Staying behind with 4 kids

How hard can it be to stay behind while my husband processes out in San Diego?  Well, let me tell you it is no easy job and the picture says it all.  Lol

Joe has been gone now 2 1/2 weeks and everything in me has been tested.  There is the selling of the last few items (the biggest one is Joe's Hyundai Tucson), making sure the all the paperwork is completed so the van can be sent back to the states and make the appointment for shipment, get all the records from medical and dental to take with us, make sure all our prescriptions are filled to last a couple months while we look for a doctor, sign the lease and pay rent to stay in the house on base so we are not homeless, and the list goes on.  Let's not forget in addition to dealing with the coordination of the move, there is the daily life stuff to coordinate too.  

Ayden has appointment after appointment and so does Zachary and me.  Having the worlds largest Typhoon swing just past the Guam and with no generator, shopping for the possibility of the power going out (which it doesn't  of course because I was ready).  Make sure everyone is aware of last day our children are attending school (kids go 2 hours a day for specials) and daycare.  Not to mention the kids are homeschooled so I have to make sure they do their work and keep on task while going through the last few things before we pack our final suitcases.  FUN!  The good news is, kids are forgiving and forgive you when you spend less time with them.  The bad news is, kids are evil and take advantage of there being just one parent.  LOL  

It has been stressful but it is worth what is to come next in 1 week, a dream come true, moving to Thailand.

How we can move to Thailand

How are you guys just going to move there?  Is it allowed to just move to a different country?  

Well, its sort of complicated and simple.  Simply we are tourist and we have to stay within the rules of tourist visas.  Currently there is a 6 month multiple entry visas that we can apply for.  The visa is good for 6 months but we can only stay in country for 60 days at a time.  So every two months we need to take a trip outside of the country.  This should not be a problem for us as our plan is to use Thailand as a home base to explore Asia.  Additionally we plan on going to the good old USA twice a year.  We will make our travel plans around/within the visa rules and request extensions and reapply as necessary. 

In January I plan on attending a Instructor Development Course for my Dive Instructor Certification and then take the PADI instruction examination.  Once an Open Water Scuba Instructor then I will pursue obtaining a business license as a freelance PADI Instructor in Thailand.  From what I have read, an attorney in Thailand will structure this business and then I can obtain a work visa which is good for one year.  I really don’t want to work but if I have to teach a class here and there for a work visa so be it.  A little extra spending cash to fuel my dive addiction couldn't hurt either.  With me having a work visa I should be able to get the family a visa since they are my dependents.  I say should because the rules are sort of vague when I look on the internet.  I plan on going to the consulate in Los Angeles and finding out what exactly the rules are.

For our initial arrival we made a reservation at a condominium for a few weeks.  This will give us time to find a house to rent and buy a van.  We want a van so everyone has room to stretch out on road trips and enjoy the traveling.  We thought about an SUV but it might be too cramped for the seven of us plus luggage, camping gear, and scuba gear.  We are looking to purchase a Toyota  Commuter, we rode in several last time we were in Thailand.  We could take out the last row of seats and we would have more than enough space for our gear.  One of the financial hurdles is as foreigners we cannot obtain a loan so we have to pay cash for a car.  We don’t want a beater van, we want something reliable that will not strand us in the middle of no where.  So this mean taking a significant portion of our saving to purchase a vehicle.  Oh and I didn’t mention vehicle in Thailand new and especially used cost considerably more than they do in the United States. 

All of our household goods were shipped from Guam to storage in California.  It can remain in storage for one year which is part of my military retirement, but they probably will not be there that long.  Planning a late spring return to the states in which our household goods will get delivered to us in Texas.  We will either buy a small house or we will just put everything in a storage facility.  Our Ford Transit Van is being shipped to Texas, that way we have transportation for all seven of us when we visit.  We want to travel to Texas every summer and Thanksgiving or Christmas to visit friends and family.  Plus take some trips around the US during this time.  Great for the kids to see the world but they need to know the USA and its history.  

So where are we at with our plans right now?  I am typing this on my flight to San Diego to out process from the U. S. Navy.  I will be there for three weeks in which I plan to visit the consulate in Los Angeles and do some diving in Southern California and Mexico.  The family is staying in Guam until I return which is the last week of October.

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Moving and Murphy’s Law

Sunday, 29 September 2019

Wow has it been a crazy couple of weeks since I lasted posted.  Really wanted to do a minimum of one weekly post but all hell broke loose around here.  What can happen will, right?

So an update on what has happened so far.  We sold everything we wanted to sell, which was mostly furniture, I was supposed to have already listed my car for sale but that has not happened yet.  Last weekend which was the 21st of September, Ayden and I went out for a boat dive with our favorite local dive shop, MDA.  The dive was great until the end when Ayden deployed his safety sausage, formal name, Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB). It was all my fault, he was holding the reel, I inflated it using my alternate regulator, I over inflated it.  This caused the buoy to rocket to the surface and the reel was spinning in Aydens’s hand way to fast.  Being only 11 his smaller hands are much closer to the reel than an adult.  The reel ended up cutting his hand in 5 different locations, thankfully as soon as it cut him he let go.  Our friend Matt recovered the reel while we finished our safety stop and surfaced.  Once on the boat the Dive Master cleaned up Ayden’s hand and bandaged it.  The cuts were all superficial, he’s had much worse falling off his skate board and bicycle.  Ayden being the tough guy he is still wanted to do the second dive which we did without incident.

Ok, Ayden received a few superficial cuts, whats the big deal?  Well Sunday evening his hand was a little swollen.  We decided to call first thing on Monday for a Doctors Appointment.  Fast forward to Monday afternoon at the pediatricians office the hand is really swollen and red.  Pediatrician sent us to the emergency room.  1030 pm Ayden is in the operating room under anesthesia for almost 2 hours while they flushed the infection out of his hand.  He stayed in the hospital 4 days receiving different IV antibiotics.  He is home now and doing great but the movers are coming on Tuesday and we are so not ready for them to come.  I don’t know how we are going to get everything sorted through and prepped but it has to happen.  What is making this move difficult is that we are going to Thailand with only luggage, all of our household goods are going into storage in California. Different piles all over the house, we have a Thailand pile, Storage pile, Donate Pile, and of course the trash pile.

Tuesday, 1 October 2019

The movers came today, everything went well.  They will finish up tomorrow.  Somehow Christina and I sorted through everything we wanted to get to.  We have tomorrow to finish packing and the movers should only be here for half a day to load the rest of our stuff.  On Sunday I travel to San Diego to out process from the U.S. Navy and start my terminal leave. The family will stay until the end of the month in Guam, I will return to Guam and then together we will fly to Thailand on 2 November if all goes well.  We have a plan and are prepared to deviate as necessary.  Hopefully when I post again I am in San Diego.