noise of the typhoon was immediate, persistent, loud, roaring, and all-encompassing. The constant gusts sounded like steamrollers slamming into the houses.

By 0230, I was up. I had to check and re-check: Did I do everything on the typhoon preparedness list? Was the patio furniture still secure? Were all of the windows shut, locked, and sealed tightly enough? And what was that banging noise? Oh, just the vent. Nothing I could do about that but would it stay connected or would I end up with a gaping hole in the roof – an open invitation to as much water as Man-Yi wanted to deliver?

I made the rounds again at 0400, even though I knew I’d done everything correctly and completely. The sound of the typhoon raging outside was so powerful… I was nervous and couldn’t lie down. I padded down the hallway, making sure we still had electricity (we did), cable TV for the emergency channel (yep), and the Internet – notorious for its instability even during a lazy summer shower.

The Internet was up and running like a champ so I logged on to four or five of my favorite weather sites and monitored the oncoming behemoth that was Man-Yi.

The width of the storm was equivalent to the distance from Canada all the way down to the California-Mexico border. This was not a drill.

********

I first heard about it four days earlier, on Monday, July 9th, which was – naturally – the day after I’d dropped my husband off at the airport for a weeklong TDY. An e-mail from our squadron commander’s wife said the storm would probably arrive Friday, July 13th. Typhoon preparedness was already underway across Kadena AB…this one was going to be a doozy. And, by the way, our squadron’s active-duty members were evacuating with the airplanes. So, I wasn’t the only one facing this alone.

Even if a storm might not hit us, the airplanes can’t risk high wind conditions so they leave the island and their crews go with them. As military spouses living on an island, we take it in stride and wait for worst while hoping for the best.

As the week wore on, the typhoon grew nearer and we (the spouses) started calling each other. “Do you need help bringing stuff inside?” “Do you have enough food and supplies?” “Do you need someone to stay with you?”

********

“Don’t you know we’re in TC-1C? Everything’s closed.” The spouses here know the current weather conditions as well as we know we’ll be left alone to contend with the worst of them. We weren’t born knowing this stuff…we learned it the hard way. Below are some tips from military spouses who’ve “been there”:

When you live in a volatile location with severe weather such as typhoons, hurricanes, and tornadoes, your life could depend on how well you prepare. A preparedness checklist is invaluable during storm season and should be in your welcome packet when you relocate. Ours explains Typhoon (Tropical Cyclone) Conditions. For example, TC-4 means calm. TC-1E means “Emergency” and the air base is in lockdown mode. We are restricted to our quarters until “All Clear” is declared.

Consult your preparedness checklist well ahead of time. If you live on a military installation, these checklists are guides that tell you what to expect from severe weather in your area, what items to keep on hand, and how the installation enforces emergency procedures. Your emergency contact numbers should be written in there and updated often. If you don’t have some sort of severe weather guide or checklist, ask your family support center for one.

Bookmark Weather Web Sites. The Internet has weather sites coming out of its ears. In our area, we use Typhoon2000 and Kadena Weather, among others.

Prepare to be prepared. Fill a sturdy, sealable box with the following: bottled water (enough to cook with and drink for several days), flashlights and fresh batteries, a battery-operated radio, extra batteries to accommodate the different sizes of your equipment, candles, matches, canned foods, dry foods, pet foods, toilet paper, female hygiene products (because that never happens at a good time), and all baby needs such as diapers and formula. Buy a portable cook stove and extra propane (or dry charcoal and plenty of lighter fluid). Fill up your bathtubs with water for flushing toilets and other cleaning needs. Make sure to have plenty of towels for unexpected leaks and extra trash bags for waste that you can’t take outside. You may need plastic sheeting to cover windows. Get some duct tape, too. Some spouses throw in new toys for the kids to use as a distraction during the storm.

Don’t wait until the last minute. Bottled water and diapers disappear from the commissary shelves the minute a Tropical Depression is spotted out in the ocean.

Ask for help. Not only do spouses have to maintain the family “typhoon box” or “hurricane kit” but we also have to stow all of the lawn furniture, tie down the trampoline, bring in the toys, and collapse the awnings all by ourselves. After that, you have to count kids and pets. Sometimes it just gets overwhelming. If you need help, call a senior spouse or your unit’s contact person. They’ll send someone to help you.

Spare your friends and neighbors from the dangers of your personal property becoming projectiles – secure your belongings. Sandbags are free at Kadena AB, although you have to fill and tote them yourself. We put them in and on anything that can take flight such as trash bins, trampolines, patio tables, and dog houses; we pile them in front of doors that might leak and anyplace else that could allow water into the house. Find out where to get sandbags in your area and stock up early.

Pay attention to your local news stations for special announcements. The Navy hospital got on the radio Thursday and summoned all mothers-to-be in late-term pregnancies (over 37 weeks) to the clinics to prevent them from going into labor while trapped in their homes.

********

Typhoon Man-Yi hit us even harder right after I made my last “rounds” through the house. By 0630, the winds were sustaining 144 mph with gusts of 178 mph – my steamrollers. We took another six or seven hours of punishment before that awful howling began to subside.

At about 1800 hours on Friday night, Man-Yi finally began its exit to the north. Even though we were still experiencing the very active tail-end of the storm, Typhoon Condition 1R (Recovery) was declared. Emergency crews were allowed to begin assessing the damage.

We spouses remained restricted to quarters until Saturday morning but our own damage reports were already filtering across the base.

Power was out in some neighborhoods; water was out in others. Patio furniture, thought to be tied down, was gone – lifted from a porch at some point by the winds of Man-Yi and whisked off to an undisclosed location. Somebody’s house was flooded. A barbecue grill was seen traveling across the grounds of a four-plex, propane tank still attached, with the owner running after it during the worst part of the storm. A family on vacation who didn’t have anyone watching their house lost their trampoline and some lawn furniture. A couple of satellite dishes flew away and someone else watched their neighbor’s windows shatter.

Some of those things were preventable, some were not, but we’re learning from our mistakes. The point of preparedness is to make both the duration and the recovery as smooth as possible. Achieving total perfection is impossible for anyone but we now know how to prepare for the worst. We can, and probably will, do it again.

Next time, though, Man-Yi is gonna need a bigger typhoon.

Julie L. Negron
Creator, Jenny…the only comic strip about life as a military spouse
jewls@jennyspouse.com

My Old Editorial Toons

2009-09-22T18:10:00.006-05:00

I found these in a box of old photos. They're two of my editorial cartoons from the late '80s. They're somewhat yellowed but still fun to read.

The backstory is that I'd just given birth to my daughter and was approaching my deadline. So, naturally, I wrote about my maternity ward experience. The editor received a ton of feedback, both good and bad, and asked me to make the next strip about him taking the heat for the toon's content.

My editor was Pat Moser and the newspaper was the Hermiston Herald in Oregon. If anybody runs into Pat, tell him I said "Hey!"

~ j

Recon: Comic Relief

2009-09-16T13:25:00.003-05:00

Here's my interview with the Pentagon Channel. They were looking at the history of military cartooning. Lots of fun trivia and interesting facts here. At the end, there's a long segment on Basil Zaviski, creator of "Gunston Street".

Enjoy!

Recon: Comic Relief

Please share freely with your friends and families.

~ j

All About That Military Brat Comic Strip called Fort Knox

2009-09-08T10:43:00.011-05:00

I've got an Army Brat friend who created a comic strip based on his childhood and - guess what? - it got picked up by a major syndicate! So now he finds himself scrambling to drum up readership to prove to his new bosses that they weren't wrong in taking him on.

