9 posts tagged “moving”
What question do you hate being asked?
It's really a set of two questions that go together: "How long are you going to be here, and where are you going next?"
The answer to each is a great big "I don't know!" While we might have our guesses and probablies and maybes, the all-consuming Needs of the Navy are no constant thing to be depended upon and planned around far in advance. I am slowly--and not always gracefully--getting used to dealing with the big ("Where will we be living after this assignment?") and little ("Will we find out about tomorrow's schedule at five o'clock tonight, or will it be delayed?") uncertainties, but I know it can seem bizarre and unstable to some of my civilian friends and family.
For instance, we just bought our first house. We did so not knowing whether M will be stationed in the area for four years, as will be the case if he gets assigned to an East Coast squadron for his first sea tour, or if we'll be sent to California or Japan after just a year here. Here's the kicker: we will not find out whether we're staying or going until just before we would have to leave--we'll have a few weeks' notice if we're lucky. Thus, while we are hoping to stay put, we still have to plan as if we will be packing up and moving out next summer.
A dear friend of mine from high school was understandably boggled as to why we would choose to buy a place when we have maybe a fifty-fifty shot of living there longer than a year. Why not just rent, sign the year lease, and wait and see about buying once we knew where we'd be for the next three years? There are a lot of reasons we wanted to buy instead of continuing to rent, many of those likely familiar anyone looking to become a homeowner, but even discounting those, our timing made sense to us. Waiting to buy would certainly eliminate one worry, but it would also guarantee that we'd have to move in a year even if we stayed on this coast. I'd rather take the chance that we might be able to avoid a move for four whole years. The mere possibility that we could have that kind of geographical stability after moving three times in our first year and a half of marriage is extremely appealing.
Also, we have always planned to use our house as a rental property when the Navy inevitably sends us to another duty station. If we waited until we had a guaranteed stable location for multiple years, we'd be locking ourselves out of homeownership for the next twenty years. Even if we have to move earlier than we'd prefer, it doesn't upset our plans, it only moves up the timetable a bit. Sure, there are complications that wouldn't exist if we had more control over where we lived and for how long, but I'm stoked about how we're handling them. We're thrilled to be living in a home that belongs to us; it feels great to know we have that degree of control as well as the additional responsibilities. All we have to do while we spend this year enjoying our awesome house is do some research and make sure we're as prepared to look for tenants in one year as we would be in four.
Getting back to the QotD, while I may get tired of hearing questions about where we're going and how long we're going to be there, it's only because I wish I could give my family and friends a more satisfying answer. It must be frustrating to hear me say, "I don't know, and I don't know when I will know, either," like a broken record. I'm not actually offended by the questions, because believe me, I have the same ones for the Navy!
The Navy ain't talking, though, so I guess we'll all wait and see together. Semper Gumby, right?
We are homeowners! This home that we own is filled with boxes in various states of unpackitude and I may or may not go crazy--in a very happy way--before we get everything situated. We won't have reliable Internet access until next week sometime, but I just wanted to tell y'all that we're alive and still largely in possession of our mental faculties after two months of not having a permanent address.
How many houses have you lived in? How is where you live now different from where you grew up?
If we're not counting college residence halls, the number currently stands at four. I'm about to make it five when M and I move into our very first real, owned-by-us house towards the end of this month. Closing is in about two and a half weeks, and we have the movers scheduled to deliver all our household goods, which have been in storage since we fled Texas at the end of April, the next day. This is by far the most attenuated move we've yet experienced, and we are very much looking forward to having a place to call our own again--and this time, it really will be our own!
We'll be living in a different part of the same state in which M and I were raised, so it's a lot closer than Texas was in both feel and distance to where I grew up. The flora and fauna feel right, and the neighborhoods had an instantly familiar vibe. I'm really looking forward to getting established in our new place, and I do hope that the Navy sees fit to keep us on the East Coast for M's first sea tour. If not, we could find ourselves headed to California or Japan after this first year. We'd deal, but it would be positively blissful if we could take a break from PCSing until this decade is out.
On a side note, I'm itching to whip up some change-of-address cards, but I'm superstitious enough to hold off until after closing when all the paperwork is signed and the keys are in my hand. Of course, then I'll be too busy getting the house put into some semblance of livable order to do it, but that's neither here nor there.
Are you planning on doing any spring cleaning this year? If so, please share a cleaning tip you swear by.
Cleaning up is for sissies, so we're just going to move. I mean, we've lived here for almost three months, and that is just way too long to be rooted to one spot. Finally having the area figured out and the house semi-organized is such a drag.
If you are especially perceptive, you may have sensed the barest tinge of sarcasm above. As much of a PITA as a PCS move is, though, we are looking forward to heading back East sometime in the next month or so. Could be as soon as a few weeks, but the Navy will take its sweet time in telling us, as ever. I just got back home from a lovely and productive trip out to where we'll be stationed to start getting the lay of the land and do some house-hunting. I couldn't have done it without my mom, who offered her experience and input throughout what is, to me, the highly mysterious process of looking at houses and neighborhoods. She also served as moral support when we thought we were going to die of the real estate agent's terrifying driving practices. Oh, and she was witness to the car that pulled up next to us with a dead deer head, antlers and all, in the passenger seat. Redneck Godfather for the win.
