The Cyber Sisterhood

Lara, Grad and Gos who are leaving on Saturday are given a normal Friday liberty. You will have him for the whole day.

You can also meet him at the airport on Saturday to give him his cell phone and other stuff - and hang out with him for a few hours while he waits for his flight.

Donna, Yes it is the college of southern Maryland. It a little bit of a drive but not too bad.

Slim, tell Sam congrats and let's hope he gets somewhere good.

Well Ladies I should be getting off. I need to at least clean my house a little bit and pack before Shawn gets home which could be any time now since he normally gets off early on Fridays. I probably won't be on all weekend because we are going to Ohio and surprising his dad's side of the family since everyone will be there celebrating that his grandfather is okay. I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

I'm going to kill Chris. His graduation (Friday July 2) is (was?) almost guaranteed. Then the idiot goes and falls asleep in class! Why? Because he stays up late playing video games, reading, etc. So he goes to sleep at 2 or 3 a.m. and can't wake up decently for the rest of the day.

He's always been like this, it's like he's scared he's going to miss something if he goes to sleep, or simply doesn't want to quit having fun to go to sleep, as if there will be no time to have fun the next day. I always had to enforce bedtime, and often confiscate a flashlight or game system from his bedroom when I caught him still awake with them in his otherwise darkened room.

So he was sent to an academic review board. He revealed that this is his THIRD academic review board and they're sending him to counseling, they think he has "issues." They recommended kicking him out, but was later taken aside and told to keep trying. At his current pace he should be done by Wednesday or Thursday. IF he gets the sleep he needs and doesn't fall asleep in class.

I'm getting really worried about Chris. He's fallen back into old habits, habits that got him kicked out of college (he skipped classes to sleep because he was up until 3 or 4 am on the internet).

He knows what he needs to do, but doesn't seem to know how to "turn it off" at a reasonable hour.

If he screwed this up for good after they gave him so many chances, and so close to the prize (graduation), I'll just scream.

Oh, and I wish he'd gotten sea duty. On a ship the day is so freakishly regulated he would be forced to follow their schedule and wouldn't have the freedom to make the kind of mistakes he's making now. After a few years on a ship he'd have a lot more maturity and hopefully would have better self control when it comes to making decisions about sleep.

Hey moms and wives. Just popping in this morning to say hello. Arwen, I'm so sorry to hear about your aggravation and anguish. Maybe they will be able to get him to do what he needs to do. Navy mom hug.

Colleen, you must be very excited with just three days to go before you leave. That trip to S.C. was very brief for us, but we had such a great time. Drive safely and enjoy every minute.

Other moms and wives, I'm a few pages behind here to know all that is going on with everyone, but I'll do my best to catch up.

Our Army son is home for about 5 more days. We're so enjoying his visit before he heads off to his new duty station. Between the two of them in the military, it's all I think about as I go about my daily life.

I'm going outside in this HEAT to help my hubby with some yard work. By help I mean, picking up a few things, bringing him water and giving him moral support. If it were up to me I'd leave everything alone until fall.

Have a nice day and stay as cool as possible. Arwen, I'm coming to visit you in order to get out of this heat. : )

Whoa! I'm drenched! I did a little bit more than just give moral support. : (
Hitting the shower now.

Heh, we're still in the 50s/60s (and that's our high temps). Anyone who wants to visit is more than welcome!

I think I over did it today in the heat, not feeling too well in the head.

Arwen, which airport should I fly into? : )

If you want a nice drive along the coast, you can fly into San Francisco or Portland, rent a car and take the 8-hour drive along the coast. If you come from San Francisco it will involve mostly redwood forests. From Portland, Douglass fir forests. Or you can fly into our closest small airport at Crescent City. As you land it looks like you are going to land on the water, then suddenly there is runway under the wheels. It's all good. =~D

This weekend we're having the 4th of July fireworks (at the beach) and the Kite Festival is coming up. Oh, and the salmon season has begun. You like salmon? And next weekend is our Blue Star Mothers meeting. you can join us.

*evil laugh*

Okay, I've come to a zen point in how to deal with the Chris drama. I'm going to wait the week and see what happens. Until then I assume he is in school and will go on to Fort Meade, as his orders say. Since there is absolutely nothing I can do about the situation, I'm just going to assume the best and deal with anything else as it comes.

Sometimes I wish Chris didn't tell me about the scary parts (academic review board, etc) and leave me in the dark.

Arwen, I'm flying straight into Crescent City. I'll see you tomorrow!! I'll be the one who looks like she just stepped out of a sauna.

