Another Wednesday off for me... another blog.
I feel as if time is not just passing me by, but RACING past me. Since getting home I've fallen into a routine (of sorts) which isn't necessarily a routine of doing things... but an emotional routine. At home, soak up love from Josh and the cats, run around feeling crazy while trying to get as much done as possible, pack up, leave for work, work my tail off, stay with Jimmy, work, go home..... The days are passing by way to fast. Which is probably better than if time was crawling by.
One of the reasons time is passing me by so quickly (aside from working 4 days a week and commuting) is because I'm trying to prep for our upcoming trip. I had mentioned it earlier... At the moment I'm trying to not just finish my current homework, but get ahead so everything is done/posted for my teachers before we leave on our trip so I don't have to worry about it. On a side note, school is going fabulous. Thus far I've been doing very well on my papers. Smile. But the extra homework time is mostly what is making my spare time (days off) fly by. And as our vacation creeps closer, the things I need to do for prep work keeps growing.
What are the details of this vacation, you may be asking... Back in the summer when I was spending most of my time researching travel ideas, I asked Josh to look into signing up for some leave time. Beings that he was the new guy in the shop, it was the middle of summer... well, there was zero leave time for him to take. Zero. Summer was booked, fall was full, the holidays... forget it. Which left February. February has two great, blessed events. My birthday, and our anniversary. Josh signed up for two weeks of leave time for the first part of February (why two weeks, I don't know. I didn't ask. I'll take what I get). We had talked about a variety of travel options... and had thought about be-bopping around to a few different places... but after looking around at different things we decided to just spend the full two weeks in one country, soaking up all that we could. So we are going for two weeks to... drum roll please... Italy.
Neither of us have been to Italy before. It would stupid of us to be in Europe and not see some of the major sites Italy has to offer. The nice thing about two weeks... there's a lot we will be able to do. On New Years Day (at 4:30 AM as I was having fun with jet-lag) I found two round trip plane tickets on Ryan Air to Milan for 48 euro... which is about $60. HA! Ha ha ha. Awesome. I booked the tickets for us, and figured we would plan to use the train system to get around Italy from there. While on my shopping excursion back home I had bought an Italy travel book. Last night was the first real chance I've had to flip through it. I already had ideas of things I for sure wanted to see, and I have gotten a lot of suggestions from friends... but the book also helped give me ideas and it's helping me to map out our "tentative" travel route. For the first time our trip is starting to feel like a reality and I'm getting excited about it.
A few things will be different about this trip from our other trips. We're flying, not driving, so we won't have our car. I'm glad. I don't want to have to think about the nightmare of figuring out parking... or paying for gas in Italy. This is going to be a much longer trip than the others. And the major difference of this trip, which is a bit of a conundrum in itself, is that this trip will be minimalistic while at the same time overboard. Let me explain. Ryan Air (like so many airlines) charges you to check a bag. However, what they charge for your checked bag is 1). expensive, 2). based upon the weight of your bag. Unlike other airlines which charge you to check a bag, Ryan Air only allows one carry on bag, which also has a weight restriction, and a size restriction. This can make packing interesting. SO. That being said... Josh and I have agreed that we will only be traveling with carry on luggage, that luggage is going to be a backpack for each of us, and we are going to have to pack/travel lightly. If you know anything about me, you know that I do not travel lightly (hence coming home with two giant suitcases from the states). We're also running on the assumption that we're not going to be able to pack/fit two weeks worth of clothing in our bags, so we'll have to either find a laundromat or wash some clothes in a hotel sink. This could be an adventure... however, I'm up for it. At the end of the day I'm by no means a fashionista, and I could give a hoot what the Italians think of what I'm wearing... so bring it on. I will wash my socks in a hotel sink. The nice thing about this, however, is if we want to, we can basically just be carrying all of our "stuff" with us at all times without actually having a lot of stuff to lug around. This is the minimalistic part. The overboard part... well... Josh and I aren't necessarily overboard people. We have the potential to do it like any other person, and sometimes we do, but for the most part we like to be smart with our money, shopping sales/clearance/rocking coupons, and we are savers. We save like crazy. When we've gone on trips in the past we've done lots of things and seen all that we wanted without really spending all that much money. However, we're in Italy for two full weeks. That is two weeks of hotels, food, and transportation. That's a good chunk of money. AND. Really... when are we ever going to do this again? I would hope I could say there will be another time in our lives where we can take two weeks to travel Italy... but really? This is probably going to be our shot at it. So let's make it worth while. Let's go there, do what we want to do, see all that we can... and just know that our total bill at the end of it is going to add up. Oh well. It will be worth it.
In addition to completing homework, planning our route, figuring out hotels, one of our steps of prep work is the cats. I will be the first one to say that my cats are divas. They demand a lot of attention, and they need a lot of attention. There is a young girl Josh works with who came to our house on Christmas. She is new to Germany, fresh out of high school and new to the military. I thought she was sweet, and she said she liked cats. We asked her to watch the cats for us. She's suppose to come over on Sunday for dinner so we can show her where everything is. I'm hoping we can entice her to stay a few nights at the house with the cats while we're gone so they don't get too stressed out.... Fingers crossed. Laugh if you want. You have children, I have cats.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Bad Neighbors
It is my day off for the week. I got up when Josh did this morning at 5. Although I was wishing for a bit more time to sleep in, I feel I got more done this morning than I did in all of last weekend. I am also starting to feel more calm about getting everything done. Sometimes I just need to have a "girl" moment before I can let it go and move on. Why is it that women feel the need to take care of everyone? To do everything and BE everything at all times? I ask myself that a lot... because I know it's not just me who is always trying to juggle (unsuccessfully) so many things.
