HUGE SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to pick Jean, Jerry, and Trent up at the airport yesterday after work. It seemed like I was waiting forever for them to come out through customs. When I finally saw them I hollered over to Trent to come give me a monster hug. But he seemed like he was focused on the doors at customs. So I pleaded for my hug and all he could say was, “Just wait, we have a surprise for you!” I said, “No surprise is as good as a hug from you, I haven’t seen you in forever!” So he gave me a one armed hug because he was still turned around staring at the customs doors. I was looking at the doors too because I was trying to figure out what he was talking about. Just then out walks Emma, Kristin, and David!!!! I started bawling. They are staying at a friend of David’s mothers’ house up near Rum Point for 11 days!!! We then had Travis meet us at Sunset House, and we surprised him too. It’s soooo exciting!!!! They just called me at work and said they are having a blast being out of the cold Midwest weather. Emma is snorkeling for her very first time! Can’t wait to get home from work and play! Thank God I have tomorrow off!!

Happy Holidays!

Dolphmanians........ What?

Here is a letter to the Editor in today's paper. I don't think I even need to comment...... I live with a bunch of morons!


Dolphmanians a new species

Monday 15th December, 2008 Posted: 17:41 CIT (22:41 GMT)
> Comment on this story
So the dolphins have arrived in Cayman.

What a national disgrace! And I do not use the word national loosely because it was our illustrious leaders who granted all the permits for them to be here.

In our society today we do not imprison persons, unless under the law they have been convicted of crimes punishable by that means.

What right do we have then to imprison highly intelligent creatures simply to make a few dollars for a few greedy people?

It is my understanding that dolphins sometimes attempt to mate with their trainers.
It is my hope that some of our illustrious leaders who were instrumental in bringing them here will fall into the tanks and the attempts will not only be successful, but that offspring will result.
This way we may get a few semi–intelligent creatures among us. Since they would be part Dolphin and part Caymanian – we could call them Dolphmanians. Consuelo Ebanks

The Hitmans Trip to Grand Cayman

Sarah and Sam finally made it. I am not going to comment on how long it took, or anything about the route they chose. ;) I think we are going to give them the name of a travel agent for next time. We picked them up Monday night at 8:30 from the airport. On the way home, my car broke down in the pouring rain. Since we had no wheels on Tuesday we just hung around our house. We flew out for Switzerland Wednesday afternoon. My car still wasn’t fixed, so we arranged a ride for Sarah and Sam to pick it up that afternoon. When they went to get it, they drove it out of the lot, and it was still broke. So they brought it back and walked to the airport in the pouring rain to rent a car.

Friday night a hurricane category 3 hit the Caymans Islands. I am sure Sarah and Sam can give you more details, since we weren’t here. There wasn’t much damage to Grand Cayman. But our sister islands Cayman Brac and Little Cayman really took a hit. I guess Brac is 90% destroyed. It’s devastating! Sarah and Sam were out of power and water for a day and a half. Good thing we stocked up on candles before we left! A couple of our friends checked in on them to make sure they were okay. When we got back, I found a notepad with tons of card game scores on it. I guess that is all they could do with no power!

We haven’t talked to them because they are in Hawaii getting married and having their honeymoon. The weather did clear up for their last 3 days here. Hopefully their experience in Grand Cayman hasn’t discouraged them from coming again. We’d love to have them come back with the boys!

I will write about our trip to Switzerland in my next blog.

Congratulations to Holly and Kenny on their engagement!

Congrats Sarah and Sam on tying the knot!

Our thoughts are with my cousin Aimee and her family as her little boy is back in the ICU. Hang in there Jace!

I finally have news!!!!

Time to write again because I have lots of news!

We have a very busy couple of weeks coming up. This weekend we are moving to a new condo. I don’t have pictures yet because we don’t live there. But I promise to get some on in a couple of weeks. The place is on the other side of Georgetown and it’s on the beach. We are on the water now, but it’s mostly reef with one small patch of pretty rocky beach. The new place is all nice white sand. Because the place has been available for 8 months, we were able to talk them down (yes, you can negotiate your rent) to the same price we are currently paying. The new place is just fancier. I think any guests will be more comfortable.

Speaking of guests, Sarah and Sam are coming in 5 days! They arrive Monday afternoon and are staying for a week. Sam (bless his heart) booked a surprise trip for him and Sarah a couple months ago. He wasn’t aware that we already had a trip to Switzerland booked. So, we will only have a couple days with them before we leave. We’ll have to make the best of it! I am sure they will enjoy their stay. It worked out well that we are moving only a few days before they arrive because they won’t have to drive to get to the beach. Now my only challenge is getting our stuff unpacked before they arrive so they can find things when we are gone. I might be in trouble if they can’t find the beach towels and sunblock!

Next on the list is our trip to Switzerland! I know I wrote about it a couple months ago, but I will remind you in case you missed that blog. Travis’s band from back home, Cash Box Kings (http://www.cashboxkings.com/), got invited to play at the Lucerne Blues Festival (http://www.bluesfestival.ch/cms/). It is such a great opportunity for us! It’s a nonprofit festival that focuses on “increasing the awareness of blues music and giving blues musicians a platform where they focus completely on them.” What does this mean for us? Well, they pay for everything including flights, hotel (http://www.schweizerhof-luzern.ch/), meals, and a driver! And Travis gets paid to play! They treat the musicians like they are superstars. They have a couple other shows at local venues while we are there, but we will have plenty of free time to act like tourists. We are sooooooo excited! The band has played a lot of gigs over the past 6 years together, so I think they definitely have earned this trip! I might not be saying that if the wives and girlfriends didn’t get to go for free too! We are getting a new camera this weekend so look for lots of photos when we return.

We also have decided to spend Christmas in the Caymans. Jean, Jerry, and Trent are coming for two full weeks! Travis is trying to convince me to make a full turkey dinner, but I thought turkey legs on the grill at the beach would be more appropriate. I think in the back of his head, he thinks that if I make a full dinner, his mom will make him her awesome homemade pie. :) Either way, we are very excited to have them visit again. We really miss Trent! I am sure he’ll get his summer tan back in no time. We talked to him tonight and he dressed up in his new Iron Man outfit on Skype. It even has built in muscles. He looked so cute! Around Christmas both Travis and I have quite a few days off of work, so we should be able to spend lots of time with them. I hope they like the new place!

We are glad to hear Jace is doing well after his surgery. Take care all and don’t forget to check back in a few weeks for lots of photos!

In the past month.....

Well, I spent 3 weeks in Denver helping Sarah prep her new house to move in. We painted, painted, and then painted more. She is now living there, although she says she is not moved in because there are still lots of boxes to be put away. I also got to spend a lot of time with Harper while I was there. He is in the stage where he will repeat whatever you tell him to say. It’s great. I was a little easier on him than I was to Jackson at that age. I taught him, “Zip it, Lock it, Put it in your pocket!” and “What does an alligator say? Chomp, Chomp, Chomp!” Not quite as bad as teaching Jackson, “Who let the dogs out? Woof, Woof, Woof!” and “I am going ride that donkey, donkey” both with actions to go along with the songs. I think Katie was pleased overall.

