QUALIFIED! BONA FIDE! THE REAL DEAL!

 

The face you see above is the face of a Qualified Nuclear Operator 

in the United States Navy!!!! 

Sign, sealed and delivered, he is done and home on leave! 

We did not attend Prototype graduation since 

our sailor left immediately after to drive from upstate N.Y. 

home to the Dallas suburbs. I will not even comment on 

how quickly he got here...

 

He actually arrived a day before he was expected, so my 

welcome home decor was not as fancy as I'd planned,

but the main thing, the ONLY thing that matters is 

HE IS HERE and HE IS DONE 

WITH NUKE SCHOOL!!!!!

He survived! 

I survived! 

~♥~

 And he is home and doing all the things he loves to do.

Messing with cars...

Helping with the yard.

 Helping out at the church fund-raiser with his dad and brother.

Shooting hoops.

Meeting our new pup and just hanging out.

~♥~

My heart is so happy and grateful.

It is like old times...

a brief reprieve before we give him back to the Navy. 

He leaves in a few weeks to joing his ship.

He got the number one pick on his "dream-sheet" and will be 

serving on the USS Carl Vinson out of San Diego. 

We are so happy, because it is a beautiful place and the 

closest homeport he could have gotten assigned to

while serving on a nuclear aircraft carrier.

Next I will learn to be the mom of a sailor in the fleet, a deployed sailor.

The Navy never stops teaching me new things. 

I am so very proud of my sailor! 

He has worked so hard and achieved so much! 

And now~ I'm a Nuke mom! 

~♥~

the journey continues

This is a long overdue update. 

After Power School graduation things
 got super busy in my life. 

I sell my handmade jewelry at shows and fairs
and fall is, naturally, the busiest time.

My sailor was busy himself, with Grad Hold in
Goose Creek. He had a good

job off base for his 2 month hold time.
I got very used to talking and texting 

with him very often. Gone was the worry
and stress of school. His schedule

was predictable and relatively easy. I slept at night
 with a peaceful heart, knowing 

he had a break from the rigors of nuke school. 

In late October I got the best surprise of my life!
My sailor came walking in our back door!!!

I felt like I was dreaming! He was home for week!
Everyone (and I do mean everyone) 

except me knew he was coming,
but it was a complete and total surprise to me!

I did not want to let him go!!!

But of course our week flew by and it was time to say good-bye.

Our sailor was headed to his next level of training

in Ballston Spa, NY, somewhere near the Arctic Circle. ;)

Ok, not that far north, but far enough.

So, now he is in his last phase of nuclear training~ Prototype.

The hours are long, but this is the homestretch.

After the successful completion of Prototype,

sailors are assigned to a ship or sub. 

My sailor is "surface"~ he will be on a nuclear carrier.

He still has hurdles to leap and several months to go.

My Texas boy has learned how to drive in the snow.

He is learning the hands-on part of his job.

He has learned to cook in a crock pot.

And I have learned how to treasure every text, every phone call, 

every (rare) time I see that he has been on FaceBook.

I have learned to live with a piece of my heart

always far away. I know the weather where he is, 

the Google maps view of the road where his little 

rental house sits hidden by the trees. 

I have learned to keep to myself how much I miss him. 

 I have learned that pride and love and longing 

can co-exist in a mother's heart.

I have learned to be a Navy mom.

~♥~

On the flight deck of the USS Yorktown