Trivial Pursuits

People who know me would rate me as a low-maintenance sort of person.

I own a lipstick (and use it occasionally), but my other make-up has all gone so far out of date as to be unusable (in fact, I discarded the majority of it a few declutters ago). I still have perfume from the 80's (truly, I still have perfume that my grandmother left me, but I only smell it every now and then).

I have been complimented on my earrings, to receive a look of shock when I happily point out the little Mickey Mouses (hypo-allergenic from Disneyworld) and often grab my daughters' medical plastic earrings. I have had my hair cut three times in the 4.5 years we have lived in Germany and had not had a manicure in the last five (my feeling- why bother when my hands are always washing something and the nails crack from use?). However, after I had a manicure in Florida, using the new, UV-cured nail polish, I liked having a manicure that didn't crack in the first day so much, that I found a place here in Berlin that did the same thing (although with a far smaller selection of colors. This was the most interesting that I could find and this manicure lasted 40 days: with it, I achieved the longest nails I have ever had. And I think that I will continue to do it: when amortized over 4 weeks, it's actually quite reasonable. And I have been enjoying having normal length nails.

The end of the season

With apologies for not being very communicative recently (getting over some respiratory problems), I wanted to mark the end of my favorite (and sadly, very short) period in Germany: the Federweisser period.

As I've said, the only German gastronomic products that I would miss if I left are quark (and I now know how to make it at home) and Federweisser (which is irreplaceable). But what I love is not the Federweisser (pressed from white wine grapes), but the Federroter, the equivalent but pressed from red wine grapes.

It is the nectar of the gods.

The season (here) is only three weeks and I know of only one place to find it. I haunt that place and when the wine arrives (they do also have the white, which is far better than what I have bought bottled), I start buying it.

What you see here is the last of our supply. The containers are at different levels of fermentation (I must have rotated improperly) and the German is drinking the one on the left (far more alcohol) while I am drinking that on the right (almost grape juice, but with a fruity and smooth kick).

(And no- the refrigerator is not normally that tidy- as I have been sick and we were away last weekend, it was abnormally empty. So we took the opportunity to clean it.)

Resolution Update

So far the year has been rolling along. The kids are set with swimming and skating and the older has expanded her ceramics class to include another 90 minutes of art/drawing. She is very happy with that and I'm anxiously waiting until T2 is old enough to join her.
I haven't found them recorder lessons yet, but on the other hand, they have both added speech therapy to their week: we had checked speech therapy out for T2 last year, but found the therapist useless (after two visits, she was still "testing"). Instead we took T2 to have her adenoids checked, discovered they were enlarged and dealt with that situation.

In this case, T1's school teacher had said she noted a few issues, that T1 was vastly improved from last year, but that we might want to consider having her speech checked and proferred the name of her own child's speech therapist (I sometimes wonder whether all German children actually require speech therapy? Is that the sign of a language that is actually too difficult for its own speakers?)— that is, logopädin.

When we brought T1 in, there were some issues that were a result of grammar mixing between English and German, but there were also some issues that are the result of not clearly hearing and understanding certain word endings. While we were there, we decided to set up another appointment to determine whether T2 also had issues, or whether it is the resurgence of the adenoids and a week later we had the answer: some real issues with certain Germanic fricatives and sibilants. So now they have a weekly appointment each and we are on the waiting list to have 1 appointment moved to allow them to be there at the same time. Sigh. And T2 is off to the doctor today to see whether he cough and snuffles need to be treated or whether she will be back on what the ENT prescribed last year to treat the adenoids.

So I think that is their week pretty well laid out: until the therapy visits hit a single day there's not even space to attempt music, so we are booked.

My yoga started yesterday and although I thought the class was fine and well within my abilities, today I can barely bend my legs or turn my head, so that's a good sign:). Next week my once a week writing class starts and the B1/B2 Brucken (bridging) class (4 days a week) starts a few weeks after: all is stacking up. I also have a few cooking classes scheduled.

So, the resolutions have been scheduled and are proceeding as planned, which can give me a sense of satisfaction/ order.

