February 27th – Today we had our "French Passion" orchestra concert. We played:
- L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 by George Bizet
- Dolly Suite by Gabriel Faure
- Symphonie espagnole by Eduoard Lalo
March 1st – I was working with my director when I got a phone call from Matt from the 191st. Apparently, all the advanced party members of my unit cancelled last minute so they were looking for someone to step in. My name got picked. I asked when they needed me.
They said tomorrow.
I said no way... there is no way my boss would just let me go tomorrow. Matt said I should ask just in case. And shit, Theresa said yes as long as I still did storytime the next day.
Also, AAA thought I when I said Dayton Library she thought I said "Library Cocktail Lounge." Am I missing something?
March 2nd – Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! For story time I had a Dr. Seuss themed day complete with Wockets in my Pockets cupcakes. I personally thought they were damn awesome :-)
March 4th – I met Brian Williams early in the morning and we gathered our gear for AWT (yay...) The 191st has about as much gear as the 338th and its about as old and abused...
I drove down to Fort Hunter-Liggett with Brian. I drove - he talked on the phone the entire time which was really annoying. We made it to FHL in good time and checked in at range control. At 1400 we had a range safety class and I got to meet the rest of the advanced party from the 63rd (who had been there for days). I was hello nervous to meet new people especially because I found out that Brian and I would be running the 9mm range (well, shit...)
That night, I was on the SSG and up female barracks with only one other female: SSG Giffin who was hysterical. We ended up getting along really well (or else she just put up with me...) She was a wealth of knowledge and I spent all week soaking up as much info as I could.
March 6th – Sunday started with a bang. I was part of the range detail who went out early to help set up the zero and m16 qual range. Giffin was in charge with her bestie - Akbaroff. I was a range safety with a bunch of brass from HHC. The brass all gave me shit so I had to give it right back to them, including to a guy we called Captain America. I stayed busy pretty much all day which was nice. I know alot of people in the units who sat around all day and I would not have dealt well with that. After lunch I was sent over to zero (which I did quickly) and to qual. It was really windy and I'm a bit of a spaz so I only got a 32. I would have liked to have done better, but I was the high female score for my unit!
March 7th – I woke up insanely early to get everything ready for the day. I had all people crew lined up, including stealing Giffin's ammo crew lead by SGT Garcia (damn marine ;-)) We ended up running the qual range really well until we ran out of ammo. We got everything closed down and then got the 9mm range hot and ready. Our first rotation sucked. Hard. But after a bit of yelling and running around, we got the 9mm range to run ok. There was too much brass running around for me to feel comfortable. Though I spent the couple days trying to sell the Army Ten Miler to the 63rd. I was so glad when we were all done and I handed over the keys to the range. The rest of the week would be smooth sailing!
March 8th – I actually got to sleep in (well, sleep in in comparison to other army days). We got to do MOUT training. We were shipped out to a training site in the middle of the mountains. All the Californians were whining about how it was going to be cold and wet. I don't have wet weather gear and they wanted to know if I was going to be ok. I said, "of course!" It ended up being a beautiful day with beautiful weather. They are such pansies sometimes. MOUT training was actually a ton of fun. Originally, I had a hard time learning from our cadre but I finally figured stuff out. My four man team consisted of me (man 1), SPC Zcimback (man 2), SGT Kopping (man 3) and SSG Kapki (man 4) I was actually pretty happy with my team!
We spent all day outside and I learned a ton! That night at dinner I was walking with Matt to the DFAC when he ran into an old friend. A very hot friend. Wow!
March 9th – We spent the day doing SRP with the 300th. It was completely boring but I did get a living will. I also learned that the army still thought I was a Michigan resident. Annoying. However, all day I spent way too much time thinking and got really pensive and moody. At the end of the day I was fairly upset. Jeremy and I went for a walk and talked over things. There is a reason why he is my Army bestie.
