The Final Countdown...

The movers came on Monday morning - like before, I had everything in a pile in the garage.  Out of sight, out of mind, not to mention, easier than telling the movers, take this, but don't take this!  Per Vistaprint, we had an approval of 500 pounds for air shipment which by the look of it to me, was around that ballpark.  You know, because I could tell just by looking at it.  So the movers arrived around 9:30ish and the first words out of the movers mouth was "we're here for the 250 lb air shipment."  So I of course say, "I'm sorry, you mean you are here for the 500 lb air shipment, right?"  "No, 250" he says.  So now I'm FREAKING out... I KNOW it's 500 lbs.  And I know I have it written down somewhere.  This is NOT a good start to my last week here.  Fortunately I don't delete any emails and within minutes I found my email in my moving details / barcelona folder in my inbox.  I printed it out and handed it to him while he was on the phone with his boss.  Thankfully it was resolved in minutes...whew!!!  The movers managed to compress 500 lbs (it actually came out to 495 so I guess I really did have a pretty good eye there!) of stuff into 3 large boxes.  The only other freak out moment was when they weighed the first box and it came out to 210 lbs and I knew there were 2 equally large boxes left to be weighed.  It all worked out though and the last of our stuff is now on it's way to Barcelona.  I heard from the movers today and because of weather and backup from the holidays, the boxes haven't actually gotten on a plane yet but they will ay time now - we expect it to be there within a few days of our arrival which is fine.

The rest of our goods that shipped in November is in storage in Barcelona right now.  It made it there before Josh left but did not make it thru customs before he came home.  So we've scheduled it to be delivered the morning we arrive; yes we are gluttons for punishment but we might as well get it all overwith in one day...not to mention, all our bedding is on that boat!!!  Josh only went with a set of sheets for everyone (no blankets) and just a pillow for himself.  So we need that stuff!  The movers packed us up in under 3 hours when they came to our house in November, but they insisted on being at our flat by 9AM the morning we arrive.  We won't even make it into the airport until just after 10 and probably the flat by 11:30 by our estimate.  Thankfully one of Josh's co-worker's wife offered to meet the movers for us - thanks so much Cristy!! 

So now the majority of everything has shipped and all we have left is what will go in our suitcases.  Not very much.  Our house is looking pretty empty right now - just some furniture really.  Everything is in the basement in storage or in/on the way to Barcelona.  I'm quite honestly rather sick of this transitional phase.  It's not that I'm so anxious to leave everyone or my home, but I'm sick of living half in this house and half our stuff there - I just want to get started on this new phase of our lives and start making a home for my family.  So I'm actually excited about Sun so we can start on this new phase and just move on from being in limbo. 

We fly out this Sun evening.  On Christmas Day, there was a thwarted terrorist attack on a Northwest airlines plane that was flying into the US.  Thank god it was stopped!  But I need to get off the internet because I'm constantly reading these articles about more potential attacks and this whole cell in Yemen stuff.  It's nerve wracking.  Not to mention even stricter airline regulations which were already a bit on the strict side.  I appreciate the desire for the airlines and the government to protect us but there is such a thing as going to an extreme.  But you know what?  I've never had to protect and airplane and it's passengers before so what do I know?  I'll follow the regulations and that's fine but I heard about security patting down small kids and I'm sorry, but I draw the line there - no one is patting down my kids!  Can I do anything about it, my guess is no.  I'm not crazy about that helpless feeling. 

Regardless of fears, we're off on Sunday and there's no looking back.  This is it!!!  All this preparation for the last several months is coming to fruition.  We are really and truly moving to Spain!!  How is this possible?  It's hard to believe it's finally become a reality!   I have to say, I'm starting to get excited!  I know I'll cry when I leave the house but what's ahead is truly exciting.

We've said goodbye to some more great friends, but it's not goodbye as one said... it's just see you later!  Don't forget that!  This isn't forever - it's 2 years.  And it will fly by for us all!   You'll come to us, we'll come to you, you know how it goes!  More to come in the next few days I'm sure!

Julie

The goodbyes begin...

Two days ago was Christmas.  One of my favorite times of year.  To me there is no holiday more steeped in tradition than Christmas.  I could do without the cold weather but I also look forward to a white Christmas each year (or the hope of one).  I think the traditions are some of the things we will miss the most about being home, especially this time of year.  We do a lot as a family and as a neighborhood. 

