Thanksgiving Dinner

I got this photo the other day from one of our nurses. We served dinner at the hospital on Thanksgiving day for the staff and patients. It was packed with families. All the army folks wore their dress uniforms but not all the Navy folks had theirs so we were in cammies.

My job was the dessert table, I know it was a tough assignment but someone had to make sure there was whipped cream on the pies.

Here is a picture on me hard a work.

Tomorrow I am taking the family to Fussen to see the Fairy Tale Castles. I'll take pictures and post them later this week. We decided this was a good day trip for the kids. We'll see. It is 4 hours one way, then walking up and down two hills - one steep and one very steep. Plus we are driving towards the Alps so that means snow - maybe lots. They already had snow when I visited in OCT. On the plus side - Fussen is the home of Ludwig Dunkle Vison (my favorite beer in all of Germany) this time I will buy some to take with me.

It should make for a few good stories to post on the blog.

Christmas Greetings going out to friends and Family around the World.

Merry Christmas to Altoona, Portage, Summerhill, Johnstown, Tionesta, Reading PA, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Yellowstone.


Christmas Morning Photos.

Photos of Germany

Here we are getting off the plane and seeing mom!!



The other photos were taken at two different Christmas Markets. One here in Kaiserslautern and one in Rothenburg. Both were great, but cold.

Christmas Day coming to a close

Well it is 8:22 Christmas Evening. Santa found the 3 Cumming Children here in the middle of Germany. He even stopped by my apartment this afternoon on his way back to the North Pole to check on the family.

This morning was great. I'm not sure who was more excited about Santa finding us, Catcher or Parker because Kaite KNEW he was coming dah!!!

So after we opened gifts we got ready and went to my apartment. I cooked 2 turkeys in 24 hours. Well, ok Vince cooked 2 turkeys in 24 hours. He is amazing. We took one turkey to the hospital last night for the staff and we made one today for all of us. We hosted about 15 friends and family in a Christmas day pot luck. It was a lot of fun. Catcher wants me to add he was surprised Vince did not get everyone sick, but I had great faith in him.

We just called home and talked to the family and now we need to go back to our rooms. I'll share some photos.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love,
Marcia, Vince, Catcher, Kaite, Parker, Grandma Polly and Pappy Ray.

Merry Christmas from Germany

Merry Christmas Eve.....

It is 8:45 pm on Christmas Eve. I ran around today doing last minute shopping, just like if I was in the States. The crowds were crazy, the parking was nuts - I felt like I was at home. Then I entered the store - and everything was in German. Talk about throwing a last minute shopper for a curve. I could not read any of the sale signs or the directions for checking out, but we managed. I did throw in a 12 pack of beer just in case things get out of hand.

Transformers - Parker wanted me to tell you all about them. He really likes them. Bumble Bee, Optimas Prime are two of his favorites, but he likes them all. (Now I can finish my entry)

We went to mid-night mass this evening at 5 pm (my idea of mid-night mass). Then we came home and had turkey. I'm going to get the kids ready for bed and then Vince and I are going to take food up to the Hospital for the staff that is working tonight and tomorrow.

Have a great holiday. We will add photos tomorrow.

Love ya.
Marcia


Katie wants me to add the following:
I love you Grandma from Kaite.

Hi Aunt Lucy, Uncle Bill, Luke, Joel and Britany.

Good Bye
said Kaite.

Last Weekend

I guess I'm a week behind. Last weekend we spent the day in Bamberg, Germany. It is a neat old German town. It dates back over 1200 years. It has a lot of religious history, at one point it was the capitol of the Holy Roman Empire. Another note is that the only Pope buried north of the Alps is buried in Bamberg, Pope Clemens II.

The city has two rivers that run through town. I took photos of the old Town Hall built by the people to reflect their presence to the Monarchy in 1386. The King refused to give the people any land to build a town hall, so they built up an island in the river and erected their town hall.

In 1000 the King and Queen of Bamberg were King Heinrich II and Queen Kunigunde. We were told a number of interesting stories about them, but I will post each one separate with photos. They were canonised in 1146 (Heinrich) and 1200 (Kunigunde).

Bamberg is known world wide for it's Nativity collections. There are over 25 churches in the small town. Each church sets up a nativity scene at the beginning of advent. Some set up the entire scene and others set up the scene has it relates to the church calendar. For example, last weekend some Nativity scenes only had Mary and Elizabeth greeting each other. Has the weeks unfold the churches will add more figures . They will continue this until the 3 Wisemen arrive.

The artwork is amazing. I'll post a separate blog about the art work as well. Long story.

Still In Germany

I'm still here in Germany in case you were wondering. Last week and this week have been very busy. Long hours, but it is rewarding.

Last weekend was the Navy-Army game and in case you did not know the Navy beat the snot out of the Army. I did work a lot of long days, so Saturday I was exhausted. I did some running around in town and then went home. We were having a party at the Irish Pub for the game so I thought I would get a little sleep before walking up the hill. I fell asleep at 2 pm. I woke up at 7:30pm. The game started at 6pm. My friends told me they came to the door, knocked, rang the doorbell and even tried my cell. So they went without me. When I did get up, I ran up the hill to join the group. It was a good time. I heard they showed our spirit spot in the stadium and they were suppose to show it on CBS. Who knows.

Then Monday I was invited to have lunch with a certain Distinguished Guest. I think I can tell you since he is gone, but before I do I better check. I know I can't write about who is coming, if I even know, but I need to check about posting it after the fact. This brings me to another point. Some people where wondering why I don't talk about work and what is going on over here in the hospital. All I post is my down time. Well, that's because I can't. I'm not doing anything top secret, sorry. However I can't post any details about the workings of the hospital.

I can tell you we treat people from all over the world. And it is a really interesting place to work.

It is late and I need to get up early again tomorrow. I think we are going on a bus tour this weekend to a Christmas market. I'll take pictures and let you know what it was like.

