New Year Without Me

A new school year has begun! It does not include me. I find myself struggling to find constructive things to do.

With our departure date in January, I am unable to accept a full-time teaching position' I am available for sub placements on a limited basis but since it is limited, I am at the bottom of the list to be called in. That leaves me with very little to do. Once again, my habits are proving not to be helpful in keeping me busy. My walls are already bare in preparation of movers boxing everything up. I have already reduced us to bare essentials even though there remains approximately four months before our HHG will be picked up.

Yes, there are appointments that will occupy some time and as we get closer to departure, they will occupy more time but for now I am getting bored. The children are fortunate they still have school to take up their time. At least we save a little money on daycare since I am home with Su all day now. There is planning of a 2^nd birthday party for her, (like that will take so much time). I suppose short trips should occupy our remaining time here.

We have traveled more here. Our last significant trip was to Casablanca, Morocco. We chose this trip for the Casablanca movie. We were a little disappointed there was not more to see of the movie scene locations but that is Hollywood for you.

“Rick's Cafe Americain” was recreated and one can feel they are in a familiar place if they watched the movie (we did just before the trip).

This place never existed in 1942 when the film is set. It is just a recreation of the movie scene but it is true to the set so much that one almost expects Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman to appear. Even the music is a match for the movie, piano music of the 1940's and 1950's each night.

It is located against the Medina of Casablanca, the traditional city center. It is a beautiful area to explore. One tends to preconceive what an area will look like based on the surrounding areas. I will be honest, I did not expect much. I expected dust and dirt made worse by heat but it was very clean and pleasant. It would seem Moroccans take great pride in their city.

It was a very pleasant trip that I wish we had done sooner so that we could do it again. I recommend you visit if the chance presents itself.

We will have short visits to local favorites before we leave, as many as we can fit in four months. My neighbors already plan a Fiesta de Despedida, a going away party, which I very much look forward to. Leaving Spain is eagerly awaited but at the same time is not since I must yet again say goodbye to friends.

At least some time is being filled with activity.

Getting Busy

Much of the work involved with a PCS is underway. My first contact was with the housing office in Charleston. We do not intend to live on base but it is better to be prepared for the unknown. It is good to have them for lease evaluations too. And if it is for no other reason, they are the best contact point for realtors. I have reached out to a few realtors already for coming vacancies. We will be looking at neighborhoods and their proximity to the base.

Of course, schools and daycare are being researched. I have made the decision to not seek full-time employment at a school. At best, I will apply for temp positions. This was a difficult decision since I enjoy teaching very much. Perhaps I will seek employment servicing someone's IT system.

Getting our budget planned tested my hair. Frustration led me to pull it often. Jared does not spend much money. How may things can one purchase aboard a ship that is underway? He has accused me of being frugal. These thing combined results in a healthy bank account. Still, it is too easy to overspend on unnecessary things during a PCS move especially when returning to CONUS. Never mind the urge to acquire a place to live that would really batter that healthy bank account. I prefer to keep the accounts healthy and prepared for emergencies.

The only things to do for now is to visit those last few places on our list. We have done Casablanca (to be posted later). We want to do the Madrid Zoo again so that Su sees it. I know she is young and will probably not remember much but there will be pictures for her to see. Besides, it is a good place to visit and we did not see it all during our last visit. We may even attempt to squeeze in another visit to England.

This summer will be a full schedule. It is amazing how much one packs a schedule at the end when one had years to do it.

We Have Orders!

 

Charleston is confirmed. Report date is in January 2027. It is an unusually long time from now but I will not complain since it gives me more time to accomplish my tasks. Since I have already begun the early planning of the change of command reception, it will be an unrushed process. 

The drawback of our arrival time is that we will be out of rotation sequence, meaning we will arrive alone rather than in a group of people PCS’ing at the same time. It does not change the assignment at all but makes it more difficult to find your “tribe.” At least, that s how it works OCONUS. It has been some time since we were stationed in the States so I could be mistaken about how it goes.

One hold up will be that I do not know who the replacement captain’s wife is. We should discover her name and reporting date in the next month of two. Then I will be able to begin coordinating events with her.

I have already informed the school that I will not be available for next school year. That makes me sad, I enjoy teaching high school very much. I have informed them I will be available for a limited time for substitute work though so it is not completely terrible.

The children are happy they need not learn another language to enjoy the new assignment. I am not sure how they will do though. Jun speaks a language that often includes words and phrases from English, Japanese,Chinese, and Spanish. Chao lei is not so linguistically confused but does, on occasion, slip in the non-English phrase now and then. Su may have issues in day care. We will see.

The PCS clock begins the countdown now. Let the games begin!