Aside from the Halloween Party on Saturday, we had some extra fun over the weekend...Scot and I arranged for a babysitter to come over on Friday night. Her name is Terez, she is a junior at the American School and she conveniently lives across the street from us. :-) I met her when I did the 5K earlier in the month, as she plays basketball for the school team that Kim coaches (and a lot of the kids did the 5K). Her family is from Hungary, her dad works for Charles Schwab in Zagreb, and they've been here for a few years. So, she came over around 5:30, we showed her the ropes, and hightailed it out of the house.
We drove the car to the tram station and rode the tram into the city center. We wined and dined at a really great Italian restaurant and then walked around a little bit. It will be so great to be here when the weather is warmer, as they have outdoor cafes/bars/seating everywhere. We did stop and have some coffee outside with heat lamps bearing down on us. Date Night #1 in Zagreb was grand.
Yesterday we went to a really big mall. We shopped around with the kids for awhile and even had McDonald's in the food court. And perhaps the most fantastic thing of all was that we found they also had a really nice play area inside staffed with babysitters...where you could leave your kids. 2 hours. For free. Genius.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Happy Halloween!
The Croatians don't really seem to celebrate Halloween and they don't do trick-or-treating...but the American School puts on a party every year. We brought costumes in our suitcases. The girls had a great time!
When we were still in Minnesota, I bought Reese a "Brave" costume with a fantastic red, curly wig...but she wouldn't wear it. She didn't seem to want to wear it before we left, so I threw her bumblebee costume into the suitcase as well. And so now...for 3 years running, Reese was a bumblebee. I forgot the matching wings at home, so a friend was nice enough to lend us some alternative wings (you know you're a mom of girls when you have extra wings laying around the house).
Ava picked out this bride costume at Target. I thought she looked so beautiful. :-)
Ava will get to wear her costume again on Wednesday at school. Reese and I will go watch the school parade that day and join her class for a little party.
When we were still in Minnesota, I bought Reese a "Brave" costume with a fantastic red, curly wig...but she wouldn't wear it. She didn't seem to want to wear it before we left, so I threw her bumblebee costume into the suitcase as well. And so now...for 3 years running, Reese was a bumblebee. I forgot the matching wings at home, so a friend was nice enough to lend us some alternative wings (you know you're a mom of girls when you have extra wings laying around the house).
Ava picked out this bride costume at Target. I thought she looked so beautiful. :-)
Ava will get to wear her costume again on Wednesday at school. Reese and I will go watch the school parade that day and join her class for a little party.
Ne Hrvatske
"Ne Hrvatske". Is something we've been saying that translates to "No Croatian", as in "I don't speak Croatian". And hopefully doesn't really mean "Down with Croatia" or something similarily offensive. I guess I should be glad we blend in enough with the locals that after the "Dobar Dan" exchange ("hello"), most everyone starts talking to us in rapid Croatian. So then we're back up to the beginning and have to smile awkwardly, shrug the shoulders, and hope that maybe they'll speak a little English or at least get the point across with modified sign language.
Shopping in this foreign land has been interesting. It's getting better, but still a challenge in some way every time. I think I mentioned that Kim had stocked our fridge and pantry with some basics upon our arrival. This was hugely helpful, especially in the stupor of jet lag and not having any clue about where the nearest store was or if our car would actually get us there. But inevitably, the food started to disappear and I needed to do some shopping. As if I didn't already hate menu planning enough, my first week's plan needed to consist of meals that required 5 (normal) ingredients or less. For starters, I just wanted to look for some basics and go from there. More elaborate meals would have to come later.
Logistics - the first time I went to a larger grocery store, I found that the carts were locked up. Hmm...not knowing how to proceed, I stood back and tried to nonchalantly wait for someone else to get a cart...Ah ha! She deposited a coin near the cart handle and unhitched the lock. OK, thankfully I had the correct coin (2 Kuna - about 25 cents). When I returned the cart to the stall after I was done shopping, my coin popped back out. Genius. Apparently, Aldi in the U.S.does this too (but I had never been to an Aldi before). Now I know. And bags. You have to bring your own bags to the grocery store or buy them at the checkout. I had always meant to use reusable bags back home but almost always forgot to bring them. I don't forget anymore. :-)
Thankfully, produce is produce. The big difference here is that they don't import a lot of items, so the shelves are stocked with just seasonal items for the most part - I haven't seen much in the way of fresh berries, for instance. We've been eating a lot of bananas, apples and oranges. My friends tell me that they also really never stock celery.