Anything else I attempt will be extra and I'll need to see if there can be room for it. I think our "free time" winds up being swallowed by unscheduled but expected add-ons: two hours today at the doctor for 1 child, two days over the last week for the TüF (inspection) and the then required brake work and re-inspect, and so on.
An afternoon picking up a "registered " for gift and the opportunity to make that lunch with a friend, another lunch with someone whose company I enjoy who was showing me the ropes on some work I'm thinking of undertaking: activity seems to expand to fill the space that we have for it!

A typical evening at home

Isn't it for everyone?

I found it charming that they chose to dress as the same princess (Cinderella) and both wear glass slippers and crowns. The carrying of a Kuscheltiere and a purse is also lovely, as was the decision to put a show on for us.

The full face mask on T2 did give me a bit of pause, though.

Sunday

Another Sunday. another double batch of pancakes.

Why can't everything be this satisfying?

Every time I watch another episode of Smallville (a show I originally refused to watch because I thought it was too far from canon), I wonder why everything can't be this satisfying? Now in its final and 10th year, every episode is just more and more right.

Take that, Lost and Sopranos, two shows whose final seasons made me hate their entire runs.

Unbelievably easy and moist Chocolate cake.

Recently this has been my go to cake.The original recipe is a little tetchy, but I don't go to that trouble (and my mixer is from heck, spraying me with ingredients when I don't hold a towel across the top of any bowl). I usually make a simple buttercream type frosting (shown below. The best tip I've had recently is that I can substitute some of the confectioner's sugar with flour, which gives me the volume of dry ingredients I need while cutting the sweetness which I have always found overpowering. I made this for the girls' birthday party and no one seemed to notice any difference in the frosting so I will continue to make this substitution going forward and be grateful. With thses changes, neither the cake nor the frosting are too sweet. If you prefer even less sweetness, sprinkle the top of the cake with confectioner's sugar, perhaps in a stencil, and hve a not too sweet, not too rich, easy to make in a few minutes chocolate cake: what could be better?

• 1 cup boiling water (really. Use your water cooker.)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used DP because I had it on hand and it was great)
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 3+)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup/ 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 (175 grams)cups packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 (160 grams) cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F (175C). Butter 3 (8- by 2-inch) round cake pans and line bottoms of each with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.I use a 13x9.

Whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.(I never sift.)

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy , then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture (batter may look curdled). (totally don't have the patience— I just start a bit,then add eggs to help bind, then start adding dry and liquid alternately and beat until it looks mixed.)

Pour in pan, put in oven. In mine at 175, takes between 25 and 30 minutes. Cupcakes (24) take 20-25 as well, when I tried them. Check early because this is a wonderfully moist cake. Bundt would take a little longer.
Simplified from the below recipe.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Devils-Food-Cake-with-Brown-Sugar-Buttercream-104574#ixzz1185YgXC8

Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1+ tablespoons milk

Makes: About about 1 1/2 cups of icing.
(Medium Consistency)

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using. Add more milk for liquid consistency.

altered from http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing

Rolling with the Changes

I had expected to spend the weekend with friends, re-visiting the Keukenhof, but they bagged the trip Thursday night and without the lure of their children to play with ours, we threw the towel in ourselves.

I'm missing the chance to see the gardens at a later stage of development than we have in the last three years (this year's visit was disappointingly early), and if we had known that they would not make this weekend, we would have gone last weekend. But it is what it is.

So, instead, we 1.took the kids out to practice bike riding. Not that T1 needs to practice, but T2 is gong great guns on practicing her pedalling. The 12" bike that we have for her (garnered through freecycle Berlin) would normally suit her for at least the next year, while we waited for her to grow over 110 cm to fit a 16" bike, but the seat height control is busted, and according to our local bike shop, irreparable. We also discovered at the local bike shop(s) that although there are 14" bikes, they are not really available in DE (although they are in the Netherlands and Belgium). Now there was our reason for heading to Leiden anyway— if only we had known!

