Sad but true...

Cpl D told me a story this morning that made me want to shake my head in shame at my own gender. Apparently during formation yesterday, his battery was lectured on how they need to prepare their wives for the possibility that they may be deployed sometime in the future. This meant "teaching" them the following things: how to drive, where the commissary is located, how to pay bills, etc. I didn't know who to be more disgusted by, these women for not taking a more active role in their own lives and families, I mean seriously, being a full-fledged adult woman and not knowing how to drive, let alone where the commissary is, give me a break! Or should I be more upset with the men, for letting the "little missus" get away with that sort of behaviour.

I can understand how some men like taking care of their wives and how some women really love being taken care of, but at a certain point, you are more of a child than an adult in a relationship, when you don't even know where the commissary is located. (For you non-military folk, the commissary is the grocery store, it is the size of a Costco and rather hard to miss as it is one of the largest buildings on post.) I realize that I am one of very few people in enlisted realm of the army that is pursuing an advanced degree and that being from California I am a little bit more outspoken, and probably in the eyes of some people in the military quite brazen, but I just think that women got the right to drive, vote and do all the things men did a long time ago, and it is a pretty sad state of affairs, when a group of women would rather be taken care of coddled than take advantage of their privileges and rights. It is sadder still that their husbands have to be reminded to teach them how to do such simple tasks as paying an electric bill and finding the commissary.

Sorry for the rant faithful readers, but I couldn't let this one slide...

The Olympics

I am a big fan of the Olympics. I have watched every year for as far back as I can remember. The past few Olympics though have been rocked by scandals of Olympians abusing Human Growth Hormone or other performance enhancing substances. This is beyond disappointing for sports junkies like myself who enjoy watching these games for the sheer fact that some of these sports are sports we played as children and we enjoy watching people who have turned them into an art form. It is also disappointing because the young children of today look up to these Olympians as role models, and what kind of role models are the children of today getting if all they are learning is how to cheat and not get caught.

This year there is a truly inspiring story of 41 year old female US Olympian on the swimming team, Dara Torres. She is in her fifth Olympics and is the mother of a two-year-old little girl, Tessa. Due to all the scepticism regarding her quick comeback after her pregnancy and her age, she is taking part in an experimental drug testing program just to prove that she isn't taking performance enhancing drugs. I find it slightly sad and an interesting statement on our times that she has to prove ahead of time that she is not on any performance enhancing substance. No longer do we live in a society where you are innocent until proven guilty, now you have to go out of your way to prove your innocence before even being accused of a crime.

Considering the sheer number of US Track and Field medals that were revoked earlier this year in reaction to the recent drug scandals that have rocked the USOC, I personally am hoping that the Olympic athletes keep in mind that they compete not only for themselves, but when they put that US uniform on that they represent the millions of Americans at home who are rooting for them and cheering them on. When they fall down, we fall down with them, and we are tired of being dragged down in their drug scandals.

I wish all of the athletes good luck as they begin their Olympic journeys tomorrow. I hope they do themselves and their country proud.

Licorice

I love licorice. Black licorice, red vines, red rope at ball games, and most recently Cpl D was turned on to Australian Style Gourmet Licorice which comes in all kinds of flavors, so far we have tried Green Apple, Black and Watermelon, all of which are delectable.

You may ask yourselves why I am writing about licorice, well, dear readers I am writing about it b/c today, I opened up my new bag of Australian Style Gourmet Black Licorice, yes it comes in a bag, only to find my big fat love of a cat, Patches, standing at my feet looking up at me. You see he heard me open the bag and assumed I was opening his bag of cat treats, which duh, of course meant I was going to be feeding him. How could I resist? I was absolutely forced to open the bag of cat treats, give Patches a few morsels for himself and only after I had done that, did I then help myself to a piece of licorice.

Congratulate me!

I'm going back to school. I am finally getting that Master's degree that I have been wanting to get for forever and a day. Next Monday, August 11th, I will be starting classes at St. Martin's University, Fort Lewis satellite campus and I will be starting my course towards a triple teaching certificate and a Master's in Teaching. I will be the first person in my family to get an advanced degree as well as the first person in Cpl D's family. Talk about big!

Many people reading this blog may actually be kind of surprised that I am going for teaching, but believe it or not, I actually started my teaching credential about 6 years ago when I was still enrolled in college in California, so it isn't as big of a stretch as all of you might think! I will be going for the following teaching credentials: History (of course!), Social Studies, and Humanities. This will give me the opportunity to teach grades 6 through 12 and the Master's degree gives me the opportunity to go into administration if there are not teaching positions available. For all of you who thought that I didn't like children, I bet you guys are all shocked right now!

Now if anyone would like to donate to the "Send Mrs. D to School Fund" please feel free to email me, I am not so proud that I will say no to a little tuition assistance ;)

Patches Bit Me Today!

My big fat love of a cat bit me today! I am a little upset about this but then again he feels like he is being violated and I am the one doing the violating...although it all happens to be for his own good. Anyone who has ever met Patches would say that he has a few issues, he is severely over-weight, he is anti-people, and lives almost exclusively under our bathroom sink. Also, when you put him in his cat carrier he howls and it actually sounds like he is meowing the word "NO!"

His reason for biting me is that he was in a scissor lock between my legs having a pill shoved down his throat. Now all of this I assure you was for his own good. My dear love Patches has developed Hyperthyroidism, which in a cat can be very dangerous and can result in death. In most cats, although not Patches, it can result in severe loss of weight (obvious from the picture above and the severely depressed couch cushion, that he is not suffering from that side effect), depression and an overall lack of activity in the cat. It can also result in liver damage. With the exception of the weight loss Patches has all these side effects.

As of Friday, August 1st, which also happens to be my dad's birthday, Patches has started medication which should hopefully reverse all the side effects, including the liver damage and restore him to full health. Keep your fingers crossed that Patches will get healthy and that I will get to keep all of my fingers in the process of getting him healthy!