Everything will be okay...Right?**

Guten Tag!

Tank Girlz Weather Testimonial: Clear Skies and Sun.

So.......I suspect this will be a boring blog to most people, but I am chronicling the life of a military wife, and this my friends is an up close and personal view of what we do usually every three years. Except I did all this last November and I am doing it now....again....to ANOTHER COUNTRY.....

We are waiting on 'Concurrent Travel Orders' which are the orders that specify I can travel with LEGS to NEVER NEVER LAND.  Until we get them we cannot schedule the movers to come pack up our things.  The hold up is the Exceptional Family Member's Program, which since I have asthma and the thyroid disorder I was enrolled in.  Until that paperwork gets through the orders won't be cut. 

In addition to that, they are really stressing everybody getting off Fort Rucker 10 days after graduation.  LEGS' graduation is January 13th, so by the ARMY standards we should be packed up and on a plane by January 23rd.  I just love the fact that the ARMY enrolled me into their program, which is why we must stay, yet they want us to leave.  You follow?

What this means is, LEGS may have to go over before me, meanwhile, I will have to pack us up, sell the cars, if we can't sell the FJ, I will have to drive it to the GHETTO in  Atlanta to ship, and then travel with Karmella at a later date when all is finished up here.


One reason our marriage had a rough patch last year when I moved to Alabama is because I had to move us alone, I didn't get the 'moral support' I needed from LEGS (in my opinion), and I was resentful about it. 

Here were the things that I had to deal with in addition to working graveyard shifts, and training for a fight for the Alaska to Alabama Move:


-In our house in Alaska.  LEGS decided to put a hole the size of Texas in the wall to accommodate his electronics in the movie room.  When this hole was being made I was thinking this is NOT A GOOD IDEA.  Turns out IT WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA......It had to be fixed and painted before I could rent out the house.


-His motorcycle had to be drained of ALL the fluids before it could shipped.  Nothing like a full tank of gas to siphon out of the awkward tank of a Yamaha crotch rocket.


-His Electronics had to be specially packed and organized. (We have a movie screen, projector and a receiver that weighs 20 lbs.) I have no idea how to plug it in or unplug or unhook any of it.....


-The garage was a disaster and needed to be cleaned/organized because many of the materials in it the movers could not pack (ammunition, used oil etc. etc.) So I had to go out and clean/organize it which was very difficult because frankly I didn't even know what half the sh*t was.


-LEGS had set mouse traps in the crawl space and forgot to tell me about them.  I am sure you can imagine what it was like when I found the dead mouse carcasses that had been in there for 6 months.  I was so disgusted I begged one of my guy friends to help me clean it up. (By the way THANK YOU 'G'!) YES I AM CEREAL......


-And of course, the ridiculous number of guns that had to be specially handled. ( I had to check if they were loaded- this wasn't hard for the pistols, but the rifles most of them I haven't gotten that familiar with, annotate/inventory/organize so the movers could pack them and insure that they didn't disappear somehow in transport)


It took the movers three days to pack up our things.  I had to spend that three DAYS supervising after working ALL NIGHT.  Frankly by the time they packed up all of our stuff I was relieved to see it all go.  

Shipping the TANK was a whole other fiasco......and I don't want to bore you further with the details, I will say that they were not very nice to me when I shipped it or when I 'attempted' to pick it up because I am JUST THE WIFE.....and not the service member.  I have said it before and I will say it again 'Who the hell do they think does all this stuff when these guys are unavailable/deployed/otherwise???'

Karmella has her 30 day Vet appointment tomorrow afternoon so that she can go to NEVER NEVER LAND with us.  We told the property manager we will be out of here by February 5th.  We are trying to sell both cars, the Jetta has received more feedback than they FJ, because it is priced to sell.  I am also frantically trying to sell all the household items we cannot take to NEVER NEVER LAND, so that when we get over there we can replace them with the correct plug/wattage.

I am not overly stressed out because I know there is nothing I can do to speed up or assist the process......but I am anxiously hoping that all will fall into place, as you can see, its like dominoes, once the first domino hits the other everything else must follow, obviously I need the movers to show up before we turn over the house.

We have been told that securing housing over in NEVER NEVER LAND (by our Sponsor over there) is very difficult, so we should plan to live in a hotel for awhile.  I have to scour the house and think of everything that we might need over there....dishes, important paperwork (taxes are coming up), clothes for winter and spring, LEGS' uniforms, and dresses for me to wear to formal events, items to entertain me while spending inevitable hours in a hotel room while LEGS is at work. Please keep in mind it could take MONTHS for our stuff to arrive in NEVER NEVER LAND.

We have also been told that our cellphones will not work over there, that the internet is not in everybody's houses like in America so most people go to Internet Cafe's, and of course calling to the US can be expensive.  Right now I am not to bothered by the idea of isolation, but I suspect when I get over there it will start to really get to me.  Other wives have told me that they felt they were going crazy with no way of communicating to the outside world.  I still intend on writing my blog, I just don't know how reliable I will be about posting it.  


The ARMY called.......they asked LEGS to go Fixed Wing.  That means he would fly planes instead of helicopters, we would stay in Alabama for another undetermined period of time, and then LEGS would probably get stationed in Korea (who knows if I could go with him because so far that saga continues with some of my friends- the wives have been told they can go and they can't go.....Which is it??? I don't know...) 

Obviously the con's would be that we can't go to NEVER NEVER LAND, and all of our plans at this very moment would completely change.......The Pro's is he would be safer in planes and his job would be less dangerous.  Of course they needed to know in a matter of minutes.....so we decided NO.  I asked LEGS what he wanted.....he said he wants to fly helicopters......of course I want my husband to be as safe as possible but I don't want him doing something for his career that he's just not that into......only time will tell if this decision was a mistake.....

I forced myself to go to yoga tonight.  I was tired because I have been cleaning baseboards, dusting, washing windows, and shampooing almost the entire house today (this includes moving all the furniture (by myself) to clean underneath).  I am so glad I went.  Flora centered me with some good stretching, served up some challenging positions....(which encouraged me to laugh at myself because it was something I did as a kid all the time, but was literally falling on my face trying now) and gave me a deep relaxation at the end of the session.


When I got home I opened a care package from my family.  My Memaw sent me a bracelet with Angels and Snowflakes on it.  I want her to know- because she reads my blog every day- that her bracelet is on my right wrist, which is where all my 'everyday bracelets' go.  I won't take it off- I promise Memaw- I LOVE IT!!! 

I also received some neat picture frames from The Mommy.....LEGS and I slow danced in the kitchen to the musical card you got us.......And Chach we love the T-Shirt you got LEGS (lately he has been into burnette's ;) and I cried when I read your letter :*) )


Random Thoughts:


Man that is a really big Cockroach (found underneath the couch) I am so glad its dead........


I hope all the weight I have gained doesn't change the fitting of the dress I have lined up for LEGS' graduation.....


I got so worked up today cleaning......that I had to sit down and eat some cheetos and more of those damn chocolate coins.....yes this random thought occurred after I wondered whether or not the dress would fit.....


Final Thought:


It's often said that snowflakes fall, From Angels who have kissed, While Floating in the Heavens, Over winter's magic mist........

(Real quick LEGS got me the 'Survival Strap' bracelet for our anniversary, it has my name, allergies, conditions, and our quote "I found her, I held her and I will not let her go"- LOVE LOVE LOVE that GUY!)


After receiving the care package from my family.....I know everything will be okay....(heavy sigh)......Right? (nodding my head yes) Yeah okay, it will be okay......It will be fine......




TANK GIRL Over & Out.....


Just another typical day in the life of an unlikely military wife....**