It turns out that they are available in Berlin, although at Spielwaren (toy shops) rather than bike shops, and at quite the price (we couldn't find one under €149).But we found one for about half online, in T2's desired lieblingsfarbe of blau. We should have it in a few days and just in time: T1 and 2 switched bikes and it was a bit of a circus act, with T1's knees up around her ears and T2 only able to stop by falling over (her feet couldn't reach the ground)!

then we headed over to Idee, to pick up materials for a craft project that T! found online: a witch's broom in Snow White colors.

We followed up with a quick trip to Ikea, so the kids could play in the "Marienkaeferplatz" (the playground) but, due to remodeling in the cafeteria, our usual follow-up of salmon and new potatoes with bottomless lattes and apfelschorle was derailed. When we asked at customer service, no one could tell us when the remodel would be done, real tables and chairs would be replaced, and whether the play area would be returned. I was very annoyed and next time we will head to the Spandau outlet instead. We did get the desired wooden spoons (for the above project) for .49 cents and the German had a latte while we sat and waited for the kids at the downstairs table display.

Why couldn't anyone tell us when the remodel was expected to be completed and whether a play area would be reincorporated in the design? Ineffective management.

On Sunday it was raining again, but T1 had a Maidchen party that the mother of one of her classmates was throwing and we bundled her off to the announced crafting and painting party. We had hoped to get some quality time with T2, but she fell asleep in the car and we carried her home and let her nap: it's tough having a sister who is an early morning bird and wakes her to play, while T2 is definitely a late owl.

The crafts were great- a pot with a flower (for Mutterstag:)), a little box painted in acrylic, and they had pizza. Lots of fun.

We were sorry to miss the final opportunity to see the Keukenhof (it's closed after next weekend and we have other plans), very sorry to miss our friends (T1 was very sad- she is in love with the baby!), but very glad not to have a 14 hour road trip with intermittent rain, especially since the volcano canceled flights again and the German needed to take the train back to Munich this morning.

What I've been doing (instead of blogging): Decorating, Classes, Listening and Luxuriating

Decorating: 

• We put up two wall cabinets in the kitchen, with glass doors, from Bauhaus. So now I know that the rest of the kitchen isn't from Bauhaus, because their Buche laminat has better grain than our other cabinets.
  
• The German also put a face plate on the dishwasher, while cursing the entire time that the included template didn't work. Luckily, he has the heavy duty drill and the end result is great.
• Only 30 months later (in Germany) plus a few years, we framed the I❤NY posters I got from a co-worker who worked on the program and got them up on the walls. Beautiful. NY is such a fabulously diverse state. The framing was a journey of discovery, because framing is pretty expensive. We went looking for frames at Ikea, but their frames are expensive— even the ugly ones. And the size was way off: Standard German size is 100 x 70, but the posters were actually 91x61. When we went over to Bauhaus (they open earlier than the local frame-shop we were going to check out), we discovered that a custom frame would be in the 200€ range (with a mat being 40€+) and that even having it dry-mounted on styrofoam (styropur) would be 145€. However, Bauhaus had the strange size of 93x63. and the kind framing lady cut a piece of black stock to fit exactly: when we put it together, I'm not even certain the gap would have been visible, but it just went together perfectly. Each frame plus paper was under 28€. I'll e putting 1 more up and then a great Dragon (made of)  Origami poster.
• I unpacked all four remaining (in the apartment) boxes in an (ultimately unfruitful) search for my last remaining missing appliance — now the German will need to check the cellar but at least the apartment is cleared. After we get back from the Easter hols we will do the clothing changeover and the plastic boxes waiting for the switch-over will also be gone.

