Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

My secret is cookies!! I was holding cookies while they were in a sit/stay command. I was really trying to position them in a cuter way but had to settle for what I got. 

belovedbyHim: Oh pancreatitis is NO FUN!! I'm so sorry and I hope you don't have too many messes to clean up over night. Many dogs recover just fine with meds and bland diet. It is very expensive to do overnight care on IV fluids so I'm guessing they want to check him in the morning to make sure he isn't dehydrated. Some dogs are just super sensitive to anything new and eating a small piece of something new can really turn their system topsy turvy and result in pancreatitis. Fingers crossed for a full recovery and a pup feeling much better very soon! 

For Joy, my understanding was they stopped in GL and picked up their things, my son only had 1 change of clothes and that was for the hotel before he left as he spent 2 nights in the hotel. They should be provided all of their new clothes and then head to Ft. McCoy. 

mom2blondies-- Sent you a private message.

beloved by Him I can't find it. I saw your friend request and accepted it but don't see a message. 

Good Morning everyone!! It will be a busy one today!

I wanted to welcome our new members. I will let Phoenixmom post our usual links.

Blessed - it is good to hear from you! Congratulations to your sailor!! My son is also in Norfolk. We were hoping that he would make his E-5 as well but in his rate he had a 5% chance I think he shared. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well!!

Mom2blondies - look in your Inbox - On your My Page, to the left of your picture under your Username - and Sign Out - it should say: INBOX - click on that. It will take you to your Inbox page which is where we send our PMs (Private messages) versus just posting a comment on your page. 

If that is where you were looking then something may not have gone through and BBH just needs to send it again, but if that is not where you were checking look there. I think your account settings also need to be set up to notify you if you want those to come to you in your email feeds. 

Thank you all for answering Joy's question!

May your day be Merry and Bright today!! I need the sunshine and I have to get presents wrapped and a child to an appt. so I will be busy today!

Ldcga2,  Good Morning, Try this link and let us know if you have any more questions. It was good to hear from you. Hopefully he is out of ROM now. 

 First Things First-- The Quarantine Edition

Good Morning Ladies and welcome to all of our new moms,

It is good to have you here. Let us know how we can help you in this journey!!! 

BBH- Hope your puppy is taking his meds well. Prayers for his recovery!!

Blessed- It was so good to hear from you!! Congrats to him on his rank and blessings to you and yours as well!! Thank you for sharing.

Henry'smom- Good Morning and thank you for sharing. It was good to see your post on here. Blessings and Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!

Shanny- Love the pic and thanks for answering Joy's question. Have a great day!!

VintageGal- Good Morning, How was the antique hunting yesterday? That Zia's shop/store is supposed to be really neat!! Hope you guys had a great day.

Chipmunk- Yes it is so nice having him home.

Phoenixmom- Good Morning. How are you?

Northwoodsmom- Good Morning, How did the deliveries go? :)

LBF and Anti M- Good Morning and I hope your day was good.

Went to my grand daughter's last night and had dinner over there. We all had a great visit!! She is becoming such a home maker and her apartment was so cute!!!

Another busy day but that's what it's all about sometimes!!

Be safe out there ladies and have a great day!!!

Blessed: it was good to hear the background of your son.  Someone who has been in this so much longer than probably 75 percent of us in here!  

Beloved: praying your puppy is much better this morning!  Hope you didn't have a rough night!  

Shanny:  we were on the southern most edge of that snow that came last week.  We didn't get a lot, but it stuck around for a while.   GR and north about 10 miles didn't even get that snow!  I'm not a big fan of a lot of snow or the cold, but I like some to just make it white out and pretty at Christmas.  And thanks to the lake-effect, it sounds like we will get some.  I think maybe just some flurries on the 24th and 25th.  Are you supposed to get more than that?  It's funny how it can range so differently here along the lake.  

There are several forms of communication on this site.  Personally I use my computer - it is the easiest way to view this site (which is probably not as up to date for mobile users but it is what we work with.) If you are viewing on a mobile device - I believe the recommendation is to put it into desktop mode. My comments will refer to computer format.

Main Room Chat - This is in the bottom right corner of your screen to the left of Members Online. If you post a message there, sometimes it gets noticed, sometimes not and the messages will disappear after a time but it is still visible to all members who are online if they click on it and open the tab. 

Private Chat - These may be done with another member who is online at the same time as you. You go to Members Online and to the right of their name scroll to get the pop up arrow and View Profile or Start Chat.  These chats are private and to my knowledge the history is in the system but nothing traceable via an email, etc. 

