First Delivery & Driving Alone...

First Delivery & Driving Alone,
Oct. 1st, 2008

David’s hasn’t blogged about the car stuff, so let me update you real quick. All cars have to pass an MOT inspection (don’t ask me what that stands for cause I don’t know) and they have to have a light conversion done on them if they are an American Spec. Then you have to pay a road tax, before you can ever drive the vehicle anywhere! It’s a big hassle needless to say.

As you know our American car – the Sunfire – arrived with problems. It has been in the shop – oh I think just about a week now. So we are still only with one car – why? Well, because so far our Sunfire has been one headache after another, since it got here. It took a while to get it into the mechanic’s hands – busy man. Once if finally made it there – it failed the MOT. The light conversion has been done.

However, until it passes the MOT – not much we can do with it. It failed due to corrosion on the brake pipes. Apparently the mechanic thinks he can get it off or fix it, without having to order new parts. Amen – ordering parts would be expensive. So we are praying for a good outcome.

Problem is because of this, David will have to rent, yet again, another car! 45 pounds for the week = out to about $90. We don’t get reimbursed for car rentals, and this will be the 3rd one since we’ve been here! So yes, we are praying that our car can be easily fixed and will pass the MOT test.

So because we are one car short and our 1st delivery of our items was today – we all had to get up a little earlier, so that we could drive to our house. The delivery can occur anytime between 8 am – 5 pm, so you have to be there, because you have to sign for it. We get to the house, chill out for a bit, and then David stays there – while I, ALONE, took the kids to school and then drove back to the base to get the phone (he forgot it and if the delivery guys get lost they’d call it).

I managed to make it to the school in plenty of time. We left at I think 830 and we were there by 840. It didn’t take near as long as I thought it would, which left the kids and I with about 20 minutes to burn. School starts at 9. They don’t recommend you arrive any earlier than 850, and the way the wind was blowing today – I can fully understand why. They don’t want everyone having to standing frozen to the playground.

Anyway, kids are school and off to the base I go. I make it, no accidents, no driving in the wrong place, no using the GPS, and I even found my way to the gate and back to our room! Awesome uh? I thought so!

Alright, because we are like moving out of temporary lodging in 2 days – I loaded up suitcases that were not being used, and a few other things and put them in the car, grabbed the phone & an apple, and it the road again. I made it all the way back to the house on my own, with no problems, and even found a shortcut! The sign said it was going to a town that we drive right through, so I thought… “I bet this cuts 3 miles off my trip”. I’m not sure exactly how much it cut off, but it did and I didn’t get lost!

I don’t know if it’s a country girl thing or a mid-west thing, but I always look for shortcuts, or a back-way into where ever I’m going. Most the time I get lost and have to call my Mother-in-law for directions, unless I’m between umm Urich Missouri – Springfield Missouri. She loves it when I call her, hehe. I keep telling David, that I should call her and say “Marilyn, help I’m lost again” and see what she says. I think even she’d get lost here and she can get anywhere, in a million different directions!

I’m back at our house, no delivery yet and David is vacuuming the floors. He borrowed the vacuum from the Landlord – that guy he is so nice. His name is James; he is an older man…more like a “Grandpa” figure. Actually, he is so excited; he is waiting to be a grandpa – which will occur in February. Just from the personality I’ve witnessed in him, I think he is going to be through the moon! This little baby will be very blessed.

Apparently, while I was gone David was invited to take tea with them (have tea). I’m still trying to picture this, but I just can’t! I laugh every time I try. My husband sipping hot tea, I know he likes tea, and I know he likes it warm and sweet, but I have never known him to put milk in it! I guess that is a good way to “take” your tea here. He says I’d like it – so eventually I’ll have to try it. I’m just still having a hard time picturing David taking tea! Ashlynn was even picking on him this evening! She said did you hold it like this, and she used her thumb & index finger to pretend she was holding a tea cup, and then she held her pinky finger in the air! David says, “I did not hold my pinky in the air!” It was great!