Classes:

• No, not German classes. When B.1.2 kicked back in the week after we moved, I just didn't want to live in a tip. I contacted the VHS and they agreed to roll my enrollment forward until June, the next time that Berliner Platz 3 will be the text used. I am reveling in my time.
• First was the sewing class. I have been wanting to learn to sew since before leaving the States. Hard to do when working and then with the baby and then packing up to come here. But a group I belong to had a member just start a series of one-offs and I saw it in time to sign up for the class this month. Fortuitously, it turned out to be sewing for kids and I made a pair of summer pants for T1 and sewed a matching embellishment on a T-shirt. It was fun! Amusingly enough, I found it far cheaper and better (because the instructions were in English) to order my new Brother sewing machine from the UK: even with expedited shipping it was only 2/3 the cost of buying it in Germany, and that with the bonus throw-in of a sewing kit and some extra feet.
• Then was the Crepes class. It was booked up but I sent an e-mail off to the organizer and she had so many folks interested she ran a second class. Now I know how easy crepes really are, I also know why my stir-frys were always "ehh"— heat not high enough— and I have a large baggy of crepes in the freeezer to pull out, thaw, and use for either savory or dessert.

Listening:

• I recently read The Echo in the Bone and at the end, I was so annoyed by the cliff-hanger ending I wasn't certain if the book (in English, purchased in Munich) had been printed properly or if there was a missing chapter. So I started wandering about the Internet and discovered that, strangely enough, Diana Gabaldon would be here, in Berlin next week. Quite short notice to find a babysitter. At first, it seemed that both of our regular sitters wouldn't be able to make it and a friend stepped up and said she would take the girls overnight. But I was concerned that they would not go to sleep early enough on a school night and that it would be a real problem. Luckily, one sitter was able to clear a schedule and I wound up having a very full day: first the crepes class, then grabbing the girls, making dinner, driving to Mitte, finding parking, enjoying the lecture (which I will write up in another post) and then getting back, which was an experience in itself.

Luxuriating:

• While running about yesterday (visiting the recycling center— close enough to the apartment that going there with large goods is easy— we stopped at our local McFit and the German fell in  love. An entire fitness center with only weight machines and cardio on the ground floor, with the 1st floor being nothing but free weights. So last night, while I took my first bath in the apartment (it's really deep! the water is really hot! the bathroom is really warm!— two radiators!) with a vanilla pillar candle burning and a Self magazine (is there a more frivolous read?), he went there, registered (in 2 minutes), and worked out for an hour.
• After which we called our parents and watched Brothers and Sisters. This is what life is supposed to be like.

Earlier in the day I made chicken soup  and an avocado cucumber salad (thanks Alice). So now I have stock for the coming month and chicken for chicken salad. 

I love my apartment. I love my kitchen. I love my full-size standing refrigerator and standing freezer. 

Jetzt bin ich eine richtige Berlinerin

or, now I am a real Berliner.

We had our hubcap covers stolen yesterday. When we looked on E-bay, the 4 of them cost 29 Euros, so we assume that someone stole them for their own car. We won't be bothering to replace them— luckily the black of the hubs at least matches the trim.

But still, is it really worth it to be a criminal for that little money? I'm just glad they didn't decide to steal our kindersitze (carseats), which are worth far more.

We will report it to the Abschnitt (precinct) on Monday— not because we expect to see them again, but to contribute to the crime statistics for our area.

Berlin is quite famous for car theft (a bit like Boston in the US) because of its proximity to Poland, and also for its crimes against vehicles, so this a light way to be inducted into the family. Better than having it set on fire!

Oh Frabjous Day, Calloo Callay.

And it was.

Every day is better than the one before. Since the day that we moved in to this apartment my attitude has just been great. I really never knew how great a drag the whiteness of my walls and the hideousness of my floors was.

We spent the weekend organizing a bit more, moving a few pieces around, picking up the pieces to make things work a bit more. We couldn't pry the kids out of the house! All they want to do is run around and play. I think they love having a bedroom close to the living room— they have spent more time playing in their room in the last month than they did in the 18 months we lived in the last apartment.

