Who knew Carl was a writer too?

One thing we've really been thinking about lately is what Carl's going to do when we get to Germany! His last day at work will be on the 14th of August, and then he'll spend the following week with the movers (who are scheduled literally all week except for one day). I know he's not excited about it at all. My guess is that the doggies will go to daycare and he'll get to spend time working on the move. It evens out though -- I've handled all of the planning and stressing from here in the beginning, and now he gets to handle the action portions.

We had originally thought we'd put him in school and have him get a part-time job. Then we started getting all these great leads from friends and supervisors who have contacts over there already, and many of them sound very promising. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Since we don't arrive till the 1st of September, we'll probably have missed too much of the beginning of the fall semester of classes. It is tough to look for jobs over there since they'll only hire people who are already in the area. So, we'll just have faith that something will work out and he'll hopefully get a great full-time job and then maybe take some part-time classes.

I will be working full-time, of course. But, many times, my job doesn't even seem like work, because I enjoy it so much. I really hope that remains the same when I get there!

This summer he took some college courses at one of the local community colleges. One class is English, and I usually read through and help him edit his papers. He recently had to write an essay about a story called "The Perfect Bride." I really have to share a part of it with you all. I just cracked up when I read it. Read below:

"A perfect wife, however, is much more complex. Her perfection lies in her imperfections. She is human. She makes mistakes, gets crabby, she is insanely bi-polar, she burns water, and to her, every tool in your toolbox is a “thingy.” Her complexity goes deeper than that still; one day okay means “okay,” and the next “no way.” She is never wrong and she will always be willing to remind you, and it is never her fault. Her perfection lies in her ability to love animals more than people, and her ability to soothe your nerves with a smile. It lies in her ability to make you forget your terrible day just by seeing her face, and her ability to make you count your blessings every day she is a part of your life. Perfection lies in the eyes of the beholder, and in my eyes there is one reason that stands above the rest. The most important reason a perfect wife is better than a perfect bride is that a perfect bride loves you because she does not yet know you are not perfect, and a perfect wife loves you and cherishes you knowing full well that you are far from perfect. That is why I can say, my wife is crabby, impossible, and has an uncanny ability to burn water, but she is perfect."

I'm really not sure whose wife he's writing about??

Scout and Churro had successful vet appointments today and are completely updated and ready to fly with us. (Noelle stayed home since she was already updated.) Apparently, Churro loved the attention but Scout didn't really like his visit too much. Poor baby. I was reading another Germany blog tonight that I found through a random search (it happened to be another couple who was stationed there by the Army), and this one again re-iterated that Germans treat dogs better than kids. Wow! Perfect for us! :)

Take care!