Ready, Set, GO!

We are at the beginning of October! I leave at the end of October! Wow! Yikes! I am at the point that I lay awake at night trying to think if I have forgotten anything. It's a crazy time for us. Busy, Busy, Busy.

We have people calling and coming to look at the house because it is up for rent. Yesterday we had 10 mins. to run around straightening so we could leave for someone to look. That was fun, NOT!

Mom is settled in her apartment now. She seems very comfortable with it now. I am glad that she found a place that she likes. She says her neighbors are very nice.

We had a little snafu with our DLA request. My hubby was in school and had to go to the school admin to do the paperwork. They sent it over to PSD and because they didn't have the page 2 copy with the request, PSD employees denied the request. Hubby had to go complain and they fixed it and we should receive DLA soon. For all of you Non-Navy folks, this is Dislocation Allowance. It's basically a free check to help with any moving expenses that aren't specific. It's a little over $2K. So we are glad to receive it. There have been so many expenses that we didn't expect. We've bought electric blankets, suitcases, pet carriers, extra glasses and contacts, clothes early all kinds of stuff. Not to mention that we lost $3K on my 4Runner. So it is nice that the Navy recognizes that there are a lot of expenses that we run into to make the move.

I finally heard from the ARmy Vet that they received the correct FAVN form for the pets. This means that everything SHOULD go smoothly for my animals when we arrive in Japan. They have one more appt to get a health certificate before we leave.

Michael had his braces off and has one more appt with the orthodontist to make sure his retainer is working properly. Then we will be done with that! He went to the eye doctor yesterday and picked out a new pair of glasses and purchased a year's worth of contacts. We just have to go pick them up when they get them in.

My Dad comes to visit on the 11th and My BFF comes to visit on the 22nd. I can't wait!!

They are picking up our express shipment on Monday. The express shipment can be 1000 pounds. You want to put items in it that you will need right away when you get into your housing. They won't give it to you while you are at the hotel. As soon as we find a place to rent off of base (because no base housing will be available for at least a year) they will deliver it. So we have 1 set of plates, bowls, pans, silverware, etc in there. We have 1 set of sheets for each person, 1 set of towels, washcloths, etc. We also sent an electric skillet, a can opener, electric blankets, and comforters, anything that will make our lives easier before we get our full shipment. What I had to remember is that these are also things that I now have to do without until we get to Japan and into housing. This is mind boggling, truly.

The lady from the moving company that is taking our long term storage came two days ago. Yes, we have 3 different moving companies for the 3 different shipments. Isn't that great! Anyway, she was really nice. She had a little palm pilot type of thing that she entered estimates per room of what we are storing for 3 years. We had estimated that 4000 lbs was going. When she finished she said we were at 3000 lbs and that was a generous estimate. So we're happy that we were under our estimate. We get a total of 11000 pounds. You add the 3 shipments together. 1ooo for express, 3000 for storage. That leaves 7000 lbs that we can take to Japan in our regular shipment. We don't want to have 7000 because we want to buy things in Japan and bring them back. We probably have about 5000 pounds we are taking. So that would be 6000 lbs actually in Japan. Which means on the way back we can have the difference in purchases. On the way back they don't count the 3000 lbs that is in storage. So do you think I can buy 6000 lbs worth of stuff in Japan? Absolutely I can.

I have heard that they have amazing furniture and goods there. They have a huge market twice a year that you can go and purchase items from all over Japan. I can't wait!!