Maybe Marine

Gonna be outta the office for a few.....

2006-05-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Life is something that everyone should try at least once. -- Henry J. Tillman

So the time is upon me this sunday I leave for the PI....eeek! I'm terrified, more of the mental stuff. I mean I know the physical stuff is going to be absolute hell and part of that is my fault because well I just haven't been preparing. I lack self discipline hence why I joined the Marines lol! The thing is my biggest fear is not having control, not being able to quit, not being able to just call my mom and have that reassurance and well I'm trying to overcome all that by joining the Marines. Of course there are other reasons, but the fear is the one that's weighing heavy on my mind. Besides that I have been extremelly sick this past week or so....my Dr. says there is no way she'd let me pass a physical. I didn't know those were pass fail. She was not ammused when I asked her how I should study cause Sunday is coming up here pretty quick. Though today I can breathe out of one of my nostrils...eehhhh we'll see how things pan out. My friends and family have been really great lately trying to keep my mind off of things and just letting me relax. The recruiting station had our monthly poolie function last Sat. and we did the IST...I was the last person to finish the run, but still made it in time. One of the poolies who runs cross country decided a mile and a half wasn't enough and he wanted to run 3 miles....he lapped me...friggin show off. After we did the situps we played a game of softball and I think my whole team wanted to strangle little Mr. Cross Country...he was so cocky...shouting orders and everything else...ehhh he shut up a little when I hit a triple off him. The recruiter's were like yeah you like our secert weapon(of course all the guys wanted to bat first so us 3 girls just waited to the end of the line),I also had the pleasure of throwing Mr. Cross Country out when he tried to take second base I just looked at the kid and said you may have lapped me on the run, but what can I say I'm a softball catcher were a bit more stationery with cannons for arms. He didn't haggle me for the rest of the poolie function! It was pretty funny when we had some downtime all the poolies were talking about graduation and they looked at me and asked, "so when's your graduation?" I had to pick a few jaws up off the floor when I said my graduation was 5 yrs ago lol!....I look young and I guess they all thought I was 17ish...good times. Besides that not much going on just been hanging out at the recruiter's office finishing up last minute details....like the Gunny having to inform us that all recruits MUST wear underwear to recruit trainingand bras are required for females.... no joke that is a memo he got that he had to read to us. I also brought in my copy of ,"Ears Open, Eyes Click" the recruiters were going crazy saying it was the best boot camp film they had ever seen, it was made in 2005 so there were 2 kids in there from our recruiting station that some of the recruiters had actually put in. The Gunny also knew the SDI of one of the platoons being filmed. It was pretty funny the recruiters were getting all hyped up marching me and the other poolies in there around the room. An Army guy popped his head in and left with a terrified look on his face after about 5 mins lol! If everything turns out ok this will be my last post for 13 loooong weeks so keep hoping for the best, preparing for the worst, and praying for the impossible.

-Maybe Marine

Busy, BUsy, Busy.....

2006-05-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument." -- William G. McAdoo

Sorry it has been so long since I posted my final weeks are winding down and between moving, attending going away parties and attempting to prepare for hell my plate's been rather full. Anyways I found this story and wanted to share...keep in mind it is one of those hypothetical stories but funny none the less......
."There were protesters on the train platform handing out pamphlets on the evils of America. I politely declined to take one.An elderly woman was behind me getting off the escalator and a young (20ish) female protester offered her a pamphlet, which she politely declined.The young protester put her hand on the old woman's shoulder as a gesture of friendship and in a very soft voice said, "Ma'am, don't you care about the children of Iraq?"The old woman looked up at her and said, "Honey, my first husband died in France during World War II, my second husband died in Korea, one of my sons died in Vietnam, a Grandson died in Desert Storm, all so you could have the right to stand here and bad mouth our country.And if you touch me again. I'll stick this umbrella up your ass and open it."
-Maybe Marine

I appear to have shrunk my shoes......

2006-04-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon. -- George Aiken

Things are going pretty good today...besides the whole shrinking of my shoes thing....who knew you couldn't wash and dry your tennis shoes!?!?! Today I had my second interview for the Public Affairs MOS and the Gunnery Sgt. says she thinks I'm mature above my years and I'll be a great addition to the PA MOS. Lol if she only knew just playing people. Besides that not a whole lot going on....gettting ready for my birthday weekend. It's kind of weird everyone is getting all sappy about this being my last birthday they are going to see me for...c'mon I joined the Marines I'm not dead! Well that's about all that's going on in my little corner of the world.

-Maybe Marine

My Recruiter is cooler than yours........