Sarah, Katie, Mandy, Courtney, Lacey, and I also all went to see The John Butler Trio (featuring Lacey’s husband) and G-Love at Red Rocks. I have never been there before. What an amazing venue! We had a blast.

My parents came for a long weekend and we took Harper to the Denver Zoo.

I also went to the International Gem and Bead Show with Aunt Lori, Courtney, Sarah, and my mom. We all found too much!

All of my cute photos from Denver got erased on my camera except a few from the zoo. So, I won’t be many, if any, photos from Denver. L

A couple days after I returned from Denver, I started back to work at the same bank I was at earlier this year. I am working in the same department. It’s nice because I already know all of my coworkers and the basic ins and outs. My work isn’t any more challenging, but it should be getting better in the next couple of weeks.

Last week we had guests! Our friends Gayle and Cheryl came from Wisconsin. Unfortunately, they brought some rainy weather with them. They arrived on Sunday afternoon and got some sun the first few days. But Wednesday – Saturday we had completely cloudy and rainy days. It was a bummer because most of the activities to do here are outdoors(obviously). So they had 4 days inside watching the tube. Since Cheryl is a huge Brewers fan, they watched the playoffs most days. The sun did make an appearance long enough Sunday morning that they were able to both get sunburned before they flew out. Since we have never lived here this time of year, we didn’t know it was so rainy. So anyone planning on a trip down here, should not come in the end of September or beginning of October! J

Not much else going on. Travis’s work has slowed a little, so he may not be working 70 hour work weeks for awhile. He is very relieved!

He is going home to visit Trent next weekend. I am very jealous! We miss him so much! He says third grade is boring, but that is what he says every year about school. His favorite class is still gym. Imagine that for an active 8 year old boy.

Well back to work. I will try to add some photos tonight. We miss you all! Take care!

Gustav

Just wanted to update you all on Gustav.  It ended up going just North of us so the eye of the storm wasn't over the island.  It was a category one when it passed us.  Travis and his friends  all stayed together and played cards through the night.  He said it got very windy, but not nearly the amount of rain that they had predicted.  He was able to move back into our apartment Saturday night.  So he is safe and sound.  

Gustav has changed directions and is now supposed to cross directly over Grand Cayman.  GREAT!  Don't worry, we are prepared.  I am safe in Denver and Travis is all stocked up on food, water, and beer.  So don't worry about him.  It's only supposed to be a category 1 so just cross your fingers it doesn't get stronger after it passed over Jamaica.  I'll try to keep you all updated.  

Hurricane Gustav

For everyone who thinks it must be paradise living here....

GUSTAV MADE LANDFALL ON THE SOUTHWEST PENINSULA OF HAITI...

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM BARAHONA IN THE DOMINICANREPUBLIC WESTWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS HAITI. A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR CUBA...FOR THE PROVINCES OF GUANTANAMO...SANTIAGO DE CUBA...AND GRANMA.

A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 24 HOURS.

A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS.

INTERESTS IN CENTRAL AND WESTERN CUBA AND THE CAYMAN ISLANDS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF GUSTAV.


GUSTAV IS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSONSCALE. SOME WEAKENING IS LIKELY WHILE GUSTAV MOVES OVER HAITI...HOWEVER RESTRENGTHENING IS FORECAST AS THE CENTER APPROACHES EASTERN CUBA ON WEDNESDAY.

GUSTAV IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES OVER HISPANIOLA...EASTERN CUBA...AND JAMAICA...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF UP TO 20 INCHES POSSIBLE. THESE RAINS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES.
COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 2 TO 4 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES CAN BE EXPECTED IN AREAS OF ONSHORE WINDS IN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA.

ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

How Scary is that? We live on the sea and are expecting to be evacuated from our apartment tomorrow. I am flying out to Denver and Travis is moving inland to a friend's house. We have to pack everything we want to keep into plastic tubs and haul it to our friend's house tonight. There is obviously a chance that it won't hit us, but it is very stressful and scary waiting. I am sooooo glad that Trent is safe in Janesville. Wish us Luck! I will keep you all posted as soon as I get to Denver.

Trent's last Weekend :(

At the beginning of the summer, we sat down as a family and made a list of things we wanted to do while Trent was here. We were worried that the time would go by too fast. We were right! We had crossed off quite a few items, but still had plenty left. So last Sunday we planned an action packed day.

We started off going to the Pirate Caves. Most of the people we had talked to about them, told us they were lame. Well those people must not have children. They were awesome! They had a mini petting zoo outside the caves. We saw a horse, cow, pigs, crabs, birds, goats, guinea pigs, bunnies, iguanas, and much more. Then they gave Trent a flashlight and he led us through the caves. They have fake(don't tell Trent) gold coins and skulls placed all over. He loved it! Then we went back into the gift shop and they let us hold an iguana. Apparently, they like to be high in the air, hence the one perched on Trent's head. He was soooo nervous, but he's become so much more brave with animals this summer. Check out the photo!

Then we went to see the Blow holes. These were a bit of a disappointment because the sea was so calm, that nothing was blowing out of them. Maybe next time.

We had tuna sandwiches in the car on the way to Starfish Point, our final destination. I can't believe we hadn't ever been there! It was really cool. The water was very warm and the starfish lay on the sand where the water is only 2-4 feet deep. So we just snorkeled out and picked them up. Trent was again a little leery at first, but by the end of the day we had to make him put his favorite red one down. My friend took photos of the three of us, but she hasn't emailed those to me yet, so you'll have to wait!

So our list ended up with only one item left. Not bad.... We will have to go to the skate park next time he comes to visit. Enjoy the pics!!

I have no excuse for not updating the blog this time. I was suppose to start working when we got back from the States in the beginning of July. But my work permit was rejected. They rejected it because I applied while I was still on the island. They have a law stating that you have to leave the island while your permit processes. They make exceptions to that law if you have dependency pending. I did, so I stayed. They, however, decided not to make that exception for me. Someone must have been cranky that day, but since there isn't an appeal process for temporary permits, we couldn't do anything about it. We had already paid for Trent's Karate day camp and he was really excited to go. So he started on July 21st. I obviously don't want to leave while he is here and miss out on spending time with him. So I just booked a ticket to go to Denver on Aug. 27th for 3 weeks. While I am there, they will apply for my permit again and then hopefully I will be able to work again! I have been very bored because during the day because I don't have Trent to play with. I have asked him if he wants to stay home with me a couple times, but apparently playing with me isn't as fun as playing with his new friends at camp, so I always get turned down. :( You can't blame him, he's 8 and his camp isn't just Karate all day. They go fishing, to the turtle farm, butterfly farm, rock hunting, beach pizza parties... I can't compete with that! I will try to get a picture of him in his Karate outfit tonight and post it. He looks so cute in it.

