Jaye's Musings

PHEW!!

Well, hopefully things may settle down for a little while...like a week! The predicted craziness was indeed crazy. Two weeks with my sisters-in-law, two of which had never been out of the US before, and one of those who had never been on a plane before...so they were really touristy...photos of EVERYTHING. Then the youngest came home on his spring break and also my mum.

Hub's retirement went very well indeed, and the effort that went into it, the dinner/roast the night before, the ceremony itself, and then the reception after were awesome. One of the many presentations he received was a gun barrel from an A-10 (7ft long and about 100lbs) which will was made into a corner shelving unit. The ceremony itself was according to protocol and quite emotional for hubs...but swigs of Bitburger helped to fend off the teary moments (his fellow Chiefs had a pool going for when he would blub). And then came the reception. Usually such things only last a couple of hours, but we were there for six, partly because it was an open bar, but mostly because of the great live music. Dave's now former boss, the group commander, has his own band, and they were terrific, even more so considering they'd only been together a month or so and the Colonel who's new to the bass guitar and only played Country and Western was now playing Rock as that's what the rest of them play. When they finished their playlist, it turned into a jam/rehearsal session, which was just as much fun.

Then it was all go for packing out and cleaning the house to turn it over. It's my least favourite part of moving being surrounded by chaos and yet so very bored as the packers do everything...then clean, clean, clean. Yesterday, though, it was all over and the house turned back over to the landlord...and best of all, we never have to do this again! Now, I can relax until we leave Germany next Friday (hub's the busy one with out-processing *g*).

ETA: Also, how could I forget to mention my furbaby, Ming? He flew out yesterday to the States and is staying with one of my sisters-in-law until we get over there. Poor thing, with three weeks of chaos and noise, he was quite upset even for a laid-back kitteh like him. I just got a message this morning that he'd arrived in Maryland safe and sound...but I hope he adjusts well to staying with her, and that her two kittehs adjust easily to him as well.

And I apologize for spamming flists today. :D

But I thought I should give advance warning to all and apologize in advance if you find me getting snappy, irritable, or just generally bitchy. I am well underway in preparing for our move, and as the hubby is away, all the arrangements are down to me!

I HATE doing this stuff with a passion, and dealing with military bureaucracy, so I will -- if today is anything to go by -- be ready to strangle someone quite happily.

So if I do get, for no apparent reason, testy (shall we say?), you'll probably know why...and you are more than welcome, encouraged even, to point it out to me.

Thanks in advance!

*HUGS*

Got back from the gym this morning and #1 Son is greeting me at the door (very unusual as he's not usually even out of bed at that time), so it's either very good or very bad news.

It was GREAT NEWS!!

He talked to his recruiter, and he's been accepted into the Air Force!!

Next week he goes with the recruiter down to Sac to do his physical and raise his right hand, etc.

I'm just so happy for him with all the delays and foot dragging from the recruiter!

I'm just one pleased, proud mama!!

...and who spoil it for the rest of us.

For the past few years, at least as long as I've been in Germany (over 4 years now), the senior class has had their graduation at a town about 20 km from here in a medieval abbey. It is a gorgeous building with magnificent architecture. In a word, it makes graduating from the High School here a special thing....because, hey where in the States is a kid going to get such a memorable opportunity?

Well, a few weeks ago, I found out that this years graduation -- which is also #1 son's graduation -- will be held on base at the base gym. I assumed that this was because of security issues with a heightened security threat at the moment. Disappointing, but okay, I can accept that as a valid reason. What I can't accept, and really pisses me off, is what I found out just a little while ago.

Someone complained about having the graduation in this abbey because of separation of church and state issues! WTF!?!? I'm agnostic, and I don't have a problem with this because it's not about having the ceremony in a religious building, but in a historical. A once in a lifetime opportunity for these students, and something that they would remember. It is just a venue, with nothing religious taking place. Besides the Germans don't have the same restrictions on separation, and as we are in Germany, we should respect their standards (as we are told endlessly on AFN "commercials").

So, my son is screwed and he and the rest of his class will have a graduation in a 50-year old, run down gym. Just because someone decided to be offended. Now that's really special, ain't it?

What also pisses me off about this, is that this isn't the first time he's been screwed with school. Back in Virgina, he had to go to a middle school that was not the closest, but they needed students from the base to attend to make a more racially diverse student body. In 8th grade here in Germany, he was supposed to go on a week long trip to England, but it had to be cancelled due to security concerns as the Iraq War had just kicked off (understandable, but very disappointing)...and they did nothing to make up for it, and of course, the following year's 8th graders did take the trip. It's just not fair for him, and no wonder he's just totally disenfranchised with school. Nothing good happens.

ETA: A photo of where he should've been graduating from:
Abtei Prüm

...because there's no one else around to tell right now.

We've got our assignment...

We know where we're going...

At least I do, as hubby is TDY atm, so I got the notif...

He's in Athens, lucky bugger...

You mean you want to know?

My music's a clue...the group anyway. :D

( Well, it's. . . )

Hubby called me at work yesterday (he's currently away for a couple of weeks) and he found out that he made Chief (E-9...highest enlisted rank). So when we leave Germany next August, we'll be moving onto another base for 3 years instead of retiring.

Kind of a double edged sword...we've both had enough of the Air Force and the way things are going generally that retiring would be nice. Get away from the military and try something else, although also a little daunting. But the only reason he decided to try for Chief was for the retirement money it will give him, nearly double of what he would make now. And that money, yeah, very good.

Now to keep my fingers crossed we get an assignment to England...or somewhere *very* nice in the States.

August 2007!

Not only is it when we leave Germany, but military retirement. Hubby didn't make Chief (highest enlisted rank), so that means he can put his papers in to get out in August and we retire the next year. After more than 20 years, is more than time.

YAYYYYY!!!!

The extra money would have been nice, but this is better as we're both fed up of the bullshit the military throws up all the time. Civvie street is on the horizon....hmmmm...both an exciting and scary prospect.