In Relation...

to last week's Wayback Wednesday (which I accidentally posted on Tuesday)....

Does anyone other than me find THIS (troops on the ground) ironic considering THIS (less troops in EU)?

We would have been part of that lovely mass exodus hell (lots and lots of friends were) had Tanker not gotten his WTU transfer in.  It was messy, it was extremely trying for the families involved and it lessened our force numbers in the EU mightily.

Anyone else see the correlation?

(S/N:  Please take a quick second to send warm thoughts, hugs, prayers, whatever to a family that I grew up with...my first childhood friend has gone missing in a boating accident.  While I've not spoken to her in a while, I did spend a considerable amount of time with her twin girls playing nanny of sorts.  It's been nearly 24 hours since the accident....so, you know.)

A Looooooong Time Comin'

but it's finally happening.  In about 2 short weeks, we'll be back on US soil.  Back to the Ozarks we go...off to Fort Leonard Wood for a bit.

And so the fun of packing has come and gone...the furniture and most of the rest of the house all out of the house as of yesterday.  The rest of the goo gone in about a week and a half...us on a plane and Stateside by the end of the first of April.  OPSEC shot to hell, don't care...I'm ready to be home.  Ready to settle in and get back to business with getting ourselves set for the inevitable.

We've done alright from over here (Hubs is practically debt free...a little work left on mine).  But there's more to do.  So ready to get onto the rest of it.

Alas, that's all for now...see you on the other side of the pond soon!

Um...Wow!

Sorry I've been incredibly MIA...things are still crazy, we're still in Germany (obviously) and still awaiting orders back to the States.  Could be NC, could be TX or could be GA.  Yeah, they so aren't sending us back to MO (surprise, surprise).  Still don't know when...could be 2 months, could be 3 weeks, could be less.  So essentially we are living in perpetual limbo.  I'm sadly getting used to it.

It's rough, honestly, not knowing.  Harder on the kids knowing that we'll be leaving, just not knowing when.  Hard on me with planning out my classes and hard on Soldier on so many levels.  The whole not knowing is seriously a pain in the ass with any kind of planning to be honest.  Even the should be simple stuff like grocery shopping.  I know it sounds weird, but it is.  We could come down on orders and be gone in 3 weeks or less if they want it so...and I've seen a few friends get the "less" bit...like 8 working days.  Not so easy when everything around here closes not only on US holidays but German ones as well.

Anyway, we're still alive...still kicking...still waiting. 

More No News...

Soldier's diagnosis is pretty well complete.  Five (5) herniated disks...two in the neck, three in the lower back.  Moderate spinal curvature (and not in a good way) and possibly some (hopefully) temporary nerve damage.  Yay us!

No news on a "you're headed Stateside" date...the new system does that now, sends Soldiers back to the States to MEB out...fine by me!  Although I will miss my Doners, Eis and real schnitzel.  I won't miss the lovely goings-on that the Post has happening...like cutting off the hot water and heat at night to "save money/energy" (said with a mocking laugh, btw)...yeah, you read that one right.  The damn heat was on ALL summer, with the exception of the two warm (80's) weeks we had in September...now, the temps are hitting mid to lower 40's at night and mid 50's during the day with a wind that blows straight the f**k through the not so weatherproofed windows...no heat.  Nice.

Anywho...we await dates, which we won't get until mid-November at the earliest.  Either way, the Brown Dog and the Black Cat will have to find new homes...can't fly with us if the temp is 45 or below and as much as I love them, I don't see us forking over $1500 to fly them via PetAir to the States.  That conversation with the Screamers went over like a brick.

There's an update...scarce as it is.

No News...

is good news...right?

Well, we got news and it isn't so good.  Soldier is more damaged than originally thought, which means the land in Nevada is a no-go for right now.  No-go as in we won't be going there and starting from scratch.  Instead we will be heading home to MO, finding a place there and starting from not-so-scratch.  Soldier won't be doing any heavy lifting, building of big things or the such for quite some time.  He will be getting Medical Out, we just don't know when that will start or how it will work with new regs.  They (Garrison, I think) are trying to get a new regulation written that all Med Boards get sent back to the States to finish out.  That means homeward bound we shall be...eventually.

