May 20-26

Monday May 20

It's Pfingstmontag and everything is closed. This wouldn't be a problem, except that we have a guest coming for supper (a WLU Law student is doing a summer internship with a firm here in Bonn!) and I forgot to "stock up" on Saturday! What can I make with my pantry supplies that would impress a dinner guest? Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos (thank goodness, still had a couple bags of tortillas that a friend had sent in a care package from the US). I didn't have sour cream, but when I went for my morning run I saw that one of the local fruit and vegetable stands was open and when I went back they had... CILANTRO. I got the last box. Whew.  After supper we walked with our guest to the Eis Cafe' for dessert.

Mid-afternoon I took HR over to her best friends' house for her birthday party. Her mom invited me in for tea (I brought HR an hour early so the girls could play one-on-one a little before the party crowd arrived). Enjoy that so much. They are Turkish and the tea is somehow always incredible (I've tried, but have not succeeded in replicating their black tea at home).

Tuesday May 21

Another holiday day for the kids, but the stores and banks are open again. J went to work. I made a big shopping run. After lunch HR had a friend over to play. GE could have gone to Kindergarten but I let her stay home to play with her sisters.

In the evening J went out with his Doktorant friends from the Uni for a Verabschieds Party (Going away party).

Wednesday May 22

Almost back to normal... MK still had school off--teacher training day or something--but the other girls went to school/Kindergarten. I spent 2 hours in a drugstore fighting with the automatic photo printing machine, trying to make postcards for each of the girls that have a picture of them (from this year) and our US address and email so their friends can stay in touch. These machines were designed by blank-ety-blank people! But I finally finished with that task and was home before HR got back from school (a short day). Oh and did I mention how awful the weather is? Abysmal. First day in a long time that I haven't ridden my bike (it was pouring) so after cursing at the photo-machine I also had to wait in the cold and rain for the bus to come. I will not miss this weather...

Thursday May 23

Everyone off to school again today. ME had her final bicycle riding "test" on the course through Friesdorf. She did just fine. The weather is awful again today. I decided I'd rather layer up with my rain gear than wait for the bus again, so I donned my water proof pants and rain coat for my morning errands.

After picking GE up from Kindergarten I whipped up some Banana Cornbread Muffin batter because I had a pile of over-ripe bananas to use. Then took it over to our neighbors who had invited us over to play. I baked the muffins while we sat around and chatted and the kids went off to play. The big news there: they will be moving to TX in the fall! These are the wonderful neighbors who have loaned us the use of their bicycles (for visitors), the space in front of their garage for storing our bicycles, various kitchen items and occasionally the use of her stove to bake cakes (and cookies at Christmas!), extra bedding and a camping mattress for overnight guests and much more. RP has driven me for big grocery shopping runs, picked up or dropped GE off at Kindergarten when it's pouring rain and all sorts of things wonderful. I'm sure I mentioned a long time ago that her husband, TP, is an astronaut. This week it was announced that he'll be the first UK astronaut to go to the International Space Station in 2015 for a 6 month stint. Needless to say, we are feeling pretty cool-by-association! Here's more info, if you're interesting: BBC interview and ESA announcement.

In the evening J went to choir and I headed over to my running trainer's home for his birthday party! Lots of friends from running group were there as well as many other friends and family. His band played later in the evening. He's the singer. I was rather impressed! Lots of 70's and 80's covers (think Pink Floyd). Good food. Good fun. Walked home with a couple friends...

Friday May 24

I got the other girls out the door for school and then J took GE to Kindergarten so I could go back to bed and sleep a little more (no hang-over, thank you very much! Just not enough sleep! Although over the course of the evening I did have two cocktails, a Kölsch bier, and a shot of a strange herbal Schnapps called Klosterfrau Melissengeist). The sun is finally shining though, so I put some wash in before I took my nap. Got a few groceries later in the a.m. and hung out the wash. HR has a friend coming home with her from school to play. Monday she has another play-date too! Suddenly everyone is realizing that she won't be here much longer and they'd better get their play time in. ME is going over to JK's house to play and spend the night. Then tomorrow she is going over to her best friend Y's house in the afternoon. MK went to see Hanni und Nanni with a friend from her dance class. GE has a playdate with her Polish friend, P, on Tuesday.

In the evening, J and I left the girls with a babysitter and took the train to Köln to meet our good friends CN and VM for dinner. We had tapas at a Spanish restaurant (the food was fantastic!) and then walked to a typical Kölsch Kneipe to talk some more. J had wanted to experience a true Kölsch pub at some point, having heard that the bartenders simply keep making rounds with their big trays of Kölsch glasses, removing the empty ones and replacing with full ones. They keep track of how many you've had by putting tally marks on the backside of the paper coasters. I wish now I'd had the courage to whip out my camera here (I had it in my backpack) but was too busy talking with VM. (This might be the only post from this year with no pictures!) They also heckle anyone who doesn't want another (me!) or who tries to order a Coke or water instead. I was told to leave a little Bier in the bottom of my glass or he'd just keep bringing me more. Having already partied Thursday night, I took it easy tonight!

Saturday May 25

Running group... well, I just didn't make it! We didn't get home until after 1 p.m.--which was 2 nights in a row for me. I never was one for late nights and now that I'm nearing 40 (!) I can hardly tolerate them at all. So, we slept as late as we could. Our babysitter had slept on ME's bed (ME spent the night with a friend) so J went out for some fresh Brötchen while I slept a little more. Then he slept and I cleaned up and kept the kids occupied until after lunch and took another nap myself. Utterly lazy way to spend the day... However, it is dreary and cold and the sort of day I'd happily spend indoors with a book or napping anyway, so I didn't feel too sorry about it. ME came home briefly before going to her other friend's house. In the evening they called and asked if MK wanted to come over too to watch a film and spend the night, so by dinner time it was just the two little girls and J and me! After the littlest ones were tucked in bed, we watched the Dortmund vs. Bayern soccer game. Bayern won. Very exciting.

Sunday May 26

Awful weather. Was planning to run to make up for not going to group yesterday but it was... get this: 7 Celsius (45 Fahrenheit) with wind and rain. Gack. I couldn't muster up the push to go out in that. My brain/body cannot reconcile "end of May" with weather like this!

So, spent the day reading, cooking, and playing with the girls instead. The Ultimate Fort Kit came in handy again. Finally got my friend in Marburg to firm up plans to get together next weekend, so on Friday I'm going to see my best school friend, BM, in Trier and then on Saturday I'm going to Marburg to see my other school friend, IZ. Can't wait!