Real Birthday News

Hudson is officially FIVE!  The evening was exciting (see post below) but the day overall was boring.  First he found some cards in the mailbox, then waited ALL DAY until afternoon to open his presents.  Begin humming Born to Be Wild Here:

He got this totally cool bike and helmet and some Star Wars people.  He also got to pick out some stuff with money Gramps and Aunt Maria had deposited for him, we'll get those pix up soon.

This shot has the added benefit of seeing our Happy Birthday banner and some of how the house is coming together.  You can see Dad was won over about a TV finally. We have satellite, too, and so that means Cartoon Network for the first time in over a year.  Caleb is pretty excited about that. Our couch is having some issues (the man at the store actually blamed our pants) so we are down one cushion cover right now.

Everyone loves a party!

And finally the cake.  Hudson really is his name. I am not sure what they are insinuating here by saying Happy Birthday "Hudson".  I guess it means, "Happy Birthday Hudson ... if that is your real name (insert evil laugh sound effects here)!"

(I owe that whole joke to: www.quotation-marks.blogspot.com, which is a really funny site that always makes me laugh!)

No ER Visit

Uncle Todd will be proud to know we didn't have to go to the ER during Hudson's birthday.  This was partly because we were at the police station for so long.

It happened like this,  Hudson got to pick where he wanted to go for his b-day supper and he chose Burger King.  Unfortunately the mashed potato machine was empty this time but it turns out it was the least of our worries.

First we picked up a couple of guys from a bus station (including our own Josh D) and then headed to BK.  While we were there we enjoyed lively conversation and BK food and a sort of play area.  Then when it was time to go, we went outside to find this:

Yeah, that is our NEW car with the passenger side (not the driver side) window busted out.  While we merrily ate our deep fried goodness a few yards away a person or persons unknown busted out our window just outside this busy gas station/fast food place on the side of a busy road.  There were no witnesses.

This is the seat in which one of our friends (not Josh D) had stored his back pack.  Had stored...past tense.

This is the place that HAD STORED our beloved GPS device.  HAD!!  Can you believe it, somebody busted out our window and stole that awesome backpack (which actually contained his passport) and our GPS.  They did not take my back-up GPS batteries, though, stupid crooks!

We got the BK manager and brought him outside and I said, "Can you call the police?" Then I called my friend to find out what to do.  When I got off the phone the manager asked what the police said. "What? YOU were calling the police."  I tried to explain to him that as of now I do not know how to call the police (actually, I still don't).

So he called the police for us then informed us that we needed to go to the police station.  So we got from him some bags to clean out some glass.  When we finished I took the leftover bags and sack of glass inside and he said, "No, no, no.  You keep it."  That is when I give my confused-foreigner-look and think, "What am I supposed to do with a bag of broken glass?"

So then we get to the police station and we are ready to have our statement taken. It turns out its like an IKEA police station (you do it yourself).  The Police Man says, "Can you type?" and tells the guy to have a seat at his computer and fill out the form himself.  I am thinking of those signs in IKEA (Q: Why do I have to fill out my own forms?  A: Because then we don't have to pay someone to do it for you, so you save money).

Anyway, we get it all done and then we get to talk to another police station on the phone.  The question comes to our friend, "Why did you come to fill out a report?" My answer, "Uh, cause a crime was committed."  Thankfully I didn't have to talk to them.  Friend just says, "My backpack was stolen when someone smashed out his car window.  My passport was inside."

After all that gets sorted out we find out we have to drive to another police station about 30 minutes away to get an official stamp that the embassy will need for a new passport.  I tell them repeatedly, "There is no way I can find that place."  Which it turns out is a bad idea since then we needed to wait a LONG time for a policeman to come from there and show us.  It turns out these particular police are not allowed to leave the station, I think.

Then, we get our stamp and head back home for some 10pm Happy Birthday singing, cake, and glass vacuuming before we drive these fine young men back to where they came from ... about four hours away.  If you count from our 3am arrival time at their place they got to spend about 10 hours with us.  But those memories and being a part of H-man's birthday?  Priceless.

