pick a number...any number...

Dear Army,

We go way back, and I would appreciate a little communication on your part to keep this relationship on civil grounds.  I understand you have a  ton of stuff going on, but if you could just drop an email saying where I am going to be living for the next FOUR YEARS OF MY LIFE, it would be absolutely wonderful.

Best Regards,
jbm

If I had it my way, all my posts right now would include the *bliss* and ~excitement~ of preparing for our family vacation in just over two weeks, but as things do in our house, one thing is at the forefront one moment to get pushed aside, by another, even if just for a moment.

The moment?

ORDERS

When orders "come down" I can finally try to figure out what the heck to do next.

What we DO know is that the dh is going to be at LDAC all summer (insert a bunch of acronyms and descriptions that I cannot and don't care to remember) ending Aug 1.    We DO know he is to report to BOLC in November 9.  There is a significant amount of "fill in the blanks" with guesses here and there and it makes for a VERY uncertain year for the kids and I.  We also DO know that once on orders, and the Army is paying us that they tend to like to get something for their money so it's not like the dh will just come home for a nice bit of RnR between LDAC and BOLC.  (sigh....I wish)

So we have scenarios...

1. DH goes to BOLC, we stay here in our nice (although slightly expensive) rental and plan on starting the school year here.  We would move when the DH gets sent to his actual duty station.
2. DH goes to BOLC, we move to SE ID, (although we would have to pay for the move ourselves) and live in a slightly more economical home, near family, and start the school year there. PCS to duty station when he is done.
3. DH goes to BOLC, we go WITH him, start a school year in GA and all the chaos involved, but remain as a family unit as much as possible. 
4. DH goes to BOLC in GA and we move ahead of him to our new duty station so the kids can get started in the school that they would be attending for the next 3-4 years (Braden and Savannah could both possibly graduate from the duty station we are in).  Family unit would be fragmented, but kids would be placed in a stable school environ quicker.

~* tomorrow is Friday, and there is kind of a pattern of orders "hitting" on Friday's *~

pray for me?

Priorities

In no specific order this is what we have to consider when we decide the howwhenwhere's of this transition...

Military CRUD

With each one of my babies, during the FUN of pregnancy I remember when the "WHAT DID I GET INTO?!" and "CRUD THERE IS NO GOING BACK!"  would hit.  No way to get out of things, I was having a baby one way or another.  Terrifying.  Exciting, yet so so utterly terrifying.

Yup.  That is how I feel about the dh going full time Army.  Been there, done most of that, and THERE IS NO GOING BACK NOW!  Did I mention terrifying?!

So the dh found out he has been chosen to teach at LDAC this summer.  Bye hubs nice knowin' ya! He reports like three weeks after he commissions, and then is scheduled to do that until the first of August.  Silly me, thought he would come home for a bit.  Nope.  The darn Army wants to use him if they have to pay him apparently, so he will either be in schools, or "snow birding" in either Washington state, or Georgia where his training this fall will start.

Where does that leave us?  Wish I knew...

• Option 1, stay here in Kuna, do what we do, travel to see family, travel to see the dh. 
• Option 2, move back to Menan, do what we do, travel to summer activities (I already paid for) travel even further to see the dh.
• Option 3, stay here in Kuna for the summer , then move with the dh to Georgia this fall (if the Army will let us)
• Option 4, blow the whole thing out of the water, and move as a preemptive strike straight for our first duty station without the dh so that the kids can start school in the fall where they will be living for the next 3-4 years.

CRUD.....I AM TERRIFIED!
HOOAH?
or as Lorelai would say "Oi! Enough with the poodles already!" ( Gilmore girls, really, you should know this)

Final hint (#7) ... time for planning!

Ok, there isn't much more to specify about the house we rented for Spring Break in SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA! However, I thought the kids might like the final tid bit of information, the actual address of the house so they can google earth the address and start dreaming and scheming about what THEY want to do while we visit.  I had a huge itinerary all thought of, all the things I wanted to show the kids, but before we cement plans, I decided for F.H.E. tonight, I want the KIDS to each come up with FIVE things each of them would like to see or do while visiting the area.  Go!

Oh, the address...


833 Island Court, San Diego, CA 92109

Woot!  Getting excited!
(Olivia didn't even want to put her shoes on today in fears that if she wore them, she would forget to pack them!)

Hint #6 (finally!)

This is the view from the house we are renting facing EAST ( away from the ocean), that should be a big hint for Braden, who has been google earthing the heck out of things trying to solve the mystery.

THIS is about a block away from the house, an old school wood rollercoaster, not a whole lot of those around these days, so that might help narrow things down a bit.

Tommorrow is Monday, the day we are going to sit down and make final plans together as a family and the kids will get to have a more complete idea of what is going to go down.  For now, this is their FINAL hint.

Hint #5 (two in one day)

Ok, so the kids didn't get a hint this week, cuz I was sick, so today they get TWO hints.  Mostly because I cannot stand it!

Getting sick of the bleep bleeps?  Did I mention I hate surprizes!? Oi poodles (see Gilmore Girls, can't remember what season).

This will take SOME of the bleep bleep out of the surprize. It has to. It really really has to!

Hint #4

Super super excited about this part! A 1920's bungalow fully restored and just a walk from bleep bleep bleep bleep more of the surprise later bleep bleep bleep! Amazing right!? It is one of those I cannot believe I did this moments...followed by "I get the BED!"

In case we want or need to cook.
A good spot for Chris to do that spring break homework that we are both dreading will be assigned over the "vacation". Well public health research never looked so inviting?
Kids get the hide a ways! ( gotta trade off the great location of bleep bleep bleep for a smaller place), and it sounded better than braving rush hour to get from bleep bleep to bleep bleep and will be closer to enjoy bleep bleep ya know!?