Day Three. South Carolina.

Word of the Day

Urine: Opposite of "You're Out".

OUR DAUGHTER IS A MARINE! REALLY! NO APRIL FOOL'S JOKING HERE.

We got up early...really early because HTP and #1 son both took showers in honor of the Graduation Ceremony. We didn't have time for me to take a shower. We knew that we would have to get to the parade deck by 7:30 AM at the latest in order to get seats near our recruit. Thankfully, my daughter's fiance got to the parade deck bleachers before us and reserved a place for us to sit. The bleachers were packed by 8 AM when the recruits marched to the parade field. Our recruit arrived with the other injured BMP'ers at around 8:30 AM. Military bearing was again in evidence.

The Marine band marched onto the field and the proceedings started at around 9 AM. My daughter and her fellow injured Marines received a pep talk from one of the high ranking officers. This individual attention was greeted with applause by the surrounding people in the bleachers. The injured Marines received applause and pats on the back and hand shakes. It was truly special since they weren't allowed to march with their platoons.

My daughter and her platoon received special recognition in that they received Honor Platoon status. Woohoo! They worked really hard to earn this honor. They are officially United States Marines. My daughter has earned the title of Private First Class and boasts a shoulder chevron.

After the graduation, we slowly made our way to our daughter's squad bay where she had to sign some paperwork and collect her gear. We stopped at the travel agency so she could purchase a ticket to return to base in eight days. Thankfully, we were able to purchase the ticket...online...from another computer on base since the travel agency would have tacked on a hefty premium. A penny saved is a penny earned.

After completing this purchase we were free to leave base. We all drove to our hotel where our daughter had her first opportunity to play with a computer...our laptop. She updated her blog. I haven't had a chance to read what she wrote...but I have time yet. After we checked out of our hotel we stopped to pick up some lunch before returning to base. Our recruit still had to pick up her leave papers. Military moves at its own speed so HTP, #1 son, and I drove on down the road to Savannah to check into our new hotel, near the airport.

Then....well...it turns out that all the hotels in the entire Savannah area were sold out on the weekends for MONTHS! Our daughter and her fiance couldn't find a room in Savannah...like they intended. Live and learn. Gone are the days when you can drive down the road and find vacant rooms at hotels or motels...at least in Savannah. Anyway, we offered them the pullout couch (meager as it was) in our room because we had that along with our two queen beds but fortunately we were able to find a room at five miles away for them...farther on north. Shhh! I think they wanted a bit of quality alone time. Go figure. I mean...it's only been three months! Pffft!

Thankfully, we were able to hook up with them for supper at a Mexican restaurant for supper before they headed on to their hotel. Mexican food in South Carolina loses something in the translation but, what did we expect? Oh well...the margaritas were more then we expected so I guess it makes up for the food. We didn't drink all of our margaritas. If we had? The food might have tasted a lot better...or at least I wouldn't have noticed....much.

HTP,#1 son, and I are off to the airport tomorrow. HTP and I will be returning to Arizona. #1 son will be returning to his college. As far as I know, our daughter and her fiance plan to explore Savannah tomorrow before they plan to head on back toward and to Omaha. I'm sure that we'll hear from our daughter as soon as she gets back to terra firma and her very own personal computer.

Murphyism of the Day

The Peter Principle

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.