1. It's beautiful. Distractingly, so. Kinda dangerous to be test-driving a car, and suddenly find yourself on a road that overlooks one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I'm not sure he even remembers what color the car was.
2. Always get the GPS in your rental car. The streets all have Hawaiian names, which sounds reasonable enough, except that there are only 13 letters in the Hawaiian (Samoan?) alphabet, so they all start to look the same after a while. Also, the same street might have 5 different names, depending on where you are on the map. He is spending a good amount of time trying to figure out where he is, and where to go.
3. It's expensive. This we knew. His breakfast buffet at his hotel was $25. He told me that he about had a heart attack at Chili's when the daily special was a quesadilla for $13. However, he said that milk was only $4.50 a gallon. Not as bad as we expected.
4. There are no billboards . . . or signs for that matter. It sounds wonderful to not have billboards breaking up the scenery everywhere, but Dan said that this signage thing carries over into normal signs, too. You won't ever know where a McDonald's is unless you happen to drive by one, because they don't have signs by the street. He couldn't tell me how much gasoline was per gallon, because there weren't any signs in front of the stations. Strange.
5. Everyone has been super-nice. This is not what we've heard. However, he's been mainly in the tourist areas, so maybe that's to be expected.
6. Our wait for a house might be drastically shorter than we thought! When he stopped by the housing office, they told him that because of rank & the fact that Dan's in the Warrior Battalion Unit we moved to #1 on the list. We might get a house offer today for a 4 bedroom, BRAND NEW home. (I have no idea if it will look like the pic below. I just found it on the base housing website, and figured I could hope.) That's spectacular news. The un-spectacular news: We have a lease for the entire month of January for a beach condo. If we turn down this house, there will definitely be more . . . but they might not be brand new. We'll keep you posted. (Ignore the pun.)
I am in Webb City. I have been here since Monday, and the kids and I are spending time with family. Mainly cooking away my stresses. Based on these last few days, this is what I've learned.
1. We have the best family ever. They will never understand how much I dearly love and appreciate them for making my kids laugh every night since we've arrived. I worry so much about how they are handling the stress of being without our normal home, and now without their Daddy. When I see them light up and be able to play and laugh with people who love them it is the most comforting, peaceful therapy (maybe even more for me than for them) I could ever have hoped for.
2. I will not miss this cold weather. Every time I step out into freezing rain I wonder how I have done it every winter for my entire life. I don't know where we will live after 3 years, but today I'm voting for some place with NO freezing rain. Maybe some place that has pretty snow but isn't cold. I'd compromise on that.
3. We have entirely too much stuff. The movers came and packed up everything and moved it for us. Just what we have leftover is making me think we should have sold EVERYTHING and just taken carry-on bags on the flight. If it can't fit into a '98 Toyota Camry (along with 2 car seats), I'm thinking we might not need it.
4,156 miles, and a 4 hour time difference. Some days the world seems bigger than it is, but I've been surprised at how much smaller it has seemed though all this. It didn't sound like Dan was an ocean away when I talked to him on the phone. Ask me in a week how far away he seems
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