16 July 2008

Summertime Meme (a bit late)

It's been 22 days since Diane tagged me and I am finally starting to breathe again and think of responding! Maybe I can even start blogging again soon. In the meantime, this meme, originating with Fabulous Me (who is such a funny read- go and see) and through Diane, will give me a chance to think about this rapidly passing summer.

So, What Couldn't I live without this Summer?

1. A chance to sit down.
I thought that I wouldn't get that and I've been running on my last dregs of energy. This is my 'week of freedom', when the kids are in school and I have no class and yet my idea of a great time is sitting here, for the first time, and just opening Google reader and catching up on everyone and grabbing a minute to actually blog myself.

2.Fans
As Diane mentioned, fans are a necessity. Here in Berlin, we rarely have warm weather, or anything other than chilly (to my upstate NY senses). But it seems to veer from cold and dank to hot and humid quite rapidly, without passing through temperate. So much so that at one 95F and humid point, I sent the German out to purchase a Klima. I came to my senses the next day and we returned it and got three fans instead. The very few ceiling fans available in Berline don't have extensions (and our new ceilings are quite high) so that's a point on my list for this week: order two ceiling fans/lights with meter extensions and then have them installed when they arrive.

3. Room Darkening Shades
I could look up at what latitude Brelin is and sound erudite, but I'm too tired. Suffice it to say that after suffering SAD during the winter, we now have 19+ hours of sunlight here and I am suffering the children's inability (and lack of desire) to sleep when it's tremendously bright outside. When it started, I got a burst of manic energy (as I've read happens in Alaska during the summer) as the natural cues to wind down disappeared and now I'm just tired. We have had the girls sleeping in our room (which came with shades as the windows are slanted) until we had the opportunity to run a curtain line in their room. Now the flannel sheets from the US will go up to darken the room and we will bring more back from the States (yeah LLBean!) next month.

4.Cottage Cheese
This, along with unsweetened yogurt, is allowing me to survive the German concept of breakfast. That is, they don't have any decent cereals and it's a little warm to be eating imported Irish oatmeal every day.

5.Drinkable Yogurt
Without this, my children would starve to death or I would go insane. My picky older girl will have nothing else for breakfast every day.

And that's about it, because the other things I require are required at all time (books to read, an occasional English language program to watch, US magazines, people with whom to socialize, etc.)

This is so late I'm not going to try to tag anyone. But if you would like to pick this up and run with it, pleaes post back here so I can be sure to check your summer necessities out.

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