Final PCS

Was a nightmare but yet not. We have gone from mainland to Hawaii back to mainland back to Hawaii to mainland to Asia to mainland and finally mainland over the past 14 1/2 years and only on the move from Asia to the mainland did we have to make our first claim for things broken until this one. We are going to have to make another one, not just a little one but a large one which is a shame. A piece of glass for our dinning room table was broken and I mean a large chunk taken out of it. There is dents in the corner of a piece of furniture that can't be fixed. Pictures/drawings in frames had the glass shattered and it was 3 of them one of which I have had for over 22 years and moved even more that never had so much as a smudge on it. A one of a kind vase was broken. They lost a leg on the microwave (don't ask me how). Broke the handle on my crockpot. Finally they damaged not 1 or even 3 bookshelves, they damaged 5!!! What the heck were these guys doing? The guys that packed the stuff up weren't bad but the way the truck was loaded was what concerned me, the way he drove his truck for the pickup. They started to pack things without me seeing the boxes and them being marked down. We had more boxes than on the list. The attitude he had as well, I was concerned on things but I point blank told him that it is his decision on how I will be a nice woman who gives you snacks, drinks and is nice or a cold hearted bitch. Guess I was part of both but I should have been more of the later. I am not stupid, I am not nieve, this isn't our first move at all, so i know what you are doing. I am just making sure I don't have to make a claim but in the end I do.

I still haven't finished unpacking boxes and hate to imagine. It is a good thing that I have another month to make a claim because I might need it.

Where have I been?

Well I have been here but I haven't. We made it up to Kitsap County and I am glad, it was incredible to see the mountains, the trees, feel/smell the fresh air and just feel like I was home again. The weather was wonderful for the longest time but now fall has set in. The colors of the leaves, the sharpness in the morning is part of the reason I came back and brought the kids back to here. The other was to see friends who are part of our family, an important part of our family. We had a house set up but it didn't work so we are in an apartment for awhile. It is a nice place, close to everything and a friend lives in the same complex. The kids are enrolled in good schools with great teachers. our oldest is in the honors program and is getting tested for a gifted program as well which is awesome. We have had a chance to see the family, spent the long weekend with my parents and that was awesome. We watched 2 jr hockey games and the kids had a great time. We saw their new house and it was nice for them to have everything on one floor. They are now jetting off down under for a visit with mom's sisters as there is only 2 left and they aren't getting any younger. This will be the last big trip they make like that. My brother, sister in law and their 2 came down last weekend and it was great. The kids went to the corn maze, we played mini golf and just relaxed. We decided to spend Christmas up in Canada and hopefully will have snow while we are there. If not then we are goign to the Mt to have some fun.

This week has been very hard on me, things have happened that we never thought would but I have worked around it. I spent sometime really having to deal with myself, by myself and find that I am truly not alone but God is there by my side no matter what, He is by my side or carrying me if I need him too. I did something I would never thought I would do as well but in doing that found I was stronger than I thought and can do it if I need to. That there is things that are going to take a long time to deal with but it can make us stronger. It made us realize how lucky we are to have incredible friends who helped us. It definitely brings to mind the word Ohana, meaning family in Hawaiian. You might remember it from the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch, Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind. In true Hawaiian tradition our family is not our blood family but also our friends and they don't leave anyone behind.