Sidetracked

All of you know that I was supposed to go to the field on Monday.  Unfortunately, my clutz gene took over.  As I was walking towards the staging area, right in front of the barracks, I twisted my ankle in a hole in the lawn.  I refractured my ankle.  The PA at the hospital felt that I could still go to the field, but the Major in charge of our training said "no." 

So, now I'm in the barracks and doing administrative paperwork stuff during the day, waiting for all of my paperwork to be finalized.  Once that happens, I will be heading to El Paso to start working as an ICU nurse until my ankle heals.  Once it heals, I'll come back to San Antonio to complete my 3 weeks of field training and 2 weeks of "Nurse Track."

Obviously I am really upset about the situation.  I'm frustrated that I'm not allowed to do what needs to be done.  This puts a huge snag in the plan Jorge and I had worked out.  I am going to have to just trust that things happen for a reason.

My ankle is sore, but not as bad as the last time I hurt it.  I'm walking around with the same boot as the last time, which feels really great in the 95 degree weather down here.

I will keep you all posted as I learn more.  I'm thinking that I'll probably leave San Antonio on Monday and get signed into Ft. Bliss on Tuesday.  We'll see how things turn out.  Maybe I'll be home within the next 2 weeks for a little visit.  I can't wait to see Jorge and Shadow.

Take care!

Horsing around

I took a break from studying and preparing for the field and went for an hour-long horseback ride on post today.  2 guys from my platoon went with me.  One had never been on a horse before and one is a professional team roper (that's when you catch the steer with your lasso by the horns and your partner grabs the hind legs).

This is June Bug

Do you like my $10 Wal-Mart Cowboy Hat?

The Team-Roper

The newbie!

Our guide took us on her mules on a really cool trail.  It was very neat.  We went through a couple of creeks.  We loped/galloped across an open field.  We went up and down some really steep hills.  All of that in 1 hour of riding.  It was so nice to be back on a horse. (OK, it was a mule, but it's half horse.)

I'm all packed for the field now.  I just have to get my gear on the truck at 1800.  Not too bad.  I'm going to do a bit of studying for my final exam tomorrow.  Pretty chilled-out evening. 

I spoke to my sister yesterday about a pizza place here in San Antonio.  It's called "Dough."  They make their own dough and mozzarella!  Yummy.  I think I'm going to try and get there for dinner next weekend.  That will be payment for getting through my first week of the field.  I'm also planning to do the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Saturday.  That'll be good.  You all know how much cancer has affected my family.  Any chance to help raise funds and awareness is good.

Please don't forget that I won't have access to e-mails for the rest of the week.  I will still have my cell phone but won't be able to use it until the evenings.  Just don't think that I'm ignoring you!  (-:

Have a great week.  I'll send more on Friday or Saturday.

Love you all!

--DV

A mid-week update

OK, I haven't seen the dog since Jorge came down to visit.  I think I have to assume that she's been adopted by a very nice family after being captured by animal control.  While it saddens me that I don't see her anymore, it makes me feel good that she's not begging for something good to eat.  Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'm choosing to be positive about it.  (-:

We went to the simulator range today to fire the M-16's.  It was a lot of fun.  I haven't touched an M-16 for 11 years!  Believe it or not, I actually shot well enough that I would've gotten Sharpshooter.  We'll see how well I do on the real range, with a real weapon.  We shot 20 rounds supported by the sandbag, 10 rounds unsupported, and 10 rounds in a kneeling position.  I can't wait to smell the gunpowder.  For some reason, I LOVE the smell of gunpowder.  Even magic snakes are my favorite firecracker because of the smell of gunpowder.  Does that make me weird?

We had the Commanding General's reception this evening.  It was interesting.  They had different Colonels from all over the AMEDD (Army Medical Department) to talk to us about our futures in the military.  There was a Colonel who was telling us about the upcoming changes to training for the nurses.  Right now, there are ER nurses (66HM5) and ICU nurses (66H8A).  They are different from the Med/Surg nurse (66H).  The Army is going to combine the ER and ICU nurses to become "Trauma nurses" who will have a completely different identifier-66T.  She is the person developing the training program.  Very cool stuff. 

