I got a job!

That's right ladies and gentlemen. I got a job. Yippee!! I interviewed last Thursday at the Child Development Center for a lead teacher position. The school is walking distance from our apartment which is a good thing because that is how I will be getting to work everyday. Walking. It will be good exercise to and from work everyday, and it will give me an opportunity to come home for lunch every now and then. Luckily I checked my email today because that is how the offer was sent. I opened my inbox and saw an unfamiliar name with the subject reading, "Potential Job Offer." I opened it and saw, "Congratulations!!!" The email was sent on Friday, but it was only going to be available until tomorrow. After tomorrow the position would have potentially gone to someone else. It is crazy how things work in the military. Not a phone call. An email. Hah! It's okay. A job is a job. The director said that my hours would start at 5:30 AM and that I could potentially stay until 5:45 pm. Gasp. It is not ideal, but I am used to working crazy long days from my time at Copeland Elementary. I know I can do it, but it will definitely take some getting used to. I am not a morning person. Eek.

Now that the exciting news has been shared I am going to try to fill you in on the last week. Let's see where we left off....

Monday- You already heard about my Monday being a Monday. It sucked, but luckily the week got much better!

Tuesday-Lenea and I went to downtown Mannheim for her haircut. Her appointment wasn't until 2:15 so we went to DolceAmora before to have the business lunch. It was so yummy! We chose the business lunch because it only had 3 choices where the menu was filled with pages of German. It was much less overwhelming to look at 3 German options, even if the selection wasn't as good. We lucked out! I ordered an Asian salad with Tuna and tons of yummy veggies. Lenea ordered an Asian inspired chicken and rice meal. We then finished our meals with latte machiattos. Mmmm! My new obsession :) After that I walked Lenea to her hair appointment and headed to the walking district. It is a large street that is lined with shops. Essentially it is an outdoor shopping district where cars are not allowed, only the trains. I haven't decided which is more dangerous. Trains or cars? Anywho... I bought some aviators because somehow I managed to pack everything I needed except for sunglasses. Then I picked up a thank you card for Mr. Donaldson for all of the work that he has done to help us. I am almost positive he is part of the reason I got my job so quickly at the CDC. Mr. Donaldson is close friends with all of the higher ups, including the director of the CDC. He told me to mention his name in the interview and use him as a reference if needed. He is a great man!

The inside of DolceAmora. It is so eklectic. I just love it!

Wednesday- I went with Lenea to the clinic for her dental apointment. Last week the dental hygenist broke one of her tooth. Needless to say she is a wee-bit intimidated by the dentist, so I accompanied for moral suppport. What else was I going to do?

Thursday- Job interview. I pretty much knew I had the job because the assistant director kept introducing me as the new teacher on staff. Everyone seems very relaxed and laid back, but I haven't been hearing too many wonderful things about the CDC. Hopefully I can help to change things and show these people how to love what they do. After the interview I came home and did 10 loads of laundry. This unfortunately is no exaggeration. My aunt Lenea had her tooth worked on. One of the educated dental hygenists broke her tooth, so she had to get a crown. She was not feeling so hot so I took on the household responsibilities for the day. That night we went to Flea Market BINGO. It is a pretty cool idea minus the fact that it is BINGO. I don't care what kind of spin you put on it. BINGO is just not my kind of fun. After each round of BINGO, the winner got a prize from the local flea market. They were pretty cool prizes, but I did not win a single one. I can successfully check off BINGO on the list of things I never want to do again. :)

Elizabeth and me getting ready to go to what we thought would be a fun night of BINGO. Hah!

