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.