LJ sent me an Easter care package: 4 Fannie Mae cream eggs.  I thought that was incredibly sweet of him.  I will probably wait until Friday evening to try an egg.  His thought was that I could bring them to the field, but there's no way they'd survive the heat.  They arrived in San Antonio packed in dry ice.  What does that tell you?  I always tell him how disappointed I am with the Easter Bunny when I don't get a Cadbury Creme Egg, so he had the following put on the boxes for me, "Happy Easter!!! =) I know it's early, and I know it's not cadbury, but dare take just one bite, and you'll have love at first site!  XOXO"  We'll see if they compare to the Cadbury Creme Eggs! 

I hope you are all doing well.  Mom, enjoy your time at Lori's.  I'll write more before you go to Gail's.

Love to everyone!

--DV

PT for psychopaths

I just had to share with all of you what PT was this morning.  Our student First Sergeant informed us that the PT plan for today was 5 sets of the following: 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups, 40 sit-ups, and 50 squats.  After we did five sets of that workout, we were supposed to do 90-second sprints with 30 seconds rest in between.  Of course, my brain turned off when I heard the first part of the PT plan, so I really didn't hear how many sets of sprints we were supposed to do.

When I got back to my room, I was preparing for a much needed shower.  A "bruise" on my back caught my eye in the mirror.  When I reached around to check it out, I realized it was dirt.  My entire back was covered in dirt.  Thank God for showers.

It's supposed to be 104 today.  For those of you in Wisco and Vermont who are getting snow, sleet, cold weather: send some down to me.  I'll send some of my heat your way.

Have a great day!

It's a real scorcha' out there!

Today, we got a taste of what the field is going to feel like.  It was 95 degrees at 1800 today!  We were outside doing some familiarization with the M-16 Rifles.  We were outside for 3 hours.  When I got back to my room, I looked like a drowned rat.  My hair was soaking wet and I had rivers of sweat dripping down my body.  Yummy!  I'm sure I wasn't smelling like roses at all.  The powder I had put on this morning wasn't helping me out too much.  It's really going to be hot in a week when we get to Camp Bullis.  Whew!

We're wrapping up our last week of classes,  Next Monday we hit the field.  It should be a lot of fun.  We learned about convoy operations today and how to deal with enemy engagement, IED's, etc.  We also learned about preservation of remains.  Not the kind of stuff I wanted to learn about on a Monday, but it's a necessity.  I can't wait until we get to the Humvee simulator and feel it flip upside down.  That'll be a lot of fun.  Just 2 more tests to go, the final exam is next Monday and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive Exam is Friday.  At least that one is open book!  Thank God for small favors.

I've mentioned my room mate to a lot of you.  I thought I'd share a few pictures of how my room looks on her side.  Keep in mind that I have to walk past her side of the room to access the bathroom.  I cringe every time I go to that side of the room.  It's really stressing my Type A personality.  (-:

So, the next time any of you get frustrated with the mess in your children's rooms, you can just think of these pictures: this is a 29 year old's room.  OMG!

Today is Karen's Birthday!  I hope she had a great day and that she enjoyed hearing me sing Happy Birthday to her at 0700 today.  You enjoy an incredibly happy day, Karen.

That's it for now.  I hope you're all doing well.  I'll share more as the week goes on.  Please remember that I won't have computer access during the weeks we are in the field, so I'll only get a chance to update my blog during the weekends.  I'll bring my camera so I can post pictures.

Love to everyone!

One test down!

We had our mid-term test on Thursday.  It was brutal!  The test covered more information than I could ever possibly get my mind around in such a short time.  We have covered, over the past 3 weeks, more information than most people learn in half of their career in the Army!  Every time we would hear a new topic, note that I didn't write "learn," I would think to myself, "Seriously?"  It's been nothing more than a brain-dump.  In my platoon, 1/3 of the people failed the mid-term.  I earned an 80%.  UGH!  I just keep reminding myself that it's a passing grade, and that's all that matters.

