Christmas Dinner

I had been drooling all day Thursday, Friday, and until that food was put on the table come Saturday evening.  I even barely ate (except what I stole while cooking, of course, and sampling the desserts was a must, too.) in the days leading up to Christmas dinner - and I wasn't genuinely hungry. That's very strange for me. Pregnancy has made me apathetic to food, for the most part.

We got quite a bit of snow Christmas Eve into Christmas day, and so our 4-5 people eating ended up only being 3, and the 4th for sure person ended up snowed in at a friend's house.  Our company showed up early, too (I hadn't finished cleaning the bathroom or kitchen, and had JUST gotten out of the shower when he arrived.) due to snow.  He lives in a more... hilly part of town, in a valley, kind of, so it's always worse out there. Bryce is a cool guy, though, and I'm sad to see him leave in just a couple months, now.

KR got a replacement Xbox 360. I saved it for last to open. He loved is so much, he hugged it. This wasn't even posed, by the way.

So while I finished cleaning and such, the boys played video games.

Now, on to the fun stuff! Food!!!

Main course for the night, the ham.  Started cooking it in the slow cooker around 11:30am.

This lovely ham was in the slow cooker about 7 hours.  It was scored, rather deeply, to help the juices get in there.  It was in a bunch of apple juice. It was covered in brown sugar, I poured maple syrup over it, drizzled some honey over it, added cinnamon and nutmeg to the juice for spice. And, finally, added clementine peel and some slices to the mix as well.  I am not usually a ham kinda person, but this 3.36 pound beast was basically demolished by 3 people in one night.  KR & I barely had enough for lunch the next day.

Next we have mashed potatoes.  I would like to tell you they were homemade, but I wanted to enjoy most of my day and opted for the simple "add water and milk and stir" kind.  They were butter & herb, which I haven't had in forever and I'm happy to say, it worked amazing with the ham!

 Next to that, we had carrots. Nothing special about them, but added some color and healthiness to the table.

Next on the list: a request from Bryce, jellied cranberry sauce. I love this stuff, KR's not a big fan, so I don't buy it usually. I was glad to eat some. We basically ate 3/4 of the jar - just the two of us!

This menu item looks a bit strange, and could easily be mistaken for a dessert.  But it is in fact referred to as either fruit salad or marshmallow salad.  It is a little heavier on the marshmallows than normal since I kinda ended up with a bigger bag than I needed and didn't feel like measuring the proper ounces of marshmallows.  It contains:  3 cans of fruits, marshmallows, and cool whip. (I bought the light stuff, but then again, I always buy the light cool whip.) It's light and refreshing, and a lame excuse for a fruit side. But it is delicious, and since Bryce wasn't a big fan of it, I've been munching on it all week and I've finally been able to move it to a smaller container!

Another strange main course item, especially for a bread.  I'm a bread kinda girl, so there has to be a side of bread for any kind of get together.  I flipped through my Bisquick recipe book and I wanted these. They are fruit-filled muffins (filled with strawberry and peach preserves) and then glazed in a simple confectioner's sugar & water frosting.  They are surprisingly dense, and they didn't really get eaten during dinner. The next morning, however, they really hit the spot. I had to freeze some from having too many to eat!

This was our dinner table, all set family-style and ready to go.  After this picture we carved the ham and dug in!

And on to desserts!

These are technically called Spritz cookies, but I've always called them butter cookies.  They are a secret family recipe I am forbidden to pass along, and are shaped with a cookie press.  One batch makes more than enough cookies.  I still have 3 fake-tupperware containers of these in my kitchen still. They are not a "sweet" kind of cookie, and they were a tad dry this year, but they were otherwise what I was hoping for.  I swear, I could eat 10 of these in one sitting and not even feel sick.  They are just so easy to eat!

These are homemade oreo truffles.  KR is obsessed with them, but unfortunately, they are SO RICH, I really can't eat them like I would love to. He really is going to eat them all on me... I found the recipe on the back of a coupon at the commissary - it was worth it.  You finely crumble a bag of oreos, mixed 3/4 of it with cream cheese (I chose to do this messy part by hand.), and then form into small balls.  Then melt Baker's chocolate down, and dip the balls completely in the chocolate.  Put it on wax paper, sprinkle with the left over oreo crumbs, and let it sit it the fridge until it's time to enjoy.  It was messy, took a while, was not hard at all, and there were plenty of steps that allow you to lick your fingers.  I am certain KR will ask for these every year now!

KR never did make his no bake cookies, and I suppose it's just as well since the majority of the desserts are still sitting somewhere in our kitchen.  It was a good time - and most importantly, for once in my life, I had stuff done AHEAD of time (except what had to be cooked at the last minute). It was great having everything set aside and ready to go and actually being able to enjoy the day without going crazy cooking.  I simply cannot imagine doing this for a lot of people, though. It was a challenge enough cooking for 4!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

My favorite Christmas album is almost near banned in this house now. Nsync Christmas has been on my list of must play Christmas music since I got the CD - the year it came out. It's amazing. Too bad my husband won't let me play it simply because "Nsync" is the artist - the quality of the music doesn't matter. Boo.

It was a crazy, semi-lazy week.  We didn't get near as much cleaning/organizing done as we expected, but the place looks pretty good.  Didn't get any of the mail we were waiting for - including the pictures and my winter coat.  At least my boots came in! They are AWESOME. So comfy and warm, and most importantly: super cute!

Yesterday, I attempted for the first time by myself my mom's family's secret recipe for cookie pressed cookies, a tradition I grew up with my entire life. Had some problems with my cookie press, but the cookies themselves taste AMAZING.

We are having a (small) Christmas dinner at our place tomorrow.  2-3 people are coming over - the 3rd depends on deployment something or another.  If he comes, I hope we'll have enough food.  On the menu for tomorrow night is: (And this will be repeated, with pictures, in the days to come.)

1.  Slow-cooked ham.
2.  Mashed Potatoes
3.  Carrots
4.  Marshmallow salad
5.  Jellied cranberry sauce
6.  Fruit-filled muffins

Nothing too special for the dinner menu - The most time being spent on the ham and the muffins.

For dessert, we will have:

1.  Secret-recipe cookies
2.  Oreo truffles
3.  No bake cookies (KR's family's secret recipe)

SO FAR, I have the following done and ready to go:

Marshmallow salad, muffins, secret-recipe cookies, oreo truffles (seriously, it tastes like professional candy, I couldn't believe it!).  The ham is defrosting in the fridge - I am excited to put that all together, and I definitely cannot wait until the house starts smelling like amazing sweet honey ham! I am cheating on the cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and carrots. Hey - as much as I'd love to cook everything homemade, I'd really like to enjoy Christmas, too.

We are exchanging gifts with our friends, and they are staying over while we enjoy the night with movies and video games, and possibly drinking (except for me). I cannot believe the day is almost here!!!

Tomorrow will be a busy day... We still have to clean up the apartment, obviously gifts, I'd really like to work mass in there, but I have a feeling KR will convince me otherwise, and prepare the ham.

Ok, my beautiful hubbin's falling asleep on the couch, so it should probably be bed time now!

Merry Christmas to all!

Cash Monies!

--- That isn't in the bank!

Ok, so finally we sucked it up and bought Quicken to help us get a tad organized in the financial department.  And granted, it factors your spending for the past 30 days, so obviously, it being the month before Christmas... It's not an accurate depiction of our usual monthly spending.... (We took advantage of a lot of deals on stuff we needed to buy for the baby/apartment). But even still, the fear has been realized. KR left before I even finished putting the budget together. Not sure if he was upset at himself for spending so much, or not making enough to cover everything. I, on the other hand, still feel responsible for having the loans to pay back and not working to contribute. Yes, growing a baby is a contribution, but it doesn't pay the bills. Unfortunately. It CAN be done, that much we know, including saving a little bit each month, but it's still too tight for "comfort" so to speak. Military men REALLY don't make that much money - AT ALL. At least where we're at in the rankings!

So again, we have the dilemma.  Me getting a job. Risk my health, my sanity, over-doing it, pain... We toyed with the idea of being a cashier for a couple months - just to earn SOMETHING, although I'd earn lots more if I went back to the CDC. I just have to change my mentality about the place. And hope my immunity is good as getting random illnesses kids tend to carry all the time and those random illnesses tend to be... questionable for unborn babies.

Oh, decisions, decisions!

I hate Sallie Mae.

