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Comment by Julsburd on November 15, 2010 at 11:38pm

OK, I have a question for the folks who have gone through PIR in a Grad and Go scenario. Did your sailor fly out of O'Hare or Midway? We have that situation and we want to meet our son and see him off. He said he will be leaving between 2 and 4am in the morning so I am going to get our hotel at the airport... He thinks it will be O'Hare but I am finding out he doesn't really know these things ahead of time. Just thought I'd get a poll and then roll the dice...

Comment by Michimom (MM Nuke Mom) on November 15, 2010 at 11:27pm

OK, it's a little late for me, since I already bought the blue camo fleece, but it will be plain blue on the reverse side, so I'm hoping it will be OK. Besides, if it ends up being mine, I won't feel too bad. His sister thinks he'll like it--let's see if she's right.

Comment by Emily-aaronsgirl11 on November 15, 2010 at 11:20pm

foaling-lady- Joann fabrics is where I got my fleece fabric both times. You can normally find some pretty decent sales. :)
And I agree with what.... someone? (sorry I can't remember who)... said about the Navy theme. Be careful! I had Aaron's input in the fabric, because I wanted to be sure that he would like it and use it. He didn't want a flat out Navy blanket, because he lives the Navy everyday. Instead, with the cute ducks and crabs, the blankets remind him more of me. :)

Comment by Julsburd on November 15, 2010 at 11:10pm

Hey I like the ides of a hockey jersey blankie! My other son played many years and I have all of his favorite jerseys in a trunk in the basement. Maybe I'll sew them up and hang it on the wall now if he doesn't want it. They represent alot of family time and money don't they?

Comment by Connie foaling-lady (Groton) on November 15, 2010 at 11:06pm

Binker's Mom, You're so right about checking first before investing time/money in something handmade ... last Christmas' gift to my son was a beautiful quilt made from his ice hockey jerseys (I didn't make it, are you kidding?! Even sewing on buttons involves bloodshed and curse words when I pick up a needle and thread. Paid a high school sewing teacher to do it!). Reaction: "oh, cool" and on to the next present. Oh well, it's on his old bed in his old room, for someday ....maybe it will make a neat wall hanging in his own child's room, years from now (and I do mean years .. he's only 18!). Still, making a fleece blanket will put me in the holiday spirit, and if it winds up wrapped around me or my husband this winter, that's fine too ... will remind me of my kid. Even though 11 weeks have passed since he left home for boot camp and is now in A school, I still get those weepy moments and hey, everybody needs a blankie!

Comment by Julsburd on November 15, 2010 at 11:06pm

I'm beginning to see that this program is like all other "programs" in life. There is a bell curve and some of our guys will be on the top of the curve and others will be at one end or the other. Its interesting to read about their experiences. I am feeling as anxious as I did when my son started engineering at college. He'll have to find his way but he has some life experiences now to rely on.

Comment by Binker & Bro: 2X Nuke Mom on November 15, 2010 at 10:51pm

Hey all.

Here's my two cents for the evening.

Be careful making the blankets without checking with your sailor--both male and female nukes! I made Binker a beautiful Navy blanket and matching red star pillow shams for his PIR grad gift. It is sitting on my chair in my classroom to keep me warm because he had no desire to have any Navy stuff since he was surrounded by it at all times. He also didnt want his lovely orange soccer ball/blue moo cow blanket that he selected when I made blankets a few years back. He chose to decorate his new adult room with a new band blanket he bought after telling me about this new band--perhaps you've heard of them: the Beetles?

K-Mart has three different versions of the e readers. I talked with my husband about getting one for Bink for his Christmas present. He said they range from 120 to 180, with one of them being the B&N version. Have to admit I dont know much about them since I like the ink and paper version of books.

Recognizing and validating everything we've said about our sons and daughters being challenged, beware the rhetoric. Alex told me he was somewhat disappointed because although he had to do the study hours, he didnt study much. He told me he decided to really study for his last test. He said he didnt study at all for his comps and got the only 4.0 for his class on the math section. He has learned to study some, but old habits do apparently die hard. I hope power school makes him work harder, for his sake. He does admit having nothing but undying respect for the young lady who won the A school Captain's award because he said she worked her butt off, every single day of the school. If he werent having his romance with his computer, I'd almost think he might think about liking her. Fortunately, he doesnt WOW so I dont have that to worry about.

As far as blankets, I have made piles of them--in all kinds of sizes, including some that fit king size beds. It just takes a little imagination. Longer strips are easier to tie but with panels, you may have to use shorter strips to keep the panel from being cut. I cut two sides at the same time and use the length of my first thumb joint (roughly 1 inch) to measure the cuts. One and 1/2 yard blankets can be cut and tied in roughly an hour. They eat your scissors to pieces, so dont use a dull pair or your hands will ache for days. Using a rotary cutter makes life much easier but you might cut your legs open if not careful. Not speaking from experience on that one, I just burned my leg through my jeans when I dropped hot glue on my thigh while creating something. Its been a year and the glue has almost disappeared from the leg!

I babble and digress. I think I need to go to bed!

Comment by Julsburd on November 15, 2010 at 10:05pm

I went and read the links provided in the "Your Sailor's Schedule..." discussion and it really helped me understand what my son will be doing for the next 18 months. I think I'll print some of it out and send it to him at Boot Camp. I always write a nice juicy letter and then I add some printed news or sports articles. I think some of this would be motivating for him.

Comment by Julsburd on November 15, 2010 at 8:25pm

Mark, thanks for the encouraging words. Yes my son completed 2 years of engineering at Purdue so he's had plenty of physics and math. Hopefully he will apply himself this time because he is very capable. I wish we had known more about the Navy ahead of college so he could have been in the ROTC program. I guess Purdue is really big with the Navy. Oh well... $21,000 later we found the Navy Thank god! Thanks also for the golf info. We'll look into Patriot's Point. Sounds like the right price range. The on base course may be an option but it sounds kind of iffy.

Comment by Michimom (MM Nuke Mom) on November 15, 2010 at 8:09pm

Here is a set of instructions for the blankets.

http://www.allkindsofbabystuff.com/no_sew_fleece_blankets.html

Yes, it's for baby blankets, but the instructions also give sizes for adults. Happy blanketing!

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