The slow death

For those associate with the military, force transformation (the shutting down and combining of base) is no surprise as TPTB been talking about it for YEARS. We've known they were happening for a long time, but until now, we've never experienced it. Mannheim, which is about 20 minutes away from us, and was an important industrial center for the Nazis was reached by the Allied ground advance (in this case the US 44th Infantry Division) into Germany in late March 1945, has officially closed its doors. There are still a few units and families there, but not for long. Heidelberg is next and it's like watching something slowly die as more and more services and housing areas are shut down.  Let's go back to the beginning for a short history lesson of this amazing place.

As part of the Nazi military buildup, the German 110th Infantry Regiment was activated in May 1936 and stationed in Heidelberg. The existing Grenadier-Kaserne (now Patton Barracks) was not large enough for the regiment. Accordingly, a new installation was built in 1937 on what was then farmland on the southern outskirts of Heidelberg near the suburb of Rohrbach.
The first Allied troops entered Heidelberg on the morning of Good Friday, March 30th, 1945, and the city surrendered without a fight. The Wehrmacht had left Heidelberg a day earlier but not before blowing up the bridges crossing the River Neckar, which in Heidelberg meant blowing up the old bridge.
The U.S. units that initially occupied Großdeutschland-Kaserne are not known, but by V-E Day, 8 May 1945, the headquarters of the U.S. 6th Army Group occupied the Kaserne.  The Kaserne was formally renamed Campbell Barracks on August 23, 1948 in memory of Staff Sergeant Charles L. Campbell, 14th Infantry Regiment, 71st Infantry Division, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism. On March 28, 1945, two days before the surrender of Heidelberg, Staff Sergeant Campbell led a patrol across the Rhine River near Mannheim and was killed while covering the withdrawal of his patrol as it returned to the west bank with valuable information.

Here is a photos circa 1945 when the Americans took over the Kaserne:

Since that photo was taken, Campbell Barracks has grown by leaps and bounds.  The surrounding farmland no longer exists and is now covered with buildings.  Circa 1963:

 These photos were taken just a few years ago (and it don't even show the whole thing).  Look at the difference from the 1945 photo:

The areas across the street from the main gate (at the bottom of the photo) are mostly family housing (called Mark Twain Village), as are the few buildings you can see off to the top right.  This is the section I live in, though my building isn't in this photo.  There are also buildings not shown just off the left of this photo that were at one time also family housing.  Most of them are closed and have been turned over to the Germans.  They have been empty for years (they shut them down around 2006/7) and no one knows what the Germans will do with them.

This is a recent aerial view looking from the rear.  You can see all the buildings across from the main gate.  The smaller buildings are German houses.  The building I live in is just barely visible to the far left about 1/4 of the way from the top.

As of the end of 2012, all of Mark Twain Village, which has 708 apartments and houses about 2000 soldiers and family members, will be shut down.  All remaining families will be housed on Patrick Henry Village, which is about 3 miles away (and a complete ghetto, IMO).  Most of the building shown at the top of the last photo (across the street from the main gate) are completely empty with only 1 or 2 families left per building.  My own stairwell (there are 2 stairwell per building) is mostly empty.

By the end of 2015, the US Army Europe Headquarters, which has been based out of Campbell Barracks since 1952, will officially move to Wiesbaden, Patton Barracks, Nachrichten Kasern (where the hospital is), and Tompkins Barracks will also shut down and US Army Heidelberg as we know it will no longer exist.  Campbell Barracks has been a NATO base since 1993 and will continue to be so after the HQ pulls out.  There will still be a small contingent of Americans here for NATO.

Carved in the stone of the gates that flank the main entry of Campbell Barracks, there are 2 German eagles (one on each side).  Below these two eagles are 2 of only a handful of swastikas still remaining in Germany.  They are covered by the US 7th Army emblem, but if you look at them closely from the sides, you can still see the circle that goes around the swastikas.   I have no idea why they didn't chip them off like most of the swastikas in Germany, but it's interesting to know they're still there.  I tried to find a photo of them (with the emblems of course), but couldn't.  I'd go take a photo, but having a camera around the post is just asking for the MP's to pay you a visit. 

We've been to Heidelberg 3 times now and have incredibly fond memories of it. Both our boys were born here and it makes me sad to know that while we might visit it, we'll never again live in this amazing place.

Linking to: 

RTT: Sleep , weird laws and Snape GPS

Tuesday!  When all the flotsam and jetsam that have been floating around my brain can be scooped up and put into one semi-coherent place.  Yay!

*We had a minor emergency here yesterday that ended up with Arf (4 pound Maltse) having emergency surgery. He's okay though, so don't worry. He had a tooth abscess and push up through his face (it didn't break through, just pushed up). The vet had to remove the tooth and six others that were bad. He's a much happier camper now. This came up almost over night. Poor baby.

