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November 18th – I was delievering books to all the different branches when the library director pulled me aside and told me that circumstances had changed and that instead of working in Y-town full time, I was being moved to D-town. Which is an hour commute one way from where I just moved to. Needless to say, I was flattered that I am apparently in high demand but kinda pissed that no one thought to tell me this 2 months ago. I either have to factor 2 more hours into my really long days and gas money, or I have to try to get out of my lease and move. Boo…



November 21st - I was signed up to go to the Night of Writing Dangerously – the write-a-thon in San Francisco for NaNoWriMo. It started at 5pm so I left Y-town early in the morning. As soon as I got over the border to Cali, there was a huge baracade and they forced everyone to put on snow chains. The ground was snow free and dry. I was told that I, little lady, wouldn’t make it over the mountains with my little car. Needless to say the most amount of snow we drove though was maybe a half an inch at a time. It was sad how bad Cali drivers were. I was really nervous going to the Write-In. I figured I was either going to be the geekest person there or the most normal. Both could be weird. It was a lot of fun, actually. I sat at a neutral table and we all had a blast talking and writing. There was a cute waiter named Gabriel (who was quickly written into my story!) and a rather disgusting bacon donut that I got dared to eat. Plus there was an open bar and I was the only one at my table carded. The night ended way too soon!




November 23rd – It was announced at work that I was being sent to D-town to work. Chaos ensued. Its nice to know that I am so well loved already.

November 25th – Happy Thanksgiving! This started the very busy weekend for me. I woke up at 2am so I could shower and make a flight in Reno that left at 6am. I flew to Phoenix and then to Palm Springs where my friend Nick picked me up and drove me to my grandparents. Nick was subjected to the whole family… poor guy! At 2pm we went down the mountain to have dinner at my Uncle’s – there were 14 at the table and as it is with my family: we were loud, telling stories and making lots of jokes. After dinner, we drove back up the mountain and mom and I made a plan of attack for Black Friday. I was in bed and asleep by 10pm.

November 26th – Woke up at 3am and Mom and I started our shopping adventure. We hit JC Penny’s, Macy’s, Express, Cinibun, Burlington Coat Factory, World Market and Kohls. It was actually quite dead people wise. The longest line we stood in was at Starbucks. After we went back up the mountains with our goodies, Grandpa took me out shooting with him. We shot a whole bunch of different hand guns and I didn’t do too badly. Afterwards, I showered, had lunch and Mom and Dad drove me to the airport. I flew to Phoenix next to a fat cow who was totally in my seat the entire time. Plus it was a very small plane. When we landed, I saw no point in getting up because there was a long line of people in front of us and I’d rather not stand with my head at angle since I am so small. This just yanked the fat cow to no end. I explained to her that me getting up wasn’t going to make the people move any faster. She responded with “well, it will make me feel better!” I told her too bad. I am a snarly bitch when I’m tired and have to have someone’s sloth fat rolls in my seat. Finally we got off the plane and then I sat and waited for my next flight. A seemingly nice guy came and sat down near me and we chatted. He was a cop from Susanville. He asked for my phone number and said we should chat sometime. The rest of my trip home was uneventful except for the cop who pulled me over a mile from home because I did the widest turn possible. I told him I was tired and he thought I was drunk. I was just tired and he let me go home.

November 27th – I got up early and worked. Boo. But my Spartans pulled off a win against Penn State!

November 28th – I went and got a Christmas Tree for my house. It is rather ghetto looking and has a tendency to lean. And my cat keeps attacking it. Oh well…

November 29th – I went and had a rehearsal with the Carson Valley Pops Orchestra for the first time. They are a cute orchestra and the only other bassoonist is 94. I shit you not. And of course we played Lots and Lots of Christmas Music…

November 30th – With two whole hours to spare, I hit the 50,000 word mark for NaNoWriMo!!! Again, the novel needs a whole lot of editing and additions, but I made it to where I needed to make it in a month! And as I promised last year, next year I shouldn’t procrastinate as much!

December 1st – This was the first time I went to the Carson City Orchestra’s rehearsals. The orchestra is made up of a lot of the same people who pay in the Carson Valley Pops Orchestra so they seemed to recognize me. Lots and lots more Christmas music unfortunately.

December 2nd – So, I got to sleep in since I was delivering books and got to leave from Y-town. I mentioned that I had a date that night to some of my work moms in Y-town and then the rest of the libraries knew fairly quickly. MJ said she expected a full email report afterwards. I finished up work at 7:15pm and then drove myself to Reno to meet up with Michael the cop. We went to Outback Steakhouse (he was worried that I wouldn’t eat meat since I was liberal…) It was an awkward date. Let’s start by saying that he hates libraries. Seriously… he things that we as tax payers shouldn’t be supporting them. He thinks that the government is too big – that it should only be the military and roads. He doesn’t believe in public education. He thinks that parents should be responsible for teaching their own children since public education doesn’t actually work…. He also thinks Sarah Palin is smart. He also didn’t understand why I didn’t want a second date.

December 3rd – I worked in D-town all day and just as I was closing up the library, I get a call from my new army unit telling me that I should bring concert blacks since there are issues in supply and I might not be able to get blues to wear. I said NO. Seriously, I wasn’t going to drive an hour home and then drive FIVE hours over the mountains. If they wanted me to wear blacks, they should have given me more than 12 hours notice. It took 3 months, but this new unit finally pissed me off something fierce. That and I have a moral outrage against wearing civilian clothes while performing with the Army. I’ve been a soldier for nearly EIGHT years… I wear a uniform damnit! Needless to say, I was still sort of pissy when I made it to Dublin and showed up at the hotel so Czimback and Williams took me out for a much needed beer at the bar within walking distance.

