A Sweet Valentine's

It ended up being Chipotle again, after I had changed out of my uniform. I simply love their stuff... I then kept driving past the house and went to the library for a couple hours. Refiled a pile of VHS and children's video... and found a couple things that I wanted to see. While there, I received a mysterious phone call... from a singing service that Michael hired to serenade me with "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and "It Had to Be You". So very sweet! Chatted with librarian Christine in the break room afterwords, as Ida offered me some of her chocolate-dipped strawberries she had brought. :)

When I got home, a tall vase with daffodils, red roses & carnations, and mostly unopened star tulips, was waiting on the counter. I feel very loved! :)

I spent a little while on my German lessons (from Rosetta Stone), even branching out to play some of the games, before heading off to Old Town for some chicken enchilada dinner. From there I caught the trolley to 5th Avenue, and walked a couple blocks to Symphony Hall for Sergei Radchenko's Moscow Festival Ballet performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty (choreography by Petipa). My gosh! It was so beautiful! So many colors, and so much athleticism. It is no secret that Sleeping Beauty was my favorite Disney cartoon as a child... and this delightful adaptation was all new to me. I loved the Lilac Fairy, and her nine accompanying fairies, as well as the evil, prancing Maleficent and her gang of four monsters. And my, could the Prince leap in the air. The lady sitting next to me sighed each time he touched down. lol

It started at 7:30, and with one intermission, ended close to 10:00. Thankfully, I didn't need to stand out in the brisk cold for longer than two minutes, waiting for the Blue Line trolley. It rolled right in and I was soon back home.

A Weekend and a Week

Goodness! Much has happened since I last posted! Sometimes it's hard to keep track of how quickly the days pass by! Last weekend, I took it rather easy, since I was very tired from being so keyed up for testing out of A-School. It was a big crash! I did all my laundry on Friday... big news there.

Saturday morning I upgraded my two favorite Facebook groups (one for WENN and the other for my Jr. High band director), finding to my delight that this re-invigorated discussions and made it easier for people to keep up with it... which included comments from Mary Stout and Hugh O'Gorman!

Sunday night I went to a modern play at the Globe that was very "edgy" and "dirty". It was interesting, but everyone was so darn bad to each other and nothing good ever happened to anybody... stayed up very late talking with Mike afterwords... which was so encouraging.

But Monday I was wasted! As I said before, I was still on a downer from being keyed up for class. And then I gave a pint of blood at 0900... which probably didn't help me feel very "go-get-'em". Thankfully I didn't have any watch for this Duty Day!

Tuesday I classed up immediately for Petty Officer Indoc! And we spent all day (0800-1530) in class. But this day I found out my class dates for Ops & C-School, which doesn't start til October, and doesn't finish til next May. This, importantly, allows for the marriage & honeymoon plans Mike & I had for sometime in September. :) I was instantly on the phone with him, and then my parents to share the big news once I was changed and on my way to the car.

Because that night the theater downtown was playing "Patton" (1970) for their special $5 showing. So I went early, tried out the "Crab Hut" restaurant that I discovered last time, then showed up right on time for the movie to begin. Pretty sure it was the first time I'd seen it, start to finish and uninterrupted.

And Wednesday evening I had a craving for that burger from the place in Old Town... and I got it again, except this time with their fries... their delicious fries covered with Parmesan cheese! Mmm! And then I swung by the Point Loma library to see most of the free community choir concert that was hosted there. They were singing Broadway tunes; I came in when they started a medley of Le Mis songs (which I had never heard before), a few others, and a Phantom medley... minus "Music of the Night" (my fav Phantom song). They ended with a sing-a-long of Irving Berlin and George Cohan... very fun indeed.

Last night I listened to a great deal of the lecture set I borrowed from the library the other day: "C.S. Lewis: His Life and Writings", put out by the "Great Courses" company that records outstanding lecturers from prestigious universities. It's an overview of all his main works... and I am delighted with it. Almost half-way through it already! Had some chocolate ice cream at Cold Stone and posted my graduation pictures to FB.

