Blah Blah Blah

June 11th - Saturday was our Summer Reading Kick Off Party! We had quite a few people come through and we had pizza at noon. We ordered way more pizza than was eaten so I went to deliver the extras around. I started at the police sub station but no one was home. Then I went to the fire station but they were off fighting a grass fire. So then I went to the senior center and conned the old folks into taking most of the pizzas. I still had a couple left after work so I swung by the fire station again and gave them the rest of the pizza since they were back from fire fighting.

June 12th - Sunday was my orchestra concert over in Carson City. It was a pops concert (train themed) that was at the governors mansion. It was a really pretty set up - right in the governor’s backyard (not that the governor was really there...) I invited the rest of the LC Librarians but no one showed up :-( However, the concert went crazy long since my director has issues shutting up and getting down to the playing bit. Overall, though it was a good concert. I was feeling a bit down when I got home, but I got to talk to my captain over skype which always perks me up.

June 13th - Nice lazy day until getting the crap beat out of me at jiu-jitsu. Sometimes those are the best Mondays.

June 14th - Happy Flag Day! I was surprised how many people didn’t know that flag day was the Army’s birthday.

June 15th – At work, the library crapper showed up again. He was being his usual creepy self and chilling at the computers. He had a towel over his lap and I thought he was wacking off. Though I didn’t see any hand movement so I didn’t want to go investigate. As we were closing up for the night, he stood up and all he was wearing was a long shirt and his boots. Both my boss and I were so shocked we didn’t know what to say! I did advert my eyes when he had to bend over... After he closed the doors, we called over to the sheriffs department and asked someone to come over. A deputy did and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when we told him all about our library crapper. We talked over our options of banning him from the library but came to no final conclusions. However, the deputy reported back to the sheriff and the sheriff made him go back and ban our crapper. Saga complete. I also had last minute changes for my wedding weekend that stressed me out a bit and made me all emotional and girly.

June 16th - It was a busy busy day. I was supposed to do rounds, but they decided against me doing it for some reason, so I worked in F-town until 4 and then headed up to Reno Airport. I flew out around 7pm to Phoenix (sitting next to a guy afraid of flying...) From Phoenix I flew home to Detroit! :-) On the second flight, I sat next to a guy named Steve from Bloomfield Hills who had been on my first flight. We had one of the most brutally honest conversations I have had with anyone in a long time. Very eye opening. And I slept on his shoulder and probably drooled a bit.

June 17th - My flight got into Detroit around 630 in the morning.. .yuck! However, my favorite brother-in-law was waiting to pick me up :-) He drove me to Royal Oak (stopping to get some excellent coffee) where I got to see Caroline and Euler and their house. I then borrowed Matt’s car and drove down to Saline to see Mom and Dad. 6 months is a long time to not see your parents! I showered and chilled with the ‘rents for a while before driving up to East Lansing. I completely forgot about Michigan Summer Construction and ran a bit late meeting up with Marie to go over wedding reception stuff.. oops! But DAMN! Marie lost 115 lbs for her wedding... it was amazing! It looked like she had eaten half of herself! Marie also is probably the most organized bride I have ever met. She had spreadsheets for everything. She also gave me a wad of “Oh Shit” money just in case. After going over the wedding reception stuff I bummed around EL seeing all my old favorite places. I walked through West Circle, the music building, DEM, by the stadium, and down Grand River. It made me incredibly nostalgic. When I was at MSU and walking in those places every day, I was a very different person. I had different dreams and goals and was on a very different path. Sometimes I wonder how my life has changed so radically and whether or not that is good thing. I wonder if I was to go back, would I make the same choices? Not that I have something against my life as it is... but, you never know what could have been.

After reminiscing, I met up with my friend Andy! We had dinner with Aaron and Amy and then the boys and I went to Crunchys. It had been WAY too long since I had been to my bar. We had multiple flights of beer and sweet nugs! It was great to catch up on conversation with the guys. I really miss all my friends back home. And our waiter was really nice and hot. So Andy tried to ask him out for me but he had a girlfriend. The only thing I truly missed from the night was getting pokey sticks from Gumbys. I also collected the MP3 player from Marie (since I was in charge of sound) and got triple the amount of chords I would need sound anything bad happen.

