Oh, no! There has been nothing of a steady pace in this process, except the hurry up AND WAIT. I think this has been the most painful process so far, and I have been selected before (and severed) in some very "select" communities and this process has been worse than that.
I like to think I have come up with a good use for my time (and like everyone on this thread seems to say, there is A LOT of it) while I wait for each step of this very long process. I have been focusing on preparing for a really nice commission ceremony. I have had several officers tell me to make it special and not just do it quick and dirty at the recruiter's office.
There are some pretty good resources on the web, so you don't have to re-invent the wheel. There should be enough information out there to help you include some nice Navy Customs and Traditions, to make your day really special and interesting for your guests in attendance.
Here are some of the resources I have found useful:
Here are a couple of Navy Commissioning Ceremonies that you can use for a base-line and then tweak to suit your needs:
http://navymustangs.com/pub-resources/
You can take bits and pieces from each and make it your own. For example, I took out the part describing what a CWO is and added in the origins of the Ensign rank. I also really liked incorporating, into the ceremony, the tradition of giving a silver dollar to the first enlisted person who salutes you. I'm doing this during the ceremony with a friend I went to Boot Camp and A-School with.
Also, it is a nice idea to give a coin to the people who are the participants in the actual ceremony (ex. your MC, the officer who administers your oath, the clergy who gives the invocation, etc.) I am a Scouting volunteer and will have some Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts I know, present the colors. Once the ceremony is done, I plan to give them a coin as well.
Here are a couple of websites that sell Ensign Coins (along with a whole host of other coins):
http://store.nwtmint.com/product_details/1467/Navy_Ensign/
The above site allows you to type in text that you may want to have engraved on the back, like your name and the date of your commission.
This coin has shoulder boards instead of gold bars but is not as easily engraved:
http://www.priorservice.com/naenrachco.html
These resources are not exhuastive but a good starting point for you to get the creative juices flowing. I hope this helps those of you who have been selected and are eager to get started but are waiting for what seems like an eternity.
It would be great to hear other ideas about what others are doing or may have seen in a commssion ceremony.