Day 37

May 31st

We had the lamest PT this morning. It's the beginning of a 6 day cycle that each band does. We started with man makers across the parking lot that had a burpee at every turn around point. Since only 4 people went at a time each individual only got like 6 minutes of PT time. NOT worth getting up at 5am for! Inspection went well this morning, I didn't get any bad comments on my boots! Other than feeling bloated and sore in the stomach all day, it was a pretty good day. We spent the morning in rehearsal and then after a hort break we did some brass choir stuff while the percussion and woodwinds did their own thing. Then it was off to lunch. I'm getting sick of the food here already and I've put myself on a toasted sandwhich diet. It seems to be the only thing that doesn't gross me out! After lunch we were on the parade square and we got to march with our instruments!! That was a lot of information all at once. We had to march in line with the row and column. Plus we had to look to the front for flag signals and listen to the drum for marching cues...not to mention play :P Well, I had a lot of fun! Then we had another band rehearsal and called it a day after getting set up for sectionals tomorrow. After supper we all brought our bearskins to get bathed and brushed and shaped. Hopefully mine winds up looking beter than before. Then we had the evening to polish boots and go to the gym and pool. I am addicted to the elliptical and was on it for another 1/2 hour before doing more upper body. This upper body will really come in handy when I have to stand forever holding my euphonium. Then I ended my evening with some lap swimming. I am starting to do 4 front crawl, 4 breast stroke just to give myself more of a cardio workout. Who knows, by the end of the summer I may be able to do 40 lengths of just front crawl!

Day 36

May 30th

Today I woke up at 7, tired and sore from all that walking yesterday! I lounged in my bed all morning and did some online reading and facebooking and made use of some of the food I bought yesterday. Then I got up to rollerblade at 10:30 and went down the canal. The Ottawa marathon was happening there and I saw the 30km mark. I rollerbladed just a bit farther than we ran when we were on leave and I saw that the canal opened into a small lake and then flowed through a damn that created rapids on the other side. It was so pretty! Since I was on my rollerblades I could not go down to see much and at this point I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera.So I went back and had lunch with Alexi lol. We took off for downtown and spent some time shopping in the Rideau Center and I bought a tank top. Then I left Alexi and met up with Stevenson to go to the Civilization Museum which is in Gatineau (province of Quebec). Really we just had to cross a bridge to get there lol. The museum was interesting but I found the layout a bit confusing and they didn't give us a map when we paid. The whole first floor was First Nation people and pretty much covered all of Canada. The second floor had the development of the post office and a children's museum! The third floor had the printing press, beginings of railways, cars, ships, shops (with euphoniums!), churches, pubs, hospitals, apothecary, fishing industry, vikings... Anywho, we stayed till 5:30 then booked it back to Carleton for supper. we made it just in time and I have to say that my favorite item has become the grilled sandwhiches. Then I lounged around all evening and chatted with people, ironed shirts and went to bed. ttfn

Day 35

May 29

I had a nice sleep in today and then joined Derek Stevenson on a Walt Mart trip. He had to buy some stuff and I decided to return my ironing board since my room mate brought a larger one from home. We also found some large tins of kiwi shoe polish there. This was exciting because they have been out of that brand for a while. I also bought some instant oatmeal for those sleep in mornings! Then he hit chapters and I went into Lob laws (pretty much a superstore) and bought bananas, bread and jam. I'm all set for sleeping in! When we came back, we picked up Bae and took off for the Gleab neighborhood garage sale. It was intense! There were so many ppl involved and there was even an entire school that was selling stuff as a fundraiser. I bought a bit of jewelry for $3 and 2 jars of chocolate honey! We stayed out until 1:30 and then had lunch at Carleton. Then we picked up Alexi and went to the War Museum which was really worth going to. We spent 3 hours there and I only made it through 3 of the 4 sections at me own pace. I am glad that we went because I understood so much more because I went through basic training. The 34 page history package that we had to read came in handy! Also the fact that I had shot a rifle helped put things into perspective. Reading up on what civilian life was like during the war made me very thankful for the life I have today. If anyone decides to go to Ottawa some day, I highly recommend the War Museum as a "must see". When the museum closed, we walked to the Byward Market and started looking for a place to eat. I forgot the name of the place we wound up (typical me) but I would not recommend it. Our waiter was really bad and the food was overpriced. To top it off, when Alexi got up to pay no one would help her! The waiters were all just walking past her while she was standing there with cash in hand. Seriously, some ppl would have walked out without paying at this point lol. After she paid, we walked through the market and ran into some street performers who were just finishing up their actobatic show. It was pretty cool to watch! Then the boys decided to take the bus home and the girls decided to walk. It took us a good hour and a half because we stopped so Alexi could get a coffee and I could get a band aid for a blister. On the way back we found a wallet on the ground and picked it up. We sent the guy a message over facebook to identify some things that were in the wallet so we can make sure we are returning it to the correct person. Man is he ever lucky that we picked it up and not some ppl who would keep it for themselves! I was tired from walking all day, so I went to bed early (10:30).

Day 34

May 28th

Routine PT at 5:20. Today we actually ran faster than the piddle walk a few times. That run was almost perfect for me because I was not pushing myself but also not bored. I'm looking forward to some good self directed PT for the weekend. We had another rehearsal this morning and then we went out onto the parade square with our instruments!! We split up into our instrument groups and did the basic stand at attention/ease/easy etc with instruments. we also practiced changing music and getting ready to play while marching. For lack of a better description: everything was student led. Our section leaders did the teaching instead of any officer. After a break we lined up in larger sections to practice things for the color sergeant and others. Then we put everything together as a fulll band. It was sooo cool to march in band formation!!! We didn't actually play but we did all the drills and march steps. It's going to take some super practice to be able to march and play and pay attention to dressing and drill commands. HOLY COWS!! So basically if I have the music close to memorized, that will lighten the load on my brain. Also I'm glad I'm not in the first rank! (Euphs in the 3rd! No more back row!) After lunch the recruits did their QL3 and QL4 music testing. Basically these were the theory and aural portions of the qualification tests that make us elidgible for promotion. It was like being in basic skills again. I found them so easy and I think I made no more than 3 mistakes in all 4 tests combined. The theory was a joke too. I am so surprised that ppl who take music at the university level had difficulty with these tests. I am super thankful for the education I got from Joan and Miss Kasper! After that we were done for the day other than a short meeting of info for next week. My room mate and I played "barrel of monkeys" with another girl named Emma. I've never played, and it wa a lot of fun! I spent the evening doing laundry, polishing boots, taking out garbage/recycling and cleaning up a bit. Then I visited some of the room parties with my amaretto but decided not to go out for the evening. Like I said, I am looking forward to some self directed PT on the weekend :)

