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We just got Internet service. Here is the post I wrote yesterday afternoon. (Wednesday)

Each time I sit down in front of the computer, I feel a sense of loss … for words.

Where do I start? There is so much happening each day that I feel anything I write can only scratch the surface of the adventure we are currently in the midst of. Years from now I know, without a doubt, that I will look back and wish I had written more … wish I had illustrated it clearer … wish I could picture in my mind, more vividly, what I am seeing with my eyes right now. And part of me feels it better not to write at all, lest I leave something out.

But I know I must try. I must try to show our life here in words since pictures outside on Base are not permitted. (At least as far as I currently understand the rules.) I must somehow try to capture what I am living in what I can write. Not only for my close friends and family who check my blog numerous times each day in an attempt to live vicariously through my words. Not only for those of you who just read occasionally, glancing at photos and reading deeper if time permits.

But also for me. For JB. For our boys. I want my words to be able to recreate the experience that is currently unfolding in front of us when we read it years and decades and half centuries from now.

So, let me try.

If you have seen videos of our house, then maybe you can picture me right now. I am sitting at our dining room table, facing out, where, what we believe will be our living room, awaits. I am typing on our little laptop. Out through the sliding glass doors you can actually see the Base gates. Turkey, the real Turkey, is on the other side -- the big metal, prison-like gates separating us from a whole different world.

We don’t have Internet in the house yet so I am just typing in a word document. It’s 2:45 p.m. Elijah is awake. He is sitting next to me, playing with his cars. He took a brief morning nap in addition to his post-lunch nap with Isaac and as a result, is already awake. Isaac is still asleep. Scrubs is sprawled out on the tile, enjoying the coolness of its surface. We have draped a sheet over one of the loaner chairs in the living room. He can get some softness there. We have also made a pallet on the floor in our bedroom for him as well. We’ve quickly determined that he needs somewhere both upstairs and downstairs to call his own lest he feel completely lost.

The loaner furniture arrived yesterday morning. While it is a far cry from the comforts of our own furniture, which we hope to have by early fall, it does help make it feel a bit more like home. We desperately need some rugs, as the echo in this big house is quite intense. But I otherwise feel can we make do quite well with the things they have loaned to us.

In the dining room we have four chairs and a table. We also have two highchairs.

In the living room, one sofa, two chairs (one of which we have let Scrubs borrow), an end table, a TV stand (minus the TV), and two end tables.

In the eat-in area of the kitchen (which we are pretty confident will one day be a playroom) is a kitchen server (which we have converted into a book case), a desk, a chair, and a lamp. We also have Scrubs’ kennel in there (although he has been doing quite well staying out in the house when we leave – so far.)

The loaner people also loaned us a few basic items for the kitchen. Some pots, a few spoons, some plates. You know, that sort of thing.

Up the stairs, we have four rooms. One room will be a guest room / movie room. (We are planning on putting our big TV upstairs and our small TV for the boys to watch videos on downstairs.) This room is quite empty at the current time.

The second room is the boys’ room. Two cribs and a changing table complete the décor.

The fourth room is also quite empty. We eventually think this will be an office. It may one day double with some other function (an upstairs playroom?), but we haven’t gotten that far in our thinking yet. All we have in it right now is an extra pack-n-play. This pack-n-play is a “back-up” if cohabitation of the boys in their room is not working at any given time (due to waking each other up, screaming at the top of their lungs, etc.)

Our room is the most furnished right now. Two full beds take up most of its walls. JB and I couldn’t help but laugh as we each lay on our own bed last night -- that once we get our king-sized bed back, we will feel completely scrunched. We also have a small dresser and two end tables in this room.

I’ve been trying to remember what we packed in our UB – the 1,000 pounds that is supposed to arrive no later than August 28. I am also wishing I could go back and swap things out a bit, now that we are here. I wish we had packed every single rug we owned in UB. Instead, we only packed some of them. In addition, I am pretty sure I did not pack the boys’ diaper champ in UB. I wish I would have done that as well. Bathroom garbage cans? I am pretty sure they didn’t go in UB either. And I wish they would have. But we’ll figure it out, and either way, our UB’s arrival will be like the best birthday ever. And our other 8,000 pounds of HHG stuff? It’ll be Christmas I’m sure. I can’t wait to lay on my couch.

JB went in later than normal today so he could be here with me to go through our pre-inspection. A nice man, with a Turkish name I can’t recall at the moment, came in. He took down notes of a few things that are currently not feeling well. (Our dishwasher, which is brand new seems to have some sort of glitch that caused soap to gush out all over the kitchen last night. The brand new shower in our bathroom is leaking water all over the bathroom. The toilet in the bathroom is running constantly. All of these are apparently still under warranty so hopefully we can get them fixed soon.)

The nice man also showed us how to use our fancy-dancy air conditioning and heating system. We have a controller in every room. Eight in the house I think. Each unit controls the temperature in that particular room and also tells it which direction to blow the air. There is also a master controller in the downstairs hallway that can control all the units around the house. Unbelievable! (Could this be the end of arguments between JB and myself over the temperature of the house? It’s looking hopeful. )

The guy gave us some rules. There is one type of wall hook we can use throughout the house. If we want to use another, we must get permission. We must also get permission to paint and to plant anything in the backyard. Kristy had mentioned that these new houses came with a lot of rules so we understand this is a “downside” to living in such a nice home. (A downside we are going to take without complaining.)

We also “own” our side yard and have the ability and responsibility that comes with that area as well. But not too worry. Yesterday, we hired a gardener. Ilhan and his brother-in-law Hilal (both of which Isaac already knows by name). They’ve already been doing all kinds of stuff outside. They are around all the time and are constantly helping with garbage and grass and dog poo and everything else. I made sure to introduce Scrubs to both of them so that he doesn’t bark every time one of them comes into our yard. It’s so strange to have people working outside in the heat of your yard while you are on the couch reading books with your boys. I’m going to have to get used to this.

Once the nice Turkish housing guy left, JB headed to work. The boys and I headed to the pool. Our new friend Sarah had invited us to a little playgroup. Oh man is the pool awesome. There is a kiddy section. It has a large shallow pool that does not get too deep for either of my boys. There is good shade and it only costs $2.50 for me and $2.00 for Isaac. Elijah is still free. (You can also buy a seasonal pass if you want as well, but I’m not sure yet that we utilize it enough to make that a better deal.)

The boys and I spent the next two hours meeting new friends at the kiddy pool. There is also a beautiful pool next to it for lap swimming. And a big water slide! It’s way cool.

After that I walked back to our house.

Everything on Base is within walking distance. I think fifteen minutes would be your top walk-time anywhere you went. While it is a little too hot in the heat of the day for me to take the boys outside, this walking thing is awesome. Since we will only have one car, JB will probably bike or walk to work when I need the car. And on days when I don’t, he can take the car and I can walk with the boys. I love this.

I’m sure I’ll write more later. For now, I hope you feel that I painted life a little bit of our life here for you.

I'll paint more soon.