Folgers Flavors - Sampling on Crowdtap

So I've been a member of Crowdtap for several years now, and have mostly shared my reviews via Facebook and occasionally Twitter.  But I'm going to start posting via my blog about some of the products I've been able to try.

This month, I had the chance to try 4 different of Folgers Flavors, which are like the water flavors, but for coffee instead!  It was like having mini-flavor syrups packaged into an easy to carry dispenser that perked up the old office coffee.  They were great individually, but also awesome for the mix and match flavors to feel like my own coffee house.

If you don't want the calories, fat, and price of Starbucks all the time, I'd recommend adding these to your coffee routine. 

See my instagram video featuring Folgers Flavors at http://instagram.com/p/vmHOFcI9iY/

Buon giorno!

It's funny how things tend to come full circle. I started this blog while living in Europe, and as of Thursday, I am once again back on the European side of the world, albeit this time in Italia. I'm hoping to have a few more exciting things to write about while I'm here as I plan to take full advantage of being able to travel now that I'm no longer a poor lieutenant! So, more to follow!

Can I Get an Oink Oink...

Having spent much of the last 48 hours curled up in my bed sleeping, I'm now fairly wide awake and feeling distinctly more human, and so I decided it's about time to share some of my thoughts on my illness. Aches, chills, fever, shortness of breath... I finally went to the doctor today (after being turned away from my 8 hour Marine Corps Planning Process test), and received the joyful diagnosis of a "probable" case of H1N1. I must have looked stunned because the doctor quickly moved to reassure me that there have been a large number of cases in the NoVa area, and most have been mild, and characterized by the respiratory problems I was experiencing, but that Quantico Health Clinic isn't doing the testing to confirm cases unless hospitalization was required.
So, with my likely case of swine flu, I headed home for a mandatory 48 hour bed rest and feeling like I'd stepped into the media frenzy about the illness. Indeed, two different news stories about H1N1 filled the 30 minutes I spent waiting in the pharmacy for the variety of "comfort" medicines prescribed - but no anti-viral flu medicine, again, because I was not a severe case. I particularly identified with one of the stories, which spoke of people who had mild cases and afterwards felt a sense of relief at having been spared the possibility of a future severe case. Have the last few days been painful? Yes. Am I grateful that this likely eliminates the possibility of a hospitalization? A thousand times yes. However, once again, I'm reminded that I'm left with the "probable" which will not be enough to get me out of pondering whether to have the vaccination or not (or more accurately to wonder whether the military will decide that I need it.)
I'm sitting in my apartment, effectively on quarantine, and have been amazed by the large response to my status on Facebook. H1N1/Swine flu is a very hot topic. And I'm forced to see it from a different perspective right now. I've been fairly dismissive of the media coverage of it, because I have seen it as a vastly overblown response. However, the immediacy of my situation did give me pause to reconsider. Not out of concern for myself, but out of concern for those I've come into contact with in the past few days. Fortuitously, we had most of Monday and Tuesday off in order to study for our test, so my exposure to others has been minimal. However, I went into class today, prepared to spend 8 hours crammed in a room with all the other EWS students and faculty. Our culture, and especially the military culture, regards illness as a weakness to be overcome. We are expected to soldier through illness and not allow it to affect our productivity. This new strain of flu is causing us to question that. Indeed, the EWS director's guidance is to send anyone home if they have flu symptoms.
I felt like I was weak when my instructor told me to leave and I could take the test a different day, but the doctor made me realize that it wouldn't have been in my best interest, or the best interest of everyone else, for me to stay. What a completely different response than what I'm used to. I can remember chasing attendance awards for school, and striving not to take any sick days while a cadet. I don't know what the answer is, but I do think this latest health concern is an opportunity for us to look at our perception towards sickness. It looks a lot different when you consider the big picture.
So, if you're starting to feel sick, and you have sick days available to take, I'd just ask everyone to consider why you have those days. Will you lose a day or two of work? Probably, but think how many days will be lost if you make 1 or 2 other people sick...
Okay, time to stop the medicated ramblings and get back to bed. I'm sick, after all. Sleep and hydration are #1 and #2 on my list of things to do.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

It's 0130 here in Batavia, and I'm wide wide awake. The frustrating part is that I'm supposed to be checking in to Quantico sometime in the next 24-48 hours, and I'm still not 100% sure what I'm doing. I planned on having time to think through all of my questions and send them to someone who could help answer them, but early Sunday morning the day prior to when I'm to report clearly isn't the way to go about things. Somehow the last month has gone by much much faster than I expected. Of course, with travels spanning Alaska, Texas and California in the past 3 weeks, I suppose I can't be too surprised to find that my leave is rapidly coming to an end. I guess at this point there isn't much for me to do but muddle through, and figure it's all going to come out okay in the end. I just need to remember to breathe and avoid stressing in the muddled meantime.

