House...apartment. Whatever. I have come to accept that it just isn't going to be clean right now. Not with 10 days till Ranger school. Not with 10 days left to sleep in the same bed. Not with 10 days left to eat dinner together and definitely not with 10 days left to snuggle on the couch and watch Breaking Bad (our newest obsession- it's bad). Yes, that was a bit dramatic. Oh well. I know Ranger school isn't that long, and it is nothing compared to a deployment, but this whole leading up to them being gone is slightly ridiculous. The boy's end up working ridiculous hours- luckily mine can run on no sleep...so while getting up at 1:00am would be detrimental to my health (mental, that is), he is usually still kicking well into the afternoon. They also have to buy a ridiculous amount of stuff...stuff that will most likely never be used ::cough cough:: cold weather boots. So I am tasked with finding ways to keep the boots looking "new" without actually being new. That way we can return them when he gets he back! I can cheat the system.
This week is called "mini rap week". I thought it was "practice" for Ranger school. I was wrong. Apparently it is qualifying for Ranger school and if you fail then you don't go at all. Thankfully, I didn't figure that out until today, after James finished his Land Nav test. So James' week has looked like this:
Tuesday- RPFT...I am pretty sure it stands for Ranger Physical Fitness Test. Which includes- pull ups, sit ups, push ups and a five mile run. The usual PT tests only have a 2 mile run. James said it was so hot- reminding you that it was done at 4am- that people were dropping left and right and they even had to call the ambulance for someone.
Wednesday- Land Navigation. The boys are given 8 points, a compass, and a "grid" like map. Then told to go find all the points and be back in 3 hours. James found all of his points AND came back a whole hour early!!! WooHoo!! We are really thankful that he was able to find all of the points. Honestly, God has gifted this man with the ability to find his away around with a compass and a "map". I only do directions with actual buildings and man-made points of reference. Fields, no. Tall grass with the possibility of snakes, absolutely not. Next comes the question I know everyone is asking...how do you keep people from following one another from point to point...(this would have been my tactic). Apparently there are hundreds of "points" to find and everyone gets a different set and order. Genius.
Thursday- 12 or 16 (can't remember) mile road march. So now that I know this is a legitimate task that must be completed, I am paying more attention to detail. Details such at the weight of his "ruck" aka large back pack. It is suppose to weigh 50 pounds. We do not own a scale. So James is standing in the corner lifting it up and down saying, "It feels like 50 pounds, maybe I should put more weight in it just to be sure..." Not okay. While he finishes getting everything ready for his bright and early morning, I ran out to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy a scale. Why would you want to carry 58 (my guess) pounds when you only have to carry 50? Especially when it is hot and time matters? Exactly. You don't. Thus the reasoning for my run to BBB. In reality it was probably worthless. James weighed the ruck. It weighted 56 pounds (good guess on my part). He decides that "just to be sure" he was going to add some more weight and a full camel back to make a total of 60 pounds. This is when I realized that I was looking for ways for him NOT to carry more weight so that it will be easier, and his thinking was, I should carry MORE weight to make it harder so he can practice for Ranger school. Totally different mind sets. And that is why I love him. Always wanting to be prepared.
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