We're Moving

Ok, my family and I were super lucky this August. We were able to take 3 weeks and drive out to Wyoming to see family. It was a trip that was long over due. We stopped at several places along the way (and the way back) and stayed really busy while we were there. I have LOTS of pictures to post and lots of fun to post about. It's going to take awhile, so I think I'll do a lit=ptle bit each day until I get through them all.

BUT, I'm going to start today by posting our most recent news. We are finally moving down to Virginia to be with Chad. It's been a little crazy and ridiculous and has taken us a lot longer than we had planned (thanks Navy Housing), but we finally have housing now!
Can you guess which one is ours??? It will be sad to leave Maine. We've really liked it here and we have great friends. The kids have had wonderful schools, too. But, we need to be where Chad is and right now that's in Virginia.

We'll be living in Virginia Beach this time, so that will be something new and different. We'll be in a duplex, which is ok. I'll miss having our ranch house with no one of the other side of the wall, but I'll have my family back together again, so it will be ok. My friend down there took some pictures for me. Very sweet of her~~ So, now I can share them with you guys.
(By the way, it's the blue one, on the right--ha ha) We even get a 2 car garage with this house--aren't we lucky! It sits behind the housing. We'll be moving around the middle of October. I have tons of things to get ready and I think it will be here before I know it.

Dress Whites.....Gotta Love 'Em!

(But the dress blues are actually my favorite!!!) Chad's mom asked for a picture of him in his whites. I thought I'd post it on here, too!
I think he's looking pretty great!

USS Ponce Homecoming

I tried to post these the other day and I couldn't get them to load -always so frustrating.Chad's ship came back to Virginia on May 16th after an 8 1/2 month deployment and I was there to meet him. I'm so glad I was able to be there. Chad ship is much smaller than the ones he's been on in the past so this was by far the smallest homecoming I've been to (less than 1,000 people compared to 10,000) but it was no less exciting.

Here's the first good look at the ship coming in and when all the emotions and tears come...... Making it's way to the pier slowly (but not as slow as the carriers which was nice!) There were lots of flags waving in the crowd. It was hard not to catch them in my pictures, but I love the way some of them turned out. Closer still . . . . . . . Ahhhh, Pierside! After the ships are tied off and the tugboats can leave, they always blow their horns in celebration. In my 17 years with the navy, I don't think I've ever enjoyed hearing that horn more! It's been a long cruise.

Ponce's Throttle Board

This was posted in the Navy Times, Scoop Deck on September 7, 2010 (Photographer~MC1 Nathanael Miller / Navy)

You never know what kind of sailor art you’re going to see when you go down into a main space — many indeed are the riffs on “port shaft” and “starboard shaft,” — but this throttle board on the amphibious transport dock Ponce has got to be one of the coolest in the fleet. MM3 Sunny Qiu painted that flag on the board, and that’s him at the “ahead” throttle — if only we could all customize our work spaces so well.

Pretty cool, if you ask me!

Summer Update

I've been properly "reminded" to update my blog, so here I am. I do need to keep up with it more. I'll have to try harder, I think.

So a little update of our family's status as of today.

Chad reported to his ship, the USS Ponce, on July 1st. They're going to be out to sea on and off (mostly on) through the rest of the summer and then at the end of September they're planning on deploying for 7 months. The kids and I are staying here in Maine while all that's going on. It's a good thing for the kids. They'll get to stay here with friends, school and other things they're familiar with while their dad's gone. It's good for me, too, I guess, but being here in Maine while he's stationed in Virginia has left me feeling very disconnected from him and what's going on. Since he's at sea, you'd think that it really wouldn't matter, but it does for some reason and I don't like it. We should be able to see Chad in September before he deploys. That will be nice and difficult at the same time. We know that this is the right thing for our family and so we do what we need to do. A year spent mostly apart just isn't very appealing, though. Of course, Chad would be quick to point out that we'd still spend the year mostly apart even if we were in Virginia. Don't you just love the navy!

Vance returned from scout camp last Friday. I was super proud of him. He passed his swimming test and earned his swimming merit badge while he was there. He was rather concerned about it, so I was really happy to hear that he'd accomplished that goal. I heard a lot about how "hot" the swimming teacher was . . . maybe that's why he tried so hard and passed???? (she's 21)

Myshel left for girl's camp this morning. She is one of the youth leaders. I think she'll have a great time, even though camping is not her thing.

