Case Lot Sale

What is a case lot sale, some of you may ask. Well...it is as it sounds. Case lot sales are held about once a month under a giant white tent in the commissary parking lot on Clear Creek Road. That's the grocery store for those of you not married to the military. They have amazing deals on a variety of grocery and household goods, and you don't actually have to buy an entire case of an item although you can if you want. We now have 18 rolls of toilet paper and 8 rolls of select-a-size paper towels. Obviously, that's a totally reasonable supply for a family of 2 and 1/2. Penny counts as 1/2 because although she does not use toilet paper she does cause a need for paper towel usage. Anyway, I also got cases of pop (yes, POP) for less than $4 each and 3 bags of chips for the price of one. Throw in 6 boxes of Jiffy corn bread mix, some body wash, and 2 giant sized bottled of lemon-lime Gatorade and I considered my first case lot sale a successful one. However, my experience had its downsides. First off, everyone was driving giant down tiny aisles with boxes that were poorly stacked, with their 8 children in tow. I swear everyone in the Army has 8 children so that's typical. Note: I love all children, but I especially like well behaved children with manners, and they seem to be in short supply on Ft Hood. And I guess the rules of the road obviously do NOT apply to the case lot sale because I was "side swiped" and "read ended" at least three times each. Between the large family in front of me who could not decide between a case of family sized bags of Cheetos or a case of family sized bags of Doritos (as if any family needs 6 family sized bags of chips) and the retired couple behind me figuring out the unit price with a large print calculator, I thought about just giving up and heading inside the comissary where things weren't as cheap but it was nice and cool and calm. But I braved the crowds, and $53 later I had a trunk load full of groceries fromy my first case lot sale.

Ahhh...relief

The many reasons I have to feel a sense of relief!

1. I have finished my comprehensive master's exams! And I'm feeling confident that I've passed.

2. Randy is coming home soon (either 30 September or 1 October- sooner that I expected)!!!!!!

3. We have been given permission to break our lease due to "safety concerns" so we're out of here in October!!

4. I am more than 1/2 done with my internship hours, and should have a paying job soon!

5. I spent the day with 15 life skills students today bowling and eating lunch out. Life skills kids have a variety of severe disabilties, and most are multiply impaired. And yes, even my visually impaired students bowled! Days like these are why I work with special needs kids. I heart them.

JRTC...I love Army acronyms

Because almost everyone I see and talk with in Texas is a Soldier or spouse, I've started talking in acronyms. The lingo that used to drive me crazy is now part of daily routine. I came to this realization while talking with Lindsay on the phone today, when I used an ancronym and there was a pause of silence before I thought duh....Anyway, Randall left for JRTC (Joint Readiness Training Center) in Louisiana last week and will be home between the 1st and 3rd of October. The training center provides the most realistic training opportunity for Soldiers aside from the training they recieve once down range (in the Middle East). The time they spend in the box (a designated area that looks like the Middle East with fake Iraqi soldiers) is very valuable because they run the missions exactly as they will once deployed. Randall is the XO (Executive Officer) of his company E FSC of the 1-5 CAV (that's Echo Forward Support Company with the 5th Cavalry). The XO is the "personel officer" of the company, and is second in command to the company commander. However, his second duty as the UMO (Unit Movement Officer) takes up most of his time. He's the guy who makes sure the right things get loaded onto the right mechanized vehicles, they go to the right places, and they are unloaded in the right way, ensuring they still have all the right goods. There's a lot more to it that I won't explain, and lots more that I don't even know, but basically that's his job. I make it seem simple but it's actually extremely complex and involves a lot of responsibility, paperwork, and organization, however thanks to the system we created late one night, it's going smoothly- sometimes. Unfortunately Randy's FOB (Forward Operating Base) doesn't have cell phone signal so we can't communicate. I did talk to him for about 2 minutes when he went down to the rail head (the place where they load and unload everything on and off of rail cars) on Wednesday. He said things were good but busy as usual. On the home front Penny and I are doing very well. She's a little extra ornery since Daddy is gone but we're making it. She's very good company and a great snuggler in bed at night.

Hurricane Ike

I knew Texas was affected by hurricanes, but I failed to make the connection between myself living in Texas and possibly being affected by a hurricane until tonight when my friend Kate called asking if I had bought bottled water and batteries for flashlights. And as I replied, "uh, no. have you?" I thought to myself hmmm...I do live in Texas, Texas is affected by hurricanes, and I may want to pay a little more attention to the news. With Randall being gone I guess I should put in the extra effort to make sure we (as in Penny and myself) have enough water/ready to eat food to last a day or so. And maybe tomorrow I should cook/eat some of that meat in our freezer just in case we lose power on Saturday. By the way Saturday is the day when big, bad hurricane Ike is supposed to strike. We don't live anywhere near the coast of Texas; it's a good 2 hours to Houston but apparently we could still get heavy rain and winds, and possibly tornadoes from the swirling wind patterns. So tomorrow afternoon after work I will be at Walmart buying batteries, an extra candle or two, and 2 gallons of water just in case, along with about 300 other people who weren't concerned enough to buy supplies days ahead of time. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a drop of rain as it hardly ever rains here even thought the meteorologists constantly have a 30-40% chance of rain in the forecast. I'll keep you posted.