Slowly but surely we are getting the house in order. Most of what is left to put away are pictures to hang and all of Chris's stuff. I've decided he can put away his own stuff. I think I've also decided to keep him out of the kitchen, his cleaning up after himself skills leave something to be desired.
I started my new job today as a bank teller! I think it will be fun. Everyone I work with is so nice, friendly, and helpful. The lady I'm training with is wonderful, she's a sweet German woman and has trained several people. She and the teller manager frequently go back and forth between speaking German and English, so they jokingly told me my training includes German too! I just stand there and smile because I have no idea what they are talking about. We take care of all kinds of money, including dollars, euros, pounds, krones, swiss francs, and a few others. The hardest part is learning the computer system so I can process everything. But I waited on customers today successfully! I get to go to the training school in Mainz the last two weeks of September, it's supposed to be very informative and fun. It's nice to get out and meet people, I've really only been in contact with the people in Chris's office. One of my coworkers is having a BBQ this weekend, Chris and I are going to go and make friends! That's another neat thing about being a bank teller, I get to meet and interact with all different kinds of people.
Mother nature has kicked the furnace back up in Germany, it's hot and it's supposed to be hot all through August. Too bad all my work clothes are winter weight, huh? I was so hot today, I'm still hot now. I bet Callie is really toasty, I should brush her tonight. I have two windows open behind me as I sit on the futon, and I have to guard them so she does not try to jump out them for she will slide down the roof and that would be traumatic.
I finished my quilt! It's beautiful, and so comfortable. Chris and I think it's extra comfortable because I put so much work into it. I have the holes in my fingers to prove it! I've decided I need to find thimble gloves, just one thimble won't do it. Each time I find a new fabric/sewing store I check for any kind of thimble (I'm hoping to find the rubbery ones) I don't find any thimbles at all, maybe the German sewers are just that tough.
Auf Wiedersehen!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Boxes, Duck, and Hancock Oh My!
Today was a very long day. The movers arrived bright and early and filled our house with boxes of our belongings! We need more bookshelves, ours are overflowing and there's still more boxes of books! Thank goodness my stepladder came, there are several kitchen shelves and cabinets out of my reach but now I can put stuff there! The movers helped us unpack the boxes and they took the boxes and packing materials with them, there's no way we could take care of all that through city recycling! Now I'm wandering around the house moving things to where they belong.
After the movers moved on, Chris and I went to Kaiserslautern and got our international drivers licenses! I can drive anywhere I want now, and Chris still has to wait for his passport, mwahahah! We had lunch in town at a restaurant Chris wanted to try and it was awesome. How cool is it to sit outside at a little table watching people walk by while right across the street is a beautiful, ancient church?! We had no idea what the menu said and decided to try random stuff off the daily lunch special. Chris had delicious duck and I had a yummy vegetarian plate with rice and a cream sauce. We've decided to go there more often! Chris had a beer with lunch, when I walked into the restaurant (we ate outside) I found the big brewing containers. He was a little tipsy for a while, and we had lots of fun being silly!
On to some shopping, I found a Pfaff store! Alas, Pfaffs are awesome, and awesomely out of my price range. But I did find some great prints, I'll have to go back when I'm planning my next quilt. We checked out a new department store, and in the old one we found another floor we hadn't explored yet and it was cool! We learn a lot about German culture when we explore towns and stores.
After resting for a while, we ventured to base to see a 7:00 movie. I didn't check the schedule today, but I remembered that What Happens In Vegas was playing and we wanted to go see it. Apparently I remembered incorrectly because we ended up seeing Hancock, which I was pretty impressed with.
Now we're home, we've got all the furniture in place so I can continue putting stuff away tomorrow, and we're going to bed. Of course it's bedtime and our next door neighbors are pulling their usual of getting noisy about now. Why must they stand outside and talk in loud voices? I hear their kids, who are very young and should have been in bed hours ago, it's already 10:30. I'm taking notes for when I have my own brood. Speaking of crazy kids, we made the mistake of going to the commissary in the late afternoon on Sunday. There were so many screaming children! This one child in particular looked like his mother was dragging him, and all of the sudden he dropped to the floor. From where I was standing, it looked like the mother just let go and dropped him! Chris had seen it too, and reassured me that the child had jumped. I love kids, and I understand they get upset and throw tantrums, but lately I wish I had a mute button.
After the movers moved on, Chris and I went to Kaiserslautern and got our international drivers licenses! I can drive anywhere I want now, and Chris still has to wait for his passport, mwahahah! We had lunch in town at a restaurant Chris wanted to try and it was awesome. How cool is it to sit outside at a little table watching people walk by while right across the street is a beautiful, ancient church?! We had no idea what the menu said and decided to try random stuff off the daily lunch special. Chris had delicious duck and I had a yummy vegetarian plate with rice and a cream sauce. We've decided to go there more often! Chris had a beer with lunch, when I walked into the restaurant (we ate outside) I found the big brewing containers. He was a little tipsy for a while, and we had lots of fun being silly!
