Monday, July 21, 2014
I'm starting a new series. In this series I will document and rant and rave about the things I wish Germany would get with the times on, and vice versa, what I wish the U.S. would catch on to. There's so many of them!
For today we will be featuring Euro cash.
If you are new to the area, new to Germany, or even just new to European life, I have news for you. It's ridiculously slow. And part of that slowness is in the way money is handled and dealt.
Everywhere you go accepts.... cash only! What?
You don't get to see those cool sign that say "Visa/MasterCard/American Express Accepted Here". Nope. None of that.
It's only the euros baby! Which is kind of annoying because there's like a hundred different sizes of the bills and the coins too. This doesn't work out with the OCD part of my personality. I can't keep these babies bundled and cute and in order cause their shape is so skewampus.
For today we will be featuring Euro cash.
If you are new to the area, new to Germany, or even just new to European life, I have news for you. It's ridiculously slow. And part of that slowness is in the way money is handled and dealt.
Everywhere you go accepts.... cash only! What?
You don't get to see those cool sign that say "Visa/MasterCard/American Express Accepted Here". Nope. None of that.
Do you see in that picture how there's no dollar bills? The lowest "bill" they have is a 5. So that means I have HEAVY €2 and €1 coins. Heavy. In my purse. And it's not like a quarter where if you misplace it, it's no big deal. Freakin €2 is $2.70! Mucho Dinero. And then there's the 2 euro cents. and the 10s and the 20s and the 50s. Holy cow centsman!
So anyway, sometimes I'll be somewhere and I want to just pull out my handy debit card and then I realize I can't even use it at somewhere like McDonalds and I'm left to sweat and dig around for all the expensive change i have. #Frustrating. Yeah. I totally hashtag'ed that.
The end of this rant.
On to better, more enlightening things. Remember that blog? The David one? I'm going back to old school and am emailing out the links when he writes a new post. Let me know if you want in on that goodness.
Do you prefer cash over debit? If so, what century were you born in? Jk.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
I begin by mentioning one of the most inevitable aspects of our lives here upon the earth, and that is change. At one time or another we’ve all heard some form of the familiar adage: “Nothing is as constant as change.” -President Monson, 2008We were driving home from Graf today and Sadie in the life stage she is in, only wants to listen to girl music. Meaning, songs sung by females. However, today she didn't actually express a preference and therefore I wanted to show her I care. So we listened to girl music. First it was Party in the U.S.A. (its her fav) and then it was Haunted by Taylor Swift. She told me that was her favorite song. And then we listened to Mr. Know it All by Kelly Clarkson. And the last song of the day was Firework. She still said Haunted was her favorite song. It couldn't be that she's in love with Monster High right now could it? lol.
So later in the day she got dressed up in a princess dress and a cape. She wanted her picture taken so I obliged. I'm always happy to. Because I know I'll treasure these.
At first she said it was her long hair. |
I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now. -President MonsonSo instead of worrying about running inside to get my phone to capture a moment I knew I wanted to have for later when I could blog about it, I just sat and marveled at the beauty that was a girl on a swing.
Still in her cape and princess dress, barefoot with tangled hair, I stared as she watched herself in the reflection she cast upon the storage shed next to her. I saw how happy she was when she went forward. She could see the cape floating behind her, as if she were flying. The lighting was perfect. The sun was setting and it was as if not only was she glowing, but so was her soul. She was on fire actually. She kept going back and forth, back and forth and I caught her grin as she looked at herself, a superhero... soaring.
I sometimes forget about the age of this girl. She's 5 on the outside but definitely has an older spirit. She loves and she cares deeply. She's so intuitive. She's a perfectionist. She's thoughtful.
Lately she's been saying thank you for everything. It catches me off guard every time. I'm not used to it. She draws pictures so carefully too. The other day I sent David this picture. She re-did it the first time because she didn't like her butterfly's wings.
Anyway, this girl is my sunshine. I often give her a hard time because of her sensitive soul but I promise that tonight, I will love her better.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
In looking back, I write/wrote the most when I was in PA. And I think it's happening again with DE. It's my connection to you, my dear real friends and internet stalker friends. It makes me feel more at home.
These days are so slow. It's only been ... not a lot of days since David left. It feels very much like China did. Because when he was in China, he was in a different country, and internet was sketchy and it felt forever away. Good news is, he's not even that far from me right now. I could technically drive to him because at least we're on the same continent!
A lot of people wanna know how I'm doing. Let me be honest. I'm mostly being honest for selfish reasons. I want to look back at this post 6 months from now and smile at how silly it seemed. But for now, there is no laughing. Only a lot of crying.
I've been feeling the need lately to be validated. But really, who cares what you think right? Apparently I do. And I'm gonna open a can of worms here and say that I am surprised by the lack of sympathy/empathy from other milspouses (that's for you sister). I would think that with so many of them having been there done that, they would be much more inclined to whine with and for me. Ha. Alas, it is not so.
There was one woman who really sat with me in it. It was a gift from God I tell you. I saw her, no, she saw ME at the gas station. I was loading up my rambunctious kids (because in Germany, there is no paying at the pump. I know right?) and she came over and chatted with me for about 10 minutes. I swear to you, it's experiences like this that totally convince me there is someone out there watching out for me. Because I so needed that. I told her how his deployment isn't technically that long and she said her friend once said, "If you get shot in the foot once, does it hurt less than if you get shot twice?" Probably not right? Does it matter that a loved one is gone 6 weeks or 6 months or a year? No. It doesn't matter to the person experiencing it. Take that unempathetic (I think I made that word up) spouses!