With Chad gone and first now Vance and now Myshel being gone, our house has been feeling rather strange.

Noah has summer school 2 days a week, which he likes because his best friend is in his class with him.



McKaylie has friends calling her every day wanting to play. She'll be at one friend's house and 3 others will call while she's gone! I can't keep up with her social life! and she's only 10!

New Navy Uniform . . .

I know that alot of you navy people out there have had this uniform for a long time but Chad is stationed on a base that is closing soon. So, the priority for this base to start wearing it is low. The base isn't officially scheduled to be wearing the uniform until Oct 2010, but the captain put out that he wants all personnel wearing it by Oct of this year. The blue camo is only one of the new uniforms. I'll post the others when I get pictures.

I Love a Great Deal!

The Navy Exchange is not always my favorite store to shop in, but sometimes I love it!!! Especially, when I can catch their clearance sales! Every so often they have these great deals on their apparel, where they'll take an additional 30%, 50%, sometimes even 60% off the already marked down price, if it ends in $.97 or $.96.

It is so great, because you can get such a great, low price on brand names, that are brand new! A few years ago I bought some Timberland shoes for $7 and some Eastland shoes for$6! Cool, huh!

Well, these are my newest deal. I bought these last week at the exchange while they had their "deal" going on. So, I got these Sketchers for $10! We also bought Vance some Vans for school for $10, too. Who doesn't just love deals like this!

Memorial Day Parade

Ok, so I'm a little late getting this out, but oh well. I'm a little late doing everything lately! On Memorial Day we went and watched the parade. It's a long parade route, really, 2 1/2 miles I think. Noah and I could have walked in it with his school, but he wasn't interested at all. He did like seeing all his friends walking, though.
Here's the kids waiting and waiting and waiting for the parade to start. Vance was really on the ball and thought to bring Popsicles. They munched on them until they melted and then they drank them! We had bottled water, too, but I kept reminding McKaylie and Noah that there wasn't a bathroom any where close so they'd have to wait a long time if they had to go. They both chose to drink sparingly, thank goodness. It wasn't that hot either, although, I did get a slight sunburn.
This is why we chose to see the parade. Chad marched with the naval base. I joked with him a lot about how lousy sailors are at marching, but I was actually very impressed. They did a great job. They had a great turnout and there was really only one or two guys that were off step, that I saw. They were even singing cadence, which made it more fun! I've never seen Chad march before. He's really only marched at boot camp, which I wasn't there to see and at the school in Florida, where I was pregnant and sick 90% of the time. It was really exciting to get to see him. I've always loved watching the military march and who doesn't love a man in uniform, right!?!
They stopped on this bridge and did a 21 gun salute. I got a little teary eyed. I'm just really proud of the men and women in the military in all the ways that they serve. And, I'm really proud to be a part of that in my small way.

Military ID Nonsense..........

I know this probably sounds silly, but the last time I had to get my military ID updated, I cried. I seriously cried. I waited until I got home, but I cried. The picture was just sooo bad and it was depressing. Now, I know they aren't great pictures to begin with. I mean, Chad's ID has looked like a mug shot every time he's had it taken. I guess I just hoped that it wouldn't be horrible, but it was. Chad tried to reassure me, but there was no hope of that. It was just a really, really bad picture and one that I would have to be showing all the time.
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So, it was time to get it updated again. Actually I really should have had it updated a year ago, before we left Virginia, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't have a choice now, though; it was about to expire. So, I gathered up all my self-esteem and talked Chad into coming with me and we headed to the ID office.
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I don't know what you're suppose to do to make an ID look ok, I mean, I kind of like my driver's license picture, but I don't know what I did to make that one come out the way it did. So, I'm thinking....don't smile too big.........don't look grumpy........don't close your eyes...........think skinny????? where that came from, I don't know. It is a picture of your Head!!!! The guy is chit-chatting away with Chad. (I swear he knows everyone!!!!) And I'm thinking, "are you taking the picture, or what?" and then he takes the picture. OH, come on!!!!! Then he says, "welllll, that was my fault, let's try it again." So now I'm thinking, considering how back military IDs are, and he wants to retake it, it must have been BAD!!!! Great.....another ID picture that's going to make me go home and cry! He took another one, this time he gave me some warning and then he surprised me. He let me see it and asked if it was ok, or if I wanted to take it again! WOW, this is a small base! And actually the picture wasn't terrible, so I kept it. I walked out and was completely relieved that it was over. Stupid, huh! This ID is only good for a year, though, so in about 11 months, I'll be back again having a slight anxiety attack over a stupid picture!

