What? I have internet!?!?

This is my what seems like millionth attempt to get online. Go figure the lodging they stuck us in on base doesn't have internet at this time! Then I went to the base library because I saw they had wireless, only their computers were acting up so I wasted over a half an hour trying to get to a page, any page, online!!! Finally I drove to a Coffee shop I knew had internet and here I am, online and experiencing my first Bubble Tea. I must say I like the strawberry flavor but I don't like the tapioca balls.

Since I wasn't able to get online for a few days I typed up something in notepad the other night (for some reason this laptop doesn't have Word). It is rather negative as I wasn't having a very good day, but I'll post it so you can see what was happening.

June 11

We made it through the day. I couldn't sleep well last night and I had the strangest dream. Little Princess woke at 6 am saying her belly hurt and was in the bathroom. She nor I fell asleep after that. I finally got out of bed at 6:30and decided to finish up what I had to do before the packers came. It says we're supposed to stay at the house from 8-5but of course they never arrive on time! They got there shortly after 9 though. There were three of them and they worked quickly and efficiently and were done around 3!!! It was nice that it was earlier rather than later, especially considering the kiddos were with us. They did pretty well. The boys had fun playing in the packing paper for awhile and the teacher in me came out and we made books called 'Moving Day'. I also began reading the book Ralph S. Mouse to them by Beverly Cleary.
Shortly after they left we left to come to the base and check into lodging. For those of you who know this base, they've got us in Tyer House on the top floor. This is all fine and dandy but get this...Monday they will have no electricity!!!Erica, now I can really empathize! SO, we are on the 5th floor with NO AC in 80-90 degree heat. I have to haul my pregnant butt up and down 5 flights of stairs anytime I want to go somewhere (and I have a doctor appointment and our housing inspection that day). I have a hard enough time climbing our stairs at our house! Maybe they want me to go into pre-mature labor! Also, their telephones don't work (good thing we have cell phones) AND they have NO internet service!!! Oh, and they get about 10 channels, if even, on the TV (Zach was really bummed about this as he was wanting to watch some cable). It's ironic how when we moved here we had one less person and larger accommodations than now...these rooms are small compared to the others by the pool!
We've been trying to make arrangements to move Malachi. Last year when we went through it all we were told the military would move him for free. Then a month ago they told us that we couldn't move him at all. After looking into it further we found out we can move him but we'll have to pay. I guess it really won't be as much as we originally thought, but still when we were told one thing and now we're told another it is very frustrating. It's not like we're made out of money, especially when we're in the process of buying a house! We will move him to the Baraga Cemetery so we won't have to go through this again and we'll be able to visit the grave when we're home. Also, family will be able to do so, if they wanted.
Speaking of money...I think I mentioned awhile ago how Iowa gives this military grant to home buyers. We looked into it, saw that we qualified and proceeded to find a lender to work with that IFA accepted. All was fine, we've been busy emailing them required documents, both for our loan and the grant. Today we get a phone call from somebody at the bank we've been working with stating that they need something stating that Zach was deployed since September 11. Ok, never anywhere have we seen something pertaining to needing to be deployed or we wouldn't have applied (he hasn't been deployed). So now they're trying to say that we aren't eligible for this grant!!!! It's $5,000 that we would lose out on on going toward our home!!! We're not giving up on this though. We drove our to find internet to print up the form stating the requirements and it says nothing about being deployed! It makes me SOOOO mad that now they're trying to jip us out of this grant.
I had a meltdown tonight. My back is killing me today and I'd just had it with everything today. Whoever said moving wasn't stressful??? I just started to cry and let it out. It felt good. We need to try and figure out what we'll do with our time in here so we're not twiddling our thumbs in this place. I want to relax but the furniture is not exactly comfortable so that makes it difficult. I do have at least one friend to visit with before I leave.
The other day I met my friend Becky at McD's and we got to visit before I leave. She also stopped by for a bit last night and even called tonight. It was so nice! To feel I'm loved and will at least be missed by somebody!

I really pray our house is ok in Iowa! I see there is much flooding there. We'd hoped our realtor would have taken pictures for us to show us some progress but we haven't seen any. We'll be there in a week anyway, but I wonder how far they've gotten.It's hard to believe we close in 3 weeks! That's another thing, we've looked forward to this time for soooo long and now its here and it seems unreal. You know, you just anticipate something for so long and of course it turns out to not be quite as exciting!Not like it's bad, its just not seeming very real at this point.
We've got Cuddly Boy lying in a playpen next to the bed! He's a bit big but this bed is so small! I doubt he'll stay in it for long, but right now its cool to him! Little Man and Little Princess are in the other room needing to go to sleep.They've all been feeling under the weather and really need their rest! Of course I am beat and need mine too but its like as soon as I lie in bed I wake up. I hate that!
Tomorrow we get our stuff all loaded up and maybe we can get the house cleaned as well. I'd like to find something to do around here to enjoy our last weekend here, but there's no saying what that may be!

Since then the movers came and loaded up the truck. While they were doing there work I was busy cleaning where I could without being in the way. I got quite a bit accomplished yesterday and so did Zach. We had to go back this morning to finish up on a few things and now the house is clean and ready for inspection. It's nice to have that cleaning out of the way! I am very, very sore though and hope that by the time we travel I'm not quite as sore. I can barely walk and must be quite the site waddling around. We found out we are indeed able to get that grant, praise the Lord. The kiddos are coughing a bit but seem much, much better- thankfully!!!

I think I've come up with some new nicknames for them. Since I am Princess Ruby I thought I'd change Princess' name so as not to be confusing. She will now be Chatterbox because she talks incessantly and asks the most obvious questions. Which is very likely of children, but lately I just can't tolerate it too well! Rather than being Little Man anymore, he will now be Junior Squirrel. I know most of you don't know us from college, but for some reason there were some nicknames going around for awhile. Zach got named Squirrel. From what I hear its because of the way he eats, but he says its for other reasons. Well, LM tends to really eat like a squirrel. The other day at Zach's going away I was watching him eat and he had both hands up by his mouth nibbling on something. So, we have Chatterbox Junior Squirrel. And last but not least Cuddly boy. He still is rather cuddly but not as much so. He certainly loves to still shake his bottom, so he will be named Booty Shaker. I hope this doesn't confuse anybody!

I think I forgot to mention the other day about Zach's going away lunch. It was held at Siciliy's a local pizza buffet joint. It was my first time there and I really enjoyed it. I tried bread pudding for the first time and discovered how delicious it was! So many people turned out for his lunch. They awarded him with two different awards/plaques (the day before he had been awarded his decoration). I was so proud him and was getting a bit teary. He has worked very hard here and was rarely shown any sort of thanks, so this was special and I'm glad I got to witness it. Another man read some of the comments Zach would write on report cards and boy were they funny. I don't know where he'd pull some of that stuff from! More importantly, they recognized how hard Zach worked and all that he contributed to the squadron.

I know I had tons more to blog about but I just can't seem to remember now that I can actually be online. I should sign off and move on the more boring things, such as paying bills. It will be nice to be lazy the next few days and to relax before our long drive. I hope we don't run into bad weather. And I really can't believe the storms in the Midwest and that we're headed there! I think we had our share of storms with Katrina, so I really hope that things settle down soon in Iowa. Hopefully we won't encounter any detours or anything either.

Oh, and things still don't seem real to me. I can't believe we leave in 4 days!!!! That is unreal! It really hasn't hit me, even with our empty house!