Personal Comments - These are messages that are posted in your comment wall on your My Page. The visibility of these posts to others, either members or public are determined by your account settings. 

PM's or Private Messages - These are messages sent to you via our Inbox on our My Pages. Private Messages - Creating & Sending + OPSEC

You must be friends with another member before you can send PMs. These are private in the sense that they are not publicly visible to anyone looking at your profile page or searchable, however many of us have our PMs set to also come to us via our email feed. 

When someone sends you a friend request they might post a short comment to identify themselves or the reason for sending you a friend request. That message can disappear quickly so it can be lost easily.

Group Discussions or Comments - Finally there are the group discussions and comments.  If you want everyone in the group to see your question, it is really best to post it in the comment section, since not everyone follows the discussions in their email feeds. However, there is a good reason to start a discussion and it honestly has more to do with being a focused question or post that can be more easily searched for later. Some groups on this site are private like the PIR groups, some Ships, and religious groups. Please keep this in mind when you are posting. It is easy, especially if you are using a phone, to forget where you read something or posting yourself. But information that is shared in a Private group should be left there.  The same with a PM. Some of us are in multiple groups and we forget  - so we remind each other and we forgive. 

Other Communications - Site wide there are the blogs, and other postings but those are more one sided so I honestly forgot about them until just now. 

Long ago when emails first became a thing - my husband started saying this phrase - "Don't write anything to anyone that you aren't willing to see published in the newspaper." 

This site was set up to help any Navy loved one, but especially new Navy Moms find the information they needed and build friendships. But we are a public site, available to anyone and so that is why we don't use last names, we remind often about OPSEC & PERSEC - It is for your safety and your sailors but we want you to feel welcome and able to share as you are comfortable. There are several options, I hope this helps explain them. 

Henrys mom - Merry Christmas to you as well!

Ldcga - welcome - as I catch up I am sure your question was answered but I will as well - the end of the week of processing days at boot camp is when they send the letter out. Usually 5 weeks after they left is when you receive it. However, if he was set back 2 weeks that will delay his letter by an additional 2 weeks.

Party - I was learning how to convert repeating decimals to fractions and multiplying, dividing, adding , subtracting repeating decimals. I had never worked this kind of math. At least I do not recall and neither did my husband…I had to  learn it so I could tell if my son had the right answers - the book is from 1880s and the answer key was a little confusing and missing some answers so I did them too. THEN I found where the answers were and luckily I was correct, lol

NWM - how charming  your snowman cookies are!

Vintage - yes G&F crack me up!!! Gla you are enjoying your sailor time :) LOL @ long walk off a short pier - my mom’s dad said that all the time!

Imlaotvhe - send to the address you have until you get another one...they will forward the mail to him if it is incorrect….hopefully a personal letter comes soon so it will clear it all up.

BBH - since when do we only talk Navy? Vent away! Sorry to hear about your pup!

Mom2blondies - LOVE that photo of your pups! Their facial expressions are priceless!

Chipmunk - they are given navy issued clothing and not enough sets so they have to wear each several times before laundry.. As for advancement - I heard they are getting rid of the tests (but my kids may be confused) as it used to be you did the tests and then they took the % of the top scorers to promote. So it is not a matter of how well you do but how you compare to the others who did well. Certain rates are harder to promote in. The scuttle is now it will be performance based? We shall see...

welcome and good morning and all that fun stuff. I am off to make coffee, tie up some loose ends, grab Honey Baked Ham fixings for Christmas (I am not cooking Christmas dinner! My ego can handle it, lol)

Have a great day ladies!

LadyBlueFire Here is an article on Navy Advancement. It is a lot more complicated than a percent of the top scores on the advancement exam.

Advancement

BelovedbyHim - sorry to hear about your pup being sick.  If you have an Instant Pot they have quite a few recipes you can do for dog food.  

Good morning Ladies!!! Welcome to the new comers!  This group is great and you will learn a lot!

Joy - they are given clothes to wear during ROM and everything they owned is boxed up.

My Sailor is on his way to school!!!! He sent me a "proof of life" photo early this morning from his phone.  He was patient with all the text notifications that came up from me when he turned his phone on lol.  

I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Wonderful New Year!

M2B - Love the group photo of the pups! Sooo cute!!!

Loved - I hope your pup recovers quickly

Northswood - Cute cookies!!!

Pheonix - I can't see the pictures of the remodel, but congratulations! That's fantastic to have it done by the holidays!!

Shortcake:. That is so awesome!!!!  So happy you got your proof of life photo!!!   Love it!  Enjoy your renewed line of communication!  

