Today has been very long, and full of many challenges and disappointments....
This morning Colton & I left extra early to get him to OHSU to see a new specialist. I did fine with the driving until I got to where we were supposed to exit - and missed it completely. Anyone who knows me knows how much I extremely dislike driving in portland. I got very flustered and ended up driving over the river and over to OMSI so I could try to get myself turned around. A phone call to preston to ask for help didnt result in the needed assistance. I finally found my way through berzerk AM work traffic to get back on the freeway - just to see a small sign a few seconds too late and missed the needed exit again. By then I was about in tears and trying to fight all the traffic we left early enough to miss. I ended up driving quite aways again before I could get where I could turn around again and find the right exit.
We finally got there and met with the new specialist. He was really good with Colton, and very patient. Our appt ended up being 4 hours long w/ short breaks throughout the appt. At the beginning I was given some detailed questionaires to fill out about colton and current concerns. By the 2nd break, the dr. brought me back into the room (vs being on the other side of an observation window) to help colton finish the testing. In the process of me coming back in, I also got handed more paperwork and surveys to fill out about colton. The more I looked through them, the more I saw the direction the dr was taking - and it was not a good sign. Although Colton was very compliant and calmer today, he never sat still through the entire morning and had to take several breaks, and have me in the room to help complete the testing. I kept telling the dr how thrilled I was that colton had done so amazinly well - this seemed to concern him alot.
By the time we were done and he had totalled our numbers, we took about 1/2 hour to talk about the initial results. The diagnosis was more than I was prepared for - behavioral, and cognitive concerns were at the top of the list. The front brain development is way behind - he scored almost as low as he possibly could have in the cognitive and developmental testing. While his academic skills seem to be in the target of K-1, his abilities to complete the needed tasks are way below normal ranges. The dr mentioned something called sluggish cognitive something disorder. Meaning that while other parts of the brain are working sufficiently, and the potential is there, the brain is not developing normally to meet the needs for reasonable/rational thought process to work. Behavioral and emotional concerns are because of the brain development being so delayed, combine with this with a pretty definate diagnosis of ADHD. These are also more prevelant because of the genetic syndrome that Colton has. His specific genetic disorder makes him 10% more likely to suffer ADHD and the concerns he is experiencing may be more difficult to manage than for kids who only have 1 of these concerns w/out genetic stuff going on.
He told me that he would not put a conclusive diagnosis because it is supposed to be confirmed by 2 different testing resources - but because I am his home and school environment and therapy and primary are so insignificant in the time he spends there, he could not technically make the call. Everything in the testing today, and all the info I filled out pointed conclusively enough though. I felt the specialist was really great, all except one point in our discussion. He had me fill out LOTS of paperwork and questions today - the one specifically told me he was heading towards ADHD. In our discussion of numbers and totals he told me that he had to dismiss/throw out that entire test because the total was so extreme - which points to me being excessively negative towards colton and his actual behavior/emotion/capabilities. I was floored - he said that the numbers were excessive - and I told him that they were truthful. Everything on that set of ???? were exactly all of the things I have been going through with colton - I was blown away that the dr would ask for my input and then dismiss it and point a finger at me that I am too negative towards colton. I felt like after all we had been through this morning that I was still not believed and that I was being accused of exaggerating colton's situation. It was all I could do to remain calm and not let emotions get the better of me.
I am going to for sure make a phone call to our pediatrician tomorrow to just give him the "heads up" about the appt today and the concluding discussion. He will prob get all the reports and recommendations way before we will. I know that I can trust his thoughts, suggestions, and opinions. We will have alot to discuss as the specialist today said that we are looking at life time concerns, even with all the measures we can take now. We will be discussing more intensive speech therapy, OT, possibly behavioral therapy and most likely medications. I know our pediatrician will be completely honest with us in helping us make the decisions that will best help colton now and in the future.
Part of our adventures to OHSU usually include a stop to McD's - esp after missing bfast and lunch to be gone so early and so long. Colton decided an inside, sit down was his choice today. He was thrilled with a Happy Meal and fresh baked choc chip cookies, and I was able to find 2 things I could tweak for me to enjoy too. I spent lots of time praising him for how well he had done today. It really was miraculous that we made it through the appt with relative calm and cooperation. We enjoyed our lunch together.
After arriving home, everyone was down for naps - the long driving is always exhausting for me, and I knew I was struggling to stay awake on the way home. We stopped for short naps too before I was on the run again.
I gave blood again today. Barely scratched by with 2 points in my favor for the iron test - even after all the hard work I have done the last several weeks to be sure I had enough iron and fluids. I chatted with the gals there and warned them of my concerns. I was surprised when the one gal wanted to go for my left vs right arm. She got it on a first try and I was done in less than 10 minutes. My constant plea to Heavenly Father is that if someone needs my blood more than I do, then He would need to help me stay. Apparently that was true again tonight. I am thankful that he knows the needs of people I will never know or see, and that he had wonderful, skilled staff to be there to help me too.
On my way home I received a tear filled phone call from Ceana who was requesting permission to put children in meltdown to bed. She was in meltdown herself - 5 out of 6 out for the count tonight. I hurried home and tried to help get everyone settled and sent the girls on bike rides to burn off the steam. Since everyone had naps today, though, settling down was a long time in coming with all the little people completely separated from each other. They have all crashed in different rooms, and I am just too worn out to move them.
Preston has been working berzerk hours - 18hrs plus most days - have no idea what time he finally got home last night (this morning) We have seen him for one afternoon in about the last 3 weeks. We completely missed our anniversary and had planned to take tomorrow together to try to spend a special day together before he leaves for TX. Just found out he will be working extra late, and then going into work tomorrow AM as well. Most the of the rest of the day will be spent running errands and packing to get things done that havent been because he has been gone. I am trying to do my best to not cry and not be disappointed, but I am, and the tears are coming anyway. I was really hoping to have just one day for us to spend together with us/play time. Errands and work and packing are not the way I was wanting to spend that time. We will be together, but it is hard for me to not feel sad at losing quality time together - esp knowing Sat will be spent at drill, he will be leaving again Sunday, and that when he is back it will mean more extra long hours to make up for him being gone....
I am so sad tonight I have just completely even stopped getting ready to go. Will just try to get some sleep and take care of things in the AM while Preston is at work....
I know that I am extra tired tonight - it has been a very long day filled with more than my heart or brain can handle. There are many things that will need to be considered and new goals to set for colton. There will also be more having to fight the school district to keep his IEP and add new concerns. I am not hopeful we will accomplish what is needed, and even if we convince them to keep his IEP in place, we will most likely end up seeking out new specialists in Portland or other areas to meet all the new needs Colton will have. I feel like I have been given a new set of concerns, but not the help or support or confidence that I will be able to handle them. I feel like I have been accused of being too negative, too emotional, too unstable myself to help Colton. That it is my fault and that if I dont get my act together that he will be the one to suffer more.
I am also struggling with having any objective thoughts on family, personal time with Preston. He works so hard to care for us, to meet our needs, and we are truly grateful that he still has a stable job when so many dont. It seems we should be able to find a happy medium to be able to have enough hours to meet family needs, and be able to have quality time together. Our summer has completely slipped away without any of the family time or activities or projects we were hoping to see happen. Once school starts, that time will be even harder to find to spend together....
One last sad note for this day. I heard back from the computer guy about my hard drive. It is still going to be a long, drawn out process for me to continue to sort the dead from the alive files. Though most of the images are recovered, there is much that is still lost and will have to be moved and re-organized a piece at a time. I will need to spend that time and then delete as much as possible from the "dead" to make room to re-install all of the needed programs and software to get back to photography work. It is looking like the loss of all of my documents and projects - both for PMR and family are a total loss. It is family history, financial and other PMR records, and all of the kids school projects they worked so hard on last year. All gone. This has been a very hard, discouraging learning experience for me. We will do better for the future, hopefully, and just try our best to re-build and research to replace as much as possible. It is sad to know so much is truly gone - documents and records that were so important, that I thought were safe on that extra drive. Nothing to be done but try to move on and do things differently from now on...
Guess that is all for today. Really has been a hard day. Looking forward to hopefully getting some sleep tonight...will just have to try to start over tomorrow....and hope the rest of the weekend will be filled with more ups than downs...wish me luck...
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Kidspeak
Kels has been spouting off with a gazillion things recently and I have not done a good job at getting them written down - going to try to add a few here
"You dont help me" - at first I thought she was coming to me with this to tell me I was not staying on the ball to help her - since hearing her say it more often it is actually indicating that "I did it by myself" - her telling me that I didnt need to help her becasuse she did it..
"Dee Hep Me" - pretty self explanitory - "please help me" - the trick with this one is for me or someone to respond to her quickly and praise her. Without the quick jump on the use of these words in her inside voice results in her repeating herself with her pitch increasing with every repeat. We have been working on what an "inside" voice is.
"pa pa" - which is her word for popcorn - which we have come to find out she cannot tolerate either. We get major blowout diapers for a couple of days even if she eats a little bit. Too bad too, because she for sure knows what it is and that she wants some
"peeza" - pizza - another food we are struggling with. She also cant have dairy - which is plastered on pizza. She is not real keen about feta so we try to be creative with her pizza and try to leave the cheese off. She is getting wise to our tricks though which is making our brains have to keep thinking more creatively
"wardee" - which she says as she signs the word milk - which is funny because she really does want water - it is just really hard for her to sign. She tries to flip her hand the wrong way with her pinky at her chin instead of her pointer finger. I think for the most part we have all figured out what this sound is, it is a work in progress
"moni chee" - macaroni & cheese - one her most fave foods right now. She can make quite a mess of herself too - such to the point that kaeli has taken to strip her down to her diaper. She ends up with it all over her face, in her hair, on her tummy & diaper, etc and usually requires a bath when she is done.
"ABC's" one of the kids' fave DVD is one we were given from preston's brother. It is filled with silly songs that include ABC's in varying forms. She LOVES watching it and has learned to say her ABC's already. Often when saying them with her, she will say the next letter before I will. She also has fave letters that she already knows and recognizes - "T", "O", "M", and sometimes "H" - no matter where we are she can always find these. It is funny to listen to her try to say them all whenever she sees letters (on clothes, in a book, etc) she knows they are letters, and she is trying to figure them out. Pretty smart for how little she still is.
"dar" - her word for star - which is one shape she seems to always recognize.
