Alright guys... so, I don't really know where to start. ....
Obviously getting frost bite delayed a lot of things, like Basic Training.
In April I started going back to Drill weekend but I was fairly worthless there considering I couldn't participate in anything, not being able to be on my feet for very long let alone in my boots. I didn't get released from my doctor until July, which I shouldn't have even then but I asked to be released because I had to ship out for Basic August 4th and they needed my release or I was going to be discharged because they couldn't push my ship date back again.
---A little inside note, this was a really stressful time because if I wasn't released and I did get discharged I could be fined for "Damage to Government Property" which is no small fee. A lot of people don't fully understand, fuck I didn't myself until after the fact, but when you e-sign your enlistment papers you truly are signing your life away. You are not an individual anymore, every action has the possibility of far more consequences than you could ever imagine. I am property of the United States Government, for another seven years. So due to my consumption of alcohol on the night that I got frost bite, I was solely responsible for putting myself at risk, and the government values my life, a lot, like lots of zeros after that dollar sign.
So, thank Jesus I made my ship date.
I wanted to go, because I didn't want to pay the price of NOT going, ....but, I didn't really want to go. I have never dragged my feet that much in my life. I went out a lot, it was summer, it was beautiful and I was about to be shipped to the middle of no where for over four months. The fourth of July was like a week long event, and I am not the most patriotic person.... kinda sorta far from it actually. Part of why I never talk about my job. But no one has to convince me to go to the beach or day drink before a concert no matter the occasion.
---->There's probably at least one person reading this thinking "You mean you still drink after your frost bite." To that I say fuck yes I do, and every once in awhile I still get black out drunk too. I just don't do it when it's cold out.... or I try not to do it when it's cold out. Which .... is what it is really. I don't even get out when it's really cold out unless I have to so there's that. And if anything was ever going to convince me that I shouldn't drink it would have been that, so I'm in it for the long haul. I will always want to relax after a hard week with a drink. I don't always do it. I currently drink maybe twice a month, three times if I'm lucky. <--------
So, back to July, I went on a road trip with my mother, which anyone who's seen us together was likely surprised that one didn't kill the other, but somehow we both survived. We drove to the East Coast, 16 hours one way, to see my baby brother. It was my first time seeing the ocean so that was memorable, mostly because I got to spend it with my brother. We were gone a week, and when we got back my life was in turbo speed.
Once we got home I had two days before I had to leave. So obviously I went out that night, Al and me decided to go to the fair to see our friends band play. We were drunk before we even got there, having went out to dinner and ordered margaritas right before driving the 20 minutes to the fair. It was one for the books, full of awkward moments with people who don't matter and dancing and conversations that I don't remember. Somehow we ended up in the middle of the country at someones party afterwards. We don't actually know whose house we were at but I'm pretty sure I met them and talked to them for awhile. Just to clarify, we were not driving at this point... but the people who were probably shouldn't have been either.
The next day, being terribly hungover, we had to get up and get ready for my going away party! Which I was really excited for, I probably slept 3 hours that night and then got up and was ready for the day. I'm pretty classy guys, so I had a pre-party with food and drinks, for the whole like seven people that were there. Then we went to the bar where my other friends band was playing, and met up with everyone else who hadn't made it to the house.
****Just an FYI for any of you hard asses, the "Damage of Government Property" extends to bar fights ect. If you physically harm anyone that serves, and you swing first, you could very easily find yourself in a predicament you don't want to be in, even if you didn't know that the person was in the service. Just so you know.
ANYWAY, we all had a great time dancing and being ridiculous while the band was playing and then we walked to another bar, I remember about everything up until the leaving part. I don't remember that. I woke up the next morning on my couch like ummm what the efff, it was just 2am a second ago... Then I called Al and her and our friend Randi were sleeping in Al's car in the drive way. It's funny now but at the time I was just confused. Apparently I came home and passed out almost immediately, Lex and the boyyfren had came back early from the bar and were asleep upstairs and Al and Randi had went on a road trip to another town to check in on the boys because they hadn't shown up to the party and weren't answering their phones---- Yes, these are the kinds of things that we do because it is 100% unacceptable to be MIA as long as they were... like 12 hours lol.
I hadn't even started packing at this point and I was leaving that afternoon. And all I wanted to do was go on the river with everyone, I was so down. Al and I sat in my room for a good hour and a half just talking and staring at my bag like maybe it would pack itself or something would happen and I just wouldn't have to go. It was awful, I was leaving everyone for 4 months. I mean I'm use to being away, and I tend to isolate myself at times but there was always the option of going somewhere or calling someone, there weren't going to be options once I left this time.
