October

Well October is here and I am yet again wondering where the last month went!  Time is flying by so fast!
We are keeping busy here in Bucharest.  I have volunteered to lead Lilys girl scout troop, so that will be fun :)  This last week our family has been hit with the stomach bug, one at a time, so that is keeping me busy.  Last weekend we spent a lovely weekend walking around a lake in the middle of town.  It was a longer walk than we thought it would be!  We had a late lunch at one of the largest (if not largest) beer halls in Europe.  Great beer and brats!  The kids did really well scooting around the lake, and B either walked, scooted or rode on our shoulders.  She is a little trooper, who has decided not to like her stroller anymore.  We fight every morning, she wants to walk to school, and I want her in the stroller-more control that way!  She will win soon, as the road we have to cross is very busy, and it is safer to take the bridge over the road than to cross it.
Fall is in the air here in Romania, the mornings are cold and the leaves are just starting to change here in Bucharest.  The afternoons can still be nice, depending on the sun.  Kids are still outside after school so that is nice.  I have a feeling it won't be long before they are in most of the time-at least until winter and the snow comes!  I am really looking forward to the season changing this year.  I love summer and the heat, but I think after a good summer it is really nice to feel the chill in the air.  I will see what I think about that in winter, but for now I am optimistic.
We are planning a trip up to Brasov in a few weeks, this is close to Castle Bran, otherwise known as draculas castle.  The leaves should be colorful there by now, and it will be a nice little break for us.  I am looking forward to it, and to seeing my first romanian castle!

Random Wanderings

So yesterday was Thursday, and I had something to do on Thursday.  I was going to go downtown and have a guided tour of an old neighborhood with the SSA.  I hitched a ride with Greg and we parked at his office, nice and convenient.  I had a 20 min walk to get to where I was meeting the group, and I was late... commence power walking with the stroller.  I got to the designated spot and saw no one.  So I sent out messages, called... Nothing back, I am upset at this point, how could no one at least answer a text!  Then I looked at the information again and realized I was a whole week off!  The walk is next week. AHHHHH
So now I am downtown Bucharest, with a sleeping child in a stroller.  I decided to walk around and then meet the hubby for lunch.  Best plan I had.  What a wonderful and delightful city this is.  We just wandered.  B really enjoyed the city (hmm maybe she just enjoyed her nap).  We walked a long time. I had to look like a tourist, I was looking everywhere.  The buildings are fascinating, the mix of them.  The old, the new, the renovated, well cares for, rundown, overgrown...  The possibilities are endless.  I was just sorry I didn't bring my camera.  Next time because there will be a next time.  There were little old men and women selling flowers and a few veg on the side of the street.  I couldn't help it and I bought some, for nothing!  They probably won't survive long, as it was a hot day and I didn't get them in water for a long time, but that doesn't matter.  Its the magic of buying something for next to nothing, the romance of old time street vendors.
I am looking forward to next week, when I get to go on that tour and hear some of the history behind some of the big old houses I saw.

September...Already

So we have been here for a little over three weeks.  I still feel very new.  I am still trying to navigate my way around, find the best shops... I discover something new every time I go out.  Today I went out to an SSA event, we had a lovely lunch by the lake.  I discovered that driving here really isn't my challenge, even though I am in the worlds biggest vehicle, and the people follow no road rules.  You are always in defensive driving mode!  Nope, by problem is parking, or finding parking... Apparently there are no parking rules here so technically I can park anywhere.  BUT I can't, because if you park somewhere someone doesn't want you to be then you are taking  big chance with your car.  I learnt this the other day, someone took offense to where I parked, I was blocking a driveway (of the house that I was visiting, with permissions from her).  I came back to my car to find my mirrors and my windshield wipers flipped up.  A Romanian woman that was with me said I was lucky my tires weren't slashed!  Are you kidding me!  so now I am constantly questioning where I park and if it will be okay...  I don't know what to do about slashed tires!
Ahh well...
I can't believe it is September already, where has the year gone?  This is going to be an exciting month, as my sister in law will have her baby this month!  I can't wait to see pics of the little guy, and it will be hard not to meet him right away, but... I am not getting on an airplane until next year!  At the very earliest October, but that will be a short flight to somewhere close, like Germany!  Octoberfest anyone?
I am looking forward to seeing what Autumn is like here, how the leaves change and what it feels like when the weather gets colder.  Very exciting to discover the secrets of season changes in a new country!
Take care everyone!