Today I finished "Lone Survivor", a suggested Navy reading program book about a SEAL and his mission in Afghanistan in 2005. Just realized tonight I was on my trip to see my Grandparents, Gatlinburg and Gettysburg (and Fredericksburg, Fort McHenry, Manassas & DC) with my parents the very same days that this story occurred. What a story!

Jp

And Another Wild Day

Between "Series-Parallel Circuits" and my leave business, it was another day for running around. Right after class (when my head was just about as full as it could be) I came back to my barracks to find that yes, in fact, I did need to get approval signatures from people at school (I still don't understand why, since the leave is during the stand-down ... aka, no classes).

This business has been driving me up the wall all week. First they say "go get a signature". I try. The other people say I don't need it. The first people again say I do. The next day the other people say: "This is wrong; start over" (leave on a different day). So I fix that and the first people say fine. But now I need the stupid signatures again, and the second people left early for the weekend. Everything will be fine, but I hate having something like that waiting for something so silly for so long. Maaaaaaaah!

So to calm down I thought about planning a fun day in Chicago for next Saturday if I get Phase 2 liberty (being able to stay out past 9pm). It would entail a trip to the Aquarium, Planetarium and Symphony... the things I care about seeing the most. We'll see if it works. The very idea put me in a more positive mood. :)

And then I caught up some more in class, plunging ahead into advanced DC circuits. Two more hours, two more lessons. :)

Whew! Am I glad it is the weekend!

Jp

Best for Last

Sweet Sunday! I had so much fun the last few days, I didn't think it could get any better, but...

Got up around 8! Robert and Julie were coming between 0830 and 0900, so I had plenty of time to get my NSU's on with my brand new sweater. :)

The "Sure Foundation Church" met in a small building owned by another church. I've been to plenty of small churches before, but in this one they didn't overwhelm me with super-friendliness. :) The people were wonderful (lots of Navy and retired Navy), the pastor was great (good preaching, and excited about his ministry... he even sat down and talked with us afterwords, telling us a bit about the history), and the free food was fabulous (rice & meatballs, pies, drinks)! My new family have been bringing another sailor to church for a while now... he's also from Washington... and is on hold here for a few more months :( Very cool to meet people from my home state!

After the worship and teaching and eating and visiting we piled into the car to go have one of their favorite after-church treats... corn-just-off-the-cob with mayo, Parmesan cheese, butter and lime juice, served in a cup. Wow! I had mine light on the mayo, and it was incredibly good! What a treat!

They had talked about joining me for my afternoon movie on base, but their was a Bears game scheduled at the same time :) so they dropped me back at the base (and signed me back in). After relaxing a bit in my room, I found out that my roommate Allen was going to see it (Secretariat) as well. We took off for the theater (just across the base near the main gate) and we had a great time together, especially with that big bucket of buttered popcorn she got. :)

Needless to say, I had a lovely day and didn't need much of anything for dinner. :)

Monday... was shocking to get up at 0500! But school went really well. So well, in fact, that I went back for a couple hours more after I worked out with my other roommate at the fitness center under the Loft. Caught up with where I was supposed to be (and surpassed it) and finished my required 5 hours of extra study at the same time. Whew! I was tired by the end of that!

Gosh, the fitness center was amazing! It has incredibly new machines (no indoor track, hence the reason I hadn't visited it before) and new facilities with lots of room. I shall return, I think. :)

Jp

Nice Long Weekend... Even With Duty

Oh, Thanksgiving! What a day! Even with getting to the pick-up area an hour before people were actually going to pick us up, it turned out alright. We were waiting in the base museum... and they had lots of interesting artifacts and pictures from the early 1900's. I was amused at WAVE PT... they had to work on Posture and Dancing. LOL! I especially loved the old cameras and the old cryptography machine.

