Fri., Oct. 24; 1:23 am
Yesterday was a good day. Easily one of my favorite days of basic. You know how I am with heights. Eagle tower is a 55-foot tower with various bridges, cargo nets, and other such apparatus attached. The order went: 2-line bridge, 1-line bridge, 3-line bridge, cargo net, huge ladder, rope swing, main wall. 1-line bridge is actually a single rope that you have to commando-crawl across. I can't draw it. I'll have to demonstrate for you later. When I got to the main wall, at the top was my Drill Sergeant. Woo. When it's my turn, he motions me over to him on top of the wall. He asks a loaded question: "Are you nervous?" "F@#% no, Drill Sgt." He's a little surprised by this response. "How would you feel about it if I only put one line through your harness? If I basically sent you down fast like a sack of rocks?" I smiled a HYOOOGE smile and said, "Please? That would be awesome, Drill Sgt." Again, not the response he expected. So, he threaded me a single rope, instead of a double. I was on the wall, L-shaped, gloves on, brake hand ready before he could tell me to get ready. He asked, "You done this before?" "Yes, Drill Sgt." "How well?" "Very well, Drill Sgt. I love heights." "In that case, hold on." He turned and faced the line of soldiers on the ground, waiting to go. "Watch, men. You're about to see how it's done!" That's a lot of pressure. But, it's rappelling. It'd be like calling "chopsticks" on the piano a challenge for you. So then he turns to me. "Go." I was down in three bounds. Most soldiers did theirs in 10. So when I get to the bottom, he yells down to me, "You going to Airborne School?" "No, Drill Sgt." "Well, that's a waste." It rocked.
4:54 am
Yuck. It's raining right now, but it's the nasty, not-fun kind. And I gotta go do PT in this. Yippee. I'll write more later.
7:51 pm
Just had breakfast. I do eat pretty well, when I have the timing down. Usually bacon, eggs, grits with maple syrup, applesauce and/or cottage cheese, a slice of french toast. Mmmm. And now, Boxing! (I'm a little nervous. It's such a foreign form, to me. It's so rigid.) We'll see how I do.
4:20 pm
We've been boxing all day. I never got to, though! I was going to fight a guy, and our turn was close, then another company came over and challenged us. Our 10 best vs. their 10 best. We won 6/10. (3 of the 6 were from 1st platoon.) We kicked some ass today. I don't mind not getting to fight. The other guy kind of didn't want to, anyway. I take back what I said about the rain before. No rain is fun when you aren't with me. I miss you. So...
Sat., Oct. 25; 4:34 pm
Today has been meh. We have the final PT test on Monday, and we leave for FTX that night. So today we've been packing ALL DAY. I'm bored as hell. But I got to call! I'd do a million pushups to hear your voice.
Wed., Oct. 29; 2:07 pm
I'm out at the FTX now. Have been since Monday. I didn't expect it, but they brought your latest letter out here to me.
I'm still so sorry that school has become such a struggle. I can't wait to be home with you. Is it strange that I look forward to the day when I can devote all my time to you?
4:26 pm
I don't have a huge amount of time to write. (Plus, on such tiny paper.) We have to have 50% security at all times in this little 2 man foxhole. (He drew a picture of he and his battle buddy in the foxhole with their rucksacks, him "writing sneakily.") Georgia gets f-ing cold! I had no idea. We're only here til Friday, though. Then we come back to base and get ready for graduation. Don't worry about coming out here. I'm serious. It's not that I wouldn't love to have you out here, it's just that: what happens to "us" is more important than what happens to "me." You flying out here, me flying out at Christmas, flying back... it'd hurt us, in the long run. So, no worries, babe.
Sat., Nov. 1; 6:24 pm
We got back from the FTX last night. Ended up rucking around 10 miles or so. We've spent the day cleaning up our gear to turn in. Supposedly I get to call you tonight, but 2nd platoon is being stupid with their calls. So we'll see if I actually get to.
FTX was cold. And actually a little disappointing. I was looking forward to roughing it, and next thing I know we're marched out to a central point where we're being served breakfast. MRE for lunch. Served dinner. That part of it was kind of dumb. The rest was ok. I felt you so strongly and wanted you with me. It would have been so much more fun with you.
I'm sorry we weren't together on Halloween. It felt empty and hollow. We'll make the next one extra special! Big punkins. Yup. Decorations. The works.
Tue., Nov, 4; 1:37 pm
A lot has been going on latley. This "recovery week" is turning out to be a pain in the ass. The FTX blurb I wrote and then talked to you about, I'll include it in this letter, I guess. This is just going to have to be my last letter for a little while. (Not Happy.) It has been wonderful being able to call a little more often, lately. It's good for me. I want AIT to start so I can be in contact with you better. But it's taking so damn long! All we do is clean right now. And GFT. But they suck the fun out of even that.
Wed., Nov. 5; 8:21 am
So! The pictures/DVD/stuff order form that I was supposed to get in 30th AG (reception) I got today. I had to make a few hasty decisions. I saw the DVD, and you wouldn't care. It's boring, and you never see me at all. Instead I got the Individual picture package, photo CD, and group photo. I hope that's ok.
7:45 pm
More GFT. More cleaning. All our TA-50 gear is on our beds, so we slept on the floor. Kind of nice, actually. One of the Drill Sergeants said we had a "surprise coming tomorrow." We'll see. Last time I heard that, I ended up on duty squad. Meh. It's ok, though. I can make it. I'll make you proud. I'll be an awesome soldier. For you. For us. I wish I could call you right now!
You can probably tell how I'm feeling right now. I'm the 6th oldest in the platoon, and I can't wait to be around adults again. All the 17-21-year-olds all pretend they're so dangerous all the time. I'm whooping all their asses in GFT. Anyway, I'll send this off. I love you sweetheart. We'll be together soon.
Spyder
P.S.: I don't know what was up with that last paragraph. Just do me a favor: watch Whisper of the Heart and think of me.
I got this letter a couple of days ago, but I've been in the middle of tests again this week. (Sorry.) My cute boy and his love of heights. He makes me smile. He's getting pretty homesick.
He's been able to call me more the past week because of graduation. Our calls are mostly mushy now, so I'll just let you know what's been happening. They had family day on the 12th and he graduated yesterday. Today he and a few others traveled by bus over to Alabama to Fort Rucker where he is now. He has a lot more freedom, which he isn't used to. He says that it feels a lot like a college dorm. (I lived in a dorm once. It was LOUD.) Hopefully he gets a good sleep tonight. He's excited to start the next phase of his training. And then come home. ;)
