First Day

It'll take me a while to catch up with the events of the past couple weeks, so I'll just focus on today. It's been an interesting first day as I reported to my unit at Fort Bliss. Here's just a run-down of some of the events:
*Locked myself out of my motel room as I ran to get something from the car while I was on the phone.
* Had lots of salutes given to me. Failed to salute an officer because I was temporarily blinded by sun and blowing dirt while leaving a building and had to be reminded of this simple military courtesy by another officer. Sunglasses are a must here.
* Found out that I was still not in the system. Third time was not a charm, as I was previously told this at Camp Pendleton and Los Alamitos. My in-processing has been put on hold for a bit. Fortunately, I was able to get all of the paper work together and everything is now being put into the system. Then I can get my ID card. It was highly recommended that I do not leave the base until I get my ID card. This could take a few days since Friday may be off.
* While my breakfast sat like a rock in my stomach, I was reeeeally thirsty all day long. I finally re hydrated myself after a trip to the commissary in the late afternoon and I stocked up on gatorade and water.
* I was set up in one of the annexes for lodging. They are some pretty old buildings, but it's decent. The downside is that I have very low cell phone reception.
* I can see Mexico! However, I am prohibited from traveling to any part of Mexico.
* My orders for tomorrow: call the captain of my unit to let him know I am still alive (this is what he said) and search through apartment guides.
* I have not been able to find enough English stations to finish programming my car radio.

Aloha

I hate goodbyes. I'm really terrible at them. I try to hold back my emotions and I had been doing a pretty good job until my last couple days. I decided to replace goodbye" with "Aloha." It just sounds more cheerful that way. I know many people I will see again, but there are always those who I will not. I remember when I was on my mission I had to do it about every 6 weeks. Most of the people I met there I knew I wouldn't see again. While I was discussing with my trainer of why saying goodbye has to be so hard. She shared a quote that her uncle told her, "The only way to take the sting out of death is to take the love out of life." So, the only way to take the sting out of saying goodbye is to remove the love in a relationship. A man once said, "Grief is a by-product of love." A couple years later I was dealing with the death of my dog that I had for 13 years. It was pretty emotionally hard on me, even harder than some of the human deaths I had dealt with in life. I came to a realization of the emotional investment that people put into relationships, whether it be with family, pets, friends, crushes, co-workers, even jobs and homes. It's a kind of investment that I can never regret because it has brought more richness to my life. I don't look at time spent with the ones I care about -- whether it be a belly rub for my dog or staying up way past my bedtime to spend time with friends -- as wasted time. There are always things that we can focus our attention on, but some of those things will pass, become nothing more than a check-off an a to-do-list, or can be put off. This isn't an invitation to procrastinate, just re-evaluate your time with the people and things that make you happy and enrich your life.
**warm fuzzy**

It's Official

On Friday I was commissioned as a First Lieutenant Officer and officially sworn in by Major Britson. I can't believe I leave for El Paso a week from tomorrow!

Not just a desert wasteland: embracing my next home

I admit that the idea of living in the desert has not excited me very much; especially since I'll be surrounded by hundreds of miles of desert in any direction. There are some wonderful things about the desert such as beautiful sunrises, sunsets, and storms. I'm currently reading the book, "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer (yes, there was a movie too, but books are always better, right?) and I came across this quote and it gave me more hope in embracing my soon-to-be environment:

"The desert is the environment of revelation, genetically and physiologically alien, sensorily austere, esthetically abstract, historically inimical... Its forms are bold and suggestive. The mind is beset by light and space, the kinesthetic novelty of aridity, hight temperature, and wind. The desert sky is encircling, magestic, terrible. In other habitats, the rim of sky above the horizontal is broken or obscured; here, together wih the overhead portion, it is infinitely vaster than that of rolling countryside and forest lands... In an unobstructed sky the clouds seem more massive, sometimes grandly reflecting the earth's curvature on their concave undersides. The angularity of desert landforms imparts a monumental architectureto the clouds as well as to the land...
To the desert go prophets and hermits; through deserts go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have soughtthe therapeutic and spiritual values of retreat, not to escape but to find reality."

