#36

J and I were talking about leaving Germany, PCSing, getting a sponsor at our new duty station, blah, yada, etc. And it hit me. In 4 months, I will be leaving Germany. I will watch as complete strangers pack up all my belongings. I will turn over the keys to a house I have called home for almost 2 years. I will board a plane (to Italy, hopefully! then...) and fly home to my new home.

Holy moly Batman!!! Or as my bestest M says, holy hole in a donut, Batman!

I am so excited to move back to the States. I have missed my country since the place took off from DFW back in May 2008. I cannot wait to check out a new part of the country, to get a new house, new friends, and a new unit for J. I can't wait to really show my girls their country. They may not have been born in America, but they are all American, so I can't wait to show them all there is to their country. I want them to be as proud as I am to fly the red, white, and blue.

But the thing I am so excited about, right now, is the transition. I know, I sound like I have lost my marbles. I haven't, I assure you. For the B family, the transition from Germany living to American living will most likely have a bit of a layover in the Mediterranean! We are hoping to take a cruise. So we would clear from Germany, fly to Italy, do our cruise thing, fly back to Germany to pick up our dogs and fly to the US.

This has been my hope for over a year now. But, the planning was impossible until we had some sort of idea when/where we were going. Now that we are so very close, I have had a chance to check it out a little more, and actually talk to J about it. He was not a fan of spending that much money. But he was a fan of not having to do anything while I looked at 4 different countries! He loathes driving, and finding places to park, and the language barrier, and just traveling in general. With a cruise, though, we just get to do the fun stuff, like eat and look at buildings and such!

So today he agreed to go, without actually agreeing. Which means he is ok with it! I just have to figure out all the details, make all the arrangements, and when it comes time for it, I will have to do all the packing. But who cares. If all goes well, I will see Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Croatia!

That was pretty much all I thought about today. Me, in the Mediterranean. In the sunshine!