It’s that time again for us: time to talk about our next duty station.

I know, I know. How can we be talking and thinking about a new duty station when we just got here?! My thoughts, exactly.

But that’s what we military families do. So, like I have mentioned before, my husband is only here for school until May, 2013, so it’s time for him to start looking at his options and talking with his monitor about his next job or billet. The monitor is this mysterious person we talk about but someone I will never meet. And this stranger just so happens to control a huge part of my husband’s career which directly affects when and where our family goes. 

My husband called me during lunch one day this week and asked me if I liked Florida. I got a little excited because I thought he meant we were going on vacation. False. He spoke with his monitor and our new duty station was narrowed down to two choices: Tampa, Fl., or Virginia Beach, VA.

A little background information, neither of these are Marine Corps bases so I was a little unprepared for those options. You would think it would be great news to have it narrowed down to these two places but I feel like we are better off not knowing at all. We all know that information like this is useless until there are actual orders in your hand. We can’t really do anything to prepare for this move until its official and that won’t be until January or February.  

To be honest, I would almost rather not know! I should probably be grateful to know the two possibilities, but it is still frustrating. From now until February we will do our research and try hard not to fall in love with one place over the other to prevent disappointment.

I’m not sure how much say my husband has in the decision making process and maybe I am better off not knowing any of the discussions between he and his mysterious monitor. It seems like it would be a wonderful change in our lives to have some sort of control regarding our next move but, sometimes, it’s easier to have that decision made for you. That way if it’s a total bummer you have someone else to blame.  

But to be honest, both of these places are a win for us. Our very best friends, who became like family in California, are in Tampa now. And Virginia Beach was home to us before the Marine Corps entered our lives. We couldn’t be in a better position. It would just be nice to know where we are going as soon as possible.

So, we will keep adjusting to our current, “new” duty station as we prepare for another one. We could easily stress about another move but worrying about something that is not definite and could easily change doesn’t seem worth it right now.

I’ve learned that if I focus too much about where we are going or what our future holds, I miss out on the little things that are happening now.

And even though I may not be in love with where we are now, my family is together and there is nowhere else I would rather be then right here, right now.