Snow Days and Skype

We had snow over the weekend! It was so fun! Well, poor Carl still had to drive to work in it, but it was fun for me since I got to stay at home and recover from my week. The doggies really enjoyed the white stuff. We didn't have much, but it was enough to definitely cover the ground and make it awfully pretty around here!

Another fun thing that happened this weekend is that we got our Skype downloaded and the Web cam hooked up. I have had so much fun already talking to my parents and seeing them again and I know it's been fun for them to see us too. Even the dogs (ours and theirs) have gotten in on the act, as well as Jack the turtle and Churro. My mom was even able to remind me to go get my eyebrows done again! haha! ( I already had that appointment scheduled for Tuesday of this week, by the way! haha). We hope to get other friends and family hooked up with it too. It's nice to have our Vonage phone number for regular phone calls, but the Skype is pretty cool to be able to see them too. And it's completely free if both people have it. I've been able to talk to my dad every day as well during the evenings for me and the daytime for him.

As for those eyebrows, I went yesterday and got my hair trimmed and the eyebrows manicured again -- she took longer on the eyebrows than she did on my hair -- but the end result looks good. :)

Today we had a little community relations project at work. Kelli, Lira and I, along with one of our Command Sergeants Major and three other Soldiers, went to a local German school to help the English classes there learn about Thanksgiving and practice their English. It is actually Dan's class. He teaches third and fourth graders at a German school. So we worked with his 4th graders for about two hours today, making turkey hats, talking about what we were thankful for, reviewing the story behind Thanksgiving, and letting the kids try pumpkin pie for the first time. It was really fun.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are headed out of town for the weekend. I can't wait. We are going to Garmisch, which is one of the favorite vacation spots here. It's on the border with Austria and it's in the Alps. We can't wait!!!!

Here are some recent pics:

The red babies enjoying the snowy backyard.

Here is Carl's new car. I took this Saturday morning at about 5:30 a.m. as he was leaving for work. My car, naturally, is in the garage :)

The Wife is back

Well, I made it safely to, from and all around Hamburg last week. I am exhausted, too. It was a lot of fun but by the end of the week I was definitely ready to be back in my own house and away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

I will have to say that it was really great having Jen along with me, Carl was right on that part of his blog! We were able to have a whole girls' week almost; well, in the evenings anyway. We were at a seminar at the 'Haus Rissen Hamburg Internationales Institut fur Politik und Wirtschaft'... or as we quickly learned, "Haus Rissen." The seminar was titled "Germany's new role in Europe: Political and economic challenges."

It was for German and American military officers and some civilians. We covered topics such as aspects of the German political system, the German security policy, the social market economy, the historical background to contemporary Germany, transatlantic relations, and the future of the European Union. It was: interesting, boring, intriguing, and boring. Lots of lectures from some really intellectual people. I did enjoy myself though and despite the fact that I admit I was bored mindless part of the time, I really did learn a lot! :) I knew nothing about any of that before I went, so all I could hope for was to come away slightly more knowledgeable, and to that I think it was a success.

On to the fun stuff. Monday, Jen and I successfully managed to get lost in Hamburg! Of course, who else but us? We somehow missed our bus stop and then about 30 minutes later we finally realized we should get off the bus.... I know, great logic there huh?.... so I practiced my Deutsch on a nice lady on the bus and busted out with my best "Sprechen sie Englisch?"... thankfully, she got off on the next stop with us and put us on another bus headed in the right direction. We still got ourselves lost after that one more time, but somehow, finally found our way (all were were trying to do was find dinner!!) In our defense, we did not realize that the original stop we were trying to find was not accessible by the bus we were on; we would have had to get off at one stop and get on to the subway. We finally figured that out about four buses and 45 minutes later.

The rest of the week, we headed downtown each evening after the seminar ended. We were normally in class from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and then had the evenings to ourselves. Of course it gets dark by a little after 4 here, and everything closes really early, but nevertheless we got really good at the bus and train route to the downtown shopping district. Hamburg was pretty much destroyed during WWII, so downtown is now a very modern and upscale shopper's mecca. We had a blast!

