OCS: Haircuts and Uniform Issue

Finally a picture! (http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/?dest=ccoB)

OCS: First Letter

I received my first letter from Quantico and I am so relieved! I was starting to wonder if I would ever hear from him, but alas I got a 2 page letter.

He seems to be doing well but perhaps a little homesick. He wrote the letter during "lights out" so much of it is hard to decipher but he has finally been assigned a platoon which means I finally have an address to give all of you (see below). He isn't sleeping much, about a 1/2 to two hours per night. He also comments a number of times about how cold it is. He waited in 16 degree weather the other morning for chow. They also don't heat the building the guys stay in, so I anticipate this cold weather is a difficult adjustment for an Arizona boy. He knows about the Tucson shooting. He has made some friends and he really gets along with his rack-mate.

Before I give you the address, please read over the do's and don'ts of letters!! It is very important that you follow these guidelines if you want your letters to arrive to him and also to keep him out of trouble. If you are forwarding this information to others, please make sure they understand the rules!

His address is:

Candidate Phillips, Matthew, E
C Company, 4th Platoon
Officer Candidates School
2189 Elrod Avenue
Quantico, VA 22134-5033

OCS: Phase 1

The OCS website posted some photos from the Initial Physical Fitness Test, but I don't see hubby in any of them.

Here is the site: http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/?dest=ccoA

Please double check this for me!

Day One

Well, today was the first full day without my hubby.
I won't say it has been easy but so far I have found that as long as I stay busy, it is easier to cope. So, I met my sister for lunch, ran a few errands, took down the Christmas decorations, vacuumed, and rearranged a few items of furniture. I have also been watching the television coverage regarding the shooting here in town of 18 people and that has also made me realize that things could be much worse.

Last night was hard, the dogs woke me at 11 when they heard the dryer rumble because they thought it was him returning home. Lily is much more aware of his absence than Trudy. She sits by the door and waits patiently but it is usually easy to distract her with a toy or treats.

I bought Trudy a new collar and sweater today. They match and are pink and gray. If you can't dress your dog up when you're sad, what can you do?

Quantico, VA

Hubby texted me a few minutes ago to say that he has arrived in Virginia safely.
I don't know when I will hear from him again, but I should get a letter sometime next week which has his address. I will post it here, as soon as I get it.

Safe Travels, My Love

Today I think I may have done the hardest thing in my entire life. I put my husband on a plane to pursue a dream which doesn't include me. I am so proud of my marine candidate, yet so sad. Our home feels empty without him. It will only get harder later today when the dogs sit by the back door waiting for him to come home and he doesn't.

Happy New Year!!!

Tree Killer

This past fall semester most of my professors didn't require us to purchase textbooks, which was awesome! The flip-side of that awesomeness was that they posted everything we needed to read on the internet, which we then downloaded and printed out (if we wanted to). I prefer to print things out and take hard copies with me to class and highlight/write notes as I read. I am old school, I cannot retain information I read on the computer as readily as I can when it is in my hand.

As an experiment, I collected and kept everything from this semester, this includes mandatory readings, assignments and study materials. I am not certain how many trees had to die for my education, but it does beg the question if buying a book would have been better for the environment...?

Have no fear: this stack of paper was recycled

Christmas 2010

Hubby and I have been off for about a week now and I have tried to take as many pictures as possible before he takes off for Quantico. Here are some of the highlights:

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of you out there a very merry Christmas!!

Eye Infection

I went to the doctor yesterday because I woke up with a sore eye. It felt like I got punched and it was slightly red and swollen. She prescribed some antibiotic drops as well as oral antibiotics for the next ten days. It was her belief that I have an infected sty, which I had never heard of. I wasn't able to go to work today because my eye was swollen shut and I didn't feel safe driving. Here's to hoping my eye improves tomorrow.

Haircuts

Before Hubby leaves on his new adventure, he lovingly groomed the dogs for me. They look absolutely precious!!

Final Grades

Went online this morning and checked out my final grades for the semester. This is the first time all of them have been up at the same time.

Egyptology: B
Paleoanthropology: A
Primate Behavior and Ecology: A
Archaeology of Food: A
Conservation Biology: A

My overall GPA is up to 3.42

The biggest surprise was Conservation Biology and Egyptology. In each of these classes, I felt like I was bringing my 'A' game but could never succeed on the tests. Very much a surprise that I did as well in these classes as I did. I am so happy that I survived this semester and I still don't know how I did it...