Day 33

May 27

We got up for a 5:20 PT start time this morning. We did a 3.2km "run". I'm getting sick of these lame excuses for runs. I can't wait till we go faster and farther. I find myself going to the gym a lot to get that workout satisfaction. After PT we got a lot of time to get ready and go for breakfast and then get to the band room for 7:30. At this point we had to march out to the parade square and get our uniforms inspected. We were wearing forge hats for the first time and I had mine on too low in the back. This created pressure points on my forhead especially on the right side. I don't know how this is connected, but that pressuse was making me want to throw up. I was getting super nautious and gross feeling. After we were inspected and stood at ease I quickly tapped my hat up to get it off my forhead. I know I should not be moving like that, but it's better than throwing up! By the time we stared marching again the feeling of throwing up was nearly gone. Then we marched back to the band room for our first rehearsal. Good sight reading practice and fasty blasty just as I was told. The band had over 90 players so I guess it's difficult to keep it quiet, but i could hardly hear myself! We got some band standards handed out to us too: Festive Overture, 1st suite in Eb, English Folk song suite and Hounds of Spring. After an hour of rehearsal we went out onto the parade square to do the same drill as yesterday but as a full band. We got split up into two groups and the two officers who were leading us were having some friendly competition as to whos group was better! It was too funny! After lunch the recruits had some pretesting practice for our QL3's and QL4's. This is basically a music test at two different levels. There is a theory and aural component that we reviewed today and if we pass those with 60% or more then we get to do the practical(playing) part of the exam. If we pass level 3 and 4 then we are elligiable for promotioin next year. The practice was pretty easy so I don't think I will have a problem. Then we had another quick rehearsal and the day was done! sorta. We had time to go for supper and relax but we had to meet at 6pm for a boot polishing party. I polished for 3.5 hours today. crazy! Then Bae and I went to the gym to do upper body. I think he might be a more regular gym buddie. yay!

Day 32

May 26th

Today started at 6:50am with role call and breakfast. After breakfast we got the epilette for our shoulders on our DEUs. Then we all gathered in the Band room for a moment of silence for a canadian soldier who died across seas. After that the BMQ group went to the parade square and did drill in 33 degree weather. It was soooo hot and we were in long black pants. I had sweat running down my spine and dripping off my face, brutal. We got a half our break before lunch to cool off in our rooms which don't have air conditioning anyways. I opened my door and found a huge box in my doorway. It had my name on it so I thought it was part of my uniform, but it also had mom's name on it. Then I realized it was my rollerblades and ripped them out of the box and ran down the halls laughing! I didn't realize till later that I let my door close, thus locking my keys and beret in my room! Poopers. Well i got a housekeeper to open the door for me and things were good. Funny, that's the only time I've ever seen s housekeeper in here... After lunch we were on the square until 2:30. I found out that the humidity made it feel like 42! Then we took off downtown to get our temporary military IDs and then we were set free for the evening! I got my parade hat and other snazzy things that must have a purpose. After polishing my boots again I bought some goggles and a back pack to hold my rollerblades when I go downtown with them. I immediately put both items to use and went to the pool for some more laps. I did 40 lengths or 20 laps (my room mate is a swimmer and taught me the lingo lol). This was so much easier with goggles. Then i got to talk to Dustin...yay!... and that's it for today!

Day 31

May 25th

Today marks 1 month of being in Ottawa. Stevenson, Alexi, Beare and I woke up and went for a 6:30 run for half an hour this morning. It felt awesome and I realized once again that I am not a bad runner after all. We also ran past the Officers doing their PT stretching. It was funny because our Lieutenant was in the group! Then Alexi and I did the P90X ab workout before giving in to a shower and breakfast. I spent the morning shopping and bought some things for the room plus a shirt and a pair of sweat pants. Then I came back for lunch and met my room mate. She is totally cool! The first thing I saw in the room were her rollerskates! She plays French Horn and likes to practice. She also like to run and swim. Looks like between Allison and Chelsea Alexi I will have a gym partner most of the time. So Allison and I went to practice in the afternoon and then I did some laundry before supper. After Supper and Laundry I googled fine dining in Ottawa and found a few nice places worth checking out with Dustin. I think we have agreed on one called the Courtyard. It's a four star and look super snazzy. Once I had properly digested, I went to the gym and to the pool for the rest of the evening. Apparently I have forgotten how to go to the pool. I forgot my lock, hairbrush and the fact that I need to wear goggles and contacts if I want any hope of seeing anything. So next time I go to Wal Mart I need to pick up some goggles. I wonder if I could get contacts downtown? Well my boots are done for now and I need to get sleep for tomorrow morning!

Day 30

May 24th

I had the best sleep in till 11am this morning! However, during my sleep in I dreamt that Master Corporal Temple and Probst were back and getting everyone up for a ruck march. So I spent a few hours tossing and turning trying to figure out if it was a dream or not lol. Then i went to Stevenson's room with my boots and realized that mine sucked! He gave me a few tips and I worked on them until we left for lunch. Alexi, Burns, Mattok, Stevenson and I went to "The Works" on Bank street for lunch. I love Bank street, it has everything on it! It reminds me a bit of Corydon in Winnipeg. Anyways, "The Works" is a burger restaurant and you can buy burgers with the strangest topppings on them. Stevenson had peanut butter on his, Mattok had Kraft Dinner on his, Alexi had avacado, Burns had jalepenos and I had pineapple! After that epic meal we walked back to Carleton. The university is much closer to downtown than I thought. I think I will walk every time! (or hopefully rollerblade when they arrive) Then we all went back to polishing our boots! Chelsea and I went on the grass with our bathing suits and boots lol. After supper I made a trade off with one of the guys: I ironed his shirts and he polished my second boot. That was an awesome trade off, I would much rather iron. I may return my iron and small board and just use someone else's. We really don't all need to have our own ironing equipment. I kept going on my boots for a while after that. They really take forever to shine up. When I am satisfied with them I will post a picture, but not yet!

Day 29

May 23rd

Today I got up early to go to breakfast. I think I should have slept in instead! When you show up late there is no oatmeal left, GAH! So i took a banana for tomorrow morning lol. I went to Church with Derek Stevenson. The Pastor there remembered me and same with the song leader. cool! They even have something called a welcome folder that they had prepared for me. I have not looked through it yet, but it has a description of what a mennonite is and contact info for the church etc. After we got back and had lunch Stevenson, Alexi and I went out in search of the war museum. There were two locatons online so we chose the one that was easier to get to. Turns out that that is the old museum and it is closed now. So we wound up going to the Art gallery instead. It was pretty big and I recognized a lot og paintings in the canadian section. After is closed, we walked to the river and sat in the sun/breeze for a while. Then we came home for dinner and I spent the evening polishing 1 of my boots and talking to ppl back home. Amazing how long it took to do one boot. I think tomorrow will be dedicated to the other boot!