March 10th – We got to go to the SHOOTHOUSE!!! My team was nervous but we practiced in the glass houses and then got to go to the shoothouse as Alpha team. Our first time through the shoothouse was rough. We had so much adrenaline pumping and we didn't work well as a team, but damn! It was our first time and we had an amazing time. That and I hogtied a dude. The cadre wanted to give me a rodeo belt since I was so fast. Our second time through went a lot better though we ended early since we had a safety kill. Zcimback was upset that he got us kicked out but I told her that I was much happier about her killing the guy with the IED before he could kill me and that she was the best man 2 I could have!
Jeremy blew his lid at the shoothouse and was absolutely furious about different issues throughout the day. For such a little guy, he freak'n is scary when he's mad. Seriously!
After the shoothouse we had an end of training ceremony. I got an AAM for all the work I did (which was kinda cool) and both the 191st soldiers won the best warrior competition! :-D Woot!
March 11th – The next morning was a lot of cleaning and packing up and saying goodbye. I had to go around and collect hugs from all the new friends. I wasn't looking forward to driving back to Camp Parks with Brian especially if he was going to be on the phone the entire time. He promised he wouldn't be on the phone and I held him to it :-P The drive wasn't bad. At Camp Parks we unloaded and put away all our gear. After we had an AAR with drama, drama, drama, I drove to Palo Alto to spend the night with Max.
March 12th – I spent more time in Palo Alto and got to meet a bunch of Max's friends from Standford which was fun. I got to see the Stanford Library (oh, the shelves were a mess...) and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.
March 13th – I started the long drive home mid-morning. I made it back to Smith Valley, took a brief nap in my car and then went to the Smith Valley Library's St. Patrick's Day fundraiser. I gorged myself on corn beef and cabbage. So good, but I was so tired. I pretty much collapsed and slept.
March 14th – and back to library work! I was pretty bummed out though since both my favorite people in the 191st wives were upset because of me. I wish they knew me better and knew that I am NOT a man stealer. I have been cheated on waaaaay too many times to ever want to make any woman feel that way because of me. It was such a sour note to end an awesome army week.
March 16th – The DSO librarians and friends had a March Madness bracket tournament again with Slow's BBQ as the prize. I put together my bracket which failed miserably (I ended up in 3rd place)
March 17th – Happy St. Patrick's Day! And Michigan State lost :-( We always lose on St. Patrick's Day...
March 18th – I worked and then had to drive to California again for more army. Snow hit pretty hard as I was driving - it was basically it was whiteout in South Lake Tahoe. And it only got worse from there. However, I was a bad ass and put on my own chains all by myself (and take them off all by myself) When I finally got to Camp Parks, I went out and had a drink with Jeremy and we shot the shit before I collapsed into sleep.
March 19th – In the morning I proctored an APFT for the unit. I was amazed how many people failed. It was as if everyone stopped working out for the winter. In Michigan, it is hard to workout in winter... but here in CA? Seriously? I also got lectured by one of the SGTs who thought I was leading too "mean." He used alot of big words to make him feel smart and it rather pissed me off. I am not a dumb person... ugh.... At lunch, we were going to go to Chipotle but Jeremy's car broke down and were stuck just inside the gate. Fun...
That night, we went out for Filipino food and then drank alot with our group of hotel goers. People are fairly hysterical with a bit of alcohol in them.
March 20th – In the morning, I got to teach combatives to my unit. I was fully expecting them to bitch the entire time and was absolutely surprised... everyone dived right in and seemed really excited to learn! It was so much fun to teach everyone especially since they were such enthusiastic learners! At lunch, we went to Chipotle and we ran into the the hot army guy who was Matt's friend (that I met at FHL). He came to speak to Matt sat so close to me that he was practically in my lap. He smelled delicious! I told him that I liked his wings and he saw mine and was impressed that I was a female who made it through airborne since pretty much all the females in his class didn't pass.
