Life & Times

I had a rather slow day at work yesterday... non-conformances on my program again! Dad and I had a good time making a quickie dinner together, playing backgammon again, and then watched another Nazi-thriller, this time from 1944. "The Conspirators", with at least three actors from Casablanca. I liked it a lot! The message boards on IMDB aren't very kind to it though... "what do they know?" :) And then my Mom came back safely from her long drive... and I had a lovely talk with Mike.

What a lovely thing that I have a day off work today! I am helping out Meg by proctoring one of her final tests in Kent that the college scheduled at the same time as the one in Auburn that she'll be handling... and I got to sleep in til 9 am! I've had a breakfast, and just a plain old nice time with my Mom and sister.

I had a bit of a shocker this morning, though. The Marine who is in this poster emailed me this morning! A friend had told him about the poster I got at Zac's graduation! I feel very honored!

As he said, 'Semper Fi'.

Jp

Back To School

Last night I went to the first session of a seven-week class that my church is offering on a "Survey of the New Testament". I couldn't bear to have an October where I wasn't studying anything... :) Anyway, I've never been taught about any part of the Bible like this, and I thought I might give it a try. We did an introduction last night, a quick overview covering the history, writing style, and the authors of the New Testament. We also talked about theories in general, like Sola Scriptura and how that differs from the Catholic Church and how most of the New Testament was written to answer all sorts of questions about other religious thought that crept into the early church at the time, as it still does today.

In the following weeks, we are going to go through about 4 books each session, looking at the author, time it was written, how and why it was written, the basic message of it, and so on. I'm really looking forward to it. It's only on Tuesdays until the middle of November, so it isn't even a huge commitment. The pastor who is teaching it isn't from our church, but he is very knowledgeable, and very easy to listen to. Our own pastor is sitting in on the class as well; I think they are good friends. The class only has about twenty people in it, and of course, I am the only young person. I am beginning to think that I don't share much of anything in common with people my own age.

[forgot to mention... on the way to the class at church, a bald eagle flew right over my car (coming right at me) as I was stuck in I-405 North traffic! Gosh, that was neat!]

On Monday night after dinner, I sat down and watched the first episode of "The National Parks" online. I really enjoyed it, but along with all the history and the beautiful landscapes and old photographs (it only covered the story up to 1890), there was a lot of meaty philosophy in there about how we should think about nature and our beautiful wild places. I learned a lot about John Muir, which my Christian homeschool history textbooks seemed to skip over. I think that's a real shame, although he presented his ideas in a rather controversial manner, so I understand why they did. I liked some of the things he said, although he was a little over the top at times. He was an extremist, and I like balance. We'll see if I can cram five more episodes in before Friday night... I suppose there's always Netflix if I can't.

Oh, and big, big news! Well, I'm excited at least... Mom and I are going to visit my brother in Arizona the weekend of Halloween. He's stationed at the Marine Air Base in Yuma. We're going to fly down to San Diego on Friday morning, drive just over 2 hours to Yuma, spend the rest of Friday and all of Saturday and Sunday with him, go back to San Diego Sunday night and stay there for an early Monday morning flight back to Seattle. With that deal I got from American Express and Delta earlier this year, I got a free companion ticket. Delta doesn't fly to Yuma, so that's why we have to do SD again. I'm becoming a regular visitor!

Jp

Sunday, In Retrospect

Like always...

Yesterday... I did wake up in the morning... barely! :)

Family started coming over right away, and soon the house was brimming with friends as well! Mom had prepared a feast (on request through letters from boot camp) including steak, fish, noodles, potatoes, veggies, salad, cantaloupe, bread, apple pies and brownies, among others. We were running out of chairs! So there was a lot of visiting... and eating... and more eating... and then some presents for a very belated celebration of his birthday back in March. He came upstairs in his uniform when he first got back from church, but quickly changed out of it in order to relax. My 95 year old gramma shouted out, "Oh my god! You look different!" when she saw him the first time. It was so very funny because she shouted that out when everyone else was quiet. LOL!

People left in stages, until it was just my sister's family and my brother's good friend. And then the two of them left to go take in an action movie and it became time for my niece and nephew's bedtime. My sister and I put in a MASH, as we haven't seen one for a while, and then we watched our Netflix movie, Oklahoma... she said she wanted to see it before we go so she can sing the songs while we drive... lol. But then on the beginning, there's this illegal movie downloading commercial, and then an ad for the new release of The Sound of Music on dvd... and I'm laughing my head off. I did enjoy it, but it was a weird musical.

After the equivalent of two weekends... having four days off in a row... I feel ready to face this week. We'll see how long that feeling lasts :) I'm still having trouble referring to Friday the 12th as a Sunday.

Jp

We're Back!

Except that happened yesterday at around 7 pm.

