Letters

We got two letters from Clifford this week. Thursday seems to be the day we get letters from Clifford. We got one last week.
Clifford called on Friday. He called us on the cell phone, so I couldn't take notes. Consequently I don't remember much what he said. He sounded pretty good. He has been sick though. But he said he is getting better.
They had on base liberty this weekend. He said that there is not a whole lot to do. But I suspect that he would like to go visit his friends in Atlanta and will probably do that once he has weekend liberty off base.
He definitely has his cell phone because that was what he used to call my cell phone.
I have a cold this week, and I feel scatter brained. So I'm hoping this makes sense.
Love to you all.

Leavin' on a jet plane...

We are going to Pensacola! It should be an interesting trip. We are flying to Nashville, then renting a car and driving to Pensacola. The reason we are flying to Nashville is because Richard has to be Nashville for a conference on the following Monday. So, his plane ticket is 100% reimbursed. The car will be partially reimbursed. I need to look into hotels yet, but I'm excited! It should be wonderful! Plus, I've never been to Florida, not to mention Tennessee or Alabama.
That makes 5 new states that I have never been in, just in 5 months. What will the next 5 months have in store?
Love to you all.

News from Pensacola

Clifford called on Saturday. Richard spoke to him while I was at work and then he called again after I was home and I got to talk to him. :)
Here is the gist of our conversation (I take notes, otherwise I would not remember what he said).
His drill competition went well. He said they got 103 out of a possible 112. It takes 102 to pass, but Clifford said that the highest points ever are 104.5, so they did well.
He is now in "Combat Zone" which he said is a move up. He has new roomies, one of them is the LDS guy that he had previously met.
He played the snare drum for the recent OCS graduation.
He should get liberty next weekend. Assuming no one "screws up".
I think he called me from his cell phone (or maybe he just has a phone in his room that is "his" phone). When I asked "Are you using your phone?" He said "Yes Ma'am..I mean Mom". It was pretty funny and I heard laughing in the background. I said, "Who’s laughing?" He said, "My roomies". Pretty funny :)
He has been fitted for his dress whites (choke collar) and dress blues (with a bow tie). These are both only used for special occasions I believe. They will be the first class this year to graduate in Whites. He will be wearing his dress blues later for a dinning out experience. It will be a test on etiquette and how to act at fancy dinners.
When he is done with OCS he will NOT be doing any recruiting duty, either here in Oregon or in Atlanta. Apparently aviators don’t do recruiting, they like to keep an eye on them. So, he will be hanging around Pensacola NAS. He will report every morning at 7:30 am and they will tell him they will see him tomorrow.
When I asked him which was harder OCS or boot camp. He said that the consensus of those that have done both is that OCS is harder, but that the perks that you get are better.
The REALLY exciting news from our side is that we bought plane tickets to go to his graduation. I’m really excited.
Love to you all.

Monday

No letter from Clifford today. He did say that he sent us one though, so I am still looking forward to that.
I did not leave the house today. I stayed home and worked on the painting that I started on Martin Luther King Day. It is done now. I started a new one this evening, we'll see how long it takes me to paint this one. This one is water color, so it's a little tricky. Whereas the one I just finished was in acrylic. The other difference is that the one I just finished came from a dream, this new one is going to be from an actual picture.
I feel like a slug though. I didn't go to the gym or anything. But I painted. Which makes me happy. And I think it make my Heavenly Father happy too, although I can't explain that at all. Just a feeling that I have.
Love to you all.

