As the saying goes, Welcome to Naples! Hard to believe that we have been here for 2 weeks already and are over our jet lag (we think). In these 14 days we have managed to figure out how to live in a small 1-bedroom hotel room with a kitchenette (2 burners and a small oven). The girls sleep on the bunk beds and Peter on the floor so he doesn't fall out of the bed. We attended the Area Orientation (well Cory did since there wasn't child care for the kids), got our drivers license, bought a car, checked out and think we found a house in Licola, shopped at the Navy Exchange and Commissary just about every day and are starting to embrace the Italian way of life. I keep reminding myself that 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and things will get settled sometime before we are set to move in a few years.
Our decision to live out in town has not been easy, so much goes into living on the 'economy' and with that comes more decisions. Where to live, is it safe, does the house have an alarm system, do they have gas or electric hook-ups, where is the bus stop for Grace, what school do we try to get Mia into (she misses the cut off for Kindergarten for the school on base (DoDDS), what about Peter and his speech issues, how often will I be driving to base... just to name a few questions/issues. I tell you, it's enough to make me want to take a nap. All the waiting keeps me second guessing every decision we make, we arrived during the Italian holiday time and the appointments we need to make are not for a few weeks pushing back our move-in date.
So, my blog is called "Semper Crafty" so I best get to "always crafty." Yes, living in such small quarters with 3 kids is being crafty! I have managed to make this a bit of a home, we unpacked and are starting to get used to the idea that we will be here for maybe another month. I've ordered a TON of new products from Close To My Heart and can't wait for them to arrive. I will be crafting the time away while we wait and hopefully make some new friends along the way. Once I get some items made, I will post pictures. I love just about everything in the new idea book, if you would like to check things out, head over to my website www.sempercrafty.myctmh.com There you will find all the latest and greatest, along with some times that are on sale.
Off to get my brain around making dinner and getting the kids to bed somewhat early. We are going into work with Cory tomorrow so we can get some paperwork taken care of. Lord help me, I will be driving back alone for the first time. It will be an adventure and one I just might have to blog about later.