"I don't like you!" which she has apparently picked up from her brothers - and uses when they are not being very nice to her...it put Kaeli into hysterics when she spouted it off in sacrament meeting yesterday.
Her 2 new fave movies/shows are "Barbie Princess & Pauper" and "Go Diego" - both of which she has picked up the music very specifically. She is able to sing the songs almost word for word already, even though she doesnt watch them often. She is also doing a "bobble-head" doll thing anytime she hears music. Wish I had a video camera to capture all her funny things...
More and more often she is using complete sentences - even if her words are not complete. I find her doing the same thing Ky did - saying a partial word - whatever syllable that she is hearing. We are understanding her tons more even if she isnt able to say everything yet.
Ky has also thrown out a couple of whoppers too -
Yesterday he was trying to tell me about a new game that Kaeli was trying to teach us. I knew the game was called "statues" but I kept hearing him say "roller" - I was not understanding him and he got frustrated with me and finally threw up his hands and said "the fweeze game!" with a look on his face that just screamed "come on mom, get with the program!" I just busted out laughing. To which he rolled his eyes and walked away with an "ugh!" Which made me laugh more.
We have been having a hard time with the boys having "potty" mouths - which I havent been able to figure out because that kind of thing is not used or tolerated at home. The boys are not very many other places around kiddos who would use that language either. It has me really stumped and I am having a hard time breaking them of the habit. The latest ones we have had to curb have included bodily functions and have been getting harder to break. Hoping to find some answers very soon vs sending boys to their room...
Today I think my hearing is just having a problem - What Ky said - Sesame Street - I heard "missionary street"
More often than not, Ky & Kels both keep us in stitches because of their antics and current vocabulary. Good to have them around to look at the world through their eyes and with their wonder. It seems on the days when I really need it most one of them pops off with something that just makes me hysterical. Dont know what I would do without either of them - we have our very rough days - but for all the challenges I think they bring as much, and usually more joy to our family than the struggles we go through.
"You dont help me" - at first I thought she was coming to me with this to tell me I was not staying on the ball to help her - since hearing her say it more often it is actually indicating that "I did it by myself" - her telling me that I didnt need to help her becasuse she did it..
"Dee Hep Me" - pretty self explanitory - "please help me" - the trick with this one is for me or someone to respond to her quickly and praise her. Without the quick jump on the use of these words in her inside voice results in her repeating herself with her pitch increasing with every repeat. We have been working on what an "inside" voice is.
"pa pa" - which is her word for popcorn - which we have come to find out she cannot tolerate either. We get major blowout diapers for a couple of days even if she eats a little bit. Too bad too, because she for sure knows what it is and that she wants some
"peeza" - pizza - another food we are struggling with. She also cant have dairy - which is plastered on pizza. She is not real keen about feta so we try to be creative with her pizza and try to leave the cheese off. She is getting wise to our tricks though which is making our brains have to keep thinking more creatively
"wardee" - which she says as she signs the word milk - which is funny because she really does want water - it is just really hard for her to sign. She tries to flip her hand the wrong way with her pinky at her chin instead of her pointer finger. I think for the most part we have all figured out what this sound is, it is a work in progress
"moni chee" - macaroni & cheese - one her most fave foods right now. She can make quite a mess of herself too - such to the point that kaeli has taken to strip her down to her diaper. She ends up with it all over her face, in her hair, on her tummy & diaper, etc and usually requires a bath when she is done.
"ABC's" one of the kids' fave DVD is one we were given from preston's brother. It is filled with silly songs that include ABC's in varying forms. She LOVES watching it and has learned to say her ABC's already. Often when saying them with her, she will say the next letter before I will. She also has fave letters that she already knows and recognizes - "T", "O", "M", and sometimes "H" - no matter where we are she can always find these. It is funny to listen to her try to say them all whenever she sees letters (on clothes, in a book, etc) she knows they are letters, and she is trying to figure them out. Pretty smart for how little she still is.
"dar" - her word for star - which is one shape she seems to always recognize.
"I don't like you!" which she has apparently picked up from her brothers - and uses when they are not being very nice to her...it put Kaeli into hysterics when she spouted it off in sacrament meeting yesterday.
Her 2 new fave movies/shows are "Barbie Princess & Pauper" and "Go Diego" - both of which she has picked up the music very specifically. She is able to sing the songs almost word for word already, even though she doesnt watch them often. She is also doing a "bobble-head" doll thing anytime she hears music. Wish I had a video camera to capture all her funny things...
More and more often she is using complete sentences - even if her words are not complete. I find her doing the same thing Ky did - saying a partial word - whatever syllable that she is hearing. We are understanding her tons more even if she isnt able to say everything yet.
Ky has also thrown out a couple of whoppers too -
Yesterday he was trying to tell me about a new game that Kaeli was trying to teach us. I knew the game was called "statues" but I kept hearing him say "roller" - I was not understanding him and he got frustrated with me and finally threw up his hands and said "the fweeze game!" with a look on his face that just screamed "come on mom, get with the program!" I just busted out laughing. To which he rolled his eyes and walked away with an "ugh!" Which made me laugh more.
We have been having a hard time with the boys having "potty" mouths - which I havent been able to figure out because that kind of thing is not used or tolerated at home. The boys are not very many other places around kiddos who would use that language either. It has me really stumped and I am having a hard time breaking them of the habit. The latest ones we have had to curb have included bodily functions and have been getting harder to break. Hoping to find some answers very soon vs sending boys to their room...
Today I think my hearing is just having a problem - What Ky said - Sesame Street - I heard "missionary street"
More often than not, Ky & Kels both keep us in stitches because of their antics and current vocabulary. Good to have them around to look at the world through their eyes and with their wonder. It seems on the days when I really need it most one of them pops off with something that just makes me hysterical. Dont know what I would do without either of them - we have our very rough days - but for all the challenges I think they bring as much, and usually more joy to our family than the struggles we go through.
Child On The Rampage
I think I am about done in with all the battles with my 7 year old....it has been another one of those days with only 1 calm day in whole the entire last week. Today I even got a door slam and a "stupid mom" screamed from the top of his lungs...
I am about in tears today for want of something to do with/about him. His behavior has become increasingly worse during the summer. We have had to let go of 2 of his specialist services during the summer, and that may be part of it. We are working weekly, and sometimes more often with 2 of his health specialists knowing that his health has alot to do with his behavior - we saw one of them today - and still he has been ballistic since we got back...
What is hardest for me is his continued down hill slide to complete rebellion against me and anything he is asked to do. He would rather choose to be on the rampage (resulting in time out and usually loss of all privileges) than to do the small task that he has been asked to do.
Example - Each of the kids is asked to do 5 things each morning 1) morning jobs (eat/get dressed) 2) House chores (30 min) 3) music (30 min) 4)school (30 min) 5) scripture study (30 min) They also get to plan for an exercise of choice which has no time limit - The other 5 things should take about 2.5hrs max. Today, my child has not been able to get past the house chores - instead choosing to stomp, kick, scream, tantrum, talk back, etc and has wasted WAY more than the 30 minutes of time asked to spend. He has also missed lunch because he cant stay calm enough to be safe around his siblings or me.
We get into these cycles often. It has been awhile since it has been this bad though. It doesnt seem to matter at all whether I offer rewards or punishment - we have tried chore charts, him choosing rewards, me choosing, me taking everything away. Still the intensity continues to increase. His behavior has prevented us from family outings at times because I cant take other kids and leave them and stay home with him.
I am really at a loss as to what else I can do that I am not already doing. I am worried about Fall when we know he will have surgeries and having to try to stay on top of school stuff. We are on an IEP already because of behavior and will probably add medical concerns to the mix. I am so wanting to start things off right, but at this point things continue to go the wrong direction....
This last week, and again today, I feel like a huge failure - with the 3 youngest, but esp with my 7 yr old....just dont know what to do...
I am about in tears today for want of something to do with/about him. His behavior has become increasingly worse during the summer. We have had to let go of 2 of his specialist services during the summer, and that may be part of it. We are working weekly, and sometimes more often with 2 of his health specialists knowing that his health has alot to do with his behavior - we saw one of them today - and still he has been ballistic since we got back...
What is hardest for me is his continued down hill slide to complete rebellion against me and anything he is asked to do. He would rather choose to be on the rampage (resulting in time out and usually loss of all privileges) than to do the small task that he has been asked to do.
Example - Each of the kids is asked to do 5 things each morning 1) morning jobs (eat/get dressed) 2) House chores (30 min) 3) music (30 min) 4)school (30 min) 5) scripture study (30 min) They also get to plan for an exercise of choice which has no time limit - The other 5 things should take about 2.5hrs max. Today, my child has not been able to get past the house chores - instead choosing to stomp, kick, scream, tantrum, talk back, etc and has wasted WAY more than the 30 minutes of time asked to spend. He has also missed lunch because he cant stay calm enough to be safe around his siblings or me.
We get into these cycles often. It has been awhile since it has been this bad though. It doesnt seem to matter at all whether I offer rewards or punishment - we have tried chore charts, him choosing rewards, me choosing, me taking everything away. Still the intensity continues to increase. His behavior has prevented us from family outings at times because I cant take other kids and leave them and stay home with him.
I am really at a loss as to what else I can do that I am not already doing. I am worried about Fall when we know he will have surgeries and having to try to stay on top of school stuff. We are on an IEP already because of behavior and will probably add medical concerns to the mix. I am so wanting to start things off right, but at this point things continue to go the wrong direction....
This last week, and again today, I feel like a huge failure - with the 3 youngest, but esp with my 7 yr old....just dont know what to do...
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
FTX Day 4
Hold on tight!
After another great breakfast we headed out with our platoons for a full day of training. 3rd PLT started at the Land Navigation (Land Nav) course where we spent a few minutes getting everyone's 100-meter pace count. We were still waiting for land nav supplies, so we took a few minutes talking about some of the standard squad movement techniques that we were hoping to use during the day. In theory you move your group differently if you are just out for a stroll versus being under enemy fire. Since we had also been tipped off that setting ambushes would be part of the "activities" of the day we got started on that task when our supplies arrived. So we essentially touched on about 4 hours worth of classes in that first 30 minutes.
