We Got (a little) News!

MEPS results will be in next week. After that, recruiter waits for a slot to open up (hopefully Malmstrom). So we will have a base in...3-6 weeks!! Holy crap! I need to get packing!

Things Seem to be Improving

The Prior-Enlisted Waiver went through. So now we pretty much just wait for orders. Hazen is at MEPS today, and unfortunately found out that he is an inch shorter than he thought and therefore has to weigh about 10 pounds less than he thought! He has to be at his "right" weight before he goes to his base, so we will all be upping the healthy foods and exercise over the next few weeks.

Hopefully things are going well...I'm anxiously waiting for news!

And the saga continues...

Hazen's prior-enlisted waiver got kicked back AGAIN. This time because he had one 4 and four 5s on his EPRs. They want to know why he got the 4. The 4 had the best written review on it, so the recruiter is going to write up something good and send it back. Hopefully this is the last time this happens. This is so insanely nerve-wracking. If they're not going to let him back in, I'd really like them to just say so. Don't make us play all these stupid little games for nothing. I hope this works out. This is so scary. :(

Debating About the Future

I am considering opening an In-Home Daycare when Hazen gets back in. I figure it could be the best of both worlds--I can be home with my children and still earn money. I tried to do lots of good activities with Ian when I was home with him before, so now I can just incorporate other kiddos into it. He'd enjoy playing with other kids, too. My biggest concern is how he would feel about "sharing" his mommy. We would definitely have clear rules regarding his things. His bedroom would be off limits to everyone but him and his stuff would be off-limits as well (obviously). There are lots of moms looking for providers on bases (the majority of people living on base have children), so it shouldn't be too difficult to find people. And I love kids and the chaos that comes with them, so I would hope it would be something I would be okay at. The biggest challenge would be getting the licensing, but I would like to think I wouldn't have too much trouble with that. I hope.

Found My Birth Certificate!!

I don't think I mentioned before that my birth certificate was missing. I was born on an Air Force Base in Germany, so getting a replacement isn't nearly as easy as if I had been born in the States. It required a notarized, hand-written request with a lot of information. It had to be sent to Washington D.C. At that point, they would get in contact with Germany and have the information delivered. The process takes 4-8 weeks.

The problem with a 4-8 week process is that Hazen "technically" needs my birth certificate in ONE week. They were going to be able to buy him about another month, but that was it. I spent last weekend tearing apart our bedroom and yesterday tearing apart our closet. Last weekend, I had gotten the thought that *maybe* it would be in my scrapbooking tower. It was the only thing I had to put important things when I moved to Montana since our furniture took over a month to be delivered. It was in a difficult to get to place (showing how much scrapbooking I've done!) and the effort to get it turned out to be too much. So I gave up.

Last night, I suddenly decided maybe the effort wouldn't be too much and I should try (of course, this was hours after I had begun my frantic search). Three drawers down I came across our current lease and some paperwork from when I started my job...and my birth certificate.

Phew! I was going to feel SOOOO badly if I was the reason he was unable to get back in!

Baking Bread

I have talked about baking my own bread for awhile. I wanted to get a bread maker, but am now thinking that using loaf pans in the oven wouldn't be that difficult, at least not to start with.

The bread we get now is the Wheat Montana Multigrain. It's not bad, every ingredient is something I can pronounce AND picture, but still. I think I'd feel pretty good about making my own and you really can't beat the smell of fresh bread.

Of course, I would want to make whole grain which is apparently a little more difficult. I suppose I should have a few store-bought loaves on hand while I practice my technique.

Next week I will make my first batch. We grocery shop on Tuesdays, so I will get all the ingredients then and see what I can do. I hope it turns out well--I'm excited to try it. Maybe I'll even price bread makers at Costco. ;)

The stress never ends!

So, yesterday we went to talk to the recruiter again. Hazen made the call on Wednesday that he would like to go back in so we had to return his paperwork to the recruiter to get the ball rolling. This particular recruiter works Butte and Helena, and so he was in Helena Thursday and didn't give much time to Hazen to fill out the paperwork (he refused to do it until he'd made the decision).

