The Cyber Sisterhood

God bless all of you. Arwen, I hope things will work out for Chris. I believe they will. We all know how God works in strange ways. I've seen it so many times before. Navy mom hug to Navy mom.

We're headed to Fort Benning on Friday. It will have been 16 longs weeks ago that I told y'all that our other son began Basic Training. Graduation is Friday. Then he heads to Airborne School and where he goes from there we do not yet know. but the good news is, as of Friday we can all communicate again in a normal manner and for that I'm very thankful. As we all know all too well, If you can't see them, at least you can hear them and that's better than not being able to do either.

I'm sorry to hear about your father in law Pam. You and your family are in my prayers.

Chris is the luckiest young sailor in the Navy.

Today he learned that his entire class' graduation is delayed one week, and he has that week to finish his mods. He has 23 mods to finish in five days, and his classmates told him they are easy to middling in difficulty, so he should be able to finish five or six each day.

Hi guys....yes NavyArmy mom - school is out, it was out 5/21, but then the following week we had post planning and workshops, then Phillip flew in on Friday nite 5/28, he was home Saturday, Sunday morning, we left separately and met back up in North Atlanta for a family reunion, he left Sunday afternoon and drove back to A School... I stayed in Atlanta until Tuesday, came home and have been playing catch up - plus am tutoring one of my students to get him a little more ready for high school.

Arwen - Glad that Chris has had a reprieve.

Pam - I'm so sorry for your father in law - I'm glad that he is with God now, and is at peace.

Donna and Slimsam - your visit(s) sould wonderful :-)

Donna

Hi Beverly! Glad you had such a nice family get together! Enjoy your summer!

Pam, I'm very sorry to hear that about your father-in-law. God bless you at this difficult time.

Arwen, fabulous news about Chris!

slimsam, glad you had a nice trip even though you had to be in tourist mode. Those Florida red lights...I used to tell our children while sitting at them, "Good grief, I could wrap our Christmas presents in the time we've sat here"!

We went to graduation...only got two minutes literally with our son! Oh well, that's life in the military. Our Navy son will be home this coming Friday for ten days!! Then our Army son will follow three weeks from now for 14 days!! SO, no complaining from this mom!

I hope that everyone is doing fine. These are stressful days for everyone I believe, whether they have loved ones in the military or not. Stress about jobs, our kids...lots of things. Keep the prayers going and just keep the faith. That's all anyone can do! God bless ya'll especially!! And remember...."Those Who Wait also Serve"

Wow, ProudParents, what a great surprise and to know that your son will be so close by! I know you're very happy! Thanks for sharing that happy story. Will you get to see him often on the weekends?

Proud Parents!!! :-) :-) :-) I'm smiling so big for you!! What an absolutely wonderful surprise :-) I love the way your son surprised you - and for him to be that close by!! God is good!!!!

Hi Colleen and hugs to you! You have a lot of joy and excitement regarding your kids going on. That's always the greatest joy that a mom and dad can have and I hope that you will enjoy every minute of both the visit and the Sweet 16 birthday! Keep us posted as we all love to hear from military moms who are having a happy occasion. Heaven knows you deserve it. : )

Chris got stuck on a mod for two days, and they won't let him attend Bravo and Charlie sections to get extra work done (no space, apparently). I'm not sure if he's going to be able to pull this off, it's not looking good. =~(

The job hunt is slow, but I'm in no hurry to leave. I'm in a position to be picky, I'm only applying to the jobs that fit my ideal (Northern California, Oregon or Washington coastal daily paper in a medium-small town - 15,000 to 35,000 population - with decent access to non-alcoholic night life and a mall) so it may be a while.

Since there are only about a dozen papers that fit that description, I'm just waiting for one of those to have an opening.

I also have to get Sean (younger son) graduated from high school before we can go anywhere. That may take all summer, and maybe some time during the fall, too. He has to make up 6 classes (but two are almost complete). It was five until last week, when he blew-off his econ teacher telling him that he only had to turn in 3 things to pass the class.

I was supposed to have TWO graduations to celebrate this month, and it looks like I'll have NONE.

CM, He was over at my house last night for dinner!!!

