NUKE moms

I often wish I could slow time down, especially when it comes to the little ones growing up so quickly!

If you have a sailor in Norfolk there is a BBQ on Thursday...see flyer below.

My picture of the eclipse - looking through my homemade cereal box eclipse watcher lol!

We only got partial here in SoCal. Click on the picture to make it bigger - then you can see the crescent better.

97% here. Everyone sold out of the glasses. My high school junior son is watching at school. 

MoMom - wow!  That would be cool. Even though we were only partial I still enjoyed it.  My coworkers think I'm crazy lol!

Monday I was driving home from an appointment across town during the primary peaking of the eclipse in our area. I did not have any viewing apparatus prepared beforehand, so I was frustrated with myself. But my husband said they suggested a colander. I had a collapsible one that was flat, and I could see it a little bit through that. We also had some cloud cover as well. 

The interesting thing though was driving and noticing the light intensity difference. When I got home and came into my kitchen right at the primary peak it was eerie. My kitchen was so dark, I have north and west facing windows, that I had to turn the light on. But it was still bright outside, unlike when we have a storm or a regular cloudy day. Seeing the light intensity change without looking through glasses or other options will have to be my satisfaction for this solar eclipse viewing. 

MoMom - I am glad that your son had an opportunity to see the eclipse. My husband was able to go outside at work and another person had some glasses they let him look through. 

Chipmunk - C took Oli outside and did the colander trick too!  If you zoom in on the picture you can see it better.

If you have a sailor in Norfolk:

Also, BBQ moved to 4/17 due to possible rain today (also in Norfolk).

B'sNukeMom - That is such a neat picture. I don't know if the sky cleared up well enough for my older granddaughter to be able to experience the eclipse or not. I didn't know about the colander trick until it was too late to let her know. 

I think her colander worked better than my cereal box lol!

Hers looks like it had a flatter bottom than my initial colander that I tried. So, I went back into the house and brought out my collapsible one with larger holes. Since it was flat I could just hold it out and see the crescent shape, but I missed the prime time for our fullest coverage. 

Chimpmunk - agreed - seeing so many crescent shapes was cool!  My cereal box only gave me one - but it was a good one!

I added a discussion with the info for the NPTU Ombudsmen Team (4/2024).  If you click on the picture it will open up larger so it's easier to read.

I also added it to the Pages at the right.  Click on "View All" and it will bring it up.

My cousin's house near Cleveland was very close to the center of totality. We went up there for a family get-together. No way to lose with that, but the weather cooperated enough that we got a pretty amazing view of the eclipse through some thin high clouds. I got to meet my cousin's grandson; my cousin twice removed. (I met a 3-times-removed on the other side a few years ago.)

WLH - that was definitely a win-win! 

My goal is be around for the next total solar eclipse in 2044!  I'll have to head to either Montana, North Dakota or South Dakota, but I'm going to do it! 

Happy Monday!

The car seat safety check is in Charleston.

The Military Child Appreciation Month Meal is in Norfolk.

Lancertrackmom - Congratulations to your sailor!!

Lancertrackmom - Wonderful news! Congrats to you and your sailor. We'll be at the May graduation also.

joe-mom - Congratulations to your sailor as well!!

Lancertrackmom and joe-mom - BZ to both your sailor's!  And hopefully you can meet up in May ;-D

Lancertrackmom and joe-mom I will also be in Charlston for my son's A school  graduation.

KLsewso - Congrats to your son! I'm glad you'll get to be there for A school graduation. Best of luck to him throughout the pipeline.

KLsewso - congratulations to your sailor as well. The A school graduation will be at NNPTC whereas the Prototype graduation is at Patriot's Point. But you should all friend each other.

WearsLargeHats - I am so glad you were able to visit family and get a good view of the eclipse! 

Good morning - I haven't been on in awhile, but I have seen comments through my email. My son will be graduating A School in June :) We're making plans to be there. Does anyone know when they are granted leave after graduation? Is it the day of graduation? Thank you 

G'sNavyMom - Congratulations to your son on his upcoming graduation. As for leave after A school, to my knowledge those who receive the approximately 2 week leave, should be free after graduation, unless they have to stand watch or something. 

