Halloween!

This was actually Makayla's 2nd Halloween, but her first one actually doing something. Last year I dressed her up as a Cowgirl and handed out candy since Mike had duty. This year we all went trick-or-treating with my friend Natalie and her two kids. Makayla was the CUTEST flamingo in the world!

And this is my favorite picture of Halloween... It just says the nights over :-)

PCSing - Final Days

Separate items that will not be packed, including suitcases. If more than one shipment, separate items per each shipment into groups.

Ship as "unaccompanied baggage" items that will help you set up housekeeping at your new address immediately, such as linens, dishes, etc.

Keep a household inventory list on hand to carry with your personal luggage.

Make a complete inventory of all the boxes you will have moved to your new location -- you will need to check this later after you move in.

Attach colored stickers to your boxes to correspond with rooms in your new home where you want your boxes to go. If you are using movers, prepare a color-coded map of your new house, so they'll know exactly where to take your belongings.
Make sure that cash, jewelry, important documents, your checkbook and other valuable items are secure and placed with the suitcases and other items you are hand-carrying yourself. Do not ship jewelry.

If you are renting a truck or other vehicle for your move, check it over to make sure everything is running properly.
Make sure the condition of belongings is accurately noted. If anything is marked "scratched, dented or soiled" also note the location of such problem.

If you are leasing phones from the phone company, return them.

Confirm child care and pet arrangements if necessary.

Clean and dry refrigerator and freezer. Allow to dry one or two days with doors propped open. Note: Families with children or pets present should block the doors from accidentally closing. To avoid a musty odor you can place several charcoal briquettes in a stocking or sock in both the freezer and refrigerator compartment.

Discard partly-used cans and containers of substances that might leak.

Carefully tape and place in individual waterproof bags any jars of liquid you plan to take with you.
Remove outside TV and radio antennas.

Remove air conditioners from windows.

Remove pictures and mirrors from walls.

If you have a clock with a pendulum, remove the pendulum. If you are on base housing, you may need third-party authorization to do this, so call your local personal property shipping office if you feel you require this type of service.

Disconnect gas and electrical appliances. Moving companies are NOT required to perform the disconnects or to reconnect at the destination address.

Remove all light bulbs from lamps.

She's getting so big!

Wow I can't believe Makayla is a year and a half old today! WOW!!! I used to look at 18 month old kids in disbelief, thinking they're so old and I could never picture my daughter like that... But wow, here she is.

She's gettin big too... I have no doubt she'll be my hight if not taller. Right now she's 33.5" tall/long (within the 95% for her age) she's a whole half an inch taller then I was at her age HaHa. I weighed her on our scale at home, not sure exactly how accurate that was, but it said she's 26 and a half pounds... WOW I can't believe she weighs that much. Geez, it seems like just yesterday I was worried about her being too skinny, she was born nearly 9lbs (within the 90%) but didn't gain weight as fast as she should and by 8 months old she was only within the 18% for her age... But wow, apparently she's made a full recovery HaHa and now is within the 80%.

Well Makayla's showing all the signs that she wants to be potty trained. Unfortunately, our PCS move has made it impossible, so as soon as we get to Norfolk and get settled in our new house I'm gunna start focusing on that... It's so cute, for the past month or two she's gotten real good about pointing at her diaper when she is going to or has gone to the bathroom... More recently she's been bringing us a diaper and the wipes when she wants to be changed... Or like today, we were busy packing and stuff and I look over to see her taking off her PJ pants, then taking off her diaper, and then she whiped her own butt... She's such a weirdo HaHa.

Gawd she just does the cutest stuff and amazes me every day... I know we should be teaching her slightly more useful things, but this is just so damn cute, we can't help but teach her this. She's got the hi-5 down... I know thats a think you're supposed to teach your kid at like a year or earlier... But for some reason I never thought to teach her that till Mike got home... But now she's got it down... We also taught her the Carlos Mencia "Dee Dee Dee." So we taught her to plug her nose and talk like Steve Urkle... That one's really funny when she does it... She loves to dance, especially to Disney channel theme songs.

She really hasn't been saying any new words in the past month or two, but I've read that it's normal for 16 or 17 month olds to regress a bit and then then they'll just sprout at a year and a half and learn like 15 words in a month or sumthin. Her favorite words are "Mommy" (used to say Mama but Mommy's new), "Really," and "Uh-Ohh."