My family doesn't really celebrate Christmas as we were raised more Jewish than Catholic (though we didn't attend Temple or Church) but they still let me embrace this holiday without guilt :) and I appreciate that.  Because to me, personally, this holiday isn't about Christ or anything religious, but it's always been about family, friends, and a time to reflect on the past year.  So we don't celebrate Christmas on Christmas with my family, we usually do it whenever our schedules permit sometime between Thanksgiving and New Years.  It's become a tradition itself that we just celebrate it sometme in there.  We do the stereotypical chinese food to celebrate our Christmaka.  Because we were still a few weeks away from our departure date, I did pretty good with my goodbyes after we opened gifts - mainly because I knew I had at least one more time to see my family before I leave.  Today I saw my brother and his girlfriend when we went to drop off the kids so we can go out with friends tonight.  I'm going to miss them so much and hope they will come and visit.  Jay actually may need to come for work in January (he works with Josh for those that don't know) which would be great.  I know that when I see my family for the last time (for a while), it's going to be heart wrenching... and I'm sure I'll have an update on that when it happens.

My dad comes over on Christmas morning to help the kids unwrap their gifts.  Another tradition that I look forward to.  My mom always works on Christmas and my brother doesn't really celebrate it but it's my dad's holiday having been brought up in a Lutheran home.  So we do our best to include him with our celebration.  It's also nice to have someone help us with those damn little ties on the boxes ;).  Just kidding Dad - we love having you over!!

After we open gifts here, we head down to the Cape to Josh's family.  We have traditions there as well - potato pancakes (yum!), open gifts, a nice roast for dinner and then a challenging game of trivial pursuit.  The game is usually more between Aunt Ellen and Josh's dad because really, they are the ones with the most random knowledge of stuff.  But we all try to participate.  But as the night drew to a close, I could feel a lump in my throat starting.  This was it.  Josh's parents were leaving for vacation this week and this is the last time we are going to see them.  With tears in my eyes, I told Aidan to make sure he hugged his Granny and Papa extra tight because it's going to be a long time before he sees them again.  I could feel the tears start streaming down my cheek - Josh's parents spend a lot of time with the kids and as much as they have supported us in this new adventure, I'm sure they are sad to see us (ok, more the kids than us) go.  We know they will visit but this was our first goodbye of what we know will be many in the coming week.  If I'm already teary on the first one, how am I going to be on the last one?  Josh may need to drag me on to that plane at this rate. 

Your family will always be your family and we love them dearly so please family, don't take this next part to mean that you don't mean the world to us, because you do.  We wouldn't be who we are today without you.  Your love and support has made us into the people we are today, about to embark on this worldly adventure.  We love you so much!!!

We celebrate Christmas as a neighborhood too - we have luminaries every year that all of our friends participate in.  It's so beautiful seeing the streets in our neighborhood lit up for the holiday. 

And also seeing everyone come together to do a project like this.  We make cookies with all the kids together to leave for Santa.  We have chinese food on Christmas eve and the kids do a gift exchange.  This neighborhood is also my family.  My family that I will miss just as much as my blood family.  They have become the people I call night or day if I have a sick child or need a ride somewhere or just want to chat.  They are the people that I call when I have something funny to say or a sad story to share.  They are the friends that in the summertime we will hang out with til the sun goes down as the kids play in the yards and the street.  That we have bonfires with.  That we do cookouts with.  That we have girls / boys weekends with a few times a year. 

They are the parents of our childrens' best friends.   When I get a chance to go out, often times it's with my girls... and Josh has boys night every Thursday night in Dave's garage - I know he's going to miss that.  And I know the kids will miss their friends.  But I know that all of you will Skype with us too, right??? 

Last night we went out with these friends and we said many goodbyes. I had my tissues on me but surprisingly didn't need them because it was all about celebrating - celebrating our friendship and this adventure Josh and I are about to embark on.  We had so much fun, my body hurts this morning.  These are the most wonderful friends that Josh and I could have.  I didn't get a chance to do a toast last night so I want to let them know some things - You were our friends when we first moved here - when it was just Josh and I...no dogs, no kids, no marriage for that matter!  You were our friends when we got engaged, when we got Jake, when we got married, got Sailor and then when the kids arrived.  You were the friends that I was pregnant with (both times).  You've been the friends that I call when I need a quick favor, or someone to hang out with, or even just to say hi.  Good news or bad news... you are who I call.  You have been my support system for the last however many years.  And without you, I'm scared.  I know you will stand by me and be there to support me, but you won't be THERE but yet you will be here in my heart and in my thoughts, every day.  I am so lucky to have friends like you and knowing I have friends like you to come back to makes this process just a little bit easier.  Thank you for being you and for being my friend. 

