You know you’re *PCSing when you get demoted to the backseat because the front is filled with more important crap.

You know you’re PCSing when you have to cook via flashlight because your wife sold all the lights…literally.

You know you’re PCSing when “Royal Hawaiian Movers” show up to take your possessions from Germany to San Francisco and you stand on the street thinking, “Oh crap…we are moving to San Francisco…aren’t we?!”

You know you’re PCSing when you pray that said movers can spell the final destination of all your belongings better than they can spell multiple variations of the word “clothes”.

You know you’re PCSing when all you really want to do is hide from the world…in the bathroom.

…or the closet.

*PCS (Permanent Change of Station) – When a military family deconstructs its entire life and reconstructs it in a new (temporary) location…until they are told to PCS again.

It’s time! The smell of PCS* has been swirling around us for over a year now. It’s time to close this chapter of our lives and move back to my favorite American city! Sorry Chicago, you lost my heart somewhere between Cicero & Central.

We can’t wait to go back to all our favorite things in the City by the Bay. Back to Crepes-a-Go Go on Union Street and clam chowder from Grey Line. Back to real sourdough bread. Back to the sounds of elephant seal pups and the smells of decapitated herring. Back to picnics at V.Sattui, factory-direct Jelly Belly Flops, and crazy nights at Fiddler’s Green. Back to the sexiest bridge in the world!

I don’t even recognize these kiddos!

Most importantly, back to family we haven’t seen in three years and friends we haven’t seen in six!

Are we going to miss being 3 hours by car from family, 90 minutes by train from Manhattan, and 5 minutes by foot from amazing pizza and water ice? Of course, but Jersey isn’t goin’ anywhere…trust me!

Only 32 more days, and we won’t be California Dreamin’ anymore!

*PCS = Permanent Change of Station (It has a stout aroma of cardboard with brooding undertones of bubble wrap and lingering notes of stress…in case you were wondering.)

Oh my goodness, I can not even explain the craziness of the last 2+ months! I know that lots of other people have done this with ease, but it has been a challenging adventure for us. To list all of the to-do items, legalities, frustrations, and logistical nightmares would take me countless hours and bore you into never returning to read. If you are really interested, you can reference Joe’s reports for the Olmsted Foundation for the next three years.

I want to give my family and in-laws a special Shout Out – thank you for listening, supporting, and doing everything in your power to make the challenges and changes easier. Surprisingly, Kenny said it best when he discovered me on the stairs in an overwhelming moment of tear-filled realization: “This is a good thing.”

Yes…it is. Thanks Dad.        

Here is a synopsis of the calendar:

• June 24 – July 29: Institute craziness (Trysta working 12 hrs/day)
• July 15 – 16: Travel toVirginia
• July 17: Organize and prep for movers and packers
• July 18: First day of living out of suitcase
• July 19 -21: Movers, packers, storage and household goods shipments
• July 20: Partridge renter visits for first time
• July 25: Ship car
• July 28: Lease finalized with renter
• July 29: Joe leaves New Jersey for Ohio
• July 31: Joe leaves Ohio for Florida
• August 1: Trysta moves out of Partridge and onto base, renter moves into Partridge
• August 3: Trysta drives New Jersey to Wayne, IL
• August 4: Joe arrives in Wayne from Florida
• August 9: Joe and Trysta drive Wayne to University of Kentucky
• August 11: Joe and Trysta drive Kentucky to Tennessee
• August 14: Joe and Trysta driveTennessee to Wayne (via Kentucky)
• August 15: Joe drives Illinois to New Jersey and moves onto base TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility)
• August 20: Trysta flies Illinois to Virginia, Joe drives New Jersey to Virginia
• August 21: Trysta, Joe, & Stickford drive Virginia to New Jersey
• August 23: East Coast Earthquake (Trysta at work in Philly, Joe at TLF in New Jersey)
• August 26: Trysta & Joe last trip to New York City
• August 27-28: Hurricane Irene sweeps eastern seaboard
• August 31: Depart for Stuttgart, Germany
• September 1: Arrive Stuttgart, move into Army Post hotel, car is here!
• September 5: Drive Stuttgart to Freiburg for apartment walk-through and key pick-up
• September 7: Joe and Trysta pass German driving test and finally get possession of car
• September 8: Leave Stuttgart, arrive Ramstein Air Force Base to drop off Joe’s pilot records
• September 11: Leave Ramstein AFB, arrive Freiburg im Breisgau…..finally!
• September 13: Washer and dryer arrive from Stuttgart, household goods are not yet in-country
• September 15: After 5 trips to T-Mobile, we finally have cell phones
• September 17-21: Munich trip
• September 29: Household goods finally arrive!….very late
• October 4: Language training starts
• October 7-9: Anniversary trip to Bodensee
• October 11: Internet and phone installed in apartment….after six weeks of waiting.

A huge thank you to my brother for all his help with this blog. I don’t know what I would do without your technical expertise! Vielen dank, Bruder!