When Apu is away...

The mice have to go get groceries alone for a month...

Baby + fresh produce = 18.7kg = 41.2lbs

And a killer workout. Mom is sweaty.

Mom turns around for two minutes...

And then suddenly hears the mini vacuum!!! Uh oh...

Most fun Pompom has had in weeks.

Second mom to the rescue!! The real mom can take a break! Yehaw! 

Going through the BIG D...

...and don't mean Dallas...

Because Apu just HAD to show off that he's been on an island in Brazil with his captain and hot flight attendant for the last FIVE DAYS. Mom is not impressed. 

But Apu paid retribution in the form of an unnamed ailment that made mom genuinely cry laughing for like 15 minutes...and made the whole aviation dream lifestyle much less appealing. 

Crisis averted. 

Oh, Vienna.

Mama, Pompom and I went to Vienna yesterday with nagymama and nagypapa, and WITHOUT Apu. That's a WHOLE other blog post.

SO...mom wanted to check out a few apartments and a kindergarten that Aunt S raves about.  

Her assessment(s)...

-Vienna is BEAUTIFUL, and perfect, and fancy, and NOT her/apu's style. She LOVES nice shops and restaurants, but there lacks a certain genuineness that you find in Budapest. People in Budapest HAVE to be laid back, because there are so many bizarre quirks...and you have to roll with it.  Vienna seems...different.  

-1400€ is NOT enough for a nice apartment...which is semi disappointing. You either get a place right on the loud main street, tiny useless rooms, or no elevator and yucky construction going on right next to your bedroom.

-The kindergarten was AMAZING, and had a very impersonal "corporate" feel. The facility was INCREDIBLE, the food was cooked fresh daily, and the kids all sat PERFECTLY while eating lunch and being taught proper Austrian etiquette.  Something mama and apu lack.  But they also don't want me to think that Pompom and I have to be perfect with no room to be ourselves. Being yourself is the ONLY way to live a truly happy life (in their opinion). 

-The dress code is a tad fancier than mama's basic attire.  Mom felt slightly out of place in her jeans and three year-old sweater.  I mean, there were ladies pushing strollers in heels! WHAT?!! On what planet is that comfortable?!

-The judgment. (Yes, I am aware that mom is being judgmental in this post, but bare with it.)  Nagymama was explaining to mom that she needed to say "guten tag" to every random person.  Basically, mom felt like she needed to curtsy to the stray dogs (only there WEREN'T any).

-Another funny story worth mentioning is that nagypapa and nagymama were "explaining" to mama that she needed to get used to the cold. She then politely explained back "that getting used to something is GREAT, but getting used to something and LIKING something are two very different things." Mama does NOT like the cold (the cold equaling below zero temperatures AND wind). No thank you, she doesn't want to walk 15 minutes to kindergarten with TWO toddlers in arctic conditions....in heels and fur...passing penguins and polar bears on the way. 

So the search continues...

People dream of getting to choose where to live...and we do feel pretty darn lucky that we currently have this option. BUT, when it's up to you, and not your boss, you feel this overwhelming need to find the perfect match for you and your family...instead of just making the most of a new place. So maybe this is the universe teaching mom a very valuable lesson. 

In the meantime, we will spend some of the money we are saving to travel and enjoy our time when apu is home. Maybe we'll stumble across the perfect place when we are no longer looking.

Next stop in our craziness...the South of France or the North of France? We won't decide until the day before probably. 

Cheers to first world problems.    

  

Little baby toes.

Mom got to spend the morning with the owner of my nursery, who just had a little boy (at 4.3 kilos). Not so little actually. Mom could cuddle babies ALL day...

I know, I know, it shocks mom too.

www.kellyacsphotography.com

Birthday fever...

Two birthdays in two days...was too much...

Because I was assaulted with more germs than I could handle...and now have ANOTHER fever. 

But don't mom and I have an awesome group of friends? 

Our great bus adventure.

Mom, in her sleepless delusion, declared we were taking a bus trip today. All in all, it was pretty ok. No MAJOR screaming (well, a little, the bus is scary when you haven't been before...in three years), and we even managed to eat lunch out! 

Mom needs to brush her hair. 

Mom will now sleep for the next week.