A Thousand Miles From Nowhere.

So we got our assignment with the Air Force today (I know, miracle of all miracles). Actually, we got our choice of assignments with the Air Force today, which surprised me a bit. They're letting us choose where to call home for the next 2-3 years, which seems very unmilitary-like to me. Unfortunately for us, neither of our "choices" was one of the SIXTEEN preferences we filled out our our handy little preference sheet a month or so ago. (Another classic example of wasted government paperwork! :) Regardless, I was happy to at least have a choice. And I never expected us to get one of our preferences, so at least I'm not disappointed!

We got to choose between Cannon AFB in Clovis, New Mexico or Minot AFB in Minot, North Dakota. (I knew all those cracks about Minot were going to bite me in the rear. And they DID.)

Of course, we chose Cannon in New Mexico. Ever heard of Clovis, NM? Yeah, me neither. BUT, and this is a big but - we're still excited. I decided before we got our assignment, that no matter where we got stationed, that I was going to be happy and have a good attitude going into it. I am going to make it home, and I am going to love it, and make good memories for my family and me, and I am serious about that. Life is what you make it. I'm determined to make mine a happy one, no matter where I am, and to plant roots wherever I land. I just think that's the way it should be. There is good to be found EVERY place.

The only thing is, well, Clovis is kind of in the middle of nowhere. See for yourself:
It is nearly 2 hours to Lubbock, TX, 3 1/2 hours to Albuquerque, 2 hours to Amarillo, TX, 3 1/2 hours to Santa Fe, NM....you get the idea. For those of you who will just be dying to come visit us, Lubbock is probably going to be the closest International airport. Don't everybody try and come visit all at once now, okay??

I did see where Clovis (population 32,352, by the way) does have a Super Wal-Mart, a Hobby Lobby, and their mall has a JC Penny's, Sears and Dillards. I was very relieved about that. My friend Emily's husband is a pilot in the Navy. They are currently stationed somewhere out in the desert of California. The closest Target to her is TWO hours away down a bad two lane road. You will not hear any complaining from me here about Clovis, New Mexico. :)

If we get the base housing we want, it will actually be off-base in a little community about 25 minutes from the base (I know, base housing off base?) in a town called Portales (population 12,215). We will be eligible for a 4 bedroom house with our three kids, and they look like this: It has green grass, trees, and a garage. That makes me happy. We're given a pretty generous housing allowance in that area, so we're considering looking at non-base housing rentals as well. From the looking I've done, there are ALOT of really pretty brand new homes for sale in the area with all kinds of fancy things like granite countertops and whirlpool tubs and four car garages that aren't selling. I'm sure they would love for a military family to take over the payment for a few years for them. But the base housing looks more than accomodating, so I'm thinking we can't lose in the housing department. No matter what, I'll have room for my nine 32-gallon tubs of Christmas decorations, my cookbook collection, and every piece of everything I own in the Pampered Chef catalog. And I am relieved about that.

The weather looks really comparable to where we live here in Alabama, actually. Cold winters, but no snow (it's a rare, rare occurence), mild falls, hot summers. And did I mention that there is green grass and trees? No rock pits for front yards for us!

There is a little state park close by
and here is the entrance to the base.

Depending on where we live, we will either be attending the Clovis Ward or the Portales Ward, and church services don't start at either place until 10am, which I'm totally stoked about. Lubbock is our closest temple, and coming in at just under two hours away isn't much further than what we have to travel here to go to Birmingham. I'm excited about meeting our new church family, knowing that many of the members there are going to be military families just like us. Between that and the Officers Wives Club (or I think to make it more P.C. now they call it the Officers Spouses Club), I'm thinking I'll be able to find some friends.

The base has the typical base amenities that will make my life easier: a free state of the art fitness facility, a library with story-time, a commisary (hello tax-free food), a BX, a Burger King..you know, all the essentials. :) I'm sure I'll find things to do in the community and at Ethan's school, so I don't intend to sit around and feel sorry for myself that I'm hours from the nearest big city.

The cut off for the school Ethan will be zoned for for Kindergarteners is Sept 1, which means Ethan may not be able to start Kindergarten in the fall like we had hoped he could because his birthday is six little days later on Sept 7. For those of you that know Ethan, you know he NEEDS to be in school this coming year. Part of the selfish mommy in me would love him at home with me another year, but the other part knows he is so ready for school and that it's time. If they won't let him start, hopefully we can find a good pre-K program, or we'll have to look into private schools in the area with a more lenient age policy, but that kid has got start school this fall and that is just that.

So, now here is where we get into the complicated stuff, and I warn you, it's going to be hard to follow, so read closely.

