Friday, September 7, 2012
Graydon's birthday dilemma
After we recieve our hard copy of orders which should be the middle of October, we can call TMO to let them know the date to come pack up our house. We are allowed up to 60 days out before we leave to get our house packed. We could do that, or have two shipments. First shipment would be unaccompanied baggage which would be pots, pans, sheets, ect. Then a few weeks later, TMO will come pack up everything else. I honestly would rather them come get it all at once, so it will be there, or almost, by the time we arrive. The reason we can start 60 days out is because it takes roughly 45-90 days for our shipment to arrive in Europe. In the meantime, we can borrow loaner furniture from the military at our current base and at Aviano. The sooner the shipping, the faster you get it. Sounds good, right? Eh, maybe. 60 days out from the time we leave is October 20ish. Whoa. Yes, the October that is next month! Seriously?! NEXT MONTH?! Umm what the heck am I supposed to do about Graydon's birthday? We already have to tweak Christmas, now Graydon's 1st birthday, too? We were planning to get him a scoot along metal bi plane that Kevin and I both have fallen in love with. Do we give it to him early? Wait until we arrive in Aviano to give it to him? What do we do? I like the first idea better, but the whole giving it to him to get it packed up doesn't really fly either. What about his birthday party? Every child deserves a party. Right? RIGHT! I can let guests know Graydon does not need anything just to help him celebrate his big 1st year of life, but if you absolutely want to give him a present (because you always have those overly sweet friends and family that give anyway), make it money or a giftcard from a store that ships to APO addresses? Is that tacky? He can't actually get presents because again, all our house and toys will be packed up already and on their way to Italy. There is however, a Toys R Us in Austria. Should I write this on his invitations in case someone wants to give him a giftcard? Oy. What to do. What to do.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Shipping our vehicle.
About a week ago I attended a Smooth Move Briefing the Air Force offers to all families PCSing. Kevin had just gotten off work, and both kiddos were sick so I decided it would be best if I went solo. It was very informative, and I highly suggest going if you are about to move. Kevin and I have been wondering how the whole shipping our car would go, and how much in advance we would need/want to ship it. I was told the earlier the better since it can take up to 90 days to get your car when you move. Since we are 20 minutes north of base and only have one car now, we couldn't ship it too early because Kevin would not have a way to work. When I sat down at Smooth Move, a NCO that was sitting behind me who happened to also be moving to Aviano told me we absolutely HAVE to take it San Diego or LA to ship our car. Makes sense. It is the closest port to us. Until the briefing started, I had the worst gut feeling just thinking how the heck we were going to drive to San Diego, get back, and out process the final days we were at Luke. After TMO (movers) started talking, that horrible gut feeling subsided. Since we're moving to Europe which is East, we are allowed to drive toward our destination. Since we are going home to Tennessee for Christmas before we move, we can drive our car to the Atlanta port for our car to be shipped (There are only 5-10 car ports in the US and Atlanta is one of them) and use Nashville or the Atlanta air port to fly out of when our vacation comes to an end. Majority of people fly out of Baltimore, but we are really hoping needing it to be Nashville or Atlanta. The only way we can do that though is if it's cheaper for the Air Force. If it isn't cheaper, Kevin is going to talk to TMO to see if we can pay the difference! Fingers crossed!!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Graydon
My baby is 9 months old today! Where has the time gone? Really, where the hell has it gone? I just posted I was pregnant 2 months ago...or so it seems. He is such a blessing and has the sweetest personality. He has started doing this granny grin (the only way I can explain it) where his face scrunches all up, he tilts his head back, and all you can see is his teeth. If I'm lucky, he will start giggling while doing it and try to catch my attention. PRECIOUS!
He can now ARMY CRAWL! Hey! Better than I thought he would be able to do since he is so massive. He is getting quick, too! He is pulling up on everything as well! Pulling Dvds out or pulling pots out of cabinets is his absolute favorite thing to do right now.
The other night when he was playing dentist with my mouth, he kept poking my nose. I started poking his and saying "nose...nose" I let him down for a little bit while I was cooking, and when I was finished I put him back in my lap and asked him where my nose was? He poked it! Maybe that was coincidence, but the next morning when I went into his room I bent over his crib, I asked again and he found it. Coincidence or not, I'm going to keep working with him on finding features of the face!
