So the husband and I were talking about the trip to Alaska. Being that we've already been overseas we know what the military stance is on shipping a vehicle. One vehicle per family can get shipped at Government Expense. Doesn't really make sense since when you have a spouse they usually drive too but oh well. Not a big deal since we planned on driving there anyway.
Well, he told me that he has already spoken to TMO (Transportation Management Office) about us shipping a vehicle. He just tried to convince me that we have to do a partial dity move on my van...the vehicle we're driving to Alaska in. Now a dity move is an optional thing to do. This is basically when you get your vehicle weighed with nothing in it and then weighed again once you fill it up with household good. (Which I might add you have to pay to have it weighed!) Now before you even get to this step you have to fill out a crap load of paperwork to even get it approved. We only plan on bringing our luggage and any food/snacks/videos etc that we'll need on the trip. All of our household goods and other stuff will be picked up and shipped.
Now let me add that I am a prior Finance troop. That means that I have dealt with hundreds of other peoples vouchers plus I am a regulation queen that looks up everything! So I know that I'm not crazy. The husband said he's going to go talk to TMO again about it, like I don't know what I'm talking about. All I know is that we are only authorized 11,000 pounds of house stuff to send. I really don't think that we need to worry about trying to get more money with the little bit of stuff that we are driving up. I'm sure we'll probably be close to over our weight anyway! So it really cracks me up when they tell you what "they were told" vs what you know they heard!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
My Last Day As A Tiger Den Leader
So today was our last Pack meeting. As you can see below my boys started out with their orange kerchiefs. In the picture you will see that we all have our faces painted. The different colors and stripes stand for different things in Cub Scouting. (Notice that my youngest has his face painted too even though he isn't in Scouts yet!)
Below is all of the boys, Tigers and Wolves, sitting at the "ceremonial" fire. (Don't you love how I made it! I'm such a dork, I know!) This is right before they transition to Wolves and Bears.
Finally, this is a picture of Oliver. Notice his kerchief?!? My boy has moved up in rank. He is now a Wolf Cub!
Below is all of the boys, Tigers and Wolves, sitting at the "ceremonial" fire. (Don't you love how I made it! I'm such a dork, I know!) This is right before they transition to Wolves and Bears.
Finally, this is a picture of Oliver. Notice his kerchief?!? My boy has moved up in rank. He is now a Wolf Cub!
If you don't know who I am, you do now! This mom is also a Cub Scout Leader! And, because of lack of folks planning the ceremony I did. Leave this mom to work on it and see... your kids will end up with paint on their face and have to jump through the "ceremonial" water to get to a brave. LOL, I'm a big dork but my Cub Scouts love me and that's all that matters! I am really going to miss these kids when we go! I'm sure that I'll be a Leader/Co-Leader/Committee member when we get to Alaska but it will stink not to see these kids grow in Scouting. For those of you that didn't know, I was a Girl Scout growing up. I went all the way up till high school and even got my Silver Award. After graduating I became and Assistant Leader to one of my prior Leaders. How cool is that! After I joined the military and moved to England I was a Committee member and then a Leader over there. You just might say I have a bit of scouting in my blood!
If you've ever thought of having your child in scouts go for it! If you don't like the activities or what the kids are learning about then become a Leader and do your own thing! Like my mom always said...you won't find many kids that stayed in scouting NOT go to college or in the military and make something of themselves!
Oh, and the reason I say it is my last day as a Tiger Den Leader is because I'm sure I'll move up with Oliver to Wolves. And, I'm sure I'll be a Tiger Leader again...only 2 more years until Sebastion becomes a Scout!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Selling Your House
Did you ever notice that you never see the imperfections in your home until you have just closed on it or you are going to be selling it? Since we are moving we plan on selling our home that we live in and our rental house (was our home at our last base). Houses are just too expensive in Alaska not to! We'll really need the nice down payment.
Well, that means that you need to do any home improvements, painting etc. before folks start to come looking at the house. What stinks for us here in the home we're in is that we have 2 little boys that don't know how to open a door slowly! That means I have a bunch of door handle holes that I need to fix. I was a little freaked out that we were going to have to have someone do it and it would cost a lot of money. Well my friends let me tell you, http://www.google.com/ is your friend! The first search I did brought me to this awesome website http://www.ehow.com/. With a video and everything it showed me how to fix the holes easily and cheaply but not as a crappy fix either! I think this is my new favorite site! It has so many different posts on how to do just about anything! I'm really excited because I think that I'm just going to go get the stuff and do it myself and surprise the husband with my new expertise! LOL We also have a couple of chipped tiles in the house. Which again is not surprising with 2 boys that love to drop things. Again another easy fix! I am so loving it!
