Time!

After loads of drama, we are just about all set. My biggest advice....do alllll that you can as far in advance as you can. That way the last weeks will not be as stressful. There will be changes, so it is good to have it done if you can. And keep paper records. I went to IPAC and to dispersing, and got conflicting information. It took a few days to figure out what was accurate. So keep names and notes so you have solid recourse if you have issues or changes. 

Passports

There are two types of passports for a family with ORDERS going overseas. No fee, and "traditional".

No fee passports are, well....free! They are only valid for travel on official orders. (There is an extra step to fill out in addition to the regular form) Meaning that if we want to go to say...Australia while we are in Japan, we cannot. We would need a  "traditional" passport for that. The no fee form is filled out at IPAC, and there is a passport office aboard base to handle this one. Also, photos are taken aboard base for the passport. 

"Traditional" passports are paid for by you. For our family of 6 it will be $680 for us to all get ours. You need to go to a passport office (call or check online for the nearest one). Read all the needed things before you go. 

We needed a form (found on the govt passport site) notarized from my husband, or a CERTIFIED copy of a POA for EACH child. We need to apply for 4 children's at once, so we needed 4 of all documents to show proof. The parent must appear in person with the child in tow. The rules are easy and clear on the website for passports. 

I filled out the passport forms online and printed two copies of each. I also printed out copies of all needed id's (one of each parent). Again. Not hard, just follow the rules online. Time consuming- yes. 

So tomorrow we go to work on the passports-the no fee ones. We have to have them to fly, so they take precedence. The other ones are for us to travel later. (Technically you only need the traditional ones to go over)

This process of overseas processing feels very time draining, like weeks of our life are going to appointments, figuring it out, etc.  But, I have to take into account that this will all be done soon, and that this is not a process meant for a spouse to do with 4 kids (my kids go to all our meetings, all appointments-sans two dental ones). It is typically designed for a service member to do as part of a work day.However, it is a grand experience that I cherish to be able to help out my husband and family in this way! 

Step 3

All cleared with area clearance in hand! Here was the process.....

After I got my paperwork and my spouses papers, I got 6 folders ( we have 6 in our family). I put all required documents in each folder that was required for that individual (kids need some things adults do not, and I needed several things my kids did not). 

Then I went to our clearance appointment. 

It took under 10 min! The screener did tell me that it was swift because things were neatly organized. So to remove stress on yourself, take the time to make a file for each family member if you have a larger family. It was a breeze. 

By lunch the same day I had the papers all signed, and we had one more stop, at IPAC where we got our area clearance in hand. 

Let me make a point here....if your spouse is not deployed, they can do this part. They are supposed to typically handle IPAC and the paperwork list you get there. However, mine (and I'm sure many others!) are not available to do this. So now I have the Check List from them to complete. 

Step Two!

{note: my spouse is currently deployed, so he is not here to do any part of this, and won't be back until just a few months before we move. Your experience might be much different if your service member is here to help navigate the overseas waters!}

In about the past two-three weeks we ended up having nearly 40 appointments! It was busy, but everywhere gave us "group" appointments, so that helped a lot. (They would schedule us all separately, but process us in clusters to make things much more speedy!) I got the pound of paperwork almost complete. I have to say the quantity of our appointments is not normal. There are a lot, but we just had snags that required more visits in some cases. 

STEP TWO! Medical and Dental 

We had both medical and dental screenings that deemed us either fit or not recommended for overseas. We live nearest to Camp Lejuene, so we processed there. Our regular out in town doctor gave us the medical part. It was time consuming, but totally not stressful. We all are good to go!

Dental worked like this: we went to my husbands dental clinic on base in person. We then got appointments, and lots of paperwork to bring back. You MUST open a file on base with dental because base will be your dental provider overseas. The next business day we went back. I had ALL 5 dental records and x rays in hand from our off base dentists. This made the process smoother. We all got basic exams, and two got x rays to double check our very recent civilian xrays.The staff was very child friendly and nice. I was concerned because 99.99% of the patients there are service members, and my kids go to a pediatric dentist who talks in kid vernacular....sugar bugs (cavities) and princess pillows (the cotton pads)! But my children were satisfied with their visit, and I was thrilled. 