We've found a few places that have caught our eye...small homes, acreage, areas with no to few restrictions...not all that close to family but closer than we are now and not as far as Nevada.  We will be keeping the Nevada land...just in case.  It'll make for a nice backup and/or long family camping trips (really long).

Since we are now aware of the inevitable, the waiting is horrible.  Soldier has it the worst...unable to do much of anything...morning walks to the company (because he can't drive with the meds he's on and refuses to wake us all up at 0dark30 for me to drive him) wipe him out for the entire day.  The meds are pretty heavy and he's tired/hurting all the time regardless.  There is very little I can do for him to help, so we just plug away at the time we have left here.  I'm keeping an eye on him...watching for signs of depression and the like.  But I know what he's thinking...'what good is a Soldier that can't soldier?"  Not sure how much it's affected him, he talks but not a lot.  The good news is that he has a fantastic doc that really cares and goes to bat for her Soldiers.  This woman is an original and I adore her.

Alas, that's all the news from here for now...chilly night air is creeping in (we're having an Indian Summer right now) and the dog needs to pee.  

It's Just How I Feel....

don't know if it has to do with the land purchase, world issues (debt, stupidity, weather, etc.) or the fact that I finally got Tanker to go on board full on with the homestead...but that "panic" feeling has increased substantially the past few days.  That need to get started (on things not yet started) and moving along (on things that have) at a fast pace with ducking out and digging in.  Damn near full on jitters have set in.

The land purchase started out as a control thing (admitted)...wanted control over one thing with all the uncertainty swirling around Tanker's military career future.  I mean, they don't let ya know in the MSM (if you love that sort of stuff) all the trifling stuff that goes on at individual garrison/brigade/battalion/company levels; so the general public doesn't quite understand exactly HOW that 22,000+ troop cut from the Army works.  Think dirty politics folks and minimize it to a population of 12,000 with a command dead set on reducing numbers.  Who really cares if they're a good Soldier or not.  Things are being pulled out from a good number of Soldiers' pasts (things that punishment was served for, btw) and are being used to put them out.  Then you have Soldiers like Tanker, that do the right thing and don't get in trouble but get injured, that get screwed by the system repeatedly.  All the while, replacements are waiting in the wings, fresh faced and freshly trained...newbies to be sent off to far fetched lands.  But enough of that, it's not news to those in the know anyway...other than to say again, that's where the need to control one little thing came in:  hence the land purchase.

Now that it is done, the nagging bit of "let's get it started" has kicked in, even though I KNOW that we won't be able to even think of starting until Deutschland is a thing of the past (again)...right now, according to contract, that is a little under two years away....two LONG years.  Sigh.  I'm looking forward to those earned leave days that will let us spend time on the land, learning the lay of it better so we can truly start planning out the homestead.  Even though we have no idea when they might be allowed (if ever).  The bonus to being here though (I've lately realized) is that aside from the lack of the high temps we'll experience on the land, I can gather a lot of high altitude gardening tips from the locals.  The downside to that being that all that information will have to be notations in a book, not practical application, for some time.  Blah.

So I bide my time and begin building on the Homestead Library...thus far we've only acquired a couple of building books to add, but the wishlist is ever growing.  On the way now are this and this.  Those are for Tanker to thumb through so he can work on the final design.  We have a minimalist home plan already, it's just the integrating of other, more self-sufficient, elements that require tweaking of said design.  The outbuildings are all mine to tinker with.

Alas, the screamers are requiring attention....gotta work on that whole self-sufficient thing with them.  Later all!

Holy Sweet Crewcuts!

Okay, that title has zero bearing on this post...just felt like putting it up there, ha!

Long time no writes...yeah, I know.  Never fear, I've not been hiding away in a hole forgetting everyone (some of you will notice more than one "German" visitor to the blogs), just been embroiled in a battle of wits and words with the Soldier's "higher ups" due to Soldier being injured and kept downrange for un-godly and unnecessary amount of time.  I can point you direct to a little bit o' guberment waste in how his stuff was and has been handled but let's just say things are finally moving along as they should be and Soldier is doing better with PROPER treatment (ie not being made to do things he physically shouldn't be or can't be doing or being told by "leadership" that he's a fake and/or shamming).