He's all graduated! And home for 10 days! before he has to go back for 3 weeks of infantry school and then 8-12 weeks of his MOS in Missouri (or school for his specialty - which is a construction heavy equipment operator).


I was so tired last night from all the standing around we did again and then the 2.5 hour flight back to Seattle, that I did nothing besides eat, shower and go directly to bed. Unfortunately, I missed the opening of my photography program's first show in the UW Medical Center, but that's why I requested to be in the second show... in case this happened.

Today I woke up bright and early at 6:40, and kept myself busy all day. Breakfast with Zac and family, cleaned up my room, went shopping for a binder and a large frame, and came home with a brand new flag as well (this one is sewn nylon, instead of the old, printed polycotton that we've had for years. The pole set had rusted and the eagle had broken off... it was time.

I put it up when I got home and then put that cool poster up as well. Between shopping and seeing his friends, Zac approved of it :) when he came home. Today was the neighborhood garage sale, and my sister basically ran that, making a few bucks. I organized all my stuff from photography class and then cleaned my car (hurrah!) and then vacuumed my room afterwards.

His platoon:

I think I am ready to relax a little. But one thing is for sure: this weekend has made me more motivated to join up. It was a grand time.

Jp

Family Day at Boot Camp, MCRD, SD

Even after a latish night, we woke up very early in order to eat the hotel's full breakfast and catch an early (7am) shuttle to the base. It went like clockwork... ate a biscuit and sausage and an omelet and then popped on the bus that had just stopped outside.

As we arrived, the six platoons that are graduating tomorrow were practicing the ceremony in battle dress on the parade deck. It wasn't too hard to pick my brother out, as he's rather tall and very blond... at least what's left of his hair. :) And walking around, I've never seen so many ugly, dark yellow buildings in one place before! My goodness!

There was a lot of waiting around... and then we peeked inside the museum, watched a short film, checked out the gift shop, got a ceremonial yelling at by a DI, just for the experience, and then lined up in the parking lot to watch the "moto" run (motivational, if you missed that) by the 325 brand new Marines. And then there was a lot more standing around waiting with an overseeing DI who wanted us to yell cadence with him... uh, no. Not the whole time at least. There's a good reason why 95% of the Marines we ran into had hoarse throats. My brother said he even contracted bronchitis for a week... but holy cow! He kept training and is graduating on schedule!

We then witnessed the end of the run, where they lined up and were given a nice speech by some officer or person too far away to identify. And then we went in the theater and watched a longer movie about how cool the Marines are... and they are... and then a captain told us about what all the recruits went through during the three months with a slide show accompaniment, and then the Brigadier general, who is a woman and in charge of all Marine Corps training in the Western United States, came and gave us a great talk about how our boys have changed.

And then, finally! We all filed out and went to the bleachers on the parade deck. The band played, and then all six platoons marched by. There was a short speech, and then look out! I bounded onto the deck and got to Zac first! I've never hugged anyone so hard! And he's never wanted to hug before today... and it was wonderful. My goodness! He's so thin! He lost 52 pounds! It took me a moment to adjust to him, and realize that, yes, indeed, he was the same person. :) Part of the weirdness was his deeper voice (it's still a little sore) and his now totally non-sarcastic demeanor, coupled with how much he was scowling during formations to keep his eyes from wandering and his attention focused. My goodness! He looked mean! But he sure was the same little brother of mine... just older all of a sudden. (tears up... okay, yeah.)

He was then on five-hour liberty (on base), and the first thing we did was go get hamburgers. And then pizza... lol... And then we went to the base museum for a long time, saw a little bit of the base, and then we went to eat again... I had something different. Spaghetti and meatballs to be exact. :)

So we said goodbye for the evening... but it wasn't bad, knowing we get to take him home tomorrow. As for him, he said he can't wait to get out of there and that it would be hard for him to sleep tonight. :)

And as for me, although it was cloudy for all of the morning and most of the afternoon, a trip to San Diego wouldn't be complete without a little sunburn. But only on my left shoulder, forehead and chest. Um, no dressy shirt tomorrow; time for a good old tee.

Jp

(sister, mother, brother, me, father, friend) in the museum.

Oh, and I found the poster that appears on the bottom of this blog page in the corner of the gift store! It was only 98 cents, since it was rather beat up. But it was their last copy, and the only thing I really wanted... Yay!!!

Back in the Old Town

I left work a half-hour later than I wanted, but made it home and packed just in time.

The flight was a breeze... Zac's friend flew down with us, so my sister and I had a lovely time talking and laughing all the way down here. The topic centered around North Korea, of all places... lol

I watched the sun go down and turn red on the western horizon over the Pacific, as I was at the window on the starboard side of the craft. When we landed, we were able to see MCRD... yay!

