I have a sponsor assigned to me already and I’ve already been contacted–yay! A sponsor is someone at your gaining base who’s there to answer all your questions and help you get settled when you arrive. They’re usually from the workcenter you’re going to. I’m just happy because now I have someone to answer all the questions that have been nagging me 🙂

There’s not a whole lot I can really do at this point, but everything is slowly coming together. And anyone who knows me will know how I need to plan ahead. If everything works out alright, I’ll have the movers pick up my stuff in June. Since Scott is still here, I’ll still have use of furniture up until I leave. I won’t ship my car until I leave since rental cars are cheaper in the States. Then Damien and I will leave sometime during the last two weeks of July to ND. Scott MIGHT come too…hopefully. We’ll stay a week to help Damien get settled in with my parents and then I’ll be off to Virginia for inprocessing and house hunting. I get 8 days of house hunting. So if everything goes well, my stuff will be there already or I won’t have to wait very long. Scott should be able to help me find a place to live and we can spend a little bit of time scoping out the area. I can get on the waiting list of the on-base daycare as soon as I have my orders. I think that pretty much sums up all the details for now.

I wish I had an updated picture of Damien to include…I’ll have to take some pictures this weekend or something.

I received my official assignment notification and my next base is Langley AFB in Virginia. This is the furthest from what I wanted–it’s crowded, has bad traffic and a high cost of living. My initial reaction was deeply disappointed. It’s a 27  hour drive to my family in North Dakota and a 13 hour drive to see Scott’s family in Maine. Of course, plane tickets are expensive and I won’t be able to get a direct flight. I spoke to a few people at work today who have been there. Those who were there for a short period of time (as in 30 days) said the area was nice. Those who were stationed there said don’t go there lol. Also, the squadron that I’m going to have shops that work 24-hr ops. This means they have night shifts and swing shifts…which I’m concerned about because I’ll basically be acting as a single mom since Scott is in Germany for another year. To my knowledge, they don’t have daycares open 24 hours.

I’m trying to put a positive spin on the situation since I don’t have a choice in the matter. My thought process is that lots of people live there for a reason so it must have something to offer. There’s lots of things to go see and do…parks…museums…theaters…kids activities…restaurants…They probably have great seafood too!

Anyways, only time will tell if I’ll like the assignment or not. I am happy to be going back to the States. I’m ready to go home, even if it is on the East Coast.

Unfortunately, it snowed again. It did give Damien a chance to get some more use out of his snow pants and boots. He really does enjoy himself outside. I also got to hear him count to four today. Scott heard him do it before he left, but this was the first time I was around to hear it. He doesn’t do it on demand so no video.

Scott’s all settled in at his hotel room in the UK. It wasn’t a very easy trip up there for him. He encountered a lot of problems with getting a rental car which is all resolved now. I love hearing about British slang words and phrases. I also find it interesting how they do things in the Royal Air Force. I didn’t ever get to work close enough with the Korean or German military to learn anything about their military and cultural traditions. It’s a really great experience for him. I’m planning to make a weekend trip with Damien up to London in March or April. I’m super excited!