New Year's

It's Dec 31, 2005 and Lord only knows what is in store for Tyler this year. SO much change since this time a year ago. He was still in school and still deciding what branch of service he might be interested in. Now he is a soldier at Fort Lewis.

He called last night and we had a nice long conversation. Talked about the weather there and a car he is thinking of buying. A 67 restored Mustang. I hope he takes his time and thinks about it, but he's a young man with some money and no wheels. That will probably add up to a sale.

He has an address now and a new roomie. He and Kirby did not end up together. His new roomie's name is Gilbert, I tell ya he ends up with guys with the oddest names. They share a kitchen and bath, have separate bedrooms. Ty had to buy some domestic stuff like a coffeemaker and some plates, bowls, cups, flatware, etc. He told me he bought cereal and milk - and for some reason that kinda cracks me up - major groceries! LOL.

Bob is working tonite but Linda invited me for supper and amovie for our bog New Years Eve. I asked Ty what his plans are and he said "hang out on the base". I tried to see if there was any kind of new years activity at the MWR or something but didn't find anything. You'd think they'd have something planned for the guys. Even just a movie and pizza or something. Oh well.

Four more days at AAS and then I start training at my new job Jan 9. Three of us leave in Jamuary. Well, more next year!! (how lame, I know)

Ty's Christmas

Well, I think Ty had a nice Christmas away from home, thanks to my new online friend, Kim. I met Kim through the Army Moms Yahoo geoup. When she first heard that Ty might be sent to Ft Lewis, she offered to keep an eye on him and maybe have him over for some "mom" cooking. When it turned out that he would need to report there 4 days before Christmas, she offered to have him and his buddy, Kirby, over for Christmas. Her hubby picked them up Dec 23 and brought them to their house. They got to go see the Pacific Ocean, had a deer steak and gravy breakfast Christmas Eve morning and were part of a large family ornament exchange. They had CHristmas morning presents (I sent Ty's stocking and 2 gifts). I think Kim picked up some extra things for him and for Kirby too. I heard they watched John Wayne with her hubby and on Christmas evening he called me as they wer getting ready to go watch King Kong at the movies.

It was so great to hear from him - he called me each day and twice on Christmas!! I told him he was spoiling me, but that I loved it. The best gift of all was hearing that he should not be sent to Iraq but so far it looks like he will go to Germany this summer for an 18 month stay. I told him I wouldn't see him FOREVER and he said he'd try to make a flight home. *big cheesy grin*

I'm so thankful to Kim and her family. Her son is away in Kuwait yet she had the heart to open her home and her family to these soldiers she has never met. God will surely bless them richly.

He's at Fort Lewis

It was great having Ty home for 2 weeks, even if I didn't see him as much as I'd have liked. But I know how important is was for him to see his family and friends. And once he found out he could see Gabrielle..well.. lol!!!

I cooked for him his last night at home and slept over on the couch so I could be up early to go to the airport with Wayne and see him off. Ty and Gabby went in Ty's car and he asked me to drive it home. Wayne and I went in Wayne's car. I didn't think he would make his flight in time. Ty and Gabby went to Eat N Park for breakfast and I really thought we left too late for him to make it. We dropped him off and said our goodbyes at the luggage drop off. Gabby and I talked about whether to park and go inside, but I said I really don't want to do another goodbye and she agreed. Gabby and I drove home in Ty's car. We had a nice time chatting on the way home. Then I picked up my car and drove her home. I noticed her house numner was 532 - and I thought hmm Ty's number in basic was 352. Kinda kewl.

He called me, as promised, when he arrived in Seattle. He wasn't sure how to get to the base and I was so rattled when he called that I couldn't think. I was at Holly's work, picking her up. I should have suggested asking at the airport or maybe getting a room for the night or calling Kirby..but he managed to figure it out himself and found a shuttle to the base.

He called me again the next day and I was so thrilled...2 calls in 2 days!!! He said he wouldn't have an address for a while, that he liked the base and that it drizzled all the time and helicopters were always overhead. And he forgot to pack his running shoes! He was going to call Kim after he got done talking with me, and figured he would call her again Friday (12/23 today) to finalize plans when he knew more.

Well, he called me AGAIN tonight!! He bought a cell phone and Kim is picking him up tonight! Kirby is going too - they are going to have an awesome time!!! I'm so happy for him and so grateful to Kim. I didn't tell her but I called the NBC affiliate in Seattle and told them how she is opening her home to Ty and Kirby while her own son is serving in Kuwait. They seemed pretty interested and took a lot of info - so maybe she will be getting a phone call and a surprise!