The one thing I learned is this: my children do not trust me.  Standing around in broken glass Hudson asks, "How are we going to get home since Dad lost his GPS?"

Say Hello to My Little Friend

This bad daddy which was delivered today is our new DRYER.  Yes, this little machine will take your wet clothes and make them become DRY clothes.

Amazing!!!

We haven't had one since leaving KY last year.  If the picture makes it look big, its an optical illusion.  One thing we didn't like about the machine is that the controls are near the bottom--next to the floor.  But not to worry the helpful salesperson had a solution.  Turn it upside down!  

Now why didn't I think of that?  Of course, turning it upside-down would cause the door to swing the wrong way and that would never work...

Heads and Feet?

You know, normally the question you ask yourself in KY when buying chicken is boneless or bone-in (maybe just white or dark).  Around here you have to decide: heads and feet or not.  We actually prefer our chickens decapitated and footless, so the question is no problem for us.

Today Angie put our first headless, footless, one-legged chicken in our new crock pot (she had to sever one leg for it to fit).  It cooked up and MAN was it ever good.  At the end of the meal we were digging out the bones to store the leftovers when we noticed the neck still attached.  Hmmm, headlessness apparently starts with the chin and not the collar bone.

As the meat continued to be separated from the bones and other non-chewy stuff we found other stuff.  Heart. Liver. Gizzard.  As very committed giblet gravy makers each November we know a little bit about stuff that is usually inside a bag.  We think our delectable bird still had all her organs intact when she went into the slow cooker.

Or maybe it was like our first Thanksgiving when we cooked our turkey without ever removing the bag from inside...

Sunday Afternoon at the Park

As usual a good time was had by all!!  Craig even met a deaf guy and laid some sign language on him.  That dude was even more surprised than most people who hear us speak a language they didn't expect!!

This one park we found about five minutes from home has more green space than the whole last city we lived in ... OK that is an exaggeration but it is really big.

These are some action shots of "tag" in process.  You have to be tricky to get Bethany because she is so FAST!

In Between

Its weird using a computer with nothing on it.  Its like always being at an internet cafe or something.  Tomorrow we are planning to try to reformat and reinstall everything.  For now we are just trying to use web mail and signing in to everything every time we want to use it.  Wow ... talk about difficult!

Just Like Starting Over

The Apple mechanic gave us a new hard drive today so even though we have to reinstall everything and will have to invest hours trying to get back to where we were at least our computer works again.  

The good news ... we had just backed up last week.  That Leopard upgrade was REALLY worth the money!!!

Breakdown

Well I know many people will say, "You are not supposed to have problems with Macs..." but our hard drive crashed a couple of days ago. Hopefully we can get the problem taken care of this weekend just wanted you to know we are a bit out of touch for a couple of days.

We Can Sit Down!

Our couch came today!!  How about those colors?  That is something new for us.

Woo-Hoo!!!!

Hey Kids, Play It Safe!

Please no jumping over this third floor railing!

New house, same accidents

Here is a picture of my (caleb,of course) leg. We may have a new house, but nothing has changed since Glasgow. This happened 2 days ago and it is still swollen and open. It should have stitches but we couldn't find a hospital

Rescue Pets...Comin to the Rescue

The other day we were in a shopping center of sorts when a lady walked by with a meowing box.  Now being very perceptive, Craig thought nothing of it. But Angie overheard a conversation between the meowing-box lady and another woman.

"What are you doing with that box?" asked the first. "Throwing it away," was the reply. (You know that is a real language-learning milestone when you can overhear conversations.) So Craig presses the family onward to the hardware store.

A few minutes later we were looking for what the hardware store didn't have when we met the box lady coming around a corner. Then guess what we met. Two little-bitty kittens.

