Life: Idiotropic

Won't it ever stop raining????? It's going on two full weeks of almost non-stop rain and we are all quite sick of it. It's gotten cold too. Kirk is almost considering turning the heat on. It is green here though - and beautiful, so I shouldn't complain too much.

Friday I tried to take Dad and Angie to good ol' downtown GK to walk around the open market and go to my favorite cafe. It rained. It rained a lot and it was cold and parking was awful, and we had the kids, so we had to walk far, and it was windy and miserable... Do I sound like a whiny 4-year old yet? I think that's about how we all felt. I was trying to show my guest around, but I think it was more like torture. They were miserable and the kids were too. The consolation was cappuccino and good cake at Cafe Shleypen. That will perk anyone up. I had my favorite - Johanisbeeren Kase torte. I think it's logan berry. It's really good. Anyway... that was the extent of the Friday outing. The cold/wet stuff is getting to everyone.


Saturday we got a late start and the weather looked iffy, so we just took a quick trip to Aachen to see the basics of the centrum... the old Rathaus and the Palatine Chapel. The weather was ok and it felt good to be out. I'd been to the Dom before, but we walked around inside more this time and took more pictures. The entire ceiling is a very detailed mosaic and the designs creep down the walls too. It's amazing. A lot of the tiny tiles sparkle in the lighting. The windows are beautiful and in the front are several large gold carved things. It's pretty impressive. Charlemagne actually ruled from this cathedral. His throne is there. He's still buried there. When we walked in, we noticed a door closed off to the side. Looking through the windows we could see a baptism going on. It was very sweet and so amazing to see that tiny baby all dressed in white in such a historic and regal place.

After we walked around inside, we went to the Treasury of the Cathedral which is the largest north of the Alps. It had a intricately carved marble sarcophagus dating from 2nd century A.D. from Rome that once contained Charlemagne. It had a golden bust of Charlemagne, his hunting knife and many other things relating to him. The cross of Lothair was amazing - beautiful gold decorated with stones and pearls and filigree with intricate engravings in gold. What amazes me most is that it's still used! It sits on display in the museum, but for special processions, they remove it and use it to head processions. It's also placed next to the main alter during holy mass on high feast days. It was made in the 900's A.D. and is so valuable. It is phenomenal to me - and it makes it even more special - that it is still used.

In one room full of paintings relating to Christ and Mary, there were panels like the one below depicting Mary's life. It began the angel coming to her and telling her of her pregnancy and ended with her standing at the cross. It's the first time that I saw Mary's grief depicted so clearly. As she stood at the cross looking at Christ, she held a spear to herself. As a mom, I can only imagine how painful it must feel to watch your child die. The three reliqueries below hold some of Aachen's old relics. One contains Mary's belt. And the other two have Christ's belt and his flogging belt. Every seven years in Aachen, there is a great pilgrimage that started in 1349. During the event, the Virgin's Shrine is opened and 4 more holy relics including Mary's dress and Christ's swaddling clothes are displayed for a time. It's quite an elaborate event. We hope to attend next year. Again, the dates on these things are just amazing. My kids can't seem to keep a white shirt clean for more than an hour and here there are belts and clothes and art that are a couple thousand years old.











After a lot of "quiet time" walking through the cathedral and the museum, we all needed a snack and an opportunity to talk in normal voices... especially the little ones. So, we all headed over to Starbucks for a coffee and a snack. Arianna and Luci LOVED helping their grandpa finish off his frappuccino. It was cold and chocolatey. I think that was their favorite part of the day. Afterwards while I shopped for some Printen cookies, the girls played on some horse statues. We've noticed horse statues all over the area... all painted differently... like the pigs in Seattle or the Buffalo in Oklahoma City. It's interesting. I would not have expected that phenomenon here.
The guys took the kids to play at the big slide by the parking place while Angie and I ducked into a couple of shops. The kids love the big slide. It's really tall and fast!










Just as Angie and I were about to walk back to meet up with everyone else, we heard music, so we headed off in the other direction to see what it was. We were too late to get photos, but a wedding caravan had stopped right in the middle of the street and the bride, groom, and bridal party all got out of their cars and started dancing. It was a Turkish wedding. The music was fun and they did the traditional dance, then all jumped back into the cars and sped off. I hope to see something like that again when I can take pictures. It was really fun to see.

