Annette, am I wrong about closing the schools at Christmas? I thought I read it somewhere on here, but I could be wrong! It's been known to happen! LOL!
My son graduated BESS and within a couple of days, while I was still there - classed up. I believe they can stay on the base until they class up. But - I think they are closed for that two weeks- I think from 12/16 to 1/6 - not real sure of those dates yet though. My son pays his own flight home during that time.
Thanks for all the advice! I am a teacher and get off work for a couple weeks during Christmas, so would love for him to be able to come home then. Depending on how quickly he classes up, he could potentially be done with A school by end of February or early March. He will have about 15 days built up by Christmas, but not a lot of time to accrue much more by the end of A school. Ultimately it's his decision. I have to keep reminding myself that he's a grown-up now:)
It's very hard. I fought it for awhile before I started encouraging it. And oh my, he has grown up a lot these past few months! That's a bigger thrill than I expected! ;)
Waiting for my son to get his orders on were his Base will be..He hasn't even graduated from Sonar A school. But as it seems October is then end of the Navy fiscal year so they are trying to spend the money they currently have to get these Sailors were they need to be. He Graduates from Sonar A school in December, but was totally surprised yesterday when he was told that he had to give his 3 choices of were he would like to be stationed NOW! We live on the East coast..I hope its not Guam, or Hawaii. We wont see him at All!.. Keeping my fingers crossed, should hear today sometime. he said it doesn't matter what you choose they put you were they need you. This is Hard.
985 Cat. We are also East Coast and our Sonar Tech just got to WA and is loving life. His older Sailor brother just called and said he is the happiest kid on the planet to be out there. We are an outdoor family, so he was destined to be out there. I will be flying out very soon to see him then I will be heading out there in the spring for a hiking trip!
Annette, you are right about the growing up. My husband and I are amazed at how much our son has matured since he joined the Navy!. Our whole family has been surprised at how quickly he is turning into a responsible young man. We are so proud of him!
Hubby has been sending son a text every Friday about getting car insurance, so we could drop him from ours. He paid it up until he left for BC, and we drove his car east for him to have. Last week he sent 3 texts about it, one after another, all in CAPS. Son replied for the first time and said as soon as he was done with his big test he would look into it. Last Tuesday he called hubby to tell him that his insurance would begin at midnight that night. He apologized for taking so long and thanked him for being patient with him. He also said he was a bit intimidated by the task. We were both amazed at this new maturity level. Plus, PLUS! He got a 92 on his big "final" for BESS!
985cat, thats awesome! Don't be sad... now you get to plan a fun trip. You're East Coast, If I remember. Not to far to drive and a reasonable flight... ; )
An update on my brother Steve: Yesterday was his birthday (55!), and his first visit to the oncologist. The news could only have been better if they said he was cancer free. It's pretty damn good news.
Small cell lympocytic lymphoma, slow growing, non-aggressive. Basically there is no treatment called for at this time. He goes in for regular blood tests and CT scans and unless or until those tests show that it has spread or is growing, or he starts exhibiting certain symptoms, which could be many years down the road, life goes on as before. A former neighbor of our when I was growing up in CT diagnosed with this same thing 8-10 years ago. In the time, he and his wife (both retired) have bicycled across country more than once, and now own an RV which they drive all over, visiting state parks and biking or hiking. Nothing has changed for him since his diagnosis, except for the regular blood work and CT scan!
Life is good. God is great. My brother, and I, and our whole family are grateful for your prayers and good thoughts. Thank you so much!
My son's PIR is 10/11/13 and I won't be able to attend. I'm thinking about visiting him during around Veteran's Day, since flights are much cheaper than at Thanksgiving. Any idea how much liberty they'll have a month after arriving and if they can even leave the base?
PuddlePirate, He should have yellow card liberty by then. That will mean he can be off base on weekdays provided he is done with school and has no duty, and weekends, as long as he doesn't have duty. If he has duty he has to stay on base whether he has watch or not, but you can visit with him there as long as he is not standing watch.
I saw this on the Loved ones of Groton fb page and couldn't help sharing with you, especially since the odds are we may never actually meet, at least most of us, but I will always consider you my friends! :)
Johanna, look for Loved ones of Groton, CT Sailors on facebook. It's a closed group but you just have to request to be a member. I just loved the sentiment of that one, since we all will probably never meet-only because of logistic problems! But i think of all of you as my friends! :)
ProudNavyMom, I should be giving your son a big Navy Mom hug tomorrow night! Also yours, Kevsmom!!
