The OC (and I don't mean Orange County)

This past week (Week 18), Jay met a few more milestones, mostly in the area of weaponry. He qualified on the pistol, shotgun, and rifle - each on the first try. He also had his POST mid-term, which he passed, and his Felony Stop scenario, which he also passed. However, the most... um... exciting thing that happened last week was his introduction to the "OC" - Oleoresin Capsicum - also known as pepper spray.

In order to understand the effects and dangers of pepper spray, the cadets need to, logically, get sprayed with it. Jay's company went first. Jay was asked to help his fellow cadets after they were sprayed, so he had the joyful task of manning the water hose and watching as cadet after cadet was "attacked." He said he had never seen grown men so totally and quickly incapacitated before. As the minutes ticked away, he was less and less enthusiastic about his turn with the OC. But, there was no getting around it. When we spoke that night, he provided this description:

Imagine that your face is completely red raw sunburned. Then... you know when you get a really painful zit right by the inside of your nose? Imagine that you have those all over your face and then they all pop at once and someone pours cayenne pepper all over them. And then someone pours a tablespoon of sand in each eye. And no matter how much you wash off your face, the pain doesn't go away, and your eyes ache like you've been staring at a computer screen for 3 days straight.

He was sprayed at about 4:30 and when we talked at 8:30 his face was still stinging. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Anyone else want to sign up? Seriously, Jay said it was the "absolute worst thing" he's ever felt in his life, and he consoled himself with the thought that if he died, his family would be well taken care of. He better graduate in April otherwise I might have to do some serious convincing to get him back to the Academy! He said he would much rather be "kicked in the crotch ten times" then get pepper sprayed again!

Besides that lovely experience, Jay also had to stay on Saturday (boo!) with the rest of his class for riot training and "gassing." The gassing wasn't as bad as the pepper spray, though, because it wears off much quicker. Still, I'm thinking it's best to just stay out of any situation where you're likely to get the OC or gas used against you. :)

I'm trying to remember what else happened this past week... it is sort of a blur. We went to visit Jay on Wednesday for liberty, which is always nice, even if IKEA is getting a little old. The next day was Valentine's Day and Jay actually had liberty again. (His company earned the extra liberty from winning the holiday food drive challenge.) Because of the cost of gas, the time involved, and the unlikely possibility of finding a babysitter, we decided I would not be celebrating with him.

The next day, however, I received an "illegal" phone call from Jay asking if I had pulled off a miracle and been able to get a babysitter. Uhhhh... this is when I started to feel like a horrible wife. I hadn't even tried to pull off a miracle! I thought we had decided against a Valentine's Day visit... shows what I know! Anyway, as I was sharing my woes with Janet, she sweetly volunteered herself and her unsuspecting sister-in-law to watch my brood for me. It didn't take much convincing. I was on the road as soon as possible and it took me two and a half hours just to get to Fairfield!! I can usually get to Sacramento in that amount of time. Nevertheless, Jay was very surprised and happy that I was coming. He hopped in the 'Rolla and met me in Fairfield since it was taking so dang long. We had a fun dinner at Mary's Pizza Shack (mmm, mud pie) and enjoyed our Valentine's sans kids. All told, last week I drove 9 hours to see Jay for a total of 6 hours. And it was totally worth it.

There wasn't much to our weekend since he didn't get home until after 6 on Saturday. So sorry, no fun weekend pics. But, here is one of Natalie and my mom, who was Natalie's guest on "Special Person's Day" at school. (That's Valentine's Day to you un-PC folks out there...)

So cute!