Minnesota is Heaven, But Virginia is Home

The gigantic slide Annika, yesterday--new summer clothes Glamour magazine, I await your call City view of Vaihingen I'm sure that it gets pretty dull, these endless posts of me describing yet another visit to the playground. I wish I had something more exciting to tell you, but the trip to the playground was the highlight of our day. A day that started out sunny and promising. Josiah cleaned up both Annika's and his own room. Both of them...to me, that means the day is going to be grrrrrreaaat ! It gets better. We set off to find this mythical park in the spring sunshine, we found it and there were a few kids there, but they went back to kindergarten, so we had the whole park to ourselves. What, I don't like to share? Well, I don't, really, but that's not the topic at hand. No, it meant that I could let Josiah and Annika run to their heart's content and not be constantly monitoring them for infractions of justice (say, not taking turns with other children, clim...

For anyone who cares to have a laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw Would someone please tell me why all of a sudden I can't just add the YouTube video to my blog? Enjoy!

When Hans leaves and I have the house to myself, and the kids are all tucked up in bed, I indulge. I'm busy downloading ABBA (sorry, can't make the second "B" backwards), Neil Diamond and Gordon Lightfoot songs onto my iPod. When Hans reads this, I'm certain he'll groan out loud. After all, his music taste is so much more refined. Tell the truth, honey: how many times did we watch/listen to Weird Al's song "White & Nerdy" this week? Truthfully, now? Besides, you all can't tell me that "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" doesn't rock. Hello, it's about Lake Superior. Well, part of it is about Wisconsin, but I just plug my ears during that part. And just try not to get up and dance to "If You Change Your Mind"! Truthfully, we watched "White & Nerdy" at least four times in a row this weekend. Hans just goes crazy for Donny Osmond! And I know how he feels, because I had a huge crush on Donny...

I have been working (a little) on a family tree on ancestry.com. I may have mentioned this before, but ancestry.com is an amazing place to build a family tree. The site has a great search engine that looks up the name of every person you place on your tree. It doesn't matter if that person was born in 1983 or 1783. Ancestry has found information about just about every person I've entered into my tree. It has US Census records from the beginning, and they are scanned in, so you can see the actual document. I've also looked at German census records from the 1700s, passenger lists from ships between Bremerhaven and New York, and military enlistment records. It's pretty amazing and I highly recommend it if any of you are thinking of starting a family tree. It does cost money to belong, but I think the price is worth it if you're at all serious about geneology. Anyway. My grandfather's name was Fred Th*ielhorn (the * is so it's not searchable, for those of you w...

So. Hans got home from Poland on Friday evening. Yes, he was in Warsaw for two weeks. Staying in fancy hotels and eating beef and cabbage every day, going to museums and shopping. And doing some military-type stuff in between. Like hanging out at the consulate and briefing people and doing PowerPoint presentations. Anyway, most guys would want a nice home-cooked meal after being stuck in a hotel for two weeks, but not Hans. He wanted mac-n-cheese. We ran some errands Saturday, to the PX (I'm just going to go Army here and stop calling it the NEX) and then out to Leonberg to our second-favorite McDonald's. They have an outdoor seating area and playground for the kids. It was sunny and warm all weekend. It's sunny and warm today! I'm still in shock. I'm already sporting a nice farmer's tan. Anyway, our trip to the PX went much better on Saturday than it did for me and the kids on Friday morning. Let's just say that Josiah has developed a nasty hab...

Will everyone say a quick prayer for my Aunt Laura? She is having hip surgery today. I hope that she has a positive experience and a speedy recovery. We're sending lots of vibes from Germany! Good luck, Laura!

This would be cuter if he was kissing its head...

Annika fell face-down in a pile of goat caca. But let's back up a few paces. Yesterday was another beautiful day here in Stuttgart, and feeling brave, I packed another picnic lunch, fired up Dora (how I adore Dora), and we headed for Wilhelma Zoo. We arrived without a problem. Stuttgart seems quite easy navigate, even without Dora, not that I'd want to try it without her. It just seems like I keep visiting the same areas, or at least everything is starting to look a little more familiar. I love when that happens--when I suddenly start feeling like a new duty station is home . I realize that I'm starting to get the hang of things. We parked, bought my ticket without incident. I swear I practice what to say in German in my head, over and over while waiting in line, then get up there and stutter something half-German and half-English. I'm just so terribly nervous about butchering the language! I wish that I had a little more confidence in my language skills. This ...

