Peanut-Butter Shots in the Butt

Today, I’m frustrated and sad. And that’s how I felt yesterday too. I hadn’t heard from Johnny in about a week and was dying to hear from him and to just know that he was doing alright. I finally got 2 postcards from him yesterday! YAY! Thank goodness! He wrote both around July 15^th and I’m sure hasn’t had the time or energy to write since because they have been out in the field doing missions, raids and ambushes. Each mission usually takes around 12-24 hours to plan and execute. He is still averaging about 1-2 hours of sleep a night and is getting about 1 MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) every 24 hrs. The daunting task of completing the infamous “Darby Queen” obstacle course consisting of 26 different obstacles didn’t even faze Johnny. He said he “smoked the Darby Queen and killed (metaphorically, not literally) all 26 different obstacles!” Even his Special Forces friend got 3 “No Go’s” on it, so I think that really helped give Johnny a boost of confidence considering he made it straight through, all Go’s!

They have been giving the guys Penicillin shots in their butts about every 2 weeks. For those of you who don’t know Johnny very well, he does NOT like shots. Actually, he tries to avoid them at all cost and he has a very long list of shots (like 15 different shots) he’ll have to get when he gets back home before he deploys because he has successfully beat the medical system and not gotten them in the 2 years he’s been stationed at Hunter…haha! I guess he’s learning to deal with them in Ranger School – hopefully he’ll be a pro with them by the time he gets home! Here’s what he said, “What did I do to deserve this?! Here, I am, JW, trying to be the best Ranger I can be and they want to put what they compare to peanut butter in my butt. My level of comfort right now is amazingly low.” HAHA. I can’t help but to laugh. My man still has his sense of humor and I love it! These two postcards seemed to be the most upbeat and light-hearted of them all. He said he is doing awesome and even with not getting hardly any sleep for the past month he doesn’t feel too bad yet.

Oh, but back to why I’m frustrated and sad. I’m super frustrated because Johnny informed me that the RI’s (Ranger Instructors) ARE NOT GIVING THEM ANY MAIL. You have GOT to be kidding me. We had heard rumors that they sometimes do this, but didn’t really think it was true. Well, it is. That means he hasn’t heard from me or anyone else for that matter this entire time and our letters are just piling up somewhere. He even says in one of the postcards, “They are about to do our first mail call. I’m so pumped.” Then the next day he started writing again and said, “The only people who got mail were the guys who joined our class late (ones who recycled). So I was a little down and just want to hear from you.” OMG. MY HEART BROKE WHEN I READ THAT. You know what, how rude of those RI’s. Seriously. I’m SO thankful that despite the circumstances, he can still be positive. He said he knows I’ve sent mail and knows that I’m doing well, he just needs to get it from them. So he understands that they are keeping it from them and it probably upsets me (well, clearly) than it does him. Hopefully they won’t do this during the next two phases – so don’t be discouraged and not write him letters! I really think they are doing this to continually try to wean the weak out of the program, especially in the first phase.

And I’m sad because I just miss him. Plain and simple, I miss my best friend.

But anyways, enough of the depressing stuff. Want to hear a funny story?! In one of the postcards from July 15^th, he says, “Today I really wanted to watch Ratatouille. Don’t know why though.” I WATCHED THE MOVIE RATATOUILLE ON THE NIGHT OF THE 15^TH!!! Isn’t that CRAZY?! I know that’s the night I watched it because it was still in the dvd player when Christy and Elena came over the next night. I love love love that! And despite the fact that we’ve had no contact over the past month, our brains still work together! You really know you’re destined to be with someone when you both want to watch a cartoon movie about a rat who cooks while you’re two worlds away. That makes me smile :)

Mike (Johnny’s Dad) is actually traveling as I type this to Columbus, GA. Johnny gets an 8-hour break tomorrow before he begins the Mountain Phase to eat, catch up on sleep, do laundry and purchase more supplies, equipment and toiletries before Phase 2. After our last good-bye we decided that it probably wouldn’t be the best idea for me to go back up for that 8-hour break because it was just so difficult on us. We also didn’t want it to un-focus him before the next phase. So, while I know that it’s the best thing for both of us, it kills me to know that I could see him tomorrow but am not going to. I’m so thankful Mike is going to be there and I know he is SO excited to see his son, it is just tough – you know? But the good news is that I get to talk to him! No, seriously – like really talk to him – on the phone and everything!! I’m so excited to at least be able to hear his voice again. He has already informed me like 2 weeks ago that he wants to eat ribs, ice cream and pancakes and eggs and bacon from IHOP. Oh man. What a combination.

So that’s what’s happening here on the Webb-end of things. You know, I actually feel much better after writing everything out. So even if no one reads this thing, it helps me sort out the feelings and thoughts piling up inside of me.

Oh, and I just finished painting my half-bath green. Bright green. With zebra rugs. It is F-U-N! I’ll have to post pics soon!