Ted is at a way-station, so to speak, until he continues on to his final destination. The food is good, the weather is great, and he can call me from MWR every couple of days or so. He sent me this picture yesterday:
So, really, that's all the news there is to know about that.
I'm also doing well. The food is good (ha...ha), the weather is great (HA HA), the night-light is bright, and the electric blanket is warm!
Here's what the world looks like over here. I decided last night that it would be okay if it started to warm up again. So, I imagine the thermometer will start rising at any moment now.
This is my aunt Marcy's website (my mom's younger sister). She is trying to get it recognized by Google, and lots of traffic is one of the fastest ways to get it there! Thanks for helping out!
FYI- if you are finding it hard to read, just give it a sec to finish loading the background. The text has a white backdrop that is slow to load with some connections.
Marcy, see you in Oahu for your February clinic. ;)
Well. It seems I have forgotten all about my blog. In truth, I haven't forgotten it. I have just been ignoring it! These things happen. I don't even have much to say today-- I'm not sure if I even have any new pictures! I'm just going to try and share some "news" while I'm here.
1. Most of you know that Ted and I made a trip back to the states for the holidays. Some of you don't know, because you never even saw us-- and for that, I apologize! I tried hard, but after 13 months of being gone, it's hard to play catch-up. We had a wonderful time and can't help but wish we were back there!
2. Most of you also know that Ted is headed off to a....warmer locale at the beginning of the week. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers this week (and the twelve months to follow of course). He's got a big job to do, but those of us who know and love him know just how capable and courageous he is. As in everything he does--he's the best man for the job!
3. Our ration card is all used up. So I can't buy my liquor and cigarettes. Send help soon.
Just kidding. No need to plan an intervention. The only blocks on the ration card we use are for coffee. Thanks to our Christmas stockings, we're all set until the replacement card comes in.
4. The green car is in an inoperable state again. Ted is currently outside trying to show it who is boss. I'll let you know how that works out. Keep your fingers crossed. We might be making a trip to the dump today.
5. I got a part-time job. It is at a Belgian furniture store right next to main post. I'm going to start February 1. Big thanks to the Paoli family for the tip!
6. I broke my laptop (out of pure clumsiness- big surprise) while I was in the states. I have yet to find a computer. However, today is the big day, because frankly we are out of time. You're kidding yourselves if you think I'm going to be without a computer for any amount of time.
7. It was Bob's birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday, Bob!
8. I might as well just end this. Lets face it- I'm boring today. It might take me a bit to get back into the "writing mood." Don't worry, I'll be back.
Until then....
I turned on my camera to see if there were any pics you haven't seen either on Facebook or on Mom's webpage. Nothing too exciting, because I haven't had my camera out at all since we've been back. Here's a couple:
This is Hank, my sister-in-law Kylie's dog. He must've known I'm a big softy, because when I came in the house he made no attempt to get off the forbidden couch. He was right- I didn't make him move.
This is my handsome husband. I came outside to "help." The only assistance I can really offer is holding the flashlight, which isn't all that necessary today. That's why I only stayed long enough to take a picture. It's cold out there! Gotta admire his dedication. I would have abandoned it long ago. Mostly because I can't drive it (but that's not a topic I want to get in to).
Here's a cute little squirrel. Much more adorable than the last squirrel that made an appearance in my blog. Ha.
Here's a beautiful cardinal. A bright spot on a winter day. We don't have those in Germany. Cardinals, I mean.
This is Gloria. Mom put her in the farrier's trailer in the hopes she might find a new home. Just kidding. She was only snooping- but check out that trailer! This guy has quite the rig. He does "hot shoeing", which means he can heat up the horseshoes and shape them right there in his trailer. I thought it was pretty interesting. So now you get to see, too. Only I added a cute kitten, in case you're not interested in the rest.
This is Kara, Matt's girlfriend. I put up this picture for two reasons: 1) She has never gotten to be on my blog, so this is her moment. 2) It makes me laugh really hard. That cat she is holding did something quite profane to my little brother on the car trip to Dad's house for Christmas. Twice. Let's just say Matt had to eat his Christmas dinner wearing a borrowed pair of green elastic sweatpants. Hahahaha. I'm going to buy them a cat carrier for the next major holiday. Happy Valentines Day-- Cage your Cat When you Travel! Love, Ash.
