Top 10 Things That Always Made Christmas Great For Me

Grandpa Bates - Having him around made everything memorable though. Everything about my grandfather was great. From his laugh to his kind and generous nature to his love of and loyalty to his family. I was lucky enough to share a handful of Christmas’s with him. He even started a very key Christmas tradition that my mom still carries on with, of opening a pair of new pajamas on Christmas Eve to wear to bed that night.

Mom - It was her who made Christmas, not that fat guy in the red suit at the mall. Only a woman with a huge untamed inner child would spend so many hours stalking her prey (our toys and other gifts) in the aisles of the local toy and department stores and tirelessly wrap mountains of gifts like she did. She has even been known to brave frigid temperatures in order to stand in a long line at the butt crack of dawn in spite of the potential for hand to hand mom combat to make sure a certain little girl with big glasses had a Cabbage Patch Kid under the tree Christmas morning. For that and so much more, I thank you Mom!

The Billion Light Christmas Tree - This one also goes out to my Mom because it is in fact her Christmas light OCD that we have to thank for the brightest tree ever. Clark Griswold would have been envious of our Christmas trees. Hek, we even had to keep a supply of sunscreen handy for when we turned it on so as not to suffer third degree burns from it’s glow.

Heirloom Ornaments - I absolutely love Christmas ornaments, especially the one’s of the much older than me variety. I was fortunate enough to inherit a load of ornaments that once belonged to my mother, my grandmother and even my great grandmother. I will cherish them forever.

Christmas Cookies - Do I really need to say much?

Snow - I just love the snow in general, although I know many of you reading this in Michigan and Canada at the moment are quite sick of it. A nice dusting or dumping if you are lucky enough, is particularly appreciated on Christmas day.

Christmas Breakfast - This is a tradition that Marshall and I started, it always consists of bacon or sausage and waffles or crepes with a lot of Nutella in our house.

Bulldog Prezzies - Gemma and Shocker seriously love getting presents. We also love to watch them open them. Those nubby tails go at least 90 mph. Besides, giving them a little something first distracts them from being too nosey about what we do.

Eric’s Bed Head - Without fail every Christmas morning (well really every morning) my brother would jump out of bed (crawl in later years) with the most glorious bed head I had ever seen. It was kind of like his version of a Santa hat.

The German Christmas Markets - Living in Germany has opened our eyes to many different new traditions, however I particularly love the Christmas markets. They begin at the end of November or beginning of December and run up until Christmas. There is nothing as charming as visiting one of these markets as the snow gently falls with the scent of Glühwein, and roasted almonds in the air. I know, it's so sweet it gives me a toothache too!

So what are some things that have made Christmas great for you?

Bim 1, Luck O'the Irish 0

I know it has been forever since I last posted but to be fair, there just was not a whole lot going on aside from that death match of Carcassonne with Marsh and Chris when we went down to Ingolstadt. Oh, and just in case Chris reads this, I feel that I should mention the fact that I not only won the game, but I pretty annihilated he and Marsh. I'm not bragging, just stating the facts. Anyhow, please read on.

On St. Patrick’s Day Marshall and I decided to venture down to Nürnberg to meet up with some other English speaking people at an Irish pub called O’Shea’s. So we donned our finest greenery, in this case a green Mustard Plug shirt for him and a green Dropkick Murhpy’s shirt for myself, and hopped into Bim the BMW. The traffic was cooperative, the weather was relatively decent, so things were going swimmingly, well that is until Bim decided to magically turn our heat into air conditioning. How Bim takes it upon himself to make these decisions is really beyond me. I think we treat him pretty well to be honest. I mean we keep him clean, filled with nice gasoline, we keep his oil changed, his tires filled with the suggested air pressure and everything. So why would he turn on us like this? That ungrateful bucket of Bavarian bolts and scrap metal acts as though we have a soccer team of bratty children that we allow to write on his upholstery with crayons, wipe all forms of their bodily fluids all over his interior and blow raspberries on his windows all while neglecting his general maintenance needs. Well alas, after much button pressing on Marshall’s part, we pulled over to rest area and Marsh’s almost worse fears were confirmed because the coolant was in fact leaking like a nineteen year old American boy on his way home from his first night of drinking in Canada. Bim is such a bastard. Luckily though, my “always prepared” Scout of a husband happened to have a big jug of water and we were able to make it into Nürnberg with no more problems. However, Marsh thought it would be best to park the car and take the train into the city center just to be safe and avoid the stop and go traffic. When we finally arrived at O’Shea’s it was completely packed, like we are talking in danger of being trampled crowded. We knew the group we were meeting had reservations though, so Marsh pushed his way through the crowd and I tried my best to follow. I tell you, it was no easy feat to squirm through this place either, especially being a full figured gal. After doing what I realized was almost a complete lap around the place we found the group's table. If only we’d gone straight when we walked in rather than going to the right my self esteem would have been spared a little blow trying to squeeze through the crowd, but alas we found seats. We joined a table with five other’s from the Toytown group, two American guy’s, a woman from Spain, a German guy and his Brazilian wife. As luck would have it they were all very nice and likable. Although as the night wore on I came to realize that the American guy’s were not going to become my best pals. I found the guy who was from Royal Oak, Michigan (although he told everyone who didn’t know better that he lived in Detroit his whole life) to be particularly annoying. It is guys like this that are the reason that so many people the world over dislike Americans and why there is the stereotype of the “ugly American.” I can only hope that people don’t view me in the same light. Anyhow, we spent most of the night talking with the German / Brazilian couple and some of her friends that showed up later as there was definitely a noticeable divide between the regular crowd and the new crowd. All in all, we had a decent time and hope to maybe meet up with the nice German / Brazilian couple again.

