Today we took the cars over to Peter’s to see about selling them. There was a couple there--with a little kid--who arranged to buy Guitarman’s. That was fast!
Mine didn’t go today but hopefully will before Guitarman leaves. Wow, it’s weird to think that our time here will be done soon. I know there are things I will miss about being over here. But I’m excited to get home, especially with Schatzi coming. I think I’d be a bit nervous delivering here. With the complications we had with Wee Laddie it’d make me pretty nervous to have that language barrier to worry about.
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Last Kids’ Club
Today was our last Kids’ Club and we said our goodbyes to Jeannette and Ashley. I have sort of mentioned to a few others, just in passing, that we were leaving but we certainly didn’t make a big production out of it. Partly ‘cause there aren’t many people that we’re that close to... partly because this population is so transient anyway that it would feel weird to call attention to it.
I've been taking some pics around the base. Not sure if that's legit or not--security issues and all--but I want to have a personal record of it (I won't be posting those anywhere) so I can show Wee Laddie when he's older in case he remembers any of it. But he's starting to get annoyed and doesn't want me to take pictures of certain things. Like the gym where they have Kids' Club. Not sure what's up with that.
We did also pop into Kristen’s office to say goodbye. She’s one of the first people I met when we first got here... her son, Ben, is a year older than Wee Laddie and we were all at Hotel Yogurt together back in January.
Today was the 2nd day in a row with no nap. 15 minutes in the car doesn’t count, despite what my son might try to tell you.
I've been taking some pics around the base. Not sure if that's legit or not--security issues and all--but I want to have a personal record of it (I won't be posting those anywhere) so I can show Wee Laddie when he's older in case he remembers any of it. But he's starting to get annoyed and doesn't want me to take pictures of certain things. Like the gym where they have Kids' Club. Not sure what's up with that.
We did also pop into Kristen’s office to say goodbye. She’s one of the first people I met when we first got here... her son, Ben, is a year older than Wee Laddie and we were all at Hotel Yogurt together back in January.
Today was the 2nd day in a row with no nap. 15 minutes in the car doesn’t count, despite what my son might try to tell you.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The New Tenant
I’m a little sad about leaving Germany. This part of it is clearly not for us, despite the fact that it’s lovely, the local food is great and the people have been incredibly friendly. I still think we might have had a totally different reaction had we been living nearer a big city. And there are a few people from here that we will definitely miss. Not many, but a few. Hopefully we’ll be able to stay in touch with these people and maybe reconnect geographically sometime in the future.
A woman came to look at our house tonight. She was here with another woman who appeared to be her assistant, as she was doing a lot of “ma’am”ing. She seemed to really like the house and is planning to call the housing office tomorrow. Get this: It’s going to be just this one woman living here. She’s a GS employee and apparently gets a really large housing allowance. This place seems pretty big for the three of us, since Wee Laddie can ride his bicycle and/or motorcycle around in the living room... it seems enormous for just one person!
Wee Laddie too a reeeeaaaalllllly long time to fall asleep. Maybe he’s anxious about the move? (It probably was weird for him to have someone looking at the house and us talking about her living here.) Maybe I need to re-think the nap thing. I should do a nap log to see if no-nap days are always quick-to-sleep nights.
I scheduled a hair appointment for right after we get home. I’ll have to wait to see about an OB appointment. We’ll still be on the out-of-network insurance until Guitarman’s back at his old office, so the coverage will be weird.
A woman came to look at our house tonight. She was here with another woman who appeared to be her assistant, as she was doing a lot of “ma’am”ing. She seemed to really like the house and is planning to call the housing office tomorrow. Get this: It’s going to be just this one woman living here. She’s a GS employee and apparently gets a really large housing allowance. This place seems pretty big for the three of us, since Wee Laddie can ride his bicycle and/or motorcycle around in the living room... it seems enormous for just one person!
Wee Laddie too a reeeeaaaalllllly long time to fall asleep. Maybe he’s anxious about the move? (It probably was weird for him to have someone looking at the house and us talking about her living here.) Maybe I need to re-think the nap thing. I should do a nap log to see if no-nap days are always quick-to-sleep nights.
I scheduled a hair appointment for right after we get home. I’ll have to wait to see about an OB appointment. We’ll still be on the out-of-network insurance until Guitarman’s back at his old office, so the coverage will be weird.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Weigh, not Organized
The movers came this morning to do an estimate of the weight of all of our stuff. Wee Laddie and I had Total Mom so Guitarman came home from work to meet with them. We are semi-organized, but there’s still lots to do. I guess it wouldn’t actually be horrible if things went as they are now... it’ll just simplify things a lot once stuff is in storage if we can get it more organized. I’m working on it in bits & pieces (partly so it doesn’t bog me down too much, partly ‘cause that’s kind of my only option what with a toddler to entertain).
Guitarman had a software group dinner tonight, so it was just me & Wee Laddie for the evening. Nap got off to a very late start, so we weren’t even back up until 6pm. (I usually wake around 5:30... must’ve been tired today.) We got up & had dinner and then I put him back into bed!