On to some shopping, I found a Pfaff store! Alas, Pfaffs are awesome, and awesomely out of my price range. But I did find some great prints, I'll have to go back when I'm planning my next quilt. We checked out a new department store, and in the old one we found another floor we hadn't explored yet and it was cool! We learn a lot about German culture when we explore towns and stores.
After resting for a while, we ventured to base to see a 7:00 movie. I didn't check the schedule today, but I remembered that What Happens In Vegas was playing and we wanted to go see it. Apparently I remembered incorrectly because we ended up seeing Hancock, which I was pretty impressed with.
Now we're home, we've got all the furniture in place so I can continue putting stuff away tomorrow, and we're going to bed. Of course it's bedtime and our next door neighbors are pulling their usual of getting noisy about now. Why must they stand outside and talk in loud voices? I hear their kids, who are very young and should have been in bed hours ago, it's already 10:30. I'm taking notes for when I have my own brood. Speaking of crazy kids, we made the mistake of going to the commissary in the late afternoon on Sunday. There were so many screaming children! This one child in particular looked like his mother was dragging him, and all of the sudden he dropped to the floor. From where I was standing, it looked like the mother just let go and dropped him! Chris had seen it too, and reassured me that the child had jumped. I love kids, and I understand they get upset and throw tantrums, but lately I wish I had a mute button.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
IKEA take 2
Well, yesterday's IKEA trip was much less stressful than the first, yet just as unsuccessful. We went to the IKEA in Saarlouis, toward France. It was fun listening to French music on the radio during the drive! Our first stop was transport this time, and yay they deliver to our town but boo, they won't deliver till Monday, the glorious day I begin my job and will no longer be able to stay home and wait for such deliveries. We walked through the store, which was smaller than the other one but we liked that. We did buy a couple of chairs for our patio. On the drive home we listened to instrumental music stations and Chris quizzed me on what musical period they were from and why.
We've decided that eventually we will rent a van and drive to an IKEA that has in stock what we want (the one at Saarlouis didn't have what we wanted in stock, either) because the IKEA website has a convenient little tool where I can find if what we want is in stock at certain stores. That way we don't have to worry about delivery, and the cost is similar to delivery costs. But we have to plan our gas just right, Germany rations gas at 200 liters per month.
Thank you U.S. taxpayers for paying your taxes! We just found out our monthly utility stipend was raised, yay! Now all our rent and utilities are paid for by the monthly allowances!
I think our house gets bigger each time I clean it. Which I do every couple of days! I suppose it's pretty simple though, all I have to do is sweep all the floors and swiffer wet-jet a few spots here and there. I did a thorough cleaning today, because though we've been told several different things about our household goods shipment, it will be delivered tomorrow for sure! I'm the most excited about our dresser and chest of drawers, and hangers!!! The shrunks without hangers just aren't cutting it anymore. Chris is excited for his computer and game systems, but I'm afraid I'll never see my husband or have his full attention ever again :-(
More people have moved here that work in Chris's office, he's the supervisor for 6 people! His supervisor is due to have a little baby tomorrow, but she's so tiny she does not look 9 months pregnant. I get my knitting needles tomorrow, maybe I'll knit a little baby blanket.
I'm on the last leg of our wedding quilt! Yesterday I finished the quilting and pinned the binding, so all I have to do is sew the perimeter of the quilt! I'm beginning to wonder if I'm strong enough to hand-sew it, maybe I can convince Chris it's time for a sewing machine! I found a little sewing shop in the next town, and there's more in other nearby towns!
We've decided that eventually we will rent a van and drive to an IKEA that has in stock what we want (the one at Saarlouis didn't have what we wanted in stock, either) because the IKEA website has a convenient little tool where I can find if what we want is in stock at certain stores. That way we don't have to worry about delivery, and the cost is similar to delivery costs. But we have to plan our gas just right, Germany rations gas at 200 liters per month.
Thank you U.S. taxpayers for paying your taxes! We just found out our monthly utility stipend was raised, yay! Now all our rent and utilities are paid for by the monthly allowances!
I think our house gets bigger each time I clean it. Which I do every couple of days! I suppose it's pretty simple though, all I have to do is sweep all the floors and swiffer wet-jet a few spots here and there. I did a thorough cleaning today, because though we've been told several different things about our household goods shipment, it will be delivered tomorrow for sure! I'm the most excited about our dresser and chest of drawers, and hangers!!! The shrunks without hangers just aren't cutting it anymore. Chris is excited for his computer and game systems, but I'm afraid I'll never see my husband or have his full attention ever again :-(
More people have moved here that work in Chris's office, he's the supervisor for 6 people! His supervisor is due to have a little baby tomorrow, but she's so tiny she does not look 9 months pregnant. I get my knitting needles tomorrow, maybe I'll knit a little baby blanket.
