PAt

Could you email me the photos from the graduation at Ft Lee? I will use my email address that I used to send packages overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan. Haven't had any in a 2 years. We can not use face book because of my husband's work. CAMPNTRAVEL4FUN@aol.com. Our Texas sailor likes it at Norfolk waiting for the Abraham Lincoln except the COLD.:) They have a cube beside the ship being refitted and cook there for the workers. The civilians are charged. He leaves at 2 am, catches the bus to the site. I think they work 24/7.Because of the work they are planning to be done a year early. I said buy some gloves and a watchman had. He suddenly remembered in basic they were issued leather gloves and a knitted cap. So he was going to dig through his stuff.Boys. I think they had their own culinary cook off for Thanksgiving with their favorite recipies. His was my husband's Pecan pie. Hope your Sailor is doing well. TAke care

PA

Well...Cat has graduated!  I don't know details...but she's headed back to GL tomorrow.  Thanks for all your help Pat!

Pat,

Talked to my nephew today. He got into Houston at 9 pm their time, and they all went to a late dinner at Dennys last night (it was his father's favorite place, but they didn't realize he wanted Texas). He told me that he saw the person I had been talking to at graduation. I didn't realize who he was talking about, until he said the man said "who's from Pasadena Texas:)". Thanks for that. His mom had to go into work today, and he was "starving, and had to have some Texas food".  The little things. He is so glad to be out of FL. I warned him to save his end of moth pay for cold weather clothes. He thinks since his ship is in dry dock he will stay ashore. I told him to not be surprised if he suddenly gets orders to go on another ship. The boy has a lot to learn, I think once he is on a Naval base, it will come together.

You may also want to check out Destroyer Moms (DDG) and Pearl Harbor, HI

welcome my son is on the USS PAUL HAMILTON hs is also a CSSN so im sure they will be working together.. good luck at fort lee i thought it was a great place.. hopefully soon your son will be heading to aloha land soon :)

PS military hasn't changed much. My husband back in the 70's wanted a warm climate. Basic in SC was to go to Louisiana, then they said Kentucky, ended up at Ft Dix NJ where we basically met. 3 years on a mountain top in Germany and let us just say he had a second mos that has a high security clearance and where and what he did will remain classified. Hurry up and wait has not changed. Last minute change in orders has not changed. My brother retired NAVY 10 years ago, no jobs for a sub missile tech in the work force, at least as a cs our nephew will have skills. We have been supporting soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan for past several years. One soldier told his commanding officer about us and he wrote and asked if we could handle his battalion, They were a medic unit, when they left the next group retained us. But they didn't pass it on. So now we have our own soldier/sailor to look after. We know his Dad would have borrowed from his 401 k plan to get him home for a week, so we are taking his place. It is what he would have wanted, and we want to do.

Our sailor is my husbands nephew. His dad was my husbands brother and best friend died in '08 after 3 years battling cancer. So our sailor was raised by a bunch of hormonal mothering sisters and his Mom, who had to go out into the workforce. She is keeping up with him via text messages, as she works 12 hour shifts. They live in Pasadena. She reads the Navy for Mom's now as she now has a laptop, but too tired to join in. Asked me to do it for her. We live outside Philadelphia. Told our sailor that if he is still going to Norfolk, just get on the Amtrak or if someone was going home for a few days north, just have them drop him off, we live right off of I 95. Talked to him tonight, he was trying to get his hair cut before the big inspection, prior to graduation. He and his family have no military background. My husband was a Viet Nam vet (Army).  I was a military wife, so I explain things to his mother. She did fly up to GL, if she had known he had 3 days off as it was Labor Day Monday she would have stayed longer. He just sounds so tired, one night his Mom said he just got to sleep and was woken up to do sea watch or what ever after an hour sleep, he already had done what ever duty after class. He doesn't elaborate as his Mom doesn't understand. I call and pull the details out. At least as a Texan he had his manners down, Yes Mam, No Sir. His 2 complaints have been the food, and restricted to base and only to PX, commissary and class. At GL they could go into Chicago. Said the barracks this week has really gotten crowded. I think the shutdown would not pay the commercial airlines to fly the military where they needed to go. Our sailor said he may leave as soon as right after class Friday, previously he was told, hold at least one week. When he joined he requested leave in between A class and his duty station. I told him when he gets where he is going, surrounded by other sailors with different years of experience he will feel much better. A big family. My husband still keeps in touch with a guy from the Army almost 40 years ago. Sorry I wouldn't want to give out his name without his permission, not even initials. It's a pretty small class, I am sure your son can recognize a fellow Texan twang.