December 4th – woke up kind of late and showed up for formation one minute before it started. So technically not late but I made myself do pushups in the gravel anyway since I would have made one of my soldiers do them if they pulled that. The morning started a bit Charlie foxtrot but eventually things fell into line. All of us without Blues (since there were supply issues) basically just pilfered supply with the help of chief and Garrido. If I was in charge of supply, I would have had a shit fit. The rest of the day consisted of lots of rehearsal. I felt like I was back home with the 338th rehearsal band. Lots of the band was falling asleep. Me? I almost tore a muscle in my abs from laughing so much. The two Jeremy’s and I spent the entire time making fun of everything and anything. Seriously, you shouldn’t have that much fun in concert band. Lunch was also a blast because I went with a group to a fast food Italian place and on the drive back I introduced the group to what a skullet was. (Side note… there is a woman in my library system to totally rocks a mullet! Femullet!!! I will be sneaky and take pictures!) After lots of rehearsing, we loaded up the equipment. I got to back up a truck (which is probably 10 feet longer than my book mobile so that was fun!) and we quickly got everything put in. We went back to the hotel and then Garrido and his wife Ruby took a group of us out for Philippine food. I think it’s my new favorite food! Seriously!! Try it! Then we walked to the bar and drank a bit. I taught one of the guys the coaster game and then there was dancing. And then there was a really awkward guy who came up and asked us how to fist pump. Much hilarity.

December 5th – Woke up too early and drove to Camp Parks. We moved out to San Ramon with all the gear to set up for the concert and do sound checks. I helped set up the recruiting booth. We ended up daisy chaining some electrical outlets together and I am actually really surprised we didn’t burn the place down. We had lunch brought in and my borrowed blues made it difficult to breathe. The concert went pretty well. There were some tuning issues and some of the pieces were just plain weird and not what I would consider army appropriate (I know… let your imagination run wild at the thought that I would consider something inappropriate!) What is really cool is that my friend Chris and his girlfriend Elizabeth came to hear me play J Hugs ensued. Afterwards, the army let me go and I drove my self back home over the mountains. Luckily I left when I did because it started snowing and when I was high on top of the mountains it was total white out. I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me. I probably should have stopped and put on chains. Or just stopped, but I figured I am a Michigan driver… I could make it. There was a really scary moment when a van right in front of me slid, half turned in the road and plowed into a little prius. I would have stopped to see if they were ok but my brakes locked up so I just slid right on by. I white knuckled it the rest of the way home.

December 6th – I woke up around 7 and finally pulled myself out of bed around 9. It was a lazy day filled with baking and trying to get a Christmas tree to stay upward. I think it is a ghetto tree because it likes to lean. That and Jake keeps attacking it and hiding underneath it. I do believe my cat is going crazy…

December 7th – I worked my first 10 hour shift in D-town. Plus 2 hour commute. Ugh. Work is fun though and the kids are very good at shutting up and moving out when I give them THE LOOK.

December 8th – Today, that numbers thing was all over facebook. One of my friends was totally all over it. Not wanting to be totally annoying, I asked him offline what we would say about me if I gave him a number. This is what he said:

I think you're magnificent. You're beautiful. You have an aura of confidence that is very sexy. You're a great soldier, a dedicated worker, incredibly intelligent and talented. I'm completely envious of your musical abilities. I love reading your journal and I wish you'd write more. I think you are a fabulous woman who is probably the best kept secret in Nevada

It kinda made my day :-)

December 9th- work, work, work, work, work. And I read a Child Called It. If you haven’t read it, read it. With a box of tissues. And no swords nearby to stab horrible people who do that to children.

December 10th- work, work, work, work, work. I read Such a Pretty Girl. Also a fabulous, agonizing book. How can someone do that to their children? Seriously! I need to start reading fluff happy books for the rest of the year.

December 11th - today, I am working. Then I am driving down to Minden to play a concert with the Carson Valley Pops Orchestra at 7pm. Slow day.

Las Vegas Baby!

November 9th - I actually got to sleep in a bit since my flight from Reno didn't leave until noonish. The plane from Reno to Las Vegas was a puddle jump (or would be a puddle jump if there was actually water anywhere) I met the rest of my new army unit at the airport and have much CF'ing, we rented vans and headed out to our hotel. I rented and got to drive one of the 15-pac vans. We were staying at the 4 Queens Hotel (yes, it does sound drag-tastic) which is located downtown at the "Old Strip" We got in fairly early and then had the rest of the day off so I tagged along with some of the guys from my unit. We walked around a bit and then hit up one of the buffets. Buffets are not all they are cracked up to be. Then there was more wandering around and some drinking and watching other people lose a lot of money. (I didn't gamble, I just watched. I was tempted on the Star Trek slot machine though...) Then I tagged along to watch some of the guys from my army unit sing karoke. By this time, it was incredibly late and I was surprising not as tired as I should have been (must have been the pure oxygen they were pumping into us)

November 10th - Woke up, showered, got some quick breakfast and got my van. We caravaned out to Nellis AFB for our rehersals. There were alot of band people there since it was not just members of the 191st, but the 300th and the 395th as well. We rehersed right alongside a flightline that we were NOT allowed to take pictures of since some pretty sweet planes kept taking off. There were 4 tenor saxes total (with me). We marched and played (Army song (NOT Army goes... that guy was an idiot..., National Emblem and Bravura) our way until lunch. For lunch we were released to do whatever so I took my van off post. We spotted a small diner and I pulled an amazing U-turn in my gianormous van... apparently in front of a semi... scaring all my passengers. After lunch it was more rehearsing. It didn't last all day, luckily. Afterwards, we heading back to the hotel, I showered and then waited for dinner with family! :-) I got picked up by Rick Myers and his son CJ. They took me down to the strip to show me some amazing sights at the casinos and then took me to dinner at The Capitol Grille. It was AMAZING! I had a fat tire ale, lobster bisque, sliced filet mignon with cipolini onions and wild mushrooms and ended with creme brulee. So wonderful! Plus it was really great to catch up with the Myers. CJ is a baritone player and thinking about college so I could relate a lot of my life experiences with that. Afterwards, they dropped me back off at my hotel. I watched a couple army guys gamble their money away and then went to bed.

