I have one weird thing to add about the whole elevator thing. Yesterday morning the upper three classes in my company had a meeting down in the dayroom at 6:20am. When we were leaving the meeting we could't use the elevator because it was broken. The door was open and I noticed that the floor of the elevator was a few inches below the normal floor level where it usually stops. In my dream that is a reaccuring thing, except the difference is a few feet instead of a few inches. That's usually the thing that makes me the most nervous in my dreams because in the dreams it's a sign that something is wrong with the elevator and it could go crashing to the ground at any minute and therefore I have to get out of it. The elevator worked again by the evening and I rode it up to my room after practice.

It's going to be a long day tomorrow that starts very early and ends really late. I hope I survive. At least there's OCF:)

Why do I keep having dreams about me being in an elevator and it breaking? It's not that it breaks and I'm trapped inside and can't get out, it's that it's on the verge of crashing down to the ground. I've had a dream with that in it at least twice. One of them was on Sunday afternoon. Does it mean anything?

Yesterday was a really good day. The SAMI in the morning really was more like Saturday AMI then a big huge inspection. That was probably due in part to the fact that all the firsties had the junior leader panels durning the sami and so none of them were around to inspect. During the sami it started pouring outside. Whereas my parent's we praying that it'd stop raining because the Michigan Parents Club tailgate area was starting to flood, Alyson and I were staring outside the window hoping that it would continue raining for awhile and were dissapointed everytime it started to let up a little. At the very last minute they called off the parade, but that was after they had us all form up indoors under arms. ESPN was here and they really wanted to have a parade.

Army lost 28-0 to USF, the score was 0-0 until the last minute in the first half. The second half I went over and stood with Annah, Anna, and Kristen and stopped paying attention to the game. After the game I went back, changed, and went down to the MI Parents Club tailgate. I got there at the tail end of it, but had to stick around to help clean up because my parents were in charge of it this year.

After that my parents and I went to the Schumachers house. Brian was there with his parents as well. I was hoping that Heather or Amanda would be there as well, but it ended up being just us. I love the Schumachers. They are such good people. We all talked for awhile, and both Brian and my parents told a few somewhat embarrasing stories about each of us. It wasn't as bad as when Leah's parents came up for her birthday. They left us with plenty of stuff to make fun of her for, all in good fun of course. I love my friends, and so do my parents, and my friends love them, so it works out really well. Last night as I was saying bye to them, my parents told me they thought I was friends with some really good poeple.

When I got back to the barracks I felt like watching the movie 8 Seconds, but James wasn't around and so I couldn't borrow it from him. I saw him a little later and told me that I should've gone out with brandon, him, and alyson because they had a lot of fun. Somehow that evolved into us starting to grapple in the hallway. He said that he'd beat me and win, I said he wouldn't. Nobody really ended up winning, although he claims that since I wasn't able to get him out of my chair that he won. We need a rematch.

Both WPR's are done. I have no idea how I did on either of them, but both of them served to remind me why I am not a Sosh or an APL major. I can't crap out pages and pages of writing. Even if I know the subject really well, I still don't write very much. On papers I'm usually the person struggling to meet the minimum number of words. I can write well if I have the time and put effort into it, but whereas a lot of my classmates are able to write 6 pages on an essay, I only write 3.

On a completly different subject, I think I have an eye infection. My left eye is a little red, although I think it's looking a little better than it did last night. Hopefully it's not pink eye. It's not itching, so I think that's a good sign. However, I'm wearing glasses today as a precaution. I miss my contacts.

My parents are here, although I haven't seen them yet and won't get to see them until this evening at the crew bbq. With them comes my laptop all fixed. yay!

