Above 300

This morning my company had a diagnostic PT test and I maxed the PT test for the first time in my life :)

 

Push-ups: 54 (108 pts)

Sit-ups: 81 (101 pts)

Run: 14:54 (107 pts)

Total = 316 points on the extended scale (which technically does not exist). 

 

After the PT test I went out and ran another 2 miles with a 9:30/mile pace and felt fine, which means that I did not push myself hard enough during the PT test. 

Randomness...

I only had to work four days this past week due to Monday being Presidents Day, but it still felt like a long week. In order to unwind and relax a bit this evening I baked peanut-butter chewies and chocolate-caramel brownies. Tomorrow I am planning on making some caramel corn as well as some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and put the baked goods in bags to give to Phil and Ben on Sunday. They both are deploying to Afghanistan in a few days and Sunday will most likely be the last time I see them for a while. I will miss those guys.

Last Sunday after Church Mike invited me to fly to a Todd Agnew concert that evening with him, Ben, and Phil, but sadly it ended up not working out for me to go. I'm trying my best to keep myself grounded in reality and not get my hopes up about anything, but some stuff Phil said and asked me this evening on the phone is making it really hard, like when out of the blue he and Ben wanted to know why Mike and I aren't dating yet. "Strength arises, wait upon the Lord..." Good song.

One morning earlier this week I got a call from a fellow S2 asking if I knew where my roommate was because she hadn't shown up to PT or to work that day. I'd seen Andrea when I got up for PT, but left before her assuming that she would be following shortly. Therefore, when I got the phone call it concerned me that she hadn't been seen by anyone else. I almost called Jordan to ask if she had seen Andrea, but then remembered that they are in the same BN and so of course Jordan wouldn't know anything more than I did. It turns out Andrea had a briefing and had informed the proper person that she would be gone, but it had slipped their mind. I am writing about this in here because it reminded me of an incident that occurred while in Iraq. One day a report came over the systems about an IED strike that resulted in a soldier killed in Tarmiyah. I remembered Jordan mentioning the night before that she was going to Tarmiyah the next day and the KIA was from her BN and in the vicinity of where she was supposed to go, so I became worried that it might be her because the battle roster number of the soldier hadn’t come through yet. I was too scared to call Jordan’s work phone because I didn’t want to hear from them that she was actually in Tarmiyah, so instead I called Andrea and asked her if she knew if Jordan was on the patrol that got hit. Andrea informed that it was a different platoon and Jordan was still safe and sound back at Taji. That evening Jordan stopped by my room to make fun of me for calling Andrea instead of her, and still hasn’t let me forget the whole thing, but I don’t care because I’m glad she is alive and safe. I guess I connected the two incidents because I found it amusing that this time I was ready to call Jordan due to worrying about Andrea.

Are the paragraph breaks working? They don't appear to be at the moment.

Ripe Pineapple

While in Iraq I ate pineapple almost every morning for breakfast. The man at the fruit stand got to know know me so well that he would see me walking up and start chopping up the pineapple before I even reached the stand. Now that I am home I occasionally buy a pineapple at the grocery store, but I've run into the problem of not knowing how to tell if a pineapple is ripe and sweet. This evening I was at the store and once again standing in front of the pineapples trying to come up with my own method of determining what characteristics meant a pineapple was sweet. I suddenly remembered that one of my friends is from Hawaii, so I gave him a call in hopes that he might know more about the subject. He and I had planned to hang out last night because we hadn't really seen each other since august or September, but for some reason that didn't happen. Sad :(

I digress.... Anyway he didn't answer the phone this evening and so I was left clueless about pineapples. Eventually I decided upon a particular pineapple due to it's pinkish hue. Now that I am home I looked up the question on Google and found the site http://www.ehow.com/how_1679_choose-slice-pineapple.html that gives advice on choosing a pineapple. I wish I had know the advice when I was at the store.

Weekend Synopsis

There are so many things I could write and have thought about writing over this past week, but right now I I do not particularly feel like writing about any of them.

 

I was hoping to spend the weekend lounging around the apartment, but I was at work until 8 pm on Friday working on a slideshow and waiting for keys.  Then, on Saturday I went down to Austin with Andrea and Jordan to go dress shopping for a dress for Jordan for valentine's day.  Andrea had a mall in mind that she wanted to go to, but after driving for three hours and stopping twice at gas stations for directions, she gave up finding the mall and we headed back to the outlet mall in Round Rock.  I was hopping to buy a skirt for myself, but quickly gave up on that idea.  We did not manage to find a dress for Jordan, but each of us bought a few things.  I came away with two new tops.  Going shopping with Jordan and Andrea made me feel better about my own clothes shopping woes because we all have trouble finding clothes that fit properly, especially when it comes to pants, skirts, and dresses.  Recently I've managed to find a style of top that works well for my body type, but as far as the other half of my outfit, if I find an article of clothing that fits one area of my body it likely will not fit another portion properly.  What women out there, besides young teenage girls, have the same size waist and hips/thighs????  I am not a guy!   Okay, enough of my ranting and raving on that subject. 

 

This afternoon I decided to take a break from working on the slide show for my BN ball and go for a run.  Since I wasn't very motivated to go out and run, but yet still wanted to get the exercise I gave Jordan a call to see if she wanted to go running.  She happened to be at the mall doing some more dress shopping.  I made her promise that if I went there to help her shop she would then go running with me.  Unfortunately, we were not any more successful today with dresses, but thankfully she has a few back home already that could work if need be.  After shopping we went for about a 4.25 mile run near her neighborhood.  She invited Andrea and I to eat dinner with her and Zack, so when we got back from our run she taught me how to make stewed tomatoes while she made tacos.  Zack learned the stewed tomatoes recipe in Iraq from some local nationals.  I actually liked the stewed tomatoes and the recipe is very healthy, so Andrea and I may add it to our repertoire. 

 

The hardest thing for me this weekend was giving up going to Grace Bible Church.  I got an email from Betsy on Friday that pretty much summed up what I was experiencing.  Andrea and I have been talking recently about obedience to God and how He has used peoples obedience to bless them.  Abraham's obedience to God in being willing to sacrifice Isaac kept coming to mind, as well as the phrase "and He was obedient, even unto death on the cross..." referring to Jesus.  I felt like this was something God was calling me to do in obedience to Him.  Giving up going to GBC is hardly the same as either of those two things, but it has been really hard because I really liked the people there and I was making some new friends.  Phil and I ended up talking this afternoon and he asked where I had gone to Church today because he goes to GBC.  I told him the whole thing, as well as my frustration with not feeling at home or a sense of peace at the church I ended up going to this morning (Holy Family).  He said obedience isn't always easy, which is very true.  I'm glad he talked to me about that instead of trying to convince me to go back to GBC. 

