Homecoming

Zachary went to Homecoming tonight.  He was meeting a group of friends and going as a group.  He was asked by two different girls, but in the end decided to go JUST as friends. His heart still beats for a sweetie in Sharpsburg, GA. (ahhh, so sweet)  Homecoming here is a little different than his first homecoming with Cristina (see right).  Much more laid back, and I don't know if one is better than the other. I guess I am glad he has experienced both!

I did like that they made the kids turn their ID card in and they can't leave until 11pm, which I think is an awesome idea! I don't know why it has taken schools so long to figure that out.  As parents, we have to balance protecting our kids while giving them freedom too.

As we dropped him off, he was happy, and we were happy. So weird thinking, in two years my Nicky will be going to Homecoming.   Hmmm, thinking about that makes me sad actually.

On a second note, I am really trying to get this blog off and running.  Not only to keep in touch, but so we can look back at our life. I remember my Gma telling me when Eric and I went to Italy that I should write a journal becuase I would forget the small details.  Well, I didn't do it and I really regret it.

I hope my kids will be able to read back thru these posts and smile. However, I am really frustrated with the background, it's so cute, but it only allows my paragraphs to be this big.

Soooo, I am teaching myself how to make a new blog background by using photoshop and picassa, so we will see how it turns out. Smart idea in the middle of a move, don't you think? I can't help it, it is driving me crazy.  Stay tuned....lol, I know your all waiting in anticipation.

Laugh for the day!

Eric and I went on a tour of K-town this morning.  They are always fun to go on and learn the history behind where you are living.  This is Eric at the center of town and it was definitely one of the most eccentric fountains we have seen, each metal sculpture represents a piece of their cities history.  They had a sewing machine, a horse, the King and Queen, a fish, etc.

Believe it or not, they even have a Stars and Stripes bird, to represent their friendship with America. These statues represent the King and Queen that started K-town. The sun was shining behind him so I couldn't tell on my phone his eyes were closed so it makes the picture even more goofy! 

So you may notice right below his right arm, a little thing sitting on the bench.  Its a little iron mouse, and supposedly they are all over town.  We will continue to look for them because they are too cute.  

Frustrations Setting In.....

Frustration 1:
So not everything goes smoothly with a PCS and we have run into a few bumps along the way.  First, the kids all got here to late to join the fall sports. Zachary is on the waiting list for the Swim team, as well as Avery.  So if no one drops, he doesn't swim this season. This is the most frustrating, since we really need this swimming for his college applications, and he is going to lose a year in competition.

On the flip side, they have a really great Prep program at church, and all the kids are involved.  Zachary joined the Life Teen band as the piano player and goes twice weekly.  Nic is in EDGE and they have thier first Church get together this Friday and he loves it.  Avery loves anything we put her in, so all is good.  So maybe this was God saying these sports are less important right now, I will go with that over being angry about it.

Frustration 2:  Waiting for movers
This has always been a beef coming overseas.  Give us a round about time you will be here, but we usually sit and wait, all day, in an empty house.  The movers delivering our small shipment never showed Monday, and then showed late afternoon Tues, so all that time lost.  Wed morning, our temp furniture delivered by the Military Furniture management, which allows us to move out of the hotel got screwed up. We were there at 8am, they were there at 745 and they left.  Now its rescheduled to Sept 28, and we stay in the hotel 10 more days.   Hey, the Army is now paying for 10 days because they can't communicate with other services.  We were even proactive, and called to get a round about, but the German local nationals working on the base in these positions love to say "Dis is not pozzible".  Ok, we get paid extra for the hotel for 10 days AND your paying our rent on the German house.  hmmmhhhhhh

Frustration 3:
Because of the swimming situation, we decided Zachary could do Cross Country.  But to do cross country, you need your yearly physical, which Zachary's expired right before we came over.  Military coding of appts has always been a nuisance, and this is not an accute appt, so he can't get in until Oct.  We got him in on a cancellation at 8am Tues morning, Eric drove to Landstuhl with plenty of time, but there was no parking.  So he arrived at the desk at 8:10.  Appt coded as a no show.  Really, for 10 mins?  There goes cross country and my sanity for Tuesday. 

So things come in threes, so hopefully that's it?  No more frustrations, No more frustrations, No more frustrations!

Chili dog and Fries, German Style

Not much has happened this week, other than trying to get into a schedule with the kids school and finish up paperwork before we move in the house.  We get the keys on Sunday, but are in the hotel until Wed because they have to deliver our temporary furniture.

Yesterday, we were running late and decided to stop at a "hotdog stand" as we would call it in the States.  To make a long story short, sometimes you run into older Germans who do not speak any, none, absolutely NO English at all.  We can speak enough German to order and get around, but Eric made the mistake of asking her about the special she had written on her little chalk board in German.  It was Curry wurst Chile.   He ordered it, and even then I ordered one bratwurst. She somehow mis-understood us to want two of the specials Eric had asked her about, and because we don't speak enough fluent German to explain the mistake, well we both got the special!  It is always one of those live and learn things, where we laugh it off after the fact.  Kind of like the time Eric and I went to the street market in Italy, and ordered these great looking salted brazilian nuts.  We just didn't know you ordered them in "kilos" and we ended up with a small bag of nuts that was over ten dollars:)

However, once I saw her put my bratwurst in her handy little German brat slicer, I knew she had mistaken what we had ordered. This was the most interesting tasting bratwurst.... It wasn't a savory chili sauce like we know it, but it was a sweet red sauce with curry sprinkled on it.  It reminded me of some homemade canned catsup I tasted when I was a kid.  I am not a huge curry fan, so Eric ended up eating most of mine, and he loved it!  The "pommes" or fries are always good in Germany, they have a special seasoning just for them you can buy in the store, so I was very happy eating the fries.