Ok I should probably end this now, I need to get back to packing and organizing, we've got a big day tomorrow!

A weight has been lifted!

Ok so it's only 2pm but this has already been proved to be an incredibly long day. So we woke up and started calling the Norfolk housing office at 7am... The secetary kept transfering us to people who wernt in their offices and that we had already left dozins of messages for (and they've still yet to call us back)... So I wait till after they woulda gotten back from lunch, call and explain to her what had been goin on and that I needed her to find someone who WAS in their office and could access our info on the computer. So she walked down the hall, found someone and transfered me to her... But supprise supprise, she didn't answer the phone... So I had it... I called the housing office here in Yuma, explained all that had been goin on and how we're leaving here in 10 days and I need to know where we stand house wise. So the assistant manager here called the manager down there and got a few phone numbers for us to call. Finally we got a hold of some "relocation assistant" in Norfolk who FINALLY put on the housing list... But said she was going to give us a 3 bedroom cuz of the fact there was too long of a weight on the 2 bedrooms and the fact Mike's an E-5 and we've got a kid, even though we had applied for a 2 bedroom (Yay!) So she was going through and said there was one available November 9th (the day we get there)... She said other then that there's a couple more opening up that week... So it looks like we might have a choice of houses... I'm SUPER excited now... That was an enormious weight lifted off my shoulders... Yay us!!!

Fixn to be homeless

So after a week of calling and leaving msgs for random people in the Norfolk housing office, Mike FINALLY got a hold of someone this morning... Unfortunately we found out we had NEVER even been paced on the housing list (Yeah, real nice, I know). Lucky Mike fixed that and our application should be backdated a week. We were told that there's a really long wait on the two bedrooms so Lincoln will most likely just give us a 3 bedroom (we already knew that but it was nice to hear confirmation). For whatever reason the lady couldn't tell us where we were on the list or when we may have a house... But at least we know we're actually on the waiting list now. Hopefully we'll be able to get a hold of someone later today or early next week who CAN tell us where we stand and when we may be offered a house. That's sumthin that might be good to know before we leave here.

Also, we had our walk-through with the moving company and that went well. We found out that the only thing we have to break down is our large swing out front... Which we had kinda figured... But were happy to hear that there wasn't anything else we'd have to disassemble. We were bummed to hear that unlike what TMO told us, we CAN NOT take our propane tank... Not even if we get it drained and certified. So that kinda sucked, but oh well. So yeah, they'll be here on Halloween to pack up everything and come back on the 1st to take it all away. Oh, I also found out all our stuff will arrive in Norfolk on November 15th... So that's not too bad considering we won't get there till the 9th or so... So even if we get a house right when we get there... That's only a week without our stuff... Which I can totally deal with.

Edit, 2pm:
Nevermind, now we're NOT on the housing list... I have absolutly NO idea why we were told we were placed on it... Cuz Mike called back down there around 10ish to see if we could find someone who could tell us where on the list we were and ofcourse, the lady we origionally talked to wasn't there, we left a msg but she's yet to call back... Mike's been calling about every hour trying to find SOMEONE in the office who could just look up on their comuter system to see where we are... Finally he got a hold of a girl who could access the list... And supprise supprise, we're not on it... So Mike kept tryin to call the lady who SHOULD HAVE placed us on the list, but she never did answer her phone or call us back and now they're closed... NICE So now we get to wait till Monday and start this all over again. I'm just gunna be pissed if they don't back date our application cuz this whole thing is they're fault.

PCSing - 1 Week Prior

Close out safety deposit box if you have one.

Buy a bunch of ziplock bags -- these will come in handy when packing large sets of small items, like silverware, or for components of furniture that need to be broken down (i.e., screws, bolts).

Make copies of any important documents before mailing or hand-carrying them to your new address.

Remove wall accessories such as drapery rods, small appliances, food and utensil racks.

Pull out all items from beneath stairways, attics or any other area that does not allow full standing room.

Drain garden hoses.
Drain oil and gas from lawn mowers and other gas operated tools. Disconnect spark plugs.

Dispose of flammables such as fireworks, cleaning fluids, matches, acids, chemistry sets, aerosal cans, ammunition, oil, paint and thinners.