June 18th - Wedding Day! I got up, tried to pretty myself up and headed out to the reception site. I basically oversaw that everything got set up correctly and there were no misshaps. Konrad came to be my date and it was nice to see him and have someone there to keep me from being all stressed. After the wedding, people flooded the reception site. It was in the greenhouse so it got really toasty and people started complaining. In the effort to get fans working we blew the power and lost sound... right as we needed to introduce the new married couple! ugh I felt like such a failure. Lesson learned: I am not cut out for wedding planning! But it was beautiful and Marie looked amazing! After the pack up and clean up, I drove down to Milan to meet up with Beth, Bri, Kate, Andy, Laura, Dave, Laura, Brenden and Julie. We ate dinner, played lawn ball, sat and talked and overall had a fun and crazy time. It was so amazing to get to see everyone again! I spent the night on Beth and Bri’s couch.

June 19th – In the morning, I showered and went to breakfast wtih Beth, Brian, Dave and Laura t Big Boy. After hugs goodbye, I drove back to Saline to meet up with my family for Father’s Day brunch. :-) There was lots of hanging around and chatting as my family is apt to do. I had dinner with my dad at Bagger Dave’s (I paid and then got yelled at by mom) Dad and I talk about some of the most interesting things including the economy and his theories involving the politics. He dropped me off at the airport and I tried not to cry about going back to Nevada. When I was waiting in line, the guy in front of me (Kevin) recognized me. He apparently had been on my PHX to DTW flight the few days before. After going through security (I got to experience the full body scan for the first time... I also saw a few people opt out and get a very thorough feel up), I met up with Kevin. He bought me a cup of coffee and we chatted before our flight. I had more male attention in the airports this trip than I had had in the last 6 months in Nevada! The flights home were fairly uneventful, I tried to sleep as much as possible so that my drive back to Y-town wasn’t too scary.

Lots o' Army and the Return of the Chair Crapper...

June 1st - And back to work! After work I went to the dojo because I missed my class on Monday (due to it being a holiday….) The class offered was the cross fit class taught by the JPO. It hurt. A LOT! Seriously, I am way out of shape. People twice my age were kicking my ass (granted, they do this class regularly…) It was nice having someone egging my on while I was pushing though… its been a while since I’ve had someone there to make my continue.

June 2nd - My ass hurt from the cross fit class. And I had to do rounds which consisted of lifting boxes of books in and out of a truck. So not a good day….

June 3rd - work work work. I had story time in the morning which was horse themed. We made horse bookmarks with long yarn tails. I think it went over pretty well! After work, I drove myself back over the mountains for another fun weekend of army. This weekend we were in a hotel. My roommate was one of the French horn players. We also had an additional person staying with us (which I am totally cool with, but I wish someone had bothered to ask me first….)

June 4th - Army Army Army! We rehearsed our MPT in the morning and I ate lunch by myself (my bestie didn’t make it to drill). After lunch we had unit PT. I joined the running group but they spent more time talking then running so I just started doing laps around the track (knocked out a couple miles…)

June 5th - This fun filled army day was devoted to concert band – prepping for our big concert the following month. It did not go well. I personally only have problems with one song… but everyone agrees the commander is taking it WAY too fast. My fingers literally cannot move that fast. But I have the rest of the music down that some of the rest of the band is choking up on. The commander told us to bring our sleeping bags and pjs for next month since we weren’t leaving on Saturday until the music was correct for the concert…. Awesome…

June 6^th – had a stupid emotional, mind fuck type of day. I hate it when I get like that. So far the only cure that I have found is go to bed.

June 7th - Back to work! And to make it a fantastic day, the library chair crapper strikes again. Luckily I did not find it so I did not have to clean it! Yuck… It’s just absolutely disgusting! After work I drove over to Carson for my orchestra rehearsal.

