Hurry up and Wait!

It's December. Very warm here in Va Beach. I have all of my Christmas shopping done and wrapped! I have started a new part-time job with Kirkland's at the mall. I really enjoy working there. We are super busy because of Christmas.

We finally received an offer on our townhouse. It looks like we will close before the end of December. This will definitly help our budget!

I still have so much to do. We haven't gone to get our passport pictures yet. I think we are going to wait until January. I also have to get my medical records from various places to go to Oceana and start my medical file for overseas screening. I still have to go back to the Dr. for a well-woman check up. You have to have one of these within a year of moving.

Hurry up and wait, that's how I feel a lot, because the anxiety of having so much to do is always in the back of my mind. I just need to relax and enjoy the holidays, I have the next 9 months to deal with everything else! I am constantly reminding myself that this is the last time I'm putting up decorations in the US for the next 3 years! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Visit to the Army Vet at Fort Story, VA

We had our first visit to the Army vet at Fort Story the other day. Dolly and Mr. Jenks were nervous on the 30 min. ride there.

We signed in fairly quickly and they took us right back. We had a very nice Major (woman) to help us. The Microchipping needle is very large and we had a little blood on both animals. Both animals did super and didn't cry out! I still felt very bad for them.

They also both got their 1st rabies shot (two are required before the FAVN blood test). Very important that they have the rabies shot after they are microchipped. We did it on the same day and I'm still a little nervous about that.

We go back in January for their next rabies vaccine. The guidelines say it has to be at least 30 days after they get the first one.

MS has his medical stuff done for overseas screening. He had to get vaccines, poor guy! He said his arm hurt after that. He had the one for yellow fever, a PPD test, and several he already had in his record. His next step is to talk to a senior chief about finances. That should go smoothly.

I will be in Japan in 10 1/2 months! WOW!

ORDERS IN ALREADY!

Wow! I'm very surprised! They sent our orders already!

School from 5/08-10/1/08. We have to report to Japan no later than 11/10/08. This means that we will probably go sometime around 10/10/08. If we go early, hubby can help with housing and everything else that has to be done when we get there!

I am spending a little time trying to make some contacts and find others already in Atsugi or on their way! I am trying to do research about the area and just find cool things that I think the boys may be interested in.

I called the Fort Story vet and am to call back next week to get Dolly and Mr. Jenks in for microchipping. We are going to get passport pics at Walgreen's. That is it for prep at the moment.

Approved for Orders to NAF Atsugi, Japan

We were approved on Nov 5th for Orders to Atsugi, Japan. They say we will have to wait until January to receive the hard copy orders. Then we will know what our timeline is for moving.

In the meantime, I can start our maltese puppy, Dolly and our cat, Mr. Jenks, AKA Mittens, on their shots and microchipping. I can also go ahead and start the passport process. We all have to have a regular passport for travel outside of Japan. We want to go to Australia, Thailand and Singapore while we are there.

I have already started the process of downsizing our personal belongings. Craigslist has been awesome here in VA. It's very difficult to decide what to take, what to leave in storage, what to give to family to hold, and what to get rid of.

I'm somewhat overwhelmed at the moment with all we have to do, but at least I have time to plan. As long as I start the process and don't fall behind, we should be okay.

Yikes, important decisions ahead. Once we get the orders, we've got to figure out when to sell the house!!

I was hired for a part-time job in a girl's clothing store yesterday. That will allow me plenty of time to do all the stuff I need to get done.

The next few weeks, we'll be letting this all sink in that we are definitly going to Japan!!

A Little More Information

Okay, after a little research we discovered that even though our orders will say Yokosuka, will be at Atsugi because we're attached to a squadron.

So, we will be doing research on Atsugi. I did find a few very nice folks to speak to about their time in Japan. I look forward to meeting a few of these people when we get there!

I have started a notebook with many different sections for all of the things we have to work on. Passports, school registration stuff, pet stuff, housing, etc.

I am a little worried about the housing situation there. Apparently some of the families stationed at Atsugi live in housing on a nearby base, Kamiseya. They are closing that base, I believe turning it over to the Japanese, and moving all of the Atsugi families back to the base.

I may not have base housing for a year and a half. Very sad about that! So, I need to rethink and get used to the idea of living in a Japanese home. I've heard they are very small but quaint. We'll see.........

And the Winner is...........................

Our appt. with the Command Career Counselor was today at 10 a.m. The first thing we found out was that MS could not put in for a general duty billet. That means that he had to select an AT1 billet.

Then, the only thing avail overseas was Atsugi or Yokosuka, Japan. So, there it is, we put in for Yokosuka. There was a Helo command at Atsugi, but since MS has only worked on F14's and F18s he wanted a airplane squadron.

Good news, we were able to put in AIP (Incentive Pay) bid for the Yokosuka orders. So, we did the max bid and will wait to see if we receive the orders. CCC said that we should know around Oct 4-5. If we don't get them, we will wait until Oct 11th and put in another choice.

More than likely that we will get these orders. There were 2 positions open and they're offering AIP. CCC was pretty sure we would separate from current command June 2008. So by the end of June we should be in Japan!

WOW!! It's going to take me a little while to get used to the idea!

I've started cleaning out the closets and talking about what furniture we will take.....

Michael, my 17 y.o. is taking Japenese 101 as a senior this year! He graduates June 14th. He is going to Japan with us!

6 Days Left!!

The big day is coming very quickly!! We have been researching all the locations mentioned in my last post. Even though we are leaning towards Italy, we are fairly certain that there will be no jobs posted for Italy. Most of the jobs there are for shore duty and we are rotating to sea duty.

This means that our chances are about 90% that we will go to Japan. As Atsugi has an airbase, that is probably where we will go. MS (my sailor) would like to be attached to a squadron instead of a ship (ie: USS George Washington). This means he would be home every night that they aren't out of port. If he's attached to a ship, he will have ship duty. Duty at a squadron is done at home.

We have been noticing anything Japanese the last few days. Up until now the only thing Japanese that affected us was Kyoto, our favorite Japanese Steakhouse. Their is a serious lack of information on the web about Atsugi. Only basic information can be found, and that makes us a little nervous.

I have been able to contact an ombudsman for the base. She told me to contact her with any questions we have.

But for now, we will wait 6 more days to see what comes our way. In the meantime, I'm having weird dreams about all I have read. Especially about the raw whole squid that I saw on a blog. The blogger said her neighbor in Japan gave it to her as a thank you gift. Hmmmm..... Who wants to guess how I would handle that?

Where in the World?

I'd like this blog to be about where my family ends up in the world. We are currently stationed in Virginia. My husband is in the Navy. We want to go overseas. We have an appt. with a detailer on 9/14. Today is 9/4.

10 DAYS! 10 Days to have anxiety about what will be available to us. 10 Days to imagine moving to a foreign land, that I know nothing about. First thing about me, I am extremely excited! I want to go see, explore and live another culture. My family and I love to travel and look forward to being immersed in another country!

In the meantime, I'm biting my nails. What if I end up in Guam. Sorry, no need to go there. Brown snakes on their website. Doesn't sound very interesting.

Hmmmm, Atsugi, Japan. Lots of culture, polite Japanese, new language (for me), sightseeing galore.

But then there's Sigonella, Italy. History surrounds you there, gorgeous island, mysterious Mt. Etna. Who can decide!!