Well, I am as packed as I could ever hope to be, the only things that aren't packed are the things that I will need in the morning. I managed to get everything that we need in three large pieces of luggage! The third one is even about 20 pounds underweight! Unfortunately, I am having to maximize the amount of carry-on luggage because it takes a whole lot to entertain children for roughly 20 hours (from the time we leave my house until the time we arrive at my Grandma Kay's). I am not looking forward to lugging those bags around all day long...
So, everyone is in bed but me. The kids got their baths tonight and I even had enough time to give James a haircut. He just had one about ten days ago, but if he had to wait four more weeks (which is when we will be together again in California), he would be looking pretty "out-of-control".
After everyone went to bed, I got on the computer and I decided to check out the airline website, curious about the plane size and layout. Then, I got a gut feeling that our seat assignments had been messed up. Particularly, that the "Snow" seats were no longer with my mom. I called the airline and got an extremely rude woman (you know the kind where you think, OK, obviously, you HATE your job so it's time to move on now) who wasn't determined not to help me but was going to talk down to me the entire time...she was giving me a hard time because our reservation numbers are not the same so she would only confirm that we were in the seats that I had already said we were in but wouldn't comment at first about my mom's. But when I told her, "look, my mom's name is this......and I believe she is in seat......, and that is not where we want her to be, we want to be all together." I continued, "I know you would have no way of knowing this right off, but I wouldn't have flown her out three days ago just so she could turn around and fly back and not sit by us. She flew here to help me with my children." At this point, there was still no real sign of compassion but at least the total rudeness level was decreased. She was willing to change the seats for a $15 fee and we almost went there until she told me I could do it online by myself or wait until we got to the airport. I hung up with her and moved my mom's seat myself, luckily there was an empty seat on the other side of Thomas!
Boy, am I glad I followed that gut feeling and you better believe that I am going to check on those seat assignments again in the morning!
Until later,
Emily
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Gut Feeling
Nuremberg, Germany--Day 2 (Playmobil Funpark)
Until later,
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
I'm Alive...This is a Random Post
We went on a 3-day trip to Nuremberg, Germany over Memorial Day weekend. Since returning home, I have been busy unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning and setting aside piles of clothes to go to the States with us. As a side note: I've re-thought my packing strategy. I'm going to try to only pack 10 outfits or at least 10 shirts for everyone. I know I'm going to buy a lot while we're there and you know how it is, once you have new stuff you don't want to wear the old stuff! My mom arrives in the morning...Thomas has two more days of preschool. One more soccer game. His practice tonight got cancelled due to a "family emergency" that the coach is dealing with. I hope it's nothing too serious but it couldn't have come at a better time for me! I have lots of pictures to post from our trip but no time to sit down and do it now.
Until later,
Emily
Friday, May 23, 2008
Stocking Up, Cleaning Up, and Packing Up!
It is a weird feeling to know that you are leaving your home for two months and leaving your husband behind. I have been busy trying to clean and organize a little so life will be easier on James while I am away. A major undertaking has been stocking the house so that he hopefully will not have to shop for anything but perishables while I am away. I have made sure that there is plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, cat food, kitty litter, light bulbs, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, water softener...the list goes on and on...the house is pretty stocked and I'm getting there with the clean part. When you have kids, it's always kind of a "work in progress". And before I leave, I need to show him how the house "works" i.e. how to turn on the oven, the dishwasher, where to add the salt in that each month, the washer (and how to do a load of wash since we use water softener here and he has no clue what to do) where the emergency shut off button is for the power, in other words, all the little things that I take care of and he never has to think of. I also need to go over the recycling calendar because heaven help him if he misses a pick-up date!
Then there's the packing. My mom will be horrified to know that I have not started. But, I do have a plan. I'm bringing a lot of clothes...and shoes. And my camera and video camera and prescriptions and my contacts and glasses and pretty much anything else can be bought if needed. I can't do the normal thing and bring a week's worth of clothing and wear those outfits all summer! I'm not staying three weeks or even five...no, it's eight weeks! I also can't do that with my kids...they have a lot of clothes that they will only wear this summer. They'll both be in different sizes next summer. And, by the time we return to Germany, we'll probably be wearing fall clothes again! But, it's a nice feeling to know that I should basically pack almost everything. Both kids are ticketed and because it's an international flight, we still get two bags each. I think my mom is only bringing one checked bag for her three-day jaunt over to Germany...but still seven bags in the back? Plus all our carry-ons (which we will be taking full advantage of)? Probably not! When we return from Utah, however, I'm sure we'll have our maximum amount of baggage (there is MUCH shopping to be done!) along with James' two bags...so we'll probably have two trips from the airport that day! Luckily it's fairly close.
