Life: Idiotropic

Carnival parties are the biggest of the entire year and even at the kindergarten, they like to celebrate big. Frau Gisbertz told me that adults wore costumes too, so I knew about that and my friend, Holly, had gone last year and told me that the mothers did shots, so nothing today really shocked me. It is good to be prepared.

Elise was a princess - not a big shock - wearing her "fancy" dress like she does 2-3 times a week at home for play. I put a little color on her lips and cheeks to make her fancier, but she didn't like it much. The other children were completely decked out in full costumes - some with their faces covered in makeup and some with painted hair as well. The most popular costumes this year among the boys were cowboys and Indians. Even one mother wore an Native American costume.

I wore my pink hair and dress that I'd worn the week before. About 80% of the parents were dressed up at least a little. Many were witches and then the "homeroom moms" all had green viney costumes. I'm still not sure what they were supposed to be.

The tables were set up in the common area with a potluck of sweets and snacks brought by all the parents. Sodas and juices sat at one end near the cups and near a 6+ gallon pot of what they called "bowle," a type of white wine sangria. That's where the majority of the mom's gathered with their cups drinking - not shots this year, but cup after cup of their fruity wine.

The tuernhalle was set up as the stage area, so throughout the 2 hour party, we were ushered in and out of this crowded room again and again (6 times) as one group would perform, then the other groups would get ready while we ate and talked, then again we'd go in while they performed... over and over. All three classes did something. The Katzengruppe went first - that's Elise' class, but Elise clung to me and wouldn't join them. Since they've studied Hansel and Gretel, they had their cardboard house there and a bunch of paper trees. All the children were dressed up in costumes - a Hansel, a Gretel, a bunch of dancing trees, and a small group of red mushrooms with big white spots - a traditional symbol of luck here. The song was sung and they acted out the story. The Froschgruppe and Schmetterlingsgruppe both danced for their turns - with some small hat, but nothing as elaborate as Elise' class. The parents did a puppet show and the Gillrath Carnival committee did an appearance bringing two young dance troupes and presenting awards. One group of girls wore witches costumes and danced with brooms. The other wore a more uniform-like costume and also danced. It was all really interesting.

The head teacher of the school is a large lady and quite a character. She's scary, really. Not horribly, but she is that stereotypical serious German lady who you just don't want to mess with. She doesn't smile much either. Today - wow. She LOVES the microphone. She had the speakers turned up REALLY loud and she had the microphone so close to her mouth, the sound was quite fuzzy. And she was yelling. Gillrath -- ALAAF! Carnival -- ALAAF! Kindergarten -- ALAAF!! Even the kids were plugging their ears. She had a safari hat and a large animal print batik print shift on and held a cup of that bowle in her hand much of the time. Even the other parents were shaking their heads at her - she certainly was comical today and not her normal serious self.

All in all, it was ok. There was no shortage of entertainment, food, or drink. The people were nice. The kids had fun. Candy and popcorn were thrown liberally between each group of dancers, so the kids all went home with pocket and bagfuls of treats. Most parents brought bags - I had no idea. Elise was ok, but the entire experience was LOUD and overwhelming. She did uncling and play with friends some, but she still isn't completely comfortable there and this was a pretty crazy party.

Definitely not anything we'd experience in the states. Alcohol at a school event??? And, this is a church sponsored preschool with ages 3-5. They go to the church for children's services occasionally. They pray before meals. And, the mothers drink at the class parties. In their defense, they were all having a good time and there was absolutely no sign of drunkenness of obnoxious behavior. It is just a part of the culture and this time of year especially. They look at alcohol in a very different way than we do as Americans.

The entire month of January, Elise' class at the German Kindergarten did a unit on Hansel and Gretel singing songs, reading the story, doing crafts, and even learning and acting out the play. Since I usually make gingerbread houses each Christmas, I asked the teachers if they would like a gingerbread house this month - an offer they happily accepted.

So last night I baked gingerbread making all the pieces for a house and an entire forest of trees. This morning I made a large batch of frosting and sealed it up in decorator bottles. Then at 1030, I took all that with a bunch of colored sugar sprinkles and candies to the kindergarten so the kids could make the house.

