Thursday, October 06, 2011

Getting to GTMO

Well we made it! Finally arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Tuesday afternoon. Had to be at the airport at about 3:00 am that morning for our flight because of the dog, supposedly you need to be there 6 hours early if you are shipping a pet. We obviously did not heed that and a good thing because as it was it took about 10 minutes to check us all in and then we sat around waiting for 4 hours. Met a charming old man at the airport who was flying out to Italy to see his grandkids. He told jokes to the kids and shared some of his adventures, boy could that guy talk! The flights themselves were pretty uneventful. I was a little worried about my Bueller and how he would handle the flight but he didn't seem too traumatized.

When we arrived at GTMO Joey's boss was waiting with about 5 or 6 other guys and gals to meet us and help get all our luggage home. Everyone was very excited to see us and very friendly and helpful. They drove us and all our baggage to our house, which already was set up with loaner furniture. I imagined us on air beds or something with no where to sit or anything but we all have real beds and dressers, a dining room table and chairs, and a couch and chair with a few end tables for the living room. They also had a dish pack with basic dishes so we can cook. We were lucky enough to get a 4 bedroom, so that will be nice. Joey's boss also let us use his vehicle to go to the exchange/commisary and get a few items we needed and food of course. We definitely had a full day.

Wednesday Joey had to report for work. He met more of his co-workers and got to start settling into his office. I pretty much worked on laundry and getting the girls organized in their rooms. After work his boss offered to take us on a tour of the base and we got to see his office too, a real office, not like his cracker box office on the ship. LOL We saw pretty much everything the base has to offer. The girls favorites were Glass Beach, where they have already found a few pieces of sea glass for their collection, and the Pool of course. Once again this guy could talk and he was a fount of information. I had no idea there was so much history here! Joey also met our next door neighbor and arranged for us to share their internet until ours is in, which they say could take a month or two!

This morning I took the girls to school and got them registered and in class. There are a total of 13 girls and 3 boys in the class with my girls. They have been eagerly awaiting the girls arrival. They have a nice big classroom and their teacher seems nice from what I saw today. We will see what they have to say when they get home.

That is it for now. I will post more as we have more adventures.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Made By Sydney

This actually happened a few months ago, however, it has taken me this long to get over the horror and embarrassment and be able to laugh about it. Here goes. The other night I went into the "family" restroom, which is mostly used by the girls. When I get to the toilet there is a humongous pile of crap in it. Seriously, it looked like it should have come out of a horse and not one of our little girls! And of course I am about to go into their room and read them the riot act about flushing the toilet when I see this little hand written sign on the back of the toilet that says "Made by Sydney". . . there are no words that can sufficiently convey how dumbstruck I was by this.