Post by Cathy on Aug 23, 2007 15:28:09 GMT -4
Just got a letter from Zach!! As I did last time, I'm copying and pasting what i just posted in my online diary to save me typing time. lol Its long because his letter was long and moving at times, and detailed and fun and upbeat and oh...just read along if ya like!! lol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow!! Like seeing that pic of Zach last night wasn't gift enough to me...today's mail brought a 5 page letter from him too!!!!
He is doing AWESOME!!!! He 'sounds' great and seems as if he is enjoying every minute of his training! He's upbeat...except for missing Skittles and Cool Ranch Doritos...lmao and has a newfound addiction to Peanut Butter!!! Sure, he's always 'liked' it...but now...he LOVES IT!!!! Ya see, its about the only thing they get in either MREs(meals ready to eat) or in the chow hall, that is sweet tasting-near like candy to them at this point I guess!!! lol he eats the PB packets from his MREs right out of the packet!!! lol
He did the 'Chamber' had to go in twice though because upon exiting the Chamber, his helmet stap slipped down to his neck and that's a no-no...to the DS, it prolly looked like he didn't have it up in the first place...so he got sent back in!! lol He said it was great!!! OMG!!! How did I KNOW he'd actually LIKE doing something like that!!! He said the second time was even easier than the first!! lol
Oh and yes, he mentioned that when he first went in, how the gas hits ya and affects ya...drool, snot, etc...oh yes, he was QUITE descriptive! TMI!!! lmao!!!
He asked me to send a few things he needs...like notebooks, pens, pencils...geez and here i thought I only had back-to-school shopping to do for Sarah!!!
lol But hey, NP! Whatever he needs, I'll send! lol He asked for 4 notebooks, because he wants to share 2 of them with a friend he made there, named Jacobs. Apparantly, this guy has no family, gets no mail, has no one to send him stuff, etc...it broke my heart reading that. 
So, I'm gonna send double of ALL he asks for, so he can share with Jacobs. And I'm gonna write to Jacobs too. Its the LEAST I can do for what HE is doing for our Country! Zach said that Jacobs even told him that he wants ZACH to put on his Blue Ropes at the Turning Blue Ceremony!! omg...how incredible. Zach said he's formed a bond with this guy and he told him he would be honored to put his Ropes on him.
He said that in 3 weeks time, he has formed some of the greatest friendships there already.
Zach said he's made many friends there, a few in particular, who he's gotten to really know and has also formed bonds with. That's so wonderful! H said one night, a new DS came in and so they were all telling their names and where they are from and one guy said he's from Lancaster, PA!!! Which is a place we LOVE and we got to very often. And later on that night, Zach said to him..."Hey, Murphy...ShadyMaple!" (our fav restaraunt in that area!!) The guy was floored and they now talk about ShadyMaple and other places there all the time!!! lol
Zach said he failed his first PT test, but only on pushups-passed everything else. he said as he got towards the end, he lifted his foot...which is another no-no and so, he failed for that. They are VERY picky, huh??? lol But, like he said, none of these really count...its the final one you need to pass and that's 11 weeks away!!! lol he said he got a time of 17:05 on his 2 mile run...he said he knows he can do better(he's done it on his own other times before going and always times at better than he did) But he said he was running with Jacobs, who's a smoker...well NOW a non-smoker since ciggies are a HUGE NO-NO there!! lol he said he needed the motivation to keep running, so Zach ran with him.
Oh, and Zach also talked about how hard it is for some of the guys there...esp the guys with kids and a wife, being away from them like this. Zach said one older guy in his Unit, was ready to quit...missed his wife and kids too much, but that Zach talked with him and talked him out of it. That bought such tears to my eyes...I thought..."Wow...my little boy, is no longer a little boy...he's a man."
He said he LOVES getting the mail and he's been getting all my letters!!! Said it took him an hour to read the last 2 from me that he got!!! LMAO!!!!
He said in 'down time' when there's nothing to do...he reads and re-reads my letters. Awww...
He says that BASIC is pretty easy, easier than he thought, but as I've said before...that's probably because he went through the National Guard ChalleNGe Academy for 5 1/2 months and it was very much LIKE BASIC! lol
He mentioned the Confidence Course and how good he felt about himelf when he completed it with not a single problem.
Throughout the letter, he keeps going back to Peanut Butter!!!! He even says how Oreos dipped in peanut butter would be wonderful!!!! Which was hysterical when I was reading the letter out loud to my daughter, Sarah, because she had JUST said...he'd love Oreos dipped in peanut butter!!!! Too funny!! I hadn't even read that part myself yet when she said that! We cracked up laughing!!!
