Happy Independence Day!

I know, I know it is not the 4th yet. However, today, Thursday on Caserma Ederle we are having our Freedom Fest. Carnival type games like dunk tank, car smash (both boys really want to do this), bull riding machine and more. Plus, there is free food and drink (except alcohol - this you have to pay for).

So, the boys and I loaded up the car and headed to the base to shop for our Fourth of July BBQ and stay for the Fest. Needed to come a little early to guarantee parking. Caserma Ederle is a very small base and on a good day (no Fest) it can sometimes be difficult to find parking. When you think about all the people who will be coming for the free food and drink you can see how parking might be a problem.

Coming to the base early also explains why I am using the library computers. Interesting side note: I am sitting next to a gentleman from Washington State. What a shocker for him our weather is - around 90 and humid. And the AC here is not like the US where it freezes you out. Here is barely takes the heat out and makes it roughly comfortable. Not sweating to death but you still know its hot outside. Anyway, he his here three weeks with some other folks (a group TDY). Started talking to him and they (the group) are not allowed to rent a car while here. However, they were told to go out and explore and have fun. What???!!!??? How are you supposed to do that when you have no vehicle and no internet where you are staying so that you can check out bus schedules and places nearby to visit? Silly government agencies. So, you all know me, I invited him and his friends (two other guys he hangs out with) to our Fabulous 4th BBQ! We are just having our missionary friends and a few others over. So this will be fun. Just a few people together enjoying the area while celebrating Independence Day with other Americans. James will have to go pick them up since they aren't allowed to rent a car but that shouldn't be a problem.

I purchased most of the items for the BBQ today. Still need to get the meat but I want to wait until right before the FEST to do that. That way I can stick the frozen meat in the cold storage bag and it will keep everything else cold until I can get home. (The cold storage bag keeps things cold and/or frozen for about 5 hours so I have plenty of time).

This means I really have to get cracking tonight and tomorrow on cleaning up the place. Most items are out of boxes and many are in "their" place but I still have some items that are just floating around on various surfaces. And, of course, nothing is on the wall yet. We may not get many of the pictures hung but we can at least have the boxes unpacked, things put away and the boxes stored neatly in a corner.

My craft room and the storage area next too are really bad. I have to take the doors off of my craft cabinet (from IKEA) to change the shelves around. So I can't load it up until I do that. I tried one of the screws yesterday but it was too tight for me and I didn't want to strip out the top so I am waiting for James to take the doors off for me. Then I can finish unpacking craft supplies, organize them and then organize the storage room with whatever is left or staying stored (like Christmas items, sleeping bags, etc.)

I did buy some flowers the other day so that brightens up the front step and the back patio. Looks more homey. I promise to take pictures either tonight or tomorrow and get them sized and posted soon.

Better run. Almost out of library computer time.

A dopo (until later)

Angy

Good news -- sorta

No, I didn't find the sapphire - YET!

However, the modem for our wireless internet service does seem to be working on the desktop computer. However, it is pretty slow. Probably not going to work very well for downloads or watching tv online. But it will work for checking email, banking (I hope) and hopefully updating and uploading pics to the blog. (I am at the library right now - so still no photos).

Ci vidiamo!

OH NO!!!

Just realized last night while at my friend's house using the internet that I lost the large sapphire stone in a ring James' bought me 11 Christmas' ago. Bummer...

I know I lost it recently as the prongs that hold the stone catch on things and has a very distinct feel to it. I must have lost it while unpacking boxes prior to heading to my friend's house. Probably not much chance that I will find it.

We have a split level house with many levels -

Top Floor: boys' bedroom
next floor: computer and craft room and bathroom
next floor: master bedroom and two bathrooms
down another level: living, dining rooms, & kitchen (main floor)
down again: garage and large bathroom with laundry facility
and down again: taverna (large living area)

The last two floors are underground and each level is about a 1/2 flight down. I was on each and every level yesterday. Unpacking boxes, doing laundry, carrying empty boxes and packing paper to the storage area and more. The stone could quite possibly be anywhere in the house. Or it could have fallen out while walking through the parking area to my friend's house. Either way, it will take some providence to find it.

This makes me very sad. However, it is just a ring and I have my health ;-)

ciao!

Fingers Crossed...

We have had some crazy, busy, frustrating times in the last week and I will attempt to tell you all about them.

Monday we had the final 5 of our 15 crates delivered. Not sure how they got separated into a split shipment but they did. It is my understanding that they are not supposed to separate our crates. They are all "supposed" to go into the same shipping container. However, it did happen and we are none the worse for it. On Monday, we received the couches (yeah something to sit on) and bath mats for the bathrooms. (silly thing to be excited about but I am - my mats are so comfy when getting out of the bath or shower and they wash up so well - a towel just doesn't cut it. And when you have ceramic tile floors you really do need something to set your tootsies on...don't want to slip and fall). I digress...

