Nothin to see here....

 ....training wise anyway. The last month has been pathetic...ok 2012 has been pathetic as far as training goes. There has been quite a bit going on recently however, most notable my son going through Marine boot camp and graduating last weekend and then getting engaged. Can you say "Mom you are an emotional mess?" It was a crazy 3 months. (This coming on the heals of my Mom being so sick earlier this year) With only letters, and 2 very short phone calls (one 2 minutes and one 4) as a way of communicating it can be quite draining. Your child will sound down or ask for advice about something  in a letter and you immediately write back but have no idea when/if he will receive your letter, but typically he got them in about 10 days...and then wait another week to get an answer to that letter...well it's crazy when you are used to being able to text or talk. Luckily Josh's platoon got mail pretty regularly some were not as fortunate. He and his platoon did awesome. Just awesome. They ended up being named Honor Platoon which means that over all they preformed best at all of the different tests.

Honor Platoon

We arrived in San Diego a day early and spent just a little bit time at the beach which was nice.

My baby :) Zach and I and yes I'm standing on my tiptoes to put my arm on his shoulders. 

Finally it was Thursday and Family Day and we would get to see and hug Josh! The first thing they do is called a moto run and we had situated ourselves about where we though he would be and we could not have picked a better spot. Without even knowing it the tears were just flowing down my face. It was a lesson in self control to not run out and hug him! I don't imagine it was any easier for them to stand there and not smile.

Excuse the date..not right obviously. :) Josh is in the back in pretty much the middle of the picture. 

I'm not happy to see him at all. :) Yes crying again.

 Then they run off and it's about 2 hours before you finally get to grab them and hug them! We then got to spend all day wandering the base with him. It was so great! Then on Friday the actually ceremony, which we couldn't really hear, but was still amazing! You can not believe the power and force in their voices when they answer the Drill Instructors. And the precision is crazy!

Josh is right there in the center

There were almost 600 of them graduating that day

Josh and his rack mate.

Josh and his girlfriend

All of the sea bags lined up and ready for them to head home. The actually get out there and measure it all so it's perfect. I even heard that they pack them with pillows or cardboard or whatever to get them to be the exact same. 

And finally we got to take that boy home and spend 10 days with him. As mentioned he and his girlfriend also got engaged. I'm not sure mom was quite ready for that and again I cried and cried.

Megan and Josh the night the announced their engagement

And all to soon it was time for me to take him to the airport so he could continue his training and life as a Marine. I could not be more proud of my son. It's been hard on this MoM. And I know that we face mannnyy challenges in the future.

I however must find my way back to some kind of training and healthy eating. And find my way back to the blogs. Both reading and writing. So let's see what I can do this month! Thanks to any of you that are still around to read this blog!