I'm back.

so I sort of accidentally abandoned my blog for the last few months. I say "abandoned," but really the lack of updates can be chalked up solely to laziness. Quite a bit has been going on, and by the time I have "free" time, I really can't be bothered to do much beyond putting on my pajamas and remaining in a ball on the couch, fighting to keep my eyes open by watching t.v. until I feel it's a socially acceptable time to actually go to bed. There have been plenty of things I've made mental notes to blog about. Hell, I've even written entire blogs in my head (and kept various notes on my phone and scribbled on papers in my purse), but when it came time to actually type them out, I just couldn't get the motivation. A lot of stuff has happened since my last post, so I'll just do a little recap:

I went home.

...and by "home," I mean America. Back in July, for about 2 and a half weeks, I was back in Arkansas. Now, when i initially made my plans to go home, I thought that 2 and a half weeks was a bit MUCH (I remember thinking "by the end of the first week, I'll have done everything I want to do, and be boooooored), but I've since learned that those days FLY by, and unfortunately, I only got to see about 1/5 of the people I'd intended to see (giant blanket apology to everyone I missed). Instead of the 2-3 days I'd planned on spending in Little Rock, I actually ended up spending about 15 hours there (I'd had plans to go back, but those got foiled due to circumstances beyond my control), and only got to do about, oh, 20% of the things I'd wanted to do. The rest of my time was spent in Helena, with my parents/brother/grandfather, doing various stuff (and honestly, I could have spent the whole trip just sitting in a living room with them, watching crappy t.v., and have been happy as a clam. I forgot how much I missed just being in the same room with them). I spent a lot of time indoors since the weather was unbearably hot and humid, and I dazzled everyone with my stories of life WITHOUT air conditioning (you want to see amazement on faces? tell a bunch of southerners that you don't have air conditioning in your house - you'll be blown away by their shock and amazement). I also got some much needed shopping time in with my mom, and then  had a spa day/casino night with some of my friends (thanks to my wonderful, generous mom!), and it was great fun and much needed.....the BAD thing about going home? Homesickness starts all over again...but that's a whole other story in itself....

I developed a hatred for Canada Toronto Toronto Pearson International Airport.

I guess saying I developed a hatred for an entire city is unfair, so I'll instead say that I developed a hatred for the staff of the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Let me preface what I'm about to say with this: first off, I've been to/through Canada twice in my life, and found the people of Canada to be extremely welcoming and pleasant, so when I was booking my flight home, and found that flying Air Canada through Toronto not only gave me my shortest travel time but ALSO the cheapest price (and I could pick my seats in advance!), I thought "great! Canada is fantastic!" - when I was flying home and my first flight landed in Toronto, I was in an exceptionally good mood. I was exhausted, but I was so excited, and even though I was a little anxious about the between flight custom stuff (I had a giant bag, was unfamiliar with the airport, and had about an hour to get through customs and to my next gate), I felt certain that, based on previous experiences in Canada, there would be more than a few happy, helpful airport staff people hanging about (aboot!) to help me if I needed it.

boy, was I wrong.

without going on a rant (and believe me, I could) I'll just say that literally every single person I encountered who worked at the airport in the hour I was there was exceptionally rude. (I had eyes rolled at me by the elderly woman whose job it was to point you in the right direction at customs......I had "LADY! LADY!" yelled at me by a guy while he repeatedly snapped his fingers at me.....even the ATM was rude (a $15 transaction fee for a $10 withdrawal? seriously?) - and that's just scratching the surface of the rudeness) it was like literally every single person employed by the airport got up on the wrong side of the bed (except ONE exceptionally cheery guy at the customs desk who almost redeemed my faith in the friendliness of Canadians until he revealed that he was "born and raised in Boston!") - needless to say that they ruined MY good mood, and I spent the second leg of my trip home fuming about my shitty treatment at the airport. During that second flight, I'd even written an entire blog in my head about my experience, but I thought to myself "now, chuck, that's unfair....what IF everyone WAS just somehow simultaneously having a "bad" or "off" day, and you're about to make hasty judgement on them based on one day...." so I didn't write the blog. I was flying home through Toronto, which gave the staff 2 1/2 weeks to get their shit together and turn those frowns upside down, and dammit, I just KNEW that the people of Toronto Pearson International Airport would redeem themselves.

verdict:

Nope....STILL A BUNCH OF ASSHOLES.

I've had some medical issues.