Whew....I think it's Friday. About a week or so since my last post. Oops.
I had no internet connection.
My cat chewed the power cable.
Someone spilled Mountain Dew on my keyboard.
My eye won't stop twitching.
I got locked out of the house on accident. All week.
I DID write posts. You didn't see them?
We didn't get the thing mailed to the electric company on time (actually that one is kinda true).
Skype video chat has consumed my online-time. Why haven't I been doing this all year? Now I will be able to recognize my relatives when I get home.
I spend the rest of my online-time watching (possibly illegal) bootleg TV. I have a year's worth of shows to catch up on. Give me a break.
I've been away on a 5 day Grecian Cruise and now I have a world-class tan. I'm trying to preserve it by living on the balcony.
I got a job as a German Milkmaid and Ted won't let me back in the house. Something about the smell.
There you have it. Please pick any number of excuses from the above list and, well, excuse me for not writing all week.
Really, though, nothing has happened all week. So I'm going to turn "nothing" into "something." Hold on to your hats. This could get wild.
Okay, Ted told me I'm not supposed to make things up on this blog, because people will believe it. You can go ahead and take your hats off.
Lets see. What's on the newsreel this week? One of the platoons in Ted's company is returning from Iraq very soon. The spouses and families are beyond excited, and I'm very happy for them. It's been a week full of decorating and hanging signs and getting manicures (for them, anyway. But I helped a little!). It's so fun to hear them chat about what they're going to wear (is it too cold for that mini-skirt?), and pretty much everyone has gotten a new hairstyle and washed their cars for the first time all year.
I've been re-discovering a show I watched a couple times back in the States-- The New Adventures of Old Christine. Ted hates it. That leads me to believe a lot of you hate it too. It has Julia Louis-Dreyfus, from Seinfeld, as the main character. At first I thought it was pretty stupid...then I totally identified with Old Christine. Ted reminds me often that it's nothing to be proud of. I'm not proud, but gosh it makes me laugh when she does something stupid that I managed to do last week. If any of you do watch the show, you know why I'm not proud to relate to Christine. She's a total drama queen, very impatient, and everything is always about her (well, at least I know what I have to work on). Here's an example:
Yesterday, I cried at Burger King. It was totally humiliating. I can't believe I'm even sharing this with you. Those of you that have known me for a long time probably aren't very surprised. I'm overly sensitive. I KNOW that. If someone looks at me the wrong way, depending on the day, I just might cry a little. So anyway, on with this embarrassing story. I might edit this whole section out, we'll see. Or I might use it as a test. To see if you'll keep reading after my Burger King admission.
So there I was, at Clothing & Sales (for non-Army people, that is where you can buy uniforms and uniform stuff). I was just walking out, and it was probably 1:50 in the afternoon. I was dreaming about the salad and fruit I would have for lunch as soon as I got home. The problem was, my car was parked in the Burger King parking lot. Without even thinking twice, I walked right past my car and into Burger King. I can't explain it, except that I had missed lunch and when my blood sugar starts to get low, things get crazy. There was a LINE, and instead of going home to my salad, I STOOD IN LINE at Burger King. For a long time. I started to chat with the soldier in front of me, who was very nice. We got through both of our life stories and had started naming off every pet we've ever owned by the time it was our turn at the counter. Right at that moment the cashier plopped a big sign on the counter: CASH ONLY. That was a moment of sheer panic for me. I never carry cash. Somehow a five and three ones magically appeared in my wallet, and I got to order my cheeseburger. I said the same thing I ALWAYS say at Burger King, only instead of the Whopper, I got a JUNIOR whopper (less guilt). I said, "I'll have a junior whopper with cheese, ketchup only. To go." The little lady could hardly reach the buttons on the cash register, and looking back, I think that was the causal factor in this whole dire situation. I handed her my money but then she couldn't get the cash register open to get my change. I decided to be generous and leave my 31 cents. I went over to get my pop, and I looked at the receipt. They always specify on the receipt when it is a ketchup-only burger. There was no specification. They called my number, and I went to the counter and asked, "Is it ketchup only?" The rude kid pointed at the box of ketchup packets and said, snarkily, "There's ketchup right there!" So I did what I never should have done. I unwrapped my hamburger right there at the counter. Sure enough, there was ketchup, but also mayo, lettuce, and tomato. I told him I couldn't eat this, that I had asked for ketchup only. He looked at the receipt and said, "Well, it doesn't say that." I got uncharacteristically loud, and said, "That's because she wasn't LISTENING!" Then, before I could even think twice or try to calm myself down, my face got red and tears sprang into my eyes. I have thought about it so many times since yesterday afternoon- why on earth something so trivial would make me cry. I have no answer, and I know it couldn't have been avoided because it just happened so fast. I guess my answer to anger, frustration, and embarrassment is to cry. How embarrassing. Great, now I'm getting a little teary (for those of you that DON'T know me that well, now I'm only kidding...I'm over it. I think).