How comforting it is to know that whatever I forget I can honestly go out and buy it! I'll buy doubles of a lot of things once I get to Utah and keep a set at my mom's and the other at James' mom's. That way I won't have to pack up quite as much every time I take a trip up or down the Wasatch front.
Until later,
Emily
Thursday, May 22, 2008
My New Diaper Bag!
Congratulations David Cook!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Price of Gas?
Today, when I decided to "top off" my car...mid grade was $4.00 a gallon! Unbelievable!
Until later,
Emily
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Life Isn't Fair!
Life isn't fair. Period. A concept that even a three-year old can grasp a hold of. Yet, we get to learn this lesson over and over again in life. That, isn't fair, either (in my own opinion).
The Snow family got to learn it again yesterday. James had a "All-Hands" meeting in the morning, meaning everyone that works in his office, in Germany, was present. All they were told was they would be discussing "some of the upcoming changes". It was a good thing that James didn't tell me until Sunday night, because my mind was racing: ARE they going to send us home this summer? Or, WILL they really still send us to K-town (Kaiserslautern) next summer? Or, Maybe they're going to take away the schooling benefit?
James called me yesterday afternoon and the first thing out of his mouth was, "It's worse than I ever imagined..." (long pause). In which, I jumped in, "Hello? Are you still there?" James: "Yes, I'm still in such a state of shock...I just didn't see it coming..."
Well, I won't bore you with the whole transcript of our conversation but the gist of it is that half of his team is moving this summer and fall. Not that they're being sent home early, but their time is up, they've done their 2 or 3 years and it is time for them to move on. BUT, those team members will NOT be replaced until after the move next July, which will probably be to Frankfurt. Meaning James will work on a half-staffed team for his second year, or according to him, as of last night, my last year in Germany. This is the team that even I, from the very beginning, has said is already desperately understaffed. They have way too much work thrown at them and it is a very stressful environment. James worked 25 hours of overtime this weekend...yet, they're going to cut the team in half by the end of October. In the meeting, it was stated that their workload will be scaled down, which James doesn't believe for a second!
Of course, things could change. But this is a slap in the face. And James is stuck. We are stuck. And there is essentially nothing that we can do except live through it. His managers sympathize and are actually upset by this decision but it's not a decision that was made by them. It was a call from DC... So, no matter how many conversations James has with the managers, it doesn't really matter and it will do nothing to change things.
Oddly enough, I am now the optimist in this situation that I was the pessimist about just one year ago and I've already argued that, "If you can get through the second year of what seems like will be pure hell...you may as well sign up for the third year, it can only get better, right?" James didn't seem convinced.
I see trials all around me. There is illness, injury, death, deployment, financial problems...the price of gas is a trial of it's own...but this is our big trial right now. I realize it could be worse. Yes, I realize this all too well. But, this is still huge to us, but that's life.
And life isn't fair.
Until later,
Emily
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Leggings
All of my skirts are either to my knee cap or longer, yet with constantly bending down, chasing, entertaining, or saving Toby from whatever danger he has just discovered, I feel like a disheveled mess 95% of the time when I am wearing a skirt.
Today, I decided to wear leggings under my skirt. They are black and go just below my knee cap...OK more like they go to the top of my calf muscle...but let me just say I think I might be wearing leggings under my skirt from now on! I doubt anyone even detected that they were under my skirt (I was wearing a long skirt with slits almost to my knees) but they made me feel so much more confident! Like wearing a Shade shirt under my skirt! I have been giddy ever since I tried this and found that it worked so well for me!