So this past week has been crazy. We are still unpacking because things were not marked correctly or packed with common sense. If it is marked books, it is kitchen stuff. We went to Kings Dominion down in Virginia with a bunch of friends we have made. They all work with the boys. Our house has become the hang out spot for them. Oh and we have cooked more in the last week then we have in the last year....and yet everyone said I couldn't cook. They guys are eat really well and tell its really good so let's hope they aren't lying. Our little kitty has taken over the house. I should know by the end of the month if I got into the University of Maryland, but they put out a notice saying there is very limited room for transfer so I'm a little stressed out about that.

Sarah - Great to hear that you are settling in. Your house sounds like mine. All of the guys that my husband graduated Boot with seem to hang at our house. I enjoy it though keeps the house from being silent all the time. We cook and play games. Are you liking DC?

It's the end of a busy school year for many, and I'd like to personally thank a wonderful mom and friend of ours. She is a fellow Navy mom, wife, mother and school teacher. It's our dear and wonderful Beverly, Phillip's mom. She is an outstanding Georgia school teacher, wife, mother and friend who works so hard at everything she does. She always takes an interest in what we all say here, commenting to us and remembering things that we write about ourselves and about our kids. We love you, Beverly and wish you a peaceful and restful summer, free of stress so that you can relax from your busy life. You deserve a great, great summer!! We pray for some happy surprises to come your way, special blessings you're yet to find out about...because you are so special and because you so deserve it!! Navy mom hugs to you from all of us!

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you live in a free country thank a Sailor.
Beverly, being the wife of a Police Officer, and mother of a U.S. Navy Sailor....I know that she would agree with this: Those Who Wait also Serve.

God bless you and your wonderful family!!

slimsam - I have loved every minute of it. They levitate to our house on the weekends and I'm always trying to pick out things that each guy misses from home to cook. Actually a couple weeks ago one of them asked if I minded if he cooked. I let him and he made his mom and dad's favorite meal and had a smile on his face the whole time cooking and eating it. He told us the story behind the meal, it was nice being able to let him have that little slice of home for the evening.

I enjoy cooking for the boys but sometimes I want to be cooked for. Instead I cook and then clean up while they play games. Anyways I guess I'm just whining a little. I still don't have any friends up here and so they are the only people I talk to.

CM, I forgot to mention that you meet my hubby. You asked him if I knew what I was getting myself into.

Sarah - There's one of the guys that really enjoys cooking so he usually comes in and out helping in the kitchen. I don't know anyone here yet either, they are all that I have to talk to. Def keeps me entertained.

Lol yes they do!

We have all of the Guitar Hero's and Rock Band's. That's a sight when they all start playing. The singing ohhhhh signing lol I'm sure our neighbors love us . lol

Lol, the guys play Mario party 8 or the new super Mario on the wii. It's funny just listening to them argue about how to play and who's winning.

LOL I haven't played Mario Party in forever. It's kinda nice because these are all guys my husband has been with from day one in boot.

Lol, we bought it for the guys to play. Most of the guys we hang out with all went to school with Shawn like CM's son.

That's cool, I don't think that any of those guys moms are on here. Actually I'm pretty sure their not. When I've mentions N4M's they had no idea what I was talking about.

Lol, I'm sure if I mentioned it to him, he wouldn't either. I showed him something on here the other night and I'm pretty sure he would of said or asked about it but he didn't.

So how's the new kitty settling in?

Other then a vet appt that she wasn't too happy about today, she is doing great. Shawn is still denying that she is a momma's girl. She is training really well and knows that no and get down means do it or get sprayed by water. If only I could get her to stop drinking from the toilet!

We had the toilet problem with our dog, more I had to train my hubby to put the lid down lol

Lol, I tried that and failed.

LOL It took me awhile but 4 yrs in he's figured it out.

Well then I have 1 more year of waiting...lol

Sarah and Janie, it sounds like they are keeping you busy but it sounds like a lot of fun...a special time in your lives that you'll always remember and cherish! Enjoy every minute!

