Preferably in writing. For where we will be living next.
Although just when I think I'm good with a move to a tropical island hubby throws out there his doubts of remaining in or starts discussing civilian jobs. So, I'm just going to take it one day at a time. Just like the song or the theme from AA. Well, I think that's an AA theme based on this TV drama I was watching- but can't say for certain. It has pretty much every medical detail wrong so it could possibly have that wrong, too.
So I debate if I should actually weigh the tonnage of stuff I have disposed of or have piled in the guest room for either a theoretical yard sale or big donation to a tax write off sort of place. Either way we are moving and it is highly unlikely we will EVER live in a place as big as this one. Plus hubby was out on a government sponsored camping trip and on a pilgrimage to get his parents to Florida this week so I have plenty of time to sort through closets of stuff uninhibited by the opinion of the other adult in the house. Now the kids... Joey went with his dad, so his room is on the chopping block this week and JM was playing on the computer so completely oblivious to the trash bags leaving his room last week. The girls are hard. I'm threatening to send to stay with their grandparents so I can go through their room unrestricted by all the precious treasures they refuse to depart with. And by precious treasure I mean every bit of scrap paper, broken toy bits, destroyed jewlery and enough stuffed animals to completely fill a VW bug. And this was what escaped the last purge when they were in school prior to the last move. Although with my work schedule I didn't cull through it *quite* as thoroughly as I would now. The letting them log onto Minecraft doesn't work like it does with JM, one of the duo has hawk ears and the very second she hears that someone is having a cookie, donut or the sound of trash being removed from her room brings her running.
We've finally gotten involved with friends and activities so now the kids have changed their tune from "we hate it here' to 'well, it's ok if we don't have to move.' And as much as I 've felt relieved that we're finally connecting with others, I can't say I feel like this location has been the best fit for us. It rains entirely too much, the number of very very very young families and couples is overwhelming and makes me feel very very old and at the risk of sounding like a snob, the apparent education level of the bulk of the population is somewhere around 7th grade with 3rd grade grammar. But I'm really not a snob, I promise. But being raised a yankee in a education-as- priority family and state probably doesn't help. At least I've been able to find a few homeschool moms who have similar values.
Started fencing and sign language classes and writing classes and a co-op where I'm teaching the science portion. I'm actually enjoying the teaching part. I didn't think I really would, but past the kinder-2nd grade level it's not terrible. I'm teaching the 3-5th writing class and it's actually been enjoyable. The science class is 6-9th and the best part is that the co-op owns/bought the microscopes and dissection kits and preserved frogs and all sorts of other stuff that I'd been too cheap to buy. I haven't found chemistry burners yet, but I found test tubes and pipettes. It's only 15 weeks long so I think chemistry might be too much to cover anyway, we're doing basic science and biology concepts.
But if we do move to a tropical island and the kids go to school I'll look back into being a real nurse or school nurse or take the classes online to teach. As I figure it, Larry has changed careers since we've been married, time for me to consider a career change. Well, assuming that I want a career, which is not always certain.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Can you feel cold from looking at a picture?
Because Joey's off skiing with his scout troop and I swear I feel my face stinging just looking at the pictures.
Other than one text telling me that they arrived over 1 hour later than they were planing. Which, honestly, *I* could have told you was going to happen - because if GPS tells you it takes 5.5 hours to get somewhere AND you're planning on stopping for dinner, it is not going to take you 5.5 hours from when you leave to arrive. Uh- duh. PLUS, I don't know who was planning this, but I can tell you that the time for each stop increases incrementally with the number of bodies you have traveling together. Our family of 6 take double what a family of 3 would take, assuming similar efficiency and no disabilities. But at least this was a pack of boys, take a bus full of girls and suddenly the line at the bathroom is 35 minutes long. Although, I can say in traveling with only 2 boys, sometimes the men's bathroom is not always open for speedy use, either. For this reason, we developed a partiality for large truck stops - for big capacity bathrooms (plus plenty of room for a novice RV dragging a car driver like me to park without having to back up)
But I think I digressed.. the troop has a mom who vocally proclaims her OCD tendencies who made a facebook page and updated it with picture. It was kinda funny since we had a delay to winter here and I couldn't even remember the color of the brand new winter coat I had bought Joey. Apparently it was black or navy blue with royal blue trim. Good thing there was a sitting without the ski goggles and helmet picture or I wouldn't have know what same-as-everyone-else color coat I should be scanning for in the pictures.
But skiing was one of those few things that made winter fun. But now that my bones and muscles don't bounce back quite like they used to, I think winter is still over-rated. Although in hearing from the inlaws, it appears their shipment of winter has also been delayed- this time last year I think the schools had already had 3 weeks of snow days added to their spring schedule.