The next day however, we realized that all was not well. Marshall checked the forum and came across and interesting post about how some “peasant” did not pay for their fish and chips and three pints of Guinness. Then there was another post in reply that mentioned how the “girl from Colberg” ordered fish and chips and then went on to say everyone else paid at the table but then eluded to the fact that perhaps this “girl from Colberg” had not paid her bill. Well guess who the “girl from Colberg” was? If you guessed me, then you would be correct. Although I think that at the ripe old age of twenty eight I should be considered a woman rather than a girl, and do not I live in a place called “Colberg,” but rather in a little obscure village outside of Coburg. Well those of you who know me can imagine what happened next. I of course was offended and just plain old ticked off. So I logged in and left a little reply informing them who I was and that although I did not pay for my fish and chips that my husband did and I was also sure to let them know that he paid for my one drink that was in fact a Coke and not three pints of Guinness. I even offered to reimburse whomever it was that had been left footing the bill for the unaccounted for food and drinks just to show my graciousness. Not bad for a lowly peasant girl hailing from Colberg huh? I cannot believe how catty and petty adults can be though. I suppose I was an easy target being one of the new people even though it was clearly just an accounting error which is understandable given how very crowded and hectic it was. In the end the accuser did apologize, most likely for fear of my wrath no doubt. I mean I do have a very formidable presence. So I will be quite hard pressed to join this particular group in the future. Hopefully we can find another group to meet up with somewhere a bit closer though.

As for Bim the BMW, I thought I would let everyone know that Marshall was able to fix him the following Saturday. A friend / coworker of Marsh’s helped him out by providing some assistance with replacing the part as well as with getting the part we needed. So Bim is back in action. I am seriously thinking of drawing on his upholstery with some crayons and blowing a few raspberries on his windows though.

This Sunday we have been invited to Gisela’s (she is our German mommy and dear friend) for an Easter breakfast with her family. So we are looking forward to that. We really are very lucky to have friends like her and her daughters Johanna and Annette. They along with Chris, Bernd, Stephan, Moritz, Michael, Helena, Liz, Nils, Rosie, Heike, Thomas, Ollie, and Uwe have been so wonderful to us.

Well my trip home is fast approaching and while I am going to miss Marsh, Gemma and Shocker I am certainly looking forward to it. I already have some plans to have a “girls night,” with my mom, aunties, Sara and Layla. I will also be meeting up with quite a few of my friends, visiting Di in Chicago, visiting the world’s best neighbor’s, and standing up in Amanda’s wedding, so long as we get this dress situation under control. Just yesterday I found out that some family from Tennessee might be coming up the weekend of May 1st as well. Maybe I’ll even get to meet Eric’s wife and the kids. So I think I will be pretty busy and the time will fly by. Seventeen more days to go!

The Two Winter Olympic Events That Make Me Want to Cut Myself

Now I know I may catch some flak for this but that’s just too bad because this is my sounding board and therefore I can write about whatever I choose to write about, so eat that you critics! Like many of you, Marshall and I are currently caught up in watching the Winter Olympics. I actually quite enjoy some of the events to be honest. I mean what human being chock full of estrogen doesn’t love them some figure skating for instance. I even enjoy some of the downhill skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, speed skating, bobsled, luge and even a little hockey (especially if my fellow Americans are whipping some Canuck ass like they have been). However, I must draw the line when it comes to cross country skiing and curling. By no means do I intend to imply that these two sports are not challenging for the individuals taking part in them but as a spectator, they just leave me scanning the room for a sharp object. In fact as I am typing this, Marsh is watching curling. Please do not ask me why he watches this crap, because I really have no idea. Well actually now that he just passed out cold I think I get it, it puts him to sleep apparently. Eureka! Curling is the Ambien of the Winter Olympics! At least it’s all natural I guess too bad one of the side effects is suicide. What child dreams of being a curling gold medalist or cross country skier for that matter? I think the curling teams skills would be better utilized if they worked for Molly Maid. It’s just a thought. A member of the curling team just drank a damn Powerade by the way. What the hell did he do that was so taxing that he needed to replenish his electrolytes or quench his thirst for that matter! As for those cross country skiers, I just think it would suck busting your ass like that in a full body spandex (friends don’t let friends wear spandex as it is a crime against humanity) jumpsuit nonetheless all while being screamed at by your coaches just to prove that you can walk the fastest in a pair of skinny skis. I will give them credit though for not stepping on one another’s ski’s and poking one another’s eyes out with those ski poles. That shizz looks dangerous! They just need to make cross country skiing a contact sport, then I would love to watch it. Can you just imagine it! It would give hockey some competition for spectators, that’s for sure. Anyhow, I need to go pry the remote from Marshall’s hands now that he’s entered a full on coma, so that I don’t die of boredom whilst watching curling. Enjoy the rest of the Olympic’s!

