The Best Ever...

Okay, I'm going to interrupt moving posts to give you Macens latest favorite quote. Macen's favorite candy at the moment is nerds and I made sure we had plenty on hand for the move (or Grandma did. Thanks Grandma!) While we were hanging out the other day at the hotel in Frankfurt, Macen informed me they were "The best nerds ever". Very funny! Last night we went to the commissary to get a few things for our room and we grabbed a box of Special K for Macen. While checking out James was pointing out all these boxes of Special K and asking Macen if that one was his favorite. He kept sayinbg "no" until James got to the red berries one. And Macen responds "The best special K ever". Lol!

We've made it to Vilseck

UPDATE: We can't get the car until we or one of us takes the driving test for here. And the good news about the housing turned into not so good news this morning. James went to housing where they told him there would probably be something available around the 26th of January. Yeah, not cool! We are hearing from multiple people here on post that there are plenty of houses empty. So he's going back on Monday to talk to them. And instead of going to a German hotel this weekend, we are going to an area here on post where there are cabins. We plan to stay there until the end of the month unless housing decides to give us a house sooner.

James came in today and we took the long bus ride to Vilseck. We are in temporary lodging on post right now but we will move to a German hotel in a few days. Apparently, temp lodging gave away most of our reservation since we didn't make it here on Monday as planned so there were only 2 nights available for us to stay.

In the midst of playing musical hotels, our hold baggage (the stuff that was packed 2 weeks ago and shipped) is here waiting for us as well as our car. James should be picking up the car tomorrow. And word is that we should have our chosing of houses/duplex/whatever they call them and we should be in our new home around Wed of next week.

I'm sure the cats will appreciate that! Macen seems to be enjoying hotels just fine.

In Frankfurt

Macen and I are hunkering down in the hotel at the airport. We got back here yesterday and we'll stay until James comes in tomorrow morning.

Macen hasn't quite adjusted to the time difference. I mentioned before I put Macen down at his normal time 2 nights ago and he stayed in bed over 15 hrs. He was awake for an hour in that time but he was catching up on some major sleep. He went to bed at his normal time last night but was awake from 11:30pm to 2:30am. He did wake up much earlier today so we'll get a nap in (both of us) and then maybe get on track tonight.

We are enjoying the maze that is the Frankfurt airport.

Hello from Germany!

As James mentioned, we made it! About half of us anyway. The days activities so did not go as planned when we woke up Sunday morning. But next week it'll all be a distant memory. We should have known something would happen because up until yesterday, everything had gone extremely smooth for the move - other than James and I disagreeing about things.

And for anyone thinking we'll be coming back anytime soon, don't count on it. The seats on the flight here offered very little leg room making it near impossible to sleep. James and I were both up around 3:30 am Sunday anticipating our big move and I got maybe 2 hrs total sleep on the plane. So very little sleep before adjusting to the time difference. Maybe it'll make for an easy transition but not a trip I want to repeat anytime soon. Macen did do great on both flights and I couldn't believe the amazing help I got from strangers.

I'm going to reach here a little bit and say Macen has not been affected by jetlag. Yet, atleast. We'll see how tomorrow goes. He was getting pretty cranky at the airport this morning because we did a lot of walking (it's huge or atleast it felt that way this morning or maybe it all the luggage I was carrying and pushing around) and he couldn't be carried at all due to the massive amounts of luggage I had - we're talking over 200 lbs. But once we got to Emilie's, he was his normal self on 4 hours of night time sleep. Running around full of energy and at the speed of lightning. He did sleep for about 2 1/2 hrs this afternoon and I just put him to bed at his normal bedtime. No issues yet and hopefully it doesn't catch up with us tomorrow (or even tonight). The Tot Clock just might get us thru this time difference.

We'll let you know when we get to Vilseck and hopefully James' flight day is a lot less interesting.

Myles is curled up in my lap as I type, happy as can be.

They Made It.

Well I just got off the phone with Shantel and she is currently exploring the Commissary and PX at Weisbaden with her friend Emilie. So she and Macen have both made it to Germany safe and sound.

According to Shantel she had no issues during the flight. Macen slept most of the way from KC to DC and that there was a very sympathetic woman who helped her with the car seat as she moved between gates in DC and once on the plane to Frankfurt Macen played for about 4 hours before she had to pull out the clock and tell him it was bed time and then he slept the rest of the way to Frankfurt. There were once again no issues in Frankfurt. Myles the Carry On Cat was scanned for his microchip and that was it for him. A member of the German version of the TSA helped Shantel get to Customs and through Customs and then Emilie was waiting to pick her up. Thank God for sympathetic strangers and good friends.

As it stands right now the Sheraton at the airport is full and Shantel is going to spend a couple of days with Emilie and then move to the hotel the night before I get in, that way Emilie doesn't have to get up early to get her to the airport.

I'll be spending the next couple of days in Mid-Missouri visiting with my family and maybe getting a bird hunt with my dad. Shantel swears that the reason I stayed was to watch the Cowboys game yesterday and to go bird hunting one last time with Maggie before I leave. She really doesn't have much sympathy for me.

Flying Catastrophe, Drama, Chaos

Well we were supposed to fly to Germany today, but as you can tell from the title of the post there were all sorts of issues this morning. Here's a little recap then let me know what you think.