Obviously, after a short debate we loaded up the kittens and brought them home. Then we discovered our little darlings have bellies full of worms. How is that for payback? YUCK! That discovery was made after this touching photo was taken:



Turns out the dropper was not only unnecessary, it was also ineffective. They did much better when we threw them a chicken leg since these are wily street cats. Now I know some of you buy into the urban legend that you should never give a cat chicken bones but these are Asian cats ... practically tigers; so there is nothing to worry about. No one got choked. But it turns out Caleb is allergic.

So that is how we became rescuers of helpless kittens. We know, we know. We are some of the best people ever. 

P.S. We have given some deworming medicine in case you wondered.

Caleb's 1st meal in our new house

The rest of the family enjoying their 1st meal

This is IKEA's idea of fun, but not Craig's!
Finally a piece of furniture for us to sit on!  Woo Hoo

House in Progress

On-Line

We finally got our internet hooked up at the house.  A good thing because I think some people thought we were stalking little kids at the mall.  You see there is a play land which our kids love and its right next door to a coffee shop with free wi-fi.

So Dad would sit on the floor of the play place and blog.  WEIRD!   So anyway, now I get to go back to not watching my children in the privacy of my own home.  Look for us ... we miss being in constant communication.

Its the Commissioner!!

Recently we had our new phone service installed and after paying a whopping $300 deposit and a few dollars "stamping fee" we were ready to go.

 Seriously a few bucks for someone to lay the ink on a pad and hit your paper.  

Except wait!  You get a phone. Which we declined.  Which they insisted we take since it was "Free" (a.k.a. already paid for).  

Our choices were normal old white and RED!  Which, of course, we were obliged to take since red would make us look like superheroes.  Every time the phone rings it will be like we are being called in by Commissioner Gordan.

This photo is a dramatization of said calling in.  Hudson is not much of a dramatizer.  That is more Bethany's role in life.  

Thats All We Got to Say About That

So here we are sitting at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company watching Forrest Gump and listening to John Mellencamp sing Pink Houses.  Its a lot like being in Edmonton except we are the only white people in here.

We have been shopping at IKEA today.  I go back and forth.  We are finding few accessories we likenear our home (hence driving four hours to shop for some) but it can be maddening to be in that place.  "Is that the price for the whole thing ... or just the shelf?!?"  

I am learning something about Sweden from shopping there.  Those folks are incredibly self-reliant.  I reached that conclusion when the cashier pushed our purchases past the register and tossed me a bag.  In our language city there would have been at LEAST two people to bag our stuff and none of them would have been me.  I never successfully bagged my own stuff.  I started often but someone always took it away.  Maybe that is why there were so few Swedes there.  They couldn't handle all the help they'd get!

Get Out of My Room!

We have not even moved into our new house yet and already someone has yelled out the famous phrase.  Pretty comforting when things are normal like that...

Culture Stress

The times you really feel stressed are when you are used to doing something one way; so used to it, its like unconscious.  For example, getting a cart at Wal-Mart.  One time we went to a store and found a thousand carts all chained together under a sign with the admonition to bring your own cart from outside.  We had no idea how to access those carts.  That makes you feel stressed (or stupid).

Today we went to the movies to see Hancock (hardly a family film, we should've read up on it first).  We had tickets to the 1pm show.  Now you can have virtually the same movie experience anywhere in the US from Orlando to Seattle.  You get your ticket, get your popcorn, get a seat, go to the bathroom (at least I do), come back for some ads and then the previews at about the scheduled start time, 1pm in this example.

We stood in the line to buy our assigned-seat tickets and then got our snacks (Craig had a cup of corn--real, yellow, buttery corn eaten with a spoon and everyone else had caramel corn), then waited for the "Now Seating" light to go on.  Now that is probably three new things: assigned seats, a cup of corn, and a "now seating" light.

Well, some time shortly after 1pm they started to let people go into the theatre.  This was just after Hudson dropped his Coke and it went everywhere.  Now, here when you enter into the cinema its already dark and the previews are already showing.  Sometimes they alternate with TV commercials.  Sometimes there are no previews at all.

Another different thing is the niche marketing in the US.  You go to see Wall-E and you will see previews for kid movies, go to see James Bond and you see James Bond-like previews, etc. Here you might see slasher previews before Wall-E.  Hmmm, different.

