First Day Jitters

is the title of a book I read every year to my class.
It's a great book about a TEACHER who has a case of first day nerves...
This year, I've reserved my nerves for my 3 children, whose first day of school begins in 5 minutes when I painfully begin waking them up!



More to post, I'm certain, later today!
Send happy wishes, good thoughts, and all the positive energy you can, across the pond!

umarmen und lieben
essie


ps-to all my teacher pals who start today, think a little Team Tang, Magic Door, Creative Insubordination, Deer Stuck in the Headlights hugs and love today, from me to you!
xoxoxxo

WOOHOO!!!

I passed the German driving test!
As I told my Aunt, it was 100 questions of PURE STRESS, and its done!!
Yay ME!!

TL is happy, because he's tired of driving me around, the kids are happy because we aren't confined to Base.
I'm happy because the darn thing is DONE!!

umarmen und lieben
essie

Life on Post

Little things I've picked up about living on Post include-

*Some parents don't supervise their kids...at all!
*You stand up for the National Anthem at the movie theatre before the movie starts.
*You can walk anywhere you want to go, on Post, that is!
*People can hear you from your second story flat.
*Our "Eis" (ice cream) man is ITALIAN, and is trying to teach me how to order for the kids in German, Spanish, and Italian-the French, I have that down pat!
*You can pay in dollars, but no one wants pennies...
*There is a lot of practical storage in our flat, but, it's also empty right now!
*Some GI's and their families, want this base to look manicured and nice-others-not so much!(See my first comment above!)

The other night TL and I went to see Oceans Thirteen (just now getting here...)a 5 minute walk from our place to the theatre. It was light out when we left. Naturally, it was dark when we got out of the movie. We started our walk home, talking about the movie and the fact we were actually having the FIRST date night of our marriage, when I looked up an saw a fully lit Christmas tree in the window of another soldier's Quarters.

A Christmas tree...in August.

A sign, perhaps, that for this home Christmas would be now instead of December because Mommy or Daddy wouldn't be around then?

Maybe. Probably. It brought tears to my eyes, and made me think of our friends who have been gone for too long, and who are leaving again right now-for too long.
It's not right. Not at all. I don't envy any of them...just pray and hope for their safe return, and hope that this world of ours can settle down enough for us to leave SOMETHING tangible for our children, who will inheirit this madness if it doesn't.

Had to share this little nugget!

This comes from a fellow "Expat" named J who I met online shamelessly blog lurking while I was getting prepared to move overseas. He is also a teacher, and his blog is fantastic! Lots of great info about Germany, and, when you see the title you'll understand why I was drawn to it!

What Your Pizza Reveals

You eat like a European. A little bit of everything, but too much. You stay svelt through portion control. You consider pizza to be bread... very good bread. You fit in best in the Midwest part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are generous, outgoing, and considerate with your choices. You are a flavorful and bold person. You should consider traveling to Spain. The stereotype that best fits you is guy or girl next door. Hey, there's nothing wrong with being average.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

love, love, love these bags!

so...getting used to blogger coming up in german...starting to recognize some words and (while I've probably just memorized the links I hit) I'm feeling like I might be getting some of this!

Here are my lovely, lovely shopping bags:
this is the bag in it's little holder-it's the size of a credit card! This is the pattern love,love,love and this is the shape
It's about as big as a large plastic bag from Safeway or Giant BUT it is made of this fantastic rip-proof nylon. Because I couldn't resist, I got this too,
It's a bottle bag-holds 9 bottles of whatever you are buying...water...heffeweissen (beer)...wine...you name it! Another great purchase was this bag This bag actually opens up and hooks onto either side of your shopping cart, you load it up, pay for your things, and load it up again to take your purchases home...fabulous for many other uses as well, but holy mess, is just too cute not to have!

What Im saving up to get is this little baby-trust me, it's going to be worth the $50.00+ I spend, the real thing is amazing!!

TL thinks I'm nuts, maybe I am, but I truly feel that by using these bags I'm making my little contribution to eliminating unnecessary waste!

umarmen und lieben
essie

the winner

is, my beautiful, Jen (with wonderful Kaleb in this photo)who is sending us our crazy vaccum broom!
How excited am I...you all have NO idea!
Now, *e*, if you want to get me a spare plate or two, since you assisted in my original plate selection stress I'll love you forever AND will send you 2 shopping bags (one for you and one extra for the sisser w/Baby!! SOOOOOOO happy about that btw and you better email me or else!)

My cup runneth over today, friends-I woke up to love in emails-doesn't get better than that! More to post later on-it is GORGEOUS outside-and we're going to take advantage of it!

umarmen und lieben
Essie

a sweet disorder

is the title of one of my grandmothers paintings-it's a favorite of mine, and it arrived today, safe and sound!

Our dishes, all of our dishes, they didn't.
That's a problem...seriously.

HOWEVER, we do get to claim all the things that don't make it out of the hammered shut crates, and I am feeling much better about our decision to keep somethings Stateside. It was a hassle for my Mom, who is storing those things for us, but they are safe-that's what matters. So, I say, 'Goodbye' to my red, yellow, blue, and green dishes and 'Hello' to something else.

We're still waiting on our serious stuff to arrive...the 9 crates that I'm convinced will explode in our living room...the total 'YIKES' that will make "here" become "home" for our family. We do still need certain things that now (as hindsight is 20/20) I'm SOO wishing I'd picked up before we left!
Things like this little sucker

Be the first person who says they'll send the "Dirt Devil Vaccum Broom" to me (I'll reimburse you everything, including shipping-OF COURSE!) and you will get a fun, very "Green" european shopping bag with all my hugs and love, your $$ back, and tremendous thanks from all 3 kids whose chore it is to keep our hardwood floors clean!
(I'll get a snap of the bag on this post asap! It's hard to navigate German Google when you don't speak the language, but the bag is WAY cute and very, very smart! I have one and I love it!)