For the first time in my life, I felt like a true Michigander. The weather was beautiful - the sun was out and there was a nice breeze. I was debating putting on shorts. People from my new army unit were shivering and in winter jackets. Oh lord...

November 11th - Got up, packed up and got my van. There was a slow troop movement to the parade. Then we got out, did our thing and got back to the hotel. We changed into civis and then drove to god knows where for a long line for a free buffet. Not worth it if you ask me. I got grumpy. Eventually we got to the airport and dropped off the vans. I hung out with the CA side at their gate before heading to my gate and flying home. Trip complete.

November 12th - Had to work way to early in the morning for how sleepy I was. I was grumpy. I also had to go down to the D branch to work the closing shift there. I got to drive the county car there (which definitely saved on gas for me). The county car is this old police cruiser with the spotlights and everything. A bit like driving a boat. In the D branch, they have a life size cutout of Elvis that they put in random places to startle each other. Since I was all alone when I was closing, I decided to hide him in one of the bathrooms to greet the librarians when they got in the next day. It was dark when I left and for the life of me, I could not find where to turn the darn headlights on. So, instead, I drove back to Y-Town with the spotlights on. I figured it was better than driving blind and dark.

November 13th - was my first working Saturday. It was fairly slow. Renee and I tried to have way too much fun ;-)

November 14th - Was a lazy day. I wrote NaNoWriMo (I am sooo behind!), did laundry and cleaned a bit. Went to bed early.

November 15th - Was another lazy day. I wrote and was organizing things when I found very interesting postcards from 1999. They are hysterical and I will have to share them when I see who sent them during Thanksgiving or Christmas.

November 16th - Today, as I was shelving books, I overheard two girls talking about what books to get for a biography project they were working on.

Girl 1: Why don't you do a president?

Girl 2: Eww! Who cares? I'd rather do Selina Gomez!

Wow... what is wrong with today's youth?

Also today, I learned how my shinangians from Friday turned out. I got a phone call from the D Branch and Summer asked, "Did you move Elvis?" I said, "Yeah! Did he get you?" Summer replied, "No... scared the crap out of a probation officer though..."

Then a cop came in to use the fax machine and we got to talking. Apparently, all the cops were wondering who the hell was driving a cruiser friday night with the spotlights on but no headlights. Yep... that was me...

Because Kate was disappointed...

The last couple weekends have been very different and fun...

October 16th - was the Italian Night at the Library.

October 22nd was the start of my Army Ten Miler weekend. It was a long day of flights - 10am Pacific to 10:30pm Eastern. I flew from Reno to Salt Lake City to Memphis to Washington D.C.

October 23rd - I got up at a reasonable time, showered and headed over to the Armory to pick up my race packet. Ie to watch the MSU game. The game was horrible to watch, but we won in the end and I got to memet a lot of interesting people along the way. After the expo, I caught the metro to Capitol Lounget more fun people at the bar. That night, I met with with the rest of the 88th band runners and we had dinner at a Tapas place.

October 24th - Race Day! I got up early, got ready and met the group down at the Pentagon. I started the race with Kim, but couldn't keep up, but I did better than last year by over 7 minutes - my new PR for the Army Ten in 1:45:57 After the race, I watched the award ceremonies - the mens and womens teams took 1st place in the Reserves. Then, I made it back to the hotel, showered, packed up and waited in the Lobby. Jamie and Rachel came and picked me up and took me out to a nice lunch. It was so great to catch up with them! Afterwards we got coffee and then they dropped me off at the airport. I watched TV on a very bumpy flight to Salt Lake City and I slept the rest of the way to Reno.

October 29th - Nevada Day! I spentthe day cleaning and running errands. I didn't get everything cleaned up before Grandma and Grandpa showed up. Oops! It was great to see them! I took them to El Superior for dinner so they could have the sopapilla. Then we watched episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

October 30th - we got up pretty early and I made Kieshe for breakfast. I took Grandma and Grandpa on a tour of Yerington. Then we came back to my place and watched the MSU vs. Iowa game. That was sad.... Afterwards I made dinner (baked chicken and mashed potatoes) and went to a Halloween party at the Drapers. I had a great time and met alot of new people!

October 31st - Happy Halloween! I woke up a bit worse for the wear in the morning and I made Potato pancakes for breakfast. Then I slept while Grandma and Grandpa went to church. I felt a bit better when they got back and then I took them to the museum in town. It was a fantastic museum - they loved it! Then I made dinner - Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding - for Grandma's birthday dinner. It turned out really good! Trick or Treaters started showing up around 5:40 pm. I gave out way too much candy to begin with and then had to switch to granola bars and fruit snacks. After the trick or treaters we watched Two Weeks Notice and had grandma's birthday "cake" - Strawberry Pie.

November 1st - started NaNoWriMo!

November 5th - worked all day long and then drove myself to Dublin, CA for army drill. I had dinner at Rubios. I Sent a picture to both Mom and Caroline and I got the same response from both of them within seconds of each other: Bitch. Got to Dublin around 10pm.