When we got home from Aachen, our street was flooded. We were really lucky we could still get to our driveway. A few minutes after we arrived, more emergency vehicles came up and blocked our driveway. A water pipe broke and created a lake just a block down the street. So, we had no water. No toilet flushing, no cooking, no cleaning... The positive is that they did come and fix it fairly quickly and by bedtime our water was on again. The kids enjoyed watching the workers from the playroom window. So, the pipe was fixed in a matter of hours... during the rain... but the sidewalk didn't get repaired for another week.

32 years old today and not totally bothered by it. The kids let me sleep in a bit... not much, but the effort was made which was nice. Still, there is a toddler in the house who doesn't consider a birthday an occasion to sleep in, so in my pitch black room, she'll creep in, grab my hand, and pull as hard as she can on one finger pleading, "Get up, Mommy! Get up now," over and over again until my feet finally touch the floor and I am actually moving. She is brutal and relentless.

Kirk cooked a wonderful breakfast for me - his specialty. I wish he'd cook breakfast every day, but then 32 would not only be my age, but my dress size as well. Yeah, that would be ugly. The kids locked themselves away in the office giggling. I had to help them find tape and wrapping paper - but they did a nice job of wrapping and decorating things for me. Kirk is getting me a new camera for my birthday, but I haven't ordered it yet, so that's my fault for not having it ready to open. The girls were sweet though - a little box of chocolate, a silver picture frame, and a nice journal. Dad and Angie had brought family gifts too. It was a very nice morning. (No photos of that morning are publishable, of course... I had to open presents before my shower!)

It was raining... and raining... with no sign of letting up much. But, we had visitors and I certainly didn't want to stay inside all day, so Kirk kept the kids for the afternoon and I headed out with Dad and Angie. We first went to Sittard, but it was a Catholic holiday, so the market and all else was closed, so we plugged in Stella (GPS) and looked up nearby attractions. Valkenburg wasn't far away and had a nice old castle ruin, so we went there to explore a bit.

I was surprised, driving in, that it was so crowded. I'd thought that between the rain and the holiday that Valkenburg would be about as dead as Sittard, but there were big crowds all gathered around the eateries lining the streets. Parking was easy though and we went to find the way to the old castle ruin. Below the ruin was a ticket booth selling cave tours as well, so we did both.

Apparently, the entire area used to be under sea, so over many many years and a changing climate, the sand and sea matter pressed together to create Marlstone. The marlstone is very strong and heavy, but also very easy to cut into. The cave we explored was created in 1050 when the castle was built because they took large Marlstone blocks from the cave to build the castle. It also ended up acting as an escape route for castle dwellers at times of war. The tour was in Dutch, but several Dutch people on the tour helped to translate things at different times and the guide also took time in between stops to tells us about things. They were all very friendly and there was a lot of laughing from everyone, so I suppose the tour was funny. It was interesting to see. In the late 1800's locals started to decorate the cave to attract tourists, so there are beautifully intricate "paintings" throughout the cave. They were done by painting the entire surface of a wall black, then carving into the marlstone to add the light areas. It is amazing. During WW2, the Americans used the cave during fights with the Germans. They were able to sneak up to the castle ruin on the hill and see what was going on. So, there are also sillouettes of the American soldiers painted there and many other signs of their presence. A full chapel with confessional and baptismal is there and there was a hospital of sorts in the caves as well. (http://www.kasteelvalkenburg.nl/en/sub_velvetcave.html)


The cave tour lasted about an hour in pitch black surroundings. We only had the small oil lamp of our guide to light the area for most of the trip. It eventually led us up steep narrow stairs up to the bottom of the castle ruin. The castle is a ruin because it had been captured by the French and recaptured again by the Dutch. Upon threat of the castle being captured again by the French, the Dutch king blew it up. So, it is ruin, not by age, nor by the hand of an invador, but by the Dutch. It was pretty. I would have loved to see what it looked like before. Instead, it started to rain just as the cave tour ended and we walked around the old brick ruin getting wet.
(http://www.kasteelvalkenburg.nl/en/sub_castle.html)

We walked through an old city gate through the crowded pedestrian area just as it started to downpour. "Ron's Big Burgers" looked interesting, but we ducked into a little patisserie for a quick cappuccino break and I introduced Dad and Angie to a fresh hot waffle topped with cherries and whipped cream! YUM! Waffles here are soooo good and nothing like the US waffles. They are thick and soft and have caramelly edges that melt in your mouth. I will definitely find an iron and a good recipe for them here.