What we have accomplished:

• Painted the apartment and floored the BR. (Done except for wave.).
• Found a great matching fridge to our standing freezer. I now have a great refrigerator and freezer.
• Purchased and set up bathroom cabinets (tall standing and under sink). Love Ikea! And love that for the first time since we moved here we can organize our toiletries and medicines and know what we have and where to find it. That's allowing me to pull out still good products for which we no longer have a use (T1 got over her dermatitis, infant formulations no longer needed) to pass on. I have also found my moisturizer and realize, after using it, how terribly dry my skin has become and how much more comfortable I am moisturizing regularly. The German didn't say anything, but I see some moisturizer going his way, as well as the humidifier running at night!
• Got rid of our extra desk- the give-away fell through so we ran it over to the recycling center, and got T1's computer and desk set up.
• Bought T1 a half-height hochbett with draperies and the girls spend hours playing under it, in their "castle". We had gotten T2 a Himmelbett, but it was too big for her standard size bed, so we sent it back. A bit late, so we will have to see if there is an issue that we were 4 days past the return deadline: the company rep said to attach a note that we were moving— and we got that sent back through their special drop-off. We'll get her a different one if there was no issue with the return.
• That liberated T1's queen size bed to move into the Arbeitzimmer where it serves as an annoyingly wide daybed (with a great view over the balcony) and will serve as a guest bed if needed.
  
• Have hyacinths, crocii and narcissi blooming and coming into bloom on the wonderfully wide windowsills over the beautifully warm radiators— we are warm every day and I walk around in the mornings lowering the heat. All the plants are returning to health.
• Put up curtains in the bedroom, the childrens' room, the kitchen and the bathroom. We still have enough of the curtains (used to cover our wall of windows in the last apartment) touse in the Arbeitzimmer, but we haven't had time yet to drill our Ikea (retained from last apartment)curtain wires up. These things are the bomb: with the attached clips I don't need to hem.
• Signed up for a sewing class, researched machines, ordered one in from the UK and received it in time for my class tomorrow!
• Got the wallclock up: I always feel calmer when I have a clock on the wall and I need to get back to showing T1 and T2 how to set times and durations.

I am watching The Legend of the Seeker and I am enjoying it so much that I am rationing myself. I'm still going to be caught up to current episodes within a week and I'm finding that annoying. I expect that I'll be getting the books later this year.

I'm closing the laptop and watching Castle before bed: I love my apartment!

Fish: Something I really Miss

One of the things I miss most from home is my Koi pond. When I was stressed, harried, and overwhelmed, I would go sit on a rock in my pond and watch the waterlilies open (in the morning) or close (in evening) and feed my fish. If I ever come to light in a more permanent way, we will make another pond (although I doubt we will ever have one as large as our converted farm swamp). These fish will follow your cursor or if you click, you can feed them.

Drinkable Coffee!

One of the hardest things for me to get used to here in Germany has been how undrinkable I find the coffee.

One of the reasons is that Germans make their coffee much stronger than Americans (or at least I) do: when I watched my father-in-law make coffee for us, I saw that he used just on double the amount of coffee that I do. After he started making a pot just for the German and myself, we started being able to drink it, with the addition of milk and sweetener. But still, we didn't actually like the taste of the coffee and there was no way that I would drink it dark or black. I bought coffee from Dunkin' Donuts (by preference) and sometimes from Starbucks, but it was expensive and required special trips (I don't regularly go to either of those places).

Every now and then someone would offer me coffee that they said was good (and expensive), but I didn't think so.

Finally I have found a coffee that is mild and flavorful and it's not expensive: Movenpick 100% Arabica. Yeah! If you miss American coffee, give it a try. It doesn't replace my Jamaica Blue Mountain (to buy that here I would need to be made of money) but it's a good cuppa Joe.
(added to page of Things I like)

The unblogged period...

I've started several posts in varying stages of completion, but if I don't actually finish one, I think I could just stay there, in the never ending search for completion and perfection while life continues.

It's been busy.

1. We came back.
2. My younger daughter went back to kita and my older was allowed back, but I spent a bit of independent time with her.
3. We went to the Olympic Stadium swim baths twice, the first time with both girls meeting a friend and her daughter, and the second time T2 was at kita while T1 and two of her friends came with me. That was an intricate juggling act, dropping 1 off, using a spare car seat and running 3 girls to the bathrooms and back. It was great and the weather has been absolutely amazing. The view in that link is from the diving platform and adult pool but there are two children's pools out of shot that are great, one shallower than the other. I had been a bit chaotic that morning, throwing everythig together and I wound up leaving my beloved spray on sunscreen at the kita after spraying T2. that lead to me obsessively slathering all three girls with cream sun block, but forgetting my own back: my first sunburn in 20 years and I get it in Berlin, land of perpetual grey. Amazing. We stayed for about 4.5 hours and it was great and exhausting.
4. I had to purchase the 27 specifically (to the brand of the oil crayons and the color of the schnellheftes) required items for T1's schulranzen and find her uniform in local stores.
   
