They're Here!

And for all of us bloggers of a "certain age" that simple phrase reminds us the scariest movie ever! I didn't sleep for weeks after I saw it and i'd lay bets that my date didn't either. I think he may have screamed louder than I actually did but I've never been a fan of scarey movies and that just cinched the deal for me after that.

Anyway, I had a squirrel moment because I didn't start this post to talk about movies ut rather to bring everyone up to speed on our move.  The trip over went off without a hitch.  Clarice did amazing and even after all my checking, rechecking, triple checking all her required paperwork, customs never even looked at it.  We got right off the plane, grabbed our checked luggage and went straight to the "something to declare" line.  We walked in and I sat her carrier on the floor, opened her file and told them here is everything you need to admit my cat to Germany.  He glanced down at the English form which was actually just for the airlines and he stamped our passports so we were done.  Never checked the required USDA papers, vet's certificate, scanned her for microchip or even looked at her for that matter....just stamped and waved thru.  Yeah baby! I was almost pissed because I had fretted about all this for months and he didn't even check anything.

So now we have applied or our German visa cards that will allow Mark to work and me to stay more than 60 days in the country.  That was an ordeal in itself but thank goodness someone from BOA went with us to translate.  They didn't like my passport picture ( which I don't blame them because it is ugly) because my eyes weren't even in the picture....yep, I said not even, I can't help that my left eye droops a little more than my right and come on really?  So we had to find a photographer quickly to take new pics of me.  What fun and now we wait 6 to 8 weeks for the actual cards to arrive.

We got our kitchen ordered and lucked out because when IKEA measured they realized no special order items were needed so instead of waiting 7 to 8 weeks, it will be installed this week.  I just can't wait to get it in so we can start living there.  I got the sofa, closets, bed and bathroom  stuff last week so we assembled all weekend long.  Thank god we decided to not install the kitchen ourselves! This is a 200 year old building a nothing is straight ! We have realized this is probably the last do it ourselves project that we need to undertake.  The wardrobe closets in the bedroom were 10 feet long and quite a bugger to assemble without killing each other.  No seriously with no air conditioning or power tools it is a freakin miracle that we didn't strangle each other.

Last night after about a 5 hour assembly party, we came back to the hotel to shower and grab a bite to eat.  Keep in mind that the only air is the open windows in this room so they stay open every minute we are in the room.  But I digress, so we have attached Clarice's harness and leash to the window frame so when windows open, she's allowed to roam the sills without being able to escape.  I thought this was an excellent plan and up until yesterday, we had no mishaps.  She knows jump up to the sill and wait for momma to clip her in then she can roam the top of the patio, sun herself on the window ledge, get fresh air, ect. We have never left the windows opened while we are gone but last night I actually said "it's so hot and it's not like she can go anywhere so let's just leaven them open tonight while we are gone next door to eat".....yep, that's famous last words right?  Sure enough we walk back into the room and all I see is her still completely fastened red harness laying in the floor.  I immediately started freakin out, just crying, couldn't catch my breath and the whole nine yards but Mark quickly saw that she was hiding in the kitchen chairs.  I didn't know whether to laugh, hug her or beat her senseless and I still don't know.  So she's lost her privileges now and I'm still trying to figure out how she did it.  Guess the world will never know just like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop.

I have taken a lot of pictures and as soon as we can upload them then I'll share 'em with everyone.
I have to admit that right now my days are boring because I don't have a vehicle, public transport is not really easy to use from this little village where the hotel is located so I have to wait or Mark to come home every evening so I can go to the new apartment.  I get up with Mark to eat breakfast then I spend about 45 minutes cleaning the hotel room then the rest of my day just kinda stretches out from there.  I really thought that I'd be stitching, reading or something but instead I'm just sitting here taking the cat on and off her leash all day long. I will be so happy to get into he apartment so I can walk around, shop and decorate the home because let's face it, that's the fun part for me. We should be moving in next week and I just can't wait for that.



It's a nice gentle rain this morning so Clarice and I are off to snuggle in for a quick nap!