Morning Minutes USAFA

I know I have told some of you about the little "ceremony" thing that Brit has to go through each morning before breakfast, but I could never remember all of it and I think it's kind of neat. (I'm sure she isn't loving it at 6:30AM) But, I am just so gosh darn proud of her! She gets up each morning at 5:45 all on her own, and is standing outside of her room in formation at either 6:20 or 6:30 I can't remember exactly. Anyway, the night before, she has to go online with her USAFA issued laptop at find out what is for breakfast the next day and memorize it and memorize three news articles/current events because she could be stopped by a Cadre and asked.

So, I had her email me exactly what is said:
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Morning minutes….


Class Rep: Pink Panthers prepare to call the 36th minute please.

All: Pink Panthers there are 36 minutes until the contact time for the morning meal. Uniform of the day is “blues” (or battle dress uniform/airman battle uniform depending on the day). Menu for the morning meal includes ….(say what is for breakfast) Pink Panthers I say again, there are 36 minutes until the contact time for the morning meal. Secure your lights and rooms please.

(We call the 36th, 30th, 25th, 20th, 15th, and 13th minute) we say all of that for every minute we call. We used to get “beat” during this time but they aren’t allowed to anymore. And don’t forget after the 13th and final minute we say “Pink Panther’s Pounce!”
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(Pink Panters is her Squadron and it is 36 out of 40 squadrons. I am just happy she isn't in the squadron called Loose Hawgs...not kidding! I'm pretty sure "beat" means ordered to do push-ups, etc. =] )

So, I'm off to Toronto tomorrow. I will be back on September 1st and then leave for Colorado on the 3rd!!!! YIPPEEE!! I CANNOT wait. On Friday, the 4th, Christopher and I will go to the Academy and we get a tour and we get to actually go to her classes with her (all the parents do) On the 5th, we will get to see a football game which will be exciting I am sure! Be prepared because no doubt I will take a TON of pictures. =]

It is been a wonderful August and I have many beautiful memories. I just thought I'd share a few of them here. It was sad leaving Taylor at the airport today but we know that we will be seeing her (and Britany) in just 10 short days in Colorado!! Hopefully, we will make a trip to NH later in September to see Hopey and watch some field hockey games!!

So, no more texting or talking with Brit until Parent's Weekend =[ Apparently, her squadron's leadership was a little more relaxed about the phones than the other leaders, but it looks like it caught up to all of them and the cadets had to hand over the phones until Parent's Weekend. Well, thank God for facebook !

Taylor arrives tonight at 8:30 YIPPEE!! I am finally feeling back to normal (mostly) so I am looking forward to some quality time with her while she is down. We are going to meet Rob, Ann-Marie and Cooper for dinner on Thursday! =]

I think I am going to attempt to get Christopher started in some activities like gymnastics and karate. I will take him today to watch a tae kwon do class to see if he is interested and then while Taylor is here, she is going to take him to open gym at Lafleur's to get him aquainted with everyone, etc and see if he will participate. There is also a Chinese School nearby that I would love to get him involved in. He needs to get out and make some lil friends but he is so darn shy around other kids.

Last night I talked with Britany for 45 minutes! It was so nice to have a good conversation with her and to get some insight as to what her typical day is like. I am so proud of her. She is proud of herself in many respects as well; pushing herself beyond her limits both physically and mentally with amazing results. Listening to her talk about her routine, I have these images of her going about these activities and I can't wait to see it in person when I go out there for Parent's Weekend.

I did ask her to email me word for word what she told me about her morning routine in paraticular because I want to read and re-read it; it is so unbelievable. She wakes up ON HER OWN at 5:45 each morning and by 6:30 is standing outside of her room in line with the other freshman for this morning ritual where they have to count down to breakfast by shouting out certain things. They are in a line from tallest to shortest with the tallest (her boyfriend) leading the countdown. I can't remember what all they say which is why I asked her to email me. But it is fascinating. Each night before going to bed, she has to go online (by using her AF issued laptop) to find out what is being served for breakfast because that is part of what they are announcing. They have to say what the dress attire for the day is "blues" etc. and that breakfast is ... and list what is being served.

She said for breakfast all 4,400 Cadets are present and they all get served at their tables. (That must be a sight to behold) Monday, Wednesday and Friday she said they have to parade to lunch. They all have to meet at a certain place, stand at attention, and wait to march in formation to their meal. Because there are 40 Squadrons and she is in 36, you can imagine how long it takes her to get to lunch. She said after standing at attention for so long, that some Cadets pass out because they forget to bend their knees. For lunch and dinner, they have the option of getting their meal in a "to-go" container and eating in their room. She doesn't speak highly of the food. :)

I asked her what was the toughest part and she responded it is when the Cadre "get in your face" yelling. She talked about having to run "double-time" everywhere (freshman cannot be seen walking the grounds at all) They are also not allowed to walk the same paths as the upper class men; they have to run along the outside of the main walkways. She told me that she does have a backpack but is not allowed to carry it on her back. She must carry it in her left hand and run double-time. She said that it is so heavy with books that it hurts her hand. Once, she said she was attempting to carry her bag across her forearm to give her hand a break when she was confronted by a Cadre who shouted at her "FEMALE! That is NOT a purse! Carry your bag correctly" She was mostly upset at being addressed as "FEMALE" lol.