With 10 people in our platoon, I had planned to at least split into two groups for land nav practice. I thought that plan might have been thwarted when we only got one compass and two maps, but several in our group had the iPhone compass app. Beyond just the simple compass, they also ended up with an app that gave military grid coordinates for where we were at, and allowed them to post the series of points we were given as part of our course. Part of me thinks that's "cheating" but in reality the whole world is moving to digital devices and GPS. Anyway, we split into our two squads and headed out on the course laid out by the commander.
The squad I went with was given two points that when connected by a straight line, went right through a small patch of Scotch Broom plants. Having had the pleasure of fighting my way through that a few days earlier, I was admittedly applying some pressure to the squad to just "Go on in!" After several offsets to get around the stuff, SSG Velasquez finally relented and in we went. The stuff was so tall that at certain points we were maintaining contact only by voice since we couldn't see more than about 2' in front of us. Other times the lead man would hold his rifle straight up and the rest of us would sight on it to keep together. After emerging onto a road it became apparent that was possibly not the best decision. While pushing our way through, SSG Velasquez' alergy defenses were overcome and he started breaking out in hives on his neck. Fortunately we were able to get him some Benadryl, which eventually did take care of the swelling, but it also wiped him out for most of the rest of the day. Others in the unit had allergic reactions throughout the day as well. Anyway, with "dead reckoning" training out of the way, the rest of the course was completed by "terrain association" from the roads. Good thing we didn't have enemy hunting us, being out in the open like that. We did get some good practice, and even found that some of our azimuths had been plotted incorrectly the first time and needed to be corrected. Overall it was good practice.
After meeting up with the other squad we took an early lunch before getting a bit more practice on setting an ambush. The full-time staff volunteered to be the opposition and gave us a few minutes' head start. As was the intention, I had already participated in three failed and one successful ambush so we had a head-start. We were able to get everyone in place, check to make sure they couldn't be seen from the road, and instructions were passed about the ambush initiation. (While setting up, we saw what we later confirmed to be a black-tailed deer, with quite the impressive rack!) A few minutes after getting into place, someone came walking down the road ... from the wrong direction. We knew there were other units and even civilian campers in the area, and since we were expecting several people to be walking along, the ambush was not triggered. Turns out it was SFC Skelton out taking pictures. (He gave away several ambushes earlier in the week.) Very soon after that I started hearing more noise, again from the wrong side. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on, since all our people were in place and should have been keeping quiet. But that didn't last too long before we finally had our quarry walk into our trap. The feedback we got was that nobody was seen early this time, which was of course the whole idea!
While standing there in the road talking about that ambush, some rather dirty-faced folks popped out of the trees and started yelling "Bang bang you're dead!" Apparently when the full-time staff came walking down the road, another platoon was coming from the other direction. They set up a second ambush just down the road from ours (without knowing we were there), and when our ambush was sprung and they realized they might be waiting in the weeds for a long time, they got bored with the wait and made their move. Oh, and I am POSITIVE that gunk on their faces must have been the only reason nobody saw them. :+)
Next we headed over to the EST for some familiarization & practice on the weapons. We were able to run both "zero" and "qualification" ranges to remind folks of what we'd be doing the following day with the fully-functional M16s. Since we don't typically fire on a range with "pop-up targets" it was good to practice watching for that movement, revising aim support and sighting, watching for multiple targets, etc. The rest of our time was spent playing ... er, PRACTICING various scenarios. For example, we defended against troops in the desert, in a night raid, against helicopters, in the fog, an industrial area, and suburban setting. We weren't necessarily "training" with all the sectors of fire, communications, etc, but maybe next time. We did try out the SAW, shotgun, grenade launchers and even the 50-caliber machine gun.
After an early dinner all three platoons stopped back at the barracks to pick up MILES gear (laser sensors and transmitters) and printed orders for the evening. Each group was dropped off at an "undisclosed location," then given a series of missions to accomplish. The WAR GAMES were supposed to have the platoons engaging each other, using squad movement tactics, setting ambushes, etc. Our first set of points took us south from the drop-off point according to the points we plotted on our map, but while rounding the first bend we saw signs stating "DANGER: IMPACT AREA". Our iCompass users were sure about the direction we needed to go, but SFC Tuggy stopped us and said we definitely need to go North (he had written up the directions). So we traveled up the road until we found a land nav marker and read the coordinates from the post, which indicated we indeed needed to travel SOUTH. That prompted enough questions to finally pull out SFC Tuggy's map to double-check the instructions. And then we realized THE MAPS WERE BASED ON DIFFERENT COORDINATE SYSTEMS. So all the instructions were based on grids that did not match up with the maps each platoon had been issued.
During this pause in the exercise, SFC Tuggy also asked whether we had turned on the MILES transmitters. "You have to turn them on?" It took about 10 minutes to give up on that idea. It's comforting to know you can't be killed.
So we decided to press on, thinking that perhaps if everyone was using the same edition of the map that we had, it was still possible we might run into each other as planned. Considering we are THE BAND, I thought we did reasonably well with our bounding and covering and moving down the road. Our first and second missions (according to the map we were using) went off without ever seeing another person. At one point we did hear a firefight off in the distance. We were later told that the other two platoons had indeed run into each other, but that was pure coincidence since one of the groups was NOT where they were supposed to be.
We started setting up our ambush (per our orders) when SFC Tuggy came up to let us know there had been a change in plans. Instead of following through with the original orders, the other two platoons had been given our position and had been instructed to hunt us. So instead of having anything close to the 3:1 ideal advantage for setting an ambush, we would be at least even strength. Whoever we ambushed would then join with us, and together we would wait for the third platoon to arrive and then take them out.
The ambush was set up along the junction of two roads (since we didn't know from which direction either group might be coming) plus extra vigilence on our rear. The full-time staff was still wandering around in the area, and seemed to take up an observer position on a nearby hill. So that was a clue that something was about to happen. Then one of my people saw someone peek over the hill across the road from us. Then we started hearing noise from down the road on our right. We maintained our position and concealment, waiting for the right time to open up the ambush, but by that time nobody wanted to be out walking along a road knowing there were others laying in wait somewhere.
Suddenly there was a truck driving up the road, which had happened several times since the exercise had begun. This time, however, it was being used as cover by another platoon (sneaky!) so they could take up fire against the group coming over the hill. They started firing on each other before anyone got to our "kill zone" but when the firing really got going we joined in too. Turns out the platoon to our right also spotted the group coming over the hill, and they took up hasty positions. When the hill group didn't continue coming down, they decided to press the issue and jumped into a firefight. All we had to do was stand up and shoot them all in the back. The two platoons who were supposed to be hunting us instead found and killed each other. Success! From his vantage point on the hill across the street, SFC Tuggy watched the whole thing unfold and later declared it was "one of the funniest things [he had] ever seen."
The last mission was for the three platoons to work together to try to take a heavily-fortified position on a hill occupied by the full-time and command staff. It was an obvious suicide mission, since they had great visibility. It also turns out they had the commander who only had to say "You in the trees, you're dead." (He never misses.) Would have been nice to have working laser gear.
Anyway we had one platoon (the dirty-faced ones) who for some unfathomable reason WANTED to cross that swamp and try to flank the hill. The other two platoons decided to quickly march up the main road, then split into two groups with one going up the middle through the trees, and the other coming around on the right. The plan was for all three platoons to attack at the same time, hopefully from at least three different directions.
As we approached a hill we saw people walking around. That prompted us to split into our two groups, and my squads took to the trees for cover. When we got to what I thought was a good position we still had 5 minutes before the appointed time. That's when the commander (who was a sniper on the hill) started announcing who was now dead. Those who hadn't been singled out returned fire and probably killed he and SPC Woolfe, but the commander had the final say and just wouldn't die. :+)
Now bodyliess, a few of us walked up to the top of the "hill" we were about to assault. It turned out to be a little berm in front of a significantly larger hill. So without grid coordinates or the opportunity to do a little recon, we would have been assaulting the wrong target. But then again, there were at least two members of the opposition there. SGT Cook opened up with the SAW from a position on the hill (he probably didn't know we were already dead), and the other two groups finally started the assault. Without working MILES gear, those who couldn't hear the commander never died. The secondary reason for the mission, namely to shoot off all the ammunition so we wouldn't have to turn it back in, came to fruition.
The rest of the evening was spent storing gear, dealing with heavy-duty allergies, getting everyone back to the barracks and eventually into bed. Overall most people seemed to have a good time using some of the skills we had practiced. And some people just plain enjoyed getting dirty and smelly.
After another great breakfast we headed out with our platoons for a full day of training. 3rd PLT started at the Land Navigation (Land Nav) course where we spent a few minutes getting everyone's 100-meter pace count. We were still waiting for land nav supplies, so we took a few minutes talking about some of the standard squad movement techniques that we were hoping to use during the day. In theory you move your group differently if you are just out for a stroll versus being under enemy fire. Since we had also been tipped off that setting ambushes would be part of the "activities" of the day we got started on that task when our supplies arrived. So we essentially touched on about 4 hours worth of classes in that first 30 minutes.
With 10 people in our platoon, I had planned to at least split into two groups for land nav practice. I thought that plan might have been thwarted when we only got one compass and two maps, but several in our group had the iPhone compass app. Beyond just the simple compass, they also ended up with an app that gave military grid coordinates for where we were at, and allowed them to post the series of points we were given as part of our course. Part of me thinks that's "cheating" but in reality the whole world is moving to digital devices and GPS. Anyway, we split into our two squads and headed out on the course laid out by the commander.
The squad I went with was given two points that when connected by a straight line, went right through a small patch of Scotch Broom plants. Having had the pleasure of fighting my way through that a few days earlier, I was admittedly applying some pressure to the squad to just "Go on in!" After several offsets to get around the stuff, SSG Velasquez finally relented and in we went. The stuff was so tall that at certain points we were maintaining contact only by voice since we couldn't see more than about 2' in front of us. Other times the lead man would hold his rifle straight up and the rest of us would sight on it to keep together. After emerging onto a road it became apparent that was possibly not the best decision. While pushing our way through, SSG Velasquez' alergy defenses were overcome and he started breaking out in hives on his neck. Fortunately we were able to get him some Benadryl, which eventually did take care of the swelling, but it also wiped him out for most of the rest of the day. Others in the unit had allergic reactions throughout the day as well. Anyway, with "dead reckoning" training out of the way, the rest of the course was completed by "terrain association" from the roads. Good thing we didn't have enemy hunting us, being out in the open like that. We did get some good practice, and even found that some of our azimuths had been plotted incorrectly the first time and needed to be corrected. Overall it was good practice.