YAY!!!!!!! Please do!!!! I feel like I'm the one there!!!! Thank you for updating us on your trip. you must be sooooooo happy and proud to see your Sailor!!!
Ha! Sorry to say but I've been counting the days until we get back to Groton! I miss my son so much and yet, I miss my greyhounds at home too. I'm just no fun at all!!! As far as I know he doesn't have work or duty tomorrow and probably has duty on Saturday, which we can work around. We have to leave Groton saturday night to catch an early flight back to So Cal. i will be crying all the way, quietle. i just hate to leave him but am grateful for the time here. So grateful. :)
FATHOMOM, enjoy your time with your Sailor!!!!!! I am so happy for you!!!!!!! And thank you in advance for hugging mine if you see him while you are there!!!! mrsb will give you his details. :-) God bless
Whew! Back in Groton, actually Mystic, again! What a whirlwind trip but it was amazingly. In about an hour we are going to meet our son, kevsmom93 and ProudNavyMoms sons for pizza!!! I can't wait! And yes I will give hugs to your boys! Fathomom won't be here for another two hours so will have to catch up with them later, maybe tomorrow. I'll take some pictures that I can post so you can see your boys, er, Sailors!!!
Oops, I meant to say amazingly beautiful!! We get none of these beautiful colors in So Cal-everything just turns brown, falls off and the Santa Ana's blow them away! Had our first day of rainy weather today, coming down from Canada, but it was still nice to see, and feel. Right now I'm really missing my dogs!!! But tonight and tomorrow we will spend with our Sailor, then head back to JFK tomorrow night for an early flight home on Sunday. At least the next time I see him will be a shorter time than since June. :)
ProudNavyMom, here is a photo I think you will like! Kevsmom, your son wasn't there-they thought he was a the gym. :( Here is a photo I took tonite-hope you can althe%20boys%20in%20mystic.jpgl see it.
AWHHHHH MRSB!!! THANK YOU!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! HAHAHAHA OUR SAILORS LOOK SO GOOD!!!!!!! OH HOW I MISS MINE!!! THEY BOTH ARE SO HANDSOME!!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
I am so excited to read where everyone is at, I don't know if its nerves, excitement of the combination of the two, but, concerned, my son graduates boot camp on Friday 10/18 and will be going to Groton on Saturday. I know how the flying there works, my question is, I have booked my flight to Connecticut to spend more time with him. Will he be able to leave school to be with us, do we spend time with him at the school or we won't have much time together?
mrsb- awesome photo of the guys, they've hardly changed since I saw them at the airport in June, except they are wearing civies of course and are still just as handsome! What a bummer mine didn't make it....at the gym instead of pizza? How the heck did that happen? I'm going to have to get to the bottom of this..lol Can't believe he stood you up mrsb!
Enjoy the rest of your visit and cherish every last second! By the way you've been missing out on those Santa Ana's...lucky for you
ProudNavyMom19, I asked my son about how much time he had before things started up when he got to Groton last June. He said they pretty much had saturday, sunday and part of monday, so if you go to Groton you should at least have that. :)
Kevsmom, I don't know what happened to your son!! I didn't think he would pass up the pizza-maybe his phone died? Anyway, mine couldn't get a hold of him-so sad cuz I wanted to give him a hug for you!! In case anyone is out that way we went to Gus's Pizza, about 10-15 minutes away from the base and it was really good!! We also found a really good BBQ place today for lunch-called The Bayou Smokehouse-only about 5 minutes from the base-it was awesome!! My son loved it, took a bunch of their brochures back to the base to share. They will deliver but only to the gate, they can't go on the base, but we all loved it, especially my son!!!