~ PAUL SHEPARD, MAN IN THE LANDSCAPE: A HISTORIC VIEW OF THE ESTHETICS OF NATURE

27 Days

Yep, that's 27 days I have until I leave California. I am trying to compile a list of things to do or places to go before I leave.
So far:
1. I went to the beach twice this weekend. I loved it and it hit me how much I'll miss it. It included a couple adventures, including a lifeguard coming up to us saying he received a complaint and proceeding to lecture us on the no alcohol/no smoking rules. It was hilarious since most of us were silent for about 90 seconds. Another beach-goer approached him and said that we were the wrong group and he apologized profusely. It was pretty funny. Maybe I'll throw in one or more beach trips before I go.
2. I had In 'N Out twice last week and I'm sure it won't be my last. My body is starting to revolt against fast food, but it may have to be patient. See #6
3. I will be attending my first Dodger's game next week. It's about time.
What I still need to do:
4. Go to the Getty. Haven't been yet and it's been on my to-do list for years.
5. Enjoy LA. Maybe see a concert or something. Anyone know of any shows?
6. Have a Tommy's Burger. I've never been there and it was brought to my attention recently that I must go there before I leave.
7. Get all the greenery I can. Maybe a quick camping trip or some hiking. Plus the exercise is good and needed.
8. I still have some more dancing left to do at the Coffee Depot on Monday nights.
9. A quick trip to San Diego. I'll probably go to the AAPA conference for a day or so and enjoy the beautiful, non-arid weather.
10. Last and certainly not the least: enjoy spending time with family and friends.

Anyone have any more ideas? Does anyone want to join me?

The Life A-Quad-ic

Last week I spent another afternoon with 4 very cute babies. It's amazing how much they've grown since I first saw them a few months ago. There's a feeling that all is right with the world when you see 4 happy or sleeping babies. I debated stopping by the grocery store on the way home but figured my shirt was a bit too messy. I played "Name that stain" and my mom got it right on the second guess: sweet potatos! They are such a great family and the parents are wonderful. You can check them out on their family blog here.

El Paso I Will Go

Yesterday I came to a final decision and it wasn't an easy one. I received a much anticipated phone call, but I still felt like I was deciding at almost the last moment because I did not have a really definite answer of where I wanted to go. It was down to two choices: El Paso, TX and North Carolina. I went over my choices with Captain Jones (he's going to be the White House PA starting next month) and he confirmed that both were two great choices and he helped me make my final decision based on what would be best for me professionally. Not that I wouldn't mind jumping out of airplanes (part of the airborne certification that I would have to go through at North Carolina) or the fact that North Carolina was a lot greener and not bone-dry like Texas. If I felt like I wanted to spend the rest of my career in family medicine, North Carolina would hands down be my first choice. It is the Army's medical center of excellence for family medicine and many doctors do their family residency training there. I figured I would have more exposure to emergency medicine and trauma at Fort Bliss, and since their major trauma center serves up to 25% of civilian emergencies, I may even get to keep up my Spanish a little.
When I hung up the phone one of my first thoughts was, "the desert...the brownness...the heat...why??" A funny thing was the fact that I was giving the family home evening lesson that night and it was on decisions. It was almost a sort of "decision-decompression-therapy" for me. I was reminded how all decisions, when made with good intentions, thinking and prayer, can be used to benefit our welfare and learning. There are also times when the answers to the decisions that we make are not so clear. Brigham Young said the following: "If I ask Him (God) to give me wisdom concerning any requirements in life, or in regard to my own course...and get no answer from Him, and then do the very best that my judgement will teach me, He is is bound to own and honor that transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes." And so it is with me. It will be interesting to see what experiences I will have there. I will be reporting to El Paso June 10 to start my processing and orientation and will start Officer Basic Course in San Antonio in July. I'm excited -- desert and all -- bring it on!!