Monday February 25
SL texted me and asked if I wanted to run. YES! I missed the running group on Saturday so that I could take R to catch the airport bus from the train station, so I was already thinking of going today, although the weather is sooo miserable (rain? snow? can't tell!). This way I won't get off the hook! Knee is still iffy--was OK at first but then tight on the right side when I was done. Ice and stretching... I've already dropped running except for the group times and one other in the week, trying to keep at least 1 day of rest between. Bleh. Very frustrating and I'm hoping it clears up before the 1/2 marathon in April! I'll be bummed if I have to sit that out after all my training.
HR's friend EO is home with her for the afternoon. HR begged to do her homework after she goes and since EO's mother had taken her backpack with her and told her she could do hers at home this evening, I said, of course, she could play first this time. MK has tutoring and ME has dance.
Now that my sister is gone and my time is (a little) more relaxed, I'm back to trying to figure out what to do for preschool for GE next year. The application period is starting up and I have to decide where to send her. My friend who has run a preschool from her farm for the last few years (HR went and GE went last year) is doing an all outdoor preschool, Blackberry Bramble Preschool, but it only meets Tuesday and Thursday. I would like to have GE in something a couple other mornings a week so I can have either more time to practice or work or exercise or whatever (imagine that?!). Digging around online is not getting me very far.
Update: I got an email back from one of the preschools nearest our home in VA that I'd also had recommendations for from friends. They have a 2 day option for M/W! So GE will go there Monday and Wednesday mornings (just 5 minutes from our house at a lovely church out in the country) and on Tuesdays and Thursdays she'll go to Blackberry Bramble and stay with my friend, S, for the afternoon while I'm teaching at Bridgewater. Fridays will be Mommy & GE days. Yeah! All the pieces fitting together... Now on to summer camps...
I've asked J to share a little what he's been doing this year. Here's what he had to say:
So, feel free to ask questions! I'll pass them on. :)Let's see. I spent the fall writing and submitting two articles, both on different aspects of data privacy and online surveillance. The first article is about whether consumers should be permitted to buy software (in this case, a browser) that protects their privacy. The advertising industry is against this, and obviously I am for it. The feature that is causing all the stir is a flag, set in the browser, that communicates the message "do not track me" on behalf of the user, to the advertiser. I think this is a great idea--such a great idea that I think browsers should turn it on by default. The advertisers obviously don't like it, since it interferes with their ability to track and sell personal information.The second article wonders why machine learning and massive datasets change ethical research design. Basically, researchers are working with ever better magnifying glasses that can find ever smaller needles in ever larger haystacks. The problem is that the old methods of protecting subjects--by "anonymizing" their data, don't work any more. The point of a great magnifying glass is that it can help you rediscover things. So it doesn't help to anonymize data if you are building tools that strip that anonymity away.I am currently working on a longer, year long privacy project here at the MPI. That project has a few components. The first is the idea that privacy might not be a personal matter. We think privacy is a social construct: there is no such thing as privacy when you are alone on a desert island. Privacy only means something when you consider groups. Which makes it strange that most legal writing on the topic treats privacy as a personal, rather than as a public, matter.We think that's wrong, and we think that experimental evidence on how humans behave when they are solving group problems is relevant and applicable to privacy. One analogy that seems right is to pollution. Internet analyst Bruce Schneier called information the pollutants of the information age. We think that is right. Consumers constantly upload information not just about themselves, but about everyone around them. That information may then be used in negative ways that consumers do not anticipate. And, that information accumulates, and more ways are found each month to re-purpose, re-use, or parse personal information differently. So we believe the right analogy is between pollution--a public "bad"--and lack of privacy caused by indiscriminate surveillance of consumers. We have developed experimental approaches to testing some aspects of this idea, like finding out whether how quickly information fades online affects whether people are able to act wisely to avoid negative effects.We have finished the models for that experiment, and are now in the lab testing a build of the program that runs it. I hope to be able to complete the experiment next month.
When I went to pick up GE from Kindergarten, her little friend K, asked if she could come over to play *right now*. Since HR had a friend at home, I decided (on the spur and even though I didn't know the family well and hadn't visited their home) to let her go. We rode the bus together (it's raining) and I got off a few stops earlier. I kept telling GE "I'm getting off at the next stop and you're going to stay on and go with K." "I'm getting off now and then I'll come pick you up at K's house in a little while"... Giving her lots of opportunities to change her mind if she got scared, but not once did she say she wanted me to come too or that she wanted me to stay with her. Nope. She just said "Ok!"
They had a good time. I picked her up around 4.
