The Clothes Jumped Out of the Bags

Continued trials and tribulations on the move. I expect that the trials will continue.

My Spousal Unit, my Sweetness arrived safely in Germany. His baggage did not.

As an informational moment, Spousal Unit is a manly man, who believes that cleanliness is next to Godliness.

He had no change of clothes for three days because he didn't follow the, pack an extra change of clothes in your carry on bag rule.

The poor man must have been beside himself. Or smelling himself beside himself. Whatever. Here is his account of the debacle:

When I called on Wednesday night, the Lufthansa agent said that the baggage was turned over to the delivery service, and it should be delivered that night by 2300 (11:00PM) or around 0800 (8:00AM) to Sembach (A nearby Airbase) on Thursday.

I waited for the luggage until 1300 (1PM) on Thursday before I called again. The delivery service hadn't accepted the baggage because they didn't know where Sembach was.

I ended driving up to Frankfurt yesterday afternoon, and I found the bags in the Customs Warehouse.

The clothes jumped out of the bags, in joy to be back with me, and then...jumped back in when they gotta whiff.

I had to shower again before they would let me close to them. We (including people walking by) are happier over the reunion.

Packing a Van Is a Lost Art

The boxes got piled high.



















Piled high in every room.















Starting to pack the van for storage.



















Getting fuller.
















Packing a van is a lost art. I am so glad that Ryan is an artist.

Storage Move with Boxes

Storage moving van.
Big storage moving van.



Most of our belongings are going into storage









A few of our belongings.















More stuff in boxes.















A couple of boxes going to Germany.














More storage.

What I'll Miss

Can you see those cute buns.

Yeah, I know it's a cheap bun shot, but I need something to sustain me in the next few months.

Ya gotta love them.


I know I do.

My almost black Irises.

I bought them almost 16 years ago and they keep coming back and multiplying.

I started with three and now must have close to 50.



Don't forget the spiderwort next to them.




My new landscaping.



I designed it and picked it out last year.

Spousal Unit didn't think it would live through the heat of last Summer and was really surprised how gloriously everything did, coming back.



Nine Bark.

I never saw this before buying last year.


I love this stuff.

It loves to be pruned and it's flowers are beautiful.


My composter.

I was green, before green was cool.

I am really gonna miss my composter. I am so totally organic.

That's part of the problem with my being a pack rat.

I want to find a use for stuff that I don't need anymore, that anyone else can use.

Why throw it out?

My Dumpster Gives Me Freedom

The movers are here. I am not ready. I hoped I would be, but am not. I guess a pack rat never is.
They showed up bright and early at 7:00AM. But, when they showed up I was already exhausted. I was up at 3:30 because of my nervousness about all the STUFF left undone.

I did a major scurry, scurry to attempt to accomplish more.

I was semi-successful.

Third Party Contracted Guys.

Around noon, these guys showed up. They were supposed to do all the breakdown, take apart stuff. When I met them I was not impressed. Their work ethic and behavior were lacking. I didn't even want to take their pictures. No more on this subject.















I cleaned up all my flower pots. They go to storage. Most of the STUFF is going to storage.















This is my dumpster. I love my dumpster. My dumpster gives me freedom. Freedom from some of my STUFF.













BAD STUFF!!!!

Crazy Days

I'll post an update tonight. We are in the last throes of the move and I need to go for now.

For a Married Woman, My Social Calendar Is Really Filling Up. With Guys.

Spousal Unit is leaving next Tuesday. On the way to the airport, we will drop off the car for shipment, and then continue to the gate. I get to kiss him goodbye and then see him in the middle of October.

For a married woman, my social calendar is really filling up. With guys.

The floor guy is coming at 7:30 this evening. His son is in an after school activity and will come after that is over.

The counter top guy came Friday night and retook all the measurements and created the templates. I fed his son. We chatted about recent events while clearing off the counters to make the templates. He will be back to install the counter top in a week or so.

The rug guy is coming in two weeks. He is the son of my cleaning lady and the best around.

The fill-in-the-hole-next-to-the-driveway guy will be here when the ground dries out enough.

I still need to contact the paint-the-house guy. I'm scared about contacting him. We have a lot of walls.

The install-the-new-shutters, install-the-new doors, and seal-the-new-tile-floor guy will come when I call.

I hope Spousal Unit is OK with all this.

I Am So Vain

I have one vanity, that I acknowledge. Tee Hee. (Later on the stuff I don't acknowledge.) Maybe.

My nails.

I love that I now have nicely shaped semi-long painted finger nails. As a kid, I bit my nails and I was always ashamed.

