Two Weeks in a Nutshell

Can I just pretend that I haven't completely neglected to post in the past few weeks? Yes?

The past two weeks (in no order or proper format):

I'm going to Germany now. I swapped duty stations with one of the other LTs in my class. I'm pretty excited except that organizing a move overseas is going to be so much more of a hassle than tossing everything into the back of my car and driving across the country. Also, the idea of living off of only two pieces of luggage until the rest of my things are shipped over is a bit frightening. On the other hand, the blizzard in Denver makes me so happy that I won't be in Colorado.

We've completed our first week-long field exercise, Bull Run. It wasn't too bad, but the days went much longer than usual (partially explaining the lack of posts; I was just too tired and drained). If one other person tells me that I look lost, I'm going to scream.

I was platoon sergeant of the class week. No one could hear me, I got a million speeches from our TAC about being more confident and taking charge, and pissed off one of the civilians by telling him to shut up (I was in charge of the formation, had info to share, and he kept saying to just fall them out - I told him to shut up - it shocked the entire class, too). He actually complained to our platoon leader, but the PL just told me he thought it "was fabulous." The week ended with me yelling at the class to "get off their asses and move the rest of the shit" because we had a detail but apparently people were actually rather impressed/amused with me for lashing out and "growing a pair."

I have staff duty on the 30th - so much for doing anything over the four day weekend.

Since I'm going overseas, I need a recent HIV test, even though I just had one in August at Ft. Sill. Another student (he's going to Korea) and I went to the clinic only to later find out that we were in the wrong location. Since we were there, they pulled up our records online, and they decided I needed four shots - all of which I was told I didn't need at Sill but since my actual medical file is probably still in Oklahoma, I didn't have proof. Even better, I needed a pregnancy test before they would give me the measles shot which resulted in the worst blood drawing I've ever experienced. I got stuck 3 times before they got any blood. All I can say is that 7 needles in one day is a bit much. And I blame BOLC II. They should have let me hand-carry my medical records.

This morning, I spent two and half hours waiting for a five minute dental exam. I didn't even get a cleaning, and since I'm not stationed at Eustis, I can't make an appointment, either. Basically, I'm going to get sit around the medical office for another two or three hours next week waiting for a gap in the schedule.

I'm currently reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and I've been bringing it with me to formation because we aren't actually doing anything at the moment. One of my friends grabbed it today, read the back, and then said: "You know, they have new ones. Like Nora Roberts or Nicholas Sparks." I thought that was pretty funny. My TAC just said that he had to read it for an English class once.

There's a Cheesecake Factory in Virginia Beach. I thought that was exciting news.

Long Overdue Entry

So I definitely need to work on the whole updating thing. For the most part, it's just been more of the same: boring classes, instructors varying from "I kind of like him/her" to "What an ass," and going out with the class.

I ended up discussing the Army value of respect in my paper, and specifically addressed that the instructors here don't exactly treat us as fellow human beings. I even quoted the chaplain's note on the board from the first week - he's the one grading it, so we'll see how that goes. One of the other LTs said he should have written his paper about two other students: one as an example of selfless service, and me for personal courage since I "tore into the chaplain" in my paper. Of course, I did pretty well on the brief, so at least that will keep my grade up.

I was actually somewhat busy this weekend. Much like in college, we started the weekend on Thursday and went out to karaoke that night. We didn't have PT the next day so a few of us, myself included, took full advantage of it. We actually had three people unaccounted for the next day at formation because they slept through their alarms. We also went out Saturday night, but it was much more low-key, and I went to a concert on Friday night.

There's been a lot of high school drama here this week. There's a Christmas Ball this Saturday, and on Monday, everyone was talking about buying dresses, suits and getting dates. I didn't even realize that we didn't have to wear dress blues until that morning, so needless to say, I have neither a date nor a dress and am not going. As much as I would love to buy a new dress (but not shoes - I hate shoe-shopping), I am not about to show up to a formal without a date - going stag to my high school prom was more than enough. I am not about to do that to myself again.

Edited December 22, 2006: Okay, so I actually gave in and went to the dance. I bought a dress, had my hair and make-up done and everything. I had a date, too, even if she was the same gender as me. It was more fun than prom but naturally, I developed a stomach ache in the middle of the dinner so I had to cut the night short. I looked good, though.