Mail Day!

So, I got another letter from Nathan today. It was expected, but I'm never sure so I'm glad I got one. In it, he talks about this being the first letter I'm getting. We all know I got the other one first, but he must not. He originally addressed it wrong, so it took it's time getting to me. Anyway, here it is, with comments from me in italics.

Amanda,

So here it is almost week 3 of BMT and you have yet to receive a letter. I bet you were pretty irritated when you found out that my parents got a letter before you. (I would have been if that had happened! As it was, we got our letters on the same day.) I actually did write you first, but it was Return to Sender. Apparently, you live in Spring and NOT Houston. I'll resend it, but I've forgotten what I wrote, so please excuse my repetition.

I recommend you read about BMT on the about.com forums. It's a very, very good source of information and will give you a general idea of what I do.

If I didn't tell you before, our MTI is one intense dude. He trains us hard. He takes no excuses. And he has a lot to teach. I won't lie and say that he doesn't intimidate me because he does. A lot.

Everyone in our dormitory (58 people) was assigned a cleaning job. As Utility Chief I'm in charge of distributing and restocking our cleaning supplies. It's an insanely busy job because everyone is constantly needing something. Oh, and it doesn't help that my bunk is on the opposite end of the dorm from the utility room. A lot of back and forth. But I have to go every time because nobody except me and my assistant are allowed in there.

Here's the problem. Our time for cleaning our wall locker and clothing drawer and making our bed kinda merges into our time to do our duties. Because everyone needs me to begin their duties, it leaves me precious little time to take care of cleaning my personal space. It's a balancing act that I thought I had figured out until today. See, my bunkmate had a detail that took him all of 5 minutes to complete. So he was very nice and helped me out. Problem. Today he got booted for failing his drug test that we took a week ago. Things are going to start getting interesting.

One last thing to write today then I'll have to finish the letter later. (I'm writing by flashlight under my blanket during sleeptime. Hopefully that explains the handwriting--otherwise, the teacher in me wants to start giving him handwriting lessons when we're together again! During this past week we had two classes on Integrated Base Defense (IBD). During the first class we learned how to low and high crawl through the dirt with our M16s (yes we had our trainer weapons issued recently). We also learned methods of applying minimal force. "Minimal" is used very loosely in my opinion. It just means basically that you don't shoot them. But I'm pretty confident that if I needed to I could break someone's sternum or clavicle with my weapon. The instructor had us practicing the blows with "war cries." It was definitely as fun as it sounds. Nathan's gonna have to show me those war cries later. I have a VERY hard time imagining him yelling and hitting at the top of his lungs. He's as introverted as I am, and I don't think I could do that!

More later. 4:45 comes early. I love you.

Friday June 12 (I think). Same deal tonight. Writing with time borrowed from sleep. We had our first official living area inspections today. I failed but then, so did 3/4 of the flight. One of the guys who passed was actually given my former job as utility chief. I was demoted to assistant. Let me tell you how disappointed about that I am. Oh wait, I'm not. Essentially I keep the same job without the accountability. No more getting up at 3:45 with my TI screaming "UTILITY CHIEF."

I neglected to tell you. We had our first mail call a few days ago. I think I ended up getting about eight letters including one from Same and even one from Wen. Nathan's mom and I did that. We tried dipping his paws in pain and stamping the card, but his paws were too hairy and it didn't work very well. It was still cute though. All Maxine's idea. I miss the little puppy. Thank you SO much for the letters. They're a huge morale boost. And it's nice to know that you're okay. I'll reread them either tomorrow or Sunday, finish this letter Sunday, and get it out Monday. Sorry there isn't more time to read/write letters. I love you.

Saturday. About 5 minutes before lights out. This is generally when we get "personal time." I'm skimming through your letters while I'm writing this. I'm glad you met Krystal. If there is one thing that we both need it's more friends. Krystal is my friend here in Spring. She used to be my sister's piano teacher, and every since Mary met her, she decided we are extremely similar and that we just had to become friends. So, Mary, James, Krystal and I went to the pool once a few weeks ago while Mary was here on vacation, and the rest is history! Mary was right, and I am very glad to have a friend my age and in about the same place in life as me. Nathan is very right that we need more friends--that's one of the reasons we hated Springville so much, and I'm determined to get out of my comfort zone from now on so that doesn't happen again.

I agree that Texas is hot. Very, very hot. It's pretty gross how much I sweat. I go through about 8 or 9 liters of water every day.

I liked the design on your letters. It looks like you are putting your time to good use. I'm pretty sure that's Nathan being funny. As I said before, I do spend a whole lot of time designing my stationary because I literally have nothing better to do and it's fun for me.

We all changed beds today. They moved me out of my top bunk to an individual twin bed and closer to the hallway. Not a bad deal at all I think.

Church here is from 2:30-4:30 pm on Sundays. We're only allowed 2 hours of free time on Sundays whether it be for letters, naps, or church. But here's the thing. Most everyone out of our flight goes to church in the AM. So what do I do during that time? I clean up my area for inspections.

Anyway, yeah, church. I go every week! We had some difficulties in Springville, and we are both working hard to change some bad habits we picked up. There's a million reasons and excuses for our spotty church attendance, but I figure the point is to learn from our experience and change for the better. So that's why he put that exclamation mark there. He knew I would be excited to hear that. I'm 95% sure that you are not allowed to come. I'm sorry, but please don't. I don't really talk to anyone while I'm there. Mostly it's just time away from the insane routine.

PT is still pretty discouraging. My 1.5 mile time is down to about 13:30, but it needs to come down a lot more. I'm putting all I have into that one hour every morning. Hopefully I'll continue to improve. The one thing that could keep Nathan from graduating on July 24th is his physical shape. I'm sending out announcements knowing most of you can't come--it's just an exciting time for us that I want to share. However, if you are planning on coming, please check with me and make sure he is able to graduate on time. I won't know for sure until after the announcements are sent out.

Going to close up for now so I can write my dad tomorrow and mail them both Monday. Tell everyone that I say hi and that I feel and appreciate all prayers directed my way. Give the puppy a belly rub for me. If you let him I'm sure that he'll give you kisses for me. No way, no how! That dog is not allowed near my face! I think puppy kisses are gross. Plus, I'm somewhat allergic to dog saliva, and they make my skin break out into "mini-hives" and itch like crazy. But it's a sweet thought. I love you.

Nathan