We got home in time for me to make dinner, then Tiara presented me with a nice orange streussel cake that she made. If you look carefully, you'll see a couple places where cake has been removed from my cake... Elise thought it looked good, so after Tiara had made it and frosted it, Elise reached up to the table and tore two handfuls out of the sides.

My birthday was capped off with a nice walk around the village. Nights are staying light so long, it seemed wrong to waste a nice evening after so much rain, so we took the kids and went. It was a short, but very nice little walk.

This is the soccer practice that showed just how tough Arianna is. Only 5 kids showed up and Arianna was the only girl. It was COLD - very cold, windy, and rainy. All the parents ran for their cars and watched from across the field. Dad and Angie watched from the minivan. I stood there a bit, but the wind picked up and the rain got heavier, so I ran to the van too. Arianna stayed out and practiced the entire hour and didn't complain once. She ran back to the van at break time to get her water, then ran back to practice. I was so proud of her. She's really enjoying soccer now and is learning a lot of self-discipline.

Tuesday - This was the day to pick up Dad and Angie at the airport - no problem. So we bustled around doing last minute things in the morning, then I picked up all the girls from school and started the drive for Dusseldorf. Kirk and I'd looked up mapquest directions the night before and I saw that there were several ways to get there, so I just plugged in Stella - our GPS system - and set it for the Dusseldorf airport. An hour later we drove up to a dinky, out-of-the-way, local airport with a tiny helicopter sitting on the runway. Yeah - I knew it wasn't it, but I had to go in and ask. Very little English speakers there, but someone did understand me enough to say that no, I wasn't at Dusseldorf International. Twenty minutes up the autobahn I was at the right airport. The drive was nice. We crossed over the Rhine and through a really long tunnel. The girls put their arms up and yelled, "tunnel," over and over again until we were out. I got to the airport, followed the green lit signs to the parking "frei" and ended up back on the autobahn to do another 10 minute loop - Oh fun. Eventually we got there, found parking by the departures. It was 30 minute only parking, but I was desperate, so I parked there anyway. When we walked in we saw Ronald McDonald - a very skinny version - speeding around the airport on a little scooter - the old fashioned non-electric kind. It was a bit silly. Life-sized statues of him littered quite a few benches there as well. As soon as we got to the Customs doors, Dad and Angie walked out. The kids screamed and ran towards them excitedly and we got to head back. After stopping for some snacks for the drive home, the car ended up being in parking just 31 minutes. That cost me 4.55 Euro - ouch! That's more expensive than Amsterdam! The drive home was uneventful and Dad and Angie seemed a lot more well rested than I'd expected.

Yes, rested. I'd thought that they'd collapse and rest when we got back to the house. Instead, we took a tour of the house and dad started taking pictures - lots of pictures - of everything. They loved the windows that open all the way up - like a door. The kids like that too - they can climb out!

Tiara had ballet that night, so we all went to Sittard and had coffee and ice cream in the market while Tiara danced. Her class is long on Tuesdays, so we had time for a nice walk too. I took them back behind Putstraat where the little gardens are hidden and we walked down a little pedestrian area between some other houses too. Arianna and Luci are obsessed with those wish-maker things... the little puffy seeded ends of dandelions that look like a cotton ball. They look for them everywhere and love to blow off the seeds and make their wishes. I am certainly glad that they are spreading their dandelion wishes on someone else's yard. There are tons of dandelions here - even in yards - and it doesn't seem to bother people. As finicky as people are here about their properties, they seem to really be ok with random wildflowers growing in the lawn. At our house we have cute little purple flowers and daisy's in our grass. The girls pick them and make tiny bouquets every time they're out.

Mom left a week ago today. What a lousy Mother's Day, huh? It was nice to spend most of the day together, but her flight left so early on Monday, that she'd rightly decided to stay at a hotel overnight in Brussels. We had a nice relaxing morning. Kirk cooked a nice breakfast. The girls brought me pictured they'd made. Arianna had drawn a picture of a witch trying to get out of her dress... it was a striped ragged edged blob with a pointy hat. So what does that say about me? Anyway... we took mom to the hotel, had a nice lunch, and let the kids play for a while at the playground outside before we did our teary goodbye.

