Military Monday: The Proof is in the Clematis.

My baby clematis peeking
over the fence

In our family we have a saying--well, several sayings actually--that revolve around postings/PCSs.

"I see someone I know every time I go to the grocery store...it must be time to move."

"I can't go anywhere without running into someone I know...it must be time to move."

"We've almost finished unpacking...it must be time to move."

"The bookcase is just the way I like it...it must be time to move."

"I actually feel comfortable at school...it must be time to move."

"The teachers know who I am...it must be time to move."

You get the idea.

We say these things to torture ourselves, I think. Or to make it easier when the posting message actually comes. A coping mechanism. When you move every 1-3 years, there are some things that you really come to appreciate. The simple fact that your kid's gifts in Math precede them to the next grade. The knowledge that if you needed someone, you'd have more than one person to call. The location of the very best coffeehouse in town. These are things taken for granted in other communities, but in the military community they can be a sign that you've truly settled in a place.

Spring has sprung on Vancouver Island

I love to garden, and one of my dreams is to live in a place long enough to have both an established saucer magnolia, and a full, thriving purple clematis. To date it's never happened.  Even one of the two would be nice, but as always, the magnolia just takes root...and it's time to move.

One of the first things I did last summer was plant a clematis, in hopes it would take root and grow to something fantastic while we were still here. It did well all summer, and I even saw a few blooms before the fall. Throughout our short winter, I watched it, wondering how it would fare.

And now, after a wet and dark winter, spring is here on the pacific coast. Flowers are blooming and birds are singing and last week I noticed that my Clematis plant is not only up, but it's thriving. New shoots are poking out everywhere, and it's grown tall enough to peek over our almost six foot fence.

The clematis is thriving...it must be time to move, right?

Yup. Our posting message came the next day.

And so, the clematis has spoken.  The Dunne family are on the move this summer, this time to the Eastern US.

As much as the upcoming post is exciting, I'll be sad to leave my little clematis plant to fend for itself. Who knows, maybe our next house will have one to take it's place.

And a magnolia too.

Brenda

Like this post? Check out my other posts on 'Posting Phases:Orders, or Season of See-You-Later.

Vaccinations are a Pain

We are trying to update our vaccination records.

Trying.

To update.

Our vaccination records.

Trying.

Holy old moly.

Just looking at that declaration will give most military families stress. In fact. I discussed vaccines as one of the 7 Reason's Military Wives Out are Stressed All of the Time.

I was really keen two postings ago--gathered all of our bits of paper, tiny booklets and photocopied records and had our local public health office (which was actually NOT local, had to drive almost 45 minutes to get there..but that's a different story) update their system and print off a copy for each of the kids. This was not easy. In fact, it was so complicated that from that day on we've kept our vaccinations records in our fire-proof safe.

From there, we moved...within the same province but to a new school district. Easy, right?

WRONG. About a week into our new school year I got a nasty finger-pointing letter from the local school board saying if I didn't get our records updated (remember, they were updated) my kids would be suspended. Yup. Suspended. You'd think they would be kidding about this. But no, they are not. Ask my friend who just a week ago got a suspension letter for her kids because of the school board's vaccination clerical error.

So on top of moving stress, new job stress, new everything stress, there was the added stress of proving that yes, indeed, we are good parents and our children have had all of their required vaccinations on time. We are very pro-vaccine. Just have difficulty keeping things organized when we move every two years.

Back to our current situation. I wasn't as keen on our last move, and forgot to get an updated vaccination record as we packed five humans and one horse into a truck and trailer for a cross-continental move. My bad. Like I said, moving is stressful. I figured when the time came, it would be just a quick phone call or request. Once again, wrong (will I ever learn?). Provincial public health authorities do not talk to one another. My friend over at Canadian Army Wife blogged about this problem here. In order to access our records from our previous post, we need the doctor's notes...but the doctor has moved. Yep. No longer at that clinic.

The saga continues.

Anyway, at this point, I would just like to say that I have the most wonderful husband on the planet. 

Why? Because he has made it his job to get our records sorted out, so that I don't have to.

I love him. Do I ever. He is the best.

Now if only he could offer up his arm for the list of about four needles I need to have updated.

Alas, that is a pain I must bear myself.


Brenda