Homeless Once Again - But It's a Good Thing!

Officially moved out of my apartment today. And so once again, for what I think amounts to the 9th time in the past five years, I find myself in between "homes." It has very much reinforced the notion that home is where I hang my hat, because I sure don't get to spend enough time in one place to get attached.
I'm pretty excited about heading away from Drum and trying something different. I'm hoping that I enjoy the Army side of things a bit better at my next duty assignment, because there's just some part of me that hasn't embraced the idea of moving on to civilian life even after all the personal disappointments and limited professional opportunities that I had at Ft. Drum. So I'm either meeting the definition of crazy (trying the same thing multiple times and expecting different results), or maybe I'll find someplace I'm a bit more fulfilled.
Moving out of this apartment was much easier, maybe it's because I know that my stuff will only be in storage for about a month and a half versus 14 months, and maybe it's because I'm learning that moving is a wonderful opportunity to shed some of the dead weight that tends to accumulate because I'm a pack rat by nature. Going through my closet to decide what is getting packed and what is coming with me for the interim time period is a a very good reality check. Despite having done the same thing last move, I still found that I had clothes in there that I know I haven't worn in years. Ok, granted over a year of that was time in Iraq when I couldn't wear them, but any winter clothes that didn't make it on my body during the long Ft. Drum winter are clearly not going to be put back into rotation anytime soon. It then becomes a very good excuse to do some shopping! I don't want to end up like one of the ladies who appears on what not to wear, who keep reaching for the old familiar stuff that has been lingering in their wardrobes for decades.
This move is strange because the last two have been for deployments, and I knew that Ft. Drum was going to be there for me at the end of it. This time its someplace new, and a whole new area to learn. I'm excited by the possibilities.

My Drum Days are Numbered

Made a lot of progress this week on getting out of Fort Drum and getting ready to head to Quantico. It's a relief because I couldn't make any progress until they finally cut me orders, and I know there is a lot planned between now and June, and I didn't want to get caught up in a timeline that wasn't going to work. Well, Tuesday I officially got orders...
Since then, I've been able to sign the notification to vacate my lease, get my leave form approved, make an appointment to turn in some of the useless gear that I have, make an appointment to get my household goods picked up, filled out the paperwork to get credit for moving some of my gear in my own car, cleaned half of the gear for turn in, verified that I actually had everything that I was signed for, made an appointment for the required professional carpet cleaning for my apartment, made a reservation for the two nights before I leave at the hotel on post, and received approval to sign for my installation clearing papers in a few weeks. Wow! I guess it is possible to get this stuff knocked out quickly, but I am glad that things are finally rolling.
So, June 17th will be my final day at Ft. Drum. It's weird, I've packed up and left Ft. Drum twice before with the two deployments, but I always knew I had to come back and face another winter. So glad that isn't the case this time. July 13th I should be out in the Quantico area and begin the process of finding someplace to live and establishing myself in yet another apartment. It's funny, but the thrill of having your own place kind of starts to wear off when you go through the apartment hunt process 4 times in as many years.

Time to Be a Running Fool

Hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew, or run... Knowing that I'm going to be at Quantico this fall, I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon, and will sign up for the Army 10-miler when registration begins for that next week. They're both things that have been on my "Gee, it'd be great to do that someday" list and I figured this was as good an opportunity as any to accomplish them both. So I've now got about 5 months to get myself into marathon shape, yikes!
I'm running the marathon in honor of SSG Linde, SGT Stenroos and PFC Muller. It's fitting that it starts in Arlington, and will be just under 2 weeks shy of the 2 year anniversary of their deaths. I realize it's a purely symbolic gesture, but I know I will draw inspiration from them, and it gives me the chance to tell others about them if I'm asked why I'm running. It is simply my small part to keep their memory alive.

