Veggie booty and soy milk
Here it is, my first post from the US of A. I'm now officially an ex-Expatter. How can I summarize the last 3+ weeks in one single post?
Most of the time, I'm really happy to be back. Except that I miss my friends in Basel a lot. Especially during the day, because I had lots of non-working friends in Basel, and here, most people work during the day. I'm still searching for some stay-at-home Moms in our neighborhood. I know they're out there. While Kirk has returned to his old job, my life is now totally different than it was 3 years ago. I'm still trying to figure out what that means.
Everything here is BIG and LOUD. The grocery store is big. The selection of different cereals and frozen pizza and soda is big. Don't even get me started on the snack food aisle. I've been eating way too many unhealthy snacks and I'm hoping that the novelty of things like Doritos and Rice Krispie Treats will soon wear off. Cars are big. Rolls of paper towels are big. The Diet Coke I ordered at Silver Diner was big. I had forgotten about how often we hear loud sirens when living in a big, American city. They are loud. Car alarms are always going off everywhere I go. People like to honk their horns. Helicopters are often flying over and they are also very loud. Loud music and TV screens are everywhere in the mall. Total overstimulation all the time!
More about the food... I wonder if the novelty of being able to get good, cheap, carryout ethnic food will ever wear off? We've been eating so well. I have a good excuse not to be cooking, which is that we have a very poorly stocked kitchen at this point (until our shipment arrives). I kind of like it, actually. Why do we need anything more than a couple glasses, a couple plates, and a few pieces of silverware? Indian food, Thai food, Vietnamese food, Chinese food, kabobs, cheeseburgers (are those considered ethnic?)... you name it, we've been eating it.
I've been going to Target every few days. I'm sorry if you don't know what Target is, but it is only the greatest store every created! I always loved Target, but only now, after shopping in Basel for 3 years, can I now truly appreciate Target shopping. Thankfully Baby seems to love going shopping. She likes Harris Teeter (our grocery store) even better than Target. She loves sitting in the shopping cart with the little seat belt around her chubby tummy, smiling at all the people who walk by and comment on how cute she is and what a great hairdo she has. People are SO friendly!
Of course I've also done a little shopping for myself, specifically at my favorite stores: DSW Shoe Warehouse and Ann Taylor Loft. Actually, I think J.Jill has perhaps now surpassed Ann Taylor Loft as my new favorite store. When I came home from DSW on Saturday, I tried to hide how many pairs of shoes I bought from Kirk, but he met me at the door and just shook his head. I also tried to remind him that I hadn't done any shopping for myself in 3 years (which is almost true).
Our sad little house needs lots of TLC. We had renters in it for 3 years, and of course it feels much more worn than when we left it back in March 2004. It also feels really small, and we haven't even gotten our big shipment yet! Where will we fit it all? Nonetheless, I'm very happy to be back in our neighborhood. We have great neighbors, and I've been really enjoying doing some yard work in an attempt to make our house no longer look like the junkiest house on the block.
We just got TV last night. That means I didn't watch TV for 3 weeks! I'm a bit overwhelmed by our new cable system. Last night I scrolled through the channels, and it looked like we have a couple hundred channels to choose from. What do I do with that? Back in Basel, I would sometimes flip through all the channels with the remote, hoping that somehow, one day, perhaps some in English would magically appear. It never did. All I had has CNN International and MTV. Now I have more selection that I know what to do with! I watched an episode of the new season of American Idol last night, and was reminded that I need to check online today to see how the candidates are doing on the German version. I used to love Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar, although I'm not especially sad about never watching it again.
So what about Veggie Booty and soy milk? That's what Baby had for her afternoon snack yesterday. Veggie Booty is a really great snack that you can find at some of the stores around here (closely related to the more popular Pirate's Booty). It's a perfect example of something I had forgotten about during our 3 years overseas. It's like a corn puff (kind of like a cheeto, minus the cheese) that's coated with a combination of veggies (including spinach, kale, broccoli) which makes it green. Baby tried some yesterday and couldn't get enough of it. She was literally shoveling it in her mouth.
She also tried soy milk for the first time. We finally saw an allergist on Monday, and learned that, much to our surprise, she doesn't not have any food allergies. She does, however, have an intolerance to cow's milk, as we suspected, so I will continue to eat no dairy so long as I'm nursing. In an attempt to begin the process of weaning her off breastmilk (which will likely take a while, considering her stubborn attitude) we are starting to introduce soy milk. I just had to laugh yesterday at the snack my daughter was eating... Veggie Booty and soy milk. This is my life now as an American Mom!
