The Hickeys have landed

So we made it. We are officially living in Japan. It has been a crazy month and a half. Doug got back from Afghanistan on August 20.   "A" and I got some balloons and our well-used Welcome Home Daddy sign out to decorate the house.

Pretty nice.  Too bad a major storm hit while we drove Doug home from the airport so he never got to really appreciate it.  *sigh*  Anyways, it was off to BWI to collect Daddy.  The USO does a fabulous job of decorating the arrival area and always has volunteers to cheer when the military members come off the plane.

"A" and I are so happy he is home, but poor Doug was so exhausted.  He'd been traveling for over 24 hours.

Unfortunately, there is no rest for the weary. The movers/packers were here by August 24 and our final inspection and handing over the keys was on August 31. After four years in DC, we said goodbye to our home. "A" was only 1 1/2 years old when we moved to DC, now she leaves as a 5 soon to be 6 year old.  We made some great friends there and some great memories.  Goodbye Bolling...

 Then it was on to Great Wolf Lodge,PA for a mini family vacation. We had so much fun and it was a great chance for Doug to decompress after being "go-go-go". Then it was drive up to Connecticut to visit Doug's parents for two weeks. It will be tough saying goodbye. We have lived on the East Coast for 11 years, and now we are moving as far away as globally possible.  Doug and I also had to sell both our vehicles.  I sold my RAV4 which was my first new car and was purchased the year we got married.

Doug sold his truck.  HIS TRUCK!  I never thought he would.  He's had that truck longer than he's had me.  It's lived in as many places as I have... HI, CT, SC, DC.  Poor Doug, I was sad for him.

We finally arrived in Japan on September 22, after delayed flights, missed flights, and cancelled flights.  We stayed in Seattle for over 24 hours in a hotel since there was a typhoon hitting Japan at our original time of arrival. Bad Omen? Seriously hope not. Even though the layover was a production of moving 6 huge pieces of luggage from the airport to the hotel with minimum help, I think it was better with the delay. We got to sleep in and relax instead of doing a straight 24+ hour trip. I shudder thinking about having to do that again one day. We had a great welcome from the Yokota FSS group when we arrived at the base terminal. It'll be interesting having Doug be part of a squadron again.

 The first few days were a blur, but basically we got shown around and started getting things done as soon as possible. We looked at housing, at getting our licenses, getting cars and getting "A" in school. "A" started school on August 28.

"A" is a Panda!  As you can see she was very excited to start school and meet new friends.  I thank God she is such an easy going kid that enjoys school.  It can't be easy being the new kid but she did awesome. One of her classmates will be living one floor down from our apartment. That will be nice. However...

Apartment living. That will be the biggest change. It's small and we have A LOT OF STUFF coming. I get nauseated just thinking about the amount of stuff we have coming and trying to figure out where will put it. Eeeeeek.  Well, we will just have to make due.

So, that's been our month and a half adventure so far.  Whew.  It'll be interesting to see what happens while in Japan!