Servus!

Exactly one month ago, we left Prague in our rearview as we drove towards our new lives in Munich.  It was a bittersweet day but we didn't have much time to dwell on the fact that we were saying goodbye, because less than 24 hours later we were saying hello, to the same set of movers that had just finished packing everything we own and were now ready to unpack it all into our new house.   We were preoccupied, to say the least.

For the next two weeks, I didn't have time to think about much other than getting things settled so that B could live while the girls and I were stateside for 5 weeks.  Which proved to be more of a challenge than any of us thought possible.  Because even though this is the shortest move we have ever made (distance wise that is...I even went to college farther from home), it was proving to be the hardest.  And that is saying something since we have lived in an empty house without anything except a few suitcases worth of clothes and some mattresses for 8 weeks.

Usually, by 2 weeks in, I have the artwork hung and the knick-knacks placed.  This time, we were living under piles of cardboard, with 100's of boxes still to be opened. What was the difference?  We had our stuff, but we had nowhere to put it.  And I am not exaggerating in the least when I say nowhere.  The flat we had rented did not have a single drawer, cupboard, shelf, vanity or wardrobe.  Save for the ones in the kitchen - as we had just purchased and had those installed the week before.  But I can't put all of our clothes, toiletries, office files, linens, blankets, books, knick-knacks, etc...in the kitchen cupboards.  I know, I tried.  They don't fit.

Our only solution was to buy storage.  Lots and lots of storage.  Which we did, but then had to wait for it to be delivered.  And, then I had to assemble the bulk of it.  And modify it to fit (don't talk to me about the vanity under our sink for another 6 months.  I might find it funny by then.  Then again, I might not).  And I had to do it with a sick child, a husband out of town and both kids home on summer vacation.  All the while I couldn't unpack a single box because I had nowhere to go with the things in it.  The house was a disaster, and it was starting to take its toll on me.

But we did it.  And the house is finally livable; at least that is what B tells me as I have been visiting my parents in Colorado for the past 10 days.  

But none of this is really the point of this post.  All of the above was just my way of explaining why I am a bit behind in getting this blog up and running.  And that I owe you all a few posts...Which will come, I promise.  But it may still take me a few more days while I work out the kinks in the design and layout.  Bear with me, please.

In conclusion - welcome to my new blog!  And a million thanks to Nana for her help on the name. I have never had a hard time with the naming of my blogs, but for some reason, this one really stumped me.  I did have a short list of names - A Gringa in Minga (the Bavarian name for Munich is Minga), My life as a Frauswife (but that is kind of redundant), A Bavarian State of Mind (Munich is in the State of Bavaria), but none of them spoke to me.  And then over drinks one night Nana mentioned the Glockenspiel as a possible name, and I knew I had a blog name!  Why you ask?  Because it fits on so many levels. The Glockenspiel is one of Munich's most famous landmarks.  And since spiel means to reel off, recite (a story) and glockenspiel means chime in German it was just the perfect fit.  So I will be chiming in and be reciting my stories of our expat adventures while living in Munich here at Glockenspieling.com...I hope you'll join me.

(And if you are wondering about the title of the post - Servus means Hello in Bavarian)