I'm on the last leg of our wedding quilt! Yesterday I finished the quilting and pinned the binding, so all I have to do is sew the perimeter of the quilt! I'm beginning to wonder if I'm strong enough to hand-sew it, maybe I can convince Chris it's time for a sewing machine! I found a little sewing shop in the next town, and there's more in other nearby towns!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Trip to Heidelberg
Friday was an exciting day - I signed the contract for my new job! I am going to work at the Community Bank on base as a bank teller. The hours are good, Chris and I will be done around the same time every day. The money and benefits are great, and after 6 months they will pay for my masters! Ongoing is my search for a decent online college.
Friday evening Chris and I met several friends at the movie theater in Landstuhl to see the new Batman. Going to the movies in Germany is fun! We already had tickets, so we jumped in the concessions line along with everyone else to buy a nice, cold beer to enjoy during the movie. How fun is that, buying a beer at the movie theater to drink during the movie. Chris was happy about it! The movie was very good, of course Chris helped me hide my eyes during the more violent bits.
After the movie we went to Chili's (yes, ironically enough there is a Chili's on base) with some friends to eat dinner, it was fun.
Saturday morning (our 3 month anniversary as a married couple) Chris and I woke up bright and early to catch a train. We went to the train station in our town expecting to find a machine at which to purchase the ticket, yet there was no such machine in sight. We drove to the next town to that train station and luckily there were locals waiting for a train, so I spoke to them in German and figured out that the machine for buying the tickets is in the train. So we got on the train and bought our tickets to Kaiserslautern!
At Kaiserslautern we checked the departures and bought tickets for the next train to Heidelberg, and Chris got some coffee to perk up. Of course, when we arrived in Heidelberg we were afraid of getting off at the wrong stop and decided to get off the train, which happened to not be the stop we wanted. It was on the outskirts of Heidelberg, so we gave ourselves a lovely walking tour of the university and more recent parts of town.
Making our way to the Aldstadt (old town) was a pleasant walk. We could have hopped on a bus, but the weather was great and we were enjoying ourselves (I'm paying for it today, the back of my knee hurts. How does the back of my knee hurt?) Alas, we made it to the Aldstadt and I convinced Chris to walk through the Kathe Wolfart with me! It's a huge Christmas store, there's a way bigger one in Rothenburg and we have a tiny one on base. Walking around more we started reading the menus posted outside, and decided on an Irish pub for lunch. It was quite good!
After lunch we walked up to the Neckar river. We saw boats with tourists cruising around, and had a great view of the Alte Brucke (old bridge). We walked along the bank a bit and found some neat buildings, and the remains of a synagogue. Next we went into the beautiful Heiliggeistkirche which I remember going in last summer. The organ in it is a good size (I'm a huge fan of the organs in German churches, that's where they were first created!). I was sad we couldn't stay for that evening's concert in the church, they were doing a 4 hour Bach concert with an organ recital, a choir, and so much more.
Our next adventure was the Heidelberg Castle. To get to the castle, one must climb up a very, very steep road. The picture I took does not do the steepness justice. Of course, after that picture my batteries died and I was unable to capture the rest of the day on film. We made it up to the castle, and decided to explore the gardens. There were cute little white sheep grazing in the garden! We walked along paths and had a beautiful view of the city. Climbing down the hill was easier, but still difficult.
The next exploration led us across the Alte Brucke to the Schlangenweg and the Philosophenweg. The Schlangenweg (snake path) was a really neat, but steeply uphill, stone windy curvy path up to the Philosophenweg. It wound around here and there, and went back and forth between steep inclines and steps. It was quite cool though, for most of it there were stone walls along the sides with an open top. After resting at a few benches, we made it to the top! At the top was the Philosophenweg (Philosopher's path) that gave us a beautiful view of the castle, town, and river with gardens all along it. After resting some more we walked a little along the path, and then made the treacherous trip back down the Schlangenweg.
After all those hills, we decided it was time for some ice cream. We ate gelato, my favorite!, at a lovely little Roman cafe. It was late afternoon and we were exhausted from all that walking, so we decided to head home. It took a while to find the right train station, but after asking a nice local German we made it to the station and right on home.
We're proud of ourselves for having a successful trip! We tried things, and sometimes it took a few tries to do what we were trying to do but we learned a lot from our experience. We're excited to travel again soon! Traveling by train is quite handy, and it's pretty peaceful too.
While we were gone interesting things happened in our flower bed. The daylilies bloomed, and they're beautiful! But we either had really hard wind or a really hard rain, because the rest of my poor little flowers are very droopy and their stems are weakened from some sort of force :-( I trimmed a few flowers, I suppose it wasn't exactly dead-heading but getting there, and I hope it will help them flower back stronger.
Now we've reached the end of our lazy Sunday, and we're going to bed to get more rest before our busy Monday!
Friday evening Chris and I met several friends at the movie theater in Landstuhl to see the new Batman. Going to the movies in Germany is fun! We already had tickets, so we jumped in the concessions line along with everyone else to buy a nice, cold beer to enjoy during the movie. How fun is that, buying a beer at the movie theater to drink during the movie. Chris was happy about it! The movie was very good, of course Chris helped me hide my eyes during the more violent bits.
After the movie we went to Chili's (yes, ironically enough there is a Chili's on base) with some friends to eat dinner, it was fun.
