Life: Idiotropic

Honestly, though it's only 10:30, I'm too tired to really think straight let alone be creative. Not necessarily physically tired, but mentally done with to-do lists and menial tasks, thinking, planning, wondering... the move that doesn't seem like it should be stressful, but some how, in the back of my mind is, and though my days don't seem harried, my mind is working overtime. Creativity is relegated to the duties of picking out children's school outfits and cell phone ring tones. Pretty sad.

That being said, thankfully, spring is not sharing my mental state. Even the dandelions are celebrating and I have to take some joy in them. The Germans don't seem forever bent on their demise and so along roadsides and in round a bouts, across fields and scattered throughout backyard lawns, the ever sturdy dandelion is splashing the countryside with fuzzy bright yellow. The bit of sun is helping too and the flowering trees rain pink petal confetti with a bit of a gentle breeze. It's nice.

Just three weeks ago it was winter... frosty grass in the mornings, rain, icy car windows, brrr. Then I spent a rainy week in Belgium, then a sunny week in Berlin... and now, I think (fingers crossed) that spring is here to stay for a while. I leave for London on Sunday, then Belgium on Wedesday, then France on Friday. Sounds like a crazy story book, but such is my life. After that it's packing cleaning, and purging. Only 69 days left until I hit the road for Spain.

Thankfully, it is officially spring and finally ice cream season. Our long winter was quick to go so within a crazy two week period we went from bitter cold frosty mornings to warm shorts and t-shirt weather that brought all the blooms to the roundabouts and opened the doors to all the ice cream shops. Cafes are now more outdoors than in with chairs spilling out into market squares more than doubling the sizes of the restaurants themselves. Bicycles are everywhere and happy people are sitting with ice cream or beer relaxing, smiling, and enjoying the season. It feels good to be outside.

Today we went to Sittard on some Easter Bunny errands, but took a moment to enjoy an ice cream from Die Twee. Smurfijs for the girls - they love that blue stuff. And though I've asked random ice cream servers for the last 3 years what flavor exactly is a Smurf, today I finally got the long elusive answer - Caramel! So now you know. According to Dutch and German ice cream makers, Smurfs definitely taste like overly sweet caramel - a flavor and a color that my girls absolutely love.

Enjoyed the city today. The market area was absolutely packed with folks relaxing in the sun at cafe tables. We wandered and took pictures and bought some good cheese so my visiting Uncle could try some and see a bit of The Netherlands. Felt good to wander and relax. A nice afternoon.

Played Easter Bunny tonight... everything is ready. Going to hide this letter now to save. Arianna wrote to the Easter Bunny. Our friends might not be able to join us tomorrow for dinner because one of the kids is sick... my girls are all very concerned and sad that their friends won't be able to be here. Here it is:

Today, in between packing, cleaning, laundry, and submitting the yearbook, I went to Aquana, an indoor water park with Kirk and the girls. I sat at a table with a book, relaxing, acting as a home base for everyone, and people watching with Tiara. We decided that men should definitely stick with the American style swim trunks and avoid the Speedo altogether. Some of the visuals were quite disturbing. We've also decided that Americans are not the only ones with a weight problem and that we're grateful that the obese in the US have the decency to wear one-piece bathing suits. Yes, it may be catty, but we were bored and fake tans and Speedos make easy targets for idle chat.

The kids had a blast and by the end, Luci was going down the big water slide all by herself and Elise had mastered the little one and even made a couple German friends. It's come to my attention this week that Elise has retained a lot more of her German than she's let on and she's using it quite a bit while out and about locally.

It was a nice diversion - a bit loud - but nice. I needed to escape the house. And, when I got home I was able to completely finish submitting the yearbook online along with the required paperwork so that I can finally say that it's completely done and there's no looking back. Now I'll have time to tackle a lot of these pre-moving projects and may be even catch up here a bit.