Now I must finish my packing, the movers come tomorrow to take our final shipment.  My parents are on their way to pick up the kids and spend some time with them.  Today may be our final goodbye with them as well - I will most definitely need tissues for that...

Til then...

Julie

Work hard, play hard, getting stuff done

I have been at work for two weeks. How different is Barcelona from Lexington? There is defiantly more of an office buzz or energy you might say. It reminds me of the startup days in lex - which is a good thing. I have been lucky enough to participate in growing the company from 16 employees to a little under 2000. The Lexington office is probably in the mid 400s but the BCN office seems alive with much fewer employees. It could be the environment as there is definitely the work hard play hard mentality - again back to the start up days. It's hard to leave work at night - much more than I thought it would be. Lex gets online about right after lunch here 2 or 3. From that point on the emails and meeting madness starts. By the time 6 or 7 comes around I am wondering where the day went and when I will get some time to work on some non transactional items - usually in the morning in BCN. The transition was pretty easy as I was mid was through a project when I left with the team divided between lex and BCN. It's a challenge managing remotely but totally doable if you have a clue. I am starting to get better traction on some other work items but that will come shortly into the new year - when everyone gets back to the office. It also seems a lot of the work I put into a project to determine how my department could scale globally got a good response - a fun side project. It will be fun and challenging realizing that vision. Enough about work what about play....


Casinos are really different here and small. I went to go play some black jack before a dinner but I forgot my passport and I refused to pay an entry fee to lose money. I learned you needed to get coupons for the casino to skip the entry fee so I went back. The top half which was really really small was free and only had a few machine games like slots and the like. The tables were down stairs so that is where I went -with coupon in hand. There were maybe 4 or so black jack tables and under 10 poker tables from what I could tell. There were a few other tables but overall very small. I had 200 Euros and headed off to black jack. I quickly noticed most folks at the table or casino for that matter had no clue how to play. I saw several people go through somewhere between 500 -1000 Euros in 15 minutes at a 10 euro black jack table. They would bet 50 and lose, bet 250 and lose and kept at it until their money was gone. One of these people was a totally hot prostitute (I think ) that sat beside me for the first hour. She either chose to ignore me or spoke no English - she knew a lot of the dealers and help. Later I watched her go through another 600 Euro or so. My first 120 or so lasted a little over an hour, not bad. I also learned drinks are not free as my one jack and coke cost me 14 Euros- highway robbery. I took a break and walked around. I learned the drinks from the free section up stair were about half the price - why rob your best customers? After a break and reassessing the crews at the table I sat down and got up about 200 Euros after another few hours. I took my starting pot put it in my jacket with another 50 or so Euros and played the night out with the remaining money until I only had a small amount at the table. I got up and left up for the night which included paying for some very expensive jack and cokes but it was a good night - Wednesday night poker.

Have I mentioned the seafood here is fabulous! I have now been to a few places where you pick out the raw ingredients like at a fish market and then they take it back to cook it. I have even found a place for lunch that does this with an all you can eat buffet. You pick the seafood and veggies and pile it high then put it in line to get cooked. Then you head over to the sushi section for your apps while it cooks. If you are lucky you can finish the sushi before the rest of the meal is cooked so you don't have too many plates of food at the table. I have been averaging about one meal a day given the portions and generally cheap pricing.

The cheapest lunch has been Chinese so far at 6.5 Euros for three courses. There is usually a fixed lunch menu with an assortment of apps, main course and dessert to choose from for one price at most places. I usually know the main ingredient in any dish such as meat or chicken but I really have no clue about anything else on the dish when I look at the menu - still working on my Spanish. Sometimes even if you know your Spanish you still might not have a clue on what exactly will show up for you to eat. The Chinese food restaurant had several chicken or steak entries with deliciousness listed as part of the dish. You have no clue nor does anyone with what deliciousness will come with your dish. In this case it was various vegetables though that might change tomorrow. This will drive Julie nuts....picky eater.