My mom and grandmother took me to my unit and the next morning we were on our way to the airport to catch the bus to Fort Lost in the Woods. No phone, no electronics of any kind, no gum, no make up (guys, you wouldn't understand) NO CONTACTS(not only did we have to wear glasses 24/7 but they issued us standard glasses that were junk.... mine were crooked after a week and the ear pieces were extremely bent out)open showers, 67 females and two bathrooms, drama, 230 some odd idiots to be surrounded by 24/7, bunkmates that insisted on having the bottom bed but wouldn't let anyone sit on their bed, and as always, those few privates that don't know what DS Williams means when he tells everyone to "Wash yo ass, with what?... With soap." Yeah, that was probably the worst part, stinky people. We literally had a girl that "used" the same bar of soap for almost 10 weeks. TEN WEEKS! The fuck...... the smell was truly unimaginable if not experienced first hand.
So that was life, for ten weeks. I hated it, I hated everyone. (you know what I mean, battles.) We all hated each other, it just depended on the day, SO MANY SENSITIVE SALLYS! I never really gave a fuck so everyone truly thought I hated them, which is true for the most part but that's also why it was funny. I did get close with my room, and I guess maybe half of the platoon, they're alright I guess. I still hate them though. We graduated. Graduation was great. Like 6 of us got in trouble for wearing makeup and were told that we had our family day passes taken away, The bathroom was full of girls crying. When I fixed my hair for grad I didn't get it done in time so Lathum did it while we were forming up outside, talk about not being the standard! We were a mess. I was so upset because I thought I wasn't going on pass and Al had came down to spend the day with me and my parents. We ended up going on pass. We were suppose to stay in uniform the whole time but naturally I didn't. We went shopping and ate and then went back to the hotel and I changed and then Al and I went exploring. At one point we went to walmart to get me some underwear that weren't grannie panties and when I checked out I saw one of my company DS's that I literally saw everyday and I ran outside! She might not have recognized me because I looked like an actual civilian girl at the time but I took no chances. It was very nerve racking. Then I had to go back, not get any sleep because they kept us up all night cleaning and singing and dancing in the hall if I'm going to be completely honest. One of my favorite DS's was on duty and we had to do something to keep ourselves and everyone else awake. It was an alright night, besides the packing of everythingggggggg we had and not getting to sleep.
I was so scared to go to AIT, well, I wasn't until we got there and the srg that took us was a B, and then the first platoon srg we met was meaner than most of our DS's and our layout was almost more intense that that of day zero of basic. I literally almost had a panic attack. The platoon srg made me stop and take a breath and told me it would be alright. That's when I knew he wasn't as bad as he seemed, he just got a lot of enjoyment out of making other peoples lives a living hell, but he did care, if you weren't a complete idiot. My mom saw him in action the night before AIT grad, she is forever scared. AIT wasn't bad. It sucked not having a phone Sunday night through Friday night but it was better than not at all, and only having to share a room and bathroom with two other people instead of a whole floor was almost luxurious. I loved my roommates and was sooooo happy to be with them, I am pretty sure that we were the only room that not only got along but took care of each other. Your welcome Gomez. I was happy/sad when we graduated and got the hell out of there. Coming back to this place is never ideal, and some of my closest battles live literally everywhere. I have friends in Cali, Kansas, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, Idny, Texas, New York, Korea, it's crazy. I went to this awful place where I didn't want anything to do with anyone and I met some great people that I'm sure I will be friends with for the rest of my life. We've already started planning a reunion. I know, were cute huh. The funniest part is I am now licensed to drive just about any military vehicle, if that doesn't scare you I don't know what does.
It was hard, waking up at 3:30am every day to do PT was hard... mostly because waking up at all is hard for me 6/7 mornings a week, let alone thattt early. Being 24 and having lived on my own or the better part of 5 years and then being somewhere with so much structure and no personal space or freedom was hard. Dealing with the permanent nerve damage in my right foot from my frost bite, while running almost everyday, was extremely hard and almost unbearable at times, but I fucking did it. I don't know how but I made it out alive, and honestly, on bad days, I miss AIT. Home sucks for me, and the next time I leave I'm not coming back. I'd take waking up to run in the cold first thing in the morning over waking up at my parents house any day, I just wish both had better food options. But that's a whole other topic that I could talk about for dayssssss so I won't get started on it.
I came home in December, my graduation present was a Garth Brooks concert (:
And then reality sets in, have to find a job, go to my RSP unit, check in with my new unit, for me- transfer units, while adjusting to not having mandated structure anymore. I went back to my awful sleeping habits as soon as I got back. I either sleep too much or not at all. Which is going to be very interesting with my new job starting at 5am, an hour away. (: Little bit of good news from present day. I don't usually talk about my current life... but I don't usually talk about my military life either so hey.... maybe just this once is alright.
That's all I got, so.....