Well, the last couple weeks have been a rush of activity, much of it mundane and not even remotely blog worthy with the rather glaring exception of my weekend house-hunting trip to Valencia where I found my town, my neighborhood, the girls' school, and what may be my house. Yeah... probably have a bit to tell, but now, having returned, I feel as if I have one foot in Spain moving forward and another foot in Germany and quite frankly, doing the splits across Europe isn't very comfortable and I'm just a bit worn out from it all. That coupled with the fact that in a line of strategy that rivals most armies, the glorious German weather is on the March. We've suffered daily attacks of weather and I'm afraid we're wearing thin. You can see it each other's faces. Just today I was lured outside by an unnaturally intense beam of sunlight that illuminated everything outside in an orange glow with the malicious intent to attack and it did, viciously pelting me with hail as I ran to my car with hair and coat drenched with ice and a shiver as melted ice slipped down my back.

I would love to tell you with certainty that I will catch up on all this and cheerfully impart all this exciting news to you, but honestly, I fear that the "time to catch up" will not likely present itself until I'm sipping sangria aside a large aquamarine pool somewhere in the near vicinity of Valencia, Spain. But then, 3.5 months isn't long to wait, is it? I don't know if that's comforting or terrifying. May be both. So much to do. So little sangria.

on the way out the door for an exploratory trip to Spain to look at houses and schools... but here are the latest photos... taken on Thursday on a little day trip to Maaseik, Belgium where some of Xi'an's terra cotta soldiers were on display.

More photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94842&id=674507268&l=d26c0

Contrary to the Bitburger fest that was yesterday's parade, our little village parade in Gillrath was more of a simple family affair. A small group of friends assembled at our house and the parade came by slowly, but right on schedule led by a big green tractor, the float of choice in this area. It was smaller - about half the size of the Lanbroich one - but the kids were kids, the adults were fun and smiling. Everyone was smiling. My kids got more candy from our tiny local parade than yesterday's huge one, and we had more fun. Yes, there was a little alcohol. A few of the older kids had beer and I did get a shot of something herbal from a rabbit and some sweet Creme of Merula from a long haired angel, but it wasn't profuse and their weren't droopy eyed kids leaning on each other for support. The people in this parade interacted with the audience, smiled, laughed, and obviously were having fun - which, really, is the point of the entire holiday season here. So this was it. The end of Carnival for me and a happy one spent relaxed with good food and better friends. I will miss that. I miss it already.

MORE PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93926&id=674507268&l=e5f3f

Lanbroich, Germany.

2 full hours of John Deeres hauling large boxy floats probably made from old barnwood. Some with moving parts like the tail on the cow and some with paper mache figures like Kung Fu panda. But almost all with teenagers both tipsy and beyond. Teens from 14ish on up with beer and vodka. Baby bottles with mixed drinks hanging from the necks of most of the girls. Boys gulping down booze from inverted bottles. Boys chugging beer from long tubes while their buddies hold the bottle at the other end. Big boom boom music. Smoking. Glassy eyed kids barely able to stand let alone walk the parade distance. "Ist slim," says Tante Tinny who says it's gotten worse and worse. Tinny says when she was young, they just drank soda in the parades. I think it's odd that they drink anything. As far as I remember, in parades back home, you'll just see someone with the occasional bottle of water on a hot day. Why do spectators need to see folks dressed up drinking? Interferes with the parade wave that I learned as a girl - elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist.

Yep. 'Twas interesting. On the up side we were able to enjoy the parade from the lawn of some friends of ours right on the parade route as it turned a corner, so it all slowed down near us enough for us to really get a good look at all the craziness. My girls seemed oblivious to the seedier aspects and just enjoyed the candy and costumes. Arianna screamed her glass shattering excited scream at Kung Fu panda. I enjoyed taking pictures. The costumes and makeup while nothing like the Dutch parades, were still fun. I was amazed at how many "American" themes there were... at least three cowboy/indian floats, 2 Ducktales floats, one with a Simpson's character, the Obamas, Miami police, Kung Fu panda, and an American school bus full of "school girls." It was strange. Also saw Chinese, Greeks, and Romans. The "German style" floats were mostly Bavarian - the story book alpine huts, lederhosen, and large steins of beer. All in all, I was glad to be there with the girls and friends. Knowing this was my last year, it was good to see as much as I could and it's always fun to see all the costumes.

