You Mean You Have to Pay for Gas?

So, when we moved in, we were under the impression that all the bills would automatically come to us under our landlord's name and we would just go pay it, which is what happened with most of them. Well, we hadn't really thought about it, but we hadn't paid a gas bill since we moved in about 4 months ago. We found that out today when we came home to see that red thing on our gas line out in the hall (see picture below), which means that they came and cut off our gas. Turns out we were supposed to go and register with the company so they could start billing to our address. Somehow we either weren't told that or didn't understand that (probably the latter), so tonight we are without gas, which means no heat, no stove, and no hot water. Fortunately, it's been in the 60's here this week, so we don't need the heat. Cold showers here are REALLY cold, though. Anyway, Dan's supposed to go tomorrow morning with the landlord to get it all straightened out, so hopefully this time tomorrow, we'll be enjoying warm showers.

Guessing Game...

"What's that on your peanut butter sandwich?" you ask. Why, it's strawberry jelly, of course! Yeah, we recently found out that if you don't want to pay $7 or so for a jar of strawberry jelly, it comes with real whole strawberries (not even pieces). However, since we learned this, we've found a strawberry marmelade that looks promising, though we haven't tried it yet. Highlights from this picture: First, you can get pretty good peanut butter here. Second, you can get sliced bread here. (This is actually very special thing in many parts of the world.) Third, and possibly the most exciting, you can get bugles here!

Snowy Days!!!

We had a good bit of snow over the weekend and we took Zeke out to play in it this morning. He had a lot of fun, but we probably had even more fun. We built a snowman and Dan threw snowballs at some of the local kids. Here are a few of the pictures. If you want to see more, click here.

Skype is Fun!!!

So using Skype way over here on the other side of the world allows us to talk with family and friends back home. It even lets us see those who have webcams. Dan's sister, Elizabeth, just got one, so here's a video of her entertaining Zeke (and the rest of us for that matter).

Incidentally if any of you are on Skype and would like to connect with us, let us know. Enjoy the video.

If you'd like to visit Elizabeth's blog and tell her how much you liked it, click here.

Bean Bag Chairs...

One of the best presents we got when Zeke was born was from Dan's grandmother. It was a garage sale bargain of $2.00. A bean bag chair! You can use a bean bag chair for so many things. The baby can sleep in it, eat in it, watch TV in it, take pictures in it...the list is unending. So, when we moved across the waters, it was a sad day to have to leave the bean bag chair behind. Now, with the prospect of a new arrival, Tami was wishing she could have that $2.00 bean bag shipped over. Instead, Dan, being the wonderful husband that he is, found a shop that makes bean bag chairs. We are so excited! Granted, this one isn't a $2.00 bargain. Nonetheless, it is likely to be worth every penny. Here are some pictures of us breaking it in...