At the beginning of the month we moved to Georgia, intending to stay with some friends while we tried to get a house loan. Things didn't go as planned though and we have now moved to Arkansas. Once the holidays are over with and the weather has settled down, we will again begin trying to get a house of our own. We're at my parent's house at the moment and I can say there is never a dull moment, nor will there be for who knows how long. I've been put in charge of cooking and groceries since my mother works horribly long hours and has always liked my cooking. She has also asked me to try and train her Lhasa Apso dog who most of the time is fairly sweet, but has quite a few bad habits, one of which is aggressive biting. He has already bitten Star and regularly snaps at my mother. On the other hand he has only really growled at me with any seriousness twice when I popped him on the behind for misbehaving. Most of the time he has done a really really soft almost growl to me. I am learning his different growls and barks, his version of "talking" like Sephi who whines, barks, growls and howls at us. Mom was also worried that Tuffy would have trouble with Tsuki, my cat, being in the house since he had never been around a cat before, but there really hasn't been any problems between the two since their first interaction when Tuffy tried to chase Tsuki, but since Tsuki has no fear of dogs, he simply turned and slapped Tuffy good across the face (not enough to even scratch him). Since then Tuffy has fussed at Tsuki, but nothing else. He and Sephi are mostly getting along as well, though Sephi has proven that if Tuffy pushes him too far, he will get serious and show him what he can do. This morning for example, Tuffy tried to run Sephi off of his food and Sephi drove him out of the room holding him by the back of his neck. Sephi will of course back off immediately when told to do so and we have watched them closely when they start getting too rough. Currently though we do seem to have a problem with him going to the bathroom in the house. On the other hand, it's more than a little understandable as to why he is since their entire yard is flooded. The back yard itself in some places is about a foot deep.

I am currently working on a badge for a trade group and watching Inkheart. This is definitely going to be one of the more interesting holidays We've had in a while.

I had asked Tech earlier today if I had received a box yet. He knew what I was talking about and said that no, I had not, but he had spoken with the person sending it. A bit later, as I was about to go take a nap, the doorbell rang and there was the very box I had been asking about. Inside it was my handmade plush and loonakit from SPark.

I love my plush, it is so soft and squishable and cute. The loonakit is a pretty wolfy grey with white inside the ears and under the tail with big blue eyes, so also very cute. Getting those in today just made the day that much better.

First night didn't go so well. It was kind of expected though. Seph paced and paced and whined cause Star isn't here. He also whined cause he wasn't allowed free run on the water bowl since he ends up horking most of it back up or having to pee ALL the time. At least he and Dozer are getting along (a little too well in some ways).

I didn't think Tsuki was going to be as much of a problem, but apparently he was feeling insecure and actually wanted to sleep with me last night instead of DJ like he normally does.

Hopefully once they realize this isn't a vacation trip, they'll settle into a more normal routine and things won't be so rough on everyone. Also hopefully, Seph will settle down once Star finally gets here. I'm worried about him of course, it's a long drive and he's going it alone with a full carload of stuff after a most likely stressful day of waiting for someone do to their fucking job. (OK, not getting on that soap box)

Right now I'm just waiting for Ari to get up so I can go shower and put on some clothes and then see what's going on for today until he gets here. I think we're going to go see about signing the kid up for school.

Tomorrow the cleaners come and give this place a scrub down while we and the pets make ourselves scarce. After that, we sit around for 2 days doing little to nothing until I head out for Tech's on the 3rd. I will be so glad to get out of this place for good. Once we're settled in down there, I'll have to get my DL switched over and a retired dependent ID card. We'll also still be trying to get a house loan and a place of our own, but we will never have to come back to this hell hole. I will never understand why they sent him out here in the first place. I mean, putting someone in an airborne unit who can not be airborne is ridiculous. I'll leave that rant for some other time though and just concentrate on being happy because we're getting out of here.

From here on out, we're going to be eating pizza/take out to keep from dirtying up the kitchen after it's been scrubbed down. I want to owe the housing people as little as possible when we leave. (We already know we'll owe for the carpet, no getting around that with it being over 5 yrs old and we had pets.)