Coach is awesome! His latest email to the team is hilarious:

There is a very good reason the USN uses big print on its navel boats. You see that branch of the service has the lowest literacy rate of any U.S. Government run program, lower even than toll collectors, the border patrol, and the people who hand out food stamps. Far lower than the Coast Guard, for example. The Navy needs those big letters on boats so that chief petty officers (now just stop for a second and think how ridiculous that sounds) can help secondary chief petty officers instruct the lowly seaman on how to read, e.g. a sailor on the Arleigh Burke. CPO to lowly squid: "Now son, you see that first big letter on our boat, the one that comes to a peak, and then slants out? It has a crossbar across it. That is an A which is the first letter of the service we all would be in if we could only qualify for it. You don't have to worry about the other letters, just take this mop and slop bucket and clean up the floor. That's what we spend 95 % of our time doing here. Just watch out for Ms. Ike Ord. She is a real b.
because the first part of her name sounds like that of a great Army General."
And that's the way life is in the Navy, and Heather, navel, boat, and floor are all intentional. What can one say about an alledged branch of the military that since it does nothing, clings to its quaint phrases such as gangway, bulkhead (really a better term for the Chief of Naval Operations) and deck?
BEAT AIR FORCE, if you can.
Best,
Coach

Today should be a Friday. It'd be great if it were Friday, because then I'd be done with both wpr's and the presentation. All I'd have left would be tennis, cs class, yoga with crew team lead by one of the lead actors in Xena Warrior Princess, crew BBQ, a little time with my parents, and then cleaning for sami.

My AFC shirt is very annoying. The shoulders are too small, and so I can't reach all the way forward, but the waist area on it is huge and always bunches up. My dress-offs don't stay.

God has done some really good things in my life recently. He's shown me that when I turn everything over to Him, it turns out a lot better than I could ever do on my own. I don't know how to explain how I feel. I guess the best description is that I feel at peace.

I miss New Mexico.

This is awesome!

http://www.pressaprint.com/som/WeSupportU2.htm

This is awesome!

http://www.pressaprint.com/som/WeSupportU2.htm

Today in English we were discussing Russian culture as usual and my teacher was once again trying to impress on us why the revolution at the turn of the century didn't work. In order to make his point he decided to use West Point as an example. For this he turned to me and asked "Is there anyone who goes to this school who you despise?" For a second I was a bit shocked by the question and didn't want to answer it, but I said "yes". He then asked "Is there anyone here that you want nothing to do with and never want to see?" Again I had to answer "yes". Alyson, who sits right beside me in class, was trying to keep from chuckling the whole time because she thought it was rather amusing that he had chosen to ask me those questions.

For the rest of the day the first question bothered me. Do I really despise anyone? The more I think about it, the more I don't like the thought of actually despising, loathing, scorning, or any related synonym. Those all walk a very fine line next to hate. I've found the more I focused on how much I dislike someone, the more angry I became and the more miserable my life is. Forgivness is an amazing thing, and so is prayer. If I could, I think I'd retract my answer to the first question.

I figured out the problem. I posted them to the wrong blog. Stupid me.

Where are the two posts I wrote on w.bloggar?

Stress level = very high
therefore,
Kate = easily annoyed and irritable
beware.


This week is a major Thayer week, and the worst part is that I didn't ever realize it until it hit.
Monday: APFT, Mil Art Quiz
Tuesday: CS Project 1 resubmission due
Wednesday: CS Project 2 part 1 due
Thursday: EE Lab IPR 2 due, English Paper due to Peer editor
Friday: Mil Art WPR, IR WPR, Cow Fitness Presentation,
Saturday: SAM Company BBQ (?)
Overall: 6 week grades due

Somehow I think a lot of weeks will be like this for me.

"..Wait for the guy who will make an ordinary moment seem magical, the kinda guy who brings out the best in you and makes you want to be a better person. Wait for the guy who can look you in the eye and touch your heart all within one glance... Wait for the guy who will be your best friend, who will drop everything to be with you at any time no matter what the circumstances are. Wait for the guy who makes you smile like no one else-- and when he smiles you know he needs you. Wait for the guy who wants to show you off to the world even when you are in your sweats, with your hair pulled up, and no make-up on... but appreciates it when you get dolled up for him. Wait for the guy that calls you his girl, makes it official, and tells the World... Most of all, wait for the guy who will put you at the center of his universe cause that's where you belong."

Done with the APFT. YAY!

