Such a newsy day...

Where to start?
How about with the most exciting?
We got a call from Nathan this morning. He was at Wal-Mart, enjoying a day of off-base leave! He bought a phone card with 70 minutes on it, and was bound and determined to use it all up so we talked for almost an hour. He decided he needed to go get some civilian food (it was 1 p.m. there and he hadn't eaten since breakfast) and he would try to get one more short call in before leave is over.
He told me that he had a real wake-up call on Thursday. Two people from the company ahead of them, Juliette, had two recruits reverted to Kilo company the day before their graduation. In other words, until you have gone through the graduation ceremony and have your certificate in your hot little hands, you can be reverted. Unbelievable. Those poor recruits and their family members who had airline tickets...
He also said that he had been in touch with the relocation person in Seattle and found out that when he first gets to his station he will most likely be in barracks, but after a few days he would be moved out "to economy," which means he'll have an apartment (possibly sharing with other coastie(s)) and will get extra pay to cover rent, utilities, and food. I wish I had spent more time with Nathan in the kitchen. He has no idea how to cook even the most simple things. Well, he could do mac & cheese and frozen pizza. Ug. Mom guilt kicking in.
I suppose I could do a "kitchen bootcamp" while Nathan is home and teach him how to make 3 or 4 staple dishes. He can eat breakfast and lunch on base but it closes at 4:00 so there is no dinner mess.
Which brings me to his next tidbit: it looks like he'll be working Monday through Friday 7:00-4:00. Weekends off, unless it's his duty watch. That will be so cool. He'll be able to take in baseball and football games and do other Seattle-related fun stuff. Or come home! He can ride the bus and the train free, and we can pick him up in Bellingham.
Okay, onto other family members.
Last night Don and I (and Nick) had a shopping date! The boys watched the girls (supposedly) while the three of us went to Old Navy. Don needed some updating in the wardrobe department. He got all stylish this past summer with great shorts and short-sleeved shirts, but now that the weather has changed he needed more suitable "on-site" clothes. Now he'll look great for Nathan's graduation. We hit some great sales and got him some great pants, sweaters, and jackets (Stacy and Clinton would approve!). And some shoes, as he was wearing shoes from San Jose. Okay, that was 15+ years ago. Those have got to go. It was lots of fun and Nick was great, except for his blow-out. Oh well.
Last night we did a change up in the night-time routine, after such a poor night of sleep the night before. We brought a space heater into our room along with Nick's cradle. Before that, he slept in our bed with us so that I could feed him easily (or lazily...) and make sure he was warm. Last night I fed him at 11ish, got him to sleep and put him in his cradle. He slept until 2:30. So did I. Thank you Lord. I fed him, burped him, and put him back in the cradle and he slept until 5ish. Another feeding. But this time he wouldn't let me put him in the cradle. He cried when he was down and would calm right down as soon as I picked him up. So I brought him back to bed with me and snuggled with him until morning. Which was 8:00. I kid you not. We slept until 8. It felt so great! Thankfully it was a Saturday morning and Don was up with the girls (they slept until 7). I feel very rested.
More news: Dylan started his job this morning at the chicken farm down the road. He'll be working about 6 hours each weekend and making $10/hr. Which means he'll have his band trip all paid for in just a few months. And he'll be able to replace his phone which inexplicably stopped working last week. He came home and told me all about it. The farm is all mechanized and the job will be somewhat interesting.
Don, Sean, and the girls are out running errands today which left me free to shower, do some laundry, watch a little t.v., and blog! Life is so good...