Best Day Ever

Or at least in the top 10. We would probably would have been better served by getting Nathan enrolled in school today. But we chose to make memories instead.

Our first stop was Ft. Pulaski on Cockspur Island, GA. And we finally got our first glimpse of a gator in the moat. Looked to be about 4-5 feet. The boys made jokes all day about going into the water to 'rastle' it. Enjoy the picture of 'General Nathan' on top of the paraphet.

We went back to Tybee Island to play in the water again. Much different pace of life since it was a weekday. There were a few grandparents with their preschool grandchildren, but mostly adults. There was an overcast sky, which made it a little colder than the day before. Having recently been in Oklahoma, to me, this is fall. It's not so hot there now, the leaves are starting to turn, and the air just feels different towards the end of the day. Not here on the coast, however. It's still summer. Maybe not blistering hot, but autumn is still distantly on the horizon.

I'll try to upload some more photos of the day to my flickr.com account, for those of you with access. You'll see a lot more pictures of Nathan and Eric, and none of me. This was a father/son bonding trip. I was just the official recorder. And that's okay. If we're facing a deployment next year, I'm glad that we've had this time to be tourists and make memories. The sight of Eric and Nathan karate-kicking the waves, 'living like Larry' (Spongebob reference), Nathan trying to pull Eric into the surf, looking for seashells. Eric forcibly making Nathan face the waves, yet being his anchor, and giving him the stability to be adventurous.

Lunch was at the Crab Shack. More touristy, gimmicky eatery. But, they did have their own baby alligator pit. Approximately 30 allegators, 1-3 feet. Eek! And yes, you can feed them yourselves! I didn't care for the exotic birds - too noisy. Have to include a picture of Eric's lunch. The seafood sampler was huge! And messy. By the time you shuck and crack and pick out the food from the shells, there isn't all that much food. By the time I shelled and de-armed my plate of shrimp, the magic was gone on the whole fresh seafood experience. I go out to eat so I don't have to prepare my own food. I was seriously need a wet-nap by the end.

Went back to the hotel for a couple of hours, got some laundry done, then took Nathan to the Chuck E. Cheese, which was right across the street. Now, I'd rather clean my kitty litter box than to go to CEC. But since it was a weeknight, the place wasn't totally overrun with screaming kids. It was bearable. Nathan of course enjoyed himself. Eric played a couple of games, himself.

So tomorrow it's back to the bizarre no-man's land life. But today? Pretty sweet.

Tybee Island

Not sure if the video will work. Our camera will take video, but no sound. We played tourists today at Tybee Island. It was really nice to not be hanging around a motel room. Can't say that the shrimp at the local seafood place tasted anymore fresher than the frozen kind in Oklahoma. But that's not the point. We were eating GEORGIA Atlantic shrimp.

weekends in Hinesville

I've had a little more time to wander Hinesville in the past few days. I'm not sure how long Hinesville has been in existance, but it seems to me like it's sole purpose is to support the post. It's almost totally service industry - there's not manufactoring or white collar jobs. If I can't get a job on post, I may be working either sales or a cash register. Oh well, I'll kick up the job search once Nathan's in school. I've always been pretty lucky with the jobs I've gotten, so I'm not too worried.

It's a pretty little town. Lots of trailers in the rural edges of town. I think I'll like getting around town for the next few years. There are, however, serious drawbacks to shopping. NO bookstores! NO craft stores! NO quilting/fabric shops! I'd have to run into Savannah anytime I want those items, or order online. There is a Walmart superstore, but there isn't a mall. There's a Sears, something called a Peebles, and a Cato. Lots of Dollar General, Dollar Tree type stores. There's a Chilis and a Ruby Tuesdays.

Eric says that once we move into quarters on the 16th, he's not leave post again except to be deployed. It would be funny if I didn't know that he meant it. Anything to avoid going through the gates.

He did take Nathan to get a haircut this morning (barbershop was in walking distance of the hotel). Eric usually tells the ladies to give Nathan a high fade. Well, this was a REALLY high fade.