I don't bite them anymore, but they are weak and the weakness causes pain, because they rip in the nail beds. I got tired of the pain and went to a nail salon.

Yes, I am addicted to nail salons, now.

My nail tech sent me an email tonight. She is worried about me and the soon to be accomplished move.

She is correct. I am worrieable. Is that a word?

I've almost lost it. I do that during most moves, in the past I was younger and more flexible. Now I am older and employed. I'll figure it out, It just may take some time.

Anyway, here is her email and my response.
...................................................................................................................

Hey Pam,

We haven't moved yet. The movers arrive Wednesday. I worked today and am scheduled to work again tomorrow.

The nails are holding up but, a lot of the polish is gone. At this point, I really don't care. I just slop some on, to cover the missing polish and get on with business.

Right now, I can probably be classified as insane. Yup, that would be a good call.

To check out what is going on, visit this link. That would be me. You are already here, so you don't need the link. Right now, crazy is the word of the day.


Thanks,

She Who

----- Original Message ----From: My Nail Tech Gal. She's awesome
JamJac2@yahoo.com Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 3:47:53 PM Subject: Hi its Pam


She Who,

Hi Lady, just wanted to make sure you got thru the move. Just remember anything you break, I can fix.

See ya soon.......Pam

Can You See Me Crying??

My house is labeled.

The labels denote Storage, Ship, or N/A. The N/A label means we can't take it with us or can't store it. Lots of our STUFF falls into the N/A category. Premium olive oil, sambol olek, sherry vinegar.

Can you see me crying??

That is also one of the reasons we had a drink our booze night(s).

No booze ships.

We are arranging the house by shipping or storage.

To save time with the packers we have done a scurry, scurry to put the rooms in "order" by the take or store determination.

This room is a storage room.

It was my library, that is going away for awhile.

I am sad.


This is my living room. It is also going away.

The new house has a family room/dining room combo and will not fit everything.

The furniture is not meant to sit on every day, so we aren't taking it.

I decided to put the linens that we aren't taking on the sofa. They are piled high.

I am a linen freak.



These are most of the linens that we are taking.

Two sets of towels, two sets of sheets for each bed. Blankets, feather comforters, and that's about all.

The cedar chest will double as a coffee table in the studio/attic.






Spousal Unit's favorite chair is in the closet.

It is a yucky yellow velvet, from the 70's, but so, so comfy. It is down filled. I also love this chair.

By creating ship or storage rooms we needed to get a little creative.

I only hope the chair comes out of the closet soon.

We're Getting a Little Crazy Here

These are the last few days and we are really getting serious about the move.

Son #1 informed me that he was going to the Cards game today and that he had already spoken to his beloved father. If I needed him to do anything, it would need to be in the next few minutes, because he was leaving in an hour.

You ask, how many levels of ballistic did I go???

He didn't understand my incoherent shrieks and luckily Spousal Unit arrived on the scene. What he didn't tell his beloved father was that it was a noon game. Beloved father thought it was a night game.

Son #1 did not attend the game today. Son #1 ended up calling one of his friends, who came over to assist in moving the furniture, that we need to put in temporary storage, for him to move back to school this fall.

Son # 2 arrived on the scene and started moving furniture. He, unfortunately had to go to work early in the afternoon. His room is now void of furniture, but the STUFF remains. I had to ask Spousal Unit what it was like. I still won't check his room. I'd have a coronary.

I have all the figurines and collectibles boxed up. I have all the artwork/wall stuff inventoried. My baskets and salt glaze pottery are set aside.

The linens that we are taking are packed and in the blanket chest and cedar chest.

My goal tomorrow is to have all rooms, set aside, as totally storage or shipping. This allows for less direction we must give to the packers.

Monday night, after work, I guess the last thing to do is inventory all my undies and socks.

This Marriage Can Be Saved

We are down to the last few days of being in this house.

Spousal Unit took a week's vacation and is doing all the stuff that I am not able/unwilling to do. Manly things. Sure am glad that he is a manly man.

He does look good in sweat. Hmmm. Stop thinking of those things, don't have time.

We might need to address this issue later. Don't bother me now, I am still drooling over his manly, manliness. And, I need to continue in the house.

We rented a roll-off dumpster to get rid of the stuff that the garbage company wouldn't take.

Why is it, that if I spend money, the garbage/stuff can be hauled away, but the normal garbage people, that I pay for will not take? Same stuff, same dump, just different conveyance?

Also, why did I work so hard to take out the garbage, for them not to take it, when Spousal Unit was not at home?????

We have a lot of the construction debris to get rid of and just "CRAP" that should have been gone long ago.

We are also doing a lot of the outside, Spring cleanup stuff. Of course, the mower/lawn tractor gave out. We are having a record setting wet Spring, so the grass is getting out of control.

Like we need anything else to go wrong at this point?

We both keep going Hmmm. Hmmm. I really, really love you.

We will get through this. This marriage can be saved.

Think of the end goal.

Gries

I originally wanted to go all, let's have a contest and pick our house.

Well, I love you all and I just don't have the time, right now to do that. Maybe I'll let you pick my vacation. Tee Hee. Just kidding.

Spousal Unit and I decided on a home. Not quite what we first envisioned, but this house fits our needs perfectly. The kitchen is really small, but the pantry will make up for storage requirements of the gadgets.

Take a look and tell me what you think.



This is the front of the house. Standard German home, rather plain looking on the outside. It is a brand new home, just finished in the small town of Gries. Spousal Unit and I both think that it is rather poetic that the town is named Gries (Pronounced Greece) and he is Greek. Go figure.

The "YIKES" factor of the stairs is not so great as one of the other houses.


This is the kitchen. It has a really big pantry and I have been going through my kitchen to determine what will fit and what I need to store.

We haven't decided if this area will be the living room or the dining room. We really like the fact that we will have a wood burning stove to help heat the house and defray the oil bills. Oil bills are really "YIKES" stuff.

This is the view from our bedroom and the back of the house.

Kinda, makes all the stuff I'm going through right now worth it. Don't ya think?

Happy Mother's Day to Me

We sorta held a drink our booze night last night. Most, many, of my co-workers were out of town, so they didn't attend.

Eldest son invited some of his friends and they obliged and drank some of the stuff.

I woke up at 3:30 am and came out for a glass of water. The ice was gone. I guess Margarettas needed to be frozen and they used all the ice.

At least I was properly clothed when I came out. I tend to sleep walk. Major, embarrassing moments in the past.

I woke up because the wind was so strong, that the doors were rattling and with the window open, the trees were making sounds that were so loud, that I couldn't sleep.

A little after I went back to bed, we lost power.

This may have been a blessing in disguise. I got a lot accomplished today.

I have been avoiding some of the stuff that needs to be done. I've been just too overwhelmeed to function. I went through the house and cleared out the FreeCycle, Recycle stuff, but I really needed to figure what I would take to Germany stuff.

Sometimes nature figures out what is best.

Anyway, power has now been restored, and I can put out a blog.

If this is the least that happens on Mother's Day, I'll take it.

Drink our Booze Night

We were supposed to have a drink our booze night tonight.

Unfortunately, everyone that I work with are out of town.

Bummer.

It is getting to the point that I may have to pour it all down the drain.

Isn't that against the law????

Uncle Jack, I'll Miss You

My Uncle Jack died yesterday. We are not blood related, but I have very few people closer to me, in my heart than Uncle Jack and Aunt Leonette.

Claudia, his daughter, my heart sister, emailed late last night and I saw the message early this morning. I feel kicked in the head, yet again.

We were neighbors from my earliest memories. We walked to each others houses, crossing another neighbor's property all the time. In those days, it was no big deal.

We spent holidays and weekends with each other.

We helped restore the first boat that Uncle Jack owned. Uncle Jack, a red head, always burnt in the sun, but he didn't care, when we were out on the boat. Fishing, crabbing, clamming, wind in the hair, carefree spending time during the summer, down at the Jersey shore.

Uncle Jack was always like a father to me, especially, when my own father wasn't able to deal with a defiant teenage daughter. They loved me unconditionally and never judged stupid teenage choices.

He and Leonette are known as Pop Pop Jack and Noni to my children. They are grandparents to my children.

They were and are the only parents I have left.

I feel like an orphan, yet again.

Uncle Jack, I love you and I'll miss you.

Spousal Unit Returns

Nuff said.

Garbage Cans

I love garbage cans. Heavy sarcasm.

The Spousal unit has been gone for close to two weeks. He left just before garbage day. He was not here to take out the cans.

I have been taking them out the past few times.

The lane is long and I can't walk, roll them out, so I load them onto the truck.

I need a step stool to climb into the bed of the truck, to pull them up, to load them.

Every time I load them, I get new colors, somewhere on my body to show my pride of getting the garbage out.

Oh joy.

Don't Tell My Children, They'll Gag.

When we learned that Spousal Unit was selected for the new position, we jumped for joy. Then, as reality set in, we both looked at each other and said, "What have we done"?

Well, my solution, after creating thirty bazillion to-do lists, was to hop on the internet. As many of you know, I belong to lots of Recycling and FreeCycling groups. I figured that there had to be groups that addressed information on the new location.

