So much!!

Well so much has happened since I last post! Movers came last Friday and wow what a nightmare...ok it really wasn't that horrible but after they left we realised so much they didn't pack! Absolutely NO liquids whether sealed, new, etc or not. Not even my wet ones! No candles (but I had hid some they didn't notice hehehe) and then they didn't pack some random but necessary things in the kitchen. For instance they packed everything in the drawer under the oven except one- the expensive broiler pan! And then in my bedroom when I went to sweep behind the door I found my graduation presents from Wella and Monica! Grrr! Oh and they also wouldn't pack any food except in cans (said bugs would get in it) and no medicines (they gave no reason for this). Ugh! So we brought all that over to Matt's Aunt's house and we're going to box it up so she can ship it to us once we have an apt. We've been staying at Connie and Jerry's house since Friday and loving it! Saturday Jerry bbq for us then we went to their neighbors and partied. Fun times. Sunday we spent all afternoon cleaning the house and doing yard work so we could clear housing. This week Matt and I have been running around everywhere!



Tuesday we went and got our plane tickets so the biggest news is we fly out on Tuesday- June 2nd!!! But the downer was that United was booked through June 15 and they're the only airline with a/c in the luggage area for pets so we have to fly American and if the temperature at DFW is above 85 degrees then they won't let him fly with us!! =-( So if that happens he'll go home with Mom or Nana and they will have to ship him to us. Ugh! Also on Tuesday the housing people were supposed to come over and clear the house. Our appointment was for 3pm. At 3:15pm I called to verify we were on their appt list and they said yes but the inspector was running behind and there was only one in the field that day. Called at 4pm and asked again "are we on the list" and they said yes the inspector is on her way. I went to the post office then to turn in our keys but after waiting in line behind 22 people they just told me that I didn't need to turn them in I could just throw them away. Ugh! I got back at home at 5pm and Matt was on the phone with the housing office and they were trying to say we didn't have an appointment. Whatever! Eventually the lady showed up (around 5:30!!!) and cleared us after charging us $20 for a vent cover for the fan above the stove that was "missing" (it was never there but I didn't know it was supposed to be on my initial walk through). Whatever. At least it was clean enough for their standards.

***Internet collapsed for a few days and I lost the rest of this post so here it is Sunday, May 31***

Thursday was more running around, cleared housing, and then yummy mexican food courtesy of Mawmaw (Connie's Mom)!!

Friday Matt went and picked up his file and he was officially cleared from Fort Hood (YAY!!) and then we drove to Belton to the courthouse to get his birth certificate. After that long hot drive we were told they don't do out of state birth certificates (Matt was born in Oklahoma). Waste! Then we had to go back to Copperas Cove, stopped at Walgreens and had Matt's passport photo taken, rushed to Connie's and picked up Elvis and took him to the vet. The vet checked him over and wrote out his health certificate and gave him a pill to sedate him for the plane ride. The vet also wrote a waiver that said Elvis could fly up to 90 degrees so hopefully the airport will accept that. Friday evening we hung out at the house and played dominoes and Skipbo til late. Matt and I also learned that we are not having a teenage daughter. If and when we have a girl she will be living with someone else when she turns 15!!! LOL

Saturday we stayed at home all day except for taking the family out to Whataburger for our last time and then Matt and I went to the last Fort Hood BBQ with our usual crew. I'm gonna miss those people!!

Today we've made a Walmart and Mcdonalds run and I'm just doing laundry and packing today. Plus going through stuff I want Connie to ship me once we get our house. We got up early this morning so after dinner we can take a nap until it's time to sign out at midnight and drive to Longview. We'll get to Longview about 4:30am and let ourselves in and try and get some sleep til 9am or so. Matt and the boys are probably going to go fishing and get the truck detailed (since we never got a chance last week) and Mary and I are going out lunch and pedicures and just hang out then doing dinner with Mom and Nana and the family then back to Mary's for the night. Then Tuesday Mom and Nana will come pick us up from there and we're off!!

I don't know if I'll post again but if not I'll post once I'm in Germany with internet! Auf Weidersein!!!