2006-04-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

My doctor gave me two weeks to live. I hope they're in August. -- Ronnie Shakes

Wow so I am so excited right now........turns out there was a Sgt. Major in the office and he saw that they had me going open contract and was not to happy about it. The office explained the whole issue with there being no programs and them not being able to even get me something I half way wanted. I guess the Sgt. Major got on the phone rattled off my scores to some important people and tada a public affairs spot magically opened up. Funny how people with rank can make things like this happen. On top of all that I get a bonus....I don't know how much or anything and I didn't really care to ask when my recruiter was telling me the good news because I got my MOS and that is good enough for me! I love my recruiting office... even when they piss me off they are still nothing compared to some of the horror stories I hear. They just rock! On a not so happy note I went in to do a practice IST yesterday....and it didn't go so well. I still passed, but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The day before I went to take it I did 5 miles on the elliptical machine, 100 weighted crunches, and some flexed arm hanging without any problems. I figured that was about the equivalent to the IST....WRONG! Things are a lot different when you are actually running on pavement or doing sit-ups on an uphill incline......though the arm hanging was no problem and I actually stopped after they said my time passed the requirement because there were a lot of people in the office and I felt like an idiot being the smelly sweaty girl hanging from the chin-up bar (not a very pretty sight). While I was doing the run err jog ok ok so fast walk my recruiter (who had just gotten back to the office) came out and saw me struggling to keep pace so he got next to me and did the whole rest of the run with me...in dress shoes!!!I told you my recruiter rocks lol! The girl who is shipping with me had a better run time than me and 10 more sit-ups, but the arm hang stalled her up...she was only like 4-6 seconds shy and I'm almost positive if we would've done that test first she would've done just fine...the audience in the office probably didn't help either. I'm a little sore today, but nothing major...it's more my pride that hurts than anything...I feel like I let my recruiter down and made him look bad. There was also a guy in the office that had just gotten out of boot and I felt like a complete moron in front of him because I am obvious nasty out of shape civilian scum! Well I am off to go work out c-ya.
-Maybe Marine

Well here is a special little something........

2006-04-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

Look what I can do.....OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHRAAAAAH I LOVE THE CORPS 100% of TIME 24/7.....because well I am a ROBOT!

Waiting is the worst..........

2006-04-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. -- William James

Ugh I just want this wait to be over....before I actually swore in I couldn't figure out why people were so anxious to ship, but now I get it completely. I want to wake up tomorrow and go.....I'm sick of sitting at home wondering if I can really do it.......worry after worry is making me sick. When I finally am able to fall asleep at night I dream of bootcamp....I know that sounds weird, but I do.....my dreams are filled with screaming DI's lol! I hate sitting here trying to tell my mom everything I want her to know before I ship....I know she's going to absolutely lose it the day I ship.......she burst into tears when I called her to tell her I had enlisted.....that's what I'm dreading seeing my mom sobbing, knowing its my fault and that being the last memory I have of here for 3 looooooong months! I know she's proud, but I hate seeing her upset. It's crazy to think I enlisted in the USMC.........I did it.......I'm happily terrified of what the next few months have in store for me. Mainly I'm freaking out about the thought of 13 loooooooooong weeks in hell........it just seems like such a long time. Here I am counting down the days of my last month home and they seem to be lasting an eternity and Ive got all the comforts of home........I can't imagine how long it's going to feel like when I'm counting the days in boot. I'm going to try and sleep now sorry this post is no negative...needed to vent.

-Maybe Marine

Good to go......

2006-04-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

“Oh my he's good looking don't let him get you pregnant!"-What my mom said to me after meeting my recruiter!