Friday- I got my haircut by Toby, a gay Germany. He was wonderful! I pretty much gave him free range on my hair and he did a spectacular job. Apparently the stacked bob is the look for me because I get some form of that hairstyle everytime I give a hair stylist free range on my hair. After my haircut we walked around Mannheim and ate wonderful lunch at Vapianos. Friday night Lenea and I ventured out into Mannheim nightlife. It was pretty funny. I called Toby the hairstylist and asked him where Lenea and I could go to dance. He told us Baton Rouge and reassured us it was safe for just the two of us. So we got on the train and arrived at our stop. We get to inside and it costs 6 euro a person to get in. Not too bad...that is about 9 USD. Then we get inside and their is coat check. The whole concept of coat check is completely foreign to me. I have never lived where it has been cold enough for their to be a need for a coat check. Once we checked our coats, we walked to the bar to get some drinks. Oh my goodness... two drinks cost us 16 euro. Yikes! We then decided those would be our only drinks for the night. We danced for a little bit until our ears started bleeding from Techno. I finally had enough once I heard Snow (Hey Oh!) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers turned into techno. We then got back on the train and headed home. Paul picked us up at the train so we didn't have to walk home. Thank God! because we saw some of the most irresponsible soldiers I have ever seen. These young boys went out and got hammered to the point that they were crawling on the ice/snow to get back to their barracks. Ridiculous. One of the fun things about living on post is that you are suspect to random searches. Of course we got picked at 1:30 AM. When your car is picked you have to exit the car, open all of the doors and the trunk, and stand to the rightside of the car so that the security people can search your vehicle. I don't blame the guards. I would search every car that came through the gates on the graveyard shift because there aren't too many people that drive through the gates at that hour. Unfortunate for us because it was cold! My Texas skin has not adapted to these temperatures yet. Everyone keeps telling us that it never snows. I don't believe them. Since I have been here it has snowed almost everyday.

Lenea, Elizabeth, my new haircut and myself at Vapianos! This is the outside.

Saturday- Movie Day. It snowed crazy hard Friday night causing icy roads and bad driving conditions. We stayed home and enjoyed the freedom of not having to do a single thing, and not feeling guilty about it because there was nothing else we could do. I watched the latest Harry Potter movie and Public Enemy. Both great flicks.

Sunday- We went to the Spinelli barracks because they have a large spread of cheap furniture/home decorations available. We purchased a large beige floor rug for my room and a black and white picture of James Dean. He was a handsome man. I promise I will upload pictures of our apartment soon!

Monday- Today I finally got my 90 day installation pass. Do you hear the sound of trumpets for this glorious occassion? I walked out of that office on cloud 9! My pass looks like a military ID but it says VISITOR instead of listing military information. When they took my picture the lady commented on my smile. I told her it was so big because it was so hard to get that stinkin' piece of plastic. No more 24 hour passes. Thank you Jesus! Go figure that I get my pass the day I found out I got the job. Oh the irony.

Me holding my 90 pass!! Joy!!!

Holy Canolli Time Flies...

I can't believe it has been a week since my last post. I apologize for my delay in posts, but it is so stinkin' hard without a computer at my fingertips. Today I had to walk through the snow to illegally use one of the computers in the Education building. I am technically not allowed to go anywhere without my sponsor, aka: Uncle Paul, by my side. Whomp. That essentially means that I can't leave the apt because the man has to go to work Monday-Friday. I can assure you that I don't/can't stay in the apt all day doing nothing. So far it hasn't been too bad because Lenae and I have been exploring. We have dared to explore without my sponsor. Haha! I am fighting the system. We have asked if it is okay for me to go without him and we have gotten different responses everytime. There is no standard here. Everyone tells us something different everytime we ask. Some say it is okay as long as I am in the company of someone with a military ID (Paul, Lenae or Elizabeth), and others say that it must be Paul. Who knows? Once I get my 90 day pass I can come and go freely. I won't need the assistance of another person to leave post. I will be able to do it all by myself. The crazy thing is that until I get my 90 day pass my uncle has to sign me in and out every 24 hours. As you can imagine this becomes quite tedious. For the meantime we are following the rules...somewhat. Friday we called and asked Mr. Donaldson about the pass and he said that I have been approved. Yay! but the paperwork needed to start from my Uncle's unit, and since we started the paperwork from Mr. Donaldson we have to start all over. Bummer. The good thing is that part of the reason it took so long the first time is because we had to wait on a background check. Since my background check is already done it should all happen much faster. I am thinking by Monday I should be a big girl. We shall see. Oh yeah....did I mention I can't get a job until I get my pass? Not yet. As I was responding to a backup of emails because Vodafone still hasn't fixed our phone/internet, I received a call from the elementary school. The secretary was so sweet and so encouraging, but she said that they can't interview me until I have something that changes my status. Currently I am just visiting so there is no priority on my application. They are required to hire wives of soldiers who are on the soldier's orders and I am not a wife or close enough relative to be on anyones' orders. Whomp! Until I get my pass my status won't change and I will not be able to get a job. Once I get my pass I will be able to get an ID card that will change my status so I can be interviewed for a position. It is absolutely mind boggling and ridiculous! I know things can work, but they (the military) are making it all so very hard. This is why I am saying that I love Germany, but not the American part of it! Grrrrr. I was able to find an employment readiness program that I am going to call tomorrow morning to see what I need to do to get a job! I need to work. I need to be able to meet people. I have made friends with one couple, but I would like/need to make more. You can never have to many!

