Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Marathons of all sorts

First - the BIG Marathon. The Marine Corps 2007 Marathon. Saturday was the Expo and Packet Pickup at the Armory.. lots of people, tiny space... I was disappointed that Military.com didn't have a presence, including SpouseBuzz would have been great. Then home for a pasta dinner (gotta carb up!) The next morning, at 4:30 we were up and getting ready - neither of us could sleep. Got on the Metro with a group of Brit Royal Marines, who seemed to have done the usual training... a few pints the night before, and lots of cigarettes. Got off at the Pentagon and followed the herd, around the Pentagon in the dark and got in line... no, not the starting line, the Biffies!!! DH stretched, I did my job as support.. he got into the starting corrals with at least 20,000 others... and off they went. Support people of all sorts walked from the line across the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial and cheered them all on as they ran past. ... for an HOUR!! Walked back across the bridge and up to an old friend's apartment across from the IwoJima Memorial. There was supposed to be a text message to the cell phone way to track the runners... I got his halfway time 5 xs, but no notification of his finish! as for the "family meeting area"... ha! but AT&T had free phones so he called when he finished (26 miles...), we found each other, gave him lots of protein drinks and snacks... and got in yet another line. This one for the Metro. It looked like Ellis Island, a sea of people, runners in sweated through clothes and shiny "blankets" and support people with back packs and goodie bags. Trains were packed and watching sore runners trying to get up, trying to walk down stairs and getting in vehicles .... well I tried NOT to laugh, but didn't succeed. I'm so proud of him, he trained and trained, but having to run in the Sandbox heat was incredibly hard, and PCSing right before was not exactly ideal... and he still did it.

Next day - he was soooo sore. and so was I, the 6-7 miles I walked took a toll on my plantar fascitis.. ice for my foot, warm Thermocare wraps for him.. Thank goodness for the super large jar of Ibuprofen!

The other Marathon - job hunting and trying to get the apartment in some semblance of order... Job hunting is slower than I had hoped, but there was a job fair at Belvoir, met a couple of contacts, including someone whose job it is, to help milspouses get Federal Jobs - rewriting my resume and using all the right buzz words. Have a meeting today with another headhunter, let's hope she can find me a temp job soon! Because.... The Army has fouled up again - no pay... jeeeeez, what is SO HARD!?? Turned in the DITY paperwork - told it could take up to 8 weeks for that to get reimbursed! They really don't make PCSing easy, do they? since we have to pay for all the deposits, turn on fees etc., plus the final payments from the last place... the apartment is still not in any way done, need to find a desk, a sofa... and get the garage shelving done and the boxes out of the spare room!

The marathon of house selling - no news other than some folks who wanted to look at it, but no offers.

Sore and limping - talk to you again soon..

LAW

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Settling in - or is that down-

the boxes are breeding! really, they ARE! as soon as I unpack one, more appear. Invasion of the Moving Boxes.... just seems like it, I guess. What is really happening is that I am worn out. I'll find one thing in a box that I need/want, the rest is re-packed for storage. So, unpack/re-pack ...ad nauseum. AND fighting off an infection. SOOOO much fun. On the positive side, I did find the hospital, and the pharmacy (2ce, the first antibiotic didn't work) and the commissary does carry all the lovely European yummies I had hoped, including the coffee (note to self, when they have it in stock, buy 2!) LOTS of retirees, and very very full shopping carts.

Sunday we did what we promised we would do, and left house/unpacking stuff and did something fun. There are a series of nature trails next to post, and we trekked out there and enjoyed the peace and tranquility. Moving into this high density population, from our country living, I miss that. Also drove around post, into the older part, and flag officer country- the Old Army DH and I remember from long ago. In one way, it's comforting to see that not everything changes!

Unit picnic went ok, although after 30+ days of sun, it decided to rain. Not enough to break the drought, but enough to dampen the festivities. Met some of the guys he'll be working with (no, not being sexist, no women in his little subgroup) and also some of the FRG folks. From what I heard from one of the women, this group has the usual problems (5% of the group does 90% of the work, some cattiness) but is still a lot better than the groups I left behind me.

Job related - well, I went for the interview, nice small firm, but it wasn't the right fit. Got a call from my headhunter, there may be a project for me... 2-6 months document review (my last 3 month project lasted a year and a half!) Hope to find out this week.

I am holding those California milspouses in my thoughts, hope that you are all ok, and you haven't lost your homes. BE SAFE!

Time to hit the boxes again...

