Living Abroad

Packing for the 2011-2012 Season: Bag #5

November 2, 2011 By Erin Crispin Leave a Comment

Tuesday I had planned to take a day off from packing. I was ready to do my “cleaning out” time. I tend to do this every time when we pack up to leave or unpack when we get home. I enjoy going through and gathering up all the random and scattered items around the house and disposing of them (admittingly, I probably enjoy this a bit too much!) I had a few hours with just Isaiah that morning, so I got to go through drawers, nightstands, bookshelves, etc. to find lots of items that could head out to the trash or be put away where they belonged.

As you can see from the picture, three of the packed bags had to be moved downstairs to the entry way to make room for another bag. And I also brought out some bins to continue to get clothes that would be too small when we got home put away.

But that night when I saw the huge pile of things sitting in the bedroom, I decided I might as well pack another bag. I had just gone through Abby’s clothes with her, set out outfits for the next 5 days and decided what she would take, so I figured I would put it in a bag instead of setting it on my floor. So the fifth bag was packed with:

- the majority of Abby’s clothes, plus clothes from the rest of us that came out of the washer and dryer
- another foam roller and a few other items for Joe’s teammates
- cloth diapers
- 2 sets of sheets for the girls
- more vitamins
- Abby’s doll and doll clothes
- each of the kids “girl and boy” bags

After getting that bag packed, I saw I will definitely need at least 2 more bags. Once I get the 6th bag packed, I will be able to better tell if it is going to take 1 or 2 more bags after that. I was hoping to keep it to 8 bags, so hopefully I only need 1 more bag.

Almost ready to go,

Filed Under: Living Abroad, Organization, The Basket Life

Packing for the 2011-2012 Season: Bag #4

November 1, 2011 By Erin Crispin 8 Comments

Yesterday I got another bag packed. It helped me to feel like their is a light at the end of the tunnel to pack this one up. This bag included:

- majority of Elijah’s clothes
- more clothes of Naomi and Isaiah that had come out of the dryer
- set of sheets for Elijah
- another foam roller for another teammate
- swim gear
- a few Christmas presents
- exercise equipment
- couple jars of peanut butter
- vitamins and a few more personal care items

I think I am going to be needing 2-3 more bags by the time I am all done. So I am in good shape right now with less than a week to go!

Filed Under: Living Abroad, Organization, The Basket Life

Packing for the 2011-2012 Season: Bag #3

October 31, 2011 By Erin Crispin Leave a Comment

Yesterday I decided to get another bag packed during my free time in the afternoon. The day before I had gone through some clothes to make sure that I had the next size up out for Naomi and Isaiah for the summer months. I have found that it makes things a lot easier when coming home if I only have to put away smaller clothes and not also have to get the larger sizes out. Thankfully both Abby and Elijah are at the age where I don’t have to switch their clothes out every season. After Noami was born, I felt like all I ever did (besides the daily chore stuff) was to switch clothes in and out of storage!

So yesterday I got the third bag packed with the following:

- TP roller for one of Joe’s teammates
- The majority of my clothes and shoes
- tea bags and oatmeal packets
- some vitamins and more first aid items

I usually try and pick a “packing station” in the house. Right now it is in our bedroom (in New Jersey it had always been the basement). I have a scale there for weighing the bags and boxes where things are put in throughout our time home that I will need that then get loaded into bags as I pack. Of course, as you can see from the pictures, the whole room sort of gets taken over: the dresser, the desk, the chair. Everything becomes a spot to put things. I like to have the bedroom be a calm and relaxing place, but since it is only like this for about a week and I am the only one using the bedroom, I can handle it

Hope everyone’s week is off to a great start,

Filed Under: Living Abroad, Organization, The Basket Life

Packing for the 2011-2012 Season: Bag #2

October 27, 2011 By Erin Crispin Leave a Comment

The second bag was drug out and filled today. I had Isaiah as my “helper” too, so it took a little longer than usual. For the most part though things were already in plastic Ziploc bags. The second bag was filled with:

- about 7 sets of clothes of Naomi and Isaiah (more to come still)
- 4 of my sweaters
- travel high chair
- 4 boxes of Clif Bars
- more first aid items
- about 20 packets of protein and Gatorade
- school materials for Abby, Elijah and Naomi

I think that is a pretty good amount of the second bag. Right now I am guessing I will need about 4-5 more bags, plus carry-ons, stroller and car seats. I may get around to the third bag this weekend.

