Peach Orchards and Low Country Cookin'

We are trading opera for country music,
We are swapping vineyards for peach orchards,
We are, with some hesitation, saying good-bye to European history and hello to the home of the Confederacy, and
We are giving up wine (well, Venetian wine) and home-made pasta for sweet tea and low country cookin'.

Yes, we chose Georgia. I know you're shocked because I know most people assumed we would go with Germany. However, neither of us looked forward to downsizing our house to fit into a 1200 square foot apartment, ordering internet service with Duetch Telecom (my whole body convulses with just the thought of the service), or living thousands of miles from a Target.

I was in complete support of the move to Fort Stewart, Georgia because it provides year around warm weather, quick access to the beach, a housing market that we can afford, and a short term stint living in the deep South. That was until I went to the bank today. I ran into a woman, an Army spouse, that I had never met before. The inevitable PCS move was broached and when I said, with a smile on my face I might add, that we were moving to Hinesville, Georgia, she said without any hesitation, "Oh I hated that place! You won't get out of there fast enough."

And I said in a very polite way, "Please don't tell me that. I really want to make this move a good one." And she proceeded to say, "No, I am telling you. It is that bad. Did you know the town doesn't even have a Target?"

It was at this point that I was wondering if I should serve Shock Top or a bottle of port when I broke the news to Wes that I wanted to change my mind...again.

However, I am convinced that I can be happy anywhere; I will be happier if there is a Target within a five minute drive and if we find a house with a pool. Did I mention the humidity is really uncomfortable there?

Well, look at me all worked up about a Target and a pool when we are still dependent on the Army to get us there. I need to remember what happened to us just last week and know that it can all change again next week. Until then I will welcome the thought of peach orchards and low country cookin'.

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Seven years ago today Evan surprised us with his early arrival. What a great day that was! This morning he awoke to clues that led him on a search through the house to the new bike that awaited him in the garage. Mr. Fennelson, our next door neighbor, will be the happiest with this gift because I think he had all he could take of bike repairs.

Even if he does require 20 inch bike, he is still a little boy. It's highly probable that we will leave his birthday party on Friday with crumbs of chocolate cake and clumps of icing on his mouth just as he did at his first birthday party.

This Life of Ours

Thanks for the calls of concern, the emails, the messages, and just the general questions all of you have had this past week as we have struggled to come to terms with our disappointments. The Army deleted our original orders to Vicenza, Italy for reasons that we wish to not elaborate upon because it makes Wes's blood pressure rise and tears to come to my eyes. After several therapy sessions involving Reece's peanut butter assorted two pound bags of candy (I didn't even know this assortment of fine chocolate even existed until I went to Target last week wishing to buy my way to happiness), I think I have recovered. Wes went to assignments on Thursday, and after profuse apologies and statements like "it is out of our hands" and other statements that went something like "blah, blah, blah" we were promised any duty station of our choice. I feel the conversation went something like this.

Assignments: We are so sorry about this situation. We will be happy to send you anywhere you would like. Name your place.
Wes: Fort Sam Houston, Texas please.
Assignments: Well, any place but there. That locale is at max capacity.
Wes: Okay well you tell me what you have open and we will go from there.
Assignments: How about Fort Drum, NY?
Wes: I can feel the frost bite on my toes already. Next option.
Assignments: Fort Dix, NJ. It is only a couple of hours drive from Philadelphia.
Wes: Philly? I went there once. That was enough for me. Next.
Assignments: Fort Campbell, KY
Wes: Yeah, I really don't think my wife would fit in with the rolling hills of Kentucky.
Assignments: Korea is always open.
Wes: I have been there before. It's a country filled with little people who eat kimchi for every meal.
Assignments: Fort Bliss, Texas is really struggling for agents.
Wes: That's in the middle of the Juarez drug cartel where people are kidnapped and murdered daily. I might as well go to Afghanistan.
Assignments: Fort Hood - they really need some new agents this spring and it's home for you.
Wes: Have you been to Texas? It can take two days to drive from one end to the other. I might as well be in Kansas because it is just as close.
Assignments (By now the humor of the one-liners is weighing heavy on the lady in the cubicle behind the computer screen): I can send you to Vicenza working in a different capacity.
Wes: Okay. This is better. What else?
Assignments: Germany has an opening in Schweinfurt. I can give you Fort Stewart outside of Savannah, or I can send you to Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia.