Our hotel is in the Old Town district, relatively near where I stayed back in October, except nicer. They've got a nice courtyard area, and we're only a half-mile away from the Marines.

Movie and Pizza tonight, and an early morning tomorrow!

Jp

In Addition

.
[to make mention of other happenings today: I went to a friend's wedding at 11 am. While I thought I'd be all alone (no one else from my family came), three good friends from the University Christian Fellowship were there as well and we had a wonderful time catching up.

I thought I would keep the dress on for the photography end-O'-the-year party in Seattle, but it came off about 15 minutes after coming home from the wedding and I couldn't get the gumption to put it back on. :) I'm not what you'd call a dress person. lol

And then while I was kinda tired from running around all day already, I had a fabulous time at the photography party. It was on a rooftop of an apartment complex right above the Puget Sound waterfront. The sun was brilliantly bright, it was in the upper 70's, the Sound was simply gorgeous with the light blues and peaches of the setting sun. Ships and ferry boats were coming and going and everything was very peaceful. I really love my classmates and teachers, and had a lovely time talking with them and some of their spouses.]

From Earlier:
WHAT A DEVIL DOG.

A pic of my brother! It's a screen shot from the platoon video.

And the link to the video where it comes from. He's in 1027.

Poor U.S. Army soldiers have to survive being called Doughboy, Dogface and GI, while the Marines have Leatherneck (dating back to the leather collars they wore in 1775 to avoid cutlass strokes to the neck) and Devil Dog (a name earned from the Germans in World War I... Belleau Wood, if I'm not mistaken. [ahh, I was right.])

(they have 3 battalions with 4 companies each, containing 6 platoons each in San Diego! whoa.)

WOW!!! (Jen is very proud)

Jp

Oh, Would You Look At How the Time Flies.

It's already the weekend! Tomorrow I'm taking off for the Oregon Coast with a friend of mine. We're going to be gone until Sunday night, but I might get a second or two with the hotel's free Wi-Fi. My goodness, this week felt like it would last forever! But I suppose that's always the case right before a trip for me.

Monday, nothing happened really... except for Zac shipping out. Work was very dull, and I had trouble focusing at work... so much so this week, that nearly every day I stayed overtime to make up for time unwisely spent during the day. I think I have too much freedom at work. And I allow my mind to wander too much... next week I'm going to work hard on staying on task all day.

Tuesday night, Mom treated my sister and I to an evening at Red Lobster! Wow! Was that an incredible dinner! I had tilapia stuffed with lobster and seafood... ! So good! And then Wednesday I pulled myself out of bed in time for Jazzercise in the morning... good thing! Because today, we had this huge BBQ/potluck for lunch at work... yummy!

I'm handling Zac being gone pretty well. It's still a little weird, having him gone, but over the two months that he was trying to ship out, we had good times together, and after the first shock, we slowly adjusted to the situation... So, although it was very hard for him... and for us too (not knowing when he was going), it definitely was good for everyone the way it worked out. I hope he is adjusting well down there... wish I knew what he was going through.

My sister and I just finished watching "Save the Last Dance" (Julia Stiles) (Zac's movie on Zac's big screen projector downstairs). He was swell and wrote down which buttons to push in order to make it work... :) Great movie, BTW... really enjoyed it.

Jp

We Heard...

"This Recruit got here safe; this recruit graduates on June 12; this recruit will write you soon by mail; this recruit loves you; goodbye." at 9 PM.

And according to Dad, there was a lot of yelling going on in the background.

Zac doesn't get to sleep tonight...

Jp

From the Halls of Montezuma...

A little doodling today... It's a little hard to concentrate.
Drawn free hand in Microsoft Paint.
He was sworn in by 10AM, and is on his way to San Diego.
I got to hug him goodbye last night.

Untitled

Yeah, I couldn't figure out what to name it.

Yesterday after work... had to work a little late because I woke up a little late...

It's been that kind of week... late to bed, early to rise makes me unhappy and late, I surmise.

And after work I was so relieved that I didn't have anything to do, that I worked on going through stuff in my room. Programs from shows I saw last year... getting them ready to be slapped in a book so I can go back and look through them later... I found a copy of the letter I wrote to Amanda Naughton... gosh! it was a pretty nice letter! If only I didn't expect her to reply.

And then our family took Dad's mom and sister and brother-in-law out to dinner at Denny's so everyone could finally say goodbye to Zac, because he leaves for recruit training tomorrow evening. (sigh) I know that I'll most likely cry, but I hope it won't be as bad as it was January 11. Gee, I still remember the date...

When we got home, we watched "The Counterfeit Traitor" with William Holden from 1961. Wow! Good movie! An American turned Swede oil businessman is coerced into spying against the Nazis for the Allies... and it gets really good!

And although I had to get up just after 7 this morning, I stayed up til midnight goofing around on Facebook. Gahhhh! When will I learn?!