Shortcake Nice Photo of your Son YAY! he looks excited!

Thank You on my Kitchen, I am loving it as is My Grandson. He told me last night he thinks his TATA (grandfather) would of Liked it! I told him I hope so! We Have baked Christmas Cookies making more tonite!

PhoenixMom:. He has another week of ROM. Gets out Monday or Tuesday I think depending on if they count day of arrival since he didn’t actually get checked in until around 10 pm. (He told me I should start thinking in terms of military time. But I’m rebelling ). 

I hope you hear from your son soon!!! I am freaked about the long periods of no word again. :(  I can’t even grasp the reality yet...  

Yea, It's been tough for sure But I know my Bud is ok. He usually has some really crazy hours and when he can gets some sleep. so I know this is probably happening. just hoping he reaches out soon!

Good to hear he is OK Shanny! I know it has been a rough few weeks for him. Praying for his safety as well as everyone else's Loved One. This sure has been a crazy overwhelming Year. so ready for it to be over. but next year doesn't seem so promising with all the news stating that the little ones are now catching Covid. That is really scary for me, as My little one has asthma.

Phoenix - One day, I hope to bake cookies with a grandbaby in the kitchen.  That sounds so lovely.  I hope you hear from your son soon.  I keep telling myself to take in others experiences and prepare for the same, but I don't think you ever truly get used to it.  I do feel settled now that he has his phone back. I loved his expression, I know he overexaggerated for me, but I will take it.  Such a cute photo!

Shanny - Thank you! It truly does feel like a reward.  For all the worrying and sleepless nights...sheesh. I'm so glad you have been able to stay in contact with your son and his journey. 

Shanny - 

Chipmunk, yes, I had found my inbox but it was empty. It was the thing you said about sending with the friend request. I saw there was a message there but as soon as I accepted the friend request it was gone and was not in the inbox. That rundown of the different communications was very helpful! 

Still no call from my SR which SHOULD mean that is is headed back to GL and no extended quarantine. I guess I'm going to just go with that unless I hear differently. I have also connected with another local mom whose son was in my SR workout group and they left on the same flight and she has not heard from hers either. 

Shortcake, love the proof of life photo!! 

Shortcake I have always been told that the love you have for your Grandkids is totally different from the Love you have for Your Children. And I have to let you know " It is so True" My Grandson means the world to me. and anything I can  do to put a smile on his face, I will do! he told me yesterday Nana  you make the best cookies. I told him we make the best cookies! It's fun!

BelovedbyHim:  he forgot I taught him to read military time lol I learned it in the police academy. But I can’t think that way automatically. So if he says 1630 to me, the time doesn’t automatically pop in my head I take a second and process it. Ok 4:30. Got it. So when he told me he would arrive in Virginia at 17:36. I waited a sec and messaged him back and said 5:36, right? He laughed at me. I can’t remember the alphabet as they use it to save my life however...  there’s no hope for me there!!!

please give your pupper an extra pet and a little extra love for me. I am so sorry she is sick! But happy to hear she is doing better. Hoping for a fast recovery

Anyone seen Anti M today?  I have a question about rate and rank and someone said she is the best to ask...

BelovedbyHim:  isn’t 10:00 pm 2200 (twenty-two hundred hours) or am I counting wrong?

Thank You Beloved, and I hope your doggy starts to feel better.

Mrs. Anti M knows a lot she use to help me out on GL A school. Hopefully she will see your message Shanny!

Mom2blondies - I am sorry to hear about your pup.  we went through a rough car accident with our dog where he almost lost two legs a year ago.  I know how hard this must be.  my thoughts and prayers are with you

All, thanks for your responses.  I appreciated the responsiveness.   I am guessing when I get his form letter is when I find out his TG and ship number,  which will then tell me his PIR date.  Until then, I will continue to assume 2/11 or possibly 2/4 is his graduation.

LadyBlueFire - thanks, I think this gets me to 1/11.  I was assuming 14 days after he started boot camp, which is today, which gets me to 1/8.  so we  are in the same territory.  I am hoping for the form letter around then.  

A with all of you, hard with no communication around the holidays.  

I did  ask his cousins, aunts and uncles to send their favorite picture in the family chat yesterday.  It was wonderful for all of us.  We all miss him greatly.  I couldn't stop smiling, laughing and crying.  They all cant wait to hear from him, they miss him so much.

Happy Holidays everyone !!