November 6th - woke up early and had a long day of Army. After work, I went out to dinner with a couple of people from the unit. I stayed up late working on my NaNoWriMo.

November 7th - The next day was more Army training. I was getting a saxophone out of supply when a spider as big as my face waltzed across the floor. I shrieked and the supply guy wasn't phased at all. My girlyness has reached all new levels. We got out early so I hung around for a bit before heading out to Emeryville to see David! (Who saved me from having to drive through snow in the middle of the night!) David and I went and saw MegaMind and had Rubios for dinner. Then we went back to his place and watched Up before I fell asleep.

November 8th - I slept in and then David and I had IHOP before I drove home to Nevada. Long drive and haven't accomplished much since I got home...

Tomorrow, I head to Las Vegas with the army to march in a parade on Veteran's Day.

Mistake Phone Call....

Today at work I managed to break the cash register (think ancient cash register). When one of my coworkers went to call the service hotline it directed her to another number which answered with "Are you looking for horny, hot sluts?" She hung up immediately and was afraid the police next door would come and ask her questions...

The cash register is still not fixed and is now ghetto-rigged so that we can still use it...

Sponsor my writing! Help a great nonprofit!

Hey everybody!

I am doing NaNoWriMo again this November (National Novel Writing Month) and now I actually live close enough to go to their huge write in party in San Francisco. The catch is that I need to raise money to go so I am going to shamelessly ask for donations! If you could spare a dollar or two I'd really appreciate it! And I promise to take lots and lots of pictures!

Here is the link to make donations: DONATE

or use this: http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1891&AID=937&PID=173840

Thank you in advance!!!

Recital Video

Here is the video from my recital at ALC (Advanced Leaders Course - the new BNCOC) This is just the portion where my MPT played. When I get time, I'll figure out how to put the rest of the recital up because it was just plain cool! I am obviously the only bassoonist in the video. The rest of the performers are SGT Thomas, SSG Lynch, SSG Holland, Me, SSG Streem, SGT Wiggins, SGT Fournier and SSG Walker (from left to right)

Also, the sound recording kinda sucks, so... I promise, we sounded better than that! Blame the technology!!

I FINALLY have internet!!

September 18th, was test day! We started with ceremonial conducting. Pre-music (I picked Men of Ohio), Honors, National Anthem, and the Army Song. I scored a 99.18%! Not bad for having to conduct right handed. Then we went outside for our mace exam, and I didn’t completely screw it up :-D I even almost rocked the stutter step! I ended up with a 95.5%. My SGL wrote that I have “lots of potential to be a DM in the future!” After all the testing, we worked on our MPTs. I got a bit pissy, so I went running after we got out. That evening, we invited everyone to Jimmy’s for “team building.”

September 19th, I got up way earlier than I wanted. I met with a group from my class and we all went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. It ended up being a good sized group – myself, Tim, Streem, Walker, Wells, Stewart, Braught and Fournier. I also met up with my ROTC Matt who joined us at Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens is a bit like a tame Cedar Point. We, of course, jumped on the roller coasters immediately. The best roller coaster was the Gryphon, by far. It was almost Cedar Point worthy. Fournier definitely puked after we got off it. We had lunch in Germany and watched their version of an MPT. I nearly got puked on by Stewart after a spinny 4-D ride. We got to see wolves and bald eagles at the park. And I apparently can not eat an ice cream cone and walk at the same time. Much pointing and laughing ensued. After we left Busch Gardens we went up to a historical site, but we didn’t have time to actually go and see anything. It was a long, but incredibly fun day!

September 20th, we started PRT at 0600. I pulled a muscle or something in my leg which was fun for when we played ultimate Frisbee. Our classes in the morning consisted of learning about Finale (I have to get the 2010 version… much awesomeness!) and Leadership. During our MPT rehearsal, the high brass of the school overheard us and threw a shit fit about us playing the Army song to the bass line of Kashmir. Apparently the Army song is sacred or something. We were banned from playing any variations of the Army Song. We became Wood, Wind and Fire Censored. I got pissy about this since I then had to completely re-write music for the group. Our afternoon class was sound reinforcement principles – basically, how to put together a simple sound system and how to run a simple analog board. That evening, my MPT had a run through of our music and then our whole class at a dry run-through without instruments.

September 21st, we had PRT – cardio this time. We had circuit training. I ran with Tim the entire time. We did Finale again in the morning and sound reinforcement principles in the evening. For lunch, Streem, Glass and I went to have Sushi! It was amazing sushi!!! Around 5pm, we got our “prepare in a limited amount of time” music. Some of it was ridiculously hard and way outside of my range. After we got done with the duty day, I practiced bassoon and t-sax for 1.5 hours and then went to dinner at Chipotle. My comfort food. Then I was back for more practicing. Some random kid knocked on my door while I was practicing. It really bothers me when people bug me when I’m practicing. Plus, this kid was obviously an AIT student and my ID in the door definitely says SSG. I finished up around 2145 and then went back to my room to stress all night.

September 22nd, I got up early and had breakfast before going to practice. I was super nervous :-/ My audition was at 910. I didn’t do as well on my audition as I would have liked. I ended up with a 27 ( I need a 24 as a SSG, but I was hoping for a 30). A lot of the people in my class were disappointed with their auditions. Now that I have done the audition once, I feel I know what I need to do in order to get a 30 the next time. I then had the rest of the morning off until our formation at 1250. Then we turned in our Finale finals (I got a 100%). Then we waited around for our sound reinforcement exam. I buddied up with Glass. We definitely played “When I Think About You I Touch Myself.” Our SGl said that it explained so much about me. I had dinner with Tim at the bowling alley and then went to our dress rehearsal. I managed to lose my ID tags (which I eventually found but after much stress and ridicule from the SGLs) The dress rehearsal went pretty late, though afterwards Streem, Walker and I ran out to get drugs for Wiggins and to get some late night taco bell.

