Sometimes I get so caught up in life I forget to slow down and do the things that I enjoy, like writing. Everything that has been going on in my life lately has kept me extremely busy. Be it the dog, the deployment to New Jersey, or work, I just keep forgetting to take time for myself. Hell, even right now I’m only writing this because the dog is asleep, Levi is at work, and I have 20 minutes before I need to get ready for work.

As of this moment it definitely looks like New Jersey is happening. Levi finally realized that I didn’t want every detail, just enough to know if we would be getting compensated for living expenses so he e-mailed someone who was able to answer his question. (We should be.) I’m still nervous about moving across the country, but I know that it couldn’t be coming at a better time. I am in between school and Levi doesn’t have anything holding him here either. The extra money is going to help us get where we want to be financially so that we can buy a house when we get back to Washington, and the stories I will have about driving across the country will be priceless I’m sure. Also, I can’t express how excited I am to document the move on my blog. Perhaps it will help our friends remember us while we are gone. (My biggest fear about leaving is being forgotten, it’s silly but it’s true.)

Im going to miss everything when we leave. Our friends, our family, our apartment – Our everything. The only thing keeping me together is knowing that it’s still a few months away, and it’s only temporary. I think most people understand that I hate change, so much so that I cling to things that are bad for me – just because they are familiar. Perhaps the move will give me just the push away from familiarity that I need to live my life the way I want to, and not the way I think I need to.

Time to walk the dog.

The other day I blogged about the possibility of my husband being deployed to the local military hospital, among other things. Well, about two days later, Levi got a call telling him his deployment had been changed to a year long deployment to New Jersey. While I don’t want to freak anyone out at this point, I think it is only fair that I publish this to let people know what is going on in my life right now.

We don’t yet know all of the details, but at the moment it’s looking like I may be moving to New Jersey with him. We haven’t yet found out if he will be able to receive an allowance for housing while he is over there. We have a lot of decisions we need to make within the next few days, and it already seems a bit daunting. I’ve never had to move my life to the other side of the country, and if we do decide to go we will be driving there. (We would be reimbursed if we fly, but the car will be too expensive to send over. Also, because the military does not recognize same-sex unions my plane ticket could not be reimbursed.)

At this moment, I am not entirely sure what my future holds but I know it’s going to be an interesting journey. If we go to New Jersey, I am going to miss all of my friends and family but I feel like it might be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to live on the east coast. We already have our lives set up here in Washington, something that we will easily be able to return home to at the end of the year.

Adventure time? I think so.

Life has been quite busy lately. My lack of writing can probably be attributed to this, though not entirely. Right now I am writing from my phone so as to avoid waking up the dog, who is snuggled up in my lap. Moving to my computer at this point isn’t really an option. While the responsibility can be a pain, owning a dog has really made me feel better about life – it has made me feel more calm. Megatron’s carefree attitude reminds me that some things aren’t worth getting worked up over.

If you’re wondering what it is in life that I have to get worked up over, it’s change. I hate it. I’ve built my life up around a stable platform an when anything threatens that I get nervous and start to worry. The latest thing that has gotten to me has been Levi receiving news that he will be getting mobilized to by the Army Reserves to work in the local army hospital. While this isn’t a bad thing on its own, the logistics of it are bothering me. Right now it is up in the air how this mobilization will mess with my ability to work. With only one car there is absolutely no way we will be able to work around his schedule if he doesn’t receive a set schedule, doing so would put a burden on everyone involved and I can’t conscientiously do that. Right now it’s looking like I really only have three options – go on a leave of absence (for a year? Probably not going to be allowed,) put in my resignation or transfer to a new restaurant. Right now I’m leaning towards a leave of absence so that I can give myself some time to think about what I need to do with my life.

The mobilization itself won’t be a terrible thing, I am thankful that he isn’t being mobilized to a war zone. The change will mean an immediate increase in pay by about 800 dollars a month plus guaranteed housing allowances and an allowance for food. I already don’t need to work as it is, but I definitely won’t need to work when the mobilization occurs. The thing that gets to me, is having to uproot my entire life for this.

I guess I get to be a real army spouse for a year.. All of this is going down in October, and I’ve got a lot to think about in between now and then.

Today is the first day of Spring quarter for Levi, and that means that I have the day off from work. Levi is taking a class at TCC’s Gig Harbor campus, and won’t be able to get there in time after work unless he has the car. Seeing as how I don’t really need to work 5 days a week, we figured the best solution would be for me to take Mondays off and give him the car on those days. So far, I am liking this arrangement!

Today, I got to sleep in and enjoy a stress free morning with no work. After breakfast, I did laundry and finished up the dishes. I then proceeded to remove the disgusting scrap of carpet from our back patio that the previous occupants of our apartment used as a welcome mat. While a great idea in theory, the carpet turned into a disgusting moldy mess in practice. As soon as the patio dries out a bit, I will be going out there with a broom to get it cleaned off some more. I’d love to be able to use the patio in the summer time, and me getting it cleaned is going to be a big part of that. I may need to have the maintenance staff send somebody down the have it pressure washed…it’s pretty filthy.

