Cat = Out of Bag

Have you ever had to keep a secret? And the Secret is just eating at you? And you feel like you're lying to everyone and you are trying to write blog entries about things other than the Secret, but the Secret is all you are thinking about, and you beg your husband every day if you could please tell now? Well, I have.

After nine months of having to keep our intentions quiet I can finally announce that....

John has been hired by an airline (which I've decided not to mention on this blog) and we're getting out of the active duty military!

(Ha! You thought I was going to say I was pregnant, didn't you?) No. Most decidedly not pregnant, plus, if I was sitting on that secret for nine months you would probably know by now, I think.

I had no idea how much goes into getting hired by an airline. I didn't ever realize what a long process it is. But, we got the nine month crash course in intense STRESS. John had to deal with many tests, lots of studying, a 2-week course in Texas, thousands of dollars, more tests, simulator tests, interview prep, interviews, letters of recommendation, stress, stress, will he get hired? What if he doesn't?

I can keep a secret really well...but damn! This one was eating at me. People up here probably thought we were getting a divorce because John kept taking "vacations" to "visit friends" by himself to the lower 48. In reality, he was taking classes or tests or interviewing, but we wanted to keep it quiet. I talked to Lysandra every day and couldn't even tell her that my husband was out of the state a few times.

Also, I had to pretend to be excited about our assignment to Tucson, which was getting harder and harder as the time for our impending "move" crept closer and people started asking a lot of questions. Although I love Tucson, and would have loved living there, we were both hoping like hell he would get hired by an airline and wouldn't accept the assignment.

On top of the civillian job quest, he also wanted to be hired by an A-10 National Guard Unit as a part-timer,which--you guessed it--we were also trying to keep quiet until we had a definite answer.

In the last couple weeks it was coming down the wire. He would have to accept his Tucson assignment and stay in the military--or reject it and get out of the Air Force. However, we didn't have an answer on whether he had a civillian job yet. The stress mounted. For a while it looked like he might get out of the military without having a job lined up. That is enough to make you just lay down and reach for the nearest wine bottle, sprained wrist be damned.

Finally, one weekend toward the end of January, while John was in Baltimore on yet another trip, interviewing with the Maryland Air National Guard, we heard he got hired by an airline. Then, the next day, we heard he was hired by the guard unit. What a grand weekend!

So, after nine months of not being able to talk about it, I can finally say it! We're getting out of the active duty in the next month or two (if all goes as planned, cross your fingers). We're moving to the Baltimore/Washington D.C. metro area. We are going to live in a cardboard box built in 1940 because if you care to look at real estate prices on the East Coast you will again curl up into a ball around the nearest wine bottle, twitching and jerking. On realtor.com, I saw a mobile home for $179,000.

The exciting part is that we won't ever have to leave our cardboard box unless the empty wine bottles eventually crowd us out. I can actually live somewhere long enough to put down roots, join a choir, make friends I won't have to say goodbye to in a couple years (or less). Plus, I'll be able to stay there long enough to get those free return address label thingies from charities. You know. Exciting stuff like that! Oh, plus I'll be able to fly for FREE . It might just make the trailer park worth it.