What a Pain

I've picked up a sinus cold. I have an ear that won't clear. My pilot husband will not let me fly (rightly so) if it doesn't clear (one could blow an eardrum). We've been given the green light to come over on Tuesday; I'd like to go. Please, please, pray this ear clears ASAP.

Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Better...

...it has.

I must say that I am not making this up: the passports will more than likely not be ready by Monday and maybe not even for another week. Pull up a chair and grab a snack. Ready?

When we got our assignment to Germany, we had to get these special passports that are really good for nothing other than some unique emergency type of evacuation situation ( I think I have that right). When the assignment got changed to Ukraine, we were told that we had to turn those in so we could get our red passports. So the State Department is supposed to issue those, send them over to the Department of Defense who writes a cover letter to the Ukrainian embassy so they can put the visas in for us. And, none of that happened. The State Dept. never made the red passports, the DoD sent those worthless blue ones (not the tourist blue ones) to the embassy and they sent them back saying they don't stamp blue, they stamp red. Thus, nothing has been done.

Apparently, it only takes a day to turn them from blue to red. They rip the pages out of the blue, and they put them into a red book. Why couldn't this day job been done a month+ ago when we sent those in? Why did the people of both bureaucracies who are supposed to be doing this as their daily job not catch this? Probably for the same reason Sgt So and So sat on our medical clearance for a month and has never even bothered to call us about that paperwork that was kicked back confirming our oldest child is indeed not retarded -or how about the ones who left off our youngest daughter from our orders.

{Insert deep breath.}

The question is being asked of the regional security officer if the kids and I can enter on our tourist passports on Wednesday with Mr. YH, wait for the dip ones to come, exit the country within 90 days for a vacation (Prague maybe? I'm open for suggestions.), and reenter on the red. {If you didn't know, the Ukrainians are having a run-off election and it could be nasty, so they're just a little concerned that everything will need to go by the book, especially since they anticipate it getting ugly on our new street. Funny- last time we were there, we watched the Orange Revolution take place on our street.}

{Another deep breath.}

Ok, back to packing- I feel like I've been doing this for a month straight. Bleh! We'll be flying back to CA tomorrow- pray for me and the kids!

Hanna Andersson Coupons and Randomness **Updated

I have two coupons for 20% off online orders for Hanna Andersson. I think you have to buy $100 worth to get that. If you'd like one of the codes to use, e-mail me at mrsyellowhat@yahoo.com. I'll check my e-mail later this evening and send them out to the first two who ask.

Wisconsin is freezing cold. I found a darling winter jacket yesterday marked down to $88 from $220. It's down and it's warm. I said I'd never buy a jacket with faux fur trim. Guess what? At least I'll blend in with the Ukrainians and I can take the hood off.

Mr. YH finally got orders yesterday. They left off Baby Girl. Buffoons.

Still no passports. Looking like I'll be traveling alone with the kids. God is the same and has the same power whether we go as a family or separately- that's what I'm trying to drill into my head.

My sister-in-law will be induced on the 1st- my second nephew!!

Baby Girl is doing better but is not 100% yet. I have someone willing to let me take their nebulizer with me and I can ship it back once our things come.

**UPDATE- are you ready for this? The kids and I have to go back to CA to fly over because it's cheaper than flying out of Chicago- we could fly out there, but it'd be to the tune of $900 per person on our bill instead of the military's. No brainer. I suppose we could have asked earlier, but, um, we didn't have orders so that lady in the travel office didn't want to talk to us. Always an adventure, here, folks. Don't forget- it's free of charge! ha!!

Asking for Prayers Again

Girls, I'm hopping on for just a moment to ask for you to pray for Baby Girl. She is showing signs of going into that nasty reactive airways again. We think it was triggered by the wildfires in CA this past summer, and my parents heat their home with a woodburner stove/boiler system, so we think it may be causing her to have some issues. I'm all emotional because I didn't keep the nebulizer out and just have a friend mail it to us- it's in a box in a crate in route to Ukraine and I can't get it back until March or April. We are able to borrow one, and I have medications with me, so just pray we can keep it contained and she is back to 100% ASAP. And that I don't have a complete meltdown because honestly, I'm just struggling with a variety of things right now. Thanks and much love to you all!

Update

Medical clearance...check {because the school secretary signed off, confirming our medical doctor's assessment that Big Girl is not retarded}.

Orders should follow by Tuesday or so.

And then I cried.

Of course, I'm pleased the process is moving along, but unless the State Dept. and DoD in D.C. get those passports and visas back to us, Mr. YH will fly on without us on the 1st. There's more to it than just flying alone with the three children and our luggage {and lugging all of them through customs by myself- and please, please, God, have mercy on me if I have to do this and let them check all of it straight through to Ukraine so I don't have to lug it alone to recheck in Europe!!!}, but the blog is not the place to share it all.

Begging for any prayers that those come in next week!

In the meantime, we're trying to stay warm up here in Wisconsin. My niece came to spend the weekend; she and Big Girl are upstairs having a slumber party. My youngest brother and his wife are coming with my other neice who is Baby Girl's age tomorrow {poor The Boy- he is the lone boy!}. We're taking the kids ice skating tomorrow, too; my hiney is still a bit sore so I'll be sidelining it while my dad and Mr. YH hit the ice. It'll be The Boy's first time- should have some great pictures!! ha!