*Disclaimer: For those of you who were offended by anything I wrote I am sorry but you are way to sensitive. Ha!

Bubble Wrapped Shrubbery

So today Marshall and I decided to throw monotony aside and venture into town. Yes I said we went into town. We live in a village so to do anything remotely exciting we must go into town or if we’re really looking for some serious action we head to a city. Anyhow, I have gotten side tracked, back to the matter at hand. As we were driving down our street I happened to notice something I had never noticed before. It was glorious. Okay it was gloriously hilarious and just straight up crazy. I beheld not one but three BUBBLE WRAPPED SHRUBBERY! Dear god did I ever laugh my ass off. You know, like the uncontrollable, wheezing, crying, laughing so hard that you are seriously in danger of peeing a little kind of laughing my ass off. Oh, and of course Marshall freakin missed it! How come men can spot a scantily clad woman from like say a mile away but they full on miss bubble wrapped shrubs? Sorry, back to the shrubbery (I really just like to say “shrubbery”). Now these shrubs were at least a good 8 or 9 feet tall I’m guessing, because they were partially hidden behind the crazy electric gate having family’s fence. All that is visible is maybe the top 4 feet of which the very top two feet are unprotected from the bubble wrap. Now I ask you, who in the hell wraps their outdoor plants or any plants for that matter in god damn bubble wrap? My contemplative husband said, “well it’s just like burlap.” I proceeded to inform him that in no way is bubble wrap anything like burlap. For one burlap is made of natural fibers and is biodegradable. Okay, maybe I’m making too big a deal about this but while living here in Germany I have noticed some shall we say, interesting things, but bubble wrapped shrubs, really? For those of you non-believers, I will try my best to post a picture soon. Also, I’m thinking I need to make it a regular thing to share with you the “interesting things” I notice here in lovely Germany. You will shit a brick over the escapades of our neighbor, “the crazy OCD street sweeper.”

Anyhow, I hope that all is well with everyone!

More Birthdays!

Marshall and I just wanted to wish my mom and cousin Meredith a very happy birthday. We hope you two lovely ladies have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Marshall!

Today is the birthday of my one and only, the love of the my life, my best friend, my partner in crime, my better half. Have I missed any? Please do let me know if I did. No plans for today other than the ceremonial birthday cake that just came out of the oven. We might check out the Fasching festivities in Coburg later today, which you might be able to catch a glimpse of via the Coburg Town Square Webcam link to the right. We also plan to have some friends over to celebrate on Saturday.

So yeah, thanks a bunch for being born Marsh, I’m totally jazzed that you were!

XOXO

Why do my dogs do the things they do?

Okay, so I know I have been a bad blogger, and haven’t updated this thing since October. I suck. I think that things just slowed down for us here in Germany and I didn’t feel that I had anything really relevant to share since we’ve settled in. However, today I got to thinking and realized that I have a lot more to share than just the experiences relating directly to relocating to a foreign country. So I am going to make a sincere effort to keep this going and in turn keep my writing skills sharpened. You know what they say, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Be prepared though, as my ramblings will definitely not be censored and may not always be of the popular opinion, nor may you rarely if ever agree with what I might write. With that said, let the madness ensue!

Why is it that every time I go to the bathroom at home the dogs feel the need to accompany me? I mean, do they really think that I need protection from the evil toilet brush or that I just really like their company so much that I can’t be without it for 3 minutes while I answer the call of nature. They are incredibly judgmental too. I mean when they fart it could damn near wipe out a small village and then they just sit there and look around like, “hey, it’s just a natural thing, we all do it.” However, when I fart and I even have the common decency to do it in what should be the privacy of my own bathroom (well some times anyway), they look at me so indignantly like they are totally judging me and are revolted by me. To that I say, “well hell, at least I don’t lick myself or sniff butts,” and “SCRAM!”

Why do my dogs find it necessary to screw with my damn curtains? First of all I have to inform you that these curtains were a sore spot in my marriage for a time. I had to fight hard for these curtains because for some reason when it comes to decorating my husband has developed what I call “The Queer Eye.” For those of you who may not know, “The Queer Eye” is in fact Marshall’s concern for all things esthetic especially pertaining to decorating matters. So after months of battling I won the curtain war at last! My wonderful husband even obligingly hung them for me. Boy did they ever look nice too! Our living room no longer granted access to all neighbors and passersby. Even Marsh had to admit how much better the room looked. However, this happiness was short lived as we discovered that there was some unrest among the four legged troops. For some reason they both feel the need to go and get a drink of water from their bowl in the kitchen and then walk all the way back into the living room to then wipe their slobbery faces on my damn curtains! I yell all sorts of obscenities and tell them no but it’s no use. I swear they know it makes me mad and they just do it on purpose to torture me.

Why does Gemma snore loud enough to wake the dead only when I am trying to sleep? This dog’s snoring is seriously out of control. I have considered breath right strips,and that spray they used to advertise. However, I just resort to yelling at her, because god know’s Marshall wouldn’t wake up if the Kool-Aid man himself came busting into the room and exclaimed “OH YEAH!” Sadly I have even tried throwing pillows and she just grunts, then continues snoring. I have even tried putting her in her crate but then she digs in it or just snores in there and then it resonates and is even louder. Needless to say I spend a lot of time on the couch.