The weather here is so crazy. One day the sun shines and it is not that cold. Other days it is very cold and windy. Then it just rains. It is always dark out, very dark. We were told in the summer the sun shines until 10 pm or longer. I guess we'll see.

Got to go, I'm starting to fall asleep. I think I'm going to buy a car. I looked at a BMW 300 series today. That is a 1989 BMW 300 series. I know it is a let down, but I would like a car.

I'll keep you posted.

Wrapping Up the Holiday Weekend

It's Sunday around lunch time and I wanted to update you on my weekend.

FRIDAY. I got up early and went to my hair appointment. I love the color and the cut. It is shorter then I usually wear it, but I will work with it and it will grow in. I have not had a lot of time to mess with it, so we'll see what happens. Friday night I talked to the family and then went to bed.

SATURDAY. Today was suppose to be the Valkenburg Cave Christmas Market in The Netherlands and The Lindt Chocolate Factory. Well, I got up to get ready for the tour, but I did not feel well. The more I moved around the worse I got. I made it over to the bus, but realized it was probably a kidney stone. I decided to fore go the tour and went home. Good call on my part!! Otherwise I would be writing to tell you all about the health care system in the Netherlands. After I got home, the pain the got worse so I changed my plans and decided to tour LRMC's ER instead. I got to the hospital, underwent a few tests and I was admitted. Later in the afternoon I went up to the OR to have the stone removed and then back to the ward. I must say it was an exciting day. By supper time, I was pain free and stone free (at least my Right kidney). Throughout the evening I had a number of shipmates stop in to visit, this was nice.

I must say I was in very good hands. When I knew it was a stone I called our Urologist who met me in the ER and took great care of me. A number of my providers were Navy, the charge nurse, the night nurse and tech. My non-Navy providers were also great. I would like to say, if I must be sick - there is no better place -IN THE WORLD - to be sick then in a Military Hospital.

Besides, my dad was an outpatient here at LRMC in 2003 and in true Vandzura Fashion, I did not want to be outdone. I elected for inpatient status.

SUNDAY. Well I was discharged around 9:30 and home by 10:00. Now I am updating my blog and watching a Harry Potter Movie. I plan to sit around all day watching movies and working on the computer. I may do a load of laundry if I am up to climbing all the steps. If not, I will wash clothes later in the week.

Ok that is all for now. This weekend coming up is the Navy vs. Army Football game. In case I forgot to tell you, we filmed a spirit spot in front of the hospital a few weeks ago. AFN, Armed Forces Network, taped us yelling - 'GO NAVY - BEAT ARMY - OO-RAH' The Female Officer who introduces us is CAPT Margaret McKavitt. Her son is at the Naval Academy and she is one of the ladies I run around with. I am located on the left side of the screen, her right, in the second or third row. But don't worry, we all look alike. Just know I am in the mix. Any way, CBS may air the spot as well - so look for me!! AFN also filmed the Army yelling 'GO ARMY - BEAT NAVY - WHOA!!' We are hoping they will show both.

ok now I am going to go. Talk to you later.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Well it is 6:20 pm on Thanksgiving Day here in Germany. I am wrapping up my day and most of you are getting ready to sit down and eat or you will be shortly.

I got to sleep in today, a full 8 hours, this way great. Then I got up and leisurely got ready to go to the hospital. We decided to eat before we served lunch. It was very nice, everyone was in uniform - some were in their service dress, others were in their mess dress. Then there were those of us who were told not to back any service uniforms so we were in cammies. But it was very nice.

After we ate we were assigned workstations. I got the dessert table - not a bad gig.

After our shift was finished we decided to hang out and talk to some of our shipmates when a DV arrived. It is that time of year. We were told between now and Christmas we will have a lot of DVs (Distinguished Visitors) come through. Anyway, Don King was here. It was really funny to see the parade of people and tv cameras. Well Barb and I jumped up and got our picture taken so I will post it as soon as I get a copy from our Pharmacist.

Afterwards we changed clothes and went shopping. We ran to France to check out this 'great' grocery store. Well first, France is dirty. At least the part we were in. And the 'great' store was ok. As we walked to the front door you could smell the wonderful fresh baked bread. After we entered all you could smell was the fresh, raw fish - yuck!

So we got a few things and then ran to another store close to home. It was a giant German IKEA. Really cool stuff and a good price, but there is no way to get it into my apartment.

I got home a few minutes ago and Vince tried to skype me, but the connect is acting up. He is at my parents with all my family. He decided to go eat and then mess with the connection. OK I am hungry again so I am going to go get something to eat.

Tomorrow is my hair appointment - let's hope it all goes well.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Week

It's Wednesday night and everyone is rushing home for the holiday. My office is away from the hospital and on a floor with all Army people - imagine that. Anyway they had a holiday lunch and included us which was very nice. I ran to a local bakery for bread and desserts which were really good. Anyway, the Sergent who organized the lunch did a great job. She had tables with table clothes and place settings. It looked so nice that I got a little choked up. I think I realized for the first time I would not be home for the Holidays. I am so happy my family is going to Germany for Christmas. It would be very hard to be away for Christmas.

Tomorrow we are going to 10 am mass and then to the Dining Hall for lunch. After we eat we are scheduled to serve lunch from 12:30 to 1:30. After lunch we are going shopping. There are two stores within 30 minutes of me, but in opposite directions, that we want to check out, one is in France and the other is in Germany. Either way we plan to shop. Friday I have a hair appointment in town. Luckily the guy speaks perfect English, so we will see what happens. If it turns out ok I'll send a picture. If not, well I'll just whine for the next 6 weeks.

Saturday we are off to the Netherlands. I am excited to see another new country. There are these Christmas Markets in the Valkenburg Caves we plan to explore. Shopping and History - what more could a girl want. Oh, yeah - there is a chocolate factory tour on the way home, Lindt. I can hardly wait.

Then Sunday we are going to church and then to France or Luxembourg to poke around. I hope to have pictures and great stories.

