Stalking Our HHGs Isn’t Fun Anymore

Episode № 106 is a long list of the things that have been keeping us busy this PCS. 

Transcript

Episode № 106 Stalking Our HHGs Isn’t Fun Anymore

Welcome back!
Lady Jupiter Podcast is the audio accompaniment to LadyJupiter.com a lifestyle blog where I write about my family’s military life, our home life, and other tiny details that I just like to share. I’m happy that you’re here with me.

In this episode I’ll share an update on our life as affected by the U.S. military, then continue with a blog update, and wrap up with something domestic. But here at the top of the show I must apologize for my voice - allergies this year are unreal. Despite my daily Zyrtec, Singulair, and Flonase, I’m still carrying a rescue inhaler and avoiding the outdoors. Ugh.

Today in our military-affected lives I have nothing significant to update!

Since we last spoke, we lent or gave our Big Green Egg smoker to a friend who recently moved back to Little Rock - it was on the list of things that we didn’t want to deal with shipping overseas OR store it while we’re away. I don’t know if we’re expecting it back either…we’ve got some time to sort out the details.

Then a friend picked up some furniture to casually drive down to Dallas for us.

We had afternoon mimosas at our favorite vineyard with a few friends, continuing the resource sharing that I enjoy.

We met up with some other friends for Greek fast food, and gave them our Lampster; one of Kickstarter's most popular campaigns.

Then our Dallas family received the furniture that was conveniently driven down to them, I cannot express how thankful I am that we happen to know somebody with a truck that regularly drives down to Dallas.

Mister Jupiter went out of town for work, and got to manage many aircraft in a smaller than expected space with thunderstorms on the radar. He survived.

Mike Dog got groomed, he definitely needed it, and now he is impossibly fluffy he is so happy.

And then I snooped on our household goods shipment, they arrived at the port of Los Angeles right by Long Beach, which has been their last known location. I check on the AirTags each day, but I think it’s safe to assume that they are simply out of range. TMO estimates that our crates will arrive at their destination port soon, about two weeks before we arrive. We might really be on track to get our house set up as soon as we adjust to our new time zone. I was really hoping to watch the tags cross that ocean, but oh well. Maybe it’s for the best.

I received a lovely little piece of jewelry that I love wearing. It's a gold matchstick that I’m just obsessed with.

Kid Jupiter and I were supposed to see Fuel and Everclear, but he was sick that day and we stayed home instead.

Then one of Mister Jupiter's work trips got canceled, so he was able to come home instead of fly to Illinois.

I finally got some plush C130s in the mail for one of my cousins.

Then we had our moving day to get us entirely out of our old house, and into a friends unoccupied house. In the morning Mister Jupiter borrowed a truck and moved bulky items like the washer and dryer, and anything that was easy to throw in the back of a truck. Later in the day when we were out of boxes, I took my turn as the primary mover. We’ve been sleeping in our friends’ house ever since.

Mister Jupiter finished his last obligations for Air War College, so that one is knocked out and he can simply work long hours and PCS without homework or discussions to worry about.

Then my favorite squadron left town again for this year's Weapons School Integration.

Kid Jupiter and I opened up our previous house for three housekeepers to come in and make the whole house squeaky clean. I foolishly forgot to bring any chargers, but I did download some of the Kid’s favorite entertainment the night before. They were finished by 1pm, and the house looks amazing.

Then I started shipping things in the mail that did not get packed up with the rest of the house. Current shipping contents include our curtains, and a small Sonos speaker. I need a few more boxes for a few more things, but otherwise, all of our belongings fit into our six suitcases.

My cousin received the plushie Hercs that I sent without notice - yay!