Until later,
Emily
Friday, May 16, 2008
Scary Mommy
After Thomas' soccer game (he made 3 goals), we hurried home for a little snack, since we ate dinner before his game because he had a late game, before baths and bedtime. James had to work late into the night (and consequently, this entire weekend). I got them both bathed and in bed and decided that maybe I wanted to take a bath too. Toby has resisted going to bed lately, which usually results in about five minutes of crying, and then he gives in and goes to sleep. I took a quick bath and knew he was crying but by the time I got out his crying had gotten progressively louder. I threw my robe on and rushed into his room. I hadn't combed out my hair nor wiped off the mascara rings under my eyes. In other words, I was looking pretty scary! Well, when Toby saw me, he DID stop crying...his eyes opened wide and then he backed into the corner of his crib and would not let me touch him. I guess I was way scary and going to bed was the better choice then letting "Scary Mommy" touch him, so I shut his door and didn't hear a peep from him again!
Until later,
Emily
Playing Hostess
Besides having my Visiting Teachers over and two very low-key play dates, I haven't had people over to my house. Then, last week, I had the brunch. On Monday, I decided to invite one of the families that were moving (they actually flew out yesterday) over for dessert, on Tuesday I had the other family that is moving next Monday over for dinner. Then, yesterday, I invited three other girls and their families over for a more formal play date during the day. So, in one week, I had four little events at my house! It was fun, but I'm kind of exhausted! I'm done entertaining until we come back to Germany at the end of the summer!
Until later,
Emily
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Two Hours Later...One Clean Car!
So, today, it was my main goal to get my car washed. Not do-it-myself car wash (you are not allowed in Germany to wash your car in "your yard" because it isn't good for the environment), but just take my car through an automatic car wash. There is one on the Mainz Kastel base and I have been driving by there for the past two weeks, but the line has been so long, I have gone "Nope, not today!" many times, but today, I was determined to wash my car no matter how long the line was! You could no longer tell it was a steel gray color.
I got in the back of the line, which had six cars ahead of me. Thomas was at school and I had an hour and a half until I had to pick him up. I turned my car off and rolled down the windows like any good person living in Germany should do (because it is against the law to let your car run while parked--bad for the environment, you know!) Let me tell you, nearly 80 degrees in an almost black car gets pretty hot! I waited 45 minutes until it was my turn. I bought my car wash card and drove the car in...and nothing happened...I drove back and forth to engage the car wash and still nothing. By this time, two of the patrons immediately behind me were trying to help but we couldn't figure anything out. I was out of $1's and $5's which is all the car wash card machine will take so I couldn't buy another card. The line was getting longer so I had no choice...I had to drive out of the line with a still-dirty car.
I went to the gas station to get a refund. The gas station attendant didn't know that they could give refunds so he sent me to the Auto Parts store. I hauled Toby in there and the Auto Parts guy said, "Oh, you have to go to gas station for that." I told him, "OK, the only problem is that guy just sent me over here." He was nice enough to get on the phone and tell him what to do. So, we walked back across the parking lot and got my new car wash card. Unfortunately, by this time, I had twenty minutes until I had to pick up Thomas. No time to sit in that line again!
We drove over and picked up Thomas. Then, we headed back to Mainz Kastel to try again. Luckily, by this time of the day, while it was still quite warm, there was a shadow cast by the building nearby so it was shady. When we arrived, there were five cars ahead of us. There was a vending machine with cold drinks so I bought three cold drinks for us and we waited. Finally, it was my turn to drive in the car wash and about five minutes later, I had a sparkling clean car! The whole process took two hours!
It's calling for rain tomorrow.
Until later,
Emily
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Never Be Too Quick to Judge!
This morning, I was upstairs just getting out of the bathtub when I heard a child crying outside. The temps are warm enough that I have all the windows open and fans in each room buzzing along...but I could hear this child outside at the park crying. And he/she kept crying and I thought to myself, "What kind of mother would just let their child cry like that?" "He/she is really crying and I don't hear anyone trying to console that poor kid!"
And that's when I realized over all the fan buzz...it was poor little Toby crying downstairs!
Oops!
Until later,
Emily
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mother's Day 2008
Up-close look! Notice they even have UV glow!
Then there's Toby...no presents...but he's just so darn cute! Don't you agree?
These two boys love each other! And I love them! I'm so glad I get to be their Mom!
Mother's Day for me started out a little rocky as any Sunday because we have 9 AM church, but for some reason, I thought because it was Mother's Day, it should be smoother. Nope, it wasn't.
