Re: You are one smart cookie, 77348!

Thank you all for your kind words. I always viewed myself as a sort of immature creature but I guess that has more to do with my cycnical nature than my "immatureness." Thanks for clarifying that. Noone has ever been as positive about me as you people.

And therefore, I'm sorry I didn't reply any sooner. My only excuse is that I was really busy. Because apart from my usual routine, I have been thinking about all your ideas and one day I just decided to go with it and let my family know how I feel. Everyone was surprisingly supportive, and mom and dad said they never really noticed what kind of pressure they put on me. I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

My dad was really enthusiastic when I told him about my dream of becoming a pilot one day. So he prodded me to go to one of the last "Open Days" (dunno how you guys call em) for colleges, universities, etc. The Airforce had their own stand and I was informed that after I completed my current education, I was welcome to come and give it a go. "We can certainly use women like you," they told me and though I know it's just flattery, it got me smiling.

I was surprised I had enough education (the education system here is different from the US. We work with "levels" and you need atleast the "runner up" to even consider applying.) The only "but" was an extra math certificate, that I need to get. But I can apply for those seperately and it only takes 3 months to complete (if I study hard enough.)

So I think I'm going to do it and see how far I get. If (and still, that's a big if) I pass, I'll go in training in the US for 2 years. I live in The Netherlands and an oppertunity to go to the US sounds fantastic. But I'll cross that bridge if I get there. If I don't pass, they'll look if I'm good for another position (like flying a heli.)

And I started digging up some info about getting extra help here at home. I made some phonecalls, but they all ended up saying the same: we'll have to pay for it ourselves, because of 2 reasons: apparently my dad's income has grazed the invisible line into the category "sort of wealthy." (They don't care 50% of it is tax.) reason 2: I'm over 18 and still living at home, and therefore able enough to keep things together. It sort of came down to this: they would pay for help if my dad's hartattack was worse and he had to stay home for a long time. My reply to that: I disconnected the line.

I now arranged for a lady to come and help 3 times a week, cleaning the entire house. It costs a lot, but she'll take a lot off my back. She starts in the second week of the new year.

Thanks all. I'll keep you guys posted on how I'm doing.









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