I like your plan with Chris. Sometimes that's what we have to do as parents.

Colleen, I'm so sad to hear about that possible cancellation of your travel plans. Please update us asap. I had no idea about that, they must have just found out about this themselves.

It should be in his name. If not, you need to transfer it. It can be done without him there, but for the time being you can write a letter giving him express permission to use the truck. He gives that letter, along with registration, insurance and his drivers' license to the base vehicle registration office, and he should have no problem.

Once you get the time to register it in his name he will have to start over, but it's a fairly easy process and should only take an hour at most.

Colleen- My car and Shawn's car are both still in our parents names and so is the insurance. All he needs for permission to drive and register it on base. We have a notarized letter stating that our parents give us permission to register and drive the cars on base. We have never had a problem with them not being in our names and they never question it.

Hey Ladies~ Hope all is well.
Tricia~ Enjoy you Army son. The time goes by too fast. :(.
Slimsam~ Congrats to Sam on the test. BIG WooHoo!!
Colleen~ Ed had heard the same thing about Power school.
Arwen~Fingers crossed all works out for Chris.
The time went by too fast. I had such an emotional time at the airport. Palm Springs Airport allowed us to go to the gate to see him off, because he was military. They no longer allow people past a certain point, because of security risks. I thought all was well...wrong!! I got a call from Ed. His flight was diverted to Tulsa, because of weather. His flight from DFW to SC was canceled. Thank goodness I have family there, because he couldn't get a flight out until tomorrow. He had to call the Rickover and let them know that his flight was canceled. I just hope he doesn't get into too much trouble. I went from "crying" to "ohh crap" in 2.2 seconds. Yep, Colleen...as mature as they have become, it's nice to know..that they still will call mom when situations get out of hand. I miss him :(((. Night ladies. Sleep well.

Today is the big day. Chris believes he will finish his last mods by 6:30 p.m. I'd hold my breath, but since the brain only lives for 4 minutes without oxygen, and his day doesn't technically end for another 7 hours, I might not make it until that call comes.

Now we don't know what happens next. He has his orders on his website thing, but not his paper orders, nor his travel plans or leave. Since they have a five-day weekend beginning tomorrow, we don't have a clue if they will let him get out of there this weekend, or if he will have to wait until next week's graduation. Unfortunately I am pretty sure he will be in Pensacola for another week, holding for graduation.

Praying for the best, Arwen. We'll wait to hear from you!

I'm sorry to hear about Ed's travel difficulties, Rosa. Us moms and airports can be emotional places to be, sometimes we're super happy and excited and sometimes we have the other aspect of it to deal with. I'm glad you had a good visit. Now you wait, plan and look forward to the next one! :)

Does anyone know whether Collen got to go to see Justin or not?

Where's Beverly?

Hi Slimsam!

And to everyone else and anyone I missed...a Navy mom hi and a big hug!

P.S. I'm washing our Army son's ACUs (Army Combat Uniforms) with loving care in preparation for his return to his Duty Station on Friday. I accidently shed a few tears this morning, don't know why...just did. y'all all know how that can happen out of the blue. But staying Army/Navy strong! Love ya'll!

Those Who Wait also Serve

Chris will graduate on Friday, July 9. There's no graduation this week, so he will have to wait.

Chris' written orders are not what we were expecting. It has gotten to the point that I'm no longer comfortable discussing what they are, just that he'll be inside the D.C. Beltway. Mas cool orders. I just hope he's up to it. These are the kind of first orders that can make or break a career.

Well isn't that something. Congratulations, Arwen. We're all big on OPSEC, I take it sooo seriously too. I always stay very general in my discussions, probably too general, but I prefer to err on the side of caution for all of our troop's sake. I know you must be very, very happy and we wish your son the very best in every possible way.

Congratulations, Slimsam. I know you're anxious to find out where he's going. That's always the news we so anxiously await to hear. Good luck on that and if it's possible maybe you can let us know.

Congratulations to Nichelle too! See....it all worked out in God's time! :)

I'm still wondering if Colleen went or not? I thought not, but now we aren't hearing from her the last day or so.

Donna, I love your spirit regarding "all of us moms". I think our troops know and feel our support greatly, and we must ensure that they continue to...even to a greater extent. Although there are some wonderful people in the world who really pay attention to them and who go out of their way to support them, I believe that our country needs to renew our energy and our actions regarding this.

It truly means the world to them, and my son said, that so often when they're down, tired and discouraged that it's "the American people's expression of appreciation and support" that keeps them going.