Day 28

May 22nd
YES!!! I finally got to sleep in!! I slept in until 9:30 and it felt great. Mind you, I was up on the computer until 2am catching up with ppl and enjoying internet time lol. So Derek, Chelsea and I made our way down to breakfast only to find that there is no breakfast at 10am. Breakfst is from 6:30-8:30. So if I want my favorite meal of the day, I will have to get up no later than 8:10. Poopers. So we decided to check out the campus while we waited for lunch at 11! We found the gym, university center and the Rideau Canal that goes beside the university. I can't wait to get my rollerblades because there is a beautiful path along the canal. That might wind up being where I spend my days off! We joined Ryan for lunch/breakfast and then Chelsea and I spent the afternoon ironing our DU's and polishing our boots. When we completed round one of our tasks, we went to the gym. I think we have a pretty good work out plan for the summer. Swimming one day and cardio/weights on the other day. I am so pumped to get in shape! After we showered and got all prettied up we went to dinner with Derek (Stevenson) and Greg (Burns). Then Mattock gave us a shoe polishing lesson becuase he is really good at doing boots! Then we went downtown and walked around the market. I bought some tea from a tea shop and looked in some other shops. I love that market! I was like a kid in a candy shop looking at all the stores on Bank street as we rode the bus. I will have to take a day and go down there on my own so I can look at things at my own pace. We stopped at the Highlanders Pub for a beer and then met up with some of Chelsea's friends at a really cool pub outside of the market. It was cheaper and really cozy. I had a nice talk with Derek about religion and how we were both worried that we'd be the only Christians in the group. It was really nice to chat and know that we have fellowship in that way.

Day 27

May 21st
Today was another early start but at least it was the last early start before we got our leave pass! I woke up at 5:30 to prep for grad parade and had to do a last minute boot polishing. That was a bit of a scramble and I don’t think I will be leaving boot polishing for the next morning ever again. We formed up in the fish bowl and got inspected before going to breakfast at 7am. After breakfast we spent the morning practicing for the grad parade which started at 10am. During the practicing and the actual parade I learned that it’s going to suck to stand still for long periods of time in the heat. For the first time my feet were actually getting sore and hot where I was putting my weight. After the parade we had a BBQ with all the officers and staff from our BMQ training. That was a lot of fun! Then we got our instruments and were shown how to iron our clothes properly. FINALLY we were free! We all took trips to Wal-Mart on our own time and in groups. Alexi and I did a decent shopping trip and bought better bedding for our rooms. I also bought a kettle for tea and instant coffee! I am planning on being comfortable here. After that adventure we had dinner and then got to work in our rooms. After cleaning up from the shopping spree, I sorted music and cut the liner out of my beret. We were planning on going out tonight but I am so tired that I requested a rain check for tomorrow evening. I can’t wait to sleep under my bedding with a pillow that has support! It’s really great to be back in civilization and have things like internet or a bathroom whenever I want. I spent the evening in my parade boots to start breaking them in. I can already feel the points where I could potentially get a blister.

Day 26

May 20th
Today was the day we moved into Carlton University! The staff at Connaught made sure we had a memmorable last morning though. They ran through the halls waking us up at 4:45am yelling at us to get up and get dressed. After we had all formed up, they told us to go back inside and get our rucksacks. I knew right away that they had not cancelled the march after all, but I was on sick parade for the morning anyways! Also i had gone to bed early because i knew i had to be ready at 6am. We were all marched over to the classrooms to drop off our weapons and do a warm up. Anywho after the group was gone, the three of us who were on sick parade did a bit of clean up with the rifles and then left for the hospital at 6am. I wound up in the physio area and waited for an hour in the doctors office and by waited I mean slept lol.When the doctor came she was really good and efficient. She wound up giving me insoles because I need arch support. Now I can walk without limping!! When I got back to the shacks everyone was cleaning again so i joined in, but since I was almost done I wound up taking a nap! After lunch we had our end of course interviews and then after supper we packed up the bus and left! The bus ride over was so much fun. We sang songs the whole way to Carlton (mostly dirty songs lol). During the unload I was one of the ppl who lowered things off the back of the bus. That was some fun upper body strength time! After some final instruction we were given the evening to settle into our rooms. The rooms are so much nicer and I have space to unpack! I got myself all organized and enjoyed some quiet time and privacy for the evening.

Day 25

May 19th
Today was my first day on sick parade for PT. That really sucked because they went for a run and I really wanted to join. I decided to do a bit of cleaning while I was waiting but the run was so short that they came back very early and everyone just did their own cleaning. The rest of the day was a continuation of boring first aid. We started with a test that no one studied for and then I adopted the sleeping position for the day. I passed the first aid test easily and decided that all military tests are complete jokes. Today was really boring. We were all happy to find out that the ruck march for tomorrow morning is cancelled. I still have to go to the hospital and I’m thinking I will just need a bit of physio or something. Sitting in the classroom for two days has helped a bit but my foot is still stiff every time I stand up again. We had a nice surprise and got off at 6:30! I called Oma and Opa Hanyecz to chat a bit. We basically spent the evening chilling playing cards and such. Alexi and I had a singing in the shower party! This is the last time we all sleep at Connaught Ranges! (I’m going to miss the food!) ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz…

Day 24

May 18th
This morning’s PT was the fitness test that we did in the first week of the course. We had to run a mile as fast as we could, do as many push-ups, sit ups and chin ups as we could. We don’t know our times from the run, but I did 30 toe push-ups, 75 sit ups and I was the only girl to actually do a chin up!! I really enjoyed that PT, but when we walked from station to station, my left foot was killing me. I’m not sure what it is so I met with the medic during our first class and he said I should go to the hospital where they could better assess it. In the meantime, I’m not allowed to run which sucks or do ruck marches which sucks a bit less lol or walk on uneven terrain which is impossible here because everything but the parade square is gravel. I figure it’s wise to get it looked after before we join up with the band. Today was day one of three scheduled First Aid days. Sometimes it’s a curse to be a teacher because you see all the flaws in other ppl’s teaching. For example, one instructor flat out told us that he put all his power points together the night before at like 1am and they all had spelling and grammar errors. How unprofessional! Then to top it off, he didn’t know his material. He stumbled and made mistakes and didn’t always know what he was talking about. He was also a big tool and tried too hard to be funny when he really wasn’t. To top it off, he cursed so much and made some offensive comments. The other teacher was actually a nurse and knew what she was talking about. She didn’t have to try to be cool and we respected her efficiency, knowledge and honesty with us. After that we had dinner and then part of our constant supervision involved almost two hours of study time followed by another hour of rifle cleaning. Then we were told to get as packed up as possible to get ready to leave for Carleton. I am so ready and packed right now!

