Story Time, The Field, and an Epiphany

This last week the kids had their Halloween party at the Library Story Time. They both dressed up and had a ball! Baleigh went as Princess Bubblegum from Adventure time and Thor was none other than his favorite cartoon character Ben Tennyson (Ben 10). I was bummed to have missed it but the Army said I was going to the field so away I went.

Here's how a field problem in 2nd Chemical Battalion goes.

Monday 6AM: Formation to make sure everyone is accounted for. Once that is done release everyone until weapons draw.

7:30 Go to the Arms room (where they keep the weapons) and draw weapons and NODs (Night Observation Devices)

9:15 Formation in the Motor Pool (Large fenced in parking lot where vehicles are kept). WE are told that we will be moving ot the field by 1100. At 11:15 we are given a FRAGO (change in plan) that we can go get lunch but to be back NLT (No later than) 12:00. That doesn't leave me any time to go home for lunch so I have an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) in the Motor Pool.

12:00 Rolls around and most people are not back. about 12:30 everyone rolls in and we are told to lay out all of our gear in the parking lot for an inspection from the BC (Battalion Commander= big boss). WE got through each piece of equipment one by one to ensure everyone has the same stuff. Thankfully I had packed everything into zip lock bags so unpacking and packing went smoothly for me. We finished the layout around 2PM and were told that we would be moving out NLT 3PM.

Long Story short we finally left the Motor Pool at 6PM. Got dropped off 6 miles from our "camp site" and were told to find it and how to set up our base. 200 meters into the march we had our first "casualty"- he had over hydrated and not eaten all day. He was med-evaced and never made it back out to the exercise. Lucky guy is all I have to say.

WE spent the next 9 hours struggling through the underbrush of Fort Hood. There was a way we could have gone by road but instead our fearless leader wanted to take a shortcut - therefore adding on 3 miles and probably 6 hours of walking with an 80+ lb ruck sack on our backs. The BC finally took over and walked us into our patrol base around 3 AM. We were told that stand to (1/2 hour before sunrise when everyone is expected to be a the ready for an attack) was at 6 am and we had to have 60% security for the remainder of the night.

Day 2 was spent digging Fox Holes (a 6 ft long, 3 ft wide, 2 ft deep hole) for us to pull security from. We also had to go on another long walk ( no idea how long it was) to recon a village we were going to raid on day three. Night 2 we had to pull 50% security. Got about 3 hours of sleep.

Day 3  Got attacked by OPFOR (Opposing Forces) and spent about 45 minutes fighting that battle. Then we had breakfast, filled in our fox holes and were told to be ready to move out in 45 minutes. 4 hours later we left. We got dropped about 1KM from our objective and our Platoon leader did a "short" recon. It only used up the remaining hours of daylight that we had left. We started what we thought would be the final mission of the day right around 9PM. It was a horrible failure and then we had to make our way back to our rally point to pick up rucks and take them back to where we had just come from. When we finally made it back we sat down exhausted. That's when the boss dropped the bomb that we had one last mission - a 12 mile ruck march back to Ft Hood proper. I was put in charge of making sure every sensitive item was accounted for, everyone's feet were checked by the medic and that we move out in 15 minutes! 15 minutes?!. We missed our time hack by 2 minutes and I was severely reprimanded for that in front of 32 of my peers and superiors. I never saw anyone else get that lecture when we missed every other time we had had all week.

about 2 miles into the ruck half of my freaking platoon was about 1/2 mile behind the rest of the group. I attempted to put my slow people up front but then we were moving at a snail's pace. I am by far not the fastest person on this ruck by I was definitely in the top 25%. We had to take 3 stops before we even hit mile 5. I was not pleased with our progress as I just wanted to get home. Mile 5 is where I had a panic attack. I was doing fine physically but all of the sudden I was choking (on nothing) and felt like I couldn't breathe. I was freaking out and the medics had to check me out because I was hyperventilating. This happened twice over the next hour but I trucked on and finished strong. We started with 33 Lieutenants on Monday and by Thursday we had lost 9 to various injuries, over-hydration, De-hydration, heat exhaustion, and sprained ankles.