The Trip - Graduation

Friday was a little more stressful. I wanted to get as much stuff ready to go the night before since we'd have to check out when we left in the morning for graduation. I had our clothes out and toiletries for the morning and tried to cleanup/packup whatever else I could. Graduation was scheduled for 10 AM @ Kennel Field. I was concerned with finding the booth to order the DVD since I hadn't seen one the day before (Army Moms had said it would be there both days) and I sure didn't want to miss getting it.

Bob was stressing about Holly getting ready in time, Holly was stressing that we were waiting for her, I was stressing about getting checked out and on the road in time and getting a place to sit. We arrived in time, even though traffic at the gate was backed up a bit. Holly called Wayne and told him about the traffic.

When we got there, there were a bunch of tables set up with T-shirts and sweatshirts and all sorts of stuff. Well, Tyler had said the day before that he wanted to go to the PX after graduation and they had all that sort of stuff there, so I wasn't interested in looking at it. I wanted to get seats. Bob wanted to look at the stuff, Holly wanted to get seats and was all worried about her dad. Once again I was stuck in the middle trying like hell to keep everyone happy. So I sent Holly on ahead to get seats, told Bob I'd look at the stuff (though I didn't want to). I did find the table for the video and ordered that and after that I just wanted to go get seats. Well, we couldn't find Holly right away by looking in the stands. I found seats where we could all fit, sat down to save them and sent Bob to look for Holly. He found her and came back. She had been sitting with some lady who was sharing her blanket with her. It was really cold and Holly only wore a small sweater so I gave her money to go buy a sweatshirt. That left me with about $20 cash. We had also given her a disposable camera so she could get pictures. Wayne, of course, didn't bother to think of a camera. Just another thing that irked me as, I'm sure, he would expect me to make him copies. Just show up and let everyone else do everything. I think by then Wayne had left a voicemail saying he thought we'd call him before we left (am I a mind reader?)I had told him the day before when he called when he was late for the family briefing to read his papers. By this point I was aggravated, thinking he'd gotten the papers mailed to his house & never had the courtesy to even tell me they arrived. I had to go get them and make myself a copy, and when he lost them, I had to make him a copy from mine. He hadn't paid attention to the times the day before and it was not my job to babysit him. I had my hands full with Holly & Bob and trying to keep them happy.

Anyways, the graduation was very exciting with a band, Bradley tanks and mortar going off, camoflauged soldiers with guns and "Bad to the Bone" playing over the loudpeakers. Seeing the troops marching onto the field was very moving. As the units were announced, people cheered madly. A lot of it is a blur as I remember thinking "It will all be on the video - just watch and take pictures for now". Bob had gotten up to go get a coffee and had gotten stuck (we didn't know at the time why he didn't come back) because the colors were coming by and he wasn't allowed to walk past to get back to the stands at that time. After they were "graduated" it was announced we could visit with our soldiers on the field for 15 minutes. Well, I knew exaclty where Ty was and Holly and I raced across the field. Hugs and photos. Bob said he saw me one minute, then when we were allowed to go on the filed, I was gone. So he was trying to find us. Holly left to find Wayne. I found out later that she found Bob and asked him to use his cell to call Wayne. He said he thought she'd stand there and call him, but instead she took off with the phone. So he couldn't call me to find out where I was (and where Ty was), he asked Holly where I was and she said over near the blue sign and took off with his phone. So now he's upset, she's upset, & no one knows where Wayne is. Luckily for me I wa oblivious to the whole thing because I was standing with Tyler. Holly found Wayne and they came over to me and Ty. Poor Bob never did find us til after it was all over and Ty was gone. He looked, but he had no way to call and ask where we were.

So afterwards we were all together (minus Tyler) and Wayne went to buy himself a shirt. Bob was upset that he'd missed seeing Tyler, Holly was grumpy, I was frazzled because everyone was so on edge. We head on back to the barracks to wait for Tyler's release. Then comes the issue of who is driving who and who is parking where and it just seemed like everything was such a big issue. I wanted to walk to the barracks, Bob wanted to get the car and park nearer the barracks. So Holly, Wayne and I walked, Bob went to get our car. Once Tyler was released, Bob & I help with carrying his bags over to our car, then Bob drives Wayne to his car (he was parked very far away because he arrived later)and we had no more room in our car for Tyler's bags. Bob drove back up to where Holly Tyler and I were waiting, then Wayne comes driving up with Lynyrd Skynyrd blasting out of his Mustnag convertible and a big shit-eating grin on his face. Well, that pissed Bob off becaue it was obviously done so Tyler would ride with Wayne, not us. Again.

