Thursday, September 22, 2011

What Does This Mean?

Someone put our plans in a blender and hit puree. Again. Why do we even bother with a plan anyway? It's not like a single thing that we have made a plan on has EVER made it from start to finish. By the time that we do anything at all, we have had to redo or completely scrap the plan at LEAST one time. Lots of people have heard the line that you should "write your goals in granite and your plans in sand." Still, you expect that the tweaks to the plan will not require major course changes on a regular basis. In the last year and a half or so, we have changed course so often that we are suffering from some severe emotional and mental whiplash. 

The last 24 hours have been no exception to this. We have had a lot of new information dumped on us. A lot of people have asked what the new information means for us, and we honestly have no idea. We are going to need some time to process it all and determine what, if anything, needs to change about our current plan. We are not trying to be evasive or hide anything from people. We just don't know.

What we do know is this:
  1. Miss Gibbs called Lloyd yesterday to inform him that the NARSUM is ready for him, and he should be able to sign it next week. The "normal" time from when a soldier signs the NARSUM and when he/she is discharged to go home is 6-8 weeks. (Keep in mind that the "normal" time for the med board process in its entirety is 3-6 months. Lloyd started the process in February 2010, so the clock is at 20 months. We don't necessarily put much stock in "normal" time frames.) 
  2. The bank called. They finally got the report from the appraisal. It came in lower than we wanted, so we only have 10% equity instead of 20%. We will not be able to get as good of terms in the refinance. We will, at least, be out from under the conditions of the WHEDA loan that were severely limiting our options. 
That's it. That is all that we know. This new information needs to be incorporated into a decision about how to move forward from this point. Until that is done, we will be tentatively moving forward with the original most recent version of our plan. There are still a couple of weeks where we can continue on the path without reaching any critical points. We will be going ahead with the paperwork on the loan and packing the house for relocation. If we decide to cancel the relocation, it is still easy enough to stop the process.

On a side note, there has been a lot of tomfoolery and jackassery going on in Lloyd's unit. This has resulted in a lot of additional stress for Lloyd due to increased inspections, extra duties for the unit, and general all around suckiness. Combine that with the fact that he's got a nasty head cold, and he's having a pretty miserable week. 

For our prayin' peeps, we have an updated list:
  1. Discernment as we decide how to proceed with the new information about Lloyd's status.
  2. For us to keep our priorities and goals in the front of our minds and allow us to keep the main things the main things.
  3. A quick recovery from the bug that Lloyd caught.
  4. For the others in Lloyd's unit to see the error of their ways and start behaving themselves at least well enough to avoid punishment.
  5. Peace in the uncertainty.
  6. The ability to maintain focus in the day to day of life.
We appreciate you all so much.

God Bless!

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