Sunday 23 May 2010

So today has been a very emotional day for me. Katrina was in the MS Teen San Diego Pageant which was tonight. My mom was very good about getting me on speaker phone to hear everything live as they announced it. I got to hear her being announced as she walked the runway in casual wear and then again for Formal Wear and the 1 question of the night (What makes you so unique?). She did a phenomenal job and I could not be more proud of her. She did not make it - but instead of being upset, mad or angry - she is very upbeat, happy and glad for the fun experience. That makes me even more proud!! How beautiful she looked, tonight! I can't wait to see all the pics that were taken. Her two best friends showed up for support (supposed to be a surprise to her! :)) I am so happy she was able to have this experience and she came out of it with a positive attitude!! Just being in the pageant alone, was a great honor and attributable to her positive outlook and again, I could not be more proud!!
I think I paced most of the day - more nervous than she.. as I am sure my mom and dad was as well. They were so great about this and took her to each practice, helped her get ready, took her to get her hair done and hemmed the 9 inches of her dress - so she wouldn't trip on it! :) Thank you so much mom & dad and I know that Katrina is very grateful too. This was a great experience and exciting to us all! Now, she can move forward and concentrate on school and the Junior Varsity Cheerleading team that she made! :)
As for me, Saturday we spent at the simulator - shoot no shoot scenarios - putting us in an environment to try only shoot the bad guys and not the innocent civilians.. It was a great trainer! We all enjoyed it. We also had night time shooting in another simulator - I did pretty well in both!! I was very pleased with the results and enjoyed it! We were let out early Saturday ( about 2pm) and so most of us ended up getting rooms at the Hilton hotel. We went out that evening and ate some real food.. and then I got to go back and sleep in a king size bed.. in a room all to myself - privacy.. I missed it. I miss it. Sharing a room with 27 girls is crazy! I did miss my privacy and the comfort of a real bed.. a nice fluffy bed.. a king size bed. I could sleep side ways if I wanted to.. :)
I got up about 730 this morning.. forced myself back to sleep for atleast another hour and then was up for the day. Michelle had a friend that works at the zoo take us on a private tour ( a few of us) where we got to go behind the scenes and pet the koalas.. see the lions and tigers.. etc.. it was awesome!
After that we went and had some mexican food for dinner.. and then headed back to base. I got back, washed all my stuff and just paced most the evening anticipating Katrina's pageant.
Overall it was a great night off and off the base as well. Good times, with good people. We did hear that we will be leaving a few days later than anticipated, but none of us really care - so long as we get there before 1 June.. (Tax free for the entire month - even if you're only BOG (Boots on ground) for 1 day of that month!!) woohoo..
From the looks of it, we will be there in time to reap those benefits. Due to operational security, I can't yet post the information, but those of you that need to know - will know what I can divulge.
Tomorrow promises to be a decent day. NO IBA tomorrow. No 42 pound body armor to wear tomorrow.. I dread that most each day - so I am excited. We basically have death by power point tomorrow - and then our travel brief.. should be an easy day. The training time is coming to a close and our training should be complete by Wednesday. Fingers crossed we get liberty again before we head to theater. We'll see. Well - that is it for now. I am definitely emotionally drained today. Had several teared moments feeling pretty sad that I couldn't be there with Katrina during the pageant to help her.. I am so glad my parents were. It is hard to feel the loss of those moments.. you know.. the ones you can never get back - but atleast those are moments my parents can share with Trina - connecting the bonds between them even more!
Better get to sleep.. more to follow...