The only thing that sucks with the selling of our homes is our other house. It wouldn't be that bad if we lived close by (or went with a management company!) but the distance between Texas and South Carolina is quite a bit. Plus, for some reason (and I'll try not to blame the husband or kids) the signed lease I had has gone missing! I'm hoping we're not going to have problems with the tenants when I tell them that they need to repaint the rooms they painted back to white. I take full responsibility for the master bedroom color (what was I thinking when I painted it burgundy!) We'll see. I'm hoping that the realtor says that they are good colors and that we can just leave them as they are!
Really, as long as we can sell the house that we're in now I'll be happy. That is our big mortgage payment and I can always get a part-time job to pay the other one if need be. The husband has someone that is interested in coming to check it out already. I just have to get things cleaned up and fixed first! We haven't signed anything with the realtor yet so I'm hoping if they are interested that the realtor will give us a deal on the commission since it would only be the paperwork part that they'd be helping with.
This whole selling of house thing makes me super nervous! We've only ever bought houses. Now, both my realtor's are telling me that even in this downward spiral of people buying houses that both should sell relatively fast so I have my fingers crossed. I really don't want to be in a hotel forever to save money so we can pay mortgages for homes we're not living in! Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Now if the husband would only get off his butt and do more out processing so we can get our orders and have the house packed and shipped I'll be a happy camper.
Well, that means that you need to do any home improvements, painting etc. before folks start to come looking at the house. What stinks for us here in the home we're in is that we have 2 little boys that don't know how to open a door slowly! That means I have a bunch of door handle holes that I need to fix. I was a little freaked out that we were going to have to have someone do it and it would cost a lot of money. Well my friends let me tell you, http://www.google.com/ is your friend! The first search I did brought me to this awesome website http://www.ehow.com/. With a video and everything it showed me how to fix the holes easily and cheaply but not as a crappy fix either! I think this is my new favorite site! It has so many different posts on how to do just about anything! I'm really excited because I think that I'm just going to go get the stuff and do it myself and surprise the husband with my new expertise! LOL We also have a couple of chipped tiles in the house. Which again is not surprising with 2 boys that love to drop things. Again another easy fix! I am so loving it!
The only thing that sucks with the selling of our homes is our other house. It wouldn't be that bad if we lived close by (or went with a management company!) but the distance between Texas and South Carolina is quite a bit. Plus, for some reason (and I'll try not to blame the husband or kids) the signed lease I had has gone missing! I'm hoping we're not going to have problems with the tenants when I tell them that they need to repaint the rooms they painted back to white. I take full responsibility for the master bedroom color (what was I thinking when I painted it burgundy!) We'll see. I'm hoping that the realtor says that they are good colors and that we can just leave them as they are!
Really, as long as we can sell the house that we're in now I'll be happy. That is our big mortgage payment and I can always get a part-time job to pay the other one if need be. The husband has someone that is interested in coming to check it out already. I just have to get things cleaned up and fixed first! We haven't signed anything with the realtor yet so I'm hoping if they are interested that the realtor will give us a deal on the commission since it would only be the paperwork part that they'd be helping with.
This whole selling of house thing makes me super nervous! We've only ever bought houses. Now, both my realtor's are telling me that even in this downward spiral of people buying houses that both should sell relatively fast so I have my fingers crossed. I really don't want to be in a hotel forever to save money so we can pay mortgages for homes we're not living in! Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Now if the husband would only get off his butt and do more out processing so we can get our orders and have the house packed and shipped I'll be a happy camper.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Joys of Outprocessing
Anyone that has PCS'd (Permanent Change of Station) knows that it can be a pain doing all the stuff the military wants you to do to get orders. I know know what it is like as a military member and dependent. I don't know which is easier but I know it's nice that as a dependent if I'm getting dicked around I can get loud and not get in trouble! Today the boys and I go to finish up our medical out-processing. Let me give you a little background on what we've gone through so far.