I left James in charge of making dinner. James grilled hot dogs and had Doritos and asparagus as side items. He also made strawberry pie with real whipped cream. I had to give him a little bit of a hard time since I absolutely HATE asparagus and strawberry pie doesn't even make my top five favorite desserts, and I definitely prefer Cool Whip over whipped cream...I said, "Oh, is this Father's Day?" He reminded me, "Hey, my cooking abilities are limited and at least you get the day off!" He was right. He cleaned up. He let me take a nap without even giving me a sigh and just kind of gave me the day off. All in all, it was a good day.
Then, there were the presents. I had picked up for myself the Intimately Beckham perfume last week for my present because I didn't know if James would have enough time to get me something since work has been quite hectic for him lately. But, he surprised me on Saturday when he took Thomas shopping. They came home with a potted lily that will go outside sometime but for right now it smells so darn good that I am enjoying it too much inside! He also let Thomas pick something out...you might see a trend here (Valentine's Day). To James' credit, he told me that this time he tried to persuade Thomas into choosing something else, but once he saw the beautiful flip-flop earrings it was all over! James also picked out for me a cute pair of earrings and a matching necklace!
Until later,
Emily
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Nine Months in Germany--14 or 15 More to Go...or will it be 26?
Today is our 9-month anniversary of our arrival in Germany. Technically, we left on August 9th, but with the travel time and time difference we arrived on August 10th. We can't believe it's already been nine months and how quickly we will be approaching our "year" mark.
I don't often blog about James' work but since things at work have been effecting the family lately, I am going to do just that!
It has been five weeks of pure drama! The day after my parents went home, James came home from work and told me that his boss "unofficially asked him if we were going to extend the third year" and told him to "go home and talk about it with your wife and come up with your decision because you will be asked officially in two weeks." Not that this is new subject matter, we talk about it probably on a daily basis...but it literally made me sick to my stomach in a matter of 30-seconds to think that this decision was actually upon us.
So, we talked about it and decided that we should probably extend the third year. We have the option of coming home one month early, so we would try to return to Maryland around July 9, 2010, (but not any earlier). If anything, we were driven to make this decision this way because we want to get out and see more of Germany and of Europe. Well, James never got the opportunity to make anything official... because all gears shifted about ten days later and now the focus is on something else entirely:
You may recall that James' work is going to relocate in the summer of 2009, July to be more exact. They were going to move down to the Kaiserslautern area which would most likely mean we would move too. Well, that looks like it is not going to happen. But, they absolutely have to vacate their building by July 1, 2009. So the question is, where are they going to go? Unfortunately, this isn't a problem that is easily solved. So, they are working on one possibility but are doing a cost study on it that will take 3 to 4 months to complete. The location would be close enough that we would not have to move, Thomas could continue school at the international school and we could stay in our ward, so for me and the kids, everything would essentially stay the same.
I should also throw in there that about 2 1/2 weeks ago, there was even mention that they "might just shut the whole place down THIS summer and send everyone home"...it has been a major roller-coaster ride, to say the least.
So, there are no definite answers right now. There are some days when James hears about all the transition that will have to go on if they move to the one-and-only other option that he says he's not sure he wants to stick around for that...and perhaps they will send everyone all home next summer when the lease in Darmstadt is up, so we'll never have the option. And then there are days when I think about extending another year and that seems so L-O-N-G. Because I really do miss the US (thankfully, I'll be on a plane heading there in three weeks!), and everyone there.
But, then I look out my back yard and around the neighborhood that I live in and realize how hard it is going to be to give it up. Yes, we live in a duplex (as opposed to a townhouse) so we are still attached to another residence but we have a bigger back yard and the playground right next to us and a little soccer field above that to kick a ball around. There are lots of walking trails that we have been using lately and last weekend, we discovered that we could walk to the woods in 10 minutes...walk...not drive in the car and then walk. It's more of the neighborhood that I think James and I have always wanted to live in (except we don't understand 90% of what is spoken to us and the houses are shaped peculiarly and in the summer you really hope that the adults don't lift their armpits because they don't use antiperspirant!...but those are just pesky details!)
I'll keep you posted when I know something more!
Until later,
Emily
Thursday, May 8, 2008
A Moment of Silence...
After a very brief battle with lung cancer, my Aunt Michelle passed away on Wednesday. She is leaving behind her husband and son and daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. My grandma, my parents and most of my aunts and uncles will be traveling to Illinois very soon. May peace and comfort be with them at this very difficult and emotional time.