Has anyone every heard of or read "Amy's Answering Machine," it is this book about all these crazy messages a woman's mom has left her over the years. My friend gave it too me and was like this is your mom to a t. It is exactly that if only I would've come up with that idea and wrote a damn book on it...instead I'll write a blog on it later. For now though I'll go over my MEPS experience. It really wasn't as bad as I was expecting no one really "hassled" me if I was lying about never smoking pot nor having the chicken pox when I was 3. Myself and the other female who went together were checking in with each other after every station asking did you get grilled yet? The worst part was this she beast there who was way beyond rude........she just hates her life I suppose. It wasn't even just the poolies she was harsh to it was even those who worked there. In every group there is always that one idiot...on my MEPS trip I was not spared of this idiot...... the evil she beast was giving us directions and her first direction was stay with me do exactly as I say do not work ahead...so what does Mr. Idiot sitting next to me do he works ahead and of course she sees him and of course he screwed up so we all get yelled at and have to start back at square one. Then there was one kid who kept falling behind every time we had to sign our names.......god that poor kid I thought the she beast was going to eat him! It didn't help that everyone at his table made fun of him and never offered to help him out. C'mon people were only as strong as our weakest link and I'm not sure about you but I'm sick of spending 10 minutes on every line we have to sign. The other part all of us females were dreading was the exam...it really wasn't that bad basically the old guy said spread em' you spread your legs he decided you were indeed female and you got to go get dressed. Now the duck walk that was horrible not because it was hard or anything, but because the she beast was in there demonstrating it and yelling at us if we didn't do it exactly as she said(the old man Dr. finally said ok ok that's enough they are all fine). You try watching a fat lady with a mullet walk around like a duck and keep a straight face! Also it was like negative 30 degrees everywhere we went. Not to mention the giant napkins we got to wear that they deemed "robes"...seriously it was a giant napkin with a hole for your head and arms...I think they need to hand those out in restaurants.....I swear no fail every time I eat anything I always wind up with stained clothes. Then there was the peeing in front of someone ordeal...it was no biggie til the lab guy spilled the pee of the poor girl in front of me! Yeah no joke...that was gross but hey at least I didn't have to try and pee in front of the she beast again. Towards the end of medical she kind of softened up to me because she yelled, Kim get over here, so I hopped up and walked over to stand behind here, after a few seconds she turned around and looked at me crazy going what do you want, what is your problem? I just told her my name was Kim and she had called me up there. She actually broke a smile and said oh ha there is a Kim that works here I wasn't talking to you, but that’s good real good. After medical I found out I didn't get my job I was pissed not because of the job thing, but because my recruiter called up to talk to me and said some not so beneficial things.....it went something like well you know women aren't essential to the Marine Corps........recent hs grads are going to get better job choices........blah blah blah then I kept telling him he was making me feel stuck and that I wasn't going to sign just because he was pressuring me. I wanted so bad to hang up that phone on him, but instead I signed open contract and decided to look into mos's more when I got home. It's kind of hard to get a good idea of what a job field entails when you have a desperate recruiter on the phone trying to explain them. I know I know your all thinking oh no not open contract but look I'd rather hold out with the chance I may get an MOS I want than sign for something I really don't want! I'll get into all that later though.....so anyways I made it through medical and everything else. I have 2 tats so I kept having to flash everyone to get the ok on them...you would think dropping my pants for one person would be enough guess not. Getting sworn in was pretty awesome....but the coolest thing was the look on people's faces when they noticed my name tag said USMC! I'm not very bias when it comes to the armed forces ok ok I take that back I am very USMC bias but more of in a good humored kind of way.......I would never tell someone they were doing less than me just because they were joining another service... we all have one common goal and that’s really all there is too it. But you could definitely tell who was a Marine in MEPS and who was not....that even stretched down to us lowly poolies....members of the USMC all seem to have that "cocky" air to themselves! LOL. As far as my job thing went/goes I told my recruiter how pissed I was at him for what he pulled on me at MEPS (I made sure to do it when no one was around...c'mon now I have a little bit of manners), he understood but explained to me that when he was talking to me he had the whole office sitting there staring at him telling him he better not screw this up........so truthfully he was just as pissed and scared as I was. My recruiter is a great guy but he's new and I can't fault him for that..........and honestly I wouldn't want anyone else to be my recruiter because I know that before anything else he's my friend. I know that sounds cheesy, but in my case it's true......as soon as I hung up the phone with him at MEPS he sent me a bunch of text messages apologizing......when he got to MEPS he made a beeline for me to make sure things were ok, and even now a week or so after I've signed I still see and hear from him almost daily...ok time for me to get off my soapbox. Anyways the day after I got back I decided to go into the office and chitchat with the boss...I felt bad about going over my recruiter's head but that's what the boss is there for right? I think in a way the boss was expecting me to be a lot more pissed off at my recruiter than I was. In all reality though it's no one's fault there are just no programs left and those that are left I REALLY don't want....I was supposed to be pretty much "guaranteed" a media option slot because the higher ups had went out looking for it before I went to MEPS and told the boss they had one for me.....that didn't pan out and neither did the public affairs deal......plus the only thing left in Admin is supply and finance.......I'm not to keen on that so we kept looking. Turns out they had some spots for MP but I'm too short.....UGH! If it's not one thing it's another..... after an hour or so of trying to find anything the boss said he never advises an open contract, but there was really nothing else to advise me to do......since everything that was left I REALLY didn't want.... I'm hoping while I'm in boot something opens up if not well then so be it at least I didn't sign for something just to sign for something! I have to keep reminding myself that if it was really about job choice I would've joined the Army, but that is not the case I joined to be a Marine all jobs that they offer are second choice to me so it's no real biggie. I say that now wait til' I find out my MOS then I might be singing a different tune lol! Oh and did I mention my recruiter got stabbed.......yeah you read right! After he dropped us off at MEPS he went to the office to pick up his car and as soon as he got in and started it 2 guys pulled him out of it, he slammed his door shut, keys still in the ignition and one guy pulled a knife on him...so my recruiter grabbed the knife turned it around on the guy and got him in the ribs kind of under the armpit..... by this time the second guy had already took off and the stabbed guy joined him! My recruiter ended up with a nice gash running across four of his fingers and had to get stitches. Really what kind of moron does that I mean his car has USMC & combat vet bumper stickers...c'mon are you trying to get killed? Needless to say my good ol' recruiter still made the trek to MEPS to get us the next day when he could've pawned it off on someone else. Ok well I'm off to try and sleep have a good Easter everyone.
-Maybe Marine

Getting sworn at and in......

2006-04-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Well it's offical I'm sworn in and set to ship may 22nd...I didn't get the job I wanted and still have to decide but I'll write more about that later right now I must get some sleep!

Victory is mine.......

2006-04-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

I got the picture link to work again so here are some lovely vacation photos...enjoy!
While at Disney's Animal Kingdom we went on this safari type tour where you ride around and get to see a bunch of animals on a wildlife preserve. This is a giraffe that crossed the road in front of our shuttle I thought the driver was going to hit it we got so close. They were really cool to see I never realized how graceful and slow they walk along.
This is pic at Disney's Animal Kingdom. You can't really see it but the rock says beware of buffalo....that's me posing as the buffalo you should beware of!
This is a pic from my family's trip to Mexico over Christmas... this is one of the first stores we saw when we went to the shopping area. I just thought it was funny they were having a hurricane sale(a few months earlier a hurricane had came through and hovered over the area for 4-5 days). There was also a guy standing out of this store and lots of other ones trying to flag you in by saying, ma'am 100% offf just for you come look......hmmmmm they didn't get it when you said so it's free? They'd just say no no but 100% off just for you?!?!?

Photos.......