Well, Holly had asked if we could all go eat. I said I wasn't real sure how our money situation was and Wayne offered to buy dinner. Now it's a big issue of where to go. I asked Tyler where HE would like to go. After all, it was his big day. He didn't know what was around and no one could make a decision so I said let's just go to Ruby Tuesdays where we'd gone yesterday, check out what places we'd see along the way, meet in the parking lot and decide where to go. That was fine with everyone. Well, Wayne got lost for over an hour. Holly, Bob & I eventually went into another restaurant nearby to wait and when Wayne pulled into the parking lot I told them to stay put, I'd walk over and get them. We had a nice meal, and Holly offerd to pay for half the meal. I think she thought she was paying us back, but actually since Wayne had offered to buy dinner, she helped him out. Either way, it was nice of them both.

So now we are getting ready to leave. I had said to Holly before we'd even arrived at Columbus that I hoped Tyler would ride back at least part of the way with us in our car. Especially since he'd be staying at Wayne's, I was hoping we could have a little bit of time with him. As it turns out, Wayne had different driving directions (from AAA) than we had. He wasn't at all interested in going the same way we were, even though I gave him a copy of our directions. So there was to be no chance to have Tyler swap cars on the way home. We were shut out again and drove home with Holly sleeping in the back seat the whole way. We did see a Ft. Benning soldier at a gas station in West Virginia though! He was on his way home to Washington, PA. We took Holly home, asked her to call us when Wayne and Ty got in and drove to our place. Bob crashed (he drove the whole way after being up all day) and I immediatley started downloading the pics from my camera. I waited 3 hours and called over to Wayne's. Nothing but voicemail. Tried Wayne's cell, got voicemail. He ddi finally call me the NEXT morning to say they'd arrived shortly after we did. When I called the house, Travis had answered and said Hey Tyler's home. I felt like no one even mentioned that we'd been there.

And the reason I sound so pissy as I write this is because I called Holly tonight to see if she knew if Ty had any plans for his birthday tomorrow and was told they planned to take him out to eat. Obviously I am not invited. I mean, I'm just his mom. They've had him living there all week, we saw him for part of one day when we made plans to take him to the gun club and took him for pizza, (along with his buddy) plus maybe 2 hours yesterday when he came to use the computer to make his airline reservations. But hey, I don't need to see him for his birthday. Just shut me out again, that's ok. Right now I really feel like just giving up and saying the hell with it all why try. But tomorrow is another day. I'll still write to him and send him things. I'll be told I'm "online stalking" I guess because I will still try to learn all I can about his new post and duties. I have arrangements for him to spend Christmas with a military family so he won't be alone. I know no matter what I do or how I try it will never be enough but it's all I can do. Maybe someday it will matter.

******UPDATE Sun morning - called Wayne, says he didn't get my message from yesterday- said they were planning to go out about 5-6 o'clock and to come on over. I'm glad I will be included.

The Trip - Turning Blue

I think I've sufficiently recovered from the trip enough to sit back and write about it a bit. It was long but thankfully my husband did almost ALL the driving.

We arrived the night before turning blue. Got settled in about 5 - 6 pm. Bob crashed pretty early as he'd worked a 12 hour shift then drove for a good 10 hours, only napped a bit in the car when I drove for a short time. Holly painted her toenails and I watched TV - pretty much just chillin'.

Next morning everything went smoothl (other than my lack of remembering directions to Sand Hill clearly). We were up and ready in plenty of time. Luckily, I had re-read the info sheet and realized there was a Family Briefing an hour before the ceremony. So at 9:30 am we arrived at the gates to Sand Hill. Holly called her Dad who wasn't up yet, he thought he was to arrive at 1PM. So fortunately for him, she alerted him that things started at 11. We saved him a seat at the briefing and he got there a bit after it started. Otherwise he would have missed the ceremony and everything.

The briefing was basically the same one I'd heard 5 weeks earlier. There were T-shirts and things for sale out in the hallway and we bought some before the briefing.
After it was over we went down to the covered area behind the barracks for the ceremony. There was no way enough seating so we sttod along the side. Wearing heels turned out to not be such a great idea!

Before the ceremony, they had a sort of skit which was neat. Then the soldiers came marching in! It was so kewl and made you feel so proud. All in all, 3 companies were celebrating their turning blue. There were some awards handed out for exellent PT, shooting etc. I was wondering how they would do the turning blue. If each soldier was done one at a time it would surely take forever. Well, silly me, they just announced if there was a family member who wanted to assist in placing the cord on their soldier to go stand by their soldier. I took off my coat, handed it to my husband and my ex says to me "Oh are you going to do it?" I said "well I thought I would if that's ok". Then I just kinda went to find Tyler. I stood there like a big geek because he didn't speak or move and I was waiting for someone to hand me a cord to put on him. After several minutes, Wayne and Holly came through the ranks (to my surprise). I told Tyler "If you want your dad to do it, I will step aside." He said it really didn't matter to him. I saw people putting cords on their soldiers so I finally asked "Where do you get the cord?" and was told "it's in his pocket". DUHHH me. So I found Tyler's cord, slid it up his arm then had Wayne button it dowm.
I will say that I was a bit irked, because he didn't even care enough to make sure he would have been there on time, and it was supposed to be ONE family member. Holly was there with a camera, yet they had told Bob he couldn't go in with a camera. So it was a little messy.


