I was chatting with a friend today about missing the states and about getting excited about moving back to the states. (You know who you are E.E.!) I've recently been dealing with trying to not get worked up about moving back to the states, but every time I think about it my mind is off and running.
I am sure that I do this because I am such a planner. We don't even have orders in hand yet, but we are supposed to be moving back sometime in December or so. That the part the drives me crazy...the "or so" part. Some of you reading this may not be aware, but one of the first things Obama did when he became President was to cut military spending. (Thanks Pres! Not!) So lots of military families who are "supposed" to be moving back to the states are currently stuck. They can't move back to the states because the military has no money to move them home at the moment. "Supposedly" this will only be temporary as the new fiscal year begins in October. With that said, we could be stuck for a few months past December as the families who are currently stuck will moved first..OR...we will move as scheduled. We don't know ANYTHING yet, which is the hard part.
We think that we will have a good chance of moving back to Virginia, but again, we don't not know for sure yet. I would like to start looking at housing options, but really the only thing we can do for now is wait.
Getting back to the conversation with my friend today. She said it well. She said, "All I can think about is the states and the things we miss. And I don't hate it here!" I thought to myself, "That's EXACTLY how I feel!!" I really don't hate living in Sicily. In fact, it's quite nice. We have met some life-long friends here. I think the fact that we might be back in the states in six months is what makes things difficult. It's like you try to carry on with life as usual without trying to think about the fact that you, your family, and all your stuff will possibly be moving across the ocean in a mere six months. And why can't I get Starbuck coffee and all my other little favorite American places out of my head? It's the tease of going home soon. It has ruined me.
I guess everything that I have just described is the life of a Navy wife in a nutshell. You can only plan so far in advance. You must be flexible and roll with the punches. And, most importantly, you must just breathe.
