So you want to be a Combat Orthodontist...

Well, bad news: there's no such thing. Just in case you wanted to try it anyway, I found out this week that there are in fact classes available to you in which you can attempt to learn all SORTS of things that might come in handy to you, were you a wannabe-combat-orthodontist, not that I'm naming any names here. Or maybe you're a wannabe-combat veterninarian, like my friend N.: there are all sorts of possibilities here. In fact, these classes are so readily available that the Army was nice enough to just provide all 330 of us here at OBC with a full slate of them, and believe you me, we couldn't be more excited. The excitement reached such a fever pitch in my platoon's classroom that by hour five, we had lost, oh, probably three or four people. Not lost like, they were confused-type lost, I'm talking serious public snoring, followed by a couple of cases of lost balance and people falling out of their desks...you name it. These classes are just-that-fascinating. ANYWAY, after sleeping casualty numero 5, just before lunch, we got an, ahem, pep talk regarding the whole sleeping-in-class thing from our instructor, Captain J. His advice? Oh, he's a man of three words: "Don't do it!" I think there might have been an implied "Or else!" on the end of that. But anyway, Captain J. seems like a pretty decent guy, so we resolve to try extra hard to stay awake after this. That was the intent, but it just turned into a huge game of rat-out-your buddy for the rest of the day. And poor N., our very own combat-veterinarian-in-training, was the first victim. We'd all had a big lunch and gotten back to class when the fun began again. Not that I have any trouble staying awake: personally, I just can't hear enough about combat strategy! Unfortunately, N. had had enough and was fast asleep not even a half an hour into class. So, of course, this is more than enough for the guys in our class to give her a hard time about for the rest of the day. They were teasing her about not even being able to keep her eyes open, and of course she's got to defend herself: she's a combat veterinarian, after all, right?! So she says, "Noooooooo! You don't understand! I was awake! I was blinking....just reeeeeeaaally slowly. That's all." Me, too, N! Me, too. Anyway, my mom is here this weekend to see all of this in person! And it's been a lot of fun, hence the lack of posts for the past few days. You may remember those t-shirts from Casa del Rey that had a dotted line that extended horizontally across the chest, right about armpit level, and the slogan was, "Fill with margaritas to this line"? Well, I'm pleased to announce that despite not having one of those t-shirts, my mom and I are pretty sure that she is just about theeeeees close to being full to that line with the best mexican food available here in San Antonio. And there might have been a margarita or two. Who's to say. At any rate, she will be heading her back north tomorrow, even though I wish she could stay longer here in Texas. Happy Columbus Day to the Texans and Happy Native American Day for the South Dakotans!