After Army, I drove myself to Chris and Elizabeth's in San Jose. They have a lovely home and they fed me an amazing steak dinner! I was so tired, I fell asleep while they were introducing me to the TV show Arrested Development.
March 21st - In the morning, I had breakfast with Chris and Elizabeth, they gave me 3 seasons of Arrested Development and an Amish Bread starter. I headed over to Camp Parks to take care of a bit of business. I watched the snow and weather and decided to head over on 50. They took chain control about an hour before I got there which was beautiful timing.
March 26th – There was something nasty going through the librarians everyone was sick, so I worked all by myself and then all my plans for the evening were cancelled. Which was kind of depressing, but I just lazed about instead of bowling or drinking.
March 27th - Today was my Army Anniversary. 8 whole years in the army. It is scary to think that I have been in for 8 years. 1 more year on my contract. We'll see what happens next...
March 28th – When I woke up in the morning, I was incredibly dizzy. Like I had an inner ear infection but my ears didn't hurt. I spent the day trying not to fall over every time I leaned over.
March 29th – still dizzy.
March 30th – still dizzy, though not as bad....
March 31st – Today, I was starting to do rounds when my director sent me a text and asked me to wait in Y-town for her. I was worried to begin with... what did I do wrong? It turns out she was just stopping me to tell me two things:
- I passed my 6 month probation (wahoo!) Now, its harder to get fired! (I think...)
- I am being transfered again. This time north to F-town. Part of me knew that this was going to happen, but it is still annoying....
April 1st – And Happy Birthday Mom!!!
I was bummed because under the old rules, I would have gotten to register for the Army Ten Miler, but now I have to wait a whole extra month. Annoying!
April 2nd – I got up, ran and went to work. After work, I met Summer and her family for Sushi (yayay!) and then we went bowling. It was not my best bowling night, but I had a blast.
April 4th – Today, I made a ton of bread and other goodies to send to friends around the world.
April 5th – I took some of the extra bread starter and made sourdough bread! It's much more sweet bread that sour, but it still very tasty! And the best news of all: the DSO is no longer on strike! After months and months, its finally over! :-)
April 8th – I woke up early to make sure I had everything packed and ready to go for a weekend of army fun. At work, my boss and I kept our eyes on the mountain passes (hoping they didn't start enforcing chain control.) I also kept my eyes on the whole government shut down debate. It was interesting to see how many people's BAs for the weekend were cancelled early on. The 63rd didn't get its act together to say yay or neigh. The whole day was a bit of a toss up. Eventually I made the decision to not try to go over the mountains until I received word one way or the other. That night, they made the decision to cancel BA - about 30 minutes before the government passed a bill to continue to fund us. Oh well. Guess that means 5 more weeks to work on pushups and hopefully lose 2 lbs so that I don't have to to be taped.
April 9th – I lazed around in bed for a bit until I managed to get up. I decided to completely blow my diet for the weekend and ate badly all day. I drove to Carson and went and saw a movie in the theater. (it was bad so I won't tell you which one :-P) On the drive, I got the most disturbing news. Laura's boyfriend, Richard, was killed early in the morning in a car accident. I can't even begin to understand how Laura is feeling and god... what a fucking waste. There is a special place in hell for drunk drivers. I am reminded of a certain ex of mine who had a bad habit of drinking and driving and I want to bitch slap him to the end of the earth. I really wish I was home to give Laura a huge hug.
April 10th – I haven’t really done a damn thing today. I slept in (until 8am!) and then lazed about and read most of the morning. Because I was planning on being gone all weekend with army, I didn't have a list of things to do. I talked with Kate on the phone and she said I am a bit hysterical when I don't know what to do because I just bounce around restlessly. I went running in the afternoon and ran 10 miles. My legs, especially my knees, have been acting up a bit so I am a bit worried about my half marathon (which is in a couple weeks!) but i think I will be ok. Probably not a PR but I need to get back on the race horse.
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