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| Cowgirl by day . . |
Bo Peep by night
Boo!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Halloween 2012
I know it was 2 weeks ago already, but I can't let Halloween go by without a few pictures. Remember last Halloween? We had just had a new baby, moved to Germany, and threw together a last-minute Halloween celebration. This year, there was no holding back. I got my Halloween on, big time.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
In a small town
At this time last year, I thought I lived in a small town. I was in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, population 40,000. I had never lived in such a small place and, having come directly from Boston, my mind was convulsing with the shock of the big-to-small adjustment. Never mind that this "small town" was connected by bus and rail to Braunschweig (pop. 150,000) just 10 minutes up the track, had at least 7 bakeries within 10 minutes walk, a giant grocery store, and castle across the street. It was small, and it was different.
Little did I know that less than a year later I would find myself living in a small town in Kansas, population 11,000. There are no great bakeries, our giant grocery store is Walmart, and needless to say, we don't look at a castle out our front window.
I had never been to Kansas until we rumbled into town with our giant Penske truck. This is the 5th place in a row I've moved into sight-unseen. We arrived on July 30, in the midst of one of the worst droughts and heat waves this area has seen in years. It was 103 degrees on move-in day. I sat at Dairy Queen that afternoon with my family, trying to cool off, silently cursing the fact that I was sitting in a Dairy Queen in Kansas.
Since that day I have had my fair share of moments of horror. There are no beaches, no swimming lakes, and the only place to get decent cilantro or tofu is Walmart. The restaurant scene is grim-- I may need to seek therapy to deal with my memories of one of them. There is no curbside recycling, and the county recycling center is manned by an old man in bib overalls who points out every mistake I make in my sorting. I have to drive 35 miles to take my kids to the pediatrician, and occasionally get stuck on the highway behind a truck pulling a double-wide. Some days I feel like everyone here could be Cousin Eddie from "Christmas Vacation" (who, my brother pointed out, is from Kansas).
I feel a sort of burden to be THAT person who, being forced to leave her city lifestyle, is won over by the charms of small town life on the edge of the prairie and spends the rest of her life raising goats and writing her memoires. I just don't think I'm going to be that person . . . yet. Although the moments of horror have mellowed into a general feeling of acceptance and adjustment, I'm far from being swept off my feet.
But hey! Enough of that. Remember these two?
Little did I know that less than a year later I would find myself living in a small town in Kansas, population 11,000. There are no great bakeries, our giant grocery store is Walmart, and needless to say, we don't look at a castle out our front window.
I had never been to Kansas until we rumbled into town with our giant Penske truck. This is the 5th place in a row I've moved into sight-unseen. We arrived on July 30, in the midst of one of the worst droughts and heat waves this area has seen in years. It was 103 degrees on move-in day. I sat at Dairy Queen that afternoon with my family, trying to cool off, silently cursing the fact that I was sitting in a Dairy Queen in Kansas.
Since that day I have had my fair share of moments of horror. There are no beaches, no swimming lakes, and the only place to get decent cilantro or tofu is Walmart. The restaurant scene is grim-- I may need to seek therapy to deal with my memories of one of them. There is no curbside recycling, and the county recycling center is manned by an old man in bib overalls who points out every mistake I make in my sorting. I have to drive 35 miles to take my kids to the pediatrician, and occasionally get stuck on the highway behind a truck pulling a double-wide. Some days I feel like everyone here could be Cousin Eddie from "Christmas Vacation" (who, my brother pointed out, is from Kansas).
I feel a sort of burden to be THAT person who, being forced to leave her city lifestyle, is won over by the charms of small town life on the edge of the prairie and spends the rest of her life raising goats and writing her memoires. I just don't think I'm going to be that person . . . yet. Although the moments of horror have mellowed into a general feeling of acceptance and adjustment, I'm far from being swept off my feet.
But hey! Enough of that. Remember these two?
Monday, November 5, 2012
I'm back
It only took me 3 months and a lot of separation anxiety from "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolfenbüttel", but I am slowly transitioning this blog to follow our new life in Kansas. Oh, I know it's a stretch after 9 months of European adventures, but stick with me. We'll find something.
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