Which they weren't.

After all, how many people out there are Military Brats? I'm gonna say KA-Zillions, including me. (In fact, I've never really known any other lifestyle other than military...born into it, married into it)

I'm pretty sure we Brats can relate to my friend's comic strip in more ways than we can relate to a lot of the strips out there that are currently in full-tilt boogey.

My friend is Paul Boscacci and his new toon is "Fort Knox". You can see a complete run-down of it here: http://www.postwritersgroup.com/comics/fortknox.htm

The Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/pboscacci#/fortknoxcomic?ref=share

Right now, Paul's working on placing his strip in the Garden City, Kansas, area. Please participate in the poll being conducted by the GC Telegram: http://swktalk.com/comics/ Kick back for a while and read through all of the strips. Each one of them is in danger of elimination so make sure you vote to keep the ones you like. Personally, I'm going to vote to keep all of them. After all, what makes me laugh might not make someone else laugh and vice-versa. :-)

"Fort Knox" officially premiers on October 5th. Give it a shot and give it a chance. And, remember, enjoy comic strips every day or they'll go away!

~ j

Rejection Notice, etc.

2009-08-17T17:14:00.019-05:00

Today, "Jenny" was rejected by the largest group of military newspapers available stateside.

Rather, today is when I received the actual notice of rejection, so I'm not really sure when the physical act of rejecting "Jenny" took place. I'm going to stick with today because it feels like it. In fact, it feels like just a few minutes ago after I checked the mail.

While the Rejection Notice is certainly par for the course in the life of a cartoonist, this one wasn't met with a sense of "Another one bites the dust" and blithely tossed into the file drawer.

This one is hanging right on the front of the refrigerator.

Let me explain. The source of the rejection was ATPCo, which is comprised of the Air Force Times, Army Times, Navy Times, and MarineCorps Times. They're a subsidiary of Gannett News (publishers of USA Today).

I've been trying to get "Jenny" into the "Times" group for nearly four years - whether online, in print, or both - and I've never once heard anything from them. In June of this summer, I decided to hit them hard: I got another cartoonist to go to bat for me.

Twice.

It still didn't work but they did finally tell me for sure that the answer is "NO". No explanation, just "NO". Therefore, at this point in time, "Jenny" will not be getting into the Air Force/Army/etc. Times group.

I hope my cartoonist friend doesn't suffer any repercussions from standing up for me because he really went out of his way when he barely knew me. He simply believed in the "Jenny" comic strip enough to go the extra mile for it. He is now a wonderful friend whom I respect and admire.

Thanks to him and thanks to all of the spouses and other readers who've asked over and over why they can't read "Jenny" in the "Times" newspapers. I'm sorry; I tried.

Don't worry, though, I'm going to keep working on it. I have more angles to work and lots of paper on which to type submission letters. And, of course, you can still read "Jenny" every Sunday overseas and downrange in the Sunday Stars & Stripes newspaper and, of course, every week at jennyspouse.com.

Have a great week and don't forget to go to jennyspouse.com (and stripes.com) for your weekly mil-spouse chuckle!

~ j

New PCS, New Life, New Post

2009-08-16T10:54:00.017-05:00

Hello! I've been away from my blog since May but it wasn't due to neglect. It was due to another PCS. We recently relocated to Robins AFB, Georgia, USA.

Life has been busy, as you might expect. Here's what's been going on at our house:

On June 1st, we put our house in Oklahoma up for sale and hit the road for a house hunting trip to Robins. My husband stayed at the base and I flew back to Oklahoma. He checked in at his squadron on the 15th and spent the next two weeks completing his in-processing while I spent the same two weeks packing out of our house.

Didn't I just "pack IN" six months ago while he was TDY? Seems like that's all I do lately.

So I got to Georgia on July 4th, celebrated my birthday on July 6th (Woo Hoo!), our furniture arrived on the 10th, and my husband had knee surgery on the 14th. For the next two weeks, he was on 'convalescence leave' and was in too much pain to help me unpack the house.

Meanwhile, a film crew from the Pentagon Channel's TV show, ReCon, came to our house to film a segment on how military cartooning has changed since the days of "Willie and Joe".

So, now that our first week in town was over, I had to catch up on "Jenny" comics...and the blogging continues to remain on hold.

I also attended a meeting with the Southeast Chapter of the NCS and, ever since, have been extremely motivated to get together a marketing packet full of new material. This means creating new material, however, so that keeps me even busier.

So...to make a long story short, I've been away from blogspot for over two months because my life has been really busy. I realize this simply repeats what I said in the beginning of this note but, this time, I added really for emphasis.

BTW...I do have a new essay written but I haven't typed it up, yet. I write all of my essays in long-hand. Helps me think better when I have the creative connection going on with my hand and pencil.

So that'll be posted soon.

I gotta get back to work. I emptied out about four boxes of office stuff and forgot that I don't have anywhere for all of it to go so now it's just laying all over the floor. It's not an attractive look plus a pile of stuff on the floor makes it hard to get to the kitchen for more coffee.

Have a nice Sunday.

~ j

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

2009-05-07T23:13:00.023-05:00

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day!

This is YOUR day...NOT Mother's Day, NOT Father's Day, NOT my birthday......I mean, YOUR birthday...!

This is the day that your family should take a moment and truly understand what you've done for them during your active-duty military spouse's career.

For instance...

Did your a.d. spouse ever sit with restless and rowdy children for hours on end, waiting for medical clearance to that overseas base, wondering if you were going to be disqualified because your youngest had "something"?

Did your a.d. spouse ever wait on the porch all day for the packing crew that never showed? (...while the movers did?)

Did your a.d. spouse ever sell Pampered Chef or Party Lite products because they couldn't get a job because local employers don't HIRE military spouses?

Did your a.d. spouse quit every single job they ever had because they had to PCS (sometimes after only six months)?

Better yet...did your a.d. spouse ever put their career on hold for YOU?

?????!!!!!

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little out of control here but...one last question...

Did your active duty spouse ever watch the news and wonder if you were on it?

Celebrate yourself. Not only on May 8th but all year long.

Go to jennyspouse.com for this week's comic.

~ j

Celebrate what you've loved all of your life!

2009-05-06T01:57:00.003-05:00

This article found at Mahalo.com:

May 5 is National Cartoonist's Day each year, the celebration sponsored by the National Cartoonists Society to honor editorial cartoonists and comic strip artists, because it is the anniversary of the day the very first color comic strip, The Yellow Kid, was published in 1895.

However, the economic downturn and lack of interest on the part of the cartoonists has led to a reduction in events or even special cartoons. On May 5, 2009, of the national cartoonists, only Wylie Miller's Non Sequitur had a reference cartoon.

http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2009/05/05/

Cheers! ~ j

What's on YOUR mind, Facebook?

2009-04-19T13:30:00.013-05:00

I love when Facebook wants to know what's on my mind. Is it really that interested in me? Apparently not because, when I told it the following, it wouldn't take it. ha.

Here goes...this is What's on My Mind right now:

Penny the Puppy wants me to Get Up! from the computer. There's a lake in our backyard from the storms last night and she's dragged in something gross. The vacuum cleaner is sitting in the middle of the livingroom, chillin'...'cause it knows it'll be awhile before I get in there. All of my websites, "friends", and other annoyances are updated... except my nemesis, The Archives at jennyspouse. (2009 is STILL not posted!)

The cat, Miss Kitty, is sitting right in the middle of the diningroom table, shedding, leaving pawprints, checking her manicure, and giving me the stink-eye.