Mostly, our logic was that if were are in Hamburg for a seminar on the German economy, we really ought to contribute to their economy while we were there...... well, it sounds better saying it that way anyway. :)

One of our favorite parts of the seminar was the cake break in the afternoons. We really did take a 30-minute break each afternoon for everyone to drink tea or coffee and have some cake. It felt so... European! haha! The funniest part was that during our morning coffee break, Jen and I would head in to the restaurant and get a soda. By the end of the week, the ladies saw us coming and would immediately say "zwei cola light?" and run and get two diet cokes for us. I guess they could tell we needed our caffeine!

The eating was good, the shopping was good, and the weather was cold. Wednesday afternoon our whole class (around 30 of us) was scheduled for a city and harbor sightseeing tour. We went on a bus tour through the city and a harbor boat cruise. Hamburg's port is gigantic and it was actually quite interesting to be out there on the water next to those giant ocean-going cargo ships. To be honest, I think "giant" is an understatement on the size of those things.

Friday morning we woke up to snow!! I was completely giddy! I even tried to hang out my room's window to try and take some pictures. Unfortunately by the time class ended that day at noon most of the beauty of it was gone and it had turned into the slushy, mushy snow. It was still super gorgeous though! We got back to Heidelberg around 10 p.m. after another long train ride through the countryside (the train system here is really great; I did enjoy that part even though it took a long time!)

So, now I am back at the house and this morning when we woke up at 5 a.m. there was snow here too! Poor Carl had to go to work all day so I rested up a little bit and did some grocery shopping. I also posted a bunch of my Hamburg pictures on our Flickr page so please go check them out!

While the Wife is away, the Husband will play....RockBand!!

Okay everyone, here is my first and probably last blog entry. I know that the whole family is very tuned-in with our blog so, I figured since my lovely wife has left me all alone, it is my husbandly duty to carry the torch for her. I want to start off by saying, I am insanely bored! There is one benifit to being here by myself, and that is the fact that I can bang my new drumset to my hearts desire without getting yelled at for being too loud. I can also say, that I can now sing Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive in my sleep! The doggies have both told me that I am a dead shoe-in for American Idol season 8. Churro, however, doesnt agree. He thinks that his mommies' rendition of Ice, Ice Schaby Baby is the cream of the crop. I take everything Churro tells me with a grain of salt though, he is sooo tone def.

Other than the fact that I have been alone for the week, I have actually been pretty busy at work. I have recently been working 10 hour days for 6 days a week. Yesterday we were all told that we will begin 7 day work weeks at 12 hours a day. There are many more drawbacks to this than what you actually think. I am working as a German, and German labor laws are pretty strict about overtime. Germany is a socialist country and although I get free healcare I get taxed for my healthcare at 14%. That tax is on top of the other 30% tax for everything else. Even worse, after I work 52 hours I jump into another tax bracket. After 52 hours my entire check will be taxed at 60%. So to sum it up.....If I work 84 hours a week, I will make less money than if I work 52 hours. Basically, I will be working for free for 22 hours. Under German law, I cannot be forced to work more than the 48 hours a week that is in my contract, however, I am in a 6 month probation period where I can be fired for anything. So, if I anger my supervisors for not working, they can find any other reason to let me go and bring in someone who is willing to work the hours. I guess you can say I am in a pretty tight bind with work....UGHHH!! I just want to let everyone know that I am open to suggestions, right now I am leaning toward becoming a househusband again.

One last thing, Kristen is in Hamburg right now, and she is doing fine. I talked to her tonight, and she is also bored out of her mind in her class. I will let her fill everyone in on the details. The only thing that she has going for her is that she is with her friend Jen, and there are plenty of places to shop. I dont really know if that is a good thing, but I suppose I really dont have a choice in the matter. What man wouldn't want their wife to do some shopping in Europe without being able to say when enough is enough. Lets just all be glad we have already bought our Disneyworld Plane tickets. I hope Matt and Jenny can spot us a few dollars for some churros! HAHA! Well, I suppose that will be it for my first, last, best and worst blog!