My days have been consumed with beach runs in the mornings and cleaning and watching movies in the afternoon. Not very exciting, so I haven't had much to write about.

This weekend we have a big day planned on Saturday. Travis isn't going to work, so we are going to take advantage of it! We are heading to the East end to see the blow holes, go to the Pirate Caves, eat lunch at the wreck of the ten sails, and finish up at Starfish Point. We will take lots of pictures so check back next week!

My cousin's baby, Jace, was in the hospital and had surgery last week. He's doing much better now. He's in our thoughts and prayers. Add him to yours too, please.

Trent's Birthday Beach Party

So we decided to have Trent's birthday party at the beach since it is his favorite place to be. Check out the lovely tropical storm we woke up to today.

So the birthday party will be moved inside our apartment and the brats will have to be pan fried instead of grilled. :( I'm thinking pizza delivery is the best option. Trent is taking it pretty well since he gets to open his presents a day early.

It's a little scary since some of the waves have splashed our porch. The sea is usually calm and clear but today it looks murky and fierce! They say it's just a tropical storm, not a hurricane. I don't think I want to be around when a hurricane hits, because this is bad enough! I thought you would all appreciate that fact that it is not always gorgeous here.

Wish us luck on the indoor party.......

Back on the Island....

We made it back safely from the States. After all of the traveling Travis and I were exhausted! We have finally caught up on our sleep after a week!

We got to Janesville at 1am on Sunday, June 29th. We went golfing with Jean and Jerry in the afternoon, but only golfed 9 holes because the weather wasn't the greatest. They took us for a drive around town to see all of the flood damage. It's not as bad at Cedar Rapids, but it sure is a mess. We couldn't get our favorite lunch (chicken) at the Anchor Inn because it's completely underwater. They aren't allowing any boats on the lake that we always go boating on because the water is too high, and it is filled with backed up sewage from the two towns north of Janesville. SICK! The Rock River that has flooded part of downtown Janesville is also filled with the sewage. It will take a long time to get that cleaned up. It's pretty sad.

Sunday night we met my friend from Germany (Britta) out to play some darts. Her and her sister (Sonia) were at the end of a three week vacation around the States. It was so good to see her and meet her sister. We had such a fun night. When Travis and I go to Switzerland in November, we are going to try to take a few days to drive to her town (5 hours away) and visit. We can't wait to see her again!

Monday we did a little shopping with Jean, Kristin, and Emma. Emma got her ears pierced! She was a little nervous, but she didn't even flinch when they did it. She looks so much older now! :) That night Travis went to meet up with some friends at the VFW Blues Jam, then he met a couple of our friends and myself out at our local hangout, Weirdo's. It was good to see everyone and relax a little. We spent most of the night trying to convince our friends to get passports and come visit (Ice!!!).

Tuesday we drove to Milwaukee so I could have a consultation for Lasik eye surgery. It went very well and I am going to have it done this fall. I can't wait!!! It will be so strange to wake up and be able to see. I have talked with a few people who have had it done and they say it will change my life. :) Trent says I will look like, "Aunt Sarah" without my glasses. Travis also isn't excited that I won't have glasses anymore. He says he likes my glasses but he will just have to get used to it. Tuesday night we had steaks at Jean & Jerry's. Kristin, David, and Emma joined us. It was a nice relaxing dinner.

Wednesday morning we got up and drove to South Dakota. It took us all day because we took our time. It was a nice drive because we weren't rushing. Thursday we hung out at the lodge and then played our annual July 3rd golf tournament. I got placed on Grandpa Bernie's team so guess what? I Won!! For those of you who don't know, Grandpa Bernie's team always wins. It was a lot of fun. It was really good to see all of my cousins and all of their kids. I swear they are running a breeding factory. I think I know all of their names after spending a few days with them, but next year I am sure the crop will have doubled again and I will be lost. They sure are a good looking bunch. Must be the Stoeser blood..... :)

We spent the 4th at Aunt Lori's house. Uncle Steve took us out on the Missouri River to watch the fireworks. It was gorgeous! Usually the boats are full, so I just watch them from land. But this year, Travis and I got on early. Both Pierre and Ft. Pierre have displays but so do all of teh families that live on the river. So when you are on the boat, they are going off all around you. It was really neat.

Saturday we got up and had a fabulous breakfast with the Armstong's. Adam is going to school this fall in Wyoming for nine months, then to Sacramento for nine months. He is going to learn about building Hot Rods. What a great experience. Sarah and I are so excited for him. Bailey gets her driver's permit this summer too. I can't believe she will be driving. We didn't get to see Hope and Harrison because they were in Iowa visiting her parents. But they are doing well. We also got to tour the new Ag Agency. It's a beautiful building. We could tell how much work they put into it. I think Adam enjoyed showing us his cars in the shop. I want to steal the Galaxie!

Later that afternoon we made it to the Stoeser Family reunion. It was a blast! We saw so many relatives we haven't seen in decades! We chatted and danced until 2am! My grandpa has 4 brothers (I think), so each brother's family dressed in a different theme shirt. Bernie's Camo Bunch outlasted all of the other families. Yellow tie dyes were a close second, but in the end the whole place was left with camos! Maybe next time tie dyes!

We headed back to Wisconsin Sunday morning. We hit horrible traffic in Northern Wisconsin so it took an extra 2.5 hours to get home!! AHHH! We got back around 8 or 9pm and had to get up at 3:30am to catch the 4:30am bus to O'Hare. We got to Grand Cayman around 1:30, but our luggage did not. What's new? This is the 3rd time they have lost it. Fortunately it arrived later that night, so Trent and I picked it up in the morning.

The rest of the week we just caught up on sleep. We did make it to volunteer at the Humane Society on Wednesday. But because of the heat, we decided to play with the cats instead of walk dogs. We were there for 2 hours. They were all so nice. We tried to take "Mouse" home with us, but we aren't allowed to have animals at our apartment. So Trent says we need to move. Our lease is up here in October so we'll see. We like it here but it's the first time in my life I haven't had a kitty and I really miss that. Unless we can find a place on the sea, that takes pets, for the same price, we won't be moving. I'll just have to wait to get a new cat when we move home.

I hope you enjoy the photos, I will be adding more as my family sends me them. I didn't take very many so I am relying on them. My New Year's resolution will be to remember to use my camera. Last year it was to remember to bring my camera and now I am great at that, I just have to remember to get it out of my purse and use it!!

