Pop-culturally challenged

My musical education has one major deficiency, or so some of my classmates seem to think. About 8 years ago, I had a friend who tried to get me up to speed on 80s music. He introduced me to Duran Duran, Pat Benetar, and a few others. I'm not a huge 80s music fan, so I thought my knowledge sufficient. Apparently, I still managed to miss most of the entire Classic Rock genre. This fact both dismayed and amused the guys I was hanging with yesterday. After a day at the beach, I was exhausted and so surrendered the wheel to a willing driver, unfortunately, that meant also surrendering the radio dial. =( With each new song that came over the airwaves, the question came: "who is this?" The answer I provided never changed: "I don't know." Even now I cannot remember the songs that played, or the artists that wrote them, with the exception of John Melloncamp (sp?) because I thought his name was funny and I had heard the song many times before. I guess that kind of music just doesn't make much of an impression on me.

Be Agressive! Be-e Agressive!

Who would have thought that my Mom's advise as she taught me to drive would come in so handy?! As we began the driving part of training yesterday, I could hear my Mom's voice in my head, telling mw, "now you've got to be more agressive in the car or you will never survive in NY." I have since learned that that is twice as true in some foreign cities (i.e. Paris), and was definitely helpful in yesterday's course. Yes,I did flatten quite a few cones, but I did it with such style. =P

I am now a certified gun-slinger

...or something like that. =P I passed both the written exam and all the standards and qualifications (YAY!).

We are moving onto a whole new set of exercises. Last night we were working with GPS and today we start defensive driving. This should be interesting, considering we will still be in full gear, which limits mobility significantly. I will definitely update you all on that one. Right now I am debating whether or not to eat breakfast. Judging from the last driving class I was in, foregoing the most important meal of the day might actually be a good idea. In any case, I gotta go... time to prep for the day.

How is this my life?!

In the last two weeks I have learned more about guns than I have ever cared to know (not that I haven't enjoyed the experience). Not only can I shoot them in just about any position, including flat on my back, shooting over my shoulder, I can also break them down, clean them, and put them back together. Every morning, I get to the range at 7:15, suit up into my "hero gear" (40+ lbs. worth!), and strap on a Sig at my side and an M-4 across my chest. Eye and ear protection are also worn, and a military-style helmet completes the look. Once geared up it is difficult to tell any of us apart, except for me, of course, with my wayward curls escaping from the helmet in all directions. =) I've been wearing a camo head band to lend some control to my crazy hair, which has earned me the name "GI Jane" from one of my fellow gunfighters. Another nickname I've recieved (this one disignated by an instructor) is Annie Oakley.

As the only student in this class with no prior firearms experience, I have managed to draw some attention to myself. The best (or worst) example of this was during our night qualifications (shooting in the dark) when I had to re-do the reload drill over and over (probably 10 times) while my classmates had to stand by and wait. On my last try, I did it in 6 seconds rather than the maximum 8 seconds and impressed those near enough to see. Another rather amusing mess-up was during another qualification. We were at the 50 yard line, lying on our bellies, aiming for a round steel plate. I fired the required two shots and heard the accompanying clink, clink, unfortunately, I was aiming at my neighbor's target, so I obviously missd my own. After focusing on my on target once more, I fired two more shots. This time I was right on! =)

While all of this is quite amusing (also the most physically demanding thing I've done in my life!), every day I think to myself, HOW IS THIS MY LIFE?! There are so many seperate decisions and occurances in life that lead us to the present, and I often wonder which of those things in particular, brought me to this point? If anyone had ever told me that this is what I would be doing, I would never have believed them, and yet, here I am.

I am off to church now... will try to update again soon.

I am still alive

I know I've been silent for a couple of weeks... there is good reason for this (lack of connectivity and/or computer). Just wanted to give a shout out to all my peeps and let you know that I am safe and well and will update you when I get a chance.

till then, this is me, signing out...

Merry Christmas in July! =D

Normally, I ignore this quasi-holiday (not that I am exaclty celebrating it today), but today, as I was sitting in traffic after an abnormally frustrating medical appointment with truly INCOMPETANT people (nothing like government medical care... Michael Moore can take his socialized healthcare and shove it!), I turned on the radio and began channel surfing. It did not take long to come across "All I Want for Christmas." It made me smile, reminiscing on happier moments, surrounded by family, bright lights, colorful paper, and lots of love. My thoughts soon turned to Christmas '07... Where will I be? What will I be doing? Who will I be celebrating with? Will we celebrate at all? It's not like I haven't thought about those things before, but each time I do, there is a sadness that accompanies those thoughts. This will be my first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home. =( The thought of it is just depressing... So, back to thoughts of Christmases past and happier, carefree times.