After meeting up with the other squad we took an early lunch before getting a bit more practice on setting an ambush. The full-time staff volunteered to be the opposition and gave us a few minutes' head start. As was the intention, I had already participated in three failed and one successful ambush so we had a head-start. We were able to get everyone in place, check to make sure they couldn't be seen from the road, and instructions were passed about the ambush initiation. (While setting up, we saw what we later confirmed to be a black-tailed deer, with quite the impressive rack!) A few minutes after getting into place, someone came walking down the road ... from the wrong direction. We knew there were other units and even civilian campers in the area, and since we were expecting several people to be walking along, the ambush was not triggered. Turns out it was SFC Skelton out taking pictures. (He gave away several ambushes earlier in the week.) Very soon after that I started hearing more noise, again from the wrong side. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on, since all our people were in place and should have been keeping quiet. But that didn't last too long before we finally had our quarry walk into our trap. The feedback we got was that nobody was seen early this time, which was of course the whole idea!
While standing there in the road talking about that ambush, some rather dirty-faced folks popped out of the trees and started yelling "Bang bang you're dead!" Apparently when the full-time staff came walking down the road, another platoon was coming from the other direction. They set up a second ambush just down the road from ours (without knowing we were there), and when our ambush was sprung and they realized they might be waiting in the weeds for a long time, they got bored with the wait and made their move. Oh, and I am POSITIVE that gunk on their faces must have been the only reason nobody saw them. :+)
Next we headed over to the EST for some familiarization & practice on the weapons. We were able to run both "zero" and "qualification" ranges to remind folks of what we'd be doing the following day with the fully-functional M16s. Since we don't typically fire on a range with "pop-up targets" it was good to practice watching for that movement, revising aim support and sighting, watching for multiple targets, etc. The rest of our time was spent playing ... er, PRACTICING various scenarios. For example, we defended against troops in the desert, in a night raid, against helicopters, in the fog, an industrial area, and suburban setting. We weren't necessarily "training" with all the sectors of fire, communications, etc, but maybe next time. We did try out the SAW, shotgun, grenade launchers and even the 50-caliber machine gun.
After an early dinner all three platoons stopped back at the barracks to pick up MILES gear (laser sensors and transmitters) and printed orders for the evening. Each group was dropped off at an "undisclosed location," then given a series of missions to accomplish. The WAR GAMES were supposed to have the platoons engaging each other, using squad movement tactics, setting ambushes, etc. Our first set of points took us south from the drop-off point according to the points we plotted on our map, but while rounding the first bend we saw signs stating "DANGER: IMPACT AREA". Our iCompass users were sure about the direction we needed to go, but SFC Tuggy stopped us and said we definitely need to go North (he had written up the directions). So we traveled up the road until we found a land nav marker and read the coordinates from the post, which indicated we indeed needed to travel SOUTH. That prompted enough questions to finally pull out SFC Tuggy's map to double-check the instructions. And then we realized THE MAPS WERE BASED ON DIFFERENT COORDINATE SYSTEMS. So all the instructions were based on grids that did not match up with the maps each platoon had been issued.
During this pause in the exercise, SFC Tuggy also asked whether we had turned on the MILES transmitters. "You have to turn them on?" It took about 10 minutes to give up on that idea. It's comforting to know you can't be killed.
So we decided to press on, thinking that perhaps if everyone was using the same edition of the map that we had, it was still possible we might run into each other as planned. Considering we are THE BAND, I thought we did reasonably well with our bounding and covering and moving down the road. Our first and second missions (according to the map we were using) went off without ever seeing another person. At one point we did hear a firefight off in the distance. We were later told that the other two platoons had indeed run into each other, but that was pure coincidence since one of the groups was NOT where they were supposed to be.
We started setting up our ambush (per our orders) when SFC Tuggy came up to let us know there had been a change in plans. Instead of following through with the original orders, the other two platoons had been given our position and had been instructed to hunt us. So instead of having anything close to the 3:1 ideal advantage for setting an ambush, we would be at least even strength. Whoever we ambushed would then join with us, and together we would wait for the third platoon to arrive and then take them out.
The ambush was set up along the junction of two roads (since we didn't know from which direction either group might be coming) plus extra vigilence on our rear. The full-time staff was still wandering around in the area, and seemed to take up an observer position on a nearby hill. So that was a clue that something was about to happen. Then one of my people saw someone peek over the hill across the road from us. Then we started hearing noise from down the road on our right. We maintained our position and concealment, waiting for the right time to open up the ambush, but by that time nobody wanted to be out walking along a road knowing there were others laying in wait somewhere.
Suddenly there was a truck driving up the road, which had happened several times since the exercise had begun. This time, however, it was being used as cover by another platoon (sneaky!) so they could take up fire against the group coming over the hill. They started firing on each other before anyone got to our "kill zone" but when the firing really got going we joined in too. Turns out the platoon to our right also spotted the group coming over the hill, and they took up hasty positions. When the hill group didn't continue coming down, they decided to press the issue and jumped into a firefight. All we had to do was stand up and shoot them all in the back. The two platoons who were supposed to be hunting us instead found and killed each other. Success! From his vantage point on the hill across the street, SFC Tuggy watched the whole thing unfold and later declared it was "one of the funniest things [he had] ever seen."
The last mission was for the three platoons to work together to try to take a heavily-fortified position on a hill occupied by the full-time and command staff. It was an obvious suicide mission, since they had great visibility. It also turns out they had the commander who only had to say "You in the trees, you're dead." (He never misses.) Would have been nice to have working laser gear.
Anyway we had one platoon (the dirty-faced ones) who for some unfathomable reason WANTED to cross that swamp and try to flank the hill. The other two platoons decided to quickly march up the main road, then split into two groups with one going up the middle through the trees, and the other coming around on the right. The plan was for all three platoons to attack at the same time, hopefully from at least three different directions.
As we approached a hill we saw people walking around. That prompted us to split into our two groups, and my squads took to the trees for cover. When we got to what I thought was a good position we still had 5 minutes before the appointed time. That's when the commander (who was a sniper on the hill) started announcing who was now dead. Those who hadn't been singled out returned fire and probably killed he and SPC Woolfe, but the commander had the final say and just wouldn't die. :+)
Now bodyliess, a few of us walked up to the top of the "hill" we were about to assault. It turned out to be a little berm in front of a significantly larger hill. So without grid coordinates or the opportunity to do a little recon, we would have been assaulting the wrong target. But then again, there were at least two members of the opposition there. SGT Cook opened up with the SAW from a position on the hill (he probably didn't know we were already dead), and the other two groups finally started the assault. Without working MILES gear, those who couldn't hear the commander never died. The secondary reason for the mission, namely to shoot off all the ammunition so we wouldn't have to turn it back in, came to fruition.
The rest of the evening was spent storing gear, dealing with heavy-duty allergies, getting everyone back to the barracks and eventually into bed. Overall most people seemed to have a good time using some of the skills we had practiced. And some people just plain enjoyed getting dirty and smelly.
Monday, July 19, 2010
FTX Day 3
Maybe we were due for a "break."
Day 3's main objective was to get the senior staff, commander and support staff through the firing ranges. In today's Army that means you first have a safety briefing (ie "Don't be stupid") followed by an environmental briefing (ie "Don't shoot at the deer" and "Watch out for butterflies" (no, I'm not kidding)).
The next baby step towards the main objective meant getting "beach guards" in place. See, the ranges are positioned so that firing is in the direction of the beach. I guess that's better than in the direction of the rest of the camp and the town of Warrenton. The guards' job consists of a) installing the radios in the HUMMVs (1 hour ... check), b) receive training on radio protocols that you will forget about within the hour (check), c) escort by Range Control to position one team at the north end and another at the south end of the range limits (seemed like HOURS ... check), d) try to convince folks on the public beach that there is a danger they might get shot if they walk through (should have told them the BAND was trying to train ... might have scared more people away), e) call CEASE FIRE! if someone blows through your position, and e) perform a "radio check" every 30 minutes (to make sure you're not just out swimming or sleeping).
Everyone else got to the zero range and waited. Then we waited some more. The sun came out and it got warm (not warm enough for SFC to remove her Goretex), and some of us took a quick snooze. The Commander worked hard on his sunburn (with great success, I might add). We waited so long that we actually ate LUNCH before we finally got the go-ahead.
Actually zero firing was fine. The painful part that came next was switching beach guard teams so they could come up and zero their weapons. If you're still following along, you can pretty much re-read two paragraphs ago. One of our beach guards actually did get to call a CEASE FIRE when a county sherrif had to drive through that section of the beach, searching for an armed suspect in a blue camper. (SSG Cruz mentioned that every-other car that drove by that after could have fit that description ...) By the time everyone was zeroed and the Commander had qualified on his pistol, it was nearly time for dinner.
We raced over to the MARF (can't remember what that stands for, but I'll probably never forget the acronymn!) to attempt qualification on the pop-up target range. Out of 10 people who tried the first qualification round, we got four people finished. (I'm actually writing this a few days late, so I know the reason WHY so few qualified ... but you'll have to check back for the Day 5 musings to get the answer.) By then we swept everything back up and raced over to the chow hall, since the food was catered and we were already an hour late. Plus, we'd been fed by that caterer several times already during the week and knew we did NOT want to miss one of their meals! Maybe the day's main objective was not firing, but instead getting ourselves to dinner ...
Senior staff took a few practice shots at the XBOX on steroids facility, then rushed back to the barracks to await the arrival of the rest of the band. Too bad they left Portland an hour later than planned. The senior staff did get a chance to modify some of the schedule for the upcoming day, based on what our experience had been (that was the point after all of going through this training before everyone else showed up). After they arrived we met for just a few minutes and then sent everyone to bed. Sort of. My platoon all ended up either out scavenging for food or just being outside chatting, so I turned off the light and went to sleep with nobody else inside, but what sounded like about a dozen talking and laughing right outside my window. Good thing I was tired enough to block out the noise.
Day 3's main objective was to get the senior staff, commander and support staff through the firing ranges. In today's Army that means you first have a safety briefing (ie "Don't be stupid") followed by an environmental briefing (ie "Don't shoot at the deer" and "Watch out for butterflies" (no, I'm not kidding)).
