*sigh*

I currently have a C+ in my religion class. 

There goes my GPA.

:(

Things that surprised me about Ft. Knox Kentucky

I did not know a body could sweat THAT MUCH just standing still.  I have lived in a humid climate.  It made Hawaii feel like the desert.

Apparently (from all the safety briefings) there are a lot of "get you's" in the woods: Poison ivy, black widow spiders, brown recluse spiders, snakes and wasps. I don't believe any of this as I only saw a couple of wasps.

Katydids are LOUD.  REALLY REALLY LOUD.  And oddly, they sound exactly like the smoke monster from LOST.  I was freaked out a couple of times.  The fact that you never see them only hear them adds to the feeling of being freaked out.  I kept looking for a large cloud of smoke and  John Locke.

A wet bulb reading is something I never want to experience again.  Especially not a black flag wet bulb reading.  http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/uvaheatline/heat-wbgt.cfm  FYI we did not follow the precautions on this website...

98 degrees with a humidity of 80% feels more like 103 degrees.  There was a surprising lack of flying insects related to the incredible humidity.

There was also a surprisingly large number of butterflies of all types, especially some beautiful black and blue colored ones.  They were everywhere and on the last day appeared to be having butterfly races during the graduation ceremony.  It was a lovely break from the heat and stress of the challenging courses we were on.

 Speaking of challenges, this is the first little rappel they have you do, nice easy little walk down an incline. Note the lack of fear in my eyes as I high five the Lieutenant.

Ok maybe a little fear but not too much.

Here is what you might call the look of sheer terror, right before I prepared to rappel off the 51 foot tower.  Notice how far I am leaning towards the tower, lol.  The idea is to lean away from the tower...

 I am also gripping that rope as if my life depends in it.  You are not supposed to grip the rope, you are supposed to hold your fingers in an "O" shape and let the rope slide through it.  Try telling that to someone else.  I'm GRIPPING THAT ROPE!

And here I am not so gracefully attempting to make my way down.

This would be my husband response to my conquering my fears :)

Here, I am (believe it or not) making my second jump off of the tower.  Yes I said jump.  This side of the tower has no wall, just a ledge. It was actually easier and I am a bit more relaxed as the picture shows...until I had to back up and off the wall :D

Will I do it again?  Unlikely.  Am I glad I did it? Yes :)  Now I know if I have to rappel off a high building I can, at a minimum, lower myself down to the ground without dying.  :P

I would have to say tho, as far as things that surprise me,  the butterflies win hands down.

What a week!

This week I learned that I CAN actually step backwards off of a 51 foot tower if I have too.  I might cry like a little baby but in the end, I will take that step back and then (maybe not gracefully) walk all the way down the tower.  And then go back up and do it again only this time off of the side with out a wall.  Yep, jump off into the abyss.  And rappell down 51 feet.  I still can't believe I did that.  Well, I have the bruises to prove it, and a plaque with a picture but still, I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT.

I also learned that I can survive in 98 degree heat and 80% humidity while fully dressed in army uniform and preform some grueling tasks (like building a rope bridge over a stream and then helping 13 other people across it before disassembling it...in 12 minutes) and not melt...ok almost not melt.  It was close.  I was thankful I had to swim across the stream.  Again, cataloging the bruises.  These are just two of the tasks I did this week at the "conference" I attended.  It was super cool but not super "cool".  Holy cow Louisville is HOT!!

Lastly I have learned that I can stay the night in Chicago with only the clothes on my back and have a fantastic time and not worry that my hair is a disaster.  Getting bumped off our flight was not a totally terrible thing.  Chicago is amazing!!

I am really ready to go home though and do all the homework I did not do while I was in Louisville..I have about 12 hours. 

Yikes.

So far today I've...

Read Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics Ch 2,4 and 5 and James Rachels The Ethics of Virtue Ch. 13 and then wrote an essay on them.  Then I proceeded to read this little ditty: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/luther-freedomchristian.html.  Just a little piece by Martin Luther regarding the freedom of Christianity.  Nothing big.  I have to write a paper on it by the end of the week.  But first I had to answer 5 study questions about it.  Oh and I also made a discussion board posting regarding Aristotle and Rachels.  I still have to read 8 chapters in my Religion book and outline them for a test before Monday and did I mention I am going to be a bit busy this next week?

My eyeballs feel like they are going to fall out.  Right.Out.Of.My.Head.

I'm still in my pajamas and it's 4:14pm. Oy.

Think I will take a shower and try and feel like a normal person for a bit before falling unconscious, lol.

Last post July 6th....really??

Sheeesh time gets away from me these days. I've been busy hanging out with family (Hub's brother and his attachments) trying to stay on top of school (not succeeding very well) and getting ready to travel to Ft Knox KY to find out what it means to be an Army ROTC cadet (why I'm still not sure.) The hub asked the organizer if I could travel on our dime to this event and observe some of the things they were going to be doing, next thing I know the Army is paying alot of money for me to travel there and participate fully in this event...which is great except for this little thing called school which is totally rocking my boat right now. I wish I had time to enjoy this philosophy class because I really love the teacher but it's totally online so I don't get to interact with him much. I do not love online classes. I guess they are great for some but not my forte. I need that in class interaction.

But on a more fun note, we found a fantastic boat in camping site last weekend.  It was amazing, just us and some osprey and bald eagles and a few friendly deer.  No cell phones, no computers, no power at all.  It was great actually.  If my phone had synched correctly I would have some pics to share but alas, no deal.  I will have to figure that one out.

Ok, I have miles to go before I'm through today.  I will try and find something exciting to speak about next time I blog, this was really boring but I thought I would say "hello" .

Hello :)

This schedule may prove to be too much

I thought I could pull it off. Two online classes plus two in class audits, how hard could it be?

Apparently a lot harder than I anticipated. These online classes are taking ALL of my free time and after I sit through these fairly intense lectures on Anatomy and Microbiology the last thing I want to do is read difficult philosophy or religion texts and write about them. I think I am going to have to give up on the auditing. As much as I think it would be helpful to me, I really want to keep my GPA up for my real classes and I just got a B- on my first religion paper. (boo.) I can rewrite it and he gave me suggestions on how to improve it but SHEESH. B-? I have never gotten a B- on an essay before. I really need to focus and with our upcoming schedule it's going to be nearly impossible (houseguests, boating weekends etc.) I understand that these profs feel like they need to cram a semester worth of info into 6 weeks, but do they REALLY have to cram a semester's worth in? I don't think so.

*sigh* I haven't even started my Religion reading yet and I have my first assignment due tomorrow. And I have to write my first Philosophy paper by noon tomorrow and I am really struggling with the text, why can't these people just SPEAK ENGLISH? Fortunately I ran into my Philosophy Prof at GU today and we had a nice chat. He seems to like what I have done so far so I think I will be ok, he gave me some tips on how to write but it is still really hard stuff. He knows that though so I will just do my best.

Ugh. I just want to get to the nursing stuff. Even though that will be hard, at least it will make sense.

Dear John Stuart Mill

While I appreciate that you may be a brilliant 19th century philosopher, in the words of a brilliant 21st century philosopher, I dedicate this song to you.

Please. For the love of all that is good and right in the world and for my sanity. Say what you need to say and GET ON WITH IT!!

*headdesk*