Honestly, last night I couldn't find my recipe (ended up finding it on this blog!), and really had a bad attitude. I was tired and kicking myself for volunteering for yet another unnecessary project. But, I have always enjoyed and felt it was important to be involved with the girls' classes at school and though it's more challenging at this school, I still want to be involved. It's good for Elise and I'm aware of the impressions that I can make here as an American living among Germans.

By the time I got there, I'd mellowed and once I started working with the kids, I was so happy to be there. The class split into two groups, so I had half at a time. They decorated their trees, then worked together on the large sides and roof of the house, each small group of 2-3 kids "gluing" candies onto the large cookie piece. They asked a lot of questions and I understood and could reply to half. To the other half, I told them that I couldn't speak German, but, I was telling them that in German and they looked so confused, then just continued to talk to me as if I should understand everything perfectly. There was no grabbing or rude behaviour. They sat and worked, listened and watched. I think they were as intrigued with me as I was with them, but it was nice.

When all the children had a turn and the house and trees were done, I cleaned up and moved to a tiny table in the corner to assemble it all - a process that is slow as the frosting has to set between each heavy piece of candy covered house. I sat there working and at all times had at least 10 kids crowded tightly around me silently watching. Once in a while someone would say something. They all pointed out each piece of candy that fell off. And, they wanted the cookie Hexe (witch) that I made to go inside the house before I put the roof on, so I put her in carefully, then they all had to get up on their tiptoes and peer inside.

The next day, the little house with the forest around it was sitting on the small table in the entry as you enter the classroom with a little note saying that Frau Stahlbaum has made this house with all of the children. All the kids wanted to eat it, but Frau Gisbertz said that it was too beautiful to eat and they will get enough candy at Carnival. True. I'll have to make a small batch of cookies so they can at least have a taste of American gingerbread that is so different than t

For those of you with little time, I will occasionally be publishing these blog entries with "Tifnotes," a condensed, to-the-point summary of the usually long winded entry. Here's the first Tifnote-- the full entry will follow for those with time to read.

Tifnotes version: We went to the Children's Carnival Parade in Sittard and had really delicious hot chocolate from Bagels and Beans. The costumes were amazing and I saw first hand that Dutch people really enjoy silly string.


The Carnival season is here and though some events are definitely not for kids, the Kinderoptocht (Children's Parade) is made exactly for children, but leaves out no one.

We hadn't been to this before and though I've heard of it, I only found out when it was through the Dutch Bagels and Beans newsletter that I always try to "read" through though I can only pick out words here and there. Luckily this time I could understand "kinder" which is also child in German and could understand that they were going to be open on a Sunday which is quite unusual, so I used Babelfish to look up Optocht and confirmed what I suspected - the parade!

It's always fun when a little detective work uncovers a treasure. And, this parade is that. I found the website for the Sittard parades that includes photos of both the adults and children's parades dating back to the 1920's! Amazing!

We didn't show up particularly early, but still found parking in the residential areas without difficulty and walked to the center. I let the girls pick out wild headbands knowing that putting them in costumes would take too long and I wasn't 100% sure if spectators would be wearing costumes. Wow. Confirmation came quickly. Everyone that we saw crossing the streets and walking towards the square was in costume. The children - ALL OF THEM - were completely decked out with costumes, elaborate makeup, wigs and props. And even the adults were not altogether boring. Though some looked "normal," the majority if not in full costume, were at least wearing silly hats, boas, glasses, and other funny accessories. I felt very American and there was no avoiding that. Next year we'll dress up and come armed with silly string and loads of confetti so that we too can cover all passers by with it - the police cars, the tubas... all covered in silly string.

We got cocoa and coffee to go and found a good place to stand just outside of Bagels and Beans where the road curves and the parade would come straight towards us down Putstraat before turning and going around the corner to the Markt. For about 15 minutes, we stood there in the cold wind hugging our warm drinks and watching the party going on around us - kids running around the empty spaces, throwing confetti and chasing each other with cans of silly string, then picking up streamers and confetti off of the ground so they could throw it again. There were a lot of little boys with toy guns that made a loud crack every time they pulled the trigger. The group next to us were all decked out in the Dutch Carnival colors - red, yellow, and green with hats, and feather boas in those colors. Entire families stood together from infants to elderly - all bundled and ready.