Now for the disappointing part-we only got to spend a little over an hour with him today. He had watch until noon (thanks for everything OklahomaMama but it just didn't work out). We picked him up, took him to the bbq place and had him back by the 2 pm muster. He called at 2:15 and said there were some real stupid-heads there today that were late to muster and some slept through the am one so no one could leave the base and they all had to stay in their rooms, so to speak. He was able to come out and say goodbye but our visit was cut short by about 3 hours. I was so sad, still am, but I know I have to get over it. He belongs to the Navy now and I just have to deal with it. We had a great visit last night and last Sunday we got to hang out and go to Mystic. I am grateful for the time we did have but wish it could have been more. At the hotel tonight, waiting for the 4:30 am wake up to go to the airport for the leisurely 6 hour flight home. I will get to see my hounds tomorrow though and I can't wait for that. :)
OaklahomaMama I'm heading to Groton on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to see my sailor graduate Thursday, Oct. 17. My birthday happens to be the 15th also. Counting the days!!!
mrsb, Thank You for information, but I got a call from my son this morning, and he told me that because of the government shut down, he is not certain whether or not he will be heading to Groton that Saturday, he may have to stay at Great Lakes :'-( . . .he said that they will not know until graduation. Shame how the politicians tantrums are affecting armed forces
proudNavyMom19, those politicians should all be fired as far as I'm concerned!!! They're still getting paid!! Sheesh!! The uncertainty is horrible, as was yesterday for us.
mrsb
Annette, am I wrong about closing the schools at Christmas? I thought I read it somewhere on here, but I could be wrong! It's been known to happen! LOL!
Sep 30, 2013
shirl
Sep 30, 2013
navymom2013
My son graduated BESS and within a couple of days, while I was still there - classed up. I believe they can stay on the base until they class up. But - I think they are closed for that two weeks- I think from 12/16 to 1/6 - not real sure of those dates yet though. My son pays his own flight home during that time.
Sep 30, 2013
Eaglefan
Sep 30, 2013
mrsb
that's the hard part isn't it eaglefan, letting them grow up. :(
Sep 30, 2013
Eaglefan
Sep 30, 2013
Annette
It's very hard. I fought it for awhile before I started encouraging it. And oh my, he has grown up a lot these past few months! That's a bigger thrill than I expected! ;)
Oct 1, 2013
985cat ship 14 div 065
Waiting for my son to get his orders on were his Base will be..He hasn't even graduated from Sonar A school. But as it seems October is then end of the Navy fiscal year so they are trying to spend the money they currently have to get these Sailors were they need to be. He Graduates from Sonar A school in December, but was totally surprised yesterday when he was told that he had to give his 3 choices of were he would like to be stationed NOW! We live on the East coast..I hope its not Guam, or Hawaii. We wont see him at All!.. Keeping my fingers crossed, should hear today sometime. he said it doesn't matter what you choose they put you were they need you. This is Hard.
Oct 1, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
Dear 985cat ship 14, I am praying for your Sailor and all of our Sailors!!! Lord hear our prayers. God bless
Oct 1, 2013
Johanna
Oct 1, 2013
Eaglefan
Oct 1, 2013
Annette
Hubby has been sending son a text every Friday about getting car insurance, so we could drop him from ours. He paid it up until he left for BC, and we drove his car east for him to have. Last week he sent 3 texts about it, one after another, all in CAPS. Son replied for the first time and said as soon as he was done with his big test he would look into it. Last Tuesday he called hubby to tell him that his insurance would begin at midnight that night. He apologized for taking so long and thanked him for being patient with him. He also said he was a bit intimidated by the task. We were both amazed at this new maturity level. Plus, PLUS! He got a 92 on his big "final" for BESS!
Oct 1, 2013
Annette
He being my son paid his dad for his insurance.
Oct 1, 2013
mrsb
Annette, good for him!!!! You've raised a man!!!
Oct 1, 2013
985cat ship 14 div 065
My sons station will be Kings Bay, Georgia. SSBN Wyoming. Hooyah..I Just got the phone call. Im happy and sad all at once!
Oct 2, 2013
Johanna
Oct 2, 2013
Annette
An update on my brother Steve: Yesterday was his birthday (55!), and his first visit to the oncologist. The news could only have been better if they said he was cancer free. It's pretty damn good news.
Small cell lympocytic lymphoma, slow growing, non-aggressive. Basically there is no treatment called for at this time. He goes in for regular blood tests and CT scans and unless or until those tests show that it has spread or is growing, or he starts exhibiting certain symptoms, which could be many years down the road, life goes on as before. A former neighbor of our when I was growing up in CT diagnosed with this same thing 8-10 years ago. In the time, he and his wife (both retired) have bicycled across country more than once, and now own an RV which they drive all over, visiting state parks and biking or hiking. Nothing has changed for him since his diagnosis, except for the regular blood work and CT scan!
