Instead of using the phone…
We should probably discuss the fate of this blog right here …on the blog. For all of you just joining in on the conversation – Emily is joining the Navy. Yes, thats right, at the ripe age of …well, whatever, not 18. She has gone through all the preliminary process and the last step is getting on the plane to go to bootcamp. Strangely, they do not allow blogging at bootcamp. I know, weird. They don’t even allow phone calls! *cry* And this final step of getting on a plane to funtimes bootcamp happens in … 2 days *more cry* So I propose we put this blog on hiatus until we can both participate at full force, whenever that may be. Everyone who comes to this blog during its hiatus is still welcome to comment on anything and everything and you will still reach a wistful Carmen awaiting the return of her friend. *sob!*
Does that sound like a good plan Emily?
Emilily, 
Carmen are discussing.
Emilily 12:47 pm on January 14, 2010 Permalink
Yes, it does, sadly. However, I think that maybe it could be not a complete hiatus…how would you feel about scanning and posting letters I send you? Because I only have 5 hours once a week for “holiday” (and I have a feeling the Navy’s idea of a holiday is not quite the same as mine) during which I can do things like sleep, take a long shower, attend a sermon (denomination of my choice, they have 7 I think) and, most importantly, write letters. So I expect that I will not be able to put everything I want to say in an individual letter for everybody, but if I put it all in a letter to you, you can scan it and put it on the blog? I will make sure to write big enough that it can be read. What do you think? Does this sound doable? Also, I will mention right now, now that we have EVERYONE’S attention – you can all write me letters at bootcamp also! My recruiter will call you and my parents, within a few days of my arrival, and provide my new address, so it is possible you could send me a letter there before I even have a chance to write one to you! Exciting! There is one caveat – if you make the envelope look really cool and intriguing, they just might open it and read it, possibly out loud. So make the envelope look really boring, that is, unless you have something you are just dying to say to the 80+ other recruits that will be in my division.
Carmen 1:01 pm on January 14, 2010 Permalink
Well, geez I didn’t know you were required to sign away all your rights! They can’t open your mail and read it! Thats against the law! We better not get on this topic, I might get angry. Anyways, I like this idea! I’ll totally scan whatever you want and post it that way everyone can stay up to date. And maybe I’ll do some posting too for you to read when you have access to a computer. Frankly, I think this is going to be really fascinating. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Maybe I can put a post at the top and make it sticky and it will be like a count down until you get back, so newcomers know whats up. (not that i’m expecting any)
Emilily 1:27 pm on January 14, 2010 Permalink
Oh, a countdown! I love that idea! Remember in the Julie & Julia movie she had a countdown timer on her blog…maybe we can get a widget that does that?
I am pretty sure reading my mail falls into the “it can happen but probably won’t” category; however, as a private citizen, under the homeland security act, they can also read your email, listen to your phone calls, and open any international mail sent or received…just making sure you hadn’t been lulled into a false sense of privacy!
Olga 4:51 am on January 15, 2010 Permalink
I think that all these ideas are superb! I really want to hear/read what is going on with dear Emilily. I for one will miss my daily blog read. I wish Emily all the best.
Emilily 11:39 am on January 15, 2010 Permalink
Thanks for the nice wishes, I will definitely think of you guys when I gone!
Speaking of phone, I just wanted to say that AT&T is super awesome (for once!) and they have a plan for military people where you can suspend your account whenever you are out of a service area or unable to utilize your cell phone for any reason (like basic training!) and they reduce your bill down to $10 a month and you get to keep your phone number and all your roll-over minutes. The point being, if you call my cell after January 20th, you will get a message saying “This user is not accepting calls at this time…” and then I can turn my phone & service on again as soon as I am back!