Why does Shocker have to lick his paws like he has OCD? On one hand I can really respect his need for hygiene, but he does it far too often. If he eats anything at all, he then needs to lay down and lick the hell out of his paws. I mean it’s not as though he used them to hunt down some wild animal for dinner. I can’t believe his paws aren’t chapped all to hell.

With that said, I really do love Gemma and Shocker. It’s just that some days I just need to rant because living with two real live cartoon characters can be quite taxing on a woman.

*Disclaimer:
No Olde English Bulldogges were harmed when said pillows were tossed in their general direction. I promise!

Back By Popular Demand

I have decided to continue with the blog after much deliberation. Okay there really wasn’t much deliberation, it was more like a few die hard fans whining and begging. Okay not exactly fans but more like my momma and an aunt who used to drive a rather largish van full of innocent, yet snotty little children, like a bat outta hell, and not so much whining and begging but in my head that is exactly how it went. lol What can I say I have a flair for dramatics in the comfort of my own warped mind. Honestly I just kind of missed writing. So I will try to post something every now and then. The antics from the Munich trip will come in installments as there is just so much to write about. So read on and enjoy!

So what have you all missed out on, let’s see here. Well the weekend of September 25 we went to Munich to visit with our friend Stefan. We left Friday morning on the train from Coburg with a transfer in Nuremberg. While we waited on the platform for the train in Coburg we already had an idea as to how this journey would go. Just a few yards away from us sat a father, a teenage son and a set of rotten four or five year old twin boys. These little boogers were misbehaving from the word go. They were running around the platform whipping their jackets at one another like deadly weapons and flinging water from their water bottles all over. Now do you think that their dear old daddikins did anything about it? Well if you guessed that he did, then you would be sadly mistaken. Dad just sat their like a useless fatty growth that goes completely unnoticed by the world at large, including his horrible children. So the train arrives and we decide to go find seats on the upper level in hopes of having a better view. Well we did get a better view of the scenery and were in earshot of the terrible twosome who also ended up sitting on the upper level, much to my dismay. I’m sure it does not take much imagination to guess how the rest of the journey went. There was a lot of yelling and screaming and crying. There was also a lot of running and jumping in general. Then to make matters worse the darn air line decided to go and pop off the train. Yes I know, this is a very comforting fact. This incident really instilled a great amount of faith in the Deutschebahn system as far as I was concerned. So we were on the train with the Satanic Doublemint Twins much longer than necessary.

Now this is the point where I must warn all of you innocents who actually are silly enough to think that I would ever get off so easy as to have to only contend with something so mild as the SDT’s (Satanic Doublemint Twins), that there was much more to come. Much more annoying and potentially dangerous things that we were to encounter on this journey to Munich. Things or persons if you dare, that would seriously jeopardize my squeaky clean record of never having any dealings with the law enforcement of any of the countries I have resided in.

So that brings me to the Nuremberg train station, which is actually quite delightful since they have these lovely pay toilets called “Mc Clean,” where a weary traveler can have access to an astonishingly clean (we are talking Bates standard clean), toilet, sink and even a shower, for a small fee of course. I assure you that it is worth every penny to go about your potty business in a clean fresh smelling place in which you have no worry of catching something from the doorknob. However, my sheer joy over my squeaky clean throne was short lived. For not long after we found our seats on our connecting train we realized how crowded it was going to be. In fact it was so crowded that people were standing in the aisles. Thankfully after a few stops they found seats which was particularly comforting because some creepy old man was standing, well more like leaning over my seat. That my friends is only the beginning of the story sadly. So things began to get interesting when we noticed, well more like heard, the large group of loud unruly teenagers on the train. These were no ordinary teenagers though. They were German teenagers, which means that at the ripe old age of sixteen these fine upstanding responsible (I use these terms very sarcastically as you will soon find out) young people are entitled by law to legally purchase and consume beer, not alcohol just yet because that would be ridiculous in comparison, but beer. Which you guessed it, does in fact contain, ALCOHOL. Go figure. So before the train even left the station these kids had already began consuming the numerous crates of beer they had brought along with them, and yes, apparently this is allowed. So I am sure you can all imagine that they continued to drink throughout the train ride and became sloppy ass drunk in no time. One boy in particular, who was loud to start with, became louder and louder with each drink he took. So of course he had to yell his friends name “Maxi! Maximillion!” over and over. I was listening to my I-Pod with the volume cranked and I could still hear everything he said. You could tell that everyone on the train car was sick these kids. I was particularly way over them when the infamous and particularly drunk Maxi began to stumble down the aisle to retrieve another beer most likely. Maxi was not simply just wobbling and stumbling he also had a distinct look on his face that I have seen on the face of many a person about to vomit. I sat there in fear as he approached with his squinty intoxicated eyes and his tightly closed mouth and inflated cheeks. I turned to Marshall and informed to be prepared, for if Maxi fell or threw up on me, that I would definitely be going to jail for assault and battery. Luckily and to Marshall’s and my relief, Maxi did not barf on me. Thank god! So after a few more beers, many cheers, numerous rounds of seat swapping, and a whole lot of yelling we reached Munich at long last. Marshall and I were never so relieved. However that was not the end of our escapades with the beer drenched children. We decided it would be a swell idea to stay seated until most of the people had exited the train so as not to have to battle our way out. Well we came to realize that that had been a very bad idea for we were stuck behind the drunken bunch who got off the train and got back on once they realized that they had forgotten all of their crates of beer and luggage. So there was chaos and Marshall had had enough so he used our suitcase as a shield of sorts in which to push the little turds out of the way and off the train. I was never so proud of Marsh. It took all I had to not fall over as I was laughing so hard at his little outburst of frustration. Hey, I had to enjoy it as it happens to rarely.