Guitarman had a software group dinner tonight, so it was just me & Wee Laddie for the evening. Nap got off to a very late start, so we weren’t even back up until 6pm. (I usually wake around 5:30... must’ve been tired today.) We got up & had dinner and then I put him back into bed!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Friends & the Almighty Dollar
Went for lunch with Christina and her little Oliver to Hotel zum Hirschen. Even though we don’t eat there often, I will miss that place. I miss the Käsespätzle already. After we’re home and I’m able to be off the gestational diabetes diet, I am going to have to start doing some research and trying to replicate that meal. I’m not a “signature meal” kind of gal, really, but for that meal? For that meal maybe I’ll become that kind of gal.
Anyway, it was a nice lunch. Everything’s starting to have that “last time” feel to it. (Have I said that already?) We will see Christina & Oliver again, as we’re going to their house for the Expat Thanksgiving Dinner, but that may be the last time.
We went to Möbelhof after lunch and Wee Laddie was admiring the sling Christina was using to carry Oliver. When we got home, Wee Laddie used a pair of pants as a sling to carry Baby Spunky. And he was carrying him around in his jacket like this:
And the dollar is now worth .6535 euro. Ouch.
Anyway, it was a nice lunch. Everything’s starting to have that “last time” feel to it. (Have I said that already?) We will see Christina & Oliver again, as we’re going to their house for the Expat Thanksgiving Dinner, but that may be the last time.
We went to Möbelhof after lunch and Wee Laddie was admiring the sling Christina was using to carry Oliver. When we got home, Wee Laddie used a pair of pants as a sling to carry Baby Spunky. And he was carrying him around in his jacket like this:
And the dollar is now worth .6535 euro. Ouch.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Halloween on My Mind
German class was just me and Kim tonight and I was clueless. It’s a little easier to BS my way through with more people there but it’s also that, since there were only 2 of us there, we had to participate more.
We talked a little about Halloween here and how it’s growing in popularity. How sad that it’s still shrinking in the US. Trick-or-treating used to be such a blast! I loved trying to think of a really unusual/creative costume and then seeing people’s reactions to it. One of my funniest Halloween moments was the year that two of my best friends and I went as coneheads. We’d made our cones out of cardboard (this was before they had ones you could buy) and they had holes in the top. We were at one house, and my boyfriend at the time went up on the stairs to look into the hole to see if he could read my mind. Pretty funny.
I’ve started to work on getting organized for the packing. We don’t have to pack our stuff (in fact, even if we did pack it, they’d have to unpack & repack it… I think because of customs and to make sure we don’t bring anything illegal), but I’m trying to get it organized so we can find things later. It’s a big job.
We talked a little about Halloween here and how it’s growing in popularity. How sad that it’s still shrinking in the US. Trick-or-treating used to be such a blast! I loved trying to think of a really unusual/creative costume and then seeing people’s reactions to it. One of my funniest Halloween moments was the year that two of my best friends and I went as coneheads. We’d made our cones out of cardboard (this was before they had ones you could buy) and they had holes in the top. We were at one house, and my boyfriend at the time went up on the stairs to look into the hole to see if he could read my mind. Pretty funny.
I’ve started to work on getting organized for the packing. We don’t have to pack our stuff (in fact, even if we did pack it, they’d have to unpack & repack it… I think because of customs and to make sure we don’t bring anything illegal), but I’m trying to get it organized so we can find things later. It’s a big job.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Splish Splash
I’ve been wanting to take Wee Laddie to the swim group since I first heard about it. It’s at the Bulmare Schwimmbad in Burglengenfeld, and there’s a swim instructor who gives mini-lessons to the kids for $1. I didn’t relish the idea of bathing suit shopping, in a foreign language, whilst feeling particularly large, with a toddler in tow, so I was waiting ‘til our bathing suits came from home. Now that our stuff is here, we get to go!
Wee Laddie panicked a bit when we got there. I think the locker room freaked him out a bit. It’s kind of a strange setup. When you first walk in, what you see is a long hallway with opaque glass-enclosed changing rooms with glass doors. (I’d been apprehensive about the co-ed locker room, but I’m fine as long as I’ve got a place to change.) If you go through one of those, you get to the lockers and the doors to the WCs and the pool. But he’s never seen anything like that and didn’t know what to think of it. He was like whimpering and saying, 'No swim.' (Not at all typical behavior for him.) So I waited it out. We talked about it and went little by little. Once we got into the pool, he freakin’ loved it! I didn’t want to push it by trying a lesson, so we just played.
He fell asleep on the way home but talked about swimming the rest of the day, including asking to go back in the afternoon.
Before we left this morning, the movers came back to unpack our stuff. I can see you scratching your head and saying, 'Huh? I thought they got their stuff like a week ago.' And that is true. They were supposed to unpack us when they delivered the stuff, but they didn’t. And when Guitarman emailed to ask/complain about that and ask that they apply the money from that to some of our other expenses, then they send someone out. (Nevermind that they didn’t even call first.) I told them we’d unpacked and they were like, 'Oh, so all the furniture and closets and things are assembled?' I said, 'Well, yeah. We’re not going to sit here with unassembled furniture for a WEEK.' Pfffft.
Wee Laddie panicked a bit when we got there. I think the locker room freaked him out a bit. It’s kind of a strange setup. When you first walk in, what you see is a long hallway with opaque glass-enclosed changing rooms with glass doors. (I’d been apprehensive about the co-ed locker room, but I’m fine as long as I’ve got a place to change.) If you go through one of those, you get to the lockers and the doors to the WCs and the pool. But he’s never seen anything like that and didn’t know what to think of it. He was like whimpering and saying, 'No swim.' (Not at all typical behavior for him.) So I waited it out. We talked about it and went little by little. Once we got into the pool, he freakin’ loved it! I didn’t want to push it by trying a lesson, so we just played.