Lastly, a couple days ago we were having pizza for supper. Noah was sitting in the floor and all of a sudden I heard her dramatic cry. I look over, and yup, head tilted back and doing the top-notch-telling-on-you cry. I look closer, Graydon crawled to her plate and stole her pizza. Half of the pizza was in his mouth while the other half was mashed in his hands. I decided to cut him up a piece and he did wonderfully with it. I guess he wanted something different than the all organic food he has been getting ;)
He can now ARMY CRAWL! Hey! Better than I thought he would be able to do since he is so massive. He is getting quick, too! He is pulling up on everything as well! Pulling Dvds out or pulling pots out of cabinets is his absolute favorite thing to do right now.
The other night when he was playing dentist with my mouth, he kept poking my nose. I started poking his and saying "nose...nose" I let him down for a little bit while I was cooking, and when I was finished I put him back in my lap and asked him where my nose was? He poked it! Maybe that was coincidence, but the next morning when I went into his room I bent over his crib, I asked again and he found it. Coincidence or not, I'm going to keep working with him on finding features of the face!
Lastly, a couple days ago we were having pizza for supper. Noah was sitting in the floor and all of a sudden I heard her dramatic cry. I look over, and yup, head tilted back and doing the top-notch-telling-on-you cry. I look closer, Graydon crawled to her plate and stole her pizza. Half of the pizza was in his mouth while the other half was mashed in his hands. I decided to cut him up a piece and he did wonderfully with it. I guess he wanted something different than the all organic food he has been getting ;)
Medical Board Meeting
We had our medical board meeting yesterday. Nerve racking was an understatement. Kevin didn't have to go, but he's my rock and I needed him there with me. When we arrived on the 3rd floor of the hospital, there was another couple waiting to be seen. They looked more nervous than me. It made me think 1. I got this or 2. I need to get more nervous! This is the moment of truth if we get to move abroad or not. My dream of visiting moving to Europe was either going to come true or crushed into a million little pieces.
Next thing I heard was the young airman ask if we were ready. Let me tell you she was the true definition of "military-woman-that-hates-all-civilian-wives" until I told her that I graduated college and what my degree was in. (Normal behavior of a military women. Happens a ton if they assume you don't do anything with your life and just mooch off your husband's check. NOT COOL.) She too had an interest in Mortuary Science and tried to do it through the military. We hit it off after that. HA! Anyways, we went back to the conference room where the doctor/commander of the hospital, doctor in the special needs department, and the airman were. "No Psychologist?! Whaaaat?!" Everyone that I talked to who had anxiety said a psychologist was present, but I'm assuming since I was not on medication or have never seen a counselor, they didn't feel the need to have one.
They started off with the kids and how healthy they were. They asked if they were on any medication. I spoke up and said, "Noah was on acne medication." The commander started flipping through files abnoxiously. "Crap. My big mouth always gets me in trouble" was what I thought." I told her the situation when she asked and she said that it wasn't a big deal. Heck, I didn't want them to pull a fast one on me, and as soon as I said no, they would say, "Well Mrs. Cheney, it looks like Noah is on medication."
Before they started asking me questions, they asked if I was comfortable with my family being in there while I talked about my health. I told them I didn't mind. I had absolutely nothing to hide. The commander who was running the show asked if I was on medications, went to mental health, or have anxiety issues now. She then asked exactly how that appointment went down 2 years ago. No shame, I Told her the whole appointment was because of an allergic reaction to formaldehyde and... Before I could finish, she asked if I saw the funeral home reality show and if I hadn't I needed to watch it ASAP! Yes, I didn't even get to finish the details of the appointment. Next thing I know a big PASSED was stamped on my medical papers, and we were good to go.
Now I see how silly it was for me to worry the last month over and issue that wasn't an issue. WHEW. Glad that is over!
Next thing I heard was the young airman ask if we were ready. Let me tell you she was the true definition of "military-woman-that-hates-all-civilian-wives" until I told her that I graduated college and what my degree was in. (Normal behavior of a military women. Happens a ton if they assume you don't do anything with your life and just mooch off your husband's check. NOT COOL.) She too had an interest in Mortuary Science and tried to do it through the military. We hit it off after that. HA! Anyways, we went back to the conference room where the doctor/commander of the hospital, doctor in the special needs department, and the airman were. "No Psychologist?! Whaaaat?!" Everyone that I talked to who had anxiety said a psychologist was present, but I'm assuming since I was not on medication or have never seen a counselor, they didn't feel the need to have one.