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and I will write again soon.

Quiet Sunday Night at Home

It is Sunday night and I am wrapping up the evening. We were suppose to go to Paris this weekend but the trip was full so we decided to stay home.

Friday night we went up to the club. We have not been up to the club for about 2 weeks. We had dinner, 1.5 L of beer and a little singing. I made it home around 12:30 AM.

The next morning we did a walking tour of Kaiserslautern. That is the local town. I found out it dates back to 6000Bc. There is a lot of cool history here. There are castle ruins in the middle of the town with human and horse bones in the dungeon. There was some tribe that buried their military members with their horses.

Sunday, today, we went to church and then a brunch on one of the local bases. After Brunch we walked around a craft show and came home.

I am watching a movie and plan to get to bed soon. So all in all it was a quiet weekend.

It is hard to believe this week is Thanksgiving. We are serving lunch in the Dining Hall on Thursday. Friday we are going to run around in the area and Saturday we head to the Netherlands for a day of shopping in the Valkenburg Caves. Sunday I plan to relax.

I'll keep you posted but this week is already getting busy. I have two airport runs, I will have the Frankfurt Airport down cold before to long.

Ok, I'm tired and I want to eat dinner. Talk to you later.

3 cool Stories

I had 3 cool stories to share and I can only think of two. I will see if I remember while I am typing.

Story #1.
I got an email from the mom of two good friends today. I will write back soon, but I think it is so cool that this mom wrote to me. Especially since one of her daughters had not written to fill me in on the status of her twin sister who is home on bed rest. But that is ok, because mom filled me in. No guilt or anything, at least mom is keeping me update.
Thanks again, Shelby and Kirsten's mom!

No really, it was very nice to get her email this morning. I am going to write her back and tell her how easy it is to get around and that they should rent a car and drive around Germany.

Story #2
We had another member join our group this week. He is a replacement for a member who had to drop out. Anyway, he arrived over the weekend from Florida via San Diego. We went to lunch and were talking about different 'things'. We started to talk about dirt bikes and motorcycles. He has two daughters who ride both and I was telling him about me kids. He said something about you must live where you can ride. So I said we live in PA, up on the side of a mountain. He was very interested and asked what part. I told him Altoona and he laughed. He said he grew up in Johnstown, PA. We laughed and I told him I was actually from a small town in the Johnstown area and he said he really lived in Ebensburg. Wow, I said I went to Bishop Carroll High School but lived in Portage. He chuckled and said he went to Bishop Carroll and his brother is currently living in Portage with his wife and 4 kids. His other brother lives in Hollidaysburg and his sister-in-law is a Physical Education Teacher for Hollidaysburg. So I asked if she ever taught at a Bishop Carroll and he said yes, but only for a year or two. Funny I said, she was my Phys Ed teacher my junior/senior year.

Now is that a small world or what!!!

Oh mom /dad and Sue his last name is Koenig. His sister-in-law would be Mrs. Koenig at Hollidaysburg, not sure if it is the high school or junior high. Could even be elementary school.

Story#3
Still can't remember. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. We may get snow tomorrow. It is super cold at times and then the sun comes out for a brief time and it warms up. But boy when the wind blows it cuts to the bone.

I got my flu shot today, I better not get sick.

I want to go and email my friends mom before I turn out the lights. See you later. I hear the family is making candy this weekend in Portage.

Heidelberg Germany

On Friday we drove over to Heidelberg Germany. It is a very nice town about 1 hour from here. There is a large castle on the hill that was destroyed by the French and then there was a fire. The King who inherited this castle decided he did not like it so he built a new one in Mannheim. I will try to run over to Mannheim at some point and compare the two to see if he made a good deal or not. Anyway, we walked around and then drove home so we could gather the rest of our group and drive to Austria for the weekend.

We got back and gathered everyone and got on the road around 7pm. I was not planning correctly because I thought we would be in Austria by 10pm. Well we were running behind so we took off. The GPS took us off the main road and on to these narrow crazy roads. After about 30 minutes we started to look for a place to pull over. It was dark, Germany is VERY dark when the sun goes down, and it was starting to rain. I pulled over and looked at the GPS, it was set for the scenic route not the fastest route. So we reset it and found the main road. But again we lost another hour. Around 9pm we stopped for gas and something to eat. I called Ms Elizabeth and told her we were running late. She said she would wait for us, thank goodness. Otherwise I'm not sure where we would have slept.

Anyway, we drove south into the Alps and into more rain. Then we hit this snow/rain mixture. I'm getting better and converting F to C, but after this weekend the only thing we need to know was 0C is freezing rain/snow.

We finally made it to our Zimmer around 2 am - 3 hours late. Ms Elizabeth lead us to our rooms and out we went. As I was drifting off to sleep I could hear the wind pick up outside. I was very happy to be off the road and in a warm bed.

Tomorrow we take the Sound of Music Tour.

A zimmer is a private room rented out, a bed and breakfast in the US.

The only good thing about the 'scenic route' is that we think we found two great little towns right around the corner to explore during the day light.

Pictures of Heidelberg

Here are some pictures from our adventure on Friday.

After our long drive to Austria we finally got some sleep. We slept late into the morning, but we were up and moving by 9am. We had a traditional German/Austrian breakfast of rolls, meat and cheese, danish, tea/coffee or juice. It was terrific. Then we drove over to the little church, parked our car and hopped on the local bus #21 and headed into town. We got off the bus in the down town area and headed into the 'old' district and the walking area. We found the home where Mozart was born but then decided to walked to the home where he lived. We had 1 hour so we toured the home, his life was very interesting. I did not know he had a sister who was also very gifted as well. After the tour we made our way to another bus for the Sound of Music Tour. In the meantime, let me set the stage. Remember the high winds from last night, well they were still high. We had rain, cold blowing rain. I was happy to climb onto the bus, but we got off and walked around in the rain at various points. We saw the back of the home, where the kids fell out of the boat and into the lake. The front of the house, where Marie sang 'I have confidence'. The gazebo and the tree lined road where the kids were hanging like monkeys. After all this we headed for the mountains to Mondsee, the little village where the wedding scene was filmed.