Day 23

May 17th
This morning we formed up in our ruck sack gear and waited for the Lieutenant. He showed up a bit late and then told us to go back to bed and be ready for breakfast at 7am. What an awesome surprise! Also, today was gas mask day! I was really excited but had some technical difficulties. As you know, I skipped supper yesterday and I was feeling a little queasy in the evening and this morning, so I wound up eating very little for breakfast. BAD IDEA! I was so low on energy. Then we marched over to the classroom and got into our bunny suits (gas suits) and holy cows, was it ever hot in them! Then we walked over to the gas hut which was a bit of a hike and formed up. I’m telling you, we were sweating so bad in the sun. It must have been like 25 degrees outside and we were in winter parkas with rubber gloves! Then to turn up the heat some more, they made us run around in the forest for a while followed by 50 jumping jacks and then more running! GAH! Finally we got to stop and form up for further instruction. I had to kneel and then sit down because I was getting dizzy standing there. That felt better, but then I started getting up slowly by kneeling first and then getting up. BAD IDEA….again. My body decided it liked the ground better and went right back down, damn it. Why am I always the one who tips over! Oh well, so like 3 ppl carried me to a rock and took the bunny suit half off me and I started cooling off. The medic took some basic info of my last 24hrs and made me drink. For all the people who know that I don’t like to drink much, I drank 2 liters of water out of my canteen today and a glass of water at lunch followed by 5 more glasses of various fluids at supper. I have never had that much to drink in one day in my life! Hydration really works, I feel better already. Our afternoon was spent outside in the sun doing camouflage stuff and learning how to move as a group in the field. That was a lot of fun. Since we are on constant supervision due to Sunday’s events we were put into the classroom to clean our rifles until 10pm. At least we got to watch a movie while cleaning!

Day 22

May 16th
Today was great. We got to go into Ottawa for 10 hours! I went with Stevenson, Alexi and Wherle and our first stop was at second cup for some internet time. Unfortunately, the internet was really slow there this time. So, we decided to go downtown and check out other places. We took the bus and went to Rideau Mall which was where we had lunch. I had sushi! Then we had some internet time at starbucks where the connection was better. Our next stop was a touristy walk around parliament hill and to the bayward market. I bought a pair of earrings, a mango and some chocolate. We also took a ton of pictures! Then we went back to the Bayshore mall and while my buddies had dinner I went to get some internet time with my family. It was nice to talk to all of them and to see Sam! I pretty much chatted until the mall was closed and I had no power left in my computer. Then we went back to the base and I discovered that ppl were out drinking again. I honestly thought I had left public school and left childish behavior when I got here, but apparently not. Honestly If you want to drink, do it early in the day so you can sober up before coming back to camp. But no, the cool and tough thing to do is to show up still drunk so you can be one of the cool guys and fit in! Well, some of the drunken ppl got locked out of their room because they could not keep track of their stuff; another punched a hole through the wall because he could not find his stuff or keep his anger under control. I am getting seriously annoyed with the childish behavior from certain course members. On that note, I need to keep control of my attitude towards this behavior and realize that I am not better than them because we are one unit right now. So we were kept up till 11 by 2 rifle inspections and some drill. I really didn’t mind any of it other than the fact that the inspections made me tear down everything I had organized for the next day. Grr. Well, at least the time spent away was nice.

Day 21

May 15th
Can you believe it, we had no PT again! However, we started the day off with a test that we all forgot to study for. Oh well, I’m sure we all got 100% again. Really, it’s impossible to fail a military test. Then we had a French fire fighter come in and give us a morning of fire safety. I got to use a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher on a simulated fire. It was fun!! After lunch we learned how to do drills and all kinds of stuff wearing our bunny suits to prepare for the gas chambers. Then there were some drills that were done by demonstration only such as using the “washroom”. Most funny moment in the course was when the sergeant was demonstrating how to pee and shit in the bunny suit. Another highlight of the day was when we had to wear our gas masks for evening PT. I had a blast and other ppl were super struggling. I think I actually like to run now! Then we had an epic soccer game in our masks. I was the goalie again and this time someone fell on my head, it was cool! Then we cleaned mags and went to bed

Day 20

May 14th
No PT again this morning. That was great because it gave us a bit more time to get ready for inspection and we were all tired from being in the sun all day yesterday. The inspection went really well! We all had spotless weapons and answered the questions from the CO’s correctly. I was so nervous about those questions, but they were super easy! They said we deserved a reward and that we did a great job. Next we were off to the range again, but this time it was only a 300m range. That was nice because it saved us a lot of walking (or so we thought). One section went first again. We did timed shots and some exercises where we had to run up the hill and assume the position that was required. Lunch was yet another lovely boxed lunch and to my surprise, I ate it all. Oh my freaking goodness! Then 1 section went into the “butts” to move the targets around. There were individual “holes” that we all sat in last time when we were changing the markers in the “butts”, so the joke on the way to the butts was “hey, can I trade butt holes with you?” These butts were so cool! It was a long tunnel and the markers were on the coolest chain stands. My favorite part was when we did the 4 second exposures over and over again. Then we all went back for a dinner and they told us that all the food had to get eaten. I didn’t believe them so I didn’t eat stupid stuff like putting 5 butters into my soup and cheese wiz on everything etc. Then the warrant told us that they can’t actually force feed us and that they were kidding. It was too funny because some guys just ate 21 meat balls and others had like 6 slices of bread with three butters on each. I personally just ate the regular amount and gave away all my potatoes! Then we all re-shot the test because 5 people failed. Then we watched as the instructors demonstrated double tapping and automatic shooting. After that we got to try and it was sooo much fun! Then we were on to the night shoot portion because it got dark super fast. I found out that I have pretty good night vision compared to other ppl. Then we had to go back into the butts and clean up. That sucked because it was dark and getting cold. The final clean up step was finding all the spent casings on the grass. That made for a long night.

Day 19

May 13
Ah, our first day on the firing range started with no PT in the morning! I think we were on Charlie range or something like that. This is the largest range and the one that you can see from almost anywhere on the base. It is 1000m long so we walked a full km before we got to the 25m mark where we learned how to group our shots and zero our weapons. I got some pretty good groupings and my rifle was pretty close to zero. We practiced firing in the prone (laying down), the sitting down, kneeling and standing positions. We walked up to the target after every 5 rounds or so to see how we were doing. Then we went to the 100m mark and did the whole pattern again but instead of walking to the target, we just looked through binoculars. Now since 1 section was firing first, 2 section was behind the targets in the “butts” marking our shots, patching the holes, raising and lowering the targets. Then after a “lovely” boxed lunch we switched places. It’s a good thing I had a hard su-do-ku in my pocket because there was a lot of down time while we were behind the targets. After everyone had some practice there was a test and I was one of the 3 who got a perfect score! After supper we spent all our time getting our rifles cleaned and getting ready for a big inspection by our future bosses! We did another magazine cleaning assembly line in the bathroom and I’m sure we all spent close to two hours on our weapons. They were sooooo dirty! Then we super cleaned the bathroom and all other areas of the shack. We even moved the laundry machines away from the wall to clean behind them. Once we were exhausted, we went to bed.

Day 18

May 12th
This morning we did a 6km Ruck-march with the Commanding officer and RSN of the Ceremonial Guard. This is twice as far as we’ve ever marched and we’ve never had this much stuff in our kit either. Needless to say, they were really testing us. Sadly I was the only one who dropped out about 100m before the end. I was wearing an extra long sleeved shirt under the cadpat shirt and learned the hard way that that was too much clothing. Anyways, I started overheating and my chest and throat were closing up and I couldn’t breathe. My breaths got shallow and quick and I guess the closest thing I can compare it to is an asthma attack, but I’ve never had one so I don’t know for sure. I do however remember the same thing happening in a grade 9 basketball practice when that started with a 20min run, then layups around the gym for like another 20 mins and finally a scrimmage. Not pleasant. Anywho, after I fell to the side and the officers helped me get my breathing back to normal I was fine, just shaky and I felt kinda weak. They checked out feet again and I had to take off my toe ring. Poopers. Here’s the funny part; I ate so much for breakfast! Here’s the grand list: 2 fried eggs, a scoop of scrambled eggs, 1 piece of French toast, a scoop of beans, 1 yogurt, a piece of cheese, two packages of instant oatmeal (maple and brown sugar), three pieces of multigrain toast, a glass of milk, jam/peanut butter/honey/ketchup…YUM! Yes that is almost 3 lines worth of food! Now don’t go thinking that I am a pig or anything lol I didn’t eat much for lunch and supper, pretty much just meat and raw veggies. The lectures today had potential to be interesting but everyone was too tired to stay awake. At one point 8 of the 19 recruits were standing at the back of the classroom so they wouldn’t fall asleep while sitting. One girl even fell asleep standing lol. At least the warrant recognized that we were all exhausted after the march and made the afternoon schedule an outdoor lecture. We all learned how to pack our rucksacks correctly in a compacted fashion. What a wonderful idea that they showed us how to do this AFTER we have completed over half of the scheduled rucksack marches in our training. Oh well, it is so much easier to carry right now and it sits very comfortably on our backs. After supper we did an inventory of the clothing that we all got in the mail. This is the clothing that we will apparently be doing drill in when we get to Carlton (see picture). Then we did a fashion show followed by setting the optical sight on our weapons and giving them one final cleaning. The best part about today is that we are off at 7:30pm!! That means I am going to bed so early today and we can sleep in till 6am tomorrow because there is no PT!

Day17

May 11th
This morning’s PT was a lot of fun! We were told to form up with our rucksacks but then the Lieutenant told us to put them back in the shacks!! We took our rifles out to the track field and did a bunch of ninja crawling moves across the field. Other than the fact that we had bare hands in the frosty grass holding our cold iron rifles with numb hands, I actually had a lot of fun! As for lectures, I slept through most of the morning and then stood for most of the afternoon. The lecture topic had potential to be interesting but it was soooo redundant and unnecessarily stretched out that I just couldn’t pay attention. The only reason I took some notes was because we had a work booklet to fill in and a test on the material the next morning. The day was great until someone was caught with their cell phone in class. We got yelled at for that and then the Lieutenant made us hold our rifles up with one arm at a time in various uncomfortable positions. I really struggled with holding my arm out horizontally, but the others were pretty good. Then we had to maintain the push up position while we tried to figure out what the marksmanship principals were. Since only 3 people had them written down, we were in that position for a long time. I didn’t find it all that difficult and I was able to write the principals into my book while maintaining that position without any problem, but some people were really struggling. Since we were so pathetic and didn’t know anything, we had to write the 4 Marksmanship Principals out 50 times and hand it in the next morning! The only thing is that after supper we had to go back to the bleachers for mid-term interviews/reports. The Sgt. Said I was doing really well for fitness and morale and all around everything else. The only thing is that I have to be sharper with my drill movements. That will be pretty easy to fix since I like drill. So while everyone was having their interviews, the rest of us were out on the bleachers trying to study and stay warm out of the wind. At 8:30 we were hoarded into the classroom to start writing our lines. We wrote for about an hour and I got up to #22 but I think I was one of the fastest ones. Then the Sgt. told us to go back to the shacks and prep for inspection, prep our rucksacks with a ton of kit and study for tomorrow’s test. I personally didn’t study but prepped my rucksack and did the lines first. I figured I would do the lines first so that I could do them while I was still awake and the chance of making mistakes was less. So I did make it up to 50 and got all ready for the next day, but at 11pm the Sgt. came by again and told ppl to forget about the lines. Poopers! I totally could have been in bed like 2 hours earlier! Oh well. I wound up sleeping in my combats so I wouldn’t be late for the next morning…

Day 16

May 10th
It seems like Mondays are all around not good days for us. To our surprise we started with a short PT ruck-march. I personally can’t complain about that because I find them difficult and was able to make it to the end of the whole march! Inspection on the other hand was not as great. Some people were still slacking off on Sunday and had dirty rifles. This resulted in 2 more inspections in the evening until they realized that they never actually showed us how to clean the magazines! So 4 of us spent almost 2 hours in the sinks washing mags. Now they will be clean for a LONG time! The day was pretty slack. We had our weapons handling test in the morning which meant a lot of waiting around while ppl were getting tested. I passed my test on the first try but not everyone did. Then we started the drill tests after lunch and I passed that on the first try too! After we all completed our testing we did some basic fire safty course. These courses are so repetitive and annoying already, I can’t even express how annoyed I am. Then we had a review for tomorrow’s written test which was hilarious! They basically gave us 30 of the 40 possible questions that could be on the test. Now all we had to do is study the questions! The worst thing that happened today was while we were cleaning our kit for Tuesday’s inspection. One of the recruits in the guy’s section left his weapon unattended and not under lock. One of the Master Corporals decided to visit the shacks to see if they needed help with anything and just picked up the rifle. He walked round with it for a while and then left. This made the guy who lost it very nervous and then we were all called to line up outside for a wonderful lecture. I realized tonight that if you yell loud enough, you can actually hear 4 echoes across the camp! All jokes aside, I don’t think the recruit will be leaving his rifle unattended anymore.