As for packaged food items, pictures have proven to be extremely helpful. They don't really have much in the way of processed foods, so I will no longer have to try very hard to avoid them (ha)....but just even trying to find a particular item in the dairy case causes the brow to furrow. Think about all the items in that section (cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, etc, etc) and how much they look alike and are packaged similarly. Look, look, look..."Oh hey, I bet the one with a picture of a bagel on it is the cream cheese". :-) Like everything else, it will be a lot easier with time...just a lot to process in the beginning. What is kind of refreshing is that there is just so much less "stuff" to choose from. There's one brand of milk (mlijecko). A few brands of yogurt, one type of ground beef one type of egg, etc.
What do Croatians like to eat? They are big meat eaters. Salami. Seafood. Italian. Olives are a big crop here. Fresh bread is everywhere - they have little bread stores practically on every corner.
What is missing? Sadly, the following:
Peanut butter
Cheddar Cheese
Giant boxes of cereal (sugary or otherwise)
Cream of "x" soups, chicken broth, things like that
Some processed favorites (like Kraft Mac&Cheese)
More...that I can't think of right now.
I've started to make a lot more things from scratch (well, once I finally figured out what baking soda and baking powder look like!, which incidentally is not packaged anything like it is in the U.S.)...blueberry muffins, banana bread, applesauce, vegetable broth, etc, etc, out of necessity. I don't mind, in fact, I kind of like it. Just haven't had much time to do that in the past 6 or 7 years. :-) Not working full time anymore really frees up a lot of the day.
Shopping in this foreign land has been interesting. It's getting better, but still a challenge in some way every time. I think I mentioned that Kim had stocked our fridge and pantry with some basics upon our arrival. This was hugely helpful, especially in the stupor of jet lag and not having any clue about where the nearest store was or if our car would actually get us there. But inevitably, the food started to disappear and I needed to do some shopping. As if I didn't already hate menu planning enough, my first week's plan needed to consist of meals that required 5 (normal) ingredients or less. For starters, I just wanted to look for some basics and go from there. More elaborate meals would have to come later.
Logistics - the first time I went to a larger grocery store, I found that the carts were locked up. Hmm...not knowing how to proceed, I stood back and tried to nonchalantly wait for someone else to get a cart...Ah ha! She deposited a coin near the cart handle and unhitched the lock. OK, thankfully I had the correct coin (2 Kuna - about 25 cents). When I returned the cart to the stall after I was done shopping, my coin popped back out. Genius. Apparently, Aldi in the U.S.does this too (but I had never been to an Aldi before). Now I know. And bags. You have to bring your own bags to the grocery store or buy them at the checkout. I had always meant to use reusable bags back home but almost always forgot to bring them. I don't forget anymore. :-)
Thankfully, produce is produce. The big difference here is that they don't import a lot of items, so the shelves are stocked with just seasonal items for the most part - I haven't seen much in the way of fresh berries, for instance. We've been eating a lot of bananas, apples and oranges. My friends tell me that they also really never stock celery.
As for packaged food items, pictures have proven to be extremely helpful. They don't really have much in the way of processed foods, so I will no longer have to try very hard to avoid them (ha)....but just even trying to find a particular item in the dairy case causes the brow to furrow. Think about all the items in that section (cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, etc, etc) and how much they look alike and are packaged similarly. Look, look, look..."Oh hey, I bet the one with a picture of a bagel on it is the cream cheese". :-) Like everything else, it will be a lot easier with time...just a lot to process in the beginning. What is kind of refreshing is that there is just so much less "stuff" to choose from. There's one brand of milk (mlijecko). A few brands of yogurt, one type of ground beef one type of egg, etc.
What do Croatians like to eat? They are big meat eaters. Salami. Seafood. Italian. Olives are a big crop here. Fresh bread is everywhere - they have little bread stores practically on every corner.
What is missing? Sadly, the following:
Peanut butter
Cheddar Cheese
Giant boxes of cereal (sugary or otherwise)
Cream of "x" soups, chicken broth, things like that
Some processed favorites (like Kraft Mac&Cheese)
More...that I can't think of right now.
I've started to make a lot more things from scratch (well, once I finally figured out what baking soda and baking powder look like!, which incidentally is not packaged anything like it is in the U.S.)...blueberry muffins, banana bread, applesauce, vegetable broth, etc, etc, out of necessity. I don't mind, in fact, I kind of like it. Just haven't had much time to do that in the past 6 or 7 years. :-) Not working full time anymore really frees up a lot of the day.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Socializing
Already we have socialized a fair amount since we arrived. I'm mostly grateful for the fast and easy connections, but as a closet introvert, it has been a little bit exhausting. :-)
Week 1:
Kim arranged a dinner at her house that first week and invited two other families over for us to meet. Our 4 families have 9 kids 8 and under. They had their own candlelit dinner on the patio. ;-)
Week 2:
On Monday, we were invited over to Scot's boss's house (Troy & Susan). They have one 9 year old girl, Randi. Kim & Robb and their boys came over that night as well. Todd and Susan just arrived a few months ago and are living in the house that Andy & April occupied (Andy is from Scot's Guard unit who had the job for the last 2 years). We had hamburgers, hotdogs, and cheesy potatoes. The taste of home! :-) The girls had a grand time playing in Randi's room, which was enormous and filled to the brim with toys.
