4 days

Remember that time I started to blog about doing P90X? Hahahahahahahahahahahahmmm....

I just spent about an hour reading my friend Tim Wylie's blog - he's a buddy that I met when we moved to Searcy and I started going to the Westside Church of Christ. I was in his brother's wedding, we used to go over and jam at his house. He always had girlfriends and guitars. We actually lived together one summer too, it was a party. If you knew him - he hasn't changed (other than maturity and brain size...oh family size too), or at least that what it seems like after reading his blog for an hour, catching up on a year of his life.

In 4 days, I'll be chillin at home, and my Navy Recruiter will roll up to my house in a government car, and pick me up. I'll go to MEPS in Brooklyn, where they will give me hotel briefing. I was informed this basically is them telling us not to do it with anyone while at the hotel, and not to leave. The following morning I'll go back to MEPS (Military Enlistment Processing Station?) at the buttcrack of dawn, and pee in a cup as well as get measured again. Then they'll give me a plane ticket and I'll go to an oath ceremony. There I'll swear in - and say goodbye for 2 months to the sweetest, most beautiful woman I know. This is by far, the hardest thing about the military, and I literally thank God it's only for 2 months. Oh, i'll also say goodbye to best friend/roommate Ed (which will stink too...but not as much, love you Ed). I know God will take care of her, and us - but that certainly doesn't completely alleviate the human emotions.

Basic Training - 8 weeks of doing EXACTLY what I'm told to do. No more. No less. I've been in touch with my friend Jim Watkins' mom recently - he's a rutgers grad who joined the navy after I did, to do the same thing (play trombone), but somehow managed to get to leave sooner. She is saying he's had a lot of downtime for the first few weeks of basic. Now, Jim is an alumni of the Cadets of Bergen County of DCI fame. So his version of a summer and mine are quite different, and his version of a "walk in the park" is also, I'm certain, quite different than mine. I'm expecting it to be bad. I can do the pushups I need to, I can do the situps I need to...but the running. I'm sure I'll get better at it. Especially with someone forcing me to do it.

Everyone who has been there is telling me to go for some sort of leadership position while I'm there among my division. Not a bad idea because I think it goes towards promotion. The quicker I can get to E-4 - the quicker I can get to my test for E-6 (see previous post).

In Wylie style - i'll talk about something else. I polished all my nice mouthpieces at the shop yesterday and got a DB-90 Metronome. The most awesomest ever. Everyone at dillon's has been nice and kind and sorry to see me go, and I do appreciate it. Makes me feel good.

I will miss my two babies. Even though bubble still poops randomly and sometimes without any warning at all. I think Kiko likes his eyes rubbed - probably because they stick out so far from his head.

Write me letters while I'm at basic. I'll need it to keep the sanity I have from being destroyed by uninformed and immature 18-year-olds. :-)

5 year goal

1. Become the best trombonist among the US Navy Fleet Bands

2. Become debt free

3. Be ready to take the E-6 Test by the end of my first enlistment

4. Finish my Doctorate

5. Be a legitimate improviser

Title

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God"

I should get back to that - that title is SWEET.

run

1.5 miles in exactly 12:53. Good enough for a "Good - Low" pass on the US Navy scale.

I'm not stopping there though. i'll bet I can at least get down to 210.

practice time

Practice time! Sat in and watched the book for Damn Yankees out in Northport the other night. Then played the following night. Gaps in fundamental abilities. Not good.

But fixable.

Tired of Waiting

I'll admit - this post is being written in a semi-copycat manner thanks to a recent blog by my friend Alice-Anne. She and her husband are in transition time in life, as am I. Or rather I will be. Her outlook on the whole thing is encouraging and so right as far as the treatment of the unknown. She knows now where she will be going, though she didn't always. And knows how they will make ends meet, though they hadn't figured it out still up until very recently. She also knows that her future is in the hands of the Creator, which basically means - She's set.

The title of the post is actually pretty amusing the more I think about it. I've known about my entry date into the US Navy for about 3 months now, and I'm excited and so ready to get to it. I'm tired of the state of limbo i'm in, and yet I press on knowing I have a good thing waiting for me at the end of this 5 month "rainbow". And I really am tired of waiting - BUT the irony lies in the fact that so many people who I talk to say how the military (particularly basic training) is a bunch of "hurry up and wait." I can attest to that - MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) seemed to be the epitome of this. Hurry and get to the next physical test....now wait until we call you...then hurry up to the next...etc.

The only sucky thing that I can see about joining the Navy is the fact that I actually am getting used to New Jersey. I kind of like it here, Ashley and I have a blessed life here, with a few very good friends. Some think the fact that I have to go and join the military I might get sent off to war. To that I say this - if the country becomes so desperate for soldiers that they are sending bandsmen? Chances are that I already would have volunteered to protect and fight. Or they may start up the draft again. Who knows.

The way I look at it is this: I will have a job that will pay me to play daily, practice, stay in shape, and be part of something with a great long-standing tradition. Not to mention the perks like housing allowance, Loan Repayment, and did I mention they are paying me to play?

Bring it on.

(in a couple months that is...i guess I can wait till then)

overlooked

Finally have found a place we can dig into (as far as church is concerned) that isn't a struggle to get to everyweek because of distance and ambiance (for lack of a better word). During the sermon ran across a verse which basically stated to be kind to everyone.

This is INCREDIBLY hard. and yet incredibly simple.

and I've become increasingly sucky at it. Guess I should work on that.