Thursday, December 30, 2010

Moving Sucks

There are no two ways around it, moving sucks. Even though the military kindly pays to pack my crap up (even if they don't always do a good job of it) and unpack it if I so desire, moving sucks. There are unexpected expenses, unpleasant surprises, innumerable stressors...I could go on.

Originally the plan was for one of us to fly out to Texas to find a house before we actually move but since the whole move basically got moved up a month and with the holidays added in, that wasn't going to happen as there simply isn't enough time. So now we're debating the wisdom of renting something sight unseen or just waiting till we get there. Right now I'm leaning towards waiting as there's a lot of inventory so we shouldn't have a problem finding something when we get there. Then I think I find something great and want to jump on it but then I'm back to being indecisive. We'll figure it out...probably about the time that we get there.

The hardest part right now is of course saying good-bye to friends that have become a surrogate family, that have been there during the dark days of deployment when you think you can't make it just one more day. Trying to explain to my 5 year old that while several of his friends are moving around the same time that we are, they're not moving to Texas too, quite frankly sucks. He remembers when we moved here from California but it wasn't the same, he was not-quite three, not really old enough to have best friends and be involved in sports and the like. This time he is and it's a lot harder for him at least, to say good-bye.  He's an adaptable, easy going little dude who makes friends easily so I'm sure he'll be alright but still. Smallish probably won't remember Georgia much, he's 2 1/2 and shy BUT he does NOT do well with change so, yeah, this will be interesting.

Never did I imagine that I'd be a little bit sad to leave Georgia (less the state and more the friends but still). It's happening so quickly it's a bit breathtaking. Our house will be packed up 10 days from now. We'll be in Texas in less than 3 weeks. I feel ready yet desperately not.

One thing that is easier about this move is that I'm not hugely pregnant, on bed-rest with all kinds of fun complications so there is that. It'll be nice to not have to stop like every thirty minutes to pee haha...yes that made the drive from California to Georgia tons of fun.

And now I really should go sort through some more endless stuff....

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Countdown to Homelessness

Last Thursday the hubs went to his "get out of hell" briefing where he nearly had a heart attack. He opened his folder to find out that he's scheduled to be totally checked out and gone from Fort Stewart by January SEVENTH. His company has screwed up yet again - they did not give him his orders on time (he in fact still does not have the hard copies in hand...more on this later), did not get him into that briefing earlier as they should've, all kinds of other fun stuff as well. Whatever, we're leaving. He pushed back our leaving by another 10 days because good freaking luck getting *anything* done this week and probably next week. Probably 3/4 of the base is gone on leave and will be through the 1st of the year. Also hampering the ability to get anything done is the fact that he still does not have his hard copy orders. Which means we can't arrange for the movers to come until we have them...and the likely hood of getting them this week or next is slim, which means we're going to have to by some miracle get the orders and get the movers here within the same week.

With all that fun information, we put in our 30 day notice on our house. I am going to be wicked pissed if because of the constant cock-ups lead to us not having movers here by the 13th. We have to be out of our house by the 16th and I need time to clean as well as having the carpets cleaned. Gee this is going to be fun!

Plus there's the little thing called Christmas in between which is kind of a big deal to a certain set of little boys that are near and dear to my heart.

Someday I'll write about something other than moving and the Army. Swear.

I could give you little random factoids about myself like that I have monkey toes...I get far too much pleasure out of being able to pinch the hubs with my toes. Yes I'm evil and probably weird.

Or I could tell stories about my wild(ish) and crazy(ish) youth. Like how I once got my jeep stuck on a ginormous cooler. Or that one of the funniest things I've ever seen involves watching someone run down a beach with a 10 foot Christmas tree...that was on fire.

But for now I've got to bitch somewhere and right now, this is it. Heh.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

This is where I will dazzle you with the stupidity of the Army.