*I tried to get photos of Han Solo is his gorgeous Christening gown, now that he's actually big enough for it and can smile.  He would not smile for anything.  Indy and I were practically standing on our heads and nothing.  I took it off him (you know, so he wouldn't drool on it) and 10 minutes later he was smiling like everything is the world was hilarious.  Awesome.

*Han Solo discovered his feet recently and now all he wants to do is put his toes in his mouth.  

*The other night Indy freaked me out to no end.  I was sitting in the living room and noticed the time.  It was 10:30pm and I decided to go to bed.  Just as I was getting up, Indy walked out of his room.  This is our conversation:
Me:  What are you doing up?
Indy:  I'm looking for it.
Me: Looking for what?
Indy: You know.
Me: No, I don't. What are you looking for?
Indy: Never mind.
Me: Oooookkkkaaaaay.
Indy: Come with me. {gestured towards his room}
I get up and follow him and he's sitting on his bed.
Me: [Indy] what are you doing?
Indy: {gestured towards his night stand} I'm looking...for...the remote.
Me: What?
Indy: The remote!
Me: What remote?
Indy: For the thing!
I had no idea what he was looking for, but noticed his clock was missing. I knew it was in the school room though.
Me: Do you mean your clock?
Indy: Yes, my clock. Yes.
I go get the clock, bring it back and place it on his night stand.
Me: Is this what you were looking for?
Indy: Yes. {and he fell back into bed and his eyes rolled up in his head}

I should mention that his eyes were completely glazed over the entire time and he was COMPLETELY ASLEEP.  Holy moly!  He's talked in his sleep since he was small, but this is the first time he's ever actually walked in his sleep.  Yikes!


*I find old laws fascinating.  Here are a few examples:


 ----Modesty laws were very strict in the early 1900s. In 1919, a woman was detained at Coney Island for wearing a bathing suit in public—under her street clothes.  (Boy, there are a lot of women who belong in jail!)
.

----It’s illegal in St. Louis, Missouri, for a fireman to rescue a woman wearing a nightgown. If she wants to be rescued, she must be fully clothed.  (Darn, who wants to be fully clothed when a good looking fireman comes along?)

----A woman in Memphis, Tennessee, is not allowed to drive a car unless a man is in front of the car waving a red flag to warn people and other cars. (James Bond would say this is still a good idea  I disagree.)


----Flirting in Little Rock, Arkansas, can land someone in jail for 30 days. (Do you think Clinton knew about this one?)

*Normally, I would post a funny sign here, but I found this and couldn't resist.  If you can't read it, click on it to enlarge.  You won't be disappointed.

Okay, I'm done for today.  I hope you all have a great Tues.  Click the link above to read the other randoms and link up your own.

Ten Years On

10 years. It seem like yesterday. I still cry when I see the images.

There are so many things I could say about this day, but all the words I could say can't sum it up my feelings as beautifully as the following quote from a Harry Potter book written more than a year before the attacks.  I think of it every September 11.


"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are
divided...Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our
aims are identical and our hearts are open."

-Prof. Albus Dumbledore
JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
(p.723, Scholastic Press, New York, 2000)

Never Forget. God Bless America.

Why 500? Giveaways are coming!

I missed RTT yesterday! Darn it, I hate when that happens, don't you? Of course you do, my RTT's are awesome. :)

So, if you can believe it, I'm closing on my 500th post. Well, to be fair it's about 40 posts away, but still. I had actually thought I'd be closer by this time, but when Han Solo got sick, my blogging kind of went out the window (you may have noticed and mourned). I'm actually thinking of being crazy and doing my giveaways for my 475th post instead. You know, just to be different. Why does 500 get all the love? 475 is just as important! I have several awesome giveaways lined up. Seriously, awesome. I working on one more giveaway settled (you won't believe this), and I'll be able to do an entire week of giveaways. Whaaa...??? Yep, a whole week. Keep checking back, because you don't want to miss this. Only 8 posts away!

And we're moving!!!!

One of the great things about military life is moving. You get to go new places, see new things and meet new people. It's also one of the bad things about military life. You have to leave your home, all the familiar things and your friends.
We've been here in Heidelberg for almost 3 years now and our time was coming to an end (most tours are 3 years). We were hoping to stay in Germany and last night we got the word that we will!!! We will not be staying in Heidelberg as it is shutting down (sadness), but will be moving up to Wiesbaden (just over an hour north of HD). Wiesbaden is pronounced Vees-bah-den BTW.   James Bond is very excited because he wanted to got to V Corps and now he will. I don't know what's so exciting about V Corps (we can't talk about his job), but whatever. I get to stay in Germany, so yay V Corps.
Indy is excited because he's got "more traveling to do." My boy is almost nomadic in his love of travel. He says we need to go to Greece (he thinks we should cruise around the islands), Egypt (of course), England, Scotland, back to Rome and Naples and maybe (meaning definitely) do another Disney cruise.
We've been it Wiesbaden a handful of times and found it to be a lovely city. Mainz, which is only a few minutes away is also beautiful.. I don't have any photos of my own on this computer, but here are a few I found on the interwebs.

