Old friend new again

I recognized him as soon as I walked into the house. Dressed in the standard blue uniform, night stick and handcuffs on one hip, 9mm on the other, he greeted me with a smile. "Rachel, how are you?"

I knew that D__ had been hired by the Helena Police about a year ago. I'd seen his mom and dad at the store but I hadn't actually seen him in about ten years. He opened his arms for a hug and I stuck out my hand to shake his. "What? no hug?" I wasn't sure what the protocal was for hugging an officer while in uniform but walked into his arms to receive the bear hug awaiting me.

"It's really good to see you" I said as I looked up at him. He motioned for me to follow him into the kitchen and explained what was going to happen.

Later....

He walked into the hospital room and the smile, the walk, the laugh were all the same. The uniform, handgun and mustache all that separated him from high school in my mind. After all that time it was still just as comfortable sitting there talking to him. The conversation flowing as if we'd seen each other only last week.

After taking care of business we started to reminisce. He told me about his move to Missoula, then transfering to the Sheriff's Department and then finally being hired in Helena. He told me how much he liked working for the police force. We talked about my marriage and my divorce. We talked about high school and California, filling in any gaps as we went along. We exchanged business cards and cell phone numbers. We made plans to go to dinner and talk about old times.

An old friend new again.

Bootcamp

My thighs and abs have never hurt so fucking good!

Sometimes a long conversation with a good friend makes everything right with the world.

Happy Camper

My Glacier backcountry camping application has been processed and I was able to secure my reservation at Gunsight Lake Campground.

A happy camper am I!

Have you ever noticed that sleep is kind of like sex? You take it for granted until you ain't getting any.

Well let me tell ya, I ain't gettin' any and my ass is dragging. My sleep pattern is completely off. Up between 4:00 and 5:00, unable to fall asleep when I crawl back into bed at night.

It's really sad for a non-morning person such as myself that sleeping in has become 6:00 am. I really thought last night that the cold medicine would knock me out for a good six hours of solid sleep but I wasn't so lucky.

I'm sure you know the drill: roll over, shift hips, move arms, make sure the hair is out of the way - you know, kind of like sex.

Bootcamp

"Come on, pick up those feet. Let's go, let's go!"

My lungs felt like they were going to explode as I ran up the stairs for the tenth time. "You want more?" I thought as the instructors yelled for us to keep going. Eleven and then an even twelve and we were done with the stairs. A few quick breaths, some water and we were back on the field doing pushups and situps and more strength training.

The first day of bootcamp at 6:00 this morning was rough. You don't realize how easy it is to get into a workout routine and how difficult it can feel to break out. Bootcamp is definitely going to break me out of any fitness rut I might be in. It's hard work but it's exciting. It was fun to have a cheering section and to be a cheerleader for others that finished behind me.

"Eight weeks of this, right?" C_ asked as we ran back to the gym.

"Yep, eight whole weeks."

He: I haven't heard from you in a while, I'm starting to get a complex.

Me: I know, I'm sorry. I've been working a lot lately and the early hours at the gym are still kicking my ass. Plus after work at TT, I either go back to the gym to work again or work out. By the time I get home I'm wiped out.

Plus I just signed up for Boot Camp so that's early morning, twice a week. I'm kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul right now, taking hours from here and there to get everything done.

He: You need to go have a beer.

Me: I wish I could. I don't have time to play right now.