3.

K and I have an appointment Feb 7th to have the medical screening done.  The gal said it only takes 15 minutes/ person, so hopefully it will be painless.
Addy also has an appointment on the 7th to have blood work drawn so the amount of rabies vaccine in her blood can be verified.  Once the blood work comes back positive for enough of the vaccine her 180 day quarantine begins and I don't have to take her to another appointment until 10 days before we leave.
The Mr said he spoke with someone that lived in Japan and they said they took MAC (military) flights to some pretty awesome places.  Basically, military (and dependents) can jump on military planes if there's 'space available'.  Which, I think, means that we fly as cargo.  I just looked at Miramar's space available flights and there are some pretty cool places-- Italy, Turkey, Germany, Korea, Guam, Japan, and Portugal as well as various places in the US.  We've heard Japan has flights to Australia and several flights to Europe, so airfare would be free.  The only trouble with flying space available is that 1. you are never guaranteed to be on that plane, so if you're scheduled to go and there's a last minute change you could be stuck and 2. you fly in the cargo area, which I've heard is not too bad because you can bring a sleeping bag and just sleep on the floor in flight.
Military get paid a bit more when they live in Japan because it's expensive to live there, so I'm hoping that if I can shop frugally we'll be able to take some of that 'extra' pay and travel every now and then.  It would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing... I'm thinking moving there could have it's perks.

2.

Made a decent amount of progress today!  Picked up my EFM paperwork, requested K’s medical records (they say it will take 15 days- yikes!), picked up paperwork from my pulmonologist and gynecologist, went to a dr. appointment and K had a playdate at the park. Did you catch all of that?  K and I went to FIVE different offices today.  My house is a mess, but that’s ok, that’s what tomorrow is for!

People have asked me if I’m excited about going.  The answer that flies out of my mouth is no.  Right now I’m looking at all the things I stand to lose by moving: seeing my parents just about every 3 weeks, my church, seeing our Chicago family & friends (and all the things we will be overseas for like my brother's graduation, Jared's 21st birthday in Vegas, Ethan's 1st birthday.... those are all within like the first year), my familiarity/ comfort with my life here… 

It’s funny, really.  I hated California when I moved here.   I wanted to move back to Chicago after 6 weeks of being here. The people aren’t warm like they are back home.  People in San Diego are very good at keeping their distance until disaster strikes. I’ve been through wildfires, earthquakes, and a county-wide blackout.  People come together to make it through the crisis of the moment and it feels wonderful.  It feels like home; but then things go back to normal, well, California-normal and it gets cold.   But I’ve come to love it here.  What California lacks in warmth it makes up for in endless opportunities.  There is so much to see here and and endless list of things to do.  I always tell visitors I could keep them busy for a month and I wouldn’t even scratch the surface of what San Diego has to offer and I'm not exaggerating.  I can’t imagine leaving here.  I will miss it deeply.

I know once we get to Japan and get settled into our life I will find things to love.  I’ll have more patience for Japan because California taught me that even if somewhere doesn’t have the familiar ‘home feel’ when I get there it doesn’t mean I can't find a new definition of what home feels like.  I will adjust.  We all will. It just may take a little while. 

[I’ve been told, over and over again, people who go to Japan end up loving it there and don’t want to come back.  I’m fairly certain I will never feel like that. ]

In telling family and friends about this blog I realized not everyone is on the same page, so here’s where we stand:

The Mr has orders to report to Okinawa NLT (No Later Than… I love the military’s passion for acronyms.  It’s fun.) May 31.  I believe he gets 30 days leave before his report date.  We haven’t decided how we’re going to spend that time yet.

Here is how this situation may play out:

1.  We all pass our medical screening by Navy medicine and we go to Japan for 3 years.

2.  I fail our medical screening, can’t go, and a) the Mr is sent to Japan for 1 year by himself or b) the monitor (the man who decides where to send Marines) scraps the Japan orders altogether and sends us somewhere else. 

I’m planning for situation 1 and hoping for situation 2b.  Through it all, I know God is in control and if He puts me in Japan then that is where I am supposed to be.  I have peace with whatever happens.  I’m not saying it won’t be hard and I’m not sad about going, but I have peace about it and that is a great blessing.

First Orders

It's finally official.  The Mr has orders to move our little family to Japan.  I've decided to take you with us as we go through all the steps to PCS (which is the military's acronym for Permanent Change of Station).  Right now here's what's on my plate:

• Gather all of my medical records, K's too.  Sounds easy enough, but I have 5 doctors and one dentist to get records from and 1 doctor for K.  I also have to get my EFM (Exceptional Family Member) paperwork because the military requires all dependents with asthma to register in this program.  It's their way of keeping tabs on people with special health considerations.
• Go to Naval medical screening to see if I will be given the ok to go.  We've heard that family members aren't allowed to go to Japan if they have asthma due to the high incidence of mold in the military housing (pretty much everyone lives on base) as well as the high humidity in the summer months.  I've also been told that having asthma is no problem and the Navy will (happily) send me.
• Continue the course to get Addy ok'd to go over there.  So far she's had her annual exam and shots plus a rabies vaccine ($184).  Then this week she got the second rabies vaccine ($22).  In two weeks she goes back for FVN  (don't ask what that acronym is-- I have no clue) titer ($87) to make sure she has an insane amonut of the rabies vaccine flowing through her.  Apparently, Okinawa is a rabies-free island and they really like to make sure it stays that way.  Once the FVN comes back at an acceptable level she begins her 'quarantine' which is the military's way of saying she's under a vet's care for 6 months.   I always thought being quarantined meant she had to sit in a crate, but she gets to stay home with us.
• I need to apply for a no-fee passport for me & K.  It's done on base, so I'm hoping it will be done on time, but I know passports take a while.  We'll have to get K a tourist passport, too, because no-fee passports are only good on official orders; which means, basically, they'll get us to Japan then we can't leave. :)

Things we will have to do in the near future:

• Arrange a trip back home to say goodbye. That is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done.
• Sell cars-- no use in storing them for 3 years and we can't take them with us.
• Sell furniture?  Is it really worth it to store (paid for by the military) couches and beds for 3 years?  From what I understand we don't want to take too much furniture because the homes out there are really tiny.  Also, if TMO (another military acronym for the people that move stuff) damages our stuff they have to reimburse us, but I've also been told that they pay the current market price of that item, which means we would get little to no money for our 4 yr old tv if they damaged it.
• Change insurance companies.  State Farm says they can't cover us.  I also need to find out who insures our things as we move.  Where do I get coverage for our camera?  How do I find renters and car insurance in Japan?
• Change banks?  Do they have Wells Fargo in Okinawa?
• Change cell phone companies?  Makes me sad because I've had that cell number since I was 16.