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As promised...LOL about a month ago!

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Since the room doesn't have internet service, I've decided (with a little advice from Papabear) to start blogging with Notepad and update my blog whenever we're connected.

Wed before Thanksgiving.
26Nov08
-We decided to stop at the Vet to make an appointment to get the 10 day health certificate and was dropped with the bombshell. "Did you get the USDA health certificate?" WHAATTT!? In ALL the conversations we've had with the vet, they never mentioned this until now. We had to drive (on Wed) three hours into California to Fort Irwin to see the regional military vet. (And it was all a waste of time. NEVER were we asked for documentation for the animals. The US airlines wanted to see the 10day health report, but the Italians didn't ask for anything. Not even proof that the animals were ours!)

27Nov08
-We had Thanksgiving with Richard/Linda and her son's (Jason) family. And Jason's Mother/Father in law and his Sister in laws family. Boy did I feel like a fish out of water I was the only non-smoker, vegetarian there. I didn't realize how EVERYTHING traditionally Thanksgivingish has meat in it! Oh well, Mama will get a tofurkey next year. Pugly, however, just cemented his place in this family. With FIVE little kids running around and a houseful of strangers, he was so well behaved! Never did he snap at anyone. And the only barking he did was at the beginning when everyone was coming in.

(I'll give you TWO guesses who stuffed the turkey. *Shudder* I'll have to rethink that "Can I help with anything?" next time.)

Flying Day-02Dec08Tuesday We get up at 6am and papa heads to walmart for luggage straps (because you cannot lock luggage anymore and I didn't want them to split open if they were dropped) and I start cleaning that camper. We head out to the airport around 9am. Check in and the chaos begins. The exact same cat carrier that I brought Patches home from Germany in cannot be shipped out to Italy. For some reason the crate needs to have four vented sides. So, at the ticket window, we have to buy a new cat carrier for $50 bucks. FIFTY BUCKS! And they only take cash! Ouch. The flights were....well they were. The vegetarian meal rocked though.

03Dec08-Arrive in Italy around 3pm and are picked up by the Hospitality person.(Tiffany/Jared) Taken to the Hotel to check in and given 45 mins to settle in. We
then went to a big super walmart type store for essentials. Then back home to clean cages/animal bedding/dog. Everything was covered with urine. Oh yeah! On top of that I flooded the bathroom. Look a this (picture of Shower and doors) the drain and the water pressure do not match. So the water would puddle around your feet to leak out to the bathroom floor. It traps along the edges of the bathroom and, oh yeah, I don't have a mop in this place. I do have a scrub brush and a broom.

04Dec08-Day on Base-I went to the Wives club meeting and then tooled around base. (For all of five minutes) We did go into the library and pick some books out. My
only problem is that she gave me a blank look when I asked about inner-library loan. We'll have to correct that. (grin)

05Dec08-Papabear goes to work, LB and I relax in the hotel.

06Dec08-Saturday-Children's Chrismas party on base. Boy do I feel like a stranger in town. I did meet a few cool moms.

07Dec08-Sunday- Today Papabear suggested we walk down to the "Blue Mall." It's about 1.5 miles away, so not a long walk. You couldn't have picked a nicer day to walk.
(Funny that the mall is open on Sunday. Obviously the Italians don't share the German's view of "Family Day" on Sunday. NOTHING is open in Germany. The Mall itself was a typical mall. Expensive. They did have a grocery store, toystore, and hardware store and it's comforting to know that they're accessable 7 days a week.

Came home to discover that Patches was locked away from her litter box and protested by peeing on BOTH pillows. She didn't spill a drop on the bed. So she must have peed, walked over to the second pillow, then peed again. Little Shit. OH Yeah! And Pugly has reverted to peeing and pooping in the room. And before you ask...yes...we do take him on walks every two hours. Plus a walk right before bed. It seems like I've been doing load after load of laundry in this kitchen sink. I think from now on we'll keep Pugly in his crate at night. *laugh* I finally learned not to put a blanket in there whenever we have to crate him. He's peed on three of them. Doing laundry without a bathtub sucks! And they only come to launder the towels once a week. Fun Fun! I'm tired of whining about this, so I'll stop. Besides, I need to go move the blowdryer to the other pillow. And to see if someone's peed on the floor in the last fifteen minutes. *wry grin* P.S. I'll forgive Pugly. He's such a good dog on the leash. His walking behavior more than makes up for his lapse in potty training.

08Dec08-Monday-Papbear went to work and I decided to cuddle in LB's bed after I walked the dog (I think he's part chicken, he gets up with them) So I cuddled up and
started to get drowsy when I heard "Mom, why is the blanket wet?" That &%@*^ cat peed on his bed in the middle of the night. If I knew the number to the SPCA here. I think I would have called it. Remember this is three days before they come to change the linens. And I've been washing dog blankets every day. I sat down and cried. What will the front desk person think? (Nasty, dirty Americans) But, it's his bed....so I pulled up my Big Girl pants....dried my tears and went down to ask for another set of bed linens. And before you ask...yes, she did give me the Nasty, dirty American look. Rebecca, the wife of Brian's boss who's also staying in Il Sogno, came down and wanted to know if we'd like to go to the market tomorrow. Then invited LB to the park with her boys. Blessed peace! Then we went up to her place to play after dinner. She's really religious, so I'm not sure if she'll like to hang out with me. But as long as she doesn't try to convert me, we'll be ok. (Sidenote: the heater only goes up to 20C which equals 68F. We've been freezing! I actually bought a microfiber undershirt at the neighborhood market. I LOVE IT! It's cut VERY low so you can wear it under anything. Then, if I want to wear it as a shirt I can turn
it around and wear it as a tee shirt. I've got to find more! I'd like to find one for LB too. He's freezing too!)