Saturday morning (our 3 month anniversary as a married couple) Chris and I woke up bright and early to catch a train. We went to the train station in our town expecting to find a machine at which to purchase the ticket, yet there was no such machine in sight. We drove to the next town to that train station and luckily there were locals waiting for a train, so I spoke to them in German and figured out that the machine for buying the tickets is in the train. So we got on the train and bought our tickets to Kaiserslautern!
At Kaiserslautern we checked the departures and bought tickets for the next train to Heidelberg, and Chris got some coffee to perk up. Of course, when we arrived in Heidelberg we were afraid of getting off at the wrong stop and decided to get off the train, which happened to not be the stop we wanted. It was on the outskirts of Heidelberg, so we gave ourselves a lovely walking tour of the university and more recent parts of town.
Making our way to the Aldstadt (old town) was a pleasant walk. We could have hopped on a bus, but the weather was great and we were enjoying ourselves (I'm paying for it today, the back of my knee hurts. How does the back of my knee hurt?) Alas, we made it to the Aldstadt and I convinced Chris to walk through the Kathe Wolfart with me! It's a huge Christmas store, there's a way bigger one in Rothenburg and we have a tiny one on base. Walking around more we started reading the menus posted outside, and decided on an Irish pub for lunch. It was quite good!
After lunch we walked up to the Neckar river. We saw boats with tourists cruising around, and had a great view of the Alte Brucke (old bridge). We walked along the bank a bit and found some neat buildings, and the remains of a synagogue. Next we went into the beautiful Heiliggeistkirche which I remember going in last summer. The organ in it is a good size (I'm a huge fan of the organs in German churches, that's where they were first created!). I was sad we couldn't stay for that evening's concert in the church, they were doing a 4 hour Bach concert with an organ recital, a choir, and so much more.
Our next adventure was the Heidelberg Castle. To get to the castle, one must climb up a very, very steep road. The picture I took does not do the steepness justice. Of course, after that picture my batteries died and I was unable to capture the rest of the day on film. We made it up to the castle, and decided to explore the gardens. There were cute little white sheep grazing in the garden! We walked along paths and had a beautiful view of the city. Climbing down the hill was easier, but still difficult.
The next exploration led us across the Alte Brucke to the Schlangenweg and the Philosophenweg. The Schlangenweg (snake path) was a really neat, but steeply uphill, stone windy curvy path up to the Philosophenweg. It wound around here and there, and went back and forth between steep inclines and steps. It was quite cool though, for most of it there were stone walls along the sides with an open top. After resting at a few benches, we made it to the top! At the top was the Philosophenweg (Philosopher's path) that gave us a beautiful view of the castle, town, and river with gardens all along it. After resting some more we walked a little along the path, and then made the treacherous trip back down the Schlangenweg.
After all those hills, we decided it was time for some ice cream. We ate gelato, my favorite!, at a lovely little Roman cafe. It was late afternoon and we were exhausted from all that walking, so we decided to head home. It took a while to find the right train station, but after asking a nice local German we made it to the station and right on home.
We're proud of ourselves for having a successful trip! We tried things, and sometimes it took a few tries to do what we were trying to do but we learned a lot from our experience. We're excited to travel again soon! Traveling by train is quite handy, and it's pretty peaceful too.
While we were gone interesting things happened in our flower bed. The daylilies bloomed, and they're beautiful! But we either had really hard wind or a really hard rain, because the rest of my poor little flowers are very droopy and their stems are weakened from some sort of force :-( I trimmed a few flowers, I suppose it wasn't exactly dead-heading but getting there, and I hope it will help them flower back stronger.
Now we've reached the end of our lazy Sunday, and we're going to bed to get more rest before our busy Monday!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
One Month in Germany
Today marks the one-month anniversary of our arrival in Germany. We've come a long way since then, thank goodness! I'll never forget our first meal, with squid in my pasta and hard-boiled eggs in Chris's calzone.
The son of the people who live in the other half of our duplex plays the drums. It was mentioned to me by his mom and another neighbor, but the practicing really doesn't bother me. He only plays once a day, if that, and for not more than an hour. I suppose I've become immune to noisy drums after being stuck in a little practice hallway with noisy snares. Today I decided to chime in, and I practiced my flute for awhile. I possibly practiced in the room right by our noisy, messy next door neighbors, with the window open and the shade down. I had to close Callie out of the room because she would not stop biting me and laying down on my music, how's that for a sign toward my music career.
I've never been the biggest fan of summer, mainly because it's hot, but I'm quite fond of summer in Germany. Every day the high is the 60s or 70s, and the rainy days are fresh rather than dreary. No wonder Europeans don't have air conditioning, it was only warm for 6 weeks at the end of May and through June. Our house stays nice and cool, thanks to keeping the shades closed when the sun is shining, and the lovely stones it is constructed from.
