....we are back online!

Let me just start by saying February has NEVER been a good month for me!  Things go awry for me in February.  Unfortunately, moving across the ocean did not break this streak.  It followed me!  BLAH!

There is too much to go into detail (plus I don't want to re-live or re-hash) about these events but I will do a quick list of some of the "major" highlights!

1.  Upon arrival in the apartment, we find the water has been turned off.  There is a leak in the bathroom sink and not only does all the water have to be off, it has been leaking so much (before we came) that it has damaged the apartment below us.  Nice impression to make on the neighbors, huh?

2.  Plumber comes and takes offending faucet off and caps the line, so we can have water again.  In broken French and English and charades we determine that he will come back and replace the faucet in 3 or 4 days.  Which he does (in the 4 days as the French are not the most time conscious people.  More examples below!)

3.  I receive my kitchen appliances.  Yeah!  My first load of laundry, water all over the floor!  Okay, I can deal with this short term.  Relying on my memories of old washing machines I have known (my grandmother had a cabin and I seem to remember her doing this), I take the hose and put it in the sink to catch the water.  Fixed for now.  I look under the sink and see that the pipe of the washing machine is very curvy, so I switch dishwasher and washing machine hoses and this works like a charm!

4.  I try to use my new bank card.  Had the wrong pin, got "locked out" of the system and had to order a new card.  New card comes, try to use it before leaving the bank to activate it, bank machine eats new card.  It seems one must wait a FULL 8 days before trying new card and I had only waited 7 1/2!  So now, my card won't work until NEXT Thursday.

5.  Take a trip to the grocery store.  BIG adventure.  By bus. With two kids.  We get there and pick up some items, go to checkout, and guess what, my American debit card won't work nor will any of the other cards I have a my disposal.  LOOSE IT, have to call Patrick to come down there as I now need adult supervision.  Someone from his work drives him to our location (out in front of the store).  We go back in and re-shop and use his bank card which works.

6.  Go buy beds and couch and TV.  Will be delivered 2/10/11.  No delivery arrives.  We call and are told it will now be 2/15/11.  No delivery.  Patrick is back at the hotel, but the kids and I are sleeping in the apartment on the floor (me) and some fold out chairs we bought for the kid's rooms and lugged home when we rented a car last weekend.  Call my relocation person so she can deal with them in French and she is told by the delivery service that it has already been delivered!  She calls another person who says "no" and that it will be delivered 2/17/11 for sure.  However, Patrick checked out of the hotel because the beds were supposed to be here, so now all of us are sleeping in various rooms that have throw rugs we have already purchased and two fold out chairs until Thursday!

Enough for now....the saga continues, but I must shower and start my day.  I'm sure Paris has other "suprises" for me today.  But, just keep swimming, swimming.

Waiting for the bus can be fun if there is large equipment involved

Max hamming it up!

.....we walked and walked in the world know as Ikea

I have seen Ikea catalogs.  I have visited Ikea's website.  Neither of these will prepare you for the all day trip it requires to go through the Ikea store outside of Paris.

For those of you from N.C., picture Crabtree Valley Mall, add a floor and then fill it with everything you could imagine for furnishing a home.  Not just furniture.  We are talking EVERY room.  They even have a separate store for kitchen stuff (as big as a major department store, adding a floor!).  We unfortunately found this store first when we were really trying for the furniture (bedrooms, specifically).  We bought a few things at the kitchen store, then went on to the other location.  Enjoyed lunch in the cafeteria there (Patrick had a lamb shank that was awesome).  Alas, I could not remember my new pin number for my debt card, but Patrick found a bank machine and took out a little cash, so we got some bed linens, an area rug and new pillows for all.

Stopped by the new apartment to show the kids and thankfully they gave it their seal of approval.  Whew!  No way I want to go through looking for a place again.  ;-)  They picked their rooms, explored all the nooks and crannies and then back to the hotel, which seems even smaller now!  Jumping suitcases to go to the bathroom is not my idea of fun.  Plus I am ready to prove to these dogs that there is grass in France!