I started to wrap up my hamburger to just leave, but the guy I had been sharing my life story with earlier decided to come to my defense and stopped me. I think I had managed to conceal the fact that there were tears in my eyes until the Burger King worker asked me what the problem was. So with a shaky voice I had to tell him I asked for ketchup only. He took my hamburger away and I had to stand there an excruciatingly long time with everyone watching me. I managed to get the teary eyes under control, and nothing leaked out. I did finally get my cheeseburger with ketchup only. I can only hope that everyone thought I was pregnant and extra hormonal. Maybe I won't go to Burger King so often anymore.
If you thought it was impossible for a woman to chatter on about a really stupid Burger King story for six paragraphs, you were wrong (I told you, not a lot happening this week).
Now I have to defend myself, lest you think I'm crazy. Ha ha...hee. The "ketchup only" thing may not sound like a big deal to you. A sane person would have just taken her cheeseburger and left. But I HATE mayo. I have had to scrape off mayo, sacrificing probably ten french fries in the process, many times. Even then, it's not good enough, because mayo soaks into the bun. So I'm stuck with half a bun and ten fewer french fries. I was HUNGRY. I needed BOTH buns (it was only a JUNIOR cheeseburger, for pete's sake!). My blood sugar was low. Things got crazy. I warned you!
Now that we've all had our chuckle for today at my expense (see what I'm willing to do for you people?), lets move on. Lets have a chuckle at someone else's expense.
Here at the Knust household, we have something called rouladins. I'll try to take a picture in a minute, but basically rouladins are metal blinds that are affixed to the outside of the house. When you shut them, it blocks out all light. We have lived in this house for a year now, and every night I have shut the rouladins in the bedroom and bathroom. I just have this fear of strangers seeing me in various stages of undress. I know, crazy, right?
The other night we were getting ready for bed, and Ted decided that he was going to make a stand. Boy, did he. I did not know someone could have such strong feelings about metal blinds. He was dead serious, so I was trying not to laugh, but my gosh it was funny ( I hope he sees the humor now and doesn't think I'm making fun of him....I'm not, honey...I love you!). It turns out that all this time, Ted would have preferred to sleep with the rouladins OPEN. He says he can't wake up in the morning without the daylight coming in. I didn't think it was appropriate to point out that it is very, very dark when his alarm goes off. I'm just along for the ride.
So, this week, we've been sleeping with the rouladins open. It is doable! The street light makes it SEEM like daylight at 5 in the morning (and at 10 pm, but I just roll the other way), so all is well. It's the small victories in marriage (I don't mean that- we're a win-win couple). I've found that I really don't mind. Next time Ted goes away I might not even have to plug in the nightlight.