Wiesbaden:

Mainz:

Doesn't this look awesome?!?!  I can't wait to see what the next 3 years bring.  Stick around for the next chapter in our great adventure.

Linking to:

RTT: stuffs

Tuesday! My favorite day of the week!I'm still rebelling it up with the super awesome, award winning vintner (that's a funny word-say it), Stacy.


*Nancy Grace is going to be on Dancing With The Stars. I think Tom Bergeron should quit.

*I was watching the news yesterday (not Nancy Grace) and they were interviewing some idiot guy in New Jersey.  He was griping and moaning about not having power.  He said he called his local company and they told him he would be without it for at least a week.  When he asked why he was told that they were working and he had to wait his turn.  He was positively indignant over having to wait his turn.  I though..well, I can't tell you exactly what I thought or it might burn up the interwebs (and my blog is not flagged for over 18 content), but basically I thought what an entitled jerk.  What makes his getting power any more important than other people?  Get over yourself.  Also, I've been through hurricanes where we didn't get power for 2+ weeks.  Somehow we survived.  Imagine that.

*Holy moly.  I was checking something a few minutes ago on my blog and went to the tags section.  I have 92 (NINETY-TWO!) tags for random Tuesday.  I can't believe it.  I've been doing this since 2009.  Shut the front door.

*The Red Hot Chili Peppers have a new album.  In the first video (remember those?) for the album, they're still pretty much all shirtless.  You gotta give them props for still looking good enough to go shirtless.  Anthony Keidis is still pretty buff and he's 48.  I so loved them when I was in college.  God, now I feel old.

*If a Vestal Virgin was no longer so, um virgin, she was buried alive in an unmarked grave.  Out over over 1000 (over the years) 18 were given this punishment.   Orgies at the palace?  Why not.  Murder in the Senate?  Absolutely!  Non-virgin Vestal Virgins?  Bury those whores alive!

*Yesterday the local public schools started.  In celebration of NOT going to ps, Indy and I went out to lunch and then had ice cream.  We do this every year.  He can't WAIT for ps to start.

*Han Solo is still sick, but getting better.  FINALLY.  Now if he'd only go back to sleeping through the night.  Sigh.

*In the movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a picture of Gandolf the Grey (Lord of the Rings) can be seen in Dumbledore's office.

*I know the hurricane was called Irene, but every time they said the name on TV, I sing Come on Eileen in my head.  I've been singing it A LOT.

*Weather!  Stupid, stupid weather.  It was in the 90's the other day and now it's in the 60's.  What do I wear????

*Zamboanga.  I wouldn't want to live there.  I just like the way it sounds.  

*Castle comes back on in 3 weeks!!!  I can't wait.

*My mom and step dad are fans of my weekly signs.  My step dad was in Lowes (their car could drive there on its own it's been there so often) and snapped this little gem for me.  What a bargain!

I wish you all a lovely Tuesday.  Click the sign at the top to link up and read other RTTs.

Things you don't want to hear from your hairdress

So in a previous post I mentioned that I dyed my hair and it turned red. Then I mentioned that I went to the beauty salon to get it fixed. Let's just say it didn't go well. Here are some things I heard that you should never hear from your hair dresser:

"Huh"

This was the first thing I heard. It did not bode well.

"That's interesting."

What's interesting?  What?  WHAT???

"How did that happen?"

Crap. This does not build confidence.

"I...don't...understand..."

What the hell? What's going on?? What did she do??? Let me see!

"I'm going to call my boss"

Holy #$%^ What did she do??

Yeah, so what she did was turn my hair freaking black with blue ends!!! I flipped out. Seriously. Isn't she supposed to know what she's doing?

The head hairdresser came (she was out) and was very concerned. They had to do something to get the blue and black out. I don't know what they did, but after another hour of working on me, they got it to a dark brown. It does not look good on me. It was still crazy dry though. I could barely get a brush through it.

A few days later I had to go back for a deep conditioning treatment and now have to put oil into it every night to get it soft. It's much better now, but still dark brown. It does not look good on me. I was supposed to go back yesterday, but Han Solo and I were not feeling well, so I'm still rather goth looking. Crikey.