The lead car was a police car slowly arriving already completely covered from front to back, windows and wheels, with all colors of silly string and piles of confetti. Just as he got to us, he used his windshield wipers to clear it. It's amazing he could see anything before that. That was the first of many a person or car to arrive on our corner decorated by the crowd. Even band instruments had string handing from them. At first, I watched the small procession of cars going by thinking, "is this it? How lame!" But then, the cars were gone, and the fun stuff started. For 2 full hours we stood watching group after group go by all dressed in amazing costumes. I wish that we could have read the Dutch. All the groups had signs. I could only read a few of them.

There were a couple traditional floats, but most groups came with just their costumes and smaller float-style props like strollers and wagons that had been completely transformed with balloons, foam, and other items into whatever they needed them to be. Families walked together. Babies in matching costumes and with makeup on, slept with their heads flopped sideways in their fancy stollers completely oblivious to the noise around them. Bands played and most groups had a wagon with a speaker system hidden inside playing traditional carnival music loudly.

They threw some candy, but not a lot. The girls also got a few little things... a heart flashlight key chain, a pen, and a ball. One group ran around with ribbons and strips of netting tying them to people's arms. A young girl tied a bow around both Arianna and Luci's arms and though my girls didn't understand why (nor did I... couldn't read that sign), they liked to be given something. Towards the end of that group a mother and 2-year old girl dressed alike came up to Elise and gave Elise a small handful of ribbons tied in bows. I think we're supposed to remember something.

Have I mentioned that these people can make absolutely anything out of foam???? It is amazing! The bird hats in the photo above are entirely made of that brightly colored thin craft foam that is so vogue for kids these days. We saw hat after had made of that and even strollers wrapped all around in foam with foam windows to make it look like a pirate ship.

Anyway... that was it. Two hours of costumes and fun. The little girls all enjoyed it. My big girl tolerated it. I loved it. I love seeing the families together - seeing infants and children walking, riding, and being carried by their parents and grandparents, all wearing the same costumes and participating together. It's a beautiful thing and people were all smiling and having fun. We'll definitely next year and then, we'll all dress up.

Yesterday, I started out as a responsible brunette running errands, volunteering at the girl's school, doing a 5K walk for charity, and attending a special story time with the girls.

Then the wig went on and truly, I now believe that blonds have more fun! Pink is definitely more fun than being a brunette and wearing a wig is great! I love it!

Kirk, or shall I say, Father Kirk, and I went to the CSA Carnival party at the Officer's club on the base - got there about 1745. I got home at 0120. Crazy, but so fun. A lot of our friends went -- both American and non-American. The majority of the guests were either German or American, but there as a large group of Norwegians and Italians and one Spaniard.


The costumes were amazing - some people really go all out with professional looking hair and makeup. Last year we had a lot of Robin Hood costumes. This year seemed like more of a mix. We had folks from the 20's, 50's, 60's, and 70's - the pirates, the vikings, the European period folks in Renaissance garb or Roman armor. Napolean, clowns, devils, a band of Zorros, a tiger, and a strange Mozart mix. Oh... and we had Jup and Rosie - my good friends who dressed in traditional German garb and wore blond wigs. Ya ya!

And the entertainment is great too! I love the mix of bands and dance troupes. Just when you get tired of dancing, a new group of professionals come in to entertain. Then, as fast as they came and before they could possibly get bored, they go and either a new group comes on or the band is on for more dancing. Let's see... we had 3 bands, 2 Elvis impersonators, 2 tiny little solo dancers who could cartwheel without hands and touch their knees to their ears, 6 dance troupes that I can remember (could be more), a 95 year old Carnival club from Heinsburg with their king and queen, band and dancers, and 2 awards ceremonies where they give out very fancy medals to guests of honor and important participants in the party.

We had appetizers, a huge dinner with 4 meat entrees and all the sides, then an amazing dessert spread with delicious German tortes and donuts. Most people had at least 2 if not 4 large pieces stacked upon their plates. Delicious!

