A peek into whats going on - Rob

I would think that a lesser person, in my current situation, would be incredible stressed out with everything that is going on in my life right now. Current Situation is as follows:

Avalynn is born December 11, 2007
* Go to Huntingdon and apply for a British Long Form Birth Certificate
* Apply for US Social security number
* Apply for US Birth Abroad Certificate
* Apply for US Passport for Ava
* Enroll Ava in DEERS
* Enroll Ava in Tri-care Prime
* Update my Page 2 to add Ava as a dependent

Receive Email from London US Embassy stating that "due to limited staffing, all applications will be delayed" with no kind word on when those applications would be updated.

Fast forward to March 26th, 2008
* Submit W-2 at the Legal office for Tax Refund
* Unable to Claim Ava as a dependant due to Ava not having a Social yet
* Told by Legal that we can Claim Ava, we just have to make an amendment to our Tax Refund when the Social becomes available.

Rewind to February 12, 2008
* I receive my Written orders putting myself on board CVN-71 USS Theodore Roosevelt.
* February 28, 2008 Receive my Checkout Sheet with specific instructions stating that this sheet is to be completed in 10 working days.
* Make all appropriate appointments with the exception of medical, as they are Air Force and have no idea what exactly a "Sea Duty Screening" is.
* Receive numerous Phone calls from ADMIN requesting a status report on my checkout sheet.
* Make numerous phone calls to medical and get the "We'll call you back when we get a solid date for an appointment"
*Still no appointment
*Phone call from ADMIN

Rewind to 15 Feb, 2008
* Get in touch with the detailer and ask him what I am supposed to do concerning my Seaman to Admiral (STA-21) application. Normally a service member is supposed to sit it out at his current command, until the results come out, and depending on those results (accepted - Go to college or Denied - Go to Next Duty Station) I make my move. The Detailer said he would get in touch with the ship and find out what they want to do (Stay or Go)
* Still no word

Rewind to March 17, 2008
* Drive to St. Andrews, Scotland
* Buddy I'm with nearly ruins my trip because he wants to go out and get smashed the night before we play. I of course remind him that he knew perfectly well before the trip that I was not going up there to do this. I wanted this trip to be a memorable experience.
* Buddy gets all down in the dumps and I think that I'm ruining his "St. Patricks Day Experience".
* We tee off the next day, and buddy plays the slowest round of golf ever. We are a twosome and Foursomes are playing up on us, and he could care less. I of course feel rushed and make bad decisions and shoot what i like to call a less than stellar round at the one place I always wanted to play golf.
* Drive home and buddy sleeps most of the ride.
* Good riddance

Rewind to January 15, 2008
* After our daily Morning meeting, our division has been tasked with creating a New Job Qualification Requirement (JQR), new Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's), and New Reference papers for everything that goes on in our Area of Operations (AOR).
* Rough drafts of JQR and SOP's are due beginning of March and since I am the Division Training Petty Officer it s my responsibility to see that these task are completed.

Fast Forward to today.
* Admitted by everyone, no one knew exactly how much work was involved with these simple task assigned on the morning of January 15, 2008, so needless to say the division is behind and I have 4 guys working on these task (myself included) However they want this completed before I leave in July.
* Since I have not heard back from the detailer, I can not set up my Household goods shipment, cannot set up shipping the Truck, cannot make any plans concerning our move, and this is the time I need to get things sorted out.
* Setting up my Re-Enlistment paperwork...........more appointments (goody)
* Nominated for Joint Analysis Center Sailor of the Quarter (This means I have to study Naval History so I can sit before a board of Officers and Chiefs and they can ask me any question they want and see how much I know) Typically you get 2 months notice to allow ample time to study, however I found out Yesterday and the board is on Tuesday.
* No sweat I'll study this weekend. (Now the Navy is dipping into my personal time with my family, and that upsets me) So I probably won't do it as a result, mainly because I know trying to study at the house is a no go, with the frequent crying of Ava and the craziness of Kaia.

So a Brief Summary is as follows:

* We are 3 months away from leaving England and I still have yet to set up anything because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.
* We are 3 months away from leaving and I still have unfinished business at work, that is in dangerous jeopardy of not being completed due to the level to time and detail required to achieve this task (I'm still gonna work my butt off to get it completed)
* We are 3 months away from leaving and we still don't have Ava's Birth Certificate/Passport/Social Security Number.
* I have to file the other portion of our tax statement
* I have to set up appointments to Transfer vehicles back to the states
* Trying to buy a house from an overseas location is horrible, but we're still looking.
* I was asked to coach this years Softball team and like an idiot I said yes, even though I won't be here for the whole season.
* I am currently filling in as Lead Petty Officer for our division as our Normal LPO is on leave, so that puts all my personal work on hold, until he gets back.
* Have to Re-Enlist at some point.

