Tuesday, March 25, 2008

First post in aaaaaaages...

I'm a miserable blogger.
I'll skip the excuses--you know, the tried and true "I've been really busy" (I mean, not that I haven't been), or "I've had guests" (I have and you know who you are), or "My boyfriend tried to "fix" my power cable and instead completely destroyed it, so now we have to share a computer and he LOVES his internet poker" (also true)...none of these of course are any excuse for the neglect being suffered by my poor, forgotten blog. And those who by some obscure twist of fate still read this thing. Love you guys!

Be that all as it may...

I'm fine. Berlin is fine. Work is good, and sufficient. Easter was nice.

Let's see...what else is news...?

I bought a bike! It's all white and graceful with lights and a basket and stuff. Unfortunately, Berlin is in the middle of a cold snap, which makes it easier for me to be lazy and take public transportation. This will soon pass, however and I'll be speeding around. spreading terror and risking life and limb. Not that Berlin isn't bike-friendly or anything. It's just that I'm a bad biker. Balance was never really my strong suit...but practice makes perfect.

For Easter, Stephan's mum came down with his brother and an aunt for a few days, which was nice, but a wee bit on the stressful side. I mean really, when mothers come to visit, they're generally ideal houseguests. They clean up after themselves...they clean up after others...they cook things...they bring their own sheets and towels...and butter...and eggs...and duck...it's when they start to reorganize your refridgerator that you might want to intervene. I mean...I'm speaking from experience. Once someone else gets in there, you won't find your goat cheese ever again. Until it walks out by itself, that is. No, but seriously, it was fun. We spent six hours shopping on Saturday. I can now say that I've been to every single store in the Alexa shopping complex. For those of you who don't know it, it's freaking huge. I also learned a new Easter-appropriate German saying, "She who looks for eggs at Easter gets a nice surprise at Christmas" (Wer am Ostern Eier sucht, hat am Weihnachten Bescherung). In order to get this, you have to know that in German, the slang word for "balls" is "eggs".




I thought it was funny.




Anyway, I know that all of you on the other continent have already switched to daylight savings time. Or back from daylight savings time. Whichever. We switch at the end of the month, but already, there's a noticeable difference. When I get up for the early shift at the KiLa at 6:30, it's already light out. I know it's pathetic that this is a source of shock, amazement and joy for me, but the winter in this part of Germany gray. Entirely. So increased daylight has the potential to one day become increased sunlight and that, I think is what has me so excited.

Let's see...what else?
I don't know. Come visit and find out. May is full, but the beginning of June is good, as are July and August. I know the dollar's in the toilet, so I understand, but you know y'all are welcome!

Take care.