And the dancing. Normally I am extremely shy about dancing in public. I don't like it. I don't feel comfortable with it. Even at International Women's events, I usually try to stay in the back where people can't see me. But with the pink wig - it was different - like being on stage and playing a character. I played an outgoing, bubbly girl who couldn't stay off the dance floor. I danced the whole night and it was great!

Funny moments: I still laugh at the music that even during this German holiday party, is 95% American from Beach Boys to Reggae, and Michael Jackson's Thriller to country western. And... the internationals seem to know it better than the Americans do. The oddest musical moment was later in the night when a tribal band got up and began to play and sing "Cumbaya" - a song we always used to sing around the camp fire at church camp each year. That morphed into "Ooga Chucka" which morphed into "A lion sleeps tonight." Crazy. It was funny to see the Elvis' together. The French '73 Elvis stood on the side videotaping the Danish '68 Elvis during the latter's first act.

I really need to sit down and talk to one of my German friends about Carnival. Each year I pick up a new bit of understanding, but the more I read the newspaper and glean bits of what's going on around the area, the less I know - or the less I understand. Each town has a Carnival Association that puts on the Rose Monday Parade, the costume ball, and the Altweiberball. Sometimes there are more activities planned, but there is always a Prince and sometimes a Princess and they dress in traditional red and white costumes. They bring with them dancers and bands and hand out medals. It's all fun, but taken extremely seriously and there seems to be a great pride there. Last year the Aachen Prince came to our party, but this year he was booked, so he sent medals and we had the Heinsburg committee come who also brought dancers and music and medals. The president introduced each group as if they were his pride and joy and told us that they were the oldest group in the region - except of course for Aachen. The Prince and Princess through roses and after all the celebrating and about 25 minutes, they marched grandly out just as they'd entered.
A dance group brought by the Heinsburg Carnival Association - The princess and prince of Heinsburg (at least during Carnival time)

Today I went into Schleypen for a coffee and saw they had treats there I've never seen before. In fact, there are several sweet treats that are popping up in bakeries that are completely new.

It's Carnival. Just like we'd eat elephant ears at a State Fair, they've got their own versions of fat laden, sugary dough here too - but it's better.

This morning, I just tried one thing - the Eierlikor Krapfen. Oh my goodness! It is SUCH a good thing that I only got one because that was so delicious that I easily could have eaten 3. It looked almost like an overgrown donut hole, but with a rugged outside and a puff of a dense custard on top with just the slightest hint of eierlikor - not overpowering at all. Instead of a soft spongy donut, this broke apart into a soft, but slightly crisp pastry dough and the entire center was overfilled with that amazing sweet custard. Wow. Carneval could grown on me.... and with treats like this. I think I'd grow a bit too if Carneval lasted all year.

I met Senur not long after I moved here, but like a lot of the Turkish ladies, she was quiet and didn't speak a lot of English, so it was hard to connect with her. Most of the Turkish ladies stay together at our International Women functions because of the language barrier. She stood out in that not only is she a beautiful blond woman - not common in the Turkish community, but she always has the most amazing necklace and earrings on. Once I asked the question - where did she get them? She made them. Wow. I went through the jewelry making phase in high school, but I couldn't imagine making anything as intricate as what she could put together.

Last year she spent months designing and making about 40 sets of earrings and necklaces to raffle off during the Turkish wedding night. I bought a lot of tickets, but I didn't win.

This year, I finally asked her if she would have some time to teach me how, and today, she did!

I'd asked if I could bring a couple friends along and my Spanish friend, Maria, knows Senur as well, so she and Joana (otra Espanola) came as well.

We all picked through a tin of finished necklaces to find a "model" that we liked. Then Senur helped us find the beads, wires, and other pieces that we'd need to make it and she supervised while we worked.

It was simple - four ladies sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes of beads in all shapes, sizes, and colors, working on our necklaces and looking for help once in a while. It was unusually quiet as we all tried hard to concentrate and the talking we did was a crazy mix of English, German, and Spanish with an occasional Turkish word used that I couldn't repeat if I had to - the sounds are very difficult.