We are of course moving with our two cats Mo and Myles, and the dog, Maggie, is tentatively scheduled to be shipped later this spring after we get settled. Shantel has been super paranoid about flying with the cats, calling the airlines immediately after we got our tickets, scheduling vet appointments within a ten day window of flying, She called the airline 2 days before the flight to ensure that the cats were still on the manifest, finding out that only one of them was and that the airline only allowed 1 pet in the cabin and only 1 pet in the cargo hold. Still not comfortable she went to the airport ticket counter with one of the pet carrier and the day before we flew and talked to a ticket agent who informed her that the pet carrier would work for the cabin but not for the cargo hold. No one ever mentioned that pets would not be allowed in the cargo hold if the temp was under 45 degrees, keeping in mind that when Shantel went to the ticket counter at KCI the current outside temp was -4 degrees. We just thought that maybe United, our airline, didn't have a policy like that.

Fast forward to flying day. Macen is going nuts saying "We are going to airport, Yeaaaaaa!" "I'm moving to Jersanny". He just can't quite say Germany and it's funny to hear him say Jersanny. We turn in the rental car and get in the check in line at about 8:40 am a full three hours before our flight and the line moves really slow. We have our 7 pieces of luggage for the three of us, Shantel and Macen each have two carry ons and I have one. We also have one cat in a carry on kennel and one cat in a slightly larger kennel and the car seat for Macen. We truly look like the Beverly Hillbillies. Not to mention our entourage, My mom and step dad, Shantel's sister and her family (3 kids), Shantel's mom and the twins Mariah and Jeremiah.

We finally make our way to counter and I dutifully inform the ticket agent that I'm about to make his day. He laughs and says go ahead. I immediately let him know that we did have two cats and OK no problem, lets start with the luggage. No issues there, then we start with the cats. 1st issue, there is some kind of embargo on pets flying to London, so the ticket agent spends time finding out if there is a similiar one to Germany. Nope no embargo to Germany. Myles the Carry On Cat is good. Time to start on Mo the Cargo Cat. Uh oh the weather has warmed up to a balmy 15 degrees and the airline now says that Mo the Cargo Cat can't go in the hold and Myles is the ONLY cat who can be a Carry On Cat. Now what do we do.

Well first thing we have to do is deal with a grouchy Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, in uniform, who thinks he's going to miss his flight. Insert funny Air Force sleeping in while the Army gets up early joke here. Sorry mister Air Force Lieutenant Colonel you are just going to have to wait until the lowly Army Major and his family gets all of their issues ironed out.

We check for flights to Germany later in the day, Nope nothing. How about flights on Monday, one person can get to DC on Monday, but not to Frankfurt. Tuesday same story, flights to Denver and Chicago but nothing from there to Germany. Wednesday is the earliest one person can go. Looks like Shantel just volunteered to take Macen, and Myles the Carry On Cat all by herself from Kansas City to Frankfurt. So that's what we did.

Now we are trying to get Shantel, Macen, Myles the Carry On Cat, and the car seat through TSA security. Hold on the United Check N Go lady interferes "No hard sided pet carriers". What the ticket agent guy said nothing about that and he put a baggage tag on the hard sided pet carrier to show that Myles the Carry On Cat had paid $200 (Thanks to James' credit card) for his right to be the ONLY Carry On Cat. Finally it's decided small hard sided pet carrier like Myles the Carry On Cat owns is just fine. Then a super friendly TSA agent (Yes they are out there) helps Shantel, Macen, Myles the Carry On Cat and the assorted accouterments through the security process.

Of course since I wasn't flying the airline had to take three of the bags off the airline and of course I didn't get my bags and Shantel was stuck with all three of the 50+ lb bags.

Last we heard Shantel and Macen had landed in DC and were trying to make their flight to Frankfurt. As of 7pm CST Shantel's cell phone is going direct to voice mail so I can only assume that she is safely winging it across the Atlantic.

Before we left the airport I called some friends of ours who are now stationed just outside Frankfurt and asked them to check in on Shantel and Macen when they arrive in Frankfurt. Emilie, the wife who is actually from Denmark, will meet her at the airport so she'll be in good hands when she gets there.

Instead of imposing any more on my in-laws I headed to Columbia with my mom and step dad. Upon arrival in Columbia I frantically got on the internet and looked for alternate flights to Frankfurt. Most of those flights are running $3000 or more for the next couple of days the cheapest being an Air India flight from St Louis for $900 or a British Airways flight from Atlanta for $1200. I could drive and make either one of them, believe it or not, but the British Airways flight makes a stop in London, and the UK requires pets to have a pet passport or something similiar to land and of course you can't get one in less than 24 hours and the Air India flight seems a little shady to me, so I won't press my luck and just go with my Wednesday flight.

Luckily for me my actual report date is not until the 15th so I do have some leeway, but at this rate I'm going to use it all up.

Happy New Year!

Here is Macen ringing in the new year! We all saw the new year come in with the back of our eyelids. Ha ha!

We cleared the house yesterday and we're currently in a hotel. And is was really, really cold last night so we weren't up for venturing out for any big events. And not to mention Macen has a cold and I believe he has passed it along to me.