So here we are in our dark cinema with a cup of corn and Hudson crying and the ticket stubs out looking for row H (and since people are the same everywhere--almost all the little directional lights have been kicked out by previous patrons).  We get to our seats and then set out for the restrooms, which are usually far away.  This time they are down the steps and around a corner.

Then just when you find yourself thinking, "Can't anything ever be easy?!?" you know you are feeling culture stress.  And you try to laugh about it.  Turns out yelling is not much help at all.

I mean it really is rather funny when the guy installing your new A/C unit moves his hands in big circles and says, "No working, no working!!" just like in some carton or something.  Its not so funny at 8:30pm after a full day of culture stress but later you can laugh about it.

Finally some normal news, we were cleaning and watching our "No Working! No Working!" men yesterday when our kids spied some other kids.  Two doors up we have a boy and girl really close in age to Bethany and Hudson and next to them a boy the same age as Caleb.  At one point we had about 10 kids in the yard yesterday.  That felt really natural.  I can do that with my eyes closed.

Are you serious?

Today I approached a nearly sleeping woman at a stall to ask her if a curry puff was fresh before I bought it.  As she looked back at me I thought, "What a stupid question."

Seriously, what did I expect her to tell me?  The truth?  So my 'word to the wise' is if you think it might not be fresh, don't buy it.  The person selling has a greater responsibility to feed themselves than to the truth, I think.

BTW, it tasted good but would have been better if it was so fresh it was still hot ... :-)

Shopping Update

Based on your comments and emails we thought you might like an update on how the shopping is going.  We left our arrival city and drove with all our stuff on Tuesday, arriving about 4:30.  That day was pretty special since someone volunteered to help us and drove a van full of cases, saving us about 6 or 7 trips.

On Wednesday we went to a big furniture/appliance store and started pricing things.  Then we went to BK for the mashed potato extravaganza.  The afternoon had some more shopping and finally we took the kids to the hotel pool while Craig continued on his own.

It goes like this, you enter into a small shop and then try to get prices for all the stuff we need from there.  Then go somewhere else and do it again.  Most of these shop owners are much more shrewd sellers than we are buyers and so we try to find the best deal.  After about 10 shops we made an Excel spreadsheet of appliances, stores, prices, etc. But we didn't buy anything. 

Thursday morning we went to have the telephone and internet service started.  Angie was just a bit frustrated with the going and regoing and nothing being purchased.  So we went to KFC and ate and used their wi-fi and made our plan of attack.  Then we went back to one store and spent $2200 for a fridge, washer, 3 burner stove top (the oven is separate like the Brady Bunch), two bedroom air conditioners, and two water heaters.  The water heaters here are installed in the showers and are in-line heaters that are instant and really nice (except when you need to wash your hands.. no hot water there).

Then we went to a mall to look for bedding, curtains, and the like.  Nothing there, so we tried another place.  There we bought some home stuff: shower curtain and rod, dishes, and some odds and ends.  Plus, Angie and Caleb put on the sales pressure for a 32" LCD TV that was on clearance.  Tempting, but Craig held out... no TV purchase yet.

At the next stop we bought a popcorn maker (aka microwave), some curtains, small ladder for fixing curtains, crock pot, fan, and a few other things.  Finally we picked up a Dominos pizza and went back to the hotel.  Then we made good on our promise to let them stay up till 10:30pm and play Wii since we shopped so hard that day.  It was a long one but we got a lot done.

We started Friday doing serious looking at living room and dining room stuff.  One place was pretty promising with an entire set: couch, coffee table, TV table, and dining room set.  That is the leader right now!  But we have plans for at least two more of those places plus a mattress stop as well.

So, how is it going?  Exhausting but I guess the kids are doing about as well as can be expected.  But we just finished a nice lunch with a strong coffee and cheesecake ... so maybe its the sugar and caffeine talking!!