Chris found out the rest of our belongings are still floating on a ship in the Atlantic, they won't arrive in Germany until the end of this month. So then it will probably take a few weeks for our appointment for TMO to bring it out to our house, so it will be longer than we thought till we get our stuff. That's okay, it's easier to clean with less stuff :-)
Grocery shopping is fun, we have a nice assortment of American items, as well as random German items, along special US Forces items. I'm quite entertained by the milk cartons in particular, and while checking our eggs for a complete, uncracked set we sifted through soft little down feathers.
The son of the people who live in the other half of our duplex plays the drums. It was mentioned to me by his mom and another neighbor, but the practicing really doesn't bother me. He only plays once a day, if that, and for not more than an hour. I suppose I've become immune to noisy drums after being stuck in a little practice hallway with noisy snares. Today I decided to chime in, and I practiced my flute for awhile. I possibly practiced in the room right by our noisy, messy next door neighbors, with the window open and the shade down. I had to close Callie out of the room because she would not stop biting me and laying down on my music, how's that for a sign toward my music career.
I've never been the biggest fan of summer, mainly because it's hot, but I'm quite fond of summer in Germany. Every day the high is the 60s or 70s, and the rainy days are fresh rather than dreary. No wonder Europeans don't have air conditioning, it was only warm for 6 weeks at the end of May and through June. Our house stays nice and cool, thanks to keeping the shades closed when the sun is shining, and the lovely stones it is constructed from.
Chris found out the rest of our belongings are still floating on a ship in the Atlantic, they won't arrive in Germany until the end of this month. So then it will probably take a few weeks for our appointment for TMO to bring it out to our house, so it will be longer than we thought till we get our stuff. That's okay, it's easier to clean with less stuff :-)
Grocery shopping is fun, we have a nice assortment of American items, as well as random German items, along special US Forces items. I'm quite entertained by the milk cartons in particular, and while checking our eggs for a complete, uncracked set we sifted through soft little down feathers.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Planting a Flower Garden
Today I got to sleep in! It was great. I hear Chris getting ready now and then between 6:00-6:30am, and I hide from the noise under the quilt. I let Chris drive the car to work and keep it, while I had a Katie day!
After lazily waking up, Callie and I ventured outside to plant our flowers. I rearranged my layout a few times, and then dug in. I hacked away at the soil with my little trowel, which worked well for the smaller plants in the front. When I got to the second row, it became a little more difficult because of having to dig deeper and thicker tree and shrub roots. Apparently noticing this, my lovely little German neighbor across the street and to the left brought me a shovel to use! She was very sweet, and I was excited one of my German neighbors reached out to me. The hydrangeas were much easier to plant using the shovel. It's supposed to rain the next few days, so the moisture will be great for the flowers' little roots to get settled.
I was so dirty after playing in the soil! I haven't been that filthy since camp, and oddly enough I kind of missed it. But I enjoyed the available warm shower waiting for me, too.
Chris has been working sooo hard! He gets into the office around 6:45am, and it's already 6:15pm and he's still not home yet. He's really busy, but he loves it. He likes getting to work with people every day at the customer counter. I think I'm happy that he's not back in budget, every time I walk back there people are frustrated and speaking sternly to each other, I've never seen them happy or calm.
After lazily waking up, Callie and I ventured outside to plant our flowers. I rearranged my layout a few times, and then dug in. I hacked away at the soil with my little trowel, which worked well for the smaller plants in the front. When I got to the second row, it became a little more difficult because of having to dig deeper and thicker tree and shrub roots. Apparently noticing this, my lovely little German neighbor across the street and to the left brought me a shovel to use! She was very sweet, and I was excited one of my German neighbors reached out to me. The hydrangeas were much easier to plant using the shovel. It's supposed to rain the next few days, so the moisture will be great for the flowers' little roots to get settled.
I was so dirty after playing in the soil! I haven't been that filthy since camp, and oddly enough I kind of missed it. But I enjoyed the available warm shower waiting for me, too.
Chris has been working sooo hard! He gets into the office around 6:45am, and it's already 6:15pm and he's still not home yet. He's really busy, but he loves it. He likes getting to work with people every day at the customer counter. I think I'm happy that he's not back in budget, every time I walk back there people are frustrated and speaking sternly to each other, I've never seen them happy or calm.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
We Have Furniture!
This morning the nice FMO guys came to the house and brought me furniture! Now we have nightstands, a second bed, dining furniture, and living room furniture! Callie has enjoyed exploring all the seats, and of course lying on the dining room table. The guys also took away 3 of our shrunks (wardrobes, Germans use these rather than having built-in closets) because we had 6, and we sure didn't need 6.
I haven't figured out this hard floor thing yet. I never realized how much carpet hides dust and small debris. I swept and swept this morning, and when I turned around there were little spots all over the floor again. I know we get extra cause the windows are kept open, and Chris and I track it around, but it just seems excessive!
Callie and I finished weeding the little front yard this morning. I checked out some gardening books, which I had plenty of time to read while Chris finished up at work. Then he took me back to the plant place! We bought quite a few more plants, and I've set them out in the yard where I want them so tomorrow I'll put them in the ground. Guess what I found growing wild in the front yard - shamrocks! I have my very own baby shammies. I also have a pretty coniferous tree who produces - pinecones! I know my parents are so jealous :-)
I went to the doctor today, boo. But he was quite good, I was impressed. So now I'm changing medicines, which will make me moody and grumpy. Look out Chris!
