Potpourri

Time has gotten away from me once again and here I sit, a good six months from my last post. Since Thanksgiving, Jerry has returned home from his deployment safe and sound (thank the Lord), Caleb has started playing on a German soccer league (very scary), Michael has decided he loves baseball (Phew! we thought we'd never find his sport) and I have been to ROME.

This is me in the Baths of Caracalla, just one of the three thousand shots I took. I was there for UMUC's Expatriates in Rome course (for a full THREE credits) and loved every minute of it. Now, the task at hand is to get the rest of the family there for a visit.

In addition to Rome, we went to Mallorca for Spring Break. It was a great getaway, half sun/half rain, but a relaxing time no matter what the weather was doing. Mallorca is one of the little islands off the coast of Spain. We haven't made it to the mainland yet, but plan to get a look at Barcelona and maybe even Madrid.

I'm currently pondering a volunteer project that would allow people to get a better idea of what kind of volunteer opportunities are available in the KMC. I've been finding that 1. there are fewer and fewer volunteers out there and 2. many people I talk to don't even know there are volunteer opportunities in the area. I am not sure of the best way to connect the two, but one idea is to put out a blog (that's updated more regularly than this one!) and make the address known via the newspaper, agencies that need volunteers, etc. The other idea was to simply write articles for the newspaper myself and hope they publish them. With my current volunteer schedule, Jerry thinks it's positively nuts that I'm considering taking on another project, but ultimately I can see this as something that would eventually ease my load and the loads of not only other volunteers out there but the agencies that so desperately need them. I will keep you posted on how it turns out!

I will be in touch if/when I get my plan up and running. I look forward to seeing you there!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was reminded by Deanna, my English friend, that I've been rather lax in my postings. In her honor, I make this Thanksgiving post - even though the British aren't all that fond of Thanksgiving...

Well, as many of you now know, Jerry has been off to the desert for a little over 2 months now. He was cured of whatever enchantment he may have had with the idea of deployment within the first few days, I assure you. His glasses fogged over the first time he departed an air conditioned building and he has to walk in the blowing sand back to his room from the showers, creating the "sugar cookie" effect that we've all heard so much about. Anyway, he's doing his job, making us proud and we very much look forward to his return.

The kids and I are hanging in there and I think we've gotten past the hard part. You know, the part where you teach yourself to jump start a car using the Internet, get into a virtual shouting match with your son's teacher and lose both sets of house keys within a 24-hour period. All that's over now and mom's much, much calmer. (I'm sure switching to decaf didn't hurt.)

We're headed to Belgium for Thanksgiving with the Jeters, our old friends from South Dakota and California, who are now stationed at SHAPE. We're looking forward to getting away as long as the weather cooperates. Since I won't have easy access to the Internet on the road, I'm considering pre-planning and printing out instructions for various emergencies that may arise along the way.

December will bring another traveling adventure. The kids and I will be going back to the States for the first time since we left in April of 07. Jerry's been back multiple times, but the kids and I haven't been able to go yet. We're very excited and can't wait to spend time with family and do some clothes shopping. Clothing and shoe styles here are very different, so my goal will be to stock up for the remainder of our assignment.

Our most recent travels took us to the Snow Hall in Amneville, France. We were blessed to go with two other families who are currently "sans husbands" and we had a great time. The snow hall is an indoor, year-round ski/snowboard facility where you can rent all the equipment and enjoy winter sports whenever you want. (See photo above) Caleb tried snowboarding for the first time and Michael got to go sledding while we three moms watched our six boys go crazy in the snow. It was a fun getaway and I think we may have to take Dad next time.

The Christmas markets are just starting to open this weekend with the start of Advent. I can't wait to drag the kids out in the cold for roasted chestnuts, melt-in-your-mouth waffeln and hot gluhwein.

It's snowing again and I think the sidewalk needs some salt, so I'd better hang up and get moving. Enjoy your Thanksgiving and we hope to see you soon!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my dad! He'll be 66 tomorrow.