Cherry Cokes

As soon as I sat down to write, my mind went blank. Has that ever happened to you? There are fragments of things I want to share, but no collective story quite yet. Even the title is just words from a song I just heard. There’s no grand plan for this post. So here I sit. Where to start?

Oh, I got a new car! That exclamation point is excitement and sadness all at once. My old car had to be replaced after USAA chose not to repair it and claim it a total loss. See what had happened was… we had really bad storms with tornado warnings about a month ago. I was driving home from work very late on a two-lane road, and at that time there was oncoming traffic and a tree branch came down in my lane.  My car was damaged,  but it didn’t look like it was in terrible shape. So after I got back from Disneyland (by the way, I went to Disneyland) USAA told me to keep my rental for another week because they were claiming my car a total loss. So sad. No more good gas mileage. Now I have a 2000 Honda Accord ready to take on the world. 

A few weeks ago I went to Disneyland in California and had a blast. It is so cool that my company allows its staff to take advantage of its world class attractions for free. Disneyland admission was free, but the resort hotel was not. The hotel was 60% off though, so that was nice. I flew out late on a Thursday from Orlando and landed in the dump of an airport called LAX (ever heard of it?). That night I stayed in the USO at the airport (shout out to the USO! You the true MVP). The following morning at 7:30am my friend from college picked me up and we hung out at Disneyland all day. I got to see an old family friend from Quantico one of my days there, and I got to see a friend from camp also. The last day I went back to the USO to stay the night and fly out early the next morning. By the way, the new USO at the Orlando Airport is very nice. There is so much that happened on this trip that I cannot write it in this post. I will probably write a different post just about my Disneyland trip at some point.

So I came back to reality and continued 10-hour shifts at work and had drill weekend. The way that my regular days off (RDO) worked out for the 4-day weeks was I had Wednesday through Friday off. In addition to already having those days off, I had to ask off for drill and come back to working one day the week following. Weird. Thankfully we are going back to having regular working hours next week. Watching water for ten hours is not as easy as it sounds. Your mind sort of goes into a state of vegetation while you walk around, sit, and move your head around to scan your area of responsibility. That’s tough! Okay, so physically the job is not hard, but for the amount of time you are watching water you definitely need mental preparation. Thank goodness for regular shifts making a comeback.

This past drill was a little crazy, but nothing unbearable. I am part of a group going on a specialized AT (annual training), so it requires additional paperwork and processing. On top of making up for our lost time in a January, I had additional duties to attend to. Looking forward to March drill though because it’s an extended time with the Marines with whom I have missed after our two month haiatus. February wasn’t much of a time for catching up. 

Right now I am preparing for an audition to become a Line of Business Facilitator for incoming recreation cast members. I went to an information session yesterday and got my script and application. If I am accepted, I will be able to also work at Disney University as a class facilitator for recreation cast members. 

I’ve had a couple people ask if I was seeing anyone. No. 

I guess that’s it. Now my fragmented thoughts have been written down for the record, and I can go forth and conquer the world. There are some additional adventures on the horizon, but they’re not ready for the world to know yet. One step at a time, people! This has been a fun time thus far. I am thankful for the opportunities the Lord has provided for me and the adventure of a life I’ve had. You can’t change the world if you’re not willing to get out into it. Thanks for the prayers and for the support. Still waiting to bid for Sundays off, but I’m thankful for random Sundays off to go to Calvary in Winter Garden. If you’re in the area, come visit! Until next time: Be strong. Love God. Love others.

rejoice.always