Not Like In The Movies

The last 10 days have been about as frustrating as anything I have experienced on the personal front. It has practically nothing to do with being in Spain and everything to do with the so-called "global financial network." Ha. More like the "global marketing blah blah but it's really a country by country system and it would be faster if you wrote a check and sent it by freighter and donkey network"!!! It's sure not like James Bond or Oceans 11 or The Bourne Identity where you push a button and watch it fill your Swiss bank account.

We literally had tens of thousands of dollars that was really our money and we couldn't get access to it because it was being wired somewhere at some point by somebody and we would get it some time. Which, for those of you who read my early post about the fear landlords have here of letting someone rent their property and never being able to get them out, didn't make our first time landlord any more comfortable with the Americanos.

We did move into a new apartment, more about that later with some pictures, and life is getting much better. But if I had written all this last week, it would have been too bitter. With a little distance, it's not funny but it's not as stressful as it was either.

Two great things did happen out of it. First, we were again reminded how many good friends we have who were willing to do a variety of things to try to help. Genuine offers that came right from the heart and did indeed help...sometimes just listening and empathizing was what we needed.

Secondly, while Becca and I were very worked up, the girls continued be the girls (though they did tell us to relax a few times.) One afternoon Becca took them into a church she had been wanting to see. Taylor and Laura Macie were very NOT excited about that little trip. However, once they got in, past the ordinary facade, their jaws dropped. That night, when they usually take a few minutes to say what they're thankful for, Taylor said something that was worth all the hassle and frustration, "Thank you for opening my eyes to knowing that sometimes what is plain on the outside is beautiful on the inside."

It's so good that our kids are smarter than we are.