Dowtown Titisee Picnic at the Lake Restaurant on the lakefront Quit laughing like 12-year-old boys. It's pronounced TEE-TEE-ZEE. Oh all right, laugh a little. Until my friend Jen tipped me off to the correct pronounciation, I was saying Titty-See and stifling my giggles. I can't help it. I should really learn to be a little more mature, right? So. Remember that first longish drive that we took when we got to Germany? Black Forest, quaint little restaurant, cuckoo clock shop? On that drive, we took a random exit off the highway and found...Lake Titisee. The area looked stunning, but we didn't stop that day because we had already been into the Black Forest and had lunch. You guys remember that time--it was the one and only time the kids have completely behaved themselves in German public. Anyway, we took a very quick look at Lake Titisee, but it was enough to impress upon me that I would have to return for a closer inspection at some point. Today was absolutely gorgeous, the...

Many of you have been wondering for years...trust me, there are days when I wonder if I'm normal, too. But the most recent blood tests all came back normal. It will still be awhile until we hear about the Lyme Disease, but I'm thinking that it will come back negative. I guess Hans doesn't have to get me that Coach purse he promised. His exact words: "I will buy you a Coach purse if you have Lyme Disease". No, he's not that callous, he just is sure that it isn't Lyme Disease. And knowing Hans, he's probably right. He always is. I don't know why I bothered to go to the doctor when Hans could have just laid hands on me and figured it out without me having to give blood. Speaking of Hans, he's going to be filled with the golden light of delight when he finds out what I bought today...hehehe. Bwahahahaha!

Chillin' after the sock hop...having a milk, Daddy-O Getting rid of unsightly facial hair (don't worry, the cap is on) J & A playing in my shower (this was before Josiah accidentally turned the water on). The McDonald's balloon says "Ich Liebe Est" Very lovely flowers from Hans, to help me feel better last week. A picture for Mariska--remember these shirts? She's finally big enough to wear her Uniglo shirt!

We have just returned from the Patch Elementary School sock hop. But before I go into the sock hop, please let me inform you all (all four of my dear readers) that I am feeling 98%. I have a bit of a cough now, but all of the fever, aching joints, wailing and gnashing of teeth, tiredness and mysterious scratches are gone. Apparently, the self-exorcism kit that I picked up at the PX worked. The Nazi ghosts haven't been up to scratch me since Hans was home. Which makes me wonder...maybe Hans was the one who scratched me up. Anyway, I am feeling fine, taking my Lyme Disease horse pills, which despite their size, color and heft seem to be doing a good job. They are some form of tetracycline, so I expect that in addition to becoming free of Lyme Disease (a non-confirmed case as of yet), I'll have that really acne-free complexion I've always dreamed of. Seriously, I've dreamed of having the perfect complexion since I was about 12. I'm still not there. I'm goi...

So, folks, I'm still alive. I know that some of you are cheering. Thank you. You will be getting a Christmas card this year, be assured. After the rash, I developed just one more strange symptom. On Sunday morning, I woke up with this new, stranger rash on just my shoulders. It looked like I had scratched myself all over my shoulders...except that the rash isn't itchy anywhere, let alone on my shoulders. I have these dark red "scratch" marks with no explanation. They are under the skin, not raised. Very weird. Neighbor Jen asked me if our house is haunted. Which is strange, because during one of our frantic (her more than me) phone calls, Mom asked me if I thought maybe there is something under the apartment building. I said "Like what, dead Nazis?" After I said it out loud, she admitted that it was extremely far-fetched, but that sometimes her imagination just gets the better of her. Oh, so that's where I inherited that oh-so-useful trait! And now I ge...

Suddenly, I have a rash all over my body. Aren't you glad that I'm sharing all of this information with all of you? It doesn't itch, but damn am I starting to get freaked by the strange supernatural freakout my body is giving me. Of course, it's 7:00 p.m. on Friday, so the clinic is closed until Monday. However, I know how to get to a German hospital and/or call an ambulance if completely necessary. And I will call them, if necessary. And to all you nice people who are hoping I'm going to get waited on...maybe tomorrow and a little bit Sunday, then my husband will be unavailable until an undesignated date. Do you think I'm getting leprosy?

OK, so my doctor's appointment yesterday went fine. I was running a low temp of just over 99 degrees, which I figured. It's the low temps that are killers. Happily, my blood pressure was low. Last time I went in, it was a little high, and coming from a family of high-blood-pressured folk, I am always wondering when I will get to start popping my blood pressure pills! The very kind Dr. Caballero looked in my eyes, nose and throat and listened to my lungs, heart, stomach. He checked my swollen glands and prodded me in several different areas to check for pain. He seemed a little confused by the fact that I was suffering from flu-like symptoms without any sort of head congestion, sore throat or cough. Anyway, I gave some blood and did urinalisys (this came back clean and even surprisingly, said that I was properly hydrated). Blood tests results wouldn't be available until this morning, so I limped home, still feeling pretty beat. In the middle of the night I woke up abs...