Senur had a tray set out when I arrived with a fruit topped cake on it, plates, and cups. Not long after she brought out hot cheesy wiener wraps (crescent rolls with hot dogs and cheese - not expected from a Turkish woman - I was surprised) still steaming from the oven.

She offered drinks to us. The Spanish declined. She put a plate of food in front of Joana. Joana said she couldn't eat and Maria would only eat one small wiener wrap. So I got the big plate. She offered drinks again and I had coffee and the Spanish let her bring them water. It is her culture to have something prepared for guests, and I understand how disconcerting it can be when guests refuse. I laughed later when she said that no one ate and told her that the Spanish don't eat. Really - in the morning, it is especially true. They eat very little with their coffee. And even later, the portions are always small.

When we'd finished, she asked us all to pick out a "model" for next time which was music to my ears! I would love to go and visit with her again. And, I learned that jewelry isn't' her first love. She did oil painting first and had very nice paintings in her home that she had done. She wants to learn ceramic painting, so she's going to come to my home soon and I'll show her how to work with ceramic paint.

**Side note: Another thing that struck me about this day was the quality of the materials that Senur works with. She gets all her materials in Turkey because it's cheaper there and she did have a handful of glass beads. But she had no silver - only inexpensive metals, and most of the beads that she uses are plastic! Some are the same beads I've purchased for my daughters to play with. So, working with them felt strange - I'm used to picking out beads with more weight and value. But, when it was finished, my necklace and earrings were stunning. They hung well. The weight was nice. And when worn, no one can tell it's plastic. I would never have guessed that Senur wasn't wearing something quite fine.

Last night was a full moon. I wouldn't even had known, but Arianna read it on her calendar and asked me what it meant and when we'd have another one. That conversation came and went. Then late last night, forgetting about the moon's phase entirely, I found that I couldn't pass a window without stopping to look outside - not looking at the moon, but investigating. Where are those lights coming from? It was a very white light and it made our entire courtyard glow so brightly that I couldn't help but think that there were lights on - somewhere.

This morning, I dropped Elise off at school and explained to her teachers that she was very tired and had slept in one hour. Frau Gisbertz said it was the full moon. I've heard of that making cats and dogs crazy, but kids too? According to her, Elise - and others - are affected by the full moon and are more tired and sensitive than usual.

UPDATES: http://estrogenpalace.blogspot.com/2007/12/versailles-france.html

Yes, my blog loyalty is divided... so if this one is being neglected, here's why -- it's gotten a lot of positive feedback and use, so I'm trying to keep up with it: www.livingingk.blogspot.com

This weekend, the sick count was 5:1 (I'm the ONE healthy one).

This morning, I though the girls have all been very tired and coughs have continued, I thought the count had reversed -- 1: 5 (Kirk is the only sick one)...

Then Luci got sent home from school (100.3 fever? You've got to be kidding!).

Arianna came home and immediately fell asleep and only woke up for bath before falling back to sleep.

Elise' cough seemed to worsen.

Tiara is still tired (but plans on ice skating tomorrow with the middle school).

I promised Kirk I would take the kids to the MD tomorrow. Am I back to 5:1?


The good news? They're going to bed earlier... and I finally got to day 2:
http://estrogenpalace.blogspot.com/2007/12/notre-dame-and-some-birds.html

This computer has eaten up my evenings and I'm still not getting anything done. So most of Paris Day 2 is written, but then I got sidetracked and started writing the Paris blog for my local website which isn't finished either, and then I found out that my yearbook staffers can each have their own log in and ID and do their pages completely on their own time on their home computers, so I've been trying to figure that out as well. All four girls attended school today, but their coughs still keep me up at night. Kirk has now missed 7 workdays and is miserable.

I think that my life could be like the Mouse and Cookie book...

Kirk has been sick on quarters all week. Tiara missed three days of school and just when we thought she was getting better, she got a fever. Luci went home 20 minutes early on Friday with a fever and Arianna has one now too. Elise is tired and cranky, so she's next, I'm sure.

Given this, you'd think I'd have more time, but no... I'm fetching water and pillows and putting on movies and fixing snacks. Taking temperatures and policing the drinking of really icky medicine.