Trent's First week

Hello all! Trent finally arrived last Sunday (June 8). Since he got here, we have spent almost every day at the pool or the beach. It is all he wants to do. Swim, swim, swim! I don't mind because I enjoy the beach and pool, but I am going to look like a piece of leather by July if I don't start limiting our time there. I wear SPF50, and I am still getting color. Trent on the other hand has the most gorgeous tan. Five days in the sun with SPF30 and he's golden. His skin reminds me of my Dad's. They walk outside pale from winter, and head inside an hour later looking like they have been tanning for months!

This past Saturday we decided to participate in the 16th annual Flowers Sea Swim. It is a one mile race in the sea. They are sticklers with the rules! They wouldn't let kids wear snorkels, fins, or even life jackets. And they didn't have a race just for the kids. You know something shorter, or give them more time..... You had to complete the race in under 75 minutes to get a medal. I didn't think it was even possible for Trent to finish in that amount of time. So I told him he could get out after 20 minutes, then I would swim the rest and give him my medal since he tried. But after 20 minutes of swimming he said he was going to keep going. Travis was on the beach a few feet from him, so we let him keep going and I swam ahead to get him his medal. I finished, got out, and waited. But I didn't see them walking anywhere on the beach. I went to the ceremony stage and set out a towel for us all to sit on. Next thing you know Trent came walking around the corner with his own medal! Apparently the little stinker wouldn't give up, Travis was cheering him on the whole way and he just kept going! He finished in around 68 minutes. Travis said he was so proud of him that his eyes were watering when he swam over the finish line. He was the youngest person to finish the race without being disqualified. In the rules it says you can not push off the bottom or walk on the bottom. So every time he stopped for a break, he followed the rules. I still can't believe he did it. He is very proud of his medal!

Yesterday was the Queen's birthday so we had a three day weekend. I went for a dive with a friend. Travis and Trent snorkeled above us so Trent could see me dive. He thought it was neat. We saw a 6 foot Green Moray Eel!! Scary! We also saw 2 sea cucumbers and a baby trumpet fish.

We spent most of Sunday and Monday at the beach with friends. Trent won't even get out of the water to eat.... He's such a fish! We decided to stay inside today (well, I decided) because it is cloudy and windy. I thought we could use a break from the sun! I will add some photos of the sea swim, but our camera's battery died before Trent reached the finish line. So you will just have to imagine his proud face. :) I also added a few photos from when Jean & Jerry visited.

I have been keeping up with the flood in Cedar Rapids. It's unbelievable! 1300 city blocks flooded? Some of them 31 feet deep! It's so sad. A lot of people don't have flood insurance. Keep them in your thoughts.

I added pics!!! I will try to add even more tonight.

Overall, we didn't have a very busy weekend. We had a going away party for my Canadian friend Eryn. She is moving back home. That is one thing that is so hard about living in an ExPat community, everyone eventually moves home or somewhere else. It’s such a bummer!

Saturday we went to a BBQ on the beach at Charlie’s (Travis’s boss) house. It was really nice. They had a huge grill on their private beach. The stars were very bright when it got dark. Travis had to take me home at 10:30 because I was falling asleep in my beach chair. It was just very relaxing listening to the waves.

Sunday we took care of household chores. Then we went for a snorkel outside of our apartment. The reef is about a mile out, so it’s quite a swim. We were fine until a barracuda started following us. I basically drug Travis to shore. He wouldn’t turn around and swim because he wanted to keep his eyes on it. So I grabbed his hand and pulled him while he was turned backward. Talk about drag!! We see them all of the time when we dive, but this one seemed particularly interested in us. On the way back to shore we saw a huge sting ray, so that made the trip worth it. Travis said he got his exercise in for the month, but I am the one who did all the work so I don’t think it should count!! J

We don’t have a lot planned this week. We need to prep our house for Trent’s visit. He comes in less than two weeks!!! We are soooooooooooooooo excited!!!! Other than that, we are hoping to have a nice relaxing week with a few dives. We have both become quite addicted and we won’t be able to go much over the summer. So we need to get a few in this week!

News From The Past Month

I have had quite a few complaints because I have not been updating the site. I promise I will be better this summer. Trent will be here so I am sure I will have lots of great pictures to add. I downloaded all of our photos from the past month last night, so I will try to add some in the next few days.

Since I last wrote…….

I had a great trip to Wisconsin. It was a short trip, but it was still fun. I did a little shopping Kristin. The rest of the time I spent with Trent and visiting with family. One night we had a slumber party for Trent and Emma. I made a scavenger hunt for them and we had root beer floats and watched a movie. They loved it! It was good to be back for a couple days. Travis was very jealous!

Batabano Carnival was a fun weekend. It is a Caribbean tradition. I guess it’s a lot bigger on other islands, but I thought they did a pretty good job here too. It was the 25th anniversary of celebrating the carnival in Grand Cayman so I think they hyped it up a little more than usual. A lot of people dress up in costumes and paraded the streets. I don’t think I will participate in this event ever because the outfits are sooooo skimpy. I will just watch like we did this year.

We just got back from Cayman Brac. We had a public holiday on Monday so we flew to another Cayman island with two other couples. It was beautiful. We stayed at a dive resort. The food was great, the diving was amazing, and it was absolutely relaxing! We did a dive at a sunken Russian ship on Saturday. It was really neat. We were able to swim inside parts of it. SCARY! But other than 4 dives, we just sat by the pool and had a few rum punches (sorry to rub it in, mom). It will probably be a week or so before I get any photos up because we have to get them from our friends.

Travis will be going back to Wisconsin on June 6th to pick Trent up. Then the three of us will come for a visit in the beginning of July. Travis and I will spend half of the trip in Janesville and half of the trip in Ft. Pierre! We are excited to be able to make it back for the Stoeser family reunion. Trent will spend time with his Mom, Step Dad, and brother. We will all return on July 7th and Trent will stay until the 3rd week in August.

When we return in July, Trent will start summer camp. We signed him up to go to a martial arts camp. They also go on field trips all over the island. I think he’s going to love it! June is still in limbo. I may be able to be with him, we may have a friend coming from the States to watch him. We should know in a week or so.

It looks like I might have a full time job lined up. I am waiting to get a contract to see if it is enough $$$$. I hope so because my work permit is up in 2 weeks and I don’t want to temp for another 6 months!!! My temp agency put my resume in for another position too, but I don’t think it is very good money. So cross you fingers for me!! At least there is finally a light at the end of this boredom tunnel!

Hope all is well with everyone. I promise not to wait another month before I write again! Don't forget to check back in a week or so for new photos!

TENNIS!!!!

Yesterday, Travis and I went to the Outback Legends Championship Tournament at the Ritz Carlton. It was the first time the island has ever hosted a professional tennis tournament. It was also the first time we had ever been to one. It wasn’t like I had expected. I thought that it would be like American athletic events. Huge and crowded. But it was a very small venue with around 600 spectators. We sat in the back row which was only 6 rows from the court. We could hear the players chatting while they played. It was pretty neat.