Every other Wednesday night, Kim and her friend host a painting/wine class in her garage, aptly called Bottles and Brushes. I walked down to her house, drank some wine, and painted a tree. Not a bad way to spend an evening!
On Thursday, Kim and Susan picked Reese and me up in the morning and we ran some errands. We stopped at Metro, which is the Croatian version of Sam's Club. Hooray! And then headed over to the Embassy so Susan could pick up a package (this is where all of our mail will be delivered, not at our house). By the way, for those of you who might be sending Christmas cards or packages, I just got word that they should be sent prior to December 10. They showed me around the Embassy and we stayed and had lunch at the cafeteria with Rob (Scot was out of town for the day).
Kim picked me up again on Friday and took me to a mall so we could meet Christine (the Colonel's wife) for lunch. We had a nice visit for a few hours, which crept into nap time. Reese was extremely well behaved, I lucked out!
On Friday night, I got a call from new friend Mica (she was at Kim's dinner party and the art class), asking me if Scot liked to play strategy board games. She was more or less arranging a playdate for her husband, Todd - ha! Scot went over to their house on Friday night and got in some good nerd time.
Week 3:
Scot left on Sunday for a week in Germany so it's just the girls. I am kind of looking forward to a quiet week, there isn't much on the agenda right now. After we dropped Scot off at the airport, we went over for a playdate at Mica & Todd's (this time for the kids). Ava and Mica's daughter Jane are in the same class and could pass for sisters (I'll have to get a picture of them together soon!). Mica also has a 4 year old boy and 4 month old daughter. We had a really nice visit with them. Both Todd and Mica are Foreign Service employees and have been able to get almost all of their assignments together. They'll be leaving in June.
Week 1:
Kim arranged a dinner at her house that first week and invited two other families over for us to meet. Our 4 families have 9 kids 8 and under. They had their own candlelit dinner on the patio. ;-)
Week 2:
On Monday, we were invited over to Scot's boss's house (Troy & Susan). They have one 9 year old girl, Randi. Kim & Robb and their boys came over that night as well. Todd and Susan just arrived a few months ago and are living in the house that Andy & April occupied (Andy is from Scot's Guard unit who had the job for the last 2 years). We had hamburgers, hotdogs, and cheesy potatoes. The taste of home! :-) The girls had a grand time playing in Randi's room, which was enormous and filled to the brim with toys.
Every other Wednesday night, Kim and her friend host a painting/wine class in her garage, aptly called Bottles and Brushes. I walked down to her house, drank some wine, and painted a tree. Not a bad way to spend an evening!
On Thursday, Kim and Susan picked Reese and me up in the morning and we ran some errands. We stopped at Metro, which is the Croatian version of Sam's Club. Hooray! And then headed over to the Embassy so Susan could pick up a package (this is where all of our mail will be delivered, not at our house). By the way, for those of you who might be sending Christmas cards or packages, I just got word that they should be sent prior to December 10. They showed me around the Embassy and we stayed and had lunch at the cafeteria with Rob (Scot was out of town for the day).
Kim picked me up again on Friday and took me to a mall so we could meet Christine (the Colonel's wife) for lunch. We had a nice visit for a few hours, which crept into nap time. Reese was extremely well behaved, I lucked out!
On Friday night, I got a call from new friend Mica (she was at Kim's dinner party and the art class), asking me if Scot liked to play strategy board games. She was more or less arranging a playdate for her husband, Todd - ha! Scot went over to their house on Friday night and got in some good nerd time.
Week 3:
Scot left on Sunday for a week in Germany so it's just the girls. I am kind of looking forward to a quiet week, there isn't much on the agenda right now. After we dropped Scot off at the airport, we went over for a playdate at Mica & Todd's (this time for the kids). Ava and Mica's daughter Jane are in the same class and could pass for sisters (I'll have to get a picture of them together soon!). Mica also has a 4 year old boy and 4 month old daughter. We had a really nice visit with them. Both Todd and Mica are Foreign Service employees and have been able to get almost all of their assignments together. They'll be leaving in June.