The electricity went out last night and I need to go around the house resetting the clocks or I'll be late for work tomorrow. I have a bunch of writing to do but the house needs cleaning first or I won't be able to concentrate.

I think I bought the wrong gift for my mother-in-law yesterday for Mother's Day so I may have more shopping to do.

I need a bulletin board in here.

I slept wrong so now my knee is stiff.

How's that? (I think I'll deal with Miss Penny first and see what she wants...that should distract me from everything else I have to do today. She's real good at that.)

Hmmm...I wonder why Facebook wouldn't accept what was on my mind? :-)

Cheers! ~ j

PS...This week's "Jenny" is UP! "Living in TLF"

:-)

This week's "Jenny" is UP! "Anniversary 2009"

2009-04-02T22:44:00.006-05:00

This week's "Jenny" comic is UP! a little bit early.

Our 10th anniversary was actually April 1st (yes, April Fool's Day). We usually take a trip or rent a B&B but, alas, he's at P.I.T. this year.

So I'm heading down to San Anton' this weekend. We've got a room on the Riverwalk and we're going to connect with some old friends for brunch on Sunday at Randolph's O'Club.

That's why I posted this week's "Jenny" a few days early.

Enjoy!

~ jewls

:-)

Mike Lynch Cartoons: The 2008 National Cartoonists Society Awards Nominees Announced

2009-03-24T16:55:00.002-05:00

Mike Lynch Cartoons: The 2008 National Cartoonists Society Awards Nominees Announced

Mike Lynch has posted the list of nominees for this year's Reuben Awards ceremony in May.

Head on over there and see if your favorites are listed.

Cheers!
~ j

This week's "Jenny" is UP! "The Potty Routes"

2009-03-22T15:08:00.014-05:00

This PCS has been very eye-opening for me.

For instance, while getting ready for bed in our fourth hotel of the trip, I realized I was subconsciously "mapping out" the route to the bathroom.

I was also memorizing where the furniture was. That didn't surprise me because my baby toes ALWAYS take the hit whenever I make a mistake.

Chandra is PCSing right now and I thought that she MUST be going through the same things, especially when her children need to go potty in the middle of the night.

Go to jennyspouse.com to get your weekly chuckle!

Have a laugh-filled week!

Cheers! ~ j

Army Wives Renews for 4th Season

2009-03-20T00:12:00.004-05:00

Just a little news about Army Wives. They've been renewed for a fourth season even before the third season has begun (June 2009).

Here's the link to the story: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Army-Wives-renewal-1003295.aspx

~ j

Interview with Terri Barnes of "Spouse Calls"

2009-02-22T14:24:00.012-06:00

Terri Barnes and I have been
e-mail buddies for a couple of years now. After I moved back to the states, she wanted me to get somewhat settled so she could interview me.

Great! I love her stuff! So, between her busy, busy schedule and my so-so schedule, we picked a day she'd call and...

I gave her the wrong phone number.

Because, as it turns out, when you PCS, you get about twenty-seven new numbers to memorize and the hardest one of all is your own phone number. Honestly, when do you really use that one?

Terri apparently had a nice chat with the lady who answered - so that's a good thing - but I'd screwed up our window of time and now we had to resort to an e-mail interview. I stayed up until 2 a.m. that night, making sure I answered her questions as fully and completely as possible. After all, I owed it to her to at least get this one thing right.

But I think you can tell I'm getting tired and a little bit loopy by the last few questions.

Luckily, the interview turned out really great. Terri posted the uncut, unedited version on her blog over at Spouse Calls.

I hope you enjoy it. (...and don't forget to head to jennyspouse.com for today's latest chuckle)

~ j

Best Overheard Cell Phone Conversation

2009-02-22T14:21:00.004-06:00

"I just don't see the problem with me having A DUCK!" (...a 15-year-old girl walking quickly through Hobby Lobby the other day)

~ j

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

2009-02-21T12:29:00.003-06:00

...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

...and the winner is...

2009-01-11T18:30:00.011-06:00

Here are the results of the voting process so far...

1. "Welcome Home Syndrome" - November 2, 2008 Episode 157

2. "Moving Day" - January 13, 2008 Episode 115

3. "The July 4th Episode" - June 29, 2008 Episode139

4. "The Difference Between Guys and Girls" - April 20, 2008 Episode 129

5. "Holiday Military Spouse" - December 30, 2007 Episode 113

6. "New Spouse Orientation" - January 27, 2008 Episode 117

Tied for 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Place:

"Yoga Schmoga" - February 17, 2008 Episode 120

"Listening is Love" - April 27, 2008 Episode 30

"Support the Troops" - July 13, 2008 Episode 141

"Patty Lynn, Command Spouse" - August 31, 2008 Episode 148

The top five strips will run in the Stars & Stripes during February, excluding "Moving Day" which has already been published twice and needs a rest. :-)

~ jewls

What are your favorite "Jenny" comic strips from 2008?

2008-12-28T15:55:00.021-06:00

It's time for the National Cartoonists Society to dole out their annual awards and "Jenny" is eligible for the first time!

You can help get "Jenny the Military Spouse" recognized by her peers this year in a big way: tell me your favorite strips from December 1, 2007, to December 31, 2008.

I need at least 6. (Go to the Archives)

"Jenny" comics will be considered in the Newspaper Comic Strips category. Past winners include Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Scott Adams (Dilbert), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), and Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues), to name a few.

I'm not saying we can WIN anything (in fact, I don't even expect it) but we'll at least be included on the list of this years' contenders. It's exciting to think that this little comic strip about our lives as military spouses could be recognized on a national level.

Have fun reading back over the 2008 strips and send your votes to jewls@jennyspouse.com with the subject "Votes" before January 15, 2009.

Cheers!

~ j

"Jenny" photos from Army Wives, Season 2

2008-12-04T21:21:00.053-06:00

I've finally received photos of the "Jenny" comics used on the set of Army Wives, Season 2.

A few locations where you can spot the strips are: on the refrigerator in the Holden House (Michael and Claudia Joy), in the Burton House (Joan and Roland), and on the wall by the desk in the ADAPC office.

Melissa Berent, the set decorator, sent me two from the Holden's fridge and three from the mock base newspaper. Here they are (click the images to make them larger):

The three comics shown in this photo are, from top t0 bottom: Episode 51, Officers' Wives' Bob, October 22 , 2006; Episode 4, Are We There Yet?, December 4, 2005; and Episode 37, It Needs to be Bigger, July 16, 2006.

This is the front of the fridge. The featured strip is Episode 31, New Spouse Orientation, June 4, 2006.

This episode was one of my favorite strips to draw because I channeled Dave Berg's (MAD Magazine) style.

It came out exactly as I'd planned.

At this point, I need to say that Melissa and her crew totally "get" the message I'm trying to convey through the "Jenny" comic strip. Not only is it tough to be married to a military member but sometimes it's also hard to get along with the other spouses, cope with all of the traveling, the incessant rules of the military way of life, and so on and so on.

These few comics alone are perfect for instilling the "flavor" of military spousehood into the psyche of the actors on the set; it's a great way to use the strip. I commend the set decorators for their ability to climb inside our minds and "go there".

Here are the rest of the photos...

This newspaper (held by AW graphic designer, Paul, and created specially for Army Wives) was used in several episodes and was shown being read by different characters, including General Holden.

I haven't seen those episodes yet so give me a couple of days and I'll find them for you! :)

Here's the "above the fold" of said newspaper.

Here's their featured strip. Looks like it was on the outside so the cameras could see it. :)

That's all for now. If anyone has any other "Jenny-spotting" to report, let me know.