Hoorah for the Captain's Course

It's funny, I remember thinking when I was debating on attending West Point that one of the things about the military that was going to make things easy for me was that there was a relatively standard path for the future. I was supposed to know what and where I was doing for the next 9 years (4 at West Point and 5 in the Army). Of course, that hasn't exactly proven accurate.
I only did 3.5 years at West Point, and the other half year at the Naval Academy. That experience taught me to appreciate differences, cherish some of the "Army-isms" I had taken for granted, and realize that Squids are people too. This was only slightly off the beaten path, but I know I'm different for that semester - I met new people and had new experiences, but I also missed out on memories with my classmates. It was hard at first hearing stories about fun times I had missed, but I learned a bit about not second-guessing and realizing that every decision has good and not-as-good consequences, and I would be much happier focusing on the good rather than always wondering "what if."
Graduation and commissioning brought with it a one-year hiatus as a quasi-civilian at Cambridge. While my friends all headed off to their Basic Courses with people they knew and clear expectations in place, I traded in my uniform for my slightly-outdated civilian wardrobe and jumped across the pond for a short program of study. I felt out of my depth at times because of how specialized everyone was, but gained new confidence in the breadth of material that I had a familiar grasp on. Most American students in my college quickly adapted to the role as moderator of discussions across disciplines, because we knew enough about a lot of things and could serve as bridges for the people who knew a lot about a smaller focus. We all learned to accept that our educations were different, but neither really seemed to have the upper hand, and with everyone contributing, we all gained new insights into our fields and ourselves.
When I headed back to the Army, and my OBC, I didn't really know anyone in my course. I could see and appreciate the bonds that the '05 West Pointers in my class had, and realized how much our common shared experience made it easier to understand each other. We weren't classmates, but we had all been through Beast, Buckner and the Thayer method. But with being a different year group, I witnessed some of what the other officers in our class resented about the West Point "club." No one intentionally excluded others, but it's always easier to cling to those you know and share common ground with. It simply took time and some conscious effort to establish new common ground that was a lot more "common" to everyone.
Each of these unique experiences, and the new perspectives I gained from them, contributed to a decision I made two weeks ago to pursue attending the Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare School in lieu of the MP Captain's Career Course. Of course 9 months in the DC area is also a lot more exciting to look forward to than 5 months in Missouri to me. If the other "off the beaten path" experiences I've had in the past 5 years have taught me anything, it is to know that I'm going to be learning a lot, not just about what the Marines have to teach me, but about how I react to the new and unfamiliar. So I'm not dwelling on what I'll miss out by not attending the MP school (meeting other MPs, Army specific training, and staying in the comfort zone of what I already know), but looking forward to once again being a bit on the outside of things looking in. And at least with going to the Naval Academy as a cadet, I've already lived being the odd (wo)man out with uniforms and such. Time to embrace the Hoorah.

A Very Special Party

Tuesday afternoon was truly memorable. The parents of one of the Soldiers from my former platoon who was killed in the IED on 5 November 2007, held a party for the MP platoon, and the father of one of the other Soldiers also came.I was nervous about them coming because I wasn't sure about how things would go. It turned out to be one of the most meaningful afternoons I have ever had.
It is hard to celebrate being home when you don't bring everyone home with you. Guilt is something I've struggled with a lot in the past year and a half. I've second guessed every decision I made that I thought contributed to those Soldiers being there on that day at that time. My mind has raced a million times through the possibility that I could have somehow prevented it. Even to this day, there are nights I wake up reliving the moment I found out about the accident. Because of the guilt I felt, I was worried that they would also blame me in the way that I blamed myself.
Instead, it felt like spending time with long lost family. It was an opportunity to share all the stories and memories that all of us had of the ones we lost. I felt closer to having them back than I ever have. We smiled, we laughed, we shed tears, but most of all we celebrated their lives rather than focusing on mourning their loss. I can't even begin to put into words how wonderful the afternoon was. It opened some of the emotional scars that I've carried with me since last November, but in a good way, and one that let me heal.
There are few opportunities in life when we get to feel the direct healing impact of grace in our lives. I know that happened to me on Tuesday.

So Tired of Cold

Temperatures really are crazy things. Last summer I felt like I was going to melt anytime I stepped outside into the 120 degree temperatures, and I dreamed of snow. This morning, driving to work at -14 degrees, I thought longingly of the desert sun. Obviously too much of anything isn't a good thing. Let me describe the cold here in terms that are more understandable: 1)the bottom of the door panel on my car cracked and has a hole in it from freezing, 2)the carpet mat is frozen in my car from the snow that melts when the heat finally kicks in, and 3)if I close my eyes for more than a few seconds, they can freeze shut. It's downright painful.