RTT: Fly Heaven

Tuesday? Holy crap, where did the week go? Oh, yeah, they went to sleepless nights with a STILL sick baby. I'm gonna Rebel it up, but it will likely be short. I got 4.5 hours of sleep last night. How I miss my 11 hour sleeping baby. Please let him come back soon!





*Indy is freakishly good at catching flies. He always has been. And when I say good, I mean he usually catches them by their wings. Ick. He also has a very small plastic container (the opening is about 1.5" across), that he catches them with. Weird. Last week there was a fly in the bathroom and I called him to get. He came in with his plastic container and when he quickly pushed it down to catch the fly and accidentally killed it. This is a rare, rare event. He looked devastated for a few minutes and then looks at me and said:
"The fly is in a better place mom. You know in Fly Heaven every street is lined with dog poo."
Good to know.

*I worry about Richard Engel. He goes a lot of dangerous places.

*Han Solo is still sick. I called the peds AGAIN today and insisted on them seeing him. We're on day 16 of this mess. I'm tired of "waiting it out."

*Remember about a week ago when I told you I dyed my hair and it turned out red? Well, I made an appt at a salon on post (1st mistake) to get it "fixed." Come back another day for the full story and a list of things you never want to hear from your hair stylist. Oh, it's bad. I've got to do THREE more appointments to fix what she "fixed." Until then I look...interesting.

*Are there any of these????

I wish you all a lovely Tuesday.  Click the link at the top to read all the other randoms and link up your own.

Where I've been-sick, sick Han Solo, and learning German for icky things

Hello gentle readers. I'll bet you've been wondering where I've been. Sadly, I was not off on some fabulous trip with my beloved Johnny Depp. I was in the hospital with my sweet little Han Solo. He's home now and doing much better though, so fear not.
About 2 weeks ago (now) he developed a terrible cough that ended all the wonderful sleeping through the night he was doing (BOO!). It got worse and worse (seriously, he'd cough for an hour at a time) and then he started having diarrhea. Holy crap (literally). On Thursday (after the Mon the coughing stated), I took him to the peds, but all the peds were booked, so we had to see a Nurse Practitioner, who Indy had seen in the past, and of whom we were not fond. She told us it was nothing and treated my like an overwrought first time mom (despite the fact that I've managed to get Indy to the age of 9). She told us to go home and it would all go away.
Friday night, the vomiting started. It was not good. Sat morning, I decided we were going to the doc again. I had to get authorization to take him to the local Kinderklinik (pediatric hospital) and after speaking to the on call nurse for less than 10 minutes I was told to take him in immediately.
We arrived at the Kinderklinik and were taken straight back (German hospitals are freaking amazing that way-check in and straight to the back you go). The doc came in less than 5 minutes later and asked me some questions and checked him out. She said he needed to be admitted and needed an IV right away. In his head. WHAT??  I have to say, he took the IV far better than I did (I started crying before they even got the needle out of the package).  He didn't cry over the needle (didn't even flinch when it went in), but was pissed to no end that they were holding his head still.  BTW, the doctor put the IV in and drew his blood.  She then took the blood back to the lab, ran the tests herself and came back in less than 20 minutes to tell me his blood work was fine.  Impressive.  I called James Bond weeping and he and Indy hopped in the car and headed to the hospital.
We were put on the infectious ward in a multi-person room.   We were more than willing to pay extra for a private room (like we had when he was born), but they don't have them.  It seems counterproductive to put a bunch of sick kids in a room together, doesn't it?  I got a crash course in the names for disgusting bodily functions in German.  Most of the nurses spoke English, but I made a point to find out what the specific words were so I could communicate with the ones who didn't.  Some things sound far better in German than they do in English.
The first night, we had only one roommate, a 6 year old girl, who was turning 7 the next day.  Han Solo got IV fluids all night, and woke up coughing several times.  My poor little man.  He took it all in stride and smiled and charmed the nurses with his pretty blue eyes and sweet nature.
Our roommate actually got to go home on her birthday, which made me happy because her family was LOUD.  Crazy loud.  We enjoyed several hours of silence before another baby (13 months) was brought in.  She had symptoms almost identical to Han Solo's.  Her mom was Chinese and the dad German.  The dad was in Japan filming a documentary on the recovery from the earthquake and couldn't get home.  She was a first time mom and a nervous wreck.  Between my broken German and her broken English (though it was admittedly better than my German), we managed to communicate fairly well.  The docs took Han Solo's IV out and told me I had to push fluids all night.  Both kids were mercifully asleep when at midnight we got another roommate (12 months).  The mom was ridiculously loud and very, very annoying.  She made noise until nearly 2am and kept slipping out to smoke!  She left her sick baby in the room alone (besides us of course) and went out for 30 minutes to smoke.  Good grief.  Her baby was grossly overweight and I didn't wonder why since the mom kept filling her bottle with orange soda.   Granted German orange soda is not the neon orange that American orange soda is and actually has some orange juice in it, but honestly.  I never saw this kid drink anything else.  We got almost no sleep that night because the mom kept getting up and making noise and waking up the babies.  I wanted to beat her.
The next morning I was exhausted beyond reason and so was Han Solo.  He was awoken almost every hour during the night.  The docs came in to check on him and I told them we were going home.  He was no longer on IV fluids and the only medication he was getting was a nebulizer, which I happen to have at home.  All I needed was the medicine and I could do those.  The young doctor was reluctant, but I told him, Han Solo would recover better when he could sleep.  The chief doctor came in a bit later and said it was fine for us to go home as long as we continued the breathing treatments.  We had to wait for his discharge papers, but as soon as we had them in hand, we were out the door.  When we got home, he went down for a nap and slept for 5 straight hours.  
He's doing much better now, though still has Husten and occasional  Durchfall (look it up).  It's time for a breathing treatment, so I'd better go.  I just didn't want you to think I'd fallen off the edge of the earth (or been whisked away by my beloved Johnny to a private island). 

