PCSing

So I know many of my readers are not military or military affiliated and as such have no idea what a PCS is or how it works.

I am here to inform you of military protocol as well as fill you in on what has been going on with us.

First, what does PCS stand for? Permanent Change of Station

So when a person is “PCSing” what they mean is that the military has assigned them to a new station and they are moving there.

Now the military's definition of “permanent” is a little different than the average person.

When they say “permanent” what they really mean is that you will be living at that station for over 3 months.

If it's less than 3 months it’s usually called a TDY or Temporary Duty.

So here is a timeline to give you an idea how a PCS goes down, at least in our experience.

In early September Stephen got his orders to PCS to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for his Captain's Career Course (or CCC, a six month class training him in more Army officer stuff).

(“orders” are an official document from the higher ups saying that he is officially reassigned)

October 20 – Put our house up for rent

October 24 – We had our first shipment of household goods.
- This means that on that day and the next, 5 burly Hawaiian men packed up all our things and put them in a truck.
- This first shipment is the majority of your things, including all furniture and large items.
- That means in our house all we had was a blow up mattress and two beach chairs.

October 28 – We took the car down to the wharf and had it shipped.
- The military pays to ship one vehicle to and from overseas assignments.

November 14 – We had our second shipment of household goods.
- This is a small shipment that takes whatever was left from the first shipment.
- From this point on we lived out of the 4 suitcases that we were allowed.

November 17 – We flew to Napa for Stephen's step-brother's funeral

November 21 – Flew back to Hawaii

November 21-28 – Frantically tried to re-landscape the backyard and get the house spotless for renters

November 23 – Take all 4 animals to vet to get them all health certificates so they can fly.
- Managing that many animals at once, not fun.

November 24 – Had Thanksgiving at our friends April & Andrew's house
⁃ Stephen helped supervise the deep fat frying of a turkey




November 25 - Had another Thanksgiving at our friends Paul & Larissa's house



November 26 – Get rental car

November 28 – Dropped truck off at our friend Gavin's so that he could sell it for us since it didn't sell fast enough. (Thanks Gavin!)

November 29 – Flew out of Hawaii
- This means us with 4 suitcases and 4 kennels with 4 pets headed to the airport with the help of our friend Andrew (Thanks Andrew!)
- Had to show up 4 hours before the flight to check in the animals
- Had silly problems with them not liking one of the kennels but we fixed it with scissors and zip ties. They didn't even look at the paperwork I worked so hard to get all together for the pets.
- Willow and Lilo both seemed scared
- Giselle looked like she was losing her mind in fear
- Bagheera, though he growled at us like he wanted to kill us when we put him in his kennel, acted perfectly calm and friendly at the airport.

November 30 – Landed in St. Louis, Missouri
⁃ Got baggage, got all the animals, waited as Stephen went to get the rental car
⁃ All the animals still in the same condition as we left them
⁃ Somehow fit 2 humans, 4 pets and 4 bags into the rental car
⁃ Drove 20 min to the place to pick up our car (the one we shipped from HI)
⁃ Drove 3 hours to base
⁃ Went to housing and got our assigned house, which looks exactly the same as the one we lived in before. The one we lived in before got taken out by the tornado that hit the base last year, not the most comforting thought.

⁃ Stayed that night in a really gross motel that was rank with cigarette smoke.

December 1 – Bought blow up mattress and pillows and set up camp at the empty house
⁃ Went to the Lending Closet on post to borrow dishes and pots and pans
⁃ Took the dogs for a walk and Willow saw her first squirrel (there are no squirrels in Hawaii) and totally wigged out wanting to catch it
⁃ Talked Stephen into getting a mini Christmas tree


December 2 – Willow realizes how cold it is and when she is taken outside to go to the bathroom, just stands still and shivers.
⁃ Found a cool brew pub in Rolla (20 min away)
⁃ Bought a growler of stout and made beer floats


December 3 – It snows a little
⁃ Willow doesn't seem to understand what the snow is and stands and shivers
⁃ Lilo got excited and tried to dig it up and eat it.

⁃ Stephen takes Giselle outside to convince her she doesn’t want to go out there, I think it worked


December 5 – Lilo steals Willow’s kennel so Willow steals the tiny cat bed

⁃ And the cats steal our bed


December 7 – Drop dogs off at kennel and fly to North Carolina
⁃ More to come about this trip later

December 8 – Get call from dog kennel saying that Willow chewed through a fence and escaped
⁃ Luckily Willow never goes far from Lilo so she ended up coming back

December 11 – Land back in Missouri

December 13 – Stephen can’t stand the beard he has been growing and shaves it off

December 15 – Our things arrive!
⁃ This means 5 redneck guys show up and bring in all our things
⁃ Both shipments came at the same time
⁃ Moving from a larger house to a smaller house is not fun
⁃ Our spare bedroom looks like this:

⁃ Also my crafting supplies are in the very back of that room, it may be longer than I thought till I reopen my Etsy shop

December 20 – Stephen’s sister Michelle has baby girl #3
⁃ Mae Hope
⁃ She shares her birthday with Stephen’s mom


January 9 – Stephen starts his class
⁃ Until then he plans to put in a fence and build a solar heated dog house

Well that's all for now, consider yourself informed :o)