Little Big Changes; or Pictures of My Trash Cans

There have been a few changes in my life over the past year. Motherhood. An international move. New home. New church. New friends. Different language. But there have been ways that my life has changed that are so small, they almost aren’t worth mentioning. And yet…these Little Big Changes are worth mentioning because they are the shape of my new life. They affect The Mundane. The move, having a baby...these are events that occurred at one point in time. The Little Big Changes are the consequences, the side effects, the details of the events that actually mean something. So here is what The Mundane looks like these days (just insert "...as I run after a one-year-old" after each sentence to understand what being a new mom entails):

• I live daily life by an audible, external rhythm. Our village church bells chime once for a quarter-past the hour, twice on the half-hour, and three times for the forty-five minute mark. At the top of each hour, one set of bells chimes four times, then another set rings the hour (five chimes for five o'clock). Yes. You read that correctly. Each hour. Even 0300. The bells also peal (loudly, repetitively, beautifully) at 0730, 1100, and 1800. So you see, I don't really need a watch anymore.
• My wallet contains three driver's licenses, two currencies, one military ID, and two copies of Ben's orders at all times. When I'm traveling, I add five passports to the mix (same wallet...it's fantastic for travel). Needless to say, I have never been so well-identified in my life.
• I can't buy anything on base without my military ID and passing military checkpoints is a routine way of life. I also carry a ration card for hard liquor, coffee, and fuel (at American prices, no less). 
• My car now has one of those cool, slim license plates. I'm one step closer to Jason Bourne-hood (cue Moby). The multiple passports help with that.
• I have four, soon-to-be five, trashcans in my kitchen. Recycling is a big deal here, and so I have one trashcan (white liner) for glass, one (yellow liner), for plastics and metals, one (blue liner) for cardboard and paper, and one (freaking regular Glade trash bag) for everything else. And soon, I will add a bio bin for compostable waste. I have to say, I actually enjoy this system. It's like going to Office Depot but in your kitchen...an organizer's dream.

  

  If you use a filter, you can make your trashcans look somewhat more sophisticated.

• My sink and my refrigerator are miniscule. The size of our sink has provoked Ben's wrath on multiple occasions (I challenge you to wash an eight quart Dutch oven in this thing without creating a tsunami on my countertops), while the fridge forces us to eat fresh and shop often. Oh. And stuff it to the brim. We have an American fridge/freezer in our basement, but who wants to go to the basement for food? We just use the freezer...because Germans don't have freezers in their homes. No lie.

  

  This is it, folks!
• My washing machine and dryer are German...and so are the instructions on the dryer. Thank goodness the owner's manual was translated to English. Because what does "Pflegeleicht schranktrocken extra" even mean.
  
• I translate my grocery list (at least the non-obvious things) because I now do all my grocery shopping on the economy (Amurican for "not on base").
• I rarely wear cute clothes (like JCrew or heels or jewelry or Kate Spade or anything else that would totally look great in DC). Granted, I'm not sure if this is because I have a one-year-old and the only people I see on a day-to-day basis are my elderly, German neighbors or because I live in the middle of nowhere and some form of precipitation falls from the sky every. single. day.
• And last but not least...I no longer wear my wedding ring. I know, *gasp.* I now wear a simple gold band because one, Europeans rarely wear diamond wedding rings and I like to (pretend to) fit in, and two, I don't like feeling like a target for theft when we travel.
• I am now very good at driving on insanely narrow roads at decently high speeds. Oh, and roundabouts. We Americans are seriously missing out. I never want to sit through a traffic light again.

Mmmkay. We're off for a long weekend in Paris on Friday. When we return, life hacks for traveling mit Baby. Or, "How To Actually Enjoy a 'Vacation' When Accompanied by a Non-Adult."

'Til then. 

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