In fact there are. I joined them and have been gleening information ever since.

Well, to belong to these groups, one must be an active member and have a Bio on file. They must have lost my original Bio.

I just created a new one. I wonder how much will be posted??? Hmmmm.

..................................................................................................................................................................

Hey Julia,

My name is She Who. I am married, for 29 years. We are retired AF and husband recently accepted a position in Germany. We lived there back in the "Dark Ages" and dreamed of returning some day.

Dreams do come true and the DH will be coming over May 08. I will follow in Oct 08.

I have a few loose ends to tie up. Get the grown children out of the nest and settled, new paint, carpet, formica, landscaping, etc. to get the house ready for rental. Don't ya love doing all the stuff, for other people to live in your house?

Oh, I also have three weddings to attend this Summer. I have now told everyone I know, that haven't invited me to a wedding or other event, that I now dislike them and all of their offspring, so don't invite me to anything. Yeah, right.

The last is the nephew's, and Sister, dearest, threatened to disown me if I didn't attend. Yup, the nephew's is in October. So, I don't see the rationale of coming over, and turning right around, to come back to the States.

Enough of the dribble.

We are old. By most group members ages.

We enjoy traveling and plan to make the next 4-5 years a second honeymoon. Don't tell my children, they'll gag.

We enjoy good food and hope to be able to afford to eat out, every now and again. Euro...stop that stuff, right now. Dollar get stronger. I have spoken.

I enjoy Blogging, reading, museums, volksmarching, photography, cooking, and gardening.

My German is really, really rusty. I used to speak, just well enough to go anywhere with no problem, and found that after a beer or two became quite fluent.

I enjoy shopping and have found that going with a girlfriend and getting lost, is one of the best things to do in Europe. I love adventures.

Feel free to post, cut, or paste what you deem appropriate.

She Who

My heart Goes Out, Yet Again

My heart goes out, yet again.

My Son #2 just called. He is inconsolable. He was at work, when his best friend called, to reach out, to find a way, to make sense of the information, that his little brother died.

We do not know any of the details, yet, other than, a skateboarder was jumping the train tracks, maybe on a dare. And, was hit and died.

I am at a loss for words.

Please Read

Tonight, I want to put in a word for Kim over at "Parachuting Without A Net." She is just a normal mom, like most of us.

But, she is also a mom that lost two of her babies last year, the day after Thanksgiving.

They were killed in a head-on collision with a State Trooper, who was speeding on the highway to respond to a minor accident several miles away. The Trooper lost control of his cruiser, crossed the median, and hit the car that Kim's two eldest daughters were in.

The Trooper will be standing trial in the near future.

Before even knowing any of the details of the accident, my heart went out to whoever was in that accident. It was truly horrendous.

I then met Kim, through another local blogger. She is a nice lady who has become a blog buddy to me.

Kim is holding a fundraiser to honor her daughters. Please visit her site and help, comment, or donate if you can. The link is below:

http://www.jumpwithfaith.blogspot.com/

She Who

An Answer for Kim

A schrank is a freestanding closet. (Of various types.) ( In German there would be two dots over the "a" for proper spelling.)

We know them as armoires in the bedrooms. Wall units in living rooms/family rooms.

In Germany, many homes do not have any closets or cabinets in the kitchen, bedrooms, or hallways.

Many kitchens have "furniture" for kitchen sinks and cabinets. They sit up next to the wall but are not attached to the wall. Being attached would create a room.

A living room schrank is a wall unit that holds the TV, crystal, china, etc.

Homes in Germany are taxed by the number of rooms, not the value of the home. Anything built-in is considered a room. So, attached kitchen cabinets would be considered rooms.

This makes a built-in kitchen and any closets very desireable to Americans living in Germany.

It's a little strange to get used to, coming from the land of massive kitchens and walk-in bedroom closets, but that's OK.

Vogelbach House

The following is an email from the Spousal Unit, talking not to me, but to you my gentle readers. Read on:*

Gueten Abend von Deutschland, (Good Evening from Germany)*

Today's synopsis: work, work, work, house hunting, now waiting for return phone call.

It took me almost 2 hours to send you the remaining pictures from the Sulzbachtal house. The only place that I could connect was in the Pizza Gallerie so I sat there smelling the aromas while waiting for the electrons to flow.

The time was productive because I was able to work other email and partake of some pizza (no beer; I was working).