The first game was for third place. Arias played Haarhuis. They put on quite a show for us. Then Jim Courier played Wayne Ferreira in the final game. Courier won. Yeah!!! It was very warm with no clouds, but there was a nice breeze. One thing that was very similar to American athletic events was to cost of food and drinks. Our friend ordered a hamburger and a Gatorade and it was about $23.00! We stuck to the Caybrew which was priced quite nicely at a mere $2.00 per glass. After all, how can you justify buying a Gatorade for $6 when you could get 3 beers for the same price? (I think I get that thought process from my Stoeser blood.)

We forgot our camera, so I won’t be posting any photos but I thought I would blog about it because we had a very nice time. If you get a chance to go to a tennis match, check it out! It was a lot more fun than we anticipated!

We have also been stealing our internet from our neighbors since we moved. Well, they caught on and put a lock on the wireless connection. So we are without internet for a few days until I can get it set up. Sometimes things take forever here, so have patience with us. Meanwhile, you should all sign up for www.skype.com If you have a microphone in your computer, you can talk with us for free!!!! Email me if you want more specific directions!

View

I don't know why this looks cloudy, it is so bright out today!!! OH well. Here is a little video of the view from our new place. Enjoy!

How to Save an Iguana......

I know I should have taken a video of this, but neither Jessi or Nikki have taught me how to add one to my blog yet. So for now, you are going to have to see the event in a series of pictures.

1) You notice the iguana has been stuck on a window screen for 5 hours.

2) You call your friends that have lived here for awhile and find out if iguana's bite. The answer is...... yes.

3) Get a broom and a camera.

4) Start to pry it off one hind leg at a time, starting with the right. Make your assistant is taking photos.

5) Pry the other leg. But get ready to run because the iguana will fall into the bushes.

6) You have officially rescued an iguana. Good job! Now go inside and write all of your friends about your accomplishment. This may be one of the only things that you have done that nobody else has. :)

Scuba Diving

Since I can remember, I have always loved the water. I have also always had “a thing” for fish. But growing up in the Midwest, snorkeling and scuba diving never really crossed my mind. When we moved down here, Travis & I took up snorkeling immediately. We were so excited about it that by Trent’s 2nd day on the island, we purchased him a child’s snorkeling set. We wanted to share with him what we considered one of the coolest experiences we had ever had. He ended up being a real natural!

A couple months later our friend Jack asked us if we wanted to get certified in Scuba diving. You can get a cheaper rate if you book as a group so we decided to sign up with him. It’s a pretty big commitment because the course is 3 eight hour days (on the weekend) and it’s not cheap. We had set aside some money my parents had given us for Christmas to buy new snorkel gear, so we decided to use it for scuba lessons instead.

We ended up finding a private instructor for the same price as the diving companies charge. She said her husband, who is also a Master Diver, would assist each day. So it ended up being two instructors and three students. Most of the dive companies have one instructor to about 8 students. Little did I know what a big deal this was…..

Our first day, she taught us how to assemble our equipment, put it on, and about the major safety issues. Then she took us in the water with all of the gear on. I completely freaked out! And Travis (who had only been in the ocean up to his knees prior to moving here) was completely comfortable and calm. We went down about 10 feet and had to perform some tests. We had to take our mask off and put it back on, clear it, etc…. It was so stressful for me. I was just panicked the entire time. The main instructor basically had to “baby sit” me. She stayed right by my side while her husband led Travis and Jack through the tests. I thought I would be afraid of the fish, but I wasn’t. I was afraid to stay underwater. It was so unnatural to me. Travis blamed it on my “control” issues, but I am not sure what he is talking about. Ha-ha!

After a few tests they took us on a dive to the Wreck of the Cali. It was neat to see a ship in a million pieces underwater. There were a lot of fish around including a huge male, bright blue, parrot fish that looked like it had big buck teeth. We took an hour break for lunch and at that point, I decided I was done. I was nauseous, tired, and had indigestion. When lunch was over Gary, her husband, told me that he quit his first day. He said it was too stressful for him. He said I should try again because he is a master diver now. So I agreed to get in again and do a few more tests. It absolutely sucked. The waved were making me sea sick and it wasn’t very clear. I was counting the seconds until we were done. Meanwhile, Travis and Jack were just loving it. They had no problems with the tests and couldn’t wait to go on our 2nd dive. I sucked it up because I knew Travis wanted me to. On our way home in the car Travis kept talking about how great it was. I was still thinking he was delusional.

But after we were home for awhile, I started to think it wasn’t that bad. The next weekend, I went back for our 3rd and 4th dives. We went to a dive site near where we just moved to in West Bay. There was a coral wall that went down 60 feet. (I posted a few pictures, but they look really blue. It didn’t look like that to us.) We had to go to the bottom and perform some tests again. It was different this time. It was very clear and everywhere I looked I saw something amazing. We all passed our tests quickly so we could get to the good part, the dive.

It was the most amazing thing we have ever done. I am soooooo glad I stuck it out! We had a break and did our 4th dive that afternoon. It was even better than the morning. I was much more relaxed than the first day. I think I was just more comfortable with the equipment. I didn’t even think about being 60 feet underwater, because I was too focused on all the beautiful things around me.

We didn’t even have to go for a 3rd day because we got our 4 dives and all of our testing done quickly. We took the written test in the late afternoon and she handed us our temporary certification cards. WOO-HOO! I highly recommend it to anyone. It is an experience of a lifetime. I can’t wait until Trent is old enough to do it!!!!

I will try to keep posting photos. Jack took these because he has a fancy underwater camera. I don’t know if we will buy one or not because they are pretty pricey. But Jack will probably go with us most of the time so I will keep borrowing his pics.

Sit Back and Relax

I know I just wrote yesterday, but I need to tell you all about my work situation. It’s quite comical. I think I have written about how slow things move here, but you really can’t understand until you visit and see it for yourself. The word "efficient" does not exist here. (Ask my parents about exchanging money at the bank.)

Before I get into the details, I need to explain my job. I am working for the Trust Department at a Canadian Bank. I work with two other temps that work for the same company I work for. The bank hired us for a 3-4 month project to collect information from their paper files and enter it into a new database. Basically we are pulling files from a file room and searching through them. We have a list of documents that the Trust Officers want to be in every file. So we look through and check it off in the system if the document is in the file. I realize a monkey could do this, but for what I am getting paid, it’s worth it.

So last week we switched to files that are located in the file room on the 3rd floor (we are on the 4th). Because it is so unorganized, we were instructed to email a guy named Randy with a list of the files we wanted. We were instructed to send him 10-12 file requests at a time. When they have located the files, they either call or email us and we go pick them up. I say “they” because 4 full time employees work in the file room.

So we all sent out our initial requests at about 9am. They phoned us at 11:15 to tell us they were ready. Now please realize that they are walking into the file room, going to the shelf that has a letter on it that corresponds to the first letter of the person’s last name. In other words, the files are in alphabetical order on the shelves. They have to reach on the shelf and pull out the file. Then move to the next file on our list.