Filed Under: Living Abroad, Organization, The Basket Life

Adjustments with an Eastern European Country

October 24, 2011 By Erin Crispin 2 Comments

I am down to less than two weeks until we leave for Ukraine, so I am officially starting to count down. More bags will be packed in the coming weeks, I am having meetings with the kids teachers and trying to wrap up other loose ends around here. This is our first time going to Ukraine and also the furthest east we will have lived in Europe. We have technically also lived in Asia I guess when we were in Turkey, but we are furthest east in Ukraine in he city we will be in. Thankfully it isn’t the furthest north we have been because Wloclawek, Poland takes the prize for that. Anyway, I digress. The point is that we have some new considerations to take into account with living in Ukraine. So I have had a few extra things on my plate this time:

1. Update on immunizations. Abby and Elijah never had the hepatitis A vaccine because it was not a standard vaccine when they were babies. But with traveling to Ukraine it is recommended to have that vaccine. Thankfully, Joe and I got it with our well-check this summer, so we just had to catch Abby and Elijah up on it. I also got all of us flu shots before leaving. We are praying we don’t get sick while there and are trying to take any measure we can to prevent that, because of…

2. Sub-par medical facilities. According to the U.S. Department of State, you don’t want to have to use one of the local hospitals if you have a major medical emergency there. So this is the first year we are purchasing traveler’s insurance for our family. This basically covers you to be medically evacuated to another country or back to the U.S. for a medical emergency. This can end up costing a lot of money if needed, so the insurance is worth it to us to pay. Of course, having seen what the hospital in Bandirma, Turkey looked like, maybe we should have had it there too!

3. New (to me) cell phone. Many people know that I have had my original iPhone for awhile now and I was hoping it would last me until this summer, giving us a 3 year relationship. But over the last week it was often not turning on for me even with a full battery charge. And this year we will not have a car we will drive, but have a driver who will take us around. He needs to be text messaged when we need to be picked up though, so I needed a reliable cell phone so I wasn’t out needing to text him with a phone that wouldn’t turn on. So my brother graciously gave me his old iPhone 3GS. I have been using it a day and already feel like I was living in the stone age with my old one. Had I bought a brand new iPhone I may have been too overwhelmed!

So the next two weeks will be a big preparation time. Most of the things that need to be packed besides clothes are already set aside, so I just need to get things packed up and organized. Besides the (almost) 3 days Joe was home, we have been apart now for 2 months. I think all of us are ready to be back together!

Happy Monday everyone,

Filed Under: Living Abroad

Packing for the 2011-2012 Season: Bag #1

October 7, 2011 By Erin Crispin 1 Comment

I have shared before about how I generally pack for living overseas (part 1 and part 2). I also commented on how the change of the airlines going to 1 bag per person at 50 pounds has made the task even more challenging. So this year, I thought I would share some pictures and the packing “journey” as we get ready to head to Ukraine in a few weeks.

Yesterday I started to put things in the first bag. Most of what I packed yesterday were items that have been set aside in boxes since we got home last season or that have been put away over the summer. The first bag is filled with person reading books for myself and the kids (this year I am only bring 4 paperbacks for myself, everything else I will read on the Kindle), card games and other light toys, a few personal care and first aid items, a few extra requests Joe had and the 2T clothes that Isaiah will need later on this winter, Lord-willing. One nice thing about this year is that I am only packing one season of clothes: cold weather. Last year I didn’t need any winter coats and things, but I still had to pack t-shirts and shorts, as well as long sleeve shirts and pants. This year, we will just be needing long sleeve shirts and pants along with a few t-shirts. So having only one season of clothing to pack for is nice.

So here is the first bag I packed.

