From the Halls of Montezuma...

Jay has shipped out this morning for Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC. He left the house at 3 am, looking all spiffy in a collared shirt and lots of hair. By now (it's 3pm) he likely has NO hair. I'm sure they bring the recruits in at odd hours of the morning to disorient them and so start the brainwashing deal. But what of the poor parents??? We were up to see him off, and Joe drove him to the recruiting office on Okeechobee Blvd. Joe continued on to work at 4 am, and Carolyn attempted to go back to sleep (which didn't happen until about 5:30). Then, of course, if you go back to sleep then, you can't get up at 7:00 like you're supposed to. Woe is me. I lost some sleep. I'm sure Jay wouldn't be very sympathetic. Anyway, he's gone. Sorta' like sending him to kindergarten! BTW, there's a pool regarding what weight he'll be when he graduates boot camp. The lowest guess so far is 180 and the highest is 210. To get in the pool, it's $5. On Saturday, he weighed 238, I think, which is pretty good. A few months ago, he was at about 260! Please keep him in your prayers. Specifically today, I'm asking God to erase the wart on his toe, which he had thought was just a callous. Yesterday we discovered it was probably a planter's wart, which can cause quite a bit of pain. He said he'll leave it alone until after boot camp. Hmmmmm...