We are doing the last of the cleaning. We took a break today to go watch "Pirates of the Carribean". I slept through most of it. LOL.. The theatre was cool and dark and I guess I was just too tired.
The computer gets packed tonight, so this will probably be my last entry for awhile. See you all in the states!
take two. Cat doing fine. Fibrosarcoma. lots of info on the net. No scabbing at the bleed site. Stopping at the vet on the way "out of town" Monday. But she is eating and sleeping well.
It has been so hot these last few days. Hard to stay motivated to clean (which we must) when it's so hot. Still.. we are making progress. Of course today has to be the big sprint. We want to have everything here essentially done so that we can relax and enjoy tomorrow.
The biopsy on the mass that Smokey had has come back. She had some type of cancer. A fast growing one, but not a particularly aggressive one. The vet believes that she got all of the tumor with good, clean margins. So that was all good news.
Yesterday we took Smokey in for her health certificate. This needs to be issued no sooner than 10 days before traveling. She was fine yesterday when the vet saw her.
This morning Smokey has been bleeding. Initially I thought it was perhaps anal bleeding. Once I had the chance to really look her over I discovered that she had a small hole to the right of her "pucker". I can not see where she might have injured herself. The area around the hole appears to be bruised and raised. The military vet clinic is closed for the rest of the week. The bleeding is minimal, but we are concerned. Unfortunately with our departure planned for Tuesday, we are unsure what to do. Our plan for the moment is to watch her and if it does not appear to get better, or if it gets worse we will contact one of the German vets.
I'm getting pretty excited about going back to the states. First of all, there is a high chance that most places I go into I will be able to communicate my needs in english. Secondly, as good as the commissary and PX are at trying to keep new products available to us, there just isn't enough space in our stores for all of it. So I am looking forward to shopping in the states, where I can find all the food stuffs and other things I want within a reasonable drive to my house.
What I'm really excited about today though is that there are 10 WW meetings within a 25 mile radius of the post, including one that is only two miles away. I have decided that when we are back in the states, I am going to try WW meetings. I know the program and I think it's a pretty good one, but until now I've never attended the meetings. I've either been "at home" or "on line". Some success both ways, but nothing lasting. I'm hoping that the added benefit of attending meetings will be that extra oomph I need to keep me motivated.
The closest meeting to me meets on Wednesday, so I can even begin the day after we arrive in MD if I want! I am so ready to be focused and done. I've seen so many of our bloggers here successfully meet one goal after another and while I'm happy for them, I'm seriously tired of taking one step forward and two steps back. It's time to be done!
This is the last Monday that we will be living in this stairwell. Our final inspection is scheduled for next Monday at 9:00 AM. After which, we will be leaving this post for the last time and spending the night in Frankfurt to catch our plane Tuesday.
We've decided to forego the local hotel and stay in the house until Monday morning. This will save us a bit of money since we'll be able to keep the cat with us til the last minute as well. We are starting the "room a day" project to get the house ready for the final inspection. Mind you, our place is slated for painting as soon as we move out, so there isn't too much for us to do anyway, but there is enough that we shouldn't wait til the last minute to get it all finished.
We have two more work orders in for two things they missed last week when they were in here. Both items are in the master bathroom, so I need to clear it out to give them room to work. This is one of my projects today.
We finally received our P.O Box at our next station so now we can start sending out boxes of our stuff ahead of time. We spent this weekend packing up a lot of it. We intend to be done making dinners here by Wed. or Thurs, so that we have time to clean the oven and keep it clean. Plus.. we figure we'll be working so hard at the end we might as well treat our selves to dinner at night. :) We are hoping to have the house totally completed by Saturday night.
If we can meet that goal, then we can spend Sunday away from here for the day.
As is often the case, what you expect to be the least problem becomes the "big" problem. Our neighbors very kindly offered us the use of their extra car once our car was shipped. It was so nice of them and it was a big help last week. But on Friday, it needed to have the registration renewed, which included an inspection. The car failed the inspection, the car could not be re-registered and Paul and I are now on foot for everything. No biggie really, since Paul managed to do most of the stuff he really needed the car for last week.
It's just a bit inconvenient. Our cat has her health check up (they need a certificate 10 days before travel) on Wednesday this next week and it's a 45 minute drive away. Neighbors are still trying to help out be re-arranging their schedule so that we can borrow the other car, but worse case scenario,.. Paul is renting a car starting from Wednesday until we leave.
Anyway.. Its kind of a fun process to watch the foodstuffs slowly dwindle on the shelves. It's so seldom that even the staples get down this low, you know? But.... slowly and surely I am using up most of the products we've had on hand.
One of the things I like about moving is the opportunity to revamp the kitchen at the other end. So.. that makes it easier to start a new diet, since I won't have brought in any diet damagers.
Today's new recipe was Easy Overnight Apple French Toast. It was really good, but I probably should have baked it just a bit longer. And it probably won't stay in the repertoire because of the sugar and such.. but still very good for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast.
