Justin received his ETS orders and we've got tickets home! We'll be in Illinois in the middle of February. So that gives us only 2 months to do whatever it is we want to do before leaving Europe. So what do we do?

Our sleeping schedule has still been horrible. Justin has trouble falling alseep and then I wake up from his noise and can't get back to sleep. Yesterday I fell asleep right after I got home from work and then again after dinner! Today Justin took a nap while I was at work and forgot to come get me. Ahhh! I just want to sleep on a schedule and not be tired when I wake up!

I had Open House at the CAC today. It was crazy! I had appointments all morning and then I had to set up for Santa and go straight into that until 18:00. I love seeing little kids meeting Santa for the first time. Every baby cried! One little girl gave Santa a hug and then started crying when he was on his lap. Some brought pictures and others gave him toys. I'm so glad Gene was there to take care of the printing! So many people are in line and giving me receipts and requesting 2 of one pose and andother shot of everyone, but not any of them crying... It was stressful! But in the end I'm glad we're able to offer this service to the community. We've got another Santa shoot next week with the offical tree lighting ceremony. Woohoo! I'm also booked up for Saturday. Man, taking vacation during peak Christmas photo time is coming back to kick my butt! One good thing is the Ceremony and Ball are on different days so I can technically do both now. Things just kinda work out sometimes! I really hope this next photographer works out too. I don't want to be in charge of taking Ball photos in January for my own Ball... She came by tonight but I was so busy with Santa pictures I didn't get to talk with her. Right now I bet she's reconsidering the job with all the craziness going on tonight!

As most of you know, we're back in Germany. We arrived with our luggage after a delayed flight in St. Louis. I thought for sure they wouldn't have enough to time to get our luggage on to the flight to Germany, but it did in fact make it! It was also the first luggage on the carousel at the airport too, which makes me think it barely made it there! We had complications getting back to Bamberg. Although we actually landed early in Germany, there was still a plane in our gate that we had to wait on for half an hour, making us miss the last free shuttle back to Germany. We tried calling ahead for them to hold the bus at the next stop, but when we go there 15 minutes after their scheduled departure time to Bamberg, we saw they had already left, stranding us in Hanau, still 2 hours from home. After the car rental place located on a different post that we walked to in Hanau with our luggage in the cold told us we had to renturn the car the next day rather than the usual drop-off-at-any-sixt-car-rental, and the only taxi at the taxi stand had the driver pulling car parts out of the engine, we walked off post again to the nearest taxi to take us to the bahnhof where we could ride the train home. So after landing at 10:45, we didn't get home until 18:00 that night. We were both so tired we slept for 12 hours straight, not moving once during the night, until the phone rang. (Good thing they called or we would have slept all day)

As soon as we got up we had to start getting ready for our third Thanksgiving this year! All I had to do was make deviled eggs. I couldn't believe how much food Brandy made all by herself! Turkey, Ham, Bread, Corn, Green Bean Bundles, Cheesy Hashbrowns, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Stuffing, Baked Beans, Yams, Sugar Cookies, Brownies, Pecan Pie, Chocolate Pie... There was probably more, I was just stunned it was all homemade and so good! She fed quite a few single soliders that day and then we had leftovers the next day too!

We've now been fighting to sleep at night. We took Nyquil the 2nd night, but it didn't do me any good. I just felt sick and still restless. Justin couldn't sleep 2 nights ago and stayed up until 6:30am playing World of Warcraft with Nick. He slept for an hour and I made him get up so he'd sleep with me the next night. Ha! He went to bed with me but got up an hour later and played his game again until 5:00... I'm not happy about this game. So hopefully tonight is better.

I'm not really looking forward to work. I'm trying to debate which is more important and what my boss will say. I have decide if I want to go to Justin's Award Ceremony or take pictures for a Ball. I've already said yes to the Ball b ut just recently found out about the ceremony. I know what I want to do, but it's not wise for income. We're chanign our hours in December too! Instead of opening at 11:30, we're going to open at 8:00. December is just a busy month with Santa, Sports, Balls, and Christmas photos and I'm overly worrying myself about it.

We're still looking into Dublin for Christmas but his time off is no garuantee since he's already took leave in November. I have the tickets ready to purchase for a great price but if we wait much longer, I'm sure prices will rise quicky! I wish we could know in advance if he has guard duty!

I took Max to the Vet today to get his Health Certificate to fly home with us on Wednesday. I made this appointment at least a month in advance so that I'd have plenty of time to make sure everything went smoothly. I was surprised the lady pushed it back only 2 days before our fly date, but it was understandable because it's only good for 10 days.

