We made it! On Monday, we spent the whole day scrubbing the house before inspection. Everyone told me not to worry about it because our houses were gross to begin with, but of course I didn't listen. I probably spent about 12 hours total scrubbing the stove and oven. The lady didn't even look at them. As I was wiping down the counter tops, she walked through the whole house and told me everything was perfect. She actually told me to stop cleaning.
We cleared post, shipped our car and got a rental car and a hotel room for the 13 hours before our flight. The rental car was much smaller than our Pilot so it was a pretty tight squeeze. Good thing it was only a 15 min drive to the airport. We got to the airport around 4:30AM. I thought I'd have a chance to let the dogs relieve themselves one last time but the dog park was located at another terminal. So the dogs were loaded into their crates for the next 18 hours. The people at the ticket counter had never done a military ticket or pets before so that was interesting. They were supposed to charge us for our extra bag but after trying to charge us for all the bags and counting the dogs twice they gave up.
The flight itself was long but uneventful. They were supposed to tell us when they loaded up the dogs but we had to wait until we got to Salt Lake City to find out whether or not the dogs made it. Our flight made it to Honolulu about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. That was nice. We got a rental car but still needed the assistance of a friend since the dogs have to leave airport property without ever stepping foot out of their crates. I could hear Scout howling from outside the animal holding facility. She didn't stop shaking until a few hours after we got to the hotel. Denny was fine but a little clingy. I was pleasantly surprised that there were no accidents inside the crate.
We're now staying at a hotel that is a little on the dumpy side but allows dogs and even has a tiny dog park that the dogs can do their business in. We even played a little fetch today. We don't have a kitchenette but we have a tiny fridge (no freezer) and a microwave. Sadly, we're already sick of eating out for every meal so we went to the commissary and bought some foods that can be microwaved. Tim is ecstatic that almost every meal on the island comes with rice!
We went to the housing office only to be told there are no prospects for us living on post. They didn't even give us a number...just told us to start looking off post. They even tried to find us a dumpy 2 bedroom. I'm glad that didn't pan out. So the house search starts today. So far the biggest problem is the dogs and the second is that rent is super expensive for these dumpy little places. The good thing is that Tim's willing to commute because there isn't anything available close to post. I think today we'll just kind of drive around and see what's available. Wish us luck!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Time is a flying!
This week has gone by soo quickly. With trying to meet up with people one last time and getting everything done, we've been exhausted. I can't believe we're almost done with this short phase of our lives. Our bags are packed but unfortunately we've had to unpack and repack them since we're still living out of them. The house is halfway clean thanks to my wonderful husband. He swept and mopped almost all the floors as I was packing and organizing. Today will be the bathrooms and kitchen and then we're done. We've been sleeping on an air mattress for 4 nights so far and I am ready to get to a hotel room. I know Tim is because we only have 1 blanket and I hog it every night.
It's sad that I've just only started to meet my neighbors as we're leaving but they have been wonderful! We've borrowed all kinds of things from them and it's just nice to take a short break from the craziness and stand there and chit chat. I've had to watch a child for a few minutes here and there, but nothing I'm not already used to. I even got to go out for a little girl time with one of my neighbors. She just had her third child a few months back so girl time is hard to come by for her.
The dogs are going crazy. They can't figure out why we no longer sleep in the bedroom and have closed off that side of the house completely. They're getting used to sleeping in their crates every night. I think if we had carpet they would just sleep on that but the linoleum/tile stuff is not working for them. The fence has been taken down so they can only go out one at a time and there's no play time in the backyard anymore. Thank goodness the dog park is still available to them.
Last night my friends threw me a little goodbye party. It wasn't much of a "party" because 3 people couldn't make it so it was just the 4 of us but we had a blast! We actually stayed up until 2AM just talking. Unfortunate for Tim, since he had to come pick me up at 2:30AM. He was invited, he just had plans with some of his friends. Most of these girls I've only known for a short period of time but I'm really going to miss them. I wish we had met earlier on in my time here but I know the more time we spend together, the harder it would be to leave.
Tomorrow we move out of our house and head to Atlanta. I can't believe it's really happening! I've decided to really make an effort to post pictures when I start blogging again. Not sure it's going to happen in the first few months since I'm pretty sure I packed the camera cords but I'm going to try. As I was reading through some blogs yesterday I just realized how much more enjoyable pictures make it. I'm also going to change the web address because this blog really isn't about us. It's all about me. Don't worry, I'll give y'all a heads up when I decide to do that.
Bye Bye South! You've treated me well for the past 4 years. I hope they have sweet tea in Hawaii!
It's sad that I've just only started to meet my neighbors as we're leaving but they have been wonderful! We've borrowed all kinds of things from them and it's just nice to take a short break from the craziness and stand there and chit chat. I've had to watch a child for a few minutes here and there, but nothing I'm not already used to. I even got to go out for a little girl time with one of my neighbors. She just had her third child a few months back so girl time is hard to come by for her.
The dogs are going crazy. They can't figure out why we no longer sleep in the bedroom and have closed off that side of the house completely. They're getting used to sleeping in their crates every night. I think if we had carpet they would just sleep on that but the linoleum/tile stuff is not working for them. The fence has been taken down so they can only go out one at a time and there's no play time in the backyard anymore. Thank goodness the dog park is still available to them.