This is great, because the church is beautiful and there is an interesting item(s) in the alter. However, remember the high winds and rain - IN THE VALLEY - well that turns to high winds and snow in the mountains - that is the AUSTRIAN ALPS! Not to be confused with the little hills we have in central PA. It was very pretty, but the roads must have been bad. We passed at least 2 cars in the ditch and watched the police van spin in circles trying to get to the accident scenes. No one was hurt, but it was great to watch. I felt like I was at home. We did make it to the church and got our pictures. Afterwards we had Apple Strudel with ice cream and then made our way back to the bus. The bus drive back into town was no big deal, except that the bus did slide once on the autobahn which was wild. I have never been in a bus that was sliding in snow. It would have been very uncool if the driver lost control, but he did not so it was just one more story for the blog.

It was cold and we were wet when we arrived back in town, but we found an Italian restaurant in the old district for dinner. After another great meal in Europe we found our local bus, #21, and went home. I was looking forward to my warm bed with the heavy German down comforter. I could hear it calling. As I snuggled into bed the wind started to whip outside the window it such a way that I was not sure if it was super cool to listen to Alpine Winds beat against the house or if maybe we should have gone south to warmer weather. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. I fell asleep and slept very well.

Pictures from the Sound of Music Tour

Here are some of the photos I took on the tour. It was cold and rainy so I did not take a lot.

Around Town in Salzburg Austria

Here are some pictures of town, that would be Salzburg, Austria.

Waking up in Austria Saturday - Pictures

The first set of photos were taken outside our Zimmer, or bed and breakfast. Not a bad view to wake up to every morning. The church is where we parked our car. The home is where we stayed. I think it cost 22 euro a night or $66 for two nights. It was fantastic. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Waking up in Austria Sunday

I woke up early Sunday morning because we had to catch a van to go to the Salt Mines. I heard the wind whipping around and I did not want to get out of bed, but I did. We had another great breakfast, packed our bags and said good-bye to Ms. Elizabeth. Our van arrived and we were off for another exciting day. We drove up to the Eagle's Nest, but only made it part way up the mountain due to snow. The Eagle's Nest was closed for the season anyway, but it was nice to get that close. The bus ride up the mountain was another interesting ride. Next we headed to the Salt Mine. We got to the salt mine and rode the train deep into the mountain. After walking awhile we came to the first 'slide.' The miners used a wooded slide to go deep into the mountain quickly. I was all excited to go down the slide, that was until I saw how steep it was. CAPT Doll went with one of the first groups. One of our members walked down so there were only 3 of us left to slide down. I climbed on the rail and then stood up at the last minute. The other two ladies went without me. The guide said, 'no problem you go with me' so I had to suck it up and get on. I grabbed his shoulders and kept my eyes closed the entire time. The mine staff took a picture and in it I am pulling so hard it looks like I am choking the guide. When I got to the bottom the rest of the group asked what happened. They said you talked about how much fun the slide was. I told them, well as soon as I saw it I remembered how much I hated it!!! We laughed, I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. There was a second slide and I did it without any problems. Finally we headed home. It took us 7 hours to make it back to Vogelweh. We had high winds, the kind you can't walk in. Heavy rain. And I think a little bit of snow. I got in around midnight and went to bed. I was very happy to see my apartment. One more day off and then it is back to work.

Waking up in Austria Sunday - Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the Salt Mine tour. It was a lot of fun. I have 3 great pictures that I need to scan before I can put them in the blog. I will see if I can them online soon.

And then there was Monday

We ended our four day weekend on Monday by shopping. I had to return the rental van by lunch time so we took the van back and I got a rental car. I had to learn a new shifting pattern but then we were off. I really am starting to like driving a stick shift. We ran to the exchange, the grocery store and then the shoe store. Europeans love their boots and I love European boots. So we found a shoe store and I bought some boots. I'll take a picture and send it with this blog, the boots are great. I feel like I should be in Siberia. I guess I am ready for the snow. Well that was my weekend in a nut shell. I have no idea where we are going this coming weekend but I'll keep you posted.

Plans for the weekend

Well it is Thursday night and we have the next 4 days off - the Army has 'training holidays' once a month. I rented a van for the next 4 days. We are heading south, into snow - I think. We can going to Salzburg, Austria. We are going to run around in the area tomorrow and then head to Austria after my room mate is done with 'call'.

We plan to try the salt mine. I'll take lots of pictures and post them when I get back.

Take care and talk to you soon.

Another exciting weekend in Germany

First I would like to thank my Grandma Helen and Desiree for the birthday cards. It was a very pleasant surprise today to find mail in my box today. I put them on the wall in my office. I do not have any pictures yet, but they are a start.

Next I would like to let everyone know Vince made cookies last night for Parker's special day. I would love to hear from the ladies at Preschool because he said his were better than mine. I am waiting for feedback.

So on to my wild weekend. I passed my driver's test last week so I wanted to rent a car. I figured I would just stay in the area and get to know 'my town'. Well that was not to be. The group we replaced was leaving so we did not have any duty drivers and we needed to pick a member up at the airport. I agreed to run up since I had a car. Frankfurt is about 1.5 hours away up the Autobahn. I really did not want to do an autobahn run right out of the gate, but I picked the car up at 3 pm and was heading to Frankfurt by 4 pm. The trip up was no problem. I rented the GPS system just in case and I had another person with me. Now for your knowledge the Autobahn does not list north/south or east/west directions. Instead they list the largest city you are driving towards. This means you need to know Germany. Up was simple, I was going to Frankfurt - a large German city. All the roads and connecting Autobahns were marked. Home was another issue. I picked up a new member but her luggage was lost so we waited. Then we finally got on the road and it was dark, very very dark. I am shocked how dark it is at night around here. And then it started to rain, just a little. Now I got on the road and knew I needed to hear towards Weisbaden, but that is where it ended. But no problem. I got the GPS and I even had the lady program it for English. So I set it for home and headed southwestish.

Well the machine told me to turn but I did not listen. I just did not think it was correct. Now I have been living in Germany for 2 weeks. I do not speak or read the language nor do I know the landscape but I did know the computer was wrong!!! Well it was not. I made MANY 'U' turns and some were more daring then others. I finally listened to the machine and made it home. I was 0.5 hours late but I was home. I was never so happy to see the base in all my life.

The next day we just stayed in town, but I think I got a parking ticket. I'm not sure so I need to ask Mrs. Barbara tomorrow. She is a German National who works in the office across the hall. She is very nice. I think she will get a laugh at my ticket. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday we went to a Christmas Market and I got all kinds of stuff. Linens and smokers. It was a great day in German. I then went to buy food for my apartment. I need a good steak. I have been eating a lot of chicken and pork. I need red meat.

Well that was my weekend. I had to work late tonight otherwise I was going to a Stamp'n up party. Since I could not go I called the Community Center and asked the lady to call me. I'll have my own party!!!!

Tomorrow should be another busy day but this is a four day week. We have a 4 day weekend so we are planning our next trip. As soon as I know where we are heading I will let you know.

Take care and talk/email you soon.

Pictures Pictures Pictures

This was taken at the airport before I left. We took another picture that looks just like this the night he left for Kosovo.

I must say - my husband has finally gotten into the spirit of Halloween. It is a shame I was not there to enjoy it. Please let him know how proud I am of his holiday spirit the next time you run into him.

Lots of new stuff

I already posted that I passed my driver's test this week but I need to add a footnote. I got 99 out of 100 - not bad. But my dad only got a 97 out of 100. I just had to throw that out there because the number of times I have beaten my dad are very limited. Sorry dad, but you have been disappointed if I didn't share this with the world.

I rented a car for this coming weekend. I am planning on staying local, I just want to get to know the area. I also want to go the Commissary (the grocery store) and buy more then 4 bags of food. If all goes well we are planning a road trip to Rothenburg next weekend. Rothenburg is a walled Medieval city that served as a cross road between Rome and points North. It is also known as the year-round Christmas city and it has a criminal punishment museum. Speaking of Christmas Markets we have plans for the Netherlands over Thanksgiving. They have the Valkenburg Cave Christmas Market where they set everything up in 7 different caves. Then after shopping all day we get to tour Lindt Chocolates Shopping and chocolate - oh my.


Vince and the kids had a great Halloween. I will post some pictures but I want those of you who have small children to take notice. When they are little they will wear whatever 'theme' you pick. But between the ages of 5 and 9 they decide to pick their own costumes. My best advice - good luck.

My new home in the mountains

My scarf

Mary Jo made fun of me because I bought four scarfs. Paula wants to see one. So here is a picture of me in Bavaria Germany. I am standing in the garden of Hohenschwangau Castle and the picture shows Neuschwanstein Castle in the background. This is where I spent last Saturday. These are 2 of 4 castles associated with Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria. I'll write all about him later, but this is the original Cinderella Castle. Walt Disney used Neuschwanstein as a model for the magic kingdom. Lots of great history in this little town. Oh yeah, and the beer Konig Ludwig Dunkel is out of this world. I first discovered Konig Ludwig Dunkel 17 years ago while travel with my parents. I drank a lot of it back then and I was very happy to find it again. It was like running into an old friend.

Enjoy the photos.

Driver's Test

Well, after a lot of studying I took the driver's test this morning. We were told months ago to start studying because there is a high failure rate. Germany has over 150 road signs and you need to know them for the test. The test is 100 questions, 75 multiple choice and 25 signs. In order to pass you must have at least 85 out of 100. Well to make a long story short I passed with a score of 99. I missed one question. In Germany if you have an accident the German police can use force to administer a blood alcohol test. They call in a German doctor and take blood, but force if needed. The question was, If you are in an accident how long afterwards must you wait to have a drink. The answer is 6 hours. The police have up to 6 hours after an accident to come to your house and take a blood sample. I put 12 hours. Either way this is one answer I will not forget because if I am in an accident the first thing I would wait is a beer, but now I know I must wait 6 hours.

I had a great weekend, but it is late so I will write tomorrow and tell you all about it. I have some great pictures to post.

Till tomorrow.

More pictures later

These photos were taken when I first moved in. Since then we have decorated a little so I will take more pictures and send them later.

The Kitchen

Here is my kitchen.

And more

Here is my living room. The tv is small, but it is free. I ordered cable last week. I think we pay about $30 a month, but we only get about 10 channels.

More Pictures

My Bathroom

More Pictures

Here is another picture of my room.

My Apartment

Here is my bedroom.

My Mailing Address

I thought I would repost my mailing address so it was easier to find.

LCDR Marcia Vandzura
CMR 402 Box 693
APO AE 09180

See you later.

I have the day off - I think

It is Tuesday morning and I think I am off today. I was told we did not have anything scheduled but I guess I will find out tomorrow if I was not off today. I got up and went to the gym to workout. It is about 1.0 mile from my home, so I got a workout before and after my workout. Then I came home and put some clothes in the washing machine. I made a quick lunch and now I am typing on the computer.

There is a great show on the National Geographic Channel about the E-coli outbreak in Scotland in 1997. It is so scary how much damage E-coli can do. All I know is I will cook my food and use an anti-bacterial cleaning agent in my kitchen.

Mary Jo, oh how you know me. The good thing is that the dollar is very weak when compared to the Euro so I am limited by what I will spend. Basically if the item is 10 euro it costs me $15. For example the other day I took a taxi from the hospital back to base it was 26 euro or 40 dollars.