Week one!

We have been in Bucharest for 10 days or so, and we have been busy in that time!  A week ago we moved into our new house and our shipment arrived-it only took a week to drive it across Europe!  I think that is a record for us!  So that was the start of two full days of movers unpacking the truck and our boxes, they unpacked everything, so my closets, shelves, beds, floors, are all covered in stuff and it is now my job to make sense of it all and put all the things that make up our life in the right spots!  I think the place I struggle the most with this is in the kitchen, I have already moved things around twice and still don't like where I put the coffee cups so will probably be moving things again! 

 Lily and Oliver needed new wardrobes and we needed bathroom storage, hence we went to IKEA on Saturday, we forgot about IKEA on the weekends until we got to the parking lot, and by then it's too late, we were committed, so in we went.  We survived, miraculously without loosing out tempers or any children in the madness that is IKEA on the weekend, Greg also promised he would never go again!  We shall see...  

We also scoped out a store called Metro, it is supposed to be a box store like Costco or SAMs, but different.  I found a lot of things useful there, and some things not so useful-like a frozen piglet?  I was disappointed in the produce.  I have yet to find good produce here, I haven't seen a fresh head of broccoli, any celery, a head of anything other than iceberg lettuce...  I am seriously struggling!  Speaking of produce, what you do get is the real thing, no perfect anything, all just real with bumps and marks, and seeds!  what in the US would be considered ugly and left in the box to rot.  Here that is all you find, it threw me for a minute, to be reminded what produce really is supposed to look like before perfect became a necessity.  

On Sunday our oldest baby turned 8!  She has already met friends on the compound and so wanted to have a pool party.  I made cupcakes and the kids swam all afternoon.  It was a very hot day here, so it was a perfect way to spend it.  For dinner the birthday girl wanted sushi, so we ordered it from a restaurant, and they delivered!  It was great, such a stress free way to eat 'out'.  Lily had a lovely day, very low key and perfect.  

Monday was a big day for us because we got to see the school!  We walked across the street at 7:30 to the school, it took less than 10 min to walk.  We had school orientation, so we got to meet the teachers, see the classrooms, ask questions, sign up for scouts, order school meals...  It is a great school, and I hope the kids will be very happy.  Yesterday was the first day of school, off they went, Lily in 3rd grade, and Oliver in 1st.  They both came home happy, spent an hour with B and me, and promptly went off to find friends to play with.  

Today is Wednesday, every Wednesday they are let out at 2 instead of 3, so I have to remember to go and get them early!  I hope I don't forget.  Well that's us, I am still spending my time in the house, organizing and putting away!

Making the move... Bucharest, Romania!

Well, we have made the move yet again, this time from Aberdeen, Scotland to Bucharest, Romania!  We have been here for one day, and I love what I have seen so far, of course it doesn't hurt that the weather is great, as in there is a summer!  The kids are adjusting well, very excited that the climate is warmer too.  We are all looking forward to getting into our house, which will happen on Thursday, the very same day that our shipment will be arriving, just one week after having sent it off!  I think that is a record... We will have a few days to settle in, unpack, enjoy our new house, and then Lily's birthday is on Sunday, and they start school on Monday, actually Tuesday, we all go to school for orientation on Monday.  I am so looking forward to school starting!  We are in a neghborhood that is right across the street from the school, so I am hoping the kids will have a lot of friends close by.  I have also heard there are quite a lot of embassy families in the neighborhood as well, so hopefully I will have friends close by as well.  There is still so much to figure out here, I am just getting started, and enjoying it right now.  Tomorrow we are going to hang at the hotel pool and have fun, eat ice cream, and relax, because this weekend is going to be crazy busy!
Bucharest as a city is lovely.  The people have all been very friendly so far, it feels safe, and has a great atmosphere.  The architecture is a quirky mix of old, communist, modern... There are some real gems in the city.  There are old beautiful little churches and large cement apartments, all with a splattering of graffiti!  We seem to be spoilt for choice when it comes to food, you can find anything you like here!  I can't wait to explore the city more and take a few pictures as well!  I can't believe that Bucharest was never on our radar before, I am so pleased that it is now.