We also need another fabbo Target plate
Pres accidentally snapped one during what we are calling the "Peanut Butter Incident...ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies! I'm doing alright on my dryer sheets, in part because I bought 4 containers before we left and those miraculously made it with today's shipment...no dishes, but plenty of dryer sheets...hmm

Can't seem to get our hands on a basic spring rod either...I know they have to have them in Germany somewhere, I just haven't found that place yet! We have a shower stall that is literally 10 feet high, and while I'm sure there are suitable shower curtains, I don't think they are 10 feet long! (Not sure what the Army was doing the day they made this bathroom...) Hence, the need for a spring rod, to hang a regular shower curtain!

Team Leader DID get me a Euro Coffee Pot today, after ours arrived minus the actual piece you need to brew the coffee-crazy reigns supreme, I guess!

We did have a fantastic afternoon, outside in the park, after we found spots for everything we unpacked. It was sunny, and clear, perfect weather for some skateboarding and swinging. I managed a nice little latte and a trip to the library
(The Bloodstone Papers and Shoe Addicts Anonymous-can't wait!)A walking trip to the commissary (4 blocks away) for some yummy dinner-ness and that's a day in the life!

A sweet disorder, absolutely, yes!
It's all mine!

umarmen und lieben
essie

Essie Fun Facts

How to slow your life down in a few steps:

1. Have your husband come home and tell you you are moving to a foreign country.
2. Freak out for a few months.
3. Start the very lengthy moving process.
4. Say goodbye to everything you know...

5. MOVE-just move.
6. Get to said foreign country, and realize that a work week is 35 hours, not 70+ hours, and that having 450+ tv channels really isn't all that it's cracked up to be, 8 is more than enough.
7. Wonder if we will EVER get the kids up before noon-school DOES start in a week!


8. Spend time outside, on walks, WITH your family.
9. Spend time outside, exploring, WITH your family.
10. Spend time outside, appreciating YOUR family.



11. Wonder what all the frantic, hectic, craziness was all about in the first place?

We registered the kids for school yesterday. Ben will be at Patrick Henry Elementary-literally 2 blocks away from our Quarters. Pres and Dollie will be over at Heidelberg Middle School, 3 blocks away in the opposite direction. Both schools have new principals-we met the new principal at Patrick Henry-WHAT I would give to get a job there! However...it's not looking too good right now...enrollment is down and other schools have been closed in Europe making those downsized teachers the first on the list for openings...frustrating, because (like in NC), I do want to work.
I love teaching. I do.
I also understand about having to "wait my turn."
All I need is my foot in the door, so, while I wait we'll stick to the last 4 steps on my little list and slow down to enjoy our life in Germany!

umarmen und lieben
**new music courtesy of Preston, and when TeamLeader comes back with my camera, more photos!**

awake...just barely!

When we arrived on Thursday, we brought some crazy weather, fortunately jetlag kicked in and we missed most of the rain!

Today the sun came out.


We took our first real trip into the town Zentrum (center), a familiar walking shopping district called the Haupstrasse. We ate lunch with some of Team Leaders co-workers, and the kids had the most expensive glass of Coca Cola EVER! The euro, isn't really liking the dollar much these days, so
2,20 E translates into about $5.00 US! and it was just one glass...no refills folks!

**sidebar, Team Leader quickly pointed out to me just how much our lunch cost, and suggested I make getting hired here a REAL priority!**

Regardless, it was a beautiful day for a walk, and the kids seem to be making the transition to living in Germany. Team Leader and I keep looking at each other as if we're in shock...we're actually here, in Europe, mind blowing to say the least!

We're purchasing a "hooptie" (beater car that you buy to save gas and get around in-nothing fancy!) for TL to drive back and forth to work, and for me to learn how to navigate the crazy road rules and teeny tiny parking garages when we go into town. The Expedition will be our traveling car...trips off post, adventures for the family, room to sit without the kids killing one another! Dollie made a joke about her Daddy finally getting a "Golf Cart" as the car is a VW Golf and is the size of a golf cart! (We laughed, he didn't!)

Tomorrow TL picks up our truck, and fingers crossed, we're in Quarters by the end of the day on Tuesday. Our first load of stuff will arrive by Friday, giving us enough time to paint a few bedrooms, buy some new light fixtures (to replace the YIKES fixtures in our 50+ year old flat), buy some nice flowering plants for new window boxes and the outside area in front of our building and generally settle in...enough... before the 9 shipping crates show up and explode in our living room!

**another post on THAT, later**

For now, a snap of most of our family, to prove to our family and friends that we really are alive!
A full family photo will be next-promise!

umarmen und lieben,
Essie

My World

the countdown has winded down...
we're marking hours now, instead of days, and this will be my last post until we are in Germany.

Germany.

That's where we are going to live.
We won't live here in Virginia, or North Carolina, Or Georgia...
all the other places we called home.
Home, is now, where the Army sends us.

Simon Raven said:
"Life is short, and the world, is wide"

The world is wide, and open, and so much bigger than we know-

I couldn't say goodbye to everyone; simply, it became too hard.
You're all so magnificent, and, part of me in everyway. Saying goodbye was like saying it's over, and I couldn't do that. I want to remember everything the way I left it: smiling, shining, glowing, full of joy-so beautiful.
All of you.

Come to Germany.
Come to visit.
Come to see, that the world is wide.

umarmen und lieben
(hug and love...literally)
essie