Bugle Call

It is early in the morning. Maybe not early by some people's standards, but early enough for me to still feel fuzzy around the edges. Dereck and I left my car on post yesterday afternoon, and as a result, I got the privilege of going on post with him this morning, and the rest of the entire state of Missouri(from the looks of the crowd at the front gate). I thought I was doing pretty well in being awake and looking perky till the gate guard asked if Dereck was taking me hostage. I asked him if my uncombed hair is what gave it away. True story. On the plus side, I did learn that Ft. Leonard Wood is capable of rush hour, something I would have lost a bet on beforehand. Part of me secretly wants to crawl back under the covers and close the curtains that I think they borrowed from Alaska (ala "blackout"). The other part of me has already put clothes in the washing machine downstairs and knows they will be done just as I managed to fall asleep again. Clothes seem to multiply and need to be washed much more often than when it was just me and my little contained life. Now I have ACUs and tan colored things running amuck in my room all the time. Sometimes I wonder if all of my belongings will begin to look like they are missing with the camouflage spread around. Maybe that is a good excuse to use later in life when things go missing. Not my fault, the camo is masking it all under a uniform blob.

One thing that I love about my living arrangements right now at the Extended Stay would be that I can hear half of the US Army leave their rooms at two distinct times every morning thanks to slamming doors. Most of the Army life revolves around these set times that provide structure to the day, and if I was living on post right now, the noises would be even louder and more frequent, like bugle call in the wee hours of the morning and the lowering of the flag at 5pm with trumpets over loud speakers. When I was younger the bugle would normally sound about 30min before my alarm, so if I ever did hear it I knew that I still had some precious sleep. Right now though, I have learned that 5:15am is the time of choice to leave if someone has PT (physical training, workouts, etc), and 7:05am is the next popular choice for people that are taking "gentleman's courses" without a PT requirement. Dereck falls into the latter of the two, so normally I only get to hear the 7:05am rush, with doors slamming and that familiar swish of the ACU pant as people head out for work.

This week I have undertaken the task of trying to make a dent in my wedding thank-you letters. Woe to any person that has to write them, and my apologies to the people that get them from me when I am in the middle of the stack. I am beginning to think that these things are like bunny rabbits. I get a few done and then my mom calls with 15 more that came in the mail, like yesterday. I wrote 21, and still have 80 odd ones to write, and this is all "wedding day and after" letters. The two months beforehand had a steady stream of letters going out each week in my attempt to tame the pile to a manageable size. Don't get me wrong, I love writing thank-you letters to people I know and can put a personal message on. It's the parents' friends and coworkers that are the tricky ones. Too late for holiday and new year notes, the average three sentences became stretched and, sometimes I fear, contrite. It all makes me much more sympathetic to the future thank-you letters I will receive post-wedding. The poor girl, she can't be witty, her hand is about to fall asleep while her mind is already fast gone. Stamps are expensive too, so while I am super super super appreciative of everything I have been blessed with, I feel like the work load and stamp expense even the playing field.

Besides writing my little hand off, I have been reading a great book I found at the library during my adventure there Sunday, pondering ways to revolutionize micro-lending alongside Grameen and the World Bank, and drafting my post-doctorate thesis on how B2B marketing will revolutionize the way businesses interact in the future, sketches of space-age rocket cars included. Dereck and I have also been cooking every night, and we had a re-match of Scrabble after my last domination, where he killed me. I blame my attention span and inability to spell- he won't let me use a dictionary! Perhaps it is because he knows I try to make-up words and bluff them as real until he calls me. Some people call it cheating, I call it "strategizing," to quote George W. The absolute highlight of the week though has been the addition of TV sets to each cardio machine at the gym. I think this is a sweet victory to me because they came after I started using the gym, making it feel much more like a reward than expectation. Yesterday I got to watch a girl try to become high school prom queen while climbing mountains on my stationary bike, and if that isn't motivating, what is? All joking aside though, I am very pumped about this whole business and would like to thank the MWR for digging down enough to not be cheap with Army families. I even watched some groups doing PT in the gym yesterday afternoon from an indoor track on the top and decided that I like my workouts much better than jump-roping, sit-ups, push-ups, and bridges with someone yelling rotate every minute or so.

Last night I met about 15 people that Dereck has known through EBOLC and EOCA, the school he did and the school he is now doing. It was some guy's birthday, but with everyone having the same haircut, things get a little confusing in a few moments. It was odd to be around Army guys, the guys who eat, sleep, and drink Army, and something I hadn't been subject to since my dad was active duty. I found that I had to go back to a mentality of being coolly disattached yet intensely interested that I haven't used since Kileen High School, and it took a bit to get back in the swing of the chatter, half of which never makes sense to the people outside the school or place or service branch. All said though, it was great to meet people and socially interact with Dereck next to me instead of across the country. Small glimpse of the life ahead and the life behind. I feel like I need to stretch and get ready again, to shake off the cobwebs and give myself a big "atta girl."

On the plus side, Dereck heard from the people he is going to be working under at Lewis, and he is very excited. Of course the Army being what it is, this could all change the day we move into our housing, but for now things are looking up for the Kennedys. Now I am praying that we can get housing. That would mean no utility bills, free maintenance, no rent, and no fiscal responsibility for selling the place, and the camaraderie of living around other like-minded families. I am optimistic about Lewis so far, and pray the trend continues. All that stands between me and the West Coast is driving back to Madison, packing everything I own, PCSing it, shipping my car, and flying out to Seattle. Maybe I should take a nap after all. Need all the strength I can get.