He fell asleep on the way home but talked about swimming the rest of the day, including asking to go back in the afternoon.
Before we left this morning, the movers came back to unpack our stuff. I can see you scratching your head and saying, 'Huh? I thought they got their stuff like a week ago.' And that is true. They were supposed to unpack us when they delivered the stuff, but they didn’t. And when Guitarman emailed to ask/complain about that and ask that they apply the money from that to some of our other expenses, then they send someone out. (Nevermind that they didn’t even call first.) I told them we’d unpacked and they were like, 'Oh, so all the furniture and closets and things are assembled?' I said, 'Well, yeah. We’re not going to sit here with unassembled furniture for a WEEK.' Pfffft.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
They’re Still Here
This morning after getting out of bed, Wee Laddie put his hands on his hips and stood looking at his toys for a moment. He said, 'Heh heh,' with an air of great satisfaction.
I had more moving dreams last night. I’d finally stopped having them (dealing with the stress of the move and all the stuff I didn’t get done in Blizzard City before we left), and now they’re back. Ugh.
I’m still searching around the local shops but haven’t been able to find any of the alternative pastas I’m looking for. Some shops carry corn pasta, but I’m not a big fan of the texture of that one. I’ll have to go check at the health food store I saw in Regensburg unless I can find one closer. I’d spotted an Asian and general foreign food store in the shopping area of Parsberg, but they were closed when I tried to go there. I haven’t been back to see whether they were just closed that day for some reason or if they’re gone. I was thinking that might be a good spot for some interesting foods I can’t find elsewhere.
I had more moving dreams last night. I’d finally stopped having them (dealing with the stress of the move and all the stuff I didn’t get done in Blizzard City before we left), and now they’re back. Ugh.
I’m still searching around the local shops but haven’t been able to find any of the alternative pastas I’m looking for. Some shops carry corn pasta, but I’m not a big fan of the texture of that one. I’ll have to go check at the health food store I saw in Regensburg unless I can find one closer. I’d spotted an Asian and general foreign food store in the shopping area of Parsberg, but they were closed when I tried to go there. I haven’t been back to see whether they were just closed that day for some reason or if they’re gone. I was thinking that might be a good spot for some interesting foods I can’t find elsewhere.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
The Toys Are Back in Town
Today Wee Laddie and I hung out in 'his' room (not that he sleeps there yet) while I unpacked some stuff. Wee Laddie was so cute…he was totally excited about each toy. I’d put one in the toy box, he’d spot it and pull it out to play with. He napped on top of his Elmo phone and plastic keys. He even woke briefly once to find that the keys had slipped out from under him… he tucked them in again and went back to sleep.
I seem to have a problem with overusing the word 'thingy,' as evidenced by my son, who now uses it (pronounced 'feeney') in nearly every sentence he utters.
I seem to have a problem with overusing the word 'thingy,' as evidenced by my son, who now uses it (pronounced 'feeney') in nearly every sentence he utters.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
The Furniture Returns
Got our stuff, at long last! They didn’t put everything together, nor did they unpack everything. We were led to believe they would do both. We are really not too impressed with the company that has orchestrated this whole thing (Cartus, in case anyone’s looking for an int’l mover to NOT use). They didn’t keep very good track of the paperwork. Oh, and they charged us 100 euro for storage. What? Shyeah… as if we haven't been waiting weeks already to get our stuff. Aargh!
I have an apple song that I created (over several nights) at Wee Laddie’s request. (I couldn’t think of a single song that talks about apples, which he was fixated on at the time.) He usually wants me to sing that song to help him fall asleep. Today at naptime he told me, 'No Apple. No sing, Mommy, just bounce.' Wow. His language skills are blowing me away these days.
I have an apple song that I created (over several nights) at Wee Laddie’s request. (I couldn’t think of a single song that talks about apples, which he was fixated on at the time.) He usually wants me to sing that song to help him fall asleep. Today at naptime he told me, 'No Apple. No sing, Mommy, just bounce.' Wow. His language skills are blowing me away these days.
Monday, February 5, 2007
The Dual Duel
Went to Würzburg for some electronics. Kind of sucks having to replace all this stuff, and I really hope we haven’t jinxed ourselves by buying dual-voltage stuff this time. The thing that sucks about buying dual-voltage is that the selection is sometimes very limited. So we’re trying to decide about some things, like vacuum cleaner, microwave, etc. It’s probably not worth getting dual-voltage on everything… it’s just hard to decide on which things.
I got an email the other day saying that all yoga & pilates classes on base have been cancelled due to lack of participation. I’m so bummed… I was really enjoying our yoga class, and it was such a great opportunity for me to do something for my own health (and sanity), while still giving Wee Laddie something fun to do.
I got an email the other day saying that all yoga & pilates classes on base have been cancelled due to lack of participation. I’m so bummed… I was really enjoying our yoga class, and it was such a great opportunity for me to do something for my own health (and sanity), while still giving Wee Laddie something fun to do.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Dishes and Closets and Trains, Oh My!