The highlights since last week:

Tuesday Lenae and I went into downtown Mannheim to the farmer's market. We were able to get lots of fresh fruits and veggies. It was crazy awesome.

Markt Platz (aka: the market)

Thursday night Lenae and I went to the Top Hat Club which is a multiuse facility. One night it is a Latino Club with salsa dancing. The next night it is a disco....yadda, yadda, yadda. On this particular night it served as a country and western dance hall. It was funny! We entered and found it basically empty. There were two couples, three men at the bar, a DJ, and a bartender. It was hoppin'. Hah! We stayed for all of an hour, and we only stayed that long because we knew one of the men at the bar. He is part of the security division and lives in the building across from us. He arrived the same day as Paul, Lenae, and Elizabeth. He was drinking hot tea and gingerale. My kind of man. I'm kidding, but he was pretty funny. His wife arrives in one month...she stayed behind to sell their house and allow him to get everything set up for when she arrives. She is a smart woman! By the time she gets here her furniture will already be here, her husband will have internet and phone already established, and she will be able to enjoy her first few weeks here instead of shoveling through all of the crap we have had to deal with. It's okay, because as much as I have not liked dealing with all of the military mumbo jumbo, I have enjoyed every second I have spent outside of the military gates. I love Mannheim and I love the German people. They love to talk to Americans because it gives them a chance to practice their English, and it gives us a chance to practice our German. It is a win-win situation.

We have our furniture! Giggidy giggidy. It arrived on Friday, January 22 and most of it was unharmed. There were damages to some of the legs on the big pieces, but we filled out a form so that we will be reimbursed for damages. My room is still pretty bare, but I plan on collecting pieces as I travel. Little knick knacks (I have no idea how to spell it...every way that I try looks ridiculous) from random places. It will come together in time. :) We no longer have boxes in our apartment either! Everything is unpacked and in place. This morning Lenae and I cleaned like crazy! It is starting to feel like a home!!

We found a yummy Greek restaurant two train stops away. It is legit! We went Sunday night after bowling so that we could celebrate unpacking two truckloads of boxes. We decided that it will be our new Mexican since it is nonexistant here. Everything we have had has been incredible. The first time we went was on a Saturday because they only serve gyros on the weekend and we all wanted to try them. They were different in that a typical gyro is served without the pita bread. If a gyro is served in a pita, it is called a doner which is pronounce derner. So yummy! Since we are in Germany, the gyro is served with a side of fries. You can get it served with rice, but Germans love their fries! Another thing that is crazy is that you must eat french fries with a fork and knife if they are served on a plate with meat. The second time I ordered pork chops smothered in garlic. That is another thing- Germans love pork. The chops had so much garlic that my breath was kickin'. I am pretty sure that if I were a cartoon, green smoke would have oozed from my mouth. I am telling you it was kickin'! Some bites had so much garlic it was spicy. Delicious! Another thing that is fun about it is that after the meal, they serve you a complimentary shot. Our waiter always brings us a shot of Bailey's with one piece of ice to act as dessert.

Also, my German is improving so that I am able to speak a few key phrases. yay! Tomorrow Lenae has a hair appointment and I am going to travel with so that I can shop around the walking district of Mannheim to find some fun stuff for my room. There is also this little dessert shop/cafe that we are going to eat lunch at. I think I talked about it in an earlier post... the Dolce something or other. I am pretty pumped! I can't wait to go into the city and explore some more!!!

I made it!

Okay, here is the deal... I know I am late on my posts, but we currently do not have internet in our apartment yet. Whomp! Whomp! This is because everything run through the military takes on average about 10 times longer than it should. If you think I am kidding, guess again! Here is the shortened version of what is going on thus far:

1. I might have a job! I sent in my resume to the elementary school and there are two positions available for next year. That's right, next year. For the time being I can sub or act as an aid. Either one is totally okay with me, because I will be in the school and seeing how everything works. Also, there are several other positions 0pen at the Child Devel0pment Center which is really just the daycare/preschool. I am totally okay with whatever, as long as it is a job. If I don't have a job within 90 days I will be coming home, and I don't want that to happen after I have already been here living in Germany. It is gorgeous and amazing. People are so willing to work with you if you show them that you are trying to learn their language. It is a beautiful thing!

