Guten Morgen!

Good Morning from Germany! Well, actually I just looked and it's now afternoon. I still have no idea what day it is or what time it is. :) Neeley and I are now back at Patch and taking some time on the library. We just barely missed the 11:17 am bus from Kelley to Patch so this nice gentleman offered to take us. It's customary for military families, if they have any extra seats in their vehicle when travelling from post to post, to stop and offer a ride to anyone waiting at any of the bus stops. That was a HUGE step for me since I seem to be so distrusting of everyone here. But I must say this is a very clean country and most of the people are very helpful and friendly.

We had our first German burgers last night and I do not recommend them. Grated pickles mixed with something or other (not sure exactly what it was) are not something I want but at least we can say we tried them. And most burger joints around here don't come with chairs to sit in. Odd! Poor Neeley had to eat her food off of a table taller than her.

Another thing I love about this country is their recycling efforts. Wow! I thought parts of the U.S. were doing well with this but we are way behind. We even have to separate our colors of glass and plastic and paper. Interesting!

I've learned I'll never be able to read the street signs. Just kidding. I am still so confused though.

And I've learned which bus driver drives the craziest but takes the scenic routes so that we get to see more of our area.

We have been out walking around some to see some of the local places. Most of those near our hotel are hair and nail salons, chocolate places, restaurants and sports bars.

We've also discovered that everything definitely does close up at 5 or 6 pm like we had been warned. Neeley and I have been waiting to eat dinner with Ronnie when he gets off work so we've been eating dinner at 9 pm or after on those nights. Yuck! And so far it's had to be fast food or expensive fries with the ketchup/mayo mixture since nothing is open that late. At least I can say I should be losing weight due to all this walking. We have to walk back and forth from our hotel to Kelley Barracks which is a good little ways and I'm definitely feeling it now.

I still have a ton of pics to show you but I will have to get my flash drive (or find it I might say instead) so I can use it. We are not allowed to post anything personal on the hard drive of these computers so I've got to do some thinking on that one. I am so ready to have my own stuff!

Today we are going to go get the schedule to the fitness center so I can start working out. I've just gotta try that Spin Class. But I'm sure I won't be loving it as much the next day. :) But I've got to get busy doing something good for myself. And they have tons of classes for Neeley so that will be good.

In a bit I am taking Neeley to our Multi-Craft Center (Arts & Crafts Center). They are doing craft classes today for kids to make something for Father's Day. We will have to display her handiwork here with yet another pic. I think she and Ronnie are still getting sick of my snapping shots all the time.

I got a schedule of the events this month in the local area so I think we are going to try and make it to some of the festivals later this week. Ronnie is working today but has the next 3 days off and tomorrow should be pretty busy for us still taking care of some move business and getting Neeley registered for some things but hopefully we can have some fun on Wednesday and/or Thursday.

Neeley has been invited to her first birthday party. One of the guys Ronnie works with has a son turning 4 y.o. so we are going to his Backyardigans party on Saturday. I really think it's just a reason for all the guys to get together since they have Rock Band at their house. :)

Anyone read the book Revolutionary Road? I just picked it up from the library two days ago and have already finished it. It was okay but not my fave. It was off the "Free-Take Me Home" shelf but I'm going to bring it back to share with others. Our post library is great and that makes me happy. Neeley loves it! They do story times several times per week and they are divided up by ages which is good so Neeley and I are going to try those. They do crafts during that time, and read a story, and they have tons of things planned for them during that 1.5 hours.

Did I tell you I got to try my terrible math skills and use Euro by myself yesterday? Yeah...so right now I hate that part but it's all good. I'm learning and that's about all I can say about it. :)

We should have our household goods here by the end of this week and can hopefully move in to our housing by the end of this week or early next week even. I would love to be able to move this weekend and I hope it does fall during the few days that Ronnie will have off. I know it will be up to me to get everything in its place but I plan to paint some of our furniture and do some revamping and that part is well...sort of...exciting except I'm just ready to be settled.

Does anyone know where we can go to just get some good ol' Southern comfort food around here? We're craving some but everything is full of butter and cream and grease over here. I need spaghetti and pork chops and...and...and... :) Oh yeah, and for my birthday and Christmas please send me some good ol' Diet Coke because this "Coca-Cola Light" stuff they call it over here is terrible. That's what they have in the Commissary too. And I prefer it in a bottle please. :)

And who didn't warn me that it is so dry over here? I can't even begin to tell you how much lotion we have gone through. And you pay extra for ice in your drinks over here so I don't have that to help keep me hydrated anymore. We are always so glad to get on post to get some "free" ice. We have been so thirsty and our skin is feeling so dry. Neeley's eczema has gone crazy here. One of her arms is just covered. And my eyes have been burning and acting crazy so I've had to resort to my glasses. Good thing our luggage got here quickly or I wouldn't have them.

And why didn't I know that they don't have air conditioning over here? I had to make a special request for a fan in our room and they had to go somewhere and get one. And now I am getting ready to run over to the Thrift Store to see if they have any other fans that anyone has left so we can use them in our apartment. It gets hot in the room at night even though it is pretty chilly at night. And our windows do not open. Interesting...

Well, it's Neeley's turn on the computer now so I better end this rambling chapter now and give her a turn while I go get some more books. Will share more as we can. May not be tomorrow but surely in a day or two.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for the coupons already! We SO appreciate it! Really we do! Everything costs an arm and a leg over here, even some places on post, so we are very appreciative of any help we can get.



Will keep you posted...

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