During this process I realized with complete certainty I am not a Ranger, I don't want to be a Soldier anymore and I am pretty much done with the Army. I am putting in my packet as of December 1st to get out of the Army. We have planned to move back to Illinois, buy a house near my family and settle down before the kids get into school. We will be home by June! Just in time for us to meet all three of my future nieces and nephews!!!! So excited!!!!

Big Weekend!

This past weekend was an absolute blast! My sister Hannah and two cousins Jess and Megan took a road trip from Illinois to Central Texas. The got down here late on Thursday night and I had a 4 day weekend so we had lots of time to "play". We rented a minivan so we could all ride together down to San Antonio on Friday. Just the trip down was lots of fun and somewhere along the way Hannah acquired the new nic name of "stinky bird" from Baleigh.

We toured the Alamo and then took a stroll down the riverwalk. It was nice to be out and the weather actually be nice for a change. Although it was more humid than I would have liked it was really pleasant. We had a late lunch at La Paloma on the riverwalk. I give it zero stars for service but the food was still good. We got dessert at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory before jumping on a river boat and taking a tour of the canal.

Saturday Jake and the kids and I got up early and went to the park for Barktoberfest ( a dog festival) - Porky had a good time sniffing all the other dogs and she got tons of compliments for being so beautiful.

The girls slept in and then we went on post and I gave them the "grand" tour. It was cut short by a rain storm so we went to the Asian market across the street for some entertainment.

We had Ben Ten Cupcakes and celebrated Thor's 5th birthday while we had family here as well. Thor scored some really cook Ben Ten guys that daddy picked out and kept a secret for weeks! WE went to Olive Garden for a late lunch and the waitstaff sang happy birthday to Thor - which made his day!

Sunday we just hung out and gossiped and had a really nice layed back girls day. The kids were so sad to see them go that evening.

Death in the Family

This morning we woke to find our dear Nikka dead in the laundry room. She had been acting off the last two days but we couldn't get her into the vet until this morning.  Jake and I dug a small grave in the backyard and we brought the kids out and explained to them that the kitty had died during the night and we had to bury her. Thor was non-plusesed and decided he didn't want to watch. Baleigh on the other hand burst into tears and has been crying off and on since the funeral. This is the first time that the kids have been faced with death and they are both handling it so very differently. Its so much harder being the grown up in this situation and having to deal with the details of death. We are now a family of 5.

Pumpkin Patch in Texas

We weren't sure what we were going to do yesterday but we knew we wanted to go somewhere and do something. We decided that the pumpkin patch in Moffat, TX won out! Following the directions from the website we drove for about an hour before we thought we were lost. There were no signs and we were in the middle of NOWHERE! Suddenly there it was! It wasn't what one would expect of a pumpkin patch after living in the Midwest. They had advertised a myriad of activities so we had high hopes(we shouldn't have done that because they were quickly dashed- lol). The pumpkins were under a tent on pallets next to boxes of Indian corn and a few stalks of corn for decorating. We headed away from this area because we already had our big pumpkins at home.

Jake had found 6 tickets in the parking area that afforded the kids the opportunity to each paint a pumpkin to take home. They had a ball doing that and it was great that it didn't even cost anything. Its always nice when kids have no expectations so they think that the simplest things are so cool. After pumpkin painting we headed over to the "petting zoo" and the kids were able to feed some baby goats and a llama. We couldn't be more proud of Baleigh being brave and feeding goats by hand here. She typically gets nervous when animals' mouths get too close to her hand but not this time. Thor was the only one to feed the llama. This was pretty much the extent of the activities at the pumpkin patch so the kids played in the hay pile for a little while and then we headed home. Baleigh even managed a nap on the way back.

6 Years and Going Strong

Another year has passed since I married my best friend. Last night we snagged a baby sitter and headed out to the movies for a little while. It is always nice to get away just the two of us these days. We love being with our kid,s but every now and then we need some US time.

I'm sure everyone wonders what their life would be like without their spouse or children from time to time and I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing. I could not be with someone more perfect for me. He is just the right amount of geek and normal, cave man and sensitive guy, husband and dad, best friend and adviser, comforter and motivator. Without him I am certain I would not have or accomplished many of the things that I have in the last 11 years. I am one of the luckiest girls in the whole world. I can't wait to see what the next 30 years brings- its going to be AMAZING!