Living in Temporary Lodging

The day has finally come. Yesterday I started moving our things to TLF. It's kind of bittersweet. I want to be gone. I want this over. But my preteen is having a tough tough time with this move. He remembers moving here but he was just a little 6 year old then. A tiny one it seemed at the time. And now? Well now he is a seventh grader and has topped the 6 foot mark, with men's size 13 feet. Where did my little guy go? It's tough to leave here since this is where all of his childhood is. We plan to come back but really we know you can never go back. When we come back it will be different. Maybe some of his friends will be gone. Maybe the schools won't be what he remembers. I guess those are not really maybes. I know things won't be the same. I know it is part of growing up. This is just my mom-side kicking in wanting to protect my not so little guy from hurting. He's already decided that he's not going to make friends at the new location because after all, he will just have to leave them behind 3 years from now. This is the part of the military like that is just plain hard! So yes, we have moved into TLF, and it's good to know that this in transition stage will be over soon, but I know these next few days have a lot of stress loaded into them. Hopefully the days will go by quickly.

Ten Things I've Learned as a Military Wife

There's a lot to be learned from being a Military Wife. There are many events that offer a challenge to the military family but one that leads the list is making a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move.

I made a top ten list of things I have learned during this PCS move. I've love to hear anything you'd like to add to the list, or see your topten if you want to link one to your blog.

You can read my list here.

Tips for PCSing with Teens

It's PCS time in our household again and as any Military family knows the S in PCS really stands for STRESS!

I wrote an article recently for Associated Content on Tips for helping teens adjust to moves. It's definitely not easy. It's not easy as an adult but for an adolescent who has worked hard to make and maintain friendships it is exceptionally stressful. I have six kidlets who are out on their own doing their own things, be it college or marriage or work. I have one middle schooler at home and a granddaughter who lives with me. We've been in air mattress stage going on two months now and the fun of the camping adventure with limited household items available has about worn down to nothing. Personally I hope the paperwork saga will end soon and we can get on the way to living in one household again. But for my teen? He'd stay on the air mattress forever if it meant not having to leave!

You can read my Tips on Moving with a Teen article HERE.