Maybe what I'm forgetting is that while many of these women/men have done deployments, I'm not sure many of them have done first duty stations, foreign, and deployments all within MONTHS of each other. I'm sure its happened. But it's a lot to take in.
So no, living in Germany has NOT proven as glamorous as it seems. I want to go back to honeymoon phase of loving Germany. That was when we first got here, were living in lodging on post, David wasn't working much and we got to travel a little bit.
Again, I am pretty sure these feelings will go away. Possibly once David gets back, and off of that stupid thing where he can't go anywhere for like ever, and we get to go cool places again.
For now, I'm gonna probably unfollow a bunch of peeps on da Facebook. It's summertime and everyone is traveling (US and European frens) and it's rough man! My traveling consists of the 25 minute drive on post to go to the PX! Woooooot! We got Skittles! Wooooooot!
These days are so slow. It's only been ... not a lot of days since David left. It feels very much like China did. Because when he was in China, he was in a different country, and internet was sketchy and it felt forever away. Good news is, he's not even that far from me right now. I could technically drive to him because at least we're on the same continent!
A lot of people wanna know how I'm doing. Let me be honest. I'm mostly being honest for selfish reasons. I want to look back at this post 6 months from now and smile at how silly it seemed. But for now, there is no laughing. Only a lot of crying.
I've been feeling the need lately to be validated. But really, who cares what you think right? Apparently I do. And I'm gonna open a can of worms here and say that I am surprised by the lack of sympathy/empathy from other milspouses (that's for you sister). I would think that with so many of them having been there done that, they would be much more inclined to whine with and for me. Ha. Alas, it is not so.
There was one woman who really sat with me in it. It was a gift from God I tell you. I saw her, no, she saw ME at the gas station. I was loading up my rambunctious kids (because in Germany, there is no paying at the pump. I know right?) and she came over and chatted with me for about 10 minutes. I swear to you, it's experiences like this that totally convince me there is someone out there watching out for me. Because I so needed that. I told her how his deployment isn't technically that long and she said her friend once said, "If you get shot in the foot once, does it hurt less than if you get shot twice?" Probably not right? Does it matter that a loved one is gone 6 weeks or 6 months or a year? No. It doesn't matter to the person experiencing it. Take that unempathetic (I think I made that word up) spouses!
Maybe what I'm forgetting is that while many of these women/men have done deployments, I'm not sure many of them have done first duty stations, foreign, and deployments all within MONTHS of each other. I'm sure its happened. But it's a lot to take in.
So no, living in Germany has NOT proven as glamorous as it seems. I want to go back to honeymoon phase of loving Germany. That was when we first got here, were living in lodging on post, David wasn't working much and we got to travel a little bit.
Again, I am pretty sure these feelings will go away. Possibly once David gets back, and off of that stupid thing where he can't go anywhere for like ever, and we get to go cool places again.
For now, I'm gonna probably unfollow a bunch of peeps on da Facebook. It's summertime and everyone is traveling (US and European frens) and it's rough man! My traveling consists of the 25 minute drive on post to go to the PX! Woooooot! We got Skittles! Wooooooot!
J and J! |
No caption needed |
Thanks Jared! |
Friday, July 4, 2014
So this is totally my 4th or 5th year being alone on the 4th. LAMMMMEEEEEE
Thankfully I have rockstar neighbors. We had fun. We sat in my driveway and kids played and we ate good freaking grilled food. I'm talking brats and bacon and burgers. And some good friends convinced me that TV is a better addiction than other things. So that's happy. Thanks friends.
Bad news is fireworks go off at 10:30ish or 11. So that's not happening. I'm not wearing pants.
Good news is my sister is coming here. As in, a one-way ticket. I'm pretty sure she hasn't told anyone yet so don't tell her I told you.
My internet is not on. I'm totally using one of my neighbors. BEcause they are nice. And share. Sharing is caring. I'm only slightly irritated because I can't watch any of my shows. No Big Brother. No SYTYCD. Good news is I'll have a lot of catching up to do. And the other good news is I have Season 3 of Friends to watch. Which is also bad news because I'm already half way done with it and I have 3 days left before I get internet and no additional seasons.
David did cool things today. He blogged about it. Do you want to read it? Okay! It's good. I'll share it. BUt I have to go make sure it's OPSEC before the lions jump all over me.
As for the picture below..its my new favorite Instagram account. Hilarious. Go follow them and tell them I sent you. Haha. And it's not actually true..I had a great 4th.
Thankfully I have rockstar neighbors. We had fun. We sat in my driveway and kids played and we ate good freaking grilled food. I'm talking brats and bacon and burgers. And some good friends convinced me that TV is a better addiction than other things. So that's happy. Thanks friends.
Bad news is fireworks go off at 10:30ish or 11. So that's not happening. I'm not wearing pants.
Good news is my sister is coming here. As in, a one-way ticket. I'm pretty sure she hasn't told anyone yet so don't tell her I told you.
My internet is not on. I'm totally using one of my neighbors. BEcause they are nice. And share. Sharing is caring. I'm only slightly irritated because I can't watch any of my shows. No Big Brother. No SYTYCD. Good news is I'll have a lot of catching up to do. And the other good news is I have Season 3 of Friends to watch. Which is also bad news because I'm already half way done with it and I have 3 days left before I get internet and no additional seasons.
David did cool things today. He blogged about it. Do you want to read it? Okay! It's good. I'll share it. BUt I have to go make sure it's OPSEC before the lions jump all over me.
As for the picture below..its my new favorite Instagram account. Hilarious. Go follow them and tell them I sent you. Haha. And it's not actually true..I had a great 4th.
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