At any rate, now that things are slightly more settled (for now) around here I can get back to this little chunk of web.

Topic jump!  Comparisons:  Food prep amounts here compared to food prep amounts in the States...lower.  Not that we scrape for meals, just that there isn't 6 months plus stored up right now.  Reason being that frankly if TSHTF here, it won't matter the amount of foodstuffs stored.  Things go super south, we'll just have to play it by ear.  That big green fence "separating" us from our German neighbors won't be enough of a deterrent to truly guarantee that we'd be squatting in spot.  Worse comes to worse, my bad German (speaking is bad, understanding is just fine) would come into play during a melt into the country kind of scenario (hence the brushing up).

Comparison #2:  Smaller car here means smaller kit for the car.  No more big tote in the back...now the essentials are packed in a small basket like tote that the Europeans love to pack to and from the shops.  Enough to get us through a day stuck out...no more, no less.  In winter there are extra emergency blankets, water, snacks and the whatnot tossed in, as well as a real live quilt.  Thinking on tossing in the old tent to just have back there year round...car is 10yrs old, used and wasn't well taken care of by it's previous owners.  A breakdown is inevitable, so a tent to pitch isn't a bad thing I guess.  It's not being used for anything other than taking up space in a closet right now anyway.

Topic jump again...sorta.  While I love it here (Germany, not this particular duty station...this exact spot kinda sucks, just sayin'), I'm looking forward to the next duty station (as of yet undetermined).  We're debating the pros and cons of each offering, while the Soldier looks to change his MOS (isn't call for Tankers when tanks aren't being used after all).  I'm personally all for Lewis-McChord....Soldier is undecided.  We shall see.

Now, onto adieu for the time being...working on debt reduction (whole 'nother post) and my time off is out!

A New Year Approaches...

according to the calendar at least.  Don't know about you, but my ever increasing sense of "whoa, wait a minute there bud" is...well, ever increasing.  Having spent the last few months in a slightly further removed from the rest of it bubble (physically at least) and sort of watching the downward spiral from a different view, then proceeding to allow my love of history and a modern culture ADD-fueled comparison to take over...things are most definitely ticking toward BOOM vs crash.  Implosion of the loudest kind, I do believe.  No, I do not look forward to it...my German is not good enough just yet and that skill is one that is necessary for surviving in a land where German is the language spoken.

Of course, one collapse will string along others in this modern interconnected world of ours.  Who will be left standing unscathed?  None.  Even the most closed countries rely on some other country for something, not a one is self-sufficient.  It's the domino effect in full force...I wonder if it would look similar from space...a bunch of countries tilting one after another until the last one clatters to a halt.  That would be a design worth looking at.  Frightening, yet still intriguing.

As it stands, I've decided that no one is ever fully prepared.  No one.  While our stocks and supplies will last a goodly time and my sketchy German is enough to squeak by, we will never be fully prepared for the unpredictability of the future...that's why it's called unpredictable.  Heck, even the meteorologists (once pretty good at predicting weather) are getting a workout lately.  Ma Nature is showing them all who is boss and refuses to fall in line with what is "average" lately.

Example:  The lovely European snowfall that tangled up Holiday travelers.  Yeah, light snow expected my ass!  (see previous post for "light snow" pictures)

Further Example of the unpredictability of the future:  Last night a sewage line burst in our building at about 10 p.m., flooding over half the basement and community laundry room with raw sewage.  Storage for each apartment in the building is located...can you guess it?...in the basement.  No fewer than 8 of our neighbor families have spent some part of today trying salvage what can be salvaged from the poo.  We got lucky...the pipe was at the other end of the building.

Now, as one that makes some sort of an attempt at learning from the past, Further Example has prompted me to do what I had merely talked about doing all spring/summer.  Fork over cash for the purchase of shelving units for our storage area.  Will it keep stuff from being damaged in the event of another poo-fall or (as I've found out recently) spring thaw flooding?  No, not all of it...but it'll buy us time.  Time to get to the non-poo covered items and bring them to safety.

