Is It Really 11 Months Already?

My friend was very tired last night and went to sleep at 9:00 p.m. I was not far behind. I wrote all night long and decided to call it a night at 9:30 p.m. I was tired most likely due to the lack of sleep from the previous evening. I was able to sleep four hours straight, which is a record for me. I only got up one other time during the evening. I believe the cold medicine I took earlier in the evening helped with my sleep. It was a good night’s sleep, and I was actually awakened by my neighbor’s alarm. Usually, I am awake before the alarm goes off, but this morning I was tired. I did get out of bed and start my early-morning routine. My neighbors slept in, but my roommate/friend got up early this morning to exercise. Last week, he only got up early on Monday and slept in the rest of the week. He has changed his exercising schedule to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. He did very well this morning, and hopefully, he can stick with his plan.

The early-morning routine was the same for a Tuesday. Today was the burpee/pushup routine. I am starting to exceed my 90-minute time limit. This morning I did 450 burpees, which equals to 1200 pushups. Strangely, I sweat more with this routine than when I run. I’m not sure why this happens, but it does. While I was doing my routine, I kept a watchful eye on my friend who was hiking the mountain. It was good to see him up and about in the early morning, and I do hope he develops a routine. My exercise routine has helped me tremendously, and yes, I am anal about my exercising, but I would be lost without routine. I am hoping my friend establishes a positive routine in here and, when he paroles in 9 months, he takes the routine with him. We do make the “Odd Couple”, but each of us has a positive influence on each other. I am so happy my friend has become my roommate and that I am on the same crew. He is a good person and a good friend.

My exercise routine ended, and the second part of my morning routine ensured with me taking a shower, dressing, and going to breakfast. The breakfast today was the pancake and oatmeal breakfast. This appears to be a weekly staple, and today the pancakes were larger than last week, but each of us only received two instead of three like last week. I was able to obtain an additional two because one of my tablemates (the same one as last week) is on a quasi diet. I say quasi because he is just watching his bread intake and nothing else. This loss was my gain this morning as I ate his pancakes. I did have a very filling breakfast.

At breakfast, we get to make our sandwiches for lunch when peanut butter and jelly are served. Usually, Tuesdays and Thursdays are PB&J days, but this morning there wasn’t any peanut butter or jelly served. This meant I had to prepare my own sandwich back in my room. I finally opened on of the jars of peanut butter I received back in December. Up until last night, I had no need to open the jar. Last night, I was still hungry after dinner and thought a peanut butter sandwich would be a good idea. I made the sandwich, but I finally had to use my own peanut butter. Today, I had to make my own sandwich, and I use the jar of peanut butter for the second straight day. Since I had a banana left over from Sunday’s breakfast, I went with the PB & Banana sandwich. This worked out fine, and I certainly have enough of my own food, so I don’t have to rely on the state to provide. I made the sandwiches (the banana netted two sandwiches) and place them in my lunchbox. I also opened up another one of my package items this morning. I was in the mood for lemonade, and I opened the Crystal Lite Lemonade. I placed the drink mix in my CamelBak, and just like that, I had lemonade coming out of my CamelBak instead of water. This was a nice treat because, with the added ice, the lemonade tasted very good.

I was already for work, and the work call arrived just as it does everyday at 8:30 a.m. We lined up for checkout, and off we went to work. Our assignment was very similar to yesterday. We went back to the same place and whacked weeds. Before we reached our assignment, the captain stopped for a hike. Unlike last week where the hike lasted a total of one hour, this hike was much shorter. Also, I knew the rules going into the hike, so I started out near the front of the line. I was second in line and remained there all the way to the top of the hike. I tried my best to catch the first crew, but he was a good 100 yards in front of me. He is also 20 years old and has world-class speed. I closed the gap as we neared the top, but he still finished in front of me. It only took me eight minutes to reach the top. The rest of the crew arrived five minutes back. It was a great hike, but it was very steep. I enjoyed the hike and look forward to doing this more often. The new captain is not nearly in as good of shape as the old captain, but he is trying his best. He is a big man, and the last eight years he has spent manning a desk has not helped his hiking ability. For some reason (probably a control issue), he went first on the way back down, and no one was allowed to pass him. As I mentioned, it took me eight minutes on the way up, and it took 12 minutes on the way down. With the captain leading the way, the descent was slow going. Yes, it was very steep, and moving quickly would have been very hazardous; however, the captain took caution to a whole new level with a slow, methodical hike down. The hike was over, and we loaded back on the bus. We then headed to our work assignment for the day.

We arrived at Diamond Valley Lake which is operated by a local water district. The lake is very large and is only a few years old. I remember when the lake first opened, and I was making plans to take my children fishing; however, I was too wrapped up in my addiction. One thing led to another, and now I am cleaning up around the lake instead of fishing in it with my children. Thankfully, this has worked out for the best all due to my recovery. As long as I stay in recovery and live one day at a time, one of these days I will be fishing with my children. I finally understand the value of time and how it is fleeting, which is why living one day at a time makes the best sense.

