Remember The List

The countdown is certainly on, so a certain list is coming up in my mind more and more often.  I have ignored it, avoided it, tried to think away out of it, but today, I decided to face it. So, how do I stand on my final, desperate journey to finally grow up?

No. 1 - 3 (house-related) need to be postponed a little. The house is built, more or less (so no. 1 is mostly accomplished), but I'm not even sure if we'll be able to really finish our yard this year, with the houses next to ours still being in the building phase, or if that has to be postponed to spring 2016. There would be nothing worse than settin gup a nice backyard this summer just to see it messed up by building troops next door.

No. 4: Dates with the hubby. We're doing pretty good about it. Our dates are mostly movie dates at home on our couch, but we've been to a concert together (him on stage, me in the audience), we've been out for an anniversary dinner. I'd definitely say, this one is accomplished.

No. 5: Wear nail polish. With my usual cleaning schedule right now, this doesn't even start to make sense. Maybe I'm simply not the kind of women to have nice, manicured hands.. ever.

No. 7: Go swimming twice a month. Can we change that in "do a family outing"? In that case it's a success. We'Ve been to zoos, to the Playmobil Fun Park, to the movies, on walks, and sometimes even to the pool. But I don't think that my skin could sustain chlorine water twice a month  :-)

No. 8: Try a new recipe every month. Success, success, success. I might continue this, just for the fun of it!

No. 9: Organize an all-girls curry dinner. There's still time, right?

No. 10: Take the girls on a movie date. Check that off!

No. 11: Run a 10k. Make that two!!

No. 12: Ditch the Snoopie undies. Did it!

No. 13: Sew a dress and wear it. Well, my sewing machine died on me, and I might just not be the sewing type. I did, however, sew a purse for Lily and am about to finish her tooth fairy pillow. And I'm knitting more.

No. 14: Let my hair grow out. I did it, it's as long as it's ever been.

No. 15: Get a family vacation. We went on a one week trip to the Bavarian Forest in August, we've had such a great time!

No. 17: Go to at least two big fairs this summer. Total failure. We've gone to our town fair, but that was about it. The weather was sucky for most of the big ones. But there's always another fair season.

No. 18: Visit a theme park. We've gone to the Playmobil Fun Park during my time off for the holidays, so much fun for the girls!

No. 19: Get a massage. There's the problem: I have a really, REALLY hard time spending money on myself if it's not absolutely needed. But my friend, who's a cosmetologist offered to give me a neck massage, so I might be able to check that off my list  :-)

No. 20: Practice with the new camera. I truly had the best intentions, but I just didn't find the time. It's not like back when I was 17 and haunted the grave yards for the perfect picture for hours. So I gave the camera back to my friend, who did a really cool re-built and using it now to take pictures of invisible light  :-)

No. 22: Practice yoga for 30 minutes every day for at least a month. The girls and I have been doing yoga on the weekends, but we (or better I) haven't been able to establish a proper routine. Still time!!!

No. 23: Learn patience from the girls. Well, to be very honest, the house has been a better teacher as the girls could have ever been. Nothing went right from the very beginning, and there have been delays on so many corners along the way, at some point I stopped worrying, freaking, obsessing, panicking, and just accepted it. There's nothing we can do to speed things up. We are under no pressure to get the house done, as our lease does not have a set end, it's just a 3-month period after we send the cancellation letter, so we're fine with it!

No. 24: Get organized and keep it that way. Honestly, I have given up here. But I have big plans for when we finally move. All the folders with the paperwork will be much better accessible. There will be baskets for the "drop" stuff that's accumulating everywhere here, which will then be organized once a month. There will be more shelving and cupboards and storage. There are definitely the best intentions behind it.

No. 25: Learn 5 new things about myself. This one will be a post (or several) by itself, to come before the big day!!


So, is it pitiful? Most definitely. Am I a procratinator? You've never seen a greater one. But to be honest, there are times when I'm just too exhausted to do anything once the girls are in bed. I've been working for at least 1.5 people for months, and I feel how I'm burning out. Last year, I'd taken only half of the vacation days that I have, and I have no idea how I should take 3 weeks until the end of April. But I know it's going to get better again. My colleague has just started his gradual re-integration program and will take over more and more of his duties again, helping my worklaod going back to normal again. That plus some vacation days should do the trick to get me back on track!

Week In Review - Ten Things Of Thankful (33)

Baking extravaganza for Lily's birthday is over, and I can tell you it's really difficult to start munching on the cakes and cookies filling this room with their delicious scent. So on to concentrating on the many things to be thankful for this week.

1. Even though it is quite overwhelming at the moment, I'm thankful to have a job that fulfills and challenges me every single day, with great colleagues and a supportive boss.

2. Getting too celebrate Lily's 6th birthday tomorrow. It feels like yesterday that we held our skinny, screaming bundle of Lily in our arms for the first time, having no idea how much joy and amazement she would bring in our lives. Happy Birthday, my little girl!

