We knew this day would come, but we never knew that it would come this soon. My husband has come down on orders. In Army speak, that means his paperwork has been updated. One area in particular that’s been updated is our date to PCS (or move) again. So when are we moving? May.
Sigh. Big heavy sigh. Stephen’s orders originally said that we’d be here until the summer of 2014. Earlier this year we learned that our unit would be deactivating. There is a sister post of just up the road. When I found out that I was getting moved here, I figured that once the unit deactivated, we’d get joined with that other unit. Guess not! Instead, we will be headed back Stateside.
How do I feel about all this? Am I happy? Am I sad? I really don’t have too many opinions on it. When Stephen enlisted, I accepted that many aspects of our lives would be forever out of our control. When and where we move falls into that category, and (for the most part), I am able to let it go.
My main thoughts:
It stinks that our time here is short. We had so many places we hoped to visit! (We were already talking about a Mediterranean cruise this summer.) And we have a big house with a huge yard. I don’t expect that we’ll have such a large place where we end up next. Too bad we can’t enjoy this place a little bit longer. I feel bad that Geronimo has to go on a transatlantic flight again so soon.
I’m kind of glad Stephen didn’t get assigned to the unit up the road. If he did, we would have made the best of it. (We could have stayed in our house!) But that unit is due to deploy next year. If I can keep my husband with me and out of a war zone for a little longer, I’m more than happy to do it!
Winter marathons aren’t that huge here. The two marathons I really wanted to run will both take place after we move. I looked at February or March marathons, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to make any of those happen. More research is necessary at this point.
I’m looking forward to the comforts of home. Running clubs, hummus, being able to call my family members, watching big cultural events in real time (instead of the next day). None of these things are make or break, but if I’m going to be in the States, then I’m looking forward to all the pros of living there (big and small).
Moving is stressful. But this move has two big advantages over the last one: (1) Stephen will be with me instead of me doing it alone and (2) I’ve already survived one military PCS so I have some vague idea of what to expect and how to handle it.
The big remaining question is: where are we going. That’s what I’d like to know! We have no idea. And (like everything else) we don’t know when we’ll know.*