Today, we were tasked with the same things as yesterday. We went to another area where the lake is leaking and cleared out a path so the engineers can monitor the leak. The first area was very easy, and all the tools were taken, so I hiked alongside everyone. I was picking up the cut brush with my hands, but the captain advised me to stop because the brush had stickers, and he only wanted the pitchfork to pick it us. Essentially, I only hiked and picked up the non-sticker brush. This did not take much time, and it was now nearly lunchtime. The captain drove to the next work area around the lake, and we stopped for lunch in a shady area. I broke out the PB & banana sandwich along with an apple and Nutri-Grain bar. I ate underneath a tall shady pine tree. I remained there for most of the lunch. The rest of the lunch period I spoke with a crew member who is just like me. He didn’t commit the same crime, but he does stand out because he sticks out like a sore thumb. He is finishing up his 15-month sentence and is due to go home in 2 weeks. I had a good conversation with him regarding his wife and family. He has been married the same amount of time I have (14 years) and has 2 children as well. His children are a little older than mine, and he hasn’t seen them in 15 months. This is by choice. His wife visits him every weekend, but they decided not to subject the children to the visit. I understood his reasons, but I can’t go 19 months without seeing my children. Everyone is different, and everyone has their reasons. For me, it is necessary to see my children. I realize when it comes time to leave, it will be very difficult, but I will not worry about this now. They are coming next month, and I can’t wait.

The lunch period was over, and it was time to pick up the pitchfork. Our next assignment was a rather large task as we had to clear all the vegetation around an oversized lake. Clearing the vegetation would take the use of two chainsaws, two bladed weed trimmers, and several stringed weed trimmers. I was able to utilize a pitchfork, and those of us with them had to pile up the cut brush. At some point in the future, these piles will be burned because there is too much cart away. There wasn’t any way we would finish this task today or this week for that matter. The captain called it a day at 3:00 p.m. because the afternoon temperatures were in the 90’s, and the humidity level was up. There is plenty of work for us; there isn’t any sense in hurrying.

We still had 45 minutes to kill until we could head back to camp. We put away the tools and talked. Once again, I spoke with the very normal crew member. He is a good guy and is not the typical inmate. It is amazing how the “white collar” criminals stick out. There aren’t may of the “white collar” criminals, which is a good thing, and I suspect there are more of these in the federal prisons. This crew member has the proper attitude, and it is highly unlikely he will be part of the 70% recidivism rate.

It was time to head back to camp, and we made the 45-minute drive. As we were driving, I was getting very hungry, and I thought about eating the other PB & banana sandwich but refrained. I was saving myself for the Mexican food dinner. It is amazing how much the little hike raised my metabolism. The same thing happened last week as when we hiked I grew very hungry. I was looking forward to dinner. We arrived back at camp, and the C/O checked us in. As he checked me in, he told me to go to the window. This meant the C/O needed to speak with me. This was very unusual, and I was hoping it wasn’t bad news from home. I went over to the window where another C/O greeted me. This is the C/O I have had a difficult time with since I arrived here. When she greeted me, it was less than cordial, and it turned out I had to wait for the C/O who checked me in. She did not know what I needed at the window. I waited five minutes, and while I waited, I thought about all the different types of people in the world. The C/O who has given me a hard time since I arrived is in a category by herself. She really had no reason to be less than polite to me but yet she was. I do accept this because there is nothing I can do about her demeanor. I will not allow this to affect me, and it is a shame how some people are just miserable all of the time. Anyhow, the C/O I needed to speak with returned to the office. I had all these terrible thoughts as to why I was there. As it turns out, yesterday during inspection, the fan that was given to me last week was confiscated. Apparently, this fan is not camp regulation because it is gray. Only fans that are white or clear are allowed. How the fan lasted this long in camp I’ll never know, but now it is gone. The C/O wanted to know what I wanted to do with the fan, and I told him to drive it to a charity, preferably not the C/O charity fund (no, I didn’t say that last part because I knew better), so all my worrying was for nothing.

After the discussion with the C/O, my late-afternoon routine ensued. I picked up my clean clothes, returned to my room, got undressed, took a shower, dressed, and waited for dinnertime. My timing was a little off due to the conversation with the C/O, so I only had a few minutes before dinner. My friend and I went to the dining hall and waited in line for dinner. Yes, it was Mexican food night, and I received the beans, rice, and corn. I gave away the very large chicken enchilada to my friend in exchange for his rice, beans, and corn. I only took half of his corn because I didn’t want to take all of his side dishes. I was hungry and finished all of my food. I event went up for more rice and beans. The C/O does call for seconds after everyone has been served and if there is food remaining. Today, only the rice and beans were remaining, and I filled up. The dinner did satisfy my hunger.

It was back to my room where I would write until the mail call was announced at 7:00 p.m. I received one pied of mail, and it was a Father’s Day card from a very dear friend. It was the same very dear friends who visited me on Sunday. They are so thoughtful, kind, and considerate. I continue to be blown away by their love and support. I am truly blessed to have wonderful people like this in my life. I read the card, and I got a warm feeling in my heart. After receiving the mail, I went back to my room and wrote the rest of the evening. As I finished up writing, I remembered today made 11 months exactly since my sentencing date. Has it been 11 months already? Wow, time does go by quickly, and this odyssey will be over very soon. At the end of the odyssey, I will embark on a new life with my family. I certainly look forward to being with my family with all my heart and soul. I love them so much and miss them so much. I only have 8-1/2 months remaining until this happens, and it will be wonderful.