I've just published an entry on our shared blog, so I don't really have much to say here except that it's been nice to have a place to share my thoughts on life here. Our joint blog was fun but Chris has very specific ideas as to what is blog-worthy and as you can tell from my random postings, I like to blog about anything and everything :)
This is my last post here but very soon I'll be adding posts to my new blog about our life in Milwaukee.
http://karisann.blogspot.com/
I'm searching for a new MP3 player and through my research so far I've discovered that the world has become iPod-ized. Three years ago, I got an MP3 player that has worked flawlessly and I was hoping to get something very similar now for Chris. Back then MP3 players all had removable batteries and came with necessary accessories such as arm bands. Now, they have non-removable batteries (like iPods) and require charging but chargers must be purchased separately, as do arm bands.
Well, that's fine, except that accessories for MP3 players can be difficult to find. Sony is a top-rated brand on Consumer Reports, but I can't find a charger and there's only find one arm band type that will fit it. For iPods, on the other hand, the selection of accessories is vast - multiple types, colors, etc.
Although I'd prefer to stick with MP3 players, I think I may be forced to switch over to an iPod. I'm really glad I had my removable battery MP3 player for traveling Europe though. I can't imagine the hassle of finding outlet adapters to charge it in various countries.
kk
Consumer Reports has become my new best friend. I recently purchased a subscription to access online content and it's been invaluable because we have a lot of purchases to make in the near future. At the top of our joint list is a king size bed and at the top of my personal list is a TV (Chris thinks we don't need one). The world of TVs has become increasingly complex as well. Sorting through differences between plasma vs LCD vs standard picture tube TVs is frustrating. I miss the simpler electronic days.
We watched an interesting movie over the weekend called Into the Wild. I had never heard of it, but it's based on a real-life journey taken by Christopher Johnson McCandless (pictured below). I think the movie works better if you don't know the story ahead of time, so I won't say much here but I'd definitely recommend watching it.
Chris and I had very different reactions to the movie. He admired the guy for following his dream and I thought the guy was a selfish idiot. There are lots of online articles about him, which talk about the cult following of young men who now idolize this guy and think he's a hero. If anyone has seen the movie, or knows the story, I'd be very curious to hear your reaction.
Slowly but surely everything is returning to the way it was when we first arrived. I think I mentioned in a previous blog entry that we've been sleeping on mattresses on the floor for over a year now because the beds our landlords bought were so small and uncomfortable. Well, last night Chris put the beds back together and we were reminded as to why we hate these beds and took them apart in the first place.
We started out in the same bed last night but they're so small (not much bigger than a twin mattress) that Chris eventually moved to the other bed partway through the night. Shortly after he did, his bed collapsed. Luckily we had some spare parts from a previous time one of the beds broke, so Chris was able to get it fixed today.
A picture of our previous wall-to-wall mattressing.
After a 45 minute phone conversation with our Credit Union last night, Chris and I are both now approved for car loans. There was a very funny moment in the conversation early on when the member rep said she saw a name on our account and needed to know who it was.
I explained that it was my Mom and her name was on our account so she could make transactions for us while we lived abroad. This caused her to freak out telling me how she knew my Mom, and missed working with her so much (they worked together at TDS for a number of years). She then begged me to say hello for her. It's funny how living and working on the west side of Madison can very much feel like small town USA.
I'm now shopping for cars online and I'm a bit overwhelmed with my choices. I've only bought two cars in the past, both Toyotas, and both from people my Mom knew, never a dealership. I like small cars but am worried that might not be the best choice considering we want to have kids soon. Luckily my step-dad is a shrewd haggler and is willing to negotiate for us, so whatever we choose, we know we'll pay far less than sticker price.
I'm slightly addicted to magazines and was amazed at an opportunity I got today. I was on the US post office website changing our address (my Mom will no longer have to receive all of our US mail) and was offered the chance to subscribe to magazines at the same time. I thought this was very convenient but the best part is that the rates were incredibly low (less than $10 for a year-long subscription!), so I suscribed to five :)
I will soon be receiving...
Cooking Light
Good Housekeeping
BusinessWeek
Redbook
Entertainment Weekly
I'd also love to get The Economist but it wasn't nearly as cheap as the others.
We returned home yesterday from our final European trip...well at least for awhile until our kids are old enough to travel or be left with relatives :) We really enjoyed our 6 days in Paris! It's hard to believe that two weeks from today we'll be checking-out of our apartment and into the Novotel Hotel at the Birmingham airport.
I saw the movie Mamma Mia last night with three female co-workers. I thought it was a great movie but was unable to sing along like my co-workers and everyone else in the theatre. I had never heard of Abba before moving here but I can't imagine a Brit ever saying that. Their music is played often on the radio and is the subject of pub quizzes.
We started selling our stuff this past weekend and as Chris pointed out, it's as though we're reverting back to our life when we first arrived. Our dryer is being picked up tonight and soon we're going to need to put our beds back together. We've been sleeping with the mattresses on the floor because the cheap IKEA beds were uncomfortable and small...hence the reason we each need a mattress to sleep on.
In case you're curious what we've accumulated in two years, here's the list of everything we're selling. There are a couple reasons we have so many items. First, we know a lot of temporary England residents and each time someone left we ended up with some of their stuff. Second, we had initially planned to stay longer, which is why we purchased items like the dryer and a second fridge.
http://kuckmovingsale.blogspot.com/
Time feels like it's going really fast now. We leave for a 6-day trip to Paris on Wednesday and after that we only have 2 weeks left! People keep asking if we're packed yet, but that would be difficult to do considering we're only taking 4 suitcases home and we're still using most of the items that will eventually be packed.
I know it's cliché to worry about the next generation of kids, but I got an e-mail at work today that really made me wonder what sort of education kids are getting. They are definitely a text-message generation (even more popular here than in the US). Below is the e-mail I received from a 21 year-old student completing her final year of college.
"hi ya iu was wondering if u could help me please it you was unable to make enrolment how would you enrol or would I be able to send someone else with my paper work do u no when the enrollement date is x"
By the way, the "x" at the end of her e-mail indicates a kiss, which is very common in e-mails sent between friends here but I've never seen a student use it when e-mailing our office.
