Domestic Bliss

It's Saturday. The weather is typically crisp and fall like, and makes me think of the leaves changing colors (they don't really here) and fresh apples. I wound up not being entirely healed from my malignant funk of last week, and barely managed to scrape through the work week this week with a late-afternoon visit to le Doctor on Thursday. She took a little swab of whatever the hell it is that's growing in my throat and sent it in for analysis (I was already liking her by then...this is one of the new Doctors who's taking over the practice of the old East German ladies), so we'll see what that turns out to be. For the interim, I've got new drugs so I'm pretty happy. It keeps the sore throat at a minimum.

At the moment, I'm going through a domestic dervish phase, and decided to bake bread today--which when you're all set up and ready to go in the morning pretty much takes the whole day. I think I got started at like, three pm...so we'll see what time I finish and how it comes out. I used my American measuring cups and my great-grandma's recipe, so I'm betting it's going to be pretty awesome...providing my evil german electric oven doesn't sabotage things. Someone's sitting next to me, drooling puddles already. ;) While the dough was rising and Stephan was playing pool, I got things cleaned up and squared away around here. It doesn't happen often that I get so into cleaning and washing and whatnot, so when I do, I try to take advantage of it. I also know that since my adult ed courses are starting, Stephan's going to get stuck doing a lot of the housework. If everything goes as planned, I'll be working until 9pm four nights a week. I mean, I like my job in the Kindergarten, but it doesn't cover all my expenses...we'll leave it at that. So far, everything's started more or less as planned. There were a few courses in the Lichtenberg annex that are reeeeally small, but fortunately my boss there has my back and is pulling all the strings she can to keep my classes going. I've got a great business intensive going until Halloween with four students--it's nice for once not to be the youngest person in the room by at least ten years.

I really like working with adults in this capacity because you get to learn a ton about all kinds of different professions. For example, in my business intensive course, there's a guy who's studying to become an accountant. He knows all kinds of fascinating things about tax law and what have you. I mean...if you think taxes are boring, you've never tried to file as being self-employed in a foreign country. The German department of Finance called me up the other day and I nearly shit a brick. I'm pretty sure everything's straightened out there, though. Hopefully, won't notice that I didn't turn in the invoices for my tutorial work. I forgot to ask my ex-boss there to send them to me. It's not like it was that much money, anyway...but with the department of finance you never know. Apparently here they can randomly call you up five years from now and ask to see your documents from 2006. You know, if they get bored. Although when I see it written in English like that...it sounds like an audit, just described differently.

In other news, as a part of our renovations-binge of last week, I've now got two new additions to the Tyler-Spindler plant family. Not that I'm one of those people who consider plants my children. I talk to them, but there are limits to my affections. So yeah, we now have an orchid and some gardenias. They smell lovely. And for those of you who were wondering, the yellow in the living room isn't too oppressive and the shelving unit in the bathroom is still standing.

All right, kids. It's time for me to go melt some butter for putting ye olde shine on those bread crusts.