Went to IKEA. I love love love that store but holy crap, are they crowded on Saturdays! Yikes. We got new dishes. Partly because ours aren’t here yet (although they should be very soon), but partly because what we have now are Guitarman’s old dishes from his life with his ex-wife who shall remain nameless. I think ditching those will just about clear out all belongings from life with other spouses. That just can’t be a good vibe to have around, ya know?
And we got some more train track pieces for Wee Laddie. He’s really getting into putting the track together. All part of his increased independent play, which is very good for Mama. :)
We also got some wardrobes. Houses here do not come with closets. It’s nice from a furniture-layout point of view, in that you can put your furniture wherever you want… but it’s not so nice when you’re waiting for all of your furniture to arrive and all of your clothes are just lying on the floor in the meantime.
Renters here also are usually expected to put in their own light fixtures and they take them with them when they go. Somehow or other, I’m sure that explains the ugliness of the ones in our house: I think the landlord wasn’t expecting to have to put fixtures in for us, so he just grabbed whatever he had out in his garage. What it doesn’t explain (and what just might defy explanation altogether) is why he had these fixtures in the first place.
And we got some more train track pieces for Wee Laddie. He’s really getting into putting the track together. All part of his increased independent play, which is very good for Mama. :)
We also got some wardrobes. Houses here do not come with closets. It’s nice from a furniture-layout point of view, in that you can put your furniture wherever you want… but it’s not so nice when you’re waiting for all of your furniture to arrive and all of your clothes are just lying on the floor in the meantime.
Renters here also are usually expected to put in their own light fixtures and they take them with them when they go. Somehow or other, I’m sure that explains the ugliness of the ones in our house: I think the landlord wasn’t expecting to have to put fixtures in for us, so he just grabbed whatever he had out in his garage. What it doesn’t explain (and what just might defy explanation altogether) is why he had these fixtures in the first place.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
A Narrow Miss
Wee Laddie didn’t sleep well. Sometime in the night he and I had a disagreement about whether or not we could sleep with his arm wrapped around my throat (I have trouble even wearing too-tight turtlenecks, in case you were wondering which side of the argument I was on). Ended up with me getting grumpy and him getting very upset. It later occurred to me that this is still a very huge, strange adjustment for him and I need to bear that in mind. I mean, our stuff still isn’t even here… it must be hard for him to feel any sense of security or stability. And, as all parents know, young children LOVE routine.
We were supposed to get our DSL installed today. This morning I asked Guitarman if they’d said afternoon or if I was just guessing that.. he said the thought it was afternoon. Then he pulled out the letters from T-Com and guess what? The freaking router is on backorder until APRIL. (yup, you read that right) So I just about had a nervous breakdown before breakfast, even. Perfect timing that I’d bought that dictionary last night or I’d never have been able to figure out what the letter said. Oh, or that they were in fact scheduled to come in the morning, by 10 am.
Long story short, I found out that they shipped us the router on 29 January so we should have it today or tomorrow. I’m supposed to call when we get it and they‘ll reschedule the installation. Thank goodness. Some of you can well imagine how upset I was at the thought of TWO MORE MONTHS of no internet at home.
The German word for relieved: erleichtert
We were supposed to get our DSL installed today. This morning I asked Guitarman if they’d said afternoon or if I was just guessing that.. he said the thought it was afternoon. Then he pulled out the letters from T-Com and guess what? The freaking router is on backorder until APRIL. (yup, you read that right) So I just about had a nervous breakdown before breakfast, even. Perfect timing that I’d bought that dictionary last night or I’d never have been able to figure out what the letter said. Oh, or that they were in fact scheduled to come in the morning, by 10 am.
Long story short, I found out that they shipped us the router on 29 January so we should have it today or tomorrow. I’m supposed to call when we get it and they‘ll reschedule the installation. Thank goodness. Some of you can well imagine how upset I was at the thought of TWO MORE MONTHS of no internet at home.
The German word for relieved: erleichtert
Saturday, January 27, 2007
What, No Kitchen?
This morning a couple of guys came to 'fix' the kitchen island (not that they bothered to call first or anything). I say 'fix' because all they did was put a new back on it. It’s more substantial, but now there’s a strip along the back of it that matches the back but not the rest of the top, so it looks kind of weird.
And here’s where I’ll talk about German kitchens. Most German apartments/houses do not come with kitchens. No cabinets, no appliances… not even a sink. Sometimes not even a floor. (Because we rented through the housing office on base, ours did have a kitchen.) Those of you who have looked through IKEA catalogs are now understanding why half of it is taken up by kitchen cabinets & stuff, I’ll bet. Aside from the initial expense, I kind of like the idea of having your own kitchen move along with you. I’ve lived in so many places where I didn’t like the cabinets, or the lights or whatever other things… would’ve been nice to have my own stuff to put in. The only really tricky part would be how to have the kitchen fit from one place to the next. (More on closets & lights in another post.)
Guitarman’s car failed the inspection, so he can’t register it yet, which means he’s got these very obvious American temporary plates. Kinda makes the car stick out like a sore thumb. He’ll go in on Tuesday to have Peter fix the car (something about brake pressure not being the same on both sides or something).
The guy at the car center on base was really rude to Guitarman today, so he came home in a horrible mood… ready to pack it in & be back home. (Not really, but pissed off at having to deal with the stuff that comes with being in a foreign place. The guy that pissed him off isn’t even German so it wasn’t about that.) I think things’ll be a lot less stressful once our stuff is here. It’s so hard to feel 'at home' like this, and we’re not really relaxed enough to want to go be touristy either.
