"Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised"- Denis Waitley

After reading the "fine print" and seeing that futureSquid will be at school a considerably longer time than we had first thought, the kiddos and I will be packing up our things and moving. We won't be living on base- his A school is not long enough to be eligible, but with pre-requisistes, hold times, and a couple of holiday breaks, paying out of own pocket (the Navy will pay for our move whe fS gets his orders for his station) and being close to him seems worth it. I can't imagine if we had stayed here thinking it'd be six months, only to learn it would be another, then another, then another. That's too much for me to break to my kiddos. So, roughly two weeks or so after fS's graduation from Boot Camp, the Bug, the Fairy and myself will be making the 515 mile trek to our temporary home; our detour on the way to permanent orders. That's six months from now, and also six months from the time we had planned on leaving. Cutting our move time in half has been a tad overwhelming, by way of emotions and figuring out getting settled in an almost entirely unfamiliar place, all but blindly.  I'm thrilled and more relieved than I can say to have futureSquid close, even if it's only on the weekends, and I think the kids for sure need their father every bit they can have him, but now I feel like the goodbyes we have to say at home begin. Of course I would have felt this way leaving at our first planned date- I know I would-but this is the first time it's been fully real. Having lunch with Phoebe and the beautiful Miss Shish yesterday, Shish sitting beside me telling me about Hello Kitty and play kitchens, her eyes all giant and brown and her 3 yr old pigtails bouncing while she talked...I wanted to listen, but all I could think was, "How many more times will I see her before I go? What if she forgets me?" The littles scare me far more than the older kids or the adults. My mind goes often to my niece, and I feel kind of panicky. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I came back for a visit and Moo was shy with me. I suppose this is the risk we take, but still, it's difficult to think about- now, six months, or a year later. In my short stint as an Air Force brat, I didn't forget anyone- I actually have wonderful memories of visits back "home" and relatives coming to see us. I'm sure this will be the same, but in the back of my mind there's always those little nagging doubts. We've not even truly started this journey, and already I'm seeing just how very much I am going to have to lean on God. It reminds me of the first bible verse my futureSquid ever learned- I wasn't there of course, he was tiny. I almost feel like I was though- I can't count the number of times I've heard about it from two grinning parents who look as proud now as I'm sure they did almost twenty-five years ago, the first time it came out of his mouth-  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God - Phil. 4:6

For now I'm going to try my best not to stress about the unknowns, pray for His peace and comfort for the sadness that is sure to come, and give thanks for the opportunity to be with my amazing husband much sooner than we had hoped.