But mommy guilt has me feeling bad that the remaining kids have no "fun" stuff this weekend, so we're running off to the movies. Larry has introduced them to Star Wars and now that they have caught up on the rest of the 2 trilogies (what does that make that a septilogy?) we will go watch the latest. I will lament that I am now old and Han Solo/Luke/Leia are also old. But at least I'm younger than they are.
So until next time or until the force (or computer) awakens...
Other than one text telling me that they arrived over 1 hour later than they were planing. Which, honestly, *I* could have told you was going to happen - because if GPS tells you it takes 5.5 hours to get somewhere AND you're planning on stopping for dinner, it is not going to take you 5.5 hours from when you leave to arrive. Uh- duh. PLUS, I don't know who was planning this, but I can tell you that the time for each stop increases incrementally with the number of bodies you have traveling together. Our family of 6 take double what a family of 3 would take, assuming similar efficiency and no disabilities. But at least this was a pack of boys, take a bus full of girls and suddenly the line at the bathroom is 35 minutes long. Although, I can say in traveling with only 2 boys, sometimes the men's bathroom is not always open for speedy use, either. For this reason, we developed a partiality for large truck stops - for big capacity bathrooms (plus plenty of room for a novice RV dragging a car driver like me to park without having to back up)
But I think I digressed.. the troop has a mom who vocally proclaims her OCD tendencies who made a facebook page and updated it with picture. It was kinda funny since we had a delay to winter here and I couldn't even remember the color of the brand new winter coat I had bought Joey. Apparently it was black or navy blue with royal blue trim. Good thing there was a sitting without the ski goggles and helmet picture or I wouldn't have know what same-as-everyone-else color coat I should be scanning for in the pictures.
But skiing was one of those few things that made winter fun. But now that my bones and muscles don't bounce back quite like they used to, I think winter is still over-rated. Although in hearing from the inlaws, it appears their shipment of winter has also been delayed- this time last year I think the schools had already had 3 weeks of snow days added to their spring schedule.
But mommy guilt has me feeling bad that the remaining kids have no "fun" stuff this weekend, so we're running off to the movies. Larry has introduced them to Star Wars and now that they have caught up on the rest of the 2 trilogies (what does that make that a septilogy?) we will go watch the latest. I will lament that I am now old and Han Solo/Luke/Leia are also old. But at least I'm younger than they are.
So until next time or until the force (or computer) awakens...
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Impatiently waiting
It's that time again. That time were we will upheave our lives and move or transition or something. We're still in the mindset that hubby will retire from the Navy if he can manage to stay in, so we get to play the 'oohh what's available' game.
Of the 9 or 10 possible options hubby asked for, the only one that was mentioned as a possibility was the dead last one on the list. One he didn't even consult with me before putting it on the list. This of course throws my theory of 'you get the 4th or 5th choice' method out the window. That or hubby really made someone somewhere mad. It also shines a light on the practice of promising 'just take this crummy position and next time you'll get first pick' as total nonsense. Because THIS was one of those nobody-wants-to-go-there places and well, the people who make those promises know that they'll be gone and don't actually have to fulfill any of those promises.
Although as I understand it, if you want to promote and stay in, it 'looks good' to have a check box in all the life in the military inconvenience boxes. Cross country moves (X) Deployment (X) Green Side/Operational (XXXX) Overseas ( ) oh, I see. yes, that box is still vacant. Lucky for us, we need a waiver to go to many of those such places since we have more than 2.5 kids. Apparently housing regulations prohibit you from putting 4 kids in a closet. Only on submarines is this permissible and then only with grown men.
SOOOO since it is terrible form for the spouse to get involved I have to wait for hubby to get in touch with the person who makes the final decisions and he says she isn't answering the phone or replying to emails. *I* would be tempted to keep re-dialing until she finally gave up and answered the phone. But that's just me. Plus I don't have troublesome time constraints like a job to hold be back.
Although I have managed to almost over commit myself even without a job. So Monday afternoons we're in a group writing class, I'm teaching 3-5th graders. Friday morning we're in a co-op, I'm teaching 6-8th science.. Suddenly the possibilities of long weekends are shot. Or I'll just say 'hey, I need a substitute this week' and let someone else figure it out. The science class I'm actually a little excited over, the coop purchased dissection kits and frogs and had far more resources than I have at home (yet) And since a $250 microscope is pretty breakable and military movers are notorious about not breaking things I just couldn't justify it. Plus I am counting on dual enrolling for science and math and english (ok pretty much everything) for the second half of high school. Assuming we are in the US. OR there are online options but I think you just can't get the smell of science and chemistry labs without the actual classroom/lab experience.