2. Today I get my installation pass which allows me to stay on post for 90 days. We have been getting a 24 hour pass since I landed. Pain in the butt! Especially because everytime you leave post you have to check in and out. Ridiculous considering that Mannheim is made up of three posts and everything is scattered among the three posts.

3. I have a phone now! A cell phone that is! Our phone is not working...Whomp! As soon as the phone starts working, then our internet will work. We are trying to get it all figured out.

Well I have to go now because I am using the public computer and I have a 15 minute time limit, of which I have already used some of it checking my email and bank account.

One gem so far.... Apparently Cy Fair ISD witheld some money from my paycheck so I recieved a large sum of money from them. Thank you Lord!!! It will come in handy in this expensive country!

Germany!!!! Yipppeeeee :)

Today is the day. In a matter of hours I will be in the sky headed to Germany. Wish me luck! I can't wait to be there and see it all. There are so many emotions running through me right now.

1. Nervous. I am a little nervous to fly on my own. I don't know why, but going through customs is so intimidating to me. I have two large suitcases, my backpack, and a purse. A lot of stuff. I have nothing to hide, so it should be a breeze. Worst case scenario...I get deported. Haha! NOT going to happen :)

2. Excited! I am going to Germany. How could I be anything but excited?

3. Sad. I hate goodbyes, and I feel like this has been one of the longest goodbyes of my entire life. I know I will be coming back in a matter of months, but it is still hard.

4. Anxious. I want to know if I have a job or not. I sent in my application and apparently a position just opened at Mannheim Elementary. God is working here. There is no denying that. Thank goodness he knows what is going on, because I am just kind of going with the motions....aimlessly floating along.

5. Tired. Every night is like Christmas. I am so excited that I can barely sleep. Hopefully this will be good for me on the plane.

Anywho....I love you guys and I can't wait to do my first post from Germany. I know I am not an aggie, but WHOOOOP! I am excited :)

Singleness

This last Sunday, December 27, my sweet friend Jamie Lynn got married to Mr. Cody Bayles. It was a beautiful wedding! I danced my little heart out, so much so that I bruised the balls of my feet. Ouch!! The wedding as a whole was PHENOMENAL! I enjoyed meeting everyone there and seeing other people that I hadn't seen in a while.

All of this to say...there is nothing like a wedding to make a single person feel so stinkin' single. Are you with me single people? I think so. Don't get me wrong, there are some definite benefits to being single. On the other hand, sometimes it just plain sucks! So this is me being vulnerable and telling the whole world that I am ready to meet someone. I don't want to be setup with someone because that never works for me. The meeting is always awkard and just feels forced. I want to feel those butterflies every time I see him and I want to be swept away. What I want is a freakin' movie script and real life is not that way. Reality just keeps slapping me in the face. Real guys don't act like prince charming, but why do I want prince charming so bad? I blame you, Disney. for making me believe in those perfect happy endings. Ahhhhh.... What is the deal with me? Sometimes I just go through these cycles of feeling really insecure about the single factor, but other times I feel totally okay with it. Why so wishy washy? I do not know.

Well I know that sounds pathetic, but I know/hope that my turn will come. One day I will meet the man I am to marry....not the man who will complete me, because I know that no man will be able to complete me. Believing that will only lead to more heartache. Men will fail, just as I will. Well I didn't mean to become philosophical. My brain was just reassuring my heart and my fingers just kept typing. That's enough for now :)

2 weeks til Germany... OH HAPPY DAY!! :)

So.... I suck at blogging

Womp. Womp on my blogging skillls. Here is my first excuse. My computer had a virus and was being repaired for a while. Now the other large amount of time was me being lazy. Anywho, now is the time for me to give one ginormous update.

Number 1: My friend Ashley got married December 5. Yahoo!!! She was gorgeous and it was a beautiful ceremony. Everyone looked so pertty all dolled up and apparently we (as in the bridesmaids) rocked our watermelon dresses. Job well done :)

Number 2: I am in my last week of teaching with my kindergarten kiddos. I am truly goig to miss them. They can be the biggest stinkers in the world, but in the next second they morph into angels. They have this telepathic sense of when I am becoming frustrated and they will just walk up to me and give me the biggest hugs. Then I feel awful for wanting to pinch their little heads off and the world is just as it should be.