My night and morning: a timeline

You may remember that I mentioned in yesterday's post that Han Solo has rotavirus. Good grief. Indy had it when he was almost 2 and it was even more awful because he was eating solid foods and mobile. I'm extremely grateful that Han Solo is still just on liquids and cannot move around. I know it could be so much worse.   He's actually taking it quite well (as did Indy) and not fussing.   My nights have been rough lately, but not really because of Han Solo.  Here's how last night went:

8pm: Give Han Solo a bath. Indy takes a shower while Han Solo is bathed, chattering the whole time about his day. Asks if I can read to him.

8:15pm: Feed Han Solo a bottle while reading to Indy (I'm a multitasker).  James Bond cleans up bathroom.

8:30pm: James Bond puts Indy to bed. Indy yells that I need to come kiss him when Han Solo is down.

8:45pm: Han Solo goes to bed (quietly and happily) . Go tuck Indy in. Has to talk about his day for a few more minutes..

9pm: All is quiet. James Bond goes to his man cave for...whatever.  Have time to read my own book.

10:15pm: Go to bed. Han Solo sleeps in our room next to my side of the bed.  Creep in quietly praying he doesn't wake up.  He doesn't.  Give silent hurrah.  Fall asleep.

11pm: Woken up by the dog whining and crying to get in the bedroom with me. Don't let them in.  They take forever to settle and will only cause a ruckus when James Bond gets them up to go outside and they might wake Han Solo.  Go back to sleep.

12:15am: Woken up when James Bond takes the dogs out.

12:25am: Dogs storm into the house like a pack of elephants. Pray fervently they don't wake Han Solo. Fortunately, they don't. Let out a sigh of relief.

12:30am: James Bond comes to bed. Floors creak. Han Solo moves around. Hold my breath, but he doesn't wake.  Sigh in relief.  Go back to sleep.

1:30am: Han Solo wakes up and babbles quite loudly for about 15 minutes. Lay there wondering if he'll go back to sleep. Babbling turns into fussing. Get up. It's rare he's up at this hour, but he's not feeling well.

1:45am: Change a ridiculously stinky diaper. Curse rotavirus for a few minutes. Make a bottle and feed Han Solo. James Bond sleeps through this.

2am: Start to put Han Solo back to bed and notice he is smelly again! Change another stinky diaper. Curse rotavirus for a few more minutes, put Han Solo back to bed (he's instantly asleep, bless him), crawl back in bed.

3:20am: Dogs start barking for no apparent reason, scaring the beejeebers out of me. Shush them. James Bond doesn't wake. Han Solo sleeps through this (dogs barking don't seem to bother him). Go back to sleep.

4:45am: Han Solo starts shifting around. I check on him and he smells suspicious. He doesn't wake up though and consider whether or not to wake him up to change his diaper. Decide to let him sleep. A little poo in his diaper won't hurt anything but my olfactory senses. Go back to sleep.

5:45am: James Bond's alarm goes off. Smack him on the shoulder a few times to wake him up so he'll turn it off. Han Solo is never bothered by the alarm (though I don't know how as it's crazy loud), so he continues to sleep. James Bond gets out of bed, walks across the room, hits snooze button gets back in bed and instantly goes back to sleep. Lay there waiting for the alarm to go off again. Think bad thoughts about James Bond.

5:54am: Alarm goes off again. Smack James Bond some more to turn off alarm. He turns it off and gets up to get dressed for PT. Fall asleep.