 

Lindsay called me on Saturday night and she told me that if I sign up for the San Diego Marathon on June 3rd that she'll run it with me.  I am seriously considering it because I want to run a marathon and I also want to see her again.  She's an '04 USNA grad who is in the marines.  We became friends while attending the Anti-terrorism/Force Protection course together back in July in Baghdad.  We mostly talk about running and guys, though other topics are occasionally discussed. 

Jitters

I am extremely jittery and I don't know why.  Perhaps this is what happens now when I don't do much physical activity for two days.  It started during the Bible Study before the church service when we were discussing the Church as a whole.  I find I get very excited about studying/discussing theology and, though our discussion was quite basic, it got the wheels in my mind turning at an extremely fast rate because I wanted to dig deeper but couldn't.  I think I am currently so hungry for any type of spiritual discussion in person that even the hint of it gets me going, though I do not know why I actually ended up with the jitters.  During the service I have to admit that I barely paid attention to the sermon because I was thinking about the Bible study, searching through the Bible, and jotting thoughts down on paper.  A few times I ended up putting my head down and praying for peace so that I could concentrate.  After the service I went home and found that I could not stand still, so I went for a 6.4 mile run to calm me down.  I'm hoping to break the 9 min/mile mark on my longer runs soon, but today I averaged a 9.07 min/mile.  The run worked for about an hour, but now the jitters are returning.  When I was walking out after church today Mike invited me to a Super Bowl party at his house.  I hope that I manage to be a bit more calm by the time I go over there. 

 

On a random side note, the word dichotomy  has been running through my head since this morning.  I don't recall hearing it used anytime recently, so I do not know why I keep thinking about it. 

Talking About Talking

Some people love talking and have trouble listening.  I have the opposite trouble, especially in groups.  It is extremely common for me to be in a group of people who are talking and listen intently to the ongoing conversation and be perfectly content without even realizing that I haven't said a word throughout the whole thing.  Of course, the rare times that I do feel the urge to add my two cents to a conversation I find that I am so focused on trying to get a word in that I stop listening as intently and then get annoyed if I can not find the opportunity to speak.  I am usually much more talkative one-on-one, although I am also probably worse at listening one-on-one. It is usually dependent on the other person and their talkativeness.  If they like to talk a lot, I'll let them talk and just listen.  If they don't talk at all then I probably will not talk very much either.  I probably sound like goldilocks right now, but I'm comparing talking instead of porridge or beds.  Goodness.  Perhaps I enjoy writing on here because I have the ability to talk as much or as little as I want without interruptions and also spend most of the time doing my most common activity: over-analyzing myself.

 

In Iraq I discovered that when I try and multi-task my ability to hear decreases.  I didn't realize that until the potty-mouth contest started the last month of the deployment and someone would be shouting a swear word in the TOC, but I would be so wrapped up in what I was doing that I wouldn't hear a word.  MAJ P was actually the one to point it out because he had thought I had really good hearing until I started the contest.  The truth is that I didn't hear 75% of the things said or discussed by the guys, but I would read their body language as well as the obvious fact that they were whispering to each other and pick up that they were making some sort of less than wholesome comment. 

 

This post is truly pointless and I have no idea why I stayed up writing it. 

 

Best moment of the week:  Finding out I am going to be the UAV platoon leader.

Worst moment of the week:  unlike last week, one single moment doesn't stand out. 

Battle With A Cold

Just the other day I was congratulating myself on staying healthy for almost a year without even a cold. Now it is up in the air whether or not my healthy streak will last any longer.

 

Last night I went to bed with great plans to ride my bike and go running today, but this morning I woke up and realized that I was in the beginning stages of fighting a cold.  Around noon I went to go pick up my uniform and then headed to the store to by some supplies to make Heidi's chicken soup recipe.  The errands wore me out and I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch watching TV after having made the soup.  Currently I'm debating how to spend this evening because I was planning on going to church and then Maj P's promotion party, but I don't think I have enough energy to do both of those things.  I don't actually feel that sick, but I can tell I am not completely well because I have absolutely no desire to go out and ride my bike or run, and it is a beautiful day outside for doing both of those things.  All I want to do is curl up in my bed.  Hopefully the chicken soup, lack of activity, and medicine that Andrea gave me will strangle this cold before it gets past this beginning stage and I'll be completely healthy tomorrow. 

PL Time!!!

I'm getting a platoon in a few weeks :) WAHOO!!!!!!!

New PR

Today was the first time in my life that I swam a mile. I started swimming when I got back from block leave, but didn't have a set swim workout until last week when I came across the site Zero to 1650 in Six Weeks. Swimming a mile has always sounded like an incredibly far distance to me, especially since I was averaging a little under 1000 yds with plenty of (long) breaks and variations in strokes. I looked at the Zero to 1650 plan and it seemed almost possible, so last Wednesday I decided to start it.

Since I'd already been swimming for a couple weeks I advanced myself to week three of the program, but unfortunately failed to realize that the repeat is in addition to the first swim, so instead of 1350 yds I only swam 1150 yds, but swam more consecutive laps than I had in many years. Then, on Friday I was a bit tired and decided to skip my noon swim. On Monday I moved on to week four of the program and this time counted the repeats correctly, thus completing 1500 yds with a few breathing breaks. The program has you repeat the same workout three times before moving on to the next week, so my plan today was to repeat Monday's workout.

I started swimming the first 600 yds and after 100 yds I realized I felt pretty decent, most likely because I had a dentist appointment this morning and so did not participate in PT. After a few more laps I had talked myself in to skipping ahead to the very last day of the program and going for the full mile without stopping and utilizing only the freestyle swimming stroke. I was more focused on completing the mile then on speed so I found a slow and steady breathing rhythm that I was able to keep up the entire time. I ended up completing 1650 yds in around 47 minutes, but then swam an extra 100 yds for good measure and finished in 50 minutes. The whole time I using the same motivation techniques by counting down the yards like I used to do with the meters while on the erg or during a race. In fact, in my mind I even saw the computer screen on the erg but instead of having the distance of a 2k or a 6k, it was my swimming distance.

After work today I was driving home and saw that the sun had not yet set, so I decided that I'd try pushing myself a bit more today, and also try and relieve some stress and frustration, by going for a run and timing myself on a 3.86 mile loop. Since I had already swam further than ever before in my life I was not sure if my time would be as good as I'd like, but I ended up with a PR of 33:28, or 8:41 min/mile. Of course, it was only the second time I've done that specific loop, but my first time I averaged 8:53.9 min/mile. That probably sounds fairly slow to most people, but for me with that distance it is a decent pace. One thing I do have to learn how to do is pace myself. I start out fairly fast for the first mile, then slow down to a slower pace that I maintain for most of the run, but pick it up again at the very end. I'd probably do a lot better if I started out slower and picked up the pace later on.

Confused Doesn't Even Begin to Describe Me

I am a Lutheran who is lead to attend a non-denominational Church yet also called to become Catholic.  Something has to be wrong here.  Argh!