So, this was the first month that I needed to make payments on my school loans.  Total, they are ugly, but they aren't near as bad as they could be.  I have the  majority of my loans through Sallie Mae, and a few through Direct Loans, but a much less amount, and MUCH more manageable. So, for some reason, my first payment for Sallie Mae was not what my monthly payments will be, I assumed because it was the first month, or perhaps, because some of them are smaller than others (I have about 5 different loans through Sallie Mae, and each has their own payment due and a different interest rate. I only have to make one payment each month for them all, but if I over pay, I have to email them with special instructions for what to do with the extra money or else they will choose and it's usually not the best option for the money. Ghey.). So I set up my online payment last Tuesday, it was due Thursday.  I know, it was cutting it close. I clicked "Pay full amount due," put in my information, and it went through on time.

My mom is my co-signer for my 2 big loans. She called today to set up an online account so she can help me out when she can or else basically, just make sure I'm not screwing up her credit as well as mine. I had already told her I paid the bill and it went through, so I know she wasn't calling them to check up on me. Well, when she called, they told her I was delinquent on my loans by $71 and some odd change. UM, WHAT?! I paid what was due. If I owed more, why wasn't I told this? I never got a bill for the month anyways, but I check the website periodically, and knew it was coming up.  Nowhere on the website did it say I owed another 72 bucks, OR ELSE I WOULD HAVE PAID IT.

So now I have to try to figure this out and hope that it doesn't screw up  my credit/affect my incentives because otherwise, I screwed up ON MY VERY FIRST PAYMENT WHEN IT WASN'T EVEN MY FAULT.

Note: Don't go to college. It's not worth the money. At least, if you need loans for it, it's not. I have 25 years of hell to look forward to, and half the money I'll make every paycheck going to them. Oh, which, by the way, is actually KR's money, which in turn, is our money for furniture we need and baby stuff. But hey, who needs a stroller and a winter coat?

The Bears are Losing. Terribly.

My husband is so upset that he glared at the TV, turned it off, and went to bed without saying goodnight.

I'm pretty mad, too... But since everyone expected them to lose and the majority of the Bears' wins have been either against crappy teams or simply pure luck, I can't complain. Then again, I like the Bears. I would definitely not be at a game with 9* wind chills in the snow cheering them on while scantily dressed to gain the attention of the cameramen.

We were mostly productive this weekend, though.  Still haven't made it to a Christmas Markt which is a HUGE fail on our part. We are, however, too busy getting gifts together, planning Christmas dinner, and trying to get this apartment looking like a home and somewhat organized. Plus, KR was on standby, and I swear, at about 7am this morning, I could've broken that phone it was pissing me off so much.

Anyways, got some laundry done, some organizing, some fun play time, and dishes and finally got some pictures framed and hung in our apartment, yay!

Well, in a fun, emotional turn of events for the night, I am out.

Things I miss.

My list of restaurants that I crave regularly and miss severely has expanded.  They of course include:

1. STARBUCKS! (happiness in a drink. Instant smiles no matter what the mood is. THAT is addiction.)
2. Chik-fil-a (ohhh myyyy, how I miss Chik-fil-a!! Born and raised in Georgia - what do you expect?)
3. Jamba Juice (Baskin Robbin's super expensive fruit smoothie blast simply does not cut it.)
4. Steak & Shake (24 hours. Burgers, fries, chicken tenders, yummy desserts. Cheap. Amazing.)
5. Buffalo Wild Wings (Even though BBQ is off the list of foods I'd eat, my mouth still waters thinking about their  honey bqq boneless chicken wings.)

Other than that, I really just miss a good American mall, and English, and TARGET. I know, I know, I worked there for 4.5 years and endured 4 grueling Christmas seasons with them, but it's still fun to shop there, even if I don't get the discount anymore.  I do, however, have their Target charge, and I get half of my old discount if I use it.

I would, of course, never, ever return to my old store. Except maybe with my husband. To show off how amazing and better my new life is. And only because ONE person works there I would love to see again. And because they have the best clearance selection and prices in the entire Valley.

Oh, man, I miss America.

Grawr!

Yesterday, I spent like 2 hours searching online for some winter boots. I tracked down my friend Taryn and figured out what size she wears in Bearpaw boots b/c we have the same size shoes.  I managed to find some 12" winter boots by Bearpaw for $35-40 bucks on Amazon.  I told KR when we got home about them, I saved them in my account, and we decided that today, we'd go to the BX to see if they had any to try on or else buy.

So today, we went to the BX and sure enough, they actually had in stock some Bearpaw boots! They were THE ugliest boots I have ever seen in my entire life! It was some forest green with some weird decal/design thing on the outside, and then some putrid orange color, and then some sequenced thing, too.  I tried on a size 10 (they only had ONE!) to double check the size (they fit, yay!) and then put those ugly ass things back on the shelf.... There were women there who were like glaring at me if I so much as looked at them holding their box of ugly ass Bearpaw boots. Even Kyle noticed how frenzied their actions were around these boots!

So after we get home (we also bought a picture frame to FINALLY hang up our big wedding picture... and it was the WRONG size frame, ugh.) and I log on to my account to prepare to order the boots... In one day, the COLOR I chose for all my boots had gone up in price like 20 bucks!!! I was so livid I nearly cried. We are trying SO hard to save money and absolutely NOTHING we do is right! And we still need so much stuff for baby, apartment, etc. I ended up changing the color and the price went to $45 but I was still mad. We have gotten screwed on EVERYTHING  we have bought in the past few weeks. Mostly shipping... We've had to use shipitapo to get some stuff here, and honestly, I hope we never have to again! I don't recommend it. We've been SOAKED in shipping prices. We ordered a computer from HP (HP doesn't ship to apo) and they shipped each item we bought SEPARATELY - so we got charged shipping 3x for one order!!! The monitor, ($22 shipping) the external ($13!) and the computer itself (I don't even know!). Our awesome deal on the computer + monitor + 1TB external = not such a good deal anymore. Then we order a stroller travel system from Babys R Us.  They wouldn't ship this particular item to APO and boy, do we know why. We got it on sale for 50 bucks off!  But with shipitapo, we were charged $77 to ship the fucking thing here! That means we paid 25 more than full price to get the damn stroller here! And, you know, it still takes forever.

THEN, I found myself a wool pea coat for maternity from Target for 50 bucks. I don't expect TOO much from Target for 50 bucks, but I am desperate for a decent looking winter coat. Currently, my winter coat is from the girl's department at Target and was on it's end before the baby bump made it's presence - now, it's hardly cutting it, and with all the freaking snow/sleet/rain/whatever is always falling from the sky in this dreary country, it's urgent I get something and quick. So I find this awesome coat, I am so excited, I go to the check out screen.  As soon as I "view my cart" it automatically defaults to showing the coat size as XS as opposed to the size I REALLY ordered. No matter how many times I tried to fix it, the same happened every time. Even when I ordered through Target on Amazon! I was SO pissed. The boots I wanted, out. The fucking coat I wanted - wouldn't work! REALLY?!

IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY?

We are military, poor military. We don't get a lot of money each pay day, and it's basically gone in like 5 days. We have so much we need to get to get this place together and nothing we do works. I'm not working b/c my baby won't let me so I suck at life for contributing. And my lovely, lovely school loans are due um, THURSDAY, so there's another $415 bucks a month we'll never see for the next 30 years. So how exactly do people "get ahead" ? How do people have so much "stuff" and NICE stuff? We had to buy everything used or else we don't have it. I'm not complaining, I like what we have, and why spend 1k on something nice when you can get it for 120 bucks? But ya know, it would just be SO NICE if life was a tad easier and could just simply cut us a break! I'm sick of finding deals and then getting screwed on them. I'd rather not know - or else just let me get the freaking deal! KR's Christmas gift I could've gotten for 60 bucks cheaper if we were in the states, but noooooo websites won't offer the same deals online for Black Friday and so I had to pay regular price. What a waste! What's my incentive to use your company then?

Ok, I am done venting. I ordered my boots and my coat, and hopefully they will be here before the end of the winter season.

Wow.

I had my first ever nose bleed last night.

Oh, the joys of being pregnant.

Better now...

Still was a tad moody yesterday, but got better as time passed. KR passed his A+ certification today, so that is great news! And this week, tomorrow to be exact, he goes back to 6-3! Which sucks for an early bed time, but is GREAT because my husband will be home before the sun goes down! (Only about an hour before, but much better than 3 hours later!) This means that when he gets home, we have time to go out shopping, go for walks, get something done around the house, or simply enjoy sunshine TOGETHER. Ok, not sunshine, because it's like never sunny here, but at least DAYLIGHT. This was a big cause of my moodiness. Stuck inside everyday by myself until after 7pm? With no transportation? And it's gloomy most of the daylight day? LAME! Now I can sign up for some exercise classes and have a way to get there - and the two of us can go for a walk before the sun drops. We're from the midwest, so we aren't afraid of a little snow on the ground or falling from the sky. I used to hike to class with 8 inches of snow on the paths and in the middle of a blizzard that make it damn near impossible see. Oh, it was so much fun! Made phone calls hiding in buildings to see if someone could give me a ride since you couldn't keep your eyes open enough to see b/c the snow was coming down so thick!

Anyways. Got a little distracted. KR got home a little after 5pm today and it had been snowing all day, so the roads weren't so great so we decided not to go out.  We finished decorating the tree (yay, finally!)

But of course, got a little distracted along the way!

Then we moved some stuff around in an attempt to make the place look more homey/organized, had dinner, then started clearing off the island counter area that's been covered in papers for a while.  I crashed while going through all that, so it's not quite finished, but it is much better.  Apparently, we are having a couple people over for Christmas, so I desperately want this place looking like a home (as opposed to an institutional living environment) before Christmas. Plus, I think our friends and family deserve some pictures of our new apartment, and currently, the only ones I have are from when moved in and crap was everywhere. So, even though we have a ton of awesome pictures frames now... we don't have pictures that fit in them, and tons of pictures and no frames that fit them! Hah, isn't that how it always goes?

I just opened an account with Snapfish because apparently, they give the best deals on prints AND actually ship to APO address (hard to find) so I am excited to get that going, but - not gonna lie - I'm gonna go crazy trying to pick out all these pictures!

Ok, KR just got out of the shower, so it's time to switch gears and give him some attention before bedtime. 5am alarm will come quickly (for him)!

Ugh

Absolutely NOT in a good mood!

I don't even know what really happened, in the chain of events, but I've been upset for hours and it only seems to get worse.

And to top it off, my lovely husband fell asleep while I was laying in bed tear-stained texting a friend still doing that stupid gasping for air from crying thing. We didn't get in a fight or anything, I am just being an emotional hormonal wreck; however foolish it may be. And I HATE it!!!!! I know everyone needs a good cry every once in a while, but it's 345 in the morning, and with my tendency to sleep 12 hours lately, this does NOT bode well for tomorrow. Or the next few days following that.

Snow, snow, snow!

Well, it is a lovely snowy day here in Germany! It's actually snowed just about every day since Thanksgiving morning, and while it annoyed me at first, I'm getting used to it - and I love, love the way it trickles down so slowly here. If I were more energetic today and had winter boots (my snow boots are in IL and so new ones are on my list of things to buy) I would go for a walk in the lovely snow. Well, I also don't have a winter coat that quite fits, either, as that baby bump is starting to make it's presence known. That and my winter coat is from the Girl's Department at Target and a few years old... Hey, it was a freaking deal, and had 2 layers, and was about 2/3 cheaper than any coat comparable from the women's department at a department store (as Target doesn't sell true winter coats for adults). They seem to do a piss poor job of using salt and plows here, though, so the roads on base are already amber, and if the snow keeps up, I expect them to be terrible by the end of the day. I will just sit and watch it from my window until it's dark outside and I can't see anymore.

And now it's bigger flakes! Oh, how I miss the midwestern United States! And Starbucks, and Chik-fil-a, and shopping at Target!!! Oh, God, and those days I used to have all 3 in one day!!!!! I long for those days, again... Where we end up, they better have Chik-fil-a's there by then!!!!

Man, I miss America.

In other news, today they were checking the fire alarm systems on base housing so I've been up and restlessly sleeping off and on since 730am (and went to bed late of course) because somebody had to be home from 730-430 to open the door for a guy to check the sprinklers. He finally showed up about 1145 and they tested the alarm at noon. It took him about 30 seconds to walk through the apartment, no joke, and I totally could've gotten good sleep, so now my body is suffering. I'm getting some lunch together, and the hopefully I will get a good nap in and then be all energetic/productive like I was yesterday evening.

Moral of the story: I miss the United States. I will probably gain 20 pounds when we go back because I will engorge myself in all the tastiness I have been denied for 2 years. I. Can't. Wait!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, things are coming along! I cannot believe how quickly that 4 day weekend flew by! And we really didn't even do anything awesome with it.  KR got home early on Wednesday and so we ended up going to the BX and buying lots of stuff. Found some rugs for the bedrooms, a mattress for the crib, a George Foreman Grill, and a baby monitors that weren't ridiculously expensive. Needless to say, I didn't get my pies done for Thanksgiving the day before like I had planned... and so when I woke up around noon on Thursday (I have been sleeping SO MUCH the past few weeks! Saturday, I woke up after 12 hours of sleep feeling so motivated! I cleaned the house, got laundry going, made lunch, made home made croutons, and after 2 hours I crashed and needed a nap. Pitiful!) I only had a couple hours to get the pies made. I was very,well, angry that morning. KR woke me up, and it was snowing. Snow is pretty and all, but we were planning on walking to our friends' place and currently, my winter coat is at it's end of this pregnancy - and I don't have any kind of boot yet, so I was pretty angry that it HAD to snow the day I had to walk outside and me falling? Not such a good idea. Not to mention the pop and pies we had to carry to their house as well. Anyways, so of course, our lovely European oven was too small to cook 2 pies in it at one time, so I had to cook them separately. And of course, each pie took almost twice as long as the recipe called for and so we were late. Didn't realize the pies were supposed to sit a while either, so one pie was still warm when it came time to cut them. It really wasn't a big deal in the end because there was so much food - and the same goes with being late. We were late, but the food was no where near ready yet so at least we didn't miss out on food, just company, and that was fine in the end. We had a good time, and had some pie to take home  =)

Friday we ordered a computer and I ordered KR's Christmas gift, which may or may not get here by Christmas. And it's more likely that it won't. Yet another reason why being based overseas sucks. But we'll see what happens.

We started putting up the tree that day, and realized quite quickly that we didn't have enough lights for the tree. We also moved some stuff around and managed to get the rug down in our room. Friday, again, we went to the BX and picked up some little things we needed, but not everything, and by the time we got home, I crashed. I was done. Saturday, I don't even remember what we did... And Sunday, we finished up with as much of the tree that we could (We don't have ornament hangers and the BX was out of them AND paperclips - and I don't have string.) and watched the Bears game - and they won! Yay!

I guess that's really it for now. Nothing too exciting going on, just slowly getting my energy back and getting this place put together. Today, however, I don't see that happening. I am dragging today, and I'm hungry but I don't really want food. Still haven't gained weight, and I've lost 1.5 pounds in the past 2 days. Baby, what are you doing to me?! Hopefully, I'll find something that my tummy will like here soon.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

PS:

I'm really flipping sick of people I barely know telling me I'm crazy because I want to keep it a surprise whether we're going to have a girl or boy. Well, I think YOU'RE crazy for ruining one of the only happy surprises you get in life! Stop telling me I'm crazy - It's my decision and it's really not as hard to get stuff for a baby as you think. People have done it for thousands of years, so it's really not the end of the world if I decide to wait until birth day   to find out!

Fortunate

Well, this blog comes a little late, but it was a crazy week last week. KR was going in early/coming home late, still have an apartment to get straightened out, I've STILL been nauseas most days (and boy, is it getting OLD), and it's been gloomy. I never used to have a problem with the cool, cloudy, dreary days, but perhaps I'm noticing it far more as I'm tied up in the apartment all day. KR still is working 10-7, so the majority of my day is spent alone and it looks like it's dusk all day long.

We got the rest of our Christmas decorations, and the BX totally reamed us for lights and ornaments, and the wrapping paper was so expensive, I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money. In addition, we are looking for baby stuff, which we all know is expensive (and hard to come by on base with all those pregnant women wandering around), and we need to get a number of furniture items before February (b/c they're taking the rest of our FMO stuff away) and a new phone (hopefully with an answering machine and a flash button) and a new desktop computer. Our list of wants right now is pretty high, and with all the moving and changing in finances, we STILL don't have a budget in place, which sucks b/c hey, it's Christmas time and we really need to have an idea about what we can do for the holidays. My guess? We'll barely afford some gifts for each other, and Christmas cards, and everybody else is going to get nothing. Sucks, but our house still looks very white and boring, and that probably contributes to the gloomy days that I have.

I have to say, I am very, very glad we live on/near a large base because after spending a week in Camp Darby, Italy, it's safe to say, I would absolutely go BONKERS there. Most places are closed Sunday and Monday, they have weird hours, and the entire base is itty bitty. The bx is like the size of a Walgreens. The comissary actually ran out of MILK. Italy was a good time though, and I'm so glad we had the chance to go, even if it was all football. The boys won their championship, too, so it was a pretty exciting week. Now, we are back home, trying to get this place put together, and figure out where money is coming from.

Now, I get to go put a spread sheet together for all the finances, and make a list for the doctor tomorrow and for shopping tonight, and of course, do coupons since I am so far behind, and saving money needs to be a top priority right  now.

Top 8 Reasons Not to Road Trip in Europe

Sure, it's tempting. You're in Europe. You're so close to many amazing, beautiful, historical, and outright famous places. A day's drive from countless architectural and wonders of the world - and sometimes mere hours from different, new, exciting countries. But here are some reasons to stay out of the car and explore Europe in a different way.

1. Different countries have different rules. Duh. This only makes sense that each country has different rules when it comes to driving, insurance, appearance, and many other culture-specific points. For instance, in Switzerland and Austria, you need a (different) sticker on your windshield to drive in that country. Italy requires your car insurance information to be attached to your windshield. Germany wants a sticker that identifies information about your car's emissions. Not a big deal, usually not (too) expensive, but how do you know about them if somebody doesn't tell you? That's a good question. On our way to Edelweiss in the summer, we wandered over the Austrian border on back roads on the way, and upon our return home, were informed we were supposed to have a special sticker. We never were in a big city and never even stopped (truthfully, we hardly realized we crossed the border until we saw the sign that we were back in Germany) so it's hard to say if it really mattered or not. Either way, it's really scary hopping in the car and not knowing what to expect when you cross that border.

2. Tolls are expensive. Some European countries only have toll-highways.  And while I am used to the whole "toll road" atmosphere from living in the 'burbs of the Chicago area, Chicago tolls are nothing compared to European tolls - and I will no longer complain about the $1.80 toll going into Rockford from the Marengo/Woodstock exit.  The two countries we have driven through so far that require tolls are France and Italy.  France was a huge shock, even though we'd made the drive once before and knew what to expect. The drive to Paris is a mere 4 hours from our location (per French and German speed limits) and round trip, we paid about €55 in tolls. Do the conversion to US Dollars and that's about $75. Just to drive there and back. The drive from the border in Italy to the Pisa exit was about the same, price-wise. Just to drive through the one country and back. And that doesn't include gasoline - which brings me to the next point.

3. Gasoline is expensive. As a military family stationed overseas, we are rationed gasoline per car per month. (I don't know how this works if you have more than one car as that does not apply to us.) We are able to buy gasoline on base as the rationed rate, which is more expensive than what it would be if we were stateside, but by far cheaper than if we were buying gasoline on the economy.  If you need more than you are rationed, then you simply pay the "economy" price for the area where you are stationed. When you take road trips, however, that changes, and your wallet really feels the pain. If we were to stay in Germany, there are ways we could still use the rations for gasoline (though it's confusing, and I don't quite get how that works); leaving the country, things change.  They also use liters, not gallons, to measure gasoline, so it takes a little math to figure out exactly how much you're paying per gallon. (They also don't use 87 octane grade in Germany, so you have to use a more expensive grade to begin with!)  So it costs approximately €1.40/liter for gasoline. That is (according to today's exchange rate... It's not 4pm yet.) about $1.91/liter. There is just shy of 4 liters to a gallon. So the easiest thing is to multiply by 4, and subtract a little. $1.91 X 4 =  $7.64/gallon (rounded up). Or do it this way: €1.40 X 4 = €5.60 = $7.62/gallon. Either way, subtract a little off that and you have damn near close to $7/gallon. Our tank in our 2010 Ford Fusion holds 16 gallons of gasoline. That's $112 for a tank of gas!

4. Europeans don't know how to drive.  Or maybe they are far superior at driving than Americans, but either way, it scares the hell out of me.  They drive far faster, much closer together, and take a lot more risks than foolish Americans do when driving.  They also don't seem to understand the concept of merging when lanes end. This is frustrating because a simple lane ending shouldn't cause a traffic jam... but it does. Because they don't merge until there literally is no more road for them to drive on. And then the people in the moving lane are too stubborn to let them in. They also don't seem to register that speed limits signify a speed LIMIT. They will drive as fast as they possibly can until the last possible moment and then slam on the breaks forcing everybody behind them to stop short. The result? Lots of close calls and me with elevated blood pressure freaking out.

5. Language barriers.  Obviously Germany speaks German, and Italy speaks Italian. But what does Switzerland speak? I had to message somebody from high school to find out this question, as we'd be driving through that country.  I felt stupid, I should know this. I live a few hours from the border! My response: "Most people speak German, but it's a Swiss German, not what you're used to. And some people speak French, and some people speak Italian. Oi! What a headache!

6. Money Issues. Switzerland uses the Swiss Franc and Germany and Italy use the Euro.  We didn't exchange money for Franc so we hoped we wouldn't need it! And either way, both currencies are more expensive than the American dollar! Cha-ching!

7. Construction. Maybe this is just because of the luck we hit on the drive back, because I know they have lots of annoying construction in the states as well, but the road construction is seriously annoying and seriously slows you down. They always seem to narrow highways down to one lane, which is very ridiculously narrow by the way, and then open it for a whole 2km and then narrow it down again. This goes on for maybe an hour of traveling time, and before you know it, your arrival time has crept that much further away from you.

8. Bathrooms are either disgusting or expensive.  They are at least fairly often along the highway.  We all know Europe charges for their bathrooms. I think I've known this for as long as I could use a bathroom by myself. But when did the fee go up to €,70? Stand was usually €,30-,50 but when you convert it, that 70 cents is almost a dollar back home - JUST TO PEE! No wonder train stations wreak of urine. Granted, some of them that you pay for are extremely clean - and that is greatly appreciated. The ones that don't have a gate at their entrance are pretty disgusting. Some don't even have toilet seats.  Thanks.  That's really nice.

Despite all this, you can still have a very nice time along the road. I love road trips back home, and if you can afford the expenses and miles on your car, you can really enjoy the sights along the drive. We saw the Swiss Alps, Tuscan mountains, many other sights along the way I snagged pictures of.  Just remember to consider all the options and plan ahead for the extra costs along the way - because you will, no doubt, have them.

Happy Traveling!

Struggling Today

Yeah, yeah, I know, blog number 2 in just a few short hours. This does not bode well, but today, like many days before, I'm struggling. KR won't be home for a few hours still (I really hate this 10-7 shift.) and I can't seem to get myself energized/motivated to get ANYTHING done. I'm drinking a coke to hopefully get a bit of a caffeine boost, but I really, really don't want to be reliant on caffeine - especially since it's not good for baby to have too much, although that number is extremely high so I shouldn't have a problem being half ways dependent on caffeine for some energy.  I feel so bad b/c I can't seem to get anything done and I don't know how to get motivated. I'm tired/drained, and always hungry, and I'm having a hard time getting anything done. Even working an hour around the house is a challenge for me. I haven't really gained any pregnancy weight, but I know the rest of it is pregnancy-related and it's really not "bad" except that I can't do anything and I feel bad that KR gets stuck doing more than he should have to, or doesn't get a decent dinner b/c I can't cook or get nauseas cooking. I just feel very bad that KR is getting stuck with so much to do and I just feel like I'm being a lazy piece of ass.

On that note, I am going to catch a nap and hopefully afterwards I will feel a little better. This is my "frumpiest" part of the day, after all...

Baby Fever!

Well, we moved last Wednesday, despite some last minute drama and difficulties with the inspection, etc. Basically, on Tuesday at 5 minutes to the end of the duty day, the inspector callIed KR and told him to cancel everything b/c the apartment failed the inspection.  Low and behold, no body answered their phones so everybody was still coming, and when KR met with the inspector on Wednesday, it failed b/c of some piece missing from the oven (that was fixed while he was there waiting to sign the paperwork) and because of a spot that the painters missed. Dealing with the movers went smoother than expected, though our place still is a disaster, but the living is mostly put together, and the kitchen is too except for all those random papers we have to sit and go through (boo). The rooms are still a disaster - and we are down to one bathroom, which stinks. The fourth floor business is absolutely killing me. I can't believe how weak I've gotten! It's only 3.5 flights when I used to make it up 5 flights before I'd be dragging.  Still haven't been feeling so well, but I'm pretty sure it's because of my eating. Due to the  move, we haven't been eating well, or often enough, and I really, really suffer when I don't have what I need inside me.

In other news, we are having a baby!. And other than me not feeling good,  it's really good timing (besides the obvious million things going on business). Baby will be born before KR's up for deployment, so there are no worries about a pregnant woman in labor driving herself to the hospital. I just might have a newborn to take care of by myself, but I know he'd rather be there for me for the birth. In the end, only time will tell b/c he may not get deployed, or he might. There's really no way to know until the orders come down. I used to say I'd go home if he got deployed, but if I baby and possibly a job, I'm going to have to stay here. Again, only time will tell...

We had our first ultrasound on Thursday and everything in that department is going well, only they changed my due date b/c apparently baby is bigger than they expected. We are now due May 13, 2011. Baby apparently would not stop moving and KR thought that was hysterical b/c he had ADHD and so he was all proud of himself to see a similar characteristic. I just groaned b/c I was a good child and his children are going to be payback to him for his behaviors and just plain mean to me. This child is already taking everything out of me - it's horrendously pitiful who drained and weak I am. And yet, I still have no room to complain based on what I've heard other women have had to endure.

The actual picture, of course is surprisingly good. KR and I were able to distinguish some of baby's limbs and other random body parts. This was only a picture of a picture since our scanner is not quite set up yet.

In other news, we are heading to Italia on Wednesday. And supposedly we are leaving at 0400. REALLY?! I am not looking forward to that wake up call... Also, we're driving, and 10 hours sitting in a car with my pregnant bladder?! So not looking forward to it! We are going to supposed KR's football team as they play in the Europe-wide championship tournament. We're hoping to at least make it to Pisa, as Rome is pretty far and Florence is still a little over an hour away.

All right, I better get going. Even though I just ate an hour ago, I am still hungry so I better fill up before I start feeling icky again. I also should attempt to get something productive done today as well! Ciao!

Touristy Trips and a Favorite Visitor!

October 21, 2010, my mom flew into Frankfurt Int'l Airport. I can't believe it's over already. We did a total of 2 touristy trips, which is a lot less than that huge list of day trips I put together for us to do while my mom was here. I had all these places in different nearby countries picked out to visit, and the different things in the towns to do there. Either way, we had an amazing time.  We visited Burg Nanstein & Burg Lichtenberg

              

one day. Burg Lichtenberg is the largest ruined castle in Germany - and it's only about a 20 minutes drive from our apartment.  Also: FREE! Free parking, open to the public, gorgeous views, and free potties.  It also helped that it was a gorgeous day. We took a day to explore base and show her where we'll be living in just a few days, and took an evening to visit some stores off-base with my mom. We also got infested by wasps, and we decided to cover the lights in the ceilings one by one (and they filled up quickly with dead wasps, how lovely!) and, today being our last night in this apartment, we are very thrilled to be done with this disgusting hassle. I do feel sorry for the new tenant. I have a growing list of things I have to do before tomorrow. We managed to find a used but amazing deal on a dining room table since FMO is taking the majority of our furniture, which leaves us with very little to move, and very much to buy. Thank God for people selling used items!

Annnnd, I'm rambling! It just feels so good to blog again. I have missed this.

KR took a few days off while my mom was here and we ended up researching hotels in... Paris! We discovered a great deal just outside of Disneyland Paris and since none of us had ever gone, we decided to drive to Paris and visit the parks.  KR and I have explored Paris (in fact, he proposed to me in front of Notre Dame), so I am bummed we couldn't take my mom into the city, but we just didn't have the time or energy to venture future into the country. We got the park hopper tickets and managed to hit both parks in one day. I made it 12 hours in the park with only one meal, one snack, and my fake Converse shoes, which are oh-so-uncomfortable. We barely made the shuttle back to our hotel by the time we got dinner at McDonald's in the Disney Village.

I am pretty sure that this is my favorite castle. I didn't have the energy to climb the stairs and explore the upper levels of the castle, but it was SO gorgeous!

We also did well at hitting the rides. It was still mad crazy crowded, but we managed to time things well enough so we hit all the coasters but one we didn't care about, our favorite kiddie rides, my mom's favorites, and a few randoms to kill some time.

Annnnnd because I haven't posted one yet: all of us on the Thunder Mountain RR!

Visitors!

My mom is here! So I might be MIA for a few days. =)

Also, we got our move-in date changed! We are moving Nov. 3, and yeah. Got a LOT going on in the next few weeks so we are going to be mad crazy trying to get it all done! I will, eventually, update... Hopefully with pictures, and I will try my best to keep up with things, but we will see what happens!

DIE WASPS DIE!

Well, now that I am officially home ALL THE TIME ALONE (KR works 10-7 unless he convinced his boss to change his shift, since him working this one is pointless...), it only seems befitting that of course, the wasp problem would only get worse. I have freaked out from hearing 3 alive ones upstairs, I have gone up there twice so far. Sprayed Raid over all the windows the first time, and then used scrubbing bubbles (b/c it DOESN'T smell terrible) to kill one that I swear had a wingspan of an inch and a body length of an inch and a half. There are also probably 20-30 dead wasps under the damn window when we vacuumed just 2 days ago! It's entirely disgusting, and the more I keep finding ALIVE in the house, I'm actually scared to be here by myself all day! That last one was twice as big as all the dead ones under the window... It's been freezing temps at night, so it would stand to reason those fuckers would be dead by now, but of course they live in the ceiling so they are not dead - and also, read online, that THOUSANDS OF WASPS could live in one nest. How comforting. We did tell the landlord about that and the iffy radiators and he came over to check them out. The radiators that were working now work better (yay!) but the ones that didn't work (the bathrooms) still aren't doing anything. He also said he'd look for somebody to get rid of the wasps. I seriously hope this happens like amazingly fast. I'm ashamed to have my mom in this apartment where we have to vacuum up wasps every other day. I am so ashamed of this place...

KR finally talked to the landlord yesterday, so our official move-out date is Nov. 17 - that day we will hand over the keys (and we move in Nov. 10! yay!) I've never done a military move before, so this should be interesting. We get to have some of our gov't issued stuff taken away, and then movers will come to pack up our stuff and then take it to our other apartment - and most importantly - up the 3.5 flights of stairs. It will be good practice for our first PCS together, which isn't for quite a while. Until the move-in date, I have driver's test this week (oh crap, I really need to study...) and cleaning for the arrival of my mom, and then my mom is here for about 2 weeks, and then my appointment, and then moving! Oh my gosh, I can't wait to be OUT of this apartment! I'm sure we won't like things about the other place, but holy crap. I can't take this here anymore! This is ridiculous!!!!

I think I will go have some lunch - if the fucking buzzing stops upstairs - and then try to get some cleaning done. Or maybe a nap. We're gonna go for a nap... With the door closed, so the wasps don't come in and attack me...

PS: B - I got your post card today!!!! Thank you!!!!

Gah!

Ok, so last week at work - I survived, just barely. I never did take my driver's test because when I went to study, the website was down and it was the day before, so I ended up being a no-show (=/) and we rescheduled for next week. I worked all week, but they basically sent me home early every day without any warning ("Go home") and I was left fumbling to find a ride so I didn't have to sit in the break room for hours. It worked out most days, except one when I had to get KR to come get and then got to walk around the BX until he was done with work - and of course while sitting there  looking pitiful and exhausted, our friends who just had their 2nd kid walked by and saw me sitting there all pitiful and came to make sure I was ok. I felt to terrible at that point and it's always great when somebody you know catches you being that way. KR had Wednesday off, a half day Thursday, and just had to go to breakfast on Friday, so he was able to get me whenever I was done.  We also had a 3 day weekend, and I had an appointment yesterday so he got yesterday off too (as a comp day from the exercise). I had to get a bunch of blood work done yesterday and I got to the last vile and my blood was slowing down & kept stopping and then I got really faint and apparently my heading was lolling so they took the needle out gave me some water and crackers and made me sit there for a while. And now I have to go back to get the last vile drawn at some point. =/

Work put me on call all this week, which is great because it was totally draining me, and sucks because it's that much less money I'll earn which I desperately need for my school loans which are still rapidly approaching.

KR called not to long ago to inform me that we have a move-in date, but he won't get it until after he goes to the office and goes through a bunch of paperwork. At least we will know soon - and boy will it all happen all to quick. Again. But then at least, perhaps I could try this whole job things again once we've moved and settled. And that means that we'll be out of this shit apartment soon enough, though not entirely out by the time my mom gets here. I hate the thought of moving while she's here, but at the same time, that might be awesome. She can help us get organized, plus she'd be able to see both places we live in. So we will see how this whole "move" thing works. I am frightened. And I guess I really should try to get some laundry done today. Ughhh, I hate hiking to the basement... Soon we'll be done, soon we'll be done...

Slacking

So I realize I haven't written in forever, it seems, but it's been hectic - and I'm exhausted AGAIN/still?

I will write eventually, but for now this will just have to do!

Byebye shitty job!

I'm quitting. Unfortunately, when I called Friday afternoon to tell them why I got sick and what was going on in life that caused it, my supervisor seriously couldn't give a shit less about me or the situation. She just started yelling at me and is insisting I turn in a written 2 weeks notice and finish working those 2 weeks. While I understand this protocol, I also made it quite clear that this job was not physically possible for me right now - ie: a risk to my health, but they don't care. My schedule tomorrow is: drivers test at 0715, followed by work 930-645. Really?! I will literally be gone and out of my house for more than 12 hour tomorrow - and this is exactly what's doing me in!! I am scheduled for 730-5 the rest of the week, and I warned her that I couldn't do it or the same thing would happen again this week. She simply sounded annoyed. I was speechless. I am just so appalled by the way this place is ran... I would never EVER want my kids there! And it's definitely not a good environment for the teachers, either. I am dreading tomorrow because I will show my face, and they will more than likely make my last 2 weeks miserable which is only adding more stress to my life, which is only putting more risk to my health. It is incredibly tempting to simply walk out. I have never done this before in my life, I have always given fair warning, but it makes me sick thinking about returning, especially with the rudeness I received on account of me becoming sick and situations that did not occur until after I was hired and that are entirely beyond my control. I want so badly to walk out... But I have to return my uniform, so I am trying to figure out the best way to do this. I know tomorrow will do me in, so perhaps I will bring my shirts with me and if I am dead by the end of the day simply leave them on the desk and not return. Because, even though I would love to reapply in a couple months when things settle down, there's no way they'd hire me back anyways, I could just tell when I talked to my supervisor. Such a disappointment! I spent 4 years studying child development, only for this to happen. Another time, perhaps, and I couldn't handled this, but with so much going on right now, I just. Can't. Do. It. And it's the most helpless feeling in the world.

Oh yes, definitely makes me sick thinking about attempting to get through tomorrow. I'm still not feeling 100%. Ughhhh. *whine* *whine* *whine*

And that's the end of that.

More than likely. I was late for work today because I was NOT feeling good this morning. I ended up leaving at my lunch break, which - surprise surprise, really pissed off my supervisor. If you want to work somewhere where they don't care about the people they employ, I highly recommend the CDCs. I am so disappointed in the entire establishment. They wouldn't let the pregnant woman who is due in 3 weeks and was puking all morning go home the other day. They made somebody come in even though they tried to call out for being sick. Then she ended up doing something wrong with a kid and got in trouble and won't be around for who knows how long. (Gee, think she would've done that had she been feel, well, GOOD?) So I'd already made it known I was sick when I arrived late this morning. Boss lady asked as I was feeling and I decided to drop my seed and make it aware that I was getting sick. She simply told me to take vitamins - which I always do, everyday, so that's not it! The day was terrible. Got in the classroom I don't like with all the kids who are just bored and don't listen and they ALL do spaghetti legs and I simply don't have the energy to keep lifting kids up and down all day everyday. It's frustrating and exhausting and it hurts my back, arms, and... I love, kids, I seriously do, and I want to do this so bad, but I physically can't right now. It makes me so angry because I was so bored and now I have what I wanted and I just can't physically do it. It sucks. I don't know what's wrong with me.

Anyways, leaving. At my lunch break. Told her I didn't feel good and I needed to go home and I was told, "Well, I can't let you leave yet." And I reitterated that I needed to go home. Again, I was told, "I can't let you leave yet. Somebody else is about to go home so we need you here." I explained how I felt. Fever, nausea, headache pounding so bad I couldn't concentrate. Didn't matter. Again, "I can't let you leave yet. Once all the lunches are covered you can leave." I debated. My lunch = one hour. One teacher in the classroom i was in's lunch = one hour. The other teacher = 1.5 hours. No way was I gonna stick around 3.5 more hours feeling like this. THEY SERVED TUNA FOR  LUNCH. The smell of fishy foods makes me gag. Always has, always will. It was jsut never-ending terrible-ness. I said, at this point starting to panic, so my voice started cracking and my body started shaking, "I really really don't think I can make it." She simply walked away from me, not another word. Not a "let me see what I can do" or apologetic face - nothing.  5 minutes later she comes out again and says, "OK." And I look at her blankly, very confused. She says, "you can go" and I thanked her and apologized - and she didn't say anything word to me. She didn't look at me, and she definitely didn't say something like, "Feel better! See you tomorrow" or anything of the like. AWESOME MY NEW JOB HATES ME! I work with kids, I'm really not ever expected to get sick? Really?!

Oh well, guess I'll be quitting and hoping to find something else here that doesn't completely kick my ass... or maybe just a place that understands people get sick and need time off to get better...

What a huge disappointment...

This is terrible.

But I am really, really dreading work this week. I do not want to work full time, and I just don't see how I'm going to make it to next weekend without passing out. Seriously. I still haven't recovered from last week's 4 days - the house is still a mess, I didn't even get everything put away last night after shopping. I forced myself to get a load of laundry done today and even still, I'll probably make KR get the final load and bring it up here. The house is a disaster and it's disgusting and I don't have the energy to do anything about it.  I still don't feel good so cooking is far from what on my mind right now, unfortunately. My poor husband... I've been so terrible lately. =(

I need things to slow down. =/

On the flip side, I just watched the music video "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry - and that music video is like how me and my college friends are. Just cruising/racing on the road, windows down, music cranked, not a care in the world, dancing in the parking lot, dancing on cars, doing whatever we please. It made me really miss everybody back home (Illinois) and I can't wait to see them all again, even though it will be totally different next time we go home because even though we're still the same people, we still keep getting older. (Boo!)

First Week of Work

I have to say, I am sorely disappointed in the CDC. I had orientation/observations on Tuesday, mentorship on Wednesday, a couple hours of briefing on Thursday and then I was thrown in a classroom Thursday afternoon, and all day on Friday. That's extremely mean to do to someone who hasn't worked in 8 months and have been able to follow whatever schedule my body pleases - sleep, eating, etc. And now I'm expected to chase little ones around all day, bounce from room to room, ask for potty breaks, and eat whenever they tell me it's lunch time. My body doesn't like this. I'm exhausted by noon, I'm starving by 11am, and, my lovely UTI reared it's ugly head again Tuesday night so all week I had to pee non-stop. Having to ask permission to pee all the time doesn't go over so well when it is ALL THE TIME. Somehow, they are NAEYC accredited, and yet don't have to follow the NAEYC ratio requirements in the rooms, so I'm very disappointed at the lack of learning and the sole babysitting and boredom in the classrooms - boredom on the part of the kids and the teachers. There are only 2 teachers in a classroom at any given time, and in the afternoon, it's "floaters" who are new and don't quite know what they're doing, so the kids don't listen. At any given time in the classroom, at least one teacher is either cleaning or diapering, which means only one teacher is actually watching the kids (if that) and trying to keep track of 10 1 year olds,. 14 2 year olds, or 8 babies by yourself and making sure they aren't attacking each other or climbing dangerously on furniture is about damn near impossible. Hence, the lack of teaching. There isn't enough man-power to really TEACH the children the things that NAEYC stands for. And in the infant room... there is so much that needs to be done that the babies only get held for feedings and that's about the only attention they really get on a given day.  It broke my heart. This is not what I expected. This is not what NAEYC stands for... This is NOT what I studied 4 years doing to simply babysit. I wanted to TEACH! I can't teach in that environment. I was actually told not to spend so much time washing kid's hands before lunch yesterday. Really? They eat with their HANDS.... I'm going to wash their hands GOOD before they go sticking them in their mouths... And another down side of this job is that they can change my schedule 24 hours in advance, getting time off is damn near impossible (all kinds of rules about it... not cool when we have so many things coming up...) I also can't say that I only want to work say, 25 hours a week. Nope, I am not guaranteed ANY hours in any given week, but I have to be completely open to working full time, which I don't really want to do. And the days are freaking long. I have to available to work anytime between basically 5am and 630pm - no set schedule... and my lunch breaks are an hour to an hour and a half, which only sucks because I'm tired by the time I get that break, and sitting for that long just makes me more aware of my exhaustion. There are head teachers and they are supposed to make lesson plans, but I have yet to observe any of their lesson plans actually being carried out in the classroom. There is a "schedule" of the day, but it mostly seems to be Free play (ie: teachers do what they have to do while the kids run around the classroom half of them bored) outside, free play, lunch, nap, free play, snack, outside, free play, home. There are no warnings, there are no things in place to make transitions easier. There are no special guidelines for those children who are more "difficult" and with so many new teachers - those children end up getting yelled at because they are causing the problems in the classroom and the newbies don't know how to handle it - and they are alone in the classroom the last half of the day with no lead teacher to guide them. Or sometimes, the lead teachers ARE the problem as I saw at least one teacher who just yelled and shouted demands at the children - including a one year old who was falling asleep before lunch time, and she responded (very scarily I might add) "WAKE UP [NAME] YOU ARE NOT FALLING ASLEEP NOW! DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!" I was appalled! NAEYC stands for meeting the needs of the children - not following the schedule. If the poor 1 year old needs sleep, he needs to be brought to a quiet place to rest until lunch time and since they cant save him lunch wake him up to eat.... Ugh. It's just so exhausting! I am probably one of the few teachers who knows what I'm doing but I'm new so I'm in no position to correct anybody, I can only hope they follow my lead. I already know there are a couple classrooms I just do NOT want to be in because of the way the teachers deal with the children. And I seriously - at this point anyways - would not ever put my children in that facility and I pray that I won't have to do that.

I was so exhausted all week that I was in bed by 10 (or earlier) most days, which if you've ever known me in real life, this is something that simply never, ever happens. I didn't get any sleep Tuesday night (literally none) because I drank caffeine a little on the late side (and I haven't had much recently) and apparently that not only kept me up, but made me aware of the impending recurrance of my UTI from a couple weeks ago. I was up seriously every 10 minutes. And then I had to work all day the rest of the week, I could barely move and cried many times because of how weak my body was. I managed to keep that at bay until last night when we FINALLY went to the hospital to take care of it. I felt bad b/c KR had to work at 6am today, but I knew it was there and I knew I needed to get meds and I had waited long enough. This doctor was awesome compared to the last guy. He actually checked me out to make sure my kidneys didn't hurt, and sat and talked to me about when to return. He also gave me discharge paperwork. The last guy just said, "here's your prescriptions" and didn't bother to check me out or ask me any questions and just lectured me about not peeing after sex (which, TMI, I ALWAYS DO!) He also didn't pay attention to my paperwork and gave me some meds I really shouldn't have been on, which is why I never finished taking them (on advice from my primary care provider) and which is why it came BACK. I also never got the discharge paperwork...

We still don't have our move-in date, which sucks because with me working, only having one car, and me not having my license yet, and it being an exercise on base - KR's boss is pretty ticked that he has to leave to take me to work everyday. Friday morning KR came to pick me up (it was a rough morning bc I was NOT feeling good at ALL yesterday... I really shouldve skipped work and gone to the hospital then, but I did not...) and tells me that we're gonna have to look into me taking the German train to base so I can work and I burst into tears and was like, "Please don't make me have to do that! I will just tell them I don't have a ride and they will have to get over it." and we never finished the conversation... bc I was upset and had to go to work and was disappointed with work and not feeling good and ugh. It's just so exhausting. Why couldn't this have happened a little while later? I'm really afraid I can't handle all this at the same time. My poor body is so weak and exhausted and I just want to cry... And yeah. I wish I being slightly dramatic with this one, but no, I actually am that tired and weak right now...

This has been long enough! Gotta get lists and coupons together for grocery shopping tonight...

Freedom

Well, today is my last day of freedom before the hell of work begins. I haven't been in a classroom in over a year, and I haven't had to exert any kind of consistent motivation and energy for a job since the end of January, so I'm bit worried about being on my feet all day chasing little ones around - especially with the way I've been feeling lately. It will be insane until we move on base because currently we both are working at different bases and only have the one car. I cannot wait until we move, because I'd really like to get settled... So much going on, I just need it to slow down! Phew! I am exhausted. Gotta finish up laundry (only one more set of 3 flights of stairs to go tonight!) and then I will continue organizing music. It is very, very cross-eyed trying to make sure it's all in the right albums, etc. I am eager to get it all together on my ipod, and I am seriously regretting not buying the 64gig touch... Hm, I wonder what the chances are of being able to sell the 32gig and get a 64gig for Christmas....? Hmm....

And I'm back from that day dream! Off to get laundry and get productive for the evening. =)

Saturday, 18 September, 2010

We started off with a slow morning. We were supposed to go to Weinfest in Bad Durkheim with KR's friend Bryce. He ended up bailing at the last minute bc he was up all night DDing. That's fine, we decided to go anyways, but we left a little later than we planned because I fell asleep on the couch and kinda sorta passed out - like, I don't think I was asleep even an hour and I was already in the dream state, which supposedly takes 4 hours to reach. So we headed off. It was about a 45 minute drive, and parking was a nightmare. We looked into taking the train, but we wouldv'e had to drive to K-town to buy tickets and to go there and back is about 40 minutes, and then we wouldn't have been able to get the train back until 930pm and neither of us really wanted to be out that late (wow we are getting so OLD!). We witnessed a minor accident while attempted to park and then finally found our way to a parking garage. We didn't do much, just wandered around, smelled all the snacks, took pictures, and enjoyed the beautiful day. I bought a souvenir glass on the way out and KR got a couple bottles of wine to bring home. We were hungry, but decided to wait until we got closer to the familiar to eat. We went to an Italian restaurant. It was pretty good, not too expensive, very fancy, and we definitely stuck out, though we tried not too...

We did take pictures from today, but we also took pictures of the car. Here's a few to show off our beautiful blue sexy Fusion. Grand Prix, may you rest in peace.

Let the craziness continue!

What an emotional day. I was freaking out a good part of the day because of all the craziness that happened with work and changing my place of employment and such.  I was afraid to call them because I kinda assumed they'd forget (I'm sorry, but this usually happens.. They say they'll call you and then when you call you are told, "Oh, I was just going to call you!" but you know they weren't! That's just how it goes.) I was a little concerned because I was not quite certain who I needed to talk to and what I needed to say. Didn't know if I'd have to be firm and aggressive or if they'd work with me. KR gave me some ideas of what to say, I called my mom for a while to distract me, and by 3:30pm I finally decided to call. Well, the number I found didn't work. And neither did the next number I found. I tried dialing is slightly different because sometimes you have to do that around here. Then I called the base operator and asked them to transfer me.... If they did transfer me, it didn't work. By this point, it was almost 4 and I was very frustrated because I finally got my thoughts together and I didn't know how to call them! I send KR a message telling him what happened and luckily he got on FB chat shortly after that and called them using the on-base number to find out their off-base number which he then gave me. I called and told them what I needed to know, and gave her my name and found out they had been trying to call me all day! For some reason, some buildings can't call our house number and it's rather frustrating. I gave them my cell phone number if they need to reach me (I just got a cell phone! It's pre-paid, but it serves it's purpose!) anymore and they got it all straightened out. I am working on the base where we will be living starting on Tuesday! It's going to be about a month worth of craziness running around and moving and depending on KR to drive me around, but after me move, I will simply be able to walk about a block and be at work and KR can drive to his office and it won't be a problem. In the mean time, I guess I will be bringing books, snacks, and my iPod with me everyday to occupy my time which will me wasted waiting around for a ride back home.  Either that or I will be visiting people who lie over there much more often until I can get a ride back home. Let the craziness continue!

Wine Fest tomorrow!

Apartment!

We went to see the place today. Climbed the 3.5 flights of stairs to the 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment.

