Every day life and occasional adventures of Emily Snow and Family

Friday, August 31, 2007

Our auto arrived!

James has been using a company car, he was told he could have it for 10 business days. Today is the last day--he has to turn it in or could be at risk to lose 30 days pay. We still haven't been able to buy a car and when we went to rent a car, we found out that they are all rented out due to the holiday weekend. We were in a bind. But, no, we were in luck, I got a phone call yesterday morning telling me that our Kia Rondo had arrived! So far, this is about the only thing that has gone smoothly for us. It wasn't guaranteed until September 12 although we had hoped it would come maybe at the end of next week. This was totally unexpected.

James spent most of the morning rushing around, getting insurance then getting it licensed and filling out and finding all the paperwork necessary to claim it. He had to go back to work and work so we weren't able to pick it up until this morning. It was like Christmas morning when we got through all the paper processing and we walked into the garage where it was parked.

So, after getting the carseats in the car (Thomas insisted on going in our car--he was also excited to be reunited with it), gassing up and going through a car wash, I was almost immediately driving on the autobahn. It wasn't all that bad. And, we made it home in one piece!

The other great piece of news that we received yesterday is that our airfreight also came in! It's at the airport now and James has to deal with customs and arrange for delivery so we probably won't have it until next week. We're not quite sure how airfreight takes as long as a car that came by ship but I don't think we'll ever have that answer. That's OK. I'm just glad to know where it is and know that we will have it soon. The rest of our things should arrive in October. Hmm, we'll see!

Until later,

Emily

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

German drivers beware. . .

I took my German driver's test today and. . . passed! But, as I told my friend that also took it today, today we had to think in a way to pass a test and once we got our licenses, we could actually learn how to drive here! Now, if only I had a car. . . one thing at a time, right?

Until later,

Emily

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

One thing. . .

One thing I like about my neighborhood--as you approach my street there is a sign that indicates that pedestrians and kids playing in the street actually have the right-of-way. Talk about "kid-friendly"!

One thing I dislike about my neighborhood--at night when everyone returns home from their day, there are far too many cars and far too few places to park. We don't have a driveway so we rely entirely on street parking. Our side of the house has been vacant for 3-4 months, so naturally the spaces by our home have kind of been taken over by the neighbors. Right now, most of them assume that we are a one-car family. The battle will be "on" when the Kia Rondo arrives in a week or two!

Until later,

Emily

Bad day, Good day. . .

Yesterday, after sending James out the door, I managed to get showered and dressed, get the boys fed and dressed and I was ready to do something with my day by 8:30. Please understand that this is VERY GOOD for me!

So, I thought it was time to tackle the answering machine. We still do not have the fancy phones that are supposed to come from the phone company which we have already paid for. . . so we bought a phone last week and a basic answering machine last weekend. The wiring is a bit different and I spent about an hour and a half trying to get it to work, only to give up. I think I need some sort of an adaptor. Then, I went on to mow the lawn. We have an electric mower, which James' work gave us. However, the extension cord would not work. After buying a new extension cord, I thought we were good to go. No. No. No! We could plug in the mower into the new extension cord, but there was still no power. I could not figure it out to save my life and once again had to give up. Two hours later, I had accomplished nothing. No answering service, and I still had a very overgrown backyard.

The day improved when I received a phone call from Hans and Helga. They are the cutest German couple that work with our relocation company and help fix up our rental properties. I had a list of odds and ends that needed to be worked on. They also brought my little rugs for my stairs going to the bedrooms. What a difference they make! I also had them replace the blinds in the two upstairs bathrooms. The landlord actually put it in the lease that he didn't want the old, dingy, dirty, bent ones provided, removed. I figured if we replaced them with the same style it shouldn't matter. I didn't ask, I just did it!

Probably some time next week, Hans and Helga will return and spend the day at my home hanging curtains. I put the order into JCPenney and I hope that everything will work out. Helga is going to have to shorten some of the curtains that I bought but she didn't seem to think it was a big deal.

While Hans and Helga were finishing up, I ended up with the neighbor boy in my backyard--he knew exactly how to start up my lawn mower and showed me how (it was a no brainer after he showed my once) but then he insisted on mowing it for me.

Until later,

Emily

Sickness has hit our household. . . .

Sunday morning, James complained of not feeling so well. I thought it was a lame excuse to wiggle out of going to church. So, I kind of rolled my eyes at him and went to study the driver's license exam. He hacked and whined and I was sort of irritated. I did start feeling bad when he started to throw up and complain of being cold in what I would consider a too warm of a house.