Tomorrow we plan to hit another home store called Conforama which is like Ikea but on a smaller scale....maybe just half of Crabtree Mall.

...we were in Paris

So time to start blogging again.  Let it slide for awhile...life was just to crazy and things were changing daily if not hourly!

We are staying in a hotel temporarily until we can outfit the apartment.  I did get the kitchen done yesterday (oven, refrig, washer/dryer, dishwasher) and it should be delivered and installed on Monday.  We are renting a car for the weekend and hitting Ikea for furniture but have been told that delivery may take up to 3 weeks!  Eeeeks!  Might have to go buy some air mattresses, 'cause I am already ready to get out of this hotel.  Cramped and can't unpack since it would be crazy hard to stuff all this stuff back into the suitcases since it took a crowbar and magic to get it in in the first place!

Plus, and I consider this my first French lesson, dogs who have grown up with a backyard all their lives, do not know it's okay to pee/poop on concrete.  Needless to say, the dogs aren't to keen on this hotel living!  Don't get me wrong, they love the idea that every room has a bed for them, but the whole "relief" issue has them a "wee" (pun intended) bit confused.

So wish us luck and a miracle that someone has cancelled their order with Ikea and we can slide into their vacated delivery slot.....yeah, I know, but a girl can dream!

….there were more castles

Our hosts, Nick and Marlis, took us to Schloss Burg, a huge castle right outside of Wuppertal.  One way to get to the castle is to take a ski lift up and back.  The kids thought this was one of the best features of this castle. Oh, and goats below the ski lift as you go up!

We explored every nook and cranny and had Margrid do some translation from the markers, as there was no English guided tour for this castle.  The kids were fascinated by the small stature of everything.

We had a delicious lunch there and Marlis bought each kid a HUGE pretzel, which this area is famous for.  Samantha, always the trooper, ate Schnitzel and tried my fish and deemed it “very good”.  Max is having a little more trouble finding things to eat, but is in no way starving thanks again to our lovely host, Marlis, who has made him German bacon every morning and supplied him in pepperoni pizzas!

Then they showed us a wonderful park.  There were play structures built out of wood that had fallen in the area as well as swings and a cool soccer pitch for kids surrounded by a low wall so you didn't have to worry about "out of bounds" ball recovery!  

This is only a small part of the park!

Before we headed back for dinner, we stopped to watch a Boules match of the guy, Sigurd, that we are staying with.  Always the gracious host he had brought extra Boules balls and showed the kids how to play!  Max won with a score of five, in the short game played, and Samantha and Patrick tied at 2.

Today we are supposed to take a train, if the train workers strike allows, and go to the chocolate museum.  Samantha is most pleased with this "side trip" and I think she is having Willie Wonka dreams!

......here we are

Since this is the first time I have been able to log on since we arrived, I feel like I have too much ground to cover with all the things we have done already....two castles, driving on the autobon, driving along the Rhine River, and all the unbelievable sights!

The kids have been great so far.  Almost like they know they better get along, since there is no other option and no one else to play with!  Have only heard once or twice "she's/he's touching me" in the car rides between events.  Pretty amazing.......

They are fanscinated with all the sights.  They have been real troopers about eating; trying things and sometimes finding they like it! Samantha had goulash and deemed it "yummy".  Max is chowing on the good bread and is very excited about the soft pretzels everywhere.

Well, others are stirring so I will log off for now and start another day of new adventures!

More later.........

One more day

So my last post was "30 more days" and now it is here.  Friday....... wow guess I better pack!

Everyone keeps asking me if I am excited about the trip....  I guess one of my coworkers said it best when she said I would get excited once the plane was in the air.  Then I have no choice!

Chill out it's vacation time!

....30 more days 'til Germany!

Wow.....time really does fly! 30 more days 'til we leave for Germany for two weeks!  But first we have to get through Max and Samantha's birthday, birthday parties, and packing!  My plan is to get done with the birthdays (Smantha's party is on 10/3 and Max's is on 10/9) and then concentrate on pulling things together and start packing.

KInda feel like this guy.....excited, yes and maybe a little hysterical!