To explain how slow they are moving…...

One afternoon I needed to take a quick look into 40 files. So instead of having them pull them, I went into the file room and did it myself. It took about 15-20 minutes to pull 40 files. It took 4 of them 2 hours and 15 minutes to pull less than 30. While they are pulling them, we don’t have any work so we just sit. We can email them ahead of time, but if they have more than one list, they get confused.

The next day, we received and email from Randy that we needed to send all future request lists to Yolanda. I think he was just too overloaded. Hours later, I went to check on my request (that was sent before Randy’s email) and they didn’t have it printed. I told them I emailed it to Randy (whose desk is next to Yolanda and in the same room). They said that I needed to email it to Yolanda. I asked why Randy didn’t print it or forward it because I had already been waiting 2 hours. Their response was, “We decided Yolanda should be in charge of the emails, and the rest of us will pull the files.” So I went back to my desk, sent the email to Yolanda and waited another 2 hours for my files. Keep reading, this gets better.

Yesterday, I went down to check on my files. I sent them an email at 8am, it's was 10:07 when they told me they weren’t ready. Why, you ask? Her response was, "We don’t have them ready yet. Yolanda is covering the reception desk this morning, so she didn't print your email yet. That is why we haven't pulled them." So I said, "Would you like me to print it and bring it down to you? or could I email it directly to you?" She said, "No, all emails should go to Yolanda then she will print it whenever she gets back and we will call you when they are ready, maybe around noon." Isn't that crazy? I had no work to do until I got those files.

Today I sent a list at 9am. We hadn’t heard anything at 11am so we went down to check. This is good….. Yolanda is on vacation today. Did they bother to tell us? No. And even funnier, they still want us to email Yolanda, but also print what we email her and hand deliver it to them. It’s like I am working in a Saturday Night Live skit.

My boss just says that is the way it works around here. So I decided to take the next couple hours to email my friends, update the blog, and do the USA today crossword. Unbelievable, huh? They are wasting so much money having us sit around. But just like Travis’s job, they account for that when they budget projects. They know it will take 2-3 times longer to get anything done. They have to have a certain percentage of locals working for them to comply with government regulations. So they just budget more to account for the lack of speed and efficiency.

With all this free time I will probably be blogging more often!!!!!

Great News.......

The Cash Box Kings got booked for the Blues Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. They actually signed the contract already so it's a sure thing. The festival pays for all the accommodations even for the wives. :) :) :) So in November we get to go to Switzerland for 10 days for free!!! We are soooooo excited!

We are moving to a new apartment April 1st. It has a deck on the ocean and a pool. I am very excited. We will be able to watch the sunset every night at home. It also has a gym, so I am looking forward to using that. We haven't started the Navy Seal Training back up. It was really hard and a pretty big time commitment. So we aren't as skinny as we were. But we are working on it. We have also both started Zyban this week to help us quit smoking. Cross your fingers that it works!!!

Trent, Jean, and Jerry are here. They are having a blast. They arrived last Thursday. On Friday, Travis took them to the beach all day and I met them after work.

Saturday, we took a ride on a glass bottom boat. It was really neat. They took us over two ship wrecks and we saw millions of fish. Saturday afternoon we drove to the East end of the island. We had never gone over there so it was a new experience for us too. We found a great lunch spot on the beach that I am sure we will go back to.

On Sunday, we went to Sting Ray City. We all got in, but after the sting rays started coming near us, Trent changed his mind and headed back to the boat. I was just proud of him for getting in the water at all. I was very scared my first time too. Jean and Jerry grabbed squid to feed them right away. Apparently, the one Jerry fed was especially hungry. They don't have teeth, but it sucked his hand so hard, that it drew blood. It definitely topped the little hickey my mom got. After visiting the sting rays, the boat took us to snorkel in the Coral Gardens. Trent just loved it. He is a real pro. You wouldn't believe that a 7 year old would float around for hours staring at fish. He clears his snorkel and mask all by himself when water gets in it. It's the cutest thing. We did have to head back to the boat when he spotted a hungry sting ray below us. But for a kid from the Midwest, in a huge ocean, he's pretty fearless. He has to be 10 to get a Jr. scuba certification, but he's talking about it already.

Monday, I took work off and drove the crew to Rum Point. We spent the day at the beach and had a picnic. The weather has been so nice for them. Not that it's ever bad, but we haven't had any rain, and very few clouds. They are all getting nice tans.

We have some tentative plans for this weekend. Travis and I both have off of work on Friday and Monday for Easter. So we will find something to entertain them. I will write next week and let you know.

Not much else to report. I am looking forward to settling in to our new place (that, by the way, has a second bedroom for guests....hint....hint...) and getting into a normal routine. We haven't really "settled" because we knew we were moving soon. So it will be nice not to sleep on two twin beds pushed together anymore! I will try to post pictures of the new place and the view once we get a good Internet connection in April. I have tried every night since my parents left to post pictures and it take so long, that it errors. So hopefully I can get a bunch of pics posted in April. Sorry for the delay.

We are starting Scuba lessons on Sunday. So we should be certified by the time we move. I am really nervous, but excited too. It is a lot of studying and a couple full days of training. We are hoping to travel to one of the other smaller Cayman Islands in May because the scuba is suppose to be amazing there. We will have to see how the course goes first.

Hope all is well!

Mom and Dad have left the island

I thought we might have to rent our second bedroom out to them permanently! Not that we wouldn't have wanted them to stay forever, but they sure exhausted us. They have the energy of a 8 year old! Where should I start......

Travis and I are still working so they had they days to themselves. Most days they either walked to Smith's cove, a small beach near our house, or Travis would pick them up on his lunch break and bring them to one of the big beaches on Seven Mile. They can definitely entertain themselves. They packed a chilly bin (cooler) and played dice on the beach for hours every afternoon. They are both have tans liked they have lived here for a decade.

On the first weekend we taught Dad how to drive on the opposite side of the road. Did I mention my new car has the steering wheel on the right hand side too? Besides a little "incident" in the parking lot at Davey Jones Locker, he did pretty good. I don't think it helped that mom and I kept squealing in the backseat.

We also went to an Art show at the Botanical Gardens that Sunday. It was really beautiful. That night we took them to Billy Bones for 2 for 1 rum punches. We had a blast.

Tuesday we went back to Billy Bones for Poker night. My parents did awesome. There were 70 people playing for a chance to get a spot in a tournament in Vegas. They both made it in the final 16 and Dad actually ended up getting second place. No trip to Vegas but he won a case of Caybrew beer! It was a lot of fun.

Saturday my dad and Travis had a "boy's" night at our friend Tony's house. Mom and I had movie night to recoup from Friday night. Don't ask.