Till next time, xoxo
Aud
Obviously getting frost bite delayed a lot of things, like Basic Training.
In April I started going back to Drill weekend but I was fairly worthless there considering I couldn't participate in anything, not being able to be on my feet for very long let alone in my boots. I didn't get released from my doctor until July, which I shouldn't have even then but I asked to be released because I had to ship out for Basic August 4th and they needed my release or I was going to be discharged because they couldn't push my ship date back again.
---A little inside note, this was a really stressful time because if I wasn't released and I did get discharged I could be fined for "Damage to Government Property" which is no small fee. A lot of people don't fully understand, fuck I didn't myself until after the fact, but when you e-sign your enlistment papers you truly are signing your life away. You are not an individual anymore, every action has the possibility of far more consequences than you could ever imagine. I am property of the United States Government, for another seven years. So due to my consumption of alcohol on the night that I got frost bite, I was solely responsible for putting myself at risk, and the government values my life, a lot, like lots of zeros after that dollar sign.
So, thank Jesus I made my ship date.
I wanted to go, because I didn't want to pay the price of NOT going, ....but, I didn't really want to go. I have never dragged my feet that much in my life. I went out a lot, it was summer, it was beautiful and I was about to be shipped to the middle of no where for over four months. The fourth of July was like a week long event, and I am not the most patriotic person.... kinda sorta far from it actually. Part of why I never talk about my job. But no one has to convince me to go to the beach or day drink before a concert no matter the occasion.
---->There's probably at least one person reading this thinking "You mean you still drink after your frost bite." To that I say fuck yes I do, and every once in awhile I still get black out drunk too. I just don't do it when it's cold out.... or I try not to do it when it's cold out. Which .... is what it is really. I don't even get out when it's really cold out unless I have to so there's that. And if anything was ever going to convince me that I shouldn't drink it would have been that, so I'm in it for the long haul. I will always want to relax after a hard week with a drink. I don't always do it. I currently drink maybe twice a month, three times if I'm lucky. <--------
So, back to July, I went on a road trip with my mother, which anyone who's seen us together was likely surprised that one didn't kill the other, but somehow we both survived. We drove to the East Coast, 16 hours one way, to see my baby brother. It was my first time seeing the ocean so that was memorable, mostly because I got to spend it with my brother. We were gone a week, and when we got back my life was in turbo speed.
Once we got home I had two days before I had to leave. So obviously I went out that night, Al and me decided to go to the fair to see our friends band play. We were drunk before we even got there, having went out to dinner and ordered margaritas right before driving the 20 minutes to the fair. It was one for the books, full of awkward moments with people who don't matter and dancing and conversations that I don't remember. Somehow we ended up in the middle of the country at someones party afterwards. We don't actually know whose house we were at but I'm pretty sure I met them and talked to them for awhile. Just to clarify, we were not driving at this point... but the people who were probably shouldn't have been either.
The next day, being terribly hungover, we had to get up and get ready for my going away party! Which I was really excited for, I probably slept 3 hours that night and then got up and was ready for the day. I'm pretty classy guys, so I had a pre-party with food and drinks, for the whole like seven people that were there. Then we went to the bar where my other friends band was playing, and met up with everyone else who hadn't made it to the house.
****Just an FYI for any of you hard asses, the "Damage of Government Property" extends to bar fights ect. If you physically harm anyone that serves, and you swing first, you could very easily find yourself in a predicament you don't want to be in, even if you didn't know that the person was in the service. Just so you know.
ANYWAY, we all had a great time dancing and being ridiculous while the band was playing and then we walked to another bar, I remember about everything up until the leaving part. I don't remember that. I woke up the next morning on my couch like ummm what the efff, it was just 2am a second ago... Then I called Al and her and our friend Randi were sleeping in Al's car in the drive way. It's funny now but at the time I was just confused. Apparently I came home and passed out almost immediately, Lex and the boyyfren had came back early from the bar and were asleep upstairs and Al and Randi had went on a road trip to another town to check in on the boys because they hadn't shown up to the party and weren't answering their phones---- Yes, these are the kinds of things that we do because it is 100% unacceptable to be MIA as long as they were... like 12 hours lol.
I hadn't even started packing at this point and I was leaving that afternoon. And all I wanted to do was go on the river with everyone, I was so down. Al and I sat in my room for a good hour and a half just talking and staring at my bag like maybe it would pack itself or something would happen and I just wouldn't have to go. It was awful, I was leaving everyone for 4 months. I mean I'm use to being away, and I tend to isolate myself at times but there was always the option of going somewhere or calling someone, there weren't going to be options once I left this time.