They started off with the kids and how healthy they were. They asked if they were on any medication. I spoke up and said, "Noah was on acne medication." The commander started flipping through files abnoxiously. "Crap. My big mouth always gets me in trouble" was what I thought." I told her the situation when she asked and she said that it wasn't a big deal. Heck, I didn't want them to pull a fast one on me, and as soon as I said no, they would say, "Well Mrs. Cheney, it looks like Noah is on medication."
Before they started asking me questions, they asked if I was comfortable with my family being in there while I talked about my health. I told them I didn't mind. I had absolutely nothing to hide. The commander who was running the show asked if I was on medications, went to mental health, or have anxiety issues now. She then asked exactly how that appointment went down 2 years ago. No shame, I Told her the whole appointment was because of an allergic reaction to formaldehyde and... Before I could finish, she asked if I saw the funeral home reality show and if I hadn't I needed to watch it ASAP! Yes, I didn't even get to finish the details of the appointment. Next thing I know a big PASSED was stamped on my medical papers, and we were good to go.
Now I see how silly it was for me to worry the last month over and issue that wasn't an issue. WHEW. Glad that is over!
Friday, August 10, 2012
The Family
Noah
A couple weeks ago Noah had been talking nonstop about a pj party. She wanted nail polish, pillow fights, pizza, cupcakes, movies, and hot cocoa. Why not do it that night?! We went to walmart and got all our supplies! We had an absolute blast.
She will be starting gymnastics for the first time in September and tee ball for her second year in October! I am beyond excited to watch our baby be part of a team...again!
Graydon
Graydon is as sweet as ever! He loves food, but hates to be fed by spoon. He wants to do it all by himself. We have been cubing and steaming squash, zucchinni, carrots, sweet potatoes, or apples for his meals along with ground turkey and shredded chicken. He can now go from laying down to sitting up! Also, last night he kind of took a crawl. How can you kind of crawl, you may ask? He was on all fours and put one knee forward, then the next. He fell over soon after that, but that's not the point. HA! He hasn't got the mechanics down, but he will get there! He had his medical clearance yesterday, and unlike mine, it went SO well. I love his pediatrician. We see eye to eye on what's best for my children and their health. To be honest, their pediatrician was one of the only things I was going to miss about Luke AFB until we told him where we are pcsing to. He too will be joining us at Aviano except 6 months after we get there! Oh how I hope I can pull him to be our children's pediatrician again!
Kevin
Kevin has been busy at work a lot lately. He is waiting to switch over to days for his final months at Luke. It will be much easier with out processing. He will be testing for Tech Sgt come early 2013. He did a practice test about a month ago online and scored an 80 which is fantastic since he hadn't even studied. Even though most people don't make it on their first time testing since it is the hardest test you test for, I still have faith in him.
He just started his baseball season a couple weekends ago. I think he is realizing this will be his final season playing baseball and will have to switch completely to softball. I won't hear him complain too much I'm sure. Who doesn't love softball?...and beer?
Cheyenne
I have been awesome! I am 1.5 months clean...from the tanning bed! Yes! I have not tanned for over a month. I canceled my membership not only to save money, but to be healthy and healthy looking for my children! Go me! Other news in my life, Kevin bought me a brand new, only 17 miles on it, GMC Terrain! I absolutely LOVE it! Did we absolutely need it? No. Is it safer? Helping us save money and not worry about what we are going to do with the Tundra? Yes. We were planning on selling the Tundra before we moved which meant we would take my Mazda 3. Kevin knew he will get deployed a ton over there, and he knows I will not mope around the house just because he isn't there. Definitely not my style. He also knows I plan to travel with or without him. Which he is glad so that is the main reason we made the purchase. He didn't want me to break down in a country I didn't know the language with a car that had a ton of miles and no warranty. At first, I didn't like the idea, but the more he explained the more I was jumping on board. What if I did break down and he wasn't there? Then what? This car has onstar and a warranty that will hold up in Italy! Plus doing it this way, we killed two birds with one stone so to speak.