I am going to brag a little here and say that I took this picture, zipped the bag up, weighed it and I nailed it at 50.4 pounds. Oh yeah! That is a 10 year basket wife veteran there for you

The next bag may not be packed for a couple more weeks until we are closer to our departure time. I still have about 2 boxes of things to pack up, but they are mostly heavier things that will need to be mixed in with lighter clothing. We will also need to get Abby’s school materials once we have a leave date as well. We aren’t taking my iMac or a printer this year, so my goal is to see if we can get the rest of our things in 5-6 bags. Joe took over 2 bags, so 9 bags for the 6 of us is usually pretty realistic and reasonable.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,

Filed Under: Living Abroad, Organization, The Basket Life

Some Friday Food for Thought

September 16, 2011 By Erin Crispin 1 Comment

My husband has been bombarding me with articles to read today, so I figured I would share those since much of my free time has been taken up with reading them! Here are three good reads for your weekend:

Children and Second Hand Stress

A good read on what most children complain about with their parents…and it isn’t that they want more time with us!

My Family’s Experiment in Extreme Schooling

A New York Times journalists shares about putting his three children in school in Russia when they moved abroad. The school was not an international school and the children knew no Russian. A very interesting read.

Homeschool Blindspots

A wonderful read for any parents, whether you would label yourself a homeschooler, conservative Christian, attachment parenter, etc. We all have blindspots in our parenting and often, even with differences in parenting philosophies, many of of those blindspots we have in common.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Filed Under: Christianity, Living Abroad, More Favorites, Parenting

Off to School She Goes

September 13, 2011 By Erin Crispin 4 Comments

Last week was the start of the school year for Abby with Connections Academy. I had posted before about how we had decided to do an online charter school with her because I wasn’t up for bearing the brunt of homeschooling her with 3 other children, but I also wanted to give her some more consistency rather than putting her in a different international school each year. So for first grade and second grade, I had used Connections Academy (in kindergarten I homeschooled her in the afternoon after she came home from Turkish preschool). So this year, I was all set to dig into Connections Academy once again with her for third grade.

I had been prepping Abby for the beginning of the school year, but was hearing a lot of complaining. I tried to get her excited and remind her of some of the reasons why we learn and participate in school. But by the time I started last week, I was already pretty tired of trying to motivate. We started off school on Tuesday and got through the first day pretty well. By Wednesday I was seeing that having 3 other active children (two of whom I would be taking to preschool on a few mornings) and being on my own was going to make being Abby’s teacher really difficult. She was challenging me on almost every front and I was having a hard time keeping it all together. By the time Thursday rolled around, I was sick to my stomach and didn’t even feel like attempting to do her school work that day. But we got started and things quickly went from bad to worse. Before I knew it I was screaming at her and storming off. I sat down in a chair and thought, “How in the world did we get here? This is not how I want my relationship with Abby to be.”

So I called Joe crying and we started to talk through some things. The more we talked, the more I realized it would be best for Abby to be in school. Here were some of our considerations:

1. This season was different than other seasons because even if Joe had signed a full year contract, we had already decided I would stay back for 4-6 weeks with the kids in order for them to enjoy some fall activities. So in the past, we would have already been overseas with Joe by the time school got under way.

2. Abby really has no idea what is required of most children in terms of school. She has been to preschool, but that has always been in a foreign country where she isn’t required to do much in terms of routine. So when she would battle me on simply numbering her paper, I knew it was a battle she would have never gone into with a teacher. She felt like doing school with me was something of an inconvenience to her and something that I was just requiring her to do to mess up her fun time at home. Even when we explained things to her, she didn’t fully “get” it.

3. Abby is a social girl. She loves being around other kids and whenever I brought up the subject of going to school she got pretty excited. Her only hold-up was wanting to be home to see Isaiah during the day!

4. The other 3 kids require much more time this year than they did last year when Isaiah was sleeping much of the time. I was really feeling badly about not being able to be a mom to them because the majority of my day was spent schooling Abby. In reality, I felt like I was having to be everything to all the kids all the time and I just couldn’t do it. We basket wives have that pressure a lot during the season when we are off on our own, so to be feeling it when I was in the U.S. didn’t make much sense.

5. I knew of other basket wives who had put their children in school for 6 weeks, pulled them out and gone overseas and then put them back in school for the last month or so and it had worked fine.

