PCS- The Busiest, Exhausting, and Most Challenging Week Of My Life (So Far)

It's only been a few days since we arrived and I still don't feel fully recovered from our move. By the time we reached Washington state, we were both mentally and physically spent. If I had known that it would have been this challenging, this exhausting, this crazy... I might have told Russ to pick Virginia orders again. But, this could still be my exhaustion talking.

I guess I'll start from the beginning (and this is probably going to be looong). 

Thursday

We woke up Thursday morning after an awful night's sleep on the floor (since our furniture was already gone) and vowed to avoid ever sleeping on the floor ever again. We had a few errands to run so we went out to pick up Russ' altered uniforms and to find a place we could get his pants ironed for his school graduation ceremony. Annnd, it turns out that no place in Norfolk we stumbled upon could iron his pants on such short notice! So we had to buy an iron just for the sake of his pants/uniform inspection. 

Then, while he was off to one of his ceremonies that afternoon I was busily cleaning the apartment from top to bottom. I dusted the corners of the ceiling, the walls, the baseboards. I cleaned windows, blinds, the washer and dryer, the bathroom from floor to ceiling. By the time I got to the kitchen, I was almost in tears because Russ wasn't home yet to help me. And, I was super hungry because we had nothing to eat. 

Just as I texted him, "I need help here," he walked through the door with Wendy's. After eating for the first time all day, I felt energized to finish cleaning and happily I didn't have to do it alone.

We loaded the car to head over to the hotel and decided to leave a few things in the apartment and pick it up the next day before our move out inspection. 

Friday

Today was Russ' graduation ceremony and we had to be at the schoolhouse on base at 7:45 am. Depending on traffic, we could leave at around 7 and have enough time to leisurely get there in Virginia Beach. 6:30 rolled around and Russ discovered that he left his belt at the apartment in Norfolk, the opposite end of town... So, we rushed to get dressed to head back to the apartment while saying silent prayers that traffic will be fine. 

We get to base with the belt and the graduation went smoothly and quickly. But afterward instead of checking out, we have to drive ALL the way back to the hotel for his orders because we left them in our rush to get the belt. Then, drive ALL the way back to Virginia Beach to check out of his command. Then, drive ALL the way back to Norfolk to do the move out inspection. Then, drive further to pick up his second set of altered uniforms only to discover that we left the receipt at the hotel in Virginia Beach. This caused me to break down in tears for the first time of the day. The combination of moving stress coupled with driving everywhere coupled with the stress of leaving the next day caused me to burst into tears. 

Luckily, the guy remembered Russ and he was able to pick up his clothes without having to drive out to Virginia Beach again. 

After all the events of the day, it was just barely lunch time. Having no more errands, we headed to one of our favorite local sandwich shops, Taste Unlimited, for one last meal. I felt, for the first time all week, relaxed. 

We had a nice lunch and then went back to the hotel to relax before our trip Saturday morning. 

While we watched some random Cartoon Network cartoon, I was horrified to discover that Zelda was bleeding from her privates. And, I haven't mentioned this on here because there really wasn't a need but since her spay, she's been exhibiting heat-like behavior during the last two months. We just figured she'd need more surgery to get the rest of her ovary removed that they must've missed. We also figured that could wait until Washington.

After freaking out, shoving her into her carrier, and searching for any other blood spots in the hotel room, I broke down again. I cried my makeup off in about two seconds. It also didn't help that there wasn't any offices that could see her at 4:30 pm on a Friday night. Luckily the Banfield in Cheasapeake wasn't busy so we rushed over in Virginia rush-hour traffic to get her to the doctor's office. 

They took blood, they did tests... they told us she possibly has a very serious condition, Pyometra (infection of the uterus), and that it usually only affects dogs and unspayed females. We were told, basically, that she could die on our trip out here. The doctor was optimistic that antibiotics could keep the infection at bay while we were traveling but she was also very serious about Zelda's condition. She was comforted by the fact that Zelda was still eating, drinking, and playing and that her white blood cell count was normal too.

It almost felt like this elaborate house of cards that I've built for months, had come crashing down around me. I made so many notes, plans, and calendars with dates and to-do lists to make this move go seamlessly. I just hadn't banked on anything like this happening. The most I was worried about was the cats meowing up a storm during the drive and driving us crazy. 

We got her antibiotics (which had to be kept in a cooler the whole trip) and went back to the hotel. 

The day was over and Friday had been a mess.