I will fill in the space between posts later

but right now I am just luxuriating in having finally unpacked. 6 suitcases, three carry ons, two lap top bags, a purse, a double stroller, two toddlers and a husband through multiple flights and airports. There were a few times we thought that we had lost an item here and there, but we did all make it back to Berlin (although we left the suits and toiletries at the in-laws by accident).

Came back to a general transport strike here in Berlin and my class was cancelled yesterday, so I was able to finish the unpacking we started Sunday morning and do my 5th load of laundry. I am sorry that I didn't run about a little in the highly unusual sunshine, but I just wanted to get things done. Hopefully the sun was a harbinger of days to come.

Also came back to find that my landlord had taken care of some odds and ends we had requested, which was great. Unfortunately, while setting up the phone system to be slightly different (allow for caller ID) something happened which makes all my incoming and outgoing calls cut off somewhere around the 3 minute mark. This is especially frustrating when calling the US. I am hoping that can be fixed today. Also, the lack of curtains in the apartment, which was to be rectified in January, has become a serious problem: it is too bright in here! With the glare on the screen, I can't look at TV in the day and the kids are being awakened too early. I'll need to be following this up today as well!

For amusement's sake, this is a partial list of what we brought back from the States:

• molasses
• baking soda
• baking powder
• chocolate chips
• brown sugar
• corn meal
• vanilla and lemon extract
• ginger snaps
• cream of tartar
• ground pepper
• swim diapers
• camcorder
• eagerly awaited, back ordered zoom lens for D70
• 12 dresses for the girls from Costco (each no more than $8), 2 sweaters and 4 pajamas as well
• wet wipes from Costco
• Pampers from Costco
• Diego sippy cups from Costco
• 2 nanopods- 1 from Costco, 1 from Apple (with an inscription- thanks, hon!)
• 12 T-shirts, 12 undershorts, 2 shorts, 3 shirts for the German from Costco
• 2 shorts, 2 capris, 6 socks, 2 shirts, 2 sweaters from Costco for me
• Advil, children's motrin, dental floss, tampons,toothbrushes, Desitin, neosporin, 1% hydrocortisone cream from Costco for all of us
• 3 suits and a tie from the Hugo Boss outlet for the German
• 2 shirts for me, 1 for the German from the Hilfiger outlet
• backpack, sweatpants from Adidas outlet
• Swimmies and a noodle from the KB outlet
• Snow White costume, gloves and purse from Disney
• Cinderella gloves and purse from Disney
• Earrings for me from Disney ;-) (have to love the little Mickeys)
• miscellaneous Disneyana, scrapping materials, pens, cups, t-shirts, gifts
• extra suitcase from Walmart!
• and Connect 4
• 5 lbs of Decaf Dunkin Donut's coffee
• 5 lbs Jamaica Blue coffee beans

You can see why we had trouble keeping track of things and why we hit the weight limit! Luckily, we went over with 5 suitcases, but mainly with all the suitcases inside each other and empty- ready to be filled!

This leaves out the 59 pounds of books that I send back by M-bag: I am looking forward to seeing them soon! And the car seat that we sent over to be a spare for the school bus. Whew. I hope to start downloading pictures tonight and start filling in posts this week, but it has been a little difficult with the jet lag: Thing 2 seems to want to get up and start playing around 2 am.