We're going to Savannah for Sunday night. Probably won't make it over to Paula Deen's, but we plan on sightseeing, maybe at Tybee Island.

Makin' a list, and checkin' it twice

Man, have we accomplished a lot today! First was the promotion ceremony in the parking lot of the Richmond Hill Motel 6. Eric thinks it was his best one ever. Over in less than 2 minutes and no speeches.

We decided this morning that we just couldn't stay at the motel for another night. No offense to Tom Bodine, but we really needed more space and something closer to the post. The cats were unhappy with the move. Both have hissed at us throughout the day.

After the 30 minute haggling with the motel 6 clerk for leaving 3 days earlier than we had reserved, the next order of business was to find a storage unit to unload the UHaul. After 30 minutes of hard labor, it was emptied out and we had to find some certified scales to get it weighed for our partial-DTY move. There is apparently only one set of certified scales in Liberty County, and they are not in Hinesville. We had quite the scenic tour of rural Liberty County to travel through before we found them.

Once that was done, it was time to unload Rufus. Now, Rufus has been on a trailer since last Thursday. Rufus is apparently a delicate piece of machinery, who must be started daily for optimum starting power. This, unfortunately, has not been the case since Thursday. We found our new hotel and decided to unload Rufus there, and then we could return the UHaul. Eric climbed into the cab, gave it a couple of cranks, and nothing. He told me to get in the cab, put it in neutral, and he was going to push it off the trailer. While I believe that my husband can accomplish just about anything he decides to accomplish, I knew this wasn't going anywhere. He tried - no go. Then he tells me to get out and help him push. (!) Yeah, like that's gonna make a difference. We gave it the ole college try twice and decided that was enough. He used some sort of starter fluid and then tried to start it again. That thing let out the loudest backfire I have ever heard! Scared the living daylight out of me! Eric has laughed all afternoon about how I jumped and flinched.

Anyway, luckily a UHaul store was right across the street from our hotel. We drove over there to turn it in. Took forever! Apparently business was slow and the owner was in no hurry. Sheesh! Seems like we haven't quite acclimated to the slower pace of life in the south, yet.

After that we went to Nathan's school to pick up a registration packet. Seems like we missed the enrollment period for this week by about an hour. Now we can't enroll him until Monday, so he won't start school until Tuesday. I can foresee that mornings will be tougher than we're used to. Nathan is not a morning person (just like me). It was hard enough getting him up for the school bus by 8:30. His new school starts at 8:00. And unfortunately, none of us have quite gotten used to eastern standard time.

It was nice checking into the new hotel. Much more space. I left the boys and went to the one and only Walmart for some milk and kitty litter. As I was wandering through the aisles, it occurred to me how nice it was to be a strange city where nobody knows you. I mean, if I wanted to belch loudly in the middle of the produce section or cackle like a hen in the checkout line - who cares? I mean, no one knows me yet, right? Wrong! The one and only person I know by name and sight passed me in the frozen foods section - Mabel, our realtor. She drove us to 6 different houses, told us to call her 24-7 if we had a question about Hinesville, recommended travel routes and shopping centers. (Now, I know that all realtors will do that in the hopes of making the sales. And most of them know that they're only going to make a sale maybe 1 out of 4 times. But still!) But how random is that? The one person I know and I was desperately hoping she wouldn't recognize me. The guilt over wasting 4 hours of her time with no sale made me hurry through the store.

Any-hoo. We're all snug in our hotel now. Can't do anything with Nathan and school until Monday. Eric's on 'house search' until the 10th (which is already a fait accompli) and I'm not working right now. All the big obstacles on this move are, I think, taken care of for the moment. We might do some local sightseeing tomorrow. Saturday we'll actually get the OU/Baylor game on television! So Sunday we may actually play tourists in Savannah.

Promotion Ceremony

Nathan changed the insignia, I read the official proclamation, and Sam the Motel 6 handy man was the official photographer. Had to have the Motel 6 sign in the background.