Sunday was our big rip to Sting Ray City. It was sooooo amazing. I can't wait to bring all of our guests! We took a chartered boat there and got to swim with and feed sting rays. We even kissed one! Then the boat took us to Coral Gardens and we had the most incredible snorkeling experience ever! The water was so clear and there were hundreds of fish around us. I am going to add some photos tonight so check them out! Mom wouldn't let us skip the 2 for 1 rum punches at Billy Bones and I'll let her tell you what she did at Stingers after that.

We went to Casanova on Tuesday. It was the best meal any of us had had in a long time. Next we headed to the Wharf to watch them feed the Tarpon (huge fish). We called it an early night because mom and dad had 14 hours of travel home on Wednesday.

Overall we had a fantastic time. They said they are coming back in the fall with some of you. Get you passports! We are moving April 1st and we will be on the ocean with a pool! I am sure I missed a lot of details of their trip but they can fill you in.

Only 13 days until Trent, Jean, and Jerry come! We can't wait! And with all of that snow in Wisconsin, they can't either. :)

One last little note.... Our thoughts are with our friend Steve. His father passed away last week.

I love my new job!!!

My new job is sooooooooooooooo much better than the last one. I think it was good that I had such a boring job at first because now I will be happy with anything. No, seriously, my new job is challenging, and very, very busy. The days fly by. My boss is also very flexible. He doesn't care what hours we work. So today I went in at 7:30 and I left at 4:30. I didn't take a lunch so I got 9 hours in. The last job I had I had to work from 8:30 to 5, and I had to take an hour lunch. So I only got 7.5 hours a day. That's not even 40 a week. So now I can get upto 45 if I want, but more importantly, I can leave at 2pm if I have something going on.

That will come in handy because my parents are coming Wednesday! I am very excited. I had a pretty depressing weekend knowing that Travis was back at home with Trent, my inlaws, and Oscar(my cat). I was here all by my lonesome. I did get the necessary cleaning done, but it only took me a day. So I went to the beach, read, and watched garbage TV. I wish we didn't have a TV, like back home. I seem to get sucked into the dumbest shows. Next thing you know, I've watched 6 back to back episodes of the Janice Dickenson Model Agency Show. Pathetic! I don't even like Janice, she's as annoying as The Nanny. I just haven't wanted to be out of the house on my own much. It just feels safer behind locked doors when your husband is thousands of miles away.

I did buy a car Friday! Finally! I am grounding my bike, Jasmine, for the weekends. I don't even know what year it is, but it's a Honda Civic. Just a little silver hatchback. There is one catch..... It's a right hand drive. That means the steering wheel is on the other side. So while I was test driving it, everytime I tried to put the blinker on, the windshield wipers turned on. I am sure I will get used to it. They say it's easier to drive since we drive on the other side of the road too. But I'll have to keep you updated on the reality of that!

Travis had a great time seeing Trent and his family and friends back home. He told me earlier that he was leaving to head to O'Hare on the 7:30 bus tonight. His flight isn't until 7:30am tomorrow, but I guess they are suppose to get more snow, and he doesn't want to miss his flight. Is it even possible that they are getting more snow? It seems if it's not 10 below zero, then it's snowing 10 inches. I hope you all aren't having as horrible of a winter as our friends and family in Wisconsin. For our friends and family who are there, I wish I could say something to make you all feel better, but I have a feeling that if I told you about the "horrible" weather here it would only irritate you all. So I'll keep my mouth shut for now. But, you can avoid that bad weather for a little while if you come visit! (Hint, Hint Donna!)
Miss you all!

Three days left and counting…… I feel bad complaining about the job so much because the people who work here are very nice. It’s not them it’s just the boredom that is killing me. I have next Monday off, and then I start at Royal Bank of Canada on Tuesday. Wednesday is a Paid holiday (Ash Wednesday) and Thursday I am driving Travis to the airport in the afternoon. So, it should be a pretty easy week.

They also celebrate Ash Wednesday with a festival on the north end of the island. They run boats from this end over there so people don’t have to drive. It’s only 45 minutes but that is VERY far when you live in a place that is only 100 square miles.
I am sure we will head over there with a few friends. They call it a Marti Gras celebration. We tried to explain to them that Marti Gras is celebrated on Fat Tuesday, not Ash Wednesday but they don’t seem to care.

Last weekend was a holiday weekend. Monday was National Heroes Day here. So we had a very busy, but very relaxing three day weekend. On Friday Travis got to go to a golf outing with his company. He said the course was really nice, but it was an executive course so most of the wholes were par 3. He was in a foursome and they managed to place last so they won a couple bottles of wine and some wine glasses. He had a good time regardless.

On Saturday we had some friends over for dinner. It was our first time attempting prime rib. It turned out great. Travis invited two Cuban guys who work for him. They are probably around 50 years old and do not speak very much English. So I had a chance to brush up on my Spanish. It was very interesting talking to them about their lives. They both left their families in Cuba to come work here. They have been here for about 3 years and will be going back for the first time in July. They send every penny they make back home. They were very happy to have prime rib, potatoes, and salad because they usually eat rice for every meal. It sure is a wake-up call when you spend an evening with people who live with so little. We also enjoyed having Tony, JoAnne, and Amelia over. Amelia is a 3 year old princess who has me wrapped around her little finger. I spent most of the evening out in the yard following her around looking for crabs and lizards. It sure makes me miss Trent!

On Sunday we went to a BBQ at a friend’s house. He lives at Treasure Island Resort, so we had access to the pools and beach. It was a lot of fun. We tried to go snorkeling on Monday, but it was very windy. So we went and saw, “No Country for Old Men” at the new movie theatre in Camana Bay (the project Travis is building). Neither of us thought the movie was that great, but the movie theatre was gorgeous. You get to put your own “butter” on your popcorn. We were quite impressed.

Travis is itchin’ to get back to Wisconsin to see Trent. Trent has a school play that he is going to video tape so I can see it too. I wanted to go back with him, but I am just starting to work so I can’t get the time off right away. I can’t wait until he comes to visit in March. We are took him to all the tourist places during his last visit, so I am looking forward to relaxing on the beach this time. We might do a few things like go to the Pirate Caves or back to the Turtle Farm since Jean and Jerry will be here too.

Travis also got online last night to check the temperatures out in Wisconsin. A small part of me is glad I’m not going back! 14 degrees below zero with 60 mile and hour winds? Is that really true? Was school cancelled today? We had to wear light jackets last night because there was a cool breeze from the ocean. Get you plane tickets now before we are all booked up! :)

Visitors!!

We just got news that my parents are coming for two weeks in February! We are very excited. I don't think I blogged about it before, but we are also very excited to have Trent and Travis's parents come for 11 days in March. Travis is also going to Janesville to see Trent for a couple days on February 7th. So it will be perfect timing with my parents coming on February 13th. He will get back on the 12th and not have time to mess up the house before they arrive! Plus I will have 5 days to clean while he is gone. I wish I could make it back with him but I decided to save my vacation and sick days for when Trent is here. Besides I think he needs a taste of his own medicine. I have already decided to remind him how warm it is here every time he calls. (Weather was the main topic of our conversation when I was freezing in Wisconsin during the whole month of December.)

