I hope you are well and had a lovely holiday! We had the busiest holiday season and found myself totally overwhelmed! Ufortunately, blogging took a back seat for the past two months! (gasp! can't believe it has been that long!) I didn't work on my craft fair projects until mid fall, which really set me back in preparing for them, and also doing all the regular holiday things. We also had some unexpected news-our twenty-year old son Mike decided to leave college and join the U.S. Coast Guard! This was totally a shock not only to us, but also to our friends and families too.
When he was a kid, Mike and his best friend Chris used to run around the neighborhood in cammoflage uniforms playing "war games"-he said he was going to join the Army one day. As a freshman in h.s. he had a burning desire to become a Navy Seal and was interested in anything having to do with the CIA or FBI-I guess we should have known that some part of him was drawn to a higher calling of military service.
When he graduated from High School in 2007, then enrolled in college, we had no idea he was still considering joining the the military. He has been pursuing a degree in law enforcement, so he felt the Coast Guard would best provide him with extensive knowledge, training and experience as he furthers his education in criminal justice. He became an EMT in his junior year of High School, then took the training to become a dispatcher for our local police department, so joining the Coast Guard is right up his alley!
Prior to his involvement, we had no idea it was so difficult to get into the Coast Guard. After many trips to East Orange, and overnights for him at Fort Harrison NY for physical endurance, fitness and scholastic testing, he has finally been accepted and sworn in, and leaves for basic training camp in Cape May NJ early February, followed by a guarantee of at least one year on the northeast coast. He signed up for 6 years active duty (2 inactive) so the sooner we all accept it--the better! We are incredibly proud of him for making such a decision, especially during a time of war. The Coast Guard comes under Homeland Security and the majority of their responsibility is protecting the US.
This Christmas was especially memorable and we have been visiting friends and out-of-state family since we don't know how long it may be before he can visit them again. These next few weeks will fly by and before we know it, he will be leaving. Six years is a long time-Mike's sister will be 22 when he get's out! No one knows what the future holds, but Mike is on his way to a future that will provide him with incredible experiences as he joins the ranks of the military, following in the footsteps of other family members who have served a tour of duty for our country: his father (Army), uncle (Navy), and his Grandfathers (Marines and Army). I will give updates from time to time. As for now, I am anxious to get back to some kind of normalcy and routines again. If you are a coastie wife or mom, I'd love to hear from you!
It seems strange that I wasn't able to post holiday projects, but I will do that briefly in a separate post, along with some of my craft fair items.
With only one more week of the Fall-Winter Catalog and then the release of the new Spring-Summer Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog on January 19, there is alot to tell you about! Guess it's back to blogging, stamping and scrapbooking for me!
Have a great weekend!
PASSIONSTAMPER