Today the hubs called from work...but first you have to understand a little about his work, the unit he's attached to is akin to the asshole of a pig. Except pigs are cute. And smart. Neither are qualities that anyone at his job seems to posses. When he tells people here (or even other Army folk not here) the standard and expected response is  a sympathetic sigh and a "I'm so sorry!" Yes it's *that* fabulous. So anyways, that is the number one reason that we've stopped fighting the orders to Fort Hood...it's an escape.

So anyways he calls with really awesome news. That is if you define awesome as "someone giving you 10,000 paper cuts all over your body then dunking you in lemon juice." Someone, no one is exactly sure who has decided that the hubs is going TDY (temporary duty somewhere that is not here) on January 12th. Ok, fine I say. Until he says "for three weeks." To which I promptly started yelling and eventually crying. Which makes exactly nothing better but still. Why is this so massively stupid? Oh where do I start?

For one the dates that he was given means that he will have exactly THREE DAYS to completely clear the base here AND get his ass to Texas. To put it mildly, it ain't gonna happen. There is no way in this reality or any other that he can clear the base in less than 3 days let alone drive 1500 miles in those same three days. The Army standard is 10 working days to clear a base!

Ok says the husband, I'll just change my date to check in to Fort Hood.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Not happening. To add to the fun, if he does NOT check in to Fort Hood on time even if he still hasn't checked OUT of Ft. Stewart, he was be regarded as AWOL. Seriously.

I'm not even putting the boys and I into the equation. I've moved alone before, while it's a huge pain in the ass, I can do it. I haven't done it alone with two kids but I have some awesome friends here so I know that I can get some help at least with someone keeping the midgets while I supervise packing etc. The drive doesn't bother me either. The boys and I drove more than 6,000 miles alone this summer so another 1,500 is nothing.

Right now I'm more pissed off than anything else. I mean, seriously? Are they stupid or are they dumb as a damn rock? Who makes decisions like this? Right now I want to walk in there and yell at someone. Which would not help anything but holy crap would it make me feel better.

Friday, December 10, 2010

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #24

Trying this out! We'll see if I can figure out the linky thingie. Regardless it's from Wife of a Sailor and I'm giving it a shot.




1. What do you see your life like in 10 years?
Ideally the hubs will be retired (or not, I don't care either way but at that point he'll be over the 20 year mark so being retired is a definite possibility) and I will be working as a psychologist. Hopefully I'll be done with my PhD by then...well hopefully I'll be done a lot sooner than that but hey I do have two small kids. My kids, gulp, will be in middle school and high school so I imagine that they'll keep me busy as well. 


What do you like most about your job?
That I get to spend every day with the two most handsome little men I've ever had the honor of knowing. While I do miss working outside the house sometimes being able to stay home and raise my boys is the biggest gift. They're hilarious and so much fun! 


What are three things you do every day, no matter what day it is?
Well the first things that come to mind all have to do with the kiddos but occasionally one will be with grandparents or the hubs will take over kid-care for a day so that's out. 
1. Brush my teeth
2. Drink water
3. Breathe


What would you do with an extra five hours in your day today?
Maybe it's pathetic but today for sure I'd sleep. Insomnia has been hitting hard lately especially with the news about the move (and I'm already a crap sleeper so yeah). 


What is your favorite Christmas (or whichever holiday  you celebrate) cookie recipe (please share!)?
Tough! There are so many delicious cookies out there :) There are these spoon cookies that I made for a cookie exchange last year and again this year that are just fabulous. My absolute favorite are these refrigerator cookies that my grandma used to make, very simple but so delicious. They're not strictly Christmas cookies but she used to make them especially around the holidays. 


2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter 
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 teaspoons vanilla
3-1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt



Cream the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, mix well. Divide it in half and roll into logs. Wrap the logs in wax paper, twist the ends shut, and refrigerate at least overnight. 


Unwrap the dough and slice into roughly 1/4" slices. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!  