There is nothing new, noteworthy, nor exciting here. The entire week has been a busy catch up one with my volunteer activities starting up again, but it's also been dampened by illness. Thankfully, not my own. I can't handle that now.

Christmas packages will be sent out on Monday morning... I have an appointment at the post office - a prerequisite here if you want to mail more than 5 packages. Strange? Yeah, but then it saves people the irritation of being behind me in line when I stand there fiddling with customs forms. So, I get to sneak in (not likely with 12+ packages in tow) early before the post office technically opens and they'll be ready for me. Pretty nice.

P.S. Anyone know where the expression "under the weather" came from? I guess it's from the same people who came up with "on cloud 9." They must live somewhere really cold and damp to be so upset about being "under" the weather and so determined to walk on clouds. I mean, if you live in California, then it's perfectly fine to be "under the weather." It's sunny and beautiful most of the time. And, though I'm not exactly sure which cloud is number 9, I'm pretty sure it's just a mess of wet water vapor and it's probably pretty cold and low on oxygen which would induce a lightheaded stupor not unlike the tired rambling one that I seem to be in now. Oh... it's time to sleep... I think I'll be doing quite a big of fetching tomorrow. Fluff my pillow... heat my tea... no more medicine...

What do goldfish and shiny money have in common? Well, for starters, they are both gold. And, more importantly, they both flush equally well.

So you know that I'm officially a bad tooth fairy. I was great with Tiara. She always got her timely coin. Her teeth, saved, were always tucked away where she would never find them. She would not, for example, find one on the floor near Luci's bed after a mischievous sister had been snooping around my office and opened up a container where a tooth was stashed.

No, Tiara would never have heard me with my Oscar winning drama exclaim, "Oh my goodness! The tooth fairy must have dropped that one. Let's put it under your pillow again and see what happens."

Tiara never got two gifts for one sneaky tooth. And, her tooth fairy never forgot.

Sad, but true. On Tuesday at school Arianna bit her tooth twice and on second accidental collision, it popped out. She saved it wadded up in a tissue, brought it home, picked off most of the tissue bits from it, then put it under her pillow. I tucked her in, said good-night, got busy with who knows what, and forgot. The next morning I remembered just as I heard her cry in horror. "The tooth fairy didn't come!" Tears, drama, disappointment. And, mom guilt.

Time for another Oscar performance... "Oh, don't worry. People make mistakes and I bet tooth fairies do too. May be she had too many teeth to pick up on one night. Think about all your friends at school missing teeth. I bet a lot of kids have lost their teeth this week. Let's put it under your pillow again and see what happens."

This time I remembered. I was in her room when in a groggy early morning stupor she began to sit up and slipped her hand slowly under her pillow. "Mom! Look what the tooth fairy brought! And my tooth is gone!" Now she was happy, ecstatic, cheerful, and bouncing with heartfelt squeaks of glee. She held in her hand some special shiny gold colored USA coin that Kirk bought for just this occasion when he was in D.C. this past summer. It was in a case and it was beautiful. She got dressed and slipped it into her pocket.

Against my judgement, I didn't say anything to her - feeling bad about the previous day - and let her take it to school.

At 1oam I was sitting at Bagels and Beans drinking my large foamy cappuccino with a friend. My cell phone rang. It was Kirk with a bit of news.

The school called. Arianna went to the bathroom and her coin fell out of her pocket and into the toilet and then the toilet automatically flushed. Arianna was heartbroken and hysterical. Kirk calmed her down on the phone. Luckily, he had a shiny gold coin he bought at the Notre Dame in Paris... that would make a good replacement.

This afternoon while I was driving to the base my cell phone rung again. Arianna fell (was pushed) off of the boat (a TALL piece of play equipment) and hurt her ear (and also put a 10" rip in her skirt). More tears. Her teacher later told me that my tough girl sat with her ear throbbing, one arm up in the air pinning the ice pack against her ear while she finished her homework with the other hand. My poor girl was so completely worn out when she finally got home.

This evening we avoided all things tall and cleared pockets before using the bathroom.

(Ok, I'm tired and giving up... our Paris Day 2 entry is almost written and I have a toothless photo of Madame Drama to post... so I'll add those tomorrow when I'm a little more coherent.)

