NUKE moms

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Enjoy your day - I hope you get to hear from your Sailor (maybe you'll even see them!), but if not, know that they are thinking of you ;-D

I am truly thankful for all my Navy SeaSisters!

Hi ladies!

Does anyone know what happens for prototype graduation?  My sailor hasn't mentioned what to expect.  Thanks!

Eaglemom01 - It is a hard decision.  If you go at a time other than graduation I would definitely suggest you go when your sailor has their 4 day break.  Once they are on crew they have a 4 day break every few weeks.  We did this and really enjoyed our time with our sailor.  But I have to admit I was a bit sad not to be there at graduation time - even though my son didn't actually participate in the ceremony - he qualified earlier that morning.  I don't know if it was an option for my son or not but I know at that point he preferred not to.  Don't know if that had to do with us not being there or that he was just tired.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! B'sNukeMom I've enjoyed all your Thanksgiving facts.  We had dared hope that we were going to have our sailor with us but that is not to be - it's going to be another week or two before he's home.  For our Thanksgiving we are going to be with some of my husbands family so will have a wonderful time - but will surely miss having our sailor there - I was requested to bring my Lemon sour cream pie - I may try to freeze a piece for my son.  And if I'm real ambitious I'll make another pie when he is here.

Sorry - had to post one more :)

Happy Thanksgiving! to all of my sea family!! I have several PMs to respond to. Thank you! - we were packing, traveling and then have been visiting. Our hotspot kept kicking off in the car. Prayers for all of your, your sailors, and family, I will reply.

We did get see and hold our youngest great niece who is almost a year old, but have never seen other than pictures!!

Thank you to the family from Texas who rented an air b&b and invited my son and several friends to Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.  He was "fat and happy" and ready for duty this morning!  We missed him but are very grateful to you for your kindness.  Safe travels home.

NukeMom381 - Hi Rebecca, glad you popped on and introduced yourself. Welcome to NukeMoms!

Scram - I know it warmed your Mom's heart to hear from your son that he had a nice Thanksgiving dinner.

Hello everyone! I have been watching this page since my son entered BC. With a week away from graduation and then on to GC, I have a question! My son should arrive at GC on Saturday the 1st. In another group I am seeing that they all will get liberty Dec 21 thru Jan 2. Does anyone know if the whole school closes down or is there a possibliity that mine won't get to leave for Christmas?? 

Scram..that post just made me so happy!

daisysdca - Welcome!  The liberty time you are seeing may or may not be what your son will be allowed depending on whether he has classed up or is still INDOC. Unfortunately, he won't know to make plans until he is in GC and meets with his SLPO. 

Keep in mind that your son will need to use his leave time that he has been accruing since he left for BC. The way it worked for my son last year, if he left GC he had to take the time off for the entire stand down time, even if he wasn't gone from GC for the whole time. I think he had to borrow a couple of days leave. If he did not leave for the two weeks of stand down, he had to stay in GC and be available for work, if I recall. 

This may or may not be what your son will experience. Maybe someone whose sailor arrived at GC last year in Dec will have another experience. - Keep in mind that leave time will also vary depending on where they are at in the pipeline and their classes. Best info will come from your sailor.

Hi all - Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

Scram - that is so nice to hear about your son & some others spending Thanksgiving together.  Love that the family opened up their airBnB and shared it with others ;-D

daisysdca - not everyone will get leave - someone has to stay and hold down the fort.  They try to split up leave time so some will get the first week & others the second week.  And then there are some that will get both weeks.  You won't know for sure until it gets closer.

Welcome to our newest members ~ Sabrina and Verisweet!  Be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page.  The Rating Information Card for NF is especially helpful.  Also take a look at the Pages (16) to the right and look through the discussion forum (hit "view all").  And of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have!

A quiet day yesterday on here. Welcome to our newest members - be sure to introduce yourselves. My son is currently in Prototype in GC. I just purchased some room darkening curtains on Cyber Mon and shipped to him. He said the street light is right outside his window!

Culling through my emails today, I am reminded that it is "Giving Tuesday" - had a note from one of my banks about their Veteran Hero fund. These services are a lot more meaningful to me now that my own son is serving. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Hi all - Happy Tuesday!  Like Chipmunk said - it is Giving Tuesday!