Any recent events in your day-to-day prompt you to action lately?

Happy Thanksgiving...

and safe travels to those traveling.

Personally, we're sitting tight and entertaining a gaggle (or is it passel?) of friends and neighbors with my uber fattening cooking. Yeah baby!

If you get bored with football during Turkey Day...read these...should get you good and fired up.

TSA idiots Blog #1

TSA idiots Blog #2

Stepping in it...

at some point this evening, I will be "stepping in it." Anyone on the outside of the situation looking in would call it a power struggle...I call it "teaching a young officer's wife her position in the world (or at least in this Company)."

Hence the stepping in it. My usual laid back self paired with a high strung (self admitted) control freak in charge of assisting a Company of wives, passing along info to them and keeping them fairly happy is not working well. You see, I realize that there are certain rules and regulations put into place for very good reasons (don't believe me...Google "Leslie Drinkwine")...my partner, not so much (again...Leslie Drinkwine).

And the time has come (the Walrus said) to slap a little reality on the plate...either choke it down or step away from the table. I've been really, super incredibly good the past few months and put a tether on my opinionated mouth...nice even. But when it comes to a (volunteer) work environment that is rapidly turning hostile, well...I'm done. Unlike my partner, I'm not in for the glory or the title...there is enough life and military experience under this belt to know that the whole point of this group is support, not so much a popularity contest when it really comes down to it. You want to be popular, fine...be popular.

So, tonight...I'm stepping in it. Wish me luck and hope I come out with the use of both legs!

Adding a New Dimension...

to the preps...ladies and gentlemen, I am now the parent of a "special needs" child. Funny how one little visit to the doc and one little test can take you from being the parent of a somewhat normal, happy, healthy kid into a googling the medical terms maniac.

The oldest screamer was diagnosed with bilateral permanent hearing loss (lower decible levels) a couple of days ago. Meaning: Hearing aides for the rest of his life as the condition (whether genetic or caused by birth trauma, at this time unknown) is irreversible by medication and/or surgery. Oldest screamer is 6. We do not yet know what kind of hearing aides (digital or analog) Tricare will pay for, or the full extent of the loss...have to get into the ENT for a consult and go from there.

But this means a whole new level for prepping. Specialized batteries, cleaning and care of stuff, etc. On top of that, I've pulled out the ASL book for a restart in lessons for the whole family this time. Basic signs for youngsters and us adults for now, then onto more intense stuff. Why? Well, because the condition MAY be progressive/degenerative, because I want to be able to talk to my child should the worst happen and finally, because it's the smart thing to do. Silent communication. Why not.

Next Major Purchase...

for the household is something similar to this (link in English 'cause I like ya). Along with some totes and such...why? Because we have a serious lack of storage for the oodles of canned goods that I "hoard" here. Oh and the cases of shelf stable milk (not exactly the same, but close enough...and not half & half) I keep buying. Hey, it's only 41 cents (Euro) on the economy per carton...can't pass that one up.

After that a new bed for the Spousal Unit and myself may be in order but I'm thinking that new mattresses and slats would be way, way cheaper (and I'm right there). Of course there is always the continued purchasing of food items and other such things as would be needed to make it through several months of no fundage in the event of an extreme emergency...so I've been keeping an eye on the ever flucuating pay (thanks non-stable COLA rate) and have decided that the most logical turn for a budget would be not to include said COLA. We're also going local (sorta) and switching our spot for main pay deposit...our little bank back in MO makes it a little bit of a pain in the rear to work with ATMs (fees and whatnot) which drives me batty as hell.

Just a little update from across the pond...a little trivial in light of current events, but an update none-the-less.

Watching CNN...

International (of course)...not so much controlled, imo.

I don't know what's top news there, but here the headlines are insane. Israel, Egypt, Gaza, the Koreas, China, Japan, the Euro and the German Presidental resignation and of course, BP and the Gulf...I'm exhausted just trying to keep up with that. Throw two little wild men into the mix along with school work (papers, presentations, etc) and the house...yeah, I'm tired.