It's a big day here. Our Soldier is coming home tonight for four days and our Sailor is coming home tomorrow for ten days. My husband is going to take them to have their pictures taken together (both wearing their uniforms) with their (almost twelve) year old sister in between the two of them. He bought a pretty frame for the picture and gave it to me for my birthday yesterday!! My husband has been talking about "this picture" for months. He was concerned it might be a long time before he had them both home at the same time...so when this happened that they'd be here together he jumped on the opportunity to have this picture taken! All my husband can think about it this picture!! He told them both: "Bring your uniform" about twenty times! One of them said there are some rules he has to follow about that....but I believe that they can bring their uniforms HOPEFULLY for this picture.

Needless to say we're a very happy family today anticipating their arrivals home!

Sarah - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you lol

Navy/ArmyMom - So good to hear that you will have both boys home for a little while. I know you will cherish the time with them. You'll have to post the pics for us to see, sounds like a great idea.

Thank you, Janie! We are VERY grateful to be able to have this time with them. We are also very glad that the boys will be able to be together again. They're close in age and they've missed each other. They've been wondering when they MIGHT get to see each other, and have thought that it might not happen for a very long time. So all the way around this visit is a real blessing.

I'm home today and it's funny how this homecoming is giving mundane house cleaning a whole new meaning. I'm actually enjoying it. : )

Thank you again, and I hope you have a very wonderful day! : )

Today is the day I should learn of Chris' fate: graduation from IT A or some other fate (sent to the fleet undesignated, sent to another school or another miracle extension).

Arwen my daughter and I said a prayer just for Chris earlier today after I read your post. We hope that everything will work out well for him one way or another.

Colleen, you were surprised that John was able to come home and you were right about that. Not coming. The mileage home was outside of his limit. No Army son this weekend. He also has to stand guard Saturday. Oh well. His time to come home shouldn't be too far off. He sounded pretty accepting of the situation. I told him to enjoy the time that he has off anyway.

Well, that means no brotherhood visit for them. We now have a feeling that our Soldier son could go overseas without seeing his brother. We'll just have to cross that bridge if it gets here.

In the meantime, tomorrow evening should be a wonderful time with our Navy son definitely coming home. We have to be positive and count our blessings. We can't wait to have him home.

Thank you for sharing with my excitement today. : )

The Navy is going to kill me at this rate. When I asked what answers he has gotten about his fate tomorrow, Chris said, and I quote, "Oddness. I don't have as much info as I'd like..."

He really has no clue, no one is answering his questions straight.

I really don't get it. I've never known the Navy to act like this. Not when it comes to washing out of a school or not. It's usually very straight-forward one way or the other.

Arwen, I've noticed that when our sons are not sure about something (regarding the military) and something that will have an effect on them, they're more patient in waiting for the answer to the question (whatever it may be) than my husband and I are.

It's like they just seem to take it in stride. Whereas my husband and I will be asking them, "Have you found out such and such?" "Do you think you're going to get such and such?" They'll just calmly say, "I don't know yet."

I'm not sure about this but I don't think they like to or can "ask" too many questions, they just have to wait to be told in order to find a lot of things out. In the meantime mom and dad are anxiously waiting to have answers to these questions which seem very important regarding what's next for our kids.

I think that's a part of why our Army son has had two occasions now where he thought he would be coming home to see us but it ended up that he could not. Rather than asking questions, he waits until they tell the whole group something.

Well, we'll have to pray now for mom's (your) patience and peace as you wait. .

Those Who Wait also Serve (Isn't it the truth?!)

I just sent our Army son a message to tell him how much we love him and how much we know that he's tried to come home for a visit. He's in a very challenging part of his training...learning to parachute. I read in his Army book last night all about it. I had read it before, but had forgotten some things. It's a very challenging time for a soldier. On top of it, the parachutes are uncomfortable and in the blazing heat. They also do a LOT of PT.

I believe that he will make it. Many have already washed out in just the first week. I'm just wondering if any of you have a moment if you could put in a quick prayer for him to have patience with himself and to remain strong and positive as he passes through this. I'd say that it is probably the biggest thing that most of these young men AND women have ever experienced before. Thanks so much. His name is John.

In the meantime, our Navy son graduates from A School in 25 minutes. God bless all of our troops. They're all mighty fine people. I so appreciate the fact that we all have each other here. We're able to truly understand what it's like to have kids who are in the military. We're so very proud, and yet sometimes we ourselves need a hug in order to stay strong too.

