Another day of unpacking and cleaning. I feel like I accomplished something even if it just looking through shower doors that are not all covered in lime buildup. We had a nice rain tonight. The wind was brutal for a few minutes, but it is so nice and cool now. We have the windows open trying to air everything out and stay cool without running the air conditioners. I am also watching a Thomas the Train movie with the kids for the 20th time (2nd time today). Ever since being on leave and being given a nice collection of Thomas the Train toys by Jeff's aunt Sharon that is all he wants to watch and play with. Thank goodness the library has a pretty large collection of the Thomas movies that we can check out for free. We make a trip to the library once a week to restock on movies as TV absolutely stinks here.

For those of you who have never experienced AFN TV while stationed overseas let me explain. It is a satellite system that broadcasts American channels. The commercials are not the ones played in the states, but military commercials. They get old really quick. The selection of TV shows is limited also. They try to bring the latest shows, but they are at least one if not two seasons behind the states. So, all my favorite shows I am enjoying repeats. The worse part is we have lived with a DVR for the last 3 years and came to rely on it heavily. We do not have one here or can not get one from the research I have conducted, so we are stuck watching live TV. Since the past two weeks have been spent primarily unpacking I have not really wanted to watch TV. However, once life settles down (or at least I hope it does a little) I will most likely watch all my favorite shows on the computer. I have missed this entire season of Army Wives and I am not happy about that. I don't think they air that show or at least I have not seen it on the schedule. I think total we have about 10 channels to choose from so we will spend a lot of time watching movies.

One of the biggest blessing in this house was the closet in our bedroom. Those are unheard of in his country. I was so happy when I got everything hung up and organized. That did not last long. Now, I don't consider myself to have a huge collection of shoes by any means. I guess it was enough though hanging in the organizer to break the entire closet rod. I opened the closet door the other day to find all my clothes lying on the floor. Since our entire house is made of concrete it is not as easy as just hanging it back up. In fact, hanging things at all is a slight challenge that I am determined to solve this weekend so I can get pictures on the wall. I have a few hanging on nails already in the walls, but the remaining ones are placed in the oddest spots and don't work for my remaining pictures.

A positive sign of being moved in took place today, the movers returned to take all the empty boxes and paper. It was so nice to see all that leaving. It opened up floor space in the garage. We are still having problems with our entry way gate. I can stand out there for 10 min and it won't work for me. I call our landlord who comes over touches the button and it works perfectly for him. Thank goodness I did not have to go anywhere today because when I tried to open it to remove the boxes it would not open. I will be so glad when August is over and the Italians all come back from vacation so we can hopefully really get it fixed. I am up a creek without a paddle if it does not work and I have to be somewhere at a certain time. I would park my van across the street in a parking spot, but that is discouraged since thugs will break in looking for things. At this class I took the lady told a story of how her neighbor came home from vacation and did not clean all the trash from her car that night because they were tired. Thugs broke in and actually cleaned up her trash as they were looking for anything of value. They will look everywhere too because they are really searching for the NATO gas coupons we buy. It allows us to buy gas without paying all the tax. It allows me to buy a tank of gas for about $40 instead of $90. I don't blame them for wanting to get their hands on them. At those prices you for sure learn what hours the gas stations are open so you can use the coupons and not have to pay the full price.

So, after another busy day around the house we are getting closer to a normal life and settled in. Thanks for sharing our life adventures.