WWW.HowToDiceAnOnion

The internet is great.  I am quite cooking illiterate even though I love baking.  Andrea is making a sauerkraut casserole for dinner tonight, but neither of us were sure how to dice an onion, so I looked it up online and found a nifty instructional video at http://www.chow.com/stories/10134. 

 

Last night Derrick and Cara hosted a Mexican fiesta reunion of the Tigris River Chapel praise team and chaplains.  I really enjoyed seeing everyone again after almost three months, and it was neat meeting their spouses and families.  I was truly blessed to be able to spend time with such an amazing group of people in Iraq.  I don't think I stopped smiling the entire evening. 

The Week Tastes Like Vegetables

This week has been akin to me eating vegetables when I was little.  I was told the vegetables were good for me, but I sure didn't like the taste of them. (Sometimes I spit them into my napkin, although I usually reserved the napkin trick to get rid of my glass of milk.  Shh...don't tell my Mom).  The week has been full of things that are probably good for me and will help me grow and mature in the long run, but they are very uncomfortable to deal with right now.  More specifically, yesterday I had two extremely embarrassing moments, one of which was so embarrassing that I was tempted to never show my face in public again.  However, my Dad has always said that a sign of maturity is the ability to laugh at yourself, so I did my best to laugh at myself and also gave a few other people something to laugh about.  Some of the other things this week relate to hopes being deferred and, in the process, working on patience.  I sure hope I am doing the right thing by not acting and being patient in one of the circumstances, because otherwise I will probably look pretty funny as I try and kick myself if I find out that inaction was the wrong action.  Vague, yes.  Why?  Because elephants have flat feet. 

One More Has Fallen

My prayers are with the family and friends of 1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, West Point  class of 2005.

http://www.west-point.org/users/usma2005/61584/

 

Random Email

    Today I received an email stating, "You have been identified as a potential instructor for the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the United States Military Academy, West Point.  If selected, you would be given two years of fully-funded (and full time) graduate school with a follow on three-year assignment to West Point in the Department of Mathematical Sciences."  I am wondering how my name ended up on the email list since it wasn't a mass email to all of my class, though I have no clue how many other people received it.  Probably a fair number received it as well.  I can't even remember how I did in my math classes.  Strange.

Does Anyone Love Their Job?

This morning I was planning and looking forward to going for a faster, longer run with one of my fellow LT's during PT.  My plan fell through due to a new policy and I ended up not being able to go for a run at all.  Since I went swimming yesterday I didn't due any PT during lunch, but decided I still wanted to go for a run after work at 5pm.  I was really looking forward to the run, but then a meeting with the officers in my section took a while and the sun had already set by the time I got home.  My attitude became worse and worse during the meeting because I realized that I wouldn't be able to go for a run, and though I was not verbally saying anything it still showed on my face.  I was both angry about not being able to go for a run, and also angry at myself for having a bad attitude about having to stay a little later. 

 

I got home in a bad mood and after Andrea came home we had a little venting session.  My mood was still not very good when a few friends showed up later on for the first meeting of a Bible study that Andrea is leading.  This evening we only looked over the Bible study for a bit to familiarize ourselves with it and then talked about work for about an hour, but my attitude is a lot better now after the Bible study.  I do have one question though.  Can anyone name someone in the Army who actually loves their job?  I asked this to Andrea and to the other people who came tonight and sadly no one could name a single person.  A few did say that they really enjoyed PL time, but none of them are PL's anymore.  I'd like to meet someone who whole-heartedly loves their job and looks forward to going in to work everyday.  Perhaps that person could inspire me to love my job instead of bear it in the hopes of something better coming along soon. 

A Wonderful Day

I wish I could press the stop button on today and rewind it so that I could relive it over again and again. I am probably making far too much out of this day and I will realize that sometime in the near future, but for now while the emotion and excitement is still fresh and full of possibility it seems like a completely wonderful day. I will now proceed to rehash the day down to the minute details.

To start off with, the day was beautiful and in the low 60's which, after a week of rain and freezing temperatures, was a welcome change. Earlier this week Phil invited me to go to Church with him and I agreed because the Church was on my list of Churches that I wanted to check out. I wasn't able to make it to the Bible study portion before the service due to having SDO duty yesterday, but I made it in time for the 10:30 service. At the church I ran into my friend Willy who I know from OCF at West Point, and his wife Amy who I met when Willy was in processing into Fort Hood last December. I chatted with them until Phil came in from the Bible study. With him was his friend Mike. Phil had mentioned Mike a couple times over the week, but I hadn't realized that Mike would be at church, which is probably a good thing for me to not have known ahead of time. We all sat down together and a few minutes later Ben, Mikes roommate and Phil's friend, and Ben's girlfriend, Danica, joined us. I was sitting in-between Mike and Phil and during the greeting portion of the service Mike told me that I had a very beautiful voice.

After the service Phil, Mike and I were talking together and Mike mentioned that he was going flying today and asked if either of us would like to go. It sounded very cool and I had never been in a small plane before so I wanted to go, but Phil had other activities he wanted to do. All of us, Ben and Danica included, ended up going out to lunch at a nearby deli that is a very popular after-church gathering place to eat. Mike choose to sit on the end of the table next to me even though there were two or three other open seats on the other side of the table. I wasn't sure if I was still invited flying since Phil didn't want to go and Mike and only just met me, but Ben and Danica were also going flying and Phil's not going didn't seem to even be an issue to Mike about whether or not I was invited.

When we all arrived at the local airport Danica asked me if I had met Mike before today, and I suddenly realized that there I was spending an afternoon with three people who were close friends with each other, but I who I had never met before in my life. The really strange thing was that I didn't feel as extremely shy as I normally would under those circumstances. Most likely because they were all very friendly...and we had all gone to West Point and so had something in common.

Due to the airplane being fully fueled it could only carry three people at first, so Ben opted to stay on the ground while Mike took Danica and I up. It was awesome flying around and Danica and I had a wonderful time. At one point he asked me if, when I got up this morning, I had imagined I would be flying around in plane this afternoon. The thought had never even remotely crossed my mind. After about 30 minutes we landed to see if Ben wanted to come along because enough fuel had been burnt off. Before we took off Ben had said that he and Danica weren't going to stay very long and Mike offered that after that they left he could take me up in the plane again. Ben opted not to go up in the plane at all and so he and Danica left after the flight. Mike repeated his offer to take me up again and I readily agreed. He also asked me if I'd like to learn how to fly the plane this time since it was just the two of us. Shortly after we took off he gave me a few instructions on what to do and then let me take control of the plane. I ended up flying the plane for about an hour, though a couple of times he stepped in to help. Twice he referenced us going flying together again sometime in the future. One reference was to us going flying at night so that he could show me how beautiful the lights are. The other reference was that next time he'll have a specific destination in mind, most likely because I had asked if there was anything really interesting to see where we were flying and he couldn't think of anything.