Dishwasher. Check.
Closets/storage. Check.
Large rooms. Check.
Balcony. Check.
Trees not road by balcony. Check.
Screens on windows. Check.
Ceiling fans!!! Check.
Parking spot right in front of door. Check.
Close to gate & job. Check.
Laundry in apartment. Check.

We called and accepted the place. We could've passed, b/c the 4th floor sucks (heat rises in the summer and Europe = no air conditioning) but there's no guarantee the next place wouldn't be 4th floor also (it happens a LOT) but with a noisy road behind it, or on the other side of where I'll be working, or with a parking spot far from the door. I am certain we will seriously regret this should I end up having a baby while we're here. But I know women have done it before so I know I can do it! We don't have a move in date yet, but we're looking at the middle of October at the EARLIEST. (We asked her when she was moving out.) so it might very well be when my mom is here, after all. We have been instructed not to tell our landlord yet, too.

They also changed KR's schedule AGAIN at work. I don't get it. The entire time he worked here while I wasn't here, he was 6a-3p Mon-Fri. Since I've been here, they've been fucking with his schedule ever since. He's currently 12-9 which sucks b/c I see him in the AM, but then the entire day I'm on my own. That will obviously change when I start to work, but then that brings a new problem: Come October, he's going to start 1-10p. So basically, I will probably never see him. The CDC is open 6-6, and I could work anywhere in that time frame. If he's 1-10, I will basically never see him, because chances are, I'll be in bed about the time he gets home, and up and gone before he gets back. Wtf? For an office that's only open until 6 daily, I don't quite understand why he's gotta be there until 10pm! And neither does he! He doesn't do much at the tail end of the day...

Still no call from the lady at work about having me work at the CDC I was supposed to work at. I will call her tomorrow, but honestly, I have no idea what to say to her. It's just a crazy time right now, and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down. I just really hope I don't have to quit...

Update!

I know, boo hiss, another update in the same day, only mere hours apart.

Buuuut we just got our first base housing offer! Unfortunately, it's for an apartment on the fourth floor. We're gonna go see the place tomorrow, and we have to make our decision by the end of the working day. If we pass it up, we won't get another offer for 2-4 weeks, and there's no guarantee that it won't be the same apartment (if everybody keeps passing), another fourth floor, or in a building that has a balcony by the busy street. Soooo while it might suck to have to climb up to the fourth floor apartment, if we take it, we'll be in the apartment before my mom gets here... I can use that when I talk to the person at the CDC about the transportation issue and hopefully we get that all straightened out.

I am also signed up to take my driver's test on 4 October! Ahhhh!

2010 Ford Fusion SE!

We got all the customs, registration, gas card, etc. done yesterday, so today we went to see and pick up our very sexy blue Ford Fusion! It was raining before KR had to leave for work, so we didn't take any pictures yet. Hopefully soon. We know a little spot on the outskirts of town where KR wants to have a photo session for the car. He didn't exactly use those words, but basically, yes, he wants to have a photo session for the car. His face was so adorable when the car was brought to us... And it smells so nice... We get 6 months trial of Sirius, but that won't kick in until we get back stateside. It's go Sync and a spoiler otherwise it's the standard SE and oh so gorgeous. I am so paranoid about it though! Got a whole lot of rules for the warranty, so we're gonna have to go over that with a fine toothed comb to make sure we don't accidentally void the extended warranty... Ugh, just more things to remember!

Work called, I guess my transcripts weren't sufficient enough b/c they didn't have a logo on them, so I had to have KR bring the a copy of my college diploma. Still no call from the CDC so we will see what happens... I really hope I still get to work, but with other things going on, who knows what's best in the end. I guess only God knows in the end, and I trust it will all work out the way it's meant to...

More!

Orientation today. That went well. Went to turn in my paperwork at the CDC they hired me for... they then informed me that they have me working at the other CDC. The one that won't be walking distance from the apartment we're trying to get on base. I just kinda blinked at her and explained I was hired for the first place, and then she explained why they changed is and then finally asked me if that was ok. I didn't answer, but told her it was a transportation issue. Because you know. We have one car, and working two different shifts that may never be the same day or day or week or week is kind of a problem, and I don't think it's fair to have to drive back and forth four times a day when I could just walk to work if they just kept me hired at the place I actually applied for! Otherwise, I'm supposed to start Tuesday at 9am.

On the flip side, we got everything done for the new car, to my knowledge, so we'll be picking it up tomorrow! We drove to go see it today, and boy is it sexxxyyy!

KR & I are looking at going to London while my mom is here... Found cheap airfare, but we are looking for not very expensive places to stay! (A private bathroom is a must!) Any suggestions?

It's Monday...

Normally, I would be very upset that it's Monday. It means my weekend with my hubby is over and I get to spend the day by myself cleaning up or being exhausted, or being bored from cleaning all day. Today, right now, it's 3:20PM, I have 3 loads of laundry going, soon to be a 4th. I've showered. I got an email telling me my orientation is tomorrow (and if I wake up with a fever tomorrow, I will officially think I am not meant to have that job!) KR and I had lunch together, and even though he was late for work.... he had important stuff to get done today. He went and met with the guy who's buying the totaled Grand Prix, emptied it out, we got paid for it, and that's another thing all set and done.  Then he made some phone calls at work, and found out that the new car is in! He had some paperwork to get done (which will get done while I am in orientation) and then it's ours! I'm sure we will get pictures posted, soon.

This weekend wasn't too eventful. Friday night, Bryce came over and brought his working 360. We all played guitar hero for a little while, then watched Date Night, then the boys played some violent zombie gory video game and I went to bed. It was about 245 when I crashed, so I knew they'd be up pretty late.  We just bummed around the BX Saturday (I got me an exercise ball and some weighted balls) and KR had football practice yesterday morning and then we did nothing. I made a great dinner last night and KR made his yummy no-bake cookies. The end!

Gndfkjhuehkajsdhekjdajhuhkjhjwaha!

I cannot wait to get on base. I'm sick of running up and down 3 flights of stairs to do laundry. I'm sick of the person who's laundry machine spills water all over the floor in the basement, which causes me to slip all over the place when I go to the basement to do laundry or switch it over. I can't wait to have a laundry machine in the same place where I live. I'm sick of the broken tiles on the stairs into the building. I'm sick of the landlord coming over unexpectedly, and if we don't answer the door within 3 second of him buzzing, he uses his key to come right in. I'm sick of the shower leaking, the rolladen to our patio being broken, the crack in the window, the mysterious dead bugs upstairs under the window, the yellow jackets that keep getting into the house even though the window is only open for the duration of showers.  I'm sick of the cracks in the walls and the lack of insulation. I'm sick of the light bulbs that give off so much heat, they should just be heaters, not lightbults. I'm sick of the lack of storage and no where to put all our stuff! I'm sick of the outrageous power bills that only estimates, but we have to pay the estimate weather or not we USE it all. The landlord gave over the other night and bitched out KR about the rent. He wants us to set us direct deposit to his account, but wrote all the directions on how to do it on the rental agreement IN GERMAN, even though he speaks English and even though he knows KR ONLY speaks English. I am pretty sure he hates us now, and I'm pretty sure he will be glad when we give him 30 days notice. I really hope we get an offer soon - and I really hope that it ISN'T on the fourth floor of stairwell housing. I really want to be on base housing before my mom comes to visit us - and I'd really like to hurry up and get settled because this unsettled lifestyle is really getting to me. We really, really need to sit down and get our budget and figured out, but unfortunately, the checks are STILL not accurate to what they should be. We have the down payment for the car put aside for now, and we're good with grocery shopping, etc for a few weeks. But our savings took a hit and that sucks because I really like to have things budgeted to a T and it's just not working that way yet. It really, really bugs me because we can't figure out how to give me access to the joint accounts online so I have no idea where we stand. I was really looking forward to working, but since I managed to get my fever the only day this week I had anything to do, I didn't go and now I have no idea when the next session will be and even less of an idea when I'll be able to start working officially. Not that it matters b/c our car isn't here yet and I can't drive the one we're borrowing so I'm not so sure we'd be able to start. Gonna have to get my license soon, though. Not looking forward to it... Gah. Maybe we should've bought a beater for now so we'd have 2 cars... I just didn't want to worry about maintaining 2 cars... Especially a beater. Plus all the other expenses we have to worry about...

Yes, you can call this freaking out. I've been doing it for a few days so far, because we can't seem to get our act together and it's really pissing me off because I feel so completely helpless right now. I am so not ready for all this!