Mashed Potato Machine

Back in the old days, I (Craig) worked at UPS on the overnight shift loading the next day air planes.  They had the coolest machine, you put some money in and a cup falls down, then some ice, then soft drink is squirted in.  I always watched knowing that some time it would come down in the wrong order or would overflow or something but it never did.

So, yesterday we went to Burger King (let me tell you we are TIRED of eating out).  They were offering mashed potatoes.  We couldn't believe it.  Mashed Taters at BK.  Nice.  Then I saw it: The Mashed Potato Machine!

I asked if the mashed potatoes came from there and she assured me they did.  It had buttons: plain, chicken gravy, cheese gravy (YUCK!), and something else.  Maybe it was emergency eject, that is what I would put in if I worked at Burger King.

When Angie ordered some potatoes we got to see the exciting thing in action.  It was just like the soda machine at UPS.  Something came out, then something else, then a third thing and BAM! the sum was greater than its parts.

Here is what we didn't see come out: potatoes or potato flakes. Everything that came out was liquid.  Then with no shaking, no stirring, no nothing but when we got to the table ... mashed potatoes. Don't ask me how and don't think your grandmother would approve but they sure beat another serving of french fries.

Howdy from Hamid's

Our first dinner in our new hometown found us back at Hamid's home of great food and free wireless.  Some things have changed, though, since our last visit in May.  

For one the wi-fi is now password protected.  For another the neon light is not on tonight.  Other than that things seem pretty normal.  

After two visits in May we were greeted as old friends (or as least like we were recognized).  We're practically famous, I guess.  

We got our stuff all unloaded and changed the locks on our new pad and bought some TP for the new place.  Now we need to go back to the house and dig through bags and find clothes for tomorrow.  Then the shopping begins.

We'll keep you updated on our progress with appliances, dining, and who has free wi-fi.  Our lives are just wild and crazy like that.  

Imagine Meetin' You Here

Many of you will recognize Josh D (who like Prince and/or Madonna is so famous only one name is necessary ... its just that in his case the "one name" is his WHOLE name run together).  

An update on him: he will go to McDonalds even if he has already eaten, will go to Starbucks just for the A/C (its hot here), and has a better MacBook than ours.

Behind us you can see some of our still unpacked luggage.  We are hoping to put him to work for us ... I mean what are friends for if not for helping people move, right.  Especially if you have a truck.

Who Doesn't Love Shopping?

Our plan had been to get out and do a little shopping Sunday afternoon but the combination of people saying, "Are you really going to IKEA on a Sunday?" and some sickness in the family pushed the trip to Monday.

But we did make it today.  Its just as big as the one we remembered from Seattle but seemed to have more "we have LOW prices" signs than I remembered.  That part gave it more of a fancy Wal-Mart feel instead of the "We are a pretentious furniture company from Europe" that I got in Seattle.

The biggest difference was now we need stuff.  We need everything except a kitchen sink (literally).  So we stole ideas and wrote down prices and generally had a "fun" time there.

I (Craig) did draw the line at having Swedish meatballs from the food court for lunch.  Which turned out to be a bad idea since then we ended up at TGIFridays and spent $45.  Youch!

Still, though, an iffy stomach and food court meatballs don't seem much of a combination.

The Rest of the Story

We should start with some facts: 1) our house is three hours from the airport 2) our flight was at 9:45pm 3) nothing ever goes as planned.

So we had a truck scheduled to haul our 17 bags and a driver for our car scheduled to arrive at 3:30.  We were loaded and ready for departure 6 hours before our flight time.  Plenty of time to get ourselves there and check-in early since we had so much extra luggage.

When we left home we hit some traffic.  We expected that.  But then we just stayed in traffic.  The 30 minute drive out of town took an hour.  When we reached the point that was an hour from the airport, we were already three hours into our trip.  We sent a text message to our luggage driver.  He was approximately 45 minutes BEHIND us (even though he left 20 minutes earlier).

We arrived at the airport at 7:45, still two hours early. No problem.  Except the luggage was still 45 minutes away or would arrive around 8:30 or 75 minutes before departure. The sweat starts to roll.

