Leaving On a Jet Plane...

Ok, not really...but I am leaving in my Sequoia and will be moving to our old house near a base that has lots of jet planes! Does that count? Hahahaha. Ahhhhhhhh, yes, back to our old casa in VA Beezy where we never saw airplanes overhead, just jets from NAS Oceana. Pretty cool looking overhead and seeing those suckers...unless they flew low and the whole house would vibrate. ;o)

Anyway...we're (we as in not 'we' did it together but 'we' in spirit....hahaha) done with the pack out and the loading of our junk...errrr, stuff. Sean flew in after everything was said and done...not that he wanted to be here after everything, but the needs of the Navy first. My awesome hubby was so apologetic for everything we were going through...because not only did I have to do this by myself, it also was rescheduled numerous times; we changed companies; dealt with typical mover shiet (although our packers were AMAZING); and then lots of other non-move related caca popped up for me...like BIG TIME CACA. I'm thankful that I have the supportive partner I was blessed with and that he is not like other hubbies I know who think they're stay-at-home wives/mothers do nothing but eat bon-bons and such...yes, even some hubbies of military wives think that! Again, it takes me back to military spouse entry I wrote about the quote Kelly found:

"A Navy Wife is no ordinary woman. Operating for months at a time without the companionship or assistance of her husband, she routinely overcomes challenges that would give the average person a nervous breakdown." - Jeff Edwards

Well, tomorrow we drive up to VA. We'll wrap up loose ends here and then bid adieu. We'll pop into DC for Xmas and back down to VA to move in. Despite all the stress and everything...it's just nice to have the hubby home for a winter holiday season...and that at least he wasn't out to sea for this whole process. ;o)

In the Homestretch...

Wow, I cannot believe our time here in FL is finally coming to an end. Although Sean's still got a bit left of his dept. head tour, we are almost done. Sean's boat already changed it's homeport. So, he's been up in VA since last week. I've got the movers coming to pack us up this Thursday and then they'll load on Friday. Sean'll join us Friday night. I was a bit freaked about doing everything by myself, managing packers/movers, the 4 kiddies, and my sanity. But, Sean came in this weekend and we got a few things done. We're flying Mom down Wednesday to watch the kids while I take care of bidness with the packers/movers. *whew* Still doing basically everything by myself, but I'm good with the decision now. At least we'll be in DC by Xmas. AND...this is the first winter holiday season we've had with Sean since 2005!!!! YAY!

I'll leave you with one of our blooper shots from our 2008 Lee-Espiritu Fam Annual Holiday Photo That Will Probably Not Go Out In The Mail...AGAIN. ;o) Yes, my big puppy is a crotch-sniffer...and has no shame/qualms about it. It's our annual holiday photo that shows my husband with an extremely pained/irritated look since he has to wrangle the dogs and the kids while I set up the camera & shot (luckily we had a tripod this year)...and yet, not really since I usually have to wrangle the biggest Mama's kids...Remi (the chubby pit who is trans-species...she's really feline) and Jaron. This was off-centered and Jax was sniffing my bidness and well, it was only take #1. Just FYI, Sean's smile has never changed in these holiday shots. HAHAHAHAHA....poor guy.

There are definitely parts of FL that I will miss and this pool is definitely one of them! ;o) Not too mention the 70-degree weather that we'll be having this week! ;o)

Argh

So, we said goodbye to the buffest member of our fam today from an old fort at one of the local state parks. I was informed by said buff member of our fam that our move date (in two weeks) will have to be rescheduled...AGAIN. We also pray for the safety of said buff member and the rest of the crew...and for the sanity of their families that are in the middle of moving and/or getting settled into our new homeport....which was our old homeport. Hahahahaha.

Yay. I hope we can make it to DC by Xmas.

Surprisingly, this darn military life has hardened me and I'm just rolling with the punches. The only actual stress I feel is GETTING THIS HOUSE RENTED!!!

I'm posting on MilitaryByOwner.com this afternoon.

And what! ;o)

Alrighty...

