Things I miss about 'Home'

WARNING: I'm not in the best of moods right now so this one is kind of negative. I've been stuck in the apartment (read #1) except for taking Blake to the bus and getting him off the bus, all day long. Ken's in the field this week for his monthly field training. And to top it all off, just when it warms up enough to where we're not sliding all over walking Blake to/from the bus stop, we're supposed to get a storm Wed. night or Thurs. morning. I can't wait till the snow stops. I can handle the cold. I DO NOT LIKE SNOW. There is a reason I left Idaho after 9 months and never went back. The same reason is why I've only been out 'West' once since then and it was in the summer. SNOW IS NOT FUN. Watch us get sent to Germany next.

1) Being warm. When the average temp outside is around 20 degrees, it's TOO cold. And it makes walking to the park a pain because of the ice and snow walking down hill while fat and pregnant (yes it's the same thing) and pushing a stroller. Too much forward momentum.

2) Having a car to go places in. When you have 3 kids, and another one in the oven, walking is NOT the best mode of transportation. Buses aren't fun either. And don't even ask about the subway.

3) A bigger house. Yes, before anyone who has seen our old house in Saint Cloud can comment, I know it was small, but at least I had somewhere to go for a few minutes to get away from the noise of the kids. 5 people in around 900 sq ft is a bit cramped. Where are we going to fit all our stuff?!?

4) American TV. What channels we can get in English come with Korean subtitles, even Disney channel. And Disney channel is the only kids channel we get. And before anyone comments on just going online to catch up on my shows, find me a site that doesn't have international copyright laws attached. Every site I've tried will not let me view anything because of that, including hulu.

5) Not having neighbors who can hear everything. I truly feel sorry for our neighbors. We live in a 3 story building and we're right in the middle. We think we have people upstairs now. With all the noise I can't get away from, I can just imagine the noise the neighbors hear.

6) Normal plumbing, with traps in the drains. And heated bathrooms go along with that. No our bathrooms are NOT heated.

7) Pre-K. Cathryn NEEDS to be in Pre-K. For her sake and mine. But there's no where to send her. Even the Korean kids don't even start school until the age of 8. Holy Cow!! How do the parents do it?!?

8) Target. We went to the Px the other night (that's the sort of smallish store on base for you non military folks. Stands for Post Exchange). Ken & I were looking for a lanyard thing for Blake to put his bus pass card in for school so he doesn't lose it. No where in site.

9) English. We went from Central Fl where all the 'workers' speak Spanish and no one can understand them to South Korea where all the workers on post speak Korean and no one can understand them. At least they're supposed to speak Korean here.

10) Normal grocery stores and off brand food at the grocery store. Yeah, we don't have to pay taxes on anything we buy, but we didn't pay taxes on food in FL anyway. So having to pay extra for the name brand stuff every time we go to the commissary is going to add up. Maybe it will be the same since I have to wait until we're out of almost everything before I can get to the store again. Usually we walk to post, go grocery shopping, and take a taxi home with all the food in the taxi's trunk. And milk doesn't come in gallon sizes so I usually have 6 grocery bags just of half gallons of milk.