Melanie and I have been hanging out with the 'guys'. Sorry girls, the guys are so much easier to get along with and less likely to fight over petty things. Speaking of which, some females got into an argument the other night. I guess I slept right through it because I never heard a thing. Petty crap! I had Fireguard last night...from 2300 to 0100. It really isn't that bad here. We have to sit out in the hall and keep our eyes open. LOL! Yes, keep an eye on things here on our floor. Evidently, there have been times when a couple of males have tried to sneak up onto our floor or vice versa. We have to immediately report any incident like that to the CQ desk. This is when I get my letters written or spiff up my boots with pantyhose. It works! As for laundry...we get to send it out to have it done. Ah...clean, crisp uniforms to wear here at AIT. We went to the PX again and it never fails. I always walk away with more than I had intended on buying, like my colorbook and crayons. Laugh all ya want, but I wan't the only one wanting to color in class. LOL! Finally...I got to buy more stamps so I can send more letters home. I guess I was also in need of a haircut, at least according to DS Stewart. Henriquez, too. DS Stewart dropped us both for our hair touching the collar of our uniform shirt. LOL! I bought some more barettes as well since I seem to have misplaced the others. (Note to self and others...beware...the latrines like to swallow personal items.)

Geez! It seems like I get stuck with Fireguard duty pretty regular these days. No biggie though...I like writing letters. We haven't been doing too much this past week because our company has several soldiers participating in Torchlight Tattoo, a 4th of July Celebration held here at the base. The tattoo is deeply rooted in military history and signifies the time of the musical call for civilian establishments to turn off the taps, and for soldiers to make their torch-lit walk back to their encampments to retire for the evening. In this usage, the word tattoo comes from the Dutch "doe den taptoe" meaning "to turn off the taps". Mel is getting to carry one of the flags during the ceremony. I was not allowed to sign up to participate because I am considered a 'heat casualty' due to that little sunburn incident in Basic Training. Wake up has been at 0530 instead of 0430 (WooHoo!) and we have only done PT twice (bummer) this week. We had our class pictures taken today. The first one was serious and will have our names printed below. In the other one we got the opportunity to show our other personality. You will find me in the front leaning rest position...since that is usually where I find myself. *snickers* We have a great class with their crap together.

Torchlight Tattoo was pretty cool. It was fun getting to watch the ceremony, not to mention we got to eat and just chill out and socialize with one another. I have always enjoyed watching drill and ceremony, especially when everyone is marching in step with one another. I took some pictures, but they didn't come out very good. It was too dark. I think Melanie had quite a bit of fun getting to be a part of it, but she was tired afterwards. They did pretty good. I knew Mel could do it because her platoon participated in the D & C Comps during BT.

The weekend (including Monday) must have fried everyone's brain because several fell out of the run. It must have been all the junk food and cokes everyone consumed. I learned early on that junk food and physical training do not mix. I don't know how many times we had to do u-turns to go back and get stragglers. This is the hard part about being a road guard...having to go back and get people. As a road guard, you can't afford to fall out of a run, or you lose your position. I want to keep mine because it keeps me motivated and helps me start my day. Plus, you can hear the DS calling cadence better. Well, if you have a DS that can call cadence, that is. Some just don't have the knack for it. School is getting into more detail. I am actually doing pretty good and my average is a perfect 100.

We had surprise floor inspections today. Our 1st Sergeant viewed each and every floor and room in our barracks, including the latrines. Whoa! I am so glad that we had decided to do a thorough cleanup of everything. We all got to stand in formation outside while this was taking place. We were a bit shocked when she called all the females in my room up to the front of the company. "These soldiers have the best squared away room in the entire barracks. You all could learn a lot from them. Congratulations to Room #315. I expect the rest of the barracks to look as squared away as their room," she said. Then she asked us what we considered a special request. Hooah! Gotta think about that one.

Ugh! Today just didn't start out right. First off, PT was horrible this morning. DS Vinson ran with us and I can't even begin to tell you how out of step everyone was. We are definitely not used to running with her. Actually, it amazes me she made it through DS school! She can't run worth a damn! No wonder we were all messed up. Then I had KP today, so I missed school...then was told I failed a test. Me failing a test that has to do with anything clerical is crazy! I'm an office junkie! LOL! I get to re-take it, but I will only get a 70 for it and there goes my perfect 100%. We aren't supposed to get anything under 98%! Anyway, KP was a blast! I dreaded KP while in Basic Training. But here, its fun and I ended up having to do pots and pans and was soaked by the time I made it back to the company area...thanks to the males who were cleaning trays and operating the sprayers. LOL! I didn't have much time to shower when I got back because I had Fireguard--1st Shift (2130-2300)...which means I won't have it this weekend. Oh Yeah! The weeks are going by swiftly. Before I know it, Graduation day will be here. Hooah!

Our class got to leave the company area this weekend, so Mel and I went over to Ivy Lanes Bowling Center Friday evening. She ran into a couple of the guys that used to be in her platoon back in BCT. We played pool and had a couple of drinks and just kicked back and had fun. The next day we went swimming at Knight Swimming Pool. This is where I found out that the swimsuit I had bought was not a good choice. It was navy blue and cute little sunflowers on it, but it was so low cut in the back the straps kept falling off my shoulders. (Note to self -- buy another one!) Wow! I didn't know how hard PT would be after having a couple of beers over the weekend. Ugh! I hadn't had a beer in months and I felt it!