The next baby step towards the main objective meant getting "beach guards" in place. See, the ranges are positioned so that firing is in the direction of the beach. I guess that's better than in the direction of the rest of the camp and the town of Warrenton. The guards' job consists of a) installing the radios in the HUMMVs (1 hour ... check), b) receive training on radio protocols that you will forget about within the hour (check), c) escort by Range Control to position one team at the north end and another at the south end of the range limits (seemed like HOURS ... check), d) try to convince folks on the public beach that there is a danger they might get shot if they walk through (should have told them the BAND was trying to train ... might have scared more people away), e) call CEASE FIRE! if someone blows through your position, and e) perform a "radio check" every 30 minutes (to make sure you're not just out swimming or sleeping).
Everyone else got to the zero range and waited. Then we waited some more. The sun came out and it got warm (not warm enough for SFC to remove her Goretex), and some of us took a quick snooze. The Commander worked hard on his sunburn (with great success, I might add). We waited so long that we actually ate LUNCH before we finally got the go-ahead.
Actually zero firing was fine. The painful part that came next was switching beach guard teams so they could come up and zero their weapons. If you're still following along, you can pretty much re-read two paragraphs ago. One of our beach guards actually did get to call a CEASE FIRE when a county sherrif had to drive through that section of the beach, searching for an armed suspect in a blue camper. (SSG Cruz mentioned that every-other car that drove by that after could have fit that description ...) By the time everyone was zeroed and the Commander had qualified on his pistol, it was nearly time for dinner.
We raced over to the MARF (can't remember what that stands for, but I'll probably never forget the acronymn!) to attempt qualification on the pop-up target range. Out of 10 people who tried the first qualification round, we got four people finished. (I'm actually writing this a few days late, so I know the reason WHY so few qualified ... but you'll have to check back for the Day 5 musings to get the answer.) By then we swept everything back up and raced over to the chow hall, since the food was catered and we were already an hour late. Plus, we'd been fed by that caterer several times already during the week and knew we did NOT want to miss one of their meals! Maybe the day's main objective was not firing, but instead getting ourselves to dinner ...
Senior staff took a few practice shots at the XBOX on steroids facility, then rushed back to the barracks to await the arrival of the rest of the band. Too bad they left Portland an hour later than planned. The senior staff did get a chance to modify some of the schedule for the upcoming day, based on what our experience had been (that was the point after all of going through this training before everyone else showed up). After they arrived we met for just a few minutes and then sent everyone to bed. Sort of. My platoon all ended up either out scavenging for food or just being outside chatting, so I turned off the light and went to sleep with nobody else inside, but what sounded like about a dozen talking and laughing right outside my window. Good thing I was tired enough to block out the noise.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
More Fun & Adventure
Well, I havent posted for the last few days since things have been slightly crazy...
A couple of days ago I got a phone call from our neighbor across the street - which isnt unusual, except she was calling me from the hospital! In January she was bitten by a brown recluse spider, and ever since then she has had one challenge after another, never quite taking care of complete healing. Apparently she had been having more pain, she went into the ER in the middle of the night - and they made her stay. She had to have her toe amputated and they had to stitch up where the skin had broken open again clear to the tendon - she showed me picts she took on her cell phone - quite gruesome.
I arranged with her husband to run over to the hospital with him. When I got there, the nurses were in and out and pumping her full of a zillion things, still trying to neutralize the infection and trying to help her manage the pain. It was crazy to see how much stuff they were giving her. Her diabetes is also causing tons of challenges. Her blood sugar is so low that she is eating choc bars and soda to try to get her numbers back up. The hospital staff are completely baffled and havent been able to help her. She also ended up with a blood transfusion yesterday too. It has been totally crazy for her. She is going stir crazy, because being a health care nurse herself, and never one to sit for long, she is really struggling with the rules to stay in bed. The kids made her cards and cookies, and we are hoping to go visit her again since she will probably be in the hospital most of this next week still. We had her husband over for dinner last night. he has not been doing so good with her gone, and he has such a sensitive disposition that he is not handling her being away and being so sick still. I am working with our other neighbors to get meals and things in place for him and for them both when the hospital finally lets her come home.
I finally got good news from the local computer guy - sounds like all data has been safely recovered. He was able to pick up a new hard drive for us, too, and it will be better/safer way to hold onto things. When Preston can sit down with me, we are also going to get an online storage of some kind set up. I will be going in probably some time next week to make sure everything is good, and help go through the data before I bring the new drive/data home. Apparently, the old hard drive double copied some info to the new hard drive, but the computer guy is not sure what may be doubled. I am so thankful that prayers have been answered and that all is well. This has been a not so fun learning experience, and I am hoping to never have something like this happen again. We will do our best to make things more secure in the future.
I am anxious to get everything back up and running. It has been so hard to know I have things needing to be completed for clients, plus have my personal stuff that will need to be updated/re-installed. I havent been able to do any Quicken or other personal stuff because it is all with the data on the hard drive...will spend next week re-loading and updating all of my software and editing programs...
On the other computer side of things, my neighbor (who is a web designer) almost has my new work website up and running. It is amazingly beautiful, and I will have my very own dot com address on the web! It is very exciting, something I have been wanting to do for the last year. It will be a great way to let everyone know where I am and what my work is all about. I will be sure to post and let everyone know when it is up and running.
Another fun work opportunity is that I am about 2 steps away from joining a local small business association. I was sure I was not going to be able to meet the requirements or keep up with the membership obligations. I have been doing a lot of praying and thinking on things and have not been able to get it off my brain. I have had thoughts and ideas just pop into my head, and an excited, good feeling about pursuing this. I will attend one more meeting this week and we are still working hard to put the membership fee part in place. It will be a huge step for my business though if everything falls into place. I will be given a small business training as part of joining the group - and about 35+ business owners who will recommend only me to their clients and customers. Pretty amazing. I will be sure to post when everything is finalized and ready to roll.
Training has been interesting this week. I went to Wendy/Drew and had them both "beat" on me. I was still having a lot of back pain though, so I went to see Wendy a 2nd time in just a few days. Found out that I most likely have a bulged disk in my back - all from sneezing a couple of weeks ago. It was really good that I had seen Drew & Wendy a couple of times, or things may be much worse than they are. Wendy gave me suggestions for toning down training and using oils and massage to keep things moving towards healing. I have just been spending time in the resistance pool and hot tub with mild exercises and walking. No biking until next week - hoping that will give enough time for rest before I get on my bike again. I woke up in alot of pain this morning - almost to the point of tears. Walking was really hard, but swimming and walking in the "river" pool really helped relieve the pain and I have been feeling much better today.
We got a fun invite from the Jeffries to go watch the kids' movie that they have been working on the last few weeks. It was really wonderful. JaNay is becoming quite the videographer. She had worked hard on editing and adding all sorts of special effects - even including a bloopers reel to the end. The kids were thrilled to get a copy of their own to keep. We are starting quite the collection of original JaNay Jeffries movies. It is so fun for the kids to have keepsakes of their special times together.
I am looking forward to a fun night out with friends. A family in our ward has almost all of their children in different wards in the stake - including 2 in our own ward. The sons of this family have amazing musical talents and have put a band together. They have performed for years together - and one son even has music professionally produced and is on the radio. They do lots of local concerts and are performing tonight at a local restaurant. I was excited to be included on the invite list. I have been missing Preston terribly, and it will be good to get out with other adults - esp with the gals from our ward - they are young and wonderful and so sweet to include me even though I am a chunk older than they are. Wish Preston was here to go with me, but it will be fun to have something to share with him as we continue to swap posts to let each other know how we are doing while he is away.
Still counting down the days until Preston is back home with us. I know things are going to be crazy busy for him with work and drills before he leaves for TX with military again in a couple of weeks. At least I will know he is close by, and home every night. Having him be gone, and not being able to even talk to him has been really hard. It has given me a small taste, and a much better appreciation for those military spouses who have loved ones very far away, for even longer. It has been much more difficult for me than I thought it would be, and I can now empathize with others who have had to endure so much more. I am very thankful that he is being watched over and protected while he is away. We are counting down the days until he is home with us again.
A couple of days ago I got a phone call from our neighbor across the street - which isnt unusual, except she was calling me from the hospital! In January she was bitten by a brown recluse spider, and ever since then she has had one challenge after another, never quite taking care of complete healing. Apparently she had been having more pain, she went into the ER in the middle of the night - and they made her stay. She had to have her toe amputated and they had to stitch up where the skin had broken open again clear to the tendon - she showed me picts she took on her cell phone - quite gruesome.
I arranged with her husband to run over to the hospital with him. When I got there, the nurses were in and out and pumping her full of a zillion things, still trying to neutralize the infection and trying to help her manage the pain. It was crazy to see how much stuff they were giving her. Her diabetes is also causing tons of challenges. Her blood sugar is so low that she is eating choc bars and soda to try to get her numbers back up. The hospital staff are completely baffled and havent been able to help her. She also ended up with a blood transfusion yesterday too. It has been totally crazy for her. She is going stir crazy, because being a health care nurse herself, and never one to sit for long, she is really struggling with the rules to stay in bed. The kids made her cards and cookies, and we are hoping to go visit her again since she will probably be in the hospital most of this next week still. We had her husband over for dinner last night. he has not been doing so good with her gone, and he has such a sensitive disposition that he is not handling her being away and being so sick still. I am working with our other neighbors to get meals and things in place for him and for them both when the hospital finally lets her come home.
I finally got good news from the local computer guy - sounds like all data has been safely recovered. He was able to pick up a new hard drive for us, too, and it will be better/safer way to hold onto things. When Preston can sit down with me, we are also going to get an online storage of some kind set up. I will be going in probably some time next week to make sure everything is good, and help go through the data before I bring the new drive/data home. Apparently, the old hard drive double copied some info to the new hard drive, but the computer guy is not sure what may be doubled. I am so thankful that prayers have been answered and that all is well. This has been a not so fun learning experience, and I am hoping to never have something like this happen again. We will do our best to make things more secure in the future.
I am anxious to get everything back up and running. It has been so hard to know I have things needing to be completed for clients, plus have my personal stuff that will need to be updated/re-installed. I havent been able to do any Quicken or other personal stuff because it is all with the data on the hard drive...will spend next week re-loading and updating all of my software and editing programs...