After all that excitement we helped him move a table out of the house – so that we could put ours in there when it gets delivered on Friday. There is this amazing cabinet/desk type unit in the dining room – that is awesome! It has so much room on it for storing books and things, and we get to use it while we’re here! If we didn’t want it, he’d remove it…but I’d love to use it! Heck, I’d love to have it!! It looks like an awesome scrapbooking storage unit! He also, took David to show him where the dump is, and they hauled some items off that were out on the patio. He is so friendly. So far I really feel blessed. I feel like we truly have a “good” landlord. Our last experience was none too pleasant.

While they were gone, our delivery arrived! I’m thinking great…what am I supposed to do…David where are you?! I figured it out and David walked in just as they were leaving!!! All the items we’d sent with that shipment arrived, safely, in their boxes, and un-broken. I’m praying we experience the same on Friday. After they left I started unpacking those, so that they’d be out of the way for Friday and I chatted online with my goofy girlfriends, Christy & Jenny – they’re something else! They’d put a backsplash up in Christy’s kitchen the other day and I think they were still feeling the effects from it!

During that time David also, went back to the base to do some bank business – transfer $ to pounds or something like that. So I found a container of Clorox wipes and started wiping the cabinets down and out. It was a good thing too – there was one full of spider webs! I’d just like to start off as clean and fresh as we can. The home is very nice and very well taken care of and I’d like to keep it that way. I love moving into a new home, it’s like starting fresh with a clean slate. I really think we are going to love it, where we are. Lydia, told me God would iron out all the wrinkles – I loved that and so that’s what I’ve been praying for and I just feel that he truly has been ironing them out all along the way. I feel so thankful.

David picked the kids up from school, and they ran around the yard a little bit, while David and I finished up a few things. Then we came back to Temporary Lodging…1 more night after this – AMEN! Brier read a book to David – he did very well! Then we had dinner and Ashlynn & Brier told us about school and how it goes. This is what I got from Ashlynn’s basic day:

• Start off standing in line on the playground, until the bell is rung.
• They go inside, their supposed to be quiet, then the teacher yells at them for not being quiet.
• Do a few activities and then get ready for an assembly.
• At the assembly – they sing – get reminded of things – and pray.
• Go back get snacks, go to play ground & play for a few minutes.
• Back to class, more activities, then its lunch time.
• Go out to playground, lay lunchboxes on the line, and play until lunch time.
• Next they wait in the court yard, then the teacher calls a number and they go in.
• Put lunchboxes away, and go out to play for a few minutes.
• Go back to class, do more activities, and read some books.
• Then it’s time to go home.

This is Brier’s basic day:
• Walk in, sit at desk, and be quite.
• We do some work, go to assembly, pray.
• Go to playtime, do more work, playtime.
• Snack time, playtime.
• Do some more work, go home.

He may have forgotten when he has lunch, but he knows he has 3 playtimes! That’s the best part of school you know? They still seem to really like it. Today they sang at a Church and Ashlynn said it was beautiful! I guess when they practice at the assembly that the music teachers tell them when they are off key or on the wrong note and so she said, she sings quietly! Ashlynn can be so funny to listen to, when she talks about school.

And here is the remark of the day…after dinner Ashlynn came to me and said, “Mom, I need a rubber for school”. Uh, okay, WHAT?!! So with a dumbfounded look, I said, “WHAT!” and she says, “You know a rubber eraser? They call them rubbers here”. All I could think was; I feel so sorry for a British child that goes and attends an American school! I’m also, very thankful that my child was asking me for an eraser!!! They also apparently say “rub off” instead of “erase it”.

As I’ve said, we learn something new every day! I don’t think the learning will stop the entire time we are here. As a matter of fact, in the book Brier was reading to David it said, “I have a little Lorrie”, Lorrie = truck.

What a day uh? Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. I’m not sure what we will do tomorrow. The kids have school, there’s something David said he had to do, but I forget what it was. We might haul some more things over to the house – one car – one trunk (or boot) and well I know how much luggage we have! And we stayed with you over the summer you know it too! So anyway, after tomorrow night I won’t have a phone – I’ll have internet, but no phone – so dear family & friends – we will call as soon as it gets connected…until then you’ll just have to read this boring blog…haha.

We love and miss you. Goodnight.

~T~