Victory is mine!

Well, at least a small one:

The groundwork for my permanent residency permit has been laid. thanks to my awesome boss. It's not signed or sealed yet, but she's agreed to help me out in a major way. So yeah. Thank heavens for that. It's a huge load off my mind and leaves me with more energy to deal with the rest of my insane to do list (uni application, wedding whatever and the basic chaos of my day-to-day).

My whole positivity mission isn't really working out, but I'm trying. I'm looking forward to spending some time resting and recharging this summer, as well as making major headway on the aforementioned epic lists.

Next week I'll be out in the Brandenburger countryside with a group of 6 monkeys from work and said awesome boss. It should be a pretty relaxed time, if last year was any indication.

Tomorrow's another obscure protestant holiday here (the Ascension) and the Monday after we come back is another one (Whit Monday), so I'm looking forward to some fun walks through Berlin in the sunshine with the Schatz. Speaking of whom, his final exams start on Friday. Please do wish him luck.

So, I hope y'all enjoyed your Memorial Day. I'll drink a cold one for you tomorrow.

Keep fighting.

NewPost

I'm not entirely sure what merits posting today...probably the fact that this weekend is starting off mellow and I actually have TIME to post. AMAZING. Well, we all know that one makes time for what's important...I could be working on a paper for a class called (translated) Creating Living Rooms for Children. By that of course they don't mean living rooms in the American sense of the word, but Living.Rooms. Rooms where children live. You know?

...I don't. Well, I do, but it doesn't interest me a hoot to describe the rooms at work and how they could be improved. And I have an introduction already. So there.

Anyway. We've had a few wild weekends behind us with some spontaneous dinner parties that turned into overnights, me visiting some of my no-longer-work kids, a pro basketball game, gallery visits, more dinners and a whole helluva lot of kilometers. It's been fun. Apparently, it's also been exhausting. So much so that Stephan has actually opted for a formal nap IN BED instead of just dozing off to soccer on the couch. The boy never naps. He's a high-energy morning person. I nap. Whenever I can. I know it's going to be a tough day when I wake up and try to figure out when my next opportunity to nap will be. But enough of that.

Things here are rolling merrily along. We rediscovered the weekly market at Boxhagener Platz on Saturday mornings last week in a fit of sunlight induced spring fever. I bought a few magnolia branches which I'm trying to coax into opening their buds and we decided the culinary delights of this market could not possibly be enjoyed on one morning, so we vowed to return. And we did, today. With the express purpose of eating breakfast. They have such lovely things! Whole roasted fish, turkish breakfasts, waffles, swiss speacialities, sausage by the ton and everything fresh enough to sass you back and flanked by goregous produce. We chose to get a big mix of turkish goodness at one of the stands--my chickpeas in sauce, stuffed eggplant and chicken with mixed veggies didn't disappoint...although it did leave me with a hankering for really good turkish steetfood. I had stuffed mussels from some random vendor after a night of dancing with my landlady and her friends back in the day which occasinoally haunt me still. Is that what being a foodie is all about? I think so. Some things I've eaten just don't let me go. Another example would be the potato salad from Stephan's Grandpa. I could lay down and die happy in a bowl of it. Or his stuffed mushroom caps! The man can cook. He sent us a package of cured meats the other day which has had Stephan making himself secret sandwiches since.

Speaking of mushroom caps, one of the stands this morning had the HUGEST white mushroom caps ever. I got so excited when I saw them...and had to have them. I know they're not going to be close to what Stephan's Grandad can do, but I'm going to try. I'm envisioning a ground beef filling with elements of rosemary and feta cheese. Oooh, I'm already getting hungry. This isn't good.

