Orders...

Please excuse my delay in posting the news: we are moving to Okinawa Japan in April! We had suspected this for a while, but the phone call came in Friday morning. Tim has gone today to go pick up the actual paper orders. We have a lot of questions awaiting answers, as I am sure you all have questions too. Of course, I'll post more information as it becomes available.

I guess I might not sound very excited, right now. We are thrilled, but a little overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done in a short amount of time, just 8 weeks, maybe a little longer. This week's goal is to decide what to bring, what to store, and what to sell. All three cars have to be sold. And the timing has to be just right so we still have them to get around until it is time to go. The dog will stay until his quarantine period is up. If he arrives in Japan before the six months is up, he'd be required to be quarantined in a kennel over there, in unknown conditions and at our expense. The kids are excited, but I can occasionally detect a hint of sadness and maybe even panic when thinking about letting go of toys and friends and family. We are looking into homeschool support groups, but the military community is so transient and fluid that it's hard to find current information. This may be one of those things that will need to wait till we arrive and get a house. Off base housing is expensive, and while there are compensations for the extra expense, we are looking into living on base at first. There are advantages and disadvantages to either, it comes down to personal preference.

That's about all we know for now. There isn't much we can do, except start paring down to bare minimums and apply for passports (in progress). We'll keep updates posted regularly. My sister may be doing a going away party for us, so check back in for that news too!