On the other computer side of things, my neighbor (who is a web designer) almost has my new work website up and running. It is amazingly beautiful, and I will have my very own dot com address on the web! It is very exciting, something I have been wanting to do for the last year. It will be a great way to let everyone know where I am and what my work is all about. I will be sure to post and let everyone know when it is up and running.
Another fun work opportunity is that I am about 2 steps away from joining a local small business association. I was sure I was not going to be able to meet the requirements or keep up with the membership obligations. I have been doing a lot of praying and thinking on things and have not been able to get it off my brain. I have had thoughts and ideas just pop into my head, and an excited, good feeling about pursuing this. I will attend one more meeting this week and we are still working hard to put the membership fee part in place. It will be a huge step for my business though if everything falls into place. I will be given a small business training as part of joining the group - and about 35+ business owners who will recommend only me to their clients and customers. Pretty amazing. I will be sure to post when everything is finalized and ready to roll.
Training has been interesting this week. I went to Wendy/Drew and had them both "beat" on me. I was still having a lot of back pain though, so I went to see Wendy a 2nd time in just a few days. Found out that I most likely have a bulged disk in my back - all from sneezing a couple of weeks ago. It was really good that I had seen Drew & Wendy a couple of times, or things may be much worse than they are. Wendy gave me suggestions for toning down training and using oils and massage to keep things moving towards healing. I have just been spending time in the resistance pool and hot tub with mild exercises and walking. No biking until next week - hoping that will give enough time for rest before I get on my bike again. I woke up in alot of pain this morning - almost to the point of tears. Walking was really hard, but swimming and walking in the "river" pool really helped relieve the pain and I have been feeling much better today.
We got a fun invite from the Jeffries to go watch the kids' movie that they have been working on the last few weeks. It was really wonderful. JaNay is becoming quite the videographer. She had worked hard on editing and adding all sorts of special effects - even including a bloopers reel to the end. The kids were thrilled to get a copy of their own to keep. We are starting quite the collection of original JaNay Jeffries movies. It is so fun for the kids to have keepsakes of their special times together.
I am looking forward to a fun night out with friends. A family in our ward has almost all of their children in different wards in the stake - including 2 in our own ward. The sons of this family have amazing musical talents and have put a band together. They have performed for years together - and one son even has music professionally produced and is on the radio. They do lots of local concerts and are performing tonight at a local restaurant. I was excited to be included on the invite list. I have been missing Preston terribly, and it will be good to get out with other adults - esp with the gals from our ward - they are young and wonderful and so sweet to include me even though I am a chunk older than they are. Wish Preston was here to go with me, but it will be fun to have something to share with him as we continue to swap posts to let each other know how we are doing while he is away.
Still counting down the days until Preston is back home with us. I know things are going to be crazy busy for him with work and drills before he leaves for TX with military again in a couple of weeks. At least I will know he is close by, and home every night. Having him be gone, and not being able to even talk to him has been really hard. It has given me a small taste, and a much better appreciation for those military spouses who have loved ones very far away, for even longer. It has been much more difficult for me than I thought it would be, and I can now empathize with others who have had to endure so much more. I am very thankful that he is being watched over and protected while he is away. We are counting down the days until he is home with us again.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
FTX Day 2
OK today was MUCH more Army.
After an early breakfast the senior staff was driven out to the Land Navigation course for our refresher. The "announcement of the day" was delivered at that early hour ... that a "large cat" (cougar) had been spotted on Camp Rilea, and they were out looking for it. Good morning to you, too!
The run-ins with wildlife continued as we figured out our 100-meter pace counts, when SFC Michael nearly stepped on a Tiger Slug. The zoo experience continued to intensify when we spent a few stationary moments getting a briefing from the commander, which gave the apparently-very-hungry mosquitoes several very easy targets.
The actual Land Nav course got started when Mr. Alexander gave us a series of grid coordinates to visit, maps, protractors and a compass. After a few minutes we pretty much had the hang of things again and were writing down estimated distances and compass bearings between points. We were a little worried when the first point plotted in the middle of a swamp area, but fortunately there weren't any other obstacles apparent from the map. Smooth sailing, right?
Wrong.
Apparently the topo lines on those maps are 5 or even 10 meters in elevation difference, so the up-and-down terrain that we hiked through definitely was NOT indicated on the map. On our way to the first point some 950m away, we had to do a "jog" to get around a stand of thick trees. That little detour took us through what we thought was going to be a relatively tame and easy meadow (which is why we decided to go that way) but turned out to be a field of 7-foot-tall scotch broom. Great for squad concealment tactics, not so great for keeping an eye on your Land Nav targets.
Several more detours and ravines later, we were still fairly confident as we passed some of the few features that actually WERE on the map, such as quarry pits and crossed roads. We were closing in on what was supposed to be a swamp, but instead it was heavily-vegetated forest. Well, as we entered it became apparent that it was actually heavily-vegetated, spongy-ground forest. Then came the reeds, mud, and water. We almost had the commander convinced to let us backtrack and select another point on his map, but instead persevered and found yet another detour that landed us on a dry road. We thought we were still several hundred meters short of the objective, but this road wasn't on the map! Fortunately we did come across another marker, useful because it would give it's grid coordinates and we could continue on towards our target with a new estimated distance and bearing. After wading through more bog and water to get to the marker, we were rather surprised to find that it was actually our target point!
After re-traversing the swamp on our way to the next point, fighting through more brush and treeline, the commander decided we had learned enough to be able to teach it to our platoons over the weekend. So he gave us new points (somewhat closer together) and we had a more leisurely stroll from point to point and back to the start location. We arrived a bit late, rather worn out, still with wet feet, but rather more confident in this particular skill.
The rest of the unit met at that site for some basic platoon movement training from a 25-year infantryman with experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. We got drilled on squad movements (various formations while traveling) and ran some scenarios that included coming under imaginary fire. We were NOT very smooth or coordinated at first, but after a few scenarios we thought things were starting to make sense. Of course, we're just the band and it could be our instructor was just trying to go easy on us.
After an MRE lunch we got trained and practiced at setting up ambushes. The first attempt sort of fizzled when the first person in our line yelled out "Enemy Contact!" as the opposition was coming up the street. That turned out to be a VERY good way to give away the fact that there was an ambush in place! That and the fact that most of us were quite visible to anyone coming down the road (photos to be posted later). Ambush #2 wasn't much better, starting off with someone almost stepping on a snake when entering the weeds. This time the opposition was instructed to just go ahead and walk into the kill zone even if they saw those of us trying to hid in the bushes. Not only were we seen, but the Specialist who was sent ahead (by an E-5 and the commander) couldn't help but to GIGGLE as he walked into what he obviously saw as our concealed position. Probably the photographer walking around our position snapping photos was at least a partial giveaway. Could only get better, right? The next position turned out to be very poor because we set up on a short straight bit of road with two blind curves at either end; thus we couldn't see when the opposition was coming! (And in a real-life situation, we wouldn't have been able to see if they were coming with reinforcements.) Plus we set up this "hasty" ambush too slowly, and the opposition could clearly hear us still calling out instructions and talking to each other as they caught up to us.
If one learns from his/her mistakes, we must have been experts by then.
Ambush #4 was much more "by the book." The position was appropriately chosen, concealment was good, and this time the kill was both a complete surprise and ... well ... complete. That was OBVIOUSLY the right time to end that portion of the training, now that we finally had a success.
After spending some additional time talking about squad defensive maneuvers, identification and selection of cover and concealment, it was time to head back to dinner. (VERY good steak!)
Evening training was spent on the indoor, electronic range again. This time the senior staff went through the process we'll use again tomorrow on the "real" ranges, to "zero" (or adjust) the weapons to the individual, and then to practice actually firing at the pop-up targets. A couple of our members seem to have the whole process down very well and won't have any trouble qualifying tomorrow. The rest of us will get lots of practice. The idea is to have all of us qualify, so we can help run the range when the rest of the unit is here this weekend.
I'm probably forgetting some of the day's events, but my brain and body are tired. Several people were taking pictures (and giving away ambush positions at the same time) so I hope those are shared and posted shortly after I get home next week.
More adventures tomorrow!
After an early breakfast the senior staff was driven out to the Land Navigation course for our refresher. The "announcement of the day" was delivered at that early hour ... that a "large cat" (cougar) had been spotted on Camp Rilea, and they were out looking for it. Good morning to you, too!
The run-ins with wildlife continued as we figured out our 100-meter pace counts, when SFC Michael nearly stepped on a Tiger Slug. The zoo experience continued to intensify when we spent a few stationary moments getting a briefing from the commander, which gave the apparently-very-hungry mosquitoes several very easy targets.
The actual Land Nav course got started when Mr. Alexander gave us a series of grid coordinates to visit, maps, protractors and a compass. After a few minutes we pretty much had the hang of things again and were writing down estimated distances and compass bearings between points. We were a little worried when the first point plotted in the middle of a swamp area, but fortunately there weren't any other obstacles apparent from the map. Smooth sailing, right?
Wrong.
Apparently the topo lines on those maps are 5 or even 10 meters in elevation difference, so the up-and-down terrain that we hiked through definitely was NOT indicated on the map. On our way to the first point some 950m away, we had to do a "jog" to get around a stand of thick trees. That little detour took us through what we thought was going to be a relatively tame and easy meadow (which is why we decided to go that way) but turned out to be a field of 7-foot-tall scotch broom. Great for squad concealment tactics, not so great for keeping an eye on your Land Nav targets.
Several more detours and ravines later, we were still fairly confident as we passed some of the few features that actually WERE on the map, such as quarry pits and crossed roads. We were closing in on what was supposed to be a swamp, but instead it was heavily-vegetated forest. Well, as we entered it became apparent that it was actually heavily-vegetated, spongy-ground forest. Then came the reeds, mud, and water. We almost had the commander convinced to let us backtrack and select another point on his map, but instead persevered and found yet another detour that landed us on a dry road. We thought we were still several hundred meters short of the objective, but this road wasn't on the map! Fortunately we did come across another marker, useful because it would give it's grid coordinates and we could continue on towards our target with a new estimated distance and bearing. After wading through more bog and water to get to the marker, we were rather surprised to find that it was actually our target point!
After re-traversing the swamp on our way to the next point, fighting through more brush and treeline, the commander decided we had learned enough to be able to teach it to our platoons over the weekend. So he gave us new points (somewhat closer together) and we had a more leisurely stroll from point to point and back to the start location. We arrived a bit late, rather worn out, still with wet feet, but rather more confident in this particular skill.
