Okinawa Square

It all started with the couches. “Hey Bill, how about we move the couches this weekend?”  He grudgingly obliged.  So, we moved the couches, complained about our aching backs and arms, and reflected on the pitiful state of our aging bodies. Then I looked at him and said, “It’s too soon to do this again.”  With that simple comment, I physically felt my body go into “Pack Mode.” It’s a mixture of stress, excitement, misery, and frustration accompanied by heartburn, backaches, and a constant butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling that doesn’t quite go away until you’re at the new place and most of the boxes are unpacked.  I’m really looking forward to it…can you tell?    

In a normal move, “Pack Mode” doesn’t start until the day the actual packers arrive.  One thing regular people don’t understand is that we military folks don’t have to pack and move our own stuff every time we endure a PCS (Permanent Change of Station--these military types love acronyms.  See how much you're learning on here?  This blog is informative and educational.) But I digress....you're allowed to move on your own,  but the divorce courts would be packed with military couples if we were required to move ourselves for each PCS.  In a regular move, the “professional” packers (and I’m using that term loosely) show up one morning and within 10 minutes the house turns into a flurry of activity—boxes are formed, tape is torn, the house takes on the unmistakable (and for me, panic-inducing) smell of cardboard.  Sometimes the packers are overly enthusiastic about their jobs--I’ve heard stories of trash and even animals getting packed away.  Within a day or two, everything in the house is stuffed  crammed  placed into about 200 boxes.  Then the big truck comes and all your possessions are loaded up and (hopefully) taken to your new home. 

That’s a routine, state-to-state move when no trans-oceanic travel is involved.  There is nothing routine about our upcoming move.  We are not taking one big shipment over to Okinawa.  Thanks to the cheap  budget-conscience Marine Corps, we’re not even allowed to take all our stuff.  We are authorized to ship ¼ of our maximum weight allowance.  In our case that means 4,250 pounds of stuff can go in our Household Goods shipment.  But don't worry….we can also take 1,600 pounds of stuff in our Express Shipment. We can thank the kids for that amount—each dependent gets us 200 more pounds!  Anything over the authorized 5,850lbs is destined for Long-Term Storage. You’re probably wondering how I will determine how much all our stuff weighs.  The truth is, I have no idea but it will probably require a very scientific formula of guessing and praying.    

I know you’re thinking, “5,850 Pounds! The stuff in my closet weighs more than that!”  Well, don’t panic.  The government is generous enough to provide loaner furniture while we are over there.   Here’s the official list of what we might be “lucky” enough to get…previously used, of course:

Government Furnishings Available at Maximum Authorization.
• Queen Bed (O6, O7, and GS15 member and spouse or head of household)
• Double Bed (member and spouse or head of household)
• Single Bed (per child or additional dependent)
• Bunk bed Set (in lieu of 2 single beds)
• Chest Drawer (1 per person)
• Dresser (1 per occupied bedroom)
• Dresser Mirror (1 per dresser)
• Night Table
• Dining Table
• Dining Chair w/o Arm (4 each)
• Dining Chair w/ Arm (2 each)
• Buffet (2 each)
• Hutch (top of buffet 1 each)
• Bookcases (2 each)
• Desk (2 each)
• Desk Chair (1 per desk)
• Sofa (1 each)
• Easy Chair (2 each)
• Coffee Table (1 each)
• End Table (2 each)
• Dryer Electric (1 each)
• Washer Electric (1 each)
• Refrigerator/Freezer Electric (1 each)
• Range Electric (1 each)

How many of your caught that first item—Queen bed only if you’re O6 and up? (Civilian translation—Only higher ranking officers can get a queen bed.  The rest of us peons are stuck with a double bed.)  As soon as I read that, I thought, “I don’t care how much it weighs…if I have to row it across the Pacific myself….we’re bringing our queen bed.”  Not to be blunt, but a double would be a little….cozy.  My parents are reading this, so that’s all I’ll say about that.