Living where I do right on a main road I am still enjoying the floats - three days later as they announce their arrival with the thump thump that rattles the window glass. The vibration you can feel in your seat as they pass by. Three more just passed. And I have a front row birdeye from my office chair.

MORE PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93785&id=674507268&l=6e123

Holly - I was thinking of you today!!!!

Strange is a way of life here and it keeps me entertained. Today while trying not to get lost in North Limburg looking for junk shops, I passed by a wallaby farm. Both the normal looking variety and the stark white variety that more resemble over sized rats than a cute Australian critter. It was odd. Really. Holland isn't exactly close to Australia and while deer farms are normal as are large wheels of cheese, wallabies are just not. Another strange thing was the basketball style garbage net on the side of the road. I didn't have anything to throw away or I would have tried for a 3 point shot.

Altweiber Day is the day that women are in charge in all ways naughty. They run with scissors - and if that's not naughty enough, they use those scissors to cut off the ties of unsuspecting (or quite expecting) men. They steal patches, they kiss boys. They throw out the rulebooks and just do what ever crazy women do during the Carnival days. And the boys usually are pretty excited that this day, unlike any other, they're pretty much guaranteed success. Everyone gets drunk and they call it a party.
















Well, like many villages, the base also has an Altweiberball - a big party with dancers at times, a band, lots of alcohol, and crazy people in costumes. Last year I went and had a great time dancing with the husbands of a few of my friends. It was safe and innocent, therefore, quite fun. This year I went, hung out with some friends, had an ok time, but it was pretty mellow on my end. Love to dance, but didn't want to dance with the guys there because they were all a bit creepy. Still, had to go. This was my last year. So I went, I danced a little, I met some great people and chatted with old friends. And then I went home and spent time with Kirk who is much more fun than a big drunkfest anytime.

All week at Elise' school they've been listening to Karneval music, trying local treats, and playing fun games. Today they had their big party and made a small parade with all the kids in costumes lined up and walking around the building. They had a great time.

A ray of fleeting sun in a week that was mostly grey with flurries of quickly melting snow is sometimes just enough to raise the spirits and add life to the villages and fields that have seemed dormant and tired this winter.

Today we had just a little sun - not long, but long enough for me to pull over and get a photo of the village of Teveren - a nice little village near the base. This is the typical skyline of the villages here. A church spire in the center. Brick houses clustered irregularly around it. An areal view would show a series of very narrow winding streets with not even the semblance of a grid that spider and scatter out from the church. Fields surround it providing for much of the economy here as well as a clear border between it and the other villages in the area. Here, there is no sprawl. Every village has a church in the center and every village is surrounded by a nice thick border of fields.

Every year on the Sunday before the Crazy Days of Carnival, Sittard has their children's parade - a wonderful parade of music, costumes, humor, and crazy makeup. It's fun. The onlookers dress up almost as much as the parade participants and though there isn't much candy thrown, it's still one of my favorite parades. So, today we got there early hoping for a good parking spot. The lot was so empty that I thought for a moment that I had the wrong day. The crowds came, but slowly. So we walked around the market for a bit, had cocoa at De Buren, then bagels at Bagels and Beans, then found some friends, a spot to stand near the cotton candy so the girls could watch them make it while we waited, and then we watched the entire wonderful parade in the cold with a light sprinkling of snow.

Lots of photos are posted here. Take a look. It's pretty amazing what they can do with costumes and makeup. And though I can't read all the Dutch to catch the jokes, the sense of humor among these people is obvious. I'll miss it here.

This little witch had the bluest eyes. She was in the parade with her mommy witch. Many toddlers were pulled along in their wagons or prams completely dressed up, and many completely oblivious to the party around them... or better yet, sleeping.

Many a critter, clown, and warrior watched the parade from their daddy's shoulders. And they all looked just as oblivious and just as cold. My middle ones loved it, got into it, and oohed and aahed at the costumes. Elise wavered between enthusiasm and frost - looking like these little ones half the time. Cold and tired.

