April 29-May 7

Monday April 29

I am feeling wound up and have a sense of winding down all at the same time! Writing the blog has gotten harder and harder to do because it just seems to point out all the things we'll miss when we leave. The girls are expressing more homesickness and are snippier with each other. I'm feeling disoriented and grouchy too. Thank goodness the weather has turned nice or I might just crawl into bed and stay there!

A typical Monday: got up early for a workout and run (we have "homework" from our trainer!), dropped GE off at Kindergarten then raced to Bad Godesberg to get groceries. Then I rode over to SL's for coffee and chatting. So good to keep that up! Keeps me from getting to far down in the doldrums. After that, I got a bunch of stuff checked of the "get ready to leave Germany" to-do list.: Letters notifying the school of the girls departure, emails to the dance school and MK's German tutor. ME went to dance with her friend Y after school and MK went to Deutsch tutor. GE fell asleep on the couch! I made a sweet & sour lentils recipe from the More with Less Cookbook and the kids ate them!

Tuesday April 30

Another typical day. Picked GE up from Kindergarten in the afternoon and she voluntarily went to bed for a nap again! They've been outside a lot--hope it's just lots of fresh air and not that she's getting sick or something! HR's friend (E) came over after school and to spend the night. Tomorrow is "Tag der Arbeit" (Labor Day) and everything will be closed. J leaves for a trip to CA for a conference early on Wednesday. He'll be gone until Monday.

It's so warm! One of the best advantages to the sunny, warm weather we've been having (aside from it just being AWESOME!): getting 2 entire loads of laundry dried in less than a day, getting to fold it and put it away and using the drying rack to prop the balcony door open instead of the rack always being in the way and full of drying wash!

One pile done!

The few tidbits that were still damp get a second chance in the sun while I drink my afternoon tea.

Wednesday May 1

Slept in late--what luxury--national holiday and everything is closed! HR and her friend E played. ME and GE joined in. MK read and drew. I made a big pot of simple black beans using a traditional Guatemalan recipe. Turned out really good. All the kids had some for lunch (and only grumbled a little bit) with rice and tortillas (although I can't find whole wheat or corn ones here! I'll enjoy being able to get those again when we are back in Virginia). Made a wheat berry Waldorf salad to take to my friend SL's house for a cookout tonight to celebrate her birthday. After lunch the big girls went to the movies to see "The Croods". The little girls and I went to our Scottish neighbors for a little playtime in the garden and a cup of tea (for me!). Then biked over to the U-bahn station near SL's house to meet MK and ME, then went together to SL's. At 7 hurried everyone home to bed so I could race over to the Catholic school for running group! Big girls were my "babysitters".

Edit: As I read over this before publishing, I find it myself thinking it's plodding and repetitive--more a diary of my daily tasks than insightful or amusing. I'm a little afraid to going any deeper at the moment because I don't want to examine why I'd rather stay here (at the moment, I really would!) than go home. I'm also sure that that will change once we're back, but at the moment, I want to stay in the moment, be HERE, live HERE, even though I know it's just a few weeks longer. So forgive my superficiality...

Thursday May 2

Up early and took GE to Kindergarten really early so I could go back to Bodelschwingheschule to help with the 4th grade "Fahrrad Woche" (bicycle week). Raced her to school then raced back to BSS. Spent 9 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. helping guide 4th graders from ME's class along a course through the neighborhood, calling out the rules and what to watch for, pulling over to the sidewalk to answer questions, etc. This was as much a test of their knowledge as mine (especially German vocabulary for which I have practically no previous context)! I learned a ton from the friendly Polizist who organized the training. Not sure when/whether I'll be helping again or not. HR had to hang out on the Schulhof while I helped since she was out at 11:30 and I'd forgotten to make other arrangements for her. Then we hurried home to get some lunch before I had to pick up GE. GE's friend K came home with us to play. Our landlord called and asked if he could bring a potential renter over tomorrow a.m. Talk about a kick in the pants! Despite being wiped from riding bicycle all morning, I ended up cleaning, de-cluttering, reorganizing, gathering up stuff to take to the attic for shipping home or out to the trash, and generally doing a lot of stuff I've been itching to do but didn't have the steam to follow through on!

Should have taken "before" pictures... Imagine these crammed with odds and ends, kids toys, disarray, etc.

The "Telephone Shelf" a.k.a. the-shelf-that-collects-anything-that-needs-repair/found/remembered/taken-care-of! Now just holding the telephone, a few frequently used items, the bus schedules, an extra city map for visitors, the wireless router, and my handy mug of pens, pencils and scissors.

When all was said and done, the kitchen was clean and the dishwasher running, it was time for dinner and the last thing I wanted to do was make another mess and have to clean it up! So, we ate downstairs (it's been ages!) and let them do it! Meanwhile GE and HR had played and played with K, then after K left GE had gone over to our Scottish neighbors to play in their garden, so with full tummies, and nothing better to do (i.e. clean up the kitchen), I stuck them all in bed at 7 p.m. and started reading. GE was out by 7:15 and at 7:30 HR said she couldn't stay awake any longer. Good. I went to choir. It was "Gemütlicherabend" (1st Thursday of the month) so I stayed for wine and nibblies... (Dear Readers Who Are Friends from the Rockbridge Choral Society: if you're reading this, I suggest we adopt this tradition! What do you say?!)