Got the car, and I'm hittin' the road... well, the tracks anyway

Carl was able to officially buy his car Friday! Yay! That's good news. He spent most of the morning getting the inspection completed and getting the registration taken care of. It's great because now we can both drive ourselves to work. It's bad though because the driving here still scares me just a little bit, since I haven't done it too much. I will get used to it though I'm sure, the more I do it.

Yesterday afternoon I drove over to Kelli's house to pick up our first overnight guest at our house -- little miss Bailey. She's a cute (and slightly overweight) beagle mix. Dan and Kelli were headed out of town for the weekend so the K&C Winery and Bed & Breakfast has now had our first overnight guest! It's been interesting, but everything has gone well. Carl actually beat me home too yesterday because he got off work at 3:30 and I didn't get home with Bailey till around 5 p.m.

Today we headed up to Mannheim to check out a kennel for the doggies for when we head home at Christmas. It was gorgeous! It's a cute little building right next to this couples' house... very elegant, yet still down to earth because they only had about 8 or 10 spots for dogs. We left feeling very comfortable with the doggies staying there, and they really liked Noel & Scout too (here at some kennels, they want to meet your dogs before they agree to board them). It's quite the blessing that I was able to find a place that still had openings this late in the game! Especially, a place so nice!

We also did a little bit of snack shopping at the commissary this afternoon, because tomorrow morning I am hitting the tracks (the train tracks, that is) for a 6-hour train ride to northern Germany....Hamburg, to be exact. I am going to a seminar up there all week. Jen will be going with me, and Bruni from my office, along with her husband George, will be there as well. I'll write more about the actual seminar after I come home, but all I know is that it's a political and economic seminar about Germany. It looks pretty cool. Monday we also get to spend the afternoon sightseeing and going on a harbor cruise. I'm taking my camera, don't worry!

So, I won't be updating the blog most likely until next weekend, as I don't plan on taking my laptop and I'm not sure if we have any computer access at the hotel. Carl will be holding down the fort here with the red babies and Churro. I have a feeling he may try to update the blog while I'm gone because he just asked me for the log-in info... hmmm... stay tuned!

I wish everyone a great week ahead! :)

Pictures for Jennie

I have been receiving several requests from the President of Jennie's Boss-atorium, Jennie herself, to post pictures of the inside of our house. I haven't felt comfortable posting pics yet because the house is still such a wreck and not fully furnished or decorated. However, tonight I decided to at least post a couple, since Jennie has been so faithful in reading and commenting on our blog. So, thanks Jennie! Enjoy!
P.S. I am also posting my favorite pics from my camera-practicing session on Friday, as I waited all afternoon at home for the dryer guy to show up! See more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristenandcarl

My three kids, hanging out in the backyard (and yes, those are the stairs I slipped down)

Scouty flashing his cute little grin

Miss Noel

Noel's beautiful brown eyes

This is the main bathroom of the house. You can't see the extra storage to the right. The window opens up to a storage room with our American fridge. Churro loves to sit at the window and meow to come in whenever someone is in the bathroom!

This is our desk area as it sits now, although we are going to be moving it within the next few weeks, probably to closer to where I am actually standing to take this. The doorway to the left leads into the rest of the house. The windows on the right look out the front of the house.

This is the main living room area. (Notice the drum set for Rock Band is still set up-- yes, he was playing it again tonight!)

If you're gonna buy a car from a pregnant lady...

...be prepared for the inevitable!

Yep, so we found a car Saturday! A cute little BMW on the lemon lot at one of our military housing areas. We drove it, loved it, and planned to buy it. The lady who is selling it was super nice but was due to have a baby last Thursday. Do I even have to say it? ... Carl took the day off work today to meet up with her and finalize the purchase, and we got a text from her at, oh, 1:30 in the morning saying "on my way to the hospital, not going to be able to meet you today." Of course! Lady, couldn't you hold her in for one more day?!?! Just kidding. It just figures, but of course we don't mind. The funniest thing is... she actually called Carl this afternoon from her hospital bed and apologized! Isn't that hysterical? She is so sweet! Carl told her we absolutely don't mind one bit and that she needed to go ahead and get herself and her new daughter home healthy.

Ah, yes, just another one of our adventures. :) It's a little bit of a bummer, but at least we know that hopefully by the weekend we'll get to pick up the car. For those of you wondering, it's a blue-ish color, two door, BMW 316i. It's a 1994, and we're getting it for $3,500. What deal! It is German specs so we won't be bringing it back to the States, but should be able to turn around and plop it back on the lemon lot for a quick 'n easy resale before we PCS back home.

And now for a wrap-up of our weekend. Friday evening we went to dinner with Danelli and Jen. We all met at the Danelli residence and walked to a very nice Italian restaurant in their little town. It was delicious! Italian food here is quite yummy considering we are so close to Italy!

After dinner we walked back to their house and Carl and Dan hooked up Rock Band. They proceeded to entertain themselves on that stupid game for the next three and a half hours!! Jen, Kelli and I sat in the other room and had "girl time," i.e. looking at dresses for the upcoming winter military balls, talking about the guys, online shopping and discussing books. It was so nice to have girl chat again. We finally left their house at around 2:30 in the morning! We got home and got in bed by around 3 a.m.

Saturday, we did the loop around the Heidelberg and Mannheim lemon lots (they are nicknamed "lemon lots" but are also known as a POV sales lot -- basically, a place for us in the military communities here to buy and sell cars from each other). We did some grocery shopping and then that evening met with the lady to look at her car. Then, we met up with Danelli and two of their German friends at our American restaurant on post, Winger's, because their friends wanted to eat there and have an authentic 'American experience.' Unfortunately, the holiday bazaar was also going on so the wait at Winger's was unreal -- believe it or not, we were there for 3 hours! The wait for the table was only 40 minutes but the rest of the time we were waiting on food! It was pretty stupid but we stuck it out. The German couple were really nice and didn't seem to mind the wait.

Sunday, Carl had to work, so I drove with him to work and then dropped him off and kept the car so that I could go to church. I was a little nervous since I haven't been doing much driving. I remembered the route to get there, but of course my exit off the Autobahn was shut down because a car was on fire or something! Thank goodness for Mona Garmin (our GPS) who figured out another way for me to get to church. I was only 20 minutes late (cringe!!) Oh well, at least I went! Our church is great; it's a little International Baptist church that is attended by Danelli, Lira and her kids and also Jason and his family, one of my other co-workers. It's mostly Americans but there are also other English-speaking families from other countries who attend.

From church, Kelli and I headed over to the Holiday Bazaar on post -- helllllllooooo shopping!! This place was awesome. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 vendors from countries all around Europe, some even from Asia and beyond. It was so cool. I bought stuff from Italy, Poland, Germany, and Holland!! Carl went there today and bought some more stuff from Holand and something from Portugal! (and honestly, the stuff I bought was actually gifts and not for us). Next year we will start our collection of cool stuff from around Europe. :) It was really fun to wander the booths with Kelli. From there I dropped her off at her house and found my way to pick up Carl.

I went to work today and will take Carl to work tomorrow. I will probably take Scouty with me and go to the office for a little while to get caught up. Next week I will probably be gone all week to a seminar in Hamburg, but I haven't gotten the details yet so I'll post that later.

Tonight we walked out our door and down the street about one block to the Sauerkraut Markt, a festival that our town is hosting right now. Lots of people everywhere on the main road through town, which is blocked off and filled with food booths and vendors selling random stuff. For dinner I had an apfelssum crepe (applesauce crepe) and Carl had some sort of feuerwurst (brat)thingy. We also had a giant order of pommes frites, which are french fries, and they are awesome. It is pretty darn cool to be able to walk out our door and walk to a festival like that!

