We Are Here, Here We Are...
We made it. This is our fifth night in Norfolk already. All of the flights went fine, with no major calamities...well, I guess Josiah did throw up while we were descending in Atlanta, but other than that, nothing strange happened. It was an extremely long day, but I am exceptionally proud of how well we all did. The kids were troopers and Hans and I made it through without wanting to strangle each other...
How is Norfolk? Well, it's hot and humid, for starters. It has rained off and on since we've been here. It's like standing outside in a hot shower. Maybe I'm used to the neat compactness of Germany, but the sprawl here is just appalling. I can't get over the miles and miles of strip malls and the fact that there are so many drug stores, for example. Every 1.75 miles there are four brand-new drug stores on opposite corners. Really? Also, there are no sidewalks...everywhere we go there are people walking right on the road with four lanes of traffic rushing past. I told Hans that if I were the mayor of Norfolk, I'd start by putting in sidewalks and then getting rid of some of these vacant storefronts and strip malls.
The hotel is good...we have a one bedroom "studio" apartment. It has a little kitchen, a dining table, a living room area and a separate bedroom. The kids are happy because it has a pool. I'm happy because Target is about 1.2 miles away. We were there at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning! It just happened that way because the kids woke up very early and so we were dressed and ready to go by 8:00...not because I'm obsessed with Target. OK, I'm obsessed with Target. I have been there three times in the last four days. We've also been to the Apple store, Pottery Barn, J Crew, Barnes & Noble, Wendy's, Chik-fil-A and Best Buy. We spent some time today looking at couches...yeah, it's been an expensive week.
We did go out and take a look at the house...it's O.K., nothing special and I was a little upset at the fact that it wasn't, in my opinion, move-in ready. The landlord had had the carpets all steamed, but there were still nail holes and marks on the walls from the previous tenant and it's nowhere clean to my standards. Hans and Marg both helped me see that once we get in there, clean a little and get our things (and my new couch and the 1,236 things I've already bought at Target) into the house, it will look and feel better. I reason that if I can make that sterile apartment in Stuttgart feel homey, I can certainly make this house our home. The backyard is enormous and nice and the neighborhood seems good, though to get to it we have to drive past some really slummy areas.
Josiah is all registered for school. We got our iPhones. We ordered a washer today. My car came in yesterday. We have all of our utilities set up. Tomorrow we go to the DMV and I will order my couch. We should be moving into the house a week from today. Slowly, the pieces of life return to normal...
That's about it for now. It's 8:30 p.m. and the kids are fast asleep with Hans and I not far behind them...more later.
How is Norfolk? Well, it's hot and humid, for starters. It has rained off and on since we've been here. It's like standing outside in a hot shower. Maybe I'm used to the neat compactness of Germany, but the sprawl here is just appalling. I can't get over the miles and miles of strip malls and the fact that there are so many drug stores, for example. Every 1.75 miles there are four brand-new drug stores on opposite corners. Really? Also, there are no sidewalks...everywhere we go there are people walking right on the road with four lanes of traffic rushing past. I told Hans that if I were the mayor of Norfolk, I'd start by putting in sidewalks and then getting rid of some of these vacant storefronts and strip malls.
The hotel is good...we have a one bedroom "studio" apartment. It has a little kitchen, a dining table, a living room area and a separate bedroom. The kids are happy because it has a pool. I'm happy because Target is about 1.2 miles away. We were there at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning! It just happened that way because the kids woke up very early and so we were dressed and ready to go by 8:00...not because I'm obsessed with Target. OK, I'm obsessed with Target. I have been there three times in the last four days. We've also been to the Apple store, Pottery Barn, J Crew, Barnes & Noble, Wendy's, Chik-fil-A and Best Buy. We spent some time today looking at couches...yeah, it's been an expensive week.
We did go out and take a look at the house...it's O.K., nothing special and I was a little upset at the fact that it wasn't, in my opinion, move-in ready. The landlord had had the carpets all steamed, but there were still nail holes and marks on the walls from the previous tenant and it's nowhere clean to my standards. Hans and Marg both helped me see that once we get in there, clean a little and get our things (and my new couch and the 1,236 things I've already bought at Target) into the house, it will look and feel better. I reason that if I can make that sterile apartment in Stuttgart feel homey, I can certainly make this house our home. The backyard is enormous and nice and the neighborhood seems good, though to get to it we have to drive past some really slummy areas.
Josiah is all registered for school. We got our iPhones. We ordered a washer today. My car came in yesterday. We have all of our utilities set up. Tomorrow we go to the DMV and I will order my couch. We should be moving into the house a week from today. Slowly, the pieces of life return to normal...
That's about it for now. It's 8:30 p.m. and the kids are fast asleep with Hans and I not far behind them...more later.