We thought we would be moved the end of November. Not so. Apparently, David was misinformed (the first of many pieces of misinformation, I'm afraid!) and he will not go on active duty until one month before he starts JAG school. The JAG school, of all the million bases it could be at, is here in Montgomery at Maxwell AFB. He starts JAG school here at Maxwell on February 16. That means he will report to our base in New Mexio on January 16. Anybody remember the due date of our baby, anyone, anyone? That's right; January 15. One day before. That means our baby will be born here in Montgomery. As you can imagine, my mother is elated.

So, here are our options as far as birthing this baby go. I can see if my doctor will induce me one week early like my doctor did with Sara Katherine, and this baby will be born around January 8 if she hasn't shown up before then. Ethan was just over two weeks early on his own, so it's not impossible that she could be here by then, if not before. After planning Sara Katherine's induction so she could be born before David's spring break, I swore I would never induce for convienence sake again. But, when you're met squarely with the reality that your husband may not be here for the birth of your child, your thinking kind of changes a little.

See, thing is, I like natural childbirth. Well, 'like' may not be quite the word I'm looking for, but I try for natural childbirths, and pitocin, the induction drug, makes it even more painful than nature's natural childbirth, if you can ever believe that, with stronger, more frequent contractions. I have no idea what it's like to have a baby without pitocin. My water broke with Ethan in the middle of the night, and I laid there forever without any contractions or progression, so the doctor started me on a pitocin drip at 7am. 5 1/2 hours later, Ethan was with us, and I was able to deliver him without an epidural or pain meds, even on the pitocin. My planned induction with Sara Katherine automatically meant I had to have a pitocin drip, and luckily, she didn't dilly dally around and my hard labor with her was about the same amount of total labor with Ethan, 5 1/2 hours, and I was able to deliver her without an epidural or pain meds as well, but it was harder than with Ethan. Probably because I made her come before she was ready. I didn't want to do that again, but I DO NOT want David to miss the birth of any of our babies unless he is deployed in a far-away country. I need him with me, especially through the process of natural childbirth where he is my total calming influence. He is the yin to my yang. I can't imagine giving birth to our children without him there unless I absolutely.have.to. So I am going to begin praying now that Little Miss Priss will cooperate and come a little early so she can meet her daddy and bond for a few days with him before he heads off to New Mexico for a month. And I would really like to know what natural childbirth is like WITHOUT pitocin.

The Air Force told him he could take retroactive leave (meaning he goes in the hole with leave before he even has any), and take four or five days and not report to our base until Jan 20 or 21, but there's no guarantees that she'll be here by then.

So the long and short of it is this:

-David is supposed to report to our base in New Mexico on January 16.
-Our household goods will be shipped out the beginning of January to either be held in storage or to go to our house if we have one already.
-Me, Ethan, Sara Katherine, and new baby sister will be staying here after baby sister's arrival, living with my mom and rocking her entire world, I am sure, until David comes back for JAG school on February 16.
-We think that David is going to have to live on base in the dorms with the other JAG students while he is attending the nine week JAG school, though no one has confirmed that yet. That means the kids and I will continue to live with my mom while he is living in the dorms at Maxwell, and continue to rock her world. I feel like we'll get to see him most any night we want and on weekends, though no one has confirmed that to us yet. JAG school is not like boot camp, thank goodness. He'll be an officer then, so no screaming or push-ups at the whim of someone with an ego-trip. It's classes, classes, and more classes, and probaby some P.T. too.
-This means we'll only be really separated for about a month, from January 16-February 16, and I'll be here surrounded by family and friends, which is much easier for me to swallow than being in New Mexico by myself for 2 plus months with three kids.
-David is done with JAG school the middle of April, and we'll all make the trek to New Mexico together then to start our life there for the next 2-3 years. I should be all healed and ready to tackle unpacking and settling in by then.

So in a way, the pressure is off for now. I can enjoy the holidays, hopefully my wonderful OB will get to deliver our new baby girl, and I can get used to being a mom of three while living with my mom. I'm looking for a pre-school to enroll Ethan in in January in Prattville. Poor kid asks me everyday if he can start school yet. And a Mom's-Day-Out Program for Sara Katherine probably wouldn't hurt.

We're going to stay in the house we're in here in Wetumpka until the end of December/beginning of January when they come get all our stuff, so that's exciting. This house has three fireplaces, so we're excited to use them now that it's getting colder.

So there ya have it. If you have some question I somehow DIDN'T answer in this post, leave me a comment or send me an email. But for now, it's very, very late. For those of you who know me and my Type-A personality, you know I have already spent hours on the Internet learning everything there is to know about the place we will call home. It's going to be an adventure. I'm ready for it.