Update of sorts

As I said before AIT is much nicer than Basic. Nick can call most nights if he wants. I finally got him to use the calling card instead of calling collect. The way I did this was I told him about the att bill that was for three calls 23 minutes total, cost 50 dollars. He started using the card right away and is also sending home money. Then I get a call from att saying that the total for all the collect calls is now 199. WOW so the calling card is much better. I would rather pay 20 cents, making a 20-minute call is only 4 dollars as compared to 50.

He called Wednesday night and didn't sound so great I was really worried. He was on a cell that was getting horrible reception, and my hearing is getting worse or at least it is right now. I didn't hear him say he had given blood, I thought he said he was going to give blood. But when he called Thursday he explained the situation.

Plans as of right now for exodus are that they leave the base at 0300 the flight he is looking at is around 300 (now could someone tell me why he can get that price but I couldn't find it) and needs to book it fast. I think he is planning on booking after he gets paid this week.

He also wanted a notebook pc so that he could work on his 3d art, and keep in contact with home and friends easier. But even though he doesn't have bad credit (he has no credit) he can't get approved for financing. So I guess he is going to have to save for it.

All in all Nick is doing awesome, and as a mother I couldn't be prouder of him.

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Pictures Finally

They have finally arrived!

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Arizona

I have to say I much prefer this AIT stuff. My son can call more frequently. The calls aren't rushed. Its nice to just chat with him. He is really liking AZ so far. He has only two room mates as opposed to 40. He has a fridge in his room. There is a internet cafe across the street from him. He says its like a job. The weekends are pretty much his to do with as he pleases. I am hoping that once he gets a pc he will be able to get online. It would be cheaper to talk to him that way, and I could share pictures and such much easier than we do now.
I am still catching myself trying to tell him what he should do. Nick is patient with me about it though. It's amazing to me that 18 years flew by like it has, and that he is all grown up.

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Photos

When I returned home Saturday. I found there were no photos on the cd I paid for. I called the store that evening, and Bruce spoke to a manager who asked to call again sunday morning. We called sunday morning, only to be told that Ron (the manager we spoke to the night before) was not there. We were told that our photos would be sent next day air. I waited until tuesday, still no photo disk. I called the walmart in sc again. This time speaking to a Manager Mark (yes this is how he identified himself) I was told that my disk would be sent immediately and I would receive the disk thursday. He also gave me a tracking #. I just pulled the tracking # on ups site, and they didn't ship my disk until yesterday. Ups is telling I have a expected delivery date of Monday.
I hate liars. I will be calling Walmart Corporate offices as soon as I receive my disk with pictures. This is bullshit.

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I am so proud

I had this other post that either blogger ate, or my posting program ate. I was talking about how proud I was of my son. How he has gone from boy to man. I am just so beyond proud. I dont have words for it. He has changed in so many ways, yet is still my son. I didn't cry at his highschool graduation, but I cried when I saw him thursday, and again when he graduated. I had a few moments of tears friday while he was with us as well. Bruce gave us a bit of privacy so that we could talk a bit, and I could cry a bit ;). As the day grew to a close friday night, Nick got a little down. He didn't want us to go. And we didn't want to leave him. When I dropped him off at the barracks, we both were having a hard time. I found out that the DS's did a show smoking for the parents that stayed. I just couldn't. I was on the verge of tears, and couldn't do that to Nick.

He called me saturday night as I walked through the door from Salt Lake City, while changing flights. He sounded excited and confident again. Some of the home sickness was being pushed back by the excitement of going to AIT.

I recieved another excited call last night. He can have his cell phone immediately, he can also have visitors. Though after the trip to S. Carolina. I don't think we will be jumping in the car anytime soon. He was excited to be in a dorm type setting sharing a room with only two other guys, instead of a bay full of guys. They have a fridge in their room, and a TV room in the dorm. He is really excited with all the freedom he is going to have. He sounded more like the Nick that left home, with plans to buy a bike and play in the mountains, and what he wanted to buy his sisters for Christmas. Him and some others also plan on hikinginto the mountains. He says its beautiful there. It will be nice to hear from him on a regular basis.

Did I mention how bursting with pride I am over my son?

Pictures to come as soon as Walmart gets them to me. Idiots.