To say the least, I have really missed having Mondays off.

While dealing with the carpet on the back patio this morning, I managed to get locked out of the apartment. Bella knocked the stick on our back door into the track after I had shut the door, and I couldn’t get back in. Of course I decided that it was a great idea to leave my cell phone and keys inside the apartment while I was outside, and as a result couldn’t get back in the front door either. I walked up to the management office to get a key, and they didn’t even have the right copy of our key so I had to call Levi at work. We are going tonight to get a copy made. Maybe two, so that my mom can have one as well.

We received an update on Megatron this morning. She is doing great and has gained 4 oz. since the start of the weaning process about a week and a half ago. She will have a veterinarian appointment in three days and then will fly into Seattle on the 7th assuming she is healthy enough the fly. (Currently, there are no known issues that would prevent her from flying.) We have an appointment at our local Banfield Pet Hospital on Sunday to have her looked at after the flight. We chose to go with Banfield because of recommendations of our friends, we will be signing Megatron up for one of their wellness plans as well to help supplement the cost of her first year of veterinarian services as well.

We are very excited about Megatron’s arrival next week, and she already has a ton of toys at home awaiting her arrival as well. She is very spoiled.

Over the past few days I have worked diligently to get my closets and other spaces of the apartment organized. Levi and I bought a new dresser from IKEA on Saturday morning for our closet, and the apartment has been a mess because of it. You see, I had to destroy my current “closet organization system” in order to get the new dresser into our closet. This also resulted with me, once again, having too many things. In between Levi’s army gear and my junk, I had a bedroom full of stuff with no place for it to go. To solve this problem, I placed the stuff Levi uses in a drawer in the dresser and we went through all of his old uniforms and determined what we can get rid of. The result? One large stack of old uniforms to go and two large tubs of gear to keep. Now we have an organized closet, and a clean house! 

Work has been over staffed the past few days, but they keep over scheduling us because we are expecting a surprise visit from our supervisor any day now to inspect how we are performing. The result is an over staffed store that is super clean, and when they don’t show up they start sending people home. It’s gotten to the point, over the last few days, where I will go in and not expect to stay my entire shift at all. I don’t have a problem with this because I don’t really like to work more than part time anyway.In fact, next week I will no longer be working on Mondays to accommodate Levi’s school schedule and I couldn’t be happier! (Levi will be taking a class at another campus and will need the car immediately after work to get there on time.)

Not working Mondays is going to allow me a little more time with our new puppy when she arrives. Hopefully I will be able to really focus on potty training her for the first few weeks. I am expecting accidents, but I am hoping that my lax work schedule will really allow me to minimize the amount. I’ve already prepared myself for the possibility, I have a fresh bottle of Resolve and an enzyme based deodorizer. Speaking of our puppy Megatron, she weighs 2 lb 1 oz this week. She has lost a bit of weight since her last weigh in, which is normal for a puppy that is being weaned from its mother’s milk. Here is a photo of Megatron, as of yesterday:

She is looking as cute as ever, and I can not wait until the 7th when she arrives! Her ears are really starting to perk up more, and her nose is starting to get a bit darker. 

That’s all for today.

I figure I should preface this post with a photo of what may possibly be the cutest puppy on the face of planet earth. Sure, I’m biased, but it’s my blog and I’m allowed to be. It’s not like I’m a journalist…I can make up whatever facts I want to and nobody will care. Megatron, the aforementioned and pictured puppy, is around 6 weeks of age as of this entry and weighs 2lb 2oz. 

Tonight I am making brownies for some of Levi’s coworkers, and the brownie mix is ridiculously complicated. It is calling for softened butter, and eggs and the topping requires me to melt chocolate chips. When brownie mixes start requiring me to soften butter, and melt chocolate, they stop being convenient mixes and start becoming pre measured flour and sugar. I feel like it shouldn’t be called a mix if it requires more than water and oil…maybe an egg. (Furthermore, world, placing a stick of butter in between two sheets of wax paper and flattening it with a rolling pin does not soften butter, it flattens hard butter – the flattened butter is no softer than is was before, it is just inconveniently hard and flat.)

Speaking of brownies, did I mention that I don’t even get to taste these brownies? All of this work, and all I get is a potential “thank you” and the torture of smelling them in my apartment. Did I also mention that I am doing all of this only after my date with my vacuum cleaner and bottle of resolve this evening after a ridiculous day of work?

Speaking of work, I’m trying to transfer to a restaurant that is closer to my apartment. If that plan fails, I am just going to walk down the street handing out résumés to the local businesses. I’m tired of paying for gas in my car, I feel like 75% of my income goes to paying for gas. There is a restaurant down the street that I could easily ride my bike to in under 10 minutes, and I should be able to transfer without much work – I’ve just got to convince my boss to let it happen.