And when it warms up to reasonable temperatures (anything on the plus side of zero), we have a ridiculous amount of snow. Parking lots are covered with mini-glaciers, and able to accomodate about half their usual capacity because there is just nowhere to put the snow. In front of my apartment, my neighbor parks in what is usually my space because hers is a mini-mountain of snow. We had snow for 7 days straight and it was to the point that I wanted to cry when I saw the first flake of the day, because I knew that it would mean anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour plus of shoveling after I returned home.

It's Been So Long

Wow, I haven't updated this thing in ages. Actually it feels like a lifetime ago, because so much has happened since I posted from Kuwait.
I've fallen in love for the first time, and realized that sometimes love isn't enough to guarantee happiness. I've experienced the pits of despair after losing 3 of my former Soldiers. I've realized the amazing gift of friendships that blossom in unexpected places, and how special it is to have true friends that stand by you through distance and time, when you can fall into comfortable companionship despite the years that separate your last visits.
And in short, I'm now 2 months back in the US, and I feel that I'm a very different person than I left. I don't quite know how to explain all of it. I'll try to start writing here more often, and reflecting on where I'm at and what I'm learning. Writing is cathartic, and perhaps that's what I need more than anything to learn who this new version of me is.

Range Frustrations in Kuwait

Okay, so we've only been over here since last Thursday, and it's Monday evening. That's not nearly enough time to be as exhausted and frustrated as I am right now.
I was told Friday morning that I would have to run the Battalion machine gun range Sunday and Monday, and that we'd basically be testing all of the weapons to make sure that they weren't damaged in shipping. No worry about trying to qualify anyone, so it should have been relatively painless except that it ended up a nightmare.
To begin with, we're not on computer networks with email and whatnot here, so I received chicken scratch lists from every one of companies for who was supposed to be going to the range. I had to enter all of it by hand into my computer in order to turn in all the necessary paperwork. That took hours by the time everything was rounded up and I finally got it from the other companies. Then on Sunday morning, we get all the way out to the range an hour late because my NCOIC took a wrong turn and wouldn't listen to me on where to turn because he said his GPS told him I was giving him the wrong directions. Of course, every hour later in the morning here is critical because the temperature starts rising dramatically as soon as the sun comes up. So now worrries, we should still be finished by 0800 or so, except that when I give one of the NCOs the breakdown for the ammo, she goes to the back of the truck and then comes back and tells me there's no ammo. This despite the fact that I looked my NCOIC (not one of my MPs) in the face and asked him if he had picked up the ammo the night before. So he ended up having to go back to the Camp to get ammo, and it was over 3.5 hours before he got back out with ammo.
Of course when I got back, I am now the butt of the biggest joke in the Battalion... "hey CPT Ritchey, don't you know it takes ammo to run a range?" The range went much more smoothly this morning and we were done firing by 0715 instead of starting firing around 1030 like we did yesterday. So everyone was all like, "see how much easier it is when you have ammo?" Something tells me I'm not going to hear the end of this anytime soon.
In the course of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I had about a grand total of 4.5 hours of sleep and about 4 meals. Needless to say I'm not really feeling the best right now, but I did get a nap finally this afternoon and even got to eat dinner (meal #1 for the day).

Sand and Sweat

We landed in Kuwait yesterday morning. It was 0650 when they cracked the door to the plane and the hot air rushed through like a wall. It was immediately apparent that we were somewhere far different from Ft. Drum. After 14 hours on a plane with only a 1 hour break in Leipzig, Germany, the chance to get up and move around felt amazing even if overly hot.
When we stepped out at noon at Camp Buering, the wind had picked up something awful, and all of a sudden the heat was at least 120 and sand was instantly in every orifice. I could feel the sweat just pouring out of my body except that because of the wind and the heat, it evaportated everywhere except under my hat and around my sports bra.
Today was spent blissfully trying to catch up on my sleep deficit, and I managed to sleep pretty much until lunch time when I decided that I couldn't really survive on water alone and some food would probably be a good idea. Luckily the DFAC here is a step up from what we had in Bagram (to include real silverware and plates). A few meetings and some classes this afternoon and then the upcoming week is going to be hellacious. Pretty much I'll be spending a lot more time in the Kuwaiti desert than I care to contemplate at this point.

Not Too Long Now

Well sometime next week I'll be winging my way across the Atlantic enroute to Kuwait enroute to Iraq. Joy. We're expecting 15 months, but of course the volatility of the political situation there and here will determine just how long we're over there.
This deployment is hitting me a lot harder than my last one. Maybe it's because I know how long the days are, how worn down you get, and the completely alternate reality that envelopes your life when you're living the Army 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
I'm not sure when I'll be on myspace or facebook once I get over there, but I'll try to respond to anyone who hits me up on my email.
I'm well and truly on an emotional roller coaster over the next few days, here's hoping that I'll calm down once we actually get in country. Please keep me in your prayers if you're a religious type, I could definitely use them.