I spotted the strip on the Holden's fridge on Season 2, Episode 16, but totally missed spotting anyone reading the newspaper.

That's all I have for now. The next episode of AW airs in either June or July. They told me they'll be using "Jenny" more than ever during Season 3.

Get your DVRs ready!

Needless to say...Discussion to be Continued!

~ j

Two New Interviews

2008-10-01T23:19:00.005-05:00

I've recently completed two new interviews.

One was via a stateside phone call from DC to Okinawa by Washington Times journalist, Karen Goff, and the other was a long sit-down chat at Chili's with Joelle, a journalist from the website, Okinawa Hai.

Joelle and I talked so much, and about so many things, that I sometimes forgot we were interviewing! haha

Make sure you check that site out...it's truly an informative and useful source for those of us living here on Okinawa.

Follow the links above or cut-n-paste these:

Washington Times - "Jenny's Mission of Mirth"
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/28/jennys-mission-of-mirth/

Okinawa Hai
http://www.okinawahai.com/my_weblog/2008/09/julie-n-works-t.html

Enjoy!

(All of this year's interviews are listed on my homepage at jennyspouse.com)

My Facebook Account

2008-09-13T00:19:00.004-05:00

I'm trying to increase my professional contacts so I made a Facebook page last year. So far, I'm not that great at updating it but today I made a "Badge". Still don't know what to do with it.

~ j

One Night on Mt. Fuji

2008-08-28T19:29:00.037-05:00

I was walking on Mt. Fuji one day...

Okay, wait a minute. Change that first sentence to "climbing miles of rock, straight up, in the rain, in the freezing cold, in the dark" - and then add that all of this was just to see the sunrise from the summit of Mt. Fuji.

My husband has been planning this trip for months and I was never really fully "on board". Climbing Mt. Fuji, after all, is a tad outside my comfort zone and just doesn't sound like that much fun.

Nevertheless, I went, I climbed, I froze, I endured, and I survived - rather sore and barely able to walk, talk, or think straight for the first couple of days - but I did it. We both did.

So now we look at these pictures and groan together. (It's a strange way to bond, I know.)

Before the ordeal...around 12:30 pm on Monday, August 25, 2008. We went to the Sengen Shrine - the gateway to the mountain itself - to start getting good vibes.

It begins. 5:08 pm, 25 August

Two Hours Later: wet, cold, tired. Taking a brief break at one of the
many mountain huts on Fuji-san. 7:32 pm

How dark was it? This was taken at about 4:24 a.m. Those bright dots are headlamps. That's about all you could see. Earlier, when we were rock climbing, all we could see were the rocks right in front of our faces. The sky was so overcast and wet that no moonlight shone through at all. At around 11 p.m., we found room at one of the huts and slept for about three and a half hours. Just enough to get us to the top in time for sunrise.

The Sun. Almost at the top of Fuji, the sun begins to wake up. 4:43 am

We made it! Just as the sun pops over the horizon, we're standing in front of the final station's Torii gate. 5:21 am

Rainbow at the End. We were so tired and just relieved that it was over. We walked around the compound on top of the mountain in sort of a daze but my husband was lucky enough to get this shot... 5:31 a.m.

That's about it for now. It's three days later and we're still tired, sore, and recovering. Take it from me - it's a hard hike. Seriously.

~ j

Army Wives to Use "Jenny" in Upcoming Episodes

2008-08-28T19:10:00.005-05:00

"Army Wives", the t.v. show, will be using Jenny comics and Cafe Press products in some upcoming episodes. They'll be background props and probably won't be referenced as part of a scene but, if you're sharp, you can spot "Jenny" every now and then.

Let me know if you see her. I'll try to post screen shots as I get them. ~ j

Army Wives Season 2

2008-08-12T07:52:00.001-05:00

Keep your eyes on Army Wives Season 2. "Jenny the Military Spouse" comics might be popping up. No guarantees at this point but I'll let you know what I know as soon as I know it!

~ jewls

Space-A Travel, Anyone?

2008-08-12T07:39:00.004-05:00

I spent a long time traveling Space-A this summer. I was going to blog about it.

The blog ended up being almost as long as the trip (1.5 months) so I decided to direct you to Navy Wife Radio, instead.

We did a show about my travels on July 8, 2008. The link is:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/navywiferadio/2008/07/09/Navy-Wife-Radio

It's much easier to talk about it than to write about it. When I'm writing, I start going off into all of the minute details; that's a great way to lose readers. When I'm talking, however, people like Wendy can interrupt me and get me back on track! ;-)

Wendy and Jessica are going to try and do a more complete show on the subject of Space-A travel just as soon as they can get a knowledgable representative to come on the show and give us correct information. Keep checking Navy Wife Radio's website and radio show. They'll keep you updated

Enjoy the show and stay tuned!

~ jewls

Household Baggage Handlers book is here!

2008-06-11T14:31:00.006-05:00

The book I've been illustrating is finally out!

Go to Marna's website (Householdbaggage.com) and buy one.

Just do it!

lol
jewls

What's been going on with "Jenny" and the website?

2008-06-05T20:57:00.010-05:00

I'm sitting on the back porch, in the middle of a wind storm, watching fireflies blow out of the garden....in Norman, Oklahoma.

My friend Caryl the Stormchaser can appreciate why I'm sitting outside: there's nothing like watching a storm come in and feeling the power of the wind all around you.

I won't go inside until the rain starts.

Besides, the wireless bandwidth out here is tremendous. Probably 1000% what we get in Okinawa with our cable connection. We usually get 50kb on downloads without tweeking. Right now, I'm rocking 550kb. So this means I can download my radio and tv shows lickety split.

You stateside spouses are so spoiled! :-)

So why, you ask, if I'm in the states and I'm getting such awesome bandwidth, is the "Jenny" website falling to the wayside and generally being neglected? Are you ready for the explanation? Here we go....

My daughter, age 19, has congenital thyroid disease. About a month ago, she got a new PCM who questioned the level of meds she was receiving and cut them in half...as an experiment.

My daughter moved stateside after graduating from Kadena High in Okinawa so I'm no longer in charge of her care. When she told me what the new doctor wanted to do, I told her every day to go to Tri-Care and get a referral. Instead, she played along with the doctor and subsequently couldn't get a follow-up appointment to check her progress. After a couple of weeks of this new "therapy", she started to go downhill...nausea, digestive problems, lethargy, forgetfulness, weight-gain, etc. All of the things that go along with not having the correct amount of thyroid in your system.

Suddenly she started having arythmias. One per minute.

Within 48 hours, she went to the Emergency Room three times and the Red Cross got me on the first plane out of Okinawa (which is another Space-A story to be told later).

By the time I reached Oklahoma City, my daughter was in stable condition and had her referral to a thyroid specialist. Of course, we were on "heart-attack watch" for the first week and I took charge of her two-story house....laundry, dishes, dog, etc. She's now had her second appointment with the specialist and is absolutely fine. She's back at work and back in the swing of things in her life.

Meanwhile, just when things were settling down and I was getting back to work on the strip, my oldest daughter, age 22, who lives just across town, gave birth a month early!

She wasn't due until June 24th and I was scheduled to come to the states on the 11th but Saturday, May 31st, she called me and said "Mom, my back really hurts. What should I do?" By ten o'clock that night, Benjamin Riley Springer was born at Norman Regional Hospital.

So guess whose house I've been cleaning lately? :-D

Finally, all is well. Everyone is healthy. And "Jenny" is back online. Thanks so much for hanging in there with me.