Here is a picture of our German Chili dog and fries, and see how little the Fanta can is, you must return this to the stand, or you pay for it up front, the can and the recycling.  Americans definitely indulge in these things, its like a mini can compared to US sodas.  This meal cost €5.50, which is a little over $6.

Tschuess, (sounds like cheerzzz, meaning a casual goodbye)
Ronda

Willkommen Stelzenberg

We found a house!

But as I mentioned in a prior post, we saw this house the first weekend we were here and it had just been moved out of after 15 yrs.  It was on the short list, and by the time we realized it was a diamond in the rough, there were four families wanting it.

We asked to see it again, even though we knew there was a waiting list for it. This is when we met Karin, the land lady.  By the time we left, Eric had her laughing so hard she could barely contain herself.  She was telling us that she was to old to deal with the constant showings of the house, so she put her oldest son in charge.  However, he had hurt his leg running and was in bed, so his younger brother was now in charge.  Eric cracked a joke that maybe that was the older brothers plan all along, and she broke into a hysterical laugh, and we chatted for a good hour. She is a German school teacher and she liked finding out about our culture as much as we liked finding out about the German culture.

Needless to say, she called and asked us if we would like to rent the house two days later.....

So Kudos to my love....One of Eric's best qualities has always been his ability to draw people into conversation, and he is great at it. Not to mention he has a genuine heart!

And most of all, we are ever thankful to God, because even though we were plucked from our reality in Newnan, we choose to trust in him that all would be ok with this move, house hunting and the kids starting school, and we are blessed because he has made everything ok. 

Here she is.....our German house, which we will be moving into in about a week and a half. They are still painting and cleaning inside, but more pics to follow!

Hooptie Doo!

Today we picked up our 1994 VW Gulf, a.k.a.......our little hooptie!  Since we have the gas guzzler Tahoe coming on the ship, we knew we needed a partner that was much better on the pocket book.

When Eric and I were stationed in Vicenza, Italy, we were first introduced to the hooptie.  Actually, all of you know how funny Eric is and the car was a Fiat Ritmo, but Eric lovingly called it our Shitmo!

The next time we were in Germany, he bought a red Lancia.  It got him back and forth for almost two plus years before we left, however the computer did blow up and we ended up paying someone to get rid of it!

The last time we were in Germany we bought a 1988 Volkswagon Gulf, only it was dark blue, the interior ceiling was ducked taped and it was really tore up and Nicky called it the Junkmo.  An update, Nicky informed me that his preferred name for it was......the BOLTSWAGON, lol!

The thing with these cars is that they basically have the smallest, most NON complex engine ever.  Nothing really ever goes wrong with them mechanically.  Eric says they have lawn mower engines, lol!  So while we will use the Tahoe for traveling Europe, the hooptie will be its trusty side kick, saving us gas and allowing us to pull up on the curb and park downtown.

This time we SCORED, $1700.00 talked down from $2200.00, owned by an old German guy, who took stellar care of it and only 30,000 miles.  Isn't that hilarious, that there are cars this old with this few miles on it!!

So, even though this car is older than Zachary, it really doesn't look that bad does it?  Welcome to the family Red:)

Looking is a race....

We rented a car this weekend, because we can't buy Eric's hooptie until Tuesday because of the holiday.  We decided to get a head start on house hunting......or so we thought.

The situation here is that there is a long waiting list for mil housing, so you automatically go off post on the German economy for an average of the first year.  That would be fine, except that EVERYONE getting here is in that same boat. It is literally a race to find a house and a competition.  The other complex part of this situation is that you can't enroll your children in school, until you have an address.  Until you do, you can enroll them at Ramstein, where our hotel is, but you will most likely have to move them in a week or two. We already know Eric will work on Panzer Kaserne, which is to far to drive to Ramstein schools.

It is as frustrating as it sounds.  Yesterday we found three houses online.  We went out driving and the first house the Landlord was there cleaning, we stopped and he welcomed us to look inside. While we were looking another military couple showed up who had first dibs because they had called him, so one off the list.  So we moved on to the next house, and it was excellent for us, however it wasn't ready and needed painted and cleaned, left our number.  The third house was already taken, however still on the housing list, go figure.

Today we headed back out, only in the opposite direction.  We met a young Airforce couple on one of the streets where we were looking for a house.  They ended up inviting us in to see pictures she had just taken for her German neighbor who was renting out a nice house down the street. We scrolled thru her photos on her computer and it was great looking, but not enough bedrooms for us. So we carried on our search.....

The last house of the day was the most beautiful, with the most beautiful view.  We all loved it and we left with "we will call you" because Eric wanted to go back out to look at the house that still needed painted from yesterday one more time. It had a much larger layout, and carport for our vehicles, something this house was lacking. It did not have this view,but it had alot of extra room for everyone who promises they are coming to visit (lol) and the American bus stop was right up the road, which was a plus.

Once out at that house, we really decided it was the best choice.  We decide to do the contract,  only to learn there is a list of people who have looked at it before us that they have to call before we can sign the contract. The landlady was ready to sign the contract, but the son was managing the viewings and felt he needed to call everyone to be honest.  Fair enough, but we bet we loose this one too!! However,  Eric had the German land lady rolling with his attempt to say German words and they hit it off immediately.

Frustrating for sure.....but at this point, we are going to follow God's lead and see where we end up calling "home". This picture is of our 2nd choice, and this picture really does not do it justice for the actual view from over the garden, so if we end up here, we will make the layout work the best we can and enjoy the view!