The Big Sweaty Weekly: March 2018

Hafa Adai! We made it! And I meant to write this weeks ago BUT I AM TIRED ALL OF THE TIME, and so I haven't. Moving is exhausting. Moving 8,000 miles to an island in the middle of the ocean with two kids is really exhausting.

After careful consideration, I have decided to resurrect the Big Sweaty since if there were anywhere as sweaty as Cambodia, it’s right here in Guam. Really it’s just laziness, though…

I promise juicy and insightful posts from here on to keep our fans happy (I see you, grandma's!), but this one is going to be a straight up summary. Here are the basic catch up details (that I am sort of rushing together...), and I'll follow up with more nuanced thoughts/feelings down the road.

Pack out:

From Christmas day through Feb. 6 when we left we bounced around house to hotel, depending on the incredible kindness of friends and family who took us in for long stretches, last minute, and in all of our messy glory along the way. You know who you are and we're forever grateful.

The trip:

Hooo daddy, that was a long couple of days. With the help of Gavin’s family, we made it to the airport in the morning of the 6^th with 12 checked bags and roughly 7 carry on pieces. It was such a CF that we actually were the last to board our flight after doing a sweet set of sprints to make it in time. Nothing makes a marriage feel more fresh.

I was borderline terrified about Eli leading into the trip. The dude is "spirited" and I wasn't looking forward to him demonizing hundreds of strangers for 24hrs. I have to hand it to him, he acted like somebody else's baby and was a sweet little thing the whole time. Both kids were brilliant, really, as was the 70% occupancy on our long flight which meant we had two whole rows....

Made it!

We finally arrived at 2am on the 8th, and by 4am were checked into the Dusit Thani. It felt perfectly perfect to be back in the land of the Asian breakfast buffet and toilets with bum sprayers, but alas, it was only a 2 day stop. We moved on from there, popping out that pack n play for the 15th time in 6 weeks at the luxurious Navy Gateway Inn and Suites Nimitz Hill.

Work:
Gavin literally started work within an hour of getting off the plane. We had a nice week+ where he was learning the ropes, and then he finally started for real on the 20th. So far things have been good, and he is really liking the work. He's one of two docs running the ICU at the Navy Hospital, and things can reportedly be pretty hectic. Most of the patients are locals (Chamorro), and they see a lot of acutely sick people. It doesn't hurt that Chamorro are quite possibly the nicest people on the planet, apparently even when they're laid up in the ICU...

I have no idea what I am going to do, but am already itching to get something going. I'm giving myself until the end of the month before I make a push to start checking my options. Hold me to that. Thanks.

Kids:
Oh yeah, them! Both of them got into the same school on base that they have been in since baby-times, the Child Development Center. It was more of a tough transition than I thought it would be, to be honest. Misha was ok with things, but Eli has been slow to get into the groove.... Loads of guilt there. We've visited a couple of private PreK's for Misha and I think have settled on a good option. She needs more than she's getting, and this place seems like it'll do the trick.

La casa!

The best thing that has happened recently is that we found a house! We knew we didn't want to live on base, but finding a home here was a bit more stressful than I expected. We ended up in a cute little place in a great neighborhood 1mi. from the hospital, 5 minutes to the beach, and very close to stores/restaurants. We got our small express shipment, so we have a loaner couch and beds and lots of random toys. According to an email that I don't trust, we'll have the rest of our stuff in a couple of weeks.

Our super cute house!

First bath in our house!

Overall, we're happy to be here. Guam is profoundly beautiful and interesting, and has it's own brand of crazy that we're still figuring out. It's surprised me how non-military the average daily experience has been. Aside from quick visits on and off base, because of the kids school/visiting Gavin/cheap groceries, we're pretty removed from the whole scene. It's obviously a massive presence here, but at the same time it's easier than I expected to sort of forget about that element.

This has been a very different experience than moving to Cambodia. We're such hardcore adults all of a sudden, and nothing has confirmed that more than this process. It was very hard to say goodbye to family and friends, leaving Daisy behind, and taking the kids from their beloved teachers. Ultimately, we're thankful for technology that keeps us connected "in person" despite being a million miles away.

There's lots to adjust to and I will do my best to keep updating! Here's a few pictures! (sorry for those of you on social media who have already seen half of these...)