Let Us Begin

 Out-processing activities have officially begun. We have 12 weeks to reporting time in Charleston.

The car is officially up for sale. :-( It has been a good car. I will miss it. Perhaps we can get another one in Charleston. Probably not the same kind though. We are cramped and becoming more so as children grow. Chao lei is too large to comfortably sit in the back seat. It is very soon until he will not fit at all.

My walls are bare already. My compulsion to not wait until the last minute has caught up with me again. If I continue, the movers will not have much to do. I have until early December before the show. I am at home all the time now. I winder if thee moving company will pay me for doing most of the work?

The days are filled with so many things that need to be accomplished. At least the Change-of-Command ceremony is not on plate, though I am assisting some. Jared will relinquish command next month and then he will be as any other husband and depart for work in the morning and return in the evening. Every day. I will enjoy that while I can.

I keep forgetting that while the new assignment is a command position, it is shore duty. There will be no more sailings to endure. At least for a short time. Who knows what the next assignment will be.

New Year Without Me

A new school year has begun! It does not include me. I find myself struggling to find constructive things to do.

With our departure date in January, I am unable to accept a full-time teaching position' I am available for sub placements on a limited basis but since it is limited, I am at the bottom of the list to be called in. That leaves me with very little to do. Once again, my habits are proving not to be helpful in keeping me busy. My walls are already bare in preparation of movers boxing everything up. I have already reduced us to bare essentials even though there remains approximately four months before our HHG will be picked up.

Yes, there are appointments that will occupy some time and as we get closer to departure, they will occupy more time but for now I am getting bored. The children are fortunate they still have school to take up their time. At least we save a little money on daycare since I am home with Su all day now. There is planning of a 2^nd birthday party for her, (like that will take so much time). I suppose short trips should occupy our remaining time here.

We have traveled more here. Our last significant trip was to Casablanca, Morocco. We chose this trip for the Casablanca movie. We were a little disappointed there was not more to see of the movie scene locations but that is Hollywood for you.

“Rick's Cafe Americain” was recreated and one can feel they are in a familiar place if they watched the movie (we did just before the trip).

This place never existed in 1942 when the film is set. It is just a recreation of the movie scene but it is true to the set so much that one almost expects Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman to appear. Even the music is a match for the movie, piano music of the 1940's and 1950's each night.

It is located against the Medina of Casablanca, the traditional city center. It is a beautiful area to explore. One tends to preconceive what an area will look like based on the surrounding areas. I will be honest, I did not expect much. I expected dust and dirt made worse by heat but it was very clean and pleasant. It would seem Moroccans take great pride in their city.

It was a very pleasant trip that I wish we had done sooner so that we could do it again. I recommend you visit if the chance presents itself.

We will have short visits to local favorites before we leave, as many as we can fit in four months. My neighbors already plan a Fiesta de Despedida, a going away party, which I very much look forward to. Leaving Spain is eagerly awaited but at the same time is not since I must yet again say goodbye to friends.

At least some time is being filled with activity.

Getting Busy

Much of the work involved with a PCS is underway. My first contact was with the housing office in Charleston. We do not intend to live on base but it is better to be prepared for the unknown. It is good to have them for lease evaluations too. And if it is for no other reason, they are the best contact point for realtors. I have reached out to a few realtors already for coming vacancies. We will be looking at neighborhoods and their proximity to the base.

Of course, schools and daycare are being researched. I have made the decision to not seek full-time employment at a school. At best, I will apply for temp positions. This was a difficult decision since I enjoy teaching very much. Perhaps I will seek employment servicing someone's IT system.

Getting our budget planned tested my hair. Frustration led me to pull it often. Jared does not spend much money. How may things can one purchase aboard a ship that is underway? He has accused me of being frugal. These thing combined results in a healthy bank account. Still, it is too easy to overspend on unnecessary things during a PCS move especially when returning to CONUS. Never mind the urge to acquire a place to live that would really batter that healthy bank account. I prefer to keep the accounts healthy and prepared for emergencies.

The only things to do for now is to visit those last few places on our list. We have done Casablanca (to be posted later). We want to do the Madrid Zoo again so that Su sees it. I know she is young and will probably not remember much but there will be pictures for her to see. Besides, it is a good place to visit and we did not see it all during our last visit. We may even attempt to squeeze in another visit to England.

This summer will be a full schedule. It is amazing how much one packs a schedule at the end when one had years to do it.