5. T1 had her einschuling, followed by her first day and week of school, including her first trip to a sportshall.
6. We are continuing our ballete and swimming lessons start next week, twice a week.
7. We are also attempting to survive having to get up over 1 hour earlier. Poor T2 needs to be woken by me every morning and they are at school 1 hour plus earlier while I pick them up an average 1 hour later every day. T2 has been falling asleep i the car on the way back. On the plus side, although still a bit annoying in the evenings (crany from being over tired) she's going to sleep better and not annoying T1 with wanting to play after lights out.
8. I had a bookclub (The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon). It was fun to get out, but exhausting. The book came late, and I really enjoyed it, but it was long!
   
9. I started another German class, this time at my local VHS. I took the placement test and we talked out whether I should go A1.2 or A2.1. I know quite a bit of grammar, but after a year without really speaking German or taking classes, it's clear that I am missing a real ground in my articles. So I started the same day as T1 in my new school:). Although I know the grammar already, I am being pounded with using it correctly, and with the proper grammar following from the correct articles, which is just what I need now. (although now the teacher is discussing whether I should move up to A2.1. It would be more challenging, but A1.2 is moving too slowly.)
   
10. The German has been gone 9 of the last 11 days and I am not too happy with it.
    
11. T1 had an allergic reaction to one of the school uniforms and we had to change some fabrics.

Maybe if I publish this, I will overcome my inertia enough to start posting regularly again...

What am I doing today? And miscellaneous catch up.

I just got back from an hour round trip, most on the A100, to Kinder Bauernhof Pinke Panke, where Thing1 left her rucksack yesterday. It looked really cute and the area itself was way out- I saw more bike trailers than I have since getting to Germany. Lots of green. We may check this out as a family in the future, on a weekend. It looks more "animally" than Domain Dahlem, which we frequently go to.

I ran a bit late because the farmyard doesn't open until noon. Today has been another shockingly good day. Warm and no rain yet, with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

I have been consolidating and finding photos on my miscellaneous computers, hoping to get them all on the Mac and then backed up before the next hideous crash (it's about due). I think that I'm doing my iPhoto bck up in a painfully slow way, but at least I am backing it up. Right now I am pulling all the non-application material off the Dell that I use as a Slingplayer thrower (and which has had a defective battery for 18 months) and putting it on my Western Digital back-up drive. It will take 31 minutes, it seems. Then I will pull all the photos off that material and put it into iPhoto, after which I will burn a DVD of the library. When I did that last week, it took over 40 minutes. I think there must be some way to make a smart folder to do that, but I haven't figured it out yet.

This week I have been watching the last half of last season's Heroes, and today I am at the second to last episode: it was really good. I'm trying to clean the DVR off a bit before I start travelling and perhaps overrun my available space. I have also been taping a few movies and look forward to watching them.

A friend here in Berlin has been telling me how great Mad Men is: I have also read good reviews of the series but never started watching it. She has the first season on DVD and I said that I would pick the second up while in the US and we would each catch up. I think I will enjoy the series: it's a period that I know from books, particularly Kuttner, Kornbluth (with and without Pohl)and Bester (whose wife was herself an "ad man").

I was saying recently that I think Americans are ingenuous and naively optimistic in their views of human nature: I think this is recent and a result of the warped (although charming) view of humanity shown on TV and the general decency of American society. I think people were more cynical in the 50's and more in touch with reality and I am curious to see how the show bears my view out.

Tuesdays without Dory and what's up.

I'm glad that TwD is optional this summer, because I am 1. exhausted and 2.not making icecream without an icecream maker.