6:20am: James Bond comes in to kiss me goodbye, but I'm asleep so his hovering over me scares me half to death and I let out a scream. Han Solo stays asleep. James Bond leaves. Once my heart stops thumping I fall back asleep.

7:30am: Indy creeps into room quietly, wakes me and asks if he can get up. Nod that he can.  He goes to play in his room. Wonder briefly why he walks all the way to my room to ask if he can get up. Decide I'm too tired to care.  Check Han Solo. He's still smelly, but asleep. Go back to sleep.

7:45am: James Bond comes back from PT and dogs bark. Shush them rather violently. Han Solo still sleeps. James Bond crawls back in bed and falls instantly asleep. Lay there thinking I should get up. Decide not to and go back to sleep.

8:40am: Han Solo is babbling. Wake up and realize what time it is. Smack James Bond. He's supposed to be at work at 9. Get Han Solo up, change a stinky diaper and make his bottle. Indy comes out and makes his own breakfast (sweet, sweet boy). James Bond runs around the house like a mad man trying to get himself together.

8:50am: James Bond runs out the door. Han Solo stinks again! Change his diaper, wash my hands and make a cup of tea.

9am: Jump in the shower.

9:10am: Get dressed.

9:15am: Start school.

Is it any wonder I'm tired all the freaking time???? Han Solo slept through the night (8:30pm to 8am) for about 2 weeks and it was sheer bliss, but since he's been sick he's back to waking up at night and I'm delirious.   James Bond and the dogs don't help with my sleep issues.  Pray. for. me.

RTT: I'm back!

Hello my lovely readers! I know you've been wondering where I've been. Haven't you???? Of course you have. Well, I took a wee break from blogging because I've had 2 sick kiddos and I've been scrambling around trying to get all the last minute stuff together so we could start school (we started 4th grade yesterday). But now, I'm back and on a RTT too! How fortuitous (for you).





*So, sick kiddos.  Ugh.  Every year Indy brings home something that makes everyone sick.  He's normally not a sick kid at all, but I swear those germy little buggers at camp are always making him sick.  And now Han Solo is sick.  He's got rotavirus though!  If you've ever had a kid with rotavirus, you know the sheer horror.  Dear heavens!  I've changed so many diapers in the past 2 days it's not funny.  Pray for me!

*Neither the Kangaroo nor the Emu can walk backwards.

*We decided to go computer free on Sunday.  I know!  It wasn't that bad.  When we were talking about it, Indy had a question or two.

Indy: So, no computers?
Me: Nope.
Indy: What about your Kindle? That's kind of a computer isn't it?
Me: So is your Wii.
Indy: Well really, when you think about it the Kindle really is more of a book than a computer.

That's my clever boy.

*We started 4th grade yesterday. FOURTH grade! How on earth is Indy old enough to be in the 4th grade? He was actually very excited to start. He got up early, got himself dressed and drew a picture of himself (wearing the same shirt he actually had on) with confetti and fireworks all around him. Over the picture he wrote "!st Day of 4th Grade!"

*TIP is an acronym for "To Insure Promptness."  Some servers should be told this.

*I usually get a little squirly around my birthday and do something with my hair (dye it a different color, cut it off, whatever). This year around my birthday I was pregnant and not in the mood to do anything with my hair (Han Solo was born the week after my birthday). Two days ago though, I decided it was time. I was going to dye my hair brown. Not dark brown, but a nice soft brown. Hardy, har har. My hair is now a dark auburn red, emphasis on the red. Crap. My dad has (or at least used to have) red hair and my mom has red tones in her hair. I was born with red hair (that turned brownish later) and I just can't get away from it. My hair just pulls red, even if the color doesn't have the slightest bit of red in it, unless I get it professionally done. Crap.

*Did you know that all Model-T's were black because it dried faster than the other paints?  Since Ford was interested in producing cars as quickly as possible, he chose to have them all painted black so they would come off the production line quicker.

*Two weeks ago we left Han Solo with a baby sitter (the first time ever!) and took Indy to see Harry Potter 7, part 2.  It was freaking awesome!  We saw it in the comfy German theater (in English of course).  When you buy your tickets at German theaters, you pick your seats out, so you can't just sit anywhere.  They show you the open seats, you pick the ones you want and your tickets have the seats printed on them.  It's a good system really.  We missed the first 5 minutes of the movie though because a huge group of Turkish people (I know because they were draped in the Turkish flag) were protesting...something (someone is ALWAYS protesting something here) and traffic was backed up.  Grrrr.  Still, awesome movie.

*I know the US is baking right now, but it's actually chilly here!  Currently 63 degrees.  In August!  Good grief.