As most of you know we have also been having internet problems. What? You didn't know that?? Well, we did, we do and we will for a while probably. Apparently this quaint and beautiful country of Italy is still a third world country and backwards in many ways. Internet is just one of them. (As I have typed this portion I have just lost my connection. Last night when I lost my connection I could not reestablish the connection until around 3:30 this afternoon. Went out after about 20 minutes both times). Hopefully that is not a sign of what we will have to continually deal with. I will have to become a much faster typer and reader and surfer. I know I can type things up and save it as a document and then load it up but man I still like my internet service. Still waiting. Okay, I guess I will continue writing this and just save it to a word document if I am unable to get my connection back. Back to what I was saying about this being a third world country...It seems that the ASDL box for my neighborhood is completely saturated. Not one slot left for anyone. As the phone tech was here to set up a phone connection (which we have since decided against) someone pulled up in their car to talk to him. Apparently this gentleman has lived in our neighborhood for a year and is still waiting to get ASDL. Dial-up here can be very unreliable. Even the ASDL goes out periodically for no reason. So they can put me on a waiting list but, of course, I am behind everyone else. The tech did say that they have a plan in the works to add more underground service for our area. This means that my wait for high speed internet service is around 6 months or so.

So because of this we purchased a wireless modem and sim card yesterday for the laptop. This is theoretically supposed to allow us inlimited wireless internet for 30 days. We have to add time every 30 days (like a pay as you go cell phone). However, last night it took about 5 hours to get it set up. We finally had connectivity and started to check emails, etc. I had just cleaned out my email when I lost my connection. I was in the middle of composing an email at the time. I started walking around the house to see if I could get a better connection. I couldn't get a better connection and even lost the power completely to the modem. This morning we still couldn't get the laptop to recognize the wireless modem. Started trying to set up the desk tops to see if it was just an issue with our laptop (not enough power to support the modem through the USB port) but don't have all the cables, adapters etc that we need to get that done either. So, on a whim I came back downstairs to the laptop and tried again to see if I could get connected. Voila! It worked but alas, only for 20 minutes. Even now, as I type, I keep trying to see if I can get my signal back. Nothing as worked so far. Don't like this 20 minute shut-off thing. And when you pay that much for something you really would like for it to work continually and not sporadically.

Okay, now it has been over an hour and now the modem has no power and the computer isn’t even recognizing it. I have tried rebooting twice and even powered the entire thing off and then turned it on again. Something is wrong with this modem. We either need to take it back to the shop we got it at or figure out how to make it work. The good news is I have a friend who literally lives 3 minutes from us and she is out of town for the rest of the week. She left me her keys and last week we set up the laptop to recognize her wireless internet. (She has many security features and needed to verify that it was all set up and that my computer would recognize her connection – it did). So this evening after we eat we will head over to her house and connect. Then maybe James can check google and see what the issue with our modem or sim card might be. I will load this up at that time and post it so you can all feel my pain.

I guess I will have to start typing a daily log and then upload it when I have the chance. Particularly if these issues are going to be so persistent.

Wanted to tell you about more things but this has grown rather long as it is. I will try to add a little more later in the week – maybe even tomorrow.

Ciao for now!

****update - still no internet on the laptop - at least not with our new wireless modem. I think James does have it working on the desktop but very slowly. We are at my friend's house using her internet so that I can post this to the blog.

Definitely been too long...

However, without internet access what choice do I have???

Here are the "deets" for my "peeps"...

We did the walk-thru for our quarters (for non-military folks that is our house) on Tuesday the 16th. On the 17th we finished moving from the hotel into the house. I made 3 trips on Tuesday and James made one later that night. Then we each made a trip on Wednesday. I went to the house early on Wednesday morning to sign for the temporary furniture. Very "practical and utilitarian" I think and not at all comfortable. However, the closets (or schrunks) are really cool and fold-up until they are practically flat like a box. And, wonder of wonders, they are made in Vermont of all places.

On Wednesday morning while waiting for the 2nd delivery (first one was for the appliances - washer, dryer and refrigerator) James calls the Transportation Office to check on our HHG. They said they can make a partial delivery tomorrow. So on Thursday we accepted a partial shipment of 10 out of our 15 crates. Not sure how they got separated as I have been told they aren't supposed to be separated. Everything is supposed to go into the same shipping container. But that did not happen. We are still awaiting word on the arrival of our last 5 crates. It has been over 2 weeks but they still have the until the end of the month before they are "required" to be here in the warehouse ready for delivery.

