The Fighter Pilot's Wife

Konnichiwa!

I hope you all have had a great weekend. I know my smile is a little bigger here in Japan because the Gators seized a victory over the Kentucky Wildcats! Go Gators!! I'm sure the rest of the season might be a little bit rockier but as of right now it feels good to be undefeated. Now if only the Armed Forces TV Network (AFN) would of showed the games over here in Japan. I will have to write them a strong worded letter.

Two weekends ago we had a big event for the wives of the squadron. It is called a Head Count and it is suppose to somewhat mirror what the pilots of the squadron call a Roll Call. It's a party where all the wives of the squadron dress up in one of their husbands old flight suits, drink, and give some of the ladies "call signs".  When you are a spouse in the fighter squadron not only does your husband get named but you do as well. If you are confused about the naming thing think of Top Gun (maverick, goose, ice) but our fighter pilots don't end up with names that cool. They are usually something a little more embarrassing than macho.

Kendall wanted to come to the naming too. 

At this event we dress up in our husbands flight suits but we usually alter them to make them more "girly". I had mine made into a dress with custom patches that had my name with the 13th panther logo. The whole outfit turned out really quite adorable and I topped it off with some red toms since our squadron color is red. I do have to say though....I do not envy Dennis having to work in a flight suit everyday. It is so stinking hot even with the legs cut off and it being made into a skirt.  I can't go into all the details of the night but I can say that there are a lot of crazy stories told and a good amount of alcohol involved. It is a fun little tradition of the 13th spouses and I can't wait until I get to be named at a future head count.

Custom patches for my flight suit dress. I even have my name written in Japanese :) 

After the head count most of the ladies headed to the Officer's club to play a game called crud. Crud is played on a pool table with two balls and you use your hands instead of pool sticks. It's a little complicated to explain but the overall gist is that you want to get the colored ball in the pocket before the other team. But there are many rules in order to do this and you cannot let the ball stop moving on your turn. You have three lives and once your lives are up you are out of the game. The last team with a remaining member wins. I played for the first time this last weekend and had a blast. It was definitely a little intimidating at first and I broke a couple of rules but it's a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. I know that by the end of this year I will be pro. :)

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend. We are sadly starting to see the end of summer over here. We just hit our first couple days in a row in the low seventies. And we all know it will get even colder soon...until then I am going to enjoy these 70 degree days : )