challenges

New info on the move.  Now the detailer, who has told Chris for months now that it would be best for him to go to sea next, has now changed her mind and thinks it would be in his best interest to do another shore tour instead.  The military is SOOO frustrating! Everybody has a different opinion about what your career path should be.  The Navy has been for 243 years- you think there would be a set path by now!

So now we are just in limbo. Chris is still lobbing for the Gulfport job, but if he doesn’t get that we have to decide if he should go to a shore tour.  I’m not a huge fan of all the shore job locations.  Most seem to be in the North and overseas.  Sigh.

 

here she is…

0ur beautiful bird  (when she was alive, she was on a farm right here in Athens).

We finally made the beer can chicken we had been talking about for about 6 months now.  The grill, of course, ran out of gas right before we put her on, but she cooked up nicely in the oven.

It was surprisingly easy.  Rub it down with salt and pepper , rosemary from the garden, and a spice rub and put in the beer (half-full).  As the beer evaporates it makes the chicken really juicy.  It was delicious!

 

the point of no return

Everybody that knows me , knows that I love Athens.  I don’t want to move.  The days have come, however, to start thinking about the inevitable. Here are our choices:  a deployable unit out of Gulfport, Miss, a ship out of San Diego, a deployable unit out of Port Hueneme, CA, a shore tour (where Chris wouldn’t deploy) in Rota, Spain, a shore tour in philly, and a ship out of Norfolk.

There is so much to think about when making a decision- career, kids, dogs, quality of life, and the list goes on and on. Since we plan on being in for 20 years and Chris is an officer, we will pretty much have to go overseas at some point.  So. do we do it now, when there is a location we want to go, or play the wait and see game?  Rota is a little coastal community in southern Spain.  I think it would be an awesome experience, but at the same time just the thought of going overseas terrifies me to the point of panic.  I’m just so scared of being so far away from everyone and everything I know and love.

We finally put in our preferences (sometimes, I think it would be easier if they just told us where we would be going next!) with Gulfport being first.  It is probably the least desirable place to live, but I think if we got it we would live in Alabama, which is close to family and the job fulfills everything Chris needs career-wise.  Our second choice is San Diego, and our third is Spain.

Leaving Athens is going to be painful no matter where we go.  We love our friends, we love the community, and we just love our little life here.

Advice?  Suggestions??