Aunt Lucy left me a comment, Good job! I will try to post pictures later this afternoon but I need to go check my clothes. Talk to you soon.

Fat and Happy

so far that seems to be the theme for this adventure. I am going to be fat and happy if I do not start working out again. The pub is a short walk up the hill from my place and it is so easy to go there for dinner. And a beer - or two. Between Friday and Monday I have had 4 L of beer. I have no idea what the calorie count is and I do not want to know. And the food. It is sooo good. I have not had a bad meal there yet. Everything is to die for. I am off tomorrow so I plan to get up and go running. No time like the present.

I was in a 4 hour meeting this afternoon with the group we are replacing - the actually admin shop. It was very informative. We, the people in admin, have a lot of work ahead of us. I know the people we are working with so I know everything will be fine.

I ran into the girl with the boyfriend who has a camp in Tionesta again today. If you do not know what I am talking about look back a few days. Anyway she was talking to her boyfriend and they plan to spend a few weeks at the camp when she gets home. They are going to look my Aunt and Uncle up when they get to Tionesta. His last name is Fields. I think it is another crazy example of what a small world it can be.

Well I should sign off. I am getting tired and by beer is telling me it is time to go to bed.

Talk to ya'll tomorrow.

Rainy Sunday Afternoon in Germany

It is about 5:15 Sunday afternoon. Days big adventure was to try to make it over the exchange at Ramstein. While I had to take a bus to take a bus to Ramstein - so we did. I left my apartment around 11:35 am and finally got to Ramstein at 1:35. I shopped for a little bit and had lunch. I got back on a bus at 3:40 and traveled to my base. The security checks are crazy because it took me 1 hour to go 10 miles. Then I had to walk the last 1.o mile to my apartment. I decided Ramstein is so not worth all that until I can get a car.

Did I mention it started to rain when I got off the bus in Ramstein? And that is has not stopped? We were told to expect cold rainy days and I think they are settling in.

Well I was going to wash clothes this afternoon, but I think I am going to the pub for an early dinner with friends and then home. I get to sleep in again tomorrow because I do not need to be at the hospital until 10:45 - oh Glory day!

If anything interesting happens tonight I'll share, otherwise I will talk to you tomorrow.
me

Today's events

Well let me start with Friday night. After getting home late we decided to go to the club for a beer and dinner. We got there had a beer and waited an hour for our food. It is a small little cafe style place with a very small staff. The man running the place is very nice and the food is great but you have to wait. So I had a beer before my food arrived and another one with my food. Now the beer is served in 0.5 L glasses. So I had 1.0 L of beer (that is half of a 2.0 L bottle of soda - just to give you a reference point). I was happy - life was good. Then Karaoke started. I do not sing in public - not even after 1.0 L of beer. We stayed at the bar and sang/danced from our table. Before two long someone ordered a third round. We drank, sang and danced. I went to the bathroom and came back to find a fourth round. So by the end of the night I finished 2.0 L of beer. I was feeling very good, but not sick. See I did not throw up of the way home like some of my friends (I won't mention any names but the person who went to NYC for a wedding and throw up on the bus back to the hotel knows who she is....)

I just got in at 1:00 am. I have not been out drinking until 1:00 for a very long time. It was fun. Some of the girls from our team took pictures. If they turn out I will see if I can get a copy to share.

Today was the first day I did not have to report anywhere in 21 days - so I slept in. The beer did not help. I got up around 11am and took a shower because I wanted to go into a real German town. See I have been in Germany for 5 days and the only thing I have seen is military and I wanted to make sure I really was in Germany.

There is a bus stop outside of the gate I can take into K-town. K-town is short for Kaiserlautern. One of the girls and I wanted to go downtown and walk around. We were told there were shops and cafes so off we went.

We got to the bus stop but could not read the directions so I asked someone and they said we wanted to go to the RathHaus and that is should take about 15 to 20 mins. Ok. We got on the bus, bought our tickets for 1.70 euro and off we went. We rode and rode and rode. We watched each stop and I even checked the name at each bus stop. Finally we get into this residential area. The bus has gone from empty to full to empty again. Just these two American women and two old German women. Finally the bus driver stops the bus, turns it off and walks back to us. He starts talking in German and we just smile and said 'we don't speak German'. He shakes his head and says ' finished - get off' We were like what - we want to go to the RathHaus.' He says something and points over his shoulder. Then he shakes his head and tells us we need to pay again. I figured by this point we missed the stop. So after he got off and had a cigarette he got back on the bus and off we went. Finally we got to the RathHaus stop and we got off. Of course we laughed the whole way back. But get this. The names for the stops are different one each side of the street. Now we know we need to look for fracklebonner when we want to go downtown and shop.

Buy this time it is 3:30 and we are hungry. We notice a cafe and head over. It turns out that the cafe is a bakery shop attached to a grocery store and they only have 3 sandwiches left. I buy a small ham sandwich, another cheese covered roll and a coke. We sit and eat, but as we are getting ready to go there is a siren roaring toward us. So we stop and look out the window. There is this guy laying on the ground against a brick wall and not moving. The ambulance rolls in and we stand there to watch. The young girl at the shop walks over to see what we are looking at. She sees the scene and just shakes her head while she walks away. So I ask her what happened. She looks at me and says ' It is Saturday and Mr. Jones is drunk again. He does this every Saturday.' We went shopping.

It was very cold so I bought a very cute European looking coat with a scarf to match. Everyone wears a scarf around here and I LOVE them. So far a have 4. I can't wait to wear one tomorrow.

Well I should go. It is 10 pm and Vince is going to try to do a video call with the kids in a few minutes.

Thanks for all the emails this week. I lover hearing from everyone.

Shelby please tell your parents I am only a few miles from Mannheim. I pass the sign every morning on my way to work and think of you guys. I think your mom is right - Spring!!!

