Last Things

In 48 hours, I will be on my college campus. I will be spending my first night in my first dorm room with my first roommate (besides my sister, of course). I will have said goodbye to my parents and brother and will not see them until Halloween.

I'm mostly packed, but there are still a few important odds and ends to collect from their nooks and crannies where they have been residing for years. I have a fairly reasonably-sized pile of things in the living room. It's organized and I have written down where everything is, for easy access later. I'll be taking the back bench out of the van tomorrow, so the stuff will fit easily and nicely in for the trip up.

And I have begun to make a small dent in the list of people that I have to say goodbye too. No, actually, it's a fairly sizable chunk, but that doesn't make the remaining ones any easier. One of the hardest goodbyes, in all honesty (and this is going to sound terrible) is my doggies. Despite their silliness, I really do love them both. I'll miss Sam's snuggles in the morning and Wanda's snoring while she begs for food. I have said goodbye to my sister's schoolmates, who have really been my primary social circle during the last year. My Godsister was also at that party, along with her husband and very little baby boy. I have not yet said goodbye to the homeschool circle, but I hope to manage to tomorrow. I said my goodbyes to the work crowd last Friday and the choir on Sunday.

But I'll be back home before I know it I suppose. Thanksgiving is only a few months away and shortly after that is Christmas. Then there is the Easter holiday and then it shall be summer again. I'm not dying or anything :D

Visiting

Ever since Friday we have had house guests. My mother's sister, brother-in-law, and their two small children have been visiting.

We went to the beach and out to dinner on Saturday, went swimming in our pool and out for a picnic dinner on Sunday. It has been fun, but tiring. I woke up with a terrible cold this morning and am feeling rather blahhhhhh. But here are some pictures :)

One last time

It's my last day off. I'll never have a day off again. That's because my last day of work is Friday and then I'm done. Then the days when I don't work will not be days off, in the strictest sense. :D

My aunt and uncle will be arriving either today or tomorrow with my little cousins. It will definitely be an adventure. hee hee

This was funny...

During the encampment parade, Echo Flight (all girls) was marching just in front of Foxtrot Flight. One of the girls lost her shoe and scurried back, right through the middle of Foxtrot. I happened to catch it on camera :)

Encampment Graduation!!!

My brother can't talk at all, but he survived. He can make a tight rack, roll smiley face socks, and roll a shirt so it isn't a dead fish. He has discovered that he is capable of getting up at 0600 hours and only taking the time to put on his shoes before participating in PT. He can eat without taking his eyes off his plate and pivot his corners while drilling. For eight days, he was yelled, growled, and scowled at. He had his rack "flipped" when it wasn't acceptable, clothes thrown out of drawers when they didn't meet encampment standards.

But he also learned that drinking two Dr. Peppers in an hour makes him extremely hyper. And that at encampment dances, girls are scarce and must be searched for. He can do more pushups now, and flexing his arms produces a startling buff result. And he also discovered the value of a familiar face. One particular staff member was shouting and kicking things in his frustration, and my brother didn't care, because he recognized the guy.

He graduated yesterday with grand ceremony. Here's a picture of Foxtrot Flight:

The Agenda

Things are probably going to get crazy busy here over the next few days or weeks. So, if I don't blog much, here's a list of reasons why I'm not around:

- We're leaving in the morning to pick up my encamped brother from Camp SLO and will be gone until Saturday night
- I have my last six shifts at work Sunday through Friday (yesssss!!!!!!)
- My aunt, uncle, and two young cousins will be visiting the area from the 13th to the 18th
- I'm leaving in 14 days for TAC
- I need to pack for said college
- I need to say goodbye to all of my good friends that I'm leaving behind for said college
- i want to read the first five books of the Iliad again before I get to school

It's all fun and sentimental stuff, that I will definitely enjoy doing. I dislike saying goodbye, but I do enjoy the visiting that proceeds it. Car trips are not a favorite of mine, but the destination is supposed to be gorgeous. Work does have its pluses, even if I can't tell what they are while there. I'm stoked for school and everything that goes along with that. But it might make me superbly busy and incapable of blogging in a comprehensive fashion. We shall see!

Update from the front

From one of the senior members at Camp SLO:

Things are going extremely well. 186 cadet basics, 50 cadet staff, and 37 senior staff. No one from our squadron has wanted to go home. We've only lost one overall for medical reasons. A few have been allowed to call home, but did not end up going home. Our female cadets are holding up extremely well. Our male cadets seem equally strong. I try to keep up with our 144 cadets when I'm out and about, but there are so many. I have been partial when taking pictures, but fair.