However, leftover bits of my panic had left me in a foul mood on my drive home last night. No real reason... I just was grumpy. I arrived home (extremely happy to be home to see Josh and the cats) to discover my neighbor's dog had pooped in the stairwell and the neighbor hadn't cleaned it up. I know exactly which neighbor is the offender because of the size of the poop. That may be a bit too much information, but logically... only two neighbors walk up to that section of stairs (because there is nothing up here/no reason for the downstairs neighbors to come further up). One neighbor has a giant lab mix. The other neighbor has a tiny little dog I refer to as a "purse dog" (you know what I'm talking about... the kind of dog people stuff in a purse and carry around instead of letting the poor thing walk like a normal animal). The poop was tiny, so obviously it belonged to the small dog, not the large one. If you don't want to clean up your dog's poop in your own house, that is your business. It's gross, but it's your business. If you want to leave it on the floor, fine. You can do that because it is your house. But in a communal area that everyone uses it is not only rude it is disgusting to NOT clean up after your animal. That is just basic courtesy. So when I saw the dog poop on the stairs I somewhat lost it. I came inside my house, dropped off my bag, said hello to Josh and explained what I was about to do, then grabbed a roll of paper towels, went out in the hallway and scooped up the poop with some paper towels and then laid it directly in front of the neighbor's door displayed on a paper towel. I am not sure if there is a more clear way to say "Here's is your dog's shit, clean it up next time," but I'm hoping the message got across. I do not appreciate it. And obviously... I won't tolerate it.
I was spoiled having my own house back in the states, and not having to deal with apartment type neighbors. I haven't had to deal with people who I share walls/floors/stairwells with in a long time. I'd forgotten how annoying it could be. I'm slightly surprised by my actions. Maybe it's because I'm older so I've got more audacity, or maybe I just don't give a shit (literally) if my German neighbors like me or not. Or possibly I can blame my mood. Either way... there was a bit of retaliation against the little purse dog and it's non-English speaking owners. And I don't care how awful that makes me appear.
However, leftover bits of my panic had left me in a foul mood on my drive home last night. No real reason... I just was grumpy. I arrived home (extremely happy to be home to see Josh and the cats) to discover my neighbor's dog had pooped in the stairwell and the neighbor hadn't cleaned it up. I know exactly which neighbor is the offender because of the size of the poop. That may be a bit too much information, but logically... only two neighbors walk up to that section of stairs (because there is nothing up here/no reason for the downstairs neighbors to come further up). One neighbor has a giant lab mix. The other neighbor has a tiny little dog I refer to as a "purse dog" (you know what I'm talking about... the kind of dog people stuff in a purse and carry around instead of letting the poor thing walk like a normal animal). The poop was tiny, so obviously it belonged to the small dog, not the large one. If you don't want to clean up your dog's poop in your own house, that is your business. It's gross, but it's your business. If you want to leave it on the floor, fine. You can do that because it is your house. But in a communal area that everyone uses it is not only rude it is disgusting to NOT clean up after your animal. That is just basic courtesy. So when I saw the dog poop on the stairs I somewhat lost it. I came inside my house, dropped off my bag, said hello to Josh and explained what I was about to do, then grabbed a roll of paper towels, went out in the hallway and scooped up the poop with some paper towels and then laid it directly in front of the neighbor's door displayed on a paper towel. I am not sure if there is a more clear way to say "Here's is your dog's shit, clean it up next time," but I'm hoping the message got across. I do not appreciate it. And obviously... I won't tolerate it.
I was spoiled having my own house back in the states, and not having to deal with apartment type neighbors. I haven't had to deal with people who I share walls/floors/stairwells with in a long time. I'd forgotten how annoying it could be. I'm slightly surprised by my actions. Maybe it's because I'm older so I've got more audacity, or maybe I just don't give a shit (literally) if my German neighbors like me or not. Or possibly I can blame my mood. Either way... there was a bit of retaliation against the little purse dog and it's non-English speaking owners. And I don't care how awful that makes me appear.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The panic sets in
I was thankful, when I arrived home, of the wonderful friends I have made in Germany. They are few (being honest with myself) but they are true, loyal friends. I'd rather have quality than quantity. Josh had originally thought he would be able to get off work to come and get me from the airport. However, he had some unexpected training. I told him I would take the train from the airport and asked him to have a friend of mine pick me up at the train station. Josh arranged everything (since I had no American cell phone with me and relied on him calling my parent's or brother's phones while I was there) and we had a plan in place... that was until I went a little crazy shopping and had two full suitcases to bring back to Germany with me. As my brother and I struggled to lug my suitcases from his house, to the car, and inside the airport... I envisioned myself having to lug these suitcases down stairs to the train tracks, then lift them up on the train... then lug them down and back up stairs to change trains... and I realized my plan of taking the train home from the airport really wasn't a possibility. It was a bad plan. And, it's slightly embarrassing to realize the reason WHY it is a bad plan. Before I crossed over into security, I call my dad in a panic asking him to call Josh and inform him there was no way I could take the train... and I needed him to figure out something else. My last instructions were to have Josh text me what I was suppose to do (because I had my German cell phone turned off in my carry on). My flights (from Missoula, to Minneapolis, to Detroit, to Frankfurt - tracing the steps back the way I had come) were uneventful. I landed in Frankfurt tired, and ready to be home. My excitement of getting back home was short lived... My cell phone wouldn't turn on. Although it was fully charged when I left, there wasn't much battery life left when I landed. I spent my time waiting in the customs line wondering what I was suppose to do. I carry a card with me which has Josh's work and cell phone numbers as well as our home address. I figured I would buy a calling card and try to call him... and hope I got a hold of him. As I gathered up my bags and started to look for a place to buy a phone card, panic was starting to set in. What if I couldn't get a hold of Josh? What was I going to do? As I was scanning the different stores in the airport, I noticed someone walking towards me. There was Jimmy, my second husband, grinning at me. Someone had come to take me home! I had never been so relieved.
