The Epic PCS: The Movers

When we last saw our possessions they were sitting in a climate controlled storage unit in Virginia. TMO had finally scheduled a move with a local moving company, and I drove myself back to Stafford, VA in order to meet the movers that would pack my stuff and send it on its way. Really my only job was to sign the paperwork that stated that all of my furniture made it onto the moving truck. As a result, the whole process was awkward for me. I could not help pack anything since the moving company was legally responsible for everything arriving intact. I spent hours watching strangers pack my things. I tried my hardest to stay out of everybody's way. This is difficult in a ten by ten storage unit.

Five hours and three smoking breaks later, the movers finished nailing the wooden crates shut. The temperature was 105 degrees that day, and we were all hot and hungry by this point. I signed the papers that listed everything I owned and watched the truck drive away. The wooden crates will be loaded into a trailer that will be loaded by crane onto a ship bound for Japan. The journey takes over forty days, so I am glad our stuff has a head start. 

I faced two major emotions during this process. The first was helplessness. I wasn't able to do anything! I tried to tape a box shut, and I could not even tear the packing tape! I asked one of the movers a question about the drawers in my dresser. I asked if they needed to be secured since they were only loosely shoved into the proper slots. He told me not to worry my little head about it. My little head has worried about plenty of things before: college classes, employment during a recession, and, I don't know, moving to a foreign country!?! I was present, but I was not taken seriously. 

The second emotion was gratitude to my friend Emily. She not only let me stay at her apartment the night before, she cooked me a turkey dinner with homemade gravy! The greatest sacrifice she made was to meet me at the storage unit. She watched strangers move my things for five hours in a storage unit during a heat wave so that I would not be alone. I only met her eight months ago, but she is a perfect example of how other military spouses can become your family when you are in need. Thank you to my wonderful friend! I want to be more like you, Emily. 

The Haircut

I have my ponytail sitting on my kitchen counter right now. My hair grew so long that I went Salon Blue in Holly Ridge, NC and had eight inches cut off today. I am donating my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They create wigs that are given to the American Cancer Society. I chose this charity partly because they accept eight inches of donated hair, and I was too chicken to cut off the ten that other charities require. If you would like to learn more you can go to their website at  http://www.pantene.com/en-US/PanteneBeautifulLengths/Pages/default.aspx. Now I have to go mail my ponytail!

The Epic PCS: The Kitty

Tilly Packs Herself

If you have ever visited Matt and me, then you have met Tilly. Perhaps you have even tried to pet the belly she shows you before she attacks your hand. Many newcomers have been tricked this way. Marines love pets. During TBS all of the Marines in the barracks were sadly lacking any form of animal companionship. Tilly soon became famous. Matt overheard one friend asking another if he was going to "Tilly's house" on one of our study nights. She quickly became used to being adored by all. 

Marines on the floor. The kitty on the furniture.

We knew that international travel was a possiblity when we adopted her a year ago, so we were as prepared as possible. We made sure she was implanted with an internationally recognized 15-digit microchip. Tilly has the Home Again brand of microchip. The vet was also kind enough to make sure that her first round of rabies shots was given after the microchip was implanted so that there is documentation that those shots were given to this specific cat. 

When I found out about "The News," I decided to start on all of the necessary documentation for Tilly right away. Since Japan is an island country they have eradicated rabies, and they are very careful about not letting any animal with rabies into the country. There is a 180-day quarantine that I was very concerned about, but if you live on base in Okinawa you can continue the quarantine at home. In order to clarify the steps necessary, I will include a list for all those who follow in my footsteps. 

1. Fifteen Digit Microchip

2. First Round of Rabies Shots

3. Second Round of Rabies Shots

4. FAVN Blood Test

5. Quarantine Starts

6. Exportation Certificate

The blood test measures rabies antibody level in order to ensure the animal really, really does not have rabies. Tilly's experience was horrible. It took two people and multiple attempts to wrestle my cat to the table and draw blood from her jugular vein. At least I don't pass out at the sight of my cat's blood. There has been enough of that already. The blood is sent to a Department of Defense Laboratory, and when you receive the paperwork in the mail the quarantine period starts on the date printed on the results page. 

The only thing left for Tilly is the exportation certificate. Since there is only a ten day window for travel with that certificate, we will wait until a few days before our flight to take her to the vet. I have heard we have to see a vet once we are in Okinawa, but I will worry about that when the time comes. So far she is closer than either Matt or myself to being ready to go. Neither of us are medically cleared yet!

The Epic PCS: Our Stuff

Looks great! Now take it apart!

When we first heard "The News" Matt and I were sitting in the apartment in Virginia that I had almost perfected. There were curtains in the windows, matching pillows and lamps in the living room, and all my pictures hung on the walls. It was time to take everything down, pack everything away, and get rid of as much as possible.

When you PCS the military gives you a weight limit for your possessions based on your rank and whether or not you have dependents. When you move overseas the military will only move 25% of the original weight limit. Therefore, Matt and I had to ensure that we only kept 3,000 pounds worth of stuff to take with us to Okinawa. In order to compensate for the weight restrictions on bases overseas, the military will loan you furniture for the number of people in your household, so we will have furniture to sit on in our new home.

I was so excited to have professional movers lift all of the heavy pieces that Matt and I struggled with moving into our apartment. In order to schedule your move you work with TMO, the traffic management office. They told Matt and me that everything had to be done through their website. That website does not work well on a Mac, which is of course what we have. I waited a few weeks until I was home for my sister's graduation, and I used my parent's computer to schedule a move right before our lease ended on our apartment. When I was back in Virginia I went to TMO in order to discuss my move. They told me I had to wait until I was assigned a counselor before they could schedule anything. Out of curiosity one of the women in the office asked when I wanted to move. I told her two weeks. Her words to me were, "That is not going to happen." And it did not.

When I was finally assigned a counselor the earliest date she would schedule a move for me was mid-June. I explained that Matt would already have started his training in another state, and the lease on our current apartment ended the last day in May. She shrugged. There was nothing we could do except pay for a storage unit that would hold our stuff until TMO could schedule a move.

Matt and I set to work packing and purging. We made three runs with a full trunk to the local Goodwill. We donated all of the unopened food items in our pantry to a local food bank. The couch I had bought used at a thrift store for our first apartment in Georgia we sold to one of Matt's fellow students. He had rented a house with three other Marines, and they had no furniture to speak of yet. He picked up the couch in his truck, and we threw in our bookshelves, our desk, and our desk chair for free. He assured us that many marines would sleep on that couch in the future to escape the barracks. It would be appreciated.

We managed to move the rest of our possessions to the storage unit without renting a truck solely by asking favors of our friends. We borrowed one of Matt's friend's truck (and muscles) for our bedroom set and coffee table, and another of Matt's friends let us use his moving truck before he filled it up for our futon and dining room table. All of the boxes fit in our cars that we drove back and forth between our apartment and storage unit.

All of our belongings except for our summer clothing are now safely stored in a climate controlled unit, but this is by no means the end of the story. Stay tuned to see how (and if) our stuff makes it all the way to Japan!