As my gift to you, here's your moment of Zen...

Justin Springer holding son Benjamin Riley Springer

Cheers!

~ jewls

Happy Cartoonist's Day!

2008-05-05T21:32:00.008-05:00

Just a shout-out to my friends who cartoon. May all your writer's blocks and finger-cramps be washed away...at least for today.

The following is from http://richardspooralmanac.blogspot.com/

Happy Cartoonist Day! ~ jewls

Listening is Love

2008-04-29T19:14:00.009-05:00

Sometimes I accuse my husband of not listening to me...but then I realize I'm kinda tuning him out, too.

I suppose just having someone next to you while you talk about your day can constitute "listening", leaving you feeling satisfied and more able to get past whatever tensions you've built up.

It's what I miss most about him when he's away on duty. ~ jewls

The Difference Between Guys and Girls

2008-04-24T23:52:00.005-05:00

Every now and then, news reports make the rounds stating that women talk more than men - about 20,000 words daily for women, while men use only about 7,000.

I had to wonder if that was true for e-mailing? To get the answer, I simply observed Jenny and Cassie continuing their friendship as if the International Dateline didn't exist.

Click on the comic strip or just go to jennyspouse.com for a larger version.

~ jewls

( Note: the truth is, after a six-year study on this very subject, it was found that women spoke a daily average of 16,215 words in their waking hours; men, 15,669. Not that big of a difference...I think the first statistics are more fun. Here's the study.)

"Strength at Home" essay by Ben Stein - WSJ, August 21, 2004

2008-04-16T06:48:00.010-05:00

[ Note: Corrections have been made to my portion of this post and are listed in the "Comments" section below. I'm leaving the original post 'as-is' for posterity. Please respond with your own personal recollections. I'm not too proud to admit when my memory and research skills are found to be lacking so please let me know the story from your own experiences. Thanks for everything. ~ jewls ]

This is transfered verbatim from the Wall Street Journal's Opinion page.

You remember the Strykers from Ft. Lewis, WA. Their tour in Iraq had already been extended and, while their families were practically gathered on the tarmac, awaiting their return (during the holiday season, no less), they were suddenly extended again for 15+ months.

There was such an uproar across the country that Rumsfeld himself came to the base for a special meeting with the spouses. I posted this "as it happened" on jennyspouse.com/page2.html. I no longer have the original text but I'm sure you can find the reports on Google News.

Meanwhile, Ben Stein reached out to those spouses in this letter, published in the Wall Street Journal on August 21, 2004:

Strength at Home: An appreciation of American soldiers' wives.
by BEN STEIN Saturday, August 21, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

This is a letter I wrote to the newsletter of an Army unit called the Strykers, stationed in Iraq out of Fort Lewis, Wash. The editor asked me what I would say to make the wives feel appreciated while their husbands are in Iraq. This is what I wrote to one soldier's wife.

Dear Karen,

I have a great life. I have a wife I adore, a son who is a lazy teenager but I adore him, too. We live in a house with two dogs and four cats. We live in peace. We can worship as we please. We can say what we want. We can walk the streets in safety. We can vote. We can work wherever we want and buy whatever we want. When we sleep, we sleep in peace. When we wake up, it is to the sounds of birds.

All of this, every bit of it, is thanks to your husband, his brave fellow soldiers, and to the wives who keep the home fires burning while the soldiers are away protecting my family and 140 million other families. They protect Republicans and Democrats, Christians, Jews, Muslims and atheists. They protect white, black, yellow, brown and everyone in between. They protect gays and straights, rich and poor.

And none of it could happen without the Army wives, Marine wives, Navy wives, Air Force wives--or husbands--who go to sleep tired and lonely, wake up tired and lonely, and go through the day with a smile on their faces. They feed the kids, put up with the teenagers' surliness, the bills that never stop piling up, the desperate hours when the plumbing breaks and there is no husband to fix it, and the even more desperate hours after the kids have gone to bed, the dishes have been done, the bills have been paid, and the wives realize that they will be sleeping alone--again, for the 300th night in a row.

The wives keep up the fight even when they have to move every couple of years, even when their checks are late, even when they have to make a whole new set of friends every time they move.

And they keep up the fight to keep the family whole even when they feel a lump of dread every time they turn on the news, every time they switch on the computer, every time the phone rings and every time--worst of all--the doorbell rings. Every one of those events--which might mean a baseball score or a weather forecast or a FedEx man to me and my wife--might mean the news that the man they love, the man they have married for better or worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, is now parted from them forever.

These women will never be on the cover of People. They will never be on the tabloid shows on TV about movie stars. But they are the power and the strength that keep America going.

Without them, we are nothing at all. With them, we can do everything.

They are the glue that holds the nation together, stronger than politicians, stronger than talking heads, stronger than al Qaeda.

They deserve all the honor and love a nation can give. They have my prayers, and my wife's, every morning and every night.

Love, and I do mean Love, Ben.

Mr. Stein, a television personality and writer, is co-author with Phil DeMuth of "Can America Survive," forthcoming from Hay House.

(Note from jewls: I know this is old but it was part of a presentation packet I received during my stint as "Member-at-Large" for Kadena's OSC. I'd never seen it before and simply wanted to reprint it here as a reminder that people out there really do know we exist. You know, I've always liked that Ben Stein guy.) :-)

~ jewls

More Cheesy Touristy Stuff...

2008-04-15T00:51:00.004-05:00

Ben & Jerry's, Honolulu

Take me down to the North Shore...

2008-04-14T00:10:00.016-05:00

This is the itenerary of a Shopaholic and TV Junkie who was allowed to run wild in Hawaii: ME!

First stop: the NEX at Pearl Harbor. I know it's "just another Exchange" but I'm told it's the largest in the world. If you know of a larger one, give me the address. I love shopping treks!

(The real reason this was our first stop is because my hayfever attacked me the minute we landed and I thought my head was going to explode. I forced my husband to get me over there for some antihistamine. We also needed swimsuits and towels for our trip to Waikiki beach)

Second stop: Waikiki Beach, of course! The sand, the surf, the sunbathers, the shops. It's all here. The energy you get from all of the above is so incredible...it's a wonder we ever slept.

The next day, we made our way to Othersville. This is strictly for "Lost" junkies. We found it on GoogleEarth but lostmaplocations.blogspot.com will give you more spots to travel to. Most of the sites are located on the North Shore, near the Dillingham Airfield - where you can rent a glider, which is what my DH and his friend did the last time they were TDY to the island.

Northward: We spent the entire day on the North Shore. We went to the Banzai Pipeline beach, where they hold some of the world championship surfing tournaments every Winter. We didn't see any big waves; instead, we got caught in a very chilly rainstorm. The North Shore of Oahu is absolutely beautiful and the drive from Honolulu is filled with stunning scenery. There are too many links for me to include here so just type "North Shore Oahu" into Google and you'll find a goldmine of places to go and things to do. We regret that we didn't get to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Next time. Promise.

Speaking of Culture: We really enjoyed the Hawaiian lifestyle, especially on the North Shore. I loved that the local music can be heard 24/7 on the radio....it's so relaxing to listen to. My favorite artists, so far, are the female trio - Na Leo Pilimehana - and their song "North Shore Serenade". Again, there are too many links for this group but I can direct you to a sample of their music: http://music.yahoo.com/track/1246419.

As soon as my bank account recovers from this trip, I'm going to buy one of their CDs. :-)

Let me know how your own visit, or assignment, to Oahu went and what sorts of things you did.

Aloha!

