Comment

Comment by Jody Gault on February 6, 2009 at 4:21pm

Lynda and Maggie, my husband was able to go see Justin's room, the girls and I couldn't go see it Justin said because no females allowed but he may not have known any better since he'd just gotten there 1 day earlier (he's at Corry Station in PNS for IT so this will apply to your son, Maggie. Not so sure if it's the same everywhere)....They have drawers and they must get pad locks for each drawer and keep it locked for when they get inspected. Also, Justin told us, any food must be sealed in a ziplock bag or they have to go before the commander. We only found that out because we asked him why he hadn't yet had any of the deer jerky his aunt and uncle sent him from WI and that what his reason because he had no ziplocks. BTW-if you all don't know it yet, our kids are now completely on their own. No more laundry being done for them. Nothing is provided for them like toilet paper, soap, all of that stuff. It's just like college now and they have to pay for it all.

Comment by Jody Gault on February 2, 2009 at 9:19pm

Joanne and Laura, thanks for the shipping info. I think, like everything else, the phases must be different. I know Justin is in a different base in PNS than your sons are. He's at Corry Station not the Naval Air Station and that may make things all together different. We saw guys and gals around in their civis this weekend that had just been in the drill with Justin. He did say (and this is weird) that any shirts have to have designs on them-he can't wear any plain colored shirts. That's right up there strange, along with no walking on the grass while in uniform. When we were there this weekend we wante dto take the food over to a gazebo by his living quarters. He didn't want to because there was no sidewalk that led there and he was uniformed. I only took him 1 pr of sweats and a t-shirt because he didn't think he could have his civis yet but he found out differently today, I guess.

Comment by Jody Gault on February 2, 2009 at 4:51pm

I have a question....did we miss out on something? I thought there was suppossed to be a table where we check in to have our names checked to see if we were on the list. We were one of the first people in (got to sit on the bottom level of the bleachers which was just fine) and nobody was being checked against any lists.

For any that want to know, I had thought that we could ship anything we could get in this box at USPS for $10. However, that only applies to when they're overseas. I was told that the shipping was very cheap. Justin wants some of his clothes and we will have a laptop to ship also. Does anybody have idea if it's cheaper to ship via USPS or via Fedex or UPS? Any insight there would be greatly appreciated. Jackie-are you going to keep this group open? I hope so! I am greatful to you all and feel a 'kinship' to you all with our children, etc. being in the same PIR.

Comment by Jody Gault on February 2, 2009 at 10:34am

Hi all. All I can say is "What a rush!" PIR was much better than we could've even imagined. I'm very glad that I chose to not look at any videos or anything on any PIR's so that we could be completely in the moment. Yes, pride pride pride was thick. My husband, daughters and I really enjoyed meeting you all at the meet n greet Thurs. night and wish we could've met more of you. Joanne-I was so worried that you all didn't make it because I couldn't recognize you as being there. Sad we didn't meet. I guess Nick and Justin are now seperated (at least for 10 days until they get more lenient liberty). Justin isn't on the same base as Nick is in PNS. Justin's roommate was in his division and is from Missouri. We only got 1 hr with Justin Friday due to that blasted grad n go but we flew to PNS Friday afternoon. They Navy Lodge was wonderful-glad we stayed there. We got only 1 1/2 hrs w/Justin Saturday because he couldn't go off base. Our visiting was restricted to the car or the Exchange because there was no one there, in PNS, for him to ask where/what we could do. Yesterday we got about 3 hrs with him before we had to leave him for his duties. We got home last night at midnight. We'll go back sometime after 10 days when he's given more lenient liberty. We have to go shopping for a laptop for him today-he's going nuts not being able to have that ability. Today was the first day of classes so I'm sure we'll get the full report tonight. He was happy to have his cell phone. He called a bunch of friends Saturday night. All you moms that have sailors at PNS I will tell you that it's not nearly as nice around the base as Great Lakes was. It's a little run down around that area. Now the beaches-quite a different story. Oh my gosh the wealth that is there! You must eat at the 'Shrimp Basket' while there. Good prices, excellent food and service-they have several around there. Justin said he can't wait for his 10 days of 'checking in every few hrs' is over because most of his buddies (there were about 30 from his division that went to PNS) went to the Naval Air Station base-so he'll be able to get together with them then. He and 1 (maybe 2 other) guys went to the IT (my lil computer nerd) base. Aren't our sailors handsome in their uniforms? I learned these goodbyes are going to kill me! I fought really hard to not blubber, telling him goodbye last night. But as soon as we drove away the floods came then on the plane ride too. Gotta find a way to 'toughen up' I suppose. Many congratulations to you all and your new sailors.

Comment by Jody Gault on January 28, 2009 at 10:51pm

Hey Laura, the PIR invitation says, "Identification-All visitors must have valid photo identification. This requirement includes children over the age of 12 (school ID, social security card, or copy of birth certificate). Hope that helps. I need to break my addiction (N4M) and try to get some sleep soon since we're leaving the house for our flight at 6:30am tomorrow. See you tomorrow or Friday.

Comment by Jody Gault on January 28, 2009 at 7:54pm

Congratulations to all the new sailors and parents, etc! Last night, when Justin called, he said he thought there were still (maybe) 2 more divisions that will do battlestations tomorrow night. I said that isn't nice at all to those kids to have to be up all night and then graduate that next morning. But his division is seperated because they couldn't be with recruits. He said he saw all the new recruits coming in for bootcamp looking all scared. Some thought that he and his buddies were higher ranking officers because their hair was grown out. That part was funny for them to think that. Good luck to the sailors that do BS tonight we're flying out early tomorrow morn. I HOPING that I can sleep tonight but fear I won't be able to. We'll just fall asleep on the plane. Prayers to you all and see you tomorrow or Friday.

Comment by Jody Gault on January 28, 2009 at 9:28am

Maggie and others-for shipping we get a great rate. Go to the post office and they 'give' you the boxes and you put everything you can manage to get in this box for $10 flat. That's what I learned at our Central Fla get together when we made up boxes for the adopt a sailor program.

Comment by Jody Gault on January 27, 2009 at 4:45pm

Congratulations to all new sailors, parents, spouses, etc. So happy for you all. Now we've got one more group to go thru tonight-right?

Comment by Jody Gault on January 27, 2009 at 3:38pm

Deborah-I am so crushed for you. To clarify, are you saying he didn't pass battlestations or, rather, the swimming and PFT? Either way, since I worked for 18 yrs. for an airline, please call the airline and explain the circumstances. If you must speak with a supervisor being real nice (maybe turn on some tears) they may allow you (under the circumstances) to apply it toward another ticket paying a fee. It's worth a try.

Comment by Jody Gault on January 27, 2009 at 12:58pm

My thoughts are with you all. I know how I felt last week waiting. You'll all be bursting with excitement in about 3-4 hours. To whomever suggested wearing the red shirt, BTW, that is a great idea. I don't remember where I saw it but wearing red on Fridays is to show support for our troops. I'll wear a red shirt and see if my daughters have one to wear also. I don't think my hubby has one that isn't Christmasy.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• …
• 13
• Next ›
• Page