On the way back home

I have decided that for the most part, I like South Florida. The weather is great, the people are quite receptive to the military, there's plenty of money. (Although Im not sure if that part is good or bad... unless of course I come into money...) Really though, I had a great week down there. I spent minimal money, got a tan, got to see an old friend, and didn't pass out at the commissioning ceremony. I think I'd call that a success.

Yes, the ceremony went quite well. After spending a couple of hours Friday evening babysitting the CO's 6 year old son (it wasnt bad- we watched the first half of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now I need to watch the rest.) I was able to get a good nights sleep before what I knew was going to be a long day on Saturday. And long it was. Starting with duty section turnover, into usher muster at 815 for an 1100 ceremony. I spent most of the ceremony doing crowd control of sorts- there were not enough chairs for all the people that showed up, so we were trying to keep them to the sides, not blocking the whole "fire escape" area. Immediately following the ceremony, I went over the reception, where the food ran out in about 30 minutes but there was plenty of beer. My old navigator, who is from Fort Lauderdale and moved back after he got out of the Navy, came to the ceremony with his girlfriend, Alsi, and took pictures for me, so once I get them up, all the pictures from the ceremony actual can be credited to them. Then I went back to the ship and got roped into giving a tour for some Lockheed Martin VLS builders, then my GMCS reenlisted. Finally I was able to get off the ship, sometime close to 4, and just about everyone was gone. Luckily, we had a JO car that noone wanted, so I got it to myself. I went out and had a drink with GMCS at his post-reenlistment thing, then headed out to Brian and Alsi's apartment for dinner and an eventual trek to Miami to a club. I had a lot of fun- those of you who know me know Im not generally a club person, but I actually enjoyed this place- the music wasnt all the normal booty-shaking club music. There was actually a room that was playing a lot of 80s, which was fine with me :)

Sunday another gentleman from the Alumni Association took a few of us out on his boat. We were supposed to go offshore fishing, but a small craft advisory nixed that and we just went up the intracoastal waterway a while, stopped and got some food, and went back. It was awesome- really relaxing, got a chance to get some sun, no stress... just what I needed to end out the week. Now we are on our way back to Norfolk, not getting near enough sleep, and packing a much as possible into these few days. Almost there....