Most of the time, I'm really happy to be back. Except that I miss my friends in Basel a lot. Especially during the day, because I had lots of non-working friends in Basel, and here, most people work during the day. I'm still searching for some stay-at-home Moms in our neighborhood. I know they're out there. While Kirk has returned to his old job, my life is now totally different than it was 3 years ago. I'm still trying to figure out what that means.
Everything here is BIG and LOUD. The grocery store is big. The selection of different cereals and frozen pizza and soda is big. Don't even get me started on the snack food aisle. I've been eating way too many unhealthy snacks and I'm hoping that the novelty of things like Doritos and Rice Krispie Treats will soon wear off. Cars are big. Rolls of paper towels are big. The Diet Coke I ordered at Silver Diner was big. I had forgotten about how often we hear loud sirens when living in a big, American city. They are loud. Car alarms are always going off everywhere I go. People like to honk their horns. Helicopters are often flying over and they are also very loud. Loud music and TV screens are everywhere in the mall. Total overstimulation all the time!
More about the food... I wonder if the novelty of being able to get good, cheap, carryout ethnic food will ever wear off? We've been eating so well. I have a good excuse not to be cooking, which is that we have a very poorly stocked kitchen at this point (until our shipment arrives). I kind of like it, actually. Why do we need anything more than a couple glasses, a couple plates, and a few pieces of silverware? Indian food, Thai food, Vietnamese food, Chinese food, kabobs, cheeseburgers (are those considered ethnic?)... you name it, we've been eating it.
I've been going to Target every few days. I'm sorry if you don't know what Target is, but it is only the greatest store every created! I always loved Target, but only now, after shopping in Basel for 3 years, can I now truly appreciate Target shopping. Thankfully Baby seems to love going shopping. She likes Harris Teeter (our grocery store) even better than Target. She loves sitting in the shopping cart with the little seat belt around her chubby tummy, smiling at all the people who walk by and comment on how cute she is and what a great hairdo she has. People are SO friendly!
Of course I've also done a little shopping for myself, specifically at my favorite stores: DSW Shoe Warehouse and Ann Taylor Loft. Actually, I think J.Jill has perhaps now surpassed Ann Taylor Loft as my new favorite store. When I came home from DSW on Saturday, I tried to hide how many pairs of shoes I bought from Kirk, but he met me at the door and just shook his head. I also tried to remind him that I hadn't done any shopping for myself in 3 years (which is almost true).
Our sad little house needs lots of TLC. We had renters in it for 3 years, and of course it feels much more worn than when we left it back in March 2004. It also feels really small, and we haven't even gotten our big shipment yet! Where will we fit it all? Nonetheless, I'm very happy to be back in our neighborhood. We have great neighbors, and I've been really enjoying doing some yard work in an attempt to make our house no longer look like the junkiest house on the block.
We just got TV last night. That means I didn't watch TV for 3 weeks! I'm a bit overwhelmed by our new cable system. Last night I scrolled through the channels, and it looked like we have a couple hundred channels to choose from. What do I do with that? Back in Basel, I would sometimes flip through all the channels with the remote, hoping that somehow, one day, perhaps some in English would magically appear. It never did. All I had has CNN International and MTV. Now I have more selection that I know what to do with! I watched an episode of the new season of American Idol last night, and was reminded that I need to check online today to see how the candidates are doing on the German version. I used to love Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar, although I'm not especially sad about never watching it again.
So what about Veggie Booty and soy milk? That's what Baby had for her afternoon snack yesterday. Veggie Booty is a really great snack that you can find at some of the stores around here (closely related to the more popular Pirate's Booty). It's a perfect example of something I had forgotten about during our 3 years overseas. It's like a corn puff (kind of like a cheeto, minus the cheese) that's coated with a combination of veggies (including spinach, kale, broccoli) which makes it green. Baby tried some yesterday and couldn't get enough of it. She was literally shoveling it in her mouth.
She also tried soy milk for the first time. We finally saw an allergist on Monday, and learned that, much to our surprise, she doesn't not have any food allergies. She does, however, have an intolerance to cow's milk, as we suspected, so I will continue to eat no dairy so long as I'm nursing. In an attempt to begin the process of weaning her off breastmilk (which will likely take a while, considering her stubborn attitude) we are starting to introduce soy milk. I just had to laugh yesterday at the snack my daughter was eating... Veggie Booty and soy milk. This is my life now as an American Mom!
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