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.