Beloved and Shanny - I use the subtract 12 for military time lol.  I know if there is a zero in front it is morning time, anything else is afternoon/ evening. I does take a minute to calculate in my head though.  I had to use military time when documenting in patient charts, and it was a little easier for me then, but I have not done that in years, so it has gone by the wayside.

belovedbyHim

thanks for the detail, it is very helpful.  As long as he gets to P1 today, I am thinking this will help the stir crazies.  

I am not sure why you have 10 weeks of boot camp, i thought it was 7 after P days.

I have started writing and numbering my letters.  I wish I could send the one about patience about now. 

Thanks again, this is a big help.

Happy Tuesday evening

Gonna try and catch up as been off for a bit with my sailor home for a few days...

He has done alot of sleeping,  which I expected and staying close at home. We are on lock down basically here so nothing open not even outdoor dining allowed. 

We had a great low key Sunday afternoon and night at my oldest daughter & son in laws... playing card games, eating lots of junk food and pizza for supper. Had planned on decorating Christmas cookies as we did when they were little ones but,  never got around to it. 

It did my momma heart good just to watch and listen to them together laughing and ribbing each other. 

Momma had gone to 2 Coldstone locations (both closed for some odd reason) in search of an ice cream cake earlier in day to celebrate his birthday and PIR since both happened since we last saw him... ended up getting a Carvel ice cream cake at grocery that said happy birthday in red gel... so momma bought a tube red gel and put his birthday day above it, drew line then used blue sparkle gel I bought to write congrats PIR date.... used the blue to put his name in big letters on side of cake. 

Surprised him with it after supper of pizza and salads.

Great day and evening!

Moments this old momma can treasure. 

As I explained to my son in law... it's not what we do but,  being together that means the most to me. These are the moments I'll need to hold onto and find strength in as we have no idea if or when we will be able to be together again. 

Ldcga2 it is belovedbyHim dog that is sick and I'm sure she appreciates your good thoughts for her. I work in an animal hospital so I told her to reach out to me with any questions as things are kind of crazy right now and it isn't always easy to get all of the info you need from the doctor. 

I heard they do 11 Fridays which includes ROM and bootcamp as long as they don't get additional ROM. My SR projected PIR should be 2/18/21. Fingers crossed he moves through smoothly!!

I went today and got my fishes for my new aquarium I set up. 6 little tequila guppies and I love them!! It's the small things that are keeping me distracted these days. I had a small anxiety attack this afternoon because I realized I don't know where my son is. It's a strange feeling not knowing where your kid is and I don't even know what state he is in right now. I keep repeating the phrase, "No news is good news" to myself and thank you ladies for the reminders of that!! 

I think I have enough crocheting done to gift my family something. Working on finishing one last scarf tonight if I can, if not, well, I guess I'll have a new scarf when its done. 

I work all day tomorrow and then the next is Christmas eve and my husband and I will be seeing our oldest son, his gf and our granddaughter. We'll go to their house for breakfast and then I'll see my parents  for dinner and drop off gifts. It's weird keeping holiday gatherings so small this year

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas!!!

omg..so much has gone on since I was last on so no I am not fully capable of catching up.. 

but from what I have gleamed we have 1 pup with pancreatitis..have had that occasionally with ours and middle daughters over this past year...Prayers for pup but, thankfully it is treatable at home. Just keep hydrated! is the best with the bland diet...lots of boiled chicken plus plain white rice is what we do...

ROM before boot camp was in Navy issued attire according to my new sailor...their ROM at GL when he went through..he had 2 weeks ROM then 6weeks or so of actual boot camp (experience he states he doesn't want to repeat). 

He doesn't say much since home for these few days but, that is not new phenomenon with him...he keeps everything "close to the vest" so to speak last 4 years... DANG it! as before he told Momma Everything.  Now more Dad and middle daughter know more than Momma...NOT liking that recent shift needless to say. 

He is fully aware of the days he has left...and reminds me of said number...I HATE my advent countdown calendar now I put up this year as it is also a final countdown for his limited time home... I am going to just take it off the dang wall in the kitchen I am thinking at this point...hubby is like why? didn't you do this whole throw up the Christmas stuff for him coming home after all?  Geez! Men!

I wish I could see the new kitchen pics but for some reason I still can't ... probably issue on my end.  Computer technology is Not my strongest skill.

Yea for baking cookies with grandchild!  As my sailor reminds me I'll probably be dead before he has kids and since my 2 daughters are not planning on having any kids other than furbabies & he is a later in life baby for me means he is probably correct... baking cookies with the grandpups & grandbirds isn't the same.... Smiles!!