Had a great turkey day with friends yesterday, but I somehow pulled the lower muscles in my back again. Thank deity Star has a Tens unit. For those that don't know what it is, it's a deep tissue massager used by physical therapists and chiropractors. I also have Biofreeze as well, which is woooonderful stuff too. I'm hoping to be better by tomorrow so that I can get more stuff done before the cleaners come on Monday.

So our house is all packed up and most of our stuff is gone. We kept what we needed and what the movers couldn't take, but the rest of it is gone. Right now we're watching Netflix with the tv we kept out and the PS3 (NO WAY were they taking that) while I cook. Since all my regular dishes are packed up, I bought a cheap set of skillets and some spoons to cook with. I'm discovering just how talented I can be in the kitchen with very little to work with. I cooked bacon, fried eggs and toast this morning with just what I had. Right now I am doing Hamburger Helper and tonight might be a turkey breast (if it thaws). I am going to get as much of the fresh meat cooked up as I possibly can so that I have little if anything other than some spices to take with me.

I'm looking at this as practice for when/if we ever go camping. It's actually kind of fun.

Gonna put this under a cut due to the EWWWWW factor.

Forgot to mention taking Seph to the vet yesterday to grab some more HW preventative for him and pick up his records. I also asked for some sedatives and they gave me some 25mg Aceproms for the move. I doubt it will take much for him, so I should have enough to use for while the movers are here as well as on the trip down. I am going to miss this vet clinic, they were always really nice and helpful and never had problems giving me convenient appt. times.

I also looked online for a vet clinic when we move and if the reviews are honest, I think I've found one. We'll probably be taking both Tsuki and Seph in for their first visits soon after the move since Tsuki needs to be re-caught up on all his shots after Banfield fucking up his paperwork and double dosing (or trying to) him on things. (It's sad when the store their clinic is in has to apologize for how much they suck and remind people that they're not really associated with them, nor do they recommend them.)

Also heard another little interesting tidbit of news that made me happy. Apparently The Haven no-kill animal shelter is due to be shut down by the state due to the horrid conditions they keep their adoptable animals in. For those that don't know, the animals are kept out in dilapidated barns in the middle of no where in cages that are stacked on top of each other with dogs and cats in the same building and sometimes cats right on top of dogs. I have seen animals at their adoption days with shaved spots on them from sitting in a dirty cage and getting hair mats (not that they will tell you that's what it is, but anyone with any shelter experience can tell). I could just stay on my soap box for hours about how horrible they are, but I won't. I will just sit and hope they do get shut down and that some of the more worse off animals are humanely put to sleep and their suffering ended.

>.>...Heh, yay for tengent journals.

Yep, it's that weekend. The weekend before our house is packed out. Right now we're working out what we have to have packed up in the cars and away from the movers by tomorrow night. I almost feel like I've gotten nothing accomplished considering the cluttered mess in the living room, but I have 4 bags of art stuff packed up that I will be using. I did toss out in the fridge and freezers, kept up on the laundry, got the little started on sorting his clothes, arranged all of my sewing materials, made meals, found cleaning agencies, made sure all the dogs paperwork is together, spackled spots on the wall, cleaned and packed the downstairs bathroom, pulled all the swords out of our closet, and thrown away things I really do not need to keep. (Yes, I am something of a pack rat)

Not all of this was done today, but over the course of the last week. I've come to something of a standstill since we can't pack stuff in the cars due to the fact that we don't want someone breaking into them and stealing stuff. I feel rather useless at the moment since I see this stuff that needs to get done and yet, I can't do it due to extinuating circumstances. It's frustrating.

The loan application came in the mail today, this is a good thing. The bad thing is some of the documents I need, I don't have easy access too...which the truly funny thing is the documents are my bank statements which are with this bank.

Most likely we will be taking the paperwork to the gal in person since it will take that long to get everything needed together in between packing and other things we have to do. We'd planned on going there anyway, so it's not that big of a deal.