This last week since has been spent doing the "back-to-normal" routine. Soccer practice, rain, ballet, rain, soccer, school, rain, rain, rain, ballet again, rained out soccer gain, grocery shopping, rain, etc..... cleaning the house, getting ready for our second batch of guests, planning short local trips, etc.... Oh, and did I mentioned it rained? And rained. Kirk is annoyed with it. I think it's just typical Oregon weather... and this is why we love it here. It's green and lush. So, a little rain isn't horrible. I just hope it stops when my dad gets here, so we can enjoy the area without umbrellas.

Nothing of note, really. I made banana bread this week. Luci took a bite and then with bright eyes and a surprised tone, said, "mommy, I like it! It makes me laugh!." So, apparently I have a talent for making humorous banana bread. Ok, as long as it gets eaten.

On another food note... the other night while I was trying to put Elise to bed, she grabbed my hand, pretended to pick pieces off of it and eat them as if she were picking berried off of a bush and said, while doing this, "I like this carrot. Yummy."

My kids are unique. That is for sure.

Tiara's school stuff is winding down. She has a dance this week and the spring fling the week after. School is winding down for the middle ones too. Arianna has a big graduation and sleepover at the end of June. That will be fun. She just got her graduation shots back with her in a pretty blue cap and gown - she looks very grown up.

Arianna and Luci after bath the other night... sharing a towel.

The power of the mother-in-law strikes again!

When we moved into this house it got dark by 5 - earlier actually. So by 5 it was absolutely pitch black. Meaning - when we moved into this house, windows weren't much of a consideration when handing out rooms. Then spring hit like a really bad nightmare because all of the sudden it was still bright out at 9 and my once "easy-to-put-to-bed" littlest three all of the sudden sat straight up in their beds at 9 in protest. "Mommy, it's still day time!" "Mommy, I'm not tired."

We had chosen for the three little munchkins, the ONLY bedroom without those wonderful room-blackening rolladn! Curtains were ordered, backordered, and then took 6 week to arrive. The curtain rod that I bought 2 hours away at Vogelweh for that room had missing brackets. Someone was seriously messing with my sanity.

Kirk and I both considered switching Tiara's room with the younger kids' room. Yeah - that's logic for ya... see what the messed up bedtime did to our brains?

So for weeks we struggled through ever brightening windows to get these much-too-smart-for-their-own-good midgets to sleep at a reasonable time. I had them running in circles. Forced yard play. Jumping up and down. Balloon games. In the end, Kirk and I were more exhausted then they were.

And then... the all-powerful and wise mother-in-law arrived... and my mom in a single day transformed those windows and our lives with the simple and all-too-reasonable suggestion to tape up sheets until the rods were put up! Tape up sheets? So simple and so obvious! Why didn't I think of that!?!?!??

So... left to his own devices... my intelligent husband taped up sheets to one window, then staple gunned the quilt that I made for Arianna when she was a baby - the only quilt I've ever made in my life - to the other window...

But, it's working. The room is conveniently dark when needed. The kids are sufficiently fooled. Bedtime is once again a well-oiled machine.

Kirk's mother-in-law is gone for now, but she'll be back and I'm sure I'll have a list full of dilemnas for her Solomon-like mind to take on.

On Friday, Mom, Elise, Luci, and I drove about an hour south to the quaint little city of Monschau. It is in the Eiffel region near the Belgian border near many national parks and ski resorts. The entire area is beautiful. Monschau is small and old, untouched by the war, its buildings are still in beautiful condition, so... it's a tourist trap. But that's ok. I'm a tourist and had heard great things about the town. We were in a time crunch on Friday, so we couldn't see everything or do the long hikes up the hills to the castle and ruins, but just wandering around the narrow cobblestone streets was nice, looking at the crooked half-timbered houses strung along the creek running through the town. There was a nice park for kids next to a sweet little chapel. A sculpture garden showed off the work of a local copper artist there. Many restaurants tempted us with little signs like "kaffee und kuchen," and "frische wafel mit heis kirche und sahn." Hmmmmm.... I love hot waffels here. They melt in your mouth. We managed to avoid temptation until the end and found a nice konditerei in the square by the creek. The service was good and quick. The coffee was perfect. And... it was a great place to sit. Elise wouldn't sit. She stood by the door looking out towards the water... then she's inch slowly forward - just a bit so as to not arouse suspicion. Then another inch and she's sitting on the first step - then the second... until she was walking ever so slowly towards the creek. I eventually stood out there and waited and watched a little duck swim lazily back and forth. There were lace shops, jewelry shops, sculptures and food, tacky gift shops and a Christmas store. I would go again to do all the hiking and walks. There were little doors setting into the side of the mountain that we weren't able to explore and it would be interesting to learn more about that place.