Getting Short

We started our block leave today. It's really starting to hit home that we're leaving fairly soon. Like in just a little over a month, crazy. Especially looking at our deployment orders and seeing the length of time as 485 days or 16 months, eeeekkk!!
Brandon came up to visit me this week and it's been great having him here. He's cooked more in my apartment in one week than I typically cook in a month or two. It was great coming home from work and having food almost ready. Pretty sweet, too bad he has to go to air assualt next week, I'd keep him around just for the cooking.

Visiting Arlington

I spent the 4 day weekend in Washington DC with the other two platoon leaders in my company. It was a bit of a long drive for a short weekend, but I'm glad I went, especially since it allowed me the opportunity to visit one of our classmates who is buried in Arlington.
Sadly, all of us knew someone who was buried in Arlington, but I suppose that more and more, that is not such an unusual occurrence for members of our generation serving in the military, everyone has lost a friend, classmate or someone else with a connection that hits home.
We watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and I think that all of us noted how glad we were for the advances in DNA identification that should prevent any of our service members from ever being unknown in the future. From there we wandered thru the peaceful paths thru the cemetary until we made our way over to section 60, which has the most recent burials, and is home to the majority of the OIF/OEF casualties. In this section, fresh cut flowers were prevalent, and there were quite a few people paying their regards. Thankfully there was not a funeral going on, I don't think I could have handled it.
I found the burial marker for my classmate, and stood there reflecting on the man who I did not know as well as some, but knew better than some of the other classmates we have lost in the war. We were in the same Buckner platoon, and it was mostly his antics and the easy leadership he demonstrated even at that early stage of his cadet career that I remembered. I stood there, sang the Alma Mater quietly under my breath, and saluting at "Well Done," hoped that we could all be worthy of his sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all those other men and women buried there.

Ups and Downs

It seems that life is bound to continue as a roller coaster. Take Tuesday for example, we got the excellent news that USMA '04 will pin on CPT July 1st, so less than 3 weeks of having to respond to LT. And then, within a few hours of finding out, I was stuck trying to scramble to arrange training for my platoon because the land we were supposed to have for training fell through. And of course it was impossible to get a straight answer on why everything fell through.
I wasn't even going to be at work this week, but with all of the ridiculous changes that occurred in such a short time I'm glad that I did. Of course it makes for a lot of travelling this week, since I drove all the way from home back out to NY last Sunday, and I'm sitting at the airport in Syracuse waiting to fly home tonight so that I'll be there for Mom's surgery tomorrow. I've been home more in the last month since she found out about the cancer than I have in the last 3 years.

How the Hairdresser Caused My Sunburn

So it's been awhile since I colored my hair, I think it was either January or February when I had it done last, and the whites were beginning to show like crazy if I wore my hair down. Not wanting to feel older than my 25 years, I decided that it was finally time for me to get it colored and a 4 day weekend meant that I had ample opportunity to do so. Especially considering that I had a formation at 0700 that morning, and since I was already over by the PX after picking one of my Soldiers up from the MP station (don't ask).
The girl cutting my hair seemed to understand what I wanted when I said that I wanted to keep the base color the same, but warm up the highlights a bit since it is summer and I wanted to look a bit more seasonal. So imagine my shock when I'm done, and my hair is now somewhere near the shade of what happens when you take a bottle of Sun-In and a hair dryer. It was definitely a shock, and definitely not what I asked for. I decided that I'd play along though and see if it grew on me - judging from the comments I got at work today asking how long I'd spent in a pool full of chlorine, the general concensus is that no, it hasn't grown on me. However, when it's down and straightened it's not too bad, it's just very bright when pulled back into a work-approved style.
In my wisdom, I decided that part of the reason the hair color looked so shocking was because of how pale I was, which obviously necessitated a trip to the fake and bake. I only went for 10 minutes, but the brand new bulbs in the tanning bed left me resembling a lobster. Of course, I choose to blame the girl who colored my hair. She gave me the suburn, or at least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Shitty News for My Mom

