Reception Week - Check!

D's first week of BCT was, of course, the dreaded Reception Week.  Why is it dreaded, you ask?  Well, because it mostly involves sitting around, then running somewhere, and sitting some more, then running somewhere else, and sitting around, and - you get the picture.  Something I was pleasantly surprised by, though, is the amount of communication D and I were able to keep up during this week.

He was allowed to use his cell phone in the evening every night around 7:00 until lights out.  The length of time varied, of course because he occasionally had stuff to do - shower, latrine duty, etc - but was pretty consistent.  We texted and sent photo messages like mad all through the week.  One night, I was out with friends for dinner when he texted; I apologized profusely, but said something like, "I'm going to be extremely anti-social until 2100, erm, I mean 9:00."  They understood. 

D was also able to send me several letters this week, but I was unable to send him any because I didn't have his address.  I actually talked to him on Wednesday evening, because he had gotten the word that he would be moving "down-range" on Thursday afternoon - to actually begin the work of BCT.  We had been told (from several reliable sources) that he would not be able to access his cell phone after shipping to his BCT Battalion, and they were right.  There was no happy ding of my cell phone with a message from my husband on Thursday or Friday.  I had also gotten quite accustomed to seeing a hand-addressed envelope in my mailbox everyday, but there were none on Friday.

This morning (Saturday), I was getting ready for an appointment - painstakingly coating my eyelashes with mascara - when my phone stopped playing my Glee playlist and rang.  I looked down, thinking for certain that I was misreading, but sure enough, it was my D. 

I answered the phone with an excited, "Hey babe!" to which he replied, "Get paper and something to write with, fast!"  I threw my mascara down on the counter and ran to the living room, where I sat down at my desk.  "Ready!"  He read off his address to me, and I read it back to make sure I had transcribed it correctly.  He then explained to me that he had been given phone privileges to inform me that he had arrived safely and provide me with his address.  "I may just hang up," he said, "We only get so much time and there's a DS watching."

We had a few spare moments, so he told me that he's doing fine and that the stress of BCT has mostly been intellectual - mind games and whatnot - rather than physical, which he had been worried about.  "I've only gotten yelled at once," he informed me, "and that was only because I don't have the endurance I need yet."  D said that the people in his platoon are not very good direction-followers, causing them extra PT repeatedly already today.  For his sake I hope they figure it out soon.

Then, our time was over.  "I love you so much," he said softly.  "I'll see you soon."

Nine.  More.  Weeks.