And, of course, the "after" photo!

Kurt is now officially a Chief Petty Officer. He survived six weeks of initiation and training, he survived Hell Night and getting two hours' sleep in 48 hours, and he survived the mind-numbingly boring pinning ceremony.

Well, the ceremony wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't have 44 people being pinned, and every pinning took at least three minutes, if not more.

So now he's a Chief, he wears khakis, and most of his coveralls have his new gold-lettered patches on them (courtesy of yours truly and her wonder sewing machine) befitting his new status.

This means I'm going to sleep for the next several weeks, in between the care and feeding of small children.

Zzzzzzzzzzz.....