Well, it's now Thursday and not only has this illness not left me, it's gotten worse. I can definitely tell when my aspirin is reaching the end of its effectiveness. Last night I had a strange episode of pains that reminded me of the withdrawal I went through getting off Percoset after breaking my arm. Chills and shakes and strange tremors. Yesterday I had a few bouts of nausea and today I feel a little queasy again. I can't stand the thought of eating anything of any solidity. Sweet things sound the best. Ice cream, canned peaches, yogurt. Soda crackers and orange juice by the gallon. Today I am having strange aches and pangs in my joints, like someone is hitting me with a sharp little axe in random places. Sometimes my ankles, sometimes my back, sometimes my hands. The fever continues to burn on. Hans is coming home in about an hour to spell me so I can go to the doctor. It's time. Four days is long enough. The kids and I haven't been out of the house s...

That word makes me think of Mrs. Krebapple at the school talent show, popping her balloons. Classic. Hans and I have been watching some older episodes of "The Simpsons". They are so relentlessly funny. What happened to our favorite residents of Springfield? Anyway, I seriously have a fever and feel like crud today. After we got back from Gamerdinger yesterday, I started feeling very achy in my knees and back and pretty soon I was prostrate on the couch, moaning with my teeth chattering. I was so cold that I ended up sitting on the floor of the shower for about 20 minutes with the water temp way up. It was the only way (well, that and a lot of Advil) that I could stop chattering. Went to bed and in the middle of the night, woke up burning up and sweating under all my blankets and pajamas. Threw a bunch of stuff off and went back to sleep, then woke up again at 2:30 freezing with my teeth chattering. Of course, Hans sleeps blissfully through all of this. It's tim...

We never made it to Switzerland over the weekend. Hans had Friday off, so we decided to run some errands. When we went out to get in my car, we realized that it had a flat tire. We ended up switching the carseats over to Hans' car and making a quick stop at the Volkswagen dealership to make an appointment to get new tires. My car has almost 35,000 miles on it, it was time anyway. May I break and say that I thank the good Lord that we are financially fit enough so that an event like a flat tire doesn't make me want to vomit in dread? I mean, a few years ago, as a single woman living pretty much paycheck-to-paycheck, a flat tire would have had me in tears. I would have been trying to figure out if I could patch it to get by for another few miles while scrambling for the cash to replace it. I'm just very thankful. Being debt-free is awesome. Back to the story, which is dull and predictable, so I will make it short. We ended up taking the car in for new tires on Saturday mornin...

I just took the test at http://realage.com/ because I'm reading "YOU: Staying Young" by Roizen and Oz. (Yes, Jesse, it's probably on the Oprah's bookclub reading list. Go ahead and pick on me.) Anyway, one of the things they suggest doing is taking this test to determine your real age. So, I went to the site and entered in answers to a bunch of different questions, like do you floss? What is your weight/height? What prescriptions do you take? Do you have any friends? Was your family weird growing up? Are you an orphan? Do you eat vegetables? Anyway...drum roll...my real age: 32.3 I was all excited for it to tell me 26 or something, because I think I do OK. I'll bet this is because I admitted that I don't floss (I use Crest rinse, doesn't that count?!). So--I'm interested to find out what my non-veggie eating, non-flossing husband's real age is. Probably 26, knowing his luck. Hans, I officially dare you to take the Real Age quiz (and NO cheatin...

Time to catch up, I know. I'm behind on my posting. I wanted to let everyone digest the Genevieve post. I'm glad that you guys enjoyed it. Even that guy, Adam, who left a comment. I'm sure that he's totally legit, right? So...we have been very busy the last few days. We started daylight savings time last weekend. I think we're finally getting adjusted to it...I think. It's amazing to me just how much difference one hour makes. It's just one little teeny hour. Why have I been feeling so tired all week long? I think it's because Annika has had a big 'ol boogery cold this week. She's been her normal self, for the most part, interspersed with bouts of whining and bad temper. No fever, just amazing amounts of snot. And all of you parents out there know how much fun it is to try to keep a child's nose clean. If there's one thing I cannot stand, it's a child with a thick rope of snot hanging on his upper lip. Ewwwww ...Josiah went to presch...