Also, I finally took the plunge and bought an Ergo baby carrier! I seriously do not know how the heck I haven't bought one before now. I love it! It is seriously the most comfortable thing I have ever tried on. Even Kevin loves it! Not only is it comfortable, it can hold our 4 year old! Yes, we put Noah in it! Ha! Not that we would put her in it when we are out, I just needed to see if the box was telling the truth! Such an awesome investment for our family!
A couple weeks ago Noah had been talking nonstop about a pj party. She wanted nail polish, pillow fights, pizza, cupcakes, movies, and hot cocoa. Why not do it that night?! We went to walmart and got all our supplies! We had an absolute blast.
She will be starting gymnastics for the first time in September and tee ball for her second year in October! I am beyond excited to watch our baby be part of a team...again!
Graydon
Graydon is as sweet as ever! He loves food, but hates to be fed by spoon. He wants to do it all by himself. We have been cubing and steaming squash, zucchinni, carrots, sweet potatoes, or apples for his meals along with ground turkey and shredded chicken. He can now go from laying down to sitting up! Also, last night he kind of took a crawl. How can you kind of crawl, you may ask? He was on all fours and put one knee forward, then the next. He fell over soon after that, but that's not the point. HA! He hasn't got the mechanics down, but he will get there! He had his medical clearance yesterday, and unlike mine, it went SO well. I love his pediatrician. We see eye to eye on what's best for my children and their health. To be honest, their pediatrician was one of the only things I was going to miss about Luke AFB until we told him where we are pcsing to. He too will be joining us at Aviano except 6 months after we get there! Oh how I hope I can pull him to be our children's pediatrician again!
Kevin
Kevin has been busy at work a lot lately. He is waiting to switch over to days for his final months at Luke. It will be much easier with out processing. He will be testing for Tech Sgt come early 2013. He did a practice test about a month ago online and scored an 80 which is fantastic since he hadn't even studied. Even though most people don't make it on their first time testing since it is the hardest test you test for, I still have faith in him.
He just started his baseball season a couple weekends ago. I think he is realizing this will be his final season playing baseball and will have to switch completely to softball. I won't hear him complain too much I'm sure. Who doesn't love softball?...and beer?
Cheyenne
I have been awesome! I am 1.5 months clean...from the tanning bed! Yes! I have not tanned for over a month. I canceled my membership not only to save money, but to be healthy and healthy looking for my children! Go me! Other news in my life, Kevin bought me a brand new, only 17 miles on it, GMC Terrain! I absolutely LOVE it! Did we absolutely need it? No. Is it safer? Helping us save money and not worry about what we are going to do with the Tundra? Yes. We were planning on selling the Tundra before we moved which meant we would take my Mazda 3. Kevin knew he will get deployed a ton over there, and he knows I will not mope around the house just because he isn't there. Definitely not my style. He also knows I plan to travel with or without him. Which he is glad so that is the main reason we made the purchase. He didn't want me to break down in a country I didn't know the language with a car that had a ton of miles and no warranty. At first, I didn't like the idea, but the more he explained the more I was jumping on board. What if I did break down and he wasn't there? Then what? This car has onstar and a warranty that will hold up in Italy! Plus doing it this way, we killed two birds with one stone so to speak.
Also, I finally took the plunge and bought an Ergo baby carrier! I seriously do not know how the heck I haven't bought one before now. I love it! It is seriously the most comfortable thing I have ever tried on. Even Kevin loves it! Not only is it comfortable, it can hold our 4 year old! Yes, we put Noah in it! Ha! Not that we would put her in it when we are out, I just needed to see if the box was telling the truth! Such an awesome investment for our family!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Hold up. Wait a minute. That was in MY file?!
Tuesday I had my medical clearance appointment. My Pcm (doctor)had changed. Thank God was what I was thinking, until I met that Bitch. Excuse my language, but I would rather be in a room with Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, and Charles Manson with a table full of knifes than her.
