Remember how I mentioned last week that we’re doing as much adventuring as we can before our time runs out here in the PNW? Well, we also knew that we’d have to buckle down eventually and actually start dealing with the packing and PCS prep. Packing is one of my absolute least favorite things in the entire world, but it’s also one of those things that has to be done. Our first pack out for long-term storage is tomorrow, and we had to go through boxes (some from our home at Fort Drum) to consolidate, trash, and re-store stuff. Packing and PCS prep is not my favorite, but it’s one of those necessary evils.
Mother’s Day weekend 2021 was one of complete opposites. We packed and we prepped, but we also made time for fun. A day that started with packing ended in a ridiculous amount of fun that was needed and wanted in the midst of the chaos of of packing and PCS prep. While Mother’s Day 2020 was spent in lockdown because of COVID, this year’s Mother’s Day was one for the books.
In true military fashion, we finally found our people just a few months prior to our move. It always works this way. You finally find your crew, and then the military sends you off to opposite corners of the world. One friend is heading to Chicago. Another is off to Hawaii with her family. And another is heading to Boston. We’re heading to Korea, and one family is staying here. It’s a season of change, and it’s hard, but it’s so important to make time for ourselves and for self-care in the midst of all the chaos.
Some of my sweet friends and I did just that yesterday, spending a Mother’s Day afternoon out to dinner together. No little hands reaching for chips. Nobody crying “mommy.” No interruptions. It was so much fun. It felt almost like being young again…but then paying the price for it the next morning because you stayed out until 10:30 PM. If that doesn’t scream old age, I don’t know what does.
I often have a hard time posting through PCS season because of the sheer dichotomy of it. Nothing is different, but everything is different. The minutiae is overwhelming, and day-to-day life is so busy, but it’s often unrelatable for those who don’t go through it. I don’t post a lot of stream of consciousness-type things anymore, but I want to look back and remember with our next PCS that the good is there. Even in the craziness. Even in the insanity that is moving. I’m grateful for these people and this chaos because it makes this military life worth living.
Tell me – did you do anything fun for Mother’s Day this year?