Friday May 3

Spent the morning in a flurry of last minute cleaning and de-cluttering before our landlord stopped by with a realtor and potential renters. I was glad there were flowers on the table and that I had made sure the shelves were neat. Our landlord thanked me for my "help" before he left.

The rest of the day was typical: girls came home from school, MK went to dance, we all went outside for a bit to enjoy the warm evening. I went to a concert at the Beethoven Halle with my Scottish neighbor--one more thing checked off my Germany "bucket list".

Saturday May 4

Went to running group in the a.m., then grabbed a few groceries. At 4 I met with the organist from the Pauluskirche to rehearse for May 19th. The violinist and flautist were there too. Went well.
Then I raced home and the girls and I rode bike over to my friend SL's house and went with her and her husband and son to the lawn party in the Rheinaue called "Rhein in Flammen". The weather was perfect! Sunny and warm but not hot. We ate fair food (Bratwurst and Pommes, cotton candy, Eis; I had a hot sandwich with goat cheese, mustard, arugula, tomatoes, and roasted red peppers--best fair food EVER!) and rode some of the rides. Probably the biggest ferris wheel I've ever been on!

Rhein in Flammen Kirmes (lawn party) in the Rheinaue

Riesenrad (HUGE ferris wheel)

The Rheinaue from the top of the Riesenrad.

My friend SL and her son, N, who had a little acrophobia on the first round (it went around 4 times). After that he was fine!

That's big sister MK with littlest sister GE on the huge slide. A big hit! GE even went down once by herself. The look on her face was priceless.

ME and MK on the bumper cars.

GE on a carousel car.

MK (blonde ponytail, green shirt with feet crossed) with littler sister HR on the huge spinning-swing. HR *loved* it! GE was a puddle of tears because she was too little to ride it!

So, she got another turn on the carousel--this time on the pink motorcycle!

More spinning (and this after Bratwurst, cotton candy, and ice cream! I'm not sure how it stayed down.)

Sunday May 5

Some days I just need to Not. Go. Anywhere. Today was one of those days. We all slept late. We stayed in our pajamas as long as possible. I made pasta with jarred pasta sauce (boil water, heat sauce, done). Girls played and played. I opened up the balcony since it was another sunny, warm day. They ate lunch out there. I set up some shade using HR's Fort Kit supplies. We read. The girls danced to music. More play. Lovely day.

Monday May 6

I'm behind on the blog. I've been having trouble getting the photos to upload from my computer. J fiddled around with my computer, updated Firefox and messed with Add-ons and Plug-ins and still no improvement. Grr.

Got up early to do my running group "homework": one of the strength circuits and then a 30 minute run. I meant to get a lot done this morning: hitting a couple of different grocery stores in Bad Godesberg. But when I got to the Kindergarten to drop off GE, I discovered that all but 3 of the teachers were sick and they had consolidated all the whole-day kids into one room and were asking anyone who didn't absolutely need childcare to keep their child at home. So, GE got to tag along, but that slowed me down and meant I didn't have as much room to bring shopping home (I usually load at least one bag into the Kindersitz). I was supposed to go to my friend SL's for Kaffee, but I could see I wasn't going to make it home in time and didn't really want to bring GE along for "my time". So, I canceled and we went home. GE played quietly and I got a few things done around the apartment (another load of laundry washed and dried in one day!).

An otherwise typical Monday: MK to tutoring, ME to dance, J arrived home from his trip to CA, I met one of GE's Kindergarten friends and her mom at the playground later in the afternoon, squeezed out time to make Rice Crispie treats and Nestle Tollhouse cookies to send in with MK for the buffet at her school's "Bilingual Nacht" tomorrow...

Tuesday May 7

Raced around to get GE to Kindergarten on the early side (the teachers were back) so I could get some groceries before my friend SL arrived for Kaffee--this time at my place instead of hers because I wasn't sure when my parents would arrive. We chatted for about an hour and then my parents arrived! They joined us for a little coffee and then SL left to run her own errands.

I took my parents over to the Friesdorferhof and got them settled so they could take naps before coming back for a late lunch. Just when they were supposed to arrive it got ominously dark outside and started pouring cats and dogs! Luckily they had an umbrella along, but I knew that ME was still at school without one, so my Dad and I walked over to meet her, bringing an extra umbrella. We still got soaked (knees down--there's only so much an umbrella will keep dry when it's pelting rain)! It was nearly 2 before we sat down for lunch: Sweet and Sour Lentils again, to which I added a few bowls of "condiments" like chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded fresh mint (this was an inspiration and totally worth it!), and peanuts. I also made Crack Broccoli which I thought was "Der Hammer!" (a German turn of phrase meaning "Freaking Awesome!").

Then it was the usual flurry of homework, cleaning up the kitchen, trying to visit with my parents while kids interrupt, J coming home from work with a bunch of flowers for me, then organizing a massive clean-out-the-fridge-for-supper effort (a little on the early side because we had to get to MK's school by 6:30). Tonight at MK's school was a talent show program, the annual "Bilingual Nacht". The students put together skits, poems, music, dance, and that sort of thing that all have English and German (although they held to that pretty loosely). There were scenes from "The Hobbit" and Shakespeare's "As you like it", ballet, and the band performed Adele's "Skyfall"... The girls from MK's class (including MK) performed a dance to a Rhianna song (not exactly what we'd typically encourage her to dance to, but the song had been picked out last year already). Took a lot of guts for her to be up there (she's usually rather shy about that sort of open performance).

Now, time to get this out the door so I can go to bed...