I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to work right away when I got home... it wasn't a good idea. But, good idea or not, I went back to work on Thursday and worked the whole weekend. I came home on Saturday to work on a paper which was due. I have homework to work on (and homework to get ahead on - Josh and I are leaving on vacation soon and I have to post my homework before we leave), our house is a mess, and there is a giant mountain of laundry. Somehow in the 10 days I was gone, Josh did nothing domestically. I'm not sure if it's simply that he was a bachelor for 12 years before we got married... or if he is just a lazy male. Or both. Either way... I went to bed Saturday night feeling exhausted but wishing I had more energy to get more done. I spent most of today feeling that way too... I want so badly to just have a bit of time to relax... but I felt there was so much staring at me, so much work to do... needless to say I have felt more panicked and anxious than relaxed. Or productive. And knowing I am working a full week is not making it any easier. I have though to myself, more than once this weekend, why did I think going back to school was a good idea? Why can't I be satisfied with what I have, or just being "average"? Sigh. And so starts another week.
I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to work right away when I got home... it wasn't a good idea. But, good idea or not, I went back to work on Thursday and worked the whole weekend. I came home on Saturday to work on a paper which was due. I have homework to work on (and homework to get ahead on - Josh and I are leaving on vacation soon and I have to post my homework before we leave), our house is a mess, and there is a giant mountain of laundry. Somehow in the 10 days I was gone, Josh did nothing domestically. I'm not sure if it's simply that he was a bachelor for 12 years before we got married... or if he is just a lazy male. Or both. Either way... I went to bed Saturday night feeling exhausted but wishing I had more energy to get more done. I spent most of today feeling that way too... I want so badly to just have a bit of time to relax... but I felt there was so much staring at me, so much work to do... needless to say I have felt more panicked and anxious than relaxed. Or productive. And knowing I am working a full week is not making it any easier. I have though to myself, more than once this weekend, why did I think going back to school was a good idea? Why can't I be satisfied with what I have, or just being "average"? Sigh. And so starts another week.
Monday, January 9, 2012
My trip home
I have really enjoyed my time at home (despite the funeral and circumstances that brought me home). I can't believe how fast it has gone by. I wish I had more time to see and visit with some of my friends, however, the focus of my trip was to be with family. Luckily my wonderful friends were understanding and supportive of this.
My first day in Montana on New Years Eve day I had to complete a paper to turn in. I only had a bit of work to do on it, and I estimated it would only take about 45 minutes. I never thought to factor in Zoey... and my 45 minutes turned into 4 hours as she was continually asking me to stop and play with her (and who was I to say no?). I posted it online feeling tired, jet-lagged, and thinking, "Well, this is as good as it will ever get." To my surprise, I saw I received 100% on my first grad school paper. Hmmm. I guess maybe I am suited for this.I have started working on my next paper with more confidence but with an equal amount of interruptions.
After the funeral I went to my parent's house in Polson. I spent a day just relaxing, watching movies, and spending time with my parents. It was a wonderful way to unwind and to get a chance to catch up with my parents face to face instead of over Skype. We went out to dinner at one of my favorite Mexican restaurant, and it was awesome. I have missed Mexican food. We have a few Mexican restaurants in our area, but we have never been to them. I have heard from many people the food isn't very good. One night my dad barbequed steaks for dinner. We are able to buy beef on base at the grocery store with no problems, we just haven't in a while (no reason why... we just haven't). I think there is a taste difference between German and American beef, and I'm not a huge fan of German beef (and it is expensive). Needless to say I haven't had a steak since I left the states. The Mexican food and the steak were some great treats.
On Thursday my mom and I went shopping in Missoula. I had created a list of things I wanted to do when I was home. The list included: drink Cold Smoke (a local microbrew Josh and I love), eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, eat a Blizzard from Dairy Queen, eat at Noodles Express (can you see a theme to my list?), get a massage, and go shopping. I reaaaaaalllllyyy wanted to go shopping. I never really considered myself a shopper. There are many people out there who put me to shame when it comes to shopping. However, like a lot of people I like going out to see what sort of deals I can find. I haven't done much shopping over in Europe. There are plenty of opportunities for it, I just haven't gone (for reasons of not having someone to go with, not having a certain thing to shop for, the difference in currency, ect.). I was excited to spend time with my mom and to hopefully get some things I was wanting without having to worry about/wait for shipping.
We have been searching for rugs for our house since July. We have tile floors and we wanted a few bigger throw rugs. However, the selection of rugs on base left a lot to be desired. We looked at stores in our local area, but the rugs were all more than we wanted to pay. I looked online, but had a few challenges. It was hard to find a place that would ship to an APO (our "address" on base) - Walmart and Amazon are my top choices. Oh, and Old Navy but they don't really do much with rugs. It was also a challenge because there are size and weight restrictions for what can be shipped to an APO. The last challenge was price. I could find rugs I liked, but they were close to $60 and then it was another $12 to ship it. It is hard for me to want to buy a $72 rug.
In our shopping trip I wanted to find some housewares (such as rugs). I also wanted to find a new suitcase for myself and retire the one I came over with as it has seen better days. I really wanted to just do some old fashioned girly clothes shopping for myself. I had some great success. I found the exact same rug I had been looking at online for $13 at Ross. It was almost too good of an offer to pass up. I found another rug I liked for $15. I also found a nice replacement suitcase for $50. Mom and I spent the whole rest of the day shopping around town, and I found lots of treasures for Josh, our house, and myself. When I got everything home and sorted it out... I quickly realized I would have to take two suitcases home with me. However, I justify it to myself in thinking that paying $50 for a new suitcase and $50 for an additional checked bag... well, I would have spent $100 on shipping charges to get everything I had bought anyways. That, and it was fun. I think I've had my fill of shopping for awhile.
I was able to meet up with Josh's dad's side of the family for a family dinner. It was entertaining to spend time with them, and I was relieved that Josh's grandpa didn't bring up the topic of babies (which he frequently feels the need to do. I don't have it in me to break his heart just yet by saying "No, there will be no babies!"). I also was able to have lunch with a great friend, and then had a wonderful dinner with a group of friends. I was spoiled with barbequed ribs and a king cake. I had never heard of king cake before, but it was amazing. Here is the story of what a king cake is and a recipe. I was stuffed to the brim with food, and my cheeks hurt from laughing/smiling. It felt so good to see familiar faces and have a chance to catch up. In some ways I can't believe I've been gone 6 months... the time has flown by.
My time has also been filled with spending time with Miss Zoey. I am surprised every day by how smart she is. I realize as her aunt I am a bit biased on the subject. But she truly is a smart little girl. At 18 months she has a very large vocabulary, speaks somewhat clear (clear for her age), and is able to repeat almost any word you say to her. She also is able to figure out toys/puzzles/things very quickly on her own. Maybe I just am not aware of how quickly children develop since I don't have any of my own... but I just can't believe all the things she is doing at such a young age. I'm glad I've been able to see so much of it first hand. She makes me laugh.
And for those of you who are wondering... Yes, I did get everything done on my list, and it was all amazing.
My first day in Montana on New Years Eve day I had to complete a paper to turn in. I only had a bit of work to do on it, and I estimated it would only take about 45 minutes. I never thought to factor in Zoey... and my 45 minutes turned into 4 hours as she was continually asking me to stop and play with her (and who was I to say no?). I posted it online feeling tired, jet-lagged, and thinking, "Well, this is as good as it will ever get." To my surprise, I saw I received 100% on my first grad school paper. Hmmm. I guess maybe I am suited for this.I have started working on my next paper with more confidence but with an equal amount of interruptions.
After the funeral I went to my parent's house in Polson. I spent a day just relaxing, watching movies, and spending time with my parents. It was a wonderful way to unwind and to get a chance to catch up with my parents face to face instead of over Skype. We went out to dinner at one of my favorite Mexican restaurant, and it was awesome. I have missed Mexican food. We have a few Mexican restaurants in our area, but we have never been to them. I have heard from many people the food isn't very good. One night my dad barbequed steaks for dinner. We are able to buy beef on base at the grocery store with no problems, we just haven't in a while (no reason why... we just haven't). I think there is a taste difference between German and American beef, and I'm not a huge fan of German beef (and it is expensive). Needless to say I haven't had a steak since I left the states. The Mexican food and the steak were some great treats.
On Thursday my mom and I went shopping in Missoula. I had created a list of things I wanted to do when I was home. The list included: drink Cold Smoke (a local microbrew Josh and I love), eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, eat a Blizzard from Dairy Queen, eat at Noodles Express (can you see a theme to my list?), get a massage, and go shopping. I reaaaaaalllllyyy wanted to go shopping. I never really considered myself a shopper. There are many people out there who put me to shame when it comes to shopping. However, like a lot of people I like going out to see what sort of deals I can find. I haven't done much shopping over in Europe. There are plenty of opportunities for it, I just haven't gone (for reasons of not having someone to go with, not having a certain thing to shop for, the difference in currency, ect.). I was excited to spend time with my mom and to hopefully get some things I was wanting without having to worry about/wait for shipping.
We have been searching for rugs for our house since July. We have tile floors and we wanted a few bigger throw rugs. However, the selection of rugs on base left a lot to be desired. We looked at stores in our local area, but the rugs were all more than we wanted to pay. I looked online, but had a few challenges. It was hard to find a place that would ship to an APO (our "address" on base) - Walmart and Amazon are my top choices. Oh, and Old Navy but they don't really do much with rugs. It was also a challenge because there are size and weight restrictions for what can be shipped to an APO. The last challenge was price. I could find rugs I liked, but they were close to $60 and then it was another $12 to ship it. It is hard for me to want to buy a $72 rug.
In our shopping trip I wanted to find some housewares (such as rugs). I also wanted to find a new suitcase for myself and retire the one I came over with as it has seen better days. I really wanted to just do some old fashioned girly clothes shopping for myself. I had some great success. I found the exact same rug I had been looking at online for $13 at Ross. It was almost too good of an offer to pass up. I found another rug I liked for $15. I also found a nice replacement suitcase for $50. Mom and I spent the whole rest of the day shopping around town, and I found lots of treasures for Josh, our house, and myself. When I got everything home and sorted it out... I quickly realized I would have to take two suitcases home with me. However, I justify it to myself in thinking that paying $50 for a new suitcase and $50 for an additional checked bag... well, I would have spent $100 on shipping charges to get everything I had bought anyways. That, and it was fun. I think I've had my fill of shopping for awhile.
I was able to meet up with Josh's dad's side of the family for a family dinner. It was entertaining to spend time with them, and I was relieved that Josh's grandpa didn't bring up the topic of babies (which he frequently feels the need to do. I don't have it in me to break his heart just yet by saying "No, there will be no babies!"). I also was able to have lunch with a great friend, and then had a wonderful dinner with a group of friends. I was spoiled with barbequed ribs and a king cake. I had never heard of king cake before, but it was amazing. Here is the story of what a king cake is and a recipe. I was stuffed to the brim with food, and my cheeks hurt from laughing/smiling. It felt so good to see familiar faces and have a chance to catch up. In some ways I can't believe I've been gone 6 months... the time has flown by.
My time has also been filled with spending time with Miss Zoey. I am surprised every day by how smart she is. I realize as her aunt I am a bit biased on the subject. But she truly is a smart little girl. At 18 months she has a very large vocabulary, speaks somewhat clear (clear for her age), and is able to repeat almost any word you say to her. She also is able to figure out toys/puzzles/things very quickly on her own. Maybe I just am not aware of how quickly children develop since I don't have any of my own... but I just can't believe all the things she is doing at such a young age. I'm glad I've been able to see so much of it first hand. She makes me laugh.
And for those of you who are wondering... Yes, I did get everything done on my list, and it was all amazing.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Rest in Peace
As I said before, I was going home for my Grandma Betty's funeral. I left on the 30th out of Frankfurt. My flight didn't leave until 9:45 a.m., which meant we didn't have to leave the house at an obscenely early time. It is a two hour drive to the airport from our house, so to have a flight leave at 7 a.m. makes for an early morning. I woke up the day after Christmas with a miserable cold. My entire body ached, and I couldn't seem to wake up. Needless to say I spent the day sleeping on the couch with two lazy cats. I worked the rest of the week and relied heavily on Dayquil/Nyquil to get through. I was a little afraid flying with my cold would be miserable. We had decided to wake up at the "normal" time and leave our house at 6. I was a bit anxious and woke up before the alarm. I noticed right away that Josh was on FIRE. He is a hot blooded person naturally, and normally he is a built-in heater for me. However on that morning it was an unnatural heat coming off of him. I had passed my cold onto Josh, and how I had felt the day after Christmas was how he felt that morning. I looked out the window to see a layer of wet snow covering my car with more snow coming down. It was too late for me to try and take the train to the airport... so Josh got up and drove me to the airport through a snowstorm with a raging fever. I felt bad for him, as I knew firsthand how he was feeling.
Getting through security at Frankfurt seems to be ridiculously easy. They tell you to be at the airport two hours early for international flights. At Frankfurt you don't... I don't know if it is efficiency, or it is more lenient. Either way, it's quick. The one problem with being from Missoula, Montana is there is no quick, easy flight pattern to get there. There are no direct flights. My flight pattern went from Frankfurt to Detroit to Minneapolis to Missoula. It wasn't bad... I've had worse. It just makes for a very long, full day of travel. I left my house in Germany at 6 a.m. I landed in Missoula at midnight which is 8 a.m. in Germany. It was a long, long day. I've said I think it is easier to go from the states to Germany versus Germany to the states. After this trip I will stick to that statement. When I travel from the states to Germany, I am usually able to get a few hours of sleep on the long flight over to Frankfurt. Once I land in Frankfurt it is usually morning and you just have to stay up and keep busy (if you don't and you take a nap, you are setting yourself up to have your internal clock be off for days). I am usually tired at that point, but I seem to be able to keep going. However, when I fly from Frankfurt to the states timing wise I am wide awake, and I can't seem to fall asleep. I spend the whole 9 hours of the flight awake watching movies. By the time I got to Minneapolis it was 5 p.m. and I was exhausted (at that time it was midnight in Germany). I was afraid I wouldn't stay awake to make it to my gate or that I would miss my flight. Luckily I did manage to stay awake, and climbed onto the last leg of my journey like a zombie. I landed in Missoula to snow blowing and gusting winds. Welcome back to Montana.
I spent my first day home with my brother (more on that later). I spent New Years Eve in a fog of exhaustion. I attempted to meet up with some friends to be social, but I ended up going home because I was tired. I was in bed asleep before 10 p.m. What a wild New Year. I hoped I could catch up on some sleep and nip the jet lag in the butt early. Instead I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep. It made my drive to Great Falls a bit interesting. I rode with my parents for the three-ish hour drive and talked their ears off the whole ride. It was nice to catch up, even though I was dreaming of a warm bed the whole time.
On the morning of the 2nd, the day of Grandma Betty's funeral we woke up early to get ready and drive to Stanford. We agreed to meet up with my aunt and uncle to clean out my Grandma's house and sort through her things. My dad is the executor of her will. My Grandma's will states everything is simply to be split equally between the 4 kids. They are going to sell the house, so they need to clean it out first. It was agreed that if someone saw something that was sentimental to them or something they wanted, they should (with everyone's permission) take it. This way or working and cleaning worked well until the vultures showed up.
Every family has drama. Mine is no different. To try to make this as simple as possible, let's just say my dad has two brothers and one sister. One of the brothers is a bit of an outcast, by his own doing, and has had no contact with any family members for years (again, by his own doing). And, let's just say that this brother's wife (I refuse to call her my aunt... because I have some wonderful aunts. This woman is NOT my aunt) is a bitch. I think that is me putting it nicely. As the rest of the family was attempting to clean the house/sort through my Grandma's things, this brother and his wife show up. They started to help... but their helping was not helpful. They were there only to selfishly grab as much stuff as they could. This woman sorted through my Grandma's lace table cloths and linens. She then asked if anyone wanted them... we all thought about it, then said no. She boxed them up for herself. Now if she was a collector of lace, or if she had some wonderful memory of my Grandma that somehow involved the table linens, or something... then I would understand and I would think it appropriate for her to take them. However, she clearly was just taking them for the sake of taking them. My mom and I were sorting through a closet (in this closet we found over 25 boxes of unused blank greeting cards. Why so many, I can only guess) when I looked over to see her (she really doesn't even deserve to have her name mentioned) going through my Grandma's dressers. What in the hell was she looking for? And what on earth was she planning to take? This wasn't even her own mother... if it was it would be a different story. But as it was, she was just a selfish, shitty daughter-in-law.
We had to take a break from our house cleaning for Grandma's funeral. It was as good of a funeral as you could hope for. The pastor who gave the eulogy was a friend of my Grandma's, and she spoke highly of her. It was the kind of ceremony I think my Grandma would have wanted for herself. It was nice to see people who were my Grandma's friends there to show their support. It was, I suppose, a good way to say good-bye. I was impressed to look at my family and see how supportive they are. My Grandma who died is my dad's mother... however all of my extended family (and I truly mean ALL) from my mom's side showed up. They had all spent time with my Grandma over the years (what can I say? We're close) and wanted to show their support. There was more of my mom's family present than my dad's. I think that really says something.
After the funeral we returned to the house to finish cleaning. Tucked away in a drawer under a stack of old tax returns I found my treasure. It was a black and white photo of my Grandma. I would guess she was in her early 20's, but there isn't a date written anywhere on the photo. I haven't seen many pictures of my Grandma from when she was young. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. My Grandma was beautiful, and I'm not just saying that because she's my Grandma. She truly was a good looking girl. What I was more surprised to see was a lot of myself in her face. There were my eyebrows, my nose, and my cheekbones staring back at me. How had I never noticed this before? How did I not know? At that moment I felt strangely close to my Grandma.
As the rest of the family was trying to finish cleaning, the vultures returned. They circled around the house, taking things they thought to be valuable or things they "needed." It seems funny that the people who did the least for my Grandma in the last few years of her life were the people wanting to take the most. We took it as a sign that we should leave.
My parents, my uncle (the good one), my aunt, and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner. We had a chance to talk about Grandma, life, love, the future. Although it was horrible circumstances, it was great to have a chance to spend time with them. To have some moments together. Although there are people who bring negativity to the picture, it was a beautiful ceremony and a peaceful good-bye.
Getting through security at Frankfurt seems to be ridiculously easy. They tell you to be at the airport two hours early for international flights. At Frankfurt you don't... I don't know if it is efficiency, or it is more lenient. Either way, it's quick. The one problem with being from Missoula, Montana is there is no quick, easy flight pattern to get there. There are no direct flights. My flight pattern went from Frankfurt to Detroit to Minneapolis to Missoula. It wasn't bad... I've had worse. It just makes for a very long, full day of travel. I left my house in Germany at 6 a.m. I landed in Missoula at midnight which is 8 a.m. in Germany. It was a long, long day. I've said I think it is easier to go from the states to Germany versus Germany to the states. After this trip I will stick to that statement. When I travel from the states to Germany, I am usually able to get a few hours of sleep on the long flight over to Frankfurt. Once I land in Frankfurt it is usually morning and you just have to stay up and keep busy (if you don't and you take a nap, you are setting yourself up to have your internal clock be off for days). I am usually tired at that point, but I seem to be able to keep going. However, when I fly from Frankfurt to the states timing wise I am wide awake, and I can't seem to fall asleep. I spend the whole 9 hours of the flight awake watching movies. By the time I got to Minneapolis it was 5 p.m. and I was exhausted (at that time it was midnight in Germany). I was afraid I wouldn't stay awake to make it to my gate or that I would miss my flight. Luckily I did manage to stay awake, and climbed onto the last leg of my journey like a zombie. I landed in Missoula to snow blowing and gusting winds. Welcome back to Montana.
I spent my first day home with my brother (more on that later). I spent New Years Eve in a fog of exhaustion. I attempted to meet up with some friends to be social, but I ended up going home because I was tired. I was in bed asleep before 10 p.m. What a wild New Year. I hoped I could catch up on some sleep and nip the jet lag in the butt early. Instead I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep. It made my drive to Great Falls a bit interesting. I rode with my parents for the three-ish hour drive and talked their ears off the whole ride. It was nice to catch up, even though I was dreaming of a warm bed the whole time.
On the morning of the 2nd, the day of Grandma Betty's funeral we woke up early to get ready and drive to Stanford. We agreed to meet up with my aunt and uncle to clean out my Grandma's house and sort through her things. My dad is the executor of her will. My Grandma's will states everything is simply to be split equally between the 4 kids. They are going to sell the house, so they need to clean it out first. It was agreed that if someone saw something that was sentimental to them or something they wanted, they should (with everyone's permission) take it. This way or working and cleaning worked well until the vultures showed up.
Every family has drama. Mine is no different. To try to make this as simple as possible, let's just say my dad has two brothers and one sister. One of the brothers is a bit of an outcast, by his own doing, and has had no contact with any family members for years (again, by his own doing). And, let's just say that this brother's wife (I refuse to call her my aunt... because I have some wonderful aunts. This woman is NOT my aunt) is a bitch. I think that is me putting it nicely. As the rest of the family was attempting to clean the house/sort through my Grandma's things, this brother and his wife show up. They started to help... but their helping was not helpful. They were there only to selfishly grab as much stuff as they could. This woman sorted through my Grandma's lace table cloths and linens. She then asked if anyone wanted them... we all thought about it, then said no. She boxed them up for herself. Now if she was a collector of lace, or if she had some wonderful memory of my Grandma that somehow involved the table linens, or something... then I would understand and I would think it appropriate for her to take them. However, she clearly was just taking them for the sake of taking them. My mom and I were sorting through a closet (in this closet we found over 25 boxes of unused blank greeting cards. Why so many, I can only guess) when I looked over to see her (she really doesn't even deserve to have her name mentioned) going through my Grandma's dressers. What in the hell was she looking for? And what on earth was she planning to take? This wasn't even her own mother... if it was it would be a different story. But as it was, she was just a selfish, shitty daughter-in-law.
We had to take a break from our house cleaning for Grandma's funeral. It was as good of a funeral as you could hope for. The pastor who gave the eulogy was a friend of my Grandma's, and she spoke highly of her. It was the kind of ceremony I think my Grandma would have wanted for herself. It was nice to see people who were my Grandma's friends there to show their support. It was, I suppose, a good way to say good-bye. I was impressed to look at my family and see how supportive they are. My Grandma who died is my dad's mother... however all of my extended family (and I truly mean ALL) from my mom's side showed up. They had all spent time with my Grandma over the years (what can I say? We're close) and wanted to show their support. There was more of my mom's family present than my dad's. I think that really says something.
After the funeral we returned to the house to finish cleaning. Tucked away in a drawer under a stack of old tax returns I found my treasure. It was a black and white photo of my Grandma. I would guess she was in her early 20's, but there isn't a date written anywhere on the photo. I haven't seen many pictures of my Grandma from when she was young. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. My Grandma was beautiful, and I'm not just saying that because she's my Grandma. She truly was a good looking girl. What I was more surprised to see was a lot of myself in her face. There were my eyebrows, my nose, and my cheekbones staring back at me. How had I never noticed this before? How did I not know? At that moment I felt strangely close to my Grandma.
As the rest of the family was trying to finish cleaning, the vultures returned. They circled around the house, taking things they thought to be valuable or things they "needed." It seems funny that the people who did the least for my Grandma in the last few years of her life were the people wanting to take the most. We took it as a sign that we should leave.
My parents, my uncle (the good one), my aunt, and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner. We had a chance to talk about Grandma, life, love, the future. Although it was horrible circumstances, it was great to have a chance to spend time with them. To have some moments together. Although there are people who bring negativity to the picture, it was a beautiful ceremony and a peaceful good-bye.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
The More the Merrier
It seems a little strange to post about Christmas now, after New Years. However, post-Christmas was a little crazy for me (I got a bad cold, worked, and then packed up and flew back to Montana) so this is the first opportunity I've really had to write about it.
After our crazy Thanksgiving as guests as my friend Melissa's house, I had offered to host Christmas dinner for her. At the end of the night she looked exhausted and overwhelmed, and we began talking about Christmas. I could feel her being a bit overwhelmed by the idea of repeating the dinner within a month for another holiday. I offered to host and told her she could be the guest. I honestly was first planning to only invite Melissa and her husband and our friend Jimmy. As the time to Christmas came closer, our dinner grew from 5 people to close to 12. Josh got a new troop into his shop who will be away from his wife for the next 8 months, and we decided to invite him over for dinner. Melissa met a young couple who had just arrived in Germany and didn't know anyone, so she invited them to join us. The week before Christmas two more young "kids" arrived and didn't know anyone, and I hated the idea of someone being young, away from family, and having nowhere to go for Christmas. What started out as my quiet little dinner turned into the more the merrier. I'm glad it did. Everyone needs somewhere to go for Christmas, and I'm glad we could offer that to people. I also see it as a way of paying back for all the times Josh was the guest at someone's house in holidays past.
We started our prep for our dinner a few weeks before Christmas as the commissary (grocery store on base) was likely to run out of certain items before Christmas (you think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not). We did some last minute shopping the week before Christmas to get some fresh things we were waiting on. Our menu included two 12 pound turkeys, one 8 pound ham, a 3 pound bag of potatoes, the supplies to make a double batch of green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, the makings for two pumpkin pies, an apple pie, and a gingerbread cheesecake, supplies for gravy, and a good supply of soda and beer. Melissa offered to make stuffing (I need a lesson in making her stuffing, seriously. She made homemade cornbread stuffing and it is amazing), mac and cheese (read my post about Thanksgiving. Melissa is southern and mac and cheese is a holiday must have food), and sweet potato casserole (I had never had that until Thanksgiving this year and it is awesome). We had quite the feast planned.
Christmas Eve was relaxing for us. We spent most of the day lazying around. We did some prep work for dinner the next day, but we mostly just hung around and watched movies. Josh had seasoned a whole chicken which he smoked on the BBQ for dinner. It was unexpected and delicious. Josh let me open one present on Christmas Eve (he picked out which present I could open). It was The Lion King on Blu-Ray, so we watched that before going to bed. On Christmas Day we were up by 6 am... more out of habit than excitement. We got up, started coffee, and opened presents. Josh and I thoroughly spoiled each other for our first "real" Christmas together, or first married Christmas together. He got me a fancy set of headphones, two Rachel Ray cookbooks, and an amber necklace I was eying at a Christmas market. I got him some beer glasses, an Ipod cover, and a metal detector (I'll explain the reason behind that at another time). We were also spoiled by our family. We had many Priority Mail flat rate boxes under our tree. I had been worried (since this was my first Christmas away from my family) that Josh and I would open our presents... and then just look at each other saying "Okay. Now what?" which would open the door to me feeling very lonely and homesick. Thankfully, we were very spoiled, had lots of new treasures to distract ourselves with, and had a lot of fun with each other. I honestly didn't feel homesick, which was a relief. After opening our presents and cleaning up the aftermath, we starting getting things together for our dinner.
I am impressed with Josh frequently, but for hosting Christmas I was extremely impressed. I had to work the whole week prior to the holiday, and I wasn't going to be there for a lot of the preparation. Josh did last minute shopping, cleaned the entire house (I'm not lying or exaggerating... he truly cleaning the whole house. It looked fantastic. Granted, I had threatened him with death if the house was a mess when I got home), and had the tables set up and decorated when I got home on the 23rd. I also am impressed at how well we work together as a team. When we got married it was a small event at my house with only 12 guests. Josh and I worked the whole day prior to getting married cleaning the house and making platters of snack food for our guests. There was no arguing, no stress (aside from pre-wedding jitters). We just work well together getting things done. It was the same way with Christmas dinner. We prepped what we could before-hand, and then we each took on our separate tasks for cooking. I gave Josh a turkey-fryer for his birthday, so he was in charge of frying the two turkeys (he was also in charge of all of the prep-work for the turkeys as I refuse to stick my hand inside of one to remove the parts). We had done enough prep work that all I had to do was heat up the ham, make the green bean casserole, and cook the potatoes. It was very simple.