On Friday, we did a PowerPoint presentation on the topic of our choice.  All it needed to be was something that pertained to the military.  I chose "the battlefield of the future" and discussed some of the technology and medical advances that will be seen in the near future to treat soldiers who are wounded in battle.  I found a robot, the Battlefield Evacuation Assistance Robot (BEAR) who can carry up to 500 pounds, can gingerly place a soldier on a litter, and can even low-crawl while dragging an injured person.  I found a company who has created a method to remove pathogens from plasma in order to allow for blood collection in less than sterile environments.  I found data about making water-tight sutures without using needles.  It was fascinating!



BEAR lifting 500 pounds

 

BEAR placing a 250-lb mannequin on a table

I did well on the presentation but my instructor told me I didn't know my audience enough because some of my material went over his head!  Who doesn't know about DNA and RNA? 

We got out of class by 1000 on Friday, so a few of us went to lunch at Tomatillo's (the restaurant Jorge and I went to last Friday night).  It was very good, as always, and I even talked someone into trying guacamole for the first time.  She really liked it.

Afterwards, we went to the San Antonio Zoo.  Wow!  I've been to a lot of zoos in my life.  This was a very large zoo.  I was quite impressed.  The highlight was the free-flight Butterfly Garden.  I think the butterflies liked me, or it was a sign from Dad.  They kept landing on me.  I knew you'd all like the pictures:

After everything we did this past week, I was exhausted by the time I got back to my room.  Last night was simply sitting around and chilling.  I needed it.

This morning, I woke up and went for a 60 minute run.  The weather was fantastic, warm, but a nice breeze to cool things off.  It was great.  Then, while I was sitting in the lobby waiting for people to sign their leave packets (my job as the RN Platoon Leader), a woman walked by with a 7-week old puppy.  She had just bought him.  OMG!  He was so cute, and barely weighed a pound.  She had to get supplies for him, so I offered to dog-sit.  He laid in my arms and took a few puppy naps while she was gone.  SOOOOO Cute!  It really made me miss my Shadow-girl.



So, now I'm chilling in my room.  I think I might start crocheting a blanket.  I brought the supplies with me and haven't had a chance to touch it yet. 

Hope you are all doing well.

Morale Boost

I just had a fantastic weekend with Jorge.  The weather was perfect, in the high 80's-low 90's the entire time he was here. 

His flight arrived on time Thursday evening and we went back to the hotel and relaxed.  It was just so good to see him and hold his hand again.  Of course, we didn't get a chance to stay up too late on Thursday, I had a PT test Friday morning at 0430 and had to be there at 0415.  UGH.  The good news is that I passed my PT test and improved in all 3 events: 3 more push-ups than 2 weeks ago, 14 more sit-ups, and took 40 seconds off of my run!  I was really pleased with that.  I had enough time to let Jorge have the car for the rest of the day, too.  That was really nice for him.  He went for a 45 minute run on post, reminiscing about all of the places he used to go during all of the time he spent in San Antonio over the length of his career.  Friday night was dinner at one of Jorge's favorite restaurants, Tomatillo's.  Yummy!

On Saturday, we went to a winery northwest of San Antonio.  We had a really nice conversation with the winery's owner.  He has been in the wine business for 10 years and gets his grapes from all over Texas, but is currently planting some on his own property.  It was neat to drive through the land around his property, seeing free-range cattle and sagebrush.   After we got back to San Antonio, we spent some time lazing by the pool.  That was wonderful!  I think I might have even taken a brief nap.  Don't worry, we both wore SPF 100.  I still have some of it on my hands and arms.  That's some tenacious stuff.  Dinner Saturday was also very yummy.

Jorge returned to Wisconsin today (Sunday), so we didn't do too much except spend time together.  We were able to get an early dinner before he had to be at the airport.

I wish he didn't have to leave!

Of course, I was a wreck standing in the security line with Jorge.  He offered to put me in his bag and take me home with him.  I wish I could've taken him up on it.

Tonight was a celebration on Ft. Sam Houston for Fiesta Days.  The fireworks could be seen from my room.  It was a pretty neat display. 

