Settling in

We had someone clean the majority of the house before we got back to Italy.  So the floors were cleaned and most of the cobwebs were vacuumed up.  Things were dusted and clean sheets were on the bed.  It was nice to not have to deal with bugs as soon as we got home.  However, looking around at everything that still needed to be done was (as still is) completely overwhelming.  There is still a LOT to do.
Abbie was like a kid in a candy store with all of her old toys.  It’s been very nice having her so interested in playing because we can actually get things done while she’s up because she too busy playing.  And it’s nice to have a fenced in yard again because she runs around outside and plays on her slide too while we’re in the house cleaning and organizing.
The first night we were home Abbie slept from about 8pm – 1:30am.  I spent from 1:30am – 3am trying to get her to go back to sleep and finally gave up at 3am.  I got her up and let her play from 3am – 5:30am, while I got her room and clothes more organized.  The second night she did pretty well, only waking up once at 1:30am.  The third night was the worst.  She was up about 7 times between 9pm and 8am.  And the fourth night she slept all the way through the night.  I’m really hoping she’ll sleep all the way through tonight too.
It’s weird being back in Italy.  I know this is my home, but it feels like I’m on vacation for some reason.  Like I live here, but not really and not permanently.  Being around all my stuff and the base and driving my car really reminds me of Mark and makes me miss him 10x’s more than I did when I was in the States.
My mom and I have slowly been getting the house put back in order.  I had 19 boxes waiting for me at the post office when we got back.  I went to the service counter to get the combination for my p.o. box on base and she took one look at my ID and said “Oh <my last name>.  You have a few boxes here.”   Then I went to the pick up window with all my package slips (they put slips of paper in your box when you have a package and you have to go pick it up at a window).  One of the guys behind the counter got one look at all my slips I had in my hands and said, “You must be <my last name>.”  And then another guy came up a few minutes later and looked at all the slips the first guy was going through and asked if I was <my last name>.  Ha.  So…  apparently most people don’t ship 33 boxes in one month.  I was worried about the BOB getting here, but it made it here just fine and even fit into the truck of my Passat without any problem.  It took us two trips to get all the boxes home, but the 19 that have arrived so far are at home.  I’m still waiting for 14 more from me and then all the ones Mark shipped back from Afghanistan also.
I still don’t have Internet or home phone, which pretty much stinks, and my internet isn’t working on my cell phone either, but at least I can use my phone and send and receive texts on my phone also.  I’m not completely cut off from the outside world, but it sure feels like that not having internet access.  They came out 2 days ago to hook up the satellite, and told me that I would have internet access Monday morning, but no such luck on that.  They still haven’t turned it on.  My home phone situation is a HUGE mess that I’m still trying to figure out and I have no clue when that’s going to be fixed.
Overall, it’s good to be home and I can’t wait for Mark to get home.  We have a TON to do with rearranging our house though and it’s stressful looking around.  I’ve been making lists upon lists and hopefully we’ll be able to get it all done before baby boy arrives.