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The Trip

Tuesday night we were all packed and planning on going to bed at a reasonable time. HA. A friend came over to visit, and by the time he left and we were done with settling the house, it was 12am.
We woke up at 3am Wednesday morning, left the house at 4am as planned, and were on our way. It was a first that we were leaving on time. This should have been a sign.
We made our way down to Metropolis Il. Arriving around 7am, we stopped there so the kids could see the Superman statue, and get their pictures taken behind the wood cutouts. After that we stopped at a local grocery store, grabbed some donuts for breakfast, and headed to Fort Massac State Park {Oldest state park in Illinois. On the Ohio River in Metropolis IL, it's history dates from 1757. Ordered restored by George Washington when he became President of the United States. A large bronze statue of George Rogers Clark overlooks the river. Clark arrived in 1778 and left his boats for overland journey to Kaskaskia on his westward trek. Fort Massac offers fantastic views of the Ohio River.}
We ate, and then let the kid wander around the fort and check out the buildings. We looked over the Ohio River towards Kentucky, and I said a little prayer for Teresa, James, and Matthew. Knowing that the next day they should be home.
We packed up and left the park around 9am and headed on in to Kentucky. The drive through to Tennessee was uneventful. Hitting Nashville around 12:30/1pm I got the old man turned around looking for a exit that wasn't even there. He was not happy, but we didn't loose much time. We made our way to Long Hunter State park in TN to stop and feed the kids some lunch. We found out that the park charged a day usage fee, but we were lucky enough to come on "free" day. We also found out why it was free, every thing was locked tighter than a drum, even the bathrooms. My girls were not happy about the nature bathroom thing. LOL. Again we packed up. We managed to get back on the road, about 2pm. I said a silent hello to friends and off we went.
Around Cookeville we noticed that the air had stopped working and that the car was heating up. We stopped at a tiny gas station right before Cookeville and topped the gas off. We parked the car and began checking what was causing the car to overheat. Turns out the cooling fan had stopped. We have an electronic fan instead of the usual engine driven cooling fan. We checked the fuses and relays, but nothing seemed wrong there, nor did anything seem to be visibly wrong with the wiring harness to the fan. It was around 4:30 at this point. We drove on to a small garage to see if they had anything we could check the relays with but they didn't know, and sent us on the Ford Mercury-Lincoln dealer in Cookeville itself. Ford dealer didn't want to help us. First they said that the charge was 63 an hour to look at it. Bruce decided to just get a couple of relays and change them out to see if that was the problem first, at their suggestion. That wasn't it and when he went to see if they would check it out they told us no we are going home. Jerks. Our car was soo hot. We decided to just hotwire the fan to the battery to get us to South Carolina. Off to Autozone we went. Bruce grabbed some heavy gage wire, connectors, and we tried that. It didn't work. At this point I told him that I understood when he got the car running that we would have to head back home. I would just call Jamie and have her find me Nicks Company's number and I would call them to let Nick know what was happening. I admit I wanted to cry, but I wasn't going to stress my husband out anymore than he already was, and I wasn't going to put the my other three kids in danger. Bruce was worried because here we were two states from home, and our car was broken down. Let me mention now how much I love my husband. I really do. Bruce continued to mess with the fan, and a guy who worked at AutoZone gave us a Haynes book on our car so we could see the wiring diagrams. Bruce got the fan hotwired with a switch and an inline fuse. Everything seemed to be fine. Bruce told me I was going to see my son graduate Friday. By this time it was around 8/9 o'clock, really I can't tell because I had lost track of time. We got back on 26 and drove again leaving the ac off. It was starting to get dark when we left and that was our saving grace. We drove for a couple of hours I guess until we stopped at Mc'Donalds to grab a bite to eat, and check to see how the fan was doing. We got out of the car, opened the hood, and almost cried. The fan had stopped again.
In we went, looking haggard as could be, like wrung out washrags. I took the baby and Katie to the play area, while Bruce and Sarhea got five happy meals. I went to get the food and made Bruce go sit with the kids.
I must of looked bad, because an older couple (from Ohio) came to the counter to order and asked me what was wrong. I explained that I was trying to get to South Carolina, to see my oldest graduate BCT, and that our car was messing up. She said she would pray for us, and gave me a hug. It actually made me feel better.
As we ate, Bruce decided that we would continue on, driving at night the car was staying well in the cool range. It was the stop and go that was heating the car up at that point.
We loaded back up, and hit the road again. Constantly watching the heat gage on the car.
