Auf Wiedersehen, Sommer

Hey Everyone!

  Summer is over.  It's still August but it's been really chilly and I can just feel that it's over.. and the fall decorations are out on display at the supermarkt here.  I'm happy though, having humidity with no A/C was not fun at all during our 2 months of warm weather here in Tübingen.  I'm looking forward to the leaves changing color and everything too.  It should be gorgeous by the time Steve gets here, so going to Munich is going to be great, and it should be beautiful at Neuschwanstein too! 

I'm ready for vacation!  I basically have the whole month of September as a vacation, besides a couple of days.  The family is leaving for the day and overnight to go to a wedding at a castle north of Stuttgart, and on Monday they leave for Turkey for 14 days.  I do have to drive them at 4 in the morning to the airport, but it's worth it and I'll even do it with a smile on my face the entire way.  They'll come back on the 14th and then Steve gets here on the 19th!  We leave for Munich on the 21st and we decided to stay an extra day since we're not going to Paris, which will give us more time to explore Munich and spend in the tents at Oktoberfest. 

The family also asked me to stay until Christmas.  I told them I'd think about it.. but I'm just thinking of a polite way to say no.  They said no pressure or anything, but yeah right.  I've been here for almost a year like we had agreed.  They're in contact with new nannies and everything, they're just worried because most of them aren't experienced drivers.  In Europe, you have to be 18 to start driving, so  most of them are new.  They're having a hard time finding an American nanny like they had hoped, but maybe they'll get lucky.  I just think that missing two Thanksgivings and two birthdays in a row is too much for me, I was really homesick last year and now I've been really looking forward to  being back home in Virginia.  This is also really unfortunate because my friends in Heidelberg asked me if I could stay with them for a few weeks in November.  Bekah and her husband Chris are both in the Army Active Duty and usually they can both manage to make their schedules work so while one of them is gone, the other is home with their three kids.  In November they're both scheduled to be gone.  They do have ladies on the base that are available to come and stay with kids, but they think that's a bit weird for the kids.  They're also like family to me so I was planning on helping them out and spending some time with their kids, but now that's screwed.  The family is paying for my ticket home, so how would that look if I said no to their request, and then went up to Heidelberg to help out?  I'm sure my friends will understand. 

Anyway, I'm going to take the puppy on a walk and enjoy the rest of the day to myself.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Jess

Crappy Friday

...Literally!

Hey Everyone!

It's been a little over a week since I've written a new blog, so here's the update! Isa has been with us for a week and a half and she's doing alright. Having a new puppy around the house is a lot of work, but it's nice too. The new puppy excitement is starting to wear off and I really expected all the puppy responsibilities to be dropped on me, but so far I don't have to take care of it all by myself, which is really really nice. She's doing alright for the most part. She was already being trained to pee out in the grass before we picked her up, so we don't have too many accidents in the house. She's only pooped once, which is nice. Nothing smells worse than dog poop, and farts. She always lets the most horrible smells out when she's asleep cuddled next to someone, and it's bad enough to make your eyes water and cough like crazy! She does have the typical puppy behavior.. like.. jumping, biting/chewing on everything, trying to get into everything, digging in the garden, etc. We went to the pet store and bought a lot of puppy bones for her to chew on and she really loves pig ears and pig stomach lining.. ew. They smell gross and look gross, but if it keeps her from biting my shoes and the furniture, I can deal with it. Potty training a 3 year old and a puppy suck! I feel really bad for the trash can too, more than double the amount of poop now, sick. I already know to hold my breath before I'm 3ft within the garage area. Charlotte has still been driving me crazy too! Thankfully, she went back to daycare/ pre school on Wednesday. I'm just getting really sick of her tantrums and I really really.. REALLY want to get medieval on her butt. Today was the worst it's been in a long time too. When I went into her room to get her dressed, it smelt pretty bad so I asked her if she pooped in her diaper, she said yes, so I told her to come over to the changing table so I could change her, but of course, she started to run around. Her diaper looked like it was ready to explode in any minute, so I had to chase her down quick. She kicked, pulled hair, bit me, pinched me the entire time I was trying to get her on the changing table. Once I had her diaper off, she kept kicking me, and of course, poop got everywhere. On my shirt, my jeans, my neck, my hands, my arms, her legs, her stomach, the changing table, the floor. She kept screaming and kicking the entire time too. She just never stops, ever. I try talking to her calmly a ton of times. I've really gained a lot of patience with this, and I'm happy, but it still doesn't last long with her. Graziella was talking to me about how stubborn Charlotte has always been. I guess she was stubborn as a baby and she does this really weird thing too. She cries and cries when she doesn't get her way, so like most parents do, they left her alone until she stopped. Well she never stops. Ever! She can cry and cry and cry for hours. She said once they said they were going to just leave her alone so she'd get the point. Well she cried for 6 hours. They always give into her because of that. How do you break that?? I feel like I'm talking about breaking a horse in or something haha. It's just nuts. Oh well, only two and a half more months! I hope the weekend is a good one, and no more horrific poop accidents occur either. Have a great weekend everyone!

Jess

Ch-Ch-Changes!

Guten Tag everyone!

It's been awhile since I've written a new blog, we've had a couple changes in the house since I last wrote. On Tuesday, we picked up the family's new yellow lab puppy, named Isa (EEEE-zuh). She is so cute and she learns so fast! I wish she'd stay her size forever though, she's going to be huge when she's full grown, so I'm happy I won't be here for that. It's crazy how Graziella has been with the new puppy too. It's like she swallowed a Care Bear grenade and she's been WAY happy with the dog! I haven't even seen her this affectionate with her own kids! I wish they had picked up a new puppy the day I arrived, that would have been nice. The kids really love her too, so it's nice that they have some of their own new entertainment for a while. I'm not sure when the excitement of a new puppy will wear off though. This week has been kind of hectic. Nicholas left last Saturday to spend some time at his Grandmother's house alone, so Charlotte stayed here. She went to her pre-school/day care on Monday and she's stayed home all week because of the new puppy, it's killing me!! I don't know how mothers live without sending their kids to daycare everyday. Seriously. I don't think anyone should have to spend an entire day with a three year old! When I worked at a daycare center I only had to spend 8 hours with them. Here with Charlotte, I only spend about 4 to 5 hours a day with her. It's been miserable this past week. She has been so jealous of the new attention Isa is getting, so she's been extra cranky and moody. Luckily, Nicholas and Oma came back yesterday and now Charlotte is being entertained by her for a couple days.. whew. Now that Gitmo is being closed, our country should think about sending terrorists to daycare centers all day, I think that would be enough torture for anyone.


Jess