Good morning!  Just wanted to pop on and say Hello.  Although I don't have a chance to post much, I do try to keep up and "lurk" as they say.  Wanted to let you know that I am so grateful for all the information, support, humor, sharing and bond that I feel here from you all!  Enjoy your day :)

KayCee we lurkers are many but strong :)

Welcome to our newest member ~ MurphyDogMom!  Please be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page.  The Rating Information Card for NF is especially helpful.  Also be sure to read the Pages (16) to the right and of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have.

While visiting our sailor in GC this past weekend we were fortunate enough to visit the Jams Island Festival of Lights with our son. If anyone goes to visit this is a must see! It runs through the end of the year. Cost is $20.00 per car and is wonderful! There are 3 parking lots that have fun things for the kids.

Hi all - Happy Wednesday!

SubMom - The Jams Island Festival of Lights sounds like fun!  Glad you were able to do that with your son.  We have a similar thing here in our town - Festival of lights at the Riverside Mission Inn.  It's a pretty big event and beautiful to see too.

Welcome to our newest member ~ LizV!  Be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page. The Rating Information Card for NF is especially helpful.  Also look at the Pages (16) to the right.  Since your son is in OCS it's a little different but you'll get the basic idea of what the pipeline is like. And of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have.

B'sNukeMom - I just love Christmas lights and events -James Island and your town are the perfect thing to put anyone in the spirit for Christmas. Our little town will do the tree lighting this weekend with activities for the kids and Christmas displays. I'm just an overgrown kid at heart :)

Good Morning and Happy Thursday!

SubMom - The Riverside Mission Inn does an amazing job of lights and festivities at Christmas.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting.  It definitely will put you in the Christmas spirit ;-D

B’sNukemom - Have you ever attended the Feast of Lights at the University of Redlands?

3B'smom - it's funny you ask about that.  My youngest graduated from the UofR and he is now an assistant coach there (while also attending grad school elsewhere).  And we don't live far from there - however, we have never attended the Feast of Lights!  We would make plans to go over the years but then things came up, we waited to long to get tickets, etc. It is on our list to do!  Have you been to it?

Welcome to our newest member ~ ARenee!  Please be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page.  The Rating Information Card for NF is especially helpful.  Also take a look at the Pages (16) to the right under the member profiles - lots of good info there too.  And of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have!

Hi Everybody, So many posts while I was gone! Great to read through but too many to comment on. Sounds like everybody had a pretty good holiday even without their sailors at home. Glad to hear it.

I was in GC over the holiday with my sailor and his family. My oldest grandson had a tummy upset on and off throughout my visit so didn't do much. One afternoon my DIL and I visited the Boone plantation which isn't as big as Magnolia but is a place where you pay to get in and that's it. Magnolia you have to pay for the tram, etc. So interesting and nice to spend time together. Otherwise we played games, watched movies, and just enjoyed being together. I'm so grateful for that time.

Well, Sea Sisters, not much longer now to Christmas. I hope some of you get to actually have boots in the house or are able to Facetime or whatever. I know not all of us get contact but know they are always thinking of us. 

NancyJo - so glad you had a good time in GC - sorry to hear that one of the grandlittles wasn't feeling well though :(  That's nice that you and the DIL were able to visit Boone Plantation together.  Sounds like it was a nice quiet visit - and hopefully relaxing too!

If anyone is interested I added another page to the right about ELT's - Engineering Laboratory Technicians.  I borrowed the info from the nukeworkers site and from what B's gf has told me (she was an ELT) the info is pretty accurate.

Don't forget to wear your RED tomorrow!

I have my red on! Hooyah! Hang in there, Sea Sisters with your sailors deployed. We're here with you and know what you're going through. Don't hesitate to chime in if you need to.

Thanks for sharing the ELT info, B'sNuke. It's good for us to know that there are different sideways paths our sailors have available to them. 

Good morning all,

Getting excited for PS grad only 3 weeks away now! I am signed up for email notifications from the post office and I see my invitation is in the mail today :D Yippee!!!

So happy we are within driving distance of GC with all the changing back and forth between the 20th and 21st....I think they've finally settled on the 21st, but don't quote me on that!!