Until later,
Emily
Success!
It took staying up until almost midnight and getting up at 6:30 AM, but I pulled off a very nice brunch for three of my friends, three of their children, my children and myself! I quickly fed Toby breakfast and he (surprisingly!) went down for a very early nap at 10 AM. All the other kids actually sat down and ate a fair amount at the "kids table" and then played very quietly while the mommies ate and enjoyed some adult conversation! It was a lot of fun!
Until later,
Emily
Random Thought Thursday...
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Confirmed Suspicion
I had originally suspected that our neighbors had moved because they split up (they were not married, but living together). Because I had not seen Jurgen for a long time and had seen Doris around. But, then I saw the two of them moving out, so I thought I was wrong.
So, today, I was spraying weeds again and had some leftover spray...I wanted to use it up because I was going to mix up another kind of weed killer... but I needed an empty sprayer first. Since I know who the next renters will be (or at least hope, I haven't told any of the other neighbors that I know yet, I don't want to jinx things!), I thought I'd use the last little bit to kill a few of the dandelions adorning their front yard. Anyway, as I am doing this one of the neighbors across the street returned home and we started to talk. Today, I found out she speaks a lot better English than I originally thought...we usually converse through our neighbor that speaks English really well...but Simone wasn't there so she spoke to me. Turns out that Doris and Jurgen split up! Doris couldn't afford the rent so that's why she moved. Jurgen moved out at least two months ago, from what I could gather.
So while I am sad that their relationship didn't work out, they both seemed like really nice people and seemed to make a lovely couple, I am relieved to find out that that was the reason for their move. It wasn't us after all!
Until later,
Emily
Beautiful Days
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A Season of Good-Bye's
I live in a military ward, so obviously, it's like we have a revolving door going at all times... but right now, that door is moving fast! With the school season wrapping up we are now losing families each week. Three families have left within the last month, including our Bishop and the Seminary teacher. Another family leaves this week. Two more go the next week... Three more leave in June... at least one in July.
We only know of three families moving in this summer...but that was two more than I was aware of until this morning. As small as our numbers are, the number of Brethren is even smaller. Luckily, two just came home from a deployment. But, one will go out this summer (they have five kids all under 12 years old) and another in November (four kids under six). There goes that revolving door again... Four more will return from 18-month deployments in December/January. James was at a EQ meeting a week and a half ago and he made the comment, "I don't know how we can stay a ward and not go to branch status!" someone told him there are 11 "key" callings and we have exactly 11 Brethren to hold those callings!
And so, next week, I will say goodbye to two women that I would say I have become close to. Because of various reasons, I have chosen to hold back on making "deep" friendships with anyone, but I would say there are four or five women that I have somewhat become friends with...friendship beyond small talk...two of these women belong to that group. Their husbands are both military. One husband recently signed up for another five years and another finished 10 years and is getting out now. How different the next chapter in their lives will certainly be. I will miss them both.
Until later,
Emily
Saturday, May 3, 2008
A Saturday at Home
Both of my beautiful children decided to wake up this morning at 6:30 AM! Anything before 7:30 AM is torturous to me! It was really surprising, too, because they both went to bed late last night because Thomas had soccer and after soccer there was still the need for nourishment and baths! And then, Thomas, had a hard time falling asleep once he was in bed...and Toby only got one 20-minute nap the whole day...so they've both surprised me and I know what will happen tomorrow--the day we HAVE to wake up early--they will want to sleep in! Grr.
Today, James felt that he needed to go to work. He tells me there is something big going on right now that is really important that he stays on top of... he might have to work tomorrow as well. He apologized 100 times but, in a way, I welcome a Saturday at home. Of course, I could make it not a Saturday at home, but I really need a day to do the boring stuff--laundry (I haven't done ANY since last weekend), general cleaning, tidying the bedrooms, clean out my car, I also got asked to sub in Primary tomorrow, so I'll need to sit down and look at that lesson sometime today (I found out what the lesson is last night). A big part of me would like to finish mulching my yard, but that would mean another trip out for mulch...a 30 minute drive just to pick that up...so I think it would be a better idea to wait until Monday when I am nearby anyway because of preschool. So, today, we will stay home and be boring.
Until later,
Emily