When I walked in the nurse and airman did the normal physical-height, weight, questions. Piece of cake. Soon they left, and said the Cpt. would be in shortly. I heard a knock and young voice say "I'm Cpt. unnamed (just in case for the sake of my husband's career.) I see you have anxiety?" I immediately said, "Not that I'm aware of." The interrogation started. Rudely she asked, "Did you or did you not go to your PCM for anxiety...in 2010" Whoa lady, what are you....wait I.. remember... My old PCM put that down?! Really?!
Let me explain
In 2010 I made an appt. with my old PCM because I was having an allergic reaction to formaldehyde. My hands kept turning blue. Not a light shade of blue, but blueberry snow cone blue. Not normal. Let me add, this was right around finals. As we were finishing up, the doctor did what all doctors do and asked "If there was anything else?" I said I'm kind of stressed. I have finals and I still have 6-7 bodies left to embalm within a week. Seriously, it was almost small talk. He asked if I wanted medicine. I laughed and said absolutely NOT. It would pass in a week. He then said, do you want to go talk to mental health about your stress. I chuckled again, and said nah. I got it. It would pass.
Hell, who has been in college that hasn't been stressed? Better question, who has been to college as a mother, trying to find childcare so she can finish her embalmings, study for finals and didn't get stressed? Yeah, you probably won't find too many people that don't get stressed around finals.
I told the Cpt. the whole story of what had happened. She acted as if I was lying. She wrote quick in my medical clearance papers. Slam dotted the i's and dramatically crossed the t's. She shoved me the papers, and as she walked out, she said, "Have a nice day." Yeah, sure will, lady... What a wuss move. She didn't want to be in the room when I opened the papers? Didn't ask if there was anything else that I needed? Had any concerns? In my opinion, if you pick a profession that deals with people and their health, you should probably 1. like to talk to people 2. have compassion towards people and 3. at least act like you want to listen to people.
I opened the papers to see what on earth she could have put..
Anxiety.
Because of school.
Resolved.
No longer in school.
Zero meds.
No counseling.
That is it.
If you know the military, you know how strict they are about mental health (dang I feel like they are acting like I'm a basket case just typing 'mental health') and moving overseas. They think if you have problems in the states they will be worse overseas. Which I'm absolutely certain that is true. Military life is tough, but for the umpteenth time, I do not have anxiety issues! I feel like this whole thing was blown WAY out of proportion.
Words from my lovely, military best friend, who is now in Japan, that I miss dearly, "Better chill out before you give yourself anxiety and panic attacks from worrying about the anxiety you never had." I suppose she is right, I can't do anything about it now except explain to the scaarrrrrry medical board when we have our meeting.
When I walked in the nurse and airman did the normal physical-height, weight, questions. Piece of cake. Soon they left, and said the Cpt. would be in shortly. I heard a knock and young voice say "I'm Cpt. unnamed (just in case for the sake of my husband's career.) I see you have anxiety?" I immediately said, "Not that I'm aware of." The interrogation started. Rudely she asked, "Did you or did you not go to your PCM for anxiety...in 2010" Whoa lady, what are you....wait I.. remember... My old PCM put that down?! Really?!
Let me explain
In 2010 I made an appt. with my old PCM because I was having an allergic reaction to formaldehyde. My hands kept turning blue. Not a light shade of blue, but blueberry snow cone blue. Not normal. Let me add, this was right around finals. As we were finishing up, the doctor did what all doctors do and asked "If there was anything else?" I said I'm kind of stressed. I have finals and I still have 6-7 bodies left to embalm within a week. Seriously, it was almost small talk. He asked if I wanted medicine. I laughed and said absolutely NOT. It would pass in a week. He then said, do you want to go talk to mental health about your stress. I chuckled again, and said nah. I got it. It would pass.
Hell, who has been in college that hasn't been stressed? Better question, who has been to college as a mother, trying to find childcare so she can finish her embalmings, study for finals and didn't get stressed? Yeah, you probably won't find too many people that don't get stressed around finals.
I told the Cpt. the whole story of what had happened. She acted as if I was lying. She wrote quick in my medical clearance papers. Slam dotted the i's and dramatically crossed the t's. She shoved me the papers, and as she walked out, she said, "Have a nice day." Yeah, sure will, lady... What a wuss move. She didn't want to be in the room when I opened the papers? Didn't ask if there was anything else that I needed? Had any concerns? In my opinion, if you pick a profession that deals with people and their health, you should probably 1. like to talk to people 2. have compassion towards people and 3. at least act like you want to listen to people.