Breast cancer. It's official, my mom received her results yesterday that not only does she have breast cancer, but she has the dubious honor of having two different types at the same time. It's always wonderful when the doctor's say "oh this is unique." After all, that's what they told my uncle, and he died 4.5 years ago from cancer.
Of course, then there was the phone conversation about her courses of action, and I'm not quite sure how one goes about telling one's mother that you think she's looking at things oddly. Of course I have less of an emotional attachment to her bosoms than she does, but I'd say lop 'em off, and why worry about reconstructive surgery at her age, it might be nice to be flat chested for the rest of your life. Besides, it'd be a quick and easy way to lose a few pounds of fat. A bit irreverant of me to be so flippant, but hey, it makes dealing with the situation easier. And I can live with sounding somewhat bitchy if it lets her think of some alternate perspectives.
Of course, this now means that my likely medical future has shifted, because now I'm in the higher risk category since there's a family history. Probably selfish to think in those terms, but again, I'd rather deal with the realities of things than sugar coat them. I said something to the effect that now I have potential time bombs on my chest, but she didn't find it nearly as humorous as I did.
I'm just thankful that our deployment got pushed back from June until September, because it's a little easier to be here and offer the support I can from New York instead of somewhere in Iraq. I guess things really do happen for a reason, I just wish in this case that it weren't for a shitty thing like having to deal with my mom having cancer. It would have been much better if the reason were that I'm meant to win the lottery in July or something.

#2 for the Family

My little sister is headed to Afghanistan. It's strange. Been there, done that, and will be heading back over (well to Iraq, but still), and didn't really think too much about it. It's a lot stranger being on the family side of things. She called today to say she'd been delayed a day or two or three, and I felt relieved. And then I felt bad, because I know how frustrating it is when you want to just go and get it over with already.

Outta here for the next three weeks

We leave for JRTC today. I am so excited I can hardly wait. Oh wait, rewind, eliminate all sarcasm, and I am really really not looking forward to going. I kept hoping up until the very last minute (ie today), that this was going to be cancelled. I guess it's not. Ok, so hopefully I won't be too embittered when I return in 3 weeks. How bad can 3 weeks be, right? Hopefully, not too bad.

Delaying JRTC Packing

I hate packing. That has been confirmed many many times over the course of my life. And so, here it is Saturday morning and I'm supposed to be leaving for JRTC on Wednesday or Thursday and I haven't even begun to pack. My Soldiers had to pack by last week because we did a layout and inspected to make sure that they had everything. I suppose the benefit to being leadership is that I didn't have to have my own stuff inspected, but that means that I've also not even started to do anything about it, although I guess I did at least finally spray paint my duffle with my new unit.
I think in my delusions, I've decided that if I wait until the last minute to complete packing, I don't have to accept that I'm going. I'm not looking forward to it.

Thankful for Problems

It's been a frustrating week. I've wanted to scream, to throw a tantrum, to quit and walk out. And then I went to the eulogy pages for the 8 classmates we've lost in Iraq, and I'm reminded just how thankful I am for the problems and frustrations I've been dealing with because I'm still here.
I think it's a cathartic experience to read the emotional tributes. I'm moved every time I read through the tributes. And I'm struck by how it always seems to be the exceptional ones we've lost. Through the tears, I remember how the laughs shared with a good friend can make the darker times instantly brighter. How friends turn those downer moments into cherished memories. And so, in a backwards sort of logic, I'm grateful for the problems that life has thrown, and continues to throw at me. For it's in these times that I realize just how lucky I am with the friends I've been blessed with.

