Balls to the walls -- with pride

Shortly after lamenting the lack of information on Daniel's deployment in my last post, I got a breathless call from my son:

“It’s balls to the wall, Mom. I’m leaving in an hour.”

Before you judge my son for his crude language or his mother for raising a potty mouth, I must interject this definition from the online Urban Dictionary:

“Term used by pilots: when accelerating quickly, the throttle is pushed all the way to the panel and the throttle lever (ball) actually touches the panel (wall). Hence, balls to the wall."

So, after that brief call where I unsuccessfully tried to hold back miserable tears and sniffs, Daniel was off. Moments later, I got a text from my daughter, Erin:

“I love you Mom.”

She knows me well. For all my attempts to act like the old veteran at the prospect of Daniel leaving again, she knows I’m just a big marshmallow inside. Darn. I thought that if I acted tough, I would be tough.

Well, I’ll take comfort in the fact that there’s a very motivated person posting a lot of photos on the ship’s facebook page, and I already have an e-mail address for Daniel.

Good stuff. And I discovered I can say “balls to the wall” with no shame. Sweet!

--Tiffany

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UNDER WAY!

via the USS Bonhomme Richard's facebook page:

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Around the military:

U.S. Marines take part in the Marine Corps martial arts program on Camp Dwyer in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Sept. 18, 2009. The Marines are assigned to Headquarters Company, Regimental Combat Team 3, which is deployed to conduct counterinsurgency operations with Afghan security forces in southern Afghanistan. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Pete Thibodeau

A U.S. Marine performs an aircraft and personnel recovery mission during a training course on Camp Lejeune, N.C., Sept. 16, 2009. The Marine is assigned to Weapons Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which will retain a platoon trained to recover isolated personnel or aircrafts during the unit's upcoming deployment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alex C. Guerra

An F-16 Flying Falcon conducts an exercise with a simulated opponent over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex near Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Sept. 14, 2009. The Falcon is from the 18th Aggressor Squadron and is responsible for training and preparing joint and allied air crews for combat missions. The complex provides 67,000 square miles of airspace, one conventional bombing range and two tactical bombing ranges containing more than 400 different types of targets. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz