Only 5 days?

I made some changes to my blog today and noticed my ticker at the top when I opened the page to check the results. Since my ticker was counting down to the date of our move to the States and we have, of course, reached that date, I noticed that it changed and now reads "x days since our move to the States." I noticed it said 5 days. I looked at it and asked P. if we had really only been here for 5 days. It already seems like we've been here longer than that. I'm sure it's partially due to the jet lag and how tired we are, and also partially due to the excitement that has gone on since we arrived. I think today was the first day that we got to truly rest for most of the day. The kids allowed us to sleep in, and we were just kind of lazy all day long. That was nice.

Last night we went to have dinner at my sister's house. She and her husband bought a new house a couple of years ago, and this was the first chance I'd had to see it. All I can say is WOW! It is a beautiful old house and they have so much room. They have done a great job cleaning it up and restoring it, too. Apparently the yard was a mess when they first bought the house, but they have done such a great job that they won "Yard of the Month" in their little community for May. She has incredible talent with interior decorating and has completely redecorated my mom's house in the process of remodeling over the last couple of years. She's a nurse and says that interior decorating is relaxing for her. I just have to say that I am so proud of her and her talent and wish that I had just a fraction of it. She and her husband have accomplished done very well for themselves in the four years they've been married and I'm so happy for them. They're expecting their first child in November. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I actually get to be here when my first niece/nephew is born. I can't even begin to describe how happy that makes me!

Tonight we went out to dinner at a Chinese Buffet restaurant that also has all-you-can-eat crab legs for a couple of dollars more than the regular buffet. Boy was that good! The kids were so funny when my sister and brother-in-law took them up to the buffet to get their food. They were pretty impressed about being able to get their own food. It's amazing the things people take for granted when they have access to them all the time. I love watching my kids experience things like that for the first time though. It was so cute. Then we decided to make a run to the grocery store before we came home. It was nice to be able to do that, no matter what time it was. I love Wal-Mart! My mom and her boyfriend kept the kids while we went, and he has two cats. I know that J. has problems when he gets close to large dogs, but didn't realize how allergic he is to cats. My mom called me as we were checking out to leave Wal-Mart asking if J. could swallow a Benadryl capsule. Thank goodness he can. They were on the porch when we got there to pick them up. Poor J. had lost his voice and was still coughing when we got there. The swelling in his eyes had at least gone down. I guess it's a good thing we don't really want pets, because we couldn't have them if we did want them. Guess we'll just have to stick with fish. We were supposed to have dinner with Mom and V. over there tomorrow, though. I think we decided that they'll just bring the steaks and we'll grill them over here. I guess P. will get his Father's Day present a couple weeks early.

Like I said in my previous post. It is nice to be home, and I think I'm adjusting better every day.

Recovering

I know it's been almost a week since my last post. It's amazing how a move like this one affects you. I feel like I've been on an emotional roller coaster for the last week.

We thought everything was going so smoothly up to the day we were to leave Vilseck. We were flying out on the same flight as our best friends, so we decided to share a rental van to the Munich airport. Well, when the guys went to get the van, they found out that it had broken down and was still in Grafenwoehr. This was 11:00 a.m. So much for our plans to be in Munich by early afternoon. So a couple of the guys went to Graf to pick up the van while we waited with the kids at the playground outside our hotel building. We had already checked out by this point, so there wasn't much more we could do. At least the kids were able to play and use up some of their energy before we got in the van.

When we finally got to the airport, we decided that we needed to get an extra piece of luggage because the weight limit has been reduced from 70 pounds to 50 pounds per piece. We had already mailed quite a bit of our things ahead to keep from having to take so much with us on the plane. The thought of having to claim 8-10 pieces of luggage (each passenger is allowed 2), go through Customs and then check them again didn't sound very appealing. But we found out after we had mailed all our extra luggage that the weight limit had been reduced, so we had to buy another piece.

The morning we left everything went fairly smoothly...except for the fact that P. had neglected to pack one of our Leatherman tools. He had gone through his backpack and simply missed that one. They tried to talk him in to checking his backpack, but that wasn't an option. So they had to confiscate the Leatherman. He said he wasn't that upset about it because it was mine instead of his. Figures.

Fast forward to the end of our flight after we landed in Atlanta. We were being rushed through Immigration and Customs, and everything just seemed to be rush, rush, rush. Not exactly the "Welcome Home" you hope for. So we were pretty irritated at that point. We also knew that the time to part ways with our best friends and traveling companions was upon us. We got on the subway connecting the terminals, and our terminal was before theirs. We all got off together and said goodbye. That was the hardest part of the trip up to that point. I was just a mess the rest of the day. Even when I said hello to our families, which I was very happy about, I was still crying about leaving C.

We have spent the last few days catching up with our families and trying to recover from jet lag. I have to say that although I wish they would sleep later than they do, it's probably a good thing that my kids are such early risers because it has forced me to adjust more quicly to the time difference. I'll probably be doing pretty well in a couple more days. We have found a house that we really like that we're going to try to rent. I'll be so happy to have a place to settle in to. I know my mom's place is available for as long as we need it, but there is definitely something to be said about having a place of your own and not having to live out of suitcases.

It is nice to be home, but I do miss Germany and all of my friends. Maybe I'll be better once I've had a chance to adjust and calm down a bit.

Last Night

Well, tonight is our last night here in Vilseck. It's really pretty hard to believe. We've spent four years here, and I have honestly enjoyed them...for the most part anyway. I didn't really enjoy the year P. was in Iraq, but had a wonderful support system here to get me through. It was pretty hard to say goodbye to our house when we turned over the keys on Thursday. There are so many memories in that house. I know that we'll have the chance to make more memories at our next assignment, but I honestly don't know when we'll spend so much time in one spot as we've spent here. It's amazing to think that in almost twelve years of marriage, the place we've lived the longest was our home in Vilseck, Germany.

Yesterday we did go to the Luau. It was cold and rainy, so they had it in the hangar on the airfield. I don't know what it has been like in previous years, but I wasn't really that impressed. The food was great, and the music was good when we first got there. The kids were dying to play outside, but they're both fighting a cold and definitely didn't need to be playing out in the cold rain before we get on a flight to the States. They did get to have their faces painted, so they were pretty happy about that.

This afternoon we took them to a matinee showing of "Shaggy Dog." What a cute movie! The kids really enjoyed it, and we grownups did as well. Our best friends, who are flying out on the same flight we are, are also in the same building of the hotel we are just downstairs. We're all going stir crazy, but at least we get to go through it together. Our kids love their kids and keep each other busy. They fight with each other just like their own brothers and sisters though.

Tomorrow we move out of the guesthouse here on post and leave for Munich. We're spending the night in the airport hotel there and flying out Tuesday morning. I don't have to say goodbye to my closest friend until Atlanta, but I'm trying not to think about it. That's not going to be any fun at all. Oh well - that's the Army life. We have to take the good with the bad. Hopefully we'll have another assignment together sometime in the future.

All Clear!

As of today, we are officially cleared from post! It feels so good to know that we can just spend the weekend relaxing without having to worry about cleaning the house or shipping things off or anything else. It was pretty emotional too, though. Today was the kids' last day of school, so they had to say goodbye to all their friends and teachers. Neither one of them is really saying that they're sad to be leaving, but they seem to be showing it in other ways. A. tends to have emotional outbursts when she's upset about something. J., on the other hand, is pretty quiet about it. He hasn't really been acting different at home, but he had some difficult moments at school and at SAS. It's amazing how differently kids can react to the same situation. I even asked A. if she was acting the way she was because she was sad about leaving, and she said no. I'm not convinced though.

Tonight is the last function for the year of the local community spouses' club. My friend and I are going together. Should be fun. Tomorrow is the annual Asian Pacific Luau, and we're going to go as long as the nice weather holds out. I sure hope it does. Monday we leave for Munich and then fly out on Tuesday. I can't believe it's so close!

The Last "Hooah-Rah"

Last night was our final coffee. Since the Brigade deactivated earlier this month, it was the last one for everybody. This is another one of those bittersweet things for me. While I'm happy to be moving forward, I'm sad to be leaving many of these ladies. It has been a pretty quiet year for most of us and we've been able to relax a bit. We've had a lot of fun too.

I have to say, though, that after the coffee was really the most fun. A few of us stuck around afterwards and stood in the parking lot and talked about the good times over the past year and what the future may hold for us. One of my friends mentioned that if she'd known we were going to be hanging around talking as long as we did, she would have ordered another drink. Another friend, always prepared, opened her trunk and pulled out a bottle of Lambrusco. We all cracked up. So here we are, chatting about old times and passing around this bottle of wine in the parking lot of the restaurant where we had just had dinner. I think I will think back fondly on that night for many years to come. Here are some photos:

This is me with my best friend...man I'll miss her!

A couple of pictures of some of the girls...

Ladies, remember the purse? ;-) I don't think C. will ever look at her purse the same again after last night...hee hee!!

More Moving Fun...

Well, up until this afternoon, it seemed like this transition was going to go pretty smoothly. Well, it's just not possible to do an Army move without having a couple of bumps in the road. One of them came today. We took the BMW to have it inspected so we could transfer the registration to the person who's buying it from us. Well, it failed. Apparently the fuel line is rusted, and there's a problem with a stabilization link in the front suspension. There was also some other stuff that I can't remember. Thank goodness for my best friend who has the hook-up at a place in Graf where she always gets their car fixed. So we took it over there this afternoon. He's going to take a look at it and call me tomorrow with an estimate.

Other than that, we spent the day at the house getting it ready to clear. More cleaning. P. had a friend come over and help him load up all the scrap wood in his workshop and take it to the recycle center. Hopefully somebody will be able to get some use out of it. Most of what he took over there is stuff he brought home from there in the first place. We left the new stuff for the landlord and loaded some things up in the BMW because the guy buying it wants some wood for some projects he plans to work on as well. We at least managed to get pretty much all the recycling stuff out of the house and garage today. That in itself was an accomplishment!! Oh...I also had to have the heating oil tank refilled. That thing holds 6,000 liters of oil, and it was full when we moved in, so had to be full when we moved out. That's a lot of oil, and as you can imagine, isn't cheap! When I was getting ready to take the car over to the shop this afternoon, P. asked if I had Euros on me because most garages charge just to look at a car. I told him "no, the oil man took it all, remember?" I can honestly say that I will not miss that at all. The oil not only heats the house in the winter...it also heats the water, so we need it year-round. It was really a hassle sometimes, and we always had to keep an eye on the gauge. Sometimes we forgot, and always ran out at the worst possible times. It's ok, though...we would just all snuggle up together until the oil man got there. Aaaahhhhh, the memories!

I guess that about covers it for today. I'll be glad when Thursday gets here and we are officially no longer tenants in the house. That will be a big load lifted. Then Friday is our final out, and we'll have the weekend to relax. I can't believe we're so close...8 days!

Memories

I know that I'm way newer at this blogging thing than most of you are, but thought I'd play along anyway. For those of you who know me and read my blog, please play along. :-)

Leave one memory of you and I together as a comment on my page--it doesn't matter if I know you a little or a lot, anything you remember! DON'T WRITE ME, LEAVE A COMMENT. Next, repost this bulletin and see how many people leave a memory about you.....I hope you'll play along :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Although the day had a bit of a rough start for me, we ended up having a really nice Mother's Day. Why the rough start? Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, we moved into the guesthouse on post this past Friday. At home, P. would probably have made me a special breakfast. We don't really have that capability here. Since we had no plans to work on the house today, we slept in and got started too late to make the inn's Continental Breakfast. We went to the food court, hoping to get biscuits and gravy at Popeye's, but apparently they're not open for breakfast anymore. Too bad, too, because I really liked their biscuits and gravy. So I figured I'd have to settle for Burger King, which I wasn't crazy about. When we get back to the States, I won't care if I never eat at Burger King again! Well, we tried to go in, but they don't open until 10:30 on Sunday mornings. It was 10:00. OK, another frustration. Then we drove over to the DFAC. Thank goodness they were open! They always have a special Mother's Day brunch. It was nice. I had a really yummy omelet and some biscuits and gravy (which was what I really wanted anyway...lol). Everybody was able to get pretty much exactly what they wanted to eat.

After brunch, we went over to the PX to get some things we needed. We had made the decision that P. and the kids weren't going to try to surprise me this year because of the move. So I got to pick what I wanted. They got me a lovely Topaz ring and earrings to match a necklace my best friend gave me about a week ago. I'll have to write more about that later. P. got a couple of movies he wanted (we're such movie freaks). We took the kids to the bookstore and let them pick out a couple of books they wanted, and they also each got a game for their Gameboys for the flight home.

After leaving the PX and getting a couple of things we needed to work on the house this week, we went over the furniture store to look around. We plan to buy new living room furniture when we get back to the States. The living room furniture we have now has been with us since I was pregnant with J. (my oldest), and has been through five moves with us...this one is the sixth. The loveseat has a spot in it that's broken. It's about time to get something new. So we went just for some ideas for furniture. We plan to get the kids new bedroom furniture, too, and we have never had a full bedroom suite ourselves. Now that we're in a position to be able to do it, we're going to get some new furniture.

After all that, we came back and rested for the afternoon. P. asked me what I wanted to do for dinner. I told him I wanted to go to one of my favorite restaurants, out in Pottenstein. The Americans refer to this restaurant as "Steak on a Stone" and very few people know what it's really called. I will really miss this place, because I don't think there's any place like it in the U.S. We all had the kangaroo (yep, the kids too) and loved it. We said farewell to the owner and told him we were moving back to the States. He wasn't very happy...lol.

To my mom and my husband's mom, as well as all of my friends who are moms, I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day! Take some time out to enjoy your special day.

Spring Cleaning

We made quite a bit of progress at the house today. The walls in J.'s room look 100% better. He decided to take his baseball bat to his walls several months ago, so there were dents in the wall all around where his bed was. It looked pretty funny after P. put spackle over them, but before he got a chance to paint. There was also a big hole on another wall...I have no idea what J. did to cause that one. When the landlord came for the pre-termination inspection, P. had filled the hole, but the filler hadn't had a chance to dry, so there was a huge difference in the color, and it was a big spot. Needless to say, the landlord was pretty concerned about whether the spot would be covered after we painted. I went in J.'s room after P. finished painting, though, and it looked great.

A.'s room is a bit of a different story. She didn't cause as much damage to the walls as J. did...well, not the same kind of damage anyway. There is a spot behind her door where she wrote on the wall with a marker. When the wall was painted, the marker bled right through the paint. P. put some of the filler over it, and it still bled through. Aahhhh, these wonderfully porous German walls! It's going to take some work to cover it up, but I know we can get it done.

We had some friends come over to help us today. With their help, we were able to accomplish so much more than we would have otherwise. The guys worked on the walls and we cleaned the kitchen and the floors. We finished all four bedrooms upstairs (except for the one wall in A.'s room) and will just have to do last minute touch-ups now.

It was rainy here today, so the kids were cooped up inside the house while we worked on cleaning and repairing. Of course, all their toys are gone. Fortunately, however, I had picked up a couple of little things for them when we went to pick up paint and stuff for the house. I got them a little tennis set that consists of two plastic rackets and a very soft ball (softer than Nerf). We let them play "tennis" in the living room, which is the biggest room in the house. They hit the ball against the wall. Sometimes they hit each other with it, but at least nobody got hurt.

Well, that pretty much sums up the day we had today. We've decided that we're going to take tomorrow off. We'll be able to get much more done while the kids are in school, plus they won't get so bored. At least today they had a couple other kids to play with, as our friends brought their two kids with them. I'm looking forward to getting some rest tomorrow, though.

Last day of work and more...

Today was my last day of work. This was another bittersweet time for me. While I am so ready to move on to what the Army has in store for us next, I have had a great experience (at least for the most part) in this job I've had for the last three years. The people I worked with helped me through one of the most difficult years of my life (the year P. was in Iraq). It was also my first job after being a full time mom and wife for five years. While I was a bit rusty when I first started, this experience helped me to regain my confidence and to realize that I hadn't forgotten that much after all.

This evening we moved into the guesthouse on post. Just another step toward moving away from the place which has been our home for the past four years. The good thing about it is that it will now be easier for us to finish up what we need to get done at the house before our termination inspection. It also means, however, that we no longer have access to our kitchen and all the conveniences that you become so used to at home. Some things will be easier, though. At least we'll have AFN for our last week and a half. One more week and a half of the wonderful AFN public announcement commercials, and then we go back to "real" commercials. How will I ever adjust?

We gave the kids their choice of where to eat dinner tonight. They both agreed on where to go, and we went to their favorite restaurant here. We've been going to this restaurant since we moved here. The kids always order the same thing, and after dinner, they get to go to the kitchen and choose what kind of ice cream they want. We're going to miss Oma Hammer so much! I've been thinking about all the things I'm going to miss about Germany lately. There's actually quite a bit! I find comfort by telling myself that we'll return some day.

"Broom Clean"

So yesterday we had our pre-termination inspection for the house. I felt so much better when we were finished! The landlord got there first and we just chatted with him for a little while before the housing inspector got there. She's a really nice lady. I hope she's the same one who does our final inspection.

The first thing she told us was that although the landlord could set stricter requirements, German law basically says the house has to be "broom clean" when we move out. What a relief! Of course it will be cleaner than that...I've already started mopping and scrubbing, but I can do it now without worrying about whether it's going to be good enough. P. is working on filling in holes in the walls and spot-painting over the filler and the kids' artwork.

After the housing lady left, the landlord told us that the most important thing now is getting all of our stuff out. We still have quite a bit of "junk" that we need to take to the recycle center. P. had him go through the wood in the garage and see what he might want before he takes it all away. That's my husband...he absolutely hates to throw anything away! Some of the wood that he's taking to the recycle center is stuff he brought home from there anyway. The landlord basically told him the new wood he can leave, but take the rest of it away...lol.

Well, I'm feeling better about it anyway, and P. is definitely more relaxed now that our household goods are gone and he can focus more on getting things done around the house. The kids aren't really happy about all their toys being gone, but I did keep a few things out for them until we get to the grandparents'. They have lots to play with there. Tomorrow we move into the guesthouse on post, so then all of our everyday things will be out of the house so we can really get finished.

Tomorrow is my last day of work, and today we're having a Hail and Farewell potluck. It will be nice to have a few days when I don't have to worry about work and can focus on taking care of the things we need to get done. I'm also taking a month off from school, so it will be nice to be able to have the evenings to spend with the kids instead of working on homework.

Coming Home Soon

After five years in Germany (well, almost), we're finally coming home! I sit here and can't believe we've lived in Europe as long as we have. I was telling P. today that it seems like we've been waiting forever for this time to get here, and it has sort of snuck up on us all of a sudden!

This week we've had the movers packing everything up. I am amazed at how efficient the movers were. It took them much less time than I thought it would to get all our stuff packed and loaded. I think about the four years we've been in this house - which is actually the longest we've been in any one place in almost 12 years of marriage - and can't believe everything was packed and loaded in a couple of days. I told P. that maybe we didn't have quite as much stuff as I feared. He assured me that we have plenty of "crap" and that these professionals are just very good at their job...lol.

So now that our household goods are loaded up and gone, the next task at hand is to get the house ready for inspection so we can clear. We have our pre-inspection with the housing office and landlord tomorrow morning, and then our final inspection next week. I think I'll feel better once we have the initial walk-through and find out exactly what the landlord's expectations are. Our kids have decided over the years to express themselves artistically (which they definitely get from their daddy) - on the walls! While the landlord has told my husband that we don't need to worry about painting over it, I don't think he grasps the full concept of just how overboard my kids can go when they decide to do something like that! P. has painted over quite a bit since he returned from deployment, but the kids have redone some of what he covered up.

Oh well, today has been a long day. We'll see what tomorrow has in store for us.

Giving this a try...

I'm going to try my hand at this blogging thing. It definitely seems like a great way for family and friends to be able to keep up with what we're doing. Although I've always wanted to, I've never been good at keeping a journal so definitely won't promise to post daily. However, with my addiction to technology (which absolutely drives my husband bonkers), maybe this will be a great way for me to do it. I also hope this will be a way for me to keep in better touch with friends through our military adventure. It will also be a great way for our extended family to keep up with the kids and our daily lives.