And the last photo here... an odd one. These ladies in green had the most dull costumes of the entire parade, but what made them interesting is that as soon as they showed up, a man in the audience showed up with a tray held high above the crowd covered in beer - at least 10 tall glasses. It's a wonder that none of it spilled as they were handing it over the heads of little ones. But there they were, a sea of green ladies with hands full of glasses pausing to organize their brew before moving on.

More photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92673&id=674507268&l=a6184

One of my favorite things about this place is the multiculturalism and the ability to connect with so many amazing people from all over Europe and beyond. Tonight we had the privilege of being invited to the Italian's Children's Carnival party. What a wonderful time! All the kids dressed up and about half the adults. It was just a big family style party. Everyone brought something to share, so the table was covered with Italian cakes, sandwiches, and pizza spin-offs. Delicious. My favorites were small rounds of deep fried pizza dough used as sandwich bread and filled with prosciutto and provolone. Delicious!











Two of Elise' friends were there - Benedetta and Filipo, so she took off running and playing with them. Martina is an Italian girl in Arianna's class that Luci is also friends with, so they both played with her for a while and then also met a lot of the other children. There was a clown there for a few hours doing tricks and making giant animal balloons and one of the dad's was the DJ and played tons of music for dancing... it began with just the kids dancing to songs like Chihuahua and pretty soon Summer Love from Grease came on and a bunch of the parents came onto the dance floor as well dancing in a large circle with all the younger kids in the middle. We danced to YMCA, the Macarena, and a bunch of other Spanish hits. And all three of my little girls danced - a lot. It was pretty fun to watch. (And yes, I danced too.) I love the Italians. They are so fun to spend time with and so good at just relaxing and having a good time. We were there from 4-8 - lots of fun. Now I just need to learn some of their recipes and find the Chihuahua song for the girls. They all want it on their ipod now.

Valentine's Day came early this year. Of course, the girls parties had to be on the Friday before, so Elise had her party and then we went over to the school to celebrate with mounds of goodies in Luci's class - the parents brought so many assorted sweets in that we loaded up their Valentine's envelopes with all the candy and then even after the 20ish kids went through the sugar buffet line twice and were completely pin-balling around the room, there was still enough left over for the vulturous parents to munch and then take home for their Valentine boxes. One of the parents had made about 50 cute little red rice crispy treat hearts and then wrapped each individually in baggies and tied them with a bow (yes, she only has one child) - so I grabbed a few of those to regift and each of my girls got one the next morning in their V-day box. More sugar in Arianna's class. Elise had already had her own party and sugar in Luci's, but walked into A's class, said, "I'm hungry," and was immediately given another big cupcake by A's teacher. Elise has spent so much time in her sisters classes that she is perfectly comfortable there as are the teachers with her, so she played with Luci's friends at recess and hung out with Arianna later while I ran around taking yearbook photos.

Arianna's class had so many cupcakes that only half got eaten, so she ran all over the school to teachers and staff handing out treats - she even delivered treats to teachers she doesn't know. Such a sweetie.

Kirk got home with roses for everyone. The girls each got two beautiful roses and he spoiled me with a huge bouquet. They are gorgeous! Totally surprised me. Then we went out sans kinder to a new sushi restaurant in Sittard called TR&TA. Cool name, huh? They pronounce it "Trenta."

Sadly, I can't take credit for these pictures. My husband had his fini-flight today - his final flight here before he moves to Belgium - and, per tradition, the fire truck awaited him in the 2C weather (32 degrees) to hose him down with equally cold water. I was so excited to be there. All four girls were hyped up about riding on the firetruck and spraying daddy. It should have been a beautiful moment. But, my medical clearance appointment went long and his plane landed early. :( So we missed it and the kids whined and I whined and poor Kirk was beside himself with 5 mopey girls, so he did what any considerate (not to mention brilliant) man would do in his shoes and he brought home not 1, but 3 containers of Haagen Daaz ice cream and a jar of maraschino cherries.

