It's officially Fall...

Well, it has finally started to get cool again down here in Georgia, with the temperature coming in at a brisk 36 degrees this morning... Needless to say, I turned the heat on as I was getting Will off to class at the Benning School for Boys this morning. Ha-ha...

Not too much has been happening in the past two weeks, but we did start going to comedy on Thursdays again, now that Kim's daughter is with her ex-husband in Texas for awhile. In addition, we have added a new friend to our group! She is an LPN that worked with an OBC friend of Tas and myself at Walter Reed, who is now stationed here. I love it when we knit new, fun people into our little circle! Lastly, Will's mom flew down from Kentucky for the weekend to see him and meet me. Even though I had to work, we all had dinner together Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her, and Will said she liked me too, so I am happy about that.

The next few weeks should be interesting... I am going to Western Kentucky University's homecoming with Will, where I will meet most of his friends. I am quite excited and quite nervous at the same time, but overall I really can't wait. I have heard so much about everyone, that I am interested to meet them... Especially Amy and Heather, his two best female friends. Will says that Heather is really loud, so I think we will get along great! Ha-ha. Next on the docket, Will and I are going to run the Atlanta Half-Marathon on Thanksgiving, then drive up to Owensboro, Kentucky for Thanksgiving weekend with his family. Susan, Will's mom, said that "We girls will go shopping, and let the boys do their own thing!" I laughed, and agreed that was a good idea.

So, overall, I guess you could say that things are going really well with Will, and I am looking forward to seeing how things play out in the next few months before he heads to Ft. Wainwright, Alaska... Yep, Alaska, and yes, we are both bummed...

Well, I am going to get another cup of coffee, drink some water and Gatorade, and get ready for my PT test this afternoon. I have a feeling it will blow, I have been feeling like poop for the past few days... Wish me luck!

66H out...

Something so strong...

So I had quite the profound realization earlier this week. You know, the kind that alters your perception of the world in an amazing way; The kind that restores your faith in love and life; The kind that allows you wake up with a smile, and smile all day, because you know that the person you can't wait to see, can't wait to see you either...

Like going off the 10-meter platform for the first time... Terrifying, exciting, crazy, but absolutely worth every second of the leap.

Stay tuned...

66H out...

Back in Georgia...

So I am finally home, well as of Sunday that is... What a great two weeks out in California!

However, I saved all of the excitement for the last few days of my vacation. On Friday night, I ran the 22nd annual Palo Alto Moonlight Run (photo at left). The race is held every year in late September/early October, under the full moon. I ran the same race in 2004, and decided that I wanted to run it again, since I would be home for it. I did fairly well, I came in 227th out of 656 people overall, and 23rd out of 78 women in my age group (20-29). They never have a photography service at the race, so I had to settle for a post-race photo by Mom.

After the race, I raced home (he-he), showered, ate, then drove over the hill to stay with Danielle and David for the night. The next morning, I was up bright and early (5:45 am) to head off to Big Sur, to run the 17th annual Big Sur Trail Marathon/Half-Marathon/5 Mile run (photo at right). I did the 5 Mile run... I may be crazy, but I am not THAT crazy... What the event coordinators fail to tell you on the website is that the 1,000 foot ascent occurs within the first 2.5 miles of the race... Ouch. The good news is, the last 2.5 miles of the race is a 1,000 foot descent... Sweet! For my tired little legs, I did fairly well in that race too. I finished 19th out of 65 people overall, and 2nd out of 11 women in my age group (25-29). Go Army!!

Needless to say, The plane ride home was brutal... My legs were so sore, and sitting in one spot for two-and-a-half hours at a time, nearly took me down when I had to get up and off the plane. So, the moral of that story kids, is running two races back-to-back was not the brightest idea I had all week... But still fun.

Since I got home, I have been spending mad time with the kitty, I have managed to see the boy several times, and have only worked once this week! Nice to still be on vacation while not having to take more leave time...

Well, you are now fully caught up with all of Audrey's fabulous leave details!

66H out...

Almost time to go...

Well, I never thought I would say it, but I am ready to head back to my life out in Georgia... I miss my friends, my cat and the boy. I happen to miss the boy the most, and I know that he is ready for me to come back too.

Alright, on to the past week's events... I saw quite a few friends, drank quite a few beers and drove quite a few miles in the rental car. Today, I went out to lunch with my former Professor of Military Science, and we chatted about life in the Army. She also asked me to write an article for the quarterly newsletter, so that should be something fun to work on this month. However, the highlight of the week so far was going out to dinner with my awesome friend Jamie at El Burro in the Pruneyard. We talked all about my time out in Georgia, boys, and her recent job interviews. I hope that she gets the job that she wants with the Council on Aging... It sounds like the perfect job for her and the vacation time they offer, right from the start, is phenomenal as well.

Things are winding down at this point since I leave on Sunday, but I still have lunch with my Auntie B tomorrow, a race tomorrow night, and another race on Saturday morning. I will also get to see Danielle, David and Aidan one last time on Saturday afternoon. Yay!

Ciao from California!

66H out...