Chris made spaghetti for dinner this evening. It was very good, and he claims he can't cook. While he was cooking I met the family that lives across the street, the wife is so nice and friendly. Those are my favorite kind of people to meet. A lot of times when I talk to people they will tell me about a neat restaurant or place to go, and how to get there because directions are nuts around here. It's fun to learn what other people have found that they like.
Chris applied for his passport yesterday, yay! I checked out some more travel books on Germany today, it will be a few weeks till he gets the document. Of course, I could always hop over to France, Belgium, or Luxembourg without him, heehee. Oh, but I have to wait for my international driver's license, hold that thought. There's so many exciting places to go, it's hard to know where to start, even just in Germany! This weekend we may venture to a different IKEA, which is by Trier, the oldest city in Germany. It boasts lots of Roman ruins, apparently it was the second capital of the Roman empire. It's so amazing to explore and be in the places where all the history happened, all those stories we learned about in school seemed like they were in such a far away place, but we're actually here where it happened! I'm really interested in diving into my musical history, so much of Western music developed right here in Germany!
I haven't figured out this hard floor thing yet. I never realized how much carpet hides dust and small debris. I swept and swept this morning, and when I turned around there were little spots all over the floor again. I know we get extra cause the windows are kept open, and Chris and I track it around, but it just seems excessive!
Callie and I finished weeding the little front yard this morning. I checked out some gardening books, which I had plenty of time to read while Chris finished up at work. Then he took me back to the plant place! We bought quite a few more plants, and I've set them out in the yard where I want them so tomorrow I'll put them in the ground. Guess what I found growing wild in the front yard - shamrocks! I have my very own baby shammies. I also have a pretty coniferous tree who produces - pinecones! I know my parents are so jealous :-)
I went to the doctor today, boo. But he was quite good, I was impressed. So now I'm changing medicines, which will make me moody and grumpy. Look out Chris!
Chris made spaghetti for dinner this evening. It was very good, and he claims he can't cook. While he was cooking I met the family that lives across the street, the wife is so nice and friendly. Those are my favorite kind of people to meet. A lot of times when I talk to people they will tell me about a neat restaurant or place to go, and how to get there because directions are nuts around here. It's fun to learn what other people have found that they like.
Chris applied for his passport yesterday, yay! I checked out some more travel books on Germany today, it will be a few weeks till he gets the document. Of course, I could always hop over to France, Belgium, or Luxembourg without him, heehee. Oh, but I have to wait for my international driver's license, hold that thought. There's so many exciting places to go, it's hard to know where to start, even just in Germany! This weekend we may venture to a different IKEA, which is by Trier, the oldest city in Germany. It boasts lots of Roman ruins, apparently it was the second capital of the Roman empire. It's so amazing to explore and be in the places where all the history happened, all those stories we learned about in school seemed like they were in such a far away place, but we're actually here where it happened! I'm really interested in diving into my musical history, so much of Western music developed right here in Germany!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Learning New Things Every Day
We finally got our car! It's amazing, it drives so smoothly. Chris and I are thrilled to be driving a BMW, it's a dream come true!
This weekend we drove to Mannheim to IKEA on a mission for a new bed. The trip was much less than successful, the store wouldn't take our debit cards because of the VISA logo, they automatically assumed it was a credit card. I personally find it odd that a large furniture store does not accept credit cards, but what do I know. So they wouldn't take our money, then they did, and once we found out we would have to pay extra because we don't live in their delivery zone we decided that was enough and cancelled the order. But they didn't want to give our money back, because they thought it was a credit card. Our account is supposed to be credited within the week. The employees just kept sending us here, there, and back again, and out of the 10 employees we worked with only ONE was nice to us, just ONE. The whole experience puts me off from IKEA, but I think maybe we'll try again next weekend with the store in the opposite direction, supposedly we're in their delivery area.
It's so much harder to get things done here! I'll think, okay here's what I need to do and how I'll do it, but then 10 extra steps I didn't know about turn up in the middle. It's so frustrating, and I feel like I never get anything accomplished.
Tomorrow is FMO day! The military furniture office is bringing us a sofa and a kitchen table, among other things but notedly the most important! Callie will be so excited to have furniture to snuggle up on.
Today I went to Praktiker, the German equivalent of Lowe's. I found lots of plants and it was exciting! I bought lavender, daisy-things, and a grassy-thing to plant, and I'm going to take Chris back with me so we can pick out a few more plants! Maybe I should read up on this whole gardening thing, before I kill innocent foliage.