More of the story to come! I will send out an e-mail letting you know when.

Bim the BMW, Bouncing Baby Boy, Crazy People in Trees & One Very Comfy Couch

I know it has been a while since I updated the blog, but there just hadn’t been a lot going on. However, we have purchased a car at long last. We picked it up about a week and a half ago. We decided to go with the black 98 BMW 520i. It is of course an automatic and it drives so nicely and it only took minimal Bates cleaning/disinfecting to get it smelling nice and clean. The poor car sat for 6 months, totally unused, unloved and disrespected. Now we are trying to bring him back to his glory. He just needs a good detail job, an oil change and all will be well. It is just too bad that Eric can’t come and spend some time with Bim (yep I named the car Bim). I think he is happy now that someone appreciates him again and relishes the long weekend exploratory drives where he can stretch his legs (or tires if you will) on the Autobahn at a break neck pace.

Marshall and I also wanted to share the good news with all of you that we are now the proud uncle and aunt to Tate Howard Thomson. Marshall's brother Trevor and his wife Tasha just became parents for the first time last Monday. They are doing well and it sounds as though they are settling into parenthood nicely. I am just happy to have yet another child to play with. lol We wish them all the best!

Last Thursday Marshall, our friends Helena and Olga and myself went to Bad Staffelstein for attempt number two at the rope course. We had gone the previous weekend but there was a ridiculously long waiting list ahead of us. So we got all suited up in our harnesses and sat through the very brief training session and walked to the ladder leading up to the first and easiest level and clipped in. Olga went first, then Helena, and then I began to climb the ladder. I got about half way up the ladder when I realized I was shaking uncontrollably and got my ass back down on the ground. Call me chicken, call me a sissy, call me a wimp even, I don’t care. I am just glad that I had enough sense to realize that it was not a good idea before it was too late. So from then on I kept these feet of mine planted firmly on the ground where they were meant to be and took pictures of my crazy friends and husband as they clamored their way across the obstacles dangling from tree limbs and took video of them as they went screaming down zip lines (okay only the girls screamed, but it would’ve been great if Marsh had too). In the end a good time was had by all and we finished the afternoon with a trip to Mc Donald's where poor Olga was stalked and attacked by a very persistent bee. lol

Rope Course Pictures (Just copy and paste the link.)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=291557&id=850095227&l=633c294b2a

After a very lengthy and exhaustive search we have in fact found a couch. We had been looking for close to two weeks and nothing was quite right. So I called Helena and asked her to suggest some other furniture stores. This past Saturday we got up earlier than we normally would on a Saturday and headed out. We sat on so many couches and visited so many stores and at long last we decided on a lime green corduroy sectional with very deep seating and a chaise on one end. We tried to fit it into Bim but it was no use. So the sales woman told us to go ahead and take all the cushions, pillows and half of the legs and we could pick up the rest later or have it delivered next Monday. Well I don’t want to wait that long, nor do I want to pay 80 Euros to have it delivered so tomorrow we will be renting a van to go and pick it up. Now all that is left to do is find a new home for the little red comfy couch. Any takers? lol

Aside from those exciting revelations we have just been continuing with our German lessons and attempting to rid our apartment of whatever cardboard boxes we can. We have plans to do something with Chris this weekend and Stephan will be driving up from Munich on the 21st to visit for the weekend. We have a canoe trip in the planning stage for August 22nd as well. So we are looking forward to that. As always we will post more when there is more to post. Hope everyone is doing well.

28 Is Great, A Half Blood Prince & Steak Fajitas

On Saturday one of my best gal pals, Amanda and I celebrated our 28th birthday! I spent the day in Nuremberg with Marshall and our friend Chris and had a great time in spite of the unpleasant weather. We had lunch at a place called Vapiano's (I apologize to Chris for mentioning it because I know Sandra is going to murder him now but it was worth mentioning because it was quite good,) and walked around the city.

After lunch we decided to head to Zeppelin Field (the Nazi rally grounds), which none of us had been to before. You simply do not grasp just how enormous it is until you are standing there. It is absolutely huge and the soccer field located within it's perimeter seems minuscule. Much of the seating is overgrown with grass and weeds and the main grandstand has been drastically deteriorated by time. I will try to post the pictures we took that day soon. While we were at Zeppelin Field we were witness to something that I feel was in incredibly bad taste and disrespectful. There was a family visiting the site which I suspect were American and the father convinced his son to stand at the center of the grandstand and take a picture of him striking a very infamous pose. Chris, Marshall and myself were quite shocked and the boys mother probably could tell by the looks on our faces. She simply replied "I'm sure everybody does it." Chris then instructed us that this was illegal and that if a police officer had witnessed this offense that the boy would have been arrested and fined. I felt truly embarrassed as I am positive that they were American. I only mentioned this incident because I have a deep love and respect of history and while not everyone may share my love of it, I just wish that they would at least share my respect for it. I also have a deep respect for the country I am now residing in as well as for it's people and laws and I think that it would serve others very well to do the same when traveling beyond their own country's borders.