Promotion Party Shenanigans

So no shit, there I was, Friday night, asleep by 7:30 pm because it was a super long week with entirely many too hours spent out at the FUSA range (if I ever hear the word FUSA again, I swear I'll kill someone.) At 9 my phone rings and it's one of my Soldiers sounding rather tipsy, reminding me that there was a promotion party for the guy who had my platoon before I did. I wasn't going to go, but by this point I was wide awake (there was also another comment that was instrumental in my actually going, but I won't get in to that). So I found myself driving out to the Rusted Route for the promotion party.
Let's just say everyone had had a few drinks, and had a few drinks more after I got there. The party apparently rang up a $700 tab for the guy who got promoted. and when we finally left the bar around 1 in the morning, I found myself being the DD for 3 drunk NCOs. I was going to take them on post and drop them off, but we got side tracked and ended up at Denny's instead. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. After we ordered, we somehow managed to invite the CO, who was driving other drunk people home, to agree to meet us there. Well, the Denny's experience turned into almost 2 hours of people watching. And boy, there were some funny people to watch, I have never seen such a ridiculous display of bad fashion and drunken behavior. Still, it was highly entertaining, and I think I may very well find myself back at Denny's at some point in the future, if only for the therapeutic value that I now feel much, much better about myself. At least I wasn't one of the crazies out there ;-)
Well after leaving Denny's I had to drive two of the NCOs on post. The one who lived in Carthage ended up getting a ride home from the CO, and I got the two on post since I live close. Well, I pulled up to the gate around 3 am, and the guy decided that since he could smell alcohol in the car that he wanted me to get out and bring all my license, registration and whatnot. And naturally, the insurance card I had in the car was good through 2 Mar, and it was now 3 Mar 0300, so it was expired by 3 hours. He got real picky about that, as I tried to explain that I just hadn't printed out the updated card. I finally managed to diffuse the situation by striking up a conversation with the MP soldiers who were working the road by working it into the conversation that I was an MP also, and then at that point the guy stopped giving me a hard time. I was afraid I was going to have to call my CO to come pick all of us up, even though there was no way I was intoxicated. And then of course there was the conversation with one of my SLs before I dropped him off, and realizing that the relative lack of officers in the company, and especially female officers makes us the object of much speculation about our personal lives. Guess it just gives me even more incentive to live a sort of boring life because it gives them nothing to talk about.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

News flash, I'm in Germany visiting my sister for a week. Had to put that in there so the rest of this particular entry makes sense.
I spent Wednesday and Thursday in Berlin by myself since my sister had to deal with a slight inconvenience better known as work. Not one to just sit around here in her BOQ room, I decided that Berlin sounded interesting. In short, it was, but the last 40 minutes I spent in the city were some of the most impactful (is that even a word?), and I feel compelled to write about them.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is 2711 concrete stelae layed out in an area over 19,000 square meters. From what I'd heard about it on the news when it was completed, there were definitely mixed feelings from Berliners, Germans in general and other populations. It's a very abstract memorial, and it doesn't seem to make much sense. However, the 40 minutes I spent wandering amongst the stelae (some of which top 4 meters/13ish feet), I can say that the memorial is incredibly profound.
To begin, you walk into the field of stelae, and at first they're flat or very small, and the next thing you know, they're over your head. To me, it struck a chord with how evil (in this case the Nazis) can come from nowhere, and yet suddenly engulf a country and lead to overwhelming evil and their plan for genocide. Reaching the middle of the field, all of the stelae tower over your head, and if you are at one of the dips in the ground, it seems impossible to imagine a way out of the field. I felt a sense of panic even though I knew that I was only a short distance from the busy streets of Berlin. The memorial was all around me, and owing to the gray rainy weather, there was an almost complete lack of other tourists, and I felt small, alone and insignificant. The rain misting over the blocks contributed to the melancholic air, as it seemed that all 2,711 stelae were weeping over the lives and potential lost to the devastation.
Inside the field, there are even regimented corridors, it reminded me of something very military, except that the ground undulates and you can't see around corners. At any point another tourist could round the corner or run into you at a crossroads, it became a significant event just to move through the rows. Much as life in general became a significant event for the oppressed Jews who were unable to cross a street without facing persecution and uncertainty. And yet, there were also small children running laughing and playing through the dark rows, representing joy and hope. I almost laughed out loud because the feeling of oppression from the center of the memorial was lifted by something so innocent.
I don't know whether the emotions I experienced today were the ones intended by the artist who designed the memorial. I do know however, that the meorial was incredibly effective at conveying the utter depravity of the genocide waged against the Jews of Europe. I've been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, and that always has struck me as a profoundly moving experience, yet the painful anonymity of all the victims, not even represented by names within the memorial, was far more moving than what I expected. It was definitely a memorial that has to be felt. You become as much a part of the memorial as the actual blocks of concrete.
I am glad I visited the memorial. It reminded me that while trying to defeat evil is exacting a price on those I care about, that the price of evil unchecked has the potential to be even worse. It is why I do not envy those who must make the decisions on when to act. The daily events portrayed by the media, and the ultimate sacrifice of our brothers and sisters in arms, as well as the innocent civilians, is an example of the price of action. Whether that action is merited, I'll leave alone in this forum. However, the memorial I experienced today was a very heart-rending reminder that evil that is allowed to run rampant is a truly horrifying possibility.
Fittingly, the memorial is neither black nor white, but shades of gray...

