Monday Number Five!!!

Wow.  I've been here just shy of a month now.  Strange.

Lots of exciting stuff this past week, hard to know where to start.  I finally came back among the living and seem to have kicked the chest/throat cold right in the ass.  It's sort of settled in to my right eye, but I can live with that.  It's a little swollen and sore in the mornings, but by mid-afternoon it's all back to normal.  I can't imagine it will last much longer.

Earlier this week I received a package from home.  I love mail.  We all live for mail call.  My Mom baked me 6 mini-loaves of Finnish Pulla bread.  Heaven.  For those of you who aren't familiar, it's a little dense and quite sweet.  I love it.  When I opened the package I almost started to cry. A little bit of tasty home in a card board box.  My Mom's handwriting, the jelly, everything...it was exactly what I needed at that moment.  For a split second, I thought about sharing some of the bread with the folks in my office....then I shook my self and said "what they hell are you thinking, you crazy woman!?"  So, I shoved in back in the box and hid it under my desk.  I have now (gleefully) had it for dinner and breakfast several times.  I am evil.  I know.

I am starting to settle in to a pattern at work and am starting to get to know some of my co-workers a little better.  I don't really hang out with anyone, but we do go to the chow hall a few times a week together.  They are an interesting group of people....some of them have been here for 2 years.  One Army O-5 left this afternoon....she has been here for a total of 54 months since the start of the War.  Ummm.  I've been here for like 28 days and I can't believe it.  She's been here for YEARS!....I am such a pansy.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for some of these service men and women.  I don't know how they do it.

Most of the people I meet are very nice, but in this environment it's often hard to keep it in check. I am tired a lot, I'm in a strange place, and I'm a Navy Officer being forced to wear an Army uniform for the next year.  In short,  my Face Punch List is growing.  (I promised you all in a previous posting that I would explain the FPL, so here goes.)

The FPL is full of people I think should be, well.... punched in the face.  They are usually lazy, selfish, and ignorant....and too obtuse to realize that my amused expression is not really all that friendly.  It's a mask over my condescension because sometimes I just can't really believe these morons can function.  How do they get to the grocery store?  How do they even remember how to brush their teeth?  It's defies logic!

I'm not suggesting that I actually punch them in the face, I'm just saying they DESERVE to be punched in the face.  I know at least one of us would feel better afterwards.

Okay, on a happier and less acerbic note:

The weather has changed here, and we are definitely experiencing fall.  The temps during the days are in the lower 80s, and it's quite cool in the morning.  It's pouring rain out right now, if you can believe it.  It's supposed to rain for the next 36 hours...which means lots and lots of mud.  At least the air quality will be better, right?

I've also started running again, there isn't much else to do here.  My friend Holly pushed me towards it, gently nudging me back to the emotional place where I actually wanted to do it again. Inspired by my friends Caren, Steph, the aforementioned Holly, but most importantly my husband Jack I decided to take the plunge again.  So far, so good. Camp Victory is great for running....it's wide open and safe.  I've signed up for a 5k on Thanksgiving morning, so I'll be doing a Turkey Trot just like lot's of my peeps back home.

Here's a picture of the Palace where I work.  Can you believe that I walk in to this building everyday???

On that note...time for sleep!