Leg #4ish

Since I was in North Carolina, I've now stopped in Columbus and Bucyrus, Ohio, Naperville and Chicago and now I am in Iowa City. The road trip is almost over. I'll be back in Rochester on Wednesday. It has been great to see friends and family along the way. I know I'll seem some of them again before I leave, but for some I won't see them again for awhile.

I've talked to Glenn a few times since he has been in Japan this week. Phone calls are much cheaper from land than while he is at sea so that has been nice and we have been able to talk for awhile each time. He keeps saying that I am going to love it in Japan which is encouraging to hear. He has met some fun people and I think he is enjoying himself. Nothing like being drunk dialed from Japan :). Japan is 14 hours ahead of central time for those of you that are wondering. Usually he calls at night there which is early morning here.

I think my official moving date will be December 8th or 9th. We are still waiting for my Entry Approval. The request has been received by 115, but it hasn't been routed and approved yet. Hopefully soon so that our furniture can begin its trek to Japan.

That's all for now!

The move is done!

What a crazy week! The house is empty and I have left Norfolk.

The move took 4 days this time. One day to pack HHG (household goods), one day to move them. One day to pack/pick up our UAB (unaccompanied baggage) and one day to pack/pickup our storage shipment. I now have 3 inventory lists and 3 separate moving companies to keep track of. Whew! Let's hope everything makes it to where it is suppose to be. Or that I see it again in 3 years in the case of our storage items. I am so glad my mom came in to town to help me oversee the movers, clean the house and overall stay organized. Since our HHG's were picked up on Wednesday which included all of our furniture, we had to stay at our good friends' house, the Polsons. (Love you guys!) Mom, me and Stella were cozy in one bed for a few nights.

We also had several farewell dinners with our Norfolk friends. Most of whom we have been with since Kingsville. I am going to miss you all dearly. You are my Navy family and our next station will not be the same without you. I secretly hope at least one of you gets Japan even though I know most of you would rather not move there. I love you all too much to not want to be with you! Honestly though, you are all wonderful friends and I will miss you all dearly. I think all my tears this week spoke for that. The great thing about the Navy though, I know I will see some of you again someday. The bond that is Kingsville is hard to break.

I am now on Leg #1 of my trip home- down in Cary, North Carolina visiting my grandparents. Jen flies in tonight to make the drive back with me on Wednesday and mom leaves on Tuesday. I will be seeing many of you in the upcoming week.

Bye for now,
Kelly & Stella.

PS. I will post pics of our moving truck soon. It looked like a jalopy. No moving truck this time, just a flatbed with wooden crates!

Change of Plans

Glenn emailed me today and said it would be best if I didn't move over the Japan until he gets back from their Fall cruise. Shouldn't say when that is, but let's just say I'll be attending Thanksgiving with the family and Megan's wedding.

I had all my plans set so it is slightly deflating to have to change them all, but I'm excited to be around the family and all my friends in MN for an extended period of time. It will be hard to be away from Glenn for that long, but we would have been apart regardless of whether I was in MN or Japan.

Plus, this way I am able to see Connor a few more times before I leave. Nothing like moving back in with the parents (love you, Mom & Dad)!

Glenn's Email Address

If you want to email Glenn, his new email address is glenn.smith@cvw5.navy.mil.

Stella's favorite food

Oddly enough, Stella goes C-R-A-Z-Y for corn on the cob. I made some last night, but then wasn't really feeling it so I gave it to Stella. Here is a video of her eating it. If I don't hold on to it, she takes it and hides somewhere and makes a total mess while she devours it!

I'm pretty sure she got corn stuck in her teeth. Actually, I know this because I later picked it out. Am I a good mom or what?

Heard from Glenn

I finally heard from Glenn this morning. I got an email from someone else's email account cause he doesn't have one set up yet. He will have a cvw5.navy.mil address so don't write to his navy.mil address quite yet.

Glenn said he flew yesterday and again last night so he should have his certification up and then he can work on things like email and such.

Bad news: It's suppose to rain on Saturday. Ugh. After all my work on this stupid garage sale!

I'll let you know when I get his new email address.

Contacting Glenn

Glenn is meeting the carrier today. The COD is picking him and another guy up in Hawaii and flying them out there which means that later this week, I will be turning Glenn's phone off. We will eventually put both of our phones on hold for the 3 years we are there. By putting them on hold we will get to keep the same numbers when we return to the states! Yay for that!

