We stayed there for almost two years and the moved a whopping three hours north to North Carolina for training. We chose to stay in North Carolina for our first assignment in that jet. We were there for almost four years. It's the longest we have ever been at a base.
When it came time to make choices for our next assignment, SD wanted to go to Alaska. I was on the fence about the whole Alaska thing. I'm more of a warm weather gal. But the idea was sort of exciting and we got credit for an overseas tour for going to Alaska, so SD put it down as his number one choice. He put Texas as his third and fourth choices. We were told by our commander that they would certainly try to get us to Alaska or to our second choice, but short of that, they would most certainly be able to get us back to Texas. The assignments were due to come out while SD was deployed to the desert in Operation Something or Other and I had gone home with SugarPlum to see my folks. I was prepared to go house hunting at the base we were anticipating as soon as the assignments were announced.
Finally, the day came when SD called and said, "Well, I got our assignment." And it was to England. The very last choice on our list. I. was. livid. I cried and threw a giant fit. I really didn't get over it until we got there and got into our house. And then I actually enjoyed the heck out of that assignment.
When assignment time rolled around again, we were fairly certain that we would be heading to Texas. And go to Texas we did. The kids and I (SugarPlum was 5 1/2 and Bear was 13 mos) left a month ahead of SD and flew to my parents. Then I drove to the town we were moving to and my best friend - now known as the Bride to Be (or B2B) since she is getting married in April- met me to help me find a house to buy. That was fun.
We lived three hours from my parents for two and a half years. My folks came out at least once a month and sometimes every weekend. When I had emergency surgery, they came and stayed with the kids. And my Mom came and stayed for the weeks leading up to Bug's arrival so that we wouldn't have to worry about calling in the middle of the night and waiting for someone to get there. It was wonderful.
Then came time to move again, as SD was selected for school. We made our "list" selecting schools in Virginia, Rhode Island, and Kansas. We felt pretty confident that we would be going to one of those three places, although there was an outside chance that the Air Force could send us to the school in Alabama.
Once again, however, we got bitch-slapped by the Air Force and they said, "Guess what?! You are going to...Ohio!!" Huh?? WTF?? When did that even become an option? So, here we sit up in the great white north.
Within weeks after we got here, SD had to submit our preferences for our next assignment. This was a very hard decision. He is at a "fish or cut bait" point in his career. Without revealing too much, since it's not my business to reveal it, I will say that we had some big decisions to make.
One of those decisions was about a remote assignment. At some point, especially when someone has been in the AF a long time, you have to go remote (to a nasty location where you can't take your family). We knew that a remote assignment was coming soon. If not this assignment, then probably the next. And with a remote, they will give you your "follow-on" assignment. So, SD and I decided that if he could negotiate with the assignment people to volunteer for a remote to a location that is not too scary for me to know where he is and with Texas as his follow-on that we would do it.
So there you have the very, very long version of where we are going next:
TEXAS!!! YAY!!!!!!
We will finally be back to where Gram and Gray Gray can get to us "the quickliest"! Yay!!
But, I will be a single parent for a year. BOOOO!!!!!
But, it will probably make for some interesting blog entries. Yay!!!
Anyone want to come and be my volunteer nanny/maid for a year? I'll cook for you! Pretty please?
No comments:
Post a Comment