We made our way on through TN, into North Carolina and finally South Carolina. Driving through the mountains at night is interesting to say the least. Finally around 2am we see a light at the end of the tunnel, we are about 30 miles from Columbia SC. We were actually beginning to relax a bit. Driving down the hammer lane (fast lane) we suddenly notice a yearling doe in the road. Oh shit! Bruce hit the brakes swerved the car into the other lane, and we missed her, or so we thought. The damn thing did a 180 and jumped right in front of us, we nailed her with the left front corner of the car, with a sickening thud. Deer dead, car wrecked. This is not going well. We pulled off the road to survey the damage. Our beautiful car is wrecked, the blinker is gone, the front clip is cracked and the headlight is barely hanging on in its spot. The fender is pushed back and Bruce's door makes a lovely creak when you open it. Luckily it didn't deploy the airbags when we hit. We are four states from home, and less than 30 miles from Columbia.
We limped our poor car into Columbia and looked for our hotel. Turning the car off at stoplights, shutting it down and coasting down hills, to keep it cool. We finally found our hotel, and checked in. It's 3 am EDT by this point.
We get our stuff up to the room, get the kids settled in. We shower, and get to bed ourselves its almost 5. We have to be up at 7 to get the kids ready, and on base by 10. We woke up a hour late :O
We manage to limp our car onto base, wrong gate of course (our luck sucks) and find were we are supposed to listen to orientation, and meet with Nick for the day. We are told when we arrive, that because it's such a large group of soldiers (6 company's) that our son's orientation isn't until 12pm. What are we going to do? We cant go anywhere the car cant take the heat. We stand and sit around OUTSIDE for two hours waiting for this to start. If you have never experienced the heat in SC, I can only describe it as an easy bake oven. We go in finally to sit in the bleacher to listen to the army's presentation about what our soldiers have been through, but they start with the Red Cross first. When the Red Cross person said they could deliver a message to your soldier, I left. Liars! Bruce and the girls stayed and I went to find were Nicks Company would form up before being released to family for the day.
Finally the soldiers marched out of the building and started forming up. Only thing is they didn't form up where we were told they were going to be. They released the soldiers, and I spent 30 minutes looking for Nick. When we found each other. I just wouldn't let go of that kid. He looked so good.
Bruce III, was a bit stand offish from Nick at first. But Nick would have none of that. He snatched his little brother up, and from then on the boys were inseparable. Bruce was clinging to his big brother, and vice versa.
Nick needed to go to the bank, and wanted to go to the px. We took him to the bank, and while Nick and I went in, Bruce got the kids cooled off some with ice water from the ice chest in the trunk. We then went to the px (mind you the car is screaming at us.. heyyy heyyy turn me off I am HOT) Nick couldn't be by himself, one of us or another soldier had to be with him at all times (battle buddies) Bruce and the girls went to the food court, and Nick and I went to get some things he wanted. We came out and looked at the food court, it was just packed, there was a roar of sound, and people packed in there so tightly you could barely move. Nick looked at me, and said Mom, Bruce won't be in there. I knew he was right. So we went to look for Bruce and the girls. Nick as we were looking bought Bruce a John Wayne pocket knife and just grabbed a army knife for his dad. We found Bruce and the girls, and waited for the food court to clear out some. Once it did we found a seat and I went to order something for us to eat. Baby was melting at this point. He was hot and tired, and sick of being restrained. When I came back from ordering I found my youngest son sleeping on the shoulder of my oldest son. Little one never goes to sleep on someone, except on Nick. I almost cried at that point.
We got our pizza and forced most of it on Nick. We left, found our way to a playground, and let the kids run and play while we talked with Nick. Nick was wearing full BDU's, (field uniform) winter ones at that and his beret. The kid never broke a sweat. The only time he started too was when he ran across the playground full speed to get his little brother when he got hurt on the playground equipment. And that was only little beads of sweat where the band of his beret sat. Katie got so hot that her face was red as a tomato except the bridge of her nose, and under her cheekbones, and those where blanched white. Nick made her drink water from his canteen. He was worried about her. We enjoyed our time with Nick, and looked forward to taking him off base the next day even though we weren't sure how we were going to do that.
We took Nick back to his barracks, and I walked back with him, and signed him out for the next day. I guess I looked like shit (sorry missy) because even his Drill Sergeants were worried. I hugged my boy tight, and left.
Back at the hotel Bruce decided enough was enough he was fixing the car. He knew almost certainly now that it was the fan motor. He called his mom to ask to use her debit card, and left to find a autozone with the motor (while at autozone, he was propositioned by a hooker driving a lime green car, wearing lime green pants, and a hot pink shirt, saying come over here and let me holla at ya ROFLMAO) and I ordered delivery. The only people that will deliver to the hotel are pizza joints. After about ten calls, and explaining I was at Comfort Inn Ft Jackson, on two notch, not on base, I finally got a pizza and breadsticks ordered. Pizza came, Bruce came back, said he was going out to work on the car (in the dark at 10pm) s poor back. 12am he has the car fixed, he comes in to tell me, and then takes it for a test drive to make sure it is working right. 1am he comes in, finally eats gets a shower, and tries to relax. He is sooo sore. His back didn't take all this well. I called the desk to set a wake up call since we slept in that morning, and get to bed after a shower around 3.