Roller Coaster

Things have finally settled down today. Eric is asleep, our cat Roxy has finally come out from under the bed for the first time in 3 days, Nathan is playing his ps2 with his headphones, we have a permanent address, and the senate has managed to pass a bailout bill. All is right with the world.

This morning we were looking at two different houses, considering which one to make an offer on, and this evening we have signed a contract to accept post housing. You can't get more bi=polar than that.

Every since Eric got the email back on January 3rd, telling him that we were moving to Ft. Stewart, he has been stressing about this move. That, and his promotion. He has worked hard to make sure that we as a family are taken care of. I am so proud of him. He's usually not Mr. Romance, but that's okay. He wants to make sure that Nathan and I are taken care of and provided for. IMHO, nothing means more than making sure your family is provided for. (now, if he would spontaneously think to do the laundry or go grocery shopping or suggest a family outing, hey - that's just bonus.)

I can't tell you the relief about getting quarters on post. While we both really liked the older house we were willing to make an offer on, it is just so much more comforting to be on post. Especially if he's going to be deployed. I just prefer the safety of being in a kick-a$$ gated community if he were gone. If the roof leaks or the plumbing goes bust, I'd rather call housing to come fix it, rather than getting bids to get it fixed.

Georgia. What to say about Georgia. I went to a grocery store yesterday. Harveys. Never heard of it before, but apparently it's a chain around here. Was happy with my options there. But when the canned store music played "Georgia on my mind" by Ray Charles, I had to wonder, "do native get tired of this? Is this so trite that it's unbearable?"

Boiled peanuts at a gas station. What is that all about? Why would you want to buy and eat boiled peanuts? How is that different from the peanuts you buy at say, a baseball game?

We are now at a division. Fort Sill was a tradoc post - tra meaning training. Division is combat. There's another level called Macom, but I'm not sure exactly what that means. It seems to include the superior performance bands like the Drum & Fife Band, the Jazz Ambassadors and the President's own - the bands who are the true performers and don't have to sweat the hard core details.

It was obvious today as were tried to get one post when everyone was getting out for lunch. There was WAY more people on the roads than we were used to at Fort Sill, and there was no parking. Reminds me a lot of Fort Campbell. I thought Eric would stroke out dealing with the traffic. His goal in life is to avoid red lights at all costs.

I can't over emphasize enough how different our situation is now, compared to when we re-entered the military in 1999. Eric was only an E4 - now he is an E7. We went through Consumer credit Counseling and paid off a lot of miscellaneous debt that was weighing us down. We have a kid. I now have experience in the social services field that will expand my chances at getting a decent job here. We've worked hard to overcome bad financial decisions we made when we were younger. And I have to give props to Eric. He has worked hard on both his physical requirements and his leadership qualities. He's finally reached a point where he is a leader. I don't think I could have said that back in 1999 when we re-entered the army. Going to Iraq with the 101st gave him a maturity that he didn't' have before. (I'm a firm believer that most men don't understand maturity and responsibility until they're about 30, but that's another post.) He's learned that at his position, one of his missions is to develop leadership in the soldiers under his command. I think one of the most crucial things one can do is mentor or groom younger soldiers/friends/co-workers into realizing their potential. I think Eric understands that and is positioned to make those choices as a leader.

I think tomorrow we can just enjoy discovering the quirks of Hinesville. We'll get Nathan enrolled in school and see about finding some hotel to live in that is closer to post, and then I think we'll see about just being the tourists and sightsee=ers that we'd like to be. There have been some quirks we've discovered - the guy selling shrimp and fresh fish out of his van at the corner of hwy 196 and 19. The fact that we're the minority off of post. The boiled peanuts at a convenience store. Spanish moss, pelicans and mosquitos.

This Motel 6 room is getting smaller by the day...

Home is where the army sends you.

Looks run down on the outside, but some lady in the neighborhood let us look in her place. Small kitchen, smaller kitchen cabinets. Wood floors and carpeting.

Eric will only have to walk 2 miles to work. There's a shoppette the next block over, and we can see Nathan's new school from our backyard. The only fly in Eric's ointment is no decent trees in the back yard for set up an antennae.