Aside from the edible experiences of the last few weeks about which I could go on and on...things have been busy and I'm glad to have a weekend where not so much is going on to just kick back and relax. We're meeting friends later on for drinks...but just drinks, not dinner and not here for a change. Also refreshing. I love hosting. I love having people over and cooking and eating and wining together...but sometimes it's great when the action happens someplace else. However, the trip last Sunday to the Berliner'sche Galerie in Kreuzberg was fantastic. Well worth breaking my rule that nothing wild and social happens on Sundays. I went with a friend of mine who did some modeling work for them a while back. The exhibit was great...some really bizarre, thought-provoking art from the corporate collection of a natural gas company here in Berlin. I'd never really thought about it, but I guess it often happens that companies diversify their portfolios and that in large companies some of that "corporate art" hanging around might just be galery worthy. Let me tell you, the GASAG has some cool stuff. It's well worth a visit, although the neighborhood is a bit crap. Not dangerous or anything, just...nothing there. At least not in comparison to the bopping enclaves I'm used to in Berlin.

As interesting as all this is, I can't really surpress my hunger any more, so I'm going to go cruise the kitchen. I got some yummy greek yogurt today, and I think it's time has already come....

love and delicacies!

Wow.

What times we live in, my friends!

I'm pretty excited, to tell the truth. I mean, for someone who got on the bandwagon relatively late. Living here, you see what kind of overwhelming support Barack Obama has on the international scene. It's such a great thing--although I think on a certain level, it's symbolic of the frustration not only of Americans but also of people all over the world with the Bush regime of the last eight years. I worry a bit, though that things will just be so catastrophic by the time Obama takes office that he'll have to be doing ridiculous amounts of damage control and won't be able to do half the great things he has the potential to achieve for America. But at least the potential to do good is there, unlike a certain other administration that comes to mind. Here's to hoping he can make good on the rhetoric, the enthusiasm and the good will that got him this far.

And what do we all think about "rogue" Sarah Palin positioning herself for 2012? I love all of the fantastic hate that's come out of the McCain camp over how much of a joke this woman really was. For me, the Canadian prank callers were the icing on the cake. The fact that she didn't catch on, that she really thought she was talking to the real Sarkozy is astounding and insulting to the man himself...but then, her camp CONFIRMING this whole ridiculous incident...was unbelievable for me. If I'd worked for her, I'd've lied my FACE off. I mean, there are some things you don't necessarily need to admit to. People thought George W. was idiotic--at least he had half decent handlers. Don't get me wrong--I don't feel sorry for her, and it's not based in some kind of catty woman-against-woman horseshit. I don't think she's qualified and I don't think she understands or appreciates the difficulty the office of the Vice Presidency presents...let alone the Presidency. Otherwise she would have never accepted the nomination for a job for which she was so completely unqualified.

But anyway...I suppose that's enough political blather for today. I don't even really want to hear it anymore myself. I was so addicted to news in the months and weeks before the election, but now it's all anyone talks about and I'm sick of it. Bring me new news! I know that Barack Obama won the election, and while I am interested in who he decides to tap for his cabinet, I don't need to hear report after report based on whatever speculations the expert of the hour has to offer. I'd prefer an insightful analysist of the choices when they've been announced. Enough, though. Really.

I took today off from everything...slept twelve hours last night and had a fantastic hot bath today...all efforts to try and shake off last week/prepare me for the next one. It was Stephan's suggestion that I try to do as much nothing as possible. He grocery shopped yesterday, cleaned the apartment and washed dishes yesterday. It was awesome, because I wouldn't have been able to do it. This week shouldn't be so bad, though. At least I'll have Tuesday afternoon to get my house in order. It was nice not to worry about anything--whether it be the stupid translations of the Thanksgiving recipes or the course prep for next week's adult ed classes or the reading for school. I mean--it's all still there, subconsciously at least, but my powers of repression are strong, so it's working. I did sneak in a bit of productivity and did some pre-shopping for Christmas today, so that I know where to find what when my next paycheck rolls in. I've got to get Christmas presents sorted for the family--my goal is to have the package get there on time this year. We'll see.


Anyway...hope everyone's well! Take it easy.