Clifford: My Officer Candidate

I just talked to Clifford. He called later than last week. Last week he called about 7:15am or 0715 and this week he called about 3:00pm or 1500.
I told him that I had just been looking at a website that Jill had sent me. He said that she had told him about it and that before he went in she knew more about OCS than he did. The website is: http://heathalvarez.com/hobbies/ocs.html
I told him that I was glad that I hadn't read that before he had "Indoctrination Week". He said that Saturday of Indoctrination Week was the worst. So, by the time I talked to him last Sunday, he was already through with the hardest part.
I asked him how he was doing, and he kept saying fine, but I knew differently. So I asked him how his spirit was and he said "Hungry". But he is able to read his scriptures everyday. He was not able to go to Church today. He said that it was a crazy day and he didn't have the chance.
He is not "Secured" so he can not go to church by himself. Today a new class of OCS started their Indoctrination Week, so it was kind of crazy.
On Saturday (coming up) he will have a drill competition. I'm hoping that all those years of marching band will pay off ;)
This Thursday is inspection. They have been getting their uniforms ready. They have been ironing and stamping their names on their uniforms. The khaki the Liberty Whites and the Winter Blue.
He said that he sent a letter, so you know I will be checking the mail box for that letter. :)
He said that there were three other LDS people that he has met. The one guy in his class that he met last week and some others that are Ensigns.
When I asked about the Chow Hall Procedures, he said they were "Goofy". But you can't laugh otherwise you will be "Looking at the grass outside the Chow Hall" (Doing pushups).
He is the "Class Laundry Body". He has a policy that he doesn't collect the "unmentionables".
There are 35 people in his class. 5 of them are girls. When I said "Wow, that's not very many girls". He said "Mom, I just came from Georgia Tech".
When I asked about his roommates he said that they were "Fantastic". The are all Enlisted men. So they nicknamed him "Rookie" they call him "Rook" for short.
I asked him where his roommates were from, "All over" was his reply. I asked if there was anyone from the Northwest he said that there was one guy from Northern Idaho. That's about it.
Love to you all.

Funny Children

Someone sent this to me in an email, and I thought it was funny enough to put here. It does remind me of my children at times. Enjoy!

STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom goodnight. "I love you so much, that when you die I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window."

BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a painkiller. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a childproof cap and she'd have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: "How does it know it's me?"

SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. "Please don't give me this juice again," she said, "It makes my teeth cough."

Drew (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked: "How much do I cost?"

MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad: "Why is he whispering in her mouth?"

CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, "I don't know what'll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?"

JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." Concerned, James asked: "What happened to the flea?"

TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for awhile and then asked, "Why doesn't your skin fit your face?"

The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget....

"Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you, we are but dust." He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter (who was listening!) Leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mommy, what is butt dust?"

Love to you all.

Money :P

I now understand why someone would rob a bank. I could go to the bank and say "give me $1000" I could have my squirt gun with me. I don't need all the money in the till, just a thousand dollars to go to Florida. It doesn't seem like much, but it might as well be a million.
Why do some people have so much and others have so little? (Just so you know, I don't count my self in either of those catigories, but somewhere in between). It is just not fair. Oprah gives away her "favorite things" to her whole audience and that is worth THOUSANDS. All I need is ONE thousand.
Yeah, I just need to rob a bank, and not a really rich bank either.
Love to you all.

Phone calls

I was able to talk to all of my children in the past couple of days. Yes, I was even able to talk to Clifford. He is allowed one 15 minute phone call a week. So that will be nice.
Talking to the girls is good. But I never feel like it is enough. When I am physically with them we talk and talk about nothing sometimes, but sometimes it's about really meaningful stuff. It kind of feels like you can't get to the meaningful conversations until you've had a while of meaningless. So hence, not enough time to get to the meat.
I would give my right arm to go to Pensacola for Clifford's graduation. It is on Friday, April 21st. I was looking at plane tickets yesterday. They are nearly $500. I was thinking if they were $300 maybe, but $500...
Love to you all.

Clifford

Clifford is in Officer Candidate School in Pensecola, Florida. I am very proud of him. I am still waiting for the first letter. I am hopeing that it will be there today after work.
There was some confustion about his address. I sent the first letter in the way the he rattled off on Sunday in his VERY quick phone call and then a second one with the one on the Navy website with just his numbers inserted in the correct spot. They will probably both get there. That is my hope.
Love to you all.

A Job part II

I've rethought the job thing. I would like to go to school, but I can't imagine another job that would really be as good as this one in a lot of ways.
I can take off time when I need to. They are really very agreable to work with on that.
Love to you all.