LAW

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Mattress pad - check

bookcase(s) - check. Cat to vet -check. Got a lot done, except that fate, as always, stepped in and urped on my parade.

This weekend, IKEA - found the bookshelves, picked them up at the furniture desk - the third box down says "a piece missing" right on the box... go back in, get another. unpack them in the pickup and schlep pieces up the 3 flights (too heavy to bring up the way they were packed) Spent a few hours putting them up (the piece with the dent is up on top/not visible!) no computer desk. got the foam thingie and had to remember that we now needed new sheets too since the 2 inch pad mean the other fitted sheets didn't fit anymore!

Cat went to the vet, they took blood and he was just the cutie he is, everyone loved him. Then we came home and I tried to get downtown for a meeting - The Fairfax Connector to take me to the Metro didn't come! So I cancelled THAT one. Came home, emailed a couple of resumes answering some ads, and 45 minutes later had an interview lined up! hmm. Then the cat let out this awful sound, he was lying on the carpet not moving, eyes were HUGE and black.. then he wobbled a bit, got up and went about his business. This morning, after eating a lot, urped on the rug (yup I KNEW I forgot something, Resolve Spot Lifter!) and now, sleeping it all off. He scared the crap outa me yesterday.

Today, rescheduled meeting happening and I'll take the shuttle from the apt. complex. So wish me luck.

LAW

Saturday, October 13, 2007

A bed - and internet in house - what more could I want

Well, actually, quite a bit! That's why we are heading for IKEA! or will be when the sun comes up and DH wakes up. Yes, chillun (am I gettin' southern, or what?) we have a bed. It's a bit firm for me, but perfect for himself, so I'm going to get one of those "poofy things" mattress pads, with some memory foam.... if he doesn't like it, I'll slit it open, remove his half and stitch it. Why, you ask?? so the thing stays in place! The big builtin bookcase... well it's built in, so it stayed with the house, and we NEED a bookcase in the living room. and a new computer desk, our design table idea is not working out, so that's on the list... and some bins and organizers and baskets.... Glad we have a big pickup!

I don't like being without my own car. He's inprocessing, (which means running all over the post) and since the State of MN was soooo far behind on registrations, the motorcycle registration has not yet appeared and the base won't allow him to ride it without the permanent registration. So, here I am, sans vehicle. Cat needs to go to the vet, to get an exam prior to having surgery on his little gums, so we are playing the "you come home for "LUNCH", we go to vet, you go back, I head to the Metro for a meeting in the District". Time to job hunt too.

I'm getting used to the little apartment, sorta. If I could just get it all organized! hence the need for a good desk etc.

coffee... need coffee. The commissary has my favourite - Jacobs Kronung. and so many other yummies from Germany and England and Italy. shopping... shopping.

Later. Have a good weekend.

LAW

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

And we made it...

First - we made it safe and sound, after a lot of last minute packing. Since we left the house after noon, we didn't make it to our first stop unitl very late that first night. The cat being the reason we couldn't stop just anywhere, was a pretty good traveler. He did "talk" a lot after being let out of his new comfy box into the motel room, and was put back into the box so we could get some sleep. Holiday Inn in Morris IL... avoid it if possible. The second day was better, except that all the turnpikes in the upper midwest are under construction! Delayed us a bit. Comfort Inn at the Mars/Cranberry exit in PA - Great place to stay. The third day went alright... except I got lost at the 495/395/95 mixing bowl. DH on the other hand didn't. No, I won't live that down, for a while.

Unloading was great! Get Up and Go Movers in this area are fantastic. They were just there to unload, we got 4 guys, and it took 3 hours to get the entire truck unloaded and stowed. They are from Gallaudet and worked like crazy. If you are doing a DITY move, go to emovers.com - can hire folks to just load and unload. not expensive at all. But if you are coming or going from the DC area, go to emovers and get the guys at Get Up and Go. So far, nothing appears to have been broken, course I haven't unpacked it all, there's no place to put it!

Shopping for mattresses - internet/cable - organizing stuff - this is all very expensive! and trying to shove the stuff from a 3,500 sq ft house into this apt... oh my my. I'm losing what's left of my mind. and in this HEAT! On the good side, DH is here.. on the not so good side.. too! Lots of togetherness in a small disorganized box filled apt., and driving around getting lost (oh no one can give decent directions!) and the traffic here freaks me out completely!

To everyone who wished us luck, thank you, we appreciate your good thoughts (and I think it helped!) Back to work now. I am on a slow internet hookup at the "cyber cafe" here at the complex, can't wait to get my own connection!

LAQ