So by Friday, Joe and I had decided to withdraw Abby from Connections and to talk to State College School District about whether or not we could enroll her. I was beating myself up over not having thought of this three months ago, but figured kids move into the district at all times during the year so it was worth looking into it. So after calling the registration office and hearing that State College had a “suitcase curriculum” I started to feel even better about enrolling Abby. Then I heard from another mom in our church whose daughter attends the elementary school that Abby would attend that the principal is a Christian and a great guy. So I e-mailed him and he got back to me quickly to let me know that they could certainly work with Abby and our situation. So I decided on Monday I would go and enroll Abby.

So Monday, my friend watched the other 3 kids, and I took Abby in to enroll her. I had all the paperwork filled out and the woman there was very nice. She took all of the materials from me and said she would call and see about when Abby could start. So she got the principal on the phone and we spoke about Abby’s placement. He mentioned a blended 1st and 2nd grade class that might go well for her since this would be her first time in a school setting. I said that sounded good but that she was actually a year ahead when she was doing the charter school, so although we were no enrolling her in 2nd grade (for emotional and social maturity) the blended class might not be the best fit. He said no problem and suggested we do some testing to see where she might fit best. So he told me he would call me when he found out when she could come in to be tested.

About 15 minutes later as I was picking up the other 3 kids, I got a call and the principal said I could come in any time that day, but if right then would work they could see Abby. So I took all the kids over to her new elementary school. We got a warm welcome from the secretary and then met a resource teacher who gave us a little tour and then took Abby other room for testing. While she was being tested, she walked the other kids and I around the school to show us where Elijah would be next year and gave them all some time to play in a kindergarten play area. Abby was then done testing and I talked to the teacher about her results. He said he would share them with the principal and figure out what the best classroom was for her.

We headed home and just as I was getting lunch ready, the principal called again and said that Abby tested advanced so they would put her in the 2nd grade classroom with a couple of other advanced children they have. He said he would talk to everyone that day and have her desk and everything set to go tomorrow!

This morning I drove Abby into school, we met the principal in person and went into her class to met her teacher and teacher’s helpers. Abby went right in and got hooked up with another little girl who showed her where to put her things. We tried saying good-bye a few minutes later, but she was already engrossed in everything and didn’t even hear us.

This was such a good lesson of knowing that as the kids grow and change, we will always need to be evaluating what will work best for everyone in the family. Just as it is with constantly changing out clothes out of the kids’ closet, I need to be aware of how their needs are changing not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and socially as well.

It was also a reminder that it is ok for me not to be able to “do it all”. I know there are homeschooling moms who have 4-5 kids at home and they all get a great education, but I felt like I had reached my limit. At some point something needed to give and I didn’t want it to be the joy in Abby or my relationships with the others. They are only young once.

So that is where we are with school at this point now and how we got there (very quickly in fact). I know not to the think that this will be the permanent solution for all the kids, but for right now it definitely seems to be the good one for our family.

Filed Under: Living Abroad, Our Family, The Kids

Is All The European Basketball Talk Balanced Journalism?

September 9, 2011 By Erin Crispin 4 Comments

I mentioned last week that I enjoy reading books on basketball. Even though there is much that doesn’t always apply to our life, I still enjoy the applications I do take away from them. And in general, I enjoy most writing about basketball in general. But the last few weeks as I have read a few articles about NBA players heading overseas, I have been a little bothered by the overall presentation of what life and basketball is like in Europe.

This article by Rick Reilly is a perfect example of what I am talking about. I am not a fan of Reilly’s article to begin with because it seems like he is often going for the most outrageous story he can find and then takes the most dramatic stand he can to get the most rise out of people. But he is working for ESPN and I am writing a measly blog, so he is the winner on this one I guess

In the article Reilly talks about how a player went to Turkey and witnessed a goat beheading after a streak of losses. I am not saying that this didn’t happen, but it is an extreme case. And I know that I am guilty of pointing out the craziness of basketball overseas as well. It not only makes for good story telling, but allows us to receive the sympathy many of living this lifestyle want.

The reality is that it IS different than basketball in the U.S. That I am not contending with. You may have some crazy fans. You may have late payments or other money issues. You may have other cultural differences. But you aren’t living in a third world country. It is different, but it isn’t as extreme as we may want to make it sound.

