Let the countdown begin!

I think its so amusing that when I was reading some of my older posts I came across one from August 2009 going on about how excited I was to move up here, yaddy yaddy yadda! Its amusing to me because I just think back and remember crying when we pulled out of our driveway on Beechberry Drive for the last time ever and the day we signed papers to FINALLY close on the short sale of the house. I remember the second we arrived at our new home in Elizabeth City, it was very late at night and I wanted to cry because it wasn't "home", that house never felt like home. As much of an aggrivation it was especially on the heels of the short sale (2 months to be more specific), I feel it was kind of a blessing that the sistuation arose with that first house (the owner went into foreclosure while we were leasing from her) leading us into the house we are in now which has always felt much more like "home" to me. However, I have grown to dislike a lot of things about Elizabeth City. I do try to keep an open mind though...its small town living and I know Shane loves that. I have to admit that I even enjoy leaving work up in Chesapeake dealing with the chaos of traffic and shopping centers, etc knowing that I am escaping it all to come back down to this small "city" where there are less of those annoyances! And now the clock begins ticking away...our last year here. This time next year we will be the ones dealing with movers and new leases and for me finding a new job, etc.. When I think of it I am just mixed with emotions especially right now when everything feels very far from certainty. Our options are VERY limited especially in particular for DC chief billets. And the possibilty of us ending up somewhere cold and gloomy is more realistic than the possibility of going south to warmer and sunnier skies year round...that to me is petrifying especially since being here for the past two "colder than usual" winters has brought back a lot of the familiar feelings that led to my decision to leave New England most likely not to return again. Shane is still waiting to hear about making warrant officer though based on the way he is talking and the vibes he is giving out he is not feeling like it is in the cards for him this year. If by some small chance it is however exciting it will be that he makes it we still know that we have absolutely NO say in the first billet we are chosen to fill...again making someplace cold and gloomy a realistic possibility. Again makes me not look foward to it. And then there is the recruiting option that he submitted a package for most recently. That one I am still trying to figure out, so we'll see. In the mean time a large part of me is eager to leave E. City for several reasons...reasons I don't to go into right now. As I said mixed emotions and of course I am worried about it now...I just hate not knowing...I want to know but fear that once I do know (Alaska, Minnesota, New England, etc) that I will wish I didn't. Oh well, nothing I can do.
So my poor baby girl is sick once again! Congestion, croupy cough, runny nose, blocked tear duct...poor girl! And my little man is turning 3 in a couple weeks much to my amazement. I CAN NOT believe it. he is going to have three birthday parties and I can't help but wonder if that will do more harm than good in the spoiling department and teaching him the wrong thing. We also bought him a power wheels battery operated vehicle as his gift. I can't wait for him to see it...not quite what to expect from him as far as a reaction is concerned. I think is going to like it A LOT. Pictures to follow. Tomorrow we are going to give it to him and also we are taking him up to Chesapeake to see his first mocie in a theater and to Chuck E Cheeses which he has been requesting to go to for weeks now since seeing commercials for it on tv. Janice and Jim, our friends, are going to watch Caroline for the day. It will be fun!