June 8th - In the morning we found “cave paintings” in the bathroom from the day before. We think the work of the chair crapper, but that goes unverified…

June 9th - Since I was on orders, I had the day off of work so I got up at a reasonable hour and drove over the mountains to Camp Parks (3^rd weekend in a row…) There were a TON of cops our on I80… the entire stretch of highway seemed to be one big speed trap. I met up with my MPT midafternoon to have a rehearsal. We had replayed Garrido with a clarinet player from the Oklahoma band (the 395^th) Great player. Seemed to be enjoying watching our antics. After our rehearsal I went and found a hotel and relaxed for a bit. Then I got really girly and went shopping. Found a really cute lavender sundress for $15! For dinner I went to applebees and ate at the bar. I was watching some MMA fighting until it switched to some karate sport. Except that people didn’t fight, they just went through the movements for show. When the girls did it it looked like strippers without a pole who screamed instead of smiled… very odd! The Oklahoma clarinetist came and joined me for a drink and we had a fairly good chat. He wants to recruit me to his band solely to organize his music library!

June 10th - Gig day! Our gig was to play a change of command at the San Jose MEPS station. It was mixed serious so it was a bit interesting. It was sunny, but didn’t run too long. And they really appreciated us being there! Gave us certificates and everything! Boland got a field promotion with his! After a bit of a scuttle, I got back to Camp Parks. I stopped by and saw Leming at the combat medics school before driving myself back to Nevada.

May, May, May!

May 20th - During my lunch break I went to pick up Laura, Kate and Andy from the Reno Airport! It was soooo nice to get to see them! We picked up In ‘n Out shakes and I took them back to work with me. They chilled around F-town and the library until I got off work. Then I drove them the scenic route back to Y-town. We grabbed some pizza and enjoyed an evening of laughs.

May 21st – It was a fun filled day with my peeps J I drove us up to Dayton where we met up with Summer to go to Virginia City. Virginia City is this old town up in the mountains with a lot of old stuff. There was also a store with barrels of candy. I also had a deep fried snickers. Seriously, if you ever get the chance… have one!! So worth the 10 miles you have to run afterwards… After Virginia City, we went and saw the movie Bridesmaids which was rather hysterical though sad at points. When Kate was using the rest room, she overheard a whole bunch of old ladies who were horrified that Bridesmaids wasn’t a romantic movie. Then we went to the bowling alley to play the gambling bowling. Kate was the big winner of the night!

May 22nd – It was a perfect, lazy day J We watched movies, ate fattening food and played hilarious games. And blinged bracelets. Sometimes, it’s better not to ask. I took everyone to my Mexican restaurant and introduced everyone to sopapilla!

May 23rd – It was a rough morning. I drove everyone up to Reno and we had In ‘n Out (which was awesome!) but then I had to drop Laura, Kate and Andy off at the airport. It was incredibly depressing. The end. Well, then I went to jiujitsu.

May 24th – work work work.

May 25th – work work work HAPPY TOWEL DAY work work work

May 26th - I got to work at 7am and made sure everything was set up. The rest of the county library staff trickled in after 8:30 and we headed over for the benefits fair over at the court house. We picked up our info packets and took our seats. The guy who introduced me to the dojo in town turns out to be a JPO with gun and all. He had to be at the same benefits fair and came and sat down right next to me. I told him that court rooms gave me hives; he said he was in them all the time slandering his kids. The benefits meeting itself was pretty boring. My eyes glazed over most of the time and I still feel like I need every single type of insurance known to man. I did get some free stress balls and other fun giveaways. There was a drawing and I of course entered it. JPO gave me shit about it; he said that those knives were going to be his. Turns out I won (a blue ray player instead of the knives) so I got to give him shit. The rest of the day consisted of an all staff meeting (excluding a few key members who were sick). They of course gave me shit for the JPO sitting next to me. The other librarians believed he was trying to flirt with me because he kept fidgeting. I claim the benches were just that uncomfortable… think worst church pews ever. It was a long staff meeting but I think it was pretty productive.

May 27th - it was a fun filled work day and then I drove over the mountains for Army Time…. I met up with some of the other 191sters in the barracks. There were also another unit that was there with us in the barracks. They had set up a projector and were watching movies. With beer. Good way to stretch out after a long drive.

May 28th - Army, Army, Army. This was our makeup drill for missing the drill in April due to the budget crisis. We came, we practiced, we ate. After work, more eating.

