Day Two. South Carolina.

Word of the Day

Tomorrow: One of the greatest labor devices of today.

Today we'll see our daughter for the first time since the end of October. I'm not sure what changes we'll see. She's gone through a lot since she started Marine boot camp in January.

I woke up early this morning. I was awake long before my cell phone started buzzing. Our daughter's fiance called at around 7:30 AM to tell us that he was on base. He has a military ID so they let him have a few more privilege then we civilians. We can't get on base for a few hours yet. Actually, since our daughter can't run in the Motivational Run that is scheduled for 9:30 AM and since we probably won't have a chance to see her until closer to 1 PM at the EGA Ceremony (Eagle Globe Anchor) when she receives her EGA pin, we decided to meander over to base closer to 11 AM

I've started writing this blog but I'm going to add to it later tonight if I get the chance. We have many activities planned between now and then but plans can change. We plan to order lunch and have it delivered on base picnic-style. We plan to take a tour of the base. We plan to watch the EGA ceremony. We plan to grab our daughter afterwards and spend as much time as we can before we have return her to her squad bay. We plan to meet with some of the other parents at an Italian restaurant close to the base...and then...I plan to see if I can blog and tell you what really happened today before I crash. So...if you don't see any changes made today, I crashed beforehand and I'll try and catch you up later.

*****

OK...a promise is a promise. It is now 10:42PM and we're finally back here at the hotel for the night. We stuck to our plan for the most part. We weren't sure for quite some time where our wounded recruit would be sitting during the EGA ceremony. Our daughter's fiance was the one who ran around like crazy, grilling any official looking military person. He discovered that our daughter was going to be sitting in the front seats of the bleachers on what I'd call the 50 yard line. We were able to sit right next to her and the other wounded Marines. Woohoo! Poor kid. We kept making comments and faces and she had to maintain military bearing. Teehee! We were so mean. Of course, they played "I'm Proud to Be An American" and she ended up with tears as she got her EGA pin. We got pictures. Close-ups. We got to see her as soon as they released the recruits for Liberty but after a few short moments, hugs, and kisses, the DI's grabbed her away from us. They had to take her over to her new platoon and check her in before they could release her for Liberty. She'll be returning to Parris Island after her 10 day leave. Not as a recruit, but as a Marine. She'll be joining other "broken" Marines in a Basic Marine Platoon until her broken hip heals. Anyway, this meant that we had to wait for her at her squad bay until procedures were adhered to. She doesn't really get 10 days leave. She has to return to Parris Island in 8 days. Oh well. She's a Marine. Official. Well...tomorrow. Graduation is tomorrow.

We ordered calzones from the local Italian restaurant that I mentioned earlier but HTP drove out to pick them up for us. While we were waiting for the food, we walked through the PX. I bought a mug. My Daughter, One of the Few, The Proud, A Marine. We wandered over to another of the Military Exchanges and I got a pair of real Marine boots for #1 son under the eagle eye of our new Marine. After HTP returned with our food, we joined the crowds of new Marines and their parents for a picnic lunch at Pizza Hut on base. No-one seemed to notice or care that we brought our own food and beverages. We got to bombard our daughter with all kinds of questions about her training.

After lunch we drove around the base with our daughter as tour director. We got to see the obstacle courses, the rifle-range, the swim center and all kinds of fun stuff. We had to return her to her squad bay at 6:30 PM. We were exhausted.

Although we were supposed to rendevous with other Marine parents for supper after dropping off our daughter, we decided to make the rendevous short and sweet. I was in and out in record time. Did I tell you we were a bit tired? After kicking back a short while at our hotel, we caught a late supper...really late...at Applebee's.

Tomorrow is another big day. Graduation Day. Our daughter's leave papers won't be signed until after 1 PM, so we'll hang around base until then. After that, we'll boogie on to Savannah for the night. We have to get to Parris Island at 7 AM tomorrow. We've been warned that the bleachers fill up fast on Graduation Day. If it rains? 80% chance. The ceremony will be moved to the inside facility. Should be interesting to see if everyone can fit. BTP (my daughter's fiance) plans to get to base tomorrow at 6 AM. He's going to make sure we'll have seats again...next to our new Marine.

Murphyism of the Day

Heller's Law

The first myth of management is that it exists.

Johnson's Corollary

Nobody really knows what is going on anywhere within the organization.