Well, since I last wrote we took and passed the driving exam. That involved a trip to the nearest other base: Schinnen Army Garrison (which is about an hour south of us). We also got to use their commissary and their PX. A PX is a Post eXchange -- sort of a department store...if I call it PX then it is on an Army base, BX (Base eXchange) is for the Air Force. It is a small, efficient base. We met the incoming commander there, and they change command the following week from Eric.
Eric is still not the commander (that happens Monday). He is busily drinking from a fire hose and trying to learn everything by then...but handling things really well, considering.
We did a walk through of the house and will sign the lease soon. We will be allowed to move on 1 July. I have heard nothing about either shipment, but will chase that all down on Monday while Eric is busy with DVs. (Distinguished Visitors)
We went to the base from which we are Geographically Separated: Spangdahlem. I know, we are actually separated from every base...but in this case, Eric's boss actually works at Spangdahlem. This means that Eileen has now been to Belgium and Germany as well as Holland.
We visited the Dutch Officer's Mess (at their invitation) and had a lovely time.
That's all I have time for now, but our e-mail address hasn't changed!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Arrival
Eileen apparently had problems with the hotel room in C. Springs (as I discovered a couple of days before we left town). She threw up on Tuesday night and any time Wednesday when we were in the room. She stopped holding any food down, so we spent the Thursday morning before we left at the Emergency room at Evans (where she had been born) just making sure that she would be okay to travel. They gave us baby zantac -- which she hates and did absolutely no good anyway (probably the doctors proscribed it to calm us down). She threw up again the morning of the flight (when I say throw up, I mean about a two+ foot trajectory), but after the exit to the airport, all became well again.
One thing that the traveling with children books failed to mention is that they really don't understand jet lag. They are awake when they are awake. There is a limited amount we can do other than try to patiently wait for her schedule to sync with local time. The cat, Wilbur, is having similar issues. This has been hard on us both, as I have not been staying at the B&B by myself during the day. Instead, I have gone to Eric's office and sat in the chow hall or the internet cafe (which strangely has neither wireless nor coffee). Eileen and I have also gone walking and shopping together. Everyone is still on best behavior.
The B&B is lovely, but I have never seen such steep stairs. It makes getting Eileen up and down them a challenge (our bathroom is downstairs and our "room" -- which is really a sitting room, kitchenette, dining room, and a separate bedroom -- is upstairs. Our hosts are the former squadron commander two back from Eric and his Dutch wife (and two children, two dogs, and two horses (who live downstairs from us)). To understand how steep they are, picture a mountain goat, now picture Wilbur cat in that pose between two stairs. I would guess that the stairs are about 15-17 inches high for each riser. Thank goodness I only had to move Eileen and Wilbur up the stairs and the bags were grabbed by the Chief (Chief Euler), number two (Maj. McGowan), and Eric.
We have visited the current squadron commander at the home that we will start renting. I apparently had failed to understand Dutch stairs. Eric is going to build a box to cover the entrance to the stairs at the bottom - as I have yet to see a baby gate that could handle floating handrails. We have a Master bedroom on the zeroth floor and another room which we will turn into the nursery. Upstairs we will put a sitting room and two guest rooms (one with twin beds and one with a queen bed. There is also the equivalent of a 'bonus room' which I will set up as a playroom for Eileen and craft room for me. Eileen will only be allowed to be upstairs in rooms with doors that are closed. There is a rail around the upstairs landing with only horizontal slats (two of them spaced about 18-20 inches apart so that Eileen could easily slide under the lowest one and plummet down a full floor). So, mostly the upstairs will be used for guests or to watch TV. Downstairs will have our bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room/mudroom, garages, a large room for dining and living....it will be very nice. This arrangement has the added bonus that I will not have to clean the upstairs as often -- effectively cutting my cleaning time in half. There are no carpets anywhere except the downstairs full bath (there is a 3/4 bath upstairs which I seem to have failed to mention) and the bonus room has indoor/outdoor carpeting. If you are planning to visit, and have stairs problems, we will be happy to move upstairs for a few days and leave you in our room...depending on Eileen's age, we will either move her upstairs with us in our room or leave her in her room on the zeroth floor. After checking around at local hotels and B&Bs, almost nothing local has rooms on the zeroth floor and only one hotel in a 10km radius from our home has bathrooms attached.
I think that we will have to visit IKEA and look at area rugs as well as a queen size platform for the pillowtop guest mattress. Also, the light fixtures at the home are about the ugliest and poorest placed of any that I have ever seen. We will ask our landlords if we can switch them out.
I have already hit the grocery store. I am still getting used to trying to figure out whether I can eat something or not (I have strong reactions to Aspartame, chamomile, lavender, MSG...), but thus far I have done quite well. Grocery costs here are similar to doing all of your shopping at Whole Foods. So far, I have failed to find anything closer in costs to a Trader Joes. I also hit the local outdoor market in Uden, which reminds me of Haymarket in Boston but more expensive and without the aggressiveness in the salesmen.
