KINGFISHER and fruit fly genocide

I survived my first week aboard the KINGFISHER, barely.  A few hiccups, but after next week - should be smooth sailing (definitely figuratively speaking).  Everyone on the crew seems really nice, and just makes me more sure that underway is the way to be in the Coast Guard.  It seems like people on land are either a) part of the problem, or b) hate their jobs. 

Long story short - I transferred into a different district than where I was stationed previously on the CYPRESS.  Yes, both units are in Florida, however, Pensacola is barely Florida, and is in district 8, whereas the KINGFISHER is in district 7.  Click here to learn more about CG districts and the units that are in them! (side note: if you just clicked that link - don't ask me where districts 12, 15, and 16 are... I cannot answer that question)  So anyway, as you can see (or maybe not because you didn't click the link) district 7 is basically Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, which means more or less that the units there do a lot more law enforcement, search and rescue, and migrant operations because of the location and the warmer weather - which means more people out boating and fishing and things of that nature.  When I was in district 8 my job did not require me to have a security clearance, however, district 7 requires it (at least for afloat units).  SO.  I applied for a clearance in March but because my profile displayed that I was on the CYPRESS still (and still does today... which is my major hangup), I was denied clearance.  Basically, I cannot sail with the boat until that gets fixed, which will hopefully happen sometime next week - but until then, I'm going to be duty cooking at the sector galley - which makes me real mad.

The boat is significantly smaller than the CYPRESS in every way imaginable.  When a small fishing boat buzzes by - we rock like crazy.  My galley in its entirety is the size of two tables on the mess-deck on the CYPRESS.  My rack (bed) however, is much larger with a much nicer mattress - WIN.

Other than that - I am really happy with my job here so far.  It's definitely more work, but I expected that... and it's good work, it's not strenuous - it's more like figuring out the ins and outs of the boat and also, figuring out what people like to eat.  Easy.


IN OTHER NEWS... this house has had fruit flies in it since we moved in.  I bought a bunch of fruit (organic, of course) and set it on the counter... next thing you know - fruit fly fiesta.  They are annoying the SHIT out of me.

A few years ago when we were living on Nantucket, there was this crazy infiltration of fruit flies all over the island.  They were EVERYWHERE.  That's because a fruit fly can smell rotting fruit from a mile away, and Nantucket was only like a quarter mile long (kidding).  Anyway, I researched how to get rid of them because it was kind of gross that my galley had all these fruit flies swarming around.  One article I read said to put some vinegar in a bowl and cover the bowl with saran wrap and poke holes in it - the fruit flies can get in but they can't get out, eventually exhausting themselves and drowning in the vinegar.  This seems like an awful way to go because one of my biggest fears is drowning - but drowning in vinegar - UGH!  Anyway, I've set about two bowls so far on the counter, I actually added a step to this by mixing in some dish soap, I hope it kills them faster, but who knows.  I've killed about 50 fruit flies probably in the past week.  And yes, I put the fruit in the fridge.  I have a suspicion they are coming from our garbage disposal - because I have yet to find rotting fruit somewhere around the house, unless the previous tenants think it's a hilarious joke to play on the new people who moved in. OH WELL.  I hope if you're having the fruit fly dilemma you can take away from this post.  Until next time.

The one I've been trying to write...

I wrote in my last post about how I tried over and over again to write the post and it still didn't turn out how I wanted it to.  Just the other day a friend on Facebook posted a blog article that really made me think - and I was really excited to read it because it almost took the words right out of my mouth. 

