zipping up the last bags

We are finalizing the packing and loading now. My sister and her husband will meet us at the airport in about an hour to take the van off our hands and we fly at 7:30. We fly United to Japan, then All Nippon Airways to our little island, and we'll be arriving around Thursday morning EST. I believe I have set up this blog to take a post from my mobile phone, but there's a chance it won't work, as I've not tested it. And I'll only have the phone until just after we leave LA tomorrow morning.


I am going to join the kids outside for one last game of fetch with the dog. It is a beautiful day here, absolutely perfect.


See you on the flip side!

Posting from MILs house tonight. The kids and I made it here fine this afternoon, it was a very quiet trip, peppered with phone calls from Tim updating me on his progress at the office. Someone there was not doing her job and Tim had to babysit her, practically doing it for her, until finally he is officially re-enlisted. He has reapplied for country clearance (apparently they won't let us into Japan without this clearance), which should take less than one business day. He left sometime around 5:30 tonight to make the 6 plus hour trip here to meet us. He'll be tired, but he needs to be here with us rather than in a hotel alone again.

We'll be chillin' here for a few days, besides going to church - Papaw will play guitar (I think) in the service - we'll maybe catch a movie, walk to the park, I plan to crochet with my MIL, probably every night. We are counting down 11 days till our flight out of RDU.

food, shelter, and love

"Mia? Do you know why you are in timeout?"
"It's just that I didn't see my foot heading towards Charlie's transformer, and then I didn't see my foot heading toward his head."




She's really a sweet girl. She just fixed me a cup of (pretend) tea, and earlier after unloading the dryer, she stated that she was "just going to sit down and fold this basket of clothes." And she did, about three pieces of it, anyway- including a blouse of mine which she buttoned up (inside out, but I am not complaining) from neck to hem, all the buttons lined up exactly.

Good news about our 8 hour layover in LAX - there is a USO there. A pretty big one actually, right in the airport, and open 24 hours! They serve complimentary meals, snacks, and drinks, bathrooms with showers, internet, video game systems, recliners and couches, wide screen televisions, current and classic movies, children's playroom with napping cots/cribs, and complementary "essential" items in case of lost luggage (or in our case, I am not sure if the airline will give us back our luggage for the night, only to check it back in again, we would want to shower, brush teeth, whatever.)

Reminds me of this bit about those handy airline "essentials kits" from stand-up comedian Brian Reagan (the joke is about 2:15 into the clip here...)

it's always something...

So upon reading that there is an option for the dog to undergo an on-base, in-home quarantine in Japan, we had our flights adjusted to accommodate the dog joining us (all legs of the journey need to be under 12 hours). Only to find out that All Nippon Airlines (our final leg from Osaka to Naha) has a crate size restriction of 19" width. Doesn't sound so narrow, right? Well, crates for sale on the internet which state this width, are about the same for height, and Nigel is 22" at the shoulder. So we are back to where we started... oh wait, no were not.
We now have an 9 hour layover - 12 am until 845 am in LA and have to change planes in San Fransisco, as well as Dulles, LA, and Osaka, before finally arriving in Naha at 9 pm - Okinawa time, mind you - which will actually be 11 oclock in the morning for our happy band of travelers.

It's an adventure. It's adventure. It's an adventure.


Besides this news about the dog, there is also the news that the overseas suitability screenings office is backed up until March 23. There are roughly 500 things to be done, and some have to occur in a certain order. These appointments could not be scheduled until some other form had been printed, and they have to be completed 30 days in advance of detachment.

So I revert to my DGF's sage advice. Breathe in... breathe out... take a sip of wine. Repeat.

And the good news is: even if it isn't an appropriate time to pour a glass here, it probably is over there!

update

Would you believe I have a minute to post???
Actually, I am at a stand still, and waiting to hear from Tim on some issues. He's gone in to the office to check on a few things.

Here's the news so far: our flights have been arranged - could possibly be changing - but for now we expect to leave out of Raleigh on the 15th of April. Raleigh to Dulles, then to Tokyo, then to Naha Airport. This airport is right on the beach and, from the pictures I have seen, will be a beautiful first look at our new tropical home! We hope to be packing up and leaving by the end of March in order to travel through the south and see family and friends one more time.



Are we ready to go though? The short answer is: nearly. My multicolored easel display is helping tremendously in keeping us on track as far as getting rid of stuff, deciding and organizing the three separate shipments of goods we are being allowed. Each shipment or final destination has its own color marker to list the different items - example: pink is regular shipment (I call it the slow boat), red for express (35 days is express??), and blue marker denotes non-temporary storage (this is actually not permanent, believe it or not, this means the military would rather pay to store most of our household goods than ship them to the island, instead they issue out furniture - including brand new mattresses). So I have listed in blue marker such items as our couches, coffee and end tables, tv cabinet, dressers and night stands. There are also separate marker colors for donate, sell, store with family, and undecided.


Keep in mind when we moved here to VA a year ago, our shipment was weighed at 9200 lbs. Our weight allowance for this move is 200 lbs per person for express, including 400 lbs of professional gear (Tim); 2750 lbs for the slow boat; and 6850 for the non-temporary storage. The next step in the process is a list paper posted on the door of each room with columns (color coded, of course) for each intended final destination, including when each shipment will be packed out and when it is expected to arrive in Okinawa. Chas and I were talking last night and decided when he and Simon get their blank list, they will be responsible for listing what they think they will need in each shipment. Then we looked at how to weigh the items on the bathroom scale, with themselves as a 'tare' weight, and adding them all up to determine if they are withing their weight allowance. Unschooling strikes again!
Something else that has come to our attention is the mild weather in Okinawa. We'll not be needing our winter and fall clothes once we leave, but I haven't bought the spring and summer clothes yet! Tim tells me that April and May are the rainy season, and since we'll be living in a temporary living facility (efficiency or kichenette type hotel) without a car for a while, should be an interesting start to our adventure.



So Tim has just called and I need to go rearrange the schedule for the week. More later!