This is the fire station (above). Cute, isn't it? Inside the big garage door sat two firetrucks and just below each window was a nice little planter box full of perfect flowers. The curtains even looked great - nice Belgian lace. Who bets their wives had something to do with that?

Here is another view of the little creek with the ruin up on the hill. At one point we saw quite a large crowd up there. The roads into Monschau are all very steep and curvy going in, so to get anywhere there are a lot of steep trails. I'm not quite sure how we'll manage that one with the kids... but we will. There's a lot to see.


On Saturday, mom and I had originally planned on taking the train to Koln, but we decided to go back to Monschau again to have more time. We stopped at a little restaurant/gasthaus on the way that we'd seen the day before. It looked really beautiful and had a great view of the valley below, so we wanted to find out more about it. The lunch was excellent - just amazing food. Tiara even loved it. Mom and I both had lamb. Tiara had baked goat cheese with toast and a nice salad. Mom looked at the rooms and said they were nice. The owner is Austrian and does an Austrian buffet every Saturday. There are hiking trails all around the Inn and horsebackriding too. I got some information - would be a great place for a weekend date and I'd really like to go when they have the Austrian buffet. The service was great and the people were friendly. We'll go back.

Next we got sidetracked by a little antique shop on the way. You know, there are always times that you are going somewhere and don't have time to stop and check things out... so this day we checked things out and then had almost no time in our destination itself. Still, it was a fun day with three generations... mom, Tiara, and me. The antique shop was fun and the owner was very kind and very knowledgeable. We roamed around upstairs to find an attic full of treasurss covered with at least 10 years of dust. He said he has enough room up there to last him a lifetime. No doubt. I'll go back there to browse again. Tiara found a pair of earrings and mom found a painting. I found a zipher, but will wait... if it's meant to be...

So... finally we got to Monschau. We had time for a couple shops, a quick walk, and a treat at the konditerei. It was rushed, but still fun and Tiara enjoyed seeing it although she would have liked to spend less time in the lace store and more time in the Christmas shop.

Mia Hamm, she could be... for just beginning, Arianna really is a great soccer player. And, she is developing her own unique style that will no doubt be copied by millions of fans everywhere. Yes, Arianna is a trendsetter...


Last Saturday Arianna had another soccer game. This time the green team was playing the green team - not a typo... really... same color teams. Confusing, yes? So our coach had the forethough (thank goodness) to bring some blue bibs for our team to wear. They were cute. They were fun. They were great for keeping your hands warm - or so Arianna thought. She spend most of the game running around apparently armless with her arms and hands tucked safely away inside of her bib. You try scoring a goal with no arms! Arianna didn't score a goal, but she did accidentally come in contact with the ball a couple times. It wasn't her fault, of course... she was busy... because during the particular game, while running around armless in a pack of kids chasing the soccer ball back and forth and forth and back... she decided, at that unique time, to practice flipping her tongue over. Huh? Yep. Flipping her tongue over. That is a skill, that in my many years, I have yet to master. Arianna decided that during that game it was most important to try, and try, and try again. The ball would get close, she'd get distracted with hidden hands and twisty tongue and completely forget that she was in the middle of a soccer game. Kirk would hollar, "Aria, get the ball!" And, with hands hiding and tongue twisting, she would run again.

The highlight for her was that she got to play goalie. The highlight for the team is that they were successful in keeping the ball far away from her - thus giving her more time to practice.

Note: She has yet to master the flippy tongue thing, but with another couple soccer games to go, I'm sure she'll get it.

In the midst of the company and the fun, Tiara had a science project due. She chose to test Benham's disk (a black and white patterned disk that while spun at a certain rate, produces color in some viewers) and what age had to do the the ability to see colors in the spinning disk. She concluded that age as well as whether a person wore glasses/contacts or not did affect the ability to see colors. I saw mostly lime green, purple, and blue. Strange that a black and white disk could do that. Our brain perceives white that is next to black as being brighter than white that isn't next to black and the cones in our eyes detect both brightness and color. I wonder if may be since the spinning disks were half black, that the patterns on the white part somehow stimulated the cones creating the appearance of color. Scientists haven't solved it. But it's a pretty neat illusion and Tiara had fun with it. It was pretty consuming for a few days and greatly reduced her fun, but she did a great job and ended up getting 2nd place in the science fair. I think she enjoyed it and she already has some ideas for next years project.

