Author: callsignmommy2

We Are Here… but far from settled

We haven’t even gotten to this phase yet…

Howdy! Apologies for the long absence… this move has been a lengthy one.  Here’s how it’s gone down so far:

June 12 – movers arrived for our pack up.
June 13 – the boys and I got in the car (which I literally packed up like a huge suitcase) and drove 5 hours to my parents’ house.  We stayed with them until July 6th.  Yup, that’s almost a month with my parents.  Yes, I spent 18 years with them one time, but that was a long time ago.  This was both wonderful and difficult.  Any time you put adults together in tight quarters, there will be personality conflicts and differences.  Add in a dose of the usual family tension over all the same issues you’ve disagreed about since you were 10.  Now add two rambunctious toddlers.  Yeah.  It was a long month, but it was really great to get to spend so much time with my parents, especially since we are now on the opposite coast.
July 6-12 – Lunchbox, Turbo and I bid my parents farewell and drove another 4 hours to visit the Major’s mom.  We had a great visit there and since she has a slightly bigger house than my folks, I got my own room and en suite bathroom!  It felt like a hotel…
July 12 – In the car again, this time for 8 hours in the opposite direction to visit with the Major’s aunt and uncle, who are VERY kid friendly.  (They have a playhouse built into their backyard and more toys than I have at my house!)  The boys always have a great time there, and they are always wonderfully generous with us (as are the Major’s mom and my parents, too.)  Another great visit.
July 15 – We dropped our car off to be shipped and took up residence in a hotel near the airport.
July 16 – We flew across the country and met the Major on the other side.  A nice 13 hour day… fun stuff. We drove “home” to… the Navy Lodge, where we lived until this past Monday, when we moved into our new, empty house.

Now we are sleeping on the floor, cooking on camping pots and pans and generally squatting in our new house (which I LOVE — the house, I mean, not the camping part).  And maybe, one day soon, we might get our stuff.  And maybe our other car (though it is quite fun driving the Major to work and picking him up every day).  The boys start school next week and boy am I — I mean boy are THEY — ready.  I start work the week after that.  Maybe some of my work clothes will come first.

Regardless, I have a computer again and a place to call “home,” so I should be around a bit more often.  Thanks for waiting and hanging in there with me.  I can’t wait for life to feel “normal” once again!

Still here…

My mind remains partially intact, and both children are still alive. We’ve left my parents… I think they might even let us come visit again someday! We are now staying with The Major’s mom (where I get my own room AND bathroom – heaven!) and will then be off to the LAX area to fly out next weekend! the Major has found us a house, though we’ll have to stay a week in the Navy Lodge… Between a cross country flight on my own with 2 kids and a week in a hotel, I think we will be SO ready for a home! Wish me luck… Any tips on air travel with kids are welcome!!

Mid-PCS — the first thing to go is the mind…

I’m about halfway through my month-long PCS journey. (We’re moving across the country again, this time with our two little boys, and the process of selling the house, finding a new house to live in, and getting everyone there has become kind of a drawn out process.) To fill the time between leaving one place (a small desert town recently named “Satan’s Den” by a friend — not so much for any insidious activities occurring there as for the horrible weather and generally ridiculous heat) and arriving in the other, I’ve scheduled a tour of relative’s homes in the state we are leaving, since it’ll be a while before we get to see them all again. And, if I don’t spend too long with any one set of relatives, there’s a chance we might, someday, be invited back. All this has me basically living out of my trunk, calming confused little boys, and doing my best to keep their behavior at a moderate level of chaos so as not to frighten the relatives or have them too worried about the safety of their delicate possessions, carpets, drywall, etc.

Anyway, today is the first time I’ve found myself in front of a keyboard since departing Satan’s Den, and I have regretted not being able to get here to Call Sign Mommy more often. I haven’t been silent due to a lack of postable events!

My first stop has been with my parents, who stay at a cabin in the beautiful mountains all summer. I grew up in that cabin, really, and I’m so happy to have my little boys up there. But they are missing Daddy and they are confused about why we are here and haven’t gone back home, and it’s been a bit hard for all of us. Thankfully, my parents are patient and helpful — which hasn’t always been the case. Our first long visit, with Turbo almost 2, was not as successful. I suppose, when it’s been 35 years since you last spent significant time with a 2-year-old, you might forget why or how to love a being that is so messy, noisy, dangerous, unpredictable and downright illogical all of the time. But they came around. And Turbo is *mostly* a good little guy these days. There are even moments when he’s helpful. But his questions about our current situation are breaking my heart: “Mommy, is THIS our new house?” “Mommy, when can we go home?” “Mommy, when can I see my friends again?”

I’m actually at my parents “real” house alone now. I’ve come back down the hill to attend my *gasp* 20 year high school reunion. The Major is at the cabin and will come down to attend with me tonight. Since this is the first time in weeks that I’ve had a moment (let alone a whole day) to myself, I’m a little lost. And I initially told him not to hurry down to join me (thinking that I’d be reveling in the peace and quiet). But I find myself hoping he comes sooner. I think that when you spend your life catering to the near constant desires of tiny whiny people, all you really need is five minutes here and there to appreciate the silence. And after that, it starts to feel just wrong. (Although, I could certainly get used to it with some minimal effort!)

Anyway, sorry for the stream of consciousness… I didn’t have much of a plan when I sat down. The reunion should be pretty interesting tonight. Hope to see a keyboard (and you guys) again soon!

Harder than it looks

I may have misjudged the difficulty involved with taking two kids on the road for a month… It isn’t like taking my “at home” kids along. When away from home, all their stuff, and in many cases on schedules that look nothing like their usual routines, these kids are almost unrecognizable. And making me crazy. Right now, Turbo is watching Barney, who has been outlaws in our house up to now. This is a demonstration of my desperation. also, maintaining a blog from an iPad has been something of a challenge… Apologies for the lack of posts. We will be done with this insane transition in mid-July… But I hope to keep things moving here at Call Sign Mommy in the meantime. Thanks for hanging in there with me!