The crates are packed in a totally random manner and so of course we have a weird assortment of items that have arrived or not! Here is a partial list....
Boys bedroom - complete except for bookcase (technically wasn't in their room)
Books - the ones that go on the aforementioned bookcase
Basketball backboard and rim, base but NO Pole to mount it on
Master bedroom bed - complete - lampshade for lamp completely crushed though the box looked undamaged, did not receive the bench in front of our bed, though.
Beautiful antique German bedroom set - night stands - check, bed, matresses, frame - check, lamps on night stands - NOPE, German schrunk - only part of it came so we just have panels and hardware, no bottom or top.
Large antique schrunk that was in the living room - only parts of this arrived
Less than 1/2 of my polish pottery arrived but the china cabinet it was in arrived as well as most of the other items in that room.
Most of my craft room arrived - still need to finish going through boxes to see what I am missing other than my little tv and THE LEGS TO MY CRAFT TABLE. Yep, got the top but no legs to stand on.
We also received the big pink chair but not the old couch or recliners for the taverna (basement living room). And we received the big leather chair and foot stool but not the loveseat or couch for the living room.

There are a few more things I could tell you but at least you can see how totally random it is. Almost comical really...what else can I do but laugh???

I have no pictures to post right now because my other big issue is no telephone or internet yet at the house. When James signed up for phone and internet they made sure to request a transfer of internet service. However, it seems that was not done. Apparently here in Italy internet is a new thing and so it is not always available. And when it is available you sometimes have to go on a very long waiting list to get service. (Hence the reason for a transfer of service and not new service). Anyway, we received our message on Monday saying that our contact was ready to sign. James went to the Housing office (he was at work) while I was still trying to get boxes unpacked. When he went in to sign the contract they told him that we were unable to get internet service. Not available any more. He discussed it with the liason and they are currently working on the problem. Until the issue is solved however, we will not have phone service either. We may have to come up with another option like wireless which can be pricey or check on another company that I just heard about yesterday. Telekom was the only provider here for internet and phone service for many years and thus had a monopoly and didn't work to please its customers. TKS, another company just came in about a year ago to offer phone and internet services. We used TKS while in Germany and liked their service. When we moved to Garmisch we had to go with Telekom and had numerous issues with them, including one 6 months after we left Germany.

So, anyway, right now I am sitting here at the library computer typing as fast as I can to get some words down as an update for all of you who are following our saga! Thanks for sticking with us. I only get an hour here before I have to relinquish the computer to someone else. However, the USO Center has free wireless so I may bring the laptop (after taking house photos and loading them up) and go to the USO to blog. The only problem there is it is also the BOSS Center which is for single soldiers. Not really a problem except that it is just full of young boisterous soldiers relaxing while watching movies, playing games etc. Sometimes the conversations they have or the movies they watch aren't ones you want to accidently overhear language wise. I will try to "catch" my wireless from outside at the picnic tables first. They let us know at inprocessing that the wireless in always on and that you can usually get a signal from outside at the tables in case the center itself is actually closed for the day (around midnight I think).

So, don't give up on me - I will "git 'er done".

Love and miss you all...

P.S. We have started an English bible study on Sunday evenings with the church. All of the Americans attend (all 6 of us adults plus our two boys and the two little girlies) and then any of the members of the Italian church that want to better their English. And on Saturdays, Titus & Pam (missionary intern for the summer) have started an English bible study for the young Italian kids at church. The boys are going to start attending that so that they can contribute and help the Italian kids who will be able to now understand a bit of what the boys are going through. So that is really great news!

Ciao for now. Have to run to my Italian class now.

Got to LOVE Ryanair!

Good friends of ours still live in Germany. We have been friends since 1997 so the boys have all been friends since birth. (Well Caleb was 15 months old when E came along). Anyway, ever since learning that we were moving back overseas the boys have been asking when are we going to see E & A? I wasn't sure when we were going to be able to make it to Germany to see them but I knew that at some point we would.

After speaking to Di several times we finally decided that the boys and I could come visit before they go back to the US for the summer. So James and I got online and checked Ryanair for flight information. We were able to find flights from Venice to Frankfurt for 9,99 Euro per person. Of course, after taxes and fees, it amounted to 233,99 Euro. But that is still pretty cheap. I think it converted to about $380. Not bad for a round trip flight for 3 people.

So the boys and I are here in Germany visiting our friends. The boys (there are 4 of them) are doing a great job of getting along. They do get a little loud at times but there have been no significant disagreements. Thank goodness! They spend a lot of time have Yugi-Oh card battles, playing on the WII, watching Myth Busters, etc. We took them to the Schwimmbad one day and they loved that. And we sent them out to the park as well. Yesterday, they went out to the park on their own.