I got my mailing address on Friday. Here it is

LCDR Marcia Vandzura
CMR 402 Box 693
APO AE 09180

I also got my ration card on Friday so now I can buy my coffee, cigaretts and alcohol. I can buy as much beer and wine as I want, but the hard stuff is rationed. Good Figure.

Ok I'll watch for my mail box to fill up ha ha ha.

Talk to you soon.

Saturday night update

I'm not sure what all I posted from this week so if I repeat myself sorry.

Tuesday and Wednesday we had some down time and I told you about all the walking we have to do to get anywhere.

Thursday and Friday we were training with the Army. Not bad, just long days. I am up at 0400 and not back in the evenings until 5 or 6 pm. Then I need to get something to eat, shower, check my email and get to bed. However these last two days were a little more of a struggle because the Army did not schedule extra buses for us. On Thursday we took a taxi so we did not have to wait for 2 hours. Friday we just waited.

Thursday we had to take a taxi home, 15 mins - 8 miles, and they charged us $40. Well lesson learned. We will not take a taxi all that often.

Friday we had about 3.5 hours to wait between training sessions. I happened to meet someone from the 'old' navy. (That is what we are called 'new' navy or 'old' navy. New Navy just arrived Old Navy is leaving in a few weeks.) We started talking and it turns out her boyfriend has a hunting camp in Tionesta, where my Aunt and Uncle live. Small world. Later in the day I met another nurse and we started talking. This other LT walked over and introduced himself and asked me where I was from. So I said "Pennsylvania" he asked what part so I said "Altoona' and he just smiled. I asked him if he knew Altoona and he responded 'My dad is from Loretto' I responded "Really I grew up in Portage, where did he go to school" So he states his dad lived in Bradley Junction and went to Bishop Carroll. And I told him I went to BC with some of the Bradley's but his dad graduated in 1968 so I thought maybe my aunt or uncle would know him, but he was there before they were. Anyway his last name was O'Neil. What a crazy small world.
So that was the last two days.

Aunt Lucy

No pressure or anything but Grandma left me a comment on my blog the other day.

I'm here

Well let me start with I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to convert my blog page from German to English and seeing how I do not know German it was interesting. But anyway I'm back on line.

We got in Monday around noon and made it to our rooms by the middle of the afternoon. My roommate is Lisa and she is very nice. I think we are going to get along great. She is a nurse and usually works in the ICU but will be on the Med Surg floor. Now for those of you who are nurses, and reading this (I guess since only my MOM has left a comment) might think this is a step down. However our Med Surg floor is more like an ICU unit then real med surg - or so I was told. I guess we will see.

Monday I started to unpacked but quit and went to the pub on base. I had a Murphy Amber, Irish beer. It was very good, but they serve it in a .5L glass and there is a lot more alcohol then you light weights in the states. Anyway I had to walk home through the woods, with my roommate, and without a flash light. It is very dark in the part of Germany but I guess that is why it is the black forest. I made it home and life was good. Until...

I had to be on bus at 0520 - that's 5:20 am to get to the hospital for a 0730 muster. I was so tired. It has been this way all week but I am adjusting to getting up at 0400. The good thing is Uncle Sam picks out my clothes so I save a few minutes.

Tuesday and Wednesday we had down time to get to the store and but stuff for our apartment- towels, shower curtain and food. I did take pictures and will upload them this weekend. BUT in order to get to a store I have to walk 1.0 mile to the exchange - department store and 1.5 miles to the commissary. This is one way. Then I can only buy what I can carry. On Wednesday we made 3 trips. I know I am walking between 6 and 10 miles a day. Oh I forgot, I am also on the top floor so I have 7 flights of steps to climb and there is no elevator. I may have to give up Coke for the year because carrying a case 1.5 miles and then 7 flights of steps does not seem worth it!!

I think I am going to sign off for now it is 2300 my time - that is 11pm. Shelby,
I would like you to ask Kirsten or Des to make me some titles for our Navy Board in the hospital. As soon as I know what I will let you know since they have not sent me any comments - no guilt or anything it's ok.
Talk to you soon.
me

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

...don't know when I'll be back again.

Wow how true are those lyrics. Today is the day. We depart today at some point and arrive in Germany so time tomorrow. I will have limited access to the internet until we get our connections hooked up. I am hoping there is a computer bank and I can write. Say a little prayer the next 48 hours are smooth. The best part is we are moving into the meat of the mission.

Talk to you soon.
Love ya

One more note for California

OK - my computer arrived Friday but I have to share a story. We have been working of Special Pay Packages for our MDs, CRNAs, and other special people. The process of gathering and generating the information needed has been long and labor intense. We were off site working the packages and realized we were going to need to gather the special people one more time so I was getting a little frustrated. Especially since we had been trying to complete 27 packages for 3 days. So I was all excited when I knew I was going to pick up my computer. I arrived at the UPS store on base and waited in line for what felt like a very long time. When it was my turn I asked for my package (Vince was tracking it). The woman went back to look for it and then returned and told me it was not there. She wanted my tracking number but of course I did not have it. So she blew me off. Big mistake. Then she told me to come back later. So I said 'Oh no, I paid for overnight delivery by 10 am and it is noon.' Then one of the other guys spoke up and said '3 packages arrived this morning.' Then he proceeded to walk back to the same counter with only 3 boxes on it and WOW he found my name. I told him thank you. But as I walked away I wondered, out loud, why was it is hard to find 1 name out of 3? But not loud enough for the girl to hear.

At least I have my computer.

Today was cold and raining - buckets. Now I am back in my room watching the Penn State game, the last one I will see for a whole year. The good thing is we are winning.

I need to go pick up my clean uniforms. Then I need to start packing. I should be in Germany some time next week.

Well I need to go dry my hair. Vince should be calling soon.

Back Online - sort of....

HI! I have not been able to post for a week because I dropped my laptop the first day and the hard drive crashed. I have to over-night the computer back to PA and I am waiting to get it back. I am using my bosses so this needs to be quick because I have some work to do.

