Thursday, December 31

Happy New Year!

A quick note from the cross country road trip to say Happy New Year! We spent Christmas in Virginia with my family and New Year's in Memphis with Dave's family. We hit the road tomorrow, making a break for California. We're stopping in Amarillo to check out the Big Texan restaurant ( featured on the Travel channel's Man vs. Food for its 72oz steak plus side salad, dinner roll, and cocktail shrimp), Winslow, AZ, ( Canyon Diablo Crater and Rt 66 Diner), the Grand Canyon, and hopefully some intriguing roadside attractions.

Sunday, December 13

Hi Annie!

Annie,
This is what happens when you don't log out of Blogger on my computer. Japan misses you already!I don't recall exactly why we were sad in the photo, but I like to think it is because you are leaving.

I hope you are getting settled in Cali!

Kelly

Cali.

25% of my family is now in California: Me. Dave, Mav and Slider are still not here. Dave arrives on Thursday or Friday.We'll be picking up Mav and Slider in Virginia in 9 days.

I went to look at the house we re renting for the next two years. It's great! It's the perfect size for us. And we will still have a guest room, so any one is welcome to visit! Pictures soon.

Tuesday, December 8

Stress.

Let's talk about stress. I think Dave and I are prime examples of it. Luckily, it hits us at different times, so we are able to balance and support each other.

Basically, even though everyone has known about this for months and months and months, it's as if someone just decided everything two weeks ago. Everything is last minute. Everything.
You mean we're going to have to schedule plane tickets for all the dependents to exit the country? Well, we'll just put them on the military freedom flights. Oh, those flights are open to all military personnel, and we can't just charter them for our needs... hmmm, we'll just wait until 12 hours before any given flight to issue a ticket.
It's really quite ridiculous.

And then there's the car debacle... We all - all 200 or so families - have 10 days to sell their cars or junk them. We aren't supposed to get a Power of Attorney for someone else to sell it for us. Ugh.

And then there's just everything that goes into moving to or from overseas... I have to return my cable box, pick up my "lost" medical records, find my dental records, close my bank account, find out how to get my deposit back from my housing agency....Oh and clean my house so it's spotless...Meanwhile, we are trying to finish deal on the house we've rented in Lemoore.

And I'm trying not to deal with the fact I'm super depressed to be leaving the friends I've made here. Ugh!

Wednesday, December 2

about time~

We finally got our HPC (home port change) letter, and now things appear to be moving smoothly forward. The letter came out on Monday, and on tuesday I scheduled the movers to arrive on monday, dec 7. I've faxed in information to begin my Honda's voyage from storage in South Carolina to Richmond CA. I'll be reactivating my state-side cellphone next week. All this and Dave and I attended the squadron Christmas party on Tuesday night! busy busy times...It will be hard to leave the life we've made in Japan, the friends, the experiences, the Japanese in general. But I've been waiting for months to move forward, and now I am! Lots to do.

I will probably fly to Lemoore on the 13th or 14th of December, quickly sign a lease on a house, camp out at Cam and Lauren's. Dave will arrive on the 18th or 19th. Then we have Christmas leave! On the 22nd we are flying to DC, where we will spend Christmas! On the 26th, we plan to purchase a new-to-us car: 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. I want the dealer to put a big bow on top, as it's our christmas gift to each other. On the 27th we'll hit the road, with all the animals in tow, and stop for the night in Nashville, visiting Dave's sister Sarah. Then on the 28th we will arrive in Olive Branch until Jan. 1st or 2nd. Then we'll pack up our family and head west: Lemoore or Bust! We plan on stopping by the Grand Canyon! If you have any places you think we should visit on our road trip, please let me know!

This of course is the PLAN. We'll see what actually happens.