Exploring
During our first full weekend in Croatia, the weather was gorgeous and the jetlag was finally subsiding. So, we went exploring around Zagreb. While we definitely want to get out and see the rest of Croatia and neighboring countries, we felt like starting small was better for our near term agenda. Hopefully we can see all we want to in 2 years!
On Saturday, we drove the car a few miles to the tram station and rode the tram into the city center. The tram is awesome.
The girls chased pigeons.
We took a look at the Zagreb Cathedral (built in 1390).
On Sunday, I immersed myself into the local scene and ran a 5K in the city. Sponsor Kim picked me up via taxi and we drove down and met some other students and teachers from AISZ. It was a fun little race - although I got stuck weaving through a lot of walkers for the first several minutes. The race signup was free, though I voluntarily paid 20 Kuna (about $3.50) for a chip...and still have yet to find the results online. Oh well...was hoping to break 28 minutes, though I'm not sure I even broke 30 minutes given the slow start.
Here are me, Kim (right), and Simone (left). Simone helps Kim coach girls' basketball at the school. Simone's husband actually plays for the Croatian pro basketball team. Kim brought the hats - mine is the Croatian flag.
Later in the day, we ventured out to Bundek Park which had a great playground for the girls and a manmade lake with swans and ducks.
The girls chased pigeons.
We took a look at the Zagreb Cathedral (built in 1390).
And ate (and drank) at an outdoor cafe.
On Sunday, I immersed myself into the local scene and ran a 5K in the city. Sponsor Kim picked me up via taxi and we drove down and met some other students and teachers from AISZ. It was a fun little race - although I got stuck weaving through a lot of walkers for the first several minutes. The race signup was free, though I voluntarily paid 20 Kuna (about $3.50) for a chip...and still have yet to find the results online. Oh well...was hoping to break 28 minutes, though I'm not sure I even broke 30 minutes given the slow start.
Here are me, Kim (right), and Simone (left). Simone helps Kim coach girls' basketball at the school. Simone's husband actually plays for the Croatian pro basketball team. Kim brought the hats - mine is the Croatian flag.
Later in the day, we ventured out to Bundek Park which had a great playground for the girls and a manmade lake with swans and ducks.
Monday was a Croatian Holiday (their Independence Day), so we drove the Volvo just a little further up the hill to Medvedgrad Castle (you can see it from our porch view)- it was a picture perfect day to see such an amazing site and view of Zagreb.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Our Sweet Ride
I mentioned we are driving a '93 Volvo. Here it is in all its glory.
It really goes "vroom" in the hills.
The New Digs
Introducing our new home and neighborhood...
We were assigned this house by the Embassy several months ago. It has about 3500 square feet and a two car garage. The yard is gated on all sides. There are 3 levels with a boxy floor plan. The basement has a guest bedroom, 3/4 bath, utility room, storage room, and another all-purpose room (Scot's pulling for a man cave). The main floor has the kitchen, dining room, family room, full bath, and 2 more rooms (one that we'll use for an office and another as a playroom). The third floor has 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath.
This is the view from our porch.
This is the park down the street.
These are 2 happy girls!
We were assigned this house by the Embassy several months ago. It has about 3500 square feet and a two car garage. The yard is gated on all sides. There are 3 levels with a boxy floor plan. The basement has a guest bedroom, 3/4 bath, utility room, storage room, and another all-purpose room (Scot's pulling for a man cave). The main floor has the kitchen, dining room, family room, full bath, and 2 more rooms (one that we'll use for an office and another as a playroom). The third floor has 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath.
This is the view from our porch.
This is the park down the street.
These are 2 happy girls!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Firsts
To say we've experienced quite a few firsts in the last week would be an understatement. I'll start with a few...
Driving.
Our house is located in "the hills" of Zagreb, north of the city center and just beneath a castle. The terrain is ridiculously hilly, the streets are narrow, and the natives drive aggressively. After leaving the driving to Scot for the first several days, I figured it was time for my debut on Sunday. Not that I felt ready, but with Scot on a trip to Germany next week, I wasn't going to have him to fall back on anymore. So, I started with a relatively short drive to a dinner at Scot's boss's house on Monday. It was pretty scary, yet kind of exhilarating, and also made me feel like playing a little more MarioCart on the Wii would be to my advantage. Happy to say I delivered my family to our destination in one piece! Oh. One more tibit. Right now, the only car we have is a 1993 Volvo which has seen better days. At least one or two check engine lights are on at all times. This makes driving even more exciting. It's anyone's guess as to when our SUV will arrive. Until then, we'll keep driving the Volvo. Scot has also poked around at used cars and has a nice little Beamer picked out...we'll see.
