Back from Fort Myer!

Got back tonight from Ft. Myer. The weather stayed tolerable. Karen is still down there with Lindsay (can't have a family member alone on New Year's now, can we?). Last I heard (around 9:30 tonight) they were at a mall about to go see a movie. K will be flying back Monday evening.
Here's a brief summary of the week's events:

Wednesday
-Drove to Ft. Myer (about 525 miles FYI).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer... did NOT get searched because (terrorists stop reading here) we came to the wrong gate so late at night and the guys had mercy on us.
-Checked out Lindsay's new barracks (pshh.... apartment!).
-Unpacked her stuff.
-Decided to leave right away (as Lindsay had to "WORK" in the morning... more about this to follow).
-Drove around the Fort finding nothing but closed gates for about 30 minutes.
-Stopped at the MP office. They were very helpful (we were interrupting South Park... it was late, what ELSE where they supposed to be doing... besides... maybe.... GUARDING THE FORT!!!).
-Stayed at the Days Inn in a Canyon, erm.... King bed with three pillows total (what an experience... more about that later... or not).

Thursday
-Woke up to the sound of gunfire with a sore back (after way too little sleep... more about that later... or not).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.

*Note: the searching process involves everyone in the vehicle surrendering their ID's and exiting the vehicle "to the right please", opening each door, the rear hatch and the hood. At which time four or five people with various weapons rummage through your stuff. Finally, we are told "vehicle clear" (after closing all the doors and stuff).

-Visited the Old Guard Museum (which is about 200 meters north of Lindsay's place) while Lindsay was "working" (more about that below).
-The gift shop was closed, but was supposed to be open Saturday (pshhh... I'm totally getting a couple of OGF&DC shirts and maybe a hat and maybe...).
-Got a call from Lindsay around 11am saying she was DONE WITH "WORK" (actually they just all went out to breakfast... tough life).
-Went shopping the whole day (nothing more about this to follow... yawn). Suffice it to say that it involved decorative rocks, incense, plastic hangers and a vacuum cleaner. On a brighter note, I did pick out a spiffy tool kit.
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Spent the evening sprucing up the apartment and watching two movies on L's new DVD player (O Brother Where Art Thou, which she stole from the Exped and Napoleon Dynamite).
-Accidentally toured the western most part of Washington DC at 11:30pm on the way to our NEW HOTEL!
-Stayed at the Hyatt in a King bed with SIX pillows(a bit further away, but WELL WORTH IT).

Friday
-Woke up refreshed.
-Had (FREE) breakfast with a view, read the paper.
-Waited for slacker... erm... SPC Natiw to wake up (she was OFF TODAY... NO WORK).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Picked her up and went to Arlington Cemetery. Toured around a bit and watched the Tomb Guard (part of the 3rd Infantry Division!) change.
-Lunch at the Washington DC Hard Rock (can you say STEAK?... sure you can).
-More shopping, this time at Ballston (just west of Ft. Myer).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Chilled at the apartment and watched another movie (The Brothers Grimm).
-Stayed at the Hyatt in a King bed with SIX pillows.

Saturday
-Woke up even more refreshed.
-(FREE) Breakfast with a view, read a new book on touring/travelling the original 13 colonies (purchased while shopping Friday).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Woke up SPC Natiw.
-Walked over the the Old Guard Museum... the museum was open, but the gift shop never opened. Phooey.
-Said my goodbyes to Lindsay and Karen.
-Drove back to Michigan.
-Arrived home around 7:30pm.... GOT SEARCHED. Wait...

I Believe in Movement

I've been such a slacker since Thanksgiving. Boomer and I finally got back out on the roads today. We did an easy three around the Koppernick loop. While I was running I was thinking about some poetry. It's weird, but I tend to think about stuff like that while I run. Back years ago I would come up with marketing campaigns for different products. Sometimes I'd remember them after the run. Sometimes the chemistry would balance in my brain so quickly that I'd forget them. This time I remember most of it. It'll be called "I Believe in Movement." There are so many benefits to running, walking, swimming, cycling, etc. Everything in my body seems to just work better when I'm running including my mind.

Off to shower and then... I dunno. I love the holidays.

Twenty One Years Tomorrow...