This weekend we drove to Mannheim to IKEA on a mission for a new bed. The trip was much less than successful, the store wouldn't take our debit cards because of the VISA logo, they automatically assumed it was a credit card. I personally find it odd that a large furniture store does not accept credit cards, but what do I know. So they wouldn't take our money, then they did, and once we found out we would have to pay extra because we don't live in their delivery zone we decided that was enough and cancelled the order. But they didn't want to give our money back, because they thought it was a credit card. Our account is supposed to be credited within the week. The employees just kept sending us here, there, and back again, and out of the 10 employees we worked with only ONE was nice to us, just ONE. The whole experience puts me off from IKEA, but I think maybe we'll try again next weekend with the store in the opposite direction, supposedly we're in their delivery area.
It's so much harder to get things done here! I'll think, okay here's what I need to do and how I'll do it, but then 10 extra steps I didn't know about turn up in the middle. It's so frustrating, and I feel like I never get anything accomplished.
Tomorrow is FMO day! The military furniture office is bringing us a sofa and a kitchen table, among other things but notedly the most important! Callie will be so excited to have furniture to snuggle up on.
Today I went to Praktiker, the German equivalent of Lowe's. I found lots of plants and it was exciting! I bought lavender, daisy-things, and a grassy-thing to plant, and I'm going to take Chris back with me so we can pick out a few more plants! Maybe I should read up on this whole gardening thing, before I kill innocent foliage.
Monday, July 7, 2008
We Live in a House
We just spent our first weekend in our new home! Every day I love it even more. I don't know how I lived my life without windows under which I can lay and gaze at the clouds. There's even such a window over my master bathtub! My favorite room is the top floor, I guess it's a loft? We can see out over the countryside and feel the lovely breeze with the windows open. Yesterday Chris and I played several hands of cards sitting under those windows.
Much to Chris's delight, we purchased a television. It's one of those fancy flat screens, and our satellite should be set up this week so we can watch it. We went cheapo on the tv channels, it costs 500 euro to set up the actual satellite receiver so we decided to buy a 60 euro digital receiver and pick up all the numerous free channels available, there is no monthly fee. Eventually we will purchase an AFN decoder and pick up the Armed Forces Network channels as well, I've decided the talk shows on it are a month behind from the U.S. which really isn't bad.
We experienced our first festival this weekend, the Altstadtfest in Kaiserslautern. It was not as exciting as I had anticipated, yet it was fun. We walked around the streets full of food and alcohol vendors, with music performance stages set up at intervals. One street was very cool, it was medieval-looking.
We recieved our first shipment this morning! The movers showed up before 7am, but that's just fine because we didn't have to sit around all day waiting and wondering when they would come. We now have bedding, towels, dishes, cooking supplies, clothes, and other miscellaneous items. It's exciting though, we've been putting things away. I now have a mound of dishes to wash before we use them, we tried to start the dishwasher the other day and it didn't work, so we need to call the landlord.
I love recycling! We have only 1 grocery bag full of trash, but 2 huge overflowing piles of recyclables! The Germans don't mess around with recycling, if we put something in the wrong bin they will bill us for having to sort it out. It's a little confusing as to what goes where, so we have a pamphlet up on the refrigerator that we refer to frequently.
Now we're off to get our BMW! We have to take it for a second inspection and get it licensed. Then we'll grocery shop at the commissary and take Chris's dress blues to the dry cleaner, they came today and he's supposed to wear them Wednesday.
Much to Chris's delight, we purchased a television. It's one of those fancy flat screens, and our satellite should be set up this week so we can watch it. We went cheapo on the tv channels, it costs 500 euro to set up the actual satellite receiver so we decided to buy a 60 euro digital receiver and pick up all the numerous free channels available, there is no monthly fee. Eventually we will purchase an AFN decoder and pick up the Armed Forces Network channels as well, I've decided the talk shows on it are a month behind from the U.S. which really isn't bad.
We experienced our first festival this weekend, the Altstadtfest in Kaiserslautern. It was not as exciting as I had anticipated, yet it was fun. We walked around the streets full of food and alcohol vendors, with music performance stages set up at intervals. One street was very cool, it was medieval-looking.
We recieved our first shipment this morning! The movers showed up before 7am, but that's just fine because we didn't have to sit around all day waiting and wondering when they would come. We now have bedding, towels, dishes, cooking supplies, clothes, and other miscellaneous items. It's exciting though, we've been putting things away. I now have a mound of dishes to wash before we use them, we tried to start the dishwasher the other day and it didn't work, so we need to call the landlord.
I love recycling! We have only 1 grocery bag full of trash, but 2 huge overflowing piles of recyclables! The Germans don't mess around with recycling, if we put something in the wrong bin they will bill us for having to sort it out. It's a little confusing as to what goes where, so we have a pamphlet up on the refrigerator that we refer to frequently.
Now we're off to get our BMW! We have to take it for a second inspection and get it licensed. Then we'll grocery shop at the commissary and take Chris's dress blues to the dry cleaner, they came today and he's supposed to wear them Wednesday.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
German Cars
We began our early morning today with a medical briefing. Guess what Mom - the Air Force purchased and handed out How To Take Care Of Yourself books! Now I won't have to call you in the middle of the night with random ailments.
