Verse of the Now

Dude, the Bible is cool.

Philippians 4:4-7

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It certainly doesn't make sense that I would have peace. Thanks.

Another Reason Friends are Important

Could you imagine a day where all your earthly belongings get handled by random people and what was formerly your place of peace and happiness is now an ode to the color cardboard? THEN, on top of all that, one of your very favorite things in the entire world, your beautiful little convertible goes away forever? That is my day today.

Here is where my lovely little Bea used to sit.

I am very appreciative for my wonderful Florida friends because the movers had just left when the buyer calls and says he's ten minutes away. I breathe deeply and ask them to stay. They smile and do.

They watch my back as the potentially creepy buyer drives up. Turns out he's not creepy and a very nice man from Montreal. He and his fellow driver inspect the car, speak with a French accent, hand over the envelope full of cash (the girls count it, and maybe skim a little off the top...), and we sign the title and bill of sale. Then, the girls give me a sweet hug as the icon of my young single-girl carefree life drives away. Sigh.

Fortunately, I had already mourned my loss by wallowing in some ice cream last week, so my trauma is much dissipated. Plus, this big pile of cash helps too! HOLY COW!!!

How to Pack with the Military

Now, that I'm sitting in a house amid a world of boxes and brown-paper-wrapped everything else, I'm thinking back on my packing prep and mulling over what I would have done differently. Here goes:

Think about what you want to ship, carry with you, ship ahead, and get rid of... but not too much! I thought about it a lot and realize I wasted some brain space doing so. It all gets somewhere eventually. Still learning. Maybe you set it aside and remember to take something, maybe you don't. Chances are, it's not something you can't live without.

Don't prepare too far in advance. Rob kept holding me back, "No, McKay, you shouldn't put things in piles in the living room yet. You don't need to take the pictures off the walls the weekend before. Wait until closer to when the movers come." He is right. If I'd had my way, we'd be camping in our living room a week before and the movers would only be sealing already packed boxes. Rob keeps me saner than I would be. He is great.

Movers are FAST! Seriously, it is unbelievable! It's like you blink and your closets are empty and they've already moved to the next room! Shay packed half my kitchen before I could count to ten! (okay, maybe not THAT fast, but fast!)

Learn your movers' names. That way, if you have to ask them something or you want them to do something nice for you by repacking your shabbily-packed Christmas decorations, you can say, "Terrence" rather than "Hey You There, with the roll of tape."

Umm, they WILL pack your food. All of it. I had kind of planned on taking most of our food in the kitchen to the hotel on base and using it for the rest of our time here. I mean, it's open containers and the moving handouts say they'll only pack unopened non-perishable food. So, I didn't sort what I wanted to keep or anything... and now it's going to Japan and I shall be going to the grocery store. See above paragraph about how fast they are when you ask yourself - why didn't I just stop them. They are wicked fast! And now I have three huge boxes that read "small kitchen appliances, dishes, and dry goods". It's really very impressive.

Have friends come over on the day the packers come! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Katy, Heidi, Lynn, and Sarah!!!!! I would not have had nearly so nice a day without you!! Friends can help you watch the movers pack, urging more padding where needed, making sure they don't pack your "do not pack" piles, going to get everyone lunch, bringing waters through the house for refreshment, and basically just hanging out, making the house a happy place filled with conversation rather than saturated with sounds of packing tape and worry. THANK YOU!

me vs. the machine

Can I just say that those automatic phone systems are the WORST things ever!! I mean serisously!? Businesses think this is a good idea?!? Do they want me to FINALLY get to talk to a real person and have ALL my patience already spent when I arrive at their somewhat knowledgable, heavily accented, ill-trained customer service representative? Where is that a smart business solution?? Here's my most recent conversation:

"Thank you for calling... your call may be recorded... Please select from one of the following options..."

None of those.

"Please say reservations, other option, other option..."

Reservations.

"Please select reservations, other option, other option... if none of these are correct, you may select more options."

More options.

"Please say any of these further useless options... you may also say 'main menu'"

Main menu.

"Please select reservations..."

Reservations!

"Is this for award travel?"

No.

"Please be advised there is a fee to talk to a real person, but if you stay on the phone with Mr. Tranquil Voice from 2001: A Space Odyssey, you will incur no fee."

What? Look, I just have a question and none of those options address it. I want to talk to a person!

"To look up your reservation, please say your milegae plus number."

I don't have a mileage plus number!

"You may also say 'I don't know it'"

I don't know it.

"To look up a reservation, please say your reservation number."

Listen you machine! I just have a question and I figure the quickest way to talk to a real person is to go through the reservations. Now, put me through to a real person!!

"You said, 'L R 8 9 A.' Is that correct?"

No!!!

"My mistake. Please say your reservation number, or for more information say 'help'"

HELP!

"Your reservation number is a combination of letters and numbers..."

Augh! I don't have a reservation number! Let me talk to a real person, you evil little machine!

"Sorry, I didn't get that"

AAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Our Most Recent Beach Adventure

We went to the beach this weekend as it was PERFECT weather - clear blue skies, sunny, warm, and breezy!

Check out the FAB-ulous beach bag my mom gave me!

I'm actually getting tan living in Florida - you wouldn't actually call me "tan", but I know I'm a lot darker than my normal state!

Gus was the best dog ever, amusingly chasing the birds and coming back when we called him! We love him! One of the best parts was watching him leap into the water, trying to reach the shallower sand bar a little further out, but missing it and sinking to his head before bobbing up and swimming to chase the birds! Check out the video!

Bird Watching

Check out some of the birds in my Florida backyard!

There's this black and white one with the red chest.

This little greenish-yellow one, like a crayon

And even a red-wing blackbird!

Plus, a little blue one that reminds me of when Big Bird was dyed blue - see him on top of the bird feeder?

Loaf doesn't loaf around

So, even though Rob's call sign is Loaf (only for another month or so) he is not idle in his spare time. Recently, he noticed the fence around Mr. Bones' (squadron mascot) grave was falling apart... so he built him a new one. He just started sawing and painting and before you know it, viola! I know, my husband is amazing!