My sister and I had to get up early because we needed to go pick the horses' feet before the farrier arrived at 9. It was my first time watching the farrier do the trimming and shoeing... it was very interesting.

Afterwords, it was so cold and rainy (biking got cancelled) and my fingers were pink and my toes freezing (and they were uncomfortable to begin - Roo stomped on the little toes of my right foot while I was picking his back foot - and it left a dent in my GI boots for a moment), so we left. We went over Tolt Hill into Redmond, had a fabulous lunch at our mutually favorite lunch place, Panera Bread. Then we went to Value Village (I found some amazing shoes! and a large plastic frill-necked-lizard, a species I have adored since I was a kid - holy cow! it's so cool! it's like life size!), and then Half Price Books for a quick look-around, and then Tree Top Toys, where I bought a Carnegie dinosaur. We went home for a while, and then went to Fred Meyer to get an alarm clock for me, so I can get up this week. And while we were there, we looked at the toys and I found an extremely cute stuffed horse that looked exactly like Thunderhoof! LOL! Very fun day with my sister!

Jp

Munday

Well, here we are again. My brother did not ship yet, because of a technicality that even his recruiter can't believe. You've got to love the military! So... another 2-3 weeks.

At work I started training more for my third job again... I've finally been given access to all the screens I need, so my head is pretty full. So along with the regular jobs of quality-checking documents and coordinating the handling of rejected hardware, I'm also going to be responsible for releasing documents such as hardware drawings in our system so they will be available for production. Phew!

Tomorrow I'm going into work early so I can leave early so I can work in Photoshop in the lab at school before class. I so need to buy it from the Bookstore! I hear there's a student discount...

Couldn't believe the weather! After our dusting of snow yesterday, the sky was crystal clear last night, so this morning it was 23 degrees when I went to Jazzercise. Brrrrrrrrr!

My eyes are shutting, so I think I'll call it a night.

Jp

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.

So, Zac's heading out for sure this Sunday night. At least this time I know I'm really going to be sad, so I think I might be able to prepare myself some... what. I'm dreading it.

But when I got home from work, my Canon G-10 had come in the mail! Whooohooo! My goodness! It's really nice! It's fast and beautiful and shoots in RAW!

So, I had to start working on my photography project this weekend, but I was a little unsure of my project. I was considering shooting pollution in the Duwamish River near downtown Seattle (since I've volunteered with People for Puget Sound), but I didn't know when or where to start. I did know that I needed a camera case, so I found a store in Kenmore in the Yellow Pages and headed out to get at least one thing accomplished today (besides the little vacuuming in my room)(it was too late to go horseback riding).

When I got to the I-405 N on-ramp, it was backed up, so I went the back way to Bothell to get on SR-522... but once I got to the bridge to get into Bothell, it was backed up there too. So I decided to turn off right there at the Bothell Landing on the Sammamish River Trail and just walk to Kenmore (2.5 miles). The sun was going down, so I had some beautiful opportunities to take pictures on the way...(since I brought my camera to fit in the case)... and while shooting, I decided to switch my project to the Sammamish Trail, probably focusing on the bridges over the river. This is the north route of the Burke-Gilman Trail that I have mentioned before... I love this place! Perfect for photographing and close to home! By the time I was done at the store, it was pretty darn dark outside, so I hopped on a bus that I used to ride my Junior year of college, and made my way back to Bothell without stumbling around on a dark, deserted paved path in the pitch black of 7 pm. It was a fun, adventurous trip!

[Just finished watching Monk... better than last week! Unfortunately, we saw some really Dorky Disher again... but I enjoyed the episode a lot. Monk forgot to wash his hands! But I don't like how they get my hopes up for a possible returning character (wishful thinking, I know), and then dash it to pieces at the end. Oh well! It was lovable and believable this time! Touching really...]

Jp

The Color Blue Sounds Like:

Me... I'm sad, but very proud.

When Zac left... God! Here come the tears again.

I wish I could be going too.

I never wanted to experience this, which millions of families have done before me.

When the recruiter pulled away out of the driveway with him in the car, I watched from the extra bedroom. I quietly sang "When Johnny Comes..." And now I feel absolutely terrible.

It's not really that I'm worried about his safety... yet. It's just that he's gone. He's not going to live with us anymore. He's gone.

My brother is doing what I only dreamed about for at least ten years of my life.

He's going to be a Leatherneck.

Lord God, I'm proud of him.

And tomorrow, I have to go to work, do a workout, and lead a very normal life without him. I wish depression or sadness, or whatever you want to call it didn't make you so darned lazy and disinterested in life.

Semper Fi,
Jp

Happy Birthday USMC

233 years old: The Continental Congress approved a resolution calling for two battalions of Continental Marines on November 10, 1775.

Jp