Saturday, June 16, 2012

Bed

It's 6:30 and the sun has long risen. Bodies curl under blankets to find warmth, yet the fan is spinning overhead. I rock a baby back to dreamland while typing on my phone, two girls by my side and a man at the far end. All is well.

This last week was a blur. Business. Bills. Waiting. Rushing. Working. Papers. Yelling. Juice. Katsu. Everything seems like a distant memory, and yet it.just.happened. I remember struggling to find sleep, but for some reason I don't even know how I stayed awake through it all. And now today is Saturday, which means this week -- this week I had hoped would be ... oh, I dunno ... fun -- is over. And soon, the real work begins.

In 48 hours, Jobi will leave to begin work on Oahu, leaving me and the kids to close up shop here. Work. In less than two weeks, the kids and I will follow him, and we will all be living in lovely Laie once again. More work. Sorting our finances, looking for extra income, repairing the house and fixing up the yard, establishing routine, and doing it all in a full house. This move is going to force us to be stronger, smarter, faster, more hardworking, BETTER than ever before, and I can't even begin to explain how.

But this? This scene? This moment? Of all of us piled onto a single bed, as a complete family? This is what I'm choosing to live in right now. Because yesterday was crazy. Because tomorrow will be crazier. Because once we all wake up and get out of bed, this moment will be lost forever. So I am taking this moment to simply enjoy what I'm blessed with...

... and breathe.

(P.S. you should too...)


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Just a Little Crazy


crossroads



A while ago, I was about to write a post about why I am going a little crazy. But it would've sounded oddly similar to this post on my cousin's blog, posted just before I began writing. So instead of trying to sound like her (since, I'll be honest, I wish I could write like her), I'm just going to start typing and see what comes out.
  • We are moving.
  • Chip is 11 weeks old today and weighs over 16 lbs.
  • Chip is 11 weeks old today, and I thought he was only 8 weeks old.
  • Blondie is trying to get potty-trained.
  • Jobi is getting a new job.
  • We are moving.
  • Cockroaches are infesting our apartment.
  • I'm speaking in church on Fathers' Day.
  • We are moving.
Did I mention that we are moving? Yes, it is because my mister has a new job.

Ugh, my mind is all out of sorts! And I've been neglecting this blog so that I can... well... sort it out. 

See, this new job that Jobi is taking is to replace the ROTC instructor's position at our old stomping grounds, which he applied for last year and got turned down.  Now the current instructor is deploying (go figure), and they want Jobi to start end of July. They offered it to him the beginning of May; he accepted; I booked flights for me and the kids. Then suddenly, Jobi realized that there was a possibility that he may NOT get this job. Short story: the other guy may not be deploying. Long story (if you really wanna know): the other guy is in the Hawaii National Guard, just like Jobi. And just like Jobi, all the Guard units in Hawaii have been getting thrown around mission and deployment assignments. Jobi was actually supposed to be in Afghanistan this fall, but they cancelled. Then he was supposed to go to Kuwait, but cancelled. Then a mission to the Philippines opened up -- then cancelled. So Jobi realized that this guy just might possibly have his same fate of a cancelled deployment. Once he realized that, we have been nervously twiddling our thumbs waiting for a sure answer from them. Our whole wow-what-an-awesome-opportunity attitude suddenly became what-the-heck-are-we-gonna-do fear. 

More long story:
Before the phone call, we had decided that we were going to stay on Maui for another 5 years or so. We had a plan to rent a bigger apartment, go back to school, Jobi transferring departments in the hotel, and me running marathons. ;-) The hotel has given us good benefits and a stable lifestyle (not rich and glamorous, but enough to pay our bills), and I have been dying to make use of some of their perks (like free hotel stays). This ROTC job is just a contract job: salary only, no health insurance (we got three kids to think about, here!), and no guarantee of keeping the job longer than one school year. Not to mention we'd be moving into a house that is teetering on foreclosure and our secondary purpose for the move is to save it. So as you can see, moving back to Oahu and taking this job is a leap of faith for us. Probably even a leap of stupidity. And if we got there and there was no job for my mister, then we would be in trouble.

Well, this morning the new job called and said that not only is he (my mister) a go for the job, but they need him to start in two weeks. Yes, you read correctly... in TWO WEEKS!!

WHATTHEHOLYCRAZYOLDLADY!?!?

(I mean, *ahem* yay.....)

So now my what-the-heck-are-we-gonna-do fear is replaced by are-you-kidding-me craziness. Now I gotta change our flight to a week ahead and book Jobi's flight for Father's Day. Now I gotta pack and clean and check us out and ship the van myself instead of with my husband. Now I gotta cancel the dentist, cancel the chiropractor, cancel the potty trainer (one of these days I'll write about her), cancel the hotel stay (5-star, 5-diamond *waah*), and forget about that farewell party I wanted to have. Now I gotta move double speed so everything can be done in half the time. Now I gotta stop thinking about stupid third-party hiring contractors and start thinking about our little wicker lounge under the 'ulu tree and my piano that I miss soooo much. Now I gotta accept the fact that we are leaving Maui, just as this place and I were starting to become friends.

*sigh* And on top of all this, I need to get new contacts.