Life is good. God is great. My brother, and I, and our whole family are grateful for your prayers and good thoughts. Thank you so much!
Oct 2, 2013
mrsb
Annette, what wonderful news that is!! So happy for all of you!!
Oct 2, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
Annette, thank you for sharing the good news!!! May our Lord continue to bless you and yours abundantly!!!
Oct 2, 2013
PuddlePirate
Oct 3, 2013
Annette
PuddlePirate, He should have yellow card liberty by then. That will mean he can be off base on weekdays provided he is done with school and has no duty, and weekends, as long as he doesn't have duty. If he has duty he has to stay on base whether he has watch or not, but you can visit with him there as long as he is not standing watch.
Oct 3, 2013
mrsb
Oct 3, 2013
mrsb
I saw this on the Loved ones of Groton fb page and couldn't help sharing with you, especially since the odds are we may never actually meet, at least most of us, but I will always consider you my friends! :)
Oct 3, 2013
Johanna
Sounds wonderful.
Oct 3, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
Awh, mrsb, how beautiful! Well expressed! I feel the same for you my dear friend, and all on this website. God bless you always.
Oct 3, 2013
mrsb
Johanna, let me find it!
Oct 3, 2013
Johanna
Oct 3, 2013
mrsb
Johanna, look for Loved ones of Groton, CT Sailors on facebook. It's a closed group but you just have to request to be a member. I just loved the sentiment of that one, since we all will probably never meet-only because of logistic problems! But i think of all of you as my friends! :)
ProudNavyMom, I should be giving your son a big Navy Mom hug tomorrow night! Also yours, Kevsmom!!
Oct 3, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
HAHAHAHAHA!!! Thank you mrsb!!!!! You just made my day! my week!!! Heck, at least I'll hold till Christmas now!!! HAHAHAHA love, (you know who :)
Oct 3, 2013
mrsb
Aw, proudNavyMom, I'll try to get some pictures so I can post-no names of course!
Oct 3, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
YAY!!!!!!! Please do!!!! I feel like I'm the one there!!!! Thank you for updating us on your trip. you must be sooooooo happy and proud to see your Sailor!!!
Oct 3, 2013
mrsb
Ha! Sorry to say but I've been counting the days until we get back to Groton! I miss my son so much and yet, I miss my greyhounds at home too. I'm just no fun at all!!! As far as I know he doesn't have work or duty tomorrow and probably has duty on Saturday, which we can work around. We have to leave Groton saturday night to catch an early flight back to So Cal. i will be crying all the way, quietle. i just hate to leave him but am grateful for the time here. So grateful. :)
Oct 3, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
FATHOMOM, enjoy your time with your Sailor!!!!!! I am so happy for you!!!!!!! And thank you in advance for hugging mine if you see him while you are there!!!! mrsb will give you his details. :-) God bless
Oct 3, 2013
mrsb
Whew! Back in Groton, actually Mystic, again! What a whirlwind trip but it was amazingly. In about an hour we are going to meet our son, kevsmom93 and ProudNavyMoms sons for pizza!!! I can't wait! And yes I will give hugs to your boys! Fathomom won't be here for another two hours so will have to catch up with them later, maybe tomorrow. I'll take some pictures that I can post so you can see your boys, er, Sailors!!!
Oct 4, 2013
Annette
Enjoy! My Nephew and his lovely wife were there this morning, she said she took some pics for me.
This is pirate weekend in Mystic!
Oct 4, 2013
mrsb
Oops, I meant to say amazingly beautiful!! We get none of these beautiful colors in So Cal-everything just turns brown, falls off and the Santa Ana's blow them away! Had our first day of rainy weather today, coming down from Canada, but it was still nice to see, and feel. Right now I'm really missing my dogs!!! But tonight and tomorrow we will spend with our Sailor, then head back to JFK tomorrow night for an early flight home on Sunday. At least the next time I see him will be a shorter time than since June. :)
Oct 4, 2013
mrsb
ProudNavyMom, here is a photo I think you will like! Kevsmom, your son wasn't there-they thought he was a the gym. :( Here is a photo I took tonite-hope you can althe%20boys%20in%20mystic.jpgl see it.