Number 3: I bought my plane tickets for Germany. YIPPEEEE!!! I leave January 12 and I am pumped. That's right. I said pumped and it is totally applicable in this sentence. :) My Uncle Paul, Aunt Lenae, and cousin Elizabeth left December 8 and already found a few roadbumps. First, I am only allowed to stay 90 on tourist visa unless I get a job and I can stay for however long I want. The good news is that I was going to get a job anyways. Now it is just a little more stressful because I MUST get a job to stay. My Aunt Lenae has already reassured me that everything will work out. She has been talking to some higher ups (yes that is legit lingo) and she feels confident I will have a job as soon as I get there. As I have said before, the worst case scenario is that I get deported. Traumatizing...yes. That's okay. I love an adventure!

Some more good news: I finished my Christmas shopping with a week and a half to spare. This could be a first :) Also, this weekend I am going to look at wedding dresses with my sweet friend Kristi and her family. I am soooooo excited! I pretty much demanded that she go dress shopping with me so that I can see her in a dress before I leave for Germany.

Hmmmm...what else? I know I am leaving a TON out, but I will fill you in as I go.

Birthday week

I had recess duty this week and it was very eventful. Tuesday was a day unlike any other. As I am walking outside I hear one of the other teachers yell, "Kailey open the door. Open the door!" Then one of my kiddos comes walking up to me with his palms up, and blood is dripping from his hands. I think when confronted with an intense situation, we do a couple of things. One, we flee or two, we fight. My mind does neither. I freeze. Once my mind caught up to speed with what was going on, I opened the door and let my kiddo inside and one of the other teachers took him to the nurse. As he is rounding the corner I noticed that the blood was not from his hands, but from a head wound. He had fallen off of the jungle gym equipment and hit his head just behind his ear. Blood was literally squirting out. Intense. The rest of my recess story isn't nearly as action packed, but it is much funnier.

All of the teachers and myself are standing together and a little boy comes walking over as if he has just gotten off of a horse. Upon closer examination we see that he has peed his pants. He looks at his teacher and tells her he had an accident, so she takes him inside to let him change his clothes. The second she comes back outside another child walks up to her and tells her he had an accident too. She takes him inside to do the same routine as she did with the other boy. Agian she walks outside and a little boy walks over to her with one hand held up away from his face and the other hand holding his jacket with just two fingers. He tells his teacher that he fell in poop. The teacher looks up to the heavens, holds her hands out, and says, "Why me?" We were all dying at this point because we never have this many bathroom issues in one day. There is the occassional accident at recess, but never three in one day. The best part is that she asked if it was human or animal. Does it make a difference? It is poop!

Later in the day we are picking the kids up from P.E. and the teachers are all huddled together looking at the ground. They are all looking at this piece of brownish yuck when a little girl comes over and picks it up to take a closer look. Suddenly a waft of air rises and the teachers all discover that this lump-o-nasty is poop. One of the little boys pooped in his pants, and the reason it rolled down his pant leg is because he wasn't wearing any underwear. Priceless.

Wednesday after school I headed to College Station. My great Uncle Joe passed away Sunday night and the viewing was Wednesday followed by the funeral on Thursday. I just about lost it as we were leaving the funeral home on Wednesday night. My Aunt Mable, wife of 60 years to my Uncle Joe, put her hand on Joe's chest and just started shaking with tears. 60 years. That is such a long time to be with someone. I can't even imagine the pain she is feeling. Thursday we headed back to Houston and got caught in the horrible rain. It was as if the skies opened up and let out months of rain at one moment. I was white knuckling my steering wheel the last thirty minutes of the drive. It was horrible, but I made it in safely.

Friday was my birthday. Yippee! My kiddos were so shocked that I had a birthday. It is as if they think of me as this surreal person who doesn't exist outside of the walls of the school. I got some really fun birthday stuff from kids and my co-workers, but it was weird this year. I think it was so weird because I knew that this was my last birthday here for a while since I will be spending the next three in Germany. Two of my best friends drove in from Dallas, Kristi and Ashley, to spend the weekend with me. It was really fun to have them here to celebrate with me, and it meant a lot that they drove here just for me. We did the family dinner on Friday night and then went to Kilburn's where they had an 80's band. It was amazingly fun. I am pretty sure that we were the only ones under 40, but that just made it even more fun! Saturday Jordan dressed as Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place, a Disney show, and went to a carnival and trick-or-treating. Meanwhile Kristi, Ashley, and myself went down to the Woodlands to hang out and grab a bite to eat. It was a very lowkey Halloween weekend, but it was so relaxing. Just what I needed.

Today I did family birthdays with my dad and family at The Cheesecake Factory. I will now be able to afford a new digital SLR camera. I am so excited!!! I will have to save the rest for fun adventures that await me in Germany. I can't wait :)