Sometimes the stress of life gets to a point where things just start to seem comical, and it's easier just to laugh at it all. That's about where I am at this point. I've moved so many times in my life, but for some reason this move has been unusually tasking. My friend, K, believes that moves don't necessarily get harder, but that life gets more complicated for us as we get older. I think she's absolutely right. Whatever the reason, my mind has been spinning so hard the past couple of weeks that I'm dizzy.
The Army never seems to make things simple for anyone. But as soon as I start to get cranky about it, I remember that this fantastic opportunity wouldn't even enter my life if Big R wasn't a Soldier, and I grow a little perspective. That said, these perspectives are easy to forget in the thick of another move with painfully uncoordinated logistics, two small children, a loyal guard dog, and two crazy cats. Let's just say life is never boring in our corner. I suppose for that I am grateful. But yeesh, it could maybe slow down a tad. I'm sure Big R and I wouldn't complain if something could go smoothly for a change.
At the end of the day, we will be in our new house and quickly making a home for ourselves in a new German town. We will have said good-bye to the place we called our home for two years. Seems just about everywhere we live, regardless of how long we are there, we make unforgettable attachments. This place was definitely no exception. It'll be tough to leave, that is no lie.
The logistics of an Army move are painfully confusing, so I won't even try to go into it here. Just know that it was an especially tasking transition for us this time around. The movers did come today as scheduled. They didn't show up until nearly 1 pm though, and then they worked like animals to get everything packed and loaded onto the truck before 6 pm. Unbelievable. It was almost fun watching them work. I guess all our pre-organizing and planning paid off this time around. Unfortunately, even though we were technically supposed to be reserved on the schedule for tomorrow, the truck crew is not available, so they will be delivering our household goods on Friday. The good news is, that's going to work out pretty great on our end, and considering it could have been two weeks, we can certainly live a day without our things. No problemo.
So, Big R has to be at an important meeting early tomorrow for his new job, so he took a carload and our crazy cats with him. I'm hanging out in our empty house with my boys - all of them. After Big R left, bathtime became mayhem. It was pure awesomeness. Every hoot from little r or cry from Baby C is amplified in this empty space. Little r was in heaven racing his cars in the big open rooms. The crashing noises were undoubtedly experienced by all the neighbors on every floor of our building. Fantastic.
Knowing life is kind of upside down right now, I let little r snuggle with me on my air mattress and watch a movie after bath time. I finally got little r settled down and got myself into a position where I could nurse my little one that was screaming as if life were ending. It is hot as balls in this house, so I have us set up in the living room with the air mattress, toddler tent, and travel bassinet. All of the windows were open in an attempt to cool things down since our fans and transformers are all packed. The boys were calm and snuggled in and then a huge gust of wind whipped through the house. One at a time each window slammed shut and then the doors followed. Holy bananas, have you ever heard doors slam in an empty house? Yikes!
Here I am with a screaming baby and a three year old in my lap as I'm trying not to cry because my nerves are on end. My butt is completely numb because the air mattress is pitiful and already flat. I get my boys snuggled back in and take a swig of wine straight from the bottle because all the glasses are packed and in these conditions, it's just a shame to let an open bottle of wine go to waste. I finally gave in and let Lando onto the mattress with us with the undying hope that his weight would displace some air and get our butts off the floor. Nothing like sleeping on a hard surface to make you aware of how old you are. My bones are going to be happy tomorrow.
I'm happy to report that all the boys are asleep and snoring. It's kind of awesome. In the empty house I can hear everything. Every breath, every sigh... I'm giggling at the situation knowing it could always be much, much worse.
I'm living more stories to share with my friends as we lament about our PCS adventures. These stories never disappoint. We like to complain, but in the end, we end up laughing about the adventures the Army puts us through. Somehow we all manage to live through the nonsense, and we quickly become anxious to make our new place a home. We try to explain to our kids that we have to leave behind our friends and the routines we've grown comfortable with and hope they don't cry, we snuggle our newborns and pray that they sleep, and we calm our pets and hope they get a sense of security just by knowing they are with you. It's a dance we readily repeat, yet never seem to get used to...
So, I'm going to attempt sleep on this hardwood floor because, quite frankly, calling this a mattress would be a crime. I'll be dreaming about my new house. We'll be spending the rest of the week making it our home.
Hopefully we won't be offline for too long. Until then, stay cool and be awesome. We'll be back soon!
xoxoxo
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