2006-04-09T00:53:00.000-07:00

Well people I am trying to post some fun pics from my vacation but it is not working out so great for me so ummm enjoy the blankness and pointlessness of this post...HA!
-Maybe Marine(is an idiot)

Where's the fire........

2006-04-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -- Alan Kay

I'm back...bet those are word you never wanted to hear. FL was fun kind of crazy but fun none the less. My b/f travels a lot different than me he is very rush rush do this do that. I'm more laid back. A typical morning conversation would go something like this:
Him: What do you want to do today?
Me: Whatever no big deal.
Him: C'mon there must be something you really want to see? Ok well if not where do you want to eat?
Me: Don't care let's just get going and figure it out on the way.
Him: Geeez you’re so difficult.....
He also walks everywhere really fast. Half the time he was ten feet ahead and I was back lolly gagging and checking out the scenery. I think he must have walked double what I did since he had to keep stopping and walking back to find me. I'm a bit of a gabber too and well he is not....hell we spent a lot of time in line for stuff at Universal Studios why not chitchat with the old guy from England in front of me or the kid who was obsessed with the Dr. Doom ride who went over every detail of the ride with me while we waited to get on.... I think it's interesting. Needless to say I met a lot of cool people and usually was surrounded in the pool by two or three kids telling me all about their trip to Disney World that day... I love kids they say the funniest things. Like the different kids who'd see my b/f, point at him and exclaim, "Mommy look at that man with the pictures drawn all over him!"(my b/f's arms have a ton of tattoos and so do his legs and back).The moms would quickly yell at the kids and tell them not to point or stare....I'd just laugh and point at him too. I also noticed I had a lot better "manners" than him. Not sure if you'd really consider it manners....just that I generally smile at people in passing, I always say thank you, please, excuse me, and so on. My b/f was making fun of me because I call almost everyone Sir or Ma'am........just a respect thing I guess. On the enlisting note I'm going to MEPs tomorrow and sure I will have a story or two to tell. I guess another girl is going up with me. She's a HS senior and Recruiter Grunt told me I am supposed to mentor her?!?! I was like what do you want her to end up in AA? (I've been known to drink people under the table here and there). The Boss was like no no you know just do you.....make her laugh show her normal people enlist! Hmmm when did I become one of the normal people? Any who the other girl who was supposed to ship with me went to MEPs while I was in FL and got DQed....damn it, but she's going up again next month and should be "good to go." I hear she went up there and drank a bunch the night before so her weight went up and that she also got tricked into admitting to some medical stuff so she's got to get the paperwork and all that jazz now. Chalk up three lectures for me about not drinking while I'm up there...geez. The recruiters were less than thrilled when I joked but guys the Miller Brewery is up there c'mon! No drinking for me hopefully it will all work out. It was pretty stressful trying to pick a job field though...... somehow the Boss was told I wanted either Public Affairs or Media Option so he was searching for those for me.....when really I wanted Public Affairs or Administration. Turns out they found one in the Media Option and the only thing in Admin was Supply and Finance.......it sucked. Recruiter Grunt was running late to some JROTC ball and I felt bad keeping him there while I tried to decide. I kept apologizing and he kept telling me it was fine that he could leave if he wanted and let the Boss handle it but he wanted to be there....UGH.....eventually I settled with putting Public Affairs as my first and the Media Option as my second. Keep your fingers crossed. I really would have like to have Admin as a second but the Supply and Finance sounded like to many numbers and a big headache to me. Filling out all the paperwork took like two and a half hours. My recruiter is not the brightest hence our duo being nicknamed "Retard Recruiter" and "Patient Poole." The Boss kept getting on Recruiter Grunt about crap he messed up and I felt bad for him......I would try and cover for him as much as I could....Boss was like geez with that kind of loyalty already if only we could make you a grunt. So there you have it folks......hope for the best plan for the worst and keep praying for the impossible!
-Maybe Marine

P.S. The title of this post is a saying one of my best friends loved to say all the time when people were getting all hyped up about anything. He's in the Navy now and lives far away but I couldn't help but think of him due to the lovely pre MEPs Magnesium Citrate diet I'm enjoying and on one of the many trips to the restroom him saying that popped into my head. Oh how I'd love to have him here to ask me that now so I could tell him in quite vulgar terms exactly where the fire is at the moment!LOL!

Maybe all Recruiters are created evil......

2006-04-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

"Why do females have to have a period why can't we have something more exciting like an exclamation point?"- Me discussing the joys of being female with a friend