The girls are at day camp this week and last and they have been having a good time. I think they have seen more of Berlin than I have! Although I will be off in the morning to check out one of the more interesting spots, a children's farm yard because thing1 left her rucksack there. When I got to camp to pick the girls up, she was sitting there crying. She did, however, look glorious. I think they had a hair session today, while waiting for the park to open before leaving, because her hair was done in the most wonderful updo, with two small braids, one on each side and the rest of her hair drawn up in the most adorable bun, puffed around rather than twisted. I think she had as many pins in her hair as I did at my marriage ceremony (no- she had only 16, I think I had 35:)). I took pictures in hopes that I can reproduce it for her.

So tomorrow off down the autobahn. This will be good for me because I don't like driving on the autobahn, so what does not kill me will make me stronger. Thank goodness I have the GPS.

When I was cleaning up last week for Thing1's party, I finally finished all the seasonal clothing shifting as well as packing up and away two boxes of clothing thet Thing2 has outgrown (I don't put away T1's clothes because T2 is so close behind her). I used a lot of party favors that I had brought over from the US and I can see that we are actually running through some of the supplies that we brought with us from the US 23 months ago. Without surface air, I don't think that we are going to be able to keep up with our appetite for Annie's Organic Mac'n'Cheese or Crystalight.

We have already resupplied with coffee twice and I just ground the last of my Costco Jamaica Blue beans. I have been out of Dunkin Donuts decaf for almost a month. Luckily, I am so tired that even when I drink caffeinated coffee at night (I love the taste, I like the warmth) it doesn't keep me up. Thing1 can't seem to get over waking me before 6 am and without the German to take occasional duty getting up with her I have an awfully early start to my day.

We are also running out of craft materials and small toys, so I checked Idee out last week and it's really a great craft store. Not as good (or as wide ranging) as Michaels, but the best that I have found here. They have such wonderful supplies and patterns for making a Schultuete that I feel a bit guilty not making one. Howver, Thing1 chose her schoolcone and her schule rucksack from her painfully thumbed and lovingly studied happytoys.de catalog.

The German school bag custom is amazing. The bag is so large that German pediatricians hand you a brochure warning you of the dangers of its size and weight to your tiny 6 year old child, But what can one do? Every single child has the same bag, and generally the same brand (Scout is preferred).
When I went to the school orientation for parents, I was given an unbelievably long and unbelievably detailed list of items that needed to be contained within the requisite rucksack (as well as ancillary items), all the way down to the size of the Pelikan pen and the # of the 3 separate paintbrushes. There are 10 notebooks, all to be specific colors. As I was looking over the list, another parent asked why so many and why so detailed and I burst out laughing. My response: This is how Germans are trained to be German. A few of the non-Germans laughed, but the Germans didn't understand the joke:).

Luckily, the regulation rucksack came with a number of the required items, like the two separately sized pencil cases, the sport bag, the colored pencil set (with space for the specified Pelikan left empty), the required water color set with three differently sized brushes, the bus pass holder. The bag is rigid and there is enough room for the 24 books and notebooks that she will be using next year. If I weren't dropping her off and picking her up, I wouldn't in conscience be able to let her use it. As is, I expect to carry her bag for her every day for at least the next few years.

Would I lose my head if it were not attached?

When I got back from NYC, the German asked me where the single stroller was. I looked at him. Had he thought I had taken it with me? I asked him where beloved Pooh was. He said that Thing2 had not asked for BP, which I said was not the point. (She has since. My response is: vacation. As a good German, she accepts that.)

It's been a real conundrum. How can one lose a stroller? It's not the first item one would expect to be stolen and it's also not an item one would expect to be left when one has taken it somewhere. I wondered if a child could have pushed it outside and someone might have taken it? The girls said no. The husband said no.

Today I thought: Hmm. Last Wednesday we took the girls to a function and they left from the function by bus while we walked home. Voila. I only hope beloved Pooh is still there when I pick it up. And I think I need to put our name and number on it: we are clearly not to be trusted!

