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!