#49 - More dreams

Last night I had another basic training dream. In this one, a Drill Sergeant was demonstrating how to do various drill and ceremony (marching) moves. The DS in the dream was actually one from a photograph in one of the books issued to us in the DEP. As an aside, this one photo stands out (for me), because it shows a Drill Sergeant wearing these huge 1980s wire-rim glasses - I remember the same photo from an Army recruiting brochure when I was in high school. Funny they still use it now. Anyway, the 1980s Drill Sergeant in my dream wasn't doing a particularly good job of demonstrating the move, and he was mumbling to himself, as if trying to remember how many steps he needed to do. I asked for him to demonstrate again, as I couldn't understand, and he changed his demonstration the second time. I still didn't know how we were supposed to execute the move, but was afraid to ask him to demonstrate yet another time. I'm sure it's all very symbolic - especially the inclusion of the 1980s Drill Sergeant in the dream, as enlisting in the Army has been something I've entertained doing ever since high school.

I attended my second DEP function last night. I again felt like a fish out of water amongst all the 17 year old kids. One of the new girls there asked me which high school I attended. I answered that I was almost 35 years old, and my high school years were long past...lol Do I really look that young? The kids did pushups and situps, but I opted out because my left foot is still a bit sore. I am scheduled to do my 1-1-1 initial PT assessment on Monday. This will consist of a one mile run, and one minute of pushups and situps. I must finish the mile in 10 minutes and 30 seconds, and complete 3 pushups and 17 situps in the alloted time. At least the pushups and situps shouldn't pose a problem.

At the DEP function, one of the recruiters quizzed everyone on the military ranks. I shared some well-known techniques with some of the younger recruits for remembering the ranks. For example, a way to remember the generals is "Be My Little General" (Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General). The First Sergeant insignia has a small diamond in between the chevrons, so "For a woman, diamonds come first". The Command Sergeant Major insignia has what appears to be two wreaths which resemble a sideways "C", so that "C" makes me remember "Command"...

Otherwise, it was mostly the kids sitting around eating pizza and chatting about high school things. Sometimes I feel so old!

In other news, I went to visit my mom yesterday. It will probably be the last time I see her before I leave for basic training, so I wanted to say goodbye. I told her that she could inform my stepfather what I was up to after I left. I wasn't sure what his reaction was going to be - if he was going to tell me I was crazy for joining the Army being this old or in a time of war, etc. She ended up spilling the beans last night, and he called our house. I was surprised to find that my stepfather was 100% supportive of my decision. He hoped that I would eventually be able to become a Warrant Officer (that would be nice - we'll see, I guess). It was nice to hear some positive things, and to know that at least one person thought that I had made the right decision. I still feel guilty for not telling more people what I am doing, especially my two brothers. I'm very nervous about my ability for hacking this physically, and would rather wait to see how things progress in basic. Attempting this again is a huge emotional investment, and if I fail in some way, I would not want anyone else to know about that failure. I hope they will be able to understand later why I didn't tell them of my plans right now.