My updated checklist:

• Take the GRE...again...DONE (albeit not the strong scores I wanted, good, but not strong)
• Finish Grad Apps...DONE!!!!!!!!!!
• Homeschool...been squeezing in time and feeling better about myself! ;o)
• Start, finish, & mail Xmas gifts...starting, finished on some, and then will be ready to mail
• Hire property manager/realtor...I'm in the process
• Get the house rented....errrrrr
• Exercise...does one bike ride count?
• Move...instead of this week, it's in a few weeks
• Travel...need to find time to fit in

So, it's kinda hard to plan things when your spouse isn't here. Ahhhh, the life of the Naval submariner & his fam. It's great to have an absence of plans or just lots of fluidity in your planning. Whatever...this is move #6 in 6 years. It's allllll good. Even though it's smack dab in the middle of holidays...it's all gooooood. We still probably have one more move next year making it 7 in 6.5 years! YIPPEEEE!

Also, CLEAN HOUSE should be on the checklist...but I don't want to give myself a hernia while laughing. ;o)

With that, Imma gonna do some laundy (one of the few cleaning things I like to do) and bake. Yup. See how my priorities go?

3 Weeks

Here is my checklist for my next three weeks...

• Take the GRE...again (still a bit bitter about my expired GRE)
• Finish Grad Apps
• Homeschool
• Start, finish, & mail Xmas gifts
• Hire a property manager/realtor
• Exercise....ok, this most likely will not happen...hahaha...*sigh*
• Get the house rented
• Move
• Be a good mom, wife, sibling. daughter, friend.

Good thing is, our tenants are moving out of our home in VA Beach and we don't have to divide our stuff between what goes into our next place and what goes into storage. Now EVERYTHING goes with us. *phew* Definitely a few less stresses there!

Exactly 3 more weeks and we'll be moving from the Deep South to the start of the South-ish (although MD is considered the South, but Southerners always have a good chuckle about that...Mason-Dixon line...look it up people). ;o)

Anyhoo...moving company rep comes tomorrow to start estimating our pack-out. I say to him/her...GOOD LUCK WITH THAT...HAHAHAHAHAHA. Our place is a vortex.

Brrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeathe.

Checklists

I find that the older I get, the more need I have for lists. I used to rely on this lil' old noggin to do the jobby job for me...but that is NO LONGER the case. If you've had a recent conversation with me, you'd find the violent subject changes are worse than ever.

Somehow I need to figure out what's a good schedule and how I can add more hours to the day...any suggestions? Ideally, more hours would be preferable during sleepy time hours since 1) I'm a night person and 2) the house is nice and QUIET. ;o)

So, the need is to balance (and in no particular order): studying for the GRE which is less than 4 weeks away, grad apps, homeschooling the K-ster, getting the house ready to rent, getting the house AND fam ready to move next month, holiday preps (gifts & maybe cards this year...we've taken a few years hiatus), and yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

I'd like to fit in some workouts here and there...and wanted to use my all-time fave workout DVD: Workout: One-on-One Training with Jackie Warner. Seriously...20 minutes, sweaty, sore...good stuf. Even the Hubs gets sweaty and thinks its tough. If you know the Hubs...you know that man is in good shape and doesn't look like he'd tire easily. Too bad the Hubs left the DVD in Mom's DVD player in MARYLAND!! Hahahahaha. Anyhoo...this DVD is great if you don't have much time in your schedule and/or can't leave the house and/or too embarassed to go to the gym and/or just believe every word I'm saying. ;o) The only downside to it...not enough adequate stretching. There are no glute stretches for the lower body workout and it is very glute-intensive.

Anyhoo...atrophy of the brain and muscles...good stuff. See how I've deviated from my topic? Hahahaha...alrighty...back to the grind.

Can I?

May I take a moment to freak out? I don't know if I can do this. I am racked with self-doubt and just plain stress. I just realized that my GRE scores expired last year and if I want to apply to grad school should we get stationed in DC, then the time to do it is now. HOWEVER, the ONLY Saturday date is in less than 2 weeks and I am ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusty. Imagine how your brain cells would be if your main conversation partners are less than 6 years old. Yup.

Do I have time for this? Right now, I should be getting ready for this upcoming move (next month), cleaning the house, doing repairs, homeschooling Kaia, preparing my apps for grad school, interviewing realtors/property managers, updating my very outdated resume, etc.....and now studying for the freaking GRE which changed formats AGAIN (the last time they changed, I took 'em shortly afterwards. This all in addition to the usual taking and caring for the kids/family.

Am I freaking out? You betcha. Can I do this? I dunno.

Did I mention all this occurs BEFORE the end of November?

*breeeeeeeeeeeeeathe*