A little digression before I get into the good stuff, Kyle and I moved to Atlantic Beach, Florida, this week so I could take a job as in independent food service officer onboard an 87' patrol boat.  I will try to elaborate on this as much as possible to answer any questions that may come into your head as you are reading this; yes we just moved to Pensacola, no it was not my transfer season - this job was going to go critical (as in, there was going to be NO ONE there to do it soon), I was asked by the assignment officer to take it because I had applied for it's sister ship last year when it was my regular transfer season - so he knew I wanted to come to the area.  On this boat, I am the only cook - meaning, I make the menus, buy the food, cook the food, and clean my dishes. There are 9-12 people onboard, so it's like cooking for a big family. The boat, because it is only 87' doesn't get underway for as long as the CYPRESS did, however, it gets underway more frequently.  The typical mission is law enforcement and search and rescue.  A good FS (that's my rating - cook/chef/lunch lady - whatever!) can pack the boat out for about 5 days - on the CYPRESS we could carry about 3 weeks worth of food.  When the boat is in port, I will be providing breakfast and lunch to the crew, and they will have an "open galley" menu for dinner - food they can prepare themselves - because typically there are only a few people onboard overnight.  Kyle was able to transfer to another FASTENAL in Jacksonville and is doing really well in his position here.  He was also able to transfer his drill site with the reserves and will be drilling out of the sector where my boat is docked.  Additionally, we now live about 35 minutes from my Dad and Aimee, which has been awesome so far!  Any other questions just ask me!

When we were preparing to leave Pensacola I started researching GMOs and organic diets - because I've always been interested.  I saw the move as a good opportunity to start fresh.  I also started to look into all natural fertility stimulants because eventually Kyle and I would like to have kids, however, we've never really not been trying.  Without oversharing and speaking for my husband, we both have health issues that would make a typical healthy individual have trouble conceiving, so it's just double hard for us.  When we were living on Nantucket (before we knew about our underlying issues) we decided it might be the best timing because we were on land, and knew that I would be underway for the next few years.  After about a year, we saw some doctors, and our issues were brought to light - however, we were also told that under perfect conditions conception shouldn't be an issue.  That was two years ago. 

I wanted to write this blog, because I wanted to bring to the surface an issue that somehow our society A) doesn't talk about at all and B) talks about too much! 

No one talks about infertility, yet so many people suffer from it - and it's on the rise.  There's not much supporting information regarding how many couples are infertile, but the last study conducted by the CDC in 2010 says that 12 percent of the reproductive population of women are infertile - approximately 7.4 million women (up 9% from 1988!!).  That is crazy.  So I'm digging a little deeper.  I started to investigate, why? What are the causes of infertility?  Why is this happening to so many people?  Is it because we are more aware of these issues?  Is it because teenagers are taking birth control?  Why are so many women experiencing endometriosis and PCOS?  Have these issues been disregarded until they start trying to conceive then they become uncovered (at which point it's already too late?!)?  Is it because women are more career oriented and waiting later in life to have babies?  The scary thing is - no one really knows. 

Women who suffer from infertility typically don't discuss it openly - unless with close friends or family, but even then it becomes literally a sore subject - just think about how many pregnancy announcements you have seen recently on your Facebook news feed, or how many people who have "woops" babies, or people who have kids that you really just don't feel like were ever cut out for parenthood.  You never see people posting about how another month (or 6, or an entire year!) has gone by and they still haven't conceived.  Most of the time, you don't even know someone you are close to is having this struggle. 

Which leads me to how society talks too much.  When did it become appropriate to ask someone when they plan on having kids?  Or when enough is enough?  Or if they plan on trying for whatever gender they already don't have? 

I get this a lot.  Because - for some reason - my peers find it very strange that Kyle and I have been married for almost four years, and we don't have miniature humans running around our feet.  Coasties reproduce like no other population of people in our society (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating - but it's definitely something about the military that says "BIG FAMILY").  Whenever I report to a unit, or meet new people at work, one of the first questions they ask me is "Do you have kids?" and when the answer is no, typically I get, "Are you guys going to have kids anytime soon?".  What I really want to say to people is, "I'm sorry - when did my reproductive life become any of your business" but I refrain and I just say something along the lines of "eventually" or "I'd like to make E6 first".  It's easier to just play if off like having children will be some planned event in our life, and not to explain to Random Person that we've been trying for over three years now, and it might just not be in the cards for us - then what, discuss the possibility of adoption and opening a separate savings account specifically for IVF treatment/adoption fund?  No. That's not happening. 

