Slowest. Internet. Ever.

OK folks, first of all I just want to let everyone know that we are alive and well.

Second. We have the slowest internet, internet so slow that it makes free dial-up look speedy. Anything that requires a sign-in takes about ten minutes to load up. After the lightning fast speed of our DSL at the house, this is painful. It's supposedly high-speed wireless, but...obviously, not that high-speed. Such a rip off! What I'm saying is...don't expect a whole lot in the way of posts because it's so annoying to use this internet. Thanks for understanding.

We are all done with the house on 2nd Street. Our last moves went...OK. The storage move went pretty well. At least the guys were half-decent...friendly and non-surly. The guys that came for our Germany move on Monday were definitely on the surly side. Well, one of them was, the other was fairly friendly. I have nothing against these guys, truly. You all know that I worked with a bunch of roofers for nine years...so I know that for the most part, these are decent guys, maybe a little rough around the edges. I know how to handle most of them, but the one guy, Bill, who came on Monday and Tuesday, was just rude. Out and out rude. Not only that, but he didn't follow instructions and packed some things that weren't supposed to be packed. And at one point when I was outside, I spied them sitting in my furniture outside the truck, smoking. Gross. Mover sweat and smoke. That ought to smell good when we un-shrink wrap our furniture in Germany! They almost forgot the stands for our new surround-sound system and then Bill acted like I had a lot of temerity to point it out just before they were running out the door, which he showed off by dropping them on the sidewalk right in my sight. Nice guy, that one.

I tell you, it would be a lot easier to make these moves if only we could get a good, professional moving company once and awhile. I'm wondering if these are the same movers who show up at Admiral so-and-so's to pack out his house. I'm sure it's a situation of government choosing the lowest bid, and I know from construction experience that that sometimes means low quality along with low price. Anyway, it's just frustrating that we have to entrust our possessions to these people...

Last night was our third night in the Navy Lodge. Going from 2,500 square feet down to a double room with kitchenette has been interesting. We are all tripping over each other and all of our stuff. It has been stressful, but we'll get the hang of it. Only 17 more nights! Wheeee!!

The kids and I got a lot done yesterday. Spent a lot of time in the car, which is about the only place that feels normal. We took the TiVo to Fedex to send back to DirecTV, after prying it from Hans' fingers. Did a last load of laundry at the house. Went to the park. Made lunch in the teeny-tiny kitchenette. Went back to the house and did our walk-through--everything looks good and we're expecting our deposit back within a week. Back to the lodge for supper, then got gussied up for Halloween and headed back to The Point to visit the old neighborhood one more time for trick-or-treating. It went pretty well. We still have to work on the concept of taking one treat, not a handful of treats. Why are folks so darn generous as to offer the whole bowl instead of handing out one treat? The kids had a great time, the weather was a balmy 62 degrees, and we got to say a last farewell to our neighbors and the house.

I'll see about getting some pictures up soon. I know the Grandmas are salivating for them...