You're not going to believe it. Chris's class graduated today, he didn't. He was told to report to class Monday morning, "or else." He was basically "demoted" to the next class. Which was his greatest hope.

I have never, ever seen the Navy give a young sailor so many chances. They must really like something about him. I don't know what. Everything good I could say about him would be, well, severely biased.

That's the best news we moms could want to hear, Arwen! God bless! We know you are so happy. Chris must be a very special young man! : )

Colleen, you have a bit of excitement going on there! Enjoy every minute!

Slimsam, thank you so much! Our son arrived safely late this afternoon. .

Wow, our first Petty Occifer! Congrats!

Hey Ladies~ Good Sat. morning :))
Arwen~ Soo happy for Chris. I'm sure they see, that he is really trying.:) It's okay to be biased, you are his mom ;). By the way...Happy Birthday! I hope it was an awesome day for you.

Tricia~ Hope all is well. When you are able to get a picture with the boys (men), I hope you post it. Would love to see them.

Colleen~ Enjoy your weekend and the time with Justin. He must have classed up a week before Ed.

I will be picking Ed up at the airport a week from today. I have my sign being shipped. Challenge coins are ordered. As soon as they arrive...I will rush to have them engraved. He celebrated his 19th birthday on Thursday. Thank goodness he has a PMB. I was able to get a gift and birthday cookies to him in time.

I am going to reward Chris by not calling or texting him all weekend. I've been "phone stalking" him for the last week looking for news. I'll let him alone for a while, LOL.

That sux. At least he got his uniforms back, but the loss of the electronics is painful. If someone took mine I'd be lost, all my family photos and decades of my writing are on my laptop.

Whew!! Finally caught up! :-) Haven't been on in days and I received the biggest gift when I read your "encouragement post" Navy/Army mom :-) Thank you! You sent me a blessing and God made sure I received it at the right time.

Arwen - Go Chris Go!!!!! He is gonna "Git R Dun" :-)

Navy/Army - Enjoy your Navy boy - I'm praying for John and his parachute training - gives the the eebie-jeebies to think of jumping from a perfectly good aircraft. I'm praying. :-)

Colleen - Enjoy your son!! I'm sorry about the theft - I'm so glad that he got the uniforms back!

Edsmom - Did he graduate from A-school already? Phillip's class won't graduate until Aug. Enjoy your son! :-)

Time to watch a movie with the little one. Love you guys. :-)

Hi everyone. Colleen, I heard about this yesterday. What a shame. Thank heavens though that he is okay and nothing bad happened to him from a safety standpoint. It hurts us 100 times worse when something happens to our kids. He'll replace everything, I'm sure. I'm so sorry about that. He should be arriving home from Seattle...today?!! Y'all must be so excited as he hasn't been home since December!! Keep us posted when you have the time.

Slimsam, you are so very sweet!

Beverly...thank you.. : )

Edsmom, how are you?! I haven't talked to you in awhile! I hope you're doing well and only a FEW more days until Ed is home!! That's GREAT NEWS!! I hope you enjoy every minute of having him at home with you. I'm sure that he is also very excited!!

Chris is getting good news all over. He's going to finally make Phase III at the end of this week, and they switched him back Bravo section (class from noon to 6 pm), so he doesn't have to get up at 3 a.m. anymore. He really isn't a morning person. He ought to be able to finish faster now.

Sandra, right now I'd much rather have a son in Iraq than Afghanistan. Iraq is winding down, it's Afghanistan that scares me. Didn't we learn anything from USSR's attempt at Afghanistan 25 years ago? They're easy to invade, but taking control of that country is darn near impossible, even when the official government is working with you.

Good news, Arwen.

Sandra, you have it tough right now. That's a lot on anyone's plate. We're here for you. My husband was laid off in 2007 (it lasted for one year). As you know, our son could be deployed soon too. I truly can understand your pain, and we're all here for you. I agree with what Arwen said about the deployment. .

You hang in there. You're not alone. We're here. I know your husband is probably quite torn apart right now between everything. Give each other lots of strength and support.