And here’s where I’ll talk about German kitchens. Most German apartments/houses do not come with kitchens. No cabinets, no appliances… not even a sink. Sometimes not even a floor. (Because we rented through the housing office on base, ours did have a kitchen.) Those of you who have looked through IKEA catalogs are now understanding why half of it is taken up by kitchen cabinets & stuff, I’ll bet. Aside from the initial expense, I kind of like the idea of having your own kitchen move along with you. I’ve lived in so many places where I didn’t like the cabinets, or the lights or whatever other things… would’ve been nice to have my own stuff to put in. The only really tricky part would be how to have the kitchen fit from one place to the next. (More on closets & lights in another post.)
Guitarman’s car failed the inspection, so he can’t register it yet, which means he’s got these very obvious American temporary plates. Kinda makes the car stick out like a sore thumb. He’ll go in on Tuesday to have Peter fix the car (something about brake pressure not being the same on both sides or something).
The guy at the car center on base was really rude to Guitarman today, so he came home in a horrible mood… ready to pack it in & be back home. (Not really, but pissed off at having to deal with the stuff that comes with being in a foreign place. The guy that pissed him off isn’t even German so it wasn’t about that.) I think things’ll be a lot less stressful once our stuff is here. It’s so hard to feel 'at home' like this, and we’re not really relaxed enough to want to go be touristy either.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Hoopdis All Around
Wee Laddie and I went to Kids’ Club. It was just us for 45 min or so (I guess because of the snow?), then 3 others eventually showed. The group that goes regularly seems to play well together. There are very few altercations, and the moms are all pretty involved. (Hmmm...perhaps that’s why there are so few altercations.)
Apparently our stuff is getting closer… Guitarman has been asked to fill out a customs form. We’d like to know why it wasn’t done ages ago, but the moving company doesn’t really seem to have their shit together.
Wee Laddie is talking up a storm. Today he talked about 'shovel cars' (snowplows)…his growing understanding of how to make sentences astounds me. He’s saying lots of things where he’s playing with the word order, like 'In there Daddy office?' becomes 'Daddy office in there?' It’s like he gets that it goes a certain way and plays with it ‘til it sounds right. My fave phrases of his are, 'Honey, honey, honey,' which he uses if he’s starting to get frustrated with something… can you guess why?) 'Guess so.' And, 'Thank you, you’re welcome, thanks.' Said all together so there’s not even room for another person to do the 'you’re welcome' part. He’s actually been doing this for a while, but it’s now getting clear enough for other people to understand easily. And they usually laugh.
Got Guitarman’s car tonight. Now I’ve got the schmancy car of the two of us. I should tell you, though, that my fancy red sports car (’95 BMW 3-series) only cost $4K. That’s only $1K more than the crappy little car I was driving back home. And even though it’s more than 10 years old it handles really nicely… better than any other car I’ve owned, actually. If we have to leave in October, I’m sure going to see about shipping this car back to the US.
Apparently our stuff is getting closer… Guitarman has been asked to fill out a customs form. We’d like to know why it wasn’t done ages ago, but the moving company doesn’t really seem to have their shit together.
Wee Laddie is talking up a storm. Today he talked about 'shovel cars' (snowplows)…his growing understanding of how to make sentences astounds me. He’s saying lots of things where he’s playing with the word order, like 'In there Daddy office?' becomes 'Daddy office in there?' It’s like he gets that it goes a certain way and plays with it ‘til it sounds right. My fave phrases of his are, 'Honey, honey, honey,' which he uses if he’s starting to get frustrated with something… can you guess why?) 'Guess so.' And, 'Thank you, you’re welcome, thanks.' Said all together so there’s not even room for another person to do the 'you’re welcome' part. He’s actually been doing this for a while, but it’s now getting clear enough for other people to understand easily. And they usually laugh.
Got Guitarman’s car tonight. Now I’ve got the schmancy car of the two of us. I should tell you, though, that my fancy red sports car (’95 BMW 3-series) only cost $4K. That’s only $1K more than the crappy little car I was driving back home. And even though it’s more than 10 years old it handles really nicely… better than any other car I’ve owned, actually. If we have to leave in October, I’m sure going to see about shipping this car back to the US.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
A Place to Sit
Had lunch at the mess hall again. The first Mexican food we’ve had since we got here… beef enchiladas. They were completely wrong (flour tortillas and the sauce tasted like that chile con carne from grade school), but somehow not horrible. I guess because I wasn’t expecting it to taste like a real enchilada.
We went to Möbelhof after lunch to get a sofa. The one we’d picked wasn’t in stock so we picked another (there’s literally nowhere to sit on our main floor since our stuff from home hasn’t arrived yet) that we both actually like a bit better. (I think it cost a bit more or we’d have picked it to begin with.) It’s orange, but doesn’t quite go with the rug we got (the sofa’s in a brighter palette…more citrusy) but we’ll eventually put it in the loft, probably. I think (and hope!) that our red sofa will go better with this rug… and we can pick another rug later for the loft.