SPEAKING of lights, and Christmas, I went to my friend Tracy's house last night. She could be the next Martha Stewart, with her trimmed tree and ribbon-wrapped door handles. It totally inspired me. I bought a strand of 230 volt Christmas lights and strung them around the door to the balcony. It was lovely, just lovely. When Ted got home from work at 11:20 pm (after leaving for work at 4:40am--this man deserves every cent of that raise he got!), he thought I looked just like an angel, lying there in the glow of soft white Christmas lights (okay, I made that up). We went to bed (with the rouladins UP) and not 2 minutes later there was the sound of machine-gun fire from somewhere in the house. I told him it was just the shower and to go back to sleep (yes, he can fall asleep in two minutes- the man is amazing). It wasn't the shower. I don't know why I even thought that. Several times a day I just can't explain my thoughts. It turns out the machine gun was my Good Housekeeping-worthy attempt at decorating for Christmas, ripping off the ceiling piece by piece (thanks for nothing, 3M). That's a sad little sight to wake up to. I fixed that problem before breakfast. With duct tape. It's redneck-fabulous. I don't even care. I'm still thinking of calling Good Housekeeping.
These are rouladins. I'm just guessing on the spelling.
You pull them up and down with this strappy thing. See? You learned something today.
"Hello.....Good Housekeeping?" You can't see the tape in the dark.
1LT Theodore J. Knust! Yep, Ted got promoted today. Congrats to LT Miller and LT Miller, as well. Not a bad way to start off the week!
Other things we've been up to this week:
Making beef jerky. Homebrewed beer, homemade beef jerky... I...I just don't know what to say. We get bored here?
I KNOW the quality of this picture is terrible and a five year old could have done better. It's more to prove a point. Besides, I was hanging out our bathroom window to take it...and whenever I'm hanging out one of our windows taking pictures I'm always very aware of who's watching. In this case, Go-Go Granny in her shorty robe and Chain-smoking Mullet Man were the only witnesses to my suspicious activity. I usually plan better than that. I don't know what I'd do if we ever had screens in our windows. Anyway, the point of this picture is to show you that these Christmas decorations were up and shining the day after Thanksgiving! I just always thought that was an American thing...the Germans don't do Thanksgiving, after all. Hmm... I don't know why I thought that was so interesting- it doesn't seem that way now. Either way, the next chance I get, I'm going to buy a tacky blue Santa silhouette for our window(s!). I'm feeling festive.
Speaking of feeling festive, I have now completed my Christmas decorating. Here it is:
Thank you, Mom, for the stockings, and Aunt LuAnn, for "The Christmas Box", which was our centerpiece for the holidays last year and now will probably make an appearance every Christmas. I can't explain it. It's a thing now. So....no tree for us. We'll be in the states anyway, and I'm so not impressed with the tree decorations at the PX. I plan to buy a tree's worth of ornaments on sale after Christmas (not the from the PX...somewhere classy, like Wal-Mart or Target). Someone remind me of that before it's too late (I planned to do it last year too).
To tell you the truth, we DO have one more Christmas decoration. One that is very near and dear to my heart: Grandma Betts hand-painted this nativity set for us at her ceramics shop and gave it to us as a gift last year. Isn't it beautiful! It even has a little night light to illuminate the stable, but I forgot to buy a bulb. Anyway, I'm willing to bet that I have the best Grandma ever.
Okay, I found one more picture in the collection. It doesn't really have anything to do with anything. I'm just going to throw it in here. I was making pork chops marinated in Cola, so I went down to the Nah and Gut to buy some pop. They were all out of regular Coke, and all they had was this: Ah, what the heck. I'll go for the off-brand! After all, it has an American taste! Notice that it is also Gut & Gunstig. That means "good and good for you" (okay, we all know that's not what it means, but please....just leave me alone with my delusions). Who knew that American taste is what the Germans are going for? Or do they keep this in stock just for me...? I guess I'll never know. Until I learn German, that is. Shoot. I guess I'll never know.
Raise your hand if you want me to stop taking terrible pictures of meaningless inanimate objects.
Though I am a day late and a dollar short on yesterday's post, I still think it is important to acknowledge Thanksgiving.
This year, and every year, I am ever grateful.
For God's love and abundant blessings,
For a loving husband to share my life with,
For the supportive, unconditional love from our families,
For our health and the health of our loved ones,
For sunrises and sunsets, howling winds, warm breezes, a hint of chimney smoke,
For kind words, quick hugs, long-distance phone calls, an envelope in the mail....
I am ever grateful.
Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done. Colossians 2:7
I can't get going on this post today! I have had it open since breakfast, but every time I sit down at the computer I feel a strange compulsion to play Solitaire. So, obviously this post is late for a good reason.
Yesterday, Ted and I had a wonderful day. We spent the morning sleeping in, drinking coffee, and watching The Office in our pajamas. I can't think of a better way to spend the morning! I went against the grain this year and had our Thanksgiving Dinner at supper time. Ted was shocked and appalled, but the truth of the matter is, I was too busy being lazy Thursday morning to have a special dinner prepared by lunch. I couldn't see any reason to rush! On the menu last night we had: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, asparagus, corn, bread, and pumpkin pie! It was all delicious. At one point during the preparations I was starting to feel a little unsure of myself, and made the comment that I'm not sure why I don't know how to cook yet, after a year and half, and Ted said, "Have I been cooking too much? " That wonderful man was willing to sacrifice cooking dinner so I could get more practice! Haha. I thought you would get a kick out of that. The truth is he is a good cook, and I love when he makes dinner! So, no, honey...you keep on cooking. I'll figure it out some day!
Today has been nice, too. We made a trip to town to get the mail, and Ted finally got a couple birthday presents! He said next year he's going to order my birthday present on the 10th (my birthday is on the 10th) as retribution. I hope he'll forget by then. Unfortunately the item I ordered for him is still not here. Obviously priority mail doesn't apply to overseas shipping. Anyway, even though they were Ted's presents, it was fun for me, too!
Okay, Solitaire is beckoning me. Gotta wrap this up. I almost won the last six games...I think this might be the one!
Here's a few pictures of things we're loving right now (Kind of Oprah-style, only I will not be giving away 10,000 copies of each thing I love...sorry).
Oh. I guess this is a picture of me. Doesn't really fit the category. Oh well, why not. We love me!
We love drinking coffee all day long out of Grammy's Pioneer mugs.
We love getting birthday gifts and cards!
We really love cards that include letters that include lots of pictures of cattle!
We love my (our??) new hat!! Thanks, Aunt Cindy!
We love men that know how to do things to cars.
We love this candle that makes your house smell like you've been baking...even if you haven't.
We love regular Dr. Pepper, but settle for diet.
We love giant piles of laundry.
We love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
We love to keep this at the house, in case of emergencies, identity crises, and those instances when the scale lies.
Wow, did that quickly escalate to something entirely out of hand?! My apologies. Welcome to my crazy life. All my love, as usual.
Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I hope you are all happily scurrying about, cleaning the house, making dessert, and sending your men out on last-minute trips to Hy-Vee. Then Fareway, when he calls and says they are all out of mini-marshmallows at Hy-Vee. Then the gas station, because you called to say you need a candy bar really bad, so don't come home without one. Then the neighbor's house, because you need one more egg... Oh my. I should get started.
Yesterday afternoon I was helping Mom out with some of the pictures on her website, when I came across a few that I just had to have. Since I haven't taken any pictures myself lately, I think I'll share her work with you.
Everyone, I'd like you to meet Sam. Sam Boy was born on our farm a long time ago. He is just beautiful. I love this picture of him! His interests include eating, sleeping, eating, being handsome, eating....I think you get the idea. We like to call him "husky." That way nobody's feelings are hurt. He's probably the laziest...err...most mild-mannered horse in the pasture. Don't let that fool you though- many things could turn a lackadaisical ride through the field into a Wild West Show. Things like shadows, squirrels, pheasants, trickling water, a large rock, a fence post that has a threatening look to it.... Hey, we've all got issues.
This next series is worth a chuckle. Many of you know that my mom has graciously accepted my cat, Grover, into her home. I sent a Furminator in the mail to try and combat his excessive shedding. Here we see Grover, utterly humiliated.
Please stop. I hate this. Ooohh... get me out of heeere!
Poor Grover does not get to play outside, so he would probably try harder to escape if he wasn't very, very afraid.
Oh, not there..OW..not there, please stop, I'll do anything!
Sigh...I guess I'll take it like a man. Wait...is that...is that a BIRD? Am I OUTSIDE the window? Rrreoooww!