Hibbard and I were one of the first groups to get picked up. Right away they announced "We need two females!" and we jumped at the chance. After our big breakfast, we watched a bit of the Macy's Parade, including seeing Betty Buckley. They then told us to take naps if we wanted and I called home for about 45 minutes and then slept for 30 (deep enough to dream of course). When I woke up I thought I was late for some muster and it took me a second to remember where I was! :) We went shopping for snacks for the party with Julie, the wife for a while... and I picked up some snacks for the barracks. We watched a little of the first football game when we got back, and then we took off for Robert's parent's house where a bunch of his extended family was getting together. It was almost like a Thanksgiving back home. Lots of good homemade food... split pea soup, juicy turkey, green bean casserole, jellied cranberries, etc. Ate so much I only had room for one piece of pumpkin pie. :) We finished watching the Saints/Cowboys game and then were returned to the base. I went to bed right after getting back at 2030 (8:30)!

And I didn't get up until 0700! Woke up a few times, of course, but on the whole a wonderful sleep. This (Friday the 26th) was my duty day. We mustered at 0845 and they told us to enjoy our Friday. :) I had a shopping trip to the NEX, where I picked up the dry cleaning and my name tag for my sweater, and a couple other items. The catch with it being my duty day was that I couldn't go out for longer than an hour. So several times I made it back just in time. :) Got the laundry done and I talked with Mom, Mike and my Grandma (Mom's mom in NC) for the rest of the afternoon. :) Love it when I can do that! On my way to muster that night, the yeoman stopped me in the hall and said he needed me to fill in for a watch. (Darn!) And so I was required to patrol the lounge from 2000 to 2400... watched the Oregon game along with a bunch of guys as I did so, and then a first-person shooter game as one guy played when the game was over. After he put in Spaceballs, it was time to go. Thank goodness, I was tired! :)

Today we had to muster again at 0800; I did one little job and then I was Scott-free! So I went to class for my hours of required Open Learning (just a few more hours of class to get ahead... or catch up, in my position). But there were so many people, they didn't have room. Told me to come back at 1100... so I had brunch as I was waiting. I love the omelets they make us here! Returned early and was able to snatch up a computer for three hours of work. Caught up just fine and will start the electronics part on Monday. Otherwise today, I went for a run on the track for a little personal PT... gosh! that was cold!!! And after dinner and cleaning up, I came here to the Loft for a little Internet. Tried to arrange using my friend's roommate's service for in-barracks Internet, but she's gone tonight and forgot to leave the password. So, maybe starting tomorrow I can surf from my own room. We'll see...

[and one more free day to go!]
Love to all :)

Jp

Brand New Places

So Sunday evening, after my last post, I had a very good time meeting and being the guest of my sister's friends who moved out here last year. They had lived at the same apartment complex as my sister in Everett (there's a Navy base in Everett). So as I was chatting with Andrea last week I realized it would be a golden opportunity to have a fun Sunday evening if I could spend it with them. And of course, it worked out just fine. They came and picked me up (and signed me out of my barracks, becoming my "liberty buddies") and we had a great evening. The kids gave me a grand tour, I met their big, salt & pepper-colored bunny (forgot it's name...) and their cat Rodney (after the ship FFG Rodney M. Davis). The kids were full of energy, and that was fun... we played a couple games and then enjoyed spaghetti for dinner. Didn't have a ton of time, but what we had was very nice indeed and it lifted my spirits considerably.

But now it's the day before Thanksgiving, and I have much to be thankful for. My new ship is spectacular compared to my first, I've finally started school (and I really like it), and I'm adapting just fine to the changes. We get 15 minute breaks every so often in school, and instead of spending all my money on the vending machines, I get time to read from my pocket Bible. I've found it very nice to have since there is always some time or other that we're just sitting around waiting for something.

So I'm on break for the rest of the day now. We had early release from classes because of the holiday. Don't quite know what to do with myself, mostly because I'm pretty tired. I think I shall indulge in more of the Bible after I am done computering. :)

Jp