We ask the airline what to do.  They say, "Check in and explain your baggage is on the way." So we check in and use the word for "17" in various languages to explain that 5 people have that many bags.  The airline asks how far away the bags are.  The driver says, "10 minutes."  So I tell the airline, "Around 5 minutes." Then they say go wait for your bags and bring them in ASAP.

Outside Craig stands with 3 porters watching, pacing, sweating, pacing, calling, worrying. Finally the bags arrive at 8:47 or less than an hour before our departure.  Sweat is pouring.

We rush inside where the bags need to be x-rayed as they come in the door.  Guess what!  The kind gentleman wants to know if we have "invoices" for all our stuff.  Uh, no.  "Yes, invoices from when you bought it," he says. "Its from America," we answer.  Then he decides he needs to look inside a few bags.  I think, "Bless your heart, brother."  After he confiscates a few things, he lets us go.

We race to the check-in counter and begin the weighing process.  Now, we are about 850 pounds OVER our weight limit (no exaggeration).  But the incredible guy gets us down to a reasonable amount and tells Craig to hurry and pay in another location and then hurry back here.

So Craig runs.  Runs.  To the other location, credit card in hand.  While waiting the guy from check in comes to say, "Hurry," in English.  We hurry and sign and get our stickers, etc.  Then he says again, "Hurry to the gate."   So now Craig is sprinting through the airport to the family only to find Caleb missing.  He is having stomach trouble and had to go to the restroom.  Which is often 10 minute walk away in this airport.  

So now Craig is running to the restroom to collect Caleb.  Then both are running back to the family.  Then we see a bright spot.  An inspection spot that has 100 Asians in line on one side has NO ONE on the other!!  Zoom, we are through one check point.  Zoom, we are through another.  Now the WHOLE family is running through the airport.  Flip flops and Crocs are flying off.  Kids are crying. Sweat is pouring from Mom and Dad.

We run down the hallway and find our gate.  Make one more security check, go straight to our seats and try to catch our breath.  Its 9:25!!  We did it!!!

So we are buckled and taxiing and getting our instructions and Caleb says to Dad, "Hudson is vomiting."  Since we are moving and the stewardesses are locked in, he has to endure it for a bit.  Then the only clothes we have are Bethany's, so he has to wear hers for our arrival.

Then as we go through another customs post (with 17 bags) the man steps in front of cart 1 (of 3) and says "Maybe you have something you want to declare?"  Umm, not really.  "Do you live here?"  "We are moving here."  OK, welcome!  And that was the end.  Whew.  We made it.

Made It

There are some REAL stories in the past 12 hours but for now, "We made it!" is enough.  Since its now almost 3am .... we are going to bed.

Thanks for wonderin'

Omigosh!

Someone once said, "We haven't been here that long and didn't bring too much stuff, packing up shouldn't be a problem."  W-R-O-N-G!!!!!   Its kicked our butts this week.  Add to that the excitement of some electrical problems and we are worn out.

The electricity started a couple of days ago when we got home to a dark house.  So we found a thrown breaker and threw it back only to have it thrown itself again.  After MUCH throwing back and forth, we gave up and went to bed.

The following day we got up and threw the breaker...NOTHING.  Come to find out, the whole neighborhood was without power from 7am-2pm.  So we battled the breaker again all evening.  Today we had a guy come and install a new breaker for $3.50 and now we are sailing.  Its been more funner packing in the dark, though, I can promise you.

Oh, one more thing... we think Angie has shingles.... fun times!!!!

Now we are down to our last 26 hours here and still have a bit more to pack.  Probably one more bag to buy and the five of us (with our 17 suitcases and 5 carry-on bags) will be in the air again.  Ready to hit the ground at midnight and get at it.  At least we are getting used to the dark.

Veja Du

It seems like we just made hard decisions, threw stuff out, gave stuff way, and packed up everything else and now here we are back at it. 

Today we even bought a couple of new suitcases! Now we are about half packed with a WHOLE lot more house to go.  Still some tough decisions looming, we figure.