36 Push-ups (90 pts)
73 Sit-ups (92 pts)
16:49 2-mile run time (84 pts)
Total: 266 pts

I think that's actually my best point total so far. Not my best push-up or run time, but it's the most sit-ups I've gotten. I got cut a few push-ups, but after I was done the CPT grading me said that my form was pretty good. Compared to some people my score's not great, but for me it's a personal best. Perhaps next time if I actually train for the APFT then I'll tab it. This time I really didn't train at all, especially for the run. If I can knock off 25 seconds, then I'll have the APFT tab.

I know I've been writing a lot more about God, my relationship with Him, and stuff like that....

I'll expound on that thought later. It's getting late. I need to get ot bed.

Today's been a really good day. At Church I sat with Amanda, Brian, and the Schumackers. Then Amanda, Brian, and I went to brunch. We stayed there for a pretty long time. Amanda and I were goofing around and Brian was giving us weird looks and making fun of us, especially when he found out that Amanda had an imaginary friend that was a panda with wings named Fuzzle when she was little, and that I had an imaginary friend named Bob that got ran over by a chicken. Poor Bob, may he rest in peace.

After brunch I went back to my room and took a nap, which ended when the fire alarm started to sound. The yucks and plebe's haven't learned that when the fire alarm sounds in Mac Short, instead of going outside you can just go over to Mac Long, and vice versa. It's very rare that both sides have fire alarms going off at the same time. Once the alarm stopped, I went back to my room and started reading for Mil Art. Tomorrow there's a quiz on the battle of York Town.

Instead of listening to my usual selection of Tim McGraw, Jimmy Wayne, or Staind, I decided to listen to one of Johannes cd's. Piano is good music to read by. Then I started listening to a Christian station on Launchcast. After a little while I noticed that I had a strong urg to start praying and worshiping God, so I did. That's never happened before in the middle of homework. What's cool is some songs that I know came on and so I was able to silently sing along with them and pray. Alyson was in the room and so I didn't want to bother her. It was a really good prayer time.

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus

This evening, after I had finished my mil art and IR reading, I decided to give Matt and Frank a call. I don't think I've talked to Matt since I was in New Mexico, or maybe I did right after I got back to school. In any case, it's been awhile. With Frank it's been even longer. I saw him for about 5 min when I was home the second time this summer, but haven't really talked to him since at least June. Sadly, Matt wasn't around and when I called Frank's house to get his new phone number, his sister told me he doesn't have his phone yet, but will be home tomorrow so I could try calling him then. Unfortuantly, I'll probably be at crew practice.

Tomorrow morning I'm hopefully going to take the APFT. Fun times.

Awesome song:

MEASURE OF A MAN by 4Him

This world can analize and size you up and throw you on the scales
They can I.Q. you and run you through
Their rigorous details
They can do their best to rate you
And they'll place you on the charts
And then back it up with scientific smarts
But there's more to what you're worth
Than their human eyes can see

Oh, I say the measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand
How wealthy or intelligent you are
'Cause I've found out the measure of a man
God knows and understands
For He looks inside to the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines
The measure of a man
Well, you can doubt your worth
And search for who you are
And where you stand
But God made you in His image
When He formed you in His hands
And He looks at you with mercy
And He sees you through His love
You're His child and that will always be enough
For there's more to what you're worth
Than you could ever comprehend

Oh I say the measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand
How wealthy or intelligent you are
Cause I've found out the measure of a man
God knows and understands
For He looks inside
To the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines
The measure of a man
You can spend your life persuing physical perfection
There is so much more
More than ever meets the eye
For God looks through the surface
And He defines your worth by what is on the inside
I say the measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand
How wealthy or intelligent you are
'Cause I've found out the measure of a man
God knows and understands
For He looks inside
To the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines

Oh, I say the measure of
The measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand,
How wealthy or intelligent you are
Oh, I've found the measure of a man
God knows and understands it
For He looks to the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines
Yeah, what's in the heart defines
Yeah, what's in the heart defines
The measure of a man
I know, I know

Abigail Van Buren:
The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back.

The worse things get, the more hurtfull things I hear, the more I turn it all over to God and draw closer to Him.