I've had issues with frequent (okay, almost daily) dizzy spells and lightheadedness, and lately I've had frequent (okay, DAILY) headaches. in the last couple of months, I've had a couple of migraines (which I've never had before), and I'm generally just feeling fatigued (and by fatigued I mean I could quite literally sleep all day, and the minute I wake up, I'm counting down the hours until I can crawl back into bed. I wake up groggy and stay groggy ALL day (feels like I've been downing nyquil), and have absolutely no energy....) I finally went to the Doctor about it, and had various tests run (which have all come back normal so far), but he did detect a low grade heart murmur. I realize heart murmurs aren't usually a big deal, but my doctor has a tinge of concern because it's never been detected before, and a murmur that comes out of nowhere can be indicative of some other (sometimes more serious) issue. I'm currently waiting for the team of rocket scientists in the referral management office to schedule my appointment for me, since apparently my echocardiograph is something that has to be done at a specialists office. I don't mind having to go through the referral office except for the fact that it's already been two weeks since the referral order went in, and they STILL don't have an appointment scheduled, and, according to the girl I spoke to today, it will be "at least another week" before they get it scheduled. Now, I realize that as a military spouse, I'm getting off easy here - I'm having all these fancy-schmancy tests run, and it's not costing me a penny, and believe me, I appreciate it, and I'm a realist - I understand that my health is not as much a priority as, say, some active duty person - but 3 WEEKS TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT? GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK. I find that to be just a TAD bit ridiculous - now, if you told me that you've scheduled the appointment, but they can't SEE me for three weeks, I'll totally believe and accept that (because that's how a specialty practice works), but you haven't even scheduled it? what the fuck have you been doing for the last 3 weeks? At this point, I'm considering walking into the ER, clutching my chest and screaming "I'M IN SO MUCH PAAAAAAAIN" just to get the process expedited......so, yeah, stay tuned for THAT......AND I have 2 cavities that have leaky fillings, and those bitches are getting fixed on Wednesday. woo.

what else has happened?

oh - we got to see Morrissey (most amazing show ever, but maybe that's just me.....), and while I was home I saw Jack's Mannequin.....

work is good - I'm finally really settled in and I've gotten pretty comfortable. we've got some new faces, and some faces on their way out the door, and shit is always exciting. love my work family.

oh, and the husband is deploying in like...uh....3 weeks. he was SUPPOSED to deploy in December, but it magically got pushed up. Luckily, he isn't going far, and I'll be able to visit (yay!), so it won't be as difficult/weird/stressful as the last time.

so that's cliffs notes on the last couple of months. now that I'm caught up, I'll be back more frequently. Prepare for my frequent ranting, y'all!

one month later

it's been a month since i've blogged about anything. for anyone wondering - no, our plane didn't crash - we're totally here....it's not that i haven't had the time to blog (believe me - i'm bored out of my skull over here), i just haven't felt motivated. i still don't feel very motivated, but what the hell.

it's my birthday. or actually, it WAS my birthday. it's still my birthday in america, but it's been over for 3 hours here.....

29 years ago today, i came into the world all screaming, slimy and butt-ass naked, via c-section, and much to the joy of my family (or at least that's what i've been told). If my grandmother were alive, at some point today, she would have called just to tell me the story of how she kissed the doctor when he came out and announced that i had arrived. i hardly remember a birthday that she was alive for when she didn't tell me that particular story. i love that story.

my grandfather at some point always manages to recall something that someone was doing "at this very moment (insert proper birthday age) years ago" - tonight, when i spoke to him, he just said "29 years ago today, something wonderful happened." - just having him say that....that's probably the best gift i could have gotten.

being away from my family today has been not only bizarre, but difficult. i can't really remember a birthday that i didn't spend with them. and i know that i'm not alone, but i still feel really lonely here, and while i realize that i'm an adult, and today is technically just another day on the calendar, being without my family on my birthday just tears and my soul a little. i think it's just the tradition of it all....

some people don't see a need to even celebrate birthdays once you hit a certain age (or after you hit all the major milestones...16...18...21...), but i feel like anyone who can make it through the crap we all go through every day for an entire year deserves to celebrate a little.....gene did a great job of trying to make my birthday as normal as possible - we went out and had a very nice dinner, and i'm probably the only 29 year old who had a hello kitty tablecloth and a birthday cake covered in gummy bears. it's not lost on me that i'm very lucky. i have a great husband here who is taking the emotional roller coaster that i'm on in stride, and i also have family and friends back home who love me very much. i win. but i still can't help but be just a little bit sad....

it doesn't help that it's so freaking close to christmas. i don't know how many times i've thought to myself "why the hell couldn't we have moved in the summer?" - at least then i would have had ample time to get settled before facing the fact that i won't be home for the holidays.

anyway, today also marks the one month mark of us living in england - we spent the first 20 days or so living in an on base hotel, and it was quite the adventure (and by adventure i mean torturous hell) - don't get me wrong - the facilities were nice enough, but the room was tiny, and after 4 or 5 days, you start to lose your mind. gene and i were together 24 hours a day, and i don't care HOW much you love someone - 24/7 is a bit much to take. plus, the bathroom door was jacked and wouldn't shut completely. awkwaaaaaard.

it only really took us a week to find a house. less than a week, actually, but there is a lot of paperwork to be done, and it kind of held up the process....

we've been living in the house for about 10 days now. it's cute, and actually has everything we said we wanted - there are a few "cons" though, like the washer and dryer being in the garage (with no door from the garage attached to the house...what genius of house building came up with THAT?), and the fridge that we have doesn't fit into the space the the fridge was meant to be in (our fridge is in the dining room...i can't make this shit up). none of our stuff has arrived, and we don't really expect it until the first week of january. they gave us "loaner" furniture though, and it's....uh...interesting, for lack of a better (nicer) word. we have a christmas tree, which is a big improvement from last year, when i forbid any christmas decorations from entering my apartment. i was in a pretty deep, weird depression hole then because gene was deployed. i seriously considered another tree-less year (i just didn't feel like dealing with the hassle), but i convinced myself that if we didn't have one, i'd always regret it.