Blessings & Prayers for Each of us as we each travel this road as Navy Moms...  May we each find peace, mercy & patience as we go through this journey each individually & together.   Grateful for the support & uplifting moments/prayers & love from each of you as this old Momma tries to survive this journey.

mom2blondies:  argh today was a hard day for me too. I know where mine is but knowing didn’t make it any easier. Today was hard for a friend of mine whose daughter is Army as well. Maybe today is one of those days?  Found myself breaking out in tears just randomly. Then an act of kindness from a stranger,  well, my heart is full but the allergies are real bad. So sending you HUGE hugs tonight. I can't even imagine the heartache of it being in the period of great silence. 

I am so jealous of those of you that can crochet or knit. I tried it. Got mad at how terrible I was at it and threw it all away. Every last bit of supplies I ever bought. All in the trash. I'm hopeless when it comes to crafty things

Mom2blondies - I am glad that my post on various communications was helpful. I know BBH appreciates you reaching out to her. 

One of the neat things that I think about this site is that we are all here because our loved one has joined the Navy, but we can also network and share our knowledge and talents, etc and help each other out in the meantime and maybe also help out our sailors as well. 

VintageGal - I hope you had fun at the antique stores. I am not completely caught up still. But if you are looking for LPs we need to chat after the holidays and see what I have left from my relatives!

Shanny - My son started knitting, I think because someone had told him it was relaxing!! Well he has still been working on a very pretty green scarf but gets frustrated at times when he has to take all of his rows out. He said, "who said this was suppose to be relaxing!!" Thankfully, he can ask his oldest sister questions. We all have our talents and yours doesn't have to be crafts!! I appreciate you being able to reach out and reply when others of us have been busy!

NewMilmom - Those count down days are so hard. Even when we work hard at not doing so, our sailor's time home is just never long enough!  Definitely hold on to those moments of love and togetherness. I love ice cream cakes!! Sounds like you made it special. 

Ldcga2 - My apologies, I forgot about the extra added time that BBH mentioned in her post to you. Hopefully, you have a rough idea of when your SR will have PIR, but it is important to stay flexible. There have been more stories of various scenarios than we have ever had since I have been here, as to things that delay PIR. So, stay hopeful but also stay flexible. 

Shortcake - Glad to know you have means of communication back with your sailor. It will be up to him to communicate to you, but you will start to also figure out his schedule and when is a good time to maybe text or call him. Then just when you are use to A school and Power School schedule, they move on to Prototype and oh yes, T-Track between the first 2 schools and those are new schedules then they head out to the fleet and are busy doing their qualifications - So we learn to just appreciate any call, any text that we receive. 

Beloved, you had a tiny slip, 2200 is 10 PM.  Now here's the fin part, there's local time and worldwide time, the first has an phonetic alphabet designator, worldwide or Greenwich is Zulu.  It is 2130 Tango time in my location as I write, but 0430 Zulu time. Is that fun or what?

I can answer some rating and rate questions, although I need to look up some of the new rate in time stuff.  Advancement is by exam, evaluations, and points, but I hear it is changing.

Ladies!!!! Such a long time!!!!! AS soon as I am done, I will read everything.

Tomorrow, I am photographing the Marine son of a homeschool mom friend of mine. I am familiar with the U.S. Flag Code. Would any of the more seasoned moms take a look at this picture? I would like to replicate it. it seems to comply with the rules, but I want to make sure that it is ok.

Shanny, I'm sorry you had a bad 'allergy' day. It is so strange how it just hits out of no where. I was so happy today that my water tested good enough to add my fish and planted it with some live plants while floating my fish then sat down to do some crocheting and BAM! all I could think was, "Where is he, where is he, where is he!? How do I not know where he is?" and then came the tears! 

I just decided to try crochet a few months ago for something to do. I watched some youtube videos on crochet vs. knitting and decided to go with crochet. It certainly took some time to make consistent and straight lines and my very first project was a toddler sized Halloween scarf for my granddaughter and my plan was to also crochet a 'bat' applique for it. I followed the tutorial exactly (I thought) but at the end what I had did NOT look like a bat, haha! So, I changed to a little ghosty and my first one looked like a marine mammal but my second attempt definitely looked like a ghost. In the beginning I couldn't figure out how to coordinate my hands/fingers to hold the yarn but with practice and now a few months in I can watch TV and crochet at the same time. I find the type of yarn I use makes the difference between enjoyable and frustrating. I'm loving working with the velvet yarn as it is SO soft! When I told my oldest son that I had taken up crochet he said, "Wow, you are really deep diving into being a grandma!" Haha!!