September 23rd, I took the APFT in the morning. The APFT was optional, but as my mom says, nothing is truly optional and Tim, my voice of reason, said I needed to take it. Again, it wasn’t the best APFT I’ve done. I only ended up with a 236. Then, it was time for OUR RECITAL!!! Honestly, the recital went a lot better than I thought it would. I had a lot of fun and I will post the video recording of it as soon as I can! We had subway for lunch and then we did the video recording for Garven’s warrant packet. Then there was lots of counseling and paperwork. I ended up on the Commandant’s List (wahoo!) Someone from my class also nominated me for the leadership award and wrote some amazing stuff about me J My SGL also wrote nice things about me for my leadership eval (luckily, he obviously didn’t notice how many times I screwed up while I was the Class Leader!) After we got out, some of the boys and I went out to Smokey Bones for dinner before we met up with the rest of the class at Jimmy’s for “team building.”

September 24th, was graduation day! We started with a dress rehearsal and then actual graduation was at 10am. We tried really hard to be serious. Truly, we did. But between Stewart and Block not being able to walk in front, we all broke into giggles. I was given a coin by the Commandant which is pretty cool!


After graduation, it was hugs goodbye and then the 338^thers went to lunch at Fudruckers. I had the Bison burger. Then I got dropped off at the airport. Security was a bitch. They had such a huge issue with my bassoon. Through security I ran into Milbert and we people watched for a bit. My flight leaving Norfolk was late leaving. Luckily my connection in Charlotte was directly across the hallway. Then I nearly missed my connection in Phoenix. I finally made it back to Reno around 10pm (1am, Eastern time) It was a bit depressing that nearly everyone else had someone to meet them at the airport and I had to hoof it to my car myself. It was a really long drive back to Y-town.

September 25th, I rolled out of bed early to go pick up Jake from the kennel. I lazed about a bit and then drove to Fallon to visit the Walmart to stock up on supplies. Since I have no TV or Internet, I rocked out the dvds all night.

September 26th, I still have no Internet or TV. Long day. Big accomplishment of the day: running 6 miles to nowhere.

September 27th, I still rocking the by myself bit. Tomorrow I start my new job. I am really nervous and I hope that I do a good job :-/

September 28^th, was my first day of work. And it is a really cool job J As it is a small library so I am learning how to do everything. There are a lot of different little things to learn, but I’m slowly getting up to speed. After work, I got a phone call from the commander of the 191^st Army Band in CA. He spent 30 minutes trying to sell me on his unit. I felt like saying “you don’t need to sell your unit… I just want someone to take me!” Anyway, they have drill this coming weekend…. So I guess I’m jumping in feet first!

September 29^th, was my second day of work! I went on rounds with Mary-Jane which consists of taking all the transfer books to the other branch libraries in Lyon County. Y-town to Silver Springs, to Dayton to Fernley, back to Silver Springs and finally back to Y-town. It was fun going to meet everybody else who works for the county as well as unloading on and off the book truck. Yes, we have a book truck. That I have to back up… so far, no accidents! That takes about the whole morning, so when we got back, I took my lunch and then back to work.

September 30^th, I worked at the Fernley branch library. It is part of my cross-training. We started with a staff meeting and then got thrown into work. It was a lot of fun; the people in Fernley are hysterical including a librarian who goes to Burning Man every year and trying to start a library at Burning Man next year. I felt sort of special; they wanted to keep me! And I got to have sushi for lunch! :-D

October 1^st, I got to open the library all by myself. Well, I was there by myself for 30 minutes. It was a fairly normal day until after work I got in my car and drove 5 hours to Dublin, CA. It was a looooong drive, but I pulled into Camp Parks around 11:30 p.m. I had to ask the gate guard where the barracks are and finally got to a restless “I’m freaked out” sleep.

October 2^nd, I got up early since the 191^st was having an APFT. Luckily, I ran into some members of the band in the bathroom and they let me follow them to the band hall. Also luckily, I didn’t have to take the APFT since that would have made it APFT no. 3 in less than a month. Instead, I got to help with height and weight (got to be up close and personal with new people) and then grade some of the run. The rest of the day was actually pretty cool. I was really impressed with the 191^st and they seemed soooo excited to have me J More feeling really wanted! After the business day, I hung around for a bit (fed peanut butter crackers to a stray cat) before one of the girls took pity on me and took me out to dinner. We had some really amazing sushi and some good conversations. I was in bed by 8:40 because I was so tired.

October 3^rd, I woke up early again to help out with the next day’s APFT. The whole day with the 191^st was, again, a lot of fun. I tried my hardest to fit in and be helpful. Like my library, this unit has basically told me that anything I want to do is to run with it and they will support me. Which is fantastic! After the army day, I stopped by David Pelletier’s and we got dinner at Rubio’s (AWESOME!) Then I started driving home… I made it about 2 hours and got really tired so I stopped in a hotel parking lot and took an hour nap before I started going again. Then I got a flat tire. I got a bit hysterical but I called my mom and called AAA and a nice guy named Gary came and put my spare on. The bad news – there was no way my car was going to make it over the mountains on the spare. So, I cried, Gary gave me a hug and told me a place to get new tires. Gary actually called me again to offer my a hotel room, but I could accept it. Instead, I slept in my car in front of the tire place. Luckily I had a blanket in the car. Long, cold night…

October 4^th, the tire place opened at 7am and I had new tires and was on the road by 8am. And finally made it home by 11am. The nice AAA guy texted me to make sure I made it home ok and we chatted for a bit. The rest of the day was rather uneventful except that I got TV!!

