Already November is Flying

Truly, there is no other way to describe the way the days are slipping through my fingers: November is flying.

And before I launch into the mundane yet good news, I want to pause and reflect on a couple dreams I had. I had a very happy then saddening dream that a beloved family member asked me who they were and I described them with joy thinking it to be a game. Then I realized this family member did not know me, or recognize me, had in fact forgotten me and I cried. I sobbed. Wonder what that means is on my mind... anyway.

Despite a huge improvement on my part to work during the day, I find myself working through another night here at West Point. The reason? The seventh problem set in my CE300 class. Tomorrow night promises no better since I will be working on my LW310 paper and the afternoon will be interrupted by a Portuguese Oral Presentation. The morning will be interrupted by my taking one of my subordinates to the Thayer bookstore to pick out a journal they will use for reflection since they continue to mess up and I'm afraid the problem is slightly more complicated than simply requiring punishment for correction. Looking into it now. While I care enough to do so, I am also still very busy in particular this week.

On top of all my requirements, I am also hosting a participant of SCUSA. She goes to college in Oregon, her major is International something and Foreign Languages. She's quite nice, and hardly any trouble, and she gets me out of WAMI. (Wed. A.M. Inspection). So she can stay :)

Ah, but no worries. This Friday I will be leaving on Chalk 4 on Mil-Air with my boyfriend headed for USAFA to watch the Army v. Air Force Football Game* (*and other Army competitions because I love Army, noooot because I'm being mandated to go of course - wink).

Had a great talk with my friend H., we acknowledged his quasi-girlfriend doesn't like me and that she probably feels threatened by me and that H. already told her that his friendship with me isn't going to change. So that is going much better now.

Also realized that my roommate has gotten a lot better about her behavior in many ways, and that she will make her own mistakes and learn from them. I'm truly glad she is finally enjoying herself with a boyfriend who makes her happy, however I will not stop being her 'responsible' friend.

Finally, with all these realizations, I have this weekend in Colorado, next week a Wednesday drop in classes, that weekend a home football game, and the weekend after that hopefully a wrestling tournament. The weekend following is... of course: Thanksgiving! This year spent in El Paso.

So November is sliding by so fast I feel the wind whipping my hair. I have also been enjoying my life, this weekend went to IHOP and CrackerBarrel for brunch on Saturday and Sunday. My firstie friend, former sandhurst SL, got Infantry and I realized I won't be back from my semester abroad in time for his graduation which certainly necessitates some quality hang-out time.

I genuinely feel blessed. There is so much good in my life right now, I feel like my life is charmed with room for tweaks of improvement. Good night.

Fan-Tastic Weekend

This weekend went to NYC and had the best time ever... looking forward to future weekends in the city too. I'm finally getting a better idea of what I want to do in the city and just how much there is to do. Having trouble deciding when during my life I want to live there. I am torn between mid-twenties and late-twenties/early thirties. On one hand I can try to go to grad school after a couple years into the military having them pay for it and go to college at NYU or another progressive city with great nightlife. On the other hand, I can wait till my five years are done and then just move into the city. I don't know yet, but I know it's going to happen. There and elsewhere too. Me and my friend discussed it, we both want to visit the world and travel.

My self esteem was in for a treat this weekend. I am feeling great too, although I'm afraid my wallet might have a hang-over. A random stranger in the street called the boy I was travelling with a "lucky man" and even before that moment I just felt very beautiful this weekend. I felt attractive and fit and desirable and the best part was the clothes I was wearing were all jean bottoms (boot-cut jeans, jean shorts, jean skirt) and cotton t-shirts and I wasn't wearing make-up. A lady also complimented my braids saying they were "so cute".

I enjoyed a lot of tasty food too. Had an amazing creme brulee after dinner on friday and also was surprised by what was called a Hibiscus Jewel, a little coconut custard with hibiscus jello on top. Hibiscus was tasty as expected. The last day I had an amazing brunch at the italian restaurant attached to the hotel.

Shopping was also a very successful venture because I bought a vintage X-Men T-Shirt and a pair of gorgeous gold chandalier earrings with cute green bobbles attached to them. There was also a stop at Barnes and Noble which lasted at least three hours. We also found this awesome 24 hour diner that served all meals all the time. The service was great, the food not terribly expensive. It was a charmed weekend to be sure.

The oddest part was a dream I had. I dreamt of an old family... maybe it was like an 18th century one... they were moving into a new house. The family consisted of a husband and wife with two male servants and one female servant and I'm not sure if they had kids. The wife had a nest of swallows installed in her room. It was a strange dream because I was dreaming that I was reading a novel that was simultaneously being played out in front of me. Then I read that one of the servants had been assigned to be the husband's busom buddy and confidante. The last sentence referred to the female servant: "Oh Mrs. Loft!" It was strange as though I had just finished a chapter in a book.

Snow, Sleep, Nightmares

Last night we got a supposed 14" of snow. The sheer amount of snow and the wind that never seemed to die down transformed Thayer Road into a bleak desert of ice. I definitely slid sideways once, however it wasn't as embarrassing as those whose feet literally slipped right from under them resulting in them "eating it" in front of everyone. First hour our instructor didn't show, which resulted in higher spirits because we had an excessively early start today due to suicide briefings in the afternoon for freshmen and juniors. Since I only have morning classes I was done by 1000 hours. It was great and I decided to snooze until lunch. After lunch the sandhurst team found out that our range was cancelled because if there were no civilians to check out rifles there was no way to run a range. It was better this way because we didn't freeze our butts off either. Since our squad leader had the briefings too he designated "H" in charge of the work out. I waited until 1530 hours for an email about practice before falling asleep. Apparently I was racked out, because our squad leader came to get me and said I was practically 'dead'. I missed a rough cross-fit work out and everyone thought I was sick too like Strongbad (another pseudonym for another teammate).

During this nap though I had an insane nightmare about a zombie apocalypse in which I was armed with an M9 Beretta and had to defend a giant battleship shipwreck that had been converted into a historical building in the city.

Then Salsa dance lessons were cancelled due to the weather as well. It was quite disheartening, but I did get a lot of good sleep and apparently I looked like I needed it. I just might have in retrospect.