After we landed and Mike was tying up the plane I happened to see Derrick, so I yelled to him and he came over to say hi. I introduced them to each other and we exchanged pleasantries.

As Mike and I were saying goodbye he told me that I could call and ask him to go flying with him anytime and he would always say yes:) When I got back to the apartment Andrea was about to take off on a bike ride, so I quickly changed my clothes and joined her. My original plan for the afternoon had been to go for a run followed by a bike ride, but the invitation from Mike to go flying had changed everything. Being able to still get in a 14 mile bike ride was quite nice. The weather was perfect for both flying and bike riding.

I called Phil later in the evening because he had mentioned wanting Mike and I to meet and I wanted to tell him how great the day had been. Who knows if Mike and I will actually ever go flying again, but today sure was amazing. The wonderful day ended with Andrea and I having a fire in our fireplace and making s'mores :)

Good Service Is A Bad Thing?

 Phil and I have gone out to eat twice this week and both times the service was exceptionally fast and good.  In fact, the service has been so good that after this last time we were trying to think of places that would be more crowded so that our service would be slower.  We both knew the idea of it all was quite backwards, but both times we went out to eat we had to turn our waitresses away multiple times before we were ready to order.  Had we sat down and decided what to order before starting to talk there wouldn't be an issue, but our problem is that we start talking before we are ready to order.  Our waiter/waitress, seeing us in deep conversation and no longer looking at the menu, comes by because he/she thinks we are ready to order.  We then have to send him/her away and get back to looking over the menu.  That only lasts a minute or two before the menu is forgotten and we get caught up in another topic of conversation.  I think the the process repeated itself about four times both times we went out to eat.   What's more, even at Starbucks the coffees were made exceptionally fast, although Phil already knew what he was getting and I ended up getting the drink that the guy behind the counter recommended, so we didn't run into the ordering problem there.  That is not to imply that the service is usually slow at Starbucks. Starbucks happened to be the location of the place where we were discussing our good service problem and so it is lumped in with the other two instances. 

Snow!

Last night it snowed here in Texas.  There is only a slight dusting on the ground and it is a rather icy snow, but it is snow none the less.  I may post pictures later.  I feel a bit better having seen a tiny bit of snow this year. 

MLK Weekend

This weekend was a bit more productive than last weekend even though it rained three out of the four days. The weekend started with us having a fire in the fireplace and reading by the light of the fire and candle light while occasionally discussing what it must have been like to live back when those were the only methods by which to produce light at night. It was very relaxing.

On Friday, Andrea and I drove Austin to visit the Bicycle Sport Shop there, making it my third trip in one week. I had an appointment for my bike fitting and she ended up purchasing a mountain bike. Later that day, during a break in the rain, we went out for a 10 mile bike ride.

Saturday was not a very productive day at all. We were hoping to go for another bike ride, but it did not stop raining all day. I can't remember if either of us actually left the apartment. Oh wait, we made a trip out to go to target, Wal-Mart, and Circuit City. In the evening I made some gingerbread cookies.

On Sunday I, surprisingly, attended Temple Bible Church for a second time. I liked the service a lot better this week, most likely because last week there was a guest speaker. After Church I made some chocolate-caramel brownies to send to Rachel and Jordan along with the gingerbread cookies.

This morning I woke up and, for the first time in three days, did not hear any rain. When I looked outside the first time I did not have my contacts in and so it looked completely dry. Once I put in my contacts and looked again I saw that in fact everything was covered in a coat of ice. I guess there was an ice storm last night. Instead of going for a run, which was what I was originally planning to do when I woke up, I instead made whole-wheat pancakes for breakfast. Later on I did go for just short of a 6-mile run because the ground was quite dry, it was just the trees and parked cars that were covered in ice. I was planning on having a lazy evening at home, but one of my company-mates from West Point, Phil, unexpectedly contacted me and wanted to hang out. We planned to meet at Starbucks, but got there and found it closed, so instead we went back to his place and caught each other up on our lives over the past 18 months. I was very surprised at some of the similarities in our lives. We probably could've talked for a few more hours, but instead I said goodbye after two hours so that I could get back and make some chocolate-caramel brownies to bring in to work tomorrow.

Having two of my former company-mates, first Chris over leave, and then Phil today, contact me out of the blue was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't seen either of them since graduation and I really enjoyed being able to spend time with both of them again. Phil was my platoon sergeant when I was a platoon leader firstie year and Chris as a squad leader in our platoon.

Rainy Day

Rain, rain go away,

Come again another day.

 

 

Roommate, Bike, and Deep Thoughts

Andrea made it safely back from MN this afternoon. I am glad she is back, although the adjustment from living alone to living with someone is surprising to me, especially since I'd only had my own room for about 18 months and it was only a room, not an apartment. Now I still have my own room, but share an apartment and, at least at first, it felt like a big adjustment. I suppose it is good for me to not get too used to living alone because I would most likely become a complete hermit and have a million cats even though I am a dog person.

This afternoon I took my bike out for a test ride. The bike is awesome, but the seat unexpectedly lowered on me about 45 minutes into my ride when I was about a third of the way up a hill. Thankfully I was already headed back in the direction of the apartment and so I cut my bike ride a little shorter than I had originally hoped so I could get back to the apartment and tighten the seat. I must say, people drive very fast. I rode along one of my main run routes, but the cars seemed to be speeding by even faster (and closer) when I was riding along on the road with them instead of running as far as possible off to the shoulder or on the sidewalk. It was also quite windy and at times I felt like I was about to be blown over, which scared me even more. Once I turned off the busy road and onto a more rural street I became much more comfortable and was able to enjoy my surroundings. Due to the seat malfunction I only rode a little over 11 miles, but I hope to be increasing my mileage in the near future.

Whilst cleaning my room this evening I experienced some moments of nostalgia about the past few years. Part of it was due to my taking a break from the cleaning and going back to my first few months of posts on this blog and re-reading about what my life was like and who I had a crush on at that time. Then, when I was emptying out the backpack two pictures that were hidden in an inside pocket fell out. One was of Nick in a helicopter and the other was of Nick and I in Kuwait. I thought I had packed the pictures away in the box with my violin, Joe Bear, and the Bible that Rob gave me for my birthday.

Well, now I'm diving back into another episode of an analytical introspective look at myself. This time the topic is if I actually have the ability to be in love with someone. Whilst a couple friends believed that to be the case with me in regards to someone else, I don't think it was the case. Infatuated with them, yes, but in love, no. Actually, more I was mostly likely infatuated with the person who I wanted them to be and most likely not the person they actually are in real life. (Thank you Jordan for that revelation). In any case, in the two months since the whole thing came to a head I’ve often wondered if I actually have the ability to be in love with someone and in doing so open up and make myself vulnerable to them. I have lived my whole life making sure that I do not fully show anyone how much they mean to me because of the fear that I do not mean as much to them. I believe this to be true in all of my relationships with both friends and family. When I think about it the whole thing seems quite selfish and self-centered of me, yet I don’t know how to be any different. The by-product of all of this is that for the past two months I’ve been trying to convince myself that I want to move to Siberia and become a single, nomadic, hermit, sheep-herder. (I stole the Siberia and sheep-herder bit from Anne).