Oct 4, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
AWHHHHH MRSB!!! THANK YOU!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! HAHAHAHA OUR SAILORS LOOK SO GOOD!!!!!!! OH HOW I MISS MINE!!! THEY BOTH ARE SO HANDSOME!!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
Oct 4, 2013
ProudNavyMom19
I am so excited to read where everyone is at, I don't know if its nerves, excitement of the combination of the two, but, concerned, my son graduates boot camp on Friday 10/18 and will be going to Groton on Saturday. I know how the flying there works, my question is, I have booked my flight to Connecticut to spend more time with him. Will he be able to leave school to be with us, do we spend time with him at the school or we won't have much time together?
Oct 4, 2013
mrsb
proudnavymom19, I will see my son later today as we are in Groton right now. I will ask him what the schedule was like when he got here. :)
Oct 5, 2013
Annette
My niece too some photos yesterday at BESS grad. I will try to get some up here sometime this weekend.
Oct 5, 2013
Kevsmom93
mrsb- awesome photo of the guys, they've hardly changed since I saw them at the airport in June, except they are wearing civies of course and are still just as handsome! What a bummer mine didn't make it....at the gym instead of pizza? How the heck did that happen? I'm going to have to get to the bottom of this..lol Can't believe he stood you up mrsb!
Enjoy the rest of your visit and cherish every last second! By the way you've been missing out on those Santa Ana's...lucky for you
Oct 5, 2013
OklahomaMama
Oct 5, 2013
mrsb
ProudNavyMom19, I asked my son about how much time he had before things started up when he got to Groton last June. He said they pretty much had saturday, sunday and part of monday, so if you go to Groton you should at least have that. :)
Kevsmom, I don't know what happened to your son!! I didn't think he would pass up the pizza-maybe his phone died? Anyway, mine couldn't get a hold of him-so sad cuz I wanted to give him a hug for you!! In case anyone is out that way we went to Gus's Pizza, about 10-15 minutes away from the base and it was really good!! We also found a really good BBQ place today for lunch-called The Bayou Smokehouse-only about 5 minutes from the base-it was awesome!! My son loved it, took a bunch of their brochures back to the base to share. They will deliver but only to the gate, they can't go on the base, but we all loved it, especially my son!!!
Now for the disappointing part-we only got to spend a little over an hour with him today. He had watch until noon (thanks for everything OklahomaMama but it just didn't work out). We picked him up, took him to the bbq place and had him back by the 2 pm muster. He called at 2:15 and said there were some real stupid-heads there today that were late to muster and some slept through the am one so no one could leave the base and they all had to stay in their rooms, so to speak. He was able to come out and say goodbye but our visit was cut short by about 3 hours. I was so sad, still am, but I know I have to get over it. He belongs to the Navy now and I just have to deal with it. We had a great visit last night and last Sunday we got to hang out and go to Mystic. I am grateful for the time we did have but wish it could have been more. At the hotel tonight, waiting for the 4:30 am wake up to go to the airport for the leisurely 6 hour flight home. I will get to see my hounds tomorrow though and I can't wait for that. :)
Oct 5, 2013
mrsb
I will attempt to post a photo from today. He looks so good in his blueberries-a little too serious though!
Oct 5, 2013
Sharon
OaklahomaMama I'm heading to Groton on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to see my sailor graduate Thursday, Oct. 17. My birthday happens to be the 15th also. Counting the days!!!
Oct 5, 2013
ProudNavyMom19
mrsb, Thank You for information, but I got a call from my son this morning, and he told me that because of the government shut down, he is not certain whether or not he will be heading to Groton that Saturday, he may have to stay at Great Lakes :'-( . . .he said that they will not know until graduation. Shame how the politicians tantrums are affecting armed forces
Oct 5, 2013
Johanna
Oct 6, 2013
ProudNavyMom#1
Sharon, congratulations on your Son's graduation! Enjoy your trip!!! :-)
Oct 6, 2013
mrsb
proudNavyMom19, those politicians should all be fired as far as I'm concerned!!! They're still getting paid!! Sheesh!! The uncertainty is horrible, as was yesterday for us.
Oct 6, 2013