October 5^th, I was back to work from 7am to 6pm. My boss was funny because she was happy I made it back!

October 6^th, was another day of work. Today I got to help Renee with story time so I got to all the moms. I told Renee that I had done early childhood music and she is totally psyched that I could implement it into story time.

October 7^th, I got to run rounds mostly by myself with my shotgun along for the ride. And I only made one wrong turn. After work, I got to go to a Tupperware party (I was invited by one of the story time moms) It was a lot of fun meeting everyone.

October 8^th, I started work in Y-town. We had a staff meeting and my boss brought donuts… I twas incredibly hard to focus on important stuff when there are donuts right in front of you! In the afternoon, I worked at the Dayton branch library. I got to decorate the library for Halloween and close all by myself.

October 9^th, I slept in and then ran 5 miles. Then I got to watch MSU WIN!! Fantastic game! J After the game I went to the music department’s big fundraiser: Oktoberfest! There was good German food as well as German beer. I got to meet the band director and his wife (a bassoonist!)

October 10^th, I lazed around most of the day, but I also made the trek up to Walmart (and of course had to stop for sushi for lunch) Going to Walmart is kinda a big deal around here.

October 11^th, I ran 6 miles and then got internet!!! Afterwards I went to the DMV and applied for my new Nevada drivers license. At 6pm, I started my gym stuff.

October 12^th, today I was back to work. I woke p with my arms incredibly sore from the gym. I helped organize our old microfilms today and compile of list of what all we have available. I was amazed how many old newspapers from the late 1800s – early 1900s that lasted anywhere from a couple months to a couple years. It would be a fun history project.

Aaaaarrrmy Training, Sir....

I have finally gotten a chance to sit down and write a bit...

September 10th, Dad got in really late! So, while he slept in, I went to Reno to pick up David from the Greyhound Station. It was soooo great to see him! We made sure to pick up In n Out for my parents on our way back to Y-town. When we got there, mom and dad had already started unloading the truck. It didn't take too long to haul everything out of the trailer. We started putting things away where they belonged. We had to take dad and David to our Mexican restaurant for dinner. Sopapilla!!! :-D

September 11th, was more unpacking and putting everything away. We pretty much got everything put away. The bookcases are all built and everything where it belongs in the kitchen. So, when I get home from army time, things will be very easy. All I will need to add is food. At 6pm, I dropped Jake off at he's boarding place. I packed and got ready for my army trip.

September 12th, I woke up early and rolled out of Y-town with David around 7:15 am; we drove to Reno and I dropped him off at the Greyhound station before I parked at the airport. I got through security quickly and then had to wait forever because I was flying Southwest. Ugh... I hate not having an assigned seat! I ended up between two skinny dudes. The guy next to the window and I had great conversations from Reno to Salt Lake City and then onto BWI. I continued onto Norfolk. I got in around 9:30pm. I had about 8.5 hours on the same plane... it was rough. Apparently it was just as rough for the flight attendants because their jokes just got worse and worse. I tracked down my bags then went to find a cab to get to Little Creek (a Navy base) I ended up with the scary cabby... He had only one arm and had no idea where to take me. I had to call my friend Tim to come find me. I had to do late check in, but finally made it to where I needed to be. The rooms we are staying in are really amazing! Kudos to the Navy! I get my own room with an amazing bed and an amazing amount of pillows!

Monday, September 13th, I woke up crazy early to get to weigh in at 0600. Luckily, class is literally right across the hall from where I get to sleep. Weigh in was a pain :-( I've put on some weight so I had to get taped which was a blah. After weigh in and a bunch of paperwork, I had breakfast and then was back for more paperwork. We did the traditional break the ice stuff and got to know each other. We talked a lot about the "new" MPT concept the Army is going forward with and how we will be implementing in our class. I somehow ended up Class Leader too (which means I have way more responsibility than I want!) In the afternoon we started to learn ceremonial mace work. Then we all brainstormed and created our MPTs. I'm in a woodwind choir (2 flutes, 3 clarinets, 2 saxes and me on bassoon). We also have a trombone quartet, a brass quintet, a percussion ensemble and a ska band. We have to perform an hour long recital next thursday (its our big group project). I spent the evening starting to arrange music for our new ensemble.

Tuesday, September 14th, we had PT at 0600 (well, actually PRT, since the army has a new program...) Its a bit weird, but I guess I will get used to it. I of course, have to lead the formation and be responsible for everyone (being Class Leader sucks...) After showering, chow and morning formation, we did ceremonial conducting. We have to conduct right handed (stupid Elizabeth Green!) Then we had a meeting with the Commadant of the school of music, a command sergeant major. One classmate was talking about how soldiers want to listen to new and popular music but its inappropriate for us to play due to the content. The Commadant said that we were playing for warriors so it was ok if our lyrics got a bit violent. I pipped up and said that a lot of new music was misogynistic and with all the issues with rape, that having songs about banging bitches was not appropriate. It sort of slipped out. Luckily he didn't blink an eye. The rest of my class all were shocked though. I spent the night arranging Lady Gaga music for my woodwind choir.

September 15th, we had formation at 0800. We were supposed to have our formation for the national anthem. I had everyone at parade rest for a couple minutes. No anthem... finally the cadre came and said apparently no music this morning. So, 28 people got to stare at my ass for way too long. The day continued with conducting, MPT rehearsal, lunch, mace work, and more learning thrown in there. That night, I arranged a couple different variations for the Army song including a waltz version, a blues version and a version with the bass like of Kashmir. The jokes about "banging bitches" has continued. Quite a few people have wanted to name their MPT that or the Sergeant Major's banging bitches...