*We're hoping to find out in the next 2-3 weeks where we're headed next.  Texas was taken off the table (huzzah!) and now moving up to Wiesbaden (about an hour north of where we are now) is on the table!  We're hoping to stay in Germany a while longer so we don't have to pay to ship James Bond's car (the military only ships 1 vehicle) and pay for the dogs this year.  Plus, Europe!  More travel! 
*Why is this sign even necessary?

So, that's my RTT for the day.  I hope you enjoyed my return.  Click the button up there to link your own RTT and/or read loads of other randoms.

30 Years Ago

ETA: This post was written yesterday, but I forgot to publish it! D'oh!

Do you remember where you were 30 years ago today (for those over you old enough to remember 30 years ago)? I do. Where was I? I was sitting in front of the TV at a ridiculously early hour to watch the royal wedding of Charles and Diana. Can you believe it's been 30 years?

Of course we all know how the story ended up, but in the beginning, it was a fairytale, complete with a beautiful maiden and a prince. What more could any little girl want?

Her dress was stunning by 1980's standards and watching that train go down the aisle made my heart skip a beat. When I got married, I insisted on the longest train possible because I still remembered watching Diana's train.

I love this photo.  I think it was the first glimps we go of her face. 

I'm pretty sure I sighed when this happened.

And who could forget the kiss?

This photo came out later and seems to romantic.  They looked so happy.

While it didn't end that way anyone expected, it started off in a way that blew everyone away.  It was beautiful and romantic and will always be "the" royal wedding.

RTT: 55 cents

Oh, sweet, gentle Tuesday. You get lost in the week, don't you? Monday is the "dreaded" day. Wednesday is hump day. Thursday is the day before Friday! And, well, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, just get all the glory. Where's the love for Tuesday? Right here! Random Thoughts Tuesday. My favorite day of the week!  Since Keely is now too cool for school, the awesome Stacy has taken up the reins and now we are Rebel RTTing.  Join us.




*So, Indy has been going to summer camp and loving it. I personally hate it because every. stinking. year. he brings home some disease from the germ ridden little monsters that he plays with. This year it was hand, foot and mouth disease. No, not the kind that cows get, but still, icky. We ALL came down with it and it sucked. We're over it now, but it kept me from blogging last week and that really sucked.

*Yesterday I was at the commissary (military grocery store). I had put all my groceries on the belt and waited for the guy in front of me to pay, so I could check out and then go pick Indy up from the germy cesspool that is summer camp. I waited and waited and waited. And waited some more. I wasn't really paying attention at first to what was holding us up (I had Han Solo's cute little face to look at), but after several minutes, I got curious. The guy in front had already swiped his card to pay when he realized the cashier hadn't rung in his coupon. Not coupons, coupon. Singular. We were waiting for a manager to come do an override so he could be refunded 55 cents. 55 cents! By the time I realized the amount, the manager had shown up to do the override. Had I known, I would have handed the guy $1 just to get things moving. Honestly, 55 cents? If he was perhaps a private, I might could see it, but this guy was an E8 (SFC), which means he makes decent money and has probably been in the military for 16+ years. 55 cents? Come on.

*Don't you hate when you see something that you know has never been there before, but then you think, maybe it was and you're going insane? At the gates of our installation we have barricades built into the road (they weren't there pre-9/11) that come up (quickly) if needed. I've walked past these barricades literally thousands of times and today when I went to the check the mail, there were 2 posts on either side of one barricade with small flashing red lights on the top. Now, I know these weren't there before. Know it. And yet, as I walked past them, I got all confused thinking, maybe I just missed them somehow? Even though I now have to actually walk around one of the poles, I really questioned how long I've not noticed. On the way back home I asked one of the guards (because I really thought I might be going crazy) and he told me they were just installed last week. Whew.

*James Bond got the DVD's of Firefly and Serenity for Father's Day.  Guess what I've had to watch for the last 2 weeks?  It's actually pretty good.  JB was super sad when it went off the air (as were thousands and thousands of fans), but if it hadn't gone off the air, Nathan Fillion might not be in Castle and I love that show.

*Indy's BFF, G-Money is moving back to the States on Saturday.  Indy is devastated.  Since they are packing G-Money's house out today and tomorrow, he's spending the day and night with us.  Indy is over the moon happy about this, but knows it's their last sleepover.  Before we went to get G-Money today, Indy said tonight would be the "end of an era."


*I haven't had my camera with me the last few days (and haven't felt like leaving the house), so today's funny sign is courtesy of the interwebs.  Who picked the name of this road?

Click the button up there to to read the other randoms and link up you own!

RTT: Um...just random?

Well, hello, Tuesday!  I somehow missed RTT last week.  I hate that.  I have so many randoms that just flit away like dry leaves in the wind when I don't write them down.  It's really a shame for you that you don't get to read them all.  I'll try not to let you down again.

