Do you have change?

Is it funny when you act like a child when you are an adult!? It happened to me and believe me it was very embarrassing at the time but is a funny story now.

Being in a new country I have had to learn to deal with a new type money. It sounds like no big deal, but it definitely was a big big deal for me.

In the beginning I asked my husband to teach me all about the coins. Though I learned them at that time, I didn't have the chance to use this new knowledge because most of the time we used credit cards.

7 months after my first "coin" lesson I went shopping. I purchased something for $4.65 and so I gave to the cashier a $10 bill. The cashier saw that my wallet was full of coins so she asked me to give her 65 cents. I took a big breath and looked at my palm filled with coins. I realized I had forgotten the value of the coins. I was so embarrassed when I told to the cashier to help herself from my palm. I left the store embarrassed, frustrated and without any excuse for my stupidity.

Now, a year later, I don't ask anyone to help themselves, but I still pause, needing a little time to think which coin is worth how much.

Letting go

In the last year I moved 3 times. I already know how to pack, to fold, to unpack....Now, knocking at the door, is yet another move, but hopefully this will be the last one for a few years.

Have you ever been in love with a city?

What I am talking about?....My feeling that I have become a Washingtonian and I cannot leave it. It is craziness, isn't it? Is it possessiveness for a city? I thought that I "treated" this need to possess somethings! :(

Look at me. The other day I spent hours trying to renew my Washington ID card. When I know that I'm moving to another state.....so why insist on having a Washington ID? Why let myself get frustrated with all the hassles (sitting in line for nearly 3 hours, 2 days in a row)? Just because I want to say that I am from Washington DC!

But because renewing the ID didn't work I gave up "fighting" with the bureaucrats.

So, I am looking to the future in a better light. A new house, making new friends, finding new things to do, discovering new stores......I am starting to really like the idea and am excited about having a "suburban" family life.

Virginia, here I come.

I am from Arlington, Virginia - just 10 minutes to Washington DC;)

PS: The welcome sign in Virginia is the pineapple. Some people have this pineapple on their drapes, or at their front door. Don't worry, not in my house ;)