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Frustrated

Today we started organizing the house/cleaning things out to make it easier on the movers and so things get boxed together/more systematically. After working on that for a while we put together Elvis's new kennel approved for airplanes and while Matt finished it I started looking for the Europe health certificate to print off to have my vet sign to only come across several sites that basically told me:

1. Elvis has the wrong microchip for Europe. This means he needs a new chip or I have to buy a scanner to take over there for customs to use. A new chip is by far the cheaper option but some sites said the chip had to be in longer than 30 days and others didn't mention it. Ugh! I'll call the vet Monday to see what they say and if they have the right type of chip. If not then I'll price scanners. I also need to call Family Travel and give them a piece of my mind for not telling me any sort of pet policies (even after I said I am taking my dog).
2. Some sites said the health certificate needed to be signed by the USDA office in Austin and others (and the certificate) say that a vet can sign it. Another question for the vet.
3. Other sites mentioned a pet passport on top of a health certificate. I will ask the vet (who seemed knowledgeable about travel last time I was there) AND Family Travel.
4. Some airlines have certain pet carrier specifications (like metal latches on the side of the kennel not plastic). I don't know which airline I will be on. Another question for Family Travel.
5. Airlines supposedly need to be able to feed and water the animal without opening the cage- and the cages need to have attached food/water containers. I have yet to see a kennel that has a slot to open to feed the dog (water I get) so how do they get the food through the holes?? I bought the wrong kind of attachable bowls anyways so gotta go return those to Walmart and try Petco now.

Overall a very frustrating evening. Oh and I also sliced open my pinkie while cutting sweet potatoes (sweet potato fries- yum!). Ouchie.

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Things are startin to roll

So today the man from the moving company came and checked out all of our stuff to guess how many boxes they would need to bring. It took a whole of ten minutes but he was over an hour late so Matt missed all that work for nothing (not that he was complaining). The movers come on Wednesday to pick up our unaccompanied baggage (the stuff we will want immediately in Germany such as a tv, bed stuff, clothes, set of dishes, etc). Then on Friday the movers come and take EVERYTHING. So where will we live until we leave? Well that weekend (Memorial Day weekend) is a three day weekend so after the movers leave Friday we will head to Houston to spend one last visit with Matt's family through Wednesday. Then we have to sweet talk Aunt Connie and Uncle Jerry to let us stay with them in Copperas Cove (20 mins from Fort Hood) otherwise we're stuck at the crappy hotel on post and Im not even sure if the army will reimburse us for it!

Yesterday was just one big headache. First off we were supposed to go to a finance briefing (which Matt had already attended but didn't understand so we needed to go again). The finance briefing explains the Travel Living Allowance (TLA) which covers our hotel, travel, and food expenses while we are waiting for on post housing. However I don't know what is covered, how much, and how to be reimbursed- kind of important!! Well we didn't get to go to that because the stupid Army wouldn't let Matt off work. This is getting so frustrating because we are moving so soon but they won't let him get anything done to prepare for it!! So no finance briefing. Then we needed to get paperwork ready to ship my car this Tuesday and so I called the insurance company and sat on hold forever but got the letter emailed to me that I needed for the lender. The lender on the other hand had 8 different things they needed before they would give us permission to ship the car and then told me after they receive the documentation they needed it would take them 24-48hrs to process it. Then they would fax us a letter to sign and have notarized then we had to fax it back to them and THEN they would fax us a final letter. Now we don't have a fax machine so I had to take it all to Office Depot and fax it from there and when they call asking what my fax number is I'm going to have to figure out what to do! I need to see if UPS has a fax/notary service....

Anyways on the way to Office Depot I had to call ATT and make a warranty claim on my Palm Centro (Dont buy one!!) because Tuesday it quit recognizing my sim card. The ATT store in Longview tried several sim cards and verified that the phone was messed up and it had no damage so I could do a warranty claim. Well I got the two stupidest women in the world...lets just make a long story short and say pray you never have to make a warranty claim through ATT!! My new phone should be in on Monday...thank goodness because right now I am using the cheapest Nokia GO Phone and it's HORRIBLE!

Well the plan for the rest of the day I am praying Matt gets his leave packet signed by his commander so he can start clearing post on Monday. He is supposed to have an awards ceremony for PCSing that I may go to if they allow family to and we are hoping he gets done early enough we can go to Finance and figure out everything. Then its a fun trip to Wally World for some traveling things and then I get to begin organizing the house for the moving crew!

For those of you wondering when we're leaving- as soon as Matt clears Fort Hood (turns in all his stuff, paperwork, briefs, etc) we get to request a travel day. We are going to shoot for June 1 so we can get to Germany and spend time with Adri before she comes home. Matt said if he starts clearing on Monday he should (fingers crossed) be done by Thursday. Please pray so!!

PS Most of you have already been doing so but please continue to pray for Amanda Williams' Twins! They are growing better now so keep the positive thoughts going her way!

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