Tuesday February 26
A few weeks ago MK's Klassenlehrer, Herr D, called me to discuss an idea that had been proposed when all her teachers had met to discuss report cards. He said that the Englisch teacher thought her time would be better spent working on Deutsch--there are 5 Englisch periods each week. Herr D asked if her private tutor would be willing to give her homework that she could work on alone in the school library during some of these Englisch periods (2 or 3 of them). He would work out which periods (it would have to be times that the library is both open and staffed with a parent/teacher) and let me know, if I could speak to her Deutsch tutor about assignments. I thought this was a great idea and was so impressed that the teachers are once again being so accommodating when they could easily just write her off (she's just a "guest" for 1 year after all). Of course, her Deutsch tutor was also completely on board! So last week Herr D called again and said that she would go to the library for the double period of Englisch on Tuesdays and for one period on Fridays. This coordinates remarkably well with her Deutsch tutoring schedule. She goes on Monday afternoons and will get assignments for Tuesday, then go again on Thursday afternoon and get assignments for Friday. So far so good! Only MK rolled her eyes and sighed a bit--typical middle schooler who doesn't really want more work but knows she can't really say that.
Then yesterday she came home from school and said, "Hey! I just figured out that we're doing the same grammar exercises in Französisch as what I'm working on for Deutsch!" She found this very empowering and we thought it was pretty cool that something in her Französisch class was starting to make sense (she hasn't been doing well in it, but since the focus this year is Deutsch, we're not complaining).
MK's bike tire has been losing air, so I took it to the repair shop this morning and opted (as I'd done with ME's bike a while back) for a general "tune up" which would cover any number of things that needed to be done too (clean and grease the chain, repair the rear light, set the handle bars a little higher, check the brake pads, etc.). They did replace the inner tubes of both wheels and polished it up good. It was done by 4:30, so MK came with me to make sure the seat height was adjusted to her needs, then I took her to the Eis Cafe at the Klufterplatz that is open again after being closed for the winter! The weather was so spring like (we actually saw the sun parts of the day and the cloud cover was more "light gray" than threatening like it has been). Yeah!
Wednesday February 27
A little warmer, no rain today. Yeah! I finally got up the guts to cross the street and ring the bell at our Klufterhof neighbor's. They have a wonderful garden with trampoline and tree house which we can look down into from our balcony and since it has finally stopped raining and dried out a bit, I wanted to get the kids outside for while. I've met the parents of the family that lives there but hadn't really gotten to know them. But what the h***, life is short and our time here is even shorter so s***w German reservedness and let's be neighborly already! The mother, B, was quite happy to let the girls jump on the trampoline and after she came back from picking up her daughter from a friend's house, she stayed outside to chat a bit. When the girls tired of the trampoline (I think ME, HR, and GE jumped around for at least 1/2 an hour!), they climbed around in the tree house for a bit, then ran around the back with the daughter to climb around on the giant pile of firewood that was spread across the lawn waiting to be split and stacked. A natural jungle-gym, of sorts.
Running group night. Another new circuit training routine, then a 5,3 km run up into the woods, then back down via the creek valley near our apartment. I'm bushed! But my knee held up. I had trouble with it again after I ran on Monday morning and nursed it a lot yesterday. Stretched a lot today and drank my Schachtelhalmtee (recommended by our trainer to help with the healing of ligaments and tendons, but tastes hideously like grass!). After the run, he taped my knee with a alternative taping technique, kinesio taping, sort of like this.
 |
| Mine looks like this. |
Thursday February 28
Full day: took GE to KG, got a few groceries, cleaned the whole apartment (wow, was it ever dusty!), managed lunch and homework needs, picked GE up along with her friend K from her group at the Kindergarten. I had a bunch of over ripe bananas to use and a craving for something chocolate, so I adapted a chocolate banana bread recipe into a mini muffin recipe:
Chocolate Banana Bread (MINI MUFFINS)
- 1 3/4 cups flour (SIFT WHITE FLOUR; USE 1 C. WHITE & 3/4 C. WHOLE)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (SIFT)
- 1 cup sugar (SIFT)
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 stick butter, melted and cooled (SUBSTITUTE 1/4 c applesauce & 1/4 c oil)
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed well (USE STICK BLENDER TO PUREE)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I USED SCHOKORASPELN INSTEAD)
Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.Stir the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter (OIL & APPLESAUCE), and vanilla. Carefully fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.DROP INTO MINI MUFFIN FORMS BY HEAPING TABLESPOON. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 65 minutes (CA.12 MINS FOR MINI MUFFINS) until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and wrap in plastic wrap and foil or in a ziptop bag. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
 |
| The kids loved them, as did I! Had to pack them away as soon as they were cool so we wouldn't eat them all in one go! |
The topic of birthdays kept coming up (HR is turning 7 in March and she is very excited that the month is almost here). We kept trying to find out when K's birthday is because I knew she is older than GE but she is as tall as HR. K could only answer "Herbst", but as it turned out, she was saying "März"! And wouldn't you know, it's the same day as HR's (we found out later from her mother)! Her mom arrived to pick her up just as the first pan of muffins was cooling. K got to eat one and take a few with her. I have a feeling she'll be over again soon.