NOTE: go to your dentist for a cleaning and check up prior to base dental visit. Get anything needed done. It will save you time and frustration. From my experience, base does not mess around. They don't skimp on what you need done. They are thorough and more "picky" from those out in town, from what I saw and have heard from my off base dentist. We went a few weeks prior to base dental to our civilian dentists and we passed the oral exam no issues on base. I was impressed with the dentist on base. 

They did makes notes of things they want done with me, to "make things perfect" (like to smooth out the edge of a filling, etc)  but none needs to be done before we move...just ideas for the long term. 

So next I have to review all paperwork. Then await my husbands paperwork. He has to have a fit for overseas report, even though he is overseas now, in the very place we will be moving to! :) 

Step One!

After a month of preparations....such as selling stuff I never will need again. Many, many dental visits for myself, 4 cleaning visits for my kids, one pap exam, and taking and leaving my car where it will reside for the next 3 years or so. And the drama of getting all immunizations done!  

But today was the ***first*** official step one! After printing off the official orders I was on my way to our local Naval hospital. There I got a pile of papers from the Overseas screener. The process is fairly easy , and straight to the point. Yes,there are gazillions of forms, but we are a family of 6, so it would be very easy sans the many dependents that all need their own special forms. We made a swing by dental on base where I was given yet another pile of papers to ready before we head there Monday for our exams. I highly recommend you make the dental appointment in person. And have your records if you see a off base dentist...to include x-rays. Makes it easier on all. 

Let me say, I feel great getting this major step underway. We are off in a few min. for 5 dr visits where we get the forms for medical completed. We are frozen to really move forward (well, at least make commitments!) until the area clearance from Oki comes back.  But I did find out our local office can clear us on the spot if we have no "issues". That made me almost sing for joy! 

Here is my pile I am carrying all over! 

Inch by Inch

My mama used to tell me this......

" inch by inch life's a cinch, yard by yard life is hard"

It's true. When looking to PCS anywhere, the yard view is likely to leave you bummed, overwhelmed, and maybe just exhausted! Learning to navigate the system, and then getting a timeline is helpful.

Today I had three teeth extracted. This is not an optional thing if we want to get base clearance. It was an inch!!!! I was a tad nervous. They put me to sleep, and it was a breeze!

Last week I had a root canal, and a meeting with an oral surgeon. Then we spent FOUR glorious hours almost at the base hospital for immunizations. YEP!!!! Our prior doctor had put our records in storage after going bankrupt and was unreachable. So my precious kids had to get ALLLL their shots redone for the last about 4-5 years. It felt like a yard,  but knocking out all the little things one at a time is a good thing.

Baby Steps in Moving

I am on week three of knowing we have orders....we had a lovely 8 month notice on moving because my husband is deployed.

So far I have learned that we must have all dental work cared for now. That meant I had something like 15 fillings ( I had put off the dentist for several years after some pricey dental work went south) in 24 hours. I have to go to an oral surgeon and have another visit for a root canal next week, too! I had not anticipated the cost of this when I said yes to Japan. A lot of people don't get choices, they just get told they are going. I'm thankful for the advanced notice I had, but the perhaps several thousand out of pocket to get to the point I need to have dental clearance  has  bothered me.

I've been trying to decide to try to sell our home or keep it. It's a challenge. The market is awful where we live, it's as if the housing collapse just now made it here. We can carry our mortgage if we need to, so that's a blessing. But I don't want to carry it for 3 years. We have rented our home out in the past with extreme success, but the rental market is rather bad here as well. So it appears we might take a monthly loss, which stinks!

Moving to Okinawa, Japan has one advantage...in the Marine Corps we are not able to take our household furniture. They supply that for the duration of our stay. So we ::might:: try to sell our home mainly furnished. After 3 years in storage, plus the monthly loss a rental would cost us, it's not a bad deal for us. Then we could save and get all new things when we return!