Mom wanted to get a picture of Tiara at the bus stop. This is right next to our house. Tiara is reading a book while waiting for the bus - I love it!

I can't believe that Elise is two years old already. The time really has flewn by. She is so tiny still that people always think she's younger until she opens her mouth to talk and boy, can she talk! Sometimes I think she anunciates better than Luci and her sentences are wonderful and complex! The other absolutely amazing thing is that she is by far the most polite person in the house. Thank you is her favorite word and it is not uncommon to hear "thank you so much, mommy" coming out of her mouth. It is the sweetest thing!


So, on her birthday I'd wanted to have a little fun, but the marder got in the way of the morning play, so we had to take care of that first. In the afternoon we picked up Arianna and Luci and went out for coffee and dessert. The girls loved it because we sat outside and they got to watch the goldfish in the pond. I think I'll go there more often. It was as if I didn't have any children. Mom and I visited and the girls stared at the fish almost the entire time. Elise did take a little time to have some cake which was good because with the bandaged fingers and marder issue, I hadn't had time to bake one.

That afternoon we just played until ballet time, then we all piled in the van for Sittard. While Tiara danced, we all sat around and had some good, ol' fashioned birthday ice cream.
Kirk and Arianna above and my mom with Luci below... Tiara did get to join us after ballet and have some ice cream too. The scary thing about that was that she puts on her shrug and little skirt after ballet to be a little more dressed and she's just cute. So she and Kirk were walking together out of the market towards the car and Kirk noticed young guys looking over at her checking her out. He was terrified. I'm just glad she still thinks boys are icky.
The girls wanted blue flavor - it's actually called Smurfeis. Yep, smurfs are big over here. They like the color and it takes a bit like caramel. My mistake was putting her in the white dress. By the time she was done with her ice cream, the front of her dress looked like a very good tie-dye job. At least it was a pretty color blue.
We'd gone to our favorite ice cream place on the market. I know the owner there and she is very nice. She speaks great English too... but at one point I'd asked for another Mineralwasser and an Apfelschorle. Apfelschorle is a very common drink here in Germany that is basically a mix of apple juice and mineral water - the girls love it. I assumed that because Sittard is right on the border that they would know about it. I assumed wrong. She must have thought that my pronunciation was horrible because a few minutes later she brought out a large plate of apple strudel. I thought that may be she was just being nice since it was Elise birthday, but the schorle never showed up. Oh well... live and learn. It was good strudel nonetheless and after the cake for lunch and ice cream, I guess it was good to top off the rest of the sweets in our tummies.
When we got home we brought the presents outside and played in the yard. Elise got a new soccer ball and a new baby doll and a few other little things.
The big hit was a set that I got with a tunnel and two tents. It was actually supposed to be a tent and a teepee, but it was packaged wrong. Still, we made it work and the girls had a great time playing in it. At one point, all 4 girls were in one little tent and they were laughing. Amazing... wish they could cooperate that well in the bathroom.

My check engine light was on, so Kirk made me take my van in to the dealer. He met me there and the guys came out to check the engine. They ran a few tests and then lifted the hood. The insulation in the hood was shredded in several places. The engine and all the parts inside were very dirty and sticky. And... three little wires inside were completely severed.

Our question immediately was, "what could have done this?" The response: Marder. Kirk didn't know that German word. We looked puzzled. Then the man described it as an animal and eventually led us to this sign that they had in the window at the dealership.

A marder is a meter long weasel-like animal that lives here. When the cables and wires in a car are warm from the motor, they give off a smell that is similar to the female pheremone, so it attracts the males. The males climb up into the engine area, spray and chew up things. Then the females smell the male's spray and come and go a bit crazy (the guy at the dealership actually made a face, shook his head, and made a noise like a rabid sex-crazed marder, but I can't do that here... just imagine it... it was quite funny). So, a marder had a party in my van.

Apparently it is a big problem here. Half of all engine problems in this area are caused by marders. Many people have had to replace their entire engines. We got lucky with a quick and inexpensive repair. So what to do? Our first thought: mouse traps. Not a possibility. Marders are protected by German law. It is illegal to kill them. You can trap them, but locals have told us that they have a remarkable sense of territory and have been trapped and carried away only to return to the same area. The only thing you can do is to spray this sticky stuff on the engine. Kirk did that. He scrubbed the engine and all around it, cleaned it all well, then sprayed it with this sticky gunk. A couple days later we looked inside and saw a nice line of fur stuck to one of the parts below the engine. I'm hoping that the critter smelled the stuff and left. Either way, we'll be keeping an eye on that the rest of our time here.