After it was over, I raced up the hill to try to get them on video as they marched back to their barracks. Holly was upset that I wasn't "waiting for her and Dad". It wasn't like I was going anywhere. Just wanted to get up to the top before they marched past. I think everyone's nerves were a bit on edge. Besides, I knew afterwards we would end up waiting around.

They were eventually released on pass and that was great! Tyler and Kirby had to leave at the same time - I guess it's some kind of Army battle buddy thing, I don't know. Kirby's family had made plans and reserved a table for all of us at a place called Ruby Tuesday's so we all went there for supper. Holly rode with Wayne and Tyler, so Bob and I were "odd man out" and drove ourselves. We got confused on the exit directions, called Holly in the other car and were basically told they stopped and asked for directions and we should do the same. So we bit our tongues and found our way ourselves. Kirby's family was very nice and the 2 soldiers sat next to each other and seemed to enjoy themselves.

Afterwards, Tyler didn't really have anything special he wanted to do and we only had maybe 2 hours left, so we went to Wayne's hotel to hang out. At least Bob, Holly and I got to drive him back to base. Got some hugs and more pictures and back he went for his last night at Treadwell Barracks. They were all expecting to get "smoked" that night...

He's Blue, Graduated & Home!!!!

Pfewwwww!!!
All the anxiety, worries and excitement are over...for NOW anyway!

It's nearly 9 am Dec 3 and we (Bob & I) have been home for about 3 hours. I had to upload the photos from my digital camera as soon as I got in the door, then I spent ages trying to find this video of Tyler from one of the private's cell phones that he uploaded to his website, but no one knew the web addy. I tried googling everything I could think of to find it but no luck so far. I'm sitting here typing with frozen fingers. We had turned the heat down before we left and the house is freezing cold. Apparently there was snow while we were gone.

I'm not going to write a whole lot right now because there's just too much to say. But Bob, Holly and I got home about 6 am and I've no idea where Ty and his dad are. Wayne had completely different driving directions and was adamant about going his own way, so I've no idea if they got back home yet, stayed overnight somewhere, or what. I was hoping we'd all travel the same way and that maybe Tyler could ride in our car part of the time and spend some time with us since he will be living at Wayne's while on leave. I asked Holly to let me know when they got in and I haven't heard anything.

Most of the trip was good. A lot of biting my tongue in the cause of peace and to make it "Tyler's Time". But I guess anytime you put mom, daughter, husband and ex-husband all together for an important occasion and have a long, anxious trip, there's bound to be some raw nerves. Most of the time I felt pulled in 4 different directions trying to keep everyone happy. I didn't think we would be back til sometime late this evening, because for some reason I had it in my head that they went on pass after graduation (Dec 2) and then reported back to be released. Actually they went on pass Dec 1 after Turning Blue, then reported back for the night before graduation. So Tyler was released about 1:30 yesterday.

His Bunkmate/battle buddy's family had made reservations at a restaurant (Ruby Tuesdays) for all of us which was pretty kewl. I guess those 2 wanted to celebrate Turning Blue together! This was Tyler's first time out on pass and he was so much more relaxed than when I saw him in October! We had a really nice time with Kirby's family at dinner, then went and hung out at Wayn'es hotel room for a while. Tyler really wanted to hear some of "his music" and we had his cd's and player at our hotel room, so Bob & I left to get them, plus got him some rootbeer and smokes. Ty was smoking like a fiend lol! Shhh...don't tell. He showed us some of the stuff they had to do in PT and had us all laughing at his stories. But the funniest thing was the rap video and how he was asked to perform it many times. He's so funny.

Anyways, Bob, Holly & I took him back to Benning since our hotel was in that direction. We were so concerned with getting him back on time and not getting caught up in a clog at the gate that we were actually more than a half hour early. So Tyler chilled in the car listening to music on the radio til it was time to report back to the barracks.

I'm going to write more later - I'm a little irked over a few things and I don't want that to cloud my story. Bob is sleeping, since he drove the whole way back. I just called Wayne's cell and got voicemail, so I still don't know if they got home or are sleeping in a hotel somewhere. *sigh* Oh well, more later - I promise!

Oh, I have to say the graduation totally kicked ass.