Next we continued on to the lovely Roxy theater (if only could you sense the sarcasm in my typing when I refer to that theater as being "lovely,") to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which sadly turned out to be crapola. I think that Chris was particularly impressed with their sound system and Marshall felt that they took such great care of their projection equipment. But what can I say really, I got to see it in English! lol I did however, have the opportunity to try popcorn with sugar on it rather than salt. It wasn't bad, but I do prefer butter and salt. Chris and I were so incredibly disappointed with the movie that poor Marshall had to sit and listen to us rant and talk Harry Potter in general. I must say that Chris has an excellent memory and was able to recall an impressive array of events and details that were missing from the movie. Now I feel inclined to revisit my Harry Potter collection. I can't be out-Pottered after all! lol That gives me an idea, I think Chris and I should have a Harry Potter trivia showdown sometime.

After the movie we walked around a bit more and then had dinner at Maredo. Was it ever good too! I had a steak, an actual beef steak, not a pork steak, real authentic BEEF! A rump steak in fact, with adorable little sauteed button mushrooms in a creamy sauce with delicious french fries. I think that Chris enjoyed his raw meat (I can't remember the name of the dish) and his "Honey I Shrunk the Bread." lol I also think that Marshall enjoyed his steak fajitas, which Chris and I particularly enjoyed Marshall ordering because of the way he said "fajitas." First I must explain that while looking over the menu before ordering we joked about how Peter Griffin on Family Guy pronounces the word "fajitas." He pronounces it in a way that I cannot even attempt to phonetically spell for you so I will just put it this way, it sounds as though he might be saying vagina's but with an "F" at the beginning. So after all this joking about "fagina's," Marshall then proceeded to order "steak fagina's" rather than "steak fajita's." The look Chris gave me was positively priceless and boy did I laugh! lol So after the waitress had finished taking our orders and had walked a safe distance away Chris said that he could not believe that Marshall had actually said that with such a straight face. However Marshall seemed confused as to why Chris said this and why I was laughing. Naturally I clarified things for him and informed him as to just exactly what he had said. lol So all in all I had a most enjoyable birthday and I hope that my good friend Amanda did as well. Thanks again to Chris for joining and for the lovely gift.

That's it for now but as always we hope that you all are doing well. I will post some pictures soon. Take care everyone and leave us some comments!

Samba, Samba, Samba!

Saturday night we had our friends Helena and Olga over for a BBQ and then we headed out to Samba. Usually during the Samba the weather is quite warm and all the "Brazilian Beauties" are out in swarms. However, this year the weather was cold, rainy and quite miserable. So much to all of the male attendants dismay, there were very few if any scantily clad "Brazilian Beauties" shaking and jostling about the streets of Coburg this past weekend. From what I saw though, the weather nor the lack of well sunned women dancing in thongs didn't seem to make much of a difference. For the streets of Coburg were still crammed with high spirited, some who even perhaps consumed too many spirits, happy, dancing (badly dancing to varying degrees) hordes of Samba goers.

Our night was mostly spent sitting on a picnic table beneath an umbrella and at a table near the back of a bar previously known as Rio Brasil to escape the rain and cold. We met quite a few new people and ran into Thomas and Bernd. I think a good time was had by all. The night was fairly uneventful but pleasant nonetheless. Well that was until we were walking to the car at the end of the evening. After having fought our way through the throngs of people in the bar we were then faced with yet another journey through the crowd on the street. Just when we were almost through them some random drunk girl decided to make a very bad decision and grabbed my husband. I have no doubt that she was in the process of trying to lay her beer soaked lips on him when he pushed her away before she had a chance. lol He saved her from a world of hurt and me from a visit from the Polizei. lmao I have no doubt that this girl most likely spent the rest of her night in one of two places, a) lying in the street with all sorts of cigarette butts, used napkins and other assorted disgusting things stuck to her person, or b) in the hospital having her stomach pumped. Either way would have served her right. lol

So Samba has come and gone and we have all lived to tell about it, I think anyhow. Today we have plans to go out with a co-worker of Marshall's to a street festival in a neighboring town. First we have to do some grocery shopping and mail a letter. As for those demands for pictures, well you will just have to wait a bit longer I'm afraid. We still need to ditch some boxes. Anyhow, we hope that all is well with everyone and look forward to your comments.

P.S.
The VOIP is back in action so feel free to call but just keep in the mind the six hour time difference.

Back In Action........On Some Level

Hey Guys, I know it's been forever since I posted anything but we didn't have Internet until Tuesday and we have been a little busy this week. Tuesday we made an IKEA run. I actually walked around the whole entire store for 3 hours! I know it's unbelievable. We picked up some closets/wardrobes, a bench, desk chair, a shelving unit and some other smaller odds and ends. Thank god we are now driving a Ford S-Max because I don't even think that an eighth of that would have fit into the Mini. For those of you who have no clue what a Ford S-Max is no need to worry as I will post a picture of this lovely vehicle soon enough. Anyhow, Marshall and I had two carts loaded with boxes which were incredibly awkward to navigate. When we finally made it to the car things were looking bleak. I had some serious reservations as to whether or not everything would even fit into the car. Low and behold though, somehow, some way, through the power of teamwork we got it all in with enough room to spare for the two of us to fit comfortably as well. It was truly remarkable. The ride home however was shall we say a little more bouncy than on the way there. I think we put the S-Max's shocks to the test. lol I am now convinced that this may just be the car for us. I love it! If only it were an automatic and came in a lovely shade of lime green.

