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Posted by Erik Rupard on June 25th, 2008
[opens brain and drops contents out onto a piece of paper]
Jelly Bellies
Way back in March, anonymous good guy “A.G. Family” sent me (among many other things) a big 4-lb bag of Jelly Bellies. This kept me and the various other occupants of my office (a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant, and every medic in my clinic) happily sweetened throughout the afternoons. (Okay, occasionally the mornings too.) At four CPB (Calories Per Belly), they are an affordable luxury, even for the weight-obsessed people who make up the U.S. Army (remember: soldiers’ next promotion often depends upon what that scale reads). I recently finished off that bag. Actually, that’s not quite true: there are about one-hundred “tiramisu” JBs left. If you want them, send me your address, as there are no takers in the clinic at this point.
So with bag #1 running out, Mom Rupard came through and sent me a massive Cylinder O’ Beans, which is gracing the little dresser next to my bed as I wite this. I cannot begin to express the inordinate amount of pleasure that popping int my mouth a couple of buttered popcorn, caramel apple, Dr Pepper, or most of the other 47 flavors of Jelly Bellies. Mmmm, high fructose corn syrup…
Running
I am beginning to (dare I say it?) enjoy running once again, for the first time since a relatively brief renaissance when I first joined the Army. I did six miles on Saturday, three on Monday, and 5.5 today. Still riding the bike, too. I’m gonna have to do a better job of hydrating myself, though, as I woke up this morning and didn’t even have to pee. Not a good sign. I think that we may need another “National Kidney Stone Awareness Month.”
Speaking Of Hydration
I was fortunate enough last night to be in/around the vicinity when the water people dropped off our latest pallet. I immediately dug way in, and grabbed a couple of 12-packs from the middle of the pallet (theoretically protected a bit more from the sun than the outside bottles), and did a little taste test. It tasted sweet and clean, with virtually none of that “aromatic polycarbon” aftertaste of which I am not a big fan. I can feel the mutated white blood cells in my marrow as they slowly normalize their tied-in-knots DNA strands.
Tennis
I have ended up reviving my love of tennis after watching it a bit here in Iraq. For reasons unknown to me, tennis is always ALWAYS on the Armed Forces Network. I have not met any enlisted person who has any interest in the sport (playing or watching) and very few officers. Army sports include, and are limited to, the following: weightlifting, football, weightlifting, basketball, running, and lifting weights. Not necessarily in that order.
With no racquet, no tennis balls, and no tennis courts in Iraq, I have resigned myself to the notion that I will not be playing any tennis until I get back to the states. When I watch on TV, I have noticed that I have an unconscious pattern which determines for whom I am rooting. It goes like this: whomever grunts the LEAST gets my vote. I’m thinking of applying this criteria to my presidential choice as well.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Hilarious post E; !!! As you know the trip to Hilton Head yesterday ended prematurely even though I had booked a cheap hotel. We used the room to clean up, shower, swim and get ready for dinner. At about 5 pm, Maddy was stressing about getting to work on time this morning, knowing too-well my ability to respond to an alarm clock at 5 AM in the middle of summer break.
Sherri loved the Christmas beach house. We spent the day watching the girls body-surf with some pretty gnarly waves dude. We cleaned up and then ate at Fuddruckers (sorry-I considered omitting that… but hey….only 58 days right?!) and then walked around Coligny Plaza, watched some washed-up Madonna types performing a mermaid kid show while striving to stay on-key, shopped for tacky souvenirs, completely skipped the outlets (good girl!) and stopped at our favorite watering hole to fill up on gas and Diet Coke. We arrived home at about 12:30 AM. Yawn.
Maddy is now safely at work for a marathon day. (double shift with a two hour break) I will add one more bag o-shock to the pool that is constantly plotting against me.
Ellen/Barry: Molly’s swimsuit arrived and I called to tell her on Tuesday. She seemed in good spirits even though she and Drew ended up in different groups. EFY told me that they couldn’t promise anything even though I requested they stay together. Molly said that it was all okay….her roommates are really nice. EFY is a good pre-college venture toward independence. It was definitely like that last year when Maddy went to EFY Utah, with her two cousins on my side. They were all three very different personalities and they had to adapt and learn to get along and at such a distance, I had very little control over much. Which was hard for Maddy. Which was good. (Even through a few rough patches there.)
Erik; I haven’t heard much from Drew which…I take as a good sign. I only hear a daily summary when she should be in bed at about 10:43 PM. Yesterday Megan and Drew auditioned for the EFY talent show and there were apparently a ton of hopefuls and only 25 slots and they made it. (Drew said Megan is so upset that they made it because she’s nervous. I said, “Don’t say nervous, say ‘excited’.” They are singing “Love Song” with Megan on Piano. They performed it for me before EFY and it sounded amazing. Cross your fingers as the show is tonight and they are very anxious to get it done.
All is good here. Kelly flipped out over the fact that Sherri has to be back in Houston a day early to sign her teachers contract for the schoolyear. I’m glad everyone is having a nice visit though. All the girls are getting along so well..especially…here’s a twist…Kelly and Maya. It must be that competitive edge. They are pretty funny with their constant swim races and quizzing each other. Maya has met her match in Kelly (who finished 9th grade as valedictorian-out of one thousand kids at her school). It’s quite a riot to see them battle it out; they are both so headstrong, athletic and smart. And at the same maturity level.
Well buckaroo….I should go and have a shower. Sherri was killing herself laughing over me running after the trash truck this
AM in sweats, your ARMY T-shirt and heels. It was a vision….. Help. Please come home!!!!
It was quieter (I think you’re right about the gas crunch and tourists) than I expected the island to be in late June.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:31 am
What the heck? Ignore that last sentence. I must have written that last night, when I was drunk…:)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
We seriously need to get you your own blog, Lorri. Wish I’d been there to see the mad dash for the garbage dudes (though if I was there, I guess you would have been watching me run).
Glad that Sherri et al are having a fun time. I would have loved seeing Drew and Megan in that talent show. I said a retroactive prayer for them.
So was it busy in HH, or quieter than you expected? I am confused…
Love ya.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Quieter than expected for high season but still pretty bustling. I think that the folks who own property/vacation there, have bigger fish to fry than sitting around at home brooding over gas mileage.
Sherri said that she is looking fwd to December when it’s quieter-of course she hates crowds……but since this was my fourth trip to the island and the very first one not off-season, the traffic was actually better than I expected it to be. I’m thinking high season is actually July and August.
Later Juan.
Love you.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
On the note of Jelly Bellies, i was at a bike race Sunday where I met a local cyclist-gone-pro named Jeremy Powers who races for Team Jelly Belly. He gets all the Jelly Beans he wants. His people set up a tent with boxes of Jelly Bellies and something called Jelly Belly Sport Beans which are oversized jelly beans packed with energy-stuff. (they also come in caffeinated versions)
Well that was what popped into my mind, when i saw Jelly Belly!
Stay safe!,
Cristiano
June 27th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Erik, FYI: Coldplay is coming to Hartford! See how prescient you are! I’m not sure that this is a good sign for them…or the death knell? Good Grief, I just saw them on the Today Show! Should we start buying CD’s? I’ve never seen such crowds of gyrating people at the Rock in NYC. These guys must be good! Doc Rupard calls another one! What stuff do you or your compatriots need?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Dad, we are pretty well set-up at this point in time. I’ll bet you’ll like that new Coldplay album, which can be had for 9.99 at best buy. It is very symphonic, like the Emerson, Lake and Palmer you used to love so much.