Tomorrow is another day of classes and trying not to miss Jorge too much.  I was so happy to see him and I feel revitalized now.  Maybe I'll get a chance to go to Wisconsin and see him before my graduation.  I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

Thank you, Honey, for coming to see me.  I love you so much.

Classes

My head is spinning!  We started today with PT at 0510.  Then we had classes from 0750 until 1730.  That is definitely a long day of classes via PowerPoint.  The Army calls it, "Death by PowerPoint."  A very fitting description.

This entire week has been class after class.  Some have been very informative.  Others have left me wondering who felt the class should've been included in our training.

In my previous life, I worked on and did orientation of new employees.  I have also gone through several orientations as a new employee.  In the civilian world, orientation programs like this would have lead to someone receiving performance counselling.  (-:  All I can focus on is that we are almost 1/3 of the way through with this! 

I keep seeing the dog around post.  I have some dog food in my back seat and have Shadow's collapsible water dish handy, just in case.  The other day, Amber, the dog, was lying in front of our formation.  It was really cute.  She got up, stretched, and looked at all of us as if to ask why we had interrupted her afternoon sunbathing.  Everyone has fallen in love with the dog.  I'm hoping that she will find a good home, if someone could ever capture her. 

Jorge arrives tomorrow evening!  I cannot wait to see him.  He has requested a bottle of wine, some hummus, some cheese, and some nice crackers.  I think I can make that happen for him.  I just want to try and get back to my room in the barracks before I have to meet him at the airport.  It would definitely be better to pick him up in civilian clothes, rather than in my uniform.

I have my record PT test on Friday morning.  Wish me luck!  I'll post an update on Sunday, after Jorge leaves for the airport (I'm sure all of you can understand why).

Until then, have a great rest of your week!

The Laundromat

As we move through our lives, we have a tendency to forget just how lucky we are.  For the past 10 years, I've been lucky enough to have my own washer and dryer, never having to venture outside of my comfortable home to wash my dirty laundry.

Being here changes that.  Each weekend consists of doing laundry in a laundromat.  I found one close to the hotel and have used it twice now.  The place isn't exactly "clean," but it's easy to get to.  Yesterday, I went with a fellow nurse in my platoon and we had quite an experience.

After my wash cycle was done, I tumbled all of my clothes into one of the laundry carts and brought it over to an empty dryer.  Inside the dryer was a handful of dryer sheets.  I figured someone had left them in there, so I grabbed them, threw them out, and started up my drying cycle.  Less than 5 minutes later, a very loud, neon-blue-braided woman wearing a tank top and pajama bottoms starts yelling.  She was standing in front of the dryer, asking whose clothes were in there.  When I admitted they were mine, she directed her tirade at me; "I had 4 Bounce sheets in there.  You need to get your clothes out of there and let me have my Bounce sheets!  When you see dryer sheets in the dryer, that means the dryer is taken!"  I offered to buy her some more dryer sheets so that she could use a different dryer.  She wasn't interested in that and kept yelling at me.  I was thinking, "Crap!  We haven't learned combatives yet!"  (-:  Finally, I said, "You can't use a different dryer?"  I think that made something click in her head and she finally understood just how ridiculous she was being.

There must be some unspoken rule of engagement in the laundromat because this woman proceeded to befriend me, telling me she's from Louisiana and had to relocate to San Antonio because of Hurricane Katrina.  She told me she had been cleaning houses for the past 19 years.  She has 3 daughters who live in Houston and Dallas.  She can cook "anything."  She loves Cajun cooking.  And on and on!  She hugged me at the end of her time in the laundromat and said, "God Bless!"  She said that it was really great that I was a nurse in the Army (she had seen my uniform swirling around in the dryer).

After all of that excitement, I went to the post gym and swam a half mile.  That felt really good.

The rest of the night was downtime, which I needed quite a bit.  Jorge and I booked a flight for him to come visit.  He's arriving on Thursday evening and going back to WI on Sunday.  I cannot wait to see him!

I just heard that I'm moving on post today.  Better get all of my stuff packed-up and ready to go.

Have a great day!