And then there was today. Ava's school had a "World Family Assembly" today from 8:15 - 9:00, where the students were asked to dress in their country's colors and they would parade around in groups (I'm picturing something like the Olympics opening ceremony?). I really wanted to go, but Scot had a meeting he needed to get to, so I was left with the option of driving him to work and then going back to the school to watch the assembly. Hmm. OK, I'll give it a try. We do have a GPS after all. So, getting him to work wasn't a problem. We dropped him off and he thought it might be easier if I wnet back towards our house and then to the school instead of driving through downtown. It was going well, until Ms. GPS told me to go right on a road that was under construction. She corrected the route, but then I ended up at the end of a dead end road, and really had no opportunity to turn myself around so I had to back the car up about 1/4 mile. That was awesome. Ms. GPS really couldn't seem to get me in the appropriate direction to get myself to our house (and I can hardly blame her, if you'd see these streets you'd understand). So I ended up almost back by Scot's work and then went from there. But, traffic was busy and I didn't make it to the school until about 8:45, so I decided to forget it and go home. We did make it home. Only about an hour later ;-) I'm sure, like everything, driving will get easier with time. And I'll have the taxi number on speed dial.
School.
Ava will be attending the American International School of Zagreb (AISZ) for 1st and 2nd grade. This has been one of the easier processes of getting ready for our international move - the Embassy was a huge help and so far the staff has been great. Ava was assigned to Miss Michele's class back in August when we thought we were coming. When the move became delayed, Scot sent an email to Miss Michelle and copied Ava's Woodbury Elem. teacher (Mrs. Solheim). After that the two teachers connected and began sending emails back and forth as sort of a pen pal effort between the two classes - very cool! Ava was able to see pictures of her classmates and ask questions about life in Croatia.
Last week, our host Kim arranged a visit for us to meet the teacher and see the school before Ava's first day. Ava's class has 13 students in it, and just she and one other girl (Jane) are the only Americans. There are a few from Croatia and then a number from other European countries. I love that she will have such a diverse group of friends! AISZ is a private school and they teach in English. The good news for us as an Embassy family is that we don't have to pay tuition (which is around $20K/year - yikes!). The visit was great - it was fun to see her classroom and then Ava joined the class for recess and circle time at the end of the afternoon. She couldn't wait to go back!
Tuesday was her first day of school (Monday was Croatian's Independence Day). She was so excited! Unfortunately there was a miscommunication with the bus coordinator, so she didn't get picked up in the morning...but Scot was able to drive her to school and he got the logistics settled so that she came home on the bus that afternoon.
She had a great first day! She was disappointed that her American friend Jane wasn't there (we had met her at a dinner party last week and could be her twin sister), but was able to rattle off some other names of friends she had made. She tried hot lunch and had her first French lesson (we were able to choose between French or German). She came home with some homework which she will have every day - writing practice and 10 minutes of reading.
Driving.
Our house is located in "the hills" of Zagreb, north of the city center and just beneath a castle. The terrain is ridiculously hilly, the streets are narrow, and the natives drive aggressively. After leaving the driving to Scot for the first several days, I figured it was time for my debut on Sunday. Not that I felt ready, but with Scot on a trip to Germany next week, I wasn't going to have him to fall back on anymore. So, I started with a relatively short drive to a dinner at Scot's boss's house on Monday. It was pretty scary, yet kind of exhilarating, and also made me feel like playing a little more MarioCart on the Wii would be to my advantage. Happy to say I delivered my family to our destination in one piece! Oh. One more tibit. Right now, the only car we have is a 1993 Volvo which has seen better days. At least one or two check engine lights are on at all times. This makes driving even more exciting. It's anyone's guess as to when our SUV will arrive. Until then, we'll keep driving the Volvo. Scot has also poked around at used cars and has a nice little Beamer picked out...we'll see.
And then there was today. Ava's school had a "World Family Assembly" today from 8:15 - 9:00, where the students were asked to dress in their country's colors and they would parade around in groups (I'm picturing something like the Olympics opening ceremony?). I really wanted to go, but Scot had a meeting he needed to get to, so I was left with the option of driving him to work and then going back to the school to watch the assembly. Hmm. OK, I'll give it a try. We do have a GPS after all. So, getting him to work wasn't a problem. We dropped him off and he thought it might be easier if I wnet back towards our house and then to the school instead of driving through downtown. It was going well, until Ms. GPS told me to go right on a road that was under construction. She corrected the route, but then I ended up at the end of a dead end road, and really had no opportunity to turn myself around so I had to back the car up about 1/4 mile. That was awesome. Ms. GPS really couldn't seem to get me in the appropriate direction to get myself to our house (and I can hardly blame her, if you'd see these streets you'd understand). So I ended up almost back by Scot's work and then went from there. But, traffic was busy and I didn't make it to the school until about 8:45, so I decided to forget it and go home. We did make it home. Only about an hour later ;-) I'm sure, like everything, driving will get easier with time. And I'll have the taxi number on speed dial.