May 1, 1934 - December 24, 1984.

And I still miss him.

This is why...

Yeah, so I'm sitting at my computer last night and THIS walks down the stairs. This is what I'm dealing with here... and people wonder why I am the way I am...

PFDC Cookie Party

Monday night was the PFDC cookie party. I deliberately didn't eat dinner in preparation for this. The cookies were very yummy. We had a great turnout including a few alumni. Jessie, Matt and Erin were there. It was nice to see Lindsay have a chance to chat with friends. After the party, the four of them went out to Zach's for a bit.

I had each recruit come forward and introduce themselves at the start of the party. They all got a great reception from the vets. After them, the alumni came up (including instructors). Looks like it's gonna be another great year!

Guess who's home...

Lindsay got in at 8am this morning. She is home! It's been almost three months. Boomer was very happy to see her too. As you can see, it didn't take long for our house to be filled with the familiar sound of fife music. These next two weeks are going to go by way too fast.

Over the Rhine at Taft!

Perfect background for the Christmas show!
Rick, Karin and Devon are feeling "blue"
Karin sings to the balcony
Karin puttin' some "stank" on it!
Linford on bass, Karin and Rick
Orange you glad I posted these?

Busy, busy, busy...

These are busy times. After getting back from Missouri (why is it colder there than here???), we have been busy getting ready for Christmas and Lindsay's homecoming. I'm not supposed to say anything (Lindsay, if you're reading this, stop here), but she will be coming home Monday morning (19Dec). It's going to be awesome having her home for the PFDC cookie party (but you didn't hear it from me).

Seven Bridges (my band) has agreed to do a special gig at Brew Waters next Friday (the 23rd) to celebrate Lindsay coming home for Christmas. Should be a blast. Everyone better be there!

The week after Christmas (28Dec), K and I will be loading up the Exped with all of Lindsay's personal belongings and taking her back to Ft. Myer, VA. We plan on staying there for a couple days to help her get settled in.

In the short term though, we're gearing up to go to see Over the Rhine at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati tomorrow night!!! We're going to get to meet all the nutjobs that frequent the Orchard at dinner beforehand. This should be... interesting. Can't wait. I just got a four CD set of live OtR recordings from Canal Street Tavern sent to me this week (thanks Ruki!). I was amazed at the sound quality for a bootleg.

Off to shower and dinner.... out.

Update from Ft. Myer

Lindsay called this afternoon. She has been doing well at Ft. Myer. She felt pretty lonely Friday night and Saturday (which is completely understandable). Melissa and John took her out to dinner Saturday night (Olive Garden). Today they went shopping for some supplies that Lindsay needed. She got some food, some cleaning supplies and an orange rug for her bathroom. Yeah, that's right, an orange rug. She has also asked Karen for some Partylite candles for her room, so it sounds like she's getting back up to speed in a hurry.

She will be reporting to Old Guard in the morning. She will do PT with them. They run Monday, Wednesday, Friday and hit the gym to work those "guns" out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She is required to take a PT test again within three business days of arriving at her AIT post, so she will be taking it this coming Wednesday.

She will be talking to her commanders early this week to set up her leave time. We'll keep everyone posted on when she'll be home.

Graduation Day Photos/Videos

Lindsay shows how she spent much of her time during basic... in the "at ease, make way" position whenever a drill sgt. walked by.


Lindsay shows off her M-16 near her bunk inside the A, 2-10 barracks


Welcome to Fort Leonard Wood!


This is the first time we saw Lindsay on Wednesday morning. The drill sgts. marched them out in their class A's right in front of the barracks.


Lindsay's home for the last 10 weeks, A, 2-10 Infantry Barracks. Notice the chin up bars in the foreground. Lindsay called them the "implements of torture."


The senior company on post! A, 2-10 Infantry! Hooah!


Together again!


Lindsay with the Grandmas.


One last time with the drill sergeants.


Jen and Lindsay acting... normal.


Lindzy and Lindsay... acting.... um.


Our first lunch together (Cracker Barrel, duh).


PVT Crafton and SPC Natiw prepare to ship out to their new assignments.


Here are a few videos captured with our camera on graduation day.