I'm more comfortable explaining this now because being in this situation and the research I've conducted has put me at peace, mostly because I'm really okay with not having children if that's our destiny.  I've joined a lot of groups on Facebook and I've seen the daily struggle that women who so badly desire children go through.  It literally consumes some women, and their marriages.  After the first year I said to myself, "if it happens it happens, if not well, I didn't marry Kyle because of what his potential offspring would be like" and I've accepted what is meant to be, will be.  I've also learned a lot through my online studies on human services (my degree program) about how many children are in the "system" who really just want to go somewhere and be with people who are loving and capable and so badly desire consistency and a life outside of the system. Additionally, Tricare does not cover IVF, or IUI treatments - and the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance fund will only provide $5000 towards adoption fees (which could amount to over $30k if you're not adopting a child out of the system and opt for a baby through private adoption).  Of course, they give out birth control and condoms like candy at any military treatment facility - no irony there.  So, I'm taking matters into my own hands.

What does GMOs and organic food have anything to do with it?!  I'll get there.

According to most of the research I've conducted regarding infertility - many doctors feel that infertility is actually just a symptom of something else (which - we already know - I have hypothyroidism/Hashimoto's disease, and Kyle has an issue that I will not speak for him about - though more treatable than thyroid yet still doesn't guarantee correcting the issue of infertility) and most of the time they either can't figure out what it is - or they just try to override the problem with additional chemicals like Clomid - a drug that induces ovulation, or progesterone - helps prepare the body to receive fertilized egg.  Why aren't more doctors digging deeper and trying to figure out why a woman isn't ovulating regularly, or why her body is lacking the progesterone necessary to create an environment to sustain a fertilized egg?  Why have we accepted that taking additional drugs/synthetic supplements is an acceptable answer to an underlying problem?

Having a hypoactive thyroid made it almost impossible for me to join the Coast Guard.  I had to see three different recruiters, the first two told me (and read right out of a manual) that I would never be able to enlist in any branch of the military - and good luck.  The final recruiter did some extra paperwork and put me through no problem (okay, I may have had to write that I was a Hispanic Eskimo that spoke 4 languages.... just kidding...kind of).  My medical record is 3x as thick as people who have been in for 20 years, and I have to get my thyroid screened about every three months - no different than before I joined.  The government kind of screwed me, and threw me on levothyroxine - the generic of the already synthetic thyroid supplement I take every day, immediately after I joined.  I started having symptoms of hypo, and went right to my doctor, who just simply upped my dosage, and continued to do this for 6 months until I demanded I see an endocrinologist, where I was finally told that I am hypersensitive to generic medicine and I need to be on the brand name - which is still synthetic!  I'm back to "normal" now - but I've never felt AWESOME since I've been diagnosed with thyroid disease (over TEN years ago!).  I recently asked to be put on dessicated thyroid - a natural supplement which is actually dried up pig thyroid hormone, and was used ever since thyroid disease was discovered to treat symptoms - with no inflammation, and basically a 'miracle drug' (even though it's not a drug).  The military physician looked at me like I was a crazy lady and I thought I was going to be referred to mental health, however, I am not giving up this battle.

Hypoactive thyroid increases the chances (not even risk - CHANCES) of miscarriage (a study in 2009 found that 16% of women with hypothyroid disease would miscarry).  Great.

Well.... if infertility is a symptom of something, couldn't hypoactive thyroid be also?  Yup.  Thyroid disease is notoriously hereditary - and no one in my family has any known thyroid issues, all the way up to my grand parents.  When I was diagnosed with the disease at the ripe age of 15 years old - the nurse practitioner that worked in our family doctor office offered the hypothesis (based on the fact that no one in our family had thyroid disease, except our cat... which is also NOT IRONIC) that the pesticide used for prevention of mosquitos carrying West Nile virus at the time (and currently), was also linked to thyroid disease.  Why is this okay?! Why aren't there warnings??  Couldn't we just educate people on all natural mosquito deterrents rather than flying planes the length of Long Island dropping chemicals into the water and all over our lives?!  Why doesn't anyone care that this is happening?!  A simple Google search "chemicals linked to hypothyroid" pulls up all kinds of references talking about it - but why isn't it being discussed?!  Do you see how it's not ironic that my cat, who probably spent as much time outside as I did had the same disease as me?!