May 29th - More Army Fun! For some reason, I was having an emotionally shitty day and I kind of shut down for a bit. After work I took a nice long nap and then joined Angel and the rest of the people hanging out with the other unit in our building. There ended up being a lot of drama with them which I am not happy to have been apart of in retrospect. Wish I had been informed of what was going on when people found out!

May 30th - Happy Memorial Day! We had a gig at the Presido over near the Bay (which was absolutely beautiful!) I was tasked for being the shot gun for the equipment truck… which everyone knows is a bad idea since I have no idea where I am most of the time and I am such a shitty navigator. Luckily the driver, SSG Clark knew where he was going (because the bus also left us behind too…) When we crossed the Bay Bridge, the toll collector tried to buy me in marriage from SSG Clark. It was incredibly strange…and creepy… When we got to the job site, Boland and I weren’t in the marching bit so we got to unload the entire truck ourselves as the rest of the unit fine tuned its entrance. (Go Double Reeds!) Then, when we were chilling around, a random SPC asked me what was with the pimp stick. It took me a moment to realize he meant the drum major’s mace! I guess pimp stick is as good a description as any… After the gig, I drove my ass back to Nevada (good decision!)

May 31st - Was my day off… my holiday! Luckily the library was closed as well so I could catch up on my sleeping and being lazy…

Or not so good...

April 19th - It was my first day at my new branch. It was overall a shitty day. Everything that could have been thrown at me to make me miserable, pretty much was. I cried on my way home from work. It was the first day that I I truly regretted moving to Nevada.

April 20th - Crappy day :-(

April 21st - And the shit continues..

April 22nd - Another shitty day. To make matters worse, my military commitment was attacked. Nothing upsets me more than when civilians start questioning and making comments about my duty. Luckily my chain of command and especially my UA have my back!

April 23rd - First non-horrible day of work at my new branch. It was just me and one other co-worker so it was pretty relaxed. Then I bombed down to Carson City. I grabbed some dinner (mmmm steak!) and then played in the Carson City Orchestra. We played "Morceau de Concert for Harp and Orchestra" by Camille Saint-Saens, (with harp soloist - Marina Roznitovsky) "Symphony No. 1 - The Romantic" by Paul Johnson and 'Tatarian Dances" by Elena Roussanova Lucas. Summer and her mom came to my concert which was awesome :)

April 24th - Happy Easter! It was actually a rather dull Easter for me. I really wish I could have been home to spend Easter with my family... my sister puts on an amazing spread for Easter!

April 28th - When I was unloading books, a guy came in looking for his books. He was wearing a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu shirt. He noticed me looking at it funny and asked if I did Jiu-jitsu. I said no, at least not a pure form but that I did Army Combatives. He told me that that was pretty impressive. I asked him if there was a dojo around here and he said yes! It was just down the street and he taught at it. He said I should stop in sometime.

April 29th - I slept in a bit since I couldn't work at the library (stupid...) and drove leisurely over the mountains to Camp Parks. I picked up Jeremy from the train station and then we hung out for a bit. I went to a party at my friend Max's (Jeremy didn't go because he was sick at had to study) It was a little awkward at first but I ended up having a great time :-) I didn't get back until fairly late (or early depending on how you look at it)

April 30th - Slept in and then had an awesome breakfast of bacon. My MPT had a rehersal for a good couple hours (our oboe player is a hell of an arranger! while the MPT suffered through some of my arrangements as well...) We changed into Blues and headed out to the hotel where the gig was. It was an AUSA ceremony. And it took fooooooorever... Afterwards, Macy got sprayed with gas and good times were had by all. I also registered for my 4th running of the Army Ten Miler! :-D

May 1st - I should have been running a half marathon, instead I drove myself home from CA. It was a lazy drive and day.

May 3rd - After work, stopped in at the Dojo and met with the owner (prior Navy) She told me all the different classes. I told her my background and she said "oh, you are the librarian!" Apparently, the guy who came into my library gave her the heads up that I would be stopping in.

May 4th - At work, we had a patron poop in a computer chair. I am not even kidding... After work, I stopped in for my first jiu-jitsu class. The class consisted of the instructor (black belts, combatives level 3), 5 huge dudes who were all active duty navy and MMA fighters... and me. It was intimidating! But I think I hung in there well and definately learned! And got some fairly awesome bruises and mat burn.

