family day brief

Wow, so, talk about information overload. I'm not even going to touch everything that we talked about during the briefing just because of the sheer amount of information covered. The only important things were education and finance, and I'm going to leave it that way. There's nothing I can do about either until I actually get over there.

But I was looking forward to this brief. It was the first time in weeks that I've been around other military types -- especially those that I know. And I got to see pretty much everyone that I had been missing since reclass graduation. Shorty, Sgt Z, Twig, FratBoy, GlamourBeauty, EnglishProf, ArmyBrat, JazzMan, Nerd, Spaz, LittleBit, Hipster, Medic, Joker... Well, almost everyone. Chica? MIA, but bound to be around eventually. Fifi is in another state, at her mobilization station, hobbling around on crutches and counting down days. She'll end up in a whole different country. Kind of sobering, when you think about it.

JazzMan's parental units were not in attendence, and I always feel a little bad about it when I notice it. Is that wrong of me? It was just kind of weird, sitting between Medic's mom and my mom, with ArmyBrat and his parents across the table, and JazzMan just sitting by himself in the middle of it all. Or maybe he's used to it. Nonetheless, my parents have adopted him. I hope they take it further and make sure that he gets mail and phone calls.

Anyways... I did find out where my HomeBase over there will be, and for a variety of reasons, I'm not releasing it. My family and the boyfriend will know, of course, but I'm debating on who else to tell. Don't worry, it's a great place to be and I'm going to be just another fobbit, with luck.

However, blogging is frowned upon due to security purposes and rumor control. So I have to be really careful to keep myself out of trouble. That means few details, even more pseudonames, and no release of my current location, training or duty details. I mean, the social stuff alone is enough fodder for a soap opera! Plus I'm going to be investigated for a security clearance, and that's even more reason to stay under the radar.

Oh yes, the security clearance. Hands down it's the most annoying worksheet that I've ever had to fill out. It's a bitch, quite frankly. Thirty-one pages to cover my life all the way back to my 16th birthday. There's not enough space for foreign travel, my foreign "associates" (AKA my very close epals, MeuAmor, MeuAmor's immediate family, and Amiga), and education beyond junior high. There may or may not be enough space for my employment history. Yeah. I've jotted down all of the information and I'm having a hard time making heads or tails of it. But really, I'm squeaky clean, promise!

Really, what am I going to be doing that I'll need a security clearance? Whatever it is, I bet you that I can't tell you.