I think most will agree that when you think of someone who always exemplifies quality and integrity when blogging, Juliette Ochieng, of Baldilocks is on that list. She's had an interesting life and has a unique and wonderful perspective on life. As yet another "Debutante in Boots" and a fellow Cotillion member, I sent her a few questions to answer and the results are below, I believe they speak for themselves:

Tell me about your military service. What made you decide to join the military?
I was always a little different and was always interested in things that few members of my various demographics were. I graduated from high school in 1978 at age sixteen. Though I had a few college offers, I wasn't sure that I wanted to take them. Having seen and listened to the yummy Marine recruiter who visited my high school, I thought I might like to join one of the services in general and USMC in particular. However, when I turned seventeen that summer my parents absolutely refused to sign the waiver needed for seventeen-year-olds to enlist, so I went to college and waited them out.

How did I choose the USAF? My step-dad had been in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and my grandfather (step-dad's dad) had retired from the AF. However, having been previously influenced by aforementioned yummy Marine, I had planned on enlisting in the USMC. So, at age nineteen, I made an appointment with the local Marine recruiter. I arrived on time and he wasn't there. So I waited and waited and waited. No call, no nothing, which as I found out later, was very unlike a Marine. (Perhaps, he thought that—being a female—that I would think better of enlisting and wouldn't show up either.) After an hour, I got up and walked over to the Air Force recruiter and the rest is history.

What challenges have you faced in the military? Do you feel they are different or similar than the challenges men face in the military? Why or why not?
My military service—like that of millions of other Americans—was the catalyst in my maturation. My maturation was similar but not the same as that of men, of course, for the same reasons that we humans of different sex are similar but not the same.

One thing that women in the military face that men do not is the constant attention from their opposite sex comrades-in-arms, especially in overseas locations. There, only the fugly girls aren't overwhelmed with attention and even they have one or two suitors. Vastly outnumbered, we girls start believing our own hype, when it's merely a matter of logistics and male laziness.

How do men treat you in general when they find out you're in the military?
Whenever my military service is discovered, men will often treat me with a little more respect and less like a bimbo. Because I don't look like a battle-hardened veteran—depending on what side of the bed I got out of--I sometimes get condescended to. My "command" voice will usually bring that to a screeching halt.

I don't get a lot of the abusive mail that some women bloggers report getting. Perhaps it's because some think I will hunt them down. I'm actually harmless. Mostly. ;-)

Do you have any advice for women who are thinking of enlisting?
My advice to women who might enlist is this: learn to work in a team setting and learn that the world does not revolve around you. As a matter of fact, my advice to parents of girls is to get your daughter(s) involved in some type of team activity—sport, girl scouts, brownies, whatever—to help prevent her from growing up to be a self-involved brat and inflicting herself upon the workplace, military or civilian. (Yes, I had to learn this as an adult in the military and, no, it isn't completely unlearned.) Early on, most boys learn to co-operate in teams geared toward a stated goal. Most girls do not and when they become women and join some aspect of the workforce, it shows. Think of all the stupid games that are played in offices dominated by women. It's because many of us were never taught how to work together or that, sometimes, the goals of the organization to which we belong are more important than our desires and our egos.

Why did you start blogging? What is your purpose or goal to achieve by keeping a blog?

As with many others, my blogging started as means of letting off steam, rather than yelling "BS!" or "F-you" at the TV all the time. This shows in my early blogging. Now, I'm less likely to put up a generic, all-purpose rant; my rants are more situational, and, therefore, less frequent.

Before I started, I had read and commented on several of the Big Bloggers' sites, especially on LGF and Gut Rumbles (quite an odd couple, there). After reading other sites, I said to my self "hey, I can do that," so I did it. I had a false start in July of 2003. A month later, I decided that I would make a commitment. After a decent interval, I sent my URL to Charles and to Rob. I didn't ask them for a link, however, but merely requested that they take a look. They both linked to me immediately. But, because Charles has a ton of blogs linked and Rob only has a few, I consider Rob my blogfather. Charles gets bloguncle credit.

Tell us something about you that we may not know by just reading your blog.
One thing about me that may not be readily apparent is that I'm a little overweight. Not in Oliver Willis territory, but I will never make fun of him about it. Taking weight off is hard. When I was thirty-four—ten years ago, I weighed 140 pounds and thought I was fat. Ten years and thirty additional pounds give one some perspective.

What are some things that you have learned by blogging?
Blogging has humbled me a bit. Occasionally, I will send an email note to a blogger or a commenter saying "great post/comment" and I will get a slight inkling of the celebrity treatment. When it happens, it's frightening because I know that I'm just some middle-aged fat chick with a modem and a big mouth.

What are your personal priorities in life? (What is most important to you?)

Personal priorities are God, country, family, education, in that order. To expound on a couple, I believe in and accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and have for some years, but I only recently started liking going to church. I don't know how it is with other religions, but Christians have to shop around for churches. I found and discarded several "Candy" churches until I found a "Protein, Fruits and Vegetables" Church, if you get my drift. I want to be constantly reminded how to be a Christian and why I should be one. I don't really care what the Top 40 songs are on the Inspirational charts nor do I want to hear the preacher speak in "tongues."

Taking care of the family seniors is very important to me. This July Fourth is my great-aunt's eighty-fourth birthday and, on this side of my family, that makes her the longest-lived. She stopped driving in 2002, so I'm the chauffeur and happy to do it.

I see old people behind the wheel who can barely see or walk and who have no business driving. I know that, sometimes, it's because they're too ornery to give up their license. However, I also know that it's because they have no one in the family who is reliable enough to help them get their errands done or get them to their appointments on time, if at all.

I also know that I might be old and require a driver one day. That day seems far off, but it will probably sneak up on me. So I'm racking up blessing points or, at least staving off just-desserts points.

On top of that, I love my great-aunt—I was partially raised by her--so I am merely honoring my parent as commanded.

Go visit Juliette at her blog, Baldilocks.

Thank you Juliette for taking time to answer these questions. More importantly thank you for your service to your country.