The other big furniture item we’ve decided to take is our couch.  Our parenting experience has taught us that children can inflict irreparable damage to this particular piece of furniture, so we figured it would be cheaper to pay for any over-weight charges than it would be to pay the government for a new couch. 

So, we can’t take all of our stuff, but this is where it gets complicated.  Each “batch” of stuff has to be separated so the packers know what’s going to Okinawa and what’s getting stored.  And then the Okinawa stuff has to be separated into two piles.  One pile should be stuff we would like to have sooner than the other pile of stuff. The first pile should be "have to have" items, such as kitchen things, bed linens, shower curtains, a smallish TV, and toys; the other pile might include any furniture, Christmas ornaments, and storage items, out of season clothes, electronics,  etc….   So here’s an insider’s perspective as to what’s been going on in Laura’s brain ever since we found out we were going to Okinawa: 

“Hmmmm….that’s a nice waffle maker…."

"I wonder if we should take it to Okinawa…"

"But we’ve only used it twice in the last three years, maybe it should go into storage…."

"But what if we want to make waffles while we’re there….”

Now, look around the room you’re in right now and imagine having that internal conversation about Every. Little. Thing.   You’d think it’d be a relief when an item fails to “make the cut” and is bound for long-term storage, but that isn't the case.  The decision to reject an item inevitably leads to philosophical thoughts like, “Well, if we’re not going to need it for three years, why the hell are we keeping it in the first place?”  It’s enough to get a person very close to Crazyville, USA.    


The trickiest part is how to plan for the express shipment.  If these are supposed to be “have to have” items, how am I supposed to separate them while I’m still using them?   I’m guessing those will be the last things to get set apart (somewhere) and as we get closer to actual pack out day (May 25) I will cease all cooking and insist on eating out so as not to disturb the "have to have" items. By the time the packers come hopefully everything will be separated out, and I will have gained 30 pounds from all those dinners at IHOP.

Back to the couches…Sunday night I decided it was time we really get serious and start separating our stuff.  (Actually I was really serious way back in March, but my better half was not quite on-board with that plan, and I need him for the heavy lifting.)  We have designated the living room as "Okinawa Square."  Since we’re taking our abused much-loved sectional, we needed to switch the “good” couches and put them in the family room, and the sectional in the living room.  So now I have the sectional set backward in the living room (making a square with the walls) and I’ve started going through closets and bedrooms. Anything lucky enough to join us on this overseas adventure is thrown into Okinawa Square.  The children have been threatened  bribed  warned not to even think about taking anything out of Okinawa Square. 

Speaking of the kids, they have been very good about this upcoming move.  Naturally, Mary is the most curious about this move since she was so little when we moved to South Carolina and she doesn't remember at all what this process is like.  The other day I saw her with some boxes and I asked what she was doing.  "Packing for Okinawa," she said.  I took a look and saw that her box contained all the four-year-old girl necessities:  a naked Barbie, some melty beads, a dress, her "sparkle" shoes, a roll of tape, and an apple.   Cute, I know...and sadly it's not much worse than the "professionals." 

I imagine it's pretty overwhelming to be told your family is moving halfway across the world, but they are all handling the whole thing very well and I dare say they are even excited about this move.  However, there are lots of questions.  LOTS OF QUESTIONS.  At least 10 times a day I hear a variation of this phrase:  "Mom, in Okinawa is there going to be..." (insert desired item here...it's been everything from pools to go-carts to Boy Scouts.)  It can be a little annoying taxing to hear the same question over and over and over again, especially since I usually don't know the answer.  Sometimes I'm Nice Mom and I'll research the desired question online.  That's how I've found out that there are pools and Boy Scouts, but no go-carting.  Other times, I'm Preoccupied Mom, so I'll make something up possibly embellish the truth a little:  "I don't know if there's a Lego Store in Okinawa...but you know, a lot of that stuff is made in China, and that's right next door so I"m sure they'll probably have a Lego Store there."  I know, I know...I run the risk of having four very disappointed children once we get there, but it's not like they can run away...it's an island....how far are they going to go?


I suppose I've babbled on long enough....time to get back to Okinawa Square!