We are slowly adjusting to life around the house without Hope and Megan and Philip. I have been dealing with what appears to be asthma for a couple of weeks now which doesn't help matters. Christopher is lonesome without his three buddies and mommy is too tired and out of breath to play games. Poor thing. I can't even make trips into Tampa because when I start getting out of breath and my breathing is off, I tend to get light headed/dizzy and should not be driving in all that traffic. We have been sticking close to home, hunkered down inside with the A/C turned down and the blinds pulled. Not the best way to spend the summer. =[

Taylor arrives on Tuesday so, that will be amazing!! I am trying to rest as much now to hopefully get over the worst of it so that I can venture outdoors while she is here! I know she will want to tackle Busch Gardens and get in some sun at the beach. So, everyone pray that I will be past the worst of this nonsense!!

Hope will be starting field hockey camp this coming week which should be fun for her.

Britany is doing well adjusting to Academy life. I don't get to talk to her very often as she is so busy with school work and of course her new boyfriend. I am so happy that she found someone to help make her time out there more enjoyable. They met during basic training. He is adorable. He is a football player (linebacker) and is from California. She tells me that he is "an angel". I think we can all tell how she feels by the smirk on her face in the picture posted below in a previous post. =] Our main line of communication these days is texting. I can't imagine how people lived before the dawn of texting!

That's it for now I guess!

Acceptance Day USAFA Class of 2013

**Britany and her gymnastics teammate from Atlantic Gymnastics and now AF - Colby**


**Britany with Kelsey - the Cadre that befriended her when she was ready to throw in the towel! **

Update

Things have been crazy and not much time to update my blog! Hope will be here until Tuesday and then I am going to have a little, broken-hearted boy on my hands. I seriously don't know how he is going to do (not to mention her mamma is going to be sad too).

Taylor will be down on the 18th for about 6 days, so that will be a huge help to both of us. Then September 3rd we leave for Colorado for parents weekend!!!!!!!! WOO-HOOO!!!! I cannot wait.

Britany does have her cell phone back but her time is so limited. She does call but for short conversations but I will take what I can get. We do mostly texting. I finally had to change my text mode over to word as I am getting carpal tunnel from texting one letter at a time!

She is doing great. She sounds good. She said she is total muscle these days lol. She found all of her classes without getting lost, although she says her book bag is so heavy and she has to carry it in her hand (i'm picturing a brief case type) and that they have to run to each class, I'm imagining like as a group like when they march. I'm not sure, I am still trying to picture her ironing her uniform every night!

Sometimes she is on facebook and I happen to catch her on there and we chat for a bit which is nice and then we communicate alot through the private facebook email. I would send emails to her yahoo account, but she never checks it! lol.

When she called tonight, we spoke for about 3 minutes; long enough for her to ask me a quick question, let me know she started gym again and had a good practice but she had to run to get to the dining hall before it closed. Like I said, always on the go!

Lazy Day...

Today was just a lazy day. I had no ambition to do a darn thing! Finally at about 4:30 I told myself to get up and do something! So, I rode my exercise bike for 6 miles, took a shower and decided to take the kids to see G-Force (at the 10PM show!) This is definitely city living here. I don't know what the heck I'm going to do when Christopher has to start school and start acting like all the other kids who have a schedule! Yikes. Mother of the year right? Any-who..it was a cute movie. Hope went along under protest, but ended up secretly enjoying it. But WE won't tell anyone on her Myspace will WE?? LOL. Hopefully, I will get some pictures up of her if I can get her to do a photo shoot with me! Taylor is coming down August 18th through the 24th. She managed to get some time off work. Things have been really busy at GAP, but that is good news for her and her savings account! She is loving that 50% discount as well! So, more good times ahead with another one of my kiddos.

I have to talk about this dream that I had the other night. I dreamed that I was at Disney's Magic Kingdom with Britany but she was about five years old. It was just Britany and I and we were watching a parade or fireworks by the castle. This family was there with little girls and I was watching them, holding Britany on my lap. I choked up and said to the parents "Enjoy every minute with them at this age. It will go by so quickly and you will miss these days more than I can tell you." I then pointed to Britany and explained to the parents that she was only there with me for the day because somehow, someone had figured out time travel and I got to have a day with her at that age and I wanted to take her to Disney but she was really 18 and leaving for the Academy the next day. I woke up with the tears still in my eyes....