My New Best Friend

Please allow me to introduce Tomtom. I love him. Steve brought him home on Saturday as a little surprise. It was a gift for me but was not without a little self-interest. You see, this lovely little model of the GPS navigation system works in Europe - so getting lost in my own back yard, not to mention the uncertain streets of Germany - SHOULD be pretty near impossible. That's not to say I won't put forth a valiant effort. After all, getting lost in Dallas after living in the metroplex for the last 29 years is still a very regular occurrence for me. We have been playing with it around town and it is by far one of the coolest things I'VE ever seen. And because Steve is equally blown away by it, its coolness is re-affirmed. I will use it to get around locally when we move but it will also be super handy when we travel. Steve actually took it with him to Georgia this week and, as far as I know Tomtom has taken excellent care of him. Now that driving directions are no longer an issue, what in the world are we going to fight about? Perhaps who gets to take Tomtom today......

*****

On another note, our move date has well - moved - once again. Steve is leaving now on June 11th instead of the 4th, which probably puts my departure around about June 29th. I'm beginning to consider an ultimatum - if they don't get us both there by August, the deal's off! I suppose I should look at the bright side. Most of my sadness about leaving has been replaced by frustration and I'm just ready to GO! Oh, don't worry - I'm still a little sad......

I'm Back

Sorry I've neglected the blog recently. We haven't had much to tell until the last few days. Here is a photo of our completed kitchen......

Our landlord sent us this photo and I was very impressed with how it turned out. I think I am really going to like our landlord, which is a good thing since he will also be our neighbor! I mean how many people would put curtains in the kitchen window for someone they barely know!?

It does look even smaller to me now than before with appliances and cabinets and such. I have definitely been spoiled by the kitchen in our house in the last 9 months. Oh well - I will just have to appreciate little things like being able to reach the fridge, the dish washer, stove and sink without ever moving my feet! Not to mention, how quickly I will be able to get the thing clean!

So, many of you know by now that our departure has been delayed another couple of weeks. Steve's new departure date is now June 4th and I will still follow two to three weeks behind him once internet/phone are hooked up. We were pretty disappointed with this latest delay because we were really getting geared up to leave. It seems such an emotional roller coaster the closer we get and we are just ready to rip the band-aid off and go!

But, the up side is that we have a little extra time to get ready and see our friends and family. So we will take advantage of that (lucky you!) and be ready to go when the time is right.

Officially Oriented

Nothing too thrilling to share from orientation. Lots of pertinent information about benefits and taxes and other not too stimulating but very necessary topics. We're still not sure how we're going to handle our mail - perhaps through an APO, perhaps through Raytheon, or maybe just locally at the house.

It was a lot of flying for a short meeting but it was good to put faces to the people that are going to be our support people while we're gone. Our flight was delayed so we didn't get to the hotel until about 1:30am. Orientation started bright and early at 9:00am. We sat in a conference room for about 5 hours, went to lunch, drove back to the airport and flew home. It was definitely good to get home.

Saturday we got together with some friends from my AA days. It was kind of a combo going away party for us and for another couple that is moving to Shanghai in a couple of months. It was interesting to swap stories with them and compare our moves. Moving to Germany doesn't seem nearly as exotic in comparison to China. I think this was the first time it struck me that I might not see some of these people for a couple of years (and here comes the panic). There are times that two years sounds like no time at all, but when I think of not seeing my friends - it seems like an eternity.