Moving On

So, Macade moved out this week and although he is only living a couple of miles away, I feel his absence. Now, this is a good thing and a bad thing. Good because he needed to. He needs to be out with people his age and experience life. This is the one thing that I wanted my kids to do that I never did. Live out on their own and have roommates and good times. Bad because I relinquish all control. (Not that I ever had any.) I have to remind myself to not call him constantly and lecture him when we do talk. He is a great guy and working hard.
Macade is going to a technical school right now to enhance his mechanics knowledge. This can only help him in the Army and out. He is excited about it. He also is working at Old Navy again and is there at 5:00 AM! Then off to school and sometimes back to work in the evening. Good thing he is young! I could not do it. I am proud of him and all that he is setting out to do. I think he has good roommates that also just work and go to school. He had a apartment b-que last night and it makes me happy to know that he is out experiencing life. It was my biggest goal as his mom to see him become a good man.
I love you Cade!

He's here!

So yes, he is home. He is well. He is strong.
And he bought a motorcycle!
He is happy and bored. He has his old job at old navy back and is looking for more work. He would like to move out.
He has grown up a lot and he's still just a kid.
I am glad he is home.
I can breathe.

9 hours!

Then what?!
Should I keep up his blog?
Should I bag it until he goes somewhere?
What now?

The Countdown in on!!

He's coming home!!!
I can't believe it! 10 more days and he'll be home! It has been a long 24 weeks and my boy misses the mountains! He wants to sleep, camp and get a job.
In that order.

Stress case

To all who may wonder...
Macade is a total stress case. I cannot for the life of me figure out why.
He is so worked up about coming home. He has made lists of things he needs to do.
List of things he wants to do.
Lists and lists of things he wants to buy!
Oh the kid...
My personal opinion... he will be home for about 2 weeks before he decides to join up with the big Army. He loves it!
I did talk to his SFC here today who told me he has a "jump" invitation. Yikes! That means "Airborne"! He earned the invite with his promotion when he received his award for PT.
He does not know this yet.
He will make a list...

Korea?

So Macade called me last night to warn me that he may not be home very long before he ships out to Korea. I don't know who he is talking to but I do know that things are heating up in that part of the world. He said they are telling everyone to be prepared. As it was, he said maybe 80% of the soldiers he is with are shipping to Korea as soon as they are done training. I told him not to worry and that we would pray that he will be safe wherever they decide to send him. I think he is more worried about spending some time at home before shipping out.
Macade is doing very good. He has a lot of down time which is hard for him but he still remains pretty upbeat. He is really stressed out about coming home and trying to adapt to life again.
They have made him a "flag folder". I asked what that meant and he said he was the flag folder at funerals. I, of course, panicked and asked just how many people were dying there. He laughed and called me silly. I guess when they are called to services of veterans, Macade folds the flag. I felt a lot better then. I think he finds it a great honor to do this for the veterans of our country. His love of the flag is just growing and growing. So everyone make sure you have your flags ready for when he comes home. So far, graduation is still on July 23rd. However, it IS the Army and they can change plans pretty quickly.
Thanks again for all of your support of our soldier. We love him and we are Proud!

Nothin to report

So, as you can see, AIT (advanced individual training) is much less exciting than basic training. Macade is enjoying it a lot but he loved BCT! I think it was the structure of the place in general. He has a lot of down time in SC, but I think he is learning a lot. I just spoke with him and he got 100% on 2 tests today! Yeah for him! He has a big inspection tomorrow and was cleaning like crazy hoping to pass this test too. Then he will get to wear civilian clothes after school and listen to his i-pod and such. He has a small room that he shares with one other young guy and he likes that a lot too. AND, he says he has earned himself the new PT nickname. He is now Mr. 300 to the Drill Sergeants and commanders. I like it that he is working hard to put his name out there. Anyway, it looks like he will be home in mid-July. We are very excited to get him home and get him busy. I also met his unit folks the other day when I stopped to pick up his patches and pins for his uniforms. They told me they are not on the schedule to ship out any time soon, but a new schedule is coming out in September. They were thinking early 2011.???
So, he is good. He always wants me to tell everyone hello and that he loves you all!
B