Well, we get to our meeting and find out that he has to have his EPRs (performance evaluations) before he can do MEPS. The problem with that is that he was only ever given 2 of his 5. He had to have all of them. Okay, no big deal, we'll call Nellis and get the records, right? Yeah, no. Nellis has gone electronic. That sounds more convenient right? Again, you would be wrong. They send their electronic files to the National Archives after an Airman separates. Here is how the conversation went between Nellis and the recruiter:

Recruiter: "I need the EPR records for Hazen Noble. Do you hold those?"
Nellis: "We no longer keep those records. We send them to the National Archives. It is the service member's responsibility to print them before they separate."
Recruiter: "Okay, that makes sense. But do you tell them that?"
Nellis: "Well, no..."

So it seems we call the National Archives, they have this stuff electronically, they type a little something into the computer and wa-la! Records. Again, not so. They get over 1.4 MILLION requests from veterans a year for things like DD-214s, medical records, waivers, EPRs, etc, etc. The extreme volume of requests means that it takes FIVE MONTHS OR LONGER for them to get to each request. So we were talking being pushed back 5 months when we were under the impression this should all be taken care of by December or January. December or January is the absolute longest we have--we are going to lose unemployment in December.

At this point, Hazen is completely depressed. I'm ripping apart the house hoping beyond all hope that MAYBE, somewhere, these elusive EPRs are actually in our possession. I'm telling Hazen not to worry, it will be fine. But I don't feel like it will be fine at all.

I go back to work and I spend over an hour looking up ways to get EPRs (I'm a good employee, really!). I finally find something that says if the member hasn't finished the 8 year enlistment (in Hazen's case it's 6 years active, 2 years reserves) then the Reserve Personnel Center in Denver should have them. Since Hazen has a year left in the reserves, he gave them a call. And what do you know, within 20 minutes he had all five emailed to him.

Phew!!!

Here we go...

Hazen will be calling tomorrow to re-enlist in the Air Force. He will be going to MEPS in a week or two, and in 2-3 months we will be at our new base (we're putting in for Florida, California, Hawaii, and Montana...we're aiming for warm with a beach...and home, lol). MEPS is basically just his physical and all that to make sure he is healthy and not doing drugs.

I'm sad it came to this, but relieved that something is working in our favor. Going back into the military isn't optimal, but we have to do what we have to right now. The hope is that he will get his degree and become an officer in a couple of years. That would be an okay trade-off.

Don't know what to do

So, now that Hazen hasn't gotten the job, we are pretty much in panic-mode. We thought one of us should join the Air Force--it's very hard for prior service people to get back in, so we thought maybe I could go in as an officer. They take less than 200 officers that aren't academy, prior enlisted/currently enlisted, or ROTC. So then we thought Hazen could join the guard. But, after talking to a recruiter yesterday, we found out they are actually taking prior enlisted Air Force security forces right now. Hazen doesn't know what to do. He doesn't want to make a hasty decision, and I agree with that. He wants to wait a month to decide. My fear is that if we wait a month, they won't be taking prior enlisted anymore.

I don't know what to do. He would have to go back in as security forces, which he hates, but he'll have his bachelor's degree in 2 years at which point he can (hopefully) go to OTS and be an officer, which would be okay.

My stomach hurts and I just feel like crying right now. I don't know what to do and I don't know if being at work is the best thing for me today. It's only for another 3 1/2 hours...then we're going to talk to the recruiter again and Ian has his post-op appointment. But right now, I feel miserable.

Funny Email

My hubby sent me a funny email detailing the after-nap happenings of our son. I don't imagine most people will find this as hilarious as I do, but I want to remember it in the future, so here it is:

"Step 1: wake up
Step 2: run to dad
Step 3: run away from dad whimpering
Step 4: Hide and poop
Step 5: run back to dad and say "pooped, stinky"
Mission Complete"

Part of what makes me laugh about this the way that Ian says "pooped". It's not the way you or I would say it, he says it "poop-ed" with the last part actually sounding like the name "Ed".

And clearly potty training is going well...:p

And one more thing...

It's 35 degrees and snowing. This is not my week. :p

So, more bad news

Hazen didn't get the job in Bozeman. We don't know why, and they won't tell us without a court order. They said they "hoped it wouldn't deter him from applying again", whatever that means.

So, we're back to phase 1. We'll come up with something, but right now it's very disappointing. He scored third in an interview with Lewis and Clark county, but they're hiring one. So he's on their hiring list for the next 6 months, but if they don't come up with any more funds, it doesn't matter where he is on the list.

The economy SUCKS.