9/12/10

We arrived in Germany and even though, most of us slept most of the way here, we are EXHAUSTED. Once we deplane, we are greeted by some Soldiers asking if we are just arriving and if we are PCSing...the kids are AMAZED that one Soldier seems to be able to smell another, even when they aren't in uniform! lol
Okay, we got our bags, got settled in at the "holding area" for all the other incoming personnel and set out to look for a snack...Starbucks of course! Screech! Pump the breaks! This was the first shock, dollar to euro, ouch 3 pastries... $17.00!!! Welp, we won't be doing that one again...
Planes, trains and automobiles...okay, okay plane, bus and automobile it was a 3.5 hr ride from the airport to Baumholder. On the way there, Robert had a nosebleed on the bus and "Momgruber" had to jump into action (see pics from last week) and "plug" the leak. We finally arrived at our hotel off post (since the one on post is full, typical) it's not your typical hotel, but from what we have been hearing...it could be worse so we are blessed.
Next day, Jason starts in-processing (don't get me started on this ridiculous process) and since I don't have a schedule I get a ride from our sponsors wife Trisha to see what kind of things I can get accomplished. Let's check the tally, day one Jason gets: a haircut, and his in-processing sheet. Christy gets: A phone, 2 out of 3 children registered for school, family established in tri-care (so we can see the doctor). Duhnt duhnt if this is a contest, I think Jason is gonna lose...
Day 2, the trend continues- Jason scores: 85% on his drivers test! woohoo! Christy scores: the third kid registered for school, moved into the new rooms in our hotel, AND she found a house...this is when we found out that the early bird really does catch the worm. I found the house on Friday, Jason promtly lost it on Monday morning :( He was there what we thought was bright and early, right when the office opened and he was STILL the third guy in line for this house, so it was back to the drawing board... Good news is, God made more than one worm for us because that same afternoon, I found us another house! and this time, we were ready! :)Long weekend almost killed us, I never knew cabin fever was a real thing til I had it! Lucky for us we were able to get out and experience some of the local food. This is when I realize, I have to take up exercise, now, or I am gonna weigh 500lb by the time we leave this place! Doners (it's kind of like a gyro) and eis (ice cream type stuff) just call us fatty fat fats :)
Over the weekend Jason had a crash course in "motherhood". Welcome back from deployment, Derrick, with the combination of jet lag and mild dehydration woke in the middle of the night blowing chunks and "nose goes!" Jason was it! I wish I had pictures, not of the vomit, but of Jason running between the rooms with a towel tied over his face! He could hardly take it! What should have taken about 10-15 min to clean, tops, took almost an hour! And he was gagging and dry heaving all the way! I know, it's not right to laugh but we're bored and there's nothing on TV here! lol With that safely behind us, we made sure that Derrick had plenty of fluids and gentle things to eat for his belly. Jason may need to seek counseling for his ordeal.
Finally, school starts! Robert jumps in feet first, Derrick is a little more apprehensive, so he gets a push (or four) and Ceara gets four shots (welcome to being 11! Here's how things stand:
Derrick is running cross country, Robert is in JROTC and playing tennis, and Ceara patiently awaits basketball and softball seasons AND they have their bible study they will do with the Shorts (Thanks Kevin and Christina!)
With the kids in school, we can focus on getting settled. We went and looked at the 2nd choice house...Yay! much better fit for us! God always knows what we need :) When we went to look at it I was pleasantly surprised! Even though it is 1/2 the size of the home we just came from, I still think there will be plenty of space for us and we can make the storage work too. We met the neighbor lady and she was nice too. Now all we need is to find a car...like NOW!!
Now it's just a waiting game. We wait until we can get into our house, we walk (about a million miles a day) until we get a car and we slowly but surely get settled.