Well, I sincerely hope that the third time is a charm. I missed the star singers on Saturday. And I was home too, but ran to the door and saw the bright red outside of it and knew it was the star singers and really, really wanted to open the door, but didn't have any Euro cash to quickly find for them, so I stayed quiet and let them move on. It was sad. They were cute all dressed up like the Three Wise Men. It only happens once a year and there are no do-overs if you miss it. Next year I'll have change waiting.

Confused? Well, once a year, usually on or just before Three Kings Day (January 6), a small group of children dressed like the Three Wise Men will come to your home and either sing or recite a poem. They collect money for charity, then write a Catholic blessing on chalk by your door to protect you. It's a beautiful tradition. By some doors here the chalk has lasted years with 6 blessings written in a row - six years of star singers. Tinny told me about them later. I told her I missed them because I didn't have any money. She said she gives them cookies instead. Ok, well, NOW I know.

There are a lot of things here that happen with a knock on the door. There are a lot of things that you just miss out on if you aren't home or don't answer your door. Like the tickets for the St. Martin's festival. They go around once - just once. And you'd better hope you're home. Other people that show up at my door: the chimney sweep who just so happens to look like a female version of Dick VanDyke in Mary Poppins - soot on her cheeks and all - and we don't even really have a chimney to sweep. She does something in the basement. I don't even really know what strangely enough - I just know that she looks legit enough and twice a year I just let her come in for 10 minutes to do whatever it is she does. The T.V. tax guy comes too... but we are American's and are exempt from paying tax on television combined with the fact that we actually don't have any television, that's one short visit. There's a vacuum cleaner guy who goes door to door selling vacuums too. I know the German word now, but at first, when I'd give him the blank stare, he's just say "Kirby" and make a vacuuming motion with his hand. No thanks. I'm not going to spend 800 Euro on a 220 vacuum that won't even work when I move home.

I think I'm going to hang a camera by the door and start taking pictures of these folks. They are so much more interesting the door-bell ringers we had back in Oklahoma.

On a different note entirely, Elise stayed for lunch at school today. It was a short day, so she only stayed one hour extra - and she cried - and she refused to eat. So... we'll see. It was the first day. I think this is good for her. It's definitely good for me... but... we'll see. She's my last one and I'm tempted to spare her the extra school time and shower her with cuddles on the couch.

UPDATES:

Paris, Day One: http://estrogenpalace.blogspot.com/2007/12/bon-jour-from-paris.html

Luci has an unusual mind and she sees things differently from her sisters. She's also a collector - a collector of things that are beautiful or unique or special to her in some way. Little things mark memories for her and she has a phenomenal way of cataloging it all in her mind.

So, when I empty her coat pockets on occasion before washing her winter jacket, I am always a bit scared at what I may find and then really intrigued by the collections we end up with.

Thus, this is my second of what will probably be a small serious of lists made every time I wash Luci's coat - lists of the contents of her amazing pockets.

1. One pair of mismatched gloves
2. One wadded up napkin (clean, I think)
3. Two wadded up tissues - also clean
4. Two folded and very wrinkled business cards from La Flotille - a cafe we stopped at in Versailles
5. A very tattered yellow drink umbrella that she had in her drink at La Flotille.
6. A chestnut pod or similar seed pod that Luci remembers picking up near that restaurant in Versailles
7. Two Paris Metro tickets that Luci said weren't hers - she found them on the ground
8. 2 sprigs of natural green pine that she found at the flower market near the Notre Dame at Le Cite in Paris - she said it was near where they sold the blue and pink and red Christmas trees
9. A nut - as in, a nut and a bolt. No bold, but she found a very nice shiny silver nut though she had no idea what it was, it was pretty.
10. 12 rocks plus one more black volcanic rock that is almost perfectly round
11. 5 pieces of broken glass - not sharp. Two opaque white and textured, two clear, and one very small pale blue piece
12. 14 juniper berries that she found near the carousel at the Place du Concord in the garden of Tuilleries in Paris

Here is the link to the first "Luci's Pockets" entry that was finally posted today as well.... yes, I'm still working on catching up: http://estrogenpalace.blogspot.com/2007/12/lucis-pockets.html

I have this quirky need to keep things fairly orderly, so although I may be late in blogging somethings, I'll still blog them and date it the actual date or day after. So, when I do finally blog the Austria trip (really, truly, finally, a priority) - it will show up in old posts - back in Feb of '07.

