The Monkey Can

After a glorious weekend of sunshine and 60 degree weather, the rain has returned, and I have to say that it makes me want to crawl into my bed, turn on the lamp, and read one of the three books I somehow thought I could pile through during a short two-week time period. Instead, I have been sorting through paperwork and trying to create some type of filing system for stuff like insurance, big purchases, warranties, and service bills, and in the midst of sorting and filing I decided I would like to do nothing more than blog. Funny how relative tasks are when on the sliding ruler of preferability. Sort through paperwork? Boring. Clean the kitchen (with a Pyrex dish of crusty burnt cheese- but in my defense our oven is buring almost 45 degrees hotter than it reads) instead of paperwork? Hmmm, suddenly paperwork doesn't sound too shabby. Blog? Trump card of diversion from productivity. Being "an adult" is beginning to look like an initiation via papers and important paper scraps that would stink to lose. Only now am I realizing Dereck probably threw away the tools and directions to the new furniture pieces we have bought in Washington, and to that end, I realize the next move should be interesting without the key parts. It makes me wonder how the heck people ever stay ahead with all the things you have to do in anticipation for something else. Just today I wanted to sign-up for an e-bill for our cable/internet provider, but then it wanted to send my bills to some Comcast email I don't use, so I am now trying to get gmail to forward my comcast emails to gmail. I wouldn't have cared if the bills wouldn't be sent to an email I never check, so here I am at a stalemate and with the best intentions at heart.

The ball on Friday night was Army-licious, if I can invent such a word. We almost didn't make the occasion when, ten minutes before we were supposed to leave, Dereck couldn't find his bow-tie or belt (therefore being out of uniform- a big no-no). Apparently somewhere in the mad rush of packing and unpacking those pieces went missing into the great beyond where all the socks that go missing from the dryer are also. Luckily, military sales was open, and we arrived just in time for the receiving line into the ballroom. What I liked most about the evening was meeting Dereck's friends and coworkers who I will be seeing a good deal of in the future. Our table included Dereck and me, Aaron (the guy Dereck is replacing) and several couples who have men in Dereck's platoon (women aren't allowed in combat engineers). At first the table was a little quiet and unsure, what with the mixed ranks and officers and enlisted people, but I decided I just couldn't handle that. So, being a good Army brat I looked at the guy next to me and told him that we had to think of some fun conversation since we would being sitting together the rest of the night. And that simple decision helped to make the evening relaxed and fun as people gradually entered into the conversations on those random topics that always seem the most interesting at parties, like dog breeds. That is one fantastic topic you can use with men or women of any age. Everyone has an opinion and something to say, or some childhood memory. The food wasn't even too shabby, and I helped myself to the yummy cordon blue. There was also the grog, a odd mix of alcohol added by soldiers in a particular order and with a particular saying or reason for its addition, but to me it tasted like kool-aid, so I only had a little.

Saturday, Dereck and I were feeling extra social and went to a party that one of his friends was throwing in Seattle. But first we went to look at curtains with our bevy of gift cards. Those are some of the best wedding presents to date that I can think of. We have bought exciting and needed items like food, cleaning supplies, curtains, and tools with them (Dereck needed some "essentials"). Before the party details though, I would like to warn you all of the costs of curtains. Maybe I am the last person on the planet to have missed this memo, but those suckers are expensive, especially when you have odd-shaped windows in an older house. Even though I am unpacked at the moment, I feel like the house is still a little naked without its window dressings. We only bought curtains for the living room in the end due to confusion, too many options, and lack of time- we had a party to get to! Adam, Dereck's friend from Ft. Leonard Wood, invited us to his parents' house in Seattle, and we had the best time. His parents live in an older, but decidedly college-feeling area near Wash-U (thus the whole college vibe), where the houses are cottages, and squeezed together on narrow streets. The whole time I was at the house I ate. Adam is apparently an amazing griller who made onion-stuffed chicken with savory rubs and ribs of amazingness. The best part was that I saw Dereck's friends from the night before again, and we got to have fun sitting and relaxing away from the cold stare of commanders. Again, we talked about the silliest topics and towards midnight everyone decided Rock Band should be played. We all took turns at the different instruments, but Dereck and I sang mostly on the mic along with the Beatles soundtrack. Nothing shows you the character of a person like Rock Band. At one point I tried to share drumming responsibility with a girl named Steph, and then got demoted to pushing the foot peddle due to lack of rhythm. What can a girl do? Finally we gave into exhaustion and headed back down I-5 to catch some sleep before church.

Sunday morning we went to Aaron's church (again, the guy Dereck is replacing) since he invited us, and then offered lunch also. The church was 129% not our style, but I loved seeing the different worship movement there, and they had great live music. After church Aaron fed us and then taught us a neat board game called Knights of Qatar or something like that. This game is the mack-daddy stuff for deployed soldiers who don't have much to do in-between missions out in the desert, and this is a welcome diversion away from poker. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but soon enough I was strategizing with those conniving boys and won! The best part of Sunday for me was going to a bible-study for military wives. The whole thing was very serendipitous since I randomly found an article about them in the local newspaper and decided I had nothing to lose. The women at the support group are mixed in ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and military branches, but we all have the bond and unique challenges of military life. I got to hear stories about deployment struggles, babies with teething problems, and news of movements around to other posts and bases. They are reading a book called God + Military Spouse, and I am really looking forward to reading it. I left the group feeling a peace that I wasn't alone, something that has been a struggle in the last two weeks as I try to feel out the Army thing and meet people on my own. Dereck and I are the equivalents of high school freshman and all those feelings you had of trying to fit in, to figure out the social setting, and do well are real and present for me.

Today we got the chance to go to a Newcomers Orientation, and I have to give the MWR props on this one. They had tables of info from tons of military and civilian vendors and services. We even won a free snow shoeing trip from the MWR Outdoors Center for answering a question. Ironically my favorite presenter was from the Military Police. This guy was an old drill Sergeant and he was hilarious in describing illegal activities on post. He liked to call jail the monkey cage or can, depending on his mood, and threatened to throw us all in the monkey can if we didn't listen. I can't remember how many recycling posts are here, but I now know that someone always goes to jail in domestic violence reports in Washington, so I should probably stop beating Dereck up. And there you have it, the glorious reportings of Ft. Lewis to read at your leisure. Enjoy!