POV: Personally Owned Vehicle

 Yesterday we switched out our only car for a rental.  Our cute little Toyota is now on its way to Spain!! 

We arrived around 8 at Enterprise to rent a car, and after about 10, maybe 15 minutes, Al and I drove our cars over to the Military Vehicle Processing Center.  After a bunch of paperwork and about 2 hours our car was inspected (making sure to document all the 1,000,000 little scratches and dents) and she was on her way!  On a side note, I figured it was time to name my car.. I know it's kind of silly, but she's been so good to us over the past 4+ years, and just in case she falls off the side of the boat on the way over, she will be known as Lucy! 

 

 We drove off in our temporary rental, a Kia Rio.  It's got a lot more bells and whistles than our car, considering ours has crank windows, manual locks, and, the biggest issue to my husband, no cruise control.  That being said, I still prefer mine.  There's just something about accelorating on an on ramp that isn't as satisfying with an automatic.  I'll miss my manual transmission for sure!

I feel a small sense of relief knowing the first big step is complete.  Our first item is on its way across the ocean to our new home.  What's better is that the woman at the office told us the 45-60 day travel time is a longer estimation to cover any issues with the trip and that the usual time to get from here to there is less than 30 days!  That means our car will get there very soon after Al gets over there, and the 2 weeks I'll be without it, I can probably rely on my feet, my bike, or public transportation.  With the car arriving earlier than expected, it will help immensely in house/apartment hunting and touring around to see our new home country! 

I've been very tired lately due to stress and it's been impacting my cleaning and fitness schedules that I usually keep for myself, but with this big step taken care of, I feel some of the weight has lifted off my shoulders.  There is still a lot to do, but the ball is rolling now.  Hopefully by the end of the week we'll have my flight information, and in approximately 2 weeks I'll be saying a temporary farewell to so many comforts the US has to offer.  I will throw myself into Spanish culture and find new comforts... like Fanta Limón!!! 

Deployment, Texas, and Backbends

Photo credit: Sarah Street Photography (Facebook and website)

My husband and I said goodbye earlier this month as I headed off to Texas and he headed off to his first ship deployment.  During our first separation, he went off to basic training.  During the 2 months, there were letters, a few phone calls for good behavior, and I had researched Navy basic training to see what he would be going through day to day.  I was working 2 jobs and would sometimes hop on Google maps at the end of the day to calm my mind by looking at where he was at the moment (my version of looking at the moon and knowing your loved one can see the same moon.. it gave me a sense of connection to him).  I spent all my free time exercising and writing letters (we have a HUGE folder full of boot camp letters).

Reunited after bootcamp

Our second separation was for my husband's IA (Individual Augmentee - being sent somewhere for a set amount of time to perform a job).  He went to Bahrain for what was suppose to be 9 months, but miraculously turned into only 6.  This was the longest separation, but was made easier by daily skype or phone calls.  With not much else to do besides his daily work shift, we talked for 1-2 hours at least once a day, but usually twice.  I spent my time exercising and traveling back and forth to my parents' home in western NY. 

Reunited after 6 months in Bahrain

This first official deployment has been the hardest on me so far.  Not knowing where he is, or what it's like to be on a ship has not allowed me that comfort I used to have during our past separations.  I also have been limited to short emails. No phone calls or Skype out in the ocean.  I'm looking forward to the ship going to different ports because that will mean I can (hopefully) get a phone call, or better yet, Skype.  Until then, I wait, and curse deployments daily.

To keep myself busy, I planned a trip to Texas, which knocked out 2 birds with one stone since I wanted to see her before I left for Spain anyways.  To make things better, we were able to coordinate my visit with her baby shower!  She's 34 weeks along as of this past Monday, and I was grateful to see her in this stage of her life, as she's the closest thing I'll ever have to a sister.  We met each other in preschool, and have been friends ever since (with a few sisterly spats along the way).  With some complications putting her on bed rest, her mother has been staying with her to help out.  With my visit, her mother took the chance to go home to NY and spend time with her husband, so I took over the cooking and cleaning.  Every day my friend would complain over me working in her home and not relaxing and enjoying my vacation.  I was her guest after all.  I would explain to her over and over that I didn't mind cooking or cleaning, and it kept me busy, which is a must when trying not to think of deployments.  I got to help organize the nursery and more importantly, I got to spend time with my best friend.  Long talks, some laughs, and lots of reminiscing.