As soon as I set foot in my house from the family vacation my b/f told me I needed to call Recruiter Grunt....turns out the female I talked to at the family night is set to enlist and ship out in May! Yikes....Recruiter Grunt told me that the female ship dates had been changed so I could take either May and do the buddy system with this female or October and probably go it alone. Not to mention I had to sit down and pick a job. Yuck yuck yuck I hate making decisions especially decisions that have to be made quickly and then you sit around for months waiting on the results. He gave me the 2 days before I left on the FL vacation to think about it.......well here we are a few hours before I leave and I've decided next to nothing. I told Recruiter Grunt to go ahead with the proceedings of me shipping out in May.......hey at least then I'll know someone right? As for jobs I just can't decide it's between administration and public affairs.......oh or any other job field I might want. Recruiter Grunt was running around checking with his boss about job openings the other day and I heard his boss tell him that I was a female with really high test scores so just assume everything was open and if not then he would find an opening....I don't think I was supposed to hear this but what can I say my recruiters are not good whisperers. Ugh... I thought I had everything all figured out I was just going to walk in tell Recruiter Grunt I'd do administration since that’s what I scored highest for.......things didn't go so well. The office was locked and the recruiters were out doing school visits. I did what any girl in her right mind would do.....I went shopping! Hey I'm going on vacation I need to look my best for all these people I'll never see again. When I got home my b/f sat me down to talk......I was racking my brain for possible mishaps I had managed over the past few days. My thoughts were something like "hmmmm I paid the electric bill on time this month can't be that,hmmmmm I made sure to dog proof the house before I left can't be that, hmmmmm I'm not pregnant and I haven't noticed any strange rashes can't be that"....my thoughts were cut into by my b/f explaining to me this was a big deal and it decided what I would be doing the next four years of my life.....ugh he wants to talk about THAT! No anything but THAT! HE managed to get me all stressed out before he left for work...jerk! Then today Recruiter Grunt called me to ask for my decision... I told him how the good ol' b/f was freaking me out and Recruiter Grunt tried to calm me down a bit. SO there I was standing in Target...where I had been standing in the same spot for the past half hour trying to simply decide on a damn bag for vacation and I needed to decide on what I wanted to do for the next four years of my life....ugh. Needless to say no decision has been made.....Recruiter Grunt is being really cool about the whole deal and told me to just relax on vacation and we'll talk about it more when I get back. He said I could even go to MEPS undecided...though he doesn't recommend it. The hardest part is just not knowing what it is I'm going to be doing......I keep saying the job doesn't matter because if I was really set on any job it would be the mental health field....and to get that I'd have to join the Army. Every time I have myself convinced it doesn't matter common sense takes over and reminds me it just might matter. Well if anyone out there has any advice from any MOS's fields please let me know. I've off to go pack for FL(yes I did at lest finally decide on a bag to buy) yay!
-Maybe Marine

So this is vacation...........

2006-03-29T15:45:00.000-08:00

Hell, there are no rules here-- we're trying to accomplish something. -- Thomas A. Edison

So right now I'm sitting in the living room of my cousin's house...let me give all of you a brief rundown of the population of this house....there are 3 dogs, 4 or so cats, 4 birds that won't shut up, 7 kids running around(this includes anyone under 30), & 4 adults. This is all in a 3 bedroom prefabricated house aka a trailer....everyone in this town lives in prefabricated houses I just call them trailers...I mean thats what they really are. My mother and I have taken the liberty to reserve a hotel room in the local hotel. The local hotel has 20 rooms LOL.... the whole town consists of a store, 2 gas stations, and about 3 bars.The whole town shuts down at around 5oclock...the gas station that stays open til 10pm is comsidered a luxury. Combine all this with the fact that no one in my family speaks below a full forced yell and you have the jist of my vacation. I'm not complaining though because for some odd reason I love it here..........maybe it's just because the way of life up here is so much different than mine? Today we were able to go to the cemetary and visit my grnadparents and great uncle, aunts, etc...... graves. That's always a bittersweet thing to do since we don't get to visit so often. Besides that there is not much going on.......the b/f and I are fighting over something stupid. I guess we are going to take a break, but I don't know how much of a break it's going to be since were going just the two of us to FL. Not to mention the fact that we live together and share the same bed. Who knows hopefully the sunshine will do us good........well for now I am off to join the family for dinner!

-Maybe Marine

Bored stiff.......

2006-03-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." -- Galileo Galilei

Not really a whole lot going on just thought I'd post to well post. I've got a busy couple of weeks coming up so this may be one of my last posts for awhile. This Tues. my mom and I are going to visit some relatives who live waaaaaaaaaaaay up north in WI. It's about an 8-9hr drive depending on how many stops we make and so forth. I love going up there to visit. My aunt & uncle live in this town of about 1000 people where the closest McDonalds is a 45 minute drive that involves going into MN. Most of my mom's side of the family is from there and the local legion hall is even named after my great uncle. The problem is that the only person to carry on the family name is my Uncle C. and his adopted daughter does not have the family name. Besides that the only family left who lives up there is my Aunt K. and when she married she took her husbands name. It's kind of funny to see people's reactions when they realize who we are. About a decade or so ago a family with the same last name as my great uncle's moved to town and started claiming they were the only living relatives of his. Kind of funny since they are no way shape or form related to us! I guess they enjoy taking away from the honor that belongs to my family for the members we lost in war. Most of my family just ignores them for the most part. All in all the town is full of good people. There are those stupid few though. I remember a few years ago we went up to visit.....my Mom and family usually made it a point to stop at the Legion Hall and look at all the photo's and stuff of their family history......turns out someone in the town had the audacity to steal my Great Uncle's purple heart! Before this I never really paid much attention to anything on those walls but this visit was different. Maybe it was because we were/are at war and there was a whole new group of pictures of the newest war veterans or maybe it was because I had actually matured and started caring about my history either way I couldn't believe someone would steal a purple heart. I mean c'mon my Great Uncle had paid the "ultimate sacrifice" I was always told by locals and here they were stealing it from him? My family discussed asking for all the memorabilia and things that they had donated back, but in the end decided to leave it up. Just writing this makes me angry....both my Great Uncle and grandfather were veterans... I was able to meet my Grandfather because he made it out alive my Great Uncle on the other hand was declared a casualty of war and his remains were never found. I can't imagine being a mother and burying my son in an empty casket! I'm glad she wasn't alive to see this injustice! Ok ok I'll get off my soap box now......
Anyways two days after I get back from the family trip the b/f and I are heading down to FL for a little spring break action. Yay! Hopefully it will be a relaxing escape. Sunshine seems to make everything a little bit more bearable for me! LOL. I've been to FL a bunch since my grandparents winter down there, but I've only ever flew through Orlando so it'll be fun to see something else besides the airport. At first I was not too big on the idea of going to FL and not staying on the coast, but then it occurred to me that I'm not really a fan of the ocean. Don't get me wrong I love the beach....but I don't like swimming in the ocean. In fact I usually end up in the hotel pool next to the ocean. So the whole lack of ocean water shouldn't be too big of a deal. Then the day after I get back from vacation it's off to MEPS. As of last time I weighed in with Recruiter Grunt I was exactly one pound under my maximum weight fully clothed so as long as I stay there I should be fine. Well not much else to write guess it's about time I go zone out in front of the TV. By the way has anyone ever watched that show "Little people big world" on TLC? There is a marathon on right now and I have to admit I might be addicted......!
-Maybe Marine