Refillable tanks must be purged and sealed by a local propane gas dealer. Discard nonrefillable tanks. Some carriers and the military do not permit shipment of any propane tanks.

Disassemble outdoor play equipment and structures such as utility sheds.

Disassemble electronic components such as stereos and VCRs. Place original packing boxes (if they are in good condition and you want the movers to use them) by the equipment. If you decide to pack the item in the original carton yourself, leave the boxes opened so items can be inventoried.

If you have a computer, "park" hard disk drive units, then disconnect computer systems. Place floppy disks in protective cases before packing into cartons.

If you are using your vehicle, make sure that it is in good running condition and that all required maintenance has been completed.

Give a close friend or relative your travel route and schedule so you may be reached if needed.

Set aside cleaning materials to be used after packing and loading.

Oh the Joys of PCSing

Here we are exactly 3 weeks from when we're supposed to leave and I am sooooo not ready. I suppose i'll never feel totally ready to move... I've just got a million and one things to do and every time I compleat one task a new one seems to pop up instantly. Lucky we had out pre-inspection this past week and were told everything's in order. Heh, the maintenance manager was shocked by how clean our house was... I guess most people who live in housing must be nasty or trash their houses or sumthin... She said there was nothing that we needed to do, the house was actually clean enough to move out right then and there... She said the only thing she could think of, was to just have us wipe off any dog hair that we may have seen on the floorboards... That was a huge weight off my shoulders cuz I thought they were gunna be totally anal about everything... But I guess not. Oh yeah, and we found out that our carpets 6 years old and they were planning on replacing it when we moved out anyway, so we got to cancel our carpet cleaning apt... So i'm glad, that's one less thing we need to do on the 1st (the same day TMO's commin to pick up our boxes).

Well anywayz, Mike's finishing checking out of his unit today, I guess he's got to go back out there (P111) Monday morning to actually detach from MACS-1... And then FINALLY we'll be able to fax over the detachment paperwork over to the Norfolk housing office and actually be placed on the waiting list and FINALLY find out exactly how long the wait is. I suppose I'll figure out what number we are Monday and then call back right before we leave and can probably figure out how fast the list is moving and get a better idea of when they'll have a house available for us.

The Smallest Church in the World

Built by a farmer on the edge of his field in Yuma AZ, in honor of his wife. It measures roughly 7 ft. x 12 ft. inside. A sign on the dirt road that leads to the church reads: "Stop, Rest, Worship."

Bridge To Nowhere

This 800-foot-long suspension bridge spanned the Gila River when it was built in 1929, and was named McPhaul Bridge in honor of Henry Harrison McPhaul, "the only Yuma resident who ever became an Arizona Ranger." But it was considered to be too flimsy for modern traffic, and when a dam was built upstream in 1968 the river was diverted and the highway was rerouted over a much smaller bridge. This ultimately proved unwise, as a flood in 1993 destroyed the new bridge while the Bridge to Nowhere, with its broad span and high clearance, probably would have been just fine.

Mike got promoted!

Well Mike picked up Sgt today, which is super exciting considering he's only been a Cpl for 10 months and just jumped over a bunch of guys who picked up before him... He barely scraped by, by the skin of his teeth... His cutting score was a 1733 (the score you're job says you need to pick up rank) and his composite score was 1733 (the point he actually has) so he was the last in his MOS (job) to pick up...

The picture to the left is his capt pinning his Good Conduct medal on him. He actually received the medel in Iraq, but for whatever reason they waited till not to pin him. For those who don't know the criteria of the medal, the Good Conduct Medal is awarded to any enlisted member of the United States military (except U.S. Air Force personnel after 2006) who completes three consecutive years of "honorable and faithful service". Such service implies that a standard enlistment was completed without any non-judicial punishments, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offenses. Oh and also, about a week ago we found out that he rates for a couple more ribbons then he's been wearing... so now he's up to two full bars... Not too bad for only 3 years of service.

Oh yeah, and yesterday he found out that his Ssgt from his old unit here (MALS-13) will be PCSing to Norfolk June-ish and will be his new Gunny... Which is really cool... Mike already knows his Msgt over there, I guess he was Mike's Gunny from MOS school... So that's kinda cool considering the shop he's goin to only has like 5 Marine's or sumthin so there's only like 2 he doesn't know.