A couple of days after Jobi found out we were going to Alaska he went up to mental health to get the ball rolling on getting our medical out-processing done. All medical stuff goes through them when you're leaving. They gave him tons of forms that had highlighted stuff on there to fill out. They told him that we needed to bring it in when we were finished to get our "appointment" set up. Well, turns out that they are trying to save money so they don't even give us a form for each dependent, we have to make copies ourselves. Fine, whatever, I find the form numbers online and print out 2 extras. I fill everything out and bring it back. Oh, they say, you didn't take this to this office and this office and the school etc... Well, maybe people if you had told hubby that in the first place I may have done that. That's the first time I got semi-loud. So, they decided to keep 80% of the paperwork and send me on my way to go to all of these different places. Like the school. Now, it is school vacation and they want me to get paperwork signed. I asked what if there isn't anyone at the school...they said I'd have to go to the School Board! I don't know about you but I sure as hell wouldn't know how to find the school board! So, I do and go to all the places they told me I had to go. So try #2 to get our appointment. So the boys and I go in again. They then told me oh, you must not have been told that you have to take these 2 forms to primary care. Don't worry ma'am, we'll do it and then call you with an appointment day. (I knew that they were already full with appointments for the next 3 weeks.) So I told them that I wasn't leaving without an appointment. I was not going to cross my fingers that these people were going to do what they said. We waited for probably another 20 minutes and they finally gave us a date. Well that date is today.
So as I sit here typing this up I wonder what hell these folks are going to put us through. Again, thankfully I am a "dependant" and don't have to be quiet. And people wonder why all your medical out-processing is through Mental Health. Maybe because you have to go on anti-psychotic medication when you're done!
Wish me luck, I'm sure it's going to be a rollercoaster day!
A couple of days after Jobi found out we were going to Alaska he went up to mental health to get the ball rolling on getting our medical out-processing done. All medical stuff goes through them when you're leaving. They gave him tons of forms that had highlighted stuff on there to fill out. They told him that we needed to bring it in when we were finished to get our "appointment" set up. Well, turns out that they are trying to save money so they don't even give us a form for each dependent, we have to make copies ourselves. Fine, whatever, I find the form numbers online and print out 2 extras. I fill everything out and bring it back. Oh, they say, you didn't take this to this office and this office and the school etc... Well, maybe people if you had told hubby that in the first place I may have done that. That's the first time I got semi-loud. So, they decided to keep 80% of the paperwork and send me on my way to go to all of these different places. Like the school. Now, it is school vacation and they want me to get paperwork signed. I asked what if there isn't anyone at the school...they said I'd have to go to the School Board! I don't know about you but I sure as hell wouldn't know how to find the school board! So, I do and go to all the places they told me I had to go. So try #2 to get our appointment. So the boys and I go in again. They then told me oh, you must not have been told that you have to take these 2 forms to primary care. Don't worry ma'am, we'll do it and then call you with an appointment day. (I knew that they were already full with appointments for the next 3 weeks.) So I told them that I wasn't leaving without an appointment. I was not going to cross my fingers that these people were going to do what they said. We waited for probably another 20 minutes and they finally gave us a date. Well that date is today.
So as I sit here typing this up I wonder what hell these folks are going to put us through. Again, thankfully I am a "dependant" and don't have to be quiet. And people wonder why all your medical out-processing is through Mental Health. Maybe because you have to go on anti-psychotic medication when you're done!
Wish me luck, I'm sure it's going to be a rollercoaster day!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I Be A Collage Graduat
Oh, and here is a picture of the original fearsome threesome!
Crap, I typed out this whole thing and then realized that I screwed up when I tried to add the picture. Anyways, today I got my degree. Yippeeee! The only thing that sucked was that only those that got their Bachelors got to wear the cap and gown. Well, he's a picture of me getting my first of many degrees to come!
I figured that me getting a degree says we're going to go out for dinner tonight. We're going to go to Rudy's. For those of you that don't know what that is...it is an awesome Bar-B-Q place. I can't wait! Since I got out of the military we don't go out to eat nearly as often as we did before so this will be a treat. Plus, since I'm walking a lot now I can splurge! Yum!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Graduation Practice
Boy do you ever type or write a word and think it looks weird? Off topic but that's what the word practice above did to me! Didn't help that when I went to http://www.dictionary.com/ that it showed both practice and practise. Then they both looked wrong. Anyways...on to my original post.
Today I had my college graduation practice. Who'd of thought it would take me 10 freakin' years to get my Associates in Financial Management. Any who, tomorrow I walk in my cap and gown and get my degree. I did Finance in the military for 10 years. Do you really think that I ever plan on using this at all?!? Heck no! I've had my fair share of numbers and don't want to deal with anymore unless it is my own finances. But I won't turn it away. It will look good on a resume!
In other good news The House of Representatives just approved a bill that will allow those of us veterans awesome benefits of the MGI Bill! They will pay for a 4 year degree at a public college in the state that we reside. Plus a whole bunch of other things like housing allowance, $1000 towards books a year and even a one time up to $2000 towards certificate testing. For those of you that know me you know that I want to become a nurse. How awesome is this! This will totally help me get my degree. It is awesome because it brings the education benefits online to what veterans after WWII got. Plus military members will have the option of passing their benefits onto their dependents if they aren't going to use it.
