For watching my kids while I got things done...
Jeannie
Alexi
Janet
Whitney
Cynthia
Celeste
Shelly
Shila
For helping me clean and get ready to move...
Jeannie
Kelsey
Raymond
David
Shelly
Janet and David
Sandy
Alexi and Matthew
6 awesome Marines
John
Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to get out of here as quickly as I did. Thank you! If I forgot anyone, please forgive me, I mean no offense. My mind is not what it used to be after these past few weeks!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Whew!
WOW! I thought I would never get out of Arizona! I cleaned and worked and painted and cleaned for a week. Now, my house was not that dirty, but the list that the property management company gave me and the work that just plain needed done and the OCD issues that I have made it last that long! I wasn't able to just say, "that's good enough" or "I don't care". It just is so hard to find those words in me. The lady from property management came and looked at the house and said that the house looked great and that most of her owners don't put that much work into their homes. Wait a minute... you mean I could have left with a sweep and a mop???? I would have happily done so if I thought I could get away with it.
But that's not all... I spent the next whole day sorting through all the stuff that had been in my house that the packers hadn't taken away... about 3 vanloads full! I had to pack some of it to mail and some of it to actually get the privilege of driving around the country with me. I mailed about 18 boxes to Korea (don't ask how much that cost) and 3 boxes to my mom (of things she wanted to have back when my girls were done with them). Your postage rates shouldn't be going up again any time soon!
I finally pulled out of town around 11:30 am. We stopped and grabbed McD's and took a potty break and got going again. We are now halfway to Fort Hood, Texas. The girls were just great on the trip. They only had one opportunity to stretch their legs during the 430 miles of road. They sure were troopers! And tomorrow, we should get to see my dear friends, Melissa and Colleen! I can't wait! I sure do miss them! Fort Hood, here we come!
But that's not all... I spent the next whole day sorting through all the stuff that had been in my house that the packers hadn't taken away... about 3 vanloads full! I had to pack some of it to mail and some of it to actually get the privilege of driving around the country with me. I mailed about 18 boxes to Korea (don't ask how much that cost) and 3 boxes to my mom (of things she wanted to have back when my girls were done with them). Your postage rates shouldn't be going up again any time soon!
I finally pulled out of town around 11:30 am. We stopped and grabbed McD's and took a potty break and got going again. We are now halfway to Fort Hood, Texas. The girls were just great on the trip. They only had one opportunity to stretch their legs during the 430 miles of road. They sure were troopers! And tomorrow, we should get to see my dear friends, Melissa and Colleen! I can't wait! I sure do miss them! Fort Hood, here we come!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Will it ever end?
I have cleaning to do, painting, address changes, records to pick up, stuff to get rid of, utilities to shut off... the list just goes on and on! I have been so busy, that I sit down for just a minute to rest after I put the girls to bed and the next thing I know, it is 3:00 in the morning! Just a few more days til I turn over the keys. I decided to stay here in AZ over the weekend because I will never get everything done otherwise. This is a lot of work, but fortunately, I have good friends who have been helping me watch the girls so I can get things done. Well, I am off to paint the closet and start priming the bathroom (which was school bus yellow). Hopefully I can even get some sleep tonight. I figure once I get on the road, I can sleep to my heart's content... and I probably will!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Orders are in!!!
I was so relived on Sunday night when I got an email from my husband saying that the orders for our deferred travel were in! We have been waiting 1 1/2 months for them. I had been planning to call the office where they issue plane tickets for the military and their family and have them get our plane tickets for us to fly to Korea in May. If I flew in May, I would miss my brother's wedding and that would not have been good. Now, I can drive cross-country and visit friends and family and be in my brother's wedding in June!. I am so excited! It will be like a vacation to spend 1 1/2 months traveling and visiting. I can't wait! Maybe I'll visit YOU!
Monday, April 20, 2009
The beginning
Okay, let's start at the beginning of our current story...
Back in Oct 2008, my husband came down on orders for Korea. He would be gone for 1 year without his family (known as a hardship tour) or he could request an extension (for 2 years) and apply for command sponsorship (which means that his family could go with him). We talked about it and decided to seek command sponsorship from the army. In Jan 2009, we got word that we got CS and we could go with him!
Well, back in April 2008, my brother's fiance asked if our girls and I would be in their wedding. We said yes, of course. When we heard we were going to Korea, we thought it would not be a big deal for the girls and I to stay behind and attend the wedding. My DH (dear husband) would need to report for duty in March 2009, so he would be unable to attend the wedding. So, after my DH got to Korea, he went through channels to request that the girls and I get orders allowing us to defer our travel. The way that the original orders were written out, we needed to be on a plane heading to Korea within 60 days of my DH leaving the U.S. I would stay behind and sort things for the movers, secure our home with a property management company and drive up to NY for the wedding. Little did we know what an ordeal all of this would be.
DH arrived in Korea, and for 3 weeks, he didn't know where he would be stationed. Once he got to his final duty station, he put in his request for deferred travel. We waited.... and waited.... and waited. I finally told my husband that I would be going in to the office on Monday and having the army issue us plane tickets so we could fly out of the states in early May. If we didn't fly in the allotted time frame that the army had given us, they would not pick up the tab for the tickets... a $3,000 tab for the 3 of us! Since we don't have an extra $3,000 just sitting around doing nothing, we can't afford to thumb our noses at the army and miss our window. But how sad to have to miss my little brother's wedding!