He threw up some more and then I sent him to stay in Thomas' room. I figured it would be better to sort of quarantine him there and keep Thomas in our room. Toby's already there--so why not have a party? (sidenote: I had moved Toby into his own room in Frederick for one week, but then when we got here, he ended up back in our room again, once the curtains are hung, he'll go into his own room). Thomas thought it was cool sleeping in the same room as Toby and Mom.

Yesterday, James did not come into our room to shower at the expected time. I thought, for sure, that he was going to call in sick. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was going to try to go to work. He went in, about an hour later, than normal and made it through the day. He came home, had dinner and was in bed before 9:30. He said he's feeling better this morning but still not 100%. I am washing sheets today and hoping for the best.

Until later,

Emily

Sunday, August 26, 2007

One big mistake. . .

Although we have only been here for two weeks, we are already finding ourselves saying "If we ever do this sort of thing again, we're going to do this and that differently" one of the top regrets we have is selling our second car. We were told that it is easy to find a car, and that you can get a good deal. We have not found that to be the case at all. Sure, we can find lots of BMW's for 50$--however, that's not what we're looking for. The equivalent to our Hyundai Elantra is going for twice what we sold ours for with double or triple the miles! We think back to our paid off 2004 with very low miles and really wish that we would have paid for the second car to be shipped.

Until later,

Emily

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Getting Ahead of the Laundry. . .

I know that many of my friends have a hard time staying on top of their laundry. I also have this problem. Until recently. I have stumbled upon the solution! The reason we have a hard time keeping up with the laundry is simply because we have way too many clothes!

We came here two weeks ago tomorrow, with only the few clothes packed in our bags. We all had about a weeks worth of outfits. Now let me just say that there has been a 20-35 degree difference in the temperature from MD to Germany so my small selection became even smaller once I stepped off the plane. Away went two pair of shorts, now I have four pair of capris and a pair of jeans to choose from. All my tops still work out, but I wish I had some long-sleeved items. Luckily, I packed jackets for me and the kids, Thomas has a pair of jeans and Toby has two pair of pull-on cotton pants. James wasn't so prepared. He has all shorts and short-sleeves in his casual selection. At least he has an adequate work wardrobe here.

You all might be wondering why we don't just go out and by some warmer clothes? It is because we are thinking that any day now our air freight will appear. Yes, this is the very same air freight that we were lead to believe would be delivered within days of us getting here or maybe even before we arrived. It's not here. We have no idea where it is. You bet we are frustrated.

So, back to my original thought, it is pretty darn easy to keep up on laundry when you don't have much to choose from! I do a couple small loads each day and it's no problem!

Until later,

Emily

Getting Started. . .

A couple of months ago, I decided that I would need to start blogging soon. I have a few friends that have blogs that I have followed for nearly a year now, and I have quite enjoyed keeping up with them through their blogs. I started a blog similar to this in June, only I never actually posted and my memory failed me with the title, email address, and password. Jana was able to help me with the blog address, but the rest never came to me and when I tried to "hack" into it, it was a nightmare. Everything was in German, even though our computer is set to be in English. Anyways, I have started over today (and I think I have everything set to English). Not much is lost, except the time I spent trying to access my old blog.

Well, getting started. . . for safety's sake, I will be using "alias names" in this blog. No, we are not using these names while we are in Germany. We use our real names here. We are named after Thomas the Train characters. I am Emily or I am also referred to as the Highlight Addict in the blog world already. My husband is James, our oldest is Thomas and our baby is Toby.

In June, when I announced to James that I would be starting a blog, he got very upset. Apparently, at his company, they frown upon blogs. Never being one to be told what to do, especially when it is combined with the word, "NO", I responded that I do not work for his company and therefore would move forward with my plans to blog. However, I will not be posting much about his new job, old job or anything in between and would appreciate it very much if any of your replies also don't inquire or hint at anything about his occupation past/present. It will keep the peace in the family. Things that you might hear about his job will be things like, "James is working late tonight" or "James is out-of-town", not too exciting, I know.

So, this blog will mainly be about my daily life and the daily life of my family. You will probably get bored very quickly when you realize that my life in Germany is just about as mudane as my life in the states! I will include pictures, once I figure out this blog system and how to use our new laptop computer.

I read somewhere recently that it takes nearly 100 blog posts before you gain your "voice". So, please bear with me in this. . . mainly, I hope to keep all those that want to, up to date with us especially now that we are so far away and 6-9 times zones apart! Thank goodness for the internet!

I can't promise that I will post daily, but I hope to post multiple times a week or at the very least, weekly.

Until later,

Emily