Anyway, I'm back home now, with all my luggage. That wasn't a sure thing right at first, since my suitcase was apparently put on a different flight than the one I was on. M and I stuck (grumpily) around the the airport until the flight with my suitcase arrived, but that was way better than filing a claim and hoping it would get delivered as promised. If I'd known we'd end up waiting around for the later flight anyway, I would have just taken that one to begin with and not run myself ragged trying to make the tighter connection in Houston. IAH may be the most obnoxious airport I've ever had the displeasure to try to navigate. Oh well.
How far from your last home do you live? Why did you move and are you glad you did?
Submitted by Matthew 25.
The answer to this one is going to change when the Navy moves us in a few days, so I'll get it in now while the number is more impressive. Right after getting married, I moved 1,419 miles (as the crow flies) from my folks' home to the South Texas town where M was doing one of the phases of flight school. As of early next week, we'll be living in another South Texas town--about fifty miles from where we are now--while M does another phase of flight school. Like I said in response to a similar QotD a while back, we do (and will) live where we live because that's where the Navy told us to live.
As for whether I am glad I moved, of course I am. I can't imagine choosing to be separated when we know we're going to have to deal with that quite often enough over the years; after a good half-decade of long-distance dating, the notion of doing the geobachelor thing as newlyweds was singularly unappealing. This particular part of Texas may not have much to recommend it, but it has situated us such that we've been able to spend time with my mom's side of the family, an opportunity I've cherished.
Why do you live where you live?
Submitted by memtony.
Because this* is where the Navy sent us. :-) Methinks I will be saying the same about every place we live for the next couple of decades. I've seen some cute plaques expressing the sentiment, too; I'm surprised they're not required decorating elements in military households.
* "This" being a small town in South Texas with plenty of empty airspace for budding Naval Aviators to learn how to fly jets.
My hair, which I had grown out for the wedding, was driving me crazy. It was long enough to be put up in a legitimate ponytail for the first time in years, and that wasn't a good thing. I spent way too much of my adolescence with my (much longer) hair up in a less-than-flattering ponytail, and I have no desire to revisit that particular look. Add that to the prospect of facing my first South Texas summer (we had a 90-degree day in February--I shudder to think of what, say, July will be like!) and we had a recipe for that "must chop it!" gleam in my eye.
So I did.
I'm absolutely thrilled with it. It's always a little nerve-wracking when one has to find a new hair salon, especially when one had been going to the same one for years. I got the recommendation from one of the ladies I know from a Naval Aviation forum; she and her husband used to be stationed here, so she had the low-down on this place. I felt so much better with a positive recommendation in hand; I'd been on the verge of making a list of all the salons in town and sticking it up on a dartboard to choose. I really like the woman who cut my hair, and I loved the camaraderie of all the employees there. I'll certainly be going back.
What are five things you're good at?
Submitted by HapaLove.
- Cooking. My husband tells me I have a knack for it, at any rate, and since he's the guinea pig for most everything I cook, I'll take his opinion. Also, no one has ever gotten food poisoning off anything I've made, so I daresay that makes me a good enough cook. ;-)
- Writing letters. So few people send real pen-and-paper letters via the postal service now, but I keep the tradition alive. Actually, a lot of the credit for this habit goes to my dear friend and maid of honor, with whom I have kept up a pen pal exchange for years.
- Writing papers. I must have a talent for twisting the English language around into what I want to say (or at least what my professors wanted to hear) because I always received high marks on my papers. This is a skill that I still have a hard time valuing, though, probably because it comes so easily to me. I think I would take more pride in my work if it had required more effort on my part. I'm not as naturally "good" at programming, so when I do get something right, it feels like more of an accomplishment.
- Languages. I studied Russian in high school and German in college. Once I get a new library card, I'm planning to take advantage of their free access to the Rosetta Stone Spanish software and try to pick up a new, highly marketable skill for my résumé. I don't think I'm bad at all at picking up the basics of a new language.
- Making a home wherever I go. This is something for which I have more aspiration than evidence at this point, but I am optimistic about my chances. I am a military spouse, so geographical stability is not in the cards for my life in the foreseeable future. I need to be able to feel at home in any new place or else I am doomed to rootless drifterhood throughout my husband's Navy career. I feel pretty much at home where we are now, but it won't be complete until I find someone I trust to cut my hair. I need it short again, pronto!
Show us a mess.
Submitted by Josie.
This is our new home. Isn't it lovely? The movers had just arrived and we had time only to stack up box after box of mostly wedding gifts in the kitchen and what will be our dining room. It's even worse now, if you can believe that, since we've been ripping open packages and throwing the empty cardboard boxes and assorted packing material in there until we can find a place to recycle it all. As far as getting the kitchen organized, though, we're getting there. Actual usable counter space exists and has been put to work for the preparation of various yummy things!