We went to Alcampo in the Diagonal Mar mall to get Yankee swap gifts for the office. Alcampo is best described as a somewhat rundown super wall mart. If wall mart could get a location in BCN they would clean up. I first noticed this would be different when I saw lockers for personal items right outside the store - hmmm what's that for. Then I saw people enclosing their bags or other like items into another plastic bad and then heat sealing it. For some reason women did not have to heat seal purses into another plastic bags but any other bag, backpack, etc needed to be heat sealed. Obviously, if you did not want to heat seal your items you could rent a locker. Please note the pure electronic stores here do not have this security - they have much smaller and costly goods but a somewhat rundown super wall mart did. I knew we were in trouble at this point as one of guys had a big bag with a big box that would not fit in a locker or the heat sealed plastic bag. As he tried to make his items fit in the heat sealed plastic bags security started watching us. After few minutes of attempting this security came over. They were nice and agreed to put his box in their little area. The conversation took a bit longer then I expected but he knew Spanish well - not sure how I would've faired. So now we were ready to enter the store and go through the electric screening. Of course the alarms go off, we turn around and meet our security friends again. We walk through one at a time until the person setting it off was identified. The hand held wand came out and his jeans were the culprit. Security started to drag him off somewhere - luckily the one guy that really knew Spanish stepped in. Security was trying to bring him to a room where he could take off his jeans to find the offending tag. He did not want to go but this confused security - does this happen all the time. He wanted to stay outside the store and wait for us to get the items we needed -again confusion with the guards. Finally, they just escorted us through the electronic screening and waved us on. None of us quite knew what when down but we were finally in the store.

We decided to go see Avatar on opening weekend and then head out for paella. There is an original version ( VO ) theater so we could see it in English. Luckily, one of the guys ordered online and noticed limited seating was left. I jumped on and was surprised you needed to pick your seat - cool and a nice surprise. I arrived about 15 minutes early and then got the calls that everyone was getting there at 8 - right when it started. It took me a little bit to find the theater in the mall - different mall then before. Malls have odd layouts over here with no rhyme or reason. It's hard to find the mall maps, usually the maps are just limited to the floor you are on and they lack a you are here marking. I found the theater after 5 minutes and luckily there was an Irish bar right there - 10 minutes to wait. I grab my tickets and then a Guinness. I could buy 3 Guinness for the price of my one jack and coke at the casino, they were still a little pricy. Everyone arrives 5 minutes after the movie is suppose to start and we should still be fine but upon entering we realized the movie started 5 minutes ago and they don't do previews - lesson learned. It took a little while to get use to the 3D. Not sure why as I had no problem with other 3D movies but settled on the fact the Spanish subtitles projecting out at you in 3D was probably the cause. The movie was in English but apparently that means you get Spanish subtitles throughout. The movie was great and like all movies these days the good guy lived instead of dying. Why do you always need the happy ending....We head off for paella in the marina after the movie and got there about 11 PM. The place and the marina in general was hoping even though it was close to freezing - on our walk back to the metro after dinner the fountains were frozen. We sat down and on the other side of us through a pair of blinds that acted as a wall was a futball team doing awards. They even had a mega phone - please note this place is pretty decent and pricy for paella. It was noisy but fun - even got some second hand smoke from the hash the futball team was smoking - yes in the restaurant. The place was pretty rockin and included a bachelorette party kickin back the tequila, a group with santa gear on, etc. Did I mention there were also kids in there, perhaps as young as 3 up to 12 - some things are just so different over here. This was my second time to this place, very different on the weekend then the weekday. One of the best apps I have had over here that we got is fried green peppers with smoked sea salt. I could eat those all day. At the end of the meal two free bottles of hard booze was dropped off at the table. The labels and what was inside clearly did not match up. One bottle had clear liquor and the other bottle chocolate. Neither was good but the clear one was horrible - you have to at least try it. On the way back to the metro we walked past the night clubs in the marina and they were hopping. We found the one that tried to recruit us in the restaurant. They were guys that came in dressed as doctors with no top under their doctor gear trying to give us passes and candy - something else was probably in the candy. We saw the bachelorette being wheeled into the night club on a gurney. About half the nightclubs had women in scantily clad clothing on stage or some cage like contraption. We all agreed the summer must be nuts down in the marina. We had a great time that night even through it was low key.

When I have not been out playing or working at the office I have managed to get the house pretty much set up for when the family arrives. Checkmarks: phone, cells, cable, internet, house is generally livable, grandma cart to put groceries in that you tote around, etc. The guy that came to install the phone/cable/internet package was not the brightest bulb even though he only spoke Spanish and I did not understand anything he was saying. It took him almost 3 hours to get everything set up with about a dozen calls back to the main office for assistance. I have yet to successfully get voicemail set up on any phone as it's all in Spanish - simple things can just be hard.

I found a big farmers market in the area that has pretty much everything you would expect to find from an episode of Bizarre foods. I think I will try pigeon soon, you can even buy live ones to bring home to execute yourself - have to make sure it's fresh. Some of the seafood was alive and half the meats I could not indentify on first glance. I caught a glimpse of some octopi trying to escape the counter. Just about every native fowl was available and hanging from the ceiling. It was interesting and I found some great exotic food.

The (Mis)Adventures of Julie - week 1 without Josh

If you asked me a week ago if it was going to be a big deal to not have Josh around for 3 weeks, I would have told you no, it's not.  He's not really here I would have said.  He leaves before the kids go to school and gets home a half hour before bedtime.  The day to day routine falls to me.  Where I figured I would notice his absence the most was on the weekends when he is here all the time and spending quality family time with the kids and myself.  Well, I was wrong. Who knew that someone who isn't here very much could have such a great impact on our day to day lives without us even realizing it?  Sure, we've talked several times a day, and I have to say, I'm so proud for how he's taken the challenges in Barcelona by the horns and just gotten stuff done.  He's not letting anything get in the way and he's helping me to feel that I will be able to handle it as well. 

So while Josh has been gone, I thought everything would be rather ho-hum in the Marcus household.  We would continue to work on packing things away and getting ready for the final move in a few weeks.  I would have some good quality time with the kids and our friends.  Sure, I've done that, but I've also had a few misadventures and it's only been a week... I can't imagine what the next 2 will bring at this rate.

Thurs Dec 3 - Josh leaves for work and then from work, to Spain.  Not much happened today.  Liam was with me all day and we just kind of hung out.

Fri Dec 4 - Both boys are in school today.  When I was drying my hair this morning (with my head upside down), I noticed how horribly disgusting under my bed was - tons of dog hair and dust!  That needs to be vaccuumed!  So I took my handy dandy Dyson and grabbed the hose and started to reach under the bed to clean it.  I must have pulled too hard on the hose and the vacuum came tumbling over...on to my head.  Swearing a bit, I rubbed my head feeling for a bump.  When I pulled my hand away I noticed immediately that it was covered in blood!  Ok, so day 2 here and I've already gotten a head injury!  I rushed across the street to Rich since I knew he was home and just said, I've hit my head with the vacuum (I'm sure he was trying to figure out how I did that) and I'm bleeding badly - can you look at it.  He had a bit of a panicked look on his face after he looked at it but told me to go home, wash it down and ice it.  Doing as I was told I sat on the couch for an hour waiting for the bleeding to stop and icing it down.  The rest of the day was, thankfully, uneventful - horseback riding lessons and hanging out with the kids. 

Sat Dec 5 - Aidan had his tennis lesson this morning.  It was raining out (again) and we came home, played the wii (Super Mario Wii ROCKS) for a little bit and then Aidan ended up going over to Max's house for a few hours.  It was a nice mellow afternoon for me, spent doing some packing, some reading and then when Liam got up, playing with him.  Again, relatively uneventful.

Sun Dec 6 - It's snowing!!!!  Ok, we got maybe an inch of snow but it was enough to get the kids outside, get them on their sleds and for me to break out the shovel for at least the walkway and stairs.  We took a walk down to the Fasoldts house and Aidan ended up spending the afternoon over there.  God, I love playdates!!!

Mon Dec 7 - The snow is pretty much gone and what I thought would be an uneventful day was not.  Both kids were either with my mother-in-law or at school.  I was supposed to have lunch with a friend but it got rescheduled.  So I now have the day to myself and some extra time that I hadn't anticipated.  So what should I do?  Work???  Nah... overrated!  And slow lately... Shop!!!  Yes shop!  I had just gotten to DSW to do some schmoozing when my sister-in-law called.  She was in Seekonk and not feeling well - can I come get her.  Of course my answer is yes and I don't hesitate... I grab my Bertucci's pizza that by that time I was waiting for and go get her.  I love my sister-in-law and felt badly she wasn't feeling well and wish it had been different circumstances because I would have loved some one on one time with her without the kids - whenever I talk to her I'm pulled in multiple directions by the kids at the same time.  Typical!  Anyways, turns out she had a case of the stomach bug which we found out later.  My in laws met us in Seekonk later that day to do a Liam/Becky exchange and get her car home. 