It's New Year Resolution time

Hmmm, so as the first of the year has come and gone, I suppose that now is the time of year when I'm supposed to be thinking about making resolutions - those pesky things that you try and stick with and usually have forgotten about by the time February rolls around. I don't even think I bothered to make any last year. However, 2007 seems like a year in which I'll give them a try again. I suppose maybe its because I turn 25 this year, which sounds scarily on the way to really being a bona-fide grown-up, and because our class should pin CPT this year. So, here's my top 3:
Resolution #1 - Learn to cook. The microwave is no longer cutting it. I got a brand new cookbook from my mom for Christmas, so I should be on my way. Of course, this means I need to stop buying microwave meals.
Resolution #2 - Improve my fitness. Learn to feel a bit more comfortable in the weight room. I know I felt a lot better when I was in Afghanistan and hitting the gym with the LTC I worked for. Besides, I liked the way I looked better, and Ashley's recent weight loss has left me feeling like the odd one out. I've been thinner than her for a long time, I'm not sure that I like that relationship reversed.
Resolution #3 - Be a better friend. I am horrible at keeping in touch with people. So I'm going to do a better job trying to remember to email/write/phone/etc.

Twelve miles and 2 hours til X-mas!

Pretty much the only things I have standing between me and Christmas are a 12 mile road march and 2 hours of safety briefings. It's supposed to be half days Monday and Tuesday, but we'll see whether that happens. I have a feeling it may end up being half days for some of the soldiers, but there's no way I see myself having half days. I'm sure something thrilling is going to come up between now and then.
Luckily this weekend has been pretty quiet. We had a Christmas reception for all the officers and senior non-commissioned officers in the battalion on Saturday night, which involved having an open bar that no one really wanted to take advantage of because who wants to risk doing something stupid in that sort of company, and standing around in dress blues waiting for the commander to make his speech for the evening so that we could start making our good-byes and leave.
But hey, my Christmas shopping is pretty much just about done, so at least I'm starting to feel caught up for the season. It's beginning to feel like Christmas, minus the fact that it got up to 50 degrees here at Ft. Drum today, not that I'm complaining because it beats the heck out of the weather this time last year.

My Day Today

This was my fun day today. I'm posting this because I really can't say anything more, but the below came from the Ft. Drum Public Affairs OFfice and was approved for release. Suffice it to say that today was not fun.

Update: 'Suspicious Device' Investigated At Fort Drum Wednesday, November 29, 2006, 12:55pm An official with Fort Drum's Public Affairs Office confirmed Wednesday morning that a suspicious device was found in a barracks. However, initial concerns that the device was a bomb or destructive mechanism proved to be unfounded, Major Sean Wilson said. According to Wilson, a call was made at 8:45 a.m. to Fort Drum emergency personnel alerting them of an object that "didn't look right." The barracks was evacuated. Upon further investigation, it was determined an unidentified soldier had contraband. Wilson would not disclose what the contraband was. He said only that it was not weapons or drugs. The soldier was detained for questioning, but Wilson said there appeared to be no criminal intent. Wilson would not disclose the soldier's unit. The incident made for tense moments at Fort Drum, especially since the Under Secretary of Defense was visiting the post at the time. Bill Huba, spokesperson for the FBI in Syracuse, told 7 News his agency is assisting the Army with its investigation.

Happy Thanksgiving

For the second time in the last 3 years, I wasn't able to go home for Thanksgiving. I had to pull Brigade Staff Duty on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so there was no real way of making it home and having it be worthwhile since I had to be around here. Luckily, my PSG invited me over to spend Thanksgiving Day with her and her family, so Thanksgiving didn't turn out to be me sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of Ramen noodles or something equally pathetic. I baked an apple pie, which I'm actually quite proficient at now, and despite not being at home with the family, Thanksgiving actually turned out to be a pretty decent day. That said, it will be nice to be home for Christmas and have the whole family together for the first time since last Christmas, especially since it looks like both Ashley and I will be deploying within the next year.

Another Rainy Week at Ft. Drum

Looks like this is going to be another stellar week at Ft. Drum. It's been raining all morning, meaning that at almost 11 o'clock I'm still in my PJs because there's absolutely no reason to go outside when I can stay warm and dry inside.
I'm finally getting around to clearing out the last of the boxes from moving in to my apartment. I figure it's about time since I've been here over 2 months now. Besides, if I clear out all the boxes I'll be able to figure out how much room I have left that I need to find things to buy to fill up the spaces. Haha, just kidding, although I am in the market for a good bookcase and possibly some sort of table for the entryway. I sure never realized how much it took to make someplace feel like home, but I'm glad that I've had the luxury to be able to buy just about anything I want thanks to my 6 month vacation in Afghanistan.