Every "thank you" they receive is so noticed by them and has deep meaning to them. Every handshake, every verbal "thank you for serving our country", every letter, every package, every sign, every positive action on their behalf, is so humbly accepted by them with very deep and sincere appreciation.

God bless them all! We're behind them all the way through thick and thin, on the good days and the bad days, we are there for them, let them never doubt that.

Navy/Army mom, I tend to take OPSEC with a bit of a grain of salt, thanks to my time in the Navy and how stupid it is sometimes. I remember we weren't allowed to talk about what submarines were coming in or leaving, or what subs were in port, but they had huge welcome/farewell banners at the front gates and banners on each submarine, clearly visible to people at the national park that overlooked the sub base in San Diego.

But this job Chris has gotten himself into just plain makes me oddly nervous about identifying much about it. I'm going to have to talk to my bro-in-law, he should be able to counsel me a bit more about how much I can/should say about Chris' orders. He's an amazing resource for helping us deal with this end of OPSEC, he lived it for his whole Navy career.

Good Morning Ladies~ Slimsam, Sandra, and Arwen~Big "Hooyah" to Sam, Nichelle, and Chris. It is sooo awesome to hear how far they have all come.:)). Makes a Navy Auntie proud.:)).
Tricia~ You said it perfectly. While we were at the Elks Lodge ( Grammie and Papa belong), one of their friends came up and thanked Ed for his service. He replied, "Thank you. It is my honor." I teared up, because I could see by the look in his eyes...he meant every word.
Colleen~ Thank you so much for extending the offer to help Ed. He was glad to be back on base. He had to muster with the Chief yesterday morning. Thank goodness all went well. Mental note: allow two days travel time, so that your bottom doesn't end up in the ringer.
It is going to be a quiet 4th. Manda is headed to Big Bear with friends, and Ed back in SC...maybe I will recover the patio swing cushions. lol. I really should get a life. :))) Have a wonderful day.

The roller coaster took a HUGE dip today.

After all that has happened in the last few months the Navy decided that because of his failure to finish his very last two mods this week, he has had his last chance. Instead of finishing his final mods Tuesday morning (which should take less than two hours) and graduating on Friday (next week), he is no longer an IT A student and will be redesignated or sent undes.

This is stunning after he got his orders and all. Everything that was about to happen is canceled. And if they change their minds again (they've told him he's "out" twice before) I will just scream.

Okay, Arwen. We are with you. We're on this roller coaster ride right with you and if we're on a down part then there is nowhere else to go now except up. There is something that God has planned for him that we don't yet know and it will be revealed in His time. As we all know, nothing is more important in this time of war than the fact that they are safe. So, we'll have to focus on that most important aspect for the moment. You were very worried about his assignment, maybe for now this change is for the best. God bless you and HUGE Navy mom hug. We all know that what you need right now is to KNOW what Chris is going to be doing and where. Surely it won't be too much longer now until you will know, Again, we're with you and we can feel your frustration and concern. PLEASE keep us advised regarding how he is doing...and how you are doing. He must be very discouraged and disappointed now after having tried so hard.

We woke up at 4AM and Army son is on the way.

Chris is actually oddly happy about losing IT. He wasn't looking forward to a desk job and never getting to go to sea, but he didn't want to say it because everyone was so excited about his graduation and orders. IT was what he was given, not what he wanted when he went in to MEPS a year ago. His orders were pretty high-stress (those orders I didn't want to talk about were to the Office of Naval Intelligence just outside of DC) and he wasn't sure he wanted them. He sees this as a bit of an escape. His pride is a bit stung by his failure to graduate, but he didn't actually want the job.

Chris wants to be a SeaBee or something similar where he can work with his hands and build/create things. He's a big, physical guy and is hoping he gets to go back to one of the jobs he wanted in the first place. In his words (regarding the SeaBees), "And they get to use guns!"

See, it's already starting to sound better and better. PLEASE tell him not to let his pride be hurt by this. Tell him he did a GREAT job trying to do something that wasn't going too well for him and that we all admire him and respect him for hanging in there the way he did and for NOT giving up!! I respect him so much for that!! Now, let's see if some of the doors that are more right for him will start to open!! Go Chris!! Hooyah!

Please express our family's appreciation to him for his service to our country. We're SO grateful to him for volunteering to serve, especially in these times.

Our Army son arrived safely and in good spirits. He now has the long weekend to get settled in and to become aquainted with his new Duty Station. He sounded so good. Praise God!

