Ciao,Italy

Two weeks ago Wes had the day off, but he had a meeting to attend at Fort Belvoir. It was supposed to be a quick meeting, so quick that he assumed it wouldn't be worth the drive. However, at the last minute he was convinced that he needed to go. When the boys and I got home from school that afternoon, Wes hadn't returned. I thought nothing of it and we left for Swim Kids. During the half hour drive the car was incredibily quiet. No arguments, no singing, no retelling of events from school, and I was deep in thought. About a half mile from the nursing home where we take swim lessons, I made this random statement. "Boys, I think we need to be open to where God might want to send us instead of asking that God send us where we want to go." I know this statement was meant for me more than anything, and the boys were mystified because instead of thinking of another PCS move Keagan was probably debating the superiority of Batman and Evan was conjuring ways for trapping solar energy to produce electricity (or something similar). What was I talking about? I didn't know really myself except that I felt certain that my desires to move back to Germany might not be a reality. Keagan suggested we think about moving to Texas, and Evan said that he would be okay moving anywhere that didn't have hurricanes. At this point, I felt certain God was preparing me for a move to Fort Polk, Louisiana, which in case you didn't know, is about the worst place you can go if you are in the Army. Just then the cell phone rang. It was Wes. He said the meeting had run late, but what would I think about moving to Italy.

Yeah right, I said. Just four months ago we were planning for Wes to spend a year in Afghanistan. Six months prior to that we had plans to move to Schweinfurt, Germany. Six months prior to that Wes was offered a job with some secret squirrel unit that would have left us here in Virginia for another three years. I no longer believe anything that comes my way from the Army, but that doesn't mean I didn't spend two hours every night reading everything that I could find on the internet about Vicenza, Italy, US Army Africom, and Caserma Enderle. Knowing it would take months to get Wes's application read by command, knowing it would take even longer for the interview process to begin, and knowing it would take even weeks more for the paperwork to be processed, I knew it was all wishful thinking.

On Sunday Wes came home with the news. He got the job and he reports on 06 JAN!!! I have never seen the Army work so fast. In two weeks they have accomplished work that usually takes months. I was so excited to hear that news that I jumped up and down and screamed for at least five minutes.

Ciao, Vicenza, Italy! The Toole family will be there soon enough and you will never be the same again.