post from Bart

So just a simple update: I finally heard back from the VA office. Seems the woman in DC is making things happen for me. That's the good news. The 'not so hot' news is that I would much rather have the case worker in Germany working on my file. The fact that the DC office is now contacting me, means that my file has not been transfered to Europe yet. But, concentrationg on the positive, I actually am in contact with someone who is in fact working on having my file transfered. So what does all this mean? Once my file gets to Europe, and I am assigned a case manager (who will be from Germany since there is no VA facility in Italy) I will be able to enrole at the University of Maryland located on the military base here in Naples. Until the VA has my file updated and transfered, I am not eligible to enrole. It all makes sense, and I understand things never happen as fast as you want them to, but I was hoping I was further along than it appears I am. No worries, this has given me time to get to know Naples. Brandie and I are still settling in... making our apartment feel more like home. We recently purchased a rug (thanks to a ride to Ikea from Mel and Donavan) It makes the living room warmer, and we can lounge on pillows near the heater. We have taken to calling our heater (her name is Bumbalina) our fireplace, since she does have an open flame (pilot light.. same thing, right?) Still a bit chilly, especially in the evenings. We are still hoping that the location of our apartment (not in direct sunlight) will in fact work to our favor in the summer. New Topic: We also found our missing boxes!! Two of our boxes with kitchen and office stuff had not arrived with all the other things. So we kind of counted them as gone for good. But then my mom sends an email from Iowa, saying that two boxes had been returned to sender! So, now they have been mailed to us again, one of them is already here. I feel like its a birthday gift, since I had counted on not getting these items. It will be cool to supplement our meager household supplies. New Topic: Brandie is now doing real science in the Lab. For the first month, she spent a lot of time reading journals, and getting used to how things run in Italy. But now she has her own project, which though she has explained to me several times, I will allow her to do so for you, since I would do a bad job of giving any details. Needless to say, she is happy to have some real work to do. She is so determined. I love that about her, very focused and driven, without being pushy or mean. How lucky am I to have her in my life every day? :-) New Topic: I joined up with my gaming group this past weekend. Two guys plus myself. I was going to play a character, but after the fist session, we decided to have me run the games. This is a role that I am more comfortable with anyway. Most of my gaming career has been running the games, not actually playing in them. So the real good news is the guys are very nice. Both are military, American, and are great about picking me up from the train station. New Topic: Brandie was invited to a "all girls, english speaking, social event" It is held not to far from our apartment and meets once a month. We have very few details about the group, but she will be attending this weekend, with one of our friends, so maybe she will have some details next week. New Topic: One of our friends is visiting Europe on a tour. She is part of a singing group that will be pereforming in several location in Italy. While touring she has 2 evenings free, and we are hoping to meet up with her. Brandie ordered some stuff, and asked that she deliver it to us, so at some point we will have to cross paths with her! I guess that is it for now, just wanted to say hello to anyone out there who is curious about what is happening in our lives. For any of my family reading this, you can email me directly also, I love getting "mail". Oh, and our US phone should be arriving soon, so we will be able to call you directly before the month is over. Ciao, Bart.