The Deutsche Telecom guy came out today and got our home phone line working… yay! And we’re one step closer to having DSL now, too. First they guy said we need to send a letter but later he said he’d have an English-speaking colleague call us. I’m hoping that means he’ll kind of grease the wheels a bit for us. Bureaucratic stuff is supposed to be very slow here, and I’m already going nutso from my lack of contact with my friends, my family, my co-moms. I just about broke down in the library parking lot yesterday because I was so pissed off that I couldn’t get 10 freaking minutes of 'me' time to check my email. So far I’m the only one putting Wee Laddie down at night (which usually still takes a while), and then Guitarman comes to bed early enough that it’s not even worth going back downstairs once Wee Laddie’s asleep…not that I’m still awake. (We’re all in one bed ‘til we get a low bed for Wee Laddie.)
I’m so caught up on sleep that I’ve been skipping naps (like Wee Laddie is sleeping as I write this) and still waking at like 5-6am most days. And I’m so not an early riser.
We went to Möbelhof after lunch to get a sofa. The one we’d picked wasn’t in stock so we picked another (there’s literally nowhere to sit on our main floor since our stuff from home hasn’t arrived yet) that we both actually like a bit better. (I think it cost a bit more or we’d have picked it to begin with.) It’s orange, but doesn’t quite go with the rug we got (the sofa’s in a brighter palette…more citrusy) but we’ll eventually put it in the loft, probably. I think (and hope!) that our red sofa will go better with this rug… and we can pick another rug later for the loft.
The Deutsche Telecom guy came out today and got our home phone line working… yay! And we’re one step closer to having DSL now, too. First they guy said we need to send a letter but later he said he’d have an English-speaking colleague call us. I’m hoping that means he’ll kind of grease the wheels a bit for us. Bureaucratic stuff is supposed to be very slow here, and I’m already going nutso from my lack of contact with my friends, my family, my co-moms. I just about broke down in the library parking lot yesterday because I was so pissed off that I couldn’t get 10 freaking minutes of 'me' time to check my email. So far I’m the only one putting Wee Laddie down at night (which usually still takes a while), and then Guitarman comes to bed early enough that it’s not even worth going back downstairs once Wee Laddie’s asleep…not that I’m still awake. (We’re all in one bed ‘til we get a low bed for Wee Laddie.)
I’m so caught up on sleep that I’ve been skipping naps (like Wee Laddie is sleeping as I write this) and still waking at like 5-6am most days. And I’m so not an early riser.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Strykers & Ugly Furniture (One to Take Care of the Other?)
Had brunch at one of the mess halls. The mess hall meals are usually pretty good and always cheap (basically an all-you-can-eat, although you only get one main dish, for $3.65), so we’ve been eating there a lot. The downside is that it’s easy to overdo on semi-decadent foods that you usually avoid (biscuits, bacon, etc.). And it’s easy to overeat in general, just because it’s there and pretty yummy and I hate to waste food. Gotta work on letting that go so I don’t gain more weight again!
Went to Vilseck again today to check out the furniture store there. First ugly furniture I’ve seen in Germany. It’s that big, over-sized, overly-ornate stuff that I just don’t like. (Please, if you like that stuff, don’t be offended. I realize it has its place… that place just isn't anywhere in my house.) There was like one sofa and chair in the whole place that would go with our stuff, but that’s not what we need.
To get to Vilseck, we went out the back side of the base. That means you go through some of the training areas where they have tank crossings along the road & stuff. They do some blackout night training there, so at night you’re supposed to stop & listen for the tanks since they may be coming along with all their lights off. Guitarman was talking about how some people have never seen any vehicles out there so they kind of get careless about stopping at all the yield signs. (Yeah, yield doesn’t mean stop, but wouldn’t ya hate to have a tank run you over ‘cause you didn’t want to take the time to do a full-on stop?) Anyway, we’d just passed this yard thingy where they maybe store tanks (we don’t know what all the stuff is on base) and 3 of the Stryker vehicles went right by us. Wow, are those things quiet! We’d never have noticed them (they did have all their lights off) if I hadn’t happened to look over in their direction (they were on a road next to the main road). We also saw a few Hummers driving along another road. Kind of weird to be here, driving on by on our way from dinner (we ate at the bowling alley), while the military is out here training. Apparently they have fake towns on base and they hire locals to interact with the soldiers & stuff. Interesting.
I finally finished putting the bed together and got the 2 baby gates put up. We’re going to see how it goes to not block off the stairs from the main floor going upstairs… hoping that Wee Laddie won’t go up far enough on his own that he’ll fall down. (I’m sure some people are wondering why we still need gates for him. I’ll tell ya, this child does not pay enough attention to what he’s doing. Sometimes, he’ll nearly fall down the stairs even with me holding his hand!)
Went to Vilseck again today to check out the furniture store there. First ugly furniture I’ve seen in Germany. It’s that big, over-sized, overly-ornate stuff that I just don’t like. (Please, if you like that stuff, don’t be offended. I realize it has its place… that place just isn't anywhere in my house.) There was like one sofa and chair in the whole place that would go with our stuff, but that’s not what we need.