It's dinner time and we're in Seekonk so I decided to take the kids to Vinny T's... I haven't been there in YEARS.  Thank god no one was around me after all that garlic.  It was the most fabulous dinner I think I have ever had with the kids - we were mellow, we chatted, we weren't rushed - there wasn't that moment of hurry up, child x is going to have a meltdown any moment, kind of feeling.  It was just a genuinely nice time.  I wish they could all be like that!! 

Tues Dec 8 - The kids know how to make up for being good by being not so good.  Liam was super whiny today.  And on the way home from the bus stop, Aidan decided to open the door to the car while the car was still in motion... into the garage door.  Not a wise choice I must say.  And it was met with the wrath of mommy.  He's lucky I didn't tell daddy...(ooops guess I'm telling you now Josh...don't worry, it's just a scratch).  Not a pretty sight... Tues night continued while I was watching tv.  I heard what sounded to be a rattling, kind of like if you have an item with a zipper in the dryer... only I didn't have anything in the dryer.  I muted the tv, slowly edged my way into the kitchen where the noise sounded like it was emmenating from... and listened.  There it was again!  And it's coming from my oven!  Or more specifically... the drawer below my oven!  You've got to be kidding me... I've GOT A MOUSE!!!!!!!  AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!  Fearful to open the drawer because it sounds like an entire family in there, I call across the street.  Rich is putting the kids to bed and will be over in a while.  A while????  Ahhhh... I go on my FB and IM with Lisa W.  She offers her Rent-A-Husband who somehow takes that same while to come over.  He arrives and of course, it's not been close to a half hour since I first heard the sound and for the last 5 mins I've heard nothing.  And so he pulls the drawer out and I'm ready... I've put on shoes in case it escapes!!  And.... NOTHING.  But we did find mouse droppings there (and no where else in my kitchen thankfully).  So at least I was right and he was there.  But where did he go?  There was no hole anywhere to be seen.  Rich comes over too and we all get a laugh out of it... sort of... I'm sure they think I'm a bit neurotic.  Bill goes home and grabs some traps for me and puts one in the drawer and one in the garage.  I go to bed praying it doesn't make it's way upstairs.

Wed Dec 9 - The day starts off fine.  Nothing big going on.  Then part way thru my morning I hear that rattling again.  You little f**ker... I will get you!!!!!  So knowing Bill and Rich are at work, I call Dave...no answer.  I call Bill F.  No answer.  Shit shit shit!  I'm afraid to open the drawer - it could jump out at me and be a total attack killer mouse!  You know you are thinking the same thing!  I finally get a hold of Bill F.  Meanwhile I've been IMing with Josh in Spain this whole time freaking out about the mouse.  Bill gets here and of course, the mouse is gone.  But there are droppings and mouse hair on the trap... little bugger managed to escape.  Time to bring in the big guns and get some good traps.  Went to Target and bought some - not the head decaptiating kind but the kind where they go into the trap and can't get out.  Haven't caught him yet.  But I will!!! 

Thurs Dec 10 - Well it's been a full week now since Josh left.  I've had my ups and downs, the kids are still alive, I've cut my head open, found a mouse and scratched Josh's car (well Aidan did that).  So what's next?  A bird of course!!!  This morning I went to take some trash out to the garage and when opening the door to the house to the garage, something flew over my head.  A bird.  I, of course, screamed, which in turn freaked the kids.  The bird must have gotten trapped in the garage overnight and when I opened the door he thought it was his way out.  WRONG!!!  So I've now got a mouse and a bird... it's a freaking menagerie over here!  I open all the doors to the house to hope that he will find his way out.  For those who haven't seen my house, I have a large picture window in my entry way (it's a 2 story entry) and so he flew up the entry to the house and kept slamming himself against the window, even though the front door just below was wide open.  He finally gave up on that after about 10 mins and flew into my living room where the kids where hanging out, oblivious.  You would think it would have interested them more, but alas, Spongebob has a bigger draw apparently.  So the bird makes itself at home on a curtain rod next to the Christmas tree - I'm surprised he didn't go in the tree but it's not real and maybe he sensed that too... who knows.  I call next door but Dennis left for work early.  I call Bill F again... hey, got a chuckle for ya.  I haven't caught that mouse yet but now do you want to help me catch a bird?  BTW, it's not even 8AM when I called there.  He laughs hysterically for a moment and says he'll be over in a few.  In the meantime, I grab the broom, tell the kids to go upstairs because I don't want this thing to swoop and then take their eyes out (because he's a super vicous tiny bird right?).  I wave to him (because I'm an idiot) and tell him, over here little birdie, over here...the door is open over here.  You know, because he understands English... right?  Yeah not so much.  He flies over to my entry way again and at this moment Rich pulls up in his driveway and sees me in the doorway with a broom.  I said to him... it's a bird now.  He also laughs.  Hey thanks guys!!!  The bird swoops over me, I scream and Rich yells to me from across the street...he's out!  I take my hands off my head where they were protecting me from this vicious monster and say thank god he's gone!!!  What a way to start the day.

