Victory Block Leave

I remember, sort of, what happened the Thursday before leave started. We did PT in the morning, and then we did "Bay Maintenance". They had been threatening us since Wednesday night with an inspection by the Battalion commander, and said that if the sleeping bays weren't clean then NO ONE was going to get their block leave. At this point, no one believed them, because they keep saying things and threatening us with things, and never following through. And, I'm pretty sure they didn't want anyone staying there over Christmas who didn't absolutely HAVE to. In between cleaning and chow, our DS briefed us on the expectations for us over these 2 weeks, and we signed a contract basically stating that we would continue with PT, so that we could all pass a PT test upon our return. Bedtime as at 2045, as usual. We woke up at 0330 on Friday so that we could conduct more bay maintenance. The commander was coming to inspect, after all! At about 0550, we met on the CTA, saluted the flag and had chow. MREs for breakfast is really not what you're hoping for, but my Spaghetti and meat sauce meal came with Cheez-its and Skittles, which I saved for later. I might have eaten them, if the DS hadn't come down to inform the females that the latrine smelled like urine and we had 10 minutes to be upstairs to fix the situation. The commander, was after all, coming to inspect. So, 33 females run upstairs to do the job of 3 or 4 people, so most of us just stood around. POVs (people leaving by private vehicle) were to form up at 0730, and it was about 0715 when DS told us to get out. Goodbyes started, and people wanted to give hugs and have emotional goodbye scenes, but I just wanted to get the hell out! I flashed a peace sign and ran my ass to the CTA. Of course, there was more waiting involved. We lined up alphabetically, got our DA31 (leave form) then we marched to the Battalion classroom where we had to wait in a line for outprocessing. There was already a long line of families waiting to pick people up and it as only 0800. The captain had said we might get released at 0900, but the way things work around Ft. Jackson, we all knew it would be closer to 1000. So, we enter the classroom, they check names off a list and give us ANOTHER copy of our leave form and scan our ID. Then they search our bags. Why? Not even the DS doing the searches knew, since in the words of one of them "POV can take whatever the fuck they want home" Stupid. Accordingly, the search consisted of people dumping out their bag then putting it all back in. Stupid. Then we got to sit there and wait. And wait. And wait some more. At one point, they told us to hand in our ID again so that it could be re-scanned. THEN they told us that they were missing one ID card and that NO ONE was going to be able to leave until that ONE person handed in his/her card. Stupid. Everyone sat there because everyone knew that they had handed in their ID. So we waited some more while the sergeants threatened. I had a great idea that they could have everyone stand up, then call all the names off the cards they had, and when you heard your name you would sit down. That seemed like a very easy way to figure out whose card was missing. But no one in any position to make decisions thought of that, so we waited. It was about 0945 when they started lining people up according to whose family was first in line. They would line 10-12 people up, then send them out the door, then do that whole process over again. I had been texting MB, and knew that she was very far back in line, so I was patient once people actually started leaving. Oh, and the whole ID card finasco? They had counted wrong. No one was surprised by this. So now, after pussy-footing around for an hour and a half or so, NOW they decided to rush us and make us hurry. This is how things usually work...the people in charge fuck around for awhile, and when they decide it's time to act, YOU get yelled at for being slow. It's truly messed up and forever frustrating. Oh, well. So, they kept calling names, and I kept sitting there, and then MB texted me and said someone had just come to take her name, so I knew I would be getting out soon! And sure enough, I was in the very next list of names. There are probably not words enough in the English language to express how excited I was to just be in her car, see her and know that I was leaving Ft. Jackson. We lined up dutifully and filed outside where there were a couple of officers assigning people to the right line. They had instructed us NOT to have prolonged hugging or hellos, but simply to drive away. THANK GOD MB ended up being the first car in the line. I said a quick goodbye to my platoon-mate behind me, jumped in the car and told her to drive fast and drive far! She did, thank goodness, and we made a beeline for IHOP, because she really wanted Gingerbread Hot Chocolate and I was dying for real food and COFFEE. I think I was a little bit hysterical to see her, I had been pretty homesick for a couple of weeks. We got to IHOP where I promptly changed out of the ACUs into JEANS and sandals that my mom had so thoughtfully sent for me. It was an amazing feeling to be wearing my jeans and a real bra...after 9 weeks of sports bras, it's a whole new world when you put on a real bra. It's the little things, people, don't take them for granted! I think I had 4 or 5 cups of coffee and pumpkin praline pancakes which were amazing. On the way home I had some Reeses Pieces, diet soda and we stopped at WalMart where I bought some fleecy pajama pants and slippers, 2 things I had been dreaming about for weeks. Since I have been here, I have spent 85% of my time wearing them. It is everything I had hoped it would be. :) I posted this on facebook, but the cliches are true...family and friends are the most important things in life, and I am blessed to have an amazing family and truly awesome friends. You also really don't know what you have til it's gone, so appreciate everything. As I type that, I realize that I was not imprisoned, or hospitalized or in any way being held captive. I did, in fact, sign up. There is something about being cut off from the world as you know it and being totally isolated in this creepy world that is sort of created out of nothing in 9 weeks and that world becomes your reality, there is something about it that makes you feel like you're not a part of anyone's world anymore, that people must have forgotten about you, and that you are never going to be part of the real outside world again. It was a relief to rejoin the world and to be reminded that people didn't forget, and that I will be a part of the real world again. Thank you to everyone for your support and love and letters and prayers. I really couldn't have done it without you. Special thanks to my amazing sister, Marybeth and my mom. You are truly the best. I love you. Watch this space for tales of Monterey! I'm gonna kick some Korean ass!