Please allow some time for the larger ones to load. They are worth it!

Video one: The soldiers of A Company 2-10 Infantry renew their oath.
Oath (6,003KB; 00:20)

Video two: The soldiers of the 4th Platoon march onto the Baker Theater stage with one of their drill sgts.
4th Platoon takes the stage (2,588KB; 00:08)

Video three: "Left, Right, Left!" The soldiers begin their march back to the barracks after graduation in 10 degree weather.
"Left, Right, Left!" (13,237KB; 00:44)

Video four: "I'm gonna be a shootin' man!" The soldiers arrive back at A, 2-10 barracks.
"Shootin' Man!" (9,509KB; 00:31)

Video five: A short video of Lindsay marching with her platoon.
Lindsay Marching(1,696KB; 00:05)

Video six: "Platoon, HALT" The soldiers are ready to be dismissed for the last time at Fort Leonard Wood.
"Platoon, HALT!" (4,152KB; 00:13)

SPC Natiw arrives at Ft. Myer!

We're home. Arrived home about midnight last night. Lindsay called us to say that she arrived safely at the airport in D.C. Melissa picked her up and took her to her new digs. Apparently she is going to be living in NCO quarters on base. She has a queen bed, an entertainment center (minus TV), a computer desk (minus computer), a walk in closet, a microwave and refrigerator. She also told us that her name "SPC Lindsay Natiw" is on the door.

Yesterday was an amazing day. We arrived at the Baker Theater on post at around 7:30am. There were already quite a few people there. The ceremony started right at 8am. The troops filed in platoon by platoon and all sat on the right side of the auditorium. There were a couple of short PowerPoint presentations (PFDC has them beat here hands down) and then each platoon marched on stage to graduate. They each called out their name and marched off stage. The captain of the company, Captain Flores, led the troops in renewing their oath. It was awesome.

After the ceremony, we got to meet with Lindsay for about 10 minutes outside (it was about 10 degrees). Then the marched them to the barracks (about a quarter mile away) to get their gear and ship out. Many of the graduates are living on post until December 20th when they begin their Christmas exodus before AIT. Some, like Lindsay, are going straight to their units. Lindsay left on a bus for the St. Louis airport at 10am.

She has been through quite a lot. I can't wait for you all to see her in a couple weeks. You'll be amazed. Oh, and you have to feel her "guns." It's scary...

Graduation Day!!!

[Fort Leonard Wood, MO] Yesterday was another great day. We stayed at the hotel for the most part in the morning. I took a drive on post (at FLW) for a bit in the morning and watched platoons being "scolded" (to put it lightly) by drill sgts. Also watched a cattle truck pull up to a barracks building and saw a group of soldiers get out carrying what looked like about 40 pounds of stuff each. Looked like they had been on an FTX.

We picked Lindsay up at noon. She was feeling sore and tired. Someone in 4th platoon had gotten caught using a cell phone that night and they took the whole company out into the cold in their PT's (pajamas) and made them stand out there for 40 minutes. Lindsay was not a happy camper.

We went to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch where we got to hear more stories from Basic Training. After lunch, we came back to the hotel where Lindsay came up to our room. We went through some of the 20 pounds of mail she got from you all. The amount of mail she got was amazing. We really appreciate every single person who took the time to write her.

After eating pretty much everything in our room, Lindsay changed into her civilian clothes and fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon.

When she woke up, we went out to eat at Ryan's Steak House. We had another great dinner and more time with Lindsay. We had just a short amount of time after that to come back to the hotel. Lindsay wanted a massage, so Karen spent a few minutes doing that. After that, we took Lindsay back for her LAST NIGHT IN THE BARRACKS. She took all her belongings that will be going to D.C. with her (including her fife). She also took our digital camera into the barracks last night. She wanted to take a bunch of pictures of her friends. We'll see how that went.

It's about 7am right now. We're leaving in 15 minutes to go to post. She graduates in just about an hour. Directly afterwards, she gets on a bus and goes to the St. Louis airport to fly to Ft. Myer.

This last few days has been great, but has gone way too fast.

Finally...

[Fort Leonard Wood, MO] The drive down was uneventful. We left at 6:30am Tuesday morning and got to Fort Leonard Wood at 6:15pm. We spent the evening driving around (mostly at Walmart getting Lindsay some snacks).

