Order Up!

I’ve been told that in the Army (and other military services) one is supposed to receive ones orders up to 180 days out from your end of duty date. Well, by that count, Justin was supposed to get his orders in November. It’s January, the END of January and we got them this week. This may not seem like a big deal if you don’t know what all this means, but since we are moving out of our apartment and flying to California etc, it’s a big deal.

First of all, we needed his orders more than a month ago because our landlords needed a 30 day move out written thingamajigger. And I didn’t know when we should move out because we didn’t know when Justin would be sent to San Antonio for out-processing (side note: they can out process him here, but he was told he had to go to San Antonio initially). So we made our best guess and signed our 30 day advanced notice.

Also, you need the orders to schedule two different sets of movers to come to your house and pick/pack up your furniture and unaccompanied baggage.

And I had to buy a plane ticket far enough in advance that I’d get one of the three pet-in-cabin spots. But I didn’t really know when I should leave. (See post: Plane Tickets) and I actually had to change my plane ticket, which thankfully wasn’t too expensive but it was a huge pain.

That, and since we are ETSing and not PCSing the Army doesn’t put you up in a hotel, not when you’re getting out. Justin gets a barracks room again, but that doesn’t include me or the cat. So our lovely friends said we could stay with them (kitty too) but I had to give her vague dates ranging from a few days to two weeks as for how long we’d be staying with them.

Then there is the housing allowance (which is tied to where ever I am) that needs to be changed once we leave the apartment (and I get back to the states).

Plus the ‘eating down’ plan, where you try and deplete your pantry since you’re moving and only buy very few things like milk and eggs.

There are about a dozen other things that need to be done, signed or checked off that Justin is taking care of- but with the short notice, semi-non-responsive chain of command, and confusion of leaving the Army plus moving home from overseas- it’s been complicated and time consuming. And did I mention the semi language barrier? Yeah, that’s a fun one.

Luckily things are well in hand, and the apartment, movers, and plane ticket are basically taken care of (*knock on wood*) so that leaves me sorting out house hold stuff that can’t be packed (liquids, flammables, perishables, valuables, etc) and figuring out if I should pack all my clothes and shoes in checked baggage or let some of them be packed with unaccompanied baggage.

Usually I just throw everything in baskets in my car and caravan when I move, but this is so worth it- we’re going home!