Monthly Archives: December 2011
Destroyer Life at Sea, Part III-Replenishments
One of many waves that soaked us!
You may be looking at the picture and going “wow, that’s a big wave”, and to that, I say yes, it was a big wave…but, there’s a story behind it (of course…if not, why the hell would I be posting?) That was during an UNREP (Underway Replenishment)/Replenishment at Sea (RAS) with the USS Carl Vinson. We were taking on a 100K or so gallons of fuel.
RAS’s happen frequently-a couple times a week. We get everything via a RAS, in some form (CONREP-connected replenishment, VERTREP-vertical replenishment). This includes fuel, supplies, stores, and even mail. Hell, we can even do a PAX (passenger) transfer during a RAS, so we can get new people too, if you want to get technical.
Logan walked!
Logan standing on his own!
Logan is just over 11 months old. I know Justyce was about 14 months old when she finally took her first real steps. Colbi was about 10 1/2 months old. Devin was just a little over a year old.
These are the types of things that it sucks to miss while underway, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It was worse missing his birth (obviously), and also to miss his first birthday. The milestones though, you just want them to happen when they happen, and although I’m missing many of them, I’m über-excited that he’s reaching them.
Needless to say, I’m very proud of my boy-way to go, Logan!
[I'll update this post with pics once I get them-I have to make them on my laptop and transfer them over to my shipboard machine]
Merry Christmas!
I'm obsessed with Mario, & you're going to have to deal with that
Anyway, where I’m at, it’s now Christmas morning (0146am-but, we go back another hour in 15 minutes as we transit through another time zone).
So, what do we get to do for Christmas here? Well, regardless of whether it fell on a Sunday or not (which it obviously does this year), we’d get Holiday Routine. Holiday Routine is when things are a bit more relaxed and less words are passed over the 1MC (think “intercom”). Fewer meetings. Essentially, I have to show up for watch and my one meeting today, and that’s it.
Yesterday (Christmas Eve), we had a Holiday party. There was karaoke, hot chocolate, christmas cookie decorating and even a raffle (I forgot to buy tickets…drats.) [the raffle ended up being on Christmas Day, and I won a 14MP camera] Today, there will be a holiday meal.
Things that make you go “awwwww….”
I’ll write more about it, but I honestly think that I have the easier job when it comes to deployment-I’m gone and working. That’s it. And, every once in a while, I get to stop in some foreign port. Mary and the kids have it far more difficult. But, again, more on that later.
Deployments, at least in my experience, affect the kids differently based on their age. When they’re real young (like Justyce, Colbi and-to an extent-Devin on my first deployments after they were born, and Logan now), they don’t notice. They don’t grasp time. They don’t realize how long you’re gone.
When kids are a couple years old (Justyce during my second deployment, Devin now), they notice more. They are used to Daddy being around, and they still don’t really grasp time-for all they know, Dad’s been gone a while and will come home in a while. They don’t realize that there’s some 170 days or so in-between that and they just don’t understand it. Also, they are more vocal and can say cute things. I can call back to them and they talk to me on the phone, instead of me just talking and repeatedly saying “I love you” and “I miss you” and “be good for momma” (like I do with Logan).
How I missed my own birthday
Now, don’t take that literally; obviously, no matter where I am, I can’t miss my own birthday. You’re with me on that, right? However, having said that…when you’re gone, it’s just not the same. If you’re not with ones you love, if nothing about your day changes whatsoever, you may as well have missed it. Honestly, for me, if I don’t get my favorite breakfast on my birthday (blueberry & raspberry pancakes), then it’s just another day as far as I’m concerned. (NOTE: Wifey takes great care of me, and I get my birthday breakfast when I’m home because she knows how much I love it). In my mind, I’m still 34, that was the last birthday I celebrated at home with my family.