I explored the Education Office today, and spent a lot of time sitting in Chris's office. We had the briefing at 8, and then at 2 we went to the car dealership to take our car for a military inspection. Chris said it drove very nicely, I would expect so!
We found out the car won't be ready till Monday, so we rented a hilarious little bright yellow VW fox for the weekend. It was sandwiched between 2 other cars, so I squeezed into the drivers seat and put it in neutral so Chris could push it out and get in. Of course with reverse on the left, I freak out about where reverse, first, and third are, and end up killing it 3 times because I was starting in third. Chris and I switched places, and I then remembered my dad showing me that VWs push down for reverse, so we finally figured out where the gears were.
We're going to begin moving our belongings to the duplex tonight, and check out of the hotel in the morning. Sadly, I will no longer have internet :-( I tried to set up internet with the service on base, but they do not have lines in the area of our house. So we called the landlord to ask about the German telephones and internet, and she told us the office that speaks English! Tomorrow I'll go start setting that up, though the Germans are more relaxed than Americans and it will probably take at least 2 weeks for our internet to get set up. Until then I'll take my laptop to the library so I can check my email and make exciting updates!
Chris has Friday off since it is the fourth of July, though it's not a holiday in Germany, obviously. We're planning on doing some furniture shopping, the nearest Ikea is in Mannheim :-) This weekend there is a big festival in Kaiserslautern so we thought we would go experience it, and Chris can drink some beer! Sunday I'll try to convince Chris to take a walk and explore our new little town, Steinwenden.
Callie is a silly cat. I've just about decided she is part dove, she coos quite a bit. She's obsessed with running water, we need to find her a pet water fountain. I'm happy we will have a backyard for her to roam around and do her kitty cat activities in. She's almost at the point where she will walk alongside me while she's on her leash, it's pretty funny.
I explored the Education Office today, and spent a lot of time sitting in Chris's office. We had the briefing at 8, and then at 2 we went to the car dealership to take our car for a military inspection. Chris said it drove very nicely, I would expect so!
We found out the car won't be ready till Monday, so we rented a hilarious little bright yellow VW fox for the weekend. It was sandwiched between 2 other cars, so I squeezed into the drivers seat and put it in neutral so Chris could push it out and get in. Of course with reverse on the left, I freak out about where reverse, first, and third are, and end up killing it 3 times because I was starting in third. Chris and I switched places, and I then remembered my dad showing me that VWs push down for reverse, so we finally figured out where the gears were.
We're going to begin moving our belongings to the duplex tonight, and check out of the hotel in the morning. Sadly, I will no longer have internet :-( I tried to set up internet with the service on base, but they do not have lines in the area of our house. So we called the landlord to ask about the German telephones and internet, and she told us the office that speaks English! Tomorrow I'll go start setting that up, though the Germans are more relaxed than Americans and it will probably take at least 2 weeks for our internet to get set up. Until then I'll take my laptop to the library so I can check my email and make exciting updates!
Chris has Friday off since it is the fourth of July, though it's not a holiday in Germany, obviously. We're planning on doing some furniture shopping, the nearest Ikea is in Mannheim :-) This weekend there is a big festival in Kaiserslautern so we thought we would go experience it, and Chris can drink some beer! Sunday I'll try to convince Chris to take a walk and explore our new little town, Steinwenden.
Callie is a silly cat. I've just about decided she is part dove, she coos quite a bit. She's obsessed with running water, we need to find her a pet water fountain. I'm happy we will have a backyard for her to roam around and do her kitty cat activities in. She's almost at the point where she will walk alongside me while she's on her leash, it's pretty funny.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Autobahn, here we come!
Today Chris and I took the German drivers license test - and we both passed! I earned a 97%, and Chris a 90%. It's a very large step to our newfound German independence.
Tomorrow we will test-drive our car, and take it to another base for the military inspection, then the dealer will send it for it's BMW inspection. We may rent a car until ours is ready to go.
This evening we met with our landlord who gave us our keys!!! I'm so excited. The backyard has plenty of grass, but the front yard has a pretty tree and lots of weeds. I'm going to stop by a Blumen and find pretty flowers to plant. We also signed the papers for electric and gas, and earlier today I set up our land phone line and DSL service.
Our shipments are coming! The unaccompanied baggage will be delivered on July 7, and the household goods shipment will be here at the end of July, one whole month before I expected it! I'm not a material person, but I think I'll feel more comfortable and at home when I have familiar surroundings.
Tomorrow we will test-drive our car, and take it to another base for the military inspection, then the dealer will send it for it's BMW inspection. We may rent a car until ours is ready to go.
This evening we met with our landlord who gave us our keys!!! I'm so excited. The backyard has plenty of grass, but the front yard has a pretty tree and lots of weeds. I'm going to stop by a Blumen and find pretty flowers to plant. We also signed the papers for electric and gas, and earlier today I set up our land phone line and DSL service.
Our shipments are coming! The unaccompanied baggage will be delivered on July 7, and the household goods shipment will be here at the end of July, one whole month before I expected it! I'm not a material person, but I think I'll feel more comfortable and at home when I have familiar surroundings.
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