If you want to contact Glenn you have a few options:

1. Call him today.
2. Email him at gjsmith83@hotmail.com. Since hotmail is a restricted website on most Navy computers, he will only check this when in port most likely.
3. Your best option: Email him at Glenn.Smith@cvw5.navy.mil.

Once it gets closer for me to move over there, I will be getting a MN Vonage phone number so that you can call us. We may or may not be getting Japanese cell phones. Still TBD. I'll post the phone number once we have it!

Miss you G.

I took Glenn to the airport this morning. It was sad. I cried of course. I didn't even go in to the terminal to make it easier for him. At least I know I will see him in 2 or 3 months (in Japan!). Crazy. Scary. But Exciting. I am not looking forward to the day when we say goodbye for a 7 or 8 or 9 or 13 month deployment. At least that day was not today.

On a brighter note, I am very excited to see my family. Mom comes down a week from Monday and we'll meet Jen in Raleigh for some much needed R&R after moving before the drive home.

I'm not looking forward to all the packing, sorting, selling & donating, but even more so I'm not looking forward to the good-byes. All of the friends we have had in Kingsville and Norfolk are going to be hard to leave.

A friend sent me this poem and I think it pretty much sums up a lot:

What is a Military Wife?

They may look different and each is wonderfully unique But this they have in common.
Lots of moving--- Moving, Moving,
Moving far from home Moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of Course

Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house

Moving curtains that won't fit

Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours

Moving away from friends, moving toward new friends

Moving her most important luggage; her trunkful of memories.

Often waiting- Waiting, waiting, waiting for housing; waiting for orders; waiting for deployment; waiting for reunion; waiting for phones calls; Waiting for the new curtains to arrive; waiting for him to come home for dinner----AGAIN!

They call her 'military dependent', but she knows better

She can balance a checkbook, Handle the yard work, Fix a noisy toilet.

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts. She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move, --all with ONE Power of Attorney.
She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.

Reinvents her career with every PCS; locates a house in the desert, the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all 'home'.

She MAKES them all home.

She is fiercely IN-dependent

Military Wives are somewhat hasty

They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career alternatives, churches and friendships

They don't have 15 years to get to know people.

Their roots are short but flexible.

They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other.

They connect over coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of friendship and favors and record addresses in pencil.

Military Wives have a common bond.

The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands his commitment is unique
He doesn't have a job, he has a 'mission' he can't just decide to quit
He's on-call for his country 24/7 but for you, he's the most unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign- TDY, PCS, OPR, ACC, BDU

And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.

She is the long-distance link to keep them informed
The glue that holds them together.

Military Wife has her moments---- She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to move to Siberia.

But she pulls herself together.

Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to the flag, and a wedding picture.

And she goes. She packs. She moves. She follows.

Why? What for? How come?

You may think it is because she has lost her mind.

But actually it is because she has lost her heart.

It was stolen from her by a man who puts duty first Who longs to deploy Who salutes the flag

And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military husband,

She will remain his Military wife.

As always...

So Glenn's not leaving today. He's for sure leaving tomorrow morning though. His flight to Honalulu has been booked. :(. I know I can't complain cause I'll see him in 2 months and the Roosevelt is leaving next week for 7(!!!) months. A lot will happen in the next 2 months so it will go by fast, but that still seems like a long time.

I should mention that when you mail things to Glenn or to us in Japan once we have an address you should use the U.S. Postal Service (not FedEx/UPS) and always ship at least priority. If you use parcel post it will go on a boat and it will talke 2-3 months. Priority only takes about 2 weeks.

Mom and Jen are coming down to help me with the move and I'm very excited about that. It will make the packing and the trip much more fun.

Lots of good-byes in the next few weeks. See some of you very soon!

Glenn is leaving.

Glenn is leaving for cruise tomorrow, September 3rd. :(

He's going to Hawaii to meet the carrier sometime this week and then they will be back in Japan sometime around Thanksgiving or the end of November.

I'm leaving Virginia on September 20th and heading back to Minnesota. Not sure when I'm leaving there yet. Probably sometime in October or November. We'll know better once my paperwork gets approved.

Just wanted to give you all an update. Be sure to give Glenn a call this week and say goodbye! We'll probably cancel his cell phone service next week sometime.