How do you think the second week alone will go????? 

Julie

The next few days

I was having my TV & DVD player installed on Saturday with a 4 hour window 11-3. Early in the morning I went out to explore the neighborhood again. It was a nice hour walk and I found a store that had a lot of household odd and ends. I ended up filling up two bags of items then back to the apartment to wait for the TV & DVD delivery. Two hours passed and I was getting a bit nervous - did they not get the address right or are they trying to screw me. After another hour they finally showed up. Between broken English and Spanish conversations everything was all set. However, I realized the DVD player was not a multi region one like the clerk said in the store. It played a few of my burned movies even though it was set up to only support EU region DVDs. I knew getting the DVD player to accept all regions would be a straight forward hack. I jump on the internet and realize the apartment complex router (shared between all apartments) was not connecting to the internet - it was barely working for the next few days so I was cut off from my research.


I love my black out metal shades in my bedroom - complete darkness. Jet lag must of caught up to me on Sunday along with complete darkness allowing me to sleep until 11 AM. I was shocked I had not slept that late since we had children - going on 6 years. It felt great. I took a short morning walk and then some lunch. After lunch I looked at the Mediterranean in the distant and just started walking to it. I did not make it all the way but it was a nice long walk. Of course with the sea on one side the mountains on the other meant the walk back was a slow incline all the way.

I tried off and on to get onto the internet from my apartment with limited success trying to find the hack for my DVD player. I have such luck, instead of a simple combination of secret key strokes on the DVD remote I need to download a file and burn it on a CD - this would be as simple as apple pie if the internet connection was not constantly going down. I finally was able to download the small files I needed to burn on a CD after a few days of trying. It worked like a charm.

I went to go get my foreign id Monday morning with some help from Vistaprint HR. The foreign id is the Spain equivalent of a social security number. We arrived at 8:45 with the single form and my passport. Apparently, there is only one location in Barcelona to get your foreign id and we were lucky there was no long line. We got in and took a number, just like at the deli. Once my number was called we went to the desk and handed the guy our form and passport. A few minutes later that step was done. We then had to go to the bank to pay the government. I am not quite sure why you can't just hand them 10 Euros at the office. We went to the bank and processed the payment which returned a receipt that we had to go back and give to the foreign id people. There was another line for this step and luckily we were first in line. Overall, it was a very simple process. It probably keeps a dozen or so people employed as for some short money the whole process could be moved online.

The metro is very nice over here. It much cleaner and simpler then Boston. However, I think a scooter maybe in my future. It maybe took me 45 or an hour to get to work from the foreign id office and it takes less than half an hour by scooter.

I hope to finish my to do list for the family soon so I can get in some more sightseeing.

Josh's first day in Barcelona

Two days ago I headed out of Boston to Barcelona. I will be working here for the next 3 weeks with the rest of the family still in Attleboro. Besides work, my mission is to get the apartment ready for the family so they can just move in.


It took awhile to make it out of Logan. It all started when I arrived as one of my two suitcases was 3 pounds overweight. I had to purchase another bag, repack and pay a fine. The plane pulled out of the gate and I thought we were all set - wrong. We returned to the gate to pick up two people that had missed the flight. So a few hundred were delayed for 2 people - nice cost benefit analysis by northwest.

The flight was pretty uneventful. I watched a few movies, read and slept only a few hours. About 12 hours later I was in Barcelona.

I meet Mele our realtor and picked up my keys. We had to do an inventory with the owner and with some time to kill we went for a coffee. The owner was suppose to meet us at 1:30 but did not arrive until around 2 - she was at court. The owner was very nice and the walk through was quick. The apartment is mostly furnished but to my surprise came with a hair dryer, toaster and iron - check 3 items off my to do list. Also since the other 2 apartments are short term rental I can use the maid's vacuum - check another item off my list. I was also able to get the owner to purchase and install a dryer for us, of course we are going to pay for it. My to do list is getting shorter by the minute and I have only been here a few hours. The apartment comes with wireless internet but is really slow. On the flip side I would be going crazy without it.

