Ship 7 Div 202?

[Elae]

My husband arrived on April 7th to Greak Lakes. Called recruiter today- and was told he is on Ship 7 Div 202- anyone else have a family member/loved one there?

[Margaret Nuke Mom]

Tonight I was cleaning the papers off of the table to make room for dinner when I found a letter from James! Two actually, one was for his brothers. Someone besides me must have brought the mail in last week! I look through it before I even get back inside!
I think I know why some people got such long calls... They took some test and if their group got a certain score they would all be awarded with an hour of phone time. James did try to call last week, but he tried to call his girlfriend when she was in class. Too bad about the timing for both of them! :-( Maybe next time he will have more time to make calls! :-)
Sounds like he is doing fine... but mostly he sounds a bit bored. Wishes they could work out more!
I can live with bored! lol.
BTW, ONE month from today is our PIR! Yay!
Margaret

[Ann K.]

That's wonderful Margaret! My son loves to work out as well... I wonder if another call will come this week... I hope another letter comes. I just made my hotel reservations. I plan on driving in from Colo... and hitting alot of antique stores along the way ;-)

[Elae]

WOW Jazzed- how long is the ride from Colorado to IL? Sounds fun - I've always wanted to go on a road trip... But Margaret yeah my hubby said the same about some test... I guess he got a flag for it too...This phonecall to me was roughly a 35 minutes long- inbetween my cell phone dieing and him trying to remember my house number... lol.

But on a sadder note... I'm incredibly disappointed... I found out that my younger brother's High School graduation is June 3rd.... and hubby's PIR is June 4th... It's breaking my heart...My brother said he understands that I will probably will not be able to make it to his...But he's my only sibling and I would love to be there! I just can't be in two places at once.

I hope that everyone's boys are doing well! May we all receive letters again soon. <3 Take care.

[Margaret Nuke Mom]

Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I'm kind of relieved that James is grad and go. Because if he had the weekend off it would make it soooo difficult to leave and get back to Texas in time for my third son's high school graduation. Luckily, the high school graduation is the last one of the day, so it's not till 8:30 at night. It's only about a 17 hour drive from there to here, so if we leave Sat morning, we should make it back on time. if only we can stay awake for it... lol!

[Ann K.]

Hi Elae: It is 1000 miles from Westminster Colorado (just NW of Denver) to Great Lakes. I am presently mapping out my stops and searching for antique stores along I-80. Will probably head out tuesday morning & arrive Thursday afternoon/evening. Its only a 2 day drive if one drives for a day with few stops.

So sorry to hear about the conflict in grad dates... maybe he can have a 2nd celebration when you return? I'm always for stretching out the celebrations as long as we can.

I did not receive a letter from my son today. Hopefully tomorrow. Its been one week since his phone call... am still riding high from that one !!!
Ann

[Margaret Nuke Mom]

Thank you for the update. And I'm sooo glad your son is better. I kinda figured they would all share and catch germs together. That's just a part of it, I think. But it's really tough when they have trouble shaking it! I am sending my son a calling card -- just in case. He called once without one, but didn't get an answer. :-( He wrote to his GF that he couldn't call because he used all his minutes. I assume that means he needs a phone card. Anyway, it's worth a try! Hopefully he will get it in time and then be allowed to use it before PIR. :-) I told him he could give it to someone else if he doesn't need it all. Don't know if he will have the chance to do that or not, though...
We are hanging in there and time seems to be moving faster this second half of boot camp. At least, it seems so here in my house!
Ya'll hang in there also and we hope to see you soon!
Margaret

[Margaret Nuke Mom]

opps, James did catch a cold. He told his GF in a letter today. He says it isn't too bad, though and not to worry. I hope it doesn't slow him down or knock him out! I'll assume it won't! :-)
Margaret

[Jen (ship 7 div 202)]

Hey Div 202, does anybody know what day is gas chamber? I was thinking it was this week. I read here someplace that if everyone passes they get a phone call, but that was coming from somone else's kid in another division. Not sure about ours. Another funny comment about the gas chamber I read was that one kid wrote that it really cleared out their sinuses. They kind of wished that they had gone there sooner. LOL Jenifer

[Jen (ship 7 div 202)]

Hey Ladies! Just received a letter today, so I thought I would share a few tidbits. Patrick says they were just resting on Sunday getting ready for this week's full schedule of stuff. Says he's made some good friends there and that makes things so much better and helps with the homesickness. He said on Saturday when they were having some downtime, their conversation was about what junk food they were going to eat when they get liberty after PIR. Double-stuffed oreos, gummi bears were a pretty common consensus - LOL! He says Sundays are kind of nice. He says they sit around writing letters and singing random songs. He said this past Sunday it was "oldies" and the Sunday before it was Disney songs! He says it make them feel kinda good and forget where they are for a few hours. The only other thing they have to do during that timeframe is polish their boots and dress shoes, and make sure their lockers are on "spot." He also said that one day last week they spoke to the nuke coordinator and he said there is a slight possibility that they could have a week off when they get to A school. It all depends on if they have enough to start a class or not. He will keep me posted. For some reason, he thought that they might get to call home this past Monday and he was keeping his fingers crossed. Obviously that didn't happen, so don't know what that was about. Talk to you later. Jen

[Margaret Nuke Mom]

Hi Jen! James also sent a letter yesterday. He also thought they were going to get to make phone calls on the 17th. Obviously did not happen. sigh. Poor kid hasn't gotten to complete any phone calls (except the arrival call) since he got there. He used up one phone card trying, but didn't get through. Anyway, I hope they get to try again soon!
Either way, they are almost done!
oh, and I do hope they get to relax a little when they get to A school. That would be nice! :-)
well, busy day starting, ttyl!
Margaret

[Jen (ship 7 div 202)]

I have to admit, that whole phone call thing makes me a little cranky. I'm sure they dangled that out in front of them and then took it away for some reason or another. They just shouldn't tell them they are getting a phone call until they are actually letting them walk over to the phones. These recruits are soooo starved for home and a familiar voice . . . to not let them call after they thought it was a sure thing is cruel.

[Ann K.]

Hi Ladies!!! The last letter I received was on 5/13. It was written 5/9. My son said they would now be allowed to write on Tues & Thursdays. So I thought I'd see another letter either Saturday or monday... or tuesday... ugh. Here it is Friday 5/21 & still nothing. He also said the entire group has been punished with extra 2 hour workouts each night (remember, this was written on 5/9) because someone did not clean the bathroom as thoroughly as they should've and no one would come forward. I hesitated sharing this... don't want to cause any distress to fellow moms. But did anyone else hear of this incident? I wonder if this is also the reason for no phone calls. I wrote my son that the bigger point I believe they are aiming for is that if one recruit doesn't meet responsibilities fully, it puts the rest of the team in jeopardy. I sure hope I see a letter or letters tomorrow.