School.
Ava will be attending the American International School of Zagreb (AISZ) for 1st and 2nd grade. This has been one of the easier processes of getting ready for our international move - the Embassy was a huge help and so far the staff has been great. Ava was assigned to Miss Michele's class back in August when we thought we were coming. When the move became delayed, Scot sent an email to Miss Michelle and copied Ava's Woodbury Elem. teacher (Mrs. Solheim). After that the two teachers connected and began sending emails back and forth as sort of a pen pal effort between the two classes - very cool! Ava was able to see pictures of her classmates and ask questions about life in Croatia.
Last week, our host Kim arranged a visit for us to meet the teacher and see the school before Ava's first day. Ava's class has 13 students in it, and just she and one other girl (Jane) are the only Americans. There are a few from Croatia and then a number from other European countries. I love that she will have such a diverse group of friends! AISZ is a private school and they teach in English. The good news for us as an Embassy family is that we don't have to pay tuition (which is around $20K/year - yikes!). The visit was great - it was fun to see her classroom and then Ava joined the class for recess and circle time at the end of the afternoon. She couldn't wait to go back!
Tuesday was her first day of school (Monday was Croatian's Independence Day). She was so excited! Unfortunately there was a miscommunication with the bus coordinator, so she didn't get picked up in the morning...but Scot was able to drive her to school and he got the logistics settled so that she came home on the bus that afternoon.
She had a great first day! She was disappointed that her American friend Jane wasn't there (we had met her at a dinner party last week and could be her twin sister), but was able to rattle off some other names of friends she had made. She tried hot lunch and had her first French lesson (we were able to choose between French or German). She came home with some homework which she will have every day - writing practice and 10 minutes of reading.
Saturday, October 06, 2012
The Big Day
Moving Day finally came on October 1st. It was the day we had been both looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. Travelling with 2 kids, 2 cats, 9 pieces of checked baggage and 6 carry-on bags for 24 hours couldn't be anything but magical, right?
Huge thanks to my mom and Julie for carting us to the airport in the wee hours. Because of the amount of "stuff", we needed 2 vehicles to get there. Upon arrival, we said goodbye to my mom (sniff) and made our way to the Delta International counter. And stayed there for over an hour. The biggest obstacle of the trip would turn out to be our cats - because we were flying different carriers on each leg of our trip, we had to reclaim and re-check our cats in at every layover. The gate agent in Minneapolis had never seen this before (which always breeds such confidence for a customer), so she was busy making phone calls to confirm how it would all work. At last, we were finally released and wheeled Sam and Rocky over to Security. I got teary-eyed as we left - I was stressed out for them! And really hoped we'd see them again. Here we are with our mound of luggage, the cats are on the left.
We made our way to the gate and bumped in to 2 friends! Chad, our friend who flies for FedEx, and Jerry, who works for Compass Air. It was fun to see familiar faces just before leaving. :-) Eventually they called our flight and we said goodbye to Julie (more tears).
Our first leg flew from MSP to Washington D.C. The kids did great, we watched shows and colored and read books. Piece of cake so far. ;-)
Upon landing in D.C., we needed to go to baggage claim to get the cats. They finally arrived by a handler, and then we were off to go back to ticketing to get them on the next flight to Paris. This process took about 2 hours and by the time we were done, we had just enough time to grab a few snacks and board the next flight. This plane had tvs in each seat, so the girls were excited to be able to get to watch their own shows. We had dinner and breakfast served to us on that flight and we each logged a few hours of sleep over the 6.5 hour duration. When we landed in Paris, it was about 10:30 pm Minnesota time. We had left Woodbury at about 6:45am so we had been moving for about 16 hours then.
Watching movies, snoozing...
In Paris it was the same thing, we had to hoof it down to baggage claim, get the cats, and then go back to ticketing. That airport was something else, there were people everywhere. We finally found the right counter and had two very nice agents helping us with the cats. We were exhausted and thirsty and really looking forward to the end of the trip. Same thing, it took about 2 hours to do all of that and then we were off to the gate where we had a short wait before the bus left for the plane to Zagreb.
Pooped out in Paris...
The flight from Paris to Zagreb was about 2 hours and we all crashed for the entire flight, as it was about 2:30-4:30 am Minnesota time then. And then we finally landed!