Day 15

May 9th Today we were outside at 6:55 for breakfast and since it was so windy, we had huge problems walking in time with each other. This should not be an excuse because when audio fails, visual should kick in but it didn’t. So we had an inspection. The inspection sucked because no one was expecting it. So we continued with the review that we were promised and then had to re-do the inspection. Not a big deal at all. After that we were all free to go into the city and do whatever. My group went to the mall and got some intense internet time and had a Moxie Lunch. Then we did some shopping for essentials like floor cleaner and Lysol wipes. Man, we had so much fun and I got to talk to ppl in Winnipeg! Then we came back to camp and had a jam session after practicing some rifle drills (see video). Now I think I should study some terminology and clean up for tomorrow.

Day 14

May 8th So we got out for PT and stood there waiting…. Then we were told to go inside for 10 minutes because the warrant was not here yet….Then we played soccer! Man I have not done that since like elementary school. I tried to remember what I was good at back then and it was defense and goalie, so I chose goalie. I did pretty good! We won 3-2 and the 2 that I let in were totally out of my reach anyways. One went over my head and looked like it was going over the net, but then went under at the last second and the other was just a really good shot that I had no chance of saving anyways. This was followed by another exciting day of rifle drill and review classes. In the afternoon we had a lot more breaks between classes and while we were waiting we started singing group songs and doing all kinds of body percussion along with it. Although our morale was super high, the weather was really shitty all day long. It was cold and raining and windy! Oh well, after dinner we did some weapon drill practice on our own and then I went to the gym with Cramer and Alexi. I have never really done anything on the elliptical before but I spent ½ hour on it and decided that I like it! We are hoping to go tomorrow and do weights.

Day 13

May 7th PT this morning was with the warrant. We jogged out to the obstacle course to do our warm up and stretch and I thought we were going to give the course a shot. Well actually our group PT is not good enough for that yet. So we went for a “run”. That was the most pathetic excuse for a run ever. When we run as a group it’s more like a quick tip toe. When we were on our final turn I still had the energy to “run” with my knees high just to get my heart rate up. The running ability of this group is very poor. I thought I would be one of the worst runners and always struggling to keep up, but luckily I am not! I was actually surprised when we turned around to go back. We spent the rest of the day learning weapon drills plus the standing and laying down firing position. I fell asleep in one class and drifted quite often in others. Spending the whole day doing the same thing can get really boring. We actually had some evening classes that were interesting. We went outside and practiced aiming at a target while laying down and then holding that position while the target was covered with a sheet of paper. This paper had a hole in it that we had to line up with where we thought the target point was. My 5 guesses were all no more than 3cm apart. The winner was at 1.9cm and second place was a tie at 2.2cm. Then we laid down and aimed at the targets while the staff put pennies on our rifles while we shot. (the idea was to keep the penny on while shooting, and I did!) After a long day (till 8:15) we had to go inside and clean the bolt of our rifle and hand it in. Then we had to clean the rest of the rifle again. Good thing we have not actually shot it yet! In addition to that, we had to get ready for an inspection that would be one of the deciding factors in whether or not we’d get Sunday off. Oh, and i forgot to mention that we did over 200 push ups throughout the day today!

Day 12

May 6th This morning’s PT was super fun! We were told to get outside with our rucksacks and in combats and then to our surprise we were told to put our rucksacks back in the shacks! Then we ran off to the track and learned how to do lifts for when you carry a wounded person off the battlefield. That was awesome! The Lieutenant thought it would be fun to do a relay race between the 2 sections. Our section had an odd number of ppl so some of us did another round with the extra person. I would up doing an extra round and had to carry a 195lb guy in the “bridal carry”. That was intense! Also, I counted up how many eggs I’m eating in one day and today I ate at 6 eggs in various forms...hello protein! Man does that ever make you fart lol. The morning consisted of learning how to take apart and clean our weapons. That was a lot of fun and there are a lot of parts that we have to learn and clean. In the afternoon we had a presentation on harassment and discrimination. There was a really cute video about a teacher in a 3rd grade class and how she did a social experiment with them. One day she said that the blue eyed ppl were smarter and better than the brown eyed ppl. Then she influenced those facts for a whole day and gave the blue eyed ppl privileges that the brown eyed ppl didn’t get etc. The next day she said she made a terrible mistake and said that the brown eyed ppl were better. She used flashcards with the children as a learning took in one subject and found that the children did better when they were in the superior group. They were much faster and more accurate at the exercise. On the third day they had a class discussion about race and such. Apparently this teacher has made it her career to go to workplaces and institutions that are having difficulty working together and putting them through similar experiences. I really enjoyed this video, and the kids were cute too! After that we learned how to fill the magazines with ammo and empty them too. Random I know, but there was time for another class so we just did it. Then we were off to dinner and I’m starting to eat less now simply because I have never eaten this much in my life and I would like to come out of this in better shape than I was going into it. I’m not eating bad food, but I’m really eating a lot, probably because it’s so good lol. Tonight was the first night that we had to clean our entire rifle for inspection. Then I noticed that some of us continued to work and clean things, but there were some ppl who decided to hang out and do nothing until 10pm. This sucked for the half of us who were done and wanted to get to sleep early. That’s what I’m going to do now, but before I go I have to mention that 2 people have left the course and another 2 people are on sick parade. Don’t worry, I’m still hanging on!

Day 11

May 5th We got up nice and early again to do a ruck march. Wooo hooo, exciting….not! but really the exciting part was that the march was a lot shorter than we expected. It was only 3 km and we were holding our rifles the whole time. We all thought we were going to go for 2 laps when we walked towards the shacks but we were pleasantly surprised when the lieutenant stopped us. Inspection went pretty well for 1 section which is my section. 2 section seems to be having some problems with dust and getting things done as a team. Anywho, the morning lectures consisted mostly of WHMIS and MSDS basics. That was great because I have done that so many times at work and this was just a more detailed review. After lunch we had one of our last drill classes which sucks because I like drill! We learned how to salute with arms, present arms, ground arms and it’s all a blur now but I’m sure we learned some others too. Now that we are carrying weapons around all the time, they need to be under constant supervision. That means that when we are eating, two ppl have to stand outside for a shift and watch the rifles while their relief partner eats quickly and then trades places with them. It’s called “century duty” and I went for the first shift with my roommate at supper. After supper we had to clean our window sill like hard core because there was dust in it.

