Week one is complete!

Week one is finally over! Whew. This new lifestyle is certainly an adjustment. Even simple things are difficult: standing for hours and hours and hours is taking it's toll on my back, and lifting all this equipment has made me incredibly sore. Friday morning we had a APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) consisting of pushups, situps, and a 2 mile run. I passed, but my score was not great due to being completely exhausted and sore. Many of us were in the same boat though and honestly I am just glad it is over.

We had CIF and RFI- both consist of being issued large amounts of Army equipment such as ballistic helmets, body armor, uniforms, new boots, and everything from multi-tool Gerbers to earplugs. I have bags and bags of gear. Turns out that with the new body armor it weighs about 44lbs total, including our weapon. While it is incredibly heavy and hot to wear, the weight is distributed pretty evenly throughout your torso so it is not unbearable. Lugging around an M-16 isn't going to be fun either (I was hoping to be issued a pistol) but at least I know I can defend myself better with a semi-automatic rifle.

Last night was our first reprieve from the long hours of training. Linda, Laura, Kurt (fellow nurses) and myself all went out eat at Olive Garden and then to Target for a few things. Just the simple act of being in civilian clothing again felt great. Today the plan is to do laundry and then attend a wine/jazz event this evening. Yay for normality!

I miss you all...I miss my friends in Dallas, my coworkers at Darnall, my Mom, Meatball my cat. This is hard, but during the day you are so busy that you don't have time to think about everything you are away from. During the night you are too exhausted, so you try not to think about it. There seems to be this unspoken rule that you simply don't talk about everything you miss, or how lonely you are. Everyone embraces their new friends here, and somehow we will make it through this together.