But yeah, PB seems to be a pattern in his letter, he just stops what he's writing and adds in stuff like..."I'm buying peanut butter in a squeeze bag. Like put it in a ziplock and cut the bottom(corner) off. For the 16 hour ride home." LOL!!!
Oh my, the poor guy...he's got it bad for peanut butter now!!! lmao!! Guess its the closest to candy/sweets that he gets to have now!!! I should send him the label off our peanut butter jar...roflmao!!! nah!! That would be mean. *giggle* Hubby thought it was funny though...lol OR, I'll find scratch-n-sniff stickers that smell like peanut butter!! lol!!!
He said they did the claymore demos and IED training and a class on IEDS later on.
He also mentioned about in one of my letters how I told him we went to the County Fair-something we all always do together-and this year, we met his g/f there to spend the day with us there too and I had said to him that it wasn't the same without him...and he said..."I had a sad moment reading your letter about the fair. Everyone was there but me. But, its duty first and the fair will be back."
Oh, how he's grown in so many ways.
He also said that they DO have fun around there too. he said, "Around 18:00, Drill Sergeants become human and get funny. Like the other night, a few of us were doing laundry downstairs. we sang country music for like an hour. O yeah, I need the lyrics for the song, 'Good Morning Beautiful'. I know the chorus and the song stuck in my head cause I don't know the rest!"
ROFL!!! Imagine that...my son, who only liked a handful of Country songs he's heard me play, like Toby Keith's songs(I'm a HUGE Country music fan lol) and lo-and-behold...send him down South and he's requesting me to send him lyrics to Country songs and telling me they sing them out loud!!! roflmao!!! Oh, I love it!!! lol!!!
Now I'll have to buy him a cowboy hat!!
lmao Oh wait, his Cav Scout hat will be sorta like one anyways!!! lmao!!!
Well, that's about it besides just him mentioning stuff I had said in letters and more peanut butter talk!!! lol!!
Oh what an awesome, upbeat and incredible letter!!! he REALLY is doing awesome and really does love it all!!! EVEN tha dreaded GAS CHAMBER!!! LMAO!! It figures though...he's always been a Soldier at heart, even before he became one for real...
~~~~~~~~~
So, there ya have it. If my poor body didn't hurt so much, I'd be dancing around in my joy!!! lmao :lol:
*HUGS*
Cathy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow!! Like seeing that pic of Zach last night wasn't gift enough to me...today's mail brought a 5 page letter from him too!!!!
He is doing AWESOME!!!! He 'sounds' great and seems as if he is enjoying every minute of his training! He's upbeat...except for missing Skittles and Cool Ranch Doritos...lmao and has a newfound addiction to Peanut Butter!!! Sure, he's always 'liked' it...but now...he LOVES IT!!!! Ya see, its about the only thing they get in either MREs(meals ready to eat) or in the chow hall, that is sweet tasting-near like candy to them at this point I guess!!! lol he eats the PB packets from his MREs right out of the packet!!! lol
He did the 'Chamber' had to go in twice though because upon exiting the Chamber, his helmet stap slipped down to his neck and that's a no-no...to the DS, it prolly looked like he didn't have it up in the first place...so he got sent back in!! lol He said it was great!!! OMG!!! How did I KNOW he'd actually LIKE doing something like that!!! He said the second time was even easier than the first!! lol
Oh and yes, he mentioned that when he first went in, how the gas hits ya and affects ya...drool, snot, etc...oh yes, he was QUITE descriptive! TMI!!! lmao!!!
He asked me to send a few things he needs...like notebooks, pens, pencils...geez and here i thought I only had back-to-school shopping to do for Sarah!!!
lol But hey, NP! Whatever he needs, I'll send! lol He asked for 4 notebooks, because he wants to share 2 of them with a friend he made there, named Jacobs. Apparantly, this guy has no family, gets no mail, has no one to send him stuff, etc...it broke my heart reading that. So, I'm gonna send double of ALL he asks for, so he can share with Jacobs. And I'm gonna write to Jacobs too. Its the LEAST I can do for what HE is doing for our Country! Zach said that Jacobs even told him that he wants ZACH to put on his Blue Ropes at the Turning Blue Ceremony!! omg...how incredible. Zach said he's formed a bond with this guy and he told him he would be honored to put his Ropes on him.He said that in 3 weeks time, he has formed some of the greatest friendships there already.