In Zagreb, we were met by Scot's new boss (Troy), his wife (Susan), and the woman from our host family (Kim). Troy and Susan are both from Minnesota coincidentally and just moved to Zagreb from their last assignment in Romania about 3 months ago. Kim is from Virginia and has 2 boys (5 & 8), her husband is the Navy attache at the Embassy. They live just down the road from us.
The cats appeared near baggage claim again (yay!) and 6 out of our 9 bags arrived. We were unfortunately missing our carseats and Scot's garment bag (which had all of his dress clothes in it). We filed a claim and then left for our house! Susan ordered some pizzas on the way so they'd be at our house shortly after our arrival. They stayed and ate with us for awhile and then left us to get settled.
24 hours later we were in our new home. We will have just what was in our suitcases for the next 6-8 weeks (maybe longer!) before the rest of our belongings arrive. Fortunately, the house is mostly furnished and has some basic kitchen stuff. Here we go!
Huge thanks to my mom and Julie for carting us to the airport in the wee hours. Because of the amount of "stuff", we needed 2 vehicles to get there. Upon arrival, we said goodbye to my mom (sniff) and made our way to the Delta International counter. And stayed there for over an hour. The biggest obstacle of the trip would turn out to be our cats - because we were flying different carriers on each leg of our trip, we had to reclaim and re-check our cats in at every layover. The gate agent in Minneapolis had never seen this before (which always breeds such confidence for a customer), so she was busy making phone calls to confirm how it would all work. At last, we were finally released and wheeled Sam and Rocky over to Security. I got teary-eyed as we left - I was stressed out for them! And really hoped we'd see them again. Here we are with our mound of luggage, the cats are on the left.
We made our way to the gate and bumped in to 2 friends! Chad, our friend who flies for FedEx, and Jerry, who works for Compass Air. It was fun to see familiar faces just before leaving. :-) Eventually they called our flight and we said goodbye to Julie (more tears).
Our first leg flew from MSP to Washington D.C. The kids did great, we watched shows and colored and read books. Piece of cake so far. ;-)
Upon landing in D.C., we needed to go to baggage claim to get the cats. They finally arrived by a handler, and then we were off to go back to ticketing to get them on the next flight to Paris. This process took about 2 hours and by the time we were done, we had just enough time to grab a few snacks and board the next flight. This plane had tvs in each seat, so the girls were excited to be able to get to watch their own shows. We had dinner and breakfast served to us on that flight and we each logged a few hours of sleep over the 6.5 hour duration. When we landed in Paris, it was about 10:30 pm Minnesota time. We had left Woodbury at about 6:45am so we had been moving for about 16 hours then.
Watching movies, snoozing...
In Paris it was the same thing, we had to hoof it down to baggage claim, get the cats, and then go back to ticketing. That airport was something else, there were people everywhere. We finally found the right counter and had two very nice agents helping us with the cats. We were exhausted and thirsty and really looking forward to the end of the trip. Same thing, it took about 2 hours to do all of that and then we were off to the gate where we had a short wait before the bus left for the plane to Zagreb.
Pooped out in Paris...
The flight from Paris to Zagreb was about 2 hours and we all crashed for the entire flight, as it was about 2:30-4:30 am Minnesota time then. And then we finally landed!
In Zagreb, we were met by Scot's new boss (Troy), his wife (Susan), and the woman from our host family (Kim). Troy and Susan are both from Minnesota coincidentally and just moved to Zagreb from their last assignment in Romania about 3 months ago. Kim is from Virginia and has 2 boys (5 & 8), her husband is the Navy attache at the Embassy. They live just down the road from us.
The cats appeared near baggage claim again (yay!) and 6 out of our 9 bags arrived. We were unfortunately missing our carseats and Scot's garment bag (which had all of his dress clothes in it). We filed a claim and then left for our house! Susan ordered some pizzas on the way so they'd be at our house shortly after our arrival. They stayed and ate with us for awhile and then left us to get settled.
24 hours later we were in our new home. We will have just what was in our suitcases for the next 6-8 weeks (maybe longer!) before the rest of our belongings arrive. Fortunately, the house is mostly furnished and has some basic kitchen stuff. Here we go!
Friday, October 05, 2012
The blur that was September
So, after getting notice that our move was back on, we had to get that dreadful list back out and start tackling it again.
