Just to Clarify:

It was an artistic choice to name the country only, but people have asked, so I wanted to clarify that we are being posted to Frankfurt, Germany. We are very excited about it, too.

First and foremost, there couldn't be a better place to take the dogs. I hear that dogs are permitted on the subway and in most stores. Secondly, Stefan's maternal family is from Germany and his aunt and cousin live there still. We are very anxious and excited for both of them to be a bigger and more frequent part of our lives (and our children's)! Maybe I should reverse the order of those two points... nah, everyone here knows how important the dogs are.

I am also looking forward to learning to speak German because there has been more than one occasion where I've felt left out of a conversation in the Whitney family home. They chatter on in German and I imagine the worst... that they are all talking about me. No more. I will soon be in on the joke myself.

Stefan tells me that Germany is a wonderful place for children and I have no doubt, seeing as how all the best toys come from there... I imagine the preschools are like amusement parks and the playgrounds are built out of over-sized playmobil bits. I think the girls are going to be very happy. I just hope they have some memory of our time there as Flora will only be 2 1/2 and Adela will be 4 when we leave.

Having attended a "Logistics of Moving Overseas" class yesterday, I am starting to understand just how many things there are to think about (by the way, I really wish I had been able to take that class before we moved to the Oakwood. It would have been great to have been armed with all that information before we packed up our house. For those of you who are yet to make the initial move, don't be afraid to ask for some of the highlights when your time comes). I feel overwhelmed by all the details and I am going to a fully developed Western European country. I can only imagine how it must feel to be going to a place like... Luanda, Angola!

The only downside to our first post is that because Stefan is already fluent in German, we will be leaving NOVA sooner than I had hoped-- not because I am so in love Falls Church, but because I am loathe to move again so soon and had hoped to enjoy getting to know Washington, DC and some new friends before we depart. But I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I am totally psyched. This is awesome.

Tomorrow: my rant on government-issued "American Colonial" dark-finish furniture.