i bought a car - a black mini cooper. it's cute. it's tiny. it's fun to drive.
driving here is quite possibly the scariest thing i've ever experienced. what's even scarier than the actual act of driving on the "wrong" side of the road for the first time is that they gave me a license without even making me get behind the wheel of a car. i'm not kidding - i got my license on a wednesday, and i didn't even attempt to drive for another 3 days. i'm slowly but surely getting the hang of it, but i don't think i'll ever be able to relax enough to not sit completely straight up, with my hands in the perfect 10-2 position, the radio turned completely down, and the navigation system on. it also takes forever to drive ANYWHERE here. the base gene works at is 14 miles from our house, and that makes for a (pretty boring) half hour drive.


before you ask - no, we haven't been to london yet. people ask me this all the time and i can feel their disappointment when i'm like "nope! not yet!" but i can't just take off to london whenever the mood strikes. there isn't a tube station like, in my backyard, y'all - it takes planning AND time, and after we got all the important stuff done (in processing, finding a house, buying a car...) gene had to start working....we ARE planning to go next week though, over the christmas holiday.

it snows all the time here. at first i was like "OH MY GOD! LOOK AT THE SNOW! I LOVE THE SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! SNOOOOOOOOW!" and now i'm like "ugh. snow. what's with all the damn snow?!?!?!" - apparently this is a pretty bad winter as far as weather goes. what a great time to move to the UK!

that's all i've got right now. we're here, we're alive, and for the most part, england isn't that bad. i have a lot of things to talk about eventually, but right now i'm too tired (it's 3:30 a.m. here!)

coming soon:
pictures of the house, the mini, and any adventures we have....

Everything in transit

Our stuff is shipped, my car is gone, gene's car is shipped, and we - along with approximately 200 pounds of luggage (and after 2 glasses of wine and 3 beers!) - are on our way.......

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eurochuck.

I have so many HAPPY things I wanted to write about (my bridal shower last weekend being the main one) but they are going to have to wait another day or so. Right now my focus is on the life changing piece of news I got just a couple of hours ago from gene.

In this very second I'm thankful for this little blog app on my phone. I'm lying here I'm bed and can't sleep because I'm just in so much shock. I'd call my friends to talk, but it's 1:30 in the morning, and I wouldn't want someone waking me up all hysterical and shit...

Anyway, turns out that gene has gotten orders to move to a base in England, and since we're getting married and all in, oh, 24 days, this obviously means that I'LL be moving to England, too. They are only giving us five months notice, so I'm already stressing about things like getting our things there (gene says the AF takes care of all of that), finding some sort of decent job, being so far away from my family, (okay, I'm stressing mostly about getting the dogs to England, since generally I know it typically takes 6 months to complete the requirements, and so we are technically already behind....)

Don't I already sound THRILLED!?!?!? (that's laced with HEAVY sarcasm, for those of you who don't know how much I love to use sarcasm....i find that it doesn't always translate well when typed, so I try to point it out when I can...Of course, I prefer to deliver my sarcasm-filled quips in person, cause I have great sarcastic tones and facial expressions...to make a long story short, you're really missing out by not actually hearing me say these things...but I digress.....)

Where was I? Oh, yeah...Europe.....I love Europe. I got to spend a large part of the summer backpacking all over the place when I was 19, and I thought it was incredible....however, I'm not just overjoyed about this move because it sort of interrupts my life plan (finishing school), which is something I've been working very hard on for the last couple of years. It's also pretty terrifying to think that I'll be in a foreign country (mom said "at least they speak English there!") with no family, no friends, no job (though I'm sure that part won't last terribly long).....and it's already scary enough to me that I'm about to be someones wife-now I'm going to be someones new wife, in a strange new place, with no friends and no nearby family and NO SEPHORA (really, England? You don't have SEPHORA?!?!?).

Gene is ecstatic about this move. Me? Not so much. I like being close to my family, and as much as I bitch about Cabot, it's my cozy little corner of the world where I feel relatively safe. Moving across an ocean is scary as hell to me - I mean, I moved to Orlando and hardly left the house except to go to work or to the mall because I was so terrified of getting lost an never finding my way home! Now you want me to live in a place where I'm expected to drive on the wrong side of the road? Calling it an adjustment is quite the understatement. Yes, I've always said i would someday like to live in Europe. SOMEDAY =
when I'm done with the crap I'd already started here in America. Way to come hard with the Bad timing, you order-giving jerks!

This isn't a two week vacation, or a summer with a backpack, getting drunk, seeing sites and sleeping in hostels. Nope! This is a 3 (or more) YEAR stint in jolly ol' England. Hey, don't just EASE me into the life of a military wife...no...just throw me right in!!!!! What? Were all the bases in...I dunno, AMERICA, completely full? Thanks, air force.

I'm sure this will all be one great big adventure, but for now, I'm just gonna sulk about it.

Cheerio, dammit!


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