Zach said he's made many friends there, a few in particular, who he's gotten to really know and has also formed bonds with. That's so wonderful! H said one night, a new DS came in and so they were all telling their names and where they are from and one guy said he's from Lancaster, PA!!! Which is a place we LOVE and we got to very often. And later on that night, Zach said to him..."Hey, Murphy...ShadyMaple!" (our fav restaraunt in that area!!) The guy was floored and they now talk about ShadyMaple and other places there all the time!!! lol
Zach said he failed his first PT test, but only on pushups-passed everything else. he said as he got towards the end, he lifted his foot...which is another no-no and so, he failed for that. They are VERY picky, huh??? lol But, like he said, none of these really count...its the final one you need to pass and that's 11 weeks away!!! lol he said he got a time of 17:05 on his 2 mile run...he said he knows he can do better(he's done it on his own other times before going and always times at better than he did) But he said he was running with Jacobs, who's a smoker...well NOW a non-smoker since ciggies are a HUGE NO-NO there!! lol he said he needed the motivation to keep running, so Zach ran with him.
Oh, and Zach also talked about how hard it is for some of the guys there...esp the guys with kids and a wife, being away from them like this. Zach said one older guy in his Unit, was ready to quit...missed his wife and kids too much, but that Zach talked with him and talked him out of it. That bought such tears to my eyes...I thought..."Wow...my little boy, is no longer a little boy...he's a man."
He said he LOVES getting the mail and he's been getting all my letters!!! Said it took him an hour to read the last 2 from me that he got!!! LMAO!!!!
He said in 'down time' when there's nothing to do...he reads and re-reads my letters. Awww...
He says that BASIC is pretty easy, easier than he thought, but as I've said before...that's probably because he went through the National Guard ChalleNGe Academy for 5 1/2 months and it was very much LIKE BASIC! lol
He mentioned the Confidence Course and how good he felt about himelf when he completed it with not a single problem.
Throughout the letter, he keeps going back to Peanut Butter!!!! He even says how Oreos dipped in peanut butter would be wonderful!!!! Which was hysterical when I was reading the letter out loud to my daughter, Sarah, because she had JUST said...he'd love Oreos dipped in peanut butter!!!! Too funny!! I hadn't even read that part myself yet when she said that! We cracked up laughing!!!
But yeah, PB seems to be a pattern in his letter, he just stops what he's writing and adds in stuff like..."I'm buying peanut butter in a squeeze bag. Like put it in a ziplock and cut the bottom(corner) off. For the 16 hour ride home." LOL!!!
Oh my, the poor guy...he's got it bad for peanut butter now!!! lmao!! Guess its the closest to candy/sweets that he gets to have now!!! I should send him the label off our peanut butter jar...roflmao!!! nah!! That would be mean. *giggle* Hubby thought it was funny though...lol OR, I'll find scratch-n-sniff stickers that smell like peanut butter!! lol!!!
He said they did the claymore demos and IED training and a class on IEDS later on.
He also mentioned about in one of my letters how I told him we went to the County Fair-something we all always do together-and this year, we met his g/f there to spend the day with us there too and I had said to him that it wasn't the same without him...and he said..."I had a sad moment reading your letter about the fair. Everyone was there but me. But, its duty first and the fair will be back."
Oh, how he's grown in so many ways.
He also said that they DO have fun around there too. he said, "Around 18:00, Drill Sergeants become human and get funny. Like the other night, a few of us were doing laundry downstairs. we sang country music for like an hour. O yeah, I need the lyrics for the song, 'Good Morning Beautiful'. I know the chorus and the song stuck in my head cause I don't know the rest!"
ROFL!!! Imagine that...my son, who only liked a handful of Country songs he's heard me play, like Toby Keith's songs(I'm a HUGE Country music fan lol) and lo-and-behold...send him down South and he's requesting me to send him lyrics to Country songs and telling me they sing them out loud!!! roflmao!!! Oh, I love it!!! lol!!!
Now I'll have to buy him a cowboy hat!!
lmao Oh wait, his Cav Scout hat will be sorta like one anyways!!! lmao!!!Well, that's about it besides just him mentioning stuff I had said in letters and more peanut butter talk!!! lol!!
Oh what an awesome, upbeat and incredible letter!!! he REALLY is doing awesome and really does love it all!!! EVEN tha dreaded GAS CHAMBER!!! LMAO!! It figures though...he's always been a Soldier at heart, even before he became one for real...
~~~~~~~~~
So, there ya have it. If my poor body didn't hurt so much, I'd be dancing around in my joy!!! lmao :lol:
*HUGS*
Cathy
