Life: Idiotropic

My week is a blur and not due to the normal reasons. We've all been potatoes.

The kids have been up until 11 or later most nights. I've been up until 1 or 2. Then we all sleep in and pretend it's morning at 1 in the afternoon. Tonight we had pancakes at 5. Until today I was actually feeling a little guilty about not going out and doing 1001 exciting things, but then I looked at my calendar and remembered how hectic life was in June. It is ok to have a month of rest, I think.

And nothing isn't nothing. The girls are still riding horses two days a week and loving every moment of it. These horses are becoming our friends. We bring them carrots. We're learning their names and temperaments. It's good for all us girls. Today Tiara wasn't riding, so she got to lead both Luci and Elise around the hall on Ida. I ended up helping out as well for a while leading Mimi around with a young girl. It was fun, but I was ill prepared with sandals and a flowery skirt enjoying the horse time, but feeling embarrassingly conspicuous with my tapestry purse slung over one shoulder and my skirt swishing in the dust. Next time I'll dress more appropriately just in case. It is nice to jump in and be a part.

We've gone outside every evening to ride bicycles and Elise now rides her little pink princess bike like a champ. Arianna is supposed to be riding her 2 wheeled bike (sans training wheels), but I'm not good at helping her, so we're waiting for Kirk to help her with that one. The girls have discovered a new family living behind us with a boy Aria's age, so she wants to play with him every day and go on walks. Yesterday we took them all to the nice ice cream place in Tuddern where I enjoyed Heis und Eis (ice cream with hot cherries on top). Luci is riding Aria's old bike now - still with training wheels, but it's bigger and Luci is doing very well on it. Tiara has a new bicycle too - purple - and is very happy riding around with her sisters.

We're all learning German better. It just kind of happened. I still do not speak it brilliantly, but lately, it's just seemed easier which is nice. Arianna, even out of school now, is still learning quickly, asking Tinny always what the words are for things and her little sisters both copy her, learning the language in play effortlessly.

Today I took a couple of friends to GK for a tour since they are both new here and we stopped at my favorite cafe not once but twice. That's my ideal day - shopping in a cappuccino sandwich (coffee, shopping, then coffee again). I did forget to put my "parkshine" thingy in my window though and got a whoppin' 5Euro ticket. Yeah! Could be so much more. Oh, and we saw the cheese guy at the market. He is GREAT! Last time I saw him we tried probably 5 cheeses, one of which was so soft and reeking of armpit stench, that I could hardly get it down. Today, we only tried three, but they were all delicious enough to eat again, so I brought one home. I'd really like for him to cater a wine and cheese party. His French cheese selection could inspire poetry. (Couple it with a good wine and we might just have a song comin' on.)

Anyway... my week in a nutshell. Our IWC night is now only 69 days away, so that will begin to occupy some time as I plan. And, in my "free time" instead of finishing up the Austria and Normandy blogs, I've begun a new one entirely for the local area. If you're curious, check out this site, yet another way I spend my late-night hours: www.livingingk.blogspot.com I'm also keeping up the IWC blog I created: www.iwcogk.blogspot.com

Aside: While I will not be a slave to spelling, respectful to authors like Lewis Carroll who could make up a word or two, I must protest the addition of inane, dumbified, words of the mindless massing sneaking their way into our English language. This rant is brought on by two things: 1) The official addition of "ginormous" into Webster's dictionary (roll, Webster, roll) and 2) The fact that I used the word "thingy" to find that it was not incorrect, but a recognized word with a "correct" spelling. So, yes, languages evolve. I get that. And, in some ways it's good. I am eternally grateful that I don't have to speak like a King James Bible to be understood, but I wish that at least half of our American population could remember their 7th grade vocabulary tests and that moronic words like ginormous and thingy would remain, just that, moronic slang. To the authors of any future "word a day" calendars, please leave these two out.