Now for me I just have to find out what courses are offered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Hopefully they have a nursing course otherwise I'll have to find something that will end up helping me towards a nursing degree. Wish me luck and all you vets out there better be going to school. I'm sure if folks don't use it they'll lose it! Up to $80K for school people!
Today I had my college graduation practice. Who'd of thought it would take me 10 freakin' years to get my Associates in Financial Management. Any who, tomorrow I walk in my cap and gown and get my degree. I did Finance in the military for 10 years. Do you really think that I ever plan on using this at all?!? Heck no! I've had my fair share of numbers and don't want to deal with anymore unless it is my own finances. But I won't turn it away. It will look good on a resume!
In other good news The House of Representatives just approved a bill that will allow those of us veterans awesome benefits of the MGI Bill! They will pay for a 4 year degree at a public college in the state that we reside. Plus a whole bunch of other things like housing allowance, $1000 towards books a year and even a one time up to $2000 towards certificate testing. For those of you that know me you know that I want to become a nurse. How awesome is this! This will totally help me get my degree. It is awesome because it brings the education benefits online to what veterans after WWII got. Plus military members will have the option of passing their benefits onto their dependents if they aren't going to use it.
Now for me I just have to find out what courses are offered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Hopefully they have a nursing course otherwise I'll have to find something that will end up helping me towards a nursing degree. Wish me luck and all you vets out there better be going to school. I'm sure if folks don't use it they'll lose it! Up to $80K for school people!
Here we go again!
I have been so lucky with my military life...to a point (I'll get to that soon!) I have traveled all over the world and country! I have been lucky enough to live in England for 4 years and I was deployed to Qatar for 4ish months. Stateside we were stationed in South Carolina (Shaw AFB for those that were wondering) and Texas (Laughlin AFB).
They always say that your best base is your last base and your next one. I never believed that before! Being stationed in England for your first base is awesome! I didn't want to leave but low and behold my husband after being there for 6 years was ready to come back to the land of Walmart. (I had only been there 4 and could have stayed forever!) Well, that is when we got stationed at Shaw. We had a beautiful house close to base but far away from everyone there. (It's for sale if anyone is interested!) We were so ready to leave there after 4 years! The excitement was overwhelming until we hit Del Rio, Texas. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a small town girl. As a matter of fact Del Rio is huge compared to my hometown. Well, here is where the you don't know what you had until you're gone comes in! This place stinks! The nearest "real" town in 3 hours away people. Yes, 3 hours and there isn't anything between here and there really. We would have gone back to South Carolina in a heartbeat! (It's one of the reasons that I got out of the military after 10 years. We hoped that we would get orders faster! It's easier for the military to place 1 person than it is 2.)
Well, we have all the luck in the world. On my birthday (best present my husband could have got me!) we found out that we have orders to Alaska! Who'd of thought that me, the small town girl from upstate NY would see Alaska! We are so excited. And the good news is that for military reasons Alaska is considered an overseas tour. That means we are there for a 3 year tour. If we hate it we know that is all the time we have to do BUT if we love it we can try to extend. Especially since that will be towards the end of hubbys career!
So, this is the beginning (or beginning of the end since it's me blogging! LOL) of my ramblings of a Military Mom On The Move!
They always say that your best base is your last base and your next one. I never believed that before! Being stationed in England for your first base is awesome! I didn't want to leave but low and behold my husband after being there for 6 years was ready to come back to the land of Walmart. (I had only been there 4 and could have stayed forever!) Well, that is when we got stationed at Shaw. We had a beautiful house close to base but far away from everyone there. (It's for sale if anyone is interested!) We were so ready to leave there after 4 years! The excitement was overwhelming until we hit Del Rio, Texas. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a small town girl. As a matter of fact Del Rio is huge compared to my hometown. Well, here is where the you don't know what you had until you're gone comes in! This place stinks! The nearest "real" town in 3 hours away people. Yes, 3 hours and there isn't anything between here and there really. We would have gone back to South Carolina in a heartbeat! (It's one of the reasons that I got out of the military after 10 years. We hoped that we would get orders faster! It's easier for the military to place 1 person than it is 2.)
Well, we have all the luck in the world. On my birthday (best present my husband could have got me!) we found out that we have orders to Alaska! Who'd of thought that me, the small town girl from upstate NY would see Alaska! We are so excited. And the good news is that for military reasons Alaska is considered an overseas tour. That means we are there for a 3 year tour. If we hate it we know that is all the time we have to do BUT if we love it we can try to extend. Especially since that will be towards the end of hubbys career!
So, this is the beginning (or beginning of the end since it's me blogging! LOL) of my ramblings of a Military Mom On The Move!
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