First 2 Days

After saying our goodbyes at the airport Monday morning, I wasn't sure if/when John would call me next. He took his cell phone and a calling card, but there were no guarantees.

Needless to say, communication hasn't been an issue--YET. :0)

John called from DFW airport Monday afternoon--twice. He was bored and the flights were spread apart. Thank goodness he took the cell phone. I was glad to talk to him...that way it wasn't feeling so permanent yet. We had 3 more conversations throughout Monday. One more from the Atlanta airport, and then 2 from the bus that was taking them to Ft. Jackson, SC. Apparently the military is too broke to fly these recruits in to SC--instead, they were forced to ride a bus for over 5 hours. It was John and about 20 other people, all under the age of 20. Woohoo! He was a tad annoyed at the level of maturity in which he was being subjected, but what can a guy do when the military owns your butt for 11 weeks?!?

I heard from John today, which was great. The only unfortunate part was WHY he called. Apparently our 3 childrens' birth certificates (that have been used for everything under the sun and copied about 1,000 times already) are not sufficient to be able to enroll them in the military insurance program. They want a certified copy of EACH. Arggggg!! John was so frustrated and running on very little sleep (ask me how I know this), so he was not in the best of moods. After much "debate" with the lady in reception, he decided to forget the enrollment process for the kids for now, and just continue with Pantex's insurance coverage--until he gets home and can straighten everything out. Oy!

John was able to make one last phone call from his calling card just now. He's doing well, but I can tell he's tired, stressed, frustrated, bored, etc. He thinks that his platoon will ship out to basic training from reception sometime Friday. He already has his uniform, has already done one night watch, and is probably the oldest recruit thus far. There are 40 in his platoon, and he said the closest one to his age was 24. Yeehaw! He was fairly sure he would be able to call tomorrow evening around the same time, but after that there probably won't be communication with him for a few days, if not weeks.

I'll write when I know more. Just keep him in your thoughts/prayers as he gets closer to beginning the "fun part" of his journey. :0)

~Mel