Our neighbor said she had one living in her attic for a while and she's seen them in the field next door. They are harmless to people and actually, aside for their engine fetish, are quite good because they kill and eat mice. Articles in the paper have said that this season is a particularly bad one with a high population of marder. Another friend said that after smelling a rather foul smell, found the remnants of a rabbit under her hood - how sweet! It brought her a present! Doesn't it make you want to take one home for a pet?

Wednesday we ran around Geilenkirchen looking for the perfect gift - which, incidentaly, didn't exsist. Elise birthday was the next day, so I frantically searched for something. I did manage to find a new soccer ball for her and a few little things that day. It was just a nice sunny morning in GK. Mom and I shopped, then we all went out for coffee and cake at my favorite konditerei. The girls love the fountain there in GK, so they played in that while mom and I took turns running into stores.

Wednesday is supposed to be pizza night. Mom had brought a bottle of Oregon wine for them since they are so great to us, so we were going to wrap it up nicely and then go over - just her and I - to have a nice relaxing glass of wine together while we waited for our take-out order. It was such a great plan. I was ready and looking forward to that time. I keep all of my wrapping stuff in the attic, so I went up there to find a gift bag. The attic door has a bolt and a key lock. I can never lock it with the key. Kirk has told me over and over to pull it tight and lock it and it just hasn't worked. So... this night, in my brilliance, I decided to slam it shut and try to lock it very quickly. Good plan, I thought, but my execution wasn't quite right. Somehow in my rush to get out of there, I slammed three of my fingers in the door. So, I ran down three flights of stairs in near hysteria and then completely lost any remnant of control while my fingers throbbed under cold water at the kitchen sink. I cannot believe how painful they were. Mom, being my mother and a nurse insisted that Kirk take me to the emergency room. Not my first choice. I still wanted my glass of wine and pizza!

The hospital was nice and clean. The emergency room seemed ok. We rang the bell. A nurse came. Kirk spoke to her in German. I told her my fingers were ok. She said "oh, no they're not." So we waited and waited.

A little girl sat near us with her parents. She'd broken something in her arm. She was filthy. A sweet girl and trying hard to be brave, but it looked like she'd been playing outside in the dirt for a while. She howled when they took her x-rays. It was hard not to cry just hearing her. It was such a painful cry. And then later we heard her as they set her bones and put her arm in a cast. She was screaming. I just wanted to give her a toy. Her parents were kind, but seemed distant - may be they were just tired. What struck me most was that after it was all over and we saw her come out at the end in a cast, her hand and arm - every visible part of it - was still absolutely filthy. And she was still sobbing - I'm guessing she didn't get anything for the pain.

I saw the doctor who spoke very good English and was very kind. I could still move them, but I had to wait again and get an x-ray too. All the staff were friendly. Got the x-ray and waited a long time because they got busy with other people with more important issues than some smashed fingers. I'd had my fingers straight over ice the whole time and that helped, but I still got those sharp pains. Eventually I got my turn again. They wrapped each of the three fingers individually and sent me home. Very anticlimactic. They didn't offer me anything for the pain. They didn't tell me how long to keep them wrapped. They didn't tell me that it is illegal to drive with hurt fingers (a friend told me later, but I was ok and just kept that hand low - a $375 ticket!)
I think may be if I'd asked, I may have gotten something for pain and a few more answers, but I didn't. It just surprised me. I think that in the U.S. they would have given me something for pain and an antibiotic right away. I was given nothing and told to get a tetanus shot because tetanus would give me "a slow and painful death." Gee, thanks.

Talking with others, it seems that the lack of cleaning the arm when setting it is common. I talked to a guy who broke an arm and had to ask them to clean it - which they did, but they weren't going to without the request. A friend of mine just had twins and she told me that she had her babies in the Netherlands because the German doctors won't even prescribe pain medicine after a C-section. Crazy.

I think the doctors are good here, but it is a different way. The prescribe a lot of herbal medicines too - some of which are quite good. Kirk is currently taking pineapple extract and pancreatic extract for his tendonitis. Wierd, but it seems to help the swelling.