Thankfully, our days at work were numbered. Scot declared his last day as September 14th and mine was on the 20th (annoyingly, I was still putting in a gazillion hours right up until my last day). To preserve our sanity and actually be able to cross things off our list, the girls would keep going to school/daycare right up until the last possible minute - the 28th. ;-)
We made phone calls, we sorted, we organized, we debated, we worried, we got excited, we took the cats to the vet for the umpteenth time, we said goodbyes, etc., etc. Our airline tickets were purchased by the military for October 1st - it was surreal to finally again have a departure date. We went to WI over Labor Day weekend to see my family. We also made last minute plans to make a roadtrip to IL to see Grandpa Chuck & Grandma Sandy over the 3rd weekend in September. We drove down both of our vehicles and had a wonderful visit (I'll try to log a separate post for that)...and then while Julie & I drove the girls back up to Minnesota, Scot headed west to St. Louis to drop off our Honda Pilot at the vehicle shipping port (yes, somehow St. Louis is the closest drop-off from MN) and he flew home after that. Sigh. He got home just in time to watch the end of the dreadful Packers/Seahawks game with me. You may have seen that controversial ending once or twice...
After getting back from Illinois, it was "go" time. I'm not sure I've ever been more mentally or physically exhausted - those 6 days were pretty grueling. Our stuff basically had to fit into one of 6 categories: trash, charity, suitcases, UAB - unaccompanied baggage (plane cargo shipment), HHG - household goods (boat cargo shipment), and NTS (non-temporary storage). The kicker was that we learned sometime in mid September this gem of news - that because Scot's orders didn't start until Oct. 1st, they couldn't make any moving arrangements before then. Thank you, Government. We had to prep everything so specifically because we won't be in MN when the movers actually come to our house. However, we are so, so lucky to have Julie taking care of this now in our absence, but what a burden it will be for her. Anyway...somehow we got it all done by 10:30 pm on the eve of our departure. And we still managed to do some fun things that week (lunch at the Happy Gnome, dinner with the Listons at Chino Latino, birthday pizza & cake for me on the 29th, a few motorcycle rides, etc. etc.) I even "celebrated" my birthday by running a 10K that morning in Golden Valley. I haven't had a lot of time to run this summer (mostly because of work - blah), but had upped my mileage to about 5 miles for a few runs so I crossed my fingers that I would finish 6.2. I did it and I met my goal of finishing under an hour - just barely at 59:38 :-)
So that was September. October has been much better so far.
Thankfully, our days at work were numbered. Scot declared his last day as September 14th and mine was on the 20th (annoyingly, I was still putting in a gazillion hours right up until my last day). To preserve our sanity and actually be able to cross things off our list, the girls would keep going to school/daycare right up until the last possible minute - the 28th. ;-)
We made phone calls, we sorted, we organized, we debated, we worried, we got excited, we took the cats to the vet for the umpteenth time, we said goodbyes, etc., etc. Our airline tickets were purchased by the military for October 1st - it was surreal to finally again have a departure date. We went to WI over Labor Day weekend to see my family. We also made last minute plans to make a roadtrip to IL to see Grandpa Chuck & Grandma Sandy over the 3rd weekend in September. We drove down both of our vehicles and had a wonderful visit (I'll try to log a separate post for that)...and then while Julie & I drove the girls back up to Minnesota, Scot headed west to St. Louis to drop off our Honda Pilot at the vehicle shipping port (yes, somehow St. Louis is the closest drop-off from MN) and he flew home after that. Sigh. He got home just in time to watch the end of the dreadful Packers/Seahawks game with me. You may have seen that controversial ending once or twice...
After getting back from Illinois, it was "go" time. I'm not sure I've ever been more mentally or physically exhausted - those 6 days were pretty grueling. Our stuff basically had to fit into one of 6 categories: trash, charity, suitcases, UAB - unaccompanied baggage (plane cargo shipment), HHG - household goods (boat cargo shipment), and NTS (non-temporary storage). The kicker was that we learned sometime in mid September this gem of news - that because Scot's orders didn't start until Oct. 1st, they couldn't make any moving arrangements before then. Thank you, Government. We had to prep everything so specifically because we won't be in MN when the movers actually come to our house. However, we are so, so lucky to have Julie taking care of this now in our absence, but what a burden it will be for her. Anyway...somehow we got it all done by 10:30 pm on the eve of our departure. And we still managed to do some fun things that week (lunch at the Happy Gnome, dinner with the Listons at Chino Latino, birthday pizza & cake for me on the 29th, a few motorcycle rides, etc. etc.) I even "celebrated" my birthday by running a 10K that morning in Golden Valley. I haven't had a lot of time to run this summer (mostly because of work - blah), but had upped my mileage to about 5 miles for a few runs so I crossed my fingers that I would finish 6.2. I did it and I met my goal of finishing under an hour - just barely at 59:38 :-)
So that was September. October has been much better so far.
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