Long time No Blog!

Sorry it has been so long since I sent out an update, but we have been BUSY!  We have moved into our house after a few roadblocks, and are eagerly awaiting the delivery of our household goods.  In the meantime, we have enough loaner furniture to get by here and live fairly comfortably.  A lot of people have been asking for pictures, and I will post some here later today.  I got a new camera for my Birthday/Valentine's day, so I'm going try to put video up as well.

We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend here in Schweinfurt, and are hoping to take in some of the Fasching celebrations in and around town.  Fasching is pretty much Mardi Gras, so I'll probably have some interesting pictures to post from the upcoming week.  There is a parade in Wurzburg on Sunday, as well as a parade here in Schweinfurt on Tuesday for "Shrove Tuesday" aka Fat Tuesday.  We have a few little projects to finish up here at the house this weekend as well.  Greg will be leaving next week for an exercise up North and be gone for about a month.  While he's gone, our household goods should be delivered, so we have to get everything ready in the mean time. Should be a joy dealing with the German movers by myself, hopefully they speak some English!

A few things about Germany so far that we have found interesting. . .

1. Homes don't come with cupboards or light fixtures (Our landlord is American, so ours did, although the light fixtures are a lot of the projects we've been doing since moving in).  Also, Germans do not have closets in their homes, to include ours :0(
2. Beer really is cheaper than soda or bottled water. . . and it's really good too!
3. Germans recycle like nobody's business!  We only get our trash picked up every other week, and our trash can is about 1/3 the size of a typical American trash bin.  You can be fined for having recyclables in your trash.
4. If you want bags for the things you buy while you are out shopping, you will have to buy them IF the store sells them . . . again very environmentally conscious.  Most people bring their own.  Germans shop for their groceries almost daily, so they have nice reusable bags that they use as a "cart" while they are doing their shopping.
5. All stores close by 8pm, and NONE are open on Sundays.  Additionally, you are not to do any work on Sundays (no yardwork, noisy housework etc).  Also, everyday between 1-3pm is "quiet time."
6. Dogs are allowed EVERYWHERE.  To include restaurants, malls, etc.  We are not that brave, and ours usually stay at home.

Well, that is about it for now.  Hope everyone has a great weekend, and again, I will add some pictures and video on here later today of our house.  Bye for now