One day weekend

WARNING: Very lengthy venting ahead...

I've been feeling a little stressed this past week, which is a little unusual for me. Brian might tell you otherwise, but I don't think I get all that worked up about things on a regular basis.

The week started (on Wednesday, due to our 4 day weekend; thanks Army!) with a mock promotion board. I am set to go to a board next week to determine whether I should be promoted or not, and my unit does a very good job of coordinating a practice board to see who's ready, and what you need to continue to prepare for the real thing. So, that means that I spent my 4 day weekend studying, shining shoes, measuring and putting all sorts of pins and ribbons on my uniform, and worrying. The board went well, and that afternoon was completely taken up with a somewhat unorganized rehearsal, which has unfortunately become somewhat of the norm around here. Music was passed out to us as rehearsal was going, so nothing was prepared, everyone was trying to decide who was playing what, etc. It took a lot longer than it should have, and I'm not sure that in the end, it was any better than when we started. The commander is especially stressed about this gig, because we are involved in some sort of hoopla celebration next week to say goodbye to our deputy commander. By the time I got home, I was mentally exhausted, so it was a good thing that I had already decided to give myself a day off from studying.

Thursday, I got picked to go to some sensing session where the current state of our unit's sexual harrassment/sexual assault training was discussed with women from other units throughout the community. That wasn't bad, except for how misinformed we were, and that we went to 3 different buildings before we actually made it to the right place. Not to mention, the women leading this discussion were a half hour late, mostly due to them receiving the same wrong information, and not knowing where to find us. After a shortened lunch, the afternoon was filled with a *very* unorganized rehearsal, this time for a gig we have on Sunday. Nobody likes sitting around and wasting time, especially when you are in the midst of a rehearsal, when it's impossible to leave and do the things that you know you need to do, but can't, because you're waiting for whoever's in charge to figure out what's going on. Very disappointing. Due to all the wasted time, I made it to our admin office after 4pm (I was supposed to see someone in there about my promotion packet), where I was informed that he was missing some things, one of those things being something that I have to get from another office on post. That wouldn't be a problem, if I wasn't going to be out of town for one gig on Friday, and gone for another one on Monday, somehow getting the stuff he needs prior to the 8:30am board on Tuesday. Ugh.

Friday comes, I go to work at 5 in the morning, so we can ride a bus for 4 hours to get to a ceremony, play said ceremony, eat lunch (during lunch, a fire alarm went off in the food court and we all had to leave), and spend the next 4 hours on the bus to come home. Those are the easy gigs, but spending 11 hours away, when I have things I needed to take care of, is annoying. Not to mention, I got put on that gig at the last minute to replace someone who had to go to a different rehearsal. For the record, that rehearsal didn't actually happen, so she just got out of it for no reason. Thankfully, Brian went to the education center to get a memo for me (one of the things our admin office needed) while I was gone all day. Unfortunately, they had no idea what he was talking about, so he left empty-handed.

Today's Saturday, my one day weekend. Today I must study, pack for a trip tomorrow, and iron my uniform for Tuesday. I leave in the morning (this time at 5:45) for a day's worth of playing, somewhere in France, and we begin our return trip on Monday, with an expected return time of late afternoon. This trip requires a dress uniform, which means I have to prepare a second one, so that I don't run the risk of dirtying/wrinkling the uniform I'll need to wear on Tuesday for the board. Following Tuesday's board, we have more rehearsal time scheduled for the Wednesday/Thursday deputy commander extravaganza, and it will all finally be over Thursday evening, when our 4-day Labor Day weekend begins! Then I can relax. After I finish cleaning up the house for our visitors. :)

Kitties!

I realized today that I haven't posted any pictures of our little gentlemen since we brought them home. We picked them up 3 weeks ago today, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite pictures so far. :)

Their look of confusion and uncertainty on the ride home:


Exploring the new furniture:


Lazy boy:


Somebody loves the camera:

Isn't he lovely?:


Darwin likes the tank:


But Clevenger prefers the airplane:


This wasn't an action shot; he really sleeps on his back like that. :)


And finally, a picture of Brian's hand, after losing his first fight with Clevenger:

I'm a Recording Star!

I'm not, really, but I spent this past week in a recording studio with my unit, making a Christmas CD. We did some band stuff, the chorus is recording, the dixie band, the jazz band, and a small brass group are all contributing, and I think it's going to be nice. Here are a few pics of our brass group recording Joy to The World (I'm the only girl, besides the conductor) :)



In other news, our kitties are *loving* their new home, and we can't get enough of them. They are very lovey-dovey (especially Darwin), and of course, playful. It's been a little too hot to play much this week, though. Unfortunately, this week, according to the news, has been the hottest it has been in Germany since 2003. Having not lived in Germany in 2003, that means nothing to me, but apparently, that was an incredible heat wave, and people here aren't really used to the kinds of temperatures we are having right now. So, the kitties have started a play-strike, and they spend most of the daytime hours laying on the cold(-ish) kitchen floor, sometimes playing with ice cubes.

Unfortunately for me, and the rest of my unit, we had a ceremony today that, for some stupid Army reason that will never make sense to me, was changed from 10am to 2pm. That's right, at the absolute hottest part of the afternoon, some General insisted on having all of his soldiers stand a parade rest in the sun for an hour while listening to speeches that nobody there cared about. That's what I call "Soldiers taking care of Soldiers."

Anyway, now I'm going to put the hot laptop away, so I can lie on the couch with the fan aimed right at my face, and try not to pass out from heat exhaustion. :) Why, oh why, don't Germans believe in air conditioning?