~ jewls

Oahu and Me

2008-04-12T12:00:00.010-05:00

I just finished my first-ever visit to Hawaii and I'm in love! I recommend it to everyone within shouting distance.

Here are some of the highlights from our trip:

Food. My new favorite treat: Pickled Sweet Maui Onions from Buzz's Original Steakhouse in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. The restaurant is fine dining in a rustic, hawaiian surf-shack setting -- we loved it.
The fabulous pickled onions are on the salad bar but they'll jar them up for you. At $5 a jar, I bought two and sent them home via USPS at Hickam AB.

Art. We went to Johnny and Bonnie Moore's Strong Current surfshop in Haleiwa. A long-time fixture here, they sell a lot of touristy stuff along with their custom-built surfboards.

I was in search of local art and bought two prints by North Shore artist, Heather Brown. I'm very, very happy with them and can't wait to get them framed and hung.

Clothing. Since it was our anniversary, my husband and I decided to get each other authentic Hawaiian gifts. I settled on two Tori Richard Aloha Shirts for him, purchased at the original store in Waikiki.

He'd already bought himself his first one at the Pearl Harbor NEX the day before but, after learning what he had, and then finding the Tori Richard store right down the street from our hotel, I dragged him in there and bought him two from me: one silk and one egyptian cotton. They're really beautiful. My favorite is the silk embroideried "The Aviator".

Jewelry. We heard about
Maui Divers Jewelry located in the Ala Moana mall and headed over there to get his gift for me: a little Hawaiian gold slipper pendant with a little diamond in the middle of the toe straps. I love it! He also bought me a diamond-cut gold chain to go with it. It really sparkles.

Good job, honey!
~ jewls

Cheesy Tourist Thing

2008-04-11T22:19:00.004-05:00

You have to do this at least once, right? Angel and me in all our caricature glory!

We're HOME!

2008-04-11T10:41:00.000-05:00

We're home! Thank goodness!

In the midst of updating my blogs, I forgot to mention that we are indeed home. Thank you to all of my "Jenny" friends out there who've written to find out if we made it off The Planet of Space-A Travelers safely.

We finally caught a C-12 on Wednesday morning (showtime was 0630 which wasn't too bad because showtime the day before was 0440 -- and that flight ended up getting cancelled. Prob'ly 'cause the crew was still in bed! haha).

Anyway, I've got a bit of jet-lag right now...mostly due to simple lack of sleep from trying to catch airplanes at o'dark-thirty.

I'm going to hit a salad bar somewhere today (one week in Hawaii and my jeans are quite a bit more snug...too much restaurant food) or I might go fresh-vegetable shopping out Gate 2 Street.

I'm suddenly on a health kick. When you travel Space-A, they constantly ask how much you weigh. And then they add it to the weight of your luggage. Depressing!!! haha

~ jewls

jewls' rules for Space-A Travel

2008-04-10T22:00:00.006-05:00

Disclaimer: These are my own tips culled from my own experiences which may not be right for everyone. I can't answer all of the legalities involved in Space-Available travel (also called "Space-A" or "stand-by") right now but I'm planning on doing a show with Wendy and Marie of navywiferadio.com where we'll discuss everything in much further detail and depth.

If you're interested in joining the world of Space-A travelers, please check with your local AMC terminal for complete rules and regulations regarding your personal situation and traveler status. And please keep checking back here for the dates of the show. We'll want you to call in and participate with your questions and concerns. Hopefully, we can get enough interest in the subject that Wendy and Marie will be able to get a qualified representative to come on a future show to address all of your issues.

Let us now continue with

jewls' rules for Space-A Travel...

Don't be a diva. In the Air Force, most of the airplanes available for Space-A travel are C-17s and KC-135s. Yes, these are cargo planes and air-refuelers. If you get one of these airplanes, for the next 8+ hours you'll be sitting in a jumpseat, most likely webbed canvas, straight-backed against the airplane's frame. You'll use the bathroom in a rudimentary version of an airline lavatory but without the amenities even that implies. For instance, the KC-135 we took to Hawaii didn't have a working sink in the lav but the crew was happy to supply alcohol wipes. Usually, one lav serves the crew and all of the passengers (we had about 44 men, women, and children on that flight, excluding the crew).

No open-toed or high-heeled shoes are allowed in Space-A travel and I would think twice about wearing a dress or shorts. The planes fly very high and it's very, very cold inside. Carry a jacket and a small pillow.

Travel light. Some airplanes have weight limits. Before leaving the house, my husband and I weigh everything, including carry-ons (laptops, cosmetic totes, etc.). Our magic number is 30 pounds total per person. Twice we've gotten the only two seats available on both a C-12 and a C-21 because the weight limit was 30 pounds per person (or 60 pounds total because we were traveling together).

My husband and I bought backpacks specifically for our Space-A trips: they're lightweight and small enough to fit in the overhead bins but long/tall enough to carry all of our stuff. They have special wet/dry pockets as well as clips inside the compartments for keys, etc. We bring just enough clothes to be tourists in. If you're planning on bringing dressy outfits, the backpack option may not be for you. If you shop when you get to your destination (I certainly do...after all, isn't that the point of the trip???), you can mail your items and extra clothing back home via the USPS at the nearest military base. All that's needed here is a little planning and time management. You might even get to use the internal mailing system known as MPS and send your package back to your home base for free. Ask your USPS clerk.
Be prepared to take lesser accomodations. Our trip last week was to Hawaii. We deliberately made no plans for a hotel because we wanted the freedom to take whatever was available. As soon as we landed at Hickam AFB, we started calling all of the military installations on Oahu, asking what billeting they had available. There were absolutely no rooms anywhere so we called a travel agency that ultimately got us a room at the Waikiki Resort Hotel located barely one block from Waikiki Beach (...and barely one block from Island Soap & Candle Works!). We stayed at WRH for three nights before deciding to branch out and see the other side of the island.

For the next couple of nights, we stayed on the USMC post, Kaneohe Bay, on the Windward side of the island. One of those nights was spent in the BOQ (Bachelor Officers' Quarters) for $40 a night. The building was WWII era with hand-crank windows and thickly-painted closet doors but it was all part of the charm. (A lot of Hawaii's WWII military buildings are still in use and some of those on the Schofield Barracks Army post still have strafing marks all across the fronts and sides of them from the Japanese attacks.)

Be aware that many military billeting facilities only have internet available in the lobby or "commons" areas. Don't be shy about showing up in your jammies, with your hair up in a towel...nobody expects you to be beautiful in these places (remember, they're all paying $40 a night, too!). Take your laptop and affect a look of deep concentration and nobody will look at you twice.
Be prepared to take more expensive accomodations. Our last night in Hawaii was the worst for finding a place to stay. It seems Spring Break doesn't occur all at once in the U.S.

The first week we were there, everything was booked because of Spring Break. The second week we were there, everything was still booked because of the second wave of Spring Breakers.

So we decided to go to the MWR hotel - The Hale Koa - right on Waikiki Beach and take anything they had...even if it was a closet with a Murphy bed inside. Turns out, they only had one room, oceanside, overlooking the beach, the pool, and the courtyard. Darn the luck! Of course, we took it. It cost us $179 but ended up being worth every penny. At sunset, we sat out on our deck above the palm trees and the ocean and watched a flotilla of sailboats move lazily past. It was quite romantic.
Be prepared to have NO accomodations. We met a young spouse who was traveling back to Okinawa from her Space-A trip to the east coast, stateside. She told us she and her baby had slept in the AMC terminal at Travis AFB because there were no rooms to be had anywhere. She didn't make a fuss about it. She knew the Space-A ropes and just shrugged her shoulders.
The trip home. "Space Available" means just that: Space Available. Period. Military aircraft are not obliged to carry passengers. It's their perogative and our privilege. You may or may not get the flights you want, either coming or going.