Our guests all arrived around noon - even though we weren't planning to eat until 3ish. I'm thankful for our new big, wrap around couch as it worked well for all of our guests. Everyone snacked on the snack foods we had set out (meat, cheese, and crackers, chips and dip) and had some drinks while watching movies. We all ate, watched some more movies. Melissa helped me to fix up plates for people to take home with them... everyone left around 9 stuffed to the brim and with leftovers to boot. I was actually very happy to not have a ton of leftovers in my house. I couldn't believe we'd had people there for 9 hours. It didn't seem that long. But again, I'm glad we were able to provide a place for people to come and hang out and have a good dinner. This was probably the first of many military holiday dinners we will host... and that is fine by me.
After our crazy Thanksgiving as guests as my friend Melissa's house, I had offered to host Christmas dinner for her. At the end of the night she looked exhausted and overwhelmed, and we began talking about Christmas. I could feel her being a bit overwhelmed by the idea of repeating the dinner within a month for another holiday. I offered to host and told her she could be the guest. I honestly was first planning to only invite Melissa and her husband and our friend Jimmy. As the time to Christmas came closer, our dinner grew from 5 people to close to 12. Josh got a new troop into his shop who will be away from his wife for the next 8 months, and we decided to invite him over for dinner. Melissa met a young couple who had just arrived in Germany and didn't know anyone, so she invited them to join us. The week before Christmas two more young "kids" arrived and didn't know anyone, and I hated the idea of someone being young, away from family, and having nowhere to go for Christmas. What started out as my quiet little dinner turned into the more the merrier. I'm glad it did. Everyone needs somewhere to go for Christmas, and I'm glad we could offer that to people. I also see it as a way of paying back for all the times Josh was the guest at someone's house in holidays past.
We started our prep for our dinner a few weeks before Christmas as the commissary (grocery store on base) was likely to run out of certain items before Christmas (you think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not). We did some last minute shopping the week before Christmas to get some fresh things we were waiting on. Our menu included two 12 pound turkeys, one 8 pound ham, a 3 pound bag of potatoes, the supplies to make a double batch of green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, the makings for two pumpkin pies, an apple pie, and a gingerbread cheesecake, supplies for gravy, and a good supply of soda and beer. Melissa offered to make stuffing (I need a lesson in making her stuffing, seriously. She made homemade cornbread stuffing and it is amazing), mac and cheese (read my post about Thanksgiving. Melissa is southern and mac and cheese is a holiday must have food), and sweet potato casserole (I had never had that until Thanksgiving this year and it is awesome). We had quite the feast planned.
Christmas Eve was relaxing for us. We spent most of the day lazying around. We did some prep work for dinner the next day, but we mostly just hung around and watched movies. Josh had seasoned a whole chicken which he smoked on the BBQ for dinner. It was unexpected and delicious. Josh let me open one present on Christmas Eve (he picked out which present I could open). It was The Lion King on Blu-Ray, so we watched that before going to bed. On Christmas Day we were up by 6 am... more out of habit than excitement. We got up, started coffee, and opened presents. Josh and I thoroughly spoiled each other for our first "real" Christmas together, or first married Christmas together. He got me a fancy set of headphones, two Rachel Ray cookbooks, and an amber necklace I was eying at a Christmas market. I got him some beer glasses, an Ipod cover, and a metal detector (I'll explain the reason behind that at another time). We were also spoiled by our family. We had many Priority Mail flat rate boxes under our tree. I had been worried (since this was my first Christmas away from my family) that Josh and I would open our presents... and then just look at each other saying "Okay. Now what?" which would open the door to me feeling very lonely and homesick. Thankfully, we were very spoiled, had lots of new treasures to distract ourselves with, and had a lot of fun with each other. I honestly didn't feel homesick, which was a relief. After opening our presents and cleaning up the aftermath, we starting getting things together for our dinner.
I am impressed with Josh frequently, but for hosting Christmas I was extremely impressed. I had to work the whole week prior to the holiday, and I wasn't going to be there for a lot of the preparation. Josh did last minute shopping, cleaned the entire house (I'm not lying or exaggerating... he truly cleaning the whole house. It looked fantastic. Granted, I had threatened him with death if the house was a mess when I got home), and had the tables set up and decorated when I got home on the 23rd. I also am impressed at how well we work together as a team. When we got married it was a small event at my house with only 12 guests. Josh and I worked the whole day prior to getting married cleaning the house and making platters of snack food for our guests. There was no arguing, no stress (aside from pre-wedding jitters). We just work well together getting things done. It was the same way with Christmas dinner. We prepped what we could before-hand, and then we each took on our separate tasks for cooking. I gave Josh a turkey-fryer for his birthday, so he was in charge of frying the two turkeys (he was also in charge of all of the prep-work for the turkeys as I refuse to stick my hand inside of one to remove the parts). We had done enough prep work that all I had to do was heat up the ham, make the green bean casserole, and cook the potatoes. It was very simple.
Our guests all arrived around noon - even though we weren't planning to eat until 3ish. I'm thankful for our new big, wrap around couch as it worked well for all of our guests. Everyone snacked on the snack foods we had set out (meat, cheese, and crackers, chips and dip) and had some drinks while watching movies. We all ate, watched some more movies. Melissa helped me to fix up plates for people to take home with them... everyone left around 9 stuffed to the brim and with leftovers to boot. I was actually very happy to not have a ton of leftovers in my house. I couldn't believe we'd had people there for 9 hours. It didn't seem that long. But again, I'm glad we were able to provide a place for people to come and hang out and have a good dinner. This was probably the first of many military holiday dinners we will host... and that is fine by me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)