The rest of the unit met at that site for some basic platoon movement training from a 25-year infantryman with experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. We got drilled on squad movements (various formations while traveling) and ran some scenarios that included coming under imaginary fire. We were NOT very smooth or coordinated at first, but after a few scenarios we thought things were starting to make sense. Of course, we're just the band and it could be our instructor was just trying to go easy on us.
After an MRE lunch we got trained and practiced at setting up ambushes. The first attempt sort of fizzled when the first person in our line yelled out "Enemy Contact!" as the opposition was coming up the street. That turned out to be a VERY good way to give away the fact that there was an ambush in place! That and the fact that most of us were quite visible to anyone coming down the road (photos to be posted later). Ambush #2 wasn't much better, starting off with someone almost stepping on a snake when entering the weeds. This time the opposition was instructed to just go ahead and walk into the kill zone even if they saw those of us trying to hid in the bushes. Not only were we seen, but the Specialist who was sent ahead (by an E-5 and the commander) couldn't help but to GIGGLE as he walked into what he obviously saw as our concealed position. Probably the photographer walking around our position snapping photos was at least a partial giveaway. Could only get better, right? The next position turned out to be very poor because we set up on a short straight bit of road with two blind curves at either end; thus we couldn't see when the opposition was coming! (And in a real-life situation, we wouldn't have been able to see if they were coming with reinforcements.) Plus we set up this "hasty" ambush too slowly, and the opposition could clearly hear us still calling out instructions and talking to each other as they caught up to us.
If one learns from his/her mistakes, we must have been experts by then.
Ambush #4 was much more "by the book." The position was appropriately chosen, concealment was good, and this time the kill was both a complete surprise and ... well ... complete. That was OBVIOUSLY the right time to end that portion of the training, now that we finally had a success.
After spending some additional time talking about squad defensive maneuvers, identification and selection of cover and concealment, it was time to head back to dinner. (VERY good steak!)
Evening training was spent on the indoor, electronic range again. This time the senior staff went through the process we'll use again tomorrow on the "real" ranges, to "zero" (or adjust) the weapons to the individual, and then to practice actually firing at the pop-up targets. A couple of our members seem to have the whole process down very well and won't have any trouble qualifying tomorrow. The rest of us will get lots of practice. The idea is to have all of us qualify, so we can help run the range when the rest of the unit is here this weekend.
I'm probably forgetting some of the day's events, but my brain and body are tired. Several people were taking pictures (and giving away ambush positions at the same time) so I hope those are shared and posted shortly after I get home next week.
More adventures tomorrow!
WAY too much adventure in our life
Preston & I are going to be posting lots each this week, as we are both having our own set of adventures....
I am hoping to get the blog updated asap but have things on hold until our current computer drama is concluded - hopefully successfully (see below)
Many of you know that I am training for a triathlon. I have been taking the girls with me each day to be my buddy for the different events. Ceana & I have been getting up at 5AM to drive to the pool to swim. We swim laps and then do extras like resistance training in the river pool and stretching and ab workouts after. It has been good to have her be the one to pop into my room and tell me to get my rear in gear. I am taking Kaeli with me to do the biking. The other day we did our first big ride - we biked 12-15 miles all in one shot. She did a great job of keeping up with me, and I was impressed that I could really do the entire ride.
Last night we ended up on a spur-of-the-moment ride with one of the other tri-moms, out to an agricultural area just outside of the city - it was dusk..and anyone who knows country at that time of day means bug splatter - literally. We spent the whole ride trying not to talk because of the bugs that would get in our mouths. We laughed with each other as we swiped and shook and tried to dodge all the bugs that were apparently also enjoying the beautiful evening. Kaeli even had one bug go up her nose...we may be seriously re-thinking that route, or at least contemplating a different time of day to try it again...
This week I did my first trial run of the entire 3 events all at once. I did them all in about 4 hrs (with driving back/forth from the pool in between) I was so excited that I was able to actually do it all! I also should not have been surprised when all the expended energy knocked me on my backside and wiped me out resulting in a 4 hour nap (thank goodness for my rockin' girls).
Training is going better every day and I am even contemplating a July triathlon vs waiting until Sept...will have to wait and see if I can find more info...will keep everyone posted.
Our big drama this week has been that I am dead in the water at the moment with photography. I lost my hard drive over the weekend, with 2 years of my work and all of our family photos trapped on it. I took it into a local specialist on Monday AM. We got good news that stuff is at least transferring across from the hard drive, even though it is still not recognizable. The guy at the computer shop seemed optimistic that recovery is possible. Still hoping and praying that all of the data will be recovered safely. I am doing my best to stay calm and let Heavenly Father take care of it, but it is hard at times, esp knowing everything that is there, knowing all the photos that we can never replace. I am also having to keep current photos still on the camera because I have nowhere to download them to...We are hoping to hear some more good news in the next couple of days. Just an FYI - just heard from the computer guy and he called with good news that it looks like we have recovered most, if not all, my data. He is purchasing a new hard drive for me, and I will be going into the shop later today to look at everything with him and get things moved to the new hard drive. It is a wonderful miracle and a blessing and answers to fervert prayer.
Ceana had one of her ORCA friends pop in on us yesterday on the way to a family reunion. They had a blast playing games and music, and we got to meet Keenan’s mom and baby sisters. They were so cute and sweet. They have 7 kids in their family all at the same/close to ages of all of our kids. We had a great visit, and it seemed as if we have always known each other, even though we have only met for the first time. It is too bad that they live so far away(Central Point,4+ hours south of us). We will have to just write and call and FB as often as possible. They also have a daughter that is the same age as Kaeli and it sounds like they have a lot in common. She is also a student at ORCA, so Kaeli may find a new school/church friend if she is willing to make the effort…we got all their contact info so they can give it a go. It is fun for the kids to have made good friends with all of the changes that we have made in the last year. Hoping that Kaeli will find good friends throughout her school years.
The big kids are putting a video play together with the Jeffries kiddos (close friends of ours), and it has become quite the production. The boys get their faces painted, which Caiden is not thrilled about at all, but they seem to be having tons of fun. The kids are planning to get together again this week to do more “filming” including costumes and make up. It will be wonderful to get to see all their hard work in their cute little video. It is wonderfult that they all do fun things like this together and make such wonderful memories.
Kels' big adventure yesterday is that she got chewed up fruit snacks stuck in her hair. I used the old peanut butter trick (which freaked Kaeli out) and got it all out thankfully. Kaeli got her through the bath and between the two we seem to have gotten it all out of her hair for sure. Will have to be sure to supervise her a little more closely next time. I was glad the PB worked so we didn’t have to cut her hair…
She continues to amaze me with her vocabulary and antics. She is spitting out new words EVERY day, things I have never heard her say before, and in full sentences. She is just a little sponge. She had me laughing so hard this morning as she stood here at my desk, in just a diaper, holding a naked Barbie in her hand and singing. It was the "Princess & Pauper" Barbie that sings the songs from the movie. Apparently she has picked up the songs quite well - she danced and sang with the music and knew almost all the words. I wish I had a video camera to capture all these little spontaneous moments....it was quite hysterical.
Another fun adventure has been that the 3 big girls (JaNay, Ceana & Kaeli) all got their hair cut together last week. Kaeli's birthday morning was spent with her sister and her best friend getting their hair cut SHORT. Kaeli & JaNay donated their hair to Locks of Love. Ceana got a fun new style and will be waiting patiently for hers to grow a few more inches so she can donate hers too. I will be sure to post picts (thankfully still on the camera) as soon as i can get them downloaded somewhere safe.
I have been designated as the unofficial exec secretary for bishop. Part of Preston's responsibilities each week is to get the ward bulletin ready to roll. Tues night we were at the building and I got a crash course in the techy side of that job. Thankfully, I was able to reproduce the same results on my own (that doesnt usually happen without ALOT of help) and the bulletin is all squared away for sunday - whew! I was able to get the bulletins printed and folded pretty quick, because caiden was there helping me get them all done. We almost left the building without the whole batch – apparently the copier had spit out more copies when I thought we were done. Caiden mentioned that the stack didn’t look like 80, so I started counting, and he was right. We ran back into the library, wondering if it had run out of paper and I didn’t realize – was just that they had finished printing and I hadn’t gathered them all up. If it wasnt for him, I would have had to make another trip, or start over sunday AM....
I have been pursuing an amazing business opportunity. Things seem to be falling into place and it seems to be the right decision. We are still trying to work out the financial end of things, but hoping that will also fall into place. With this opportunity may come a wonderful chance to help my photo business to grow and to finally get myself out into the community. I will keep updates coming as I have all the pieces ready to roll.
We have been "beaten" on by Wendy and Drew this week too. Wendy was able to come to us at the house and then we tweaked the schedule and got in to see Drew (our friend who is a chiropracter). Last week I biked, went horseback riding and sneezed all in the same day. I know you are thinking "you sneezed?" - but it was really weird - I sneezed and threw something out in my back - it was NOT cool. I definitely had more stuff out of whack – bones and muscles in spasm mode. Wendy worked out the kinks in my muscles, and Drew put bones back into place. Colton was also very out of sorts too – Drew was really surprised/concerned that he had so many things were out of place. He for sure wants to see me next week, and colton in 2 weeks. We will be seeing Wendy weekly again for awhile too. She also worked on Ceana. She has been very emotional and still not sleeping. She went off the deep end about 5am the other morning, after having not slept all night. Wendy's magic hands and inspired gifts helped her a ton and she is sleeping better and feeling better too.
Well, guess that is all for now - little boys and Kels are chomping at the bit to join our friends for a park outing and lunch at our local school. I will be sure to post lots more in the coming days and hopefully will get to do LOTS of catch up when I get the hard drive back and there will be all our wonderful photos to share!
I am hoping to get the blog updated asap but have things on hold until our current computer drama is concluded - hopefully successfully (see below)
Many of you know that I am training for a triathlon. I have been taking the girls with me each day to be my buddy for the different events. Ceana & I have been getting up at 5AM to drive to the pool to swim. We swim laps and then do extras like resistance training in the river pool and stretching and ab workouts after. It has been good to have her be the one to pop into my room and tell me to get my rear in gear. I am taking Kaeli with me to do the biking. The other day we did our first big ride - we biked 12-15 miles all in one shot. She did a great job of keeping up with me, and I was impressed that I could really do the entire ride.