After supper, we got the girls all ready for bed, tucked in, read to, and then headed over to the church for choir rehearsal. We missed last week while R was visiting and the director was sick the week before, so it's been ages (feels like!) since we sang. Such a stress-reliever for me (not that I'm overly stressed, but I do note a certain mental calmness afterwards). They are scheduled to sing over Easter when we'll be traveling, but we'll keep going to rehearsals anyway--they'll sing probably one more time in one of the services in the spring before we leave.
Friday March 1
We got a care package in the mail! Just before lunch the delivery man rang the doorbell and I thought, "what could that be (since I didn't have any outstanding Amazon.de orders)?" A box of USA treats: Skittles, Goldfish, Wheat thins, silly putty, balloons, mini Oreos, and other goodies! Plus some sweet cards and notes from our friends at Springdale Mennonite Church. Thank you!
HR had a friend (TS) home from school. This was her first visit and the girls had a wonderful time. TS is very chatty and got everyone speaking German even MK! TS stood behind MK while she was on the computer: "Was macht's du?" "Was ist das?" "Warum tuhst du das?" and so forth. I was tickled to hear MK trying to explain in German what she was doing (Mindcraft) on the computer!
At 2 I went to pick up GE from Kindergarten. GE had another friend coming over to play: Y, a little Morrocan girl. Her mother wears a Hijab, but is very open and friendly. When I first approached her about having Y come and play, she seemed hesitant but shared her phone number with me and we made plans for them to play together. Her one request (which she was apologetic about) was whether her eldest son could come too. I said, of course, not really knowing what it was about, but seeing no reason why he couldn't. I figured maybe she wanted him to be there the first time just to make sure we didn't offer her pork or watch any T.V. she's not allowed to be exposed to or something along those lines. In the end, I think it was something entirely unrelated to religious customs! I had always noticed that Y was quiet at the KG, but hadn't really thought about it. GE says they play together all the time and her mother said that Y had asked repeatedly to play with GE too, so it never occurred to me that Y was shy. However, while she and her brother were here (about 2 hours), I didn't hear her say but one word (and that only to her brother!). Whenever I tried to talk to her, she would just nod or shake her head. She shrieked and ran after her brother in play, but never spoke to any of the girls or even to GE while she was here. Even chatty TS didn't provoke a spoken response! In any case, she had a good time, as far as I can tell, and GE was sad when it was time for her brother to take her home. We'll have to do it again--maybe when there aren't so many kids already at our place (with MK there, we had 7 children running around!).
Knowing that there were going to be so many kids in the apartment, I picked up some spring crafts for the kids: wooden butterflies and flowers that they could color with marker and hang in the windows and spring-themed window stickers. They loved the wooden butterflies so much I'm going to have to get a few more for other windows!
 |
| The yellow tulips are from our dinner guests. |
J came home with flowers for me just because it's springtime!
 |
| These are the tulips from J. |
Saturday March 2
I slept as late as possible and then went to running group. We did just a long run with no circle training this time. 8,11 km with hills--3 steep up and 4 times down--1:20 minutes. I was worried that my knee would bother me, but it held up! I only had a little tightness later in the day. It was a beautiful sunny day and finally with temps climbing up into the upper 40's. Yeah! Spring!
Afterwards I swung by Der Leyenhof to pick up some bread and cheese. We invited friends, MH and KH with their daughter M, to a Raclette dinner. While I was out, the girls and J cleaned the apartment. After lunch I took ME on the subway and bus to Pützchen, a little Dorf on the other side of the Rhein, to a farm for a birthday party of one of her classmates. They brought her home just as our guests arrived for dinner. We had a wonderful time and the girls sequestered themselves with some board games and Twister while the grownups were visiting. GE got so tired that she crawled into her own bed and fell asleep while the other girls continued to play Twister in the same room! Bless her heart! At the last moment, the girls begged to let M spend the night (which they said yes to), so I made a bed on the floor and found her a clean toothbrush and some borrowed pajamas.
Sunday March 3
A quiet morning. I had an inspired moment and decided to try making pancakes on the Raclette machine! After a few stuck pancakes, we figured out the best way to do it: heat the pan in the machine, put a little butter in, dollop of pancake batter, then let the pan sit on top of the Raclette's grill surface, when it bubbles, put it under the heat element, check for browning and remove! Yum!
 |
| The finished product! |
 |
| Bubbles forming... almost ready to go under the heat element! |
The girls played with MH until her dad picked her up just before lunch. J went into the office to work out some bugs in the experiment design with the programmer. I took a nap. Later, MK and I took the subway and Schnellbus to the airport to pick up J's cousin's daughter, RL (the one's living in Paris). She has a spring break and will stay with us until Friday.
 |
| Cousin R coloring with GE. |
No comments:
Post a Comment