Hey, I just passed a PT test!

For anyone who has been kind enough to humor me and listen to any combination of the various worries/hand-wringing fests/complete crazy lady freak-outs that I had about the Physical Training (PT) test that we're all required to take, well, you will be relieved to know that I will stop complaining/freaking out now: it's finally over! They split us into two groups, an early group and a late group, to stagger how many people were taking the test at any one time. The good news is, I wound up in the early group. The bad news is, I had to be there by 4:30 this morning, which kicks off the whole "if you're 15 minutes early, you're late" circus that accompanies absolutely everything in the Army, which meant that A. and I actually had to leave here around 4:15. ANYWAY, you do pushups first, then sit-ups, and then, lucky us, they top it off with a 2-mile run. If you're reading this, and you've been part of one of the aforementioned hand-wringing sessions courtesy of me, you probably know that I was most worried about the pushups, because as of May 1, 2004, I could not do even one, so, needless to say, I was pretty thrilled to be able to do 20 that met standards this morning, which is a handful more than I needed to pass...phew! So, what meets standards? Well, I won't bore you with the particulars, but let's just say that I did closer to 30 pushups, but if the drill sergeant doesn't think you went down far enough, they just keep repeating the same number over and over again until you correct yourself. Or do a faceplant in the infield, which I came dangerously close to doing, but that's a whole other story. The sit-ups went quickly, and my 2-mile time this morning, while not an award-winner, was the best I've run since spring, and came in about 3 minutes under the time I was required to get: way more than enough to keep me happy. The other bonus associated with this little test? If you pass the first physical training test (the one we took today) you only have to do PT at 5:00 A.M. 3 times a week, instead of 5. Whoo hooo! Will I be busting out a Zsa Zsa Gabor-ish satin sleep mask and pair of maribou slippers in order to properly sleep late a couple of days a week...you bet! This is really good news for me, because the weird hours that we've been keeping are, well, weird for me, and I can definitely use a little extra nappage. Amazingly enough, the offer of extra sleep as an incentive to people like us actually gets some results. Extra money? Public humiliation in the form of a drill sergeant yelling at you while you goof up your pushups in front of other students? Yes, it's all motivational, but extra sleep? Believe you me, I'm all over that.