Moving right along

♫Hey DC where've you gone? Send someone to fetch us we're in Saskatchewan...♫

Okay, so, no, NOT actually Saskatchewan. But we ARE in receipt of orders. After all the long rigmarole with Alaska and waivers and medical and all that nonsense, things finally started happening.

To rewind (only just a bit), after the Kodiak orders were cancelled, I then had to submit a waiver request to stay near specialty care. As that was wending its way through the bureaucracy known as the Federal government, I was advised "Don't worry about the transfer - you're such a unique case and the detailer doesn't want to screw this up again, so you're going to be part of the bog-standard, NORMAL, regular rotation in 2015."

I wasn't holding my breath. Good thing.

Late November I finally heard, definitively, signed, sealed, delivered, copy IN HAND, my waiver was approved, complete with all the exact wording of the limitations. A day later I was e-mailed a list - "Pick from any of the above, your discretion, to whatever job fully complies with your waiver. Oh, and by the way, if your waiver can be met by either of these TWO jobs, that's what you're going to get."

So it wasn't really a pick list. And both available jobs would meet the waiver requirements. And one is MUCH more desirable over the other. E-mailed back and forth, Laura and I talked about it, trying to get the latest report date possible, and now, finally, here we are.

Going back to where it all began...mostly. In a job that's relatively close by. Going to an area with great schools, lots to do, and highly-spoken-of health care.

I'll spend the next 4 years...

As an instructor...

In Yorktown, VA.

The Coast Guard has a major training center there, it's where my career began. Boot Camp in Cape May, NJ, followed immediately by BM "A" School at TRACEN Yorktown. I will not be an "A" school instructor - that's not my billet, anyway. I'll be teaching other folks how to drive boats, coxswain school. Which, really, is what I've been doing the last 4 years as the Training Petty Officer in Washington, anyway.

There's a lot we're excited about. We're happy to stay close to my family, and closer to the beach. We're happy to be just 3 hours away from all of our incredibly close and important friends here in DC. We're happy that this job includes standing NO duty, so I'll be home every night (with the few rare exceptions where I'm teaching nighttime boat driving).

There are things to wrap up and take care of, and with any move there's always worries and concerns. Selling the house we're in is a big albatross around our necks. Finding housing down there is something else to be worked on (we're looking at the Williamsburg area to live). I don't have to report in until late April, so we've got time, but every passing day is a day closer to the move. But we'll get through this. Hell, we got through a brain tumor...

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Just a quick follow-up to the last post... To be honest, I had long felt and agreed with the majority of y'all. To me, the most "appropriate" date to "celebrate" is February 4, the second surgery. That was the day I won, the day we beat Sylvia.

But what makes sense on paper isn't necessarily what the heart decides, or feels. We are in the middle of the anniversary. And with time, the feelings may fade. and my choice may come forth. And the 4th of February hasn't come yet, so we'll see how I feel on that date, too. But back last week on January 19th, the date of the first surgery...it hit me. It hit me pretty hard. I was at work all day, and just...out of it. I was distracted. The flood of emotions were there. At 9am as I was walking down to the boat for a mission, I couldn't help but think "I was on the table a year ago, getting my brain prodded..." It got so bad, while we were underway I had to pass the helm off to another guy onboard. I didn't say why, he didn't ask. But I was distracted, badly. I was in no place to be driving a 29' boat with 450hp and a belt-fed machine gun with 200 rounds and a Secret Service Agent onboard and just being...completely absent-minded.

So, we'll see how the 4th goes.

On the 3rd, I have my 1-year follow-up MRI. My next appointment with my neuro-doc is on the 17th. And until then, we just keep keepin' on.