Work is still going the same. Although I am sure I have managed to royally mess up their filing system. I am glad I am only here for a couple more weeks. I don't think anyone will notice how bad it is until after I am gone! It isn't difficult by any means, but no one has taught me anything about the documents I am filing. So having to sort them when you don't know what they are, doesn't lead to a positive outcome.

Today I found a project on my own. They have all of their postal stamps in a 3 ring notebook. You know the extra edge that comes around a sheet of stamps? Well I took an hour to take out each page and tear the edge off so no one has to do it in the future. I even sent a package through Fed Ex to Jamaica in the middle of my project. That's multi-tasking if you ask me! I am soooooo glad I went to college.

Other than our exciting news about visitors, we haven't been up to much. Travis has been working a ton and listening to me complain about doing nothing all day. I need to stop whining and remember that I am making money while I blog to my family and friends and do crossword puzzles online! It could be worse.

I finally started working on Monday. If I only knew what I was getting myself into! For those of you who don't know, I am starting out doing temp work. They placed me at an investment company as an administrative assistant. Supposedly if you don't have experience in the "finance world", then the best way to get a good job on the island is to go through a temp agency. If you can get your foot in the door, they will hire you on permanent for pretty good $$$. Now don't get me wrong the company they placed me with is very nice, but admin. work??? Do you all know that I can type about 4 words a minute? But typing isn't what's killing me. I have to file.

Finance companies keep every single piece of paper they receive. For example, I filed a Christmas card yesterday. The government makes them keep them to prove they aren't laundering money. Because inside that Christmas card could have been a secret code with a secret account. Give me a break! When a file is full, which happens 15 times a day, I make a new file and archive the old. By archive I mean I build a box and label it with a bar code, put the file in the box, record what box # that that file is in into the computer, and call someone to come pick it up when the box is filled. Then they take it to a storage place until the 3 years are up. Then they shred it. We have to pay a ton for storage and only 6 people work here! Our stack of mail is 2 foot tall everyday.

The work environment here is also very different from the States. On Tuesday, I went to the staff and told them they needed to give me more work or I was going to jump out our 4th floor window. I did this because on Monday I answered 7 phone calls all day (that is it for 8 hours). So one of my coworkers asked me to start a new filing project. I started working on it on Tuesday afternoon and was done with it on Wednesday around 2pm. I was sitting staring at the wall around 4pm and she asked me where all the paper went. I explained that I had completed the project. You should have seen her face. I thought I was going to have to call 911 (or whatever the # is here). She said she was hoping I could work on that project for the next 3 weeks! In general people here move extremely slow. If you move fast they are not impressed, because you make them look bad. So I really need to slow down. I am a little afraid that if I slow down too much, no one will hire me when we return to the States.

So, I am taking a break from labeling file folders to update you all with that exciting news about my new job. Really blogging was just an excuse for a break so I don't get too much work done today. On the bright side, I will start with a new company on February 5th. I will be working with two other temps on a project that does not involve filing or answering the phone! Whoopee! In the meantime, I should have plenty of time to update the blog so stop back soon!

Finally Back

Well we finally made it back to the island! My previous blog was mostly a lie. I was trying to surprise my parents for Christmas so I told them we had to fly out on Christmas. It didn't work. Like Travis warned me, my sisters and I have too big of mouths to have kept it a secret. We had a blast anyway. I flew to Denver on the 18th of December and spent my birthday in downtown Denver with my sisters, my cousin Lacey, and some of their friends. It was such a blast. I haven't had a girls night out in a long time, neither had most of them. We had dinner at a very good Mexican restaurant and then went bar hopping. It was a late and very fun night. I'll leave it at that.

I drove with Sarah, Katie, and the nephews to Rapid City on the 22nd to see our parents. Travis, Trent, and Bradley then drove out on Sunday night through a terrible snow storm to meet us. I hadn't seen Travis in 28 days, so my family didn't get much time with him. I pretty much hogged his attention the entire time we were there. Sorry fam! Trent came to my parents house dressed as an elf and didn't take the elf outfit off for a couple days. He was really in the spirit this year. I will post a photo as soon as I get my camera cord in the mail (I left it in Denver).

On the 25th we all went to the lodge in Ft. Pierre. That actually was a surprise for most of them. It was so great to see my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc... And I do mean etc...!!! I don't know how many kids were running around but the Stoeser clan sure seems to be multiplying!

On the 26th, Travis, Trent, Bradley and I all drove to Albert Lee to drop Bradley off at his car. We decided to stay overnight at a hotel and have a little family night. It was pretty tame, but we had a good time swimming and relaxing. We finally made it back to Janesville on the 27th. We relaxed the next couple of days with Travis's family. When I say relaxed, I mean it. We made meals at home and watched TV. It was really nice after all the traveling we had just done.

We went to the Green Bay Packers game on Sunday the 30th with Travis's sister Kristin and her boyfriend David. It was cold, but fun. Too cold for doing high kicks in snow pants on a ramp, Dave! I have some great photos to post from that day as well.

We flew out on New Years morning at 6am. I was the genius who booked those tickets. What a great deal, they were half price. Well, that was for a reason. No buses run at that time of night and we didn't get a lot of volunteers to drive us at 2am on New Years morning, so we rented a car and drove ourselves. We had to drop the car off at a hotel near O'Hare (this is where everything started going downhill fast). Someone had pulled the fire alarm at the hotel. So the parking lot was packed with police and firemen. Therefore the shuttle couldn't get to us. We waited for about 45 minutes instead of 5. We got to O'Hare and actually got on the plane on time. But then we sat there for an hour and a half before it took off. They said they had to de-ice, but we sat by a window and didn't see a thing. We landed in Atlanta so late that we had to run from Terminal A to Terminal E in about 9 minutes. We made the flight, but our luggage did not. Did I mention that the keys to our place were in the suitcase?

But we made it and our luggage eventually did too. We won't be booking cheap flights at strange hours of the night anymore.

We are going to watch the packers at a new tiki bar on Saturday after Travis gets off work. Then hopefully go snorkeling on Sunday if the weather permits. We went out a little last weekend, but not much because Travis worked Sat and Sun.

We are also trying to find a new apartment but aren't having a lot of luck. We want a place that has a pool for Trent and our other visitors, but hey are very pricey. We will probably just stay put until we can find something we like that is affordable.

I will post more often after I get my camera cord back and get settled in with my job. Hopefully I will start on Monday. Take care!

Thanks again to Kristin, David, and Emma for loaning me your spare bedroom for most of December. I really appreciated having a comfortable place to stay.

Also, Sarah's fiance's (Sam) Dad passed away last week. My thoughts are with you Sam.