In some ways the house looks worse right now and in some ways it's better.

We tossed out our couch and loveseat last night along with one of the TV's since the back of it was jacked up. Our living room is honestly a jumbled mess of cushions and pillows (since I'm keeping the foam from the cushions), and other misc. stuff we've been taking stock of, and packing up.

This weekend we will pack Star's car full of what he will be taking as well as packing some of the stuff I will be taking into my car. I get the lighter load since I will be dealing with the kid, the dog, and the cat on my trip.

It's interesting trying to sort out what we will NEED to keep out and what it is OK for the movers to pack. We have to keep in mind that our stuff will be in storage AT LEAST 90 days. We have to ask ourselves, can I go without this for 3 months? Most of the time the answer is yes. For some of it the answer is yes, but then the question becomes, but do I trust people hired by the gov't/military to pack it and not break it? NO. I have a few items I do NOT trust them to pack even though I could easily live without them for a while.

I am so tired right now though I really can't think of anything else to say though so I will leave it at that.

Today Star got called back by his squad leader, only I was with him (as usual) and she had the gall to try and stop me from going back claiming that she wanted to discuss a military issue and that it "wasn't about the house", only...it was.

This afternoon at end of the day formation, she and the plt sgt pulled him aside and tried to say I was no longer allowed to be present for any discussions involving his military service (which what they were saying during the bitch fest earlier had NOTHING to do with military service) because she didn't want to embarrass him (read as: herself) in front of me.

Sorry,but I'm his wife and a civilian so unless they're discussing something rated top secret with him, they have no right to tell me I can't be there. They're fucking cowards that don't want anyone to witness them harassing an already stressed out soldier who only wants to get the fuck out of here.

They did everything but say verbatim to get rid of our pets in order to stay in a hotel too. We haven't told them yet that I am leaving on the 3rd of Dec. to go to a friends house and wait for him to get done clearing and we most likely won't. They'll figure it out soon enough though, when I don't show up with him to get all the clearing signatures and then I am quite certain they will begin to give him hell. I have already told him if they start shit, that he had better invoke the right to use the 1st sgts or Company Commander's open door policy. I'm sad to admit though that I have seen him getting similar "talks" too many times and he simply stands there like a compliant puppy that is getting yelled at for peeing in the floor and I HATE that.

I am so mentally drained right now it's not even funny. I haven't even really had time to eat anything today.

We have been running around like headless chickens trying to get everything sorted out and please Star's chain of command (which is pretty much impossible) for him to clear out of here. As I've said in previous posts they want him completely cleared out of (as in we do NOT live there anymore) housing before they will let him get cleared from the unit, battalion and installation. Now, normally, you clear unit, battalion, housing,installation, but of course the WTB just loves to fuck things around and fuck people over.

We do have friends in Georgia who are just awesome and are going to let us stay with them for a while (until we can get a place of our own), but even after we clear housing there will still be things that Star and I both have to stay near the base to do so we may end up in a hotel if we can find one that will allow both our pets. I also have to stay with Star until all this is done due to all the stress his chain of command is putting on him. Without me around to keep him in line and focused I worry that he will have another one of his episodes like the did on his last deployment only worse and end up in real serious trouble.

I just wish things would have worked out better. We wanted to get out of here, but we didn't want to be pretty much just kicked to the curb like this. We tried to plan things out, but with his chain of command dropping the ball on their end and not telling him everything he needed to know to get his orders cut, we ended up getting screwed over and things jammed at the last minute.

I just feel mentally dead right now, but I have to keep it pulled together for everyone else.

Star's chain of command forced their hand with transportation and now they (transport) are coming in next week to pack our house up and send almost all of our stuff to somewhere in Georgia. The big problem with this?

WE HAVE NO FUCKING HOME TO MOVE IN TO!!!

That's right. Thanks to people not calling us back, or not doing their jobs and giving us the run around, Star didn't have the paperwork he needed weeks ago to do this stuff and we haven't gotten the loan for the house yet.