Tomorrow we must work on finding a kennel for the babies at Christmas. Carl went to one today and the lady laughed when he mentioned Christmas -- she said they've been booked for four months already for that time frame. Ugh. That's just great. So, hopefully we will be able to find somewhere that still has openings! The good thing is that this country is so dog-friendly that every kennel is going to be good. Get this: the dogs get their own little rooms complete with couches and chairs and rugs! Nice, huh? Only the really expensive ones in the States have that. But here, it seems they're all like that. Let's just hope we can find one with openings!!

Well, I am headed to bed to read. I have started a new book, "Twilight," by Stephanie Myer. It's in a series that I think is on the best-seller list right now. My mom is reading it too so it will be fun to read together. I borrowed this one from Kelli, who has already read the entire series twice! Off to bed! (p.s. the time that is listed on here for when I post these blogs is completely wrong, I just haven't figured out a way to change it yet!) :)

Kitchens are not our friends

As I sit and write this I am being "serenaded" by Carl trying to sing on Rock Band for the Wii... whoa... umm... yeah.

Anyway, so another weekend has passed. No festivals this past weekend, but I do have a few updates and funny stories.

Friday, I stayed home from work because the dryer guy was coming to fix the dryer and our temp furniture was getting picked up. Well, the dryer guy is coming back again this Friday to fix it since he didn't have the part with him. Ugh. It was nice to be home all day, although it was a little boring at times, too.

Friday night we went out to eat with Carl's new work BFF, Shane, and his wife Buffy. It was fun. I was a little apprehensive because I was having another of my "I want to go home, I don't like it here" evenings, but, in the end we all really enjoyed ourselves. They are both Carl's age, both former Army, and only arrived here a month ago. They live in Mannheim and don't know anyone. We think they'll fit in pretty well with Danelli and Jen and all of us. We took them to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in Leiman, right up the street from where our temp housing was.

Saturday, we got up really early and headed up to the Ramstein area to look for cars. We checked the lemon lots on Ramstein and Vogelweh Air Bases, but didn't really find anything. Ugh. We had to rush back to town but also went by the Mannheim lemon lot and saw a few possibilities, but now Carl just has to find the time to actually call and go look at them. We hit the commissary once back in our town and then headed home to make our dishes for my office dinner party.

Well, let's just say, the kitchen disaster fairies were definitely on our side Saturday. I don't even want to go into too much detail, but I at least made the watergate salad and that's what we showed up with. I can't screw up watergate salad, but I did forget to double the recipe so there wasn't very much. We ended up being 45 minutes late with what was supposed to be a green bean casserole but was... disgustingly unrecognizable. Who screws up a green bean casserole??

Just know that when we have visitors, no worries... we know where to find some great restaurants!

In my defense I did make a pretty yummy dinner of green (meatless) schnitzel tonight and even Carl loved it. :) (and no, he wasn't making it up, because I know the difference).

We had a very fun time at the dinner party. The food was delicious and everyone was even very accomodating with a ton of meatless dishes. We brought the Wii so the kids could play, and Carl and Dan got Rock Band hooked up. If you aren't familiar with that game, it's a group game where one person sings, one drums, one guitars. The kids loved it but I think Dan and Carl (who are now also BFFs) really enjoyed it the most. Let's just say.... the singing needs improvement!

Sunday, Carl had to work so I had yet another day of relaxing around the house with my red babies and Churro. We slept in a little bit and then the doggies and I took a nice long walk past the outskirts of town. It was super fun and they really enjoyed themselves. I can't describe how nice it was to be able to sleep a little and relax in preparation for another week of lonnnggg work days. Today, however, Kelli was nice enough to let me go home with her after work and Carl picked me up there. Tomorrow morning I'm going to their house first too since she's up that early, and then I can ride in with her. It's still a long day, but at least it's a little bit less time at my desk.