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January 28, 2003
living out of boxes
I really, really appreciate having my own house and my stuff back but could someone (pretty, pretty please) come unpack all these boxes?!! I used to love this part. It was fun to make a new space "my own". Now, I just want to be able to twitch my nose and make it put itself away. I am trying to unpack at least 5-10 boxes a day (they are little). Yesterday, I think I did about 10. It is amazing - I get unpacking one box and get distracted with another box and pretty soon there is junk flying everywhere.
I have started working also. Up to this point, I had been on base-wide orientation which was about 5 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Back on Tuesday, I started my usual 12 hour shift work. I work from 7am to 7pm, three to five days a week. It gives me more days off which is nice, but the work days are long for all of us.
The boys absolutely love the new neighborhood. There are 51 children on my side of the street, on our block alone. There are grade school age children EVERYWHERE you look. There is a playground on every block and the entire neighborhood is fenced in with only one entry point (with a gate guard). It is about half an hour from the base so there is no lollygaggers or passers-through which means that there is almost no traffic and no one goes more than 20 mph. There are fields for soccer, football, baseball, a recreation center, a video rental store and a minimart. Every Tuesday, the "chicken man" sits in front of the front gate. From him you can buy roasted (whole) chickens done on his truck, homemade red wine (suprisingly good) in a liter water bottle, marinated olives, and a few other yummies. We live fifteen minutes up the road from a town called Caltigirone which is world famous for handpainted ceramics and statues.
Needless to say we are liking it a lot.
I also bit the bullet and did something I have been promising Eli and Jake for years. We got a dog. His name is Jax and he is a six year old schipperke, show quality with AKC papers. He only weighs about 18 pounds. I found him in the paper, free to a good home. His original owners are having their second baby and feel overwhelmed with the two dogs they had. They still have their beagle. Jax is neutered and has an ID chip under his shoulder skin already. He is a great dog! We dogsat for a friend of mine in Washington and his personality is almost identicle to that dog (Jasper). He has the eveness of an older dog but the energy of a younger one. He has had a two year old boy pulling and poking and yelling for the last two years, so he is used to little kids. I take him for a walk (okay, he drags me) before I go to work and again in the evening. He sleeps on the boys' bed everynight. Doesn't bark much unless he feels that someone is in the yard. Here is a website I found on the <a href="http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/shipper.cfm">breed</a>. And <a href="http://www.schipperke-dogs.com/">another link</a>. I had never heard of this breed before, so I searched the internet for more information and found that there are some serious, die-hard, schipperke fans out there.
One other thing that has come up is that Cheryl will be going back to the States permanently at the end of April. As much as we went through to try to keep her here, the struggle has worn us out. The expense was growing and she is getting very homesick and lonely. We will miss her VERY much. We are beginning the search for someone to take her place. I will try to find another nanny situation given my odd hours. It will most likely be an Italian citizen so I guess the bonus is that we will have no choice but to learn lots of Italian as neither of us speak each other's language very well. Fortunately, I have 3 months to take my time.
Posted by DebC at January 28, 2003 11:17 AM
Comments
Can I come and be your nanny?
Posted by: Shemelle at January 28, 2003 5:01 PM
Shemelle - If you have any kind of valid military ID, you're hired!! I know you were probably not serious but it really isn't that far-fetched of an idea LOL. Send me an email and tell me what you are up to. I haven't heard from you in eons.
Posted by: DebC at January 28, 2003 8:13 PM
Debbie that neighborhood sounds like a parents dream.Thats everything you could ask for.
You got really lucky to find a deal like that with the dog,Thats cool.
I'm sorry to hear about Cheryl having to leave.Maybe it won't be too hard to find another girl,or woman, over there.
Sounds like ya'll are doing great over there.I hope we get to come maybe next year.
Posted by: Kim at January 30, 2003 1:41 PM
Happy to hear you live in Mineo housing. I saw it getting built. I am also happy to hear you made it there safe.
Posted by: Todd at January 31, 2003 3:55 PM
Deb,
Hey, congrats on the new dog!! Glad he is fitting in so nicely, but I'm afraid Jasper is going to be jealous. She misses the kids, and is moody when I come back after trips since she is left at home alone.
Sorry to hear about Cheryl having to leave, I know you both worked hard to get everything situated.
Guess what.....we are now ranked #2 in the nation!! Denver is only 150 points ahead of us. Amazing, huh?
Take care, and tell the boys I say HI!!
Posted by: Keith at February 5, 2003 4:01 AM
Hey,
Saw Keith today and he gave me your website. Good to see that your settling down. Have her give me a call. I've been looking for that rice stuff and can't find it.. I need a brand name or something...I'm still at MEPs for now..many only until March.. Who knows....I hear that Nancy and Roger are retiring in January, Maybe that will be a good lead in. We will see.... Talk to you later. Deb
Posted by: Deb at February 8, 2003 12:31 AM