The kids are good. Mostly. Some days I think I'd like to send a certain 8 year old to school because he just can't finish a task without getting out of his chair, but then I realize that I'd be getting those 'behavior reports' from whatever teacher he would have that would not be ok with said behavior. Also they don't usually appreciate his tendency to be the class comedian. HOWEVER if we go overseas and the DOD school is good, he is ABSOLUTELY going to school. and potentially to the pediatrician for that conversation about ritalin.
Spring sports sign ups are upon us and they don't offer soccer so it looks like baseball it is. Golf was an absolute waste of time, so I think we'll pass on that one. There's a running club that I'm mentally preparing myself to get the kids involved in. However, practices are at 7 am and we're just not morning people here. But then again, I'd like to be more morning people than we are. Larry leaves at 5:30 3 times a week, so if I can not go back to bed, it's a whole lot more morning left than if I crawl out of bed at 7:30. We will see, first practice is next monday, and since it's a holiday for hubby it'll be THAT MUCH HARDER to get out of bed. Maybe we'll catch up with them for the second practice. I think base offered track in spring, so maybe we'll get it together and sign up for that.
Joey's in scouts now, and aside from all the boys being pretty much live wires, I think he enjoys it. He's skiing this weekend with them. Hopefully he will return with zero broken bones. Speaking of, I need to remember to make a copy of his health insurance information to send with him....
Of the 9 or 10 possible options hubby asked for, the only one that was mentioned as a possibility was the dead last one on the list. One he didn't even consult with me before putting it on the list. This of course throws my theory of 'you get the 4th or 5th choice' method out the window. That or hubby really made someone somewhere mad. It also shines a light on the practice of promising 'just take this crummy position and next time you'll get first pick' as total nonsense. Because THIS was one of those nobody-wants-to-go-there places and well, the people who make those promises know that they'll be gone and don't actually have to fulfill any of those promises.
Although as I understand it, if you want to promote and stay in, it 'looks good' to have a check box in all the life in the military inconvenience boxes. Cross country moves (X) Deployment (X) Green Side/Operational (XXXX) Overseas ( ) oh, I see. yes, that box is still vacant. Lucky for us, we need a waiver to go to many of those such places since we have more than 2.5 kids. Apparently housing regulations prohibit you from putting 4 kids in a closet. Only on submarines is this permissible and then only with grown men.
SOOOO since it is terrible form for the spouse to get involved I have to wait for hubby to get in touch with the person who makes the final decisions and he says she isn't answering the phone or replying to emails. *I* would be tempted to keep re-dialing until she finally gave up and answered the phone. But that's just me. Plus I don't have troublesome time constraints like a job to hold be back.
Although I have managed to almost over commit myself even without a job. So Monday afternoons we're in a group writing class, I'm teaching 3-5th graders. Friday morning we're in a co-op, I'm teaching 6-8th science.. Suddenly the possibilities of long weekends are shot. Or I'll just say 'hey, I need a substitute this week' and let someone else figure it out. The science class I'm actually a little excited over, the coop purchased dissection kits and frogs and had far more resources than I have at home (yet) And since a $250 microscope is pretty breakable and military movers are notorious about not breaking things I just couldn't justify it. Plus I am counting on dual enrolling for science and math and english (ok pretty much everything) for the second half of high school. Assuming we are in the US. OR there are online options but I think you just can't get the smell of science and chemistry labs without the actual classroom/lab experience.
The kids are good. Mostly. Some days I think I'd like to send a certain 8 year old to school because he just can't finish a task without getting out of his chair, but then I realize that I'd be getting those 'behavior reports' from whatever teacher he would have that would not be ok with said behavior. Also they don't usually appreciate his tendency to be the class comedian. HOWEVER if we go overseas and the DOD school is good, he is ABSOLUTELY going to school. and potentially to the pediatrician for that conversation about ritalin.
Spring sports sign ups are upon us and they don't offer soccer so it looks like baseball it is. Golf was an absolute waste of time, so I think we'll pass on that one. There's a running club that I'm mentally preparing myself to get the kids involved in. However, practices are at 7 am and we're just not morning people here. But then again, I'd like to be more morning people than we are. Larry leaves at 5:30 3 times a week, so if I can not go back to bed, it's a whole lot more morning left than if I crawl out of bed at 7:30. We will see, first practice is next monday, and since it's a holiday for hubby it'll be THAT MUCH HARDER to get out of bed. Maybe we'll catch up with them for the second practice. I think base offered track in spring, so maybe we'll get it together and sign up for that.
Joey's in scouts now, and aside from all the boys being pretty much live wires, I think he enjoys it. He's skiing this weekend with them. Hopefully he will return with zero broken bones. Speaking of, I need to remember to make a copy of his health insurance information to send with him....
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