My House is a Mess (and other brief updates)!

I am no longer Okinawa Andi, officially and hopefully for the rest of my life.  A new blog will soon be established with a more appropriate name.

I am living in a house that I have dreamed of living in for the last five years.  It has a solarium (fancy-talk for a passive solar sun room).

Last week, I realized my life-long dream of being on-stage with David Copperfield.  Skeeze or not, the man looks good.

If you can't tell, there are about a million and a half things going on in my life right now and the most pressing one is that my belongings (which I haven't seen since April 5th in Okinawa) were delivered and the delivery guys just left.  The bed is put together and the kitchen is unpacked.  Now I just need to wash everything in the kitchen, find the bed sheets and a home for everything. 

Oh, also the TV needs to be put up and the Wii needs to be installed as ASAP as possible.  Parks & Recreation from Netflix won't watch itself.

Stages.

Well, we have stuff. It feels like it's been forever since we saw these things (the things we remembered we had, anyway). The important things - the mattress, our paintings, my bookcase, the TV - are all in their respective one pieces. Proof that it must have been monkeys moving us from Flagstaff to Stafford. Anyway...

Now I am in a house full of boxes, trying to find a home for each item while anticipating at least a week of rain and storminess. And being homebound. Really, really homebound.

For as easy as one might think driving on the other side of the road is... well, frankly, it isn't. Especially when you have terrible depth perception and really narrow roads. And every road in Okinawa looks the same. I've been to Matt's work building several times and if you asked me to direct you to it, I could not.

It seems as though I have reached Stage Two of living in a foreign country: Being cranky and wanting things to be like at home. Stage One (being excited and wanting to experience everything) did not last long. Hopefully, Stage Two will be over soon, too.

Down to the Wire.

Well, the countdown has begun. Breakouts, sore throat, chronic upset tummy: all signs of a Very Nervous Me. Can you all say a prayer right now that hair loss isn't added to that list? Much appreciated.

Tonight, my good friend Stacee and her husband, Paul, are starting their trip to Okinawa. It's scary to think that a week from today, I'll be on my way to Tampa, never to return to Virginia (hopefully). I really don't have much of point to this, other than that I am feeling very overwhelmed in all of this. And I am super glad that Stacee will be there before I am.

Also: Watch American Idol and vote for David Cook, as my husband will not let me vote :/

Why We Write in Pencil.

Last summer, I was reintroduced to the joy and wonder of the Day Planner. Even my empty schedule seemed exciting with "Coffee with Em - 11.30" or "Start new bottle of Insulin" written in bright colors with various friendly animal stickers decorating the days. I stopped dreading the days highlighted with "Field Exercise," when those days also said, "Meet Erin for Panera Bread" or "Molly+Tea Doggie Play Date."

Days are a little less exciting now that The Big Move looms ever closer. "Coffee!" has all but been replaced with "Overseas Screening!" and "Play Date" with "Dentist - 5 fillings". Furthermore, I have learned the importance (to a military wife) of writing key events in pencil. That big day in late May that once said "Flight to Oki," has been rewritten to read "Matt flies to Oki." Two weeks later, you'll find the entry, "Andrea and Molly fly to Oki."

Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. I thought we were doing this together! I thought this was a family event! What happens when my iPod dies on the eight hour flight? I can't very well grab the iPod of the stranger sitting next to me, can I? And what about Molly? She needs her daddy to tell her everything will be all right. So does her Mom.

I guess this is where I need to remember that God's got it all together. He works all things for the good of those who love Him. He has a plan for good, to give me a future and hope. I'm holding on to those promises as tightly as possible.

Stuff + Me + Matt + Molly + Okinawa = :D (?)

A million things in this back story: When we left Quantico in January, we had nearly everything we owned sorted into 2 piles (To Okinawa! and 3 Years of Storage!), or trashed/given away or, and this was the smallest pile, moving with us to Virginia Beach. We scored a sweet furnished beach house and really only brought our clothes with us. I knew I would miss my stuff, but the thought of packing it up to move four hours south for only four months was just ridiculous. I knew we had a really big move coming up so I tried not to be worried about it.

When we arrived to our beach house, I was sorely disappointed. I knew, having lived in a summer house before, not to expect much in the way of amenities, but really? A turn dial microwave? Whisks made for little people? Only three coffee mugs? I'd go through those in a day! I suppose the amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean more than made up for these shortcomings, but still.

As I made do with the seven tank tops and three pairs of jeans I'd brought to Virginia Beach, I couldn't help but yearn for the various tee shirts, shorts and sweaters packed in boxes marked "Lady Clothes" sitting idly at Fort Belvoir. Little did I know how "for the best" this situation was.

Once Matt finally got in touch with TMO (Government moving sevices... don't ask me what the letters actually mean), we learned that everything that was in storage could be sent AHEAD of us to Okinawa. And it would arrive two full weeks before we did. If that's not a major blessing, I know know what is. Sidenote to our beloved pillowtop bed: We miss you in a way words cannot explain. I can't wait to see you in June!!