The flight of time: approved again

OK, have I seriously not blogged since September? That's CRAZY! I can't believe it has been that long. Obviously, however, it has been almost nine months... Sorry.

Life at the Olson house continues to move at a dizzying pace. Nat is busy riding his bike and playing all kinds of sports. He now likes to introduce himself as 'Brett Favre' when someone asks his name. (We don't put him up to it: he just loves sports.) Benjamin doesn't sleep through the night, but has his good nights and bad nights. He is getting very active: sitting up, crawling, pulling up, and even doing a little 'crusing': walking while holding onto furniture or the hearth.

Rob only has two classes left before he has met all the Army's requirements to become a chaplain. He was allowed to apply for active duty up to 6 months before he completed the requirements. His application packet went before the board in May and he was approved for active duty. So what does that mean? It means (let's see if I can keep this all straight...) that when he finishes his last 2 classes in mid-August, he will send in paperwork, the Army will send him paperwork, he take his 'oath of office' again, he will send back paperwork, and then he will eventually get his active duty orders. Due to the amount of paperwork flying back and forth, and the fact that the Army is a rather large organization, it isn't going to happen overnight, but we will most likely be moving before the end of the year. It could even be as early as September or October.

Now that it is really happening, it seems so surreal. We're moving? We're going to have to sell our little house? Where are we going? Will we know anyone? Will we have nice new neighbors and meet new friends? Will we be close to family? Will Rob be deployed? (The better question: Since we know Rob will most likely be deployed, where and when will he be deployed?)

In spite of the uncertainty and the questions, we are excited. We look forward to the challenges of new ministry opportunities, adapting to a new community, making new friends, etc. Although we'd love to know the answers to the questions, I think we can find a few things to keep us occupied until then. Time marches on. Hopefully it won't be another nine months before I blog again...