Deep Breath

Today, I felt it.

You know that pre-move"holy cow I have so much to do and so many people to see and so many friends to talk to and so much packing and cleaning and organizing and scheduling to do" feeling?

I had felt it just slightly before we left for South Florida on our three week adventure. But when it started to come on, John had said to me, "Push it aside. Just focus on this trip, right now. You can focus on Turkey later."

So I did that. Orlando and New Mexico and South Florida first.

Turkey later.

Okay. Fast forward.

Now it's later. And it's time to focus. Not only are we moving, but we are moving halfway across the world. To the Middle East!

Don't misunderstand. Yes, we requested this particular Base. Yes, we are excited about the opportunity and the adventure. We are thrilled that John's schedule should be lighter and that we are pretty positive we won't face deployment in the near future.

But man oh man is there a lot to do.

For those of you who have never moved overseas with the military, of which, right now, I am included amongst you, let me summarize how this works.

The military tells you that you are moving to ____. Then they give you a pound of paperwork and tell you to get this paperwork done before they will give you your official orders to tell you that you are definitely going to _____. Most of this paperwork is to assure that you and your family actually can live on this Base. They want to make sure that they have the resources available that your particular family needs. For instance, if I had a special needs child or if I had a unique medical condition, we might be told we cannot move to _____ as that base cannot take care of us properly.

We can't do anything before we get our orders. No plane tickets. No moving dates. No nothing. But we can't get our orders until we do everything.

Are you with me?

JB called me yesterday and told me that both Isaac and myself need dentist appointments. We need to get some paperwork saying our mouths were fit to move to Turkey. Joia happened to be over at my house when he told me this, and she helped refer me to a pediatric dentist. My dentist did not have a slot for weeks so I was forced to take whichever cancellation slot became available.

It became available today.

So today I had a 15 month well-visit for Elijah. I had a 24-month well-visit for Isaac.* Elijah needs shots but we skipped those today and will try to get in later and do those. (I have no idea when.) After that, we returned to our house. My great friend Robyn stopped by with her little John Benjamin. When she left around 1:00, I loaded up the car to take the boys over to Joia's so I could go to my 2:00 dentist appointment. I tried to swim after that but the pool is closed "until further notice." After that it was back home. Thank goodness JB's work weeks are light right now. He took both boys out shopping so I could attempt to get a few things done around the house.

Just one of those days that I felt like I never sat down. Never stopped moving. So much to do.

If you think of it, will you say an extra prayer for me. I am so excited about this move. It isn't everyday that you get to live in another country and experience another culture. We are thrilled about this adventure. And I want the days before the move to be an adventure too. I want to enjoy them. I don't want to wish them away.

But today, right now, I am feeling a bit swamped. A bit in-over-my-head. I just need an extra dose of peace!

*Elijah is 99th percentile in weight. He is 91st in height. He is 100th in head circumference. Isaac is 69th for weight. He is 73rd for height. He is 48th for head circumference. Elijah is weighing 31 pounds. Isaac is weighing 29 pounds. Elijah is actually right-on or a bit ahead in language skills. Isaac is nearly a year ahead in language skills. Both boys are very healthy! Praise the Lord!