Don't Question Your Math Skills...

...this is a real time posting and yes, it's 3am. Funny thing is we've been up since 130. And when I say we, I really mean Nico woke me up and now he is the one back in bed sleeping while I'm bloggin'.

At any rate, since my brain is on overload I figured that it's time to brew a pot of coffee and give one of my rambling updates. Keeping up shouldn't be that tough of a challenge, although trying to translate what sleepy Katie is typing may be...

With the change of the weather I'm finding myself needing little sleep. Not sure if that's due to the temp change (I hate sleeping with the AC on), longer days, or just the urgency to get things taken care of before house guests invade. You'd think that with my challenging days at the office followed by the gym and errand running I'd be exhausted by the end of the day...but no. Chalk one up to Italian coffee I guess?

Luckily the 2012 Coach Pitch Baseball season has ended so that's one less thing on my plate.  Although I was never able to convince the kids that I really was the head coach (which I was) we had a great season. The only loss we had was the win I wanted the most on my birthday, but what can you do in a league that score isn't actually kept? Actually, near the end of the season I started counting the outs made by each side rather than runs scored to see how they were doing. The kids did an amazing job in improving (and in most cases acquiring) their skill set. Now will I be coaching again? As I told the organizers when collecting the awards for the kids, um ask me in a few months. Told the parents the same thing when they asked if I'll be on the soccer field again this fall.

Things on the work front have been okay. My coworker returned from her 3 month training not too long ago and heads back to the states tomorrow for another week or so. This is the last time she will be gone for a while which is good because I think I'll go crazy if I have to continue this job solo.

And why we're chatting about my job, I need to vent a little frustration. We've been going through a review all this week so I've been sitting in on our interviews about procedures (think MIC you NPS folks), but let me tell you...if I get the Katie is new and has only been here 1 year story one more time I may scream. Yes, it's true I've only been here a year. Yes, it's true that I still don't have a grasp on command history and organization (ha- neither do they at this point of the re-organization).  And yes, even some of my day to day stuff still remains a mystery since adequate training has been a challenge with the coworker's TDY schedule in combination with the urgent stuff we deal with.

But c'on.

ONE THIRD of my rotation is completed. Stop making excuses for me because really, I don't think it's justifying things so much as making me look like I can't handle the job.

One last thing on the work front and then I'll change topics- PROMISE!

The Navy did their PRT (Physical Readiness Test) a few weeks back and after a few days of hearing about people's scores or you know, failures as in the case of one horrible shinsplints fiasco, my coworker and I decided to look up what our requirements would be if we were in the Navy. Putting our white board to use we listed the requirements. I don't know all my numbers right now, but I need to do 13 real pushups to even pass. 13. 1-3. As in way more than I can do right now. To get a score of excellent I think I need 37. Ha. Decided I'd rather work on my 1.5 mile time to get it around 11ish minutes to have that bring up my overall score. At any rate, by the end of the day we had everyone in our office goals on the board and even a few others. Test date is at the end of August and as the youngin' of the group (as in there is an age group between me and the next person) I feel I have to learn how to do some serious push ups. Any one have any ideas on how to do this? (I mean, step 1 would be to start working on them.) Oh and yes, for the first time I wished I was 30 so I could get kicked up to the next group, meaning slightly more achievable goals.

Basta con lavoro. 

The funny thing is though, I can't think of anything else to write about now. 

Oh! There is the ever growing excitement of meeting my siblings in Madrid in just about a week before they head back to Italy with me. Bonus? A few of my NPS professors will also be here that first week! It's so great to see familiar faces from time to time. The activities I have planned are already out numbering the days they will be here so it's time to head to the chopping block and just deal with the fact that I'll need to have other guests head out for some of these other adventures, or just stop being so lazy on the weekends and go out myself.

Alright, one last thing because my alarm is about to go off telling me it's time to wake up to get some ab work in...

PUPPIES. If you're in Italy and want a puppy, let me know. A friend has 7 and is looking to find homes for each of them. I've posted pics on Facebook and even picked out the one I want...if I had a yard. I'd be handing them out left and right if I could but something tells me I shouldn't be giving a puppy to a 9 year old for his birthday...especially when I work with his dad. But believe me, I've tried. I'm using it as a threat now..."Loser of the PRT gets a puppy." "Submit your travel claim tomorrow or you get a puppy." Then again, I'm also using it as encouragement: "I know this job sucks from time to time, but wouldn't a puppy make it better?" To which one coworker responded, "I have a 1 and 3 year old- do you want to trade them for a puppy?" Everyone is a hard sale, but I'm working on my marketing skills.

And that folks is the conclusion of this rambling by Katie. I promise to go do some fun stuff this weekend- wine tasting, beach, and a 10K run with LPN. And yes, the kitties will be back at the end of next week. Yay!