Civilian Demolition by Drill Instructor Demonstration.....

2006-03-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

"You think I give a mailto:F@* about tonight? These people aren't my F@*%ING friends and family! They are you F@*%ING maggots’ friends and family so you go out there and make them F@*%ING proud!" -The "pep" talk our Senior Drill Instructor gave us before we took the stage

Last night was our DEP & poolee friends and family night for the whole region. I really had no idea what to expect, I was just hoping there would be a DI demonstration. Little did I know I would get to be in the DI demo. Things took forever to get started because they planned for about 150 people and close to 300 showed up. After enough tables were rounded up they attempted to feed us, but they ran out of food. So the local recruiters pitched in and bought the rest of us pizza. Then they introduced the guest speaker it was then all hell broke loose for me. Three of the local recruiters swarmed my table explaining that a female DI had showed up and they wanted a female poolee. Low and behold I was the only female poolee they knew of in the whole place. My recruiter ran me out to a female Marine who said oh gees they've already briefed them your behind before you even started good luck, and out the door I went. Once I hit the parking lot I tried to fall in, but the SDI spotted me and swore at me to get out of there(I guess there were a bunch of drunken civilians coming out of the other banquet goofing off and pretending to be part of this drill.) I decided I should just go stand as straight as possible in the back.......the female DI spotted me and came charging over ........"YOU MY FEMALE POOLEE!" yes ma'am, "YOU BETTER START PUSHING!" The DI's yelled at us for another few minutes and then the SDI gave us a F word laden pep talk. Or should I say gave the males a pep talk.....the female DI gave me a 1 minute "smoke" session for being late....... they herded us into a hallway told us we knew the drill and better not F up......you see that's the thing I didn't know the drill all the guys knew they would be taking part in this since at least the beginning of the night. They also had the advantage of being briefed outside and taking a dry run at the whole thing. I was not so lucky. Before I knew it we were sitting indian style in front of the audience. The SDI had his DI's repeat the DI's creed and let them loose on us! I was in the very back closest to the audience and was managing to climb mountains while kicking parent’s ankles. I tried to scoot over every time we stood up to side straddle hop, but the female DI kept moving me back over....it wasn't until our last set or so of mountain climbers that she got stuck in-between a terrified sitting mother and father realizing why I kept moving over. No big deal she just hopped the mom and demanded why I had just touched my hair......I knew better than to explain it was in my face......LOL Finally they yelled for us to get out of their faces and we all ran to the hallway. Out there all the guys started bragging and carrying on about how awesome it was.....I remained trying to do my best impression of standing at attention hey I was taking no chances for all I knew the DI's were coming back for us. My recruiter came over and talked to us about what we thought and all that jazz. One of the guys then realized I was there and was like wow it takes guts to go out there with no warning like you did... I laughed at him and told him yeah right I wasn't even doing nose to the ground push-ups...he just smiled and said you think half us guys were! Then they had us go back to our tables and watch the rest of the video. Everyone at my table was staring at me and my family would not stop asking me if I was ok.....I just wanted to blend in and watch the video. After that the SDI opened the floor up for questions. I had to use the restroom so I tried to sneak out. Not really wanting to come back in and draw attention to myself I decided to just hang out in the doorway with the other miscellaneous people. Mission failed soon I had not one but three of the recruiter asking me if I was ok, not 30seconds after they walked away my mom was out there talking to me, then my b/f gees can't a girl pee in peace? I swear even the female DI was eyeballing me...that was probably more though because she was imagining the civilian qualities she's like to sweat out of me! Overall I'm glad I got to take part. I just wish I would've got to take part from the start. It made me realize what I really need to work on. When the DI's and their entourage were leaving one told me work on screaming and you'll be fine recruit. That will probably be one of my biggest problems just seems like every time I was getting screamed at I couldn't find the air to form a response. A guy fresh out of boot camp also told me he thought I had good bearing, he said he noticed when all of us came back from the drill I sat and stood a little straighter the whole time the DI's were in the room.LOL! Like I said before I was taking no chances. At the end of the night a girl came up to me explaining she was thinking of enlisting. That was really relaxing. With her the total of female poolees was a whooping three and the other girl was still in HS. We chitchatted and exchanged numbers I sure hope she enlists.....keep your fingers crossed.
-Maybe Marine

Look what I can do......

