So I am sitting at my dining room table waiting for the moving company to come do the pre-pack out walk through of my home.  To inventory all of our stuff into categories and weights and balances.  As we have been preparing for this move the past few months, I have been struck by a number of "truths" (or at least truths in my own little world) related to preparing for a military style move.

1.  Stuffed animals breed.  I don't think I have ever bought Kate or Connor a stuffed animal yet every closet, every toy bin, and every surface seems to have at least three.  And when I wake up there are five more.  I'm starting to believe that "Toy Story" wasn't fiction at all and that our toys have a life after dark.

2.  My husband needs to go into a T-Shirt Addict Remediation program.  The boy cannot resist a free t-shirt.  Off to a conference?  He comes home with an extra suitcase full of "amazing" shirts.  Amazing = free.  Doesn't matter if they are rejects or XXXL.  Even with our super compact and efficient USNA method of folding we have way too many cotton shirts.  My current favorite?  An ugly red Whiskey t-shirt that declares "every day is MAN DAY" (nope, not kidding) completely and totally off-center in the front.  I feel like I am going cross eyed looking at my husband in that shirt.  But it was FREE! So now he is a walking advertisement for Whiskey and poor shirt printing.

3.  Household good weight limits remind me of how over cluttered my life is. It is incredibly depressing that I am worried we will go over the 17,500 pound weight limit we are allotted.  Especially since we are not moving one single appliance.

4.  Packers do not make moving a breeze.  If one more person says "oh, at least the military packs you up" I am going to throat punch them.  Non military folks, it is never okay to say that to a military family who is in the midst of a PCS.  Yes, I get that packing a house sucks big time and that it is more convenient to have someone else do it.  But we move every 2-3 years.  So the "perk" of having the US Government pack our stuff in no way lessons the burden of moving all the time.  We still have to uproot our lives, our kids, our jobs, and leave our friends and conveniences.  It is okay to think it in your head - but keep your mouth shut. 

5.  We all have more embarrassing stuff than we might think. I have had a nightmare that I forget to hide away my unmentionables before the packers come.  Packers are great - until you literally die of embarrassment because they find your liberator pillow and ask if it works to remediate back pain.  And it can get oh-so-much-worse than that.  On our last move I was 8 weeks post-pardum and a packer asked what I wanted to do with my stash of jumbopads and ice packs.

6.  The military is extremely out of touch with what is valuable these days. The following sheet of paper was given to my friend Karen at And Then We Laughed. 


These are just the thing running through my head today.  Please feel free to share any random observations you have in the comment section!

So.  This guy.


This guy is two.  He is a toddler of the not-so-terrible sort.  He is funny, loving, and a mama's boy.  He is voraciously verbal and talk talk talk talks all day long.  He loves milk sippies, "Peppa Pig", rain boots, books under blankets, Knuffle Bunny, jumping on the bed, choo choo trains, forts, pizza, Curious George, and singing "Bushel and a Peck" before bedtime.  Bubble baths wouldn't be the same without "swimming" and blowing bubbles with Kate.  He loves to "go go go" which basically means "take me somewhere so that I can flirt with everyone". 

Bunny Bunny, his ragged blue lovey, is a fixture that he will probably be taking to college in tatters.
 

Connor is a modern man; as rough and tumble as he is, you will often find him pushing a pink stroller with strands of purple pearls around his neck.  Kate's dolls and Connor's trucks coexist in a harmony that makes my heart happy.  He is such a great kid.

Here, pull up one of these.

This morning I strapped my kids into our double stroller expecting a marathon wait at the polling station.  I had milk and fruit snacks and toys and the expectation that they would be having a fight over my iPhone by the time I reached the voting booth.  I had even broken out the big guns - promises of pure refined sugar (lollipops) before 9 AM if they didn't get me kicked out of the line for disturbing the peace.

Oh what a difference four years can make.  On Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 John and I were living in Maryland.  I was working full time.  We were in the middle of the IVF cycle that gave us our sweet Kate.  Last night as I laid in bed dreading having to vote with two kids whining about wanting to get out of the stroller and play, I reminded myself that my life is so so so much better with them in it.  And that if the 2008 version of myself could hear my inner (whiney) thoughts, that she would have smacked me.  So.  I made myself some strong coffee and voted early.  It was easy.

I am so thankful.  Thankful for the right to vote.  Thankful for the crazy toddlers who accompanied me to the polling station.  Thankful that we live in a country that has a peaceful process for choosing and changing leadership.  America isn't perfect, but I am very proud to live here.

I honestly don't care who you go vote for.  I personally live in a house divided (I lean left, John leans right) so I know that we as Americans can co-existed peacefully and happily.  I also know that there are good people working on both sides of the issues.  Maybe the government should take a note from my on marriage on how you can actually come to compromise despite a different set of values and constructs.  There is no right or wrong.  But it is so important that everyone has their voices heard and appreciates the sacrifices so many have made to allow this day to be possible.


Those are some of my values.  Now go vote yours!

The clouds parted and Halloween was a very nice night.  We had lots of big puddles to hop over to get our loot, but I think all of the parents in the Tidewater area were relieved that Sandy didn't squash our Halloween.

I co-hosted Kate's preschool Halloween shindig in the morning.  We got the three year olds nice and sugared up.  There is nothing cuter than preschool aged kids in their costumes.  They are so proud, and excited, and in character.  It cracked me up this year how seriously Kate took her "being a cat".  I mean, she actually preferred to crawl on all fours and meow and hiss while she was in costume.  It tickled my mom and I that Kate was adamant about being a black cat this year because my little sister insisted on being a black cat for every Halloween from about 1987 to 1995 (I'm not kidding).  Is the desire to be feline genetic?

Connor owned his Curious George costume.  He is definitely a mischievous, curious, funny little banana-loving guy so the costume fit him perfectly.  I was impressed at how much he wanted to trick or treat this year.  Maybe it is because he is my second kid and I will admit he has probably had more candy at his age than Kate had at the same point.  It was great to see his eyes light up when he saw other kids dressed up.  He is going through a phase where he loves to talk about "scary monsters" and "big dinosaurs" so Halloween was a long day of him excitedly pointing them out to me.