Saturday, April 19, 2008
Weekend Update
- This is going to be fairly short, since we didn't do much this week... and there are no pictures.
- Most of the week went by in a bit of a blur for me, as I spent it with a sinus headache. I haven't had one that severe, that lasted for several days, in years. I think the last time was when we lived in Heidelberg, about 13 years ago. Crossing my fingers that it's not the start of a trend. My mom's had debilitating sinus infections her whole life, and even had a couple of surgeries, so I'm a little nervous about them after watching her.
The headache was so bad on Sunday that Carl and Camden did the grocery shopping. They got nothing. I've been scrambling to come up with meals this week because the cupboards are bare, and the toilet paper situation is becoming critical. *sigh* At least they got milk and fruit. And PopTarts. The boys have had a lot of PopTarts for breakfast this week.
- The new car saga: If you were here a couple of months ago, you know we ordered a new car: a 2008 Mercedes C300. It's a bit of what the Germans call a Papierkrieg (paper war--that is, serious bureaucracy) to order a U.S. spec European car in Germany. And understandably so, when I discovered that the comparable German model would cost literally twice as much--you don't want to make it too easy, to reduce the risk of cheating.
Anyway. We had the loan all set up through USAA, but they needed the VIN. Mercedes wouldn't have the VIN until further along in the manufacturing process, so we waited. It arrived in Carl's email a week ago Monday--while we were gone on vacation--so he didn't get it until Friday when he went back to work. He called USAA and gave them the VIN, and paid extra for them to FedEx the check to the Canadian PX, which handles U.S. Military car sales.
He called the Canadian PX on Monday to ensure that they received the check, only to discover that USAA hadn't included the $80 handling fee for the Canadian PX. So he had to get a money order--checks weren't accepted, and bank transfers would take 2 weeks (???)--and send it through the German post office.
And the German post office went on strike. So they didn't get the money order until Thursday, and it takes them at least 2 weeks to process the paperwork.
We'd scheduled picking up the car in Stuttgart on April 25, but the paperwork wouldn't be finished by then. And the week after that is the JCAHO inspection at the hospital, so Carl can't get away.
So we'll probably be getting it 2 weeks later than planned... unless there's a problem with leaving it there for 2 extra weeks. Personally, I'm just shrugging. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Carl's a wee bit more upset about it. Which is putting it mildly.
- In Carl's defense, he's got a lot stressing him out--the aforementioned JCAHO inspection not the least of it. There's also the issue of our orders to Heidelberg. We can't do anything--househunting, signing Camden up for school, arranging our trip back to Texas--without orders. So he followed up on them this week. Turns out that a month ago, they asked for his requested reporting date (after someone else had told him it was unnecessary, so he removed it from the Request for Orders), and he gave it to them. But the person he gave it to never passed it on, and his orders have been sitting, "on hold," for a month. He personally gave the info to the person in charge at this point, and we'll see if they actually make it through the system this time.
- Thursday we took Camden with us to see 21. Fun movie! Curran didn't come along because it was the first time his friends were available to hang out with him all week. It's a little sad, but more reassuring that he's being more independent lately. It makes me feel that he'll handle the move better. He's also been getting along well with Dagny, at least on the phone, which is a huge relief, since they'll be living together in the house, and he'll need her help--and companionship--quite a lot initially. It was easier for Dagny in some ways because she didn't move, and she still had all her friends nearby, and she'd already been in college for a year. But it's going to all be new for Curran, so I feel better that Dagny'll be there to help, and that she seems inclined to do so. They used to fight like cats & dogs, so this is a big relief.
- I've also been feeling a little better about Camden re: the move. With Curran spending more time with his friends, Camden's been being a bit more independent, too. Until about 6 months ago, the two of them were joined at the hip. They're still very close, but I'm less worried about Camden feeling lost without his big brother around. Yesterday, Carl invited Camden to go on his run with him, and to everyone's surprise, Camden did. He kept up, too. I'm thinking Carl has a new running buddy. I hope they keep it up.
- Last night we started watching Hogfather--I'd bought the DVD as soon as the U.S. version was released. Unfortunately, we'd watched an episode of The Black Adder (one of Curran's Christmas presents) first, so after the first hour, I was nodding off, despite loving it. Tonight we're going to see Juno, but that'll be over at 9, so maybe we'll watch the rest tonight.
Categories: WeekendUpdate, AboutMe
Labels: about me, weekend update
And I sympathize with what you said about close siblings. I do anything I can do to foster Ilsa's independence from her older sister, but I see from your post that it's only going to continue and get more complicated as they grow.
It appears to be the girlfriend/boyfriend thing that lets the close siblings separate--and then, of course, you have THAT whole problem. It's always something. But at least it's never boring. Heh.
So...what did you think of "21"? Can't wait to hear your reviews on both "21" and "Juno". I want to see both movies with Trish but she kept changing her mind on movies to watch when it close time for us to go Cinema to watch it *sigh*....
I will wait until you review "21" and then go from there to make decsion whether to see it or not. I think it too late anyway - so might as well wait to Netflix it :) Thanks for letting me know
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