The military flights from Hawaii to Japan, or even to Guam, had dried up during the last few days of our stay. We finally had to buy a commercial ticket on Saturday to get out of Hawaii (we were sad to go but, after a week of tourism, our vacation money was running out). We flew back to Tokyo because there were no commercial flights to Okinawa for another week (fallout from the ATA closure). We checked into the Kanto Lodge at Yokota AB and started working on getting a Space-A flight home which means we packed our stuff and trucked over to the AMC terminal every single day until we got lucky on the third day.

Old School travelers see it as a game. They laugh when they don't get a ride and then they stake out their position in front of the schedule monitors that hang from the walls of the terminals, telling each other which flight is likely to go and which "TBD" flight will drop to "0" under the PAX column.
Space-A Speak. Some buzz-words to know when you're in the Space-A rotation are: Show-Time for Roll Call or simply Show-Time (this tells you what time they'll call the names of the lucky few chosen to be on today's flight...show up early and get yourself checked in or they won't call your name at all), Seat-Count (how many passengers will be allowed on the flight you want...this number is listed under the column usually called PAX on the schedule and more often than not says "TBD" - To Be Determined), and Weight or Weight Limit (how much weight you will be allowed...a combined total of your checked and carry-on baggage).

When you're stranded in the terminal after your show-time of 0400 has been delayed, these are the topics that will be discussed over and over by everyone around you. Use your new buzz-words and join in on the conversations. You'll learn so much about how to be a successful Space-A traveler that you'll be "hopping" every chance you get.

My husband is somewhat of a guru on how to find obscure information on every subject imaginable so he gave me the following links to share with you:

spacea.info - everything you wanted to know about Military Space-A Travel
takeahop.com - how to sign up online and more.
pepperd.com - Derk Pepperd's Space-A message board

I hope you've enjoyed this article. Please share it with others and please keep checking back for the date of the upcoming navywiferadio.com show on Space-A travel.

~ jewls

More Space-A Details

2008-04-08T16:48:00.007-05:00

More news from Planet Space-A: we still are not home.

It'll be two weeks tomorrow since we started our vacation. We spent six days total in Hawaii. The rest of the time has been spent getting in or out of Tokyo via either military transport or commercial air.

I'm composing an essay with all of the juicy details which I hope to be posting here in the next few days.

We might be getting on a flight this morning. It's currently 0645 and we're at the AMC terminal, Yokota AB, Japan. "Roll Call" for the next flight has been postponed, pending an adjustment on the "seat count". These terms and others will be explained in my essay.

Have a nice day! ~ jewls

Backwards...and in High Heels - The Life of a Military Wife

2008-04-07T06:17:00.051-05:00

The military wife exists in a world where she is called a dependent. She is expected to do as her husband is told and to never question, complain, or allow a weary sigh to escape her lips. At the same time, she is also expected to be independent of her husband, not need his companionship or partnership for many days, weeks, months at a time, and be able to efficiently navigate the military bureaucracy's maze of paperwork on her own. All of this without bootcamp or formal training of any kind.

Not everyone can successfully carry the weight inherent with the job of military wife but those who do are impressive to behold.

Today I saw one of these women - a young spouse - pushing a luggage cart into the lobby of the Kanto Lodge. Stacked on the cart were two full-sized suitcases and, perfectly perched atop those, an infant's carseat. On the girl's hip, in the crook of her left arm, was the baby - probably all of six months old.

The young mother's curly blond hair was neatly ponytailed and out of the way. She was dressed comfortably in t-shirt, cargo pants, and sturdy Timberlands. A small backpack hung loosely off one shoulder. She smoothly guided the luggage cart and cargo into the hotel's commons area and stopped.

In an effortless series of moves, her right hand came off the cart, shifted the baby to a more stable position on her hip, reached backward to slide into the last strap of the backpack, and once more took control of the cart. All the while, her eyes never once left the flight schedules displayed on the plasma screen mounted near the front desk. She was taking a trip somewhere, traveling "Space-A", baby on hip, and looking absolutely fearless. There was nothing about her that would indicate she might be "dependent" in any way.

As I admired her calm, it occurred to me that she and her baby were perhaps minutes away from climbing into the jumpseat of a C-17, or a KC-135, flying away from Japan, over the Pacific Ocean, to one of the places listed on that screen - Singapore, Hickam, Travis - yet she was as cool as if she were simply traveling from her living room to her kitchen.

I couldn't help but think of Ginger Rogers, of whom it is said did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards...and in high heels.* And I realized how perfectly that old saying describes the military wife.

I didn't say anything to the girl. I left her to finish planning her trip, vacation, or PCS, by herself. She was "dancing" like a pro and the last thing I wanted to do was break her concentration.

~ jewls

* Quote attributed to Bob Thaves' 1982 "Frank & Ernest" comic strip. Link is here: backwards...and in high heels

Adventures with Space-A

2008-04-06T20:17:00.004-05:00

Aloha from the planet of Space-A Travelers! I'm just stopping in to promise an upcoming post about my most recent adventures with Space-A. We're experiencing jet-lag right now, I need to go lay down, but I'll be back in a few hours - all bright and shiny - with all the juicy details from our weeklong trip.

Cheers! ~ jewls

Penny the Puppy

2008-03-23T10:55:00.004-05:00

Here she is....the world's cutest puppy!!!

How good is good?

2008-03-10T21:37:00.005-05:00

My husband works with a guy who broke up with a girl because she was a kindergarden teacher and didn't want to be anything else. He said she had no ambition.

Shortly afterwards, this guy asked me: "So...what do you...DO?" When I told him I was a cartoonist, he said "Of what? Anything I'd know?"

I was still in the early stages of getting "Jenny" off the ground and wasn't really telling anybody about it so, instead, I told him about the military newspapers I'd worked for in the past. He just shrugged and changed the subject.

It reminded me of Ellen Burstyn's line in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" when she was arguing with Kris Kristofferson in the middle of the diner. She yelled that she was going to Monterey because she was a singer. He yelled back, "Well, are ya any good?" And she retorted, "I'm as good as I am!"

That's what I wanted to say to this misogynist friend of my husband's but it didn't fit anywhere into the conversation.

I'm as good as I am. Whether you know my work or not.

~ jewls

E-mail Malfunction

2008-03-03T17:16:00.001-06:00

My e-mail and website suffered a major malfunction during the month of February. I believe that most of the problems are fixed now but if you tried during that period to get in touch with me, please try again now.

Four-thirty in the morning

2008-01-20T20:57:00.000-06:00

The military doesn't work on a 9-to-5 schedule. The other day, we got to the shopette just in time to meet the donut truck at 0330 hrs.

This one's from the archives: April 23, 2006. I love the drool on Jenny's face.

~ jewls

Jenny Comics and the Ohio State Cartoon Research Library

2008-01-02T19:44:00.000-06:00

October 30, 2007: I signed the official inventory listing two years of "Jenny the Military Spouse" materials to be archived by the Ohio State Cartoon Research Library.

November 16, 2007: Curator Dr. Caswell signed a letter saying Jenny is now part of the library's permanent collection.

It's exciting for me and a milestone of sorts in military-themed comic strips. "Jenny" is the first - and, so far, ONLY - comic strip about the life of a military spouse.