After everyone left it was pretty quite. I throw in some snoop, nwa and dre to get the blood going after being up for over 36 hours. After a little light up packing I went out to see the hood.

I must admit I was very impressed by the hood. We have pretty much everything in walking distance. The deli has legs of ham hanging from the ceiling -hmmm, the fish market is pretty stocked including some nice whole fish and the grocery store sells Old No.7 - that's Jack to you rookies. There is probably everything we need within a 3 block radius - still looking for the Irish bar nearby.

The grocery store was an interesting expedition. They do have most items from the US but very little choice. Then there are the little things that are missing like paper towels and cold milk. I bought a box of some milk like substance - I went with the one that had the best cow picture. I still have not tried the milk - perhaps today. I did find cheesy hot dogs but no dice on cheesy sausage. There was thin spaghetti and sauce for Julie.

After food shopping I took another trip around the block. I stopped for some late tapas and ordered some kind of white fish. It tasted fine - like scrod/cod. As I continued exploring I found many more bars, hair solons and the like. I am not sure why but there is at least 2 hair salons on each block. I ran across an electronic store. I wanted to buy a TV and DVD. It was easy picking out which ones I wanted then it was time to order and the fun started. It took 3 clerks to find the one that somewhat spoke broken english. I was trying to get the items delivered the next day. It came down to simplifying what I wanted to two words - mañana inicio. KISS works again. Then the paperwork started, we made it up as we went along. I don't have a local Spanish phone number or foreign id so their computer software was complaining. We worked around it as I showed them how to enter all 0s or 1s in those fields - they laughed.

I got home and tried some 3 euro red wine I got at the store while spinning up GI Joe on the computer. I feel asleep shortly after the intro. When I got up it was about 11 pm and the place was cold. I borrowed a quilt from the maid closet and got the heat to work in the room. It took awhile to figure out the heat but I got it and the day was done....

Josh

Josh flys over the "drink"...

Josh is off and running tonight!  His flight took off around 7:30 tonight though he went to work today so as far as I'm concerned, he left this morning.  Now, he comes home late from work all the time, goes out at night, has boys weekend...and yet, it's never that big of a deal for me to be with the kids on my own.  But something just feels weird about this.  Maybe it's because I know it's for 3 weeks and not just a night or two?  The house just seems empty without him here and we all miss him already.  And I feel like he's going to miss out on the festivities of the holidays which are always such a big deal in our house - not about the gifts but about the time with family. 

I think that this day also marks one more day closer to us all leaving.  It's exciting and scary all at the same time.  I know I've mentioned that before but it's true.  I've been facing constant ambivilance for the longest time now and we're beyond the point of no return.  Part of me is relieved about that because I can't say, nah, I changed my mind...forcing me out of my comfort zone which I know is what I need to do.  But part of me is in a panic knowing that just one month from today, we will be on a plane (with 2 small children, god help me!!) to Spain!!  The countdown is on!  That this isn't just going for a week vacation or even a month, but for 2 years.  2 years in our lives is really just a blip on the screen but you know what?  It's still 2 years!  2 years of trying to communicate in a language I'm not fluent in; 2 years of not driving except when we go on vacation; 2 years of eating food I'm not familiar with (maybe I'll expand my tastes!); 2 years of living in cramped quarters. 

I feel like such a complainer and I don't mean to be.  This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I plan to embrace it with all that I can.  I think there is just anxiety of the unknown.  And now that Josh is on a plane on his way, I know that it is coming and it's coming fast!  This is a long time in the making and now it's becoming a reality.  I find it interesting how much more planning seemed to be involved and I think it was related to it being a non-English speaking country.  Josh printed out maps last night before he left so he would know where the stores were that he has to go to.  If we were moving to England, would he have printed out maps here or would he just ask someone how to get there?  Probably the latter, right?   I feel like the language barrier is really what scares me the most.  That terrifies me actually!  But we will both get past it.  I think that Josh's 3 weeks will be a good trial for not just him, but for me as well.  Hearing his successes (and hopefully not many) and failures can only help to make it not so much the unknown for me.  I'll have a better idea of, hey, stay away from that store... or, this is a really good place to get fruits and vegetables.  I know he'll be working full time (he starts on Mon, no rest for the weary!) but he'll still have some time to do some exploring.  And for now, I'll live vicariously thru him.  I'm sure I'll be posting some of his adventures (or maybe he'll do some posting...hint hint Joshy!). 

Julie