So, to help you out, I'll try ot remember to let you know, so you don't waste your time scrolling through old stuff. I think there's a way to subscribe to this blog too so that you can get automatic updates everytime I add anything new or change anything.

Anyway... I am playing catch up... and am starting with the recent and going backwards. Photos from New Years are up now: http://estrogenpalace.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-years-fireworks-and-blues.html

Last August, I walked through my village dropping our "Gillrath Gathering" flyer at every non-German home in town thinking that it would be a neighborhood block party of sorts - a get-to-know your neighbor thing. Not to leave out Germans, but there are a significant amount of people living here that are working on the base and speak English as a common language and we're all just sort of transplanted here, so I thought it would be nice to connect. The party was fantastic and we all had a great time. One great is that I asked everyone to bring an appetizer to share. And, better yet, they did. Among the greats was this treasure - a recipe that I requested from the wonderful Canadian lady who brought it. Then, forgetting about it almost entirely, she finally emailed it to me just before Christmas. What a great present!

Chicken Enchilada Dip

1 pound chicken shredded
1 8oz cream cheese
1 c. mayo
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can diced green chilies
1 jalapeno pepper

Mix all ingredients. Bake 30 minutes until bubbly 350 degrees.

"I added some ingredients to the recipe because I thought it was too bland. I poached the chicken with taco seasoning. I added a can of rotel tomatoes. I added more jalapeno, but it depends on the strength of the pepper. I also used half mayo and half sour cream. I used my food processor to mix it altogether and I would not do that again. The chicken was too chopped up and gave it a strange texture, which I did not care for. You could use a crock pot to keep warm or a fondue pot."

One week without internet has taught me that 1) I am hopelessly addicted to the internet, 2) I absolutely cannot function well from day to day without the internet, and 3) the answer to most questions in this household ends with, "go look it up on the internet."

So, after yesterday's promise by our internet company that it would be turned back on then and Tiara's neurotic refreshing of our internet window every 10 minutes ALL DAY LONG, today's final functioning Explorer window was greeted with broad smiles, loud cheers, and the thunderous steps of my twelve-year old daughter jumping out of bed nearly at the speed of light (at noon) in order to check her email and update her Myspace page.

Anyway... I do hope that you all had fantastic Christmas and New Year's celebrations. Ours were wonderful and I do intend on filling you in on the details with photos in the next few days.

But first... for the sake of tradition, I will put down my New Year's Resolutions 2008:

1. Diet and exercise (what proper resolutions list can be complete without those???). Yes, and I really am horrible at both and the German breads and cakes don't help me a bit. But, I have been very good these last 4 whole days and I do fully intend on losing at least 10 pounds (15 would be nice, but let's not push it) by my 34th birthday. (Now, that's an ugly number!)

2. Blogging. Silly, but this blogging stuff is really fun and therapeutic for me plus it's keeping my fingers lean, so at least some part of me isn't reflecting the shape of a German broetchen (delicious roll). Really, I do intend on making the time for me to write in this space. It's good for me and occasionally I do strike upon something interesting to share.

3. Not exactly a resolution, but since it is likely that we will be moving in the spring of 2009 - just over a year from now, I fully intend to use up all of my crafting supplies doing fun things with the kids this year. I will move no paint, no shrinky dinks, pipe cleaners, or juice can lids. It will all get used up in some fantastically creative fashion and quite a bit of it will probably be shipped off in the form of gifts to unsuspecting family members! Smile. The kids made it!

4. My volunteering will be done basically at the end of March and I fully intend on spending my remaining year in Germany spending a lot of time seeing this place, talking with people, having coffee with friends, learning recipes and dances and cultural tidbits... writing, painting, taking pictures... this place has been a wonderful gift and I am already sad knowing the months are dwindling down. 2008 is for me and I will make something of it.