Today I come home from work after staying late on a Friday to work on the stuff I am already behind on and Brandee says she doesn't feel good, I ask "like how do you hurt?" and she simply says "I hope I'm not pregnant" I ask "Your kidding right" The whole time thinking, Birth control and Condoms have got to work, but knowing our luck it would not surprise me in the least. So I get back in the truck and drive to the shoppette and grab a six pack and a pregnancy test. The woman at the counter says "test for mom, six pack for dad?" I say to her "naw it's either gonna be a celebration drink for US, or a I can't believe this happened again for ME" She laughs and takes my money and I go back to the house and Brandee goes and checks. She has that momentary confusion where she doesn't know what the lines mean, so she's walking around the house with this look on her face, the same exact look I've seen only two other times before. She finds the box and lets out a sigh of relief, I then follow suit and say "That's good, I thought that I was going to have to have someone kill me so you guys could get my money so we can afford to put these girls through college" That's not the case Brandee is not pregnant and that's great, speaking of which that's another appointment, 16 April, 2008 is the day my mother cries as a result of Brandee and myself never having anymore Grand babies because I'm getting this organ of reproduction fixed. Sorry Mom, but two is our limit.

A lot of things have happened in the past 3 months. I can't wait to see what the next three have in store for us.

busy week

OKAY!!!!! So softball season has arrived! I am sooooooo excited.....Rob has said he would rather play on different teams ( he is too competitive sometimes) and he is the coach for his team so he has already told me "sorry, there is a full roster" so anyway tuesday, i practiced with my team. I am the only girl. It was freezing cold and everytime i hit the ball, it stung so bad. But it wasnt just me, all the guys were cursing everytime they hit the ball. i didnt make any AMAZING plays or anything....had a couple good hits...anyway whatever, im just ready to kick robs butt. SOOO yeah anyway we had a couple people over last night and us 3 girls decided to go see "27 dresses" on friday. We are all going to wear dresses...i thought that would be fun. Tonight, im going to the gym and gonna pick kaia up and we are going to see " Horton hears a WHo" im excited....I got my medication yesterday. She gave me effexor....i already seem to be doing better even though its not supposed to kick in for 2weeks to a month. We have a flea market on saturday and i still havent got all the stuff together.....err i guess i will do that now.....busy week- its so nice to be busy and not sit in the house all day wishing i had plans

the weekend

Had a great day yesterday! Woke up and there was about an inch of snow on the ground. we got dressed and played outside for awhile. Kaia had a blast. Rob and i made a giant snowman. well i will say rob made a giant snowman.Our friends Eric and Jamie came over and had breakfast with us and we watched a few episodes of The Office. Then the guys destroyed the snowman.....its on youtube if you want to watch it...hahhhhaha They left and i made cookies to bring to Rob's Cheif's house. The girls and I went over there and Rob stayed here to clean the house. THat was NICE!!! Then he walked over to where we were and we stayed for about 4 hours. The food was awesome!!!! We also went to the park where all the kids had an egg hunt. Kaia got tons of eggs and one egg with 5 bucks in it. pretty sweet. We left all the candy with them and kept the 5 dollars.....we dont need candy in this house. I havent gone to the gym in about 2 weeks. its been a crazy few weeks so i cant be too mad at myself. plusi lost 3 pounds somehow....so thats cool. Thursday i am taking kaia to see "Horton hears a Who" Hopefully she will like it. We have a flea market on saturday and i cant wait to get rid of stuff......I went to the doctor again today and he said it was time for medication......i get it on wednesday- for anxiety. hmmmm anyway busy couple of months coming up and im going crazy soooo these should work for me i hope. anyway i will post some pics up later....the family is sleeping so i guess its my turn. Im pretty exhausted.....

AVALYNN

SHE ROLLED OVER AGAIN....FIRST TIME SINCE WHENEVER THE OTHER TIME WAS.......I WAS DOING LAUNDRY AND AVA STARTED CRYING...THEN SHE SOUNDED MUFFLED AND I THOUGHT KAIA PUT A BLANKET OVER HER FACE OR SOMETHING. BUT NOOOO SHE WAS ON HER BELLY.....SHES CUTE! SHE HAS ALSO BEEN A ROLLIE POLLIE LATELY. I WILL PUT HER ON ONE SIDE OF THE RUG AND COME BACK IN AND SHE IS ALL THE WAY ON THE OTHER SIDE...SHE WILL BE CRAWLING IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AND THAT SCARES ME!!!!!!!

roberto!!!!

