ANOTHER LETTER FROM KOLTEN

Hello again,
The last week has gone by pretty quickly. I was really excited to get your letter and read about what has been going on at home. would you mind sending pictures of everyone? The other girls have been taping pictures into their footlockers and I think it's a very good idea. Time does go by fast, which is nice...sometimes it seems to drag though.

It was really nice to get to call mom on Thanksgiving. I feel pretty sure that we'll get another phone call on Christmas. Send me your number in case I can't get ahold of my mom. I had to try her a few different times and I called grandpa too but he didn't answer either.

I wrote a letter to SGT Gaston, but it was pretty much meant for everyone. I hope they write back, because it makes the whole day so much better to hear my name called for mail. There are still people I haven't written to, but I will definitely get to it soon.

I can tell you right now there are alot of people I am with day in and day out who I can't even begin to fathom how they got here...or why they chose the Marines. Dylan will do well in the Marines and I think the corps would be better to have him.

What will your second job be? I'm pretty sure you mentioned it before, but it's very hard to remember anything outside of the knowledge we're constantly shouting.

On saturday we went platoon vs. platoon on teh pugil sticks. It doesn't count for anything individually, but I won my little match. Super Cool. The MCMAP is the most fun thing we do. The last two weeks haven't been as busy as the the next 10 will be. There is a lot that has to be rearranged because of the holidays. Also, I'm doing well at PT, which surprises the heck out of me. I can't recall any point in time that I've ever ran two miles all at once, and the other day I did it without stopping. I was rather pleased with myself.

The DI's are hiliarious. One of them ran into a pole the other day when we were doing drill in the squad bay. One of them stutters quite a bit. The girls on my side of the squad bay (portside) have taken to imitating them on our free time. It's hiliariou, but lately it hasn't exactly been harmless, which bugs me.

Later this week we have the O course, the Confidence course, pugil sticks 2 and our 8k hike. So I'll probably have al lot more to write about next week. We had a 5k hike Saturday, and it wasn't a big deal...it was mostly just annoying that no one was sounding off and I have not voice because I am always screaming.

I mentioned the girls with the bad attitudes before....most of them are on trial training now. They're really noisy and they all happen to sleep in the rear of the squadbay on portside where I sleep. One girl refused to train. She just quit...When that happens you get dropped to another platoon and have to train here another month. Very smart move on her part. I hope nothing happens to set me back like that. I want to get home and see you guys. I hope you're all doing well. Oh, free time over.

Love Kolten