I'm Still Here...

But I look a little like this:

The Navy, God bless them, has thrown us a major curveball - we've actually moved on to Plan I, can you believe it?  Plans A-H are in the trash can.

I've lost track of what I've posted where but here was Plan H:

Moving from Virginia to Washington (me) and Okinawa (Vic).  Flying to Washington in August-September to buy a house, flying back to Virginia to pack up household goods and drive across the country in November, Vic will then fly off to Okinawa and I will live happily ever after in our forever home in Washington.

Can you hear that?  It's the sound of screeching brakes.  On to Plan I.

Vic's orders have been put on hold until summer/fall 2019.  He will stay in Virginia at his current job until then.  Since his orders are on hold, our household goods shipment is cancelled so we can't buy a house in Washington because a) our housing allowance will continue to pay for our Virginia quarters, and b) we'd have nothing to put in the house.  That's ok, you may say, we'll live happily here in Virginia until summer/fall 2019 and then start Plan H all over again.  But, and it's a big BUT, I was offered a job in Washington starting in November, a great job opportunity, back with my old co-workers, a job that is available now and may not be available later.

So, I'm out of here, no we're not getting a divorce, we're just going bi-coastal for a while.  I rented an apartment; Vic and I will drive across the country with whatever we can stuff in the car, pick up the few essential pieces of furniture when we get there - something to sit on, something to sleep on - he'll fly back to Virginia and I'll go off to work.  He has several opportunities to fly back to Washington between now and next summer/fall and will come for the holidays as well and then in summer/fall 2019, we'll look for a house and I'll fly back to Virginia to pack up our household goods.

Thank you to all of you who have reached out via social media to make sure I'm still around.  I appreciate the love.  I'll try to get back to regular blogging but it may be a little while.

Life Last Week 2018-26

After being absent for the month of July, I got back into Life Last Week and then, well, life just got in the way of posting all about it.

The weather:::

 Hot, hot, hot, humid, humid, humid, rain, rain, rain, and then more hot, hot, hot.....you get the picture.

On my reading pile:::
Finished Death of an English Muffin, on to Maisie Dobbs which I'm enjoying immensely so far.

On my TV:::

House of Cards in preparation for the new, final season and more Great British Baking Show, I just can't get enough of Mary and Paul.

Checked off the list:::

• Vic spent a week in California and then was home for a week - he's working his way through his moving to-do list.
• Spouses' group board meeting - our Welcome Social is coming up in September, always a fun time.
• Volunteered at the gift shop and didn't bring too much stuff home with me!
• Sophia is all moved in to her new apartment and cleaning the old one today.
• Applied for mortgage pre-approval for the Washington house - should hear this week.
• Booked our house hunting trip to Washington in September.
• Booked all the hotels for our cross country trip.
• Ordered a BarkBox for Spectra - does anyone else subscribe?
• Inventoried all the kitchen/pantry items in the Christmas room (that's the third bedroom if I haven't mentioned it on here before - the overflow room for Christmas decorations and kitchen/pantry items that won't fit in the kitchen cupboards), all the DVDs, and books.  Working on the china cabinet today and then going upstairs to brave the craft room (the second bedroom) which currently closely resembles the aftermath of a tornado.  My home inventory app is certainly getting a workout.

Crafts roundup:::

Vic's the only crafter in the house right now - he is simultaneously finishing up the loveseat and my vanity.

And in other news:::

I have 11 sets of dishes!  Ok, some of them are only sets for two but still 11????  I need a serious china intervention.  Once we get the house hunting out of the way, I'll have a better idea of kitchen/pantry size and if I have to make some radical changes.

The kitchen/pantry section of the Christmas room

Life Last Week 2018-25

Life Last Week was on hiatus during Christmas in July but I'm back and here's what's been happening Chez Nous.

The weather:::

 More of the ghastly weather we've been having while I've been dreaming of snow at Christmas - it's been in the high 80s and even 90s every day with bursts of torrential rain in the afternoons and evenings that do nothing but make it more humid and leave pools of water that quickly become mosquito breeding grounds.  Have I told you lately how much I loathe the weather here?  What do they say in Game of Thrones, Winter is Coming?  It can't come soon enough for me!

On my reading pile:::
Working my way through this stack minus the Debbie Macomber book which I found out as I started reading it that it is number twelve in the Cedar Cove series.  Need to read 1-11 first.  I'm enjoying Death of an English Muffin.

On my TV:::

Worked my way through Madam Secretary and I'm watching Escape to the Continent on Netflix.  I think I'm going to start When Calls the Heart from the beginning.  Coming out of Christmas in July, I've been watching December Daily You Tube videos to get some inspiration as the products will be available soon.

Checked off the list:::

• Christmas in July was a lot of fun - the Magical Holiday Home Forums members are awesome and we shared some great ideas during the month.
• Vic's been super busy with work and it's not going to slow down anytime soon.  He's been to Florida and New Hampshire since my last update as well as a local inspection and now he's off again.
• I finally turned over the Charities Chair and in keeping with the "I Can't Say No" problem I've had for many years, I agreed to take over as Parliamentarian for my remaining time here to help with the Bylaws Revision process.
• The septic system proposal came in (ka-ching, ka-ching), the house needed to be pressure washed, and the lead inspection was completed with two minor things that need to be corrected.  Spending money on rental house 3, Pamela and Vic 0.
• England made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup and then lost to Croatia.  #itsnotcominghomethistime.
• Managed to get out of Hallmark on Keepsake Ornament Premiere Day without having to take out a second mortgage - 😜
• Vic had a bed bug encounter at the hotel in Florida on the last day he was there (thankfully on the second bed in the room and not the one he was sleeping in) - he reported it to the front desk as he was checking out and the clerk said they would notify the manager (it was too early for him/her to be on site yet).  When the management followed up on the complaint, they said they didn't find anything even though we had photographs.  Since a member of staff was not there to witness the photographs being taken, they declined our complaint.  I wasn't taking any chances.  Everything that couldn't be washed in the hottest water possible was bagged and tossed in the freezer for several days.  Vic needed a new backpack anyway so we tossed that and his suitcase stayed in the garage for a week to be subjected to the heat of a Virginia summer to kill anything that might have made its way in there.  I made several recommendations for future hotel stays - leave your luggage at the door while you strip the bed when you get there, and if you find anything, call the manager and insist that they come up immediately to inspect the findings.  I hope it's not ever an issue again but you have to be prepared.
• This little cutie joined the Washington branch of our family - her name is Spectra and she's so lovable.  Just what Sophia needed to help heal her heart after the loss of MudLynn.  She's two years old, a rescue, and a lab-chihuahua mix although I'm sure she's got some Australian cattle dog in her (those ears!).

Crafts roundup:::

Vic's projects have come to a standstill during his busy travel period.  I haven't done anything to Project Life either.  We are doing a lot of packing, though, does that qualify as a craft?

And in other news:::

We have less than 100 days to go before we are in Washington.  In that time, we have to make a house-hunting trip to Washington, pack out of this house, and start the trek across the country.  A busy couple of months are ahead of us.