Ins and Outs

Greetings,


This post requires the reader to pay close attention...

It's the ins and outs of our house...

Our doors do not have outside handles.  Once the door closes... it closes!  We have locked ourselves out too many times to count.  There is a hideous blue plastic chair permanently housed underneath our kitchen window.  Locking oneself out does not make for a good day.  That is until we figured out the ins and outs of our house. 

Everyone comes through the back door (kitchen door).  Visitors ring the door bell... we proceed to let them in...

or shout... "it's open" and they let themselves in.   We are smarter now... we leave the key in the door.

Visitors... must let themselves in....because we have recently had difficulties. 

Our neighbor went to leave... through the back (kitchen) door and the handle came off in his hand.  Please see above photo... there is no handle, therefore we cannot open the door from the inside.   

The only way to leave our house... is through the front door.  Please note the photo below... it has a handle.

Yet one cannot come in through this door...please note there is no key for this door.... and it does not have an outside handle.

You must come in the back door... leave through the front door.  NOT vice versa.  It has been like this for a while now.  I guess The Landlord has no reason to keep us happy (or somewhat content) because we are moving out soon. 

If someone who does not know the ins and outs of our door situation comes over... they stand outside the back (kitchen) door while we scream through the door that we cannot open the door ... they have to (from the outside).

And poor Miss Peabody... everyday she goes to the back (kitchen) door and scratches when she needs to go out.  When we open the front door ... it just confuses her.

On my wish list for the new house in Virginia:

A functioning door handle.

from both sides.


Blessings,

Comet

Greetings,

I have scrubbed and scrubbed....

only to find the water is off again... and will have to wait to wash off the patio to see if all the elbow grease combined with Comet has worked.... I think it has?

Thank you ladies for your excellent cleaning ideas. 

I think the Comet is working... although... if I cannot wash it off soon... will Comet damage or bleach out the patio?

Blessings,

Take me Back!

Greetings,

With such picturesque views as this..

why would anyone what to do this...

That's Harry... always working.  I want to go back into the mountains this week.  Harry wants to stay and work on a few things.

Thinking... might need to plan a girls going away trip this weekend... while Harry works.

Maybe stay in the cabin on the hill...

Just a thought?

Blessings,

Lefkoritis

Greetings,

SO I begged Harry to take me to the mountains for the weekend. 

We made our way up to the mountains.... to this gorgeous resort.  A cozy little wooden lodge complete with spectacular views, warming fireplaces, and delicious meals. 

Almost all furnishings in Greece are tile, marble, or some from of concrete... so it was a treat to spend the weekend in this inviting wooden escape.

Here's our cabin....

A balcony with a view of the quaint village below.

And the inside view was as amazing as the outside.... heat, hot water, and a glass front smokeless fireplace.

It's nice to get away .. even if it's only an hours drive away.

Blessings,

Matter-of-fact monday

Greetings,

Matter-of-facts for 1st week of February:

1. Had an amazingly relaxing weekend in the mountains.

2. Started the readings for my new classes: Gender and Politic and Political Philosophy. I think I will hate both classes equally (required classes.. not taking them by choice)!

3. Harry’s replacement Chaplain arrives this week. Feeling a little weird about someone replacing Harry and his ministry here.

4. Watched both seasons of Cake Boss (in a 48 hour sitting), Coco before Chanel (in French with English subtitles), Amelia, and The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (Tennessee Williams screenplay).

5. Kayne, my brother living here in Greece with us, turns 21 this week.

6. Yesterday, there were small snow flurries whirling around outside.

7. Slowly packing up the house. The movers will do everything, but I cannot contain myself… I keep trying to organize and reorganize for them.

8. This week I am trying to cook everything in the refrigerator and cabinets.

9. Harry made reservation for the pets on our flight… their tickets were $100 each. I wonder if the airline will allow me to stuff a few additional things in Miss Peabody’s crate?

10. Harry may deploy the moment we arrive.?..?..

Blessings,

Weekend break

Greetings,

After this week and its trials...water issues... Harry and I and heading up to the mountains for a weekend break.  After admiring the snowcapped mountain view... I wanted to drive up and find that peaceful serenity.

I am leaving the mobile phone, TV, and computer behind.... a real weekend break.