But enough of my exhaustion...I want to know how your gardens grow? As I have no yard, no balcony and no place but some fairly narrow window sills in which to grow veggies, I am having garden withdrawals. I could totally grow tomatoes or something in the window sills, but the weather around here has been so freakish that I don't know how well they'd do. Very wet and pretty doggone cold for late May-going into June. So the sills are filled with petunias (bonus of having a ground floor).

Of course, all this really means is that I won't be canning this year unless the fruit/veg at the local market is so spectacular that I simply cannot pass up buying bushels of it (I have yet to be impressed but know I could be so if I took the trip to Frankfurt). Okay, fine...give me more time to explore the local locale and get to know the locals better, lol.

So, go on...brag on your gardens!

#200...

Wow...there's actually a few good posts buried (as in John Wayne style of saying..."burreed") in here somewhere too...but this one is #200. Wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been smacking a little hand away from the screen as I was clicking. Go figure.

Enough drivel...on to some chatter!

Made some nice purchases this weekend, danke to the bi-annual case lot sales that make their way around the military. Grabbed up some extra shampoo and the likes along with laundry detergent and tp...and for the oldest a case of his weakness...Cheez-its. I know, oh so healthy but now I can go grocery shopping semi-peacefully...no begging for Cheez-its!! The sale was semi-decent...lots of diapering stuff like those new Cruisers that have been in the news (which we don't need), paper goods (Charmin, Small Steps, etc.), bathtime stuff (V05 and St. Ives) and detergent (Tide, Gain, Purex, etc)...not much else that we are into though. I think when the next sale rolls around in September I'll make the drive to a bigger post to see what they've got...maybe. I do have to say that I miss the Statesides sales when compared with ours here. As it is, we added to the preps quite well with this sale and will hopefully continue to stumble on some rocking deals.

I do have to give our post Thrift Store some props though. We've picked up a good chunk of "new to us" furniture lately...'tis the season for PCS and everyone is trying to make a little extra $$ with the selling of extra stuff. So we win with great deals on gently used goods...works for me as I have no issues with perfectly good furniture that's been a little loved. Besides, we picked up two vintage pieces for practically nothing. Call it Shabby Chic, lol.

And last but not least, you'll be pleased to know that my not-so-obsessive fabric and yarn hoarding will come to good use. I don't have THAT much, but dang it...I've got enough to do a little self-decorating. Self as in making curtains (since they cost an arm and a leg at the PX and I've not yet made an IKEA run) and later this spring/summer the knitting of hats, gloves and neck sweaters (aka scarves) for the screamer and myself. Not that I need them but dang if these kids just won't quit growing on me. I knew saving all that stuff would come in handy, as did buying off-cuts and such from the sale bins at JoAnn's and Wally World (when Wally World still had a semi-decent fabric section). My only downfall is the closest fabric store to me right now is a quilt shop with killer high end fabrics...heaven help the pocketbook if I ever get the guts to go in.

But then, if the Euro continues to tank...I may not need so much help!

So....

we totally thought we'd be able to swing it without a car. And we were!! UNTIL....it came to light that the oldest has some pretty big hearing issues which will require treatment at a medical facility that our post no longer has a shuttle to...go figure! Alas, we are now absolutely going to have to do the whole car purchase thing.

Yes, the public transit rocks it...but with the oldest screamer now in DoD school (and loving it, totally thriving) the extreme timing between buses and trains will make it a bit ugly on days that treatment is scheduled. So, I am studying up for the test since I can't just renew my now expired license because it's been expired for over a year. Not stressing though, the test is pretty doggone easy in my previous experience.

Speaking of dogs...we broke down and got the youngest screamer a dog. But nobody tell her that, she's under the impression she belongs to me. English Cocker that now goes by the name Brownie. I wanted to name her Snack but the Spouse nixed that. Oh well...she's here and doing really well.

Oh my dear flooded friends, I am sorry...we have your weather and you have ours. The sun was stunning all week last week here...but never fear, the usual clouds have moved back in and it's been raining off and on the past few days (more off than on). Hope you dry out very soon and the damage is repairable.