SO roberto is 27 years old today....i told him its time to trade him for a younger model. He left this morning for Scotland. Im so jealous. So he is at the Old Course Hotel right now, Living in luxury. And he is loving it. tomorrow he gets to go play the old course. He is like a little kid right now. It was a VERY expensive trip but he deserves it. He does so much around here and is such an awesome husband and father. He treats me like gold.....well except for when he is in his cocky moods.....well thats all the time...AHHAAHAHHAHAA anyway just wanted to say that I love you Roberto and i hope you are having a blast....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 3 more years and you are 30!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA love you old man!!

kaias first movie

So last night I decided at the last minute to go see a movie.....by myself.....im a loser but it was nice being alone!! I saw the Great Debaters. It was pretty good. Typical Denzel movie. Predictable. So today......Kaia and I went to the movies. We saw a veggie tale movie. It was boring. There were like 2 funny parts. anyway, it was kaia's first movie and she did great. She sat in the seat and ate her popcorn and drank her drink. When music came on she danced in the aisle. She was pretty funny. I was proud of her. we ended up leaving about 10 minutes early but only b/c she told me she wanted to go home...when we got to the parking lot, she said, " mommy come on, lets go watch a movie and eat some popcorn." hahaha anyway it was a nice 1st movie experience. SHE MAKES ME HAPPY!

sooooo......

Went to the doctor on Monday....he told me i was a very interesting person...hahhahahaaha- he was very easy to talk to and wasnt quick to console me when i started crying. He didnt even get me a tissue...He was VERY straight-forward and i liked that. He also told me that I have stumped him....he said he doesnt get me. Normally people have 1 big problem in their life.....apparently i have a few....I knew i was fascinating :)

So i have a follow up in 2 weeks....he said he needed to have a meeting with his partner to see "what to do about me" i think i am going to the nut house!!!

Thank God Kaia is feeling better. I thought i was going to die yesterday. She was so lethargic. She just layed on the couch until she rolled off to the floor. She would just lay there like a vegetable. Her eyes were rolling to the back of her head. She could barely keep her eyes open. She slept all day. As much as i complain that she is too hyper, you would think i would be happy with this break....NOT!! I love my crazy girl. It hurt me to see her so lazy and boring. She had a 104.7 fever last night at the hospital....who knows what it was before i gave her tylenol.

She is doing great today....not 100% but i would say about 80.... my temper had gone to bed for a couple days.....its awake now....hahhhahahaahaha actually now that i am thinking about that, since i wasnt yelling at kaia for the last couple days, i was mean to Rob.....awwww poor Rob....hmmmmm I made my "crazy" appt for monday the 26th....hopefully it will go great and i wont get sent to an asylum...hahhahahahaahaha okay gotta get and clean the house....its crazy how nasty it gets when you have a sick kid.....

Had a great weekend.

So Friday I had another bad day so i told rob when he got home that i was going to the gym....had a good workout....then we got a babysitter and went to the bowling alley and the base club with about 15 other people....we had such a good time. I ended up dancing the "soulja boy" some crazy dance with this black guy...rob tried to dance with him too, but he didnt like it too much....hahahahah.. some fast country song came on and rob took the microphone from the dj and sang the song to everyone....hes fearless.....i wish i was like that.....well i guess normally i dont get out and dance either soooo i was kinda fearless too....maybe it was just a rough week and i had to let loose.....weird b/c i cant dance..and when i do dance its just to the electric slide something like that.....but i was like out there by myself.....it was fun.....im always so worried about what people think about me but i was having fun and didnt care....i was like a wanderer.....im such a nerd..anyway so that was our friday..saturday, we just hung around and later on had our friends Eric and Jamie over and also a guy morgan from robs shop and his wife and their son over. morgans wife hates it here...so our husbands told him we should get together since me and jamie hate it too and we can all be miserable together...hahahahahaha the funny thing is, this place seems like home to me....i actually dont mind it anymore, besides the weather....we have met some great people in these last couple months. when i went back home for the funeral, it didnt seem right...like something was missing...either gary or rob and the kiddies.....sooo anyway....sunday we hung out and cleaned the house. and then had a few people over to the watch the race......we really had a great weekend....i dont know if i am ready to leave yet!!