New Bike

After work today, Jordan and I drove down to a bicycle shop in Austin. I drove down there once on Sunday afternoon, but they had to order a bike for me to try out because they didn't have my size in stock. The shop got the bike the next day, but since Jordan wanted to look at bikes and also wanted to watch the football game last night we put off the trip till today. Jordan ended up buying a mountain bike and I bought a road bike. It was a little more expensive than I was planning to spend on the bike, but in the end I really like the bike. Now I have to make sure I get my money's worth out of it. The bike, a Dolce Elite by Specialized (http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=21995), is the first major purchase that I've made since I've been back that is solely for fun and recreation purpose, unlike my cell phone, apartment, and mattress.

Introspective Look At Another Deployment

Today wasn't a great day. I found out that the possibility of me getting the platoon I want, or any platoon for that matter, in the near future has dropped significantly because I'm not already in the battalion. I found it slightly disturbing when one of the options the company commander I talked to this morning mentioned that I could look into was seeking a PL slot in a unit that will be deploying soon since they may need people...and I was/am actually seriously considering doing it. I guess it kinda stunned me when he asked me if there was anything, (i.e. a relationship, family, etc.), that would might keep me from deploying again right away and I told him that I could deploy tomorrow without a problem (save for the pre-deployment saga and packing my few things away).

I've been thinking about it off and on over the course of the day doing my whole over-analyse of it, and have realized that I don't really have an issue with deploying again in the near future (though other people around me might not like it), but my main reason for even considering looking into a unit deploying in the near future would be because I am trying to run away from something and I am also trying to prove myself. I don't know what exactly I am running from, but just that I am running. The issue about proving myself is something just as stupid. I feel some need to prove myself to my friend Jordan and others who belittle my current job.

In order to ease some fears, I should add that it is highly unlikely that I will actually move to a unit that is deploying soon. I'd put it at a 99.9% chance of it not happening because it is all hypothetical.

Lazy Weekend

This weekend I have been far too lazy. The majority of my physical activity was me moving from the couch to the kitchen, a good distance of maybe 10 feet, to get food inbetween tv shows. While in the kitchen I did try my hand at a few new recipes, although I had less than superb results. Yesterday I did not leave my apartment at all. In fact, I never even changed out of my pajamas. This morning I did make it to Church, although I have yet to go to the same Church twice here and I don't think I'll be starting that trend next week. My activity level remained somewhat high into the afternoon in that I drove down to Austin to a bicycle store. I think I've found the size and model of road bike that I'll get, but they didn't have it in stock and so I'll have to drive back either tomorrow or later on this week. After that little juant I went back to my apartment and returned to my previous activity level of near zero, save for the oatmeal-rasin cookie baking that I did in the evening. I am now headed to bed feeling like I've watched far too much tv and done far too little for my physical fitness over the past two days. All in all, as long as I don't have weekends like this very frequently, I'd say it was a rather good weekend.

Back from Michigan and Running Again

   As you can probably tell by the lack of posts over the last couple of months, I haven't felt much like writing recently. Yesterday I returned to Texas after some much needed and greatly enjoyed time to relax in Michigan with family and friends. I was going to sign in and then go in to work today, but I talked with my friend Jordan on the phone and she convinced me to wait a few more days. Truth be told, I was concidering not signing in right away even before I talked to her. In any case, I did not sign in yesterday. My plan was to take today off to sleep in and then go down to Austin to shop for a triathlon bike. Unfortunatly, laziness go the best of me and I am putting off the trip until this weekend. After sleeping in until aroun 9:30 am, whereupon Jordan called me to discuss upcoming dinner plans with her and her husband, I headed onto Fort Hood to go to the pool and swim for a bit. When I got to the pool I found that it is closed until further notice due to some sort of trouble with the water heater. I hope that whatever failed is fixed soon because not having a pool to swim in will greatly hinder preperation for the sprint triathlon. Since running was my only other training option, and I had been thinking about going for a run after my swim anyway, I drove back to my apartment and went for a run.
   Today's run was a little over 7 miles broken up into 8 min run segements followed by one minute of walking. I don't know why, but my runs in Texas seem harder and slower than my runs in both Iraq and in Michigan. I usually save the fartlek runs for the days when I am not very motivated to run because it makes the time go by faster for me. Today I felt like I never got into the running groove. The good news is that ever since I bought I bought a new pair of running shoes I have not had any pain or discomfort in my ankle. My knees have been a bit sore, especially today, but I think that is due to my running slower and also most likely having gained a few pounds over the holidays.

It's easy for me to get overwhelmed right now by new people and by people i haven't been around for awhile, which is not unusual for returning solders. I've also spent 100% of my time surrounded by people in iraq for a year with very little personal time or space to relax. As result seclusion in nature actually sounds quite nice at the moment.

I'm back in the states :)

Achilles Tendonitis

Last week going into this week I was rather stupid and bumped up my running mileage too fast.  I ran 27 miles in four consecutive days starting Tuesday, with 12 of those miles occurring on Friday (in 2-3 runs that day), and then only taking one day off before running 6 more miles on Sunday. This past Monday I didn’t run, but that evening my right Achilles tendon started to hurt a bit.  I tried to ignore it and went for a 4.75 mile run Tuesday evening hoping that the pain would go away.  Although that may sound stupid, a few weeks ago (around the PT test time) my right hip was hurting when I walked/ran, but after a few days of it hurting I decided to run and push through the pain.  Mid-run the pain went away and hasn’t returned since.  I was hoping that would occur with the pain in my Achilles tendon.  No such luck.  Yesterday it still hurt when I walked and so I went to the PX and bought some bengay and some cushy insoles for my boots.  I also started taking some ibuprofen and the pain eased up a bit in the afternoon.  Last night I had planned to run approximately 8 miles, broken up into 8 min run/ 1 min walk segments. I started off slow for the first segment and the pain seemed to ease up a bit after a few min.  At 8 min I stopped to stretch, making sure to pay extra attention to the Achilles tendon.  After stretching for a few min I started running again, but found the pain worse than ever before.  Each time my right heel hit the ground I felt a stabbing pain in the tendon.  After less than a min I stopped running and tried walking, but it ended up being more of a limp.  I tried slowly jogging again, but the stabbing pain returned.  In the end I sadly went to the gym and did 40 min on the bike.  The pain is still there today, so I’ll probably head over to the medical clinic to see if they have any suggestions of exercises to do to help the tendon heal. 

