"They need to know right now..."

It all started in February. I was in Italy on a business trip. Hubbalicious woke me up in the middle of the night with the following question: “They need to know right now… do you want to take orders to Germany?”. I sat straight up in bed, tried to buy myself a few minutes to figure out whether I was dreaming or awake. 30 minutes later, after the adrenaline rush passed and a quick “gut check” call to my mom (….roaming…from Italy), I called him back and said “Let’s do it”! [Sidebar: Apparently, this is the way that questions about moving/orders most frequently occur. Most of my military wife friends laughed, nodded and had similar stories when I shared this experience with them!!]

So then the waiting game began. If you’re not in the military, you may not be able to fully comprehend the “hurry up and wait” way of life that comes with bureaucracy. (This activity is frequently followed by the “bring me a rock. Nope, wrong rock” game, which is equally frustrating). We had what Hubbalicious called “verbal orders”, which means that we had agreed to go – but nothing was in writing. This is a bit of a paralyzing position, because NOTHING can be done about a move until the orders are in hand. We had 3 months to get ready – but no one would even talk to us about moving unless we had the paperwork.

Suddenly – mid-March was upon us, and the orders were in Hubbalicious’ inbox. The process could finally begin!! There is a series of errands that have to be performed before you can be approved to go overseas. They include: a medical screening, a dental screening, and a new (no fee) passport. This can be a frustrating circle of tail chasing, but patience and a sense of humor saw us through just fine. Thank goodness my job is flexible with the time I am online – because I spent the better part of a day at medical, and another half day between the dental clinic and passport office. I also am thankful that Todd is in a squadron and has access to a flight doc! He was a HUGE help in getting us timely appointments and even did our exams for us. I honestly think we would have missed the deadline if it hadn’t been for him.

So – here we are. Our paperwork is in and we are on to the next stage...preparing for THE MOVE!!