Lord please let them have water.  And electricity.  And heat.

Blessings,

When all elses fail.. go Shopping

Greetings,


Okay... the whole not having water thingy is a bit much right now.  I just want to brush my teeth or flush the toilet without needing bottled water. 

In life... when all else fails...

go shopping.

There is a new store recently opened that I want to try out....

Metro Cash and Carry

It's new, big and shiny.  I had no clue what they actually sold.. so I wanted to run in for a quick look around. 

Well, I was pleasantly surprised the find that the inside was just as shiny as the outside.  And oh, the goods.  Aisle after aisle of merchandise.  A little bit this and that... a little piece of heaven.

It looked like a small (very small) version of Sam's or Costco.  Wholesale type goods, sold in bulk, at a lower price. 

I love me some Costco.

Like Costco, I assumed this store might require some sort of membership.  All sign were in Greek so I really had no idea what to expect.  Depending on the cost of the membership... and the fact that we are leaving this month... I was not sure if I wanted to fork out the cost of a membership. 

While ogling everything on the shelves... I notice that all items have two prices on their tags.  I thought one price (the cheaper one) is for members and the other price for non-members.  Maybe I do not need to purchase a membership. 

Not exactly sure about this whole membership thingy...I decided to limit my purchase.  With a few things in tow (dog food, kitty litter, several household cleaning items, etc.) we innocently head to the checkout line. 

I place the items in front of the clerk and she just stares at me.  I dumbfoundly stare back (although I deduce that she is probably waiting for me to hand her my membership card).  She speaks only Greek.  I shrug my shoulders and say "sorry English".

She then calls for management. 

Harry and I are getting a little nervous.  I'm glad I only picked up a few things... it would be embarrassing (more embarrassing than this) if we lots of goodies. 

Management comes... asks if we were on holiday... and proceeds to tell us, "This store is for business owners."

"Oh", I confess with Bambi-like eyes.

To which he replies, "but you can buy these, but you can never come back here again."

"Oh, okay... thanks", comes my confused reply. 

I am still in awe as to why I was allowed to finish my purchase and not just kicked out.   Also, I was kicking myself for not grabbing more items. 

Oh, well.... quite an interesting shopping trip.  You never know what you are going to get here in Greece.  My favorite shoe store... is a shoe store in summer and a rug store in winter.  My favorite jewelry store is now a leather shop.  You never know what you are going to get.  I enjoyed the normalcy of a Costco-like store.

Blessings,

Downhill from the mountain

Greetings,

Well, I knew it was too good to be true....

my peaceful easy going morning. 

Last night our water went out.  Typical.  It's normal in Greece. 

What is not normal... is for the outage to last till the next morning... and continue through the entire day.  We are going on 24 hours of NO water.


I went in search of the problem.  And found this....

About 1/2 kilometer down the street... I found the source of our village wide water outage. 

Various machinery and workers are diligently at work.  I think? 

                   

I had to go to the base just to take a shower.

At least I do not have to cook tonight... take-out pitas are on the menu. 

Blessings,

Blizzard Bloghop... Our Guided Steps

Greetings,

Household 6 Diva is hosting:

So in participation with the bloghop...


Here's my info:

My name is Kristie, 32 years-old, from North Florida. 

Married to Harry, a former airline pilot for 10 years,...

who decided on a mid-life career change....turned Navy Chaplain. 

We have been married over 8 years.

We have Oliver the cat, rescued the day after we returned from our honeymoon

and Miss Peabody our newly acquired Greek dog.

At the end of 2007 the Navy sent us to NSA Souda Bay Crete, Greece.... where the trials of living abroad have stretched me in ways I thought impossible.

I am active with foreign missions and was a Youth Minister for 2 years back in North Florida (may be the delay in our whole kiddo thing).  I am currently finishing up my Master's in Political Science (if I keep my sanity). 


We are eagerly awaiting our departure from Paradise (only in summer)

in exchange for (Target & Wal-Mart) our next duty station... Norfolk, Virginia. 

"You enlarged my path under me;

So my feet did not slip."

2 Samuel 22:37

It's our theme verse... it seems no matter what we do, where we go... God has prepared our way.  Our feet may slip, but for some crazy reason... we keep on walking!
 