It Is the Soldier

It Is the Soldier

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Poem by Charles Michael Province, U.S. Army

 

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Peanut Butter

I am addicted to peanut butter.  I realized this today when for dinner I sat at my desk and used a little packet of peanut butter as a dip for my 94% fat free kettle corn.  I also love to eat both fresh fruit and dried fruit with peanut butter, with one of my favorite snacks/desserts being sliced bananas on a peanut butter covered graham cracker.   I am not sure why I have developed a taste for peanut butter, because although it has always been something I’ve tolerated, I can’t recall ever having a passion for the food.  Also, it is only actual peanut butter or peanuts that I have a taste for right now, not peanut butter flavored things such as cookies. I think I shall jot it down as a weird quirk of mine, ranking right up there with my love of gravy during BEAST, especially on a piece of bread, as well as my love of a rice-tuna-cottage cheese-Texas Pete combination for dinner during crew season.  Later on I’ve gone back and tried those foods and didn’t find them nearly as appetizing.  

 

Less Than A Month

In less than a month from now I will be sitting in my new apartment in Texas enjoying the little luxuries of life such as:  seeing my familyJ; a fully stocked grocery store right down the road; the ability to drive my Jeep when and where I want; wearing my hair down with civilian clothes, earrings, and makeup; being able to cook my own healthy meals; no rifle to carry around all the time; no wondering if the latest boom was a controlled detonation or an indirect fire strike; weekends J; a place to live that has a real kitchen, indoor flush toilet and shower with hot water; a washing machine and dryer to use when I want/need; wearing contacts again (or maybe getting laser eye surgery); being many time zones closer to my family and friends; being able to spend time with my friends while wearing civilian clothes in a setting other than the DFAC; being able to go home in the evening and get away from the military world for a bit, or at least the majority of it;  clean drinking water from the tap; the ability to have an alcoholic drink if I want to, although I still don’t like the taste of alcohol very much; no longer wondering if this week might finally be a week where we don’t go on commo blackout; the ability to use the internet without having a time limit or waiting in line; a really cool cell phone (I have one picked out already that I want to get); being able to tithe right away; bookstores; going clothes shopping; not having to wear ballistic eye protection every time I go outside; baking from scratch with both a sink and even a dishwasher nearby; and finally, being home from Iraq!!!  

 

 

It's a Boy!

Congratulations to Meghan and Anthony on the birth of their son, Gavin James, on 03 October J 

He looks very cute in the picture of him on his birth announcement.

1st In A While

23OCT: Where to start?  I have not sat down to write in quite a while, mainly due to the fact that I do not know if/when I will post what I write.  The nicest birthday present I received was that commo went green on Saturday night and I was able to call home.  16 hours later commo went black again and we are still on it at this moment, which means that I can not post this entry until some later date.  I have a lot of pent up emotion related to all of the commo-blackouts, but have not found a suitable time, place, or group to release it. Last night some of my friends joined me outside my trailer to make s’mores and celebrate my birthday.  A few times our conversation turned to the recent events.  Although it is a very sad topic, talking about it helped.  A few days ago I made a list starting on 21 August of the dates and number of people for whom we’ve been on commo-blackout.  Dean called the list morbid, and it is very depressing, but everything was blurring together and I wanted to see if I was exaggerating everything in my mind.  I wasn’t.   

Yesterday I ran about 8 miles, but did it in 6 min chunks with a minute of walking in-between.  I’ve been trying to run more in the past few weeks because I tend to snack a ton at my desk.  Two Sundays ago I ran 11 miles, but did it in 4 min segments with a minute of walking.  I feel a lot better after I run, but then I go and eat a ton of unhealthy food and feel miserable again.  Those two runs are the longest I’ve gone on.  Usually I try for 3.5 to 5 miles a few days a week. 

 

Well Done; Be Thou At Peace

The event that everyone in my class has dreaded, but knew would eventually come, came to pass last Tuesday evening.   We lost our first classmate, 2LT Emily Perez, the night of 12 September 2006, to an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq.  She was a member of 204^th SB, 2BCT, 4ID (M). 

I heard the news from another classmate of mine, Abby, while in the DFAC for lunch on Friday.  The news of Emily’s death came as a surprise, especially because she is the first one of us to go.  Last year I was told about the supposed death of a ’04 grad, but from everything I’ve gathered it was a false rumor.  I didn’t want to repeat the news of her death to any of my classmates until I heard something more official, so when I got back to my desk I started looking up the reports from that day.  At first I couldn’t find the report and gave up my search thinking that it was a bad rumor, but later that day after receiving word from another of my classmates about her death, I started looking again.  This time I found the report and the news finally sunk in.  The rest of the night I was in a slight state of shock. 

            I didn’t know Emily very well while we were at West Point, but it would be hard to not have a few memories of her when there were only 191 other females who entered West Point in my class, and even fewer who graduated.  We may have been paired together plebe year in Combatives, but I am not certain.  Most of my memories of her are from Firstie year when she was the Brigade CSM.  Though we were not close, she will be missed. Her family, friends, and unit are in my prayers. 

           

           

 

More Pictures From Iraq

Required "Sitting In Saddam's Big Chair" photo. (Seem's like almost everybody has one of these).

Trying to demonstrate that concrete on concrete slides....but it was on asphalt.

Pictures From Iraq

Standing in front of a palace in Baghdad.
Enjoying the afternoon 110+ heat.

Why I Did Poorly in Enlish Classes

I really do not feel like writing at the moment.  I know I wrote that but a moment ago, but when I wrote that first sentence a question popped into my mind.  Do I over-use and miss-use the word “really”?  And if so, is it common problem found in the American use of the English language?  To figure out the answer, or at least hopefully figure out the answer, I am going to use the one of the great technological assets of the 21^st century…Google.  

My search on Google, titled “define: really,” lead me to the highly reputable (sarcasm) source of Google definitions: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&defl=en&q=define:really&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

It was at this site that I learned my usage of the word “really,” while not grammatically incorrect, is to be avoided since I used it as a vague intensifier. I now feel more educated; however, I am also beginning to question my grammar and usage of a long list of words in this entry. 

I have opened a can of worms on myself.  To being with, I have written in passive voice, as shown in this very sentence. 

Is my usage of the word “very” in the previous sentence yet another attempt by myself to use a vague intensifier?  What about my comma usage?  Should that be “use” or “usage”?  Should the quotations go before or after the question mark? 

Oh dear, this is getting out of control.  Time to change subjects. 

Yes, the previous sentence is not a sentence at all, but a sentence fragment.  Poor grammar, I know.

So much for changing subjects.  

That was another sentence fragment.

I promise, this time I will change subjects. 

On a side note, I almost used the word “really” in the above sentence, but edited out before I wrote the sentence.

Does that constitute a new subject?  I hope so, but it most likely does not.