A Whole Lotta Complainin' Going On......

That's right and I'm the one complaining! I'm sorry, but I just have to get it out!
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Complaint #1:
Chad's chief told him last week that he was going to a school in Norfolk for a week! Now I could complain about this for a list of reasons, but I'll choose just a few......
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First, I think it's ridiculous that they didn't tell him sooner and they didn't ask him. The chief has known for weeks about this, but waited until 10 days before to tell Chad that he had to go! It's not a school that has a lot to do with Chad's responsibilites here, either, so why does he have to go?
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Second, We are on shore duty. I know that means nothing to most people, but I just spend the last 4 years doing sea duty, which means that Chad was around maybe 1/3 of the time. We chose to come to shore duty, basically took a pay cut to do it, so that we wouldn't have to be apart for the next 3 short years! I know he's only going to be gone for a week, but I don't care. It's still time apart. I earned shore duty! I should be able to get what I earned! Plus this is only the first of 3 schools they are sending him to. The next 2 will be in Jacksonville, FL for a week, each. Those are the ones we know about.
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Third, He's going to Norfolk and he's going to see MY friends while he's there! MY FRIENDS! The ones that I would just kill to go and see, but no, I'm going to stay at home, take care of his 4 children, his house, his 2 cars, his chores, etc, etc, etc. Can you tell I'm irritated about this trip, well, I am!
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Fourth, the chiefs gave Chad the attitude that if the advance expenses didn't come in time, that he should be more than willing to pay out of his pocket and then get reimbursed for it. I DON' T THINK SO! Unfortunately, I don't have $1400 to pay for a stupid trip, that I don't think Chad should have to take, that I don't want him to take and then wait for the navy to reimburse us!!!!! This trip is for the navy, he didn't choose to go, they're making him go. He should never be expected to pay a dime of it, wheather the advance money comes in time or not! Stupid people!
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Complaint #2
The radio/CD player died in my van! There's some factory amp or something that no one can seem to find, so putting in a new stereo just isn't working. I don't know all the details about why, but what I do know is that, I have no radio! I have to drive Noah to speech, in Portland, 45 minutes over, 45 minutes back, 3 times a week and I have nothing to listen to, except Noah, rambling on about EVERYTHING. It's driving me crazy. Does Chad go without a radio in his blazer, no he does not! (It bugs me a lot that there isn't a clock now, either)
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Complaint #3
Am I the only one, serisously, out of six people who cares what our house looks like and is willing to do anything about it! (That's always a complaint, but I was on a roll, so I thought I'd throw that one in)
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Complaint #4
Maine drivers stink! Really, they do. (Remember, I'm on the interstate at least 6 hours a week!) There might be those few exceptions out there, but for the most part, they are lousy! They cut you off, they can't merge worth anything, they never let you in to traffic and I swear some of them don't know what the signs mean, or maybe they just don't care! It's as if they might die if some one gets in front of them. AND they speed worse than anywhere I've seen. I'm usually going 70 on the interstate (5 miles over the limit) and people blow past me like I'm standing still. Not just one or two people, but 20+. Seriously, they're in Maine where do they really need to get to in such a hurry. I have kids in the car, you know!
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Complaint #5
This may be the one that "broke the camel's back". My clothes dryer died! It just died, no warning, nothing. It just stopped working. We had housing check the outlet, just to make sure that wasn't the problem. It wasn't, of course! Chad said he'd check the switch and see if that's what's wrong, but realistically, he's not going to get to it before he leaves. I know Chad, he won't. Which means I'll have to take my clothes to the laundry mat to dry them (like I didn't have enough to manage for the week that he's gone!). And, if it's not the switch or something simple, then we'll have to buy a new dryer, along with the new radio for the van, with money, we don't have.
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I have more complaints, but I'll stop there before I end up in a pit of misery I can't get out of!

Home is Where the Navy Sends Us.................

We've been here in Maine for 3 months now. I decided it was time to add NAS Brunswick to my sign. I should only have to add one more tour to this sign, but you never know what will happen down the road. For now, here's the updated "Home is where the Navy sends us..............." sign.(If you click on it you should be able to read it better)

The Great State of Maine Air Show