I anxiously wait to see others during this Blizzard Bloghop.  Please feel free to leave a comment so I can hop on over to your blog as well.

Blessings,

1st view of the Morning

Greetings,

This was my view this morning as a stumbled out of bed.  Not a view I will see in Norfolk, VA. Greece has it's positives and this is one of them.

The air is crisp. 

You would think there would be a chill in the air, but surprisingly it's quite nice.

The sun is shining and it's barely windy out.

 

Hopefully, the rest of the day will remain as picturesque as this morning!

Clear sky blessings,

Jordan River

Greetings,

I found these while scrolling through the computer today.

Our trip to Israel, with a stop at the Jordan River. 

It was simple beautiful. 

Calm. 

Peaceful.

Serene.

All of the things I want to be right now.  The stress of the PCS is weighing down on us... combined with winter in Crete, Greece.
It was a very hot and humid day in Israel... and a stroll through the river made all the difference. 

I also remember... there were little fish nipping at our toes.  It was hard to stand still for the photo... with all the little fish swarming around. 

I guess everywhere has its good and bad qualities.

Blessings,

Kristie

Living Room in Rethymno

Greetings,

Harry and I took a relaxing drive (oxymoron, because if Harry is driving then the passengers are never in a relaxed state) down the coast.

But we stopped at Living Room Cafe.  The neatest looking cafe I have seen on the island.  Just about every item I wanted to stuff in my bag. 

And all their dinnerware was Villeroy and Boc...

Just a nice inviting atmosphere... very similar to a European version of Starbucks.

Except it has an amazing view of the old harbor area of Rethymno.

There is an old Venetian Fort with the cutest Rapunzel looking post.

I can just imagine Rapunzel letting down her long lock of hair. 


Blessings,

Conveniences of Life

Greetings,

I think God is testing my patience right now...

Since returning from America (land of the convenient life)

I have been without electricity for an extended period of time (we blew another fuse)

Internet has been down (any length of time is too long)

Freezing cold house

Hauling winds (to the point its hard to sleep)

and today..

the really big kicker...

No water.

We have been without water going on 8 hours.

Have you ever crawled out of bed... needing to wash your face and brush your teeth?

only to find there is no water!


Needing a bath...

only to find there is no water!


I never realized how much I use water.  How many times I turn on the faucet.. only to find a mere trickle of water.  And how do you use the toilet all day without flushing?

Seriously... on days like today.. I am ready to pack it up and call it quits.  Norfolk is looking better and better.  At this point I just want electricity and running water.

Blessings,

T minus 25 and a wake up

Greetings,

I have always heard the saying, "T minus...." especially in astronaut movies and never actually stopped to think what the "T" stood for. 

Time. 

We have 25 days and a wake up...  before we board the MAC (Military Airlift Command) flight to Norfolk.... and embark on the new journey of Navy ship life.  A life of deployments (starting relatively soon from what we hear). 

25 days to get our affairs in order...

I think time will fly by.... not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Blessings,

Monday's Matter-of-Facts

Greetings,

It's already Monday....


1. Finished my finals... just in time. 
2.  I have a new CD... Michael Buble's Crazy Love.  He is one of my favorites... I did not know about his new CD  until we went stateside and I heard it on the Delta airplane going over.  A few years ago, I saw him in concert in Atlanta... and I LOVE HIM and his voice!

3. Watched very little television or movies this week.... finals remember.  However, did see Did you Hear about the Morgan's, Bright Star (about the Poet John Keats), and My One and Only (about the actor George Hamilton). 

4.  Souda Bay Chapel gets new carpet this week.

5.  Just getting over jet-lag and sleeping normal Greek hours.

6. Started packing up household items... the movers come in 3 weeks.

7. Harry's replacement Chaplain comes next week.

8. My Adobe Photoshop died?

9.  The Virginia House received over 3 inches of snow throughout the weekend.

10.  Having problems with my next set of classes.... it seems I forgot to fill out some financial aid paperwork by midnight a few weeks ago.  The Financial Aid Lady wanted me to pay cash for my classes... roughly $2800.  I might sit this semester out... I have until Thursday to figure out all the paperwork.


Blessings,