2006-03-20T23:56:00.000-08:00

Ok so to seasoned bloggers this is nothing big but to me it's a nice suprise turns out my pop-up blocker was on not allowing the window I needed to post a picture to pop up for me. Ah victory at last... here is a pic of the b/f & I ......

All recruiters are not created evil....ahem I mean equal......

2006-03-20T23:12:00.000-08:00

"Germans don't wear green because their not Irish" - Stephanie's infamous dad Ray O. Snyder

So whenever I can figure out this dang blogging idea I'll try and get some pictures up of the people I carry out my shenanigans with. Til' then if there really is anyone reading this use your imagination. Where to begin since the last post.... well let's see I ran into one of my recruiters at the bar we'll call him Recruiter Grunt .... he was there with his brother and I was there with a few of my bar buddies aka people that are fun to go out with but not real friends. It was half price night and payday a killer combo if you ask me. Let the shots begin. Sooner or later usually sooner just about every girl in my group was drooling over Recruiter Grunt and he was eating this up like any guy would. I literally cannot tell you how many shots we took that night but I'm gonna guess somewhere in the low teens. It was a great night, but the morning after was a little taste of hell! Not just for me though come to find out somehow Recruiter Grunt ended up at the recruiting office where he preceded to puke from the front door all the way back to the Marine Corps office.(In accomplishing this feet he puked in front of the Army, Navy, and even Air Force offices). I guess the other recruiter's found him passed out on the office couch with no recollection of where his vechile was all he could muster was bar Recruit Maybe Marine tequila. LOL! So that was my tuesday.

Now for my friday aka St. Patty's Day.... run into another Recruiter and his wife we'll call him Recruiter Hillbilly..... I swear were not alcoholics. Anyways somehow we get on the topic of me going to MEPS. Recruiter Hillbilly's face is bright red as he tries to compile a sentance to ask me when I will be on my period. It starts with him asking when "My family will be in town" because most girls gain weight when there family is in town. His wife and I are just starring at him confused(luckily the other people in our group weren't at the table) then he goes on to go you know your visit you get. Visit? what the hell visit am I getting? While me and his wife are still just starring at him like he is a space alien his face gets really bright red and he whispers you know your ummmm ummm period thing. LOL! It was a beautiful thing to have a grown married man trying to enbarassingly ask you about your period. We have decided from now on it will just be referred to as "The Visit" LOL! Besides that the night was good it was nice for my friends to meet one of the Recruiter's and see that they are not some evil rotten lying scum. I honestly don't think I have a single friend besides the boyfriend who wants me to enlist eh oh well.

In other enlisting news in my life I went to the recruiting office today to turn in some info and there were a bunch of guys in there getting ready to go on a run. I'm pretty sure they were in the DEP program or something rather. It was a bit uncomfortable because all a dozen or so of them just eyed me. That is until Recruiter Grunt and company came out of one of the back offices and started talking to me. It was funny to watch all their faces when they realized I was a recruit not a g/f, sister, etc of someone in the office. Funny boys I tell ya... Well I am off to try and get some shut eye.

-Maybe Marine

Hangovers and running are not a good combo....

2006-03-10T02:05:00.000-08:00

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found". -- Calvin Trillin

I went and took the ASVAB and scored a 89 I was unsure if this was good as I was thinking the grading scale was similar to the common school grading scale. On that scale I was looking at a high B which is better than a C, but not quite an A, I was disappointed in myself. The b/f told me he was unsure if my score was good. So I high tailed it over to the recruiters office and handed it to the recruiter telling him my dilema. He grabbed the slip of paper and took a deep breath getting a look of shock. I panicked asking how bad I screwed up, which made him announce I had gotten and 89 this was followed by the nearby recruiters laughing. Oops I must of really screwed up. It was then he saw my look of nervous terror and said only kidding you did great the average is in the low 40's and you only need a 30 something to pass. Ahh relief! I'm told I can pretty much go into any job field I want yay! The actual ASVAB was much easier than the pretest which I only scored a 70 something rather. After getting the good news about my score I wanted to walk over to the Army recruiting office plop my paper down on a certain recruiters desk and start doing the cabbage patch. I resisted the urge and stayed to shoot the shit with the Marine guys musing about.
When I was taking the ASVAB there were only 3 other people there. It boosted my confidence to see that I would not be the most undisciplined person to try and enter the service. One guy was dancing about literally! It was a mix between break dancing and rave kid dancing. I wanted to tell him to settle down. The other girl was babbling about how she can never pay attention to anything for more than 2 seconds. And the second guy spent his time smoking and slouching in the corner. The Army recruiter there asked me what service I was there for and when I said Marine Corps the other kids looked at me like I was an alien. He asked me my name and stuff and told me he was the original recruiter that stopped by my house. He said he wasn't looking to change my mind just wanted to know what made me go Marine Corps. I told him about my not so plesant experience with his co-worker and he said he understood. I think he probably gets that alot. Finally the lady walked out with our test scores. When the girl opened hers the recruiter congratulated her and the test lady looked over said she thought she had one of the better scores and then looked directly at me. I think the Army recruiter wanted to have a look at mine but I was late and had to get outta there quick. I did see that same recruiter at the office when I went in today and he asked me how things worked out. I told him alright and my recruiter said hell yeah she rocked the ASVAB I felt good. I wish I would've gotten a 99, but I'll settle with my 89 I suppose.
The Marine Corps recruiter also told me I already sound like a Marine because of my sarcastic comments and general mannerisms. Wohoo! That was a nice pat on the back for a second I was worried they didn't think I had what it takes. The Marine Corps recruiting styles are just really different than what the Army did. Not in a bad way, but sometimes I just don't really think their interested.Whereas the Army was on my doorstep trying to pressure me into decisions. Nothing against the Army, but maybe that's why their behind on recruiting. I understand it's hard but they are a little over the top. I'm glad they came around though because without them stalking me down I might have never got the courage to go down to the recruiting office. I respect all branches of the service but the Marines has became the apple of my eye. Awww isn' that sweet. I'm set to go to fill out all the paperwork for MEPS and background check stuff Monday hopefully all goes well.
As for my post title....... last night I went out for just a drink or two and ended up enjoying just a shot or two to many. My new policy on drinking is that I have to go to the gym the next day hungover or not.Why not sweat the alcohol out of my system? So today I drug myself into the gym and went to town, about halfway through my cardio I made a trip to the bathroom to puke. Yum nothing like tequila. I'm glad it was late and no one was in the lockerroom at the time. I did manage to get back on track and finish my workout which was a plus. I can't imagine this routine can be very healthly, but I'm trying to stay on the up and up with this whole working out thing. Plus it helps me learn push myself to the max even if I am feeling horrible. We'll see if it pays off.

