Sunday, May 27, 2012

Semper Gumby

I've never been very good at keeping the lid on my stresses. Something falls out of line and my reaction turns into hair pulling and one heck of a lot of anxiety. Generally, not a great response knowing I married a Marine and inevitably, a lot of unexpected change.

I've been doing well with keeping my hair on since I've moved to the metro region ... until Thursday, that is. In hindisght: I blame my initial GAHHHH!!!!!! reaction to it being 10pm (I get up at 4:45a during the week), PMS and perhaps the little jars I stuff all my worries into was a bit full. I'm a perpetual over-thinker and worry wart. Nasty little flaw.

Problem #1: We had been #10 on a waitlist for house on base @ Bolling AFB for awhile now. (See map below for general location. I zoomed out to show it's relation to downtown and the surrounding areas)

So I asked my husband to give them a call ... if we had to push back our original move-in date of June 11 back a few weeks, so be it -- but I at least wanted to know. Their response was "Oh, no, you're still all set to move in 3 weeks. In fact -- we can offer you a house right now."

Sweet! So after we received an email confirmation; I submitted all the necessary change of address paperwork with my place of employment and USPS. I don't know what prompted my husband to call them back ... but it turns out there must have been some form of miscommunication, because ah ... the house they offered us wasn't available until July, and they didn't have anything else available before then. (!!!!)  Keep in mind, my husband checks out of his unit on June 9. Supposed to check in on July 15. I guess there's really nothing we could do but wait.

Turns out we didn't have to wait long, although 18 hours can feel hopelessly agonizing sometimes.
We were in fact offered a new home for June 18 due to someone moving out early; but to my oh-so-picky disappointment, the new house wasn't in nearly a prime location as the other one. But at the end of the day: I need to get over myself. It's a house. I lived next to a highway for 3 years; I'm willing to bet a "main" road on a small base isn't as much traffic noise as I'm picturing. And even if it is? I need to chill out. I don't own the home. I can afford to be snooty and picky when it comes to buying a home.

Check that one off my list of problems.

Problem #2: Drew's SNCOIC (E6 in charge of the recruiting station) was fired while he was on leave. The reasons why amount to his being less than intelligent. A few weeks previous, another recruiter had been fired for equally as un-intelligent reasons. At this point, the station is 2 recruiters down without someone in charge. What this amounts to is everyone pulling double-time; and it looks like it'll translate to 13+ hour days until he officially checks out of the unit. The arrangement he'd made with his boss to leave early to come take care of the dog is officially no longer an option; becuase hey! Asshat #1 was fired. Great, right?? The cat, I'm not so worried about -- she keeps to herself 90% of the time anyway. But Bristol? Little Miss Velcro Personality and Can I Come With You Wherever You're Going?? Her, I worry about. Leaving any dog by themselves for 12+ hours at a time is completely unacceptable, and unfortunately ... due to some extenuating behavioral ticks (that we're still rehabilitating...) I'm pretty limited with appropriate solutions. I can't bring her to anyone's house that has another dog living in it. I can't have her shipped here to DC because my aunt and uncle have cats; I refuse to disrupt their environment. I can't have Bristol shipped to my other aunt's home 30 min away because SHE has a dog (that ended up having surgery...) and I have 2 friends in the state of Maine. Yes, I'm truly that pathetic. Neither of them would be able to throw me a bone if I asked them. My options are limited.
The solution I came up with (after much nail-chewing) ... amounted to sending Bristol to doggy daycare full-time through June 8. Drew's parents drive right past it on their way home; and have offered to pick her up and bring her back to our townhouse in the event that Drew can't come home early enough.

Problem #3: The SSgt Selection Zones came out recently ... and for the second time in a row; there are no allocations for Drew's MOS. So he will not be picking up SSgt like he had hoped. Unfortunately, his job code is slow-promoting to begin with ... and on top of all the other stresses he has in his life ... was a major disappointment. It kills me that I can't say or do anything to make him feel a little less low at the moment.

Problem #4: Just when I think I have the housing situation under control ... turns out the TMO (or is it DMO now?) is completely booked this summer; and the only day they can come is June 8, the day that Drew had booked months ago. Keep in mind that we can't move into our house until June 18. EEP! Great.
This time, we're travelling with 2 animals so again -- it leaves us with some limited options. Option 1 involves sweet talking another family member into allowing Drew to stay with them due to some unusual circumstances. Option 2 = Residence Inn for 7 days with the 2 critters. Read: $1300+. Ouch, but hey, we gotta do what we gotta do.

At the end of the day .... I like to think I've done okay for myself. Had a "moment" before I stepped back and screwed my thinking cap back on. 3/4 potential issues diffused? Yeah, I like to think I did alright. But darn it all ... if all of those problems could NOT get dropped on me all at once in the future, that'd be pretty great.

4 comments:

  1. The MC should pay for y'all to stay at the Residence Inn while you wait for a house. They pay you after the fact when you submit your move paperwork and hotel receipt, but at least you'll get it back. They paid us back for 3 weeks in the extended stay when we first moved to NC and were looking for a place!

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  2. Yikes, that sounds rough... I probably would've end up crying my eyes out at least once in this whole ordeal haha

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  3. Along with paying for your hotel, they will store your household goods until your move-in date.

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  4. Oh, I figured they'd pay for the hotel etc ... but we need to buy a washer/dryer, and originally ... we were planning on using most of the DLA to do that. :(

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