The Post that took 3 days to write...

I've realized that by the time I get around to writing once or twice a week, I forget the little things that happened. I just remember "Well we went to the playground... We had lunch... Schedule changed then because of this". So in order to get the little things, I'm going to try to write more often. As in nightly when possible. When something comes up, I'm not going to concern myself with it overtly. But if you're getting e-mail reminders, sorry that they're about to increase in number. Hopefully though it'll mean shorter posts.

So Saturday night I skyped with Mary Beth for a full three hours. :) It was amazing to catch up with her. We got to fill each other in on jobs and living arrangements and such and then just chat. It's been too long since I've been able to just talk to someone who knows me so well. I didn't have to go through background, we have inside jokes, we have shared history. It was so nice. I'm really missing having friends here. I think it would be similar if I was in Rochester but it's amplified because I'm 4000 miles away. Even if I was home, I never see anyone there. And normally I spend most of my free time during the summers after a semester at college either working, with my parental units, or with Ron. There isn't a Ron in my life anymore so I think this actually gives me more to do. I'm working more than I would be at Denny's, I'm getting together with English speakers at least every other week, and I have adorable girls to spend time with. So I don't have anyone less than five years older than me and no one that I have a past with that extends more than three months. I'm working on the friend thing. I've got the English speaking group and in the fall I'll start my language course which will really give me people to talk to.



I started writing that on Thursday and it's now Saturday. So like I said, I think most of my struggles have to do with things I'd be dealing with anyhow. It's the typical post-college situation plus 4000 miles. Monday I got paid for July and I went out shopping. I got a few new shirts, a little bit of food for my room, and other things. I also mailed out five different letters/packages. One to Mom and Sami with several postcards for Mom and a Hello Kitty card for Samantha, a letter and small surprise for Mary Beth and Emily King (can't say what since I don't know if they're reading), a package with a German magazine plus a surprise and a letter for Jess and the same (but different surprise and different magazine) for Eric. I thought it would be more expensive given the size/weight of Jess and Eric's with the magazines but it wasn't bad at all.

Tuesday afternoon I watched Yael and Nuria while Noemi had a music lesson and we baked an American pound cake. Since vanilla extract doesn't exist here, I used maple syrup instead. Seriously. And it worked. Then I poured raspberry jello over the pound cake (which I had poked tons of holes in). Wednesday (the 4th of July), I decorated the cake with Noemi. We whipped cold coconut milk then used blueberries for the corner and strawberries for the red stripes. I made Mama's famous burgers for dinner. Luckily we had all the ingredients on hand except burgers and buns. Kathrin picked them up and we made fries too. The burger buns weren't pre-cut like Amercian ones and they had a bit of a funny consistency but the burgers tasted great. I also did yoga while they were out at Noemi's dance lesson and man could I tell that the next day. My back was sore and I was aware of subtle muscles in my arms/back. Nuria practiced walking after dinner between Daniel, Kathrin, and I. She made it ten steps between Daniel and Kathrin! I was in between the two so there was no point at which she could have fallen without getting caught but I was off to the side so I wasn't an obstacle. She's officially a walker. She can even stand up and walk a few steps on her own.

Thursday, Noemi woke up with a fat lip so she went to the doctor in the morning instead of preschool. Just as I was leaving the house with the little two for a playground, Noemi and Kathrin were there. Kathrin told me Noemi had a dentist appointment that afternoon so could I watch the little two then? Because of that, I only went out with them for an hour or so then came back and was "off" for a bit. Nuria slept on me again that afternoon for a few hours and while she slept, after Kathrin came back, I made a list of road trip ideas, a weekly and daily schedule, and began crafting workout options. No, I'm not quite done and no I haven't followed them perfectly so far.

Friday
Because of Noemi's doctor's appointment, she's taking penicillin and stayed home from school Friday. We played with baking soda and vinegar (which neither the girls or Kathrin had seen react before!). We also added a little bit of dish soap to one which lead to it foaming instead of fizzing. It was awesome. :) After lunch, I decided I needed out of the house for a bit so I went to get ingredients for the trail mix and ended up getting other things as well. Like the new headphones I got at Saturn. The third pair I've bought in about six months? I stopped a guy outside to ask him where I could buy a pair because mine were too big. He said it was actually in the building right behind us. Which was both cool because I didn't have to go search and made me feel slightly stupid. Saturn in America is a car dealership so I never went in there to check it out but I found Osnabrueck's electronics store. I feel like every week at least I find a new favorite part of a store or a new store. :) I also asked about a clip on light but they didn't have one so I went to Thalia for one. It's bright blue. Like the TARDIS. Hehe ^_^ I also bought more white nailpolish as well as top coat and supplies to knit a coffee cozy with a handle so I don't spill coffee all over.

Saturday
Today has been devoted to crafting, blogging, and generally keeping a low profile. I'm sick so I'm just hanging out. I covered the cords of my headphones with embroidery floss to both make them prettier and protect them. So now I have white, purple, and blue headphone cords. They're sweet. :) (Picture will be on flickr once I remember to update it this week.) I also started knitting said coffee cozy. I played memory with Noemi and I'm downloading Les Miserables, the unabridged version, for the car rides around Europe. It's a 57 hour book and I'll be in the car for about 30 hours total (Osnabrueck to Paris, Paris to Salzburg, Salzburg to Osnabrueck, each about 10 hours). I'm planning to get another book or two as well since I'll probably listen to some of it during my stay in Paris as well. The internet there won't be the best so odds are I'll be posting sporadically, writing up in a word doc then posting later.


Tomorrow morning I'm going out with a few people to an "American style" breakfast and to speak English. Alarm goes off in 9 hours and I have to leave here around 10am to meet Denna and her husband for a ride. It's not too far away but the central meeting point is on the other side of the inner city so I have to walk over there.


I'm consistently amazed by Yael's spatial reasoning skills. Whenever we play with Legos, she likes to cover the large base with blocks and can manipulate them and turn them to fit together. Maybe I haven't spent time with young 3-year olds much but it seems to me that she's advanced in this area. She can also put all the dominoes in the box and knows that when you turn them sideways they'll still fit but that it takes two widths to make a length. She would never use those words to explain it and probably can't articulate how it works but she knows it. And Nuria's vocal skills are also impressive. She doesn't speak persay but she mimics all the time. If you say something, especially names, she'll copy the number of syllables, the emphasis, and the tone. I have never seen that in a child. And she does it both English and German. It's often just to "bababa" or so but still impressive. Her first word though was at 2 months old. And often times we'll ask her questions (both me in English and her parents in German) and she'll reply "Ja". Whether or not she understands, I'm unsure but it's adorable. I was changing her diaper this week and as she wiggled around I told her, "Nuria, I need you to stay still and just be good for five minutes, okay?" And she said "Ja". Mind you, she kept wiggling until I gave her something to entertain her (my keys).


Being that it's now midnight, I'm off to bed. Til next entry.