Recent Observations

1) Apparently it rains nonstop in Germany. Well, at least in Stuttgart anyway. It has been in the 50's and 60's for days now. Brrr....

2) The sun doesn't set until about 10:30 pm and rises again at 4 am. I swear on it!

3) I am sick of living in a hotel. Now I know why our government spending is out of control. There is tons of housing sitting empty right now and the government is paying a few thousand dollars for us to sit in this fancy-schmancy hotel. I have an appointment to yell at the housing people here in a bit. Will let you know how that one goes.

4) Believe it or not, I am sick of eating out all the time. I really am...don't laugh.

5) I found out our pre-pack stuff is here. Except we don't have a place to live yet.

6) We finally have permanent plates on our car. No more scary inspections every time we want to go on post.

7) My baby turns 8 on Thursday. :(

8) Trying to be a big girl and wear my big girl pants is proving very difficult. I really am trying to take care of as much as I can but I may just have to suck it up and learn to drive. Haven't even hardly looked at the test book yet but I am tired of relying on the bus system in these subzero temperatures.

9) I feel lost/disconnected without my own computer and my stuff. And where are my winter clothes? Probably somewhere in China...

10) I am grateful for friendly people who are nice and patient enough to help us poor confused looking Americans whenever we need it. :) I'm really trying to learn, I promise...

11) Please send Diet Coke stat. It's "Diet Coke Light" here and it's TERRIBLE!

12) Who knew that a Burger King cheeseburger would cost $1.55 in Germany!

13) Ronnie is getting ready to go to the field for a few days so that means eating dinner even later than 10 pm. Yes, you read that right! Ugh...

14) I'm very excited for all the opportunities we will have living on post. I just hate that everything is spread out among 4 different posts that aren't so close to each other. Neeley is going to a camp next week. I hear there's a big trip planned to Legoland and maybe some water involved one of those days. Wait, water in these frigid temps? Hhmmm..... Will let you know how the week goes. I am very thankful for CYS and all of their services. There's even a Parents Night Out coming up soon and I better have a train ride promised to me so I can see a castle or two. :)

15) It was kind of neato to get to see Ronnie's work area yesterday at our "inform the spouses" session. Unfortunately, with the good also comes the bad but it was a positive experience overall. We all laughed, we cried, we were scared and then uplifted. You know, all in a day's work in the Army.

And those are my ramblings for now. Neeley and I are sitting in the USO taking advantage of the free internet. Do you know how difficult it is to read your news in German? :) So I am very glad to be in a place that feels (somewhat) comfortable if only for a few minutes. Tomorrow we'll be back here at the USO for the free lunch they are providing. Burgers and hot dogs and all the fixin's. Yum! Food I know and love! We did find a neat little Italian place last night but it was just so-so.

Let us know what's going on in your world. I miss my news! :)