Day 23 - Much Needed Update

Well I've been quite lax in updating because things have been more than a little crazy here. Packing, appointments for Hayden's kindergarten checkup, family visiting from out of town, etc. So here is the update that I should have posted before.

Johnny and I are getting ready to move into the house of our dreams. Now before you start envisioning a pink palace in the clouds, let me tell you what the house we've dreamed of really has. I've never been one for marble halls and diamond sunbursts. What we wanted in a home was simple:

• Enough bedrooms to have a room for family that comes to visit.
• A kitchen that I could actually TURN AROUND in.
• More kitchen cupboards than I have things to put in them.
• A dishwasher.
• A backyard big enough for the kids to play in.
• More than one bathroom.
• A playroom for the kids.
• An office for the computers.
• A fireplace.

The only thing our new place is missing is the last, and that can be added later. We are beyond happy. I will post pictures the day we move in. It's a beautiful home and it's just around the corner from Hayden's school. It's truly a home that was made for us.

In other good news, as of tomorrow I will be wiping a debt off my record that has been bothering me for years. My first car (which I no longer own, having sold the stupid thing to my father) will be entirely paid for. Hurray for no longer owing money and no longer having to dish out $200 a month for something I haven't had in my possession for 2 years!

So now that you know where I've been hiding (under a pile of boxes) I hope to update you more often, even if the updates are short and sweet. And on September 1st I'm sure there'll be a lot to write about!

Day 13 - Good News and Bad News

So this past week was too crazy to blog. Which kind of sucks when you think about it because in a week that there is no time to blog there are loads of things to blog about. I don't want to subject you to every last detail so I'll give you the condensed version.

We spent the first part of the week looking for houses and apartments since even though we knew that by law we didn't have to move, we wanted to get out of here. Johnny has been aggressive and relentless, pursuing every lead of a new dwelling that he could. We did find the perfect place. Three bedrooms plus an office that could be converted to one, big family room downstairs, one and a half bathrooms, nice backyard, quiet neighbourhood about a 2 minute walk from the primary school that Hayden will be attending, and it is just plain beautiful. We spent an agonizing 2-3 days poring over our budget to be absolutely certain that it was in our range since it's a fair bit more expensive than the dinky little apartment we've been living in and rightly so since it's about 1785697965 times as big. (Not really but work with me on the exaggeration thing.)

We decided we could comfortably afford it and then came the wait to find out if the owner thought we were suitable tenants. We spent 24 hours on pins and needles, but it was worth it when the news came that the house is ours! We move on the first and we're beyond excited. Even the kids can't wait!

That's the good news. Now to the bad news. There's been a setback in the armed forces avenue of our lives.

The day before Johnny had his medical testing done, he went to our family doctor (actually the doofus who was filling in for our family doctor who was on leave...) and got his ears syringed out. He has to have this done regularly because otherwise he gets an extreme buildup of hardened earwax like I have never seen before and loses his hearing. The doofus syringed one ear and wouldn't do the other.

The med tech who did the medical could tell that earwax was the reason that Johnny failed the hearing test in that ear because just two years ago he passed that very hearing test. The other ear was perfect. He even tried to syringe out the ear on his own but didn't have the proper tools to do it and couldn't properly finish the job. He said he was not failing Johnny based on earwax and tried to pass him based on previous test results. Ottawa wants the hearing test redone. So that means more waiting and a later BMQ date. Also the infantry profession will likely be closed for the year at that point so he will either have to pick a different profession or wait longer.

My first reaction to this was disappointment, but it faded quickly. I'm thinking this might be a good thing. First of all, it means he'll have some time in the new house with us before he has to be zipped away to BMQ. Second, I'm a firm believer that God has a hand in everything and perhaps something bad would have happened if he had gone on time. Perhaps there would have been an accident on the way to BMQ or after he got there. Perhaps he would have been deployed and injured or something if he'd gone sooner. It may be protection from God to have to wait. So I'm still hopeful...but accepting of whatever happens.

And I made a decision concerning this blog. If something does go wrong and he doesn't get accepted, I will keep going. It's still our journey. I'm still raising an army. Just that maybe my General won't actually be a soldier after all. And I'm okay with that because I love him no matter what.

(I love you baby.)

Day 2 - More Waiting

So Johnny finally did show up yesterday, just so you know. I'm not still sitting in a hotel lobby a day later.

He showed up smiling since apparently all testing went swimmingly. He passed his medical with flying colors (minus the fact that he is apparently as color blind as you get) and the interview was incredible. He was also told that he could get a call back with a BMQ date as soon as today.

TODAY!

So the wait may not be as bad as we thought, right?

Well...maybe. He called there today to ask a question that he had forgotten to ask yesterday and also casually asked if she knew when he might hear back. She said...maybe about three months.

...um what? Why would they tell him two such drastically different stories? Now I'm going a little crazy here because as I explained to you before: Joanie + Waiting = Nothing Good. Tell me that I could get some details this week and then tell me that I might be waiting for three months?! So who's right here? Johnny thinks that the person that interviewed him just might have a bit more insight than the person he was talking to today, so I'm still hoping for the best. I'm not eager to have him leave, but since it's something that must be done I'd like to get it over with. After all, the sooner he leaves, the sooner we can be together again and settle into our new life.

Today my routine is all messed up. I'm still sitting here in my pyjamas at noon, trying to muster the energy to get up and do the things I know I need to do. Silas and Hayden have not been pleasant today, probably due to their routine being messed up after nights with Nanny (Johnny's mother) and Momma (my mother) and not sleeping in their own beds. Silas was exceptionally cranky and tired and is now napping. I'm supposed to be sorting through boxes and totes and drawers for yard sale items...but I'm so tired and lazy that I just can't seem to move from my computer chair.

Oh well, maybe after lunch.

*wishes the waiting would go faster*