Now, I'm off to fix some lunch...since I totally skipped breakfast in my hurried need to get stuff unpacked (yay for finally getting our stuff) and my bed put together!!

Hallo, Hallo...

my dear neglected readers! I swear, I've not abandoned you...it's just been too incredibly sunny and beautiful here to not be out and about getting to know our surroundings better. No adventures on the bahnhof to report, yet, but I'm sure they are soon to be forthcoming. Especially as the oldest screamer is all agog over the prospect. Castle sightings were planned for the weekend, until the Tanker pulled Staff Duty and the weatherman declared that our long lost rain will be once again making an appearance.

The usual super rainy spring here has been anything but for the past week or so. Seems we're getting the weather that my Ozarks are supposed to have and they are getting ours. Not a bad trade for me!

We still await the mail getting back to normal and caught up due to the volcanic delays. Should be good by the end of the week, so "they" say...I don't care, I want my friggin' shoes that I ordered before the volcano went ape-shit. Soon enough I suppose, but it's getting mighty tiresome to actually have to tie on tennis shoes every time I need to step out the door (which translates into every time I do laundry).

The oldest screamer is now a DoD student and thriving. Loving it. Still ahead of the curve, but fitting in well with his new peers. Sigh of relief. Littlest screamer has made a few friends his own age too, something that was pretty much out when we were still Stateside consider there were no kids his age in the neighborhood. I noticed this morning though that when littlest screamer starts pre-K (or Sure Start as they call it here) the largest majority of his classmates will be of the female persuasion...heaven help me and my little flirt.

Depsite the horrid exchange rate, I've been finding some killer deals on everyday use items (i.e. shelf stable milk, toilet paper, etc) on the economy...another sigh, this time of happiness...gives me further excuse to explore the lovely little town outside the gates. On foot. That's right, we've pretty much decided that we won't be getting a car. Why bother? We have buses, trains and taxis that can be used for far less than the cost of gasing up a car. The Tanker isn't overly thrilled about this, but he'll live. He can get a new bicycle and be fine. Besides, all the walking is doing wonders for lifting my slowly sagging rear.

Hope all is well in reader land...off to brew me some tea and rip into my vanilla sugar packs...mmmmmmmm.

Slowly Settling...

we're in our new digs...and waiting on our own goods to get here.

Been interesting in these parts the past few days, what with the sudden lack of planes/chem trails in the sky. Nice to look up and see blue sky with not a trace of any of that mess. Had a chat with the taxi driver that dragged me and the groceries home this a.m. about it...his brother in Frankfurt thinks it's eerie. No planes, no noise, no chem trails. Being that he shuttles from the airport up there he's anxious to see flights going again and worried about the whole continuing erruption. His bread and butter afterall.

Oh, forgot to drop this one on ya...the eldest screamer has decided he wants to give "school in a building" a shot again. Fine, 6 weeks left in the year so we'll see how he does. The youngest on the other hand has NO desire to go because "girls might kiss" him and he'll "have to marry them all." I'm not really sure where that kid came from.

Ah...the bed calls since I'll have to be alive and somewhat human for tomorrow's adventure at the school with teacher and counselors (I swear it takes less paperwork to get a license than to enroll a kid in school).

Much love to ya'll weathering the storms (in more ways than one) in the States.

Alive...

totally. And at last adjusted to the time difference. Not much to say about our little area here except that the lovely hills have knocked 8lbs off my rear and have given me a bit more tone to the legs (not that they were shabby...just sayin'). We await housing and are holed up in the post hotel at the moment. The screamers are adjusting pretty well, I think. Excited, whiny when we walk to the Com/PX but liking it thus far.

I did learn something on my time off...one SHOULD NOT read "The Stand" while they are battling a severe case of bronchitis. SHOULD NOT. As usual, the book is way better than the movie (yes, I hadn't yet read the book...it is on my re-read list, while NOT sick).

Hope all is well in reader land and yes, I do get the news...I'm well aware of the goings on in the world...just don't have the time to jump in the fray at the moment.