The weather is a bit chilly today, but has been most excellent since I arrived on Wednesday. Deer come out on post at dusk.

I think the only complaint has been about the food. Not sure they're getting enough. Major Freeman hopefully will slip them more bread and water later tonight.

Lt Kler, I'm told, performed a typhoon inspection that left his flight cleaning up for hours. His call sign is now Typhoon Kler. The sad thing is that it was supposed to be an "instructional" inspection, not a real one. He missed the memo.

Major Ammenn and Lt Jackson have kept up with the others. Lt Natwick was extremely busy yesterday with the obstacle course. Only a few injuries, nothing major. I think after a while he almost gave up with safety prevention.

I continue to sew here; ripped pants, name tapes, patches, patches coming loose and hemming pants. It's been a great first encampment for me. Getting the weekbook together has been flawless thus far. My PAO cadets are amazing as is the videographyer. There will be video's when we return. The signal is not strong enough here to get them uploaded.

If you could, Sir, Please send out an email to encourage every one to go to this website and check out what is happening here. sq45.cawg.cap.gov/encampment.

#5

I was walking into the kitchen from the dining room, carrying a big bucket of water. My side job was to clean up the wine area. Since the wines are stored in sinks of ice, the melted ice runs down the pipe into the waiting bucket. So, since it was the end of the night, I was emptying the buckets. And this bucket was not light. I was going as fast as I could to prevent my shoulders from protesting too much. I walk in the door and I see someone's back in front of me. Recognizing the individual, I asked him to please move for me. And, because he is himself, he stood there, hands on hips, with his back to me. And didn't budge. I adjusted my grip on the bucket and waited. Eventually, I knew, he would get tired of his little game and move on. But it didn't get to that point. All of the sudden, I see an arm on either side of my head. Another one of my coworkers, seeing my plight, reached around my head and shoved the living obstacle out of my way. Thankful and relieved, I continued on my way (after thanking my rescuer) towards the sink. Then the funny thing happened. While my removed obstacle was swearing at my assistant, he started walking forward, but continued looking over his shoulder. Then he smacked into me. Really hard. Stomped on my toes and rammed into my shoulder. I yelled pretty loud (it hurt!) and he clapped his hand over his mouth. I could tell he felt bad, despite the fact that he was blaming this on me. He wasn't apologizing... I don't know if he's capable of stooping that low... but it was written all over his face.

Only 9 more shifts...

A Little Sunshine...

It's so tempting to gripe. And gripe and gripe and gripe. As a general rule, people who incessantly complain annoy me. But I just realized that I have been doing that lately. So, first of all, I want to apologize. I'll attempt to stop doing that. Second, I'll take some action. Here are a couple of things that have been adding extra sunshine to my life lately:

- a long visit with the twins yesterday. They are six months old and so perfect. Two little gerber babies, for that matter. Their giggles, smiles, and general babyness made my day. Life seems extra bright when you have time to spend with such adorable little ones.

- my move-in day is in 19 days! I'm so happy, but the reality still hasn't really sunk in yet. In all honesty, I haven't thought about the reality yet. I don't really want to, in a sense; that would probably make me too excited. Through the magic of facebook, I have been able to communicate with various members of my class. Some of them strike me as being very similar to myself. Others don't. But it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round. I am excited, nevertheless.

I really should be happy. Excessively happy. I have everything I need, and almost everything I want. No excuses.

Annoyed

I went in Wednesday with a sheet of paper in my hand. I had written down the days I needed off during the next week. I was plenty early - a week is what my supervisor told me. But, he threw me for a loop. He had done the schedule. And scheduled me on a day which I needed off. And it wasn't just a convenience day off for vacation. I need to go pick my brother up from encampment at SLO. So, I'm not going to be around. Period. No way. I'm going to be far, far away. I went through the list of people who weren't already working that day. Nobody wants to do it. Granted, it was a narrow list. Almost everyone is going to be out of town that weekend - three different weddings, family trip, etc. That means I only have one option: I have to call out. Basically, call that morning and tell them. They're not going to be happy, but my supervisor said I could, if I had to. And I have to.

But it makes me mad. I mean, he told me that a week was plenty. So I gave him a week and a half. He didn't tell anyone that he was doing the schedule early. He took off for Sweden the same day. I'm not really angry. I didn't yell or stomp around, or have any inclination to. It just annoyed me. Couldn't he have a little more consideration for the peons under him?