Star asked and asked for three weeks while waiting on his orders when was he getting them, did he need to do anything else to get them, was he missing any forms he needed to get them. He was always told that he had everything and to just wait. I really hate to think what would have happened if we had waited even longer and he went on ETS leave without his orders.

We have both been trying and trying to get someone to keep in contact with us and get a loan (without getting scammed on it), but either we get one call and then nothing, or they want the VA percentage paperwork and Star doesn't have that yet because he needed his orders first.

This is turning into the biggest clusterfuck ever and I am doing all I can to get things worked out, but every time I iron one wrinkle another one comes up.

Just taking a break to get some food in me before I get back to work. Today so far our DVDs have been packed up (Thank Deity for Netflix), the kitchen has been somewhat cleaned up and out, the downstairs bathroom is 90% packed (had to leave out essentials) and cleaned up and laundry is roughly half done.

I am tired. I hate cleaning. It is freaking boring and painful, but when I do it, I tend to sometimes over do it. They don't white glove the houses anymore, but I am still going to clean it as best as I can with what I have to work with.

I have tossed out a lot of stuff I just couldn't see a reason to keep anymore and so has Star, but we still have a lot of stuff. I really think it's the furniture that is making it look so small and cluttered still but oh well.

Everything has been done in between phone calls, Star running off to copy stuff (NO WAY am I letting him kill my printer doing that many copies), and taking needed breaks so that we don't wear ourselves out to the point we can't function the rest of the week.

The big worry is still the house loan, but hopefully it will work out sometime this week or early next. If we had known the first guy was gonna crap out on us, we would have started looking elsewhere sooner.

Yep, official packing in preparation to get the fuck out of here.

The next couple of weeks (possibly longer) are going to be absolute hell for us as we try to finish getting a house loan, find a house ( already have a few prospects), and get all the paperwork done to clear out of here. The biggest problems are going to be chain of command. Squad leader is already pissed cause we didn't get the moving dates SHE wanted us to get.* Housing will be the other problem...they always are.

Now, most of the fault of why we couldn't get the dates SHE thinks we should is her own fault for dicking around on stuff that she KNEW Star had to get done (with her help) until he heard it through the grape vine and confronted her on it. I also have no idea WHY in the hell she wants us to clear out of housing so fast when we have told her repeatedly that we are NOT leaving the area as soon as his leave starts because 1) we don't have anywhere to go yet and 2) we still have things to do that will have to be cleared up next month anyway. If things went her way we'd be stuck who knows where (either here in an empty house or in a hotel) for over 2 months until Star's actual out date. I mean, he can't even get his retirement ID until he actually retires.

I understand his squad leader is pregnant but it is seriously no excuse for how nutjob she is acting right now treating Star one way and another soldier who will be getting out around the same time differently (read as doing the right things for him). She knows how he gets when he's stressed out, and yet she still does this stupid shit. One minute she's being all nice and chatty with him and the next she is bitching about why doesn't he have something done (that he HAS asked about multiple times) and trying to turn it around and make it his fault.

I'm just so fucking sick of it. We WANT to get out of here, but we don't want to feel like we're being kicked to the curb for things that THEY fucked up and are out of our hands.

Edit: See I am so pissed off, I forgot to actually write about the packing and stuff we did.

We got over half our clothes packed up, the kitchen mostly clean, the bathtub now looks better than when we moved in, and over half of our books are also packed up and inventoried.

Tomorrow will be packing up and finishing up the kitchen (leaving out only things I will NEED until we move), finishing up in the bathrooms, and packing up the Windstones and maybe movies.

I have Netflix on my PS3 now. I can watch as much as I want without paying extra for it, and I still get 2 discs at a time through the mail as well. I am happy. I think I will watch "Jim Henson's Storyteller" series now.

This proves how shitty it will be if the government runs all health care.

While it's great to get it for free, you do pay the price of going to good doctors (with full schooling sometimes), when you need to, and where you need to.