7am we are up and ready, and off to Hilton Field on base to see the boy graduate. We arrived on base about 8:30. They tried to sit us up at the top of the bleachers (metal bleacher, metal roof, more easy bake oven) but I spoke up and said something about Bruce being disabled, and we got to sit at the bottom. Bruce wasn't happy about me saying anything, but I figured he had been though enough already. The companies finally take the field, and in the early morning heat they start dropping. At least 6 people collapsed from the heat out there on the field. Little one was melting toward the end of the ceremony so Bruce took him to the car. And after it was over I sent the girls to the car, and went to the other end of the field to meet up with Nick. I was worried he may have been on of them to drop on the field, but I should of known better. It was much easier to find him this time. We went back to the barracks to pick up some shirts Nick had bought us, and a platoon picture he had gotten me. I went up to his bay with him. And as we were leaving the Drill Sergeant came across the speakers saying that no civilians were allowed in the bays. Nick and I took off running through the bays and down the stairs. I wasn't about to get my kid in trouble.
The way we all traveled anywhere in the car was to have Katie and Sarhea on one side of the baby's car seat, and Nick on the other. It was a bit cramped for the girls but they handled it well. We left the base and went back to the hotel for a bit so Nick could call his dad. After that we went to walmart to download the pictures off the disk in the camera. I got Nick a set of prints and the pictures burnt on CD for us. Nick bought some more things he wanted and needed. Including a ton of junk food. We got some Chinese for lunch and went back to the hotel to eat. This was at 4, and Nick still wanted to eat a steak dinner yet before he went back to base. LOL
We ate lunch and talked some more, and then at 6 we went to dinner (ugh). We went to longhorns for dinner and nick got a huge steak. He couldn't finish it but he tried.
Time was slipping away from us. Nick was bumming about leaving us again. And truthfully I was bumming about leaving him. We had decided I would take him back to base alone so that we wouldn't get busted for the seating arrangement with all of us in the car at the gate. MP's were checking id's and such as you came in.
I took Nick back to his barracks. Took a couple more pictures. He said I could stay for what amounts to roll call that it was discouraged but I could if I wanted to as other parents had the night before. I told him that no I couldn't stay; I had to go before I embarrassed him. I knew if I stayed I would cry in front of him, and that even if he didn't tear up, they would dog him about it anyway. I walked away with tears just rolling.
When I got back to the hotel, the youngest two had been acting up. Bruce was frustrated and just wanted to come home. I told Bruce that the dim headlight on the driver's side was out. So he went to get a replacement for it while I packed up. We were on the road by 10 pm EDT.
We wound up going over a hour in the wrong direction, and had to back track. By the time we reached Ashville N. Carolina, we were both beyond tired, seeing things, and having double vision. I asked Bruce to stop at a hotel, and to start again in the morning. He agreed. He says he knew he made a bad choice, but he just wanted to come home. Makes sense, I wanted to too. We stopped at a Budget Motel, and I told him to not tell them we had a family of 5 for fear of not getting a room. We got our room I madea pallet on the floor for the girls, put a chair in front of the door, so that little one couldn't get out. And we went to bed. We were so tired, that we slept through the boy wandering around the room and would wake up to catch him harassing his sisters or playing with the luggage rack thing.
We got back on the road about 10 sat morning, and finally made it home about 6pm CDT.
Think this tale is over? WRONG!
Bruce dropped us off at the house, and went on to his moms to tell her we were home, to check on his dog, and to take a shower where he wasn't all bent over to get clean. On the way a local cop pulled him over for supposedly failing to completely stop at the stop sign. Bruce went off. The officer didn't ticket him. Told him that he pulled him over so that people couldn't say he didn't do his job. Over 1500 miles, at speeds up to 90mph and a local pulls him over.
Story still isn't over.
I get my photo cd out to show MIL the pictures. Guess what! No pictures on the disk. Not a one. I almost cried. Bruce called the S. Carolina store, and talked to the photo manager who said the pictures where still on the system, and to call in the morning to see if they could be put online, or if they would have to send them.
I am now on the phone with the Columbia store being told that Ron called off this morning. And they cant put my pictures online. They will send them. I am waiting on hold for a store manager now. I best get my pictures. I can't replace them, and after I saw that nicks prints were ok. I erased the disk so I could take more pictures.