Checking In

We ended our week in Michigan with my in-laws on Sunday. We had a great time playing in the snow and visiting with friends and family. We headed to Chicago Sunday afternoon; it's so convenient that Mr. YH's middle sister and her family live there because it's a great half-way point between our parents. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousin and we're all anxiously awaiting his little brother's impending birth...none more than Valerie! We drove on up to central Wisconsin today. It's cold, cold cold!!! I think we've all made the time change, but I can tell you I'm not looking forward to the jet lag coming up. At the same time, I'm ready to get this show on the road....if we had all the paperwork in order.

You girls keep blogging! I'm reading and it's such a wonderful little "me time" to delve into blogworld for a few minutes!

Final Week in Monterey

Our sweet landlady and neighbor

gave us passes to visit the aquarium

down on Cannery Row one last time.

I love the jelly fish!

This is a leafy sea dragon.

{Or was it weedy?}

Tuesday: Packing all the appliances for storage.

Tagged, inventoried, and ready to load on the truck.

Out on the driveway, they've got every piece

of furniture wrapped in brown paper

and various boxes ready to load.

4 crates loaded up for storage.

There were 2 dining chairs and a rocker

in the fifth crate. I told them they'd better

not lose them. I need to call the company

and let them know I'm concerned

about where they put those. Because

you know they'll put someone

else's stuff in that crate.

Look what I finally finished for the girls' room.

I can't tell you how many times I quit.

{Included for free is a shot of the p**p brown

carpet that was in the master bedroom.}

Because of the nature of this assignment, we are allotted 1200 lbs of consumables (groceries) to ship that does not count against our household goods weight that we ship to Ukraine. Mr. YH has a gluten intolerance, so we went shopping for foods safe for him to eat (and some comfort foods like maple syrup and brown sugar) on Christmas Eve day at the commissary. Ever bought groceries for two years?! I had quite a list. Mr. YH went last week to pick it all up and the bill was over $1,000. However, Ms. K, the manager had talked to vendors and gotten them to donate a large part of what we had ordered. We ended up paying $375. I cried. We were totally prepared to pay for this, and in all seriousness, there are many more deserving people. It was an absolutely unexpected blessing that God bestowed on us.

Cleaned out and cleaned up.

The last look.

We were so blessed with this house-

it was significantly below our housing allowance

and we were able to give a little more and even save a bit

after utilities and covering the little loss we

take on our NC house.

My last night of Bunco!

And I won!

This is my dear friend Lee Ann.

Pray for her and her girls;

her husband deploys at the end of the month.

Staying Alive (ooh, ooh, oooooooooh!)

My dear blogettes! I've missed you! I have some really fun photos, and I plan on getting those up by the weekend. In the meantime, I thought I'd give a brief update.

We're packed out. 4 crates on Tuesday going into long-term storage. 5 crates and a sofa crate on Thursday going to Ukraine. I had eight guys in my house on Thursday. EIGHT. E.I.G.H.T. People, how does one watch eight men packing your house? I'll go ahead and answer that- one does not. They cross packed (took things from one room to fill a box in another room) which does not make me happy, but I had to resign myself to it. As long as it all makes it there in one piece. We'll see that stuff at the end of March (I hope). In the meantime, and not counting Mr. YH's stuff, we have 3 suitcases, 2 car seat bags, and a pack 'n play. And a carry-on apiece. Please, take a moment and bless my heart, will you?!

We're still without orders. Tech Sgt. To-Remain-Unnamed in Monterey sat on our medical clearance for a month. We can't get orders until we're cleared medically. We can't get tickets to travel until we have orders. We can't ship the van until we have orders. Yesterday while we were driving to Michigan Mr. YH got a phone call and we found out part of the medical paperwork was kicked back. Apparently, Ms. P.H. refused to put it on her boss's desk because a school official didn't sign off that Big Girl is not retarded. Never mind that a medical doctor signed off on all that. Oh, and we home school, so she doesn't go to a school. But, AF reg such and such required it. It could be a school secretary. So ridiculous. Mr. YH told her that if it weren't 3 a.m. (she was in Germany) that he'd have Big Girl read to her and she could see for herself that our 7 year old reads at a jr. high level. Anyway, I think we have that straightened out now. GRRR. And we still don't have our diplomatic passports and visas- keep praying!

While we were cleaning our place on Friday, it rained a little. We had a really steep driveway. I fell and my tail-bone is, at the least, deeply bruised. Ouch. It's made traveling a bit painful.

We flew out Sunday afternoon from San Jose to Milwaukee (cheap tickets and this trip is on our dime since we don't have orders and can't take leave in route to the next assignment). The kids did great. About 8 p.m., we turned the lights off and told them it was time to go to sleep, and they did! We landed about 12:30 a.m. and finally got them settled in the hotel about an hour later. We slept late, warred with car seats in the FREEZING cold, and got on our way to Michigan. We arrived at Mr. YH's parents last night. I've been shopping for boots for the kids- didn't have those in Monterey. We'll head to Chicago to see my sister-in-law and her family this weekend and continue on to Wisconsin to see my parents next week.

More later! Thanks for praying for us!!!

One Minute Post

The packers arrive tomorrow between 0830 and 0900. {No. I don't usually speak in military time. It just sounded more final and that's how I feel.}

They're taking my washer and dryer. I'm frantically washing everything. I hate packing linens that have been used (i.e. sheets) even once. I have no choice this time.

Big Girl is sick. She's had a 102 temp off and on today. No other symptoms. Please pray she kicks this. I seriously can count the number of times she has been sick on one hand, so this is a booger.

Ok- more to do. Thanks for praying!