Things are going great. The weather last week was sooo cold out here. It was warmer in PA then Southern CA - go figure. We had training all last week then we got some 'down-time' on Sunday and Monday. We were told on Saturday that we will not have any days off in the next year - we are in the Military and we work 24/7/365. Then we were told if we do not have anything do we could have 'down-time'! Whatever!!

So Sunday in my 'down-time' we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was very nice and we had a great time. Later I will tell you about the monkeys, but it was fun. Monday we window shopped in Coronodo and then went to The Hotel Del Coronodo for a drink. If you get a chance look up 'The Del' online. It is so beautiful. Coronodo is a beautiful island, but a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath 3000 sq ft home is 2 million dollars. I think I will just visit!

Tuesday and today we were back to work. The weather has gotten warmer - the Santa Anna winds have kicked up and they are bring in warm air.

Other than that nothing is new. Vince and kids seem to be doing very well. I sent them a care package last week. Parker was excited and then he gave me a list of what he wanted.

Ok I need to go. Take care.

PS. Aunt Lucy I got your email and it was great. I will try to respond later tonight, but in the meantime. At this end of this post is my name, date and time. Then there is 0 comments. Click on the 0 comments and it will take you to a screen where you can type a note and publish it.

Love to all. See you in 350 some days.
Marcia

361 and a Wake Up

This is a Navy term to count down how many days are left until you go home, so I have 361 more days and a wake up.

Today was the first official day for the whole group. The Command Team arrived Saturday so we could prepare for the arrival of the main body. It took all day to move 290 people through the arrival check-in. In fact at 2am we were still welcoming people and trying to get them rooms. I made it to bed around 0230 and was back up at 0530. This is military life. I was a little tired, but I have a meeting this evening at 1900 (7pm) and them I am going to bed.

Things today were very typical of the military - hurry up and wait. Tomorrow we break up into smaller groups and move through the different stations - medical, dental, legal, pay etc.

I have one more computer course to complete and then my online stuff is finished.

The weather was great - you got to love Southern California Weather.

Two good stories.

Saturday day night for Sunday we had a 3.0 earthquake right here in San Diego. I did wake up at 0330, but I did not notice anything. Some the ladies said their room was shaking but nothing broke. So I guess I slept right through it.

Then this morning while we were waiting for the buses I go to experience a 'pump and dump'. You see the ships pull up to port and need to dump all the waste. So they 'pump' the tanks and then 'dump' it out. The smell is something I would not like to experience again.

Ok. I need to get ready for my meeting. I'll let you know if anything exciting happens tomorrow.

Talk to you later.
Love ya!
Marcia

I made it to California

Good Morning.
It is 0705 Sunday September 30th. I made it in last night around 8pm my time. I was tired so I just went to bed. I got up early today and unpacked a little. I have to meet my group around 0800 so I better get going. I'll post more later.
Marcia

Lake Tobias

Ok I did not want to add a lot of pictures to that last blog. I will add a few to this one about Lake Tobias. We drove over for day back in August. The weather was very hot, but we still had a good time. Here are a few pictures.

Germany Update

Hi! For everyone who has been waiting patiently for an update (Shelby and LEx Staff) here it is. I have only 96 hours until I leave. I still do not know what airport I am leaving from. As of now I am leaving from the DC area Saturday afternoon. As soon as I know I'll post again.

Things have been very busy since my last post - in June. Catcher finished baseball. His minor league team finished 3rd and his Major League team finished 1st. They even went to the Dean Patterson Tournament ( A big deal for our area) and took the title. Everyone was very excited. In the middle of the summer Catcher started playing ice hockey. It has been a lot of fun. He is playing on an in-house team for Altoona and a traveling team. Vince will be very busy traveling all over the state with the 3 kids. This should help pass the time.

Kaite is not dancing this year. She is also playing ice hockey. She looks so cute on the ice in all her gear. And as anyone who KNOWS Kaite, she is much better suited for ice hockey. I'll keep you posted on the seasons.

Parker is still 'Peter Parker'. Today he got a venom costume for Halloween. He put it on and ran through the shop. I wonder what the guys thinks when they see him - because some day he may be there boss.

Since I am leaving soon and the family is going to join me for Christmas in Germany we did not go on any big vacations. However, we did go over to Lake Tobias. It was great! I'll post some pictures. ( Is that great Shelby or what???)

Ok I should get going. I am sitting out here at hockey practice and since they had Wi-Fi I thought I would try to post.

I need to go out and get rain gear - I heard it is cold and wet from now until May.

Summer Vacation

Well, we have been very busy the last 3 weeks. Kaite had her dance recital and she did great. I'll post photos once I get them back from mom. Catcher has been playing baseball and doing well. He started Hockey 2 weeks ago by joining a 3 on 3 league. He had 2 goals his second week. And Parker is still our family clown.



I rented my annual summer dumpster and it is just about full. I rent a garbage dumpster when I get out for school so I can really 'clean house'. There is nothing better then throwing out stuff. I usually do this every other summer, but since I will not be here next summer I got one this summer.



The deployment is moving along. The alert order is do out in the next 2 weeks so then it is official.



Otherwise we are just keeping busy by swimming and going to baseball games. Well, I'll sign off for now - I only have the dumpster for 3 more days and I have 4 more rooms to get through before the heat index reaches 90+.
Marcia

First Entry

24 May 2007

Today is my first entry. Shelby encouraged me to start a blog so I can keep in touch with family and friends over the next 18 months. In case you do not know, I am scheduled to deploy to Landstuhl, Germany for 1 year to support the Medical Center. I report in for Active duty on 01 OCT 2006. I intend to update my blog so it will serve as an online journal - Thanks Shelby for the great idea.

Todate nothing is new with the deployment, we are still scheduled to leave in October.

Catcher is playing in a Tournament with his Major League team for the first time this evening.

Kaite's dance recital is tomorrow and Parker is busy being Spiderman.

Just like every weekend - this place is crazy.