New Year, all kinds of other new shiny things--off to a fresh start. Sort of. 2011 promises to be big for me--all kinds of official things will be decided.
Will I get permanent residency granted for 'Schland?
Will I get accepted to a German law program?
Will the Schatz win his latest lawsuit?
Oh, the fun that awaits--I simply cannot tell you.
As for what the end of 2010 gave me, I can give you the brief highlights:
There was the Christmas extravaganza, starting in Schierke-am-Brocken with the Schatz's lovely grandparents starting on the 22nd, the mad dash back to Berlin in crazy winter weather warning conditions on Christmas Day (fallen trees and snowdrifts on the train tracks included), Christmas Day-Evening-Duck-Dinner with the Schatz's Mom and Brother, the Boxing Day packing marathon and paranoid visit to the airport followed by the Dec. 27th epic show of my personal luck. It involved me, four airports, almost no layovers, delays of all sorts and for all reasons, nauseating turbulence, friendly customs agents, no pat-downs, close shaves, and a one-hour-late arrival in Portland, ME. Considering the horror stories we all heard about holiday travel in late 2010, I think we can all agree that I got very lucky indeed.
I was able to spend two lovely weeks in the Great State of Maine with my family and a very few friends (for those of you I didn't see, I apologize). It was somewhat restful and extremely caloric. My mother outdid herself with baked goods, as per usual and I watched a lot of Hogan's Heroes with my dad. I was fortunate enough to meet the wee Patrick Ramsey (Colleen's amazing, wonderful, hilarious, goregous son) and see my little sister's apartment (and experience one of her epic aerobics classes...albeit one for active older adults, which kicked my butt). All in all, it was better than I ever could have imagined.
Which always makes coming back harder. But I'm doing alright. All things considered. I only had to work 2.5 days last week, had to toe the line in school due to my recent absences and started training for the Vattenfall Half Marathon in April. Things were going well until I came home from the gym yesterday and brought in the mail. Inside was a letter from a law firm in Hamburg, alleging that the Schatz had downloaded some music in an illicit manner. And suggesting that he pay a certain amount of money for this infringement. Now, if you know the Schatz, you'll know that he is full of singleminded purpose and principle. And that simply paying up (especially if this suggestion is followed by an implied "or else") is out of the question. So it looks like we're kicking off 2011 with a legal battle. Whee!
I'm sure it will be thrilling. As will any number of other surprises that await me. For example, can I tell you, dear readers, what the Schatz's Mom thought to give everyone for Christmas this year? You'll never guess.
Tickets to see Drake.
Yes. Drake. Do you know who he is? I didn't. But now I do. And I'm going to the concert tonight with the Schatz, his Mom and his Brother. Tonight. Did I mention that?
Again, I'm sure it will be glorious. And I might post pictures, if I think to take my camera. So be very excited for that. I'm just glad that I've got today off from my .5 marathon training plan. That should mean that I'll be a trifle more hydrated and awake than on any other given evening this week. That's what I lovehate about training...you sleep SO WELL, and if you've ever struggled with that, you know how wonderful it is to be asleep before your head hits the pillow. However, it does seem to make me hungry for more sleep than is actually organizationally possible for me to achieve. This is tricky. Fortunately, there are a few days a week where I can squeak in a quick nap at work. Yay for being a preschool teacher!
Anyway, what I failed to put on my list of Events for 2011 is the end of my early childhood ed program, which entails a feisty final paper. (Mine's going to be 30 pages on bilingual language acquisition and how to best embed certain theories in educational mission statements for schools--I know, go for the gold, right? Most people are doing things like 'how beneficial is playing outside?') Oh, and there are exams. Written and oral. So that'll be fun. And considering that I didn't so much as crack a book during my supposed "working vacation" in Maine, I suppose I should make use of this somewhat sunny Sunday afternoon and get some work done. Or something like that.
Play Safe, lovelies. That's all for now.
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