Quiet as a Mouse...but at Times Barking Like a Seal!

On Friday, Toby was diagnosed with Croup. His German pediatrician is on holiday so I had to take him to the general practice doctor in my neighborhood. (I tried seeing the base docs but they weren't taking civilians that day.) The nice thing was that we literally walked there. The bad thing was the language barrier was great. I was able to learn that he has croup, he is contagious and he offered to write me out a prescription for ibuprofen (yes, you have to have a prescription to get it here, luckily we have "base rights" so that is not an issue for us) and a prescription for something to help with the symptoms, which turned out to be an herbal concoction of Thyme and Ivy. Thank goodness for friends and family that have experienced Croup and for the internet. I really, really hate living here when we are sick.

He has been fevered, and when he coughs, he sounds like a seal. He lost his voice Saturday afternoon. He wants to watch movie after movie, which is just not like him.

Tonight, we are seeing glimpes of naughtiness in Toby, so we are hoping that he might be on the mend. However, I am also not feeling the best, with a fever and really bad body aches. Oh, the fun of cold & flu season begins!

Until later,

Emily

Ten Months in Frankfurt

While James was on his TDY, his office finally relocated to the Frankfurt Consulate. The move has been a long time coming. For a while they were thinking about moving to the Kaiserslautern area and if that would have happened, there would have been a good chance that we would have moved into a different home. But, then, they decided that renovating the building available was going to be a nightmare so that was shelved. So then they found out that there was space at the consulate. The date kept getting pushed back all summer long but it finally happened last week.

Now James will be driving a little bit longer drive to Frankfurt (because we did not have to move) with heavier traffic and will also spend quite a bit time commuting back and forth from Frankfurt to Darmstadt to support the US military team that he works with (they didn't move to the consulate). In other words, his productivity is going to go way down due to driving and the fact that his work station isn't just an elevator ride away any more. I think it will prove to be a VERY long 10 months... (for all).

Until later,

Emily

And...He's Back!

James returned last night from a 9-day TDY to Norway, Moldova and Norway again.   He was on an inspection...and now he's exhausted.  All went mostly well at home, I got an intestinal virus last weekend, but the kids were as close to angels as they could be so that was a good thing.  It was a busy, busy week but everything worked out.  Sometimes I don't mind it when he travels a bit because I have a little more flexibility in the evenings only because I don't have to cook real dinner.  The kids couldn't care less if they have pizza, waffles, mac-n-cheese, hot dogs...and if I feel like eating at 5:00 we can or push it back to 7:00 that's OK too.  I also really like reading in bed.  James gets irritated. 

So, he arrived home last night at about 10 PM, as I said exhausted.  Today, I co-hosted a baby shower for my friend G, only it wasn't at my house (those are the BEST kind to co-host!), this has been my mental "reward" for getting through the past 9 days...I knew when the 9 days were up I would basically get a day with the girls.  Good food, good times and the kids had bonding time with James!

Until later,

Emily

My Grease Monkey!

I can't believe I didn't take pictures of this...but I didn't! (It had to do with me not wanting him to get anything on me, the cat, clothing, etc...)

Last night, I could hear Toby playing with his toothbrush.  I thought he was trying to brush his teeth, it kept hitting the sink in the "guest bathroom" where we keep Thomas and Toby's toothbrushes and there is also a step-stool.  Mind you, I was in my bedroom 20 feet away.  But the sounds sounded familiar and at this point in the evening I really didn't care if his clothes got wet...he was getting bathed soon.

So a few minutes later, he came hopping into my bedroom, proud as can be and said, "Mommy, Mommy, look at my hair!" all the while patting the top of his head and still be very confidant and proud in what he had done.

What had he done?  He got into the vaseline and applied it to the top of his head. Probably 1/3 of a jar just smeared into his hair!  Not his forehead, but his curly blonde locks.  He has had his hair washed 8 times already, 3 times with salon clarifier and baking soda.  I think it will probably take another 8 times until it is normal.  At least now, it just looks like it should be crunchy, it's only when you touch it that you realize that it's actually very greasy.

Until later,

Emily

Our Weekend Getaway!

This weekend, James and I left our kiddos with our good friends, and neighbors, the W family.  We share a duplex with them.  We took their little boy the weekend before so they could get away. So this was our turn for a getaway!  It was sort of our belated anniversary trip, which we celebrated 11 years on August 21st, by the way! We even drove the Mini...we felt so European zooming around in our little car!

We went down to Luxembourg on Saturday and then spent the day in Trier, Germany on Sunday.  I don't think either of us cares if we ever go to Luxembourg again but this was our second time to Trier and we liked it.  James especially loved touring the remains of the gladiator coliseum.

On our way there AND on our way back, we also swung in to the Ramstein Air Base and checked out their new mall.  Truth be told, it's not all that impressive, there isn't a whole lot of new selection that we haven't been able to get except now the stores are bigger and brighter but the inside of the mall looks like a real mall and not a run-down Kmart!  There is also a decent food court and best of all (the real reason we stopped) a fully-functioning Macaroni Grill!  It did not disappoint and I can tell you right now I will most likely gain some poundage when we move home...I'm so ready for eating at restaurants again!  Eating at restaurants over here is such a drag.

Anyhow, it was fun to spend some time alone and realize that when the every day stress is peeled away, we really do get along rather well.

Until later,

Emily

I Remember...

Today is September 11th.  It has been eight years since the terrible terrorist attacks.  I think this day will always be somber day for me and I will always remember those hours that I wondered if James was safe (James worked in the DC area) and not being able to get  through to him because all cell phones were out and I didn't know if he ever made it to work or not (I later found out the building was evacuated) and thinking, now he never said anything about having to go to the Pentagon today did he? And trying to reassure myself that he didn't so he wasn't there.  But still your mind does crazy things at times like these. And still, I continued on with my day (looking back I honestly don't know how I didn't just tell my boss I was going home!)...eventually James walked into my place of work and I was relieved.  I think that thankfulness will always be intertwined with the thankfulness that our good friend, Rebeccah's, brother was also spared from harm or death that morning, he worked at one of the WTC buildings and his train was running late that morning.

Until later,

Emily

"You Heet Me!"

Last week, the first week of school, I couldn't find Toby's beloved brown crocs one morning.  We were out-of-time  so I threw on some boat shoes that haven't had a lot of wear because the brown crocs are so gosh darn beloved!

Well, the shoes ended up giving Toby a blister, a pretty big one at that.  The blister was sore and that scab on it has been disturbed more than once, so it starts to bleed and I know it hurts.  However, Toby has been on a shoe strike and now he likes to say, "You heet me!" to everything, not just my attempts at putting on shoes, but also combing his hair, brushing his teeth, putting on his clothes, etc, etc.

Until later,

Emily