It has been a nice visit for me as well. Lots of time just spent visiting. Very laid back days with little "scheduled". No stress that way. We were even able to go by our old house and visit with our neighbors - Ulla, Rolf and Nadine. I will post pictures of that later (I don't have my cord connecting the camera to the computer). And yesterday, Di and I picked up pizzas from my favorite pizza place. Da Nicos has moved since I lived here but it only moved around the corner. This was the place that James and I walked to at least once a week during the summer months to get pizza. So good and inexpensive and only about a 2 minute walk from our house. Man, kicking myself now because I should have taken pictures. Oh well, maybe we will go back and I can get a picture of the Italian pizza guys! Anyway, the pizza lived up to my memories. Perfectly done, no soggy spots!

Only 2 more days left here and then the boys and I will return to Italy. Upon our return we will have to start packing. During our absence James has signed lease papers for our house. We will start moving in on Wednesday the 17th. More on that later.

Ciao for now.

School Time

Well, this is a little late but I did want to report on how the enrollment process for school went.

I went into the high school and enrolled Caleb in the 9th grade. The counselor was not in at the moment so I was unable to sign him up for classes. We did however, get a list of the classes available. On the Monday, following this enrollment we went back to speak to the counselor to decide on Caleb's coursework for his first year in high school.

We decided that he would be taking Honors English & World History (this is a parallel course and neither can be taken on its own). He will also be taking Geometry, Biology, PE, Computer Apps and Italian I. If for some reason the Computer Apps class is full then Caleb decided he will enroll in JROTC. I wish this were offered separately instead of only as an elective. Our "requirements" for Caleb were that he take Italian I and be involved in some sort of physical activity.

The options for fall sports are Cross Country, Tennis, Volleyball and Football. Caleb decided that he would go out for the cross country team. Because the high school is so small anyone who tries out for the team makes it. (There are a total of about 300 students from the 7th through 12th grade). The counselor told us that the longest distance they run in Cross Country is 5K. So for the summer Caleb and I (and probably Jared and James as well) will work on a C25K (couch to 5K) running program. This way Caleb will be ready to run for the season. With his long legs and long stride he should be a natural at this. Even now when he walks with a purpose he can walk faster than I can. This is quite a feat as I usually have a pretty fast pace. I just can't keep up with him when he gets those long legs working.

James and I are very proud of the way he is adapting to starting public high school. He loves to be homeschooled but is accepting the fact that he will be in a public school environment next year. We made this choice for several reasons. One is that we believe that he needs more of a challenge, more competition for grades, etc. Second, I just don't think I can provide the best environment for the lab sciences in my home. Especially now that we are overseas - where am I going to get items for dissection or all the chemicals for Chemistry experiments?

Jared is now enrolled for 6th grade. He came with Caleb & I to Caleb's counseling appointment. He was very disappointed that he was too young for the Tennis and Volleyball team. He also seemed really disappointed that he will not be choosing his classes for the year. Once he realized that he will get to choose for 7th grade and that there will be more options he felt a little better. If I remember correctly there are no sports available for the elementary school. There may be track and field but nothing else. So Jared will be going through CYS (Child & Youth Services) to find a sport to participate in.

The crazy thing here because of the number of transitioning students is that we won't actually get a schedule for either child until the first day of school. So we will not know who their teachers are, what school supplies they need (besides the basics of pencils and paper) or even where to go for their first class. For Caleb, all the high schoolers meet in the school gym first thing to be introduced to the faculty and receive their schedules. I think there is an Open House so they can see where the classrooms will be about a week before school starts. Those poor kids will be very confused for the first week or so.

Another thing I find odd is that they do block scheduling. This in itself is not odd but they way they do it is. The high school students (and perhaps the middle school as well) take 7 classes plus one seminar (kind of like study hall but not). So this means they have 8 classes. This is broken into 4 a day. The days are then labeled A & B (but for the new school year they will be starting them as Black or Gold Days). Unlike college where you would have MWF classes and T,TH classes here you would have Black Days and Gold Days. This changes each week. For example the first week - Mon, Wed & Fri would be Black Days and Tues, Thurs would be gold days. The next week this switches and Mon, Wed, Fri are now your gold days and vice versa. Each class period is 80 minutes long and in the course of 2 weeks you would have attended each class 5 times. SO...for parents and student we have to remember what color day it is in order to remember what books and homework to bring to school. YIKES! Need to definitely keep a good calendar to keep track of that info. I do have to say that this schedule is better than what they used to do a few years ago. That schedule had them rotating every week which class was first. So week one you would have 7 classes and let's say English was your first class and Math was second. Then the next week Math would be the first class, English would move to the end of the day and whatever class was third then moves up to 2nd place. Oh my heavens, who thought that mess up? I think that would be very difficult to keep straight.

Better go for now.

Ciao.