Hold/Unacccompanied

We have 2000 lbs that will be shipped ahead of us (though we realize at this point it isn't going nearly as far ahead of us as recommended ::snort::).

The unaccompanied/hold will be delivered to us when we have a house/apartment and could be all we have for a couple of months. The base will loan us furniture, dishes etc until our things arrive. We are told to take the things that will make that wait for our goods easier.

Ideas?

Mike's Uniforms

Clothes (this x7 may use up most the weight)

Pillows...sheets...

What else?

Fans?

9 weeks of school material? or not?

The laptop will go with me, our Bibles and a few books will be tucked into our bags. I plan to be working on photos until the day we board a plane so will have to mail those things to Japan.

I KNOW some of you military spouses are reading....what did you take or do you wish you had taken in your hold baggage? If you're not military and you were living in a foreign country without your things...what things would you want to be sure you have?

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Going to the Birds

I enjoy the birds outside the dining room window. We now have the pond, in addition to the bird feeder, and we are THE house on the block for our bird friends. I can't identify them...but they are fun to watch.

I've been playing with camera settings, lenses, light to get a sharper picture. Mike figured out my problem right away - shooting through the screen on the window. ::snort:: I guess this is as good as it will get unless I can get outside without scaring them.

I DO know that's a red cardinal on the right.

And this is a dove.

We are still debating if we should get a hot foot for our D70, fix the flash or buy the body of a D 90 (lenses from our D 70 and Nikon SLR would work on it so we wouldn't need to buy the lens). Any camera fiends out there care to give advice?????

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Do the Next Thing

We continued to work on things around our home.

Here Jamin oils the picture frame paneling...in living room and kitchen. He also organized the garage.

I found MORE homeschool stuff I can part with....and found even more after I sent out my list. ::snort:: I've been answering emails about sales items.

PWOC in the evening. The slate for the 2009-2010 Executive Board was approved.

Psst....those last two photos are my Working Lunch Blog Challenge entry. No, there's no lunch in the photo because as often happens when I'm a bit busy...I forgot the lunch part of the lunch and worked to post books right up until I left for drama. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

More Homeschool Stuff for Sale

If you are local and did not receive the email I sent out this a.m. and you want to.....email me. I have IEW, DIVE CDs, tons of Critical Thinking Press on the list. I decided to keep Spelling Power.

For those who are not local, if there is anything left on Friday I will post it to the blog and SHS and sell it for the price plus postage. I really don't have time to package a lot of stuff off and run to the post office....so I'm trying local first.

Pssst....my knee is 90% better today. Thanks for the prayers.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Prayers Please & News

Prayer Request: I got out of my recliner this a.m. to head to the gym and something "tweaked and twinged" in my knee. This is fairly normal for my 45 year old body. Instead of doing the ARC at level 19 - I went for level 8 - 11. I tried to bump to 13 - 14 and my knee screamed. I knew when I got off the machine I would need heat today..... Working out regularly when you are over 45, at a level that will raise cardio, does seem to result in fairly regular twinges in one's knees.....Jamin suggested it's time for me to settle for Water Aerobics. ::snort:: I've had to sit with heat/ice and ibuprofen all day. This is NOT a good time for me to be unable to get around. Though, it may give me time to sit and work on photos. (Today we finished our Japanese Lapbook). I'm disappointed to miss tonight's SACHSA Tea - but if I want to be able to teach tomorrow night and attend the chapel tea etc...I'd better pay attention to the ole' knee.


Mike finalized tickets to Tokyo today. We'll leave at 1:00 p.m. on the 5th of July and arrive at 3:30 p.m. on the 6th. We laughed as they gave us ONE travel day - they'll amend that. Mike needs to talk to a different office to get us from Tokyo to Misawa. ::snort::


We'll have packers in here the week of 11 May. I met a lady named Angel online. She's a PWOC lady who saw my name on an email somewhere and then heard I was moving to Misawa. She's a chaplain's wife who was in Misawa. She called last night and helped me wrap my mind around HOW to organize for these packers. I think I'll get some colored labels.....storage, accompanied, unaccompanied and label everything.


Mike's supervisor will be on leave from 4 - 21 May; I'm starting to wonder when the "slow down to focus on the move" time happens. ::snort::


The Air Force is going to store our van for us in Seattle.


Please do pray about our house. We can't get it on the market until the house is empty and we paint and put in new carpet. They will not be able to get into the house until 18 May at the earliest.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Jamin's Decision

Yes, Jamin plans to get a degree in Intercultural Ministry and enter missions. Yes, he was accepted to Eugene Bible College.

Jamin had planned to stay in TX and take general ed classes before going to a private college. THEN, he thought it would be cost effective to go ahead and go to the private college now, as he could split living expenses with his sisters. Jamin has other benchmarks that we suggest for our young men, in addition to college, that he is trying to reach (moving toward future goals, owning a vehicle debt free, $10K in the bank). He began to research, pray, and discuss how to reach his goals in a quick and DEBT FREE manner.

This was HIS decision. We'd be happy to have him safely at Eugene Bible College. We would also be happy to see him stay in Texas with Josiah.

Please understand our adult children often wait to hear our thoughts before making decisions, but at 18 he is an adult, and these decisions are his. (I realize not all 18 year olds are adults but Jamin is...in fact Jared at 15 is fast approaching the same status in our eyes. LOL)

Mike and Jamin had a long talk Friday afternoon and Jamin has decided to stay here in Texas. This allows him to continue his job. He has 8K saved towards his first year of college. EBC is 3x the cost of ASU. This means that though he still needed $1-4,000 for his freshman year at EBC, he now has enough to pay for almost two years at ASU. He will take 2 years of general classes. He's checked and they'll transfer into his degree at EBC. He plans to CLEP some classes and he has already been taking classes from Taylor University that will also transfer. During the next two years he will save up for the last two years of college at EBC...and continue to replenish his nest egg. He hopes to enter EBC as a Junior with the cash to pay for the remaining years of college.

The girls are talking of downsizing to a one bedroom apartment. Josiah and Jamin are looking for a 2 bedroom apartment here in town. Jamin has begun the process of applying to ASU, we don't expect any trouble in getting accepted.

Such teamwork - of course he'd want to share an apartment with Cy for a bit. ::snort::

Yep, my mommy heart rests easier knowing that Josiah will not be without family in Texas.

I have a couple of hours until Mike gets home....I think I'll go work on photos.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

ORDERS, BUGS, PHOTOS & PROJECTS

Friday we got orders to Misawa AB, Japan. We're going!! Mike faxed the orders and the housing application that afternoon. This means that we can now schedule packing dates and buy tickets. We hope to get an idea of what sort of housing to expect during this next week. The orders will need to be ammended...they gave us one travel day. ::snort::

Bugs? Friday afternoon I had the termite folks out again to inspect and renew our warranty against bugs. We hope to have this house on the market shortly - only a few months later than hoped for. God knows.

Mike and Jared pressure washed the fence in preparation of staining it. They held off on staining as it looked like we may get rain?

I went through the kitchen and my scrapbooking stuff. I did this to know for SURE how many more original Creative Memory pages and protectors I needed. I also ordered a new album from CM that hopefully will speed things up for me. I'd love to get all my magnetic albums transferred before the move.

Mike took the composter apart and took it and a bag of compost to our friends. We all enjoyed a power play date...though we barged in on the poor A family. Ah well.

Margie dropped $ buy from the SACSHA sale. I made $100. I decided to sell another bit of curriculum - by evening I had a call from someone who is interested. Thanks, Deja, for helping me part with IEW. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.