Needless to say I didn't stop at my friends home. I was too tired, too stress, and kids just couldn't take anymore.
That's my trip! LOL the trip from hell.

I will post about Nick Next post.

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Road Trip!

I will not be updating this blog until at least Monday. We are leaving before the birds awaken tomorrow morning to go to South Carolina to see Nick, and watch him graduate BCT.
I will post pic's when I return.

12 hours + 2 adults + 3 kids + 1 car = INSANITY!

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I heard from Nick

Nick called tonight to make sure that we were coming down. He has passed his run.
They came in from the field last night, and recieved their berets today. He is laughing and happy. He is proud of himself, and happy that its over from what I can tell.

I get to see my boy next week! Wahoo!

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He PASSED

I received a letter this morning from Nick. He passed his PT test.

A excerpt from his letter today.

Mom + Bruce
I passed my PT test! Did 5 push-ups more that I needed to. I'm worried about run time, though - drill sergeant told me I was done, and when I told DS Montgomery, who was tracking the laps, my time- he didn't tell me I had another lap or anything. I was sure I got 8 laps, but there were guys who passed me up that got 15:30 as opposed to my 14:08. We'll see. If the DS did say I was done and it was recorded, I should be fine ---- if not, I'll redo my run.
Private info
Anyway all I've got left is a 9.6 mile foot march and a 6.3 mile march "home" to the barracks. Anyway I gotta go. Tell everyone I love them.
Love
Nick

Yay I am so proud of him. I cant wait to see him.

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Mail call

I received not one but two pieces of mail from Nick today.

One was a postcard with a picture of a solider in his gas mask; at the bottom it has a page curl effect, and a smaller picture of the guys in the gas chamber without their masks. The wording on this side is "In the Chamber"
The quote on the backside says

FT. Jackson, SC - The necessity of proficiency with a protective mask is driven home during a visit to the gas chamber. Exposure to the tear gas agent causes only temporary discomfort. (Nick added)<- for about 30 minutes

And Nick writes:

Mom + Bruce, Just went to the PX and saw this postcard. I decided to get it to show what we did about three weeks ago. As you can tell from the soldiers in the picture, that stuff sucks to stand in. Gotta go.
Love Nick

Then I also received a letter as well. Today was a good day.

Nick writes:

Mom + Bruce,
Whats up? Weve only got 3 weeks left, and Im excited like crazy! But I am worried about graduating, because BCT physical standards for graduation are 50% in each category. I can get (or rather on my last test) 49% on push-ups, 63% on sit-ups and 16:53 of a required 16:36 2-mile run time. Im very worried about graduating. I finally got my toe fixed today, and now Im on medical profile for 3 days until the 30^th. But thats ok, because,with the exception of the physical fitness test, Victory Forge, and the last two (9.6 _ 6.3 mile) foot marches, mandatory training is over.
Tomorrow is a good day, because its Sunday, and we get to do laundry, + go to church. Also we get to call home tomorrow. More or less, its our day off. Good times considering my toe hurts even more now that the civilian medics dug a trench in it.
Personal info
Anyway I gotta go, Im on weapons guard. Night Mom, Night Bruce.
Love Nick

PPS. I also bought you, Bruce and dad T-shirts. Ones made here on base. Gotta go now. Talk to you tomorrow.
Love Nick

I am very excited about seeing him soon. Just check out the countdown in the side bar. And if you have some spare change, donate to the gas fund. It sure would help.

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