I'm still quite sad, but the good news is that we got our medical clearance (a prerequisite for the move to Spain), AND... I have it on good authority that we may be able to hose Kirk in May. :) He won't mind. It should be warmer then.

In just a week, the "Crazy Days" of Karneval will begin. This is the time people are getting together their costumes and decorating their windows with colorful balloons and clowns. It's also a time when odd things start to show up in the ads.

Look at this one carefully. Thomas Philipps is a large chain of stores that have a large selection of random things at good prices. I've gone there for little things before.

If you look in the bottom left corner, you'll see a "little" thing that I won't be buying this year. Takes the candy necklaces of my childhood to a whole other level.

Stereotypes be what they may, it's always good to see one broken - to see the sometimes overly serious Germans here play just a little. Karneval's coming soon, so this morning I awoke to the sound of drumming coming from the church. This afternoon I saw a slow but steady trickle of people walking home with instruments, swords, or costumes. A louder round of drumming brought me back to my window to see this group assembled near our house - just talking on a nice afternoon. The drums started when they saw their friend walk near. He played it up, pulling his sword ceremoniously, then bowing to one side, then the other, tipping his hat, returning his sword, and walking away. They drummed "Happy Birthday" after that. It was cute and fun to see the locals just being silly.

The bird is another local - one that kept returning to our empty field today. We saw him flying circles overhead and saw him return about 6 times.

Which brings me to Luci's most recent bit of wisdom, something she said to me after completing her drawing of a bald eagle in an apple tree.

I don't say much here about the military side of our life. My girls go to the school on base, my milk is "armed forces milk," I see airplanes every day. It's just the norm.

But tonight we got to do something special. This was the third Chief Induction ceremony that I've attended and by far the best. The personnel wore their mess dress - their formal uniform. Spouses wore formals from simple black to ornate with sequins.

The occasion: the promotion of three amazing guys to the rank of chief.

The room was filled with fancy people and all the VIPs. The food was great. The tables were nicely set. A small table sat in the corner set, but empty to recognize the soldiers who could not be with us - a symbol explained thoroughly in previous ceremonies but not in this one.

It was a nice party - as it should be. Chief is the highest rank in the enlisted forces. Only 1% of the enlisted personnel can have the rank of chief. These are the backbone of the force - the men with the knowledge, the leadership, and the experience. It's amazing. They are the guys that get things done.

One of our friends was being honored tonight. He was there with his wife and daughters and when it was his time to speak, like the two before him, he gave his thanks to God, family, friends, and mentors, and gave roses to his wife and girls. Chuck's the unassuming "country boy" who had us all in stitches with the quote of the night referring to his wife as his "smokin' hot internet bride."

Before the evening began, we gave a series of toasts

• "To the flag of the United States of America"
• "To the Chancellor, Bundesrepublic, Deutschland"
• "To the President of the United States"
• "To the Secretary of the Air Force"
• "To the Chief of Staff, United States Air Force"
• "To the Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force"
• "To Our NATO Partners and Allied Services"

It went so fast, we all felt a bit like part of a college drinking game.

The Airman's Creed came in the middle as they spoke about the role of a Chief.


And, after a beautiful evening of friends, food, and short, but poignant speeches, we finished with the Air Force Song which I, embarrassingly enough, still need to read the words to.

Just behind the blocky, grey, architecturally out-of-place US military base at Schinnen is a castle with horses, a narrow country road, and endless walking/biking trails. It's quiet and beautiful.

Today, the only sunny day in longer than I'd like to think about, was supposed to be my day out - a couple errands and then a photographic walk through the village. But, Elise has a strange rash - nothing, according to the MD, but not something she can go to school with - so... by beautiful day walking ended up being more errands and a 30 minute photographic drive. Drive slowly, stop, angle van, roll down window, snap, snap. Repeat. Elise is quite used to this and humors me. Thank goodness. We had fun with the horses.

The house is decorated for Karneval. Looks like Schinnen's prince lives here.