Max is in great shape. No ear problems, no eyesight issues, and a little on the lower side of weight at 24lbs. Doc said it was better lower than higher though. He's fit to fly! However, I'm a bad doggie mommy. Dogs have to have yearly Rabies shots and I didn't know this. He was 2 months behind on that, so they gave him one. Here's the tricky part: They have to have the shot at least 30 days before they can enter the US. Now, he has had A shot in his body for 30 days, a year ago in fact. This is just an update. The Doctor explained it to me to try and get through as a loop hole, but it's no guarantee. They could easily see his records and then quarantine him until the 30 days are up.

So now it's last minute decision. Do I risk it and bring him home? Or do I find a dogsitter and put up with Max for another 3 months instead of travel? Poor Max, I really do love you!

So the day I got my teeth out, I took a nap on the couch... all night until bedtime. Justin woke me up because he was scared that I was dead or something. I had ice packs wrapped around my head and guaze jammed in the back of my mouth to stop the bleeding. It did eventually stop bleeding. I made a little chart so that when I was completely out of it, Justin could feed me the right medications at the right times. Some are 4 hours apart, some are 6 hours, some once daily. They're efficient for sure! I haven't felt any pain besides a little tenderness on the outside of my cheeks today. Last night was also spent on the couch. As soon as I put in the movie, I was asleep. I didn't even get past the opening credits. On top of that, Justin took a nap with me earlier in the day too! I don't think I've ever gotten so much sleep before! I wake up earlier though, which is kinda nice. As soon as I take my Percoset though, I just wanted to sleep again.

I went to work today. I'm not supposed to go back until Monday, but I feel good enough to take pictures. I just get drowsy quick. I've swollen some, but not as much as I think people were hoping! My cheeks are chubby anyway, so it's not real noticeable. I went back to the dentist today for a followup and he already took out my stitches. I'm healing pretty quickly and haven't yet developed dry socket or infection. It's been a pretty smooth operation. The doctor even called me the next day to see if I was ok. Two thumbs up for Dr. Sooky!

Today was the day! Hooray! I took my Valium last night at 10:00 so I could sleep well. At 3:30 I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. I guess it's life span isn't long enough. I got up right after Justin left at 7:30. I took my shower and cleaned the house. Mostly just keeping myself busy from nervousness. At 9:00 I took my ibprofen and valium again. I felt a little funny, but it may have just been me being nervous. I left at 9:30 and walked to the dentist. I waited past my appointment time, as usual. When I got in there I was expecting laughing gas, an iv, something strong and mind altering! Instead I got needle injections galore. They didn't wait long to start right in on the upper teeth which were already through the surface. I'm not sure what they did up there. They could have made little cuts, but all I felt was pressure and he was already moving to the next tooth. Wow! No pain what-so-ever.

Although I couldn't see what he was doing, I knew that for the bottom they would cut through my gum and break the bone blocking it from coming in. I could definetely hear it when he reached my tooth and the scrapping away of gums. Then he pulled out what sounded like a mini chain saw. I knew he was cutting through the bone. Yuck! Gross! By far the worst part was the sounds combined with the taste of bone shavings in my throat. I felt nothing but pressure though, and that's what really mattered to me. After dealing with the German dentist, I didn't think I could ever trust another dentist.

The bottom teeth were harder to get out and he spent much more time on them. I'm pretty sure he cracked my tooth and took out bit and pieces at a time. Once he did both sides, I had bits of tooth in the back of my mouth, as well as some on my clothes. Ick. I could see his bloody gloves diggin around in my mouth, but I guess the Valium did it's job. All I thought was, "Cool. My blood is everywhere and don't feel a thing." They ended up splattering some blood on my sweatshirt, but I was still in the "whatever" state of mind.

He stiched my bottom sockets up and then stuffed my mouth with gauze. He explained all the procedures I needed to take and again made definete sure that I would not be around smoke, nor start smoking int he next 4 days minimum, preferably a week. I can't have any solid foods for 4 days, drink froma straw, spit, exercise... I'm very limited on everything. I think it'd be a good time to catch up on movies. He wrote me a get out of work free card for 4 days. Sorry work and my booked appointments in the next 4 days!

Right now I feel fine. The medication still hasn't worn off from the shots. But he prescribed me 4 bottles of goodies along with my ibprofen, so I guess that means I won't be feeling so well after a few more hours. Justin has been kind so far and helped rig up a couple ice packs tied up with a headband around my cheeks so I could type this. :) I think I'm gonna relax now.