So there you have it. We have some possible answers to the move we will make in six weeks! We still have to make the decision and make it quickly. I feel like another bag of peanut butter cups may be in order.

Fall Festival

Keagan's school sponsored a fall festival on Friday. The kids wore costumes, played a few carnival games, and shared Halloween treats.

Halloween

The boys love Halloween almost as much as Christmas! They have been anxiously awaiting tonight for weeks!

Snake Eyes and Indiana Jones

We first took the boys trick or treating on our old street in Montclair. We stopped at a friends' house on our way back home. Keagan and Josh are in the same class this year; Evan and Caleb were in the same class last year.

 When our neighbor, Mr. Fennelson, saw Keagan in his Indiana Jones hat, he had to put his on, too. We have been blessed with wonderful neighbors while living in Montclair. The boys look forward to Mr. Fennelson's arrival from work every afternoon and they would spend every Saturday afternoon "piddlin'" with him in the garage if I would let them.

When we returned home, the boys dumped their baskets to take a closer look at their loot. As they tore into boxes of drops and pieces of laffy taffy, I heard Evan say, "This was the best Halloween ever!" 

Weekend Sports Update #6

Patriots Football
It would have been great if we could have won this game. The coaches for the other team play dirty and a win would have been sweet revenge. Not that I am a vengeful person or anything.... 

Rockies T-Ball Last game of the fall season
I asked if the coaches planned to take a team again in the spring, but they didn't seem too interested. Since all four of their boys play in the dirt and try to skip playing as much as possible, I feel certain that is a negative. If we are here in March, then I need to start shopping for a new coach. Keagan asked if Italians play baseball, and I told him no. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it appears the Army has yet another plan for our lives and we won't be living in Italy next summer, but since I have no idea where we will be living, I said nothing. It wouldn't matter anyway because just as soon as we were actually told, it would change all over again. As you can clearly read, I have no hard feelings over the situation at all. I am completely fine with the idea of living in the midst of Confederate flags and humidity higher than any human should have to endure.

United Soccer
What's so say that hasn't been blogged in the last three years? Evan scored and we won! 

Icebergs Soccer

Keagan scored again and again; our team won.

Weekend Sport Update: #5

Patriots Football
Only three mothers actually attended today's football game. While the other two mothers looked at fashion magazines and sat curled up under their umbrellas with their coats pulled tightly around their waists, I was walking the sidelines in the rain with all of the dads cheering for the Patriots. I really don't know how anyone can sit because I feel compelled to yell encouraging words like, "Pursue the angles, Evan" and "run him out of bounds" and "stay deep", and the boys can't hear you if you aren't standing right there in the middle of the action. I have no idea why I waited so long to sign Evan up for flag football, and I am already stressed about finding a flag football team in Italy. Evan plays and loves football like Keagan plays and loves soccer. The two go hand in hand, and I smell money when he walks onto the field, or at least a scholarship. Okay maybe that is a bit premature, but I would like to believe it is true so I write it.

United Soccer
I guess the threat of rain scared the other team into not showing, or maybe they just didn't want to play Team United. Either way Evan volunteered to play for the other team because he knew he would be guaranteed play time if he did. We are already working on getting him on an Italian soccer team once we get to Vicenza. I have my peeps working on it as we speak. We have explained to Evan that this means he must be willing to learn some Italian. So far it is going really well. He has learned how to say "the man drives the car" and because this is related to youth soccer in so many ways I feel certain that there will be no problems communicating with the other Italian boys.

Icebergs Soccer
I lost count at ten goals, and that was the number Keagan had scored on his own. Seriously. This is the boy that WILL play Italian soccer. Evan told him, "Keagan, you have to play Italian soccer because all of the teams will fight to have you on their team." Keagan said in Italian, "the baby eats", and that was proof that he is more than ready.

We arrived home from our sequence of games just in time because within minutes the bottom fell out of the sky. We washed the mud off of the boys, took some well deserved naps, and then prepared apricot pork chops. Life is great!