My mom and grandmother took me to my unit and the next morning we were on our way to the airport to catch the bus to Fort Lost in the Woods. No phone, no electronics of any kind, no gum, no make up (guys, you wouldn't understand) NO CONTACTS(not only did we have to wear glasses 24/7 but they issued us standard glasses that were junk.... mine were crooked after a week and the ear pieces were extremely bent out)open showers, 67 females and two bathrooms, drama, 230 some odd idiots to be surrounded by 24/7, bunkmates that insisted on having the bottom bed but wouldn't let anyone sit on their bed, and as always, those few privates that don't know what DS Williams means when he tells everyone to "Wash yo ass, with what?... With soap." Yeah, that was probably the worst part, stinky people. We literally had a girl that "used" the same bar of soap for almost 10 weeks. TEN WEEKS! The fuck...... the smell was truly unimaginable if not experienced first hand.
So that was life, for ten weeks. I hated it, I hated everyone. (you know what I mean, battles.) We all hated each other, it just depended on the day, SO MANY SENSITIVE SALLYS! I never really gave a fuck so everyone truly thought I hated them, which is true for the most part but that's also why it was funny. I did get close with my room, and I guess maybe half of the platoon, they're alright I guess. I still hate them though. We graduated. Graduation was great. Like 6 of us got in trouble for wearing makeup and were told that we had our family day passes taken away, The bathroom was full of girls crying. When I fixed my hair for grad I didn't get it done in time so Lathum did it while we were forming up outside, talk about not being the standard! We were a mess. I was so upset because I thought I wasn't going on pass and Al had came down to spend the day with me and my parents. We ended up going on pass. We were suppose to stay in uniform the whole time but naturally I didn't. We went shopping and ate and then went back to the hotel and I changed and then Al and I went exploring. At one point we went to walmart to get me some underwear that weren't grannie panties and when I checked out I saw one of my company DS's that I literally saw everyday and I ran outside! She might not have recognized me because I looked like an actual civilian girl at the time but I took no chances. It was very nerve racking. Then I had to go back, not get any sleep because they kept us up all night cleaning and singing and dancing in the hall if I'm going to be completely honest. One of my favorite DS's was on duty and we had to do something to keep ourselves and everyone else awake. It was an alright night, besides the packing of everythingggggggg we had and not getting to sleep.
I was so scared to go to AIT, well, I wasn't until we got there and the srg that took us was a B, and then the first platoon srg we met was meaner than most of our DS's and our layout was almost more intense that that of day zero of basic. I literally almost had a panic attack. The platoon srg made me stop and take a breath and told me it would be alright. That's when I knew he wasn't as bad as he seemed, he just got a lot of enjoyment out of making other peoples lives a living hell, but he did care, if you weren't a complete idiot. My mom saw him in action the night before AIT grad, she is forever scared. AIT wasn't bad. It sucked not having a phone Sunday night through Friday night but it was better than not at all, and only having to share a room and bathroom with two other people instead of a whole floor was almost luxurious. I loved my roommates and was sooooo happy to be with them, I am pretty sure that we were the only room that not only got along but took care of each other. Your welcome Gomez. I was happy/sad when we graduated and got the hell out of there. Coming back to this place is never ideal, and some of my closest battles live literally everywhere. I have friends in Cali, Kansas, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, Idny, Texas, New York, Korea, it's crazy. I went to this awful place where I didn't want anything to do with anyone and I met some great people that I'm sure I will be friends with for the rest of my life. We've already started planning a reunion. I know, were cute huh. The funniest part is I am now licensed to drive just about any military vehicle, if that doesn't scare you I don't know what does.
It was hard, waking up at 3:30am every day to do PT was hard... mostly because waking up at all is hard for me 6/7 mornings a week, let alone thattt early. Being 24 and having lived on my own or the better part of 5 years and then being somewhere with so much structure and no personal space or freedom was hard. Dealing with the permanent nerve damage in my right foot from my frost bite, while running almost everyday, was extremely hard and almost unbearable at times, but I fucking did it. I don't know how but I made it out alive, and honestly, on bad days, I miss AIT. Home sucks for me, and the next time I leave I'm not coming back. I'd take waking up to run in the cold first thing in the morning over waking up at my parents house any day, I just wish both had better food options. But that's a whole other topic that I could talk about for dayssssss so I won't get started on it.
I came home in December, my graduation present was a Garth Brooks concert (:
And then reality sets in, have to find a job, go to my RSP unit, check in with my new unit, for me- transfer units, while adjusting to not having mandated structure anymore. I went back to my awful sleeping habits as soon as I got back. I either sleep too much or not at all. Which is going to be very interesting with my new job starting at 5am, an hour away. (: Little bit of good news from present day. I don't usually talk about my current life... but I don't usually talk about my military life either so hey.... maybe just this once is alright.
That's all I got, so.....
Till next time, xoxo
Aud