Last night we ended up on a spur-of-the-moment ride with one of the other tri-moms, out to an agricultural area just outside of the city - it was dusk..and anyone who knows country at that time of day means bug splatter - literally. We spent the whole ride trying not to talk because of the bugs that would get in our mouths. We laughed with each other as we swiped and shook and tried to dodge all the bugs that were apparently also enjoying the beautiful evening. Kaeli even had one bug go up her nose...we may be seriously re-thinking that route, or at least contemplating a different time of day to try it again...
This week I did my first trial run of the entire 3 events all at once. I did them all in about 4 hrs (with driving back/forth from the pool in between) I was so excited that I was able to actually do it all! I also should not have been surprised when all the expended energy knocked me on my backside and wiped me out resulting in a 4 hour nap (thank goodness for my rockin' girls).
Training is going better every day and I am even contemplating a July triathlon vs waiting until Sept...will have to wait and see if I can find more info...will keep everyone posted.
Our big drama this week has been that I am dead in the water at the moment with photography. I lost my hard drive over the weekend, with 2 years of my work and all of our family photos trapped on it. I took it into a local specialist on Monday AM. We got good news that stuff is at least transferring across from the hard drive, even though it is still not recognizable. The guy at the computer shop seemed optimistic that recovery is possible. Still hoping and praying that all of the data will be recovered safely. I am doing my best to stay calm and let Heavenly Father take care of it, but it is hard at times, esp knowing everything that is there, knowing all the photos that we can never replace. I am also having to keep current photos still on the camera because I have nowhere to download them to...We are hoping to hear some more good news in the next couple of days. Just an FYI - just heard from the computer guy and he called with good news that it looks like we have recovered most, if not all, my data. He is purchasing a new hard drive for me, and I will be going into the shop later today to look at everything with him and get things moved to the new hard drive. It is a wonderful miracle and a blessing and answers to fervert prayer.
Ceana had one of her ORCA friends pop in on us yesterday on the way to a family reunion. They had a blast playing games and music, and we got to meet Keenan’s mom and baby sisters. They were so cute and sweet. They have 7 kids in their family all at the same/close to ages of all of our kids. We had a great visit, and it seemed as if we have always known each other, even though we have only met for the first time. It is too bad that they live so far away(Central Point,4+ hours south of us). We will have to just write and call and FB as often as possible. They also have a daughter that is the same age as Kaeli and it sounds like they have a lot in common. She is also a student at ORCA, so Kaeli may find a new school/church friend if she is willing to make the effort…we got all their contact info so they can give it a go. It is fun for the kids to have made good friends with all of the changes that we have made in the last year. Hoping that Kaeli will find good friends throughout her school years.
The big kids are putting a video play together with the Jeffries kiddos (close friends of ours), and it has become quite the production. The boys get their faces painted, which Caiden is not thrilled about at all, but they seem to be having tons of fun. The kids are planning to get together again this week to do more “filming” including costumes and make up. It will be wonderful to get to see all their hard work in their cute little video. It is wonderfult that they all do fun things like this together and make such wonderful memories.
Kels' big adventure yesterday is that she got chewed up fruit snacks stuck in her hair. I used the old peanut butter trick (which freaked Kaeli out) and got it all out thankfully. Kaeli got her through the bath and between the two we seem to have gotten it all out of her hair for sure. Will have to be sure to supervise her a little more closely next time. I was glad the PB worked so we didn’t have to cut her hair…
She continues to amaze me with her vocabulary and antics. She is spitting out new words EVERY day, things I have never heard her say before, and in full sentences. She is just a little sponge. She had me laughing so hard this morning as she stood here at my desk, in just a diaper, holding a naked Barbie in her hand and singing. It was the "Princess & Pauper" Barbie that sings the songs from the movie. Apparently she has picked up the songs quite well - she danced and sang with the music and knew almost all the words. I wish I had a video camera to capture all these little spontaneous moments....it was quite hysterical.
Another fun adventure has been that the 3 big girls (JaNay, Ceana & Kaeli) all got their hair cut together last week. Kaeli's birthday morning was spent with her sister and her best friend getting their hair cut SHORT. Kaeli & JaNay donated their hair to Locks of Love. Ceana got a fun new style and will be waiting patiently for hers to grow a few more inches so she can donate hers too. I will be sure to post picts (thankfully still on the camera) as soon as i can get them downloaded somewhere safe.
I have been designated as the unofficial exec secretary for bishop. Part of Preston's responsibilities each week is to get the ward bulletin ready to roll. Tues night we were at the building and I got a crash course in the techy side of that job. Thankfully, I was able to reproduce the same results on my own (that doesnt usually happen without ALOT of help) and the bulletin is all squared away for sunday - whew! I was able to get the bulletins printed and folded pretty quick, because caiden was there helping me get them all done. We almost left the building without the whole batch – apparently the copier had spit out more copies when I thought we were done. Caiden mentioned that the stack didn’t look like 80, so I started counting, and he was right. We ran back into the library, wondering if it had run out of paper and I didn’t realize – was just that they had finished printing and I hadn’t gathered them all up. If it wasnt for him, I would have had to make another trip, or start over sunday AM....
I have been pursuing an amazing business opportunity. Things seem to be falling into place and it seems to be the right decision. We are still trying to work out the financial end of things, but hoping that will also fall into place. With this opportunity may come a wonderful chance to help my photo business to grow and to finally get myself out into the community. I will keep updates coming as I have all the pieces ready to roll.
We have been "beaten" on by Wendy and Drew this week too. Wendy was able to come to us at the house and then we tweaked the schedule and got in to see Drew (our friend who is a chiropracter). Last week I biked, went horseback riding and sneezed all in the same day. I know you are thinking "you sneezed?" - but it was really weird - I sneezed and threw something out in my back - it was NOT cool. I definitely had more stuff out of whack – bones and muscles in spasm mode. Wendy worked out the kinks in my muscles, and Drew put bones back into place. Colton was also very out of sorts too – Drew was really surprised/concerned that he had so many things were out of place. He for sure wants to see me next week, and colton in 2 weeks. We will be seeing Wendy weekly again for awhile too. She also worked on Ceana. She has been very emotional and still not sleeping. She went off the deep end about 5am the other morning, after having not slept all night. Wendy's magic hands and inspired gifts helped her a ton and she is sleeping better and feeling better too.
Well, guess that is all for now - little boys and Kels are chomping at the bit to join our friends for a park outing and lunch at our local school. I will be sure to post lots more in the coming days and hopefully will get to do LOTS of catch up when I get the hard drive back and there will be all our wonderful photos to share!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
FTX Day 1
For you non-military types out there, FTX = Field Training eXercise. You might note right here and now that by long-standing tradition, the band does NOT do field training exercises. Instead we are content to meet indoors and play music together, travel to far-flung corners of our state and even the globe to perform, and generally be as non-Army as possible.
I knew something was up when they recently issued the latest-and-greatest field gear.
Yep, this year we get to play Army "for real" ... sort of. Today we, the so-called "Senior Staff" (based mostly on our age difference from the rest of the band members) showed up at Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center and started our training. Indoors, in a small group. I guess that was just comfortable for us. But hey! We did eat MRE's for lunch! That counts as field training, right?
Anyway the small group started with some high-level and very abbreviated classes that upper-level folks are at least suppsed to sound knowledgeable about when the topics come up in passing conversation, so that was good.
We also drove around the post to see the sights, including: shooting range, hidden land navigation markers (will come in handy later this week), herd of elk, "the best airborne training tower in the Army," a bald eagle, and high school football players here for a week-long camp. Would have been EXHAUSTING except that tour took place from inside our unit's van. I'm not complaining, really.
The evening finished off with an introduction to the EST 2000, an electronic, indoor shooting simulator that some have called "XBOX on steroids." Basically it's a movie theater that 10 people at a time can shoot at with M16's, M203's, M240's, M-9's, and just about any other M-whatever you can think of. The system detects which weapon hits where, and interacts with the "users" in various ways. The compressed air system gives a "kick" that is supposed to be semi-realistic to what the real weapons feel like. The characters on the screen (actually I only saw the Turkey Shoot simulation) can be killed. And after the session it plays back, showing where each shot actually hit. Some of the support staff "played" on the system for several hours while those too old to stay down in the prone, supported position for that long went off to have a meeting.
Actually that meeting ended up being fairly productive. We took care of some issues, discussed upcoming calendar items, and fortunately ended up with some pretty good belly laughs.
All in all, not a bad start. Not bad at all. Tomorrow will be much more field-intensive, with land navigation, EST training, platoon leadership, and best of all ... MORE MRE's!
I knew something was up when they recently issued the latest-and-greatest field gear.
Yep, this year we get to play Army "for real" ... sort of. Today we, the so-called "Senior Staff" (based mostly on our age difference from the rest of the band members) showed up at Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center and started our training. Indoors, in a small group. I guess that was just comfortable for us. But hey! We did eat MRE's for lunch! That counts as field training, right?
Anyway the small group started with some high-level and very abbreviated classes that upper-level folks are at least suppsed to sound knowledgeable about when the topics come up in passing conversation, so that was good.
We also drove around the post to see the sights, including: shooting range, hidden land navigation markers (will come in handy later this week), herd of elk, "the best airborne training tower in the Army," a bald eagle, and high school football players here for a week-long camp. Would have been EXHAUSTING except that tour took place from inside our unit's van. I'm not complaining, really.
The evening finished off with an introduction to the EST 2000, an electronic, indoor shooting simulator that some have called "XBOX on steroids." Basically it's a movie theater that 10 people at a time can shoot at with M16's, M203's, M240's, M-9's, and just about any other M-whatever you can think of. The system detects which weapon hits where, and interacts with the "users" in various ways. The compressed air system gives a "kick" that is supposed to be semi-realistic to what the real weapons feel like. The characters on the screen (actually I only saw the Turkey Shoot simulation) can be killed. And after the session it plays back, showing where each shot actually hit. Some of the support staff "played" on the system for several hours while those too old to stay down in the prone, supported position for that long went off to have a meeting.
Actually that meeting ended up being fairly productive. We took care of some issues, discussed upcoming calendar items, and fortunately ended up with some pretty good belly laughs.
All in all, not a bad start. Not bad at all. Tomorrow will be much more field-intensive, with land navigation, EST training, platoon leadership, and best of all ... MORE MRE's!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
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