I know that you all are clamoring for pictures, but 1) we don't have many yet, 2) I don't have the correct wire to get both of the photos I have taken to my mac (I do have one to get them to Eric's computer), and 3) we are holding out until we can find mini-clogs for the baby. Seriously, we have been busy and are pretty lousy about taking pictures.
In other news, our hosts had bought a bunch of baby food for Eileen. Most said 6 months or older, but there were some biscuits that looked similar to zweibok that she was old enough to try. She smeared the 1/4 cracker that I provided all over herself, but must have ingested some. So, she has now tried food. She didn't seem so very interested to try more right now, but we may let her try it again tomorrow night. I am trying to only give her food on days where we can immediately dunk both us into the bath after the experiment.
I'll write more at some point, but have to get ready for more excitement, now. We take our USAFE required driving tests tomorrow.
One thing that the traveling with children books failed to mention is that they really don't understand jet lag. They are awake when they are awake. There is a limited amount we can do other than try to patiently wait for her schedule to sync with local time. The cat, Wilbur, is having similar issues. This has been hard on us both, as I have not been staying at the B&B by myself during the day. Instead, I have gone to Eric's office and sat in the chow hall or the internet cafe (which strangely has neither wireless nor coffee). Eileen and I have also gone walking and shopping together. Everyone is still on best behavior.
The B&B is lovely, but I have never seen such steep stairs. It makes getting Eileen up and down them a challenge (our bathroom is downstairs and our "room" -- which is really a sitting room, kitchenette, dining room, and a separate bedroom -- is upstairs. Our hosts are the former squadron commander two back from Eric and his Dutch wife (and two children, two dogs, and two horses (who live downstairs from us)). To understand how steep they are, picture a mountain goat, now picture Wilbur cat in that pose between two stairs. I would guess that the stairs are about 15-17 inches high for each riser. Thank goodness I only had to move Eileen and Wilbur up the stairs and the bags were grabbed by the Chief (Chief Euler), number two (Maj. McGowan), and Eric.
We have visited the current squadron commander at the home that we will start renting. I apparently had failed to understand Dutch stairs. Eric is going to build a box to cover the entrance to the stairs at the bottom - as I have yet to see a baby gate that could handle floating handrails. We have a Master bedroom on the zeroth floor and another room which we will turn into the nursery. Upstairs we will put a sitting room and two guest rooms (one with twin beds and one with a queen bed. There is also the equivalent of a 'bonus room' which I will set up as a playroom for Eileen and craft room for me. Eileen will only be allowed to be upstairs in rooms with doors that are closed. There is a rail around the upstairs landing with only horizontal slats (two of them spaced about 18-20 inches apart so that Eileen could easily slide under the lowest one and plummet down a full floor). So, mostly the upstairs will be used for guests or to watch TV. Downstairs will have our bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room/mudroom, garages, a large room for dining and living....it will be very nice. This arrangement has the added bonus that I will not have to clean the upstairs as often -- effectively cutting my cleaning time in half. There are no carpets anywhere except the downstairs full bath (there is a 3/4 bath upstairs which I seem to have failed to mention) and the bonus room has indoor/outdoor carpeting. If you are planning to visit, and have stairs problems, we will be happy to move upstairs for a few days and leave you in our room...depending on Eileen's age, we will either move her upstairs with us in our room or leave her in her room on the zeroth floor. After checking around at local hotels and B&Bs, almost nothing local has rooms on the zeroth floor and only one hotel in a 10km radius from our home has bathrooms attached.
I think that we will have to visit IKEA and look at area rugs as well as a queen size platform for the pillowtop guest mattress. Also, the light fixtures at the home are about the ugliest and poorest placed of any that I have ever seen. We will ask our landlords if we can switch them out.
I have already hit the grocery store. I am still getting used to trying to figure out whether I can eat something or not (I have strong reactions to Aspartame, chamomile, lavender, MSG...), but thus far I have done quite well. Grocery costs here are similar to doing all of your shopping at Whole Foods. So far, I have failed to find anything closer in costs to a Trader Joes. I also hit the local outdoor market in Uden, which reminds me of Haymarket in Boston but more expensive and without the aggressiveness in the salesmen.
I know that you all are clamoring for pictures, but 1) we don't have many yet, 2) I don't have the correct wire to get both of the photos I have taken to my mac (I do have one to get them to Eric's computer), and 3) we are holding out until we can find mini-clogs for the baby. Seriously, we have been busy and are pretty lousy about taking pictures.
In other news, our hosts had bought a bunch of baby food for Eileen. Most said 6 months or older, but there were some biscuits that looked similar to zweibok that she was old enough to try. She smeared the 1/4 cracker that I provided all over herself, but must have ingested some. So, she has now tried food. She didn't seem so very interested to try more right now, but we may let her try it again tomorrow night. I am trying to only give her food on days where we can immediately dunk both us into the bath after the experiment.
I'll write more at some point, but have to get ready for more excitement, now. We take our USAFE required driving tests tomorrow.
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