My guess is that a lot of the NBA players who are now a few weeks into their seasons in Europe are going to have a tough time adjusting. They might be a bit shocked by practicing twice a day. They might not be too amused by having to all dress in the same clothes off the court when traveling to a game. They might not like having an apartment where their light is a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. They might miss their comfort food from home and find that coffee and a croissant doesn’t cut it for them for breakfast. They might be bothered by listening to their wife or girlfriend complain about finding things in the grocery store.

But at the end of the day, they are still being paid to play the game of basketball. And in most places that compensation is well worth the small hassles. And hopefully they will look past the hassles and see the wonderful opportunities that playing in Europe offers them. Hopefully they will embrace the wonderful people who open up their hearts to them as they represent their city and a huge part of their cultural lifestyle. Hopefully they will enjoy walking along streets that hold a beautiful part of the history of the world. Hopefully they will embrace the different foods and cultural habits and maybe even incorporate them into their own lives as they learn to see that no one country has it all right, but that we can all learn from one another. That is my hope for the NBA players forging the new waters of European basketball. Maybe someone will write that story soon.

Filed Under: Living Abroad, The Basket Life

What Would You Pack?

September 6, 2011 By Erin Crispin 2 Comments

As Joe was packing up to head to Italy, I was trying to think what I needed to gather for him. I knew he needed his protein powder and Clif Bars. I knew he would need to pack his favorite Degree deodorant and Avon hand cream. It got me thinking about how we as basketball families all tend to have our “special” things we need to take from home when we go abroad. But I wondered if there would be an consistency across the board of what we all like to have with us. So I asked a dozen other basketball wives to give me their top three items they want to have while they are abroad. I was curious to see if the country your husband plays in or whether or not you have children affects what your top priorities would be. Here is what the ladies shared with me:

Cara
Country: Japan
Children: One (3 Years)

1. laptop
2. slingbox
3. ipad
Ranch dressing was going to be our 3rd (or maybe peppermint patties!) but then I remembered that Hannah would rather have her ipad Is it wrong that our top 3 things are electronics?!?!?

Ashley
Country: Germany
Children: None

1. Baking items – mainly brown sugar, vanilla
2. American pancake syrup
3. My favorite deodorants

Erica
Country: Poland
Children: None
Blog: http://mytworoads.blogspot.com

1. My medical kit: With Neosporin, Imodium, Emergen-C, Benedryl, Tylenol PM, Epi-pen, and Excedrin Tension headache
2. All my electronics that keep me connected to home and entertained: laptop, itouch, NOOK, etc… All charged and ready for the long flight (32 hrs AUS-Poland)
3. If I’m flying from the US to Europe the last thing would be food from Target: Hot sauce, cookie/brownie mixes, marinates, dry rubs for meat, yellow mustard, dill relish, crystal light water flavor pouches, and peanut butter. A taste of home….

Ashley
Country: Japan
Children: One (4 months)

1. Hair products
2. Baking Supplies (Vanilla Extract, Baking Powder, Powdered Sugar)
3. Airport Express (Mac wireless internet device)

Erica
Country: Italy
Children: none
Blog: http://philanderica.tumblr.com.

1. Food Items (peanut butter, wasabi, seasoning mixes/salts, baking powder, vanilla, brown sugar and oatmeal)
2. Ziploc Baggies
3. Ooma

Now I know you can find many of these things in Europe, but I prefer to have the “American” style baking powder and vanilla rather than having to do substitutions, and I prefer certain brands of items that you can’t find, or I get stubborn and would rather lug things half way around the world with me in than pay a ridiculous price for an item! i.e. I refuse to pay 6 euro for one tube of wasabi when I can but 6 tubes for $3 at Costco!

When it comes to ziploc baggies, I have an obsession. I can’t get enough of them. I use them for everything, and the European brands just don’t do it for me. I once had a girlfriend bring me a Costco-sized box of quart and gallon bags when she came for a visit.

The Ooma is my new fave voip service. The calls are clear and you use an actual phone and don’t have to be attached to your computer. You can also forward calls from it at a low fee and if you just use the basic package there are no monthly charges!