My son's situation was a little different, due to some weather issues, he was only granted a 3-day liberty, and he was not technically on liberty until I think 1600 or 1700 (4 - 5 PM). In other words, he had to be near enough to NNPTC, that he could easily get back if needed. He may have even needed to be able to get his NWUs on as well. (So, if he was staying at the motel with us in GC, he had to have that uniform with him.) He thought his liberty was going to only be until Sunday, so my younger son and I had planned to drive back Monday morning. Then my sailor found out they actually had liberty Sat - Mon. We had to check out of the motel, so we met our son Monday morning at the small NEX where you can park outside of NNPTC. The bowling alley is nearby, so we went and bowled a few games with him before we headed out. We were driving, so we had a little more flexibility. 

If you are flying back home and he is going with you, I would plan to not leave until the next morning. You can always go into Charleston and have dinner or go to the beach. 

Sorry - I inadvertently used leave instead of liberty in the later part of my text. 

Liberty has more restrictions on the radial distance which your sailor can be from NNPTC, and I believe they can always be called back from liberty if they are instructed to. Whereas Leave, is granted vacation, which they have to get a Chit (leave form) approved and signed, and time off is deducted from their leave (vacation) earnings. Liberty is time off built into their schedule with school, so to speak. 

Chipmunk - thank you for your response and information.  It sounds like your son had quite the experience after graduation. We sure don't know what our situation will be like. Every situation seems to be so unique.  

We are planning on driving so we have some flexibility. My son did say he will have leave for 2 weeks. He will be coming back home with us :).

Any suggestions on what to do or where to go after graduation in Charleston? We are planning to be there the day prior and the day after graduation. 

Also, any suggestions on A school graduation gifts? I send my son themed care packages once a month, so he has quite a bit of things already.  

Thank you💙⚓️

G'sNavyMom - You are welcome! Yes, each graduation has many similarities, but there can also be exceptions and you won't know what those are except from your sailor. Traveling by car, does allow a lot more flexibility. 

Does your son have his car with him yet? He will need a vehicle by the time he starts Prototype, since they have to find their own housing. Planning on carpooling with roommates may not be feasible depending on their school/watch schedule. 

As for places to visit - this discussion was from 2011 for a class that was graduating, but I found it when searching for the one that I am bumping into the queue above. A-School Class 1152T - There were a couple of posts in that discussion about places to visit and places to stay. Keep in mind it was pre-Covid. 

Also, I just replied to a comment on this post, and it is back in the discussion queue above - Sightseeing in Charleston This discussion has been commented on several times since I have been around. I appreciate when others add to it with newer, more recent information. It is one B'sNukeMom and I repost at times, so it is good place to share ideas. 

As for gifts, we took care of other expenses for our son and just traveling to see him with multiple family members at times was our gift to him. 

This is listed as a kid's toy, which is when my son received his first one. We since gave it as a gift as well, and I also purchased another one for my son after he wore his other one out. He used the flashlight to read his non-backlit Kindle all the time. But he liked it as well because it had no exposed metal parts and he could use it on the ship. Carson X-scope 

The link is to Amazon, but his original one had been purchased at a local store as a birthday present for him. It is not very expensive and if it is lost or stolen (as things do go missing on ships), it is not a huge loss. My son enjoyed camping, the outdoors, and reading in bed so it was a cool toy / gift for him. One of the few things which he kept ahold of. 

Chipmunk- this is great information..thank you! I will look into the gift suggestion.  My son would like this,  too. 

As far as a car for him, we are working on it. We plan to help him out with this.

My son's 19th birthday is in a few weeks. We are flying there to see him and take him out to celebrate him. We figured we should do this while we can, as we don't know how many more years we'll/he'll be able to do it. He says there's some amazing places in Charleston him and his friends have gone to. We are looking forward to both trips.