Day 10

May 4th uuuuuup early for 5:30 PT. Man was I ever tired this morning! We did circuit training which basically means that you partner up and one person runs while the other person does the designated exercise at the station. When you finish running the lap, you switch tasks with your partner. We did this for over ½ an hour, but I thought that was pretty light! It was raining the whole time and when we got to the station where we had to lay on our backs, we lay smack down in the puddles! Our shower time and inspection went well this morning and the day was just all around pleasant. Ironically our afternoon was a presentation on stress management and how to identify when someone has post traumatic stress disorder and other related things. It was by far the most relaxed afternoon ever. Then to our surprise the master corporal took us back for dinner and told us to change into civvies which basically means regular clothes and not combats! We had a 30 minutes for supper and then the evening off! Also, we all got mother’s day cards to send home!

Day 9

May 3rd this was the day of hell :s I’m sure that at least 6 ppl cried today. So let me tell you what happened! We started off with a 3.5km rucksack march which isn’t a lot, but when you’ve never done one before….so a few ppl fell behind, my roommate rolled her ankle and it was just all around a bad PT. Then we got 20 minutes to shower and get ready for breakfast which is fine, but it was raining and we got so much mud in the shack and started freaking out about cleaning it up. So some girls thought it would be a good idea to do a sink shower. Meanwhile I already had my shower stuff in the shower (I do that the night before) and jumped right in. I really didn’t want to be in sweaty feet for the rest of the day. Well we wound up being late getting into line to leave for breakfast, mostly because ppl didn’t have their stuff organized the night before (like what were they doing all day on Sunday?) so they couldn’t get ready quickly. After breakfast we were running behind from being late so we got 5 minutes to get ready for inspection. That really sucked because our boots were dirty from the PT rucksack march and same with the floors. We did our best, but we were late and not prepared. Again, I can’t stress how important it is to be ready the night before. My roommate and I were ready and teamed up so that she did the bathrooms and I did the bedroom. 3 out of 7 girls had their beds flipped, but not me…phew! Ironically it was the girls who were not prepared who got their beds flipped lol. The boys didn’t have the greatest inspection either. Some of their beds got flipped and I hear they also have a few lazy members on their team. So, after the terrible inspection we got shit and then went off to class. We got our rifles this morning and learned how to do safety checks and that we pretty much need to do a safety check every time we move the rifle! Lectures and drills were fine for the day but the fun started again in the evening. The commanding officers instructed us to drink some water and get under our covers to sleep. We were re-doing the morning Next, we had to get outside in our combats and rucksacks for another rucksack march. It went well until they made us do a running drill with it. That’s when I pulled my hamstring, but I finished my part of the run and walked on for another 1/2km. When they sped up the march for the last 1/2 , I had to fall to the side. I just couldn’t keep up with a pulled muscle, poopers. After the march they checked all of our feet for blisters and hot spots. I had swelling in both ankles and some seriously dead skin on the bottom of both of my feet. So basically my right side was pretty useless. There was another girl with a worse pull and some other general injuries. They saw my toe ring while inspecting my feet and suggested that I take it off, but I have been wearing it for years and don’t notice it. So the fun continued with showers and reporting outside for “breakfast”. Some ppl got their rifles stolen because they did not have them locked up or under supervision during their shower. They got supreme shit for that. After that we had 5 minutes to get ready for our second inspection for the day. That went much better and they let us go for the evening. After that we had a super late night of getting ready for the next day’s inspection and the same girls still couldn’t get their act together until after midnight. Some ppl never learn I guess.

Day 8

May 2nd That was a glorious sleep in! After a relaxing breakfast I took a 15 minute shower and had the water running the whole time. It was nice to shave my legs, be in jeans, do my hair and put on some mascara. Also, today is the perfect opportunity to wash my bedding because I will have to re-make the bed for the next week anyways. Off to church! I went to the Ottawa Mennonite Church located at 1830 Kilborn Avenue with Pastor Don Friesen. There was a youth/Sunday school class at 10am where we had a presentation from a guest about Haiti. She showed us pictures from Haiti before and after the earthquake. She also gave us an idea of what life was like before and now after the disaster. I was looking around in the room occasionally and the atmosphere is much different from our church. The room had grade 4-whatever in it and the young kids were very well behaved and calm for the whole presentation. There were not a lot of young people at all in fact I don’t think there were more than 20 young people in the room. Their church building is smaller than ours and the youth room is about 1/3 or less the size of ours. However when I got into the sanctuary and looked around there, I saw so many kinds under the age of 6, it was crazy! It was so cute to see all the babies and toddlers with their parents. I felt right at home as soon as I saw the “Sing the Story” and our blue Worship Hymnal on their chairs. Oh, and they don’t actually have pews, they just set up rows of chairs and the congregation is full. It seems like there is a strong sense of family in this church and I was really happy to be there. The thing that I as a visitor found most useful was a pocket at the back of their hymnal that had papers in it. There was a two sided pink sheet with one side for regular attenders and the other for visitors. You could give your name, address, e-mail and phone number and request to be kept in the loop with the church’s activities. This morning they announced that the CMU choir was coming to do a program. I met the song leader and we immediately found connections (good ol’ Mennonites lol) He came from Winnipeg and knows a lot of the music people at the Universities and such. I am going to keep this pink slip that I found and bring it back to our congregation. Maybe we can have some sort of a system like this for our visitors. The only bummer about going to church was that we had a boxed lunch waiting for us when we came back. These boxed lunches are packed with carbs, salt and fat. I was so hungry when I got back that I actually ate the entire salty sandwich and then waited for my stomach to reject it.

Day 7

May 1, 2010 I have decided that I like to run wtf? I am apparently good at it. We did a 3km group run around the camp and I was able to do the whole run without stopping. I looked around at one point and there were only 10 of us running because the other 10 had fallen behind. I have never seen that many people throwing up or heaving at the side of the road! Does that actually help anything? I don’t know because I have never had to throw up while working out before. I think I am getting better at push-ups again. This is a great feeling and I am so glad that I prepared myself physically for this training course. The rest of the day was super easy. We were in classes pretty much the whole day. There was a bit of drill review and we learned to salute while on the march and how to wheel (turn). The fun part was a drill competition where we played till the last man standing. We also did super well on our inspection today. It was pretty much a great day. Since we have the day off tomorrow, some of us decided to go for another run just to work on cardio. It turned into more of a jog/power walk with conversation and occasional push-ups along the way. When we were about to go for another 3km loop I got a blister on my left baby toe. Poopers, my first blister and it was totally self inflicted! At least we have all day tomorrow to air out our feet and be off of them as much as possible. I will try to right more tomorrow after a good night sleep. We get to sleep in till 7am! Hey when you have to be ready to run at 5:25, 7am is a big sleep in!