Last night my friends threw me a little goodbye party. It wasn't much of a "party" because 3 people couldn't make it so it was just the 4 of us but we had a blast! We actually stayed up until 2AM just talking. Unfortunate for Tim, since he had to come pick me up at 2:30AM. He was invited, he just had plans with some of his friends. Most of these girls I've only known for a short period of time but I'm really going to miss them. I wish we had met earlier on in my time here but I know the more time we spend together, the harder it would be to leave.
Tomorrow we move out of our house and head to Atlanta. I can't believe it's really happening! I've decided to really make an effort to post pictures when I start blogging again. Not sure it's going to happen in the first few months since I'm pretty sure I packed the camera cords but I'm going to try. As I was reading through some blogs yesterday I just realized how much more enjoyable pictures make it. I'm also going to change the web address because this blog really isn't about us. It's all about me. Don't worry, I'll give y'all a heads up when I decide to do that.
Bye Bye South! You've treated me well for the past 4 years. I hope they have sweet tea in Hawaii!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Time is going by too fast!
While Tim was gone, the time just dragged. I didn't think we'd ever PCS. All of a sudden he's back, there's a ton of stuff to do, and we're leaving in less than 2 weeks. I was so careful to make sure all the dogs' paperwork was done correctly and months ahead of time. So what do I do? I sit on the paperwork until I realize, it's not going to get there in time! I had to overnight it there to make sure it got there the required 10 days before they do.
Then we moved the HHG pack and pick up dates a few days earlier only to find out that we can't change our move out date and we can't leave any earlier because of the dogs. So instead we will spend a week in an empty house. You'd think he just joined the army and this was our first PCS.
I was hoping for a direct flight for the dogs' sake but apparently the people at transpo aren't that smart. It took them forever to find Tim's name on his orders. Then they made the tickets for his report date and told him he couldn't get there any earlier than his report date. Hi, we'd like to get there before the day he has to report for work. Then they told him I couldn't go because I wasn't authorized. This is while she held the concurrent orders in her hand. They forced us to go to a brief that you only have to go to if you PCS to another country. The guy who gave the brief came up to us before he started and told us we didn't have to be there but we asked him if we could stay because they wouldn't give us our tickets otherwise. We finally get our tickets and I ask if they are direct flights and she said yes. Apparently she thought I asked "is this a direct flight to a place that is not our final destination?" It's not a direct flight so now I have to figure out what I have to do with the dogs and if we have time during our layover to let the dogs out. At the end of this trip, they'll have been in their kennels for 18 hours straight. I tried to ask a few more questions but apparently we weren't speaking the same language and fearing that the level of frustration would reach dangerous levels, my husband kindly escorted me out. Instead, tomorrow I'll have to call the airline and try to figure some stuff out.
We traded in the Jeep today. It served us well for the last 8 years but sadly due to neglect during deployments, the 9th year was miserable and it was time to part ways. We went with a used Honda Pilot. Oh how I love that it doesn't make scary squealing noises every time we turn on the air conditioner. It doesn't shake uncontrollably when we stop at lights. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but I love it just the same! Now we have to figure out if we can ship it without the tags and title. And I'll have to register it in GA only to re-register it in HI 35 days later. Don't you love it when you trade in one problem and stress for another?
Tomorrow will be a full day of phone calls and trying to figure out how I'm going to survive the next 2 weeks. Please pray that my husband and I don't hurt each other. The stress is taking it's toll!
Then we moved the HHG pack and pick up dates a few days earlier only to find out that we can't change our move out date and we can't leave any earlier because of the dogs. So instead we will spend a week in an empty house. You'd think he just joined the army and this was our first PCS.
I was hoping for a direct flight for the dogs' sake but apparently the people at transpo aren't that smart. It took them forever to find Tim's name on his orders. Then they made the tickets for his report date and told him he couldn't get there any earlier than his report date. Hi, we'd like to get there before the day he has to report for work. Then they told him I couldn't go because I wasn't authorized. This is while she held the concurrent orders in her hand. They forced us to go to a brief that you only have to go to if you PCS to another country. The guy who gave the brief came up to us before he started and told us we didn't have to be there but we asked him if we could stay because they wouldn't give us our tickets otherwise. We finally get our tickets and I ask if they are direct flights and she said yes. Apparently she thought I asked "is this a direct flight to a place that is not our final destination?" It's not a direct flight so now I have to figure out what I have to do with the dogs and if we have time during our layover to let the dogs out. At the end of this trip, they'll have been in their kennels for 18 hours straight. I tried to ask a few more questions but apparently we weren't speaking the same language and fearing that the level of frustration would reach dangerous levels, my husband kindly escorted me out. Instead, tomorrow I'll have to call the airline and try to figure some stuff out.
We traded in the Jeep today. It served us well for the last 8 years but sadly due to neglect during deployments, the 9th year was miserable and it was time to part ways. We went with a used Honda Pilot. Oh how I love that it doesn't make scary squealing noises every time we turn on the air conditioner. It doesn't shake uncontrollably when we stop at lights. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but I love it just the same! Now we have to figure out if we can ship it without the tags and title. And I'll have to register it in GA only to re-register it in HI 35 days later. Don't you love it when you trade in one problem and stress for another?
Tomorrow will be a full day of phone calls and trying to figure out how I'm going to survive the next 2 weeks. Please pray that my husband and I don't hurt each other. The stress is taking it's toll!
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