My son's psych suggested he get an EEG to see if he is having petit mal seizures (I did when I was younger).  Personally I don't believe he is since he is not showing the same symptoms I did, but I digress.  So, to do this we have to get a referral through Tricare and then wait for the approval letter.  We do this and get it without issue the middle of last month.  Here is where the problem begins.  We call at least once a day, roughly every other day for 3 weeks and always get an answering machine, but never get a call back from them.  We only have the one phone number though so...  He has a psych appt in the meantime and he offers to have his office call.  Still, nothing.  Finally we go back up to the referral office only to be told we have to call Health Net Services.  We spend a good half hour on the phone with them this morning arguing over whether or not we even HAVE a referral.  They say we don't, we know we do, but unfortunately we are waiting for a "class" to begin and don't have it on us.  Star's phone goes dead after I finally convince the chick to just call the doctors office and find out what the hell the problem is.

I call back this afternoon and get more intelligent and nice people this time, explain the issue, they offer to call right off the bat and come to find out, apparently none of our messages got into their system in the local (to us) office and that the first appointment they could give us would be at their main office over 2 hours away.  Since we're (hopefully) going to be moving in the next month or so, and getting an appointment would take that long anyway, I told her to just drop the referral and we'd let his psych know what was going on.

I love not paying for my meds, and depo shot, and doctor appointments and all that, but honestly, I would almost rather pay for all that if it meant (and it typically does) getting the care I need, when I need it and from who I want it to be from.

Ok, so, Star and I have been trying to go through my bank to get pre-approval for a VA loan to get a house.  Everything sounded good a few weeks ago when he first talked to the rep but now...we can't get in touch with the guy.  The closest branch is about 3 hours away too so it's not like we could just take a drive out there whenever we want.

It's getting down to the wire for him to get out (or at least go on ETS leave) and we REALLY want to know if we got pre-approved so we can start seriously looking for a house.  We're not staying in the area either so that only compounds our problems.  Also, our credit isn't that great either even though we've tried to get credit cards to help with that.  (Gotta have credit to get credit...makes no fucking sense)

So, yeah, I'm stressing and worrying because I want to make sure we have a home to move in to when he gets out.  We're not even asking for that much either.  We want a fixer upper with a little land with it, nothing fancy, nothing in town.  A nice little old farmhouse out in the country... I mean is that honestly too much to ask for?

We don't know anyone who could (or would) co-sign for us if we can't get a VA loan other than his parents/grandparents but that would open up a whole nasty can of worms because his mother is already bitching and trying to guilt trip us into moving up there so they can get free labor out of at least him (and I'm quite sure I'd be dragged into it too).

Our only other option would be to ask my parent's if we could live on some land the family owns and just tear down the OLD house that is on it now since it's beyond repairable, but I really really don't want to live close to my parent's either.

I love Seph, I really really do (I have to keep telling myself that right now), but right now I am so angry with him...

I was working on a big perler/fuse bead project of my own.  I had carefully sketched out, then mapped out the design on specially designed graph paper.  I have 1/4 of the design finished and ironed and felt like getting some more done.  I had at least 8 rows complete and marked off on the paper when Star let Seph back in from going out.  This wasn't a problem until Seph trotted over to where I was sitting and stopped, standing right over my perler pad.  (I had it sitting up on a popcorn tin)  I told him firmly to back up, but before he did that, Star barked "Go ON" at him, causing him to jump back*  instead of just stepping back.  His big feet hit the tin hard enough to bounce the pad and knock over half of the beads off.  I "might" try to fix it later, but right now I am just too upset and feeling rather defeated to mess with it.  Each time I've tried to sit down and do one of these, "something" ends up happening and  I either can't even start the piece or the beads get messed up.

*Seph didn't jump back out of fear, but in play as he bowed at the same time.  Star often "yells" at him when they play outside, so when he does it inside in a similar tone, Seph thinks he wants to play.  (By yelling I mean he yells nonsense at Seph and gets him all stirred up and running around.  Star will yell, Seph will run a few circles around him, then try to jump on him, before running around him some more.  It's honestly funny to watch and I'm quite sure the neighbors think he's nuts.)