Day 6

April 30th PT this morning was our first long march with combat boots on and apparently it was 4km long! I like to walk at home and I really didn’t mind the 4km walk except for the fact that my left boot was starting to rub on my heel during the walk. We were walking pretty fast and several people were falling behind and then jogging to catch up. This really sucked for the ppl behind them because now we had to march with longer strides to catch up only to fall behind again. Then the Lieutenant marched at the goal speed for the last part of the walk and most of us wound up jogging behind him. I decided that I need to start eating less otherwise I will really gain weight here! Although the food is tasty and healthy, I am simply eating too much of it. The weather today was beautiful for all outdoor activities. It was cloudy with no wind and just the right temperature. Today we learned how to step forward and backward by 1,2 and 3 paces. We also learned how to line ourselves up while on parade. I am having an easy time remembering the steps for everything, but sometimes I need just ½ a second longer to process the command and when to start. Some people at still getting their lefts and rights mixed up while on the spot. This is not good because then we have to do the sequence again and waste time. I find myself getting more and more tired as the days go by and the rest of the girls in my shack don’t seem to want to work fast and get to bed earlier. We had to read an assignment today so I spent some of that time alone in my room just enjoying some peace and quiet. On a more positive note, we are getting to know who is good at what and working together for inspections is going much better. I have this little trick of bringing all my shower stuff to the bathroom the night before so I don’t have to look for things in the morning! Another nice thing is that I got to call Dustin today. It was really nice to hear his voice and find out how/what he is doing. I can’t wait until the couple of days that we have off between basic and band training. I’m going to tour all over Ottawa to see what we can do together! Well I hear we are going for a run tomorrow, so I’m going to bed. Byebye!

Day 3-5

April 29, Well, the run was intense, I think we ran 3km and then did push-ups after that! I felt good about how I did especially because there were some ppl who were really struggling to keep up. I’m writing this a few days after the fact, so I can’t remember everything. I’ll just recap what we’ve learned so far. We covered the ranks and symbols, policies/regs/routines, standing at attention, at ease and easy, turns at 45, 90 and 180 degrees, walking , marching and jogging in two ranks or more, marching, saluting at the halt to the front, left and right, moving as a group around corners, halts, dismissal, rucksack assembly, radio assembly, phonetic radio alphabet and numbers, basic radio lingo, oh and finally room inspection; beds, lockers, floors, bathrooms and I’m sure they will add more to the list soon! Strangely enough I am actually having a good time. I’m doing a lot of laughing in my head as things are happening and I like to sing in my head while marching. The food is still great and we had steak night tonight! We also got the evening off to work on our rooms because the guys had a terrible inspection this morning. This morning’s PT was basically a fitness test. We all ran a mile and did as many sit ups, push-ups and chin ups as we could. That was fun, none of the girls could do a chin up lol

Day 2

April 26th
We were up at 6 and met at 6:40 to head off to breakfast. The food here is actually good when it comes from the mess tent. Thanks Chris for assuring me that Connaught has good food and yes, Thursday evening is steak night! After breakfast we were given time to brush our teeth lol it’s too funny here. You really don’t have to think about anything because they tell you when to do everything. When we go from one place to another on the camp we are almost always marching in ranks. We went back to the classroom and were split into our sections. I am in 1 section but we only have 2 sections. 2 Section got to do a Wal-Mart run for things they needed like boot polish etc. We did not go because there are only 2 vans to take us. Instead, we got to “hurry up and wait” which is totally the motto here. About half of our section got their autobiographies back because they could not follow directions. No, I didn’t get mine back! So we spent the morning getting to know our section. Then we went for lunch which was weird because we really didn’t do anything.
After lunch we all got on the bus and went to get fitted for various gear. 1 Section got their kit and green clothes while 2 Section got fitted for their Guard Gear which is on order now. Tomorrow we will switch because this took almost 4 hours to do. We did not get back for dinner until 5:45! Also, I have to thank Mr. Wahl for teaching me to be so observational at Elmwood. I can’t believe how many details I am noticing compared to what flies by the other recruits. Also my newly learned ability to read ppl has made for some very entertaining moments in my head. We got another boxed dinner and I decided not to eat the 600 calorie 2500mg salt sandwich. Instead I ate the granola bar, apple, apple sauce, cheese slice, raisins and one juice box. I’m going to start hating these boxed meals pretty soon! Again with the whole being observant thing, I noticed all the nutrition info on the first day while the rest of the recruits only discovered this today. After dinner we got to do our Wal-Mart run. That was also hilarious! We got 25 minutes to do what we had to do, so I buddied up with my roommate and we found the 3 items we needed pretty quick. She is fairly knowledgeable about the military and such and already had a lot of what we needed. Thanks Stacy for hooking me up! Anyways, the funny part was that the girls were out first and waited for 10 minutes before the first guy was done. Then our “officers?” came and were checking their watches and such while the rest of the guys came 5-10 minutes late lol. Yay for being prepared! The crappy part about today was that we had to put our name and the last 3 numbers of our service number on every piece of equipment that we got today. Poopers. Well I’m going to bed, we get to run tomorrow morning! Finally some movement!

day 1

I made friends with a bagpipe and drum major. I have learned so much about playing the bagpipes! I didn’t even think that they can’t articulate notes. Because of that they have to do trills and grace notes to articulate. There are so many different names for the different ornamentations and I’ve never heard of any of them. The pipers and drummers have to memorize their music. Boy am I ever happy we don’t have to do that! I also learned that the pipes only play in one key, although I could have figured that out if I took the time to think about it. They also speak about the different pieces based on their time signatures and styles of music. It’s nice to hear them practicing together lol. After the cool Jam session we had to go do paperwork to get paid etc. We were also given an assignment to write an autobiography. There were very clear simple instructions about how to format the hand written assignment, but some ppl still didn’t get it. I am starting to learn that I am actually very good at paying attention and following instructions. We started learning how to march in two ranks and a few other basic commands.

time for internet take 2!

Hello everyone!
We have some time to do internet work at a mall today. This is the first time we are off the training camp on our own time and in control of our own actions. I have been keeping a journal every day that I will post up here when I have more time. How are you all doing back in Winnipeg??
Talk to you soon.
P.S. i can still send and recieve texts if you want to stay in touch!

time for internet!!