This afternoon I looked at a house that is a possible. It is in Vogelbach (hence the name of the message). The house is 2 blocks from the main street, and it is 2 years old. It has floor heating, a garage, off-street parking, and a very large backyard. You access the yard from the terrace (which is suitable for a grill and comfy chair) on the side of the house. The bad news is that the terrace is very visible from the street so no less-than-properly-clothed sunbathing (unless you're interested in making lots of new friends). (The nerve of the man to even suggest that I would partake of the local European custom of sunbathing less-than-properly-clothed. Especially on my blog.)*

There is another piece of bad news: the landlord lives in the basement. Should I continue?

After being counseled last night, I guess that I should. The entry way opens to the living room/dining room, kitchen, three-quarters bathroom, and the laundry room. (Sorry for the delay; I had to pour a Park.) (That's a local beer and I guess he isn't working now.)*

The living/dining room will accommodate our furniture (even the schrank with some separation). The kitchen table will fit also. The kitchen has enough room for a 2-person table, and it has a pantry that is larger than our current one. (Our current pantry is sizeable.)*

As you exit the kitchen into the entry way, the bathroom is on the right, and the laundry room is directly ahead. The laundry room is easily large enough for American machines and drying racks.

The stairs to the second floor are "L" shaped. (That may be a problem, we have a king sized bed)* There are 4 bedrooms and the full bath (with tub and shower) off of the landing. I think that all of the bedrooms are about the same size (14' X 13'), but they suffer a limitation of the roof angle. One bedroom has a walk-in closet (complete with some shelves). The "attic" is one party/game room, but it too suffers the roof angle (and no toilet). The neighborhood is quiet because the houses along the main street block the noise.

There is a market and bakery close by, and there is an American military facility (where my Mannheim buddy was stationed) across the autobahn.

As I said, a possibility if you can get past the landlord (husband, wife, and 1-year old daughter) living in the basement. One of my calls today netted me an appointment on Friday afternoon to see a house in Gries (pronounced like the "old country"). Gries is about 8 - 9 km away from Vogelbach so I took a quick drive by to know where I should be headed on Friday.

The house is a block from the dirt fussball pitch (Soccer field)* (with bier-atorium/Beer stand*). It was completed last fall, and no one has lived there yet. You probably wonder how I know these details. I could tell you that I laid hands on the house, but that would be misleading.

I was preparing to take some preliminary pictures (which didn't turn out because someone at home, other than me, messed with the settings and put the camera on manual) (Ya think that maybe during travel the settings might have changed??)*, when a neighbor stopped by to ask if I was going to move in. I said "maybe", and the neighbor filled me in on the house and the neighborhood.

No shopping in Gries itself, but there are lots of shops in a neighboring town (1 km away). I have mentioned this town before as one that has a Fussganger (walking only, shopping street)* with lots of restaurants and markets. I could not see much from the outside, but the house has a double carport (no garage) that I think will accommodate our vehicles.

It is in a newly constructed neighborhood. The view out of the back is stereotypical German: looking down on gentle hills with a town nestled in. The backyard is huuuuuuuuugggggggeeee (probably about 400sqm), and it appears that there is a terrace.

The ad says the house has 223 sqm so I think the configuration is living/dining room, kitchen, laundry room, and bathroom on the first floor. The second floor will be the bedrooms and a bath. The attic is over that.

More on Friday. I also have a call in to see a new house in Glan-Muenchweiler, but no one has called yet.

That's all the news that's fit to print.

Love you,

S

* She Who edits

I'm Gonna be...So Dead Meat

I emailed Spousal Unit last night requesting photos. A reasonable request, right??

I must have mentioned a time or two that photos might be nice. I gave him my camera, right??

I sent him off with gentle reminders that photos and measurements would be good. That's an OK thing to request, right??

My mistake was to send him the link to last nights blog after emailing him. He normally doesn't read it unless I ask him to read for clarity.

His response was in the inbox this morning. The poor man just can't win. Tee Hee.

See below:

........................................................................................................................................................
Alright, SmartAlec.

I didn’t send more pictures because I thought that you would veto the house after seeing the stairs. Remember the counseling I received after the last trip about the stairs in Rehweiler???

For the record, I am not ecstatic about the house. Aha, the truth is out.* It has some possibilities, but there are some drawbacks (stairs, furniture, price is really at the upper end of our range). I don’t want another Roswell. He once had a job offer in New Mexico and I was less than estatic about the move, but kept quiet because I thought he really wanted the job and being a GOOD Air Force wife, at the time, was used to moves that were less than desireable.* Believe me, that I will make sure that you understand when I find the house without which I cannot live. I will continue my search today.

Love you, despite your snide comments (Where are the rest…). of the pictures.*

S

* She Who edits