Yesterday was the day though. We attended the family briefing given by Captain Flores. He gave us all the information we needed for the next few days. Also, we saw a slide show of photos of Lindsay's company. After the briefing, we all walked across the street to the A company barracks where our troops were waiting in formation for us. Lindsay was in the front row and was having trouble keeping from smiling when she saw us.

After lots of hugging and tears, we toured her barracks. We saw her bunk, her locker and the room she has spent the last 10 weeks in. Not many creature comforts there.

We got to take her off post, so (naturally) we ended up at Cracker Barrel where we all had a great meal with Lindsay. She had lots of amazing stories to tell us. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and we all just relaxed for a few hours. Lindsay made a couple of phone calls to friends and spent the rest of the time visiting with us.

Later that evening, we went to the Warriors Banquet. This was a very nice event. The food was great and the speech by the commander was really good. I guess the females in Lindsay's company did so well in grenade tossing that they are considering raising the standard. The commanders made the night a "no make way/at ease" night, but the new soldiers could not bring themselves to be that relaxed around the drill sgts. Every time one would walk by Lindsay would immediately go against the wall and put her hands behind her back. This was quite entertaining to watch the whole night. We got to meet one of her drill sgts. who called her his "lean, mean, killing machine." He also said that he knows that Lindsay will be an excellent addition to her group, but "if the going gets rough, you know you can do what you gotta do, right?" Lindsay said "yes, drill sgt."

We dropped her off at her barracks shortly before 8pm. She was sad to be going back, but she knew she had one more day left. Her company was doing a company graduation run this morning (at 4:30am) and it snowed about 3" overnight.

It's about 9:15am (MO time) and we all just finished breakfast. We get to pick Lindsay up at 12pm. We have her until 8pm again today. Graduation is Friday morning.

That's about it for now. More details and photos to follow. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Ten long weeks...

We leave in the morning for Ft. Leonard Wood! This is what we've been waiting so long for. September 28th seems so long ago. Speaking of "waiting so long," we've had a few discussions lately about how fast/slow the last 10 weeks have gone. Seems like for our family, it has been about the longest 10 weeks in history. Most other people say it went really quick. Either way, it's time to go to Missouri and hug my baby girl. I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight...

On a related note, I talked with Melissa yesterday. She asked for our thoughts and prayers this week. She is appearing before the promotion board of the Old Guard today. This will be her third attempt at E-7. She has been in since '98. She should know something tomorrow. Good luck Melissa!!! May the third time be your charm.

Phone call!!!

Lindsay called this evening. She sounds very excited and relieved. She has completed all of her training and has only a few more days before she ships out to Ft. Myer. She has lots of amazing stories to tell us. Can't wait!

Lindsay is doing fine...

Just got off the phone w/Melissa (and Kara!). Kara is now at Ft. Myer and moving into her room. She said that she got to talk briefly with Lindsay this morning and she is feeling better and can't wait to get out of there. Sounds like Kara and Lindsay will be neighbors. They will have private rooms a couple doors down from each other.

I am ready to go. I can't wait for Tuesday to get here so we can get down there. Only a couple weeks until we get her home for Christmas!

No word, but we're going!

Last time we heard anything from Lindsay was on Thanksgiving (the 24th). She had a few challenges left to overcome at that point and we're hoping that everything went well. We'll be leaving Tuesday morning for Missouri. Calendar of events is as follows:

Tuesday, December 6:
6am Leave Canton
7-8pm - Arrive at St. Robert, MO Baymont Inn

Wednesday, December 7:
11am-12pm - Family brief
12pm-6pm - Family PASS (on post)
6pm-8pm - Warrior Banquet

Thursday, December 8:
12pm-8pm - Family PASS (off post)

Friday, December 9:
8am-9am - GRADUATION CEREMONY
10am - Soldier Shipping (Lindsay leaves for Ft. Myer, VA)
Remainder of day - Drive home!

Stay tuned for news and photos from Ft. Leonard Wood!

p.s. Congratulations to Kara (Lindsay's friend and fellow Old Guard recruit) who graduates tomorrow morning!