But on top of this bit of stress, I have my own issues here at the house to deal with. I have been an army wife for 18 years now. I have moved 9 times in my married life. I have never had a move like this! This has been the hardest move so far. The army has only authorized us to move 2,750 lbs to Korea. They suggest that you don't bring furniture because they either furnish the apartments, or the Korean landlords furnish the apartments. You just bring whatever necessities you think you will need... clothes, toys, kitchen stuff, computers... your day-to-day items that you can't live without. The rest of the items will be placed into storage and you will not see them or have access to them for the duration of the tour in Korea. Oh, and you cannot have packed any liquids, candles, batteries or light bulbs.
I had to divide up all our belongings into what we NEED and WANT in Korea and WHAT WE CAN LIVE WITHOUT. We need our home school supplies, our clothes, our computers. I want my Close to my Heart stuff... it is my home-based business, I want my pots and pans and kitchen appliances, DVDs and music, kids' toys. Everything else had to be set aside so a different group of movers could come on a different day to pack up the items that would go into storage. I had packers in my home for 4 days straight! The packers that came for our Korea stuff told me that my items would be over the weight allowance alloted for Korea. That night, I jumped on a scale with every item they had packed and my total told me that they were right! I hadn't even picked out everything that I wanted them to pack yet and I was already over-weight! I pulled out a few boxes here and there (my girlfriends told me I could send them media mail... little did we know that they don't have media mail outside the U.S.), and added a few more that I wanted to ship. I finally had to let go and be okay with what was shipping and mail the rest of the items I wanted in Korea.
After the Korean packers were done, I proceeded to sort out what needed to stay with me for the drive, and what would go into storage. These packers packed each item to within an inch of it's life! They would take 2 books off the bookshelf and wrap them up in paper and place them in a box! What a waste of time and materials. These guys told me I was over-weight, too! No wonder with that much paper and cardboard.
On top of the sorting I had to do, I also had to interview 4 property management companies, landscape the front and side yard, paint the outside trim and several rooms inside, make numerous repairs around the house, hire a carpet cleaner and lawn maintenance crew and clean the house all while taking care of 2 small girls. Whew! What a handful!
And that is where this story begins...
Back in Oct 2008, my husband came down on orders for Korea. He would be gone for 1 year without his family (known as a hardship tour) or he could request an extension (for 2 years) and apply for command sponsorship (which means that his family could go with him). We talked about it and decided to seek command sponsorship from the army. In Jan 2009, we got word that we got CS and we could go with him!
Well, back in April 2008, my brother's fiance asked if our girls and I would be in their wedding. We said yes, of course. When we heard we were going to Korea, we thought it would not be a big deal for the girls and I to stay behind and attend the wedding. My DH (dear husband) would need to report for duty in March 2009, so he would be unable to attend the wedding. So, after my DH got to Korea, he went through channels to request that the girls and I get orders allowing us to defer our travel. The way that the original orders were written out, we needed to be on a plane heading to Korea within 60 days of my DH leaving the U.S. I would stay behind and sort things for the movers, secure our home with a property management company and drive up to NY for the wedding. Little did we know what an ordeal all of this would be.
DH arrived in Korea, and for 3 weeks, he didn't know where he would be stationed. Once he got to his final duty station, he put in his request for deferred travel. We waited.... and waited.... and waited. I finally told my husband that I would be going in to the office on Monday and having the army issue us plane tickets so we could fly out of the states in early May. If we didn't fly in the allotted time frame that the army had given us, they would not pick up the tab for the tickets... a $3,000 tab for the 3 of us! Since we don't have an extra $3,000 just sitting around doing nothing, we can't afford to thumb our noses at the army and miss our window. But how sad to have to miss my little brother's wedding!
But on top of this bit of stress, I have my own issues here at the house to deal with. I have been an army wife for 18 years now. I have moved 9 times in my married life. I have never had a move like this! This has been the hardest move so far. The army has only authorized us to move 2,750 lbs to Korea. They suggest that you don't bring furniture because they either furnish the apartments, or the Korean landlords furnish the apartments. You just bring whatever necessities you think you will need... clothes, toys, kitchen stuff, computers... your day-to-day items that you can't live without. The rest of the items will be placed into storage and you will not see them or have access to them for the duration of the tour in Korea. Oh, and you cannot have packed any liquids, candles, batteries or light bulbs.
I had to divide up all our belongings into what we NEED and WANT in Korea and WHAT WE CAN LIVE WITHOUT. We need our home school supplies, our clothes, our computers. I want my Close to my Heart stuff... it is my home-based business, I want my pots and pans and kitchen appliances, DVDs and music, kids' toys. Everything else had to be set aside so a different group of movers could come on a different day to pack up the items that would go into storage. I had packers in my home for 4 days straight! The packers that came for our Korea stuff told me that my items would be over the weight allowance alloted for Korea. That night, I jumped on a scale with every item they had packed and my total told me that they were right! I hadn't even picked out everything that I wanted them to pack yet and I was already over-weight! I pulled out a few boxes here and there (my girlfriends told me I could send them media mail... little did we know that they don't have media mail outside the U.S.), and added a few more that I wanted to ship. I finally had to let go and be okay with what was shipping and mail the rest of the items I wanted in Korea.
After the Korean packers were done, I proceeded to sort out what needed to stay with me for the drive, and what would go into storage. These packers packed each item to within an inch of it's life! They would take 2 books off the bookshelf and wrap them up in paper and place them in a box! What a waste of time and materials. These guys told me I was over-weight, too! No wonder with that much paper and cardboard.
On top of the sorting I had to do, I also had to interview 4 property management companies, landscape the front and side yard, paint the outside trim and several rooms inside, make numerous repairs around the house, hire a carpet cleaner and lawn maintenance crew and clean the house all while taking care of 2 small girls. Whew! What a handful!
And that is where this story begins...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