GMOs and organic food:  I'm not going to go into a whole discussion about GMOs because there is SOOO much information out there to educate anyone who really wants to know - and I STRONGLY URGE you to just do one Google search, or at least read this article.  GMOs are dangerous, they are genetically modified and being consumed without any regulation DAILY.  The plants are bred to be tolerant of herbacides and weed killers - they are literally created with pesticides and herbides in their genetic makeup - and then sold to use to eat in the form of soy, corn, and pretty much any processed food today.  GMOs have only been around since 1996 - so there is literally NO EVIDENCE of the long term toxic effects that they are having on the human body, livestock, and our environment - except - all over the planet where GMOs are being produced, there is already evidence of the serious short term effects, and they are being covered up - by ... wait for it... the government! The same people who put me on some generic chemical to treat a disease that is likely caused by them in the first place!

Over the past few years the organic food industry has boomed and is currently a 35 billion dollar retail market - but be weary, because major corporations like Coca Cola and Pepsi picked up on this trend and bought into products that appear "healthy" just so that if you are given the option of Coke, Orange juice, or an Odwalla Green Machine smoothie, or Naked (PepsiCo), and you opt for the "healthy" alternative, you are still buying a Coke or Pepsi product.  The same companies that donated MILLIONS of dollars to protest the GMO labeling act, and were also sued for knowingly using GMOs in their juices yet labeling their products "Non-GMO" and "All Natural (which by the way means nothing! sorry!)".  Read this!

So, while I don't think eating organic and avoiding GMOs is going to get me pregnant, I think it's really important to expose this information to people - specifically my friends (because I don't know if many strangers read this blog) because I care about it, I'm passionate about it, and I think the more people who know, the more change we will see.  I'm passionate about food.  It breaks my heart that the delicious skirt steak Sysco sells is coming from a GMO grain fed cow - because it is so tender and delicious, but it's poison! I don't expect you to read this blog and throw away your entire pantry, I just hope that it opens your eyes a little bit, and makes you think twice about the options available to you.  Kyle and I have begun making the transition to 100% organic - down to cleaning products and laundry detergent.  I've eaten almost 100% organic and drank only purified water since Monday (so for 5 days) and I've lost 6lbs, I ran twice, and both times half the distance I typically run - I have no changed my diet, only the quality of food I am eating.  Do you think that's by chance?

I also hope the next time you encounter a young, healthy, married couple with no children, you think twice about butting into their reproductive life, and ask them something more elementary like, how long have you been married? What baseball team are you rooting for? Do you have plans for Thanksgiving? What do you like to do in your free time?  It's really none of your business when they plan on having children - and also, could hurt them to ask, I'm sure once they do have a kid, you will certainly know about it.  If you find yourself in a situation where you couldn't help yourself and had to ask, don't deepen the wound by offering things like, "you're still young you have plenty of time", or sharing your own difficulty, "it took us 6 months to get pregnant so I know how it feels" because you have no idea.



Genesis 1:28 says, "Be fruitful and multiply..."



Stay tuned for my update on my new unit - reporting Monday :)


Clarification:: 
A close friend commented after reading this post, "I didn't know you wanted kids so bad" and I was surprised that's what she got from reading my post (especially since I put that I am at peace with whatever our destiny is).  To clarify, and maybe I should have added this to the end - we have been given the opportunity to look back on our past and say, "we're glad things happened the way they have".  Many couples rush into pregnancy because it seems like the next logical step after marriage, hell, we did! My older and wiser self is glad that we didn't have a kid right away, because Kyle and I have grown together in ways I can't imagine would have been possible with the distraction of a baby only a year into our marriage.  I can't really speculate because I don't know what it's like to have a baby early on, but I do know that marriage is difficult, and no one tells you that.  People post the happiest pictures of themselves on Facebook (guilty!) but you never see pictures from the nights they slept with their backs to one another because of an unresolved disagreement.  I couldn't imagine throwing a needy micro human into the middle of that disagreement, let alone raising one in an environment of turmoil.