Had my boy home for a couple days at Thanksgiving - we told him to bring friends with him if he wanted, but he said one of the Chiefs was making a "trash can turkey" and most of those he knew staying in GC were planning on going there. We went downtown on Black Friday - my little town does "pajama shopping" every Black Friday, that's the only place you'll see me out, I don't like fighting the crowds :) My son didn't wear pjs, but I did get a pic of him in front of the big Christmas Tree...

darn, sorry about the sideways pic, not sure why it uploaded like that!!

What a nice photo, bigsky21! I see palm trees...no white Christmas for you! Glad you had him home for the holidays. Lucky Mama!

lol NancyJo, believe it or not it has snowed here before!! Just a little dusting of snow shuts everything down, it's pretty amazing. I do feel really lucky having him so close when there are many who are separated during the holidays - what's going to be even better is with the timing of PS grad it looks like I will be able to take him with me to Wisconsin for Christmas - we are going to surprise my dad, and I know they already have snow on the ground so I'm counting on a white Christmas ;)

Hi all - Happy Friday!  I've got my RED on too ;D

Nice picture bigsky21! (FYI - When you click on it it rights itself!)  That will be a wonderful surprise for your dad - I'm sure you are counting down the days ;-D

Bigsky21...love that picture.  How wonderful that his graduation falls just at the right time and he can head to Wisconsin with you to surprise your dad. That just makes me so.happy for you.

My son will be home the 27th.  He is letting those with little oes have first leave. Im.very proud of him for that. We are saving our celebration until.he gets here.  Im.so.excited to.see him!

Any sub moms out there know of a place to get a thin foam mat for a rack and some decent rack sheets.  In the near future he will be deployed and he likes comfort, but also wouldn't want to draw attention to himself. 

I've got my red on today...I asked for more red for Christmas so I will.have some options!

Happy weekend everyone! 

Rebecca J - when B was on the Truman I had ordered an egg crate pad from Kohl's for him.  He took it to the ship and cut it to down to size and was happy with it.  If you time it right you can usually find it on sale and with a coupon! 

Fleet Sheets is a good source for the sheets:  I think he will need to confirm with someone on his sub as to which ones (or maybe someone here can answer that).

https://www.fleetsheetsusa.com/

That's very kind of your son to take 2nd leave - I'm sure his fellow shipmates appreciate that!  The celebration will be that much more special for you even though you are waiting a few days!

Big sky......we will be there too.  I hope we get the chance to meet up!  I cannot wait!

RebeccaJ, check on Racksheets.com also.  Back when I got sheets for my Nuke & NIL their prices were quite a bit lower that fleet sheets.   My Nuke and NIL both love theirs.  My NIL is on a sub and his shipmates were quite jealous when they saw he had 400 ct sheets as opposed to their cheese cloth sheets :)

JayDee - I knew there was another sheet place and I couldn't find the name!  Thanks for posting about Racksheets ;-D

B'sNukeMom, I've heard good things about both places, it just all boils down to who has the best price.

Attack subs have fewer racks than sailors, so a non-qual or junior sailor on a Los Angeles or Virginia class is probably going to be sharing a rack ("hot racking"), or sleeping with the torpedoes. Storage space is also at a premium. Bet you can fold those sheets pretty small, though. Oh, and there is like 1 washing machine.
Maybe I'll give my Sailor a set when he gets some permanent orders.

CO Twin - I saw there was a big earthquake in Anchorage today 7.0.  Is your son ok?

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  Hubby and I are taking my mom to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra tomorrow.  Can't wait ;-D

B'sNukeMom I love TSO! Have you seen them before? You'll love it! 

No, this will be our first time - I'm so excited!!!

TSO is amazing B’sNukeMoM - enjoy the show! We’re going on Dec 13.

Mammagoose I’ll try to remember to wear a “bigsky21” nametag :)

B'sNukeMom - love Snoopy !!  Have a wonderful time at TSO, they come to our town every year, and the Christmas before my son left we managed to take everyone for the concert. This year we are opting for Lindsey Sterling. I wish my sailor could be with us.

WLH my NIL is on a Los Angeles class and has to hotrack. When he did FS duty he got his own rack. 

Chipmunk I've seen Lindsey Stirling twice and LOVE her. Over the summer we saw her in a very cool outdoor amphitheater. My husband really enjoyed the show.