-Maybe Marine

The Little Snake That Could...

2006-03-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

"We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by."-- Will Rogers

My b/f's snake has made an escape as of last night. Now I am not really scared of snakes,but I'm not really to keen on having one roaming my house. When the snake moved in I was assured the tank was sealed tight and there was no possible way I would have to worry about waking up with a snake in my bed. Seems times have changed, the hope is that the snake is still trapped somewhere in the basement and will not venture upstairs to visit the 4 dogs. My luck the dogs will greet me tail wagging dead snake prize in mouth. This is not a solution, but a major possibility as my dogs sure would enjoy a toy that slithered around. Thank god the snake is still rather small so our min pin Semper Fi is not in danger of being eaten. That was my first question when I was informed of the disapperance.......What if it tries to eat Semper? The b/f assured me that it was still eating small frozen mice and that Semper was way outta it's ball park. It still worries me though. Yuck yuck yuck stupid snake.

On another note I'm going to take the ASVAB today. I'm still undecided about joining. I really want to but there is always that fear of what if. With my imagination those what ifs turn into very horrible things! The rational part of me knows that fear is normal and that I will regret this if I don't join only because of fear. Everything in my past I didn't do or try because I was scared I regret. My mom is in nervous breakdown mode at this point trying her hardest to pressure me into anything but the Marine Corps. Hell she even started saying I join the Navy. I think she only said that because my step-dad is prior Navy and hes still alive. My mom just thinks me joining equals me dying. Thats a scary thought. I watched Jarhead the other day(great movie) and my mind started thinking double time. Up until this point my only worry has been getting through bootcamp and not worrying about deployments, not that I haven't thought about it. It makes me think that I'm not cut out for this because I can't imagine myself going to war and killing someone. I don't have that want to go to war, it scares me. My b/f told me this is normal for an untrained person and the fact is most people joining don't join because they want to go to war. I just feel un-Marine like for not wanting to go, I mean almost everyone you talk to in the service seems so sure about going to Iraq and that they can handle it. Maybe I'm just letting people get to me. I'm so sick of people hearing about my plans and going oh you know your going to war. Hey people don't you think I've thought about that. It's like telling a future teacher oh well you know your going to have to stand in front of a classroom. No duh I get it it's part of the job. Their not going to just hand me a gun and put me on the next plane to Iraq, I like to believe there will be a hint of training first, but that's just me using common sense. I'm not joining for money or college. I'm one of the lucky ones who have parents willing to pay for a free ride through college and I took part of that free ride til I relized I'm so sick of being handed everything. I know that sounds so spoiled and ridiculious. I'm just sick of always doing what someone else wants me to do with my life. There is my dad who thinks since I'm not in college anymore that I should start learning the family buisness, my mom who wants me to finish my degree, and me who's really not so sure about things. Well that's enough ranting for now I'm going to go for a run and possibly try studying for the ASVAB, wish me luck!

-Maybe Marine

And then there was me.....

2006-03-07T01:31:00.000-08:00

Seems from browsing the web lately it's time I started a blog aka my handwriting is to bad to read anymore when I journal. Please bear with me through the many grammar errors and typos as this blog will be an English teachers nightmare.
About me:
Nothing to special I'm just your average 22 yr old female(23 in 1 month) who enjoys a little bit of everything. As of right now I am pondering enlisting in the Marine Corps so most of my posts will be about that or random rants. I live in an average size city an hour or so from Chicago. I have 4 rescued dogs(yes 4), a pretty good relationship with the live in b/f, and a knack for being a little to sarcastic. I'm not really political and I don't think I agree with one single party enough to say that's my party of choice. Ahem to Republicans that usually means I'm one of those damn liberals lol. Can't think of anything else to important so guess I'll post later. c-ya