My best friend and her adorable baby belly! So gorgeous!

During all of these events, I've been participating in a March daily yoga challenge to improve my back bends.  Every day a new pose is posted on instagram by the three host yoginis (beginner and advanced versions) and the goal of each pose is to either strengthen the back or increase the flexibility, or both.

If all goes to plan, I should be able to find out my travel itinerary for my move on May 1st. Until then, I'll be keeping busy with yoga, cardio, strength/circuit training, and visiting with family.

~ Until Next Time ~

The Runaround

Sometimes me + stress = crazy lady breakdown.  My yoga keeps me in check usually, but sometimes the buildup finally breaks through the wall.

To start things off, in my previous post I had explained my frustrations with the Air Force base hospital and how they gave me the final answer of "yes, we can do your overseas screening".  Well, a day before my follow up appointment, they called and said, "turns out we can't do your screening after all, so we'll cancel your appointment and leave your paperwork at the front desk to pick up".  So I went in to pick up my paperwork, sent a message to my ombudsman to inform her of this in case anyone else was in the similar situation, and she told me to contact a medical representative on the ship that was handling all the paperwork.  After not reaching her, I was again in a state of limbo.  I picked up my paperwork, was told that if the answer changed again, I could just make another appointment.  From there, I thought I would drop by the records office to pick up my civilian records that are hopefully there, that indicate the vaccinations I received before the Navy life.  Due to an impending "snow storm" (which in Virginia meant some wind, and an inch of snow later that night), the Records Office was closed for the day.. which, as a Western New Yorker, is frustrating.  2 feet of snow in NY and hardly the schools close.  This was all on Tuesday.

Today is Thursday.  I finally heard back from the medical representative, after a follow up email, and I do have to go to the Navy hospital after all.  I also have to go to the Navy Dental Clinic, even though I was told the civilian one would be fine.  I hope they just look over the report from my dentist and simply sign off on it.

On a separate note, but no less frustrating, I'm trying to get my motorcycle license.  I took the Basic Rider Course through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation on base here in Virginia, and was told the licensing was different state to state.  When we went to Maine for Christmas, my husband, who had also taken the course, walked into the Maine DMV and 5 minutes later walked out with a new license, complete with the motorcycle endorsement.  When I went into the NY DMV later that week, I had to take the written permit test, call a number, fill out a form, pay some money, then left with only my permit.  I called the number they gave me, and I was told that NY did have an agreement with the military to accept the out of state BRC (Basic Rider Course), and I had to email my military ID, NY State License, BRC card, a memo saying I passed my written and riding course, and I think that might've been it.  I would then receive a waiver in the mail that I could forward to the NY DMV to get my license sans riding/driving test.  When I sent this email, I got back a disappointing response, the gist of which was that since I wasn't active duty and only a dependent, I could not get the waiver.

This is the type of motorcycle I got to ride for my course.

My husband has a dream to ride motorcycles around Spain while we are there, so I had to look for my next option... which is to transfer my NY license to a Virginia license.  Today I went to the DMV here in Virginia to do that.  I knew I needed a couple forms of ID and something that proves I live in Virginia.  So I showed up with my SS card, my NY license, my military ID, and my car insurance cards which have my name and address on them.  The first time in, I was sent away because the SS card wasn't good enough.  I needed my passport or birth certificate.  Okay, fine.  Drive back to the apartment, obtain passport from filing cabinet.  Back to the DMV, round 2.  Oh, the car insurance cards are one of the only things they don't accept for proof of address.  Do I have anything else? No, I pay all my bills electronically, and everything else is in my husband's name.  Well, I'll have to print out a bill from one of the credit cards or insurance bills that I have.

Frustrated and emotionally tired from all the back and forths I've dealt with this week/month, I made it to the car before I started crying.

Time for a break, some Starbucks, making sure my eyes and nose aren't red or puffy for the license picture, journaling my frustrations into this blog, and then I will go back to the DMV for round 3: FIGHT!

Needles and Paperwork

Today was exhausting.  I went in to the military hospital for a 7:30am appointment (showing up 15 minutes early as requested) and left shortly after 10:00.  Part of the problem is that I am a Navy Dependent going to an Air Force hospital.  When we moved here, there were no primary care physicians available at the Navy hospital, so my next option was the much closer, much friendlier Air Force hospital, which up until now has been fantastic.