 

_______________Official Change Of Subject Line________________

 

Throughout the day I often find myself running into situations where I am on one topic and it leads to a new question and/or train of thought, and before I know it I have completely digressed from my original subject of interest of study.  My total digression most often occurs when I am sitting at the computer because I have the ability to immediately gratify my desire for insight into whatever subject or topic arises by researching it on the internet.  If I do not happen to have a computer easily accessible when a questions arises, then I more often than not have my interest peaked for a moment but completely forget about whatever it was before I am able to research the question or topic.  This week I started writing down key words in a little notebook I carry around so that I can go back at a later time to find the more information on the topic. 

            A few of the reminder notes I jotted down were “Dorcas,” “Plass other writings,” “butterfly metamorphosis,” and “Zoroastrians.”

 Dorcas arose from an email one of my friends sent me where she began the email, “Hey Dorko.”  Her greeting reminded me of a similar name that one of my sisters calls me; that being Dorkiss.  I then remembered that in the Bible there is a woman named Dorcas, which led to me wondering what the name Dorcas means.  It turns out that Dorcas is Greek for gazelle. 

I would go into the significance of all of the other words and how they ended up being jotted down in my notebook, but that discussion would take far too long and be quite boring.  My head is beginning to hurt from thinking to much and too hard about something that, in the grand scheme of things, is of no importance whatsoever, and so I am going to step outside for a breath of fresh air. 

 

Violin, S'mores, and OPSEC

(04/05SEP) I will not be able to post this entry for another day or so, but I figure I may as well continue to write and then post it later.  I do not really feel like writing at the moment, but I am telling myself that by writing when I don’t want to write I am actually exercising my mind more because I have to think harder to come up with something to write.  My logic is most likely completely wrong, but at least I feel better.

            Yesterday morning the chaplain came over to my desk and asked if I had any pictures that I wanted to include in a slide-show that will play in the background while I play violin at the upcoming concert.  Though I do remember agreeing to perform in another concert and knew at the time that the concert would be in September, September was always so far in the future that I pushed the thought of it to the back-burner of my mind and only occasionally allowed it to resurface for a brief moment before I once again banished it to the “Task for sometime in the future but not soon enough to care about” list.  The chaplain’s request caught me completely off guard and I suddenly had to dive into the far reaches of my mind to quickly brush the dust off the event.  I have spent the past day trying to think up a piece to play, but I can not think of anything.  Perhaps I will resort to the same measures I used last time and enlist the help of my friend Rob.  I wish I could email him right away and ask if he has any ideas and/or if we could meet up to brainstorm together, but the commo blackout is preventing me from reaching him.    

            The s’more making party was a success on Sunday evening.  Seven people ended up coming, which turned out to be the perfect number because there were exactly enough seats for everyone.  There are still some marshmallows and plenty of chocolate and graham crackers left over, so there will most likely be a second s’more gathering.

            Yesterday CPT P pointed out that I do not talk a lot about my family on my blog.  I know first hand how easily information about a person and their family members can be found on the internet without any cost, having produced an OPSEC example for the commanders just a few weeks ago. I can only guess how much more information can be obtained through payment and so my lack of talking a lot about my family and mentioning last names of people is my feeble attempt to protect their privacy.  Of course, my attempt is most likely futile because if someone really wanted to know then they could still put the different pieces together and figure everything out.  

            My writing 1000 words a day seems to have developed into writing 1000 words every-other day due to time constraints.  I sit down and write when I have a spare moment, but then a task arises that I have to attend to and so I do not get around to writing again until the following day. 

            This morning I got up for a run and when I stepped outside I was pleasantly surprised to find that for a split-second I was actually almost cold.  The weather was perfect for running, although my run yesterday morning was better than today’s run.  On Sunday I ate lunch with one of the people on the praise team and we got on the topic of running.  I mentioned how I am not very fond of running and have never been extremely good at it.  He suggested the same thing that my Dad has been telling me for years, which is that I should try running for a few minutes and then take a walk break and continue this process throughout the course of my run.  Walking and running utilize different muscle groups and so I will be able to run further and for a longer time before tiring.  Although I do sprint intervals occasionally, I have not made a habit of going on runs where I take walk-breaks.  Yesterday morning I tried the technique for the first time and found that I enjoyed my run more and actually ran faster when I was running, though I only had time for a 50 min run.  At one point when I was passing a group of runners one of them called out to me that I was running at a fairly fast speed, whereupon I had to turn my head back and admit that I was only running for two minutes intervals and then walking for a minute.  It still felt good passing people. 

 

 

More Pointless Ramblings

Currently I am sitting at my desk trying to stay awake.  Last night I was the staff duty officer and my attempt to condense my inspections of the battalion area and my inspection of two soldiers going out on a mission miserably failed.  Due to the failure of my plan to do the two inspections in quick succession (there was quite a long time gap while I waited for the soldiers) I’ve been awake since 3:30am after having gone to bed last night around 11:45pm. I shouldn’t complain though because I was able to get four hours of sleep, which should be sufficient for one day, although I wouldn’t recommend making it a habit. 

            Usually I treat myself to a caramel frappacino from Cinnabon the morning after I have staff duty, but last night my friend Derrick made me guacamole and I proceeded to eat a good portion of it at dinner and even more around 4am.  Since my caloric and fat intake must already be off the charts for the day I opted to forgo the frappaciono and instead picked up some sugar free Rip-It energy drinks from the DFAC. 

            Happy September and Happy Labor Day Weekend. I am trying to think back to what I did last year for Labor Day weekend, but I can not seem to remember.  I know that I was in Fort Huachuca, AZ going through OBC, but can not come up with the specifics about the weekend.  The year before last, when I was a Firstie, Anne and I went camping in upstate New York over Labor Day.  I really miss Anne, camping, and upstate New York. This year Labor Day weekend is pretty similar to every other weekend during the past 9 months, but in order to try and make it a little different I’ve organized a s’more making get together with some friends for Sunday evening.  Not only will it be a way to celebrate Labor Day, but also a celebration of being a month closer to going home.  I already had the marshmallows, and yesterday I went to the PX and bought some chocolate bars, graham crackers, and a grill.  Today or tomorrow I’ll have to go back and pick up some charcoal.  Having an actual bonfire is not feasible since it is of course a fire hazard.  Plus, there is not nearly enough wood here to build one anyway. 

            It is much 8pm now and I am still at work, but that is because I noticed that the Michigan vs. Vanderbilt game is on TV.  I didn’t think I’d be able to see a Michigan game at all this year, but now I can say that I was able to see them score at least one touch-down this season.  I’ll rack it up to another thing I didn’t think I would do in Iraq.  My list of those things is becoming quite long (play violin, bake, knit, learn sign language, etc…). 

            Yesterday I didn’t accomplish writing 1000 words, but today I think I just may with the help of a loop hole.  I was tasked to write a short paper on the BN history and so I am counting what I wrote for that as part of my 1000 words, though it will not be posted anywhere. 