Today all the weeks previous activities have finally caught up with me. Aside from my three hour tour or IKEA, I also cleaned the house yesterday, which some of my family know exactly what that entails because they were the one's who created this cleaning mad woman. So today I am out of commission unfortunately. No need to worry though because I have Internet and a large television with a decent collection of DVD's to keep me occupied. lol Hopefully after a day of rest I will be feeling a little better. I mean I have to be well rested for Samba anyhow. Especially since we have plans to go with our friend Helena. I am so looking forward to the horrendous old men in thongs and makeup, and the lovely migraine that is sure to ensue from all the drumming and not to mention the company of the infinite intoxicated revelers that cause the population of Coburg to swell to enormous proportions. Oh the joys of Samba! lol I will be sure to bring my camera just for those of you who have not experienced the festivities.

I know that many of you are chomping at the bit for pictures of our new humble abode, and I assure you that they are coming. We would just like to put some finishing touches on the place before it's grand unveiling. I mean, who would want to see a picture of white walls with an obscene amount of boxes scattered about? Besides, we need the right lighting. lol So please be patient.

We hope that all is well with all of our family and friends and that you're enjoying the summer. That's all for now but I will certainly be posting more regularly now. Take care!

Just Checking In

We are at Bernd's so I thought I would just let everyone know that we are alive and well. We will be back online next Tuesday. Not much new except we are still unpacking and settling in. This weekend we will have to break down all the boxes and take them to the incinerator in Grub. We're hoping to get some pictures hung up on the walls so that it doesn't feel like a hospital anymore. I swear the walls are whiter than I am. Anyhow, hope all is well at home.

Take Care,
Lindz

No Longer Will We Be Vagabonds!

Yep you read that correctly, we will have a home again as of Tuesday afternoon! Woo Hoo! Our sea container arrived this past Saturday morning and we have been unpacking ever since. We didn't think we would be able to move in for at least another week because the kitchen was scheduled to be installed in the apartment on July 7th. However, we got great news that it had been installed Monday. We assumed it wouldn't be completed in one day though, but thankfully we were wrong. The kitchen was completely installed and finished when we arrived Monday afternoon. It turned out great too! In fact it turned out much better than we expected. The cabinets are all white with thick stainless handles and the drawers have those lovely dampers on them so I can't slam them. lol The counter tops are laminate that look like butcher block, the fridge is built in so it matches the cabinets, the stove and dish washer are also stainless. Today we got all of kitchen stuff unpacked and set up. We will of course take pictures soon. We will not be able to post them until July 7th though because that is when our cable, telephone and Internet will be installed. So unfortunately none of you Americans or Canucks will be hearing from us until then.

As many of you may or may not know, Marshall and I were having a bit of a difficult time finding white long grain rice, BBQ sauce and soy sauce here. Just when we were about to give up all hope and go crying to our mommies to send us some, Thomas Reiss came to our rescue! He took Marshall out today and showed him where we could find these things. So thanks again Thomas. We owe you one! lol

Well that's all until July 7th. So check back then or be lazy and wait until I send you the update e-mail. The decision is yours. Take care everyone!

My Dog Is Like Mr. Miyagi

I'm sorry it has been so long since I updated the blog. The thing is though, that there just hasn't been a whole lot going on. We started our German lessons last week, in fact we have a lesson in a few hours today at 3:00. The teacher is very nice and seemed surprised at how young we were. lol I guess she was expecting two people of the American Gothic variety? Anyhow, progress at the apartment in Grub has been a little slow as the painting was supposed to have been done last Wednesday but now it has been pushed to today. I guess we will just see. Last week we found out just why the progress has been slower than expected. There are two factors that are slowing things, the "painters" are also painting the apartment below as well and the "painters" turned out to be one 74 year old man. Enough said, on that subject anyhow.

So as you all know, we are staying temporarily in rural Breitenau which is near Bad Rodach. Well here on the farm there are A LOT of flies and they all seem to have taken up residence with us inside the apartment. I think I may puke. All day they buzz around my head and sit all over me and it makes my skin crawl and quite frankly.......I think I may puke. The flies seem especially hell bent on torturing myself and Shocker. I think it is because he and I are more sensitive and vulnerable than Marshall and Gemma. The flies are onto us, it's like they have Spidey Senses but less of the cool action hero, kickin ass and saving lives variety and definitely more of the annoy the hell out of you by buzzing all up in your grill while you try to eat something delicious and then go after your little white dog too variety. I think I may puke. Ugh! So onto to Sir Shocker. This poor little guy minds his own business all day and just likes to lie on the fuzzy carpet napping and these darn flies dive bomb him and crawl on him and this drives him bonkers. So in turn Shocker tries to catch them and it kind of sounds like a hippopotamus opening and closing it's mouth, which naturally would crack me up if I weren't on the verge of vomiting myself. He really reminds me of Mr. Miyagi in the scene where he's catching flies with chop sticks. That gives me an idea, perhaps some chop sticks would help Shocker catch the flies. Wait a minute though, he doesn't have apposable thumbs. Dammit! Well I think I may puke as I may have mentioned before so I must go. Hope all is well and I'll post more when there is more to post. Take Care Ya'll!

