Saturday, March 21, 2009

gettin' "smoked"

I am really, really sore this morning. We had a long week...court martial trial memo was due, the criminal law instruction course wound down and PT seemed extra hard (at least for me). Thursday, my platoon did a ton of pushups and situps (just over 200 each!). So when I woke up at 5am for our 4 mile run yesterday, I was looking forward to getting it over with and getting into the weekend for some sleep! This is where the getting "smoked" part comes in...getting "smoked" basically means being exercised until exhaustion as a form of "corrective action" (aka punishment...but more to teach a lesson). So yesterday, 1 person (out of 112) was late to the first formation before PT. So, to make a point about how important it is to be on time, the entire company was "smoked" after class. (Company = entire class; Platoon = about 50% of class; so we have 2 platoons that make up 1 company). So we did lots of pushups, some situps and then more pushups. It is what it is. It could have been a lot worse. But I ache all over today. And, of course, the girls want to go outside and play as the weather is getting better!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Blues Reception

Last night was our first formal reception. It is called the "Blues Reception" (the new Army dress uniform is blue...except Guard and Reserve can wear the Class A "Green" until 2014). The reception is a formal meeting of the commander and his spouse. So we went through a receiving line to begin the evening. Mostly drinks and light dining while the students mingle with each other and the faculty.
Enya and Grace were downstairs in one of the mock courtrooms with the babysitters. They did really well considering they were with "strangers" for nearly 4 hours. It was a rare opportunity for Karina and I to socialize for so long without them with us. We really enjoyed it.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

PT

We had our 2nd physical training ("PT") test on Monday. I actually did considerably better than my 1st test (and much more than I had expected). I've also gained 3 lbs in 4 weeks. I'd been told earlier that heavy guys lose weight and skinny guys gain....so I am now the heaviest I've ever been in my life (155 lbs).

The "PT" results:

Push-ups: need 34, did 44
Sit-ups: need 38, did 65
2 mile run: need to do in 18:18 minutes, did it in 16:28

So the Army is certainly getting me in shape!

I have also learned that I may not be going to Ft. Benning, GA for the officer training. Most of the Reserve Officers are likely going to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. I likely won't know until the end of the month.

We are currently being taught military criminal law....court martials, rules of evidence, etc. It is one area of the law that I am not really interested in practicing (and likely won't as a Reservist). I am really more interested in legal assistance for Soldiers (which comes in April) and international/operational law (comes in April, too). The classes have more of a feel of CLE seminars (continuing legal education for you non-lawyers out there!) which means a lot of info compressed into a small amount of time. So my brain is a bit fried right now!

Girls have adjusted and are doing really well. We've enrolled Enya in a "ballet" class on Saturdays...she was running around in her pink tights today and is really excited about it. Weather has been great since the end of last week, so we've been able to get them outside to play.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Girls enjoying the park


We've finally had some warm weather. Karina got the girls outside to burn some energy off. You can see my school in the background above the trees.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

the crazy life at the Residence Inn


I've been here almost 2 weeks now. Enya and Grace are getting used to the new confinement here at the Residence Inn....they are used to having more running room. We haven't had any complaints from the neighbors (yet!), but wow, when the two of them get to chasing each other around the suite it can get pretty loud! It has been really cold here so Karina has been a bit trapped here. It is supposed to be in the 70s this weekend though so hopefully they'll be able to get outside more. I, of course, am getting plenty of outdoor time every morning before the sun rises! I am definitely getting into really good shape....even if it is painful at times.