Upon calling to make my overseas screening appointment, the clinic was pretty wishy-washy, but they set up an appointment anyways.  When I gave my paperwork to the doctor, he had never seen that precise form before and didn't know if he was able to fill them out for me.  When he called his department, they didn't quite know the answers either, and so his department had to call another department (I'm guessing a Navy department?).  Well, after an hour of waiting, I was told that it could be done. I could get my screening done there.  The catch was that I have to return next week for a different appointment.

On some of my checklists I have seen a spot for immunizations, so I decided to make a trip to the Immunization clinic.  At each spot in the hospital, you either sign in via chart or by pulling a number.  This means more waiting.  So I waited at the Immunization clinic, told them what I was trying to get done, and having nothing about my past immunizations or what I need in their computer, I was sent over to the Public Health Clinic.  

The Public Health Clinic met me with another wait, and then a very friendly and helpful women who  set me up with a list of required shots and blood tests.  I was also given a short location based briefing, and since Spain is very similar to the US, basically it was just advice on hygiene (wash hands, wear bug spray, etc).

Next was a trip to the Laboratory where I saw my second longest wait of the day.  Finally my number was called which allowed me to officially sign in, and then I waited again for my name to be called.  I had blood drawn to see if I had enough resistance to the chicken pox virus, as well as the measles/mumps/rubella viruses.

After the lab, I returned to the Immunization Clinic, where I thought the instructions were updated from the Public Health Clinic, but I was wrong.  They seemed surprised that I had no vaccines on record.  The last time I needed any vaccinations was for college (I think in 2009) and before that was for another college in 2004.  None have been done through the military.  I've never had any reason to until now.  Because of that, there is no record in there computer (probably only a physical record that would require some digging on their part), and I was sent away until after my follow up appointment next week, or until after my blood tests come back.

3 hours of waiting and running around from clinic to clinic.  Thank goodness they were all in the same building!  This exhausting experience put me on the couch with a severe headache for most of the day.  After a nap and some relaxing crochet work, I meandered over to the Dentist's Office, which is conveniently located right in front of our apartment complex, and retrieved my paperwork... so at least that's done!  I am officially "suitable for the overseas assignment", or at least my teeth are. :D

All said and done, I'm at least a couple steps closer to completing my to-do list.  

~Til next time~

My To-Do List

When I moved out to Illinois, I quit my job, packed up my car, loaded some things in my dad's car, and hit the road, tossing in a change of address form in there along the way.

When I moved from Illinois to Virginia (my first military move), it became slightly more complicated with scheduling the moving company to come take our things, and searching for a place to live via the internet and Google maps.  Simple enough.  We were fully moved into our new place within about a month and a half of finding out we were moving, which seemed even shorter since we stopped home in NY for a week or two in between.

Now moving overseas, I feel a little overwhelmed with the huge pile of papers in front of me.  I've put them into several neat piles, all with sticky notes and paper clips.  I have to see a doctor and a dentist to make sure they're not sending someone over that needs countless medical or dental procedures.  Along with that comes many forms, as well as checklists.

In addition to the medical stuff, there is the applications for the government passport (regardless of the regular tourist passport I already have), the transportation of the car, and the transportation of me! ... all which come with their own paperwork and/or appointments.

Although I'm not currently working on any orders for my home business, I'm keeping busy.  If I'm not filling papers out, I'm looking up information.  Information on the city, the base, the country, and I'm following posts and articles relating to my paperwork and my move.

When I get to Spain, the "to-do"s go on... get a Spanish license, get a Spanish bank account and ID number (in order to get a new cell phone plan, rent an apartment or house or do much else on town as a local), along with all the waiting and the in-betweens.  It will be at least a month after I get there before I get my household goods or my car, so I'll have to stay in the Navy Inn or the temporary housing provided, and I'll need to rent a car.

Of course I'll keep posting as things develop, but I'm not usually the waiting type. I like to be proactive instead of waiting around for things to happen.  The Navy doesn't make this an easy trait to have when you're a spouse. :p

So here I'll sit, journaling my thoughts during my breaks of paperwork and research.....

~To be continued~