And I missed a Change of Command ceremony that I wanted to go to. I steamed my dress the night before, I didn’t stay up too late, and yet I didn’t hear my alarms and I overslept. Rather, I woke up when we needed to be getting in the car. But instead of celebrating our friends with unbrushed teeth, I made the executive decision to stay home, brush the teeth, feed my boys, and drink a gallon of coffee. Our world-wide community is surprisingly small, and it gets smaller each year. So I’ll just congratulate the newest commander, and the most recently graduated commander when I see them next. It might be a few days or a few years, but I know they’ll understand.

Then I used my first specific power of Attorney to sell our most recent primary residence! Kid Jupiter went with me like usual. He’s oddly comfortable in title company offices. I’m looking forward to watching that mortgage evaporate, but not looking forward to the taxes we’re going to owe next year.

The next day I dropped off some electronic recycling on base, and picked up my gown that I sent to a friend’s house - good thing too, because it arrived four days early and we’re lightly homeless since we just sold our house and can’t check into TLF yet.

Then my Dad got into town, and we promptly hopped in the car to buy afternoon bologna sandwiches because it was my birthday and I wanted one. Then we quickly drove back to our temporary house to escape the heat, and hang out indoors for the night.

I was lightly watching Twitter because I like seeing public chatter during WSINT, but didn’t see anything worth sharing. It’s likely that I just missed the paranoid tweets, because someone always brings up aliens when they see a lot of unfamiliar military aircraft. I did see a screen capture of Mister Jupiter’s flight plan from a few days ago, that was accurate.

Oh, and I have been buying banners lately, and my most recent was overnighted to a friend’s house in Vegas. I’ll get to see it in person soon.

And since my gown arrived early I was able to try it on (AND YES - IT FITS PERFECTLY). The length is just right for regular pumps (so I don’t need to buy shoes), but I did need to find a different handbag. The one that I originally planned on using didn’t match very well, so I’ll be mailing that one back to myself and using a different bag that I just bought on Amazon. Thank goodness for those lockers; being lightly homeless and needing Prime shipping is a little problematic.

Speaking of problematic, I tried to set up mail forwarding online. But I can’t. I just learned that if you want to forward mail to an APO or FPO online - you must have a .mil, .gov, or .edu email address. So I joined my university’s alumni association because that used to get you back into your old .edu email account. Well...I also learned that Google stopped giving universities unlimited email storage, and that .edu email addresses are no longer an alumni benefit.

So, I look forward to filling out my hard-copy Change of Address PS Form 3575 the next time that I go to the post office to mail myself stuff like the blue glass mason jars I found in the fridge after the movers left, and the Lego set that got ousted from the big suitcase when I realized that we need the space more than we need the Lego Freight Train set.

Then a few hours after brunch with my Dad, the homeowners (who own the roof I am sleeping under) popped into their house (as planned and communicated of course!). I haven’t seen the adults in about seven years, and I got to meet their kids. This address was a little busy for an hour, but that was expected. They did what I have been doing for the past few weeks; quickly audit the belongings on hand, and drop off future needs and non-essentials to this house as it’s convenient.

And you wouldn’t believe how many days I think that I can record after catching up on chores a bit…but when I finish said chores it’s always after midnight or one, and I force myself to bed and try again the next day. Rinse and repeat. Ugh.

For today’s LadyJupiter.com update…the site is still up and running.

And lastly something domestic. It’s hard to have solid domestic commentary when we’re so transient.

So for your information we’ve been living out of suitcases for four weeks, and have a few more to go. Our HHGs should be ready to deliver as soon as we have our next physical address. Meanwhile we’ve been enjoying our friend’s vacant house, but tomorrow is moving day again. We’re moving on base into TLF, and I almost have no idea what to expect. The last time I lived in a TLF was 2003…so it’s been a while. I just want a washing machine, and to be on the ground level since we’re obviously bringing our dog.

I don’t look forward to moving again, but that’s why I’m shipping as much as I can to our PO box…and washing laundry every other day.

And that’s it for today’s episode. Show notes and transcript are available anytime; swing by LadyJupiter.com/podcast.
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I will talk to you when I can record next. 
—Bye for now!