 

1,035

1000 words.  If I sat down every day, could I write 1000 words by the end of the day?  How long is 1000 words?  I’ve only been out of school for a little over a year and I have already forgotten the amount of time and space it takes to write 1000 words.  Before, if given an assignment of a certain word length, say 2500 words, I could immediately think of the number of pages of either single or double-space type that it would take to fill 2500 words.  Having forgotten that months ago I am now typing without a clue as to how long I’ll be typing. 

            Why am I writing 1000 words a day, you may ask?  Is there a certain end purpose to this all?  Well….not really.  I seem to jump from interest to interest every week or so.  One week its practicing violin, the next week its working out, followed by a week of studying for the GRE, after which comes a week full of baking.  More recently, a few weeks ago I was quite taken with pondering the topic of love, and then last week I took up learning sign language. My devotion to an activity usually only lasts between a few days and two weeks, and then after that I’ll take up a new activity though I will occasionally come back to my previous interests.  For example, I don’t practice my violin more than a couple of times a week now because the other evenings I’m either at the gym, baking, attending a briefing, or at a Bible study.  I suppose in the end I could argue that I am a more well-rounded person, though I hardly lack much of a depth of knowledge or expertise on anything.  Writing 1000 words a day just happens to be my latest ploy to make the time go by and keep myself, especially my mind active and busy.  

            319 words done, assuming that I don’t go back and revise or delete anything that I have previously written.  Will I allow myself to do such things as revise? I don’t know.  I pondered the question for a few minutes as I walked back from lunch and wondered if I should set any ground rules for myself, but the thought of rules seemed to hinder the freedom to think and write, so I dismissed the idea.  What will I write about?  I don’t know.  There are many things I don’t know at the moment. 

            This morning I went for a jog at 5:30am.  Although I don’t like waking up early and I am still not a huge fan of running, if I do have to run I would rather run when it is cool outside. At 5am the temperature outside was 81 degrees, and by 7am it had dropped to 77 degrees.  I do believe that is the first time I’ve seen the temperature in the 70s in what seems like a very long time.  The temperature is now once again up past 100 degrees, but the highs for the past couple of days have been below 110, which is another new thing. 

            524 words.  Perhaps over the next few days I’ll drop the required number of words down to 500…and then 200…and in the end grow tired of sitting down to write and forget about the whole idea. 

            My mind has gone blank at the moment and I can’t think of what else to write.  College football season starts this coming weekend, which also happens to be Labor Day weekend.  Normally I don’t care a whole lot about college football, but this year I am a tiny bit interested in the whole thing since it will make the time go by faster, though the only teams I care about are Army and Michigan. 

A couple of weeks ago I received a package in the mail from my friend Anne, who happens to be in Cambridge, England at the moment getting her masters degree.  The package was full of delicious food ranging from candy bars and short cake to dried fruit, but it also contained a book called “Jesus, Safe Tender Extreme.”  In the letter that she included with the package she wrote that she was sending the book along because she found it to be a refreshing and useful look at Christian life written in a common matter without the holier-than-thou and above-this-world attitude that many Christian writers tend to end up taking.  Though I’ve only made it to page 100 due to limited reading time, most of it done while eating lunch in the DFAC, I must say that I agree with Anne’s assessment.  The author, Adrian Plass, writes in a manner that elicits in me a feeling as though I’ve found someone who’s thought structure is the same as my own.  Not only is what he writing of interest to me, but I also enjoy the way he writes.  He’s genuine in his mannerisms, not trying to put on a front or pretend to be something that he’s not.  In particular I’ve enjoyed his description of a near drowning he once experienced and description of, “The little man with a notebook who lives at the back of my head scribbled busily away, noting with interest the various nuances of panic and fear, the exact sensations that accompany drowning, and the emotions evoked by the imminent loss of those whom you love.  He was just on the point of starting a new piece under the heading ‘First Encounters with God’ when I managed to struggle free from my trap.”  I often feel as though I myself has a little man in my head jotting down notes on whatever is going on in my life as to record them for later use.  Of course, I do not often get to writing, especially lately, so most of those notes go the way of my notes in real life and end up set aside to be forgotten.

I must admit that I cheated a bit with today’s 1000 words.  I wrote the previous paragraph, totaling 362 words, yesterday.  The commo blackout is finally over and so I may post this entry on my blog.  1,035.

 

August Update

Right now I’m sitting at my desk and writing in my blog instead of making corrections to people’s security clearance packets.  The packets are a constant source of frustration for me.  It’d be nice if I had received some prior training on security clearance procedures, but MIOBC didn’t touch on the subject and when I arrived at my unit everything was focused on the deployment. The person who was responsible for the whole procedure before I arrived in the BN is no longer in the Army, so my assistant S2 and I are stuck trying to figure out the process ourselves.  Since I haven’t received any training I’ve had to search out advice from other battalions, brigade, and the people who I turn the packets into back at Fort Hood.  Everybody has a slightly different version of what is required.  Putting together the security clearance packets isn’t a high priority for the other BN’s and BDE due to the fact that we are in Iraq and busy enough with daily combat operations.   

 

Yesterday I baked my second batch of brownies in the toaster oven my parents sent me.  These were chocolate caramel brownies with m&m’s on top.  Very high calorie, but well liked by the people in my BN.  The lack of a well-stocked grocery store makes baking from scratch a near impossibility, so I’ve resorted to using mixes and adding in my own touch.  The PX has carried brownie mix for a month or two, but of course by the time my toaster oven arrived the PX had run out of the mix.  Fortunately, I’ve grown used to the unpredictability of the PX inventory and so I bought a couple of boxes of brownie mix a few weeks ago.  The sad part is that I am now out of all of my mixes and will have to wait a few weeks before my small order from netgrocer.com arrives in the mail with a couple more boxes of brownie mix and a bread mix.  In the meantime I’ll have look at my toaster oven longingly and dream about when I’ll next be able to bake. 

 

A few days ago I was able to talk to both of my sisters on the phone.  I was very proud of my sister Heidi when she mentioned that she’s started to do 10 modified push-ups a day and has noticed and increase in her arm muscle.  She inspired me to work on my push-ups, because that is an area that I’ve never been very good at and usually try and avoid except for when I have to take an APFT.

 

My smiling while typing on the computer and fixing my hair has led some of the people I work with to believe that there is a guy that I like and am conversing with online.  I’ve tried to explain to them that I have communicated with some friends occasionally (hence the smiles because I like to hear from my friends) and that I fix my hair because it’s against regulations to have my hair flying all over the place, but my explanations have fallen on deaf ears.  The assistant S-3 went so far as to try and figure out who the guy is and concluded that he’s a 1LT in the aviation brigade.  He’s only about 8 months off with his conclusion.  The truth is that there aren’t any guys at the moment I’m particularly interested in, though I do enjoy talking to and spending time with my friends. 

 

Woohoo! It’s supposed to get down to 115 on Saturday.  Actually, that’s not much different than right now because it’s been 115-118 degrees the past few days, but still it’s on the cooler side of really hot J

 

Okay, I’ve wasted enough time and should get back to work.