September 16th, we started the day with PRT led by our first student leaders. It was a running day with Indian Runs. I joined the fast group and fell out :-( It made me feel pretty crappy actually. We did more conducting and mace work. Then we started learning how to use Finale (which I have a good base in already). I also got to have a lesson with the bassoon professor here. I really enjoyed the lesson. Its been too long since I've had lessons. She said she was excited to have a student that was actually excited to play music. I really hope I can get another lesson before I go. This was the first night were I didn't have any arranging to do, so I was completely lazy and just watched tv.

September 17th, today, we woke up and did PRT. It was a muscle day. PRT consisted of in 1 minute you do 10 pushups and then in the next minute do 10 situps. Repeat 10 times. OUCH! Needless to say, I am sore as hell now. Today was more lessoning. Tomorrow we have tests on our conducting and our mace work. I feel pretty confident, but who knows?

New Beginnings!

Some major life changes have occured:

• Graduated with my Masters
• Got a Job!
• Moved to Nevada for said Job

On July 27th, I got a phone call from my new library asking for a phone interview which was conducted on July 30th. They called me back the same day saying they wanted me to do an interview in person. My interview in person was on August 26th. August 27th, my new library called me and offered me a job :-D! My job starts on September 27th, which seems like alot of time to move unless you factor in the Army class September 12 - 24th.

So, I packed up all my belongings, loaded them up in my dad's trailer (with the help of Laura, Beth, Brian, Dave, Laura and Matt!) Everything was loaded by September 2nd!

September 3rd, my sister threw a Going Away Party for me at her place. Lots of drinking and playing with fire commenced.

September 4th, I went to the Michigan State vs. Western Michigan Football game to cheer my Spartans to victory one last time in person.

September 5th, Mom and I left Saline, MI at 5:30 a.m. and drove 1,200 miles to Cheyanne, Wyoming. Looooong drive.... even with 2 drivers... We stayed the night at a La Quinta which are pet friendly.

September 6th, Mom and I drove the rest of the way to Reno, NV (another 950 miles) This included a stop at Rubio's in Salt Lake City!!! The hotel we stayed at in Reno was not pet friendly, so we snuck Jake in and out of the hotel wrapped in a blanket. He was not amused! We went out to In n' Out for dinner and it was packed! It was filled with dirty hippies who apparently had just gotten back from Burning Man that is held out in the middle of the Northern Nevada desert. Mom tried to explain what Burning Man was to me; it sounds like a hippie art fair/orgy. The best part was that most of the hippies had their iphones, coach sunglasses and expensive, gas guzzling cars.

September 7th, Mom and I drove down to Y-town and checked out the town. We looked at 4 different places to live. 2 were very nice; 2 were incredibly scary. We settled on one and started doing the paperwork! Mom and I decided to try a hole in the wall Mexican resturant for lunch and it turned out to be amazing! They had sopapilla and they put carmel sauce on it. Heavenly. It was funny because the owner looked at us and said, "you aren't from around here... I know everyone from around here!"

September 8th, we snuck Jake out of the hotel for the last time. It is really amazing all the hiding places in a small hotel room that he can find... We drove down to Y-town again. I was in a suit and Jake practically insisted that he sit on my lap the entire way. Cat hair and nice suit is not a good look. I went in early and filled out all the paperwork for my new job with HR. Then I went into my library and met my boss. I am going to be working 4-10s! Then I went and signed my lease for the house I am renting. Its a really huge house! (Pictures coming soon... I swear...) Seriously, more space then I will ever need but it will cost me the same amount to rent this house as it did to rent my apartment in MI. And, my new house is 1.2 miles from work. Thats right, I can walk to work! And walk home for my lunch break. Granted, nothing is very far in a small town, but this is fantastic after my nearly hour long communte one way that I am used to. Mom and I moved into the house, with what little belongings we had. Jake spent the next couple hours hiding behind the refridgerator. For lunch, we went back to our Mexican find. The owner said "Hi strangers!" We spent the rest of the day getting all the utilites and whatnot switched and turned on. We had subway for dinner - I told mom that we shouldn't eat at our Mexican place for both lunch and dinner even though it is that good! I worked my way through some stupid online army classes until late. We slept on a blow up bed that we bought and froze all night.

September 9th, today, I woke up and went running in my new neighborhood. Came back to a really cold shower since the gas isn't turned on yet. Mom and I went up to Reno and ran some errands, including buying a new printer and a washer and dryer (for dirt cheap!) We, of course, had to have some sourdough jacks from jack in the box with mini churros. Tomorrow, Dad is coming with the trailer full of all my stuff (yes, I have way to much crap!) and David Pelletier is helping me unload.

Finished My Half Marathon!

Fitness:

2 April - Rest

3 April - Ninja Class (testing)

4 April - ~12 miles with Tortoise and Hare marathon training run (ouch!)

5 April - Rest (recovering from long run)

6 April - Ninja class

7 April - 20 minutes easy jog, Ninja Class

8 April - Rest

9 April - 20 minutes easy jog

10 April - Martian Half Marathon! :-) Ran the entire way (except for one stretch break) in 2:13:08

11 April - Rest and lots of stretching...

Books Read:

The Last Man (comics) by Brian K. Vaughan (finished series)

Days Until Graduation: 26!

Back again....