Amber
Country: Italy
Children: Two (10 and 7 years)
Blog: http://www.trentamberwhiting.blogspot.com

We go to the base twice or three times a month and I have a standard list that I always print out from my computer and take with me. We get all the american groceries we can and stock up on it!!! You think I am kidding but each visit is around $750!!! It is so fun to lug all those groceries up the stairs to the apartment too!
There are so many things that I have to have that Trent and have resorted to leaving all of our winter clothes/jeans/boots/ and coats/workout gear over there with a trusted friend so that we have more baggage space to use!
So other things that I have to have are:
1. All the homework for my kids. It takes a priority to anything else because of all the homeschooling that I do. And religious books takes a close first as well. I can’t go without that!!!
2. Salon quality shampoo and conditioner in the salon size containers.
3. The magic jack. Trent actually takes it with him but being able to talk to family and friends whenever is heaven!

Anadia
Country:Spain
Children: Two (4 years and 18 months)
Blog: http://www.desperatelyreal.blogspot.com

http://www.thefaithfulmatron.blogspot.com

1. certain food products, seasonings and baking products (as mentioned in previous replies).
2. certain medications, when I’m feeling under the weather thera flu is everything. you know we don’t really have an option of being down for the count, so i like to knock it out before it’s an issue. there are few medications i give to the kids, but i definitely like to have them handy.
3. books, books and more books. i haven’t always been able to find international book stores and i live to read. not to mention we need our Daily Devotional and any spiritual books/workbooks we need to sustain us.

Alexandra
Country: Russia
Children: One (2 Years)
Blog: http://an-hd.blogspot.com/

1. Medications
2. Personal Care Items – (Lotions, Soaps, Hair Products)
3. Food (Ranch, BBQ Sauce, Seasoning, Peanut Butter, Snacks)

Daniele
Country: Israel
Children: One (2 years)

1. Hair products. I’ve never even looked in the hair aisles in Europe. I just don’t even go there.
2. Seasonings. The base is great when you have one, but when you don’t every country at least has meats and vegetables, so Lawry’s is crucial.
3. Medicine. Sid and I both get 2-3 bad colds a winter and it’s so much easier to just reach in the cabinet than have to go to the pharmacy, which is probably closed anyway.
4. I know there’a no 4 but I would have to say Apple TV. You can get this in Europe too but I just love it. That way I can play anything on the tv from our extensive catalogue of PBS Kids and Nick Jr shows on my laptop and still use the internet. Priceless!

Edwina
Country: Italy
Children: One (1 year)

I’m definitely the odd man out. Its difficult for me to remember what are “must – haves” because we leave our stuff behind every season as we’ve only played in Italy. If anything, we work the opposite way and bring back to the States things like medicine. With that being said, here is my best shot of trying to remember what the American items in our luggage usually consists of:

1. gifts for our Italian friends. They go crazy for American items…anything NBA, A&F, Ralph Lauren, etc. Even simple things like cinnamon gum and tylenol.
2. Tech devices: Ipad, Ipod, Kindle, and most importantly – my cameras!
3. Seinfeld and Curb your Enthusiasm DVD’s. Whenever I get sick of Italian TV I love it as background noise. Also our laptop / portable DVD player to play them on!

Monica
Country: France
Children: One (1 year)
Blog: http://lovebasketballandababy.blogspot.com/

1. Crest Toothpaste (after 10 seasons it’s the one item my Hubby and I always make sure we have. And when we run out we have my Mother ship us more! Lol!)
2. Hair Products (shampoo, moisturizer, oil)
3. Vitamins & Supplements

Lindsay
Country: Turkey
Children: None

1. Medications
2. Hair products (hard for a cosmetologist to switch!) :)
3. Spices

So it looks like electronics and hair products are some hot items for basketball families. So what are my top three? Well, of course once I started discussing it with my mom I was then trying to figure out what the rules were and decided I could only assume clothing apparel was coming with me. So If I then had to only take three other things, I think they would have to be:

1. Medical Kit
2. iPhone
3. Abby’ School Work

The other items that were in consideration were the Ooma, Sling Catcher, Apple TV, food items, cameras, Kindle and other books. Thankfully I am am not faced with this decision but simply have to decide between certain items when I am trying to keep the bags to 50 pounds each.

Filed Under: Basket Wives, Living Abroad