The storylines follow spouses, both female and male, who are constantly keeping things together while their mates are often deployed to the Middle East.These storylines chronicle not only my life but that of my friends and family.

The uniqueness of the strip is what caught Dr. Caswell's eye. I'm honored more than I can say and hope to keep the collection full with original sketches and tear sheets for years to come.

~ jewls

Comics Coast to Coast

2008-01-01T21:38:00.000-06:00

Here's the newest addition to my iPod: Comics Coast to Coast.

A few months ago, I saw a post on theispot.com with links to audiocast interviews of illustrators. The links led me to some pretty boring stuff and I surmised there was no such thing as a good audio interview of people who draw for a living. After all, they draw. I need video to see what they're talking about.

Then I found CCTC and it turns out this audio interview thing can work...if the hosts are as curious and talkative as Tom, Justin, and Brian. The guests are top-drawer, which doesn't hurt, and the guys ask the questions I'd like to ask.

The best part is that the hosts seem to know their guests (like Dave Coverly and Stephan Pastis) and talk to them as if they're hangin' out in the art room, yakking about their next project or a technique they're having difficulties with or just laughing about each other's work. Between the lighter interviews, they aren't afraid to ask heavyweights - like editor Amy Lago - the questions we all want answers to.

Most days, I load up a random episode of CCTC (even if I've heard it before) and hit the treadmill. By the time the show and my run are both over, I'm energized, inspired, and ready to sit back down to the old drawing board.

Go on over there and give them a listen. Tell them Jenny the Military Spouse sent you.

Enjoy! ~ jewls

I "Heart" Yoga

2007-12-31T04:28:00.000-06:00

For Christmas, I bought myself the whole set of Yoga Journal's "Step-by-Step" DVD series with Natasha Rizopoulos.

I'm working on Step 1 which is about 20 minutes long but feels like 3 hours and 95 minutes.

But I'm not worried: Pretty soon I'll be saying "Is that all ya got?!" Then I can move on to Step 2 (see left). ~ jewls

Holiday Military Spouse

2007-12-30T18:58:00.000-06:00

This month's theme is: Holiday

Many military spouses will be spending New Year's Eve at home by the phone. Jenny's one of them...

Holiday Military Spouse

What did you get for Christmas?

2007-12-26T21:37:00.004-06:00

I received the book/CD set of "Listening is an act of love: A Celebration of American Life" from the StoryCorps Project. I'm excited to get started reading it, as soon as I can find the time.

I already knew of this work but here are some online summaries for you, in case you're not sure what I'm talking about:

"Since 2003, the StoryCorps project has recorded 15000 personal conversations between family members and friends."

"Dave Isay founded StoryCorps, which has recorded the voices of over 29000 people recounting stories. "Listening Is an Act of Love" tells some of those..."

I started a similar project with my own mother, Lynne Harris, an Air Force spouse for twenty years who lived on three continents in over 20 homes and is a huge inspiration for my Air Force spouse-centric comic strip, Jenny.

Lynne is now is her 70s, has her Doctorate, and travels to Kuwait on whims. When she suffered a mild stroke a few years ago, I realized it was time to record her story before it was 'too late'.

Even though I currently live in Okinawa, Japan, I've been calling Mom every Sunday evening for the last year, letting her unravel her memories of life as a military spouse from the mid-1950s through the 1970s, recording every word. Once we've exhausted that subject, she wants to talk about her life growing up in rural northwest Arkansas with four siblings, going to a one-room schoolhouse, how she reacted to the feminist movement, and so on. This project will be gold to our family one day.

Needless to say, "Listening" is right up my alley. If you're interested in other people's stories, this experience is for you.

As Dave Isay says, "I'm inspired by real life. When you talk to the people who are serving you coffee at the local luncheonette or the people who shine your shoes, those are the stories that matter. They are so much more interesting than the stories that we're inundated with all the time."

~ jewls

Grinch documentary and Phil Hartman

2007-12-26T21:20:00.000-06:00

Take a couple of minutes to check out this video on DRAWN!...

The great Phil Hartman hosts a mini-documentary on how "The Grinch" animated cartoon was made.

I love Dr. Seuss.

"One fish, two fish, green fish, blue fish" are words of wisdom we should all live by. Just saying it makes you want to skip merrily through the park.

It’s never too early to start lamenting your New Year’s Resolutions

2007-12-25T03:21:00.000-06:00

(I originally posted this blog at My Military Life on December 4th.)

One of my favorite cartoons currently circulating the Internet is from Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press. The cartoon depicts a house decorated for the three big Fall/Winter holidays, with a banner that says “Merry Thanksgivoween! Sept 1 thru Jan 1“.

With that scene in mind, I’ve decided it must also be time to start thinking about our new year’s resolutions - and this year we won’t overestimate our capabilities. If you’re anything like me and my husband, you’ve never once lost those fifteen pounds or made huge strides towards becoming ”The Queen of Organizing” like you’ve resolved every single year since you were married.

We’re already trying to do the right thing, healthwise. Our current plan is to be as unhealthy as possible…but only on weekends. We call our plan “Last Call Sundays/Fitness Mondays”.

We don’t drink anything stronger than wine so our “Last Call” involves pizza, donuts, soda, video games, staying up really really late, and never changing out of our pajamas, every Friday thru Sunday.

“Fitness Monday” involves getting up early and jumping on the treadmill, throwing in at least one yoga routine per day, and bringing salad back to the table…for the rest of the week.
It’s torture.

Which is why we’re not going to write any of that stuff down or “resolve” to do it.

Our resolutions will concern practical, everyday things we do that don’t make sense and we should stop doing them in the first place. I’ve only been able to think of one so far. It is as follows:

1. I will not buy the ugly Christmas cards from the clearance table at the BX this January. They are not charming and the reason they were marked down from $18.99 to .75 is clear…they’re ugly.

I bought four boxes last year to save money but, when I saw all of the cute, colorful, beautiful, sparkley, new cards on the shelves this year, I was too embarassed to send out my bargain cards with the weird fuzz and the glitter that was already falling off.

So now I have to go buy new ones and I’ve already wasted $3.00 (do the math) that could have gone into my slush fund for next week’s “Last Call Sunday”.

Resolutions are not for the weak; they’re hard to make and even harder to keep. But when I look at the amount of money I could be saving by staying away from January’s bargain bins in ‘08, I feel energized. I think I can do it. Especially if it means pizza at the end of the week.

Cheers!
~ jewls

Life on a military base

2007-12-24T22:28:00.000-06:00

Life on a military base is always interesting: people walk around in camouflage uniforms and flightsuits, everybody salutes each other, and you have to carry an I.D. card at all times.

Another fact of life is the daily playing of the national anthem. Every afternoon at around 4:30 or 5, the loudspeakers all across the base start to crackle... CRUNCH! BZZT! KRRZSCHHH! Ppht... and traffic stops.

Not a car moves. Pedestrians stand stock still, nobody even scratches.

We all face either the flag or the direction of the popping speakers, place our hands over our hearts, and listen to the national anthem playing above our heads. It is one of the most respectful and patriotic moments of our day, even if it does sometimes come at inopportune moments...

HOLIDAY SHOPPING ANTHEM

How to wash a flightsuit

2007-12-24T03:39:00.000-06:00

How to Wash a Flightsuit:

Remove all patches, badges, pins, squadron coins, survival gear, money, pens, pencils, and leftover snacks from all thirty-seven pockets and/or velcro strips.
Wash on gentle cycle to prevent "pilling" -- dry on low heat.
Remove immediately and hang to prevent wrinkling.
Don't forget to check your machines for missed items such as earplugs!