Why I Required a (Short) Pity-Party
I want to apologize for not blogging or posting on Facebook recently. My family got a huge shock at the beginning of June, and we’ve spent the month trying to get our feet back under us. Let me tell you what happened:
Out of the blue on June 2nd, my husband got an email congratulating him on being accepted to ACSC—it’s a 1-year long military officer training course. It’s an honor to be accepted and something that people compete for, but it was a HUGE shock to us! School begins on July 24th, so we were faced with the decision of whether or not to move our family from Italy to Alabama in 6 weeks, or to decline the slot.
I make it sound like a “choice,” but it really wasn’t. There would have been severe consequences to saying no, and like I said, it’s an honor to be accepted. So… we’re moving. To Alabama.
I’m not ashamed to say that I cried. A lot. I was (and still am) proud of Aaron for being accepted, but I understood the reality of what we were about the embark on. We were going to leave Italy an entire year earlier than expected! We had trips planned, custom furniture that was being made… and now we had to tell our girls that we were leaving. They were sad and cried, but sooner than I expected they were coming up with a list of positives. I hadn’t even begun to think of the positives yet!
After my pity party, I pulled myself together and began my end of the military move. While Aaron fought to get orders, movers, and plane tickets, I focused entirely on getting our family ready… including our house.
The biggest hurdle was formulating a plan to get our golden retriever, Emma, home to America in the heat of the summer. Airlines wouldn’t take her because it was too hot, and the military rotators (the flights that move military families to their next duty stations overseas) were all booked until late fall. We ended up having to hire a private pet shipping company to get her to AL. It’s expensive but completely worth it knowing that she’s coming with us and will be taken care of.
Our lives were CRAZY in June! The military usually gives families 5-6 months of notice before moving overseas (because it’s difficult and complicated!!) but we only had a few short weeks to pull everything together. We had movers just last week, so I’m writing blog post this in a house that only contains loaner furniture and our suitcases.
I’m still not fully back to work… I was supposed to be writing a novella and full-length novel this summer, but now I’m spending that time moving. 🙁 I’m incredibly grateful to my support team for helping me during this stressful time, but I’m sad that I had to put things on hold. Hopefully, in Alabama, I’ll have plenty of time to work!
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