May 5th - Felice Cinco de Mayo!

May 8th - Happy Mothers Day!

May 10th - Since noone else was going to be working in F-town with me, Renee got tasked to work so we carpooled up together. I snuck in buying coffee so she bought us sodas for the ride home. It was a great day working :-) Plus I had an important phone call during my lunch break. I don't know if that phone call will pan out, but it was a good experience either way.

May 11th - My face hurt so much from all the smiling and laughing from the day before. The rest of the day sucked something fierce but I survived. Then had a good time at orchestra. We are playing a pops concert in June that is all train themed. I am actually surprised how many songs there are about damn trains. Some of them make my feel really young...

May 12th - I didn't do rounds due to a whole system wide implosion. Kevin (the one male worker at my library) brought chocolate and sugar for us at work. He was trying to soothe all the emotional females. Someone trained him well!

May 13th - Work work work and then I drove myself over the mountains to army time. Because I am leaving from F-town, my voyage is a bit shorter so I made it in about 4 hours. The 191st was sharing barracks with another unit so there was a bit of a mixup with things but we got things straightened out. Then Jeremy and I went out to Applebees (because I was hungry and he was sick of waiting in the barracks). The manager there was a pretty cool guy who had served a couple tours and bought our dinner for us which was really nice of him.

May 14th - A fairly late wake up since it was going to be a late night. I had to take the APFT (my first one with my new unit.) I was a bit nervous... I feel fairly out of shape :-/ I squeaked by with my weight (no taping!) and ended up doing:

Pushups - 31
Situps - 61
2 mile run - 16:27

for a total of a 245. Not great, but definately better than the unit's average.

After the showering and such, we had MPT rehearsal (where, yes, we did play Lady Gaga :-D) That night we had a family day. Which was kinda depressing for me since my family couldn't come, but some 0f the others there whose families didn't come either cheered me up by making me have fun.

May 15th - Another fun day of Army. We had lots of concert band and we got a new piece that I actually have to practice! (scary!) After army, I decided to try to make it home even though there was word that I80 was having issue with snow. I got to the mountains and then had to wait for a long while while they closed the road due to accidents. Finally they opened the road back up and instituted chain control. I was not totally awesome and could not for the life of me get my chains on. I was of course still in uniform, kneeling in the snow and mud with my arms wrapped around a tire, swearing at my chains when a guy said, "do you need some help, sargeant?" I turned and saw someone who was obviously military (the haircut is a dead give away) and said, "yes, thank you!" When I stood up, he looked at me and said, "I know you!" We exchanged dates and places we had been and it turns out that he was in my Platoon in Basic Training with me 7 years ago! Small world!!! It turns out he also works down the street from me at the reserve center. Anyway, I got back on the road and finally made it home early in the morning. LONG trip.

May 16th - My day off so I slept in a bit before spending a fairly easy day reading and cleaning before going to jiu-jitsu class. There was another female there this time who accidently punched me while we were rolling. Good times.

May 17th - Crappy day had by all. Enough said.

May 18th - work work work and then orchestra rehearsal.

May 19th - I rode rounds, had lunch with Summer and covered some books. Full and productive day!

May 20th - Today Laura, Kate and Andy are coming to visit me!!!! CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THEY LAND :-D

Ha! I'm getting better at this!

April 12th - Typical work day. After work I had trio rehearsal where I got fed. Yumi made the most amazing mango cake awesomeness!

April 13th - work, work, work. Then orchestra rehearsal.

April 15th - work, work, work.

April 16th - I worked in the morning, my last day working full time in D-Town. It was the first day that I hated my job. After work I drove down Minden. I had sushi for dinner (served by a guy who didn't eat fish... it was odd). Then I played my concert with the Carson Valley Pops Orchestra.

Quote of the night:

Clarinetist: "You were surrounded by men during intermission"

Me: "They were old."

Clarinetist: "Maybe one was rich."

Me: "Yes... but he'd still be old."

April 17th - I got up, went running and then went to Summer's house where she, her mom, Rachel and I built a fence and dug ditches in her back yard. It was soooo great to spend time out in the sun. Though I did get a bit burnt on my back. At least i'm not incredibly white anymore!