*Why do they put grippies on baby socks? It's not like they're going to run off.

*The other day I was feeding Han Solo and he was making the face and the noise.  You know what I'm talking about.  Then things got really smelly.  I was not in the mood for that diaper (though, really, am I ever?) and decided that James Bond doesn't get enough.  I posted an abbreviated version of this convo on FB, but you guys get the whole thing:

Me:  {sweetly}  Hey, honey.  Could you bring me some water?  (Remember I'm holding the baby)
JB:  Sure. {a few seconds later he brings me a bottle of water}  Here you go.
Me:  Thanks.  Could you change him for me?
JB:  Okay. {takes the baby and walks away}
Me:  {snicker, snicker}
JB:  {opens the diaper} OMG!  OMG, what did he do?  Oh, it's horrible!  OMG!  Oh, the smell!  Oh no!   OMG!  Oh, oh, oh!  Gross!  It's so bad!  So.  Bad.  It stinks!  OMG!  OMG!  It's on my finger!!! Aaaaahhhh!!!
Me:  {snicker, snicker}

*Did you know the Pope (I can never remember his name, I just call him Not! John-Paul) tweets?  It's true.  He tweets in English.  Probably for all the American Catholics who don't speak a foreign language.  English is an odd choice.  He's German, and the Vatican is in Italy (okay, technically, it's NOT in Italy as it is it's own little country, but still) and has Swiss guards.  English?  Really?  I personally think he should tweet in Latin.

*I even dream about blogging!  Last night I dreamed it snowed and for my RTT, I posted only this:

Snow.  In July.   Global warming, my ass.

*Han Solo had to go to the doctor this morning to update his Zantac dosage because he's grown (12lbs 9oz!).  While we were sitting in the waiting room, I looked around at the other moms (what else is there to do?).  There were 6 other moms there.  Two were in uniform and the other 4 were dressed similar to me: jeans and a top, but all 4 of them had on the rattiest, nasty flip flops you can imagine.  Now, I'm not a fan of flip flops, but I know that people love them and accept that I'm going to see them pretty much everywhere during the summer.  However, flip flops are cheap (with a few exceptions).  There is no reason to wear nasty looking flip flops.  For the love of all that's holy, get a decent pair!  Also, get a foot file and file that nasty skin off the back of your feet and slap some moisturizer on them.  Nobody wants to look at dry cracked skin.  If you're going to paint your nails,at least keep up with the paint.  It doesn't have to be perfect, but it takes about 30 seconds to slap another coat over the old if you need to.  Don't go out in public with your nasty flip flops and chippy nail polish.  Yuck.  In case you were wondering, these are the shoes I was wearing (and see, my nail polish isn't perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than what I saw this morning)

 BTW, it's hard to take a good photo of your own feet if you don't have a camera with a remote.  Try it, you'll see.


*I am heartily sick of war.  Half our friends are in the "sandbox."  JAG (Han Solo's godfather) and T.O.M. (James Bond's bro-friend) are now there and it's only a matter of time before James Bond goes.  Sigh.

*Don't you kind of miss the days when the Soviets were our enemies?  I mean they were good enemies.  There were spies and espionage and defections.  Nobody blew themselves up or planted bombs inside other people.  The Soviets were good, honest enemies (huh?) and I miss those days.  And think of all the good spy movies and books we got out of it. 

*Normally my weird/funny photos are scoured from the interwebs, but today they were all taken by yours truly.  In fact, they were all taken today!  Good thing I had a camera in my bag, huh?

 *After Han Solo's appt this morning, I saw this car sitting outside the hospital gates (remember "ph" makes the "f" sound):

*I brought Han Solo back home and dropped him off with James Bond so I could take The Contessa, Mona Lisa and Principessa to the Frankfurt airport.  They are headed to the States for a month while T.O.M. is in the sandbox.   This truck was in front of us:

 *When I came back from dropping them off, I swung by the PX complex just so I could take this photo.  Outside the gates (and there is no other way on to the PX complex) sits "the pink house."  The pink house is, for lack of a better word, a whore house.  Prostitution is legal in Germany and there are loads of houses like this.  We're just lucky enough to have one right outside the PX.  This sign is pretty new though (it reads "30 girls waiting for you):

Nice, huh?  Don't you want to drive your kids past that all the time?  Indy hasn't seemed to pay it any attention, but by now he's used to seeing half naked (and even topless) women on signs and billboards over here.

*If you are looking at the sign posted above and turn your head about 45 degrees to the left, you'll see this sign.  The juxtaposition makes me laugh.  I wonder what Not!John-Paul thinks?

And, there you have it.  Today's really random RTT.  Click the link above and go check out Stacy in all her coolness and the other RTT's.  You can even link up your own, if you like.