We are homeless

Well, we've officially moved, and now we have no home. We are a traveling band of circus people - that's actually the new job I will be taking. I (Chris) got everything packed, loaded, cleaned, and cleared (with help from the packers, movers, helpful friends, and Picerne Housing) last week, and after a short stay with the Crawford family, I left Sunday and arrived in Brighton, IL, just NE of the STL. Everything went really smoothly and I'm glad that part's over. Thanks be to all those who helped.

I basically walked into the sick ward here, as Mindy, Luke, and my father in-law are/were all sick upon my arrival. Luke had a fever (which seems to have broken today) and some congestion, Mindy has a cold/headache/earache, and Steve had a cold. I am doomed. Anyway, we tried to get them both to visit the doctor today, and we eventually gave up. Thank you Tricare, for making it as painful as possible to get medical help when you're out of town. I think I'm going to call the OMB and tell them that Tricare would rather I go for an expensive hospital visit than take them to the Shotts' normal family doctor, which would be much cheaper. If anyone ever wonders how much money the Army wastes per year, you're probably not even close in your estimate, trust me. Luke's fever broke not long after my marathon phone session, and Mindy ended up just going to the drugstore to get ear drops. Our government hard at work for you, soldiers!

We'll try to get another blog in before we leave STL for the cold, white north. So wish us luck. For those that don't know, we're here until this weekend, when we go to Michigan for a few days, and my Dad will take the dog and the truck back to MD to meet us there when we arrive early next week. Then after Christmas, I head down to GA to find a place to live, and my class starts on 4 January.

Keep it real out there. Props to my crew back in the Little Apple. We out.