April 18th - Today was a pretty relaxed day. I just cleaned/ran/cooked/read/watched tv. That was about the excitement.

Army, Army and More Army...

February 23^rd – We had a rehearsal at night with the Carson City Orchestra with the soloist. The soloist is Andrew Sords who was a phenomenal violinist. And incredibly hot. And probably gay. But a really good player. I am a bit worried about how the orchestra is going to play... I hope

we play good enough...

February 27^th – 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

It didn't go great, but we all ended together. It was pretty rough.

Before the concert, my trio played in the lobby. It was freak'n cold but we played pretty awesome. And everyone loved us! We've been asked to play for other concerts and stuff.

February 28^th – I had to drive to Carson for yet another PHA for the Army. They originally wanted to send me back to the same place in Reno that f'ed up my paperwork but I put my foot down. So, I had my appointment and got my ears all checked out. Congrats, I can still hear.

March 1^st – 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 2^nd – 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 3^rd – Got Paczkis sent by an awesome friend back in Michigan! I actually find it kinda sad that Nevadans don't know the awesomeness of paczis and fat tuesday. They are missing so much!

I got out of work early and drove myself over the mountains to California. Mom was awesome and got me a hotel room to stay at since the Army wasn't ponying up for a room that night.

March 4^th – 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 5^th – We woke up early in the morning and got lectured by the Major. Joyous. Thoughout the rest of the day, our units showed up: the 191st, 300th, the 395th and HHC. I ended up meeting alot of people within the other units that I got along with and were fun people. Usually when bands get together there is rivalry and angst, but we all seemed to get along and worked well as a team.

March 6^th – 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!

I had to attend the CUB meeting that night which I was not a fan of. Then, I found out in the meeting that not only would I be running the 9mm range but I also had to run the m16 qual range as well since we didn't have everyone qual in one day (who the hell thought that was a good idea?) Giffin couldn't run the range again since she was in charge of the road march the next day for the Best Warrior Competition. Well, shit. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything ready for the next day.

March 7^th – 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 8^th – 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 9^th – 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 10^th – 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 11^th – 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 12^th – 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 13^th – 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 14^th – 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 16^th – 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 17^th – Happy St. Patrick's Day! And Michigan State lost :-( We always lose on St. Patrick's Day...

March 18^th – 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 19^th – 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 20^th – 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 21^st - 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 26^th – 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 27^th - 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 28^th – 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 29^th – still dizzy.

March 30^th – still dizzy, though not as bad....

March 31^st – 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:

1. I passed my 6 month probation (wahoo!) Now, its harder to get fired! (I think...)
2. 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....

Doing rounds that day was interesting in a bad way. There was tension and unhappiness at every branch. Nobody likes change. The one good thing is that every branch really wanted me so I kinda feel like I am in high demand.

April 1^st – 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 2^nd – 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 4^th – Today, I made a ton of bread and other goodies to send to friends around the world.

April 5^th – 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 8^th – 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 9^th – 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.

News Article

I met up with Summer and we drove to Reno to do a bit of shopping and then we went and saw a movie with Rachel (one of Summer's friends). We saw Hanna... it was odd. Very artsy with gratuitous violence.

April 10^th – 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.

New Year...

I know... I know... I am horrible on the posting bit...

Here is a summary of what has happened in the last little bit of my life:

• I had an amazing time at home for Christmas. I have the most wonderful friends and family ever. Period. I didn't get to see everyone and I hope to the next time I come home! (I will be home for 3 weddings so far...)
• New Years was going to be a bummer, but ended up being fun skyping with friends and drinking champagne.
• Budget Cuts are SCARY. There is a good chance I am losing my job since Nevada is poor. I am crying alot and think I have a perpetual stomach ache because of it.
• My Jake died. It broke my heart. I have never felt more alone then the week after he died and he wasn't there to meet me at the door when I came home.
• I've started training again. My two goals in the next couple months: run a half marathon in May and get a 300 on my APFT in April. Damn, I got work!
• I really love my new army unit. I'm pretty sure they think I'm some sort of psychotic spaz. But they put up with me demanding hugs every month. (You never know how much you miss hugs until you don't get any on a regular basis.)

I am going to try soooooooo hard to be better at the whole posting bit... :-/