09Dec08-Tuesday-*Laugh* I either have REALLY good days or REALLLYYYY bad days. Today was a good day. We got up early and headed two blocks down to the Tuesday Market
every Tuesday they hold this huge open-air market. I guess it's the largest in the area. And heaven knows how old it is. Rebecca, and her boys (4yr, 6yr, & 1yr Girl)went down with us. She told me today that when you have one boy-you have one brain. 2 boys-a half brain, 3 boys-a third of your brain. I believe it. I couldn't tell you how many times I had to yell at LB. Infact thats all I seem to be doing nowadays is yelling/spanking him. HE DOESN'T LISTEN. The only time he seems to mind me is after I spank him. And this isn't "just being a boy" naughtyness. It's running out in front of traffic. Screaming and pushing each other...Hitting. Running away when we're out walking. Gah! *Deep breath* Oh yeah, I was telling you how I had just a great day. *Laugh* Anyway, besides being freezing cold, the market was great. It reminds me of a typical German market day, so I wasn't that nervous about looking/buying. I just REALLY need to study Italian. I honestly can't believe how handicaped I am by the language barrier. The market was down on the water front and I have GOT to bring my camera back down there and get a shot of the Alps over this crystal blue water. It's amazing. After a nap, LB and I walked back down to the market area looking for a market. I found an awsome deal on olive oil. It's the size I normally buy in the states for $15+ and I paid 1.99euro. I bought the EXACT type of wine I love for .99 Euro. YAY! I've missed my wine. It's currently out on the terrace cooling down for dinner. We also had a kiwi that would knock your socks
off. I had forgotten how sweet they could be. The ones in Vegas were either sour or rotten. They didn't have a very long "sweet time." LB says we should have
bought 10 of them....I happen to agree. I've also been eating clementine oranges like they're going out of style. They're so good! My body is adoring all of
this fresh produce. It's hard to get the good stuff in the middle of the desert.

Sorry for the rambling post. My brain is fried. Pugly is sleeping in his crate (potty training) and so he whines all night. And Patches has been sleeping in the bathroom because of her little escapade yesterday...so she howls all night long. The cold and the crying have made for terrible nights...and the fighting with LB all day has completely worn me out. I'm ready to move into a house. (Sidenote: LB is watching his "Fairy Odd Parents" in Italian. He's seen the episode so many times that he knows exactly what's going on.)

10Dec08-Wednesday-It rained rivers today! Pugly walked under protest. I definately need some rainboots. My tootsies are cold!

11Dec08-Thrs Lonnie M. came by and took us up to Vichenzia today. Our first stop was to look at a house. Wow! It's a smallish three level, three bedroom, two bath house. The plus sides are 1.Full/Fenced in yard 2.Garage 3. Big Park across the street 4. Dead end street 5.Two bathroom 6.allows animals 7.the schoolbus stops in this town 8.Lots of Americans. So, obviously, the +'s outweight the -'s. We also stopped by the BIG BX/Commissary on Vichenzia. It was so nice to finally feel "American." I bought LB a coat, an Italian/American Dictionary, some slippers for me, a Glade candle (to bannish the wet dog smell in here) and some yarn to knit Littlebear ANOTHER hat/scarf combo. I'm finally starting to feel good about this place. The Pug is getting used to sleeping in his kennel and going potty outside. (He even leaves his kennel dry when we leave him all day. We also got new cell phones. I really like this one. Papa says we're going to take these back to the states...*laugh* I'm getting tired of plugging all my numbers into phones...only to change them up every couple months. Anyway, it's been a long/cold day....I'm off to bed. PS I don't feel so lost/miserable. The mere thought of my "own house" is enough to keep me going.


08Jan09 -Whew! This is the first time I've be alone in almost two months! It's also the first day of school! You would have been so proud of me if you saw me in front of that big schoolbus. I even scored a lunch date with one of the wives that live here in M with us. Hmm lets see. There have been a ton of things that have happened since I last "blogged"

Crap going on!!

-crafts
2 Dishcloths
Brown socks
Littlebear's Hat/Multidirecional Scarf
Dictionary envelope with Leftover yarn


-We lived through two earthquakes. I have no information about it..LOL I'm not exactly "Plugged in" to the world right now.

=We go up into the Alps. Took the dog. Played in the snow and gawked at the scenery. 200 miles round trip.
=Papabear goes TDY to Germany for two weeks.

-My first drive up to Vicenza. Noneventful until we got stuck in two roundabouts. The TomTom we're borrowing said to "veer left." Thankgoodness Littlebear had the commonsense to say "Hey Mom, there's an American Flag in the other direction, should
we take that?" And you know what? That was the way! Thank the stars that he inherited that "homing pigeon" trait from his father. I get lost in a paper bag!


07Jan The commander called a snow day. We were dumped with 5 inches of snow overnight. And guess who put on her "Big girl panties" and shoveled her driveway with a pooperscooper? I tell you...military life will make you all kinds of clever!

-end of blog posts-

Wow, I got depressed just editing those. I am in a totally different place right now and so I'm able to reach back in time (in my mind, of course) and give that Ang a hug.

Tomorrow I'll take my camera out and start my virtual tour of "Ang's life"

Love you,
Ang