Thursday, December 9, 2010

New Adventures

As seems to be typical of my husband's career, we were just informed that we will be moving....in roughly 6 weeks. We're not particularly pleased with where. In fact he turned down orders several times to this base in the last few months but apparently the powers that be have a sick sense of humor so off to Fort Hood we go. The whole situation is so idiotic that it's funny. He first got orders to Fort Hood in May - hubs promptly told the powers that be "Thanks but no thanks" so the rescinded those orders and issued new ones...for a different unit at, you guessed it, Fort Hood. To which we're like "Really?!" So phone calls were made, asses were reamed (in a really nice way of course) and those were rescinded. Cue deja vu orders. Same result, same annoyance by us. I just wanted to call and yell at them "MORONS! The point is we do NOT want to go to Fort Hood! Different units at the same place do not change the result!" But alas they do not fancy speaking to angry spouses. During all that, the hubs was deployed so that was fun to add onto that existing stress. But we dealt and he's home now. Sure was a nice welcome home/Christmas present to be issued orders to freaking Fort Hood yet again.

So we capitulate to the powers that be. You win.

Obviously there is a reason that we're going to Fort Hood. I may be going not exactly willingly but I'm going. I'm wee bit miffed BUT at this point I'm resolved and will make the best of it. It will be nice to be so close to Austin and the frequent (and not too pricey) flights to the California bay area aka home.

I'm also realizing that professionally for both the hubs and myself, Fort Hood won't be that bad. For him he's really just happy to be getting away from his current unit which is known as the scourge of Fort Stewart. For myself, Fort Hood has the largest mental heath treatment unit and considering that I'm going to need to start interning shortly, that will be ideal. Considering that I'm going back to school to be a licensed counselor specializing in PTSD and mental health issues specific as they effect soldiers and their families, being in a place with such a large concentration of people needing help isn't exactly a bad thing for me professionally. Hopefully by the time we leave Texas, I'll be fully licensed and on the short road to getting my PhD.

Two other very large pluses - the hub's gaining unit will be deploying as we arrive and since he just got home, he will not be. He's not really big on being on Rear-D but frankly we both know it's better than deploying. With that deployment and dwell time cycle, it looks like the entire time we're in Texas, he won't deploy which makes me do very enthusiastic happy dances. The other biggie is that we will only be there for two years. Its double edged because I know that by the time we really feel settled, we'll be leaving BUT hopefully then we'll be able to maybe, hopefully get orders somewhere we actually want to go.

And at this point I should stop rambling as typing while being climbed on by a certain smallish who is insisting that he's Buzz Lightyear is becoming challenging to say the least :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Nothing says holiday like wanting to maim your nearest and dearest...

I love Thanksgiving. This year in particular I have a lot to be thankful for- my darling husband is home safe  from Iraq, my boys are healthy and happy, amazing family (even those who I briefly wanted to maim), and friends that have literally kept me sane over the last year.

Plus Thanksgiving involves lots of food...and I like food. Really, who doesn't?

So this year a big chunk of family decided to come to our house for Thanksgiving. For some reason they like the hubs. Heh. Oh, did I mention that this was my family that came? Bless their little hearts. My parents flew out from California which was awesome - they love the hubs and have really made him feel so welcome in our family from jump (at this point he's old news haha but they still like him) and my brother and his family came down from DC. In all there were 12 of us and for the most part it was awesome...for the most part. Other than the wanting to gag and tie my mother up in some dark closet somewhere. See it was the first time in 25 or so years that she hasn't hosted Thanksgiving dinner. Getting her to let go just a little was.......not successful.

Not even a little.

But it's over now and overall it was wonderful, the company was fun, the food delicious and lots of wine was drunk. Plus while they were here, the hubs and I actually got to go on a few dates (and saw Harry Potter woot!) sans kids so that's a huge win.

But I have to say the chaos makes me glad that it'll just be us four for Christmas. That's bad isn't it?