Panic over

Well, he's absolutely fine!  He was in good spirits when I picked him up this evening although extremely tired following a whole day out shooting at the rifle range yesterday and a 10 mile run this afternoon!  The rifle range sounded fun - bullets zipping just above his head as he sat in a bunker close to the targets, being covered in cement and soil every so often as a bullet whizzed past the target and blasted into the target housing. Connor enjoyed it anyway, although I can't say it sounds like my idea of fun!

Home for the weekend!

I'm beside myself with excitement as I'm going to collect Connor and his mate Jack from the AFC this afternoon.  For the first six weeks of training the junior soldiers never had a moment's peace from early in the morning 'til late at night, weekends included, but since they returned from leave their evenings and weekends are now their own.  Having said that, they appear to have a busy schedule ahead until the next leave on 17th December, so Connor and Jack have decided to come home for the weekend as they may not get another chance until then.  Rather that methinks, than them being let loose in Harrogate! 

Connor seemed a bit fed up last night when I spoke to him, largely due to an injury that's bothering him (although not the nose!).  Perhaps it'll do him good to come home for the weekend but I was really surprised to hear the strain in his voice, especially after he'd spent the whole of his leave week pining to go back "home" as he calls it.  I'm moderately concerned in all honesty, as even when he smashed his nose he was still really upbeat on the telephone.  Perhaps I'll get to the bottom of it when I pick him up in a couple of hours.

Help for Heroes update:  In the last week, we have earned a very pitiful £zero for Help for Heroes so please, don't forget when you make your Amazon purchases, use the link in the side bar to the right of the main blog and help us to raise funds for our chosen charity this Christmas.

New Amazon link

Help us to raise funds for Help for Heroes.  Click on the Amazon link in the sidebar to make your Amazon purchases as usual and Soldier at Sixteen will receive a small commission (no extra cost to you).  Between now and Christmas Day, any commission received from this link will be donated to Help for Heroes.  I'll keep you posted of the amount we raise as we go along. Happy Christmas Shopping! :-D

Apologies!

It has kindly been brought to my attention that I forgot to mention the nose yesterday!  For those of you who won't get an opportunity to see Connor while he's on leave this time then I'm overjoyed to be able to say that his nose has made a complete recovery and looks no different to what it did before the accident!  I was quite nervous about seeing him yesterday, not knowing what to expect, but he looks exactly the same as he did before, so absolutely no worries! :-D 

If you've only just tuned in and am wondering what on earth I'm talking about, then check it out here.

Finally! The Passing-In Parade.

Today has been absolutely fantastic!  I was fairly stressed out when I arrived at the training college this morning as the Michelin directions had led me on a wild goose chase around the great British countryside!  I eventually arrived at the college about half an hour prior to the event, although I needn't have worried as they were running late.

After a brief presentation in the theatre (just like a commerical one with a huge screen) we were led outside to stand in the icy wind on the parade ground.  Being such a shorty, I was unable to see above the heads of the crowd and it was some 20 or 30 minutes before I even spotted Connor in amongst his platoon!  Mental note to self - take a step to stand on for the Passing Out Parade in August! 

I thought I'd participate in the guided tour of the facilities but as there was only me who signed up for it I decided to let the pour guide off!  By that time however my platoon had disappeared from sight, so I was really lucky and ended up being personally escorted through the barracks by a very pleasant corporal!  I'd like to say that this was the highlight of my day, but seeing Connor in his uniform with his platoon, looking every bit at home, really made my day.     

He's very tired and is junk-food starved, so the first thing we did on the way home was to stop at a burger bar for burgers, chips and coke!  (Sorry Grandma if he didn't eat all his tea!)  I imagine that a few hours on a comfy sofa with the central heating on and he'll be away in the land of nod in no time.

Note for diaries - the BBC have been filming the Company and the programme is due to air at the end of October.  The army have said that they'll let us know when it's due to air.  When I have further information I'll pass it on, so keep checking back!

One more sleep to go...

Well, tomorrow is the big day - the Passing In Parade.  I'm sooo excited I can't tell you!  I've been like a small child in the run up to Christmas this week.  Everyone who knows me must be sick to death of me exclaiming how excited I am at every opportunity!  I can't help myself, it's part of the job description when you're a mum.  I'm a bit nervous too because I've never been to one of these events before, even though a very good friend of mine was in the RAF for about 20 years, so I don't really know what to expect.  I'm also going alone as John couldn't have the time off work and someone had to take the boys to school and collect them at the end of the day, bless him!  Everyone else will be there in couples or families and I'll be on my little Jack Jones.  Ah well, can't be helped.  I'm sure I'll still enjoy it and I'm just really grateful that I've been allowed the time off work to attend. 

Connor rang a couple of days ago to finalise arrangements for tomorrow and just happened to ask me if he'd mentioned his foot at all.  Hmm, I thought to myself.  What's he done now?  Well, he'd twisted his foot!  Doing what? Goodness only knows, but ligament and tendon had become intertwined somehow which resulted in some sort of injection and an untwisting of the offending parts! He assured me that he'll still be participating in the parade tomorrow thankfully but I'll bet the army are glad to see the back of him for a week - he's caused them nothing but trouble since he arrived! 

Unhappy chappy :-(

Well, he's not a happy chappy!  Connor's really disappointed that his Platoon have failed the drill test.  It seems that some of the recruits are struggling to differentiate between left and right but I guess they're all tired by now so it's not surprising really.  I'm sure it will all be sorted out in time for the Passing-in Parade on Friday. 

I'm getting really excited about the parade and seeing Connor.  He seems to be looking forward to having some lie-ins, bless him.  He says he's absolutely exhausted and I think it's getting to all of them now, with lots of bickering and falling out.  I guess they're all ready for a break.  Get ready Mums because the washing will be coming home with the boys on Friday!

Back to work!

I switched my mobile on this morning, only to discover (with huge disappointment) that I'd missed a phone call from Connor last night!  Luckily, he called again this evening with lots of news. 

Although his nose is still sore, his black and swollen eyes are back to normal now and his nose looks just as it did before, which is a huge relief!  He ignored the request from his medical centre not to return to normal duties for at least four weeks and is now fully engaged in all activities.  Last weekend, whilst John and I were living it up in Clitheroe in our cosy caravan, Connor was out on exercise in the Yorkshire countryside, sleeping under a piece of cloth in a wet, cold and very muddy forest!  If you recall, the weather last Friday and Sunday was absolutely dreadful and the platoon had been required to crawl on their bellies in the mud!  Of course, this was all part of the fun for Connor. 

His platoon have a big inspection tomorrow so he was in the middle of ironing and organising his uniform when he called.  He says that normally the recruits are busy from 4:30 to 5:00 am through to 23:00 to 23:30, so it's long days for them - keeps them out of trouble though I guess!  He's really looking forward to the Passing In Parade on the 15th and to coming home for a week and I'm really excited about the prospect of seeing him.

Ten days and counting...

Well, it's only ten days until the Passing-in Parade and until Connor comes back home.  I can barely wait to see him, although I'm not really sure what to expect when I do.  I don't seem to be able to get the image of Barry McGuigan out of my mind, or at least Barry McGuigan's nose!  Dad says I should just expect to see Connor as Connor always is, only just with a wonky nose. 

I haven't heard from him since the last post, and I know some of you have been checking back regularly so I'm sorry that there's no more exciting news.  I texted him a couple of days ago asking him to contact me when he's allowed to and when he has time, so maybe either he isn't allowed, he doesn't have time, or possibly he just doesn't have any credit on his phone.  Who knows?  As soon as I hear anything, you can be sure that I'll pass it on :-D