And now...I'm getting ready to give Navy son a little buzz on his cell phone!! : )

Happy Fourth of July Weekend everyone!!

I'm praying for rain!! A nice indoor weekend..LOL...a movie or two...relax a little bit. (And Hubby could use a breather from a very hectic schedule which has been ongoing for some time. He really needs and deserves a break and a little rain at least for tomorrow would probably keep him housebound and watching a movie or two!) He needs some R&R.

Navy/Army mom, I will send the rain to you. I'm looking forward to my weekend and celebrating the hubbys birthday. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

Have a nice birthday celebration for your hubby, Sarah! What are you going to do?! Did you bake a cake or buy a cake?!

It didn't rain, and it's beautiful here today. We haven't had the air conditioner on since last night...we have the windows opened. We did some yard work and now we're watching a movie. I hope that everyone is enjoying some nicer weather this weekend. We're being a little bit lazy today, kind of piddling around. It's nice to have a day like that. I'm really glad to see my husband sort of kick back and relax today.

Lol, he isn't a big cake person. Yesterday was his actual birthday and so after work we met up with guys from work and walked around ikea for a bit. Then we went to chilis where he was embarrassed by them singing to him. He also got to buy a few dvds that he has been wanting. Tomorrow we are seeing fireworks in DC and Monday he wanted to go to Kings Dominion so thats what we are doing. Other then that it just a normal weekend of me making him feel old and playing lego Harry Potter which he deserves after taking me to see Eclipse at midnight on Wednesday.

I'm glad that you got to relax and that you are enjoying your weekend!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful July 4th.
Sarah~ How awesome is that !?! To be able to see the fireworks in DC. I believe that I would have to have a bottom of Kleenex...all to myself.

Wow, its so lonely in here today. We're doing a 4th of July movie marathon: Stripes, Private Benjamin, Operation Petticoat, and Down Periscope. Somehow the kids escaped seeing these movies for years.

Arwen - My husband had me watch Down Periscope the other day, it was my first time and he's a Submariner so he insisted. I LOVED IT!

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July. We have spent it with me sick, dang summer cold, and with waiting to hear news about my husbands Grandma. Please keep her in your prayers. She having a really rough couple of days and is in ICU. The hopes aren't that high and my husband is terrified of losing her and if he will be able to take leave from A school if we do lose her.

Sorry to hear you were sick, Janie! Prayers for your husband's Grandma too.
I looked for the movie Down Periscope today after I read your post earlier. I hope to find it and watch it soon.

I can't wait to hear about those DC Fireworks!

It is a bit quiet here. Colleen you must be looking forward to next weekend.

Well, I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I'll talk to y'all soon. : )

Navy/Army Mom - Thank you for your prayers! They have the movie on NetFlix, we watched it on the instant play.

Thank you Colleen. Have a safe trip!

Have a safe and wonderful trip, Colleen!! We can't wait to hear all about it!! I believe you're going to love Charleston and you really deserve this trip to finally see it and know what it looks like and what it's like there!! : )

Colleen~Have a wonderful time. Wish I was headed that way too. :))

I spoke to Colleen a little while ago. They were almost to Knoxville, TN and enjoying their trip very much! I told her that we're all jealous!

Congratulations to Nichelle Again!! And how is she enjoying her new car?! Have you heard from your son in the Army, Sandra? I hope he's doing well. How are you doing, Sandra and your husband?

For the last couple of days I haven't heard from Chris, and his phone is off. I try to call, and his phone goes straight to voice mail. I hope he didn't do something stupid, like wash it, or fall on it. It's an expensive one!

This is getting harder. It's not that he lost his school, it's that I don't know what comes next. It may be 2 weeks to 2 months before he finally learns whether he gets another school (and what school it is) or if he goes undes. It's torture.

Maybe it will be the shorter time period before you'll know where he's headed, Arwen. Regarding the phone, hopefully you'll hear from him over the weekend.

Thanks for the update, Phyllis! I've been hearing about these beach excursions! I hope they have lots of fun and stay safe. I feel pretty sure that we can trust their judgment, but I can always fit that prayer in too!

Slimsam, I think you would be fine to go too. I vote "go" too, afterall you will only be gone one day out of his visit...and like you said, he can visit with his buddies and his brother during that time. So, it's fine for you to follow through with this plan which you've had with your classmates for quite some time.

Colleen, Welcome to Goose Creek!! I wish I were there with you!! Many of us wish that!! ! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!! : )

Arwen... waiting to hear from you! I couldn't reach my son for a couple of days either. I think he turned his phone off and has also been working some unusual and very long shifts.

I'm not worried - he's in the Navy, what's going to happen to him? If something truely bad did happen the Navy would notify me.

My biggest concern is that I don't know what progress he's making toward getting new orders. LOL, maybe Chris turned off his phone because I'm calling too often to ask about progress when there is none.

I'm sure he either washed his phone (he's left iPods in his pockets for laundry in the past), lost it, or let the battery run down and can't find it because it's not ringing. Or, as I said earlier, fell on it and broke it.

No, I don't have another way to contact him. He uses his phone as his regular email and internet access, he hates the computers they have available at the Liberty Center. So I'll just have to wait until he either finds, charges or replaces his phone. Or until he decides to put me out of my misery and call me on that stupid pay phone.

Good afternoon Ladies~ It's hot and humid today in the desert. Joy!!!
Arwen~ I would be on pins and needles.
Pam~(slimsam) I would go. Ed had asked that I not do a bunch of planning when he came home. He just wanted to rest and hang with buddies. And...that is exactly what he did. lol.
Sandra~ Fantastic job Nichelle! :)
Phyllis~ Ed doesn't start Power school until Sept.
Have a great weekend everyone.:))

One of my kids dropped a cell phone in the...toliet. The cell phone before that got dropped out of a ride at Six Flags, never to be seen again. Fortunately it got replaced by the guilty party, not by mom and dad. : )

Have a nice weekend, everyone! I'll be popping in now and then! We must stay posted and up to date! I don't have any real news from here this Friday, although we do believe we are going to receive deployment news from our Army son within the next couple of weeks. Darn it.

Hey Rosa! Have a great weekend! Same to everyone!

Lol, I dropped my phone in a toilet on Monday at King's Dominion. Luckily Shawn had insurance on mine since my phone isn't cheap.

Donna, it really has been pretty hot. Shawn even commented on it the other day and then had to repeat himself saying he couldn't believe it was cooler in Atlanta.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

Chris finally called. I was right, he temporarily lost his phone.

He did see the career counselor today. The paperwork he needs isn't yet available to put anything through, but Chris doesn't have the ASVAB scores he needs to go to a Seabee school. He plans to study, study, study those subjects he needs and take the ASVAB again. He kinda hopes they take their time so he has a chance to get his scores high enough.

He definitely has the spirit! Go, Chris!! That's funny you were right about his cell phone! : )

Message to Colleen: If you can read this...we hope you're having a GREAT time in Charleston! I'm thinking about you! Have a fun and have a safe trip!! We can't wait to hear about it from you!

Colleen, Mother's Intuition? Nah, Chris is just really predictable.

Time for another chapter in the Chris Adventure Series

Chris called this morning, quite proud of himself. Early this morning, waiting for his duty-day ending muster, ended up part of a joint Army-Navy rescue mission. It was a proud moment, as a part of a team that involved discovering a possibly fatal situation, research of the situation, using the technology available to the team, gathering the required supplies and carrying out the mission in the best traditions of the US Armed Forces.

Chris served as guard, to protect the rescue workers from attacks. He was armed by the group he was working with, but no attackers appeared, and he didn't have to fire a shot.

Here's how it went down.

A female member of the Army discovered a baby bird screaming from the ground underneath a tree. It seemed to have been displaced from its home and needed military assistance in returning to its rightful place. As the Army does, it had to ask the Navy for help. The sailor returned to barracks, and using the internet, looked into the logistics of Baby Bird Assistance.

The sailor then gathered the required supplies - rubber gloves to prevent putting human scent on the baby bird - and gathered a team to help support the mission of climbing the tree while carrying the baby bird.

Chris was asked to volunteer for the mission and given a non-lethal water weapon and instructed to shoot the parent birds in case they returned and took offense of the human handling their baby. An attack on a sailor high in a tree could have resulted in injuries to eyes, or caused a nasty fall.

The group returned the baby bird to the nest, and the mission came to an end. They celebrated their success, and returned to their units with no casualties.

There is no word yet if there will be any medals issued as a result of the operation.

I can't put this book (Chris Adventures Series)! It's awesome. : )

Colleen, have fun. We made Texas burgers tonight. The recipe is on the side of the A-1 Sauce bottle. Go very easy on the chopped green chiles if anyone tries it. Pretty good with steak fries. I'm testing some new recipes for when the boys come home. : )

Beverly, where are you? I sure hope she's doing alright. We miss you.