Fitness:

17 March - Rest

18 March - Rest

19 March - 6 miles

20 March - 2 mi with Jim

21 March - Rest

22 March - 3 miles (29 minutes)

23 March - Powerkick and Ninja Class

24 March - Ninja Class

25 March - Rest

26 March - Rest

27 March - Rest

28 March - 2 Mi @ 10:00min/mi pace, .20mi sprint + .20mi job (x3)

29 March - 10 miles on the treadmill (rough!)

30 March - Powerkick and Ninja class

31 March - Rest (Passover!)

1 April - Rest

Books Read:

Betrayed by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

Chosen by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

Untamed by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

Jobs Applied For: 8

Days until Martian Half Marathon: 9

Days until Graduation: 37

Spring Breaking...

Fitness:

14 March - Rest
15 March - 45 minute run outside around 4.5 miles
16 March - Rest (can't work out since I went to the red cross yesterday)

Books Read:

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
Marked by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. ~Carl Sagan

Update!

Fitness:

5 February - Rest
6 February - Army: group PT
7 February - Army: just stress...
8 February - Rest (Band concert at night)
9 February - Power kick in the morning, ninja class at night
10 February - Ninja class
11 February - Rest
12 February - Rest
13 February - Rest
14 February - Rest
15 February - 7 miles on the treadmill, (felt good!)
16 February - Power kick in the morning, ninja class at night
17 February - Ninja class
18 February - Power kick in the morning
19 February - Rest
20 February - 8 miles on treadmill (ouch!)
21 February - Rest
22 February - Rest
23 February - Power Kick in the morning, ninja class at night
24 February - Ninja Class
25 February - Power Kick in the morning
26 February - 4 miles
27 February - Rest
28 February - Rest
1 March - easy 20 minute run (first time in new shoes!)
2 March - Power Kick in the morning, Ninja class at night
3 March - Ninja class: Testing
4 March - Rest
5 March - 3 miles easy
6 March - Army: taught combatives for 2 hours (most productive thing we did all day)
7 March - Army: guarded a gate...
8 March - 10 miles on treadmill (> 2 hrs)
9 March - Ninja class (earned my yellow belt!)
10 March - Ninja class (Matt was in my class!)
11 March - Rest
12 March - 4 miles on treadmill @ 9:00 - 9:30 min/mi pace
13 March - REST!

Books Read:
Raven's Strike by Patricia Briggs
When Demons Walk by Patricia Briggs
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop

Jobs Applied for: 6 (in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.)

Martian Half Marathon: 28 Days
Graduation: 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 3 Days

Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content. ~Paul Valery

Catching up...

Yeah, I know. I'm terrible at keeping up to date...

Fitness:

6 January – Ran 3 miles on treadmill.
7 January – Ninja Class at 1900
8 January – Rest
9 January – Rest
10 January – Ran 4 miles on treadmill.
11 January – Ran 4X400 IW on treadmill
12 January – Ninja Class at 1900
13 January – Ninja Class at 1945
14 January – Rest
15 January – Rest
16 January – Ran 4 miles on treadmill
17 January – Ran 2.5 miles EZ
18 January – Ran 35 min tempo on treadmill
19 January – Power Kick class with Jessica at 0700. Ninja Class at 1900
20 January – Ninja class at 1945
21 January – Power Kick class with Jessica at 0700
22 January – Rest
23 January – Ran 5 miles on treadmill.
24 January – Rest
25 January – Rest
26 January - Power Kick class with Jessica at 0700. Ninja class at 1900.
27 January – Ninja class at 1945 – 2030 – testing day!
28 January – Power Kick class with Jessica at 0700.
29 January – PT lead by Dan. Pyramid workout (15, 30, 45, 30, 15 secs) pushups and sit-ups
30 January - Rest
31 January – Rock climbing with Jim ~1.5 hours at Planet Rock
1 February – 35 min tempo run on treadmill.
2 February – Power Kick class with Jessica at 0700. Ninja class at 1900 – received 4 colored pieces of tape!
3 February – Ran 3 miles on treadmill at a 9 minute mile pace (RP) at 15:30. Ninja class at 1945 to 2030
4 February - Rest

Books Read:

The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop
Dreams Made Flesh by Anne Bishop
Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop
Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop
Raven’s Shadow by Patricia Briggs
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

"My Karma ran over your Dogma." ~Unknown

Ninja Style

Today, for exercise, I went to Quest Martial Arts for my first ninja lesson. While it wasn't exactly a physical work out (we did a couple bear walks and a couple crab walks) it was very interesting. I learned some different punch moves (basically the jab and the cross from boxing) It has a very different mentality than the Army's combative program.

Book read: Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey. (An Arthur story from the female point of view so its rather depressing at the end)

"Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune." ~Kin Hubbard

Ouch...

Exercise: None. Arms and shoulders still on fire from rock climbing. I think I have bruises on the back of my thighs from the harness. Tomorrow, I am going to go to Quest Martial Arts to go get beat up. I'm excited :-)

Books Read:
A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris (short stories)
True Confessions by Rachel Gibson

I went to work today. First time in weeks. I was very productive :-) It felt tremendously good :-)


"Confusion is always the most honest response." ~Marty Indik

Day 2

I went rock climbing with Jim. Needless to say it kicked my ass. I will be sore. It was my exercise for the day.

Book finished: Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Happy New Year!

I have decided that I want to keep a blog this year for a couple different purposes:

• to track my running and other fitness activities
• to keep people up to date with my graduating-job-searching life
• to rant like any good American should

I hope to be fairly regular with my postings but who exactly knows how that will go!

Anyway, new years resolutions:

• Find a job. I graduate 7 May with my Masters and I'd rather not be homeless
• Keep track of my fiances and spending. Not that I'm bad with money, but one can always be better.
• Run another half marathon. I ran my first this past year (Detroit Half on 18 October - in about 2 hours 15 minutes) and I'd like to do it again. Hopefully faster.

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound as they fly by." ~Douglas Adams