Odds and Ends

• If anyone is curious and has noticed my header, that's a field of hyacinths in Lisse, The Netherlands, that we stopped and wallowed in while visiting the Keukenhof. I love the smell of hyacinths and that's my favorite color. If we had moved in other directions, we had a rainbow of beautiful colors to choose from.
  
• The previous post was a "premature" one (posted accidentally), but since there were comments (some e-mailed, one deleted), I'll leave it alone. I had many other links to add and I will post next week: I reach a point where I need to remove them even though it makes my skin crawl to deal with them.
• The pneumonia is improving, after a week of the new antibiotic and the codeine drops. I still have bouts of coughing, but with the inhaler I am getting by. I am now having uncontrollable phlegm production and I hope my nose survives the tissue here (or, more accurately, the three rolls of tp I have gone through so far).
• The girls started ballet and they are so adorable, and love it so much, I feel guilty that they didn't start earlier. Thing1 will be part of a production in a few weeks and I think it will be lots of fun.
  
• Thing1's roller blades arrived today and she is amazing! She can already fall properly (protection in her size was easier to find) and kneel on her pads as she wishes. We had to mail order them because the 4 places we checked (including two stores in France) did not have blades in her size available. The girls went out with the German, T1 on her blades and T2 on her laufrad and they are both doing incredibly well. I foresee the time when both girls are rollerblading with the German while I remain behind lamenting my total lack of coordination.
• On day 2, Thing1 can already rollerskate backward as well as forward: I think she is an athletic prodigy. She came home from kita, put all her protection and skates on and started to skate around the house. When the German got back from Munich he took the girls out and he also thinks that Thing2 may be ready to move from the laufrad to the smallest regular bicycle (German, just a smidge bigger than the laufrad, smaller than the American bike T1 has moved on to). Wow. This is overwhelming.
• On the health front, the pneumonia is better, but still there, according to the doctor. He has given me another week of the new antibiotics, told me to use the inhaler both regularly and more aggressively, and upped the number of codeine drops I should be taking each night.                                                                                                                                    The nurse told me today that she didn't understand why I wasn't complaining more. Perhaps it's another cultural difference, because I can't understand what complaining would do (and I told her that). Apparently, as I am now starting to understand, the German system (medical, scholastic, business) works on the basis of yelling until one gets the desired result. Therefore, one should not expect the doctor to treat pain or discomfort unless one screams about it, even if one is clearly (as shown through, I don't know, listening to the lungs) in such discomfort.  I find it funny that he felt so sorry for me that without a compaint he upped the opiates. I really need to change my stoic attitude toward life and my belief in fairness if I am going to have the results I want in this country. I can do it, I just need to remind myself that things are not as they seem....
  

Argh!!

The elevator is broken and we live very high:(

Chaos

My next few posts will be chaotic to the extreme. Today we had 17 items to do and managed 16. I need to list out tomorrow's activities. This is the first day that I have ever been able to run around with a native speaking assistant (the German) and with a car, and gosh, it makes life a lot easier!

Among the harder errands:

• I have finally given up on Fielmans being able to give me glasses that I can see through (after 4 visits) and I am really grateful that after all this hassle, when the German explained the situation, they just handed back the money. After the time they recut the lenses and the subsequent times they told me that my eyes are "just testing strangely...", that the prescription, rotation and astigmatism correction they were grinding the glass to was correct and that there was something wrong with my eyes to not see through the glasses... I am looking forward to going to Lenscrafters and just getting a pair made up that works.
• When I was in London, the ATM machine that I used at the airport ate my money and when I requested help the assistant there said I needed to obtain restitution through my own bank. When I spoke to my own bank, they told me that: I could not have the problem taken care of until it posted, that when it posted I could not take care of it by fax, e-mail or telephone, so it took me this long to catch up.

Then we had a Purim celebration. Tomorrow there's another long celebration with the kita and then I have to start packing for everybody. You might wonder why I am not packing now but the answer is that I am making lists now. I have so much stress whenever we do a family travel that night before is terrible anyway, so I prefer to make my lists now and just go straight at it tomorrow, lists in hand, after the party and while the German is wrangling the kids and do the 7 unrelated things as well.