UGH

Sorry. Another venting post. But this one I can't really control, so I have every right too, right?

Moving with the Air Force is so inconvenient. It's like they make a list of all the different possibilities they can throw your way while moving, and they pick the most inconvenient one. Here's why.

Matt is currently in training right now in Atlanta. It ends on the 14th. We are scheduled to start our move (the Air Force gives you certain days to travel in) the 15th. Easy, right? NOPE. Matt has his final SIM on the 14th... at  8:30 pm. Atlanta is 5 hours from Columbus. So either he arrives here at 2:30 am and drives another 5 hours the next day, or we just hang out for another day in Columbus and leave the following day. But that would mess up all our hotel reservations. Also, we check out of our house on 15th, so what are we going to do for night? UGH.

Another option is for me to leave from Columbus on the 15th, while he leaves from Atlanta the same day, and we meet in St. Louis. Problem. If you know me at all, you know I hate driving. I also hate driving by myself in new places, on the highway. I really don't want to have to drive to St. Louis by myself, especially with a dog and a cat. It's still hot here (82 degrees), so I can't leave them in the car by themselves while I grab Subway or something. Oh. And my air conditioning has decided to completely stop working. But do we want to afford the $600 that's going to cost to fix? Not really right now.

We'd sell the Jeep, but there's NO WAY we can move the two of us and Jack and Huey in the Mustang. Jack HATES getting in that car, and it's just not big enough for him to relax, especially with the cat carrier taking up some of the room. And there's no way we're selling the Mustang :) That's a horrible idea.

It would be so much easier if we could ship a car. But do they do that? Nope. Oh, technically they do, but they will only repay you for how much it would cost in gas, then the rest is up to you. It would cost about $1000 to ship a car from Atlanta to San Francisco. We can't afford that. Especially since this move is already going to cost us about $2500 up front, not to mention the $1700 rent/deposit check we have to write as soon as we get there. The Air Force doesn't pay you back until AFTER you move, and sometimes it can take months.

I will also be living in my house for about 6 days without anything but an air mattress and my carpet bag with knitting and books. Sure, I'll have my laptop, but no internet. But I will have nothing to cook with. For 6 days. Matt will already have spent 2 weeks eating out, putting that on the debit card. I will have to get creative with what I eat and how much I spend.

Being in the military is a great experience. I get to see places I otherwise wouldn't, and how many people can say they have driving across the country (or most of it, anyway) not once, but twice? And we technically get reimbursed for it (although it doesn't seem like that at the time). And best of all, I'm moving to a part of the country I will like better. But the way they do things is SO inconvenient, and we have to do everything by ourselves. We don't have our family nearby to help us, and I will spend a week driving 6+ hours a day, something I do not enjoy at all.

So please, pray for us. I'm going to accept it, and make the best of the situation, and just think about California and being close to family yet again the whole time, but it's definitely not going to be easy and I need to summon all the strength I can. Thank goodness our rental house has a gigantic soaking tub in it. That's the first thing I'm going to be doing when we get to our new home.