Awful Dinner

I had all the intentions of doing the exercises in the afternoon PFT Plus class while I was waiting for the yard to open for the afternoon. However, once I walked the 200 yards to where the class is held all my intentions seemed to fall away and by the time I reached the class I had decided to “instruct” which means not exercising. I completed my instructor duties for the afternoon and didn’t want to do anything else so I headed back to the dorm. I killed two hours doing my hygiene ritual.

My dorm mates had their radios on and “White Christmas” was playing. As the song played I couldn’t help but to listen and it hit me that this is certainly the Christmas Season. In a place like this Christmas is well hidden – there are no decorations, holiday music, and no Christmas parties. The subtle reminders as the song on the radio made me think of my family and not being part of their Christmas for the first time in my life. Christmas is in 10 days and amazingly enough I received my first and only Christmas card from a very dear relative – albeit a few times removed – and I was moved when I received it. I didn’t expect any cards because I thought I was prohibited from getting them, I guess not. Christmas will just be another day here and as it passes it will mark one day closer to being with my family. They are in a wonderful place because they are surrounded by loving dear family members. It’s impossible for me not to be sad when I think of my family spending Christmas while I am here but this is not a permanent sadness because my situation is temporary. The situation and my sadness will pass soon enough.

When my daily hygiene ritual was completed, it was just about time for dinner which was the dreaded filet o fish patties with scalloped potatoes. The menu said that cornbread would be served which I thought was unusual because that is never served with this meal. The only reason I decided to go to this dinner was for the cornbread, but as soon as I walked in the dining hall, I realized this was a big mistake. I looked at the other trays and saw hamburger buns instead of the cornbread. I wanted to turn back because even with the vegetarian status, it was going to be an awful dinner. I received a tray without the filet o fish pattie and extra scalloped potatoes. This would have been fine if I ate the potatoes but I don’t. I made my dorm mates happy by giving them all my potatoes. I ate the salad and the broccoli but nothing else. Needless to say this meal was less than satisfying and I needed more food. I had one soup left and decided to make it when I got back to the dorm. I also had some fresh carrots which I put in the soup. Once I finished I was full for the evening. I hope I can get to the store tomorrow otherwise I will have to wait one more week.

Last night was evening yard and I had another telephone call scheduled. Unbelievably, for the second time I was able to place the call and I signed up for another call for the 18th for my wife’s birthday. I called my mother and it was so good to hear her voice and again the time passed very quickly. I thanked her for sending me the 10 books and she also sent me a list of more books that I might be interested in. The conversation was wonderful as usual and I do enjoy talking to her and miss her very much. It was a great conversation and made me feel very good after speaking with her.