To get to Vilseck, we went out the back side of the base. That means you go through some of the training areas where they have tank crossings along the road & stuff. They do some blackout night training there, so at night you’re supposed to stop & listen for the tanks since they may be coming along with all their lights off. Guitarman was talking about how some people have never seen any vehicles out there so they kind of get careless about stopping at all the yield signs. (Yeah, yield doesn’t mean stop, but wouldn’t ya hate to have a tank run you over ‘cause you didn’t want to take the time to do a full-on stop?) Anyway, we’d just passed this yard thingy where they maybe store tanks (we don’t know what all the stuff is on base) and 3 of the Stryker vehicles went right by us. Wow, are those things quiet! We’d never have noticed them (they did have all their lights off) if I hadn’t happened to look over in their direction (they were on a road next to the main road). We also saw a few Hummers driving along another road. Kind of weird to be here, driving on by on our way from dinner (we ate at the bowling alley), while the military is out here training. Apparently they have fake towns on base and they hire locals to interact with the soldiers & stuff. Interesting.
I finally finished putting the bed together and got the 2 baby gates put up. We’re going to see how it goes to not block off the stairs from the main floor going upstairs… hoping that Wee Laddie won’t go up far enough on his own that he’ll fall down. (I’m sure some people are wondering why we still need gates for him. I’ll tell ya, this child does not pay enough attention to what he’s doing. Sometimes, he’ll nearly fall down the stairs even with me holding his hand!)
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Feelin’ Like a Moron
We went up to one of the other furniture shops by IKEA... it’s called Hiedl. There was a discount furniture place that seemed a little lower in quality than IKEA so we didn’t get anything there. I mean, IKEA’s got good bang-for-your-buck, but if you go much lower than that on quality I think you might have some regrets. We got a rug for the living room (I was surprised that Guitarman actually was okay with a big orange rug for the living room… he’s said before that he didn’t want to have bunches of colors in the house just for the sake of having lots of colors. And we do already have a red sofa!), some childproofing things and a stroller.
I had my first official 'I’m an idiot for never becoming fluent in another language' moment. We were checking out and while Guitarman was doing VAT forms and I was confused about the German instructions we were getting on how to actually get the stroller (some stuff you can just stick in your cart, some stuff you have to have sent over from the warehouse, apparently) we forgot a bag at the counter. We got to the car and realized it was missing so I went back in to get it… it had already been sent to where we had to go to pick up the stroller. So we get there and the guy says something to me in German. I told him I don’t understand German and he just walked away. He brought over the bag and asked if it was ours (through gestures), so I said yes ('ja') and he gave me that and our stroller. It was one of those moments where you can just tell exactly how big of an idiot another person thinks you are. I hate those moments.
Wee Laddie is having a lot of trouble listening lately. Well, I suppose it’s more the doing what we want him to part that he’s really having a hard time with. I know he’s two and all so there’s that. But I also think the upheaval is taking its toll on his behavior. We’ve been doing all this furniture shopping (another factor, I’m sure, along with the fact that it’s almost never warm & dry enough to spend any time outside here) and he just takes off running through the store and won’t stay with us at all. Makes it even harder to get this shopping done.
I had my first official 'I’m an idiot for never becoming fluent in another language' moment. We were checking out and while Guitarman was doing VAT forms and I was confused about the German instructions we were getting on how to actually get the stroller (some stuff you can just stick in your cart, some stuff you have to have sent over from the warehouse, apparently) we forgot a bag at the counter. We got to the car and realized it was missing so I went back in to get it… it had already been sent to where we had to go to pick up the stroller. So we get there and the guy says something to me in German. I told him I don’t understand German and he just walked away. He brought over the bag and asked if it was ours (through gestures), so I said yes ('ja') and he gave me that and our stroller. It was one of those moments where you can just tell exactly how big of an idiot another person thinks you are. I hate those moments.
Wee Laddie is having a lot of trouble listening lately. Well, I suppose it’s more the doing what we want him to part that he’s really having a hard time with. I know he’s two and all so there’s that. But I also think the upheaval is taking its toll on his behavior. We’ve been doing all this furniture shopping (another factor, I’m sure, along with the fact that it’s almost never warm & dry enough to spend any time outside here) and he just takes off running through the store and won’t stay with us at all. Makes it even harder to get this shopping done.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Echo, Echo, Echo
We had dinner at and looked around the Möbelhof furniture store. It’s right across the road (well, and a field, too) from our house but you have to drive about a kilometer to get there. It is a very cool store. IKEA style but more upscale. Rather like Bova…not quite DWR, but nicer than Scan Designs and way nicer than IKEA. Wee Laddie was quite taken with a table & chair set that’s just his size. (Already, with the high-end taste… maybe we can talk him into IKEA at least.) I love that there are all these furniture stores around with stuff that we like. There are some other shops around the IKEA that we’ll also check out on some other trip over there.
Tonight was the first night in the house. It echoes like crazy with the tile floors and no furniture. We can barely carry on a conversation, and then only if Wee Laddie’s not shouting something (which he often is). It’s maddening. Guitarman was unpacking the TV & stuff and it was just insanely loud from the bedroom upstairs.
When I tucked Wee Laddie in tonight he was crying for the hotel. I’m sure it’s just because that’s the only place he’s stayed here and he didn’t want to be in a new place (we don’t even have the bed set up, we’re just on the mattresses on the floor). I had taken some photos of the hotel room so I showed them to him. That seemed to help and he did finally go to sleep.