I opened the papers to see what on earth she could have put..
Anxiety.
Because of school.
Resolved.
No longer in school.
Zero meds.
No counseling.
That is it.
If you know the military, you know how strict they are about mental health (dang I feel like they are acting like I'm a basket case just typing 'mental health') and moving overseas. They think if you have problems in the states they will be worse overseas. Which I'm absolutely certain that is true. Military life is tough, but for the umpteenth time, I do not have anxiety issues! I feel like this whole thing was blown WAY out of proportion.
Words from my lovely, military best friend, who is now in Japan, that I miss dearly, "Better chill out before you give yourself anxiety and panic attacks from worrying about the anxiety you never had." I suppose she is right, I can't do anything about it now except explain to the scaarrrrrry medical board when we have our meeting.
The PCS process.
I'm late about writing, but what's new?!
The process of the move (at the time... I have a whole other post about our hold up)has been going wonderfully. The only real problem I've had was with a snotty little brat in TMO (people who plan your move you and book your flights). I know I get ahead of myself and others most of the time, but I'm not one to dilly dally around to say the least.
We are going home for a week or two at Christmas and then we will fly out of Nashville to Baltimore to start our journey to Italy. Kevin and I went to renew our military ids because they were expiring THE next day so it had to be done. On the way out, I told Kev we should go put in for a date to leave. He didn't object. Hell, he never objects. He leaves big matters up to me. He knows I like the work and responsibility because I'm a control freak--and that's the honest truth. While we were walking in to book, I noticed a lady behind the desk looked so upset that we walked in. Stroller and all. It may have been because it was 30 mins before they closed. Still not a legit reason if you ask me. I proceeded to say all we wanted to know was if she could go ahead and write down the day we wanted to leave so we could book our flights home (that would be out of pocket) before we left. THAT.IS.IT. She looked at me like I had two heads or something. As I tried to explain she kept cutting me off mid sentence not letting me get one word in. She also kept saying that they wouldn't have the flight list out until November since we are leaving at the end of December. It was obvious by that point she had zero parents or guardians because she had absolutely NO manners. To make matters worse, we have a friend that leave to go to Aviano as well that already put in to leave November 1. When I told her, she kept saying no. no. no. no they don't. I stormed out. Poor Kev knew he would hear about it for the next week or so. I even asked an official who I go about to 1. get her in trouble and 2.put down the dang day we wanted to leave NOT to book our flights.
Oy. I guess I'll keep calling every few days and be that lady.
The process of the move (at the time... I have a whole other post about our hold up)has been going wonderfully. The only real problem I've had was with a snotty little brat in TMO (people who plan your move you and book your flights). I know I get ahead of myself and others most of the time, but I'm not one to dilly dally around to say the least.
We are going home for a week or two at Christmas and then we will fly out of Nashville to Baltimore to start our journey to Italy. Kevin and I went to renew our military ids because they were expiring THE next day so it had to be done. On the way out, I told Kev we should go put in for a date to leave. He didn't object. Hell, he never objects. He leaves big matters up to me. He knows I like the work and responsibility because I'm a control freak--and that's the honest truth. While we were walking in to book, I noticed a lady behind the desk looked so upset that we walked in. Stroller and all. It may have been because it was 30 mins before they closed. Still not a legit reason if you ask me. I proceeded to say all we wanted to know was if she could go ahead and write down the day we wanted to leave so we could book our flights home (that would be out of pocket) before we left. THAT.IS.IT. She looked at me like I had two heads or something. As I tried to explain she kept cutting me off mid sentence not letting me get one word in. She also kept saying that they wouldn't have the flight list out until November since we are leaving at the end of December. It was obvious by that point she had zero parents or guardians because she had absolutely NO manners. To make matters worse, we have a friend that leave to go to Aviano as well that already put in to leave November 1. When I told her, she kept saying no. no. no. no they don't. I stormed out. Poor Kev knew he would hear about it for the next week or so. I even asked an official who I go about to 1. get her in trouble and 2.put down the dang day we wanted to leave NOT to book our flights.
Oy. I guess I'll keep calling every few days and be that lady.
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