Our hold baggage was picked up on Tuesday. This is the stuff that you need as long as possible at this end and as quickly as possible at the other end.. Computer, TV, cookware, bedding. Now, the only stuff left in my house must either fit in the suit cases or be mailed to us (p.o. box) in MD.
Thankfully, we have great neighbors. Even though our TV's are gone, the Mitchells are lending us their extra TV. And we're down to using Paul's laptop for computer work.
Today we had the bathtubs re-caulked and 3 of 4 light fixtures fixed. When you leave housing you have to have everything in working order when you go, so this requires figuring out what all needs to be done and getting those work orders into the system. All that's left in that area is a door repair, one more light fixture, and a medicine cabinet repair.
We are down to just 13 days left. I can't believe how quickly it's unwinding towards the end. Paul is doing his last flight in Germany tonight. So part of his tomorrow will include turning in his "flight issue".
I'm in the process of using all the food products that are left. Tonight I tried a new recipe Coconut Shrimp. I had to do a few substitutions, but it was a big hit and a new recipe to add to my repertoire. This recipe I got from the Cooking Light website....so if you like Coconut Shrimp.. and are watching calories.. you might want to check it out.
Okay, so to explain in more detail what happened on Tuesday. It seems so nuts now. I was in one of those moods that no good can come of interaction with me.
Tuesday morning was our last day in Berlin. We had decided to spend the morning looking at two museums (egyptian, magic). Well... as I'm taking my shower that morning, Kendra decides that she only has the energy for one museum. (she's the one that wanted to see these two museums). I say fine... but you know.. we don't have to go to either if you just want to go home. But she says.. no.. I would like to see one or the other.. We settle on the Magic Museum. It is supposed to have all kinds of stuff about mysticism as well as religious history. And a gift shop.
I've probably not mentioned this before... but I collect Tarot Cards. I was really looking forward to seeing this gift shop because the write up on the museum included mentioning Tarot cards and I was hoping that I might find a deck that I don't already own with the added bonus of having procured a deck from a source other than the U.S.
So.. Monday night I had done all the road research for the two museums, figured out which ParkHaus we should use and all that. Once we narrowed it down to just the one museum, I suggested that we try to find parking on the street near it.
Off we go in the car to the other side of Berlin (the museum was located in what was previously "east berlin". I get us in the general area of the museum and we begin looking for parking... or rather I begin looking for parking.. about this time (10-15 minutes into our day), the chorus from the back of the car begins "lets' just go home".. it started off with Mac, but then Kim and eventually Kendra started in too. We turn corners, me trying to keep us on the map ANDlook for a parking place, while Paul is doing the actual driving.
Did I mention Berlin is a FIFA town? There was a soccer game going on Friday and there was one scheduled for Tuesday night (which I didn't realize). There was very little parking available, there was a fest going on in the area. However, even with that I found not one, not two, but three separate parking spaces. And everytime I'd say.. "there's parking" .. Paul would drive right on by.
He eventually parked in a spot after I yelled at him "take that one!".. but a polizei was standing about 100 feet in front of the space talking with someone and he began to stare at us .... for some reason (we were in a marked parking space), this made Kim and Paul nervous. So while I'm trying to get us all located on the map so we could walk towards the museum, they are freaking out that this polizei is staring at our car. "Did I do something wrong? Are you sure this is a parking place?" is what Paul kept asking over and over again. And then he says "Maybe we should cut our losses and just go home."
Fine.. I gave up in frustration... navigated him to the highway. And then I went to sleep. The next thing I know he's pulling off at a McDonalds to feed the kids... never bothered to ask me if I wanted to eat there (I hate German McDonalds). So I stayed in the car while they went in to eat (but of course ... first there was an argument).
I was so hurt that nobody seemed to care that this particular museum was important to me for a number of reasons. I couldn't believe that they picked a McDonalds to eat at. ARGH.
When we got home a few hours later, I had never been given the chance to get anything to eat. So I left the kids to help Paul empty the car and I went inside to find something to eat. Later, I told Paul that since nobody could be bothered to be concerned about me that I was done doing everything for everybody.. I was not cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. And then Paul said "fine.. if you are not going to doyour share in this house... you don't need to be eating the food that MY paycheck buys."
Needless to say... after that statement I was on the internet looking for airline tickets home. Sadly, they cost about 4,000 for a one way to Phoenix. I couldn't ask my mother, brother or sister to help me with a ticket that costly... and at the moment I have no money of my own.
Paul appologized profusely later on... but you know.. certain things said, can't be unsaid. And that goes for me too. I truly behaved like a spoiled child that didn't get her way. The only thing missing was the full out body contact tantrum.
There is just no way that I can make myself seem good in this narrative. Suffice it to say that Today has been one of those "horrible no good days" and that thanks to how things fell apart, I've managed to feel like I count for nothing to my family. I always go to bat for them, but nobody was on my side today.
I am seriously considering leaving Paul because I don't like this at all.