Just some silly pictures.

Just some pictures of Shocker as he always is with his tongue stuck out. An example of how clean public restrooms are here, this one just happened to be in a bowling alley. Last but not least, a picture of an interesting and hilarious product we found in a local grocery store. Enjoy, and leave some comments please!






Please comment on just exactly what one might put in a "Kentucky Sandwich," as we would love to hear your thoughts. I personally think a "Kentucky Sandwich" would definitely contain some sort of road kill, probably of the deep fried variety. lol

Bad Rodach Flat (not our apartment)

Kangaroo on the BBBQ

So last night we were invited to the home of Herr Thomas Riess for dinner and yes, kangaroo was in fact on the menu. For those of you who know me too well, you know about the somewhat limited choices I make when dinning. Well I decided to be bold and brave and I ventured way way way out of comfort zone all the way to Australia and I, Lindsey Jean Roberts ate god damn kangaroo meat............and I liked it!!!!! No, hell did not freeze over just in case you're wondering. lol I find it tasted a bit like beef. I'll be honest though and thought of adorable fuzzy kangaroo's with little cute baby kangaroo's in their pouches began hopping through my mind and I had to pass what was left of my kangaroo over to Marshall. lol So all in all a good time was had by all and it was nice to catch up with Thomas and he even introduced us to his lawyer friend so we have a contact for when our house finally sells. Woo Hoo!

As for the house there have been no bites yet, but we'll keep on fishin!

Today we will meet up with our friend Helena who interned at Brose London last summer. Perhaps some dinner and there was also some mention of bowling. Which you all know how I feel about putting my feet in shoes a million other people had their questionable feet in. Wii bowling is the way to go. lol Anyhow, it will be nice to catch up with Helena.

That's all for now. I'll post more soon though! Hope all is well.

We're driving a "Pimp Suitcase!"

Yes you read that correctly boys and girls, we are in fact driving a "Pimp's Suitcase." Well that is what Bernd called it anyhow. lol The rest you would all know it as a Mini Cooper. It is black, tiny, fast, adorable and impossible for me to drive as it is a manual. Woe is me! lol Marshall tried to give me a driving lesson but it just ended in a marital dispute and left the both of in need of chiropractic services. We have come to a mutual understanding that a husband and wife are just not meant to do certain things together like teaching one another how to ski or drive stick for instance. Such things are better left to a neutral third party.

We have found an apartment to rent after only two days of looking. Now I know you're all thinking that perhaps we made a rash decision but finding a place that allows a dog let alone two dogs has been incredibly difficult for the agent helping us find a place. So tomorrow we go and sign the contract and we will move in at the beginning of July or mid month depending on the installation of the kitchen and when our sea crate arrives. I think we will be very comfortable in the apartment as it is nice and bright and also in a very safe nice area. We were also fortunate to be able to cut a little deal with the landlord to lower our rent a little in exchange for Marshall's gardening services. Now all we need to do is find a washer, dryer, and some light fixtures. I guess in Germany it is common for people to install their own light fixtures in rental properties so therefore they take them with them when they move out.

On a side note, I must make mention of the fact that McDonalds in Germany is AWESOME! The quality of the food is to a standard that you would not believe. Not once did I ever get the McDepression that usually comes over me after eating McD's at home. Nor did I get a McTummy-ache which seems to be standard in North America. So McDonalds Germany, please keep up the good work as this American gal will always have the occasional need for a taste of home courtesy of your delicious Chicken McNuggets!

That's all I've got for you now, so enjoy and check back soon for our further adventures. Which there are sure to be more of since today we continue our search for a washer and a handy phone (cell phone).

P.S.
I tried to post pictures of where we're staying but I had some technical difficulties. So when my IT guy gets in I will have him remedy the problem.

A Bathroom With A View

First of all the little flat we're staying in for the first month is great. It's located just outside of Coburg in the countryside. Marshall and I particularly appreciate the view from the office/bathroom. When you are sitting on the toilet pondering the many issue's plaguing our society as I tend to do, you have an amazing view of green fields as far as the eye can see. Granted you have similar views elsewhere in the flat but it's just more appreciated in the office. Gemma is enjoying the patio that overlooks the chicken pen. In fact when she first noticed them she just spazzed out. So now she spends a fair bit of her time pacing back and forth contemplating the chickens demise. I swear her evil genius rivals Stewie Griffen. Shocker seems to enjoy the round fuzzy rug in the living room as he spends most of his time lying on it as near to me as possible. I must be the only person with a small fury white shadow with mismatched eyes and a menacing underbite. lol So all in all I think we're all settling in nicely. Although I've not heard from Marshall yet as he is still at Brose. I am just hoping that he has unloaded that giant beast of a Fiat van and exchanged it for something a little more economical and easier to park. That's all for now folks, but keep checking back as I will try to post some pictures soon. Now I plan to immerse myself in the world of Sims 3 as I have waited a whole long year for it to be released. Take care everyone!