Funny thing Wee Laddie did: He picked a boogie and tried to put it in Guitarman’s nose. Hehe
Tonight was the first night in the house. It echoes like crazy with the tile floors and no furniture. We can barely carry on a conversation, and then only if Wee Laddie’s not shouting something (which he often is). It’s maddening. Guitarman was unpacking the TV & stuff and it was just insanely loud from the bedroom upstairs.
When I tucked Wee Laddie in tonight he was crying for the hotel. I’m sure it’s just because that’s the only place he’s stayed here and he didn’t want to be in a new place (we don’t even have the bed set up, we’re just on the mattresses on the floor). I had taken some photos of the hotel room so I showed them to him. That seemed to help and he did finally go to sleep.
Funny thing Wee Laddie did: He picked a boogie and tried to put it in Guitarman’s nose. Hehe
Friday, January 12, 2007
A Better Place to Stay
We’re definitely renting the house in Parsberg… Guitarman met with the landlord & a guy from the housing office today to do a walkthrough. He’s supposed to take the rent check to the landlord tomorrow. It’ll be really nice to get out of the hotel & into a place that’ll be ours even if our stuff won’t be there for a while yet.
We made a run up (down? over?) to IKEA in Regensburg tonight after Guitarman got off work. It was a horrible trip doing something I normally really enjoy. The people who lent Guitarman the truck (it’s connected with work so they can only use it for a short time) didn’t have their paperwork together, so it took him like 1.5 hours to get the truck. Those of you who know how patient he is can imagine how that affected his mood. (And I’ll just leave it at that.) He was supposed to have the truck at 4pm, IKEA closes at like 7 or 8pm (I forget exactly) and it takes probably 1/2 hour to get there.
The drive up was awful...my first time driving on the autobahn. Here’s the deal with the autobahn: There is technically no speed limit for the whole autobahn, but certain areas are marked with speed limits for certain conditions (60kph when wet, 80kph because of road damage, etc). And if you’re in an accident and are doing over 130kph (which is roughly 80mph) you can get in some big trouble if they think you were driving too fast for conditions. Still, a lot of people drive very, very fast. So I’m driving this Lancia rental car that is essentially a Euro minivan… tall, top-heavy, plus it’s shorter and narrower than a US minivan. And on this drive it was really windy. I felt like I was getting blown all over the place! So I wasn’t able to drive very fast but was trying to hurry. I'm a fairly confident driver except when weather conditions make me uncomfortable.
(photo from constructeurs.photos.caradisiac.com...trendy people included for perspective)
Wee Laddie and I ate dinner in the car (sandwiches from the Esso gas station…gotta say, much better than the 7-11 kind) and then we made a mad dash around IKEA, Wee Laddie in tow, trying to get all this stuff. We wanted to get: a bed for us, a bed for Wee Laddie, bedding for all, a TV stand of some kind, and some seating for the living room while our sofa is en route. What we got: a bed
and bedding, but just for us. (Guitarman had already picked up a TV, of course.)
There’s a weird phenomenon here… all the people in shops love to give out gummy bears (or sometimes lollipops) to the little children. Wee Laddie was being really whiny at the Esso when I picked up dinner and the woman handed me one for him. I stuck it quickly in my pocket so he didn’t see it because I was not about to reward his whiny behavior. I did refrain from telling her that, though it probably was mostly because my German is so limited.
We made a run up (down? over?) to IKEA in Regensburg tonight after Guitarman got off work. It was a horrible trip doing something I normally really enjoy. The people who lent Guitarman the truck (it’s connected with work so they can only use it for a short time) didn’t have their paperwork together, so it took him like 1.5 hours to get the truck. Those of you who know how patient he is can imagine how that affected his mood. (And I’ll just leave it at that.) He was supposed to have the truck at 4pm, IKEA closes at like 7 or 8pm (I forget exactly) and it takes probably 1/2 hour to get there.
The drive up was awful...my first time driving on the autobahn. Here’s the deal with the autobahn: There is technically no speed limit for the whole autobahn, but certain areas are marked with speed limits for certain conditions (60kph when wet, 80kph because of road damage, etc). And if you’re in an accident and are doing over 130kph (which is roughly 80mph) you can get in some big trouble if they think you were driving too fast for conditions. Still, a lot of people drive very, very fast. So I’m driving this Lancia rental car that is essentially a Euro minivan… tall, top-heavy, plus it’s shorter and narrower than a US minivan. And on this drive it was really windy. I felt like I was getting blown all over the place! So I wasn’t able to drive very fast but was trying to hurry. I'm a fairly confident driver except when weather conditions make me uncomfortable.
(photo from constructeurs.photos.caradisiac.com...trendy people included for perspective)
Wee Laddie and I ate dinner in the car (sandwiches from the Esso gas station…gotta say, much better than the 7-11 kind) and then we made a mad dash around IKEA, Wee Laddie in tow, trying to get all this stuff. We wanted to get: a bed for us, a bed for Wee Laddie, bedding for all, a TV stand of some kind, and some seating for the living room while our sofa is en route. What we got: a bed
and bedding, but just for us. (Guitarman had already picked up a TV, of course.)
There’s a weird phenomenon here… all the people in shops love to give out gummy bears (or sometimes lollipops) to the little children. Wee Laddie was being really whiny at the Esso when I picked up dinner and the woman handed me one for him. I stuck it quickly in my pocket so he didn’t see it because I was not about to reward his whiny behavior. I did refrain from telling her that, though it probably was mostly because my German is so limited.
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