3. The smell of baked goods all over the house.

4. Sleeping in late, cuddling with hubby.

5. Violet for being a brave little girl when getting a surprise vaccination. Hubby took Lily to the doctor on Friday to have her cough checked out when the pediatrician noticed that Violet was still missing a follow-up vaccination. Richard said she didn't even flinch, what a big girl!

6. Dark chocolate pudding with whipped cream.

7. Nurses who are good at drawing my blood.

8. The potential this world has. Even though so many people are still barred in their own minds and worlds, it's been proven all over the world that it is possible to change that. People who would have never met stand side by side on the Majdan, protesting for their freedom. The Alhambra in Spain, for centuries a place where people of many different religions lived together in peace. If it's possible on the small scale, why not on the big scale? Why not respecting people for who they are? Why look at class differences, different skin colors, different religions, different nationalities instead of each other's hearts?  I know it is possible.

9. Snow in Germany! Yes, it has actually happened. By the time the girls got outside, there was more water than snow left, but when they came back in after an hour or so, they were so, so happy (and dripping wet).

10. Getting to watch the girl sitting side by side, playing with Violet's princess castle. So adorable!

Weird People

It's Friday, thank goodness. Work is still crazy, but hopefully, things will quiet down as my colleague is returning for a few hours starting next week. To start into this weekend, It'S time for the Finish The Sentence Friday prompt of the week:

A funny thing happened on my way...

.. back into my office today, when one of my colleagues stopped me to ask whether I, as a half-American - kew how to line dance. Well, I'm not half-American (our daughters are), and my husband is from the East Coast, so no. No line dancing at our home.

... to the yard to play with Lily back in Washington. The apartment manager's son, about 18 back then, walked up to me, telling me that he wanted to join the military and go to Germany, since German women actually showed respect to their husbands, unlike American women. For the records, dear useless teenager, I am not a war bride, and I do respect my husband because he respects me. German women are no subservient tools, and I hope you'll find out one day.

... to a well-baby visit with Violet. She was just a few days old, and while getting into the car, we met our elderly neighbors. They asked me if our new baby was a boy or a girl. We told them that we had another little girl; she looked at me with a consoling shine in her eyes, telling me to not be sad, she had had two girls first, too, but then had two boys as well. Thank you, dear neighbor, but to be honest, I'm really happy with our two girls, and should we never have a boy, I'll be fine. No problem, there are plenty of boys in this world to keep the human race going, even without me adding to it.


People are indeed weird sometimes, but especially in hindsight, they do make me chuckle.  Have a great weekend anyone!

Guitar Fun

Lily loves music, so we decided to get her a guitar as a holiday present. And since it's more fun learning an instrument together, I surprised Richard with a guitar as a gift as well.

Last Sunday, Lily and Richard practiced with their guitar together for the first time. Some time later, Lily showed up with red eyes. We asked her what was wrong, and she almost broke into tears again, confessing that it was so hard to learn.

Just a couple of days later, when I came home from work, Lily was running at m, beaming with pride, telling me that she was again practicing with her Daddy and that it went a lot better than last time. She knows how to tune her guitar by herself now and some easy chords.

That night, when Violet was too tired for a good night story, I heard Richard playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on his guitar for her after tucking her into bed.I almost teared up seeing the two of them!

Lily playing Daddy's bass and her own guitar

Wordless Wednesday - So Tired

Source

That's exactly how I feel (and probably look) right now. Nighty-night everyone!

Keeping Tooth Fairy Busy

Can you believe that Lily, not even 6 years old yet, is growing a molar?


Remember, a couple of months ago, after months of nursing her wobbly tooth, Lily could finally present her first gap.
 
Now, she's been complaining about a sore spot in her mouth for a week or so. When I brushed her teeth this weekend, she mentioned this weird, hard spot in the back of her mouth that she couldn't get rid off. I checked, and couldn't believe that I found: a molar. And Lily freaked.

I thought that she'll lose her teeth the way they've come in as baby teeth, from the front to the back. Well, obviously not for our girl, she has her own mind.

So, is Tooth Fairy going to pay a visit this time? She hasn't lost a tooth after all. But just maybe she'll find a pixie book and a letter from Tooth Fairy under her pillow one day, telling her that it is totally ok growing teeth back there  :-)

Source

Week In Review - Ten Things Of Thankful (32)

What a fun week. What an exhausting week. With, once again, tons of things to be thankful for. I didn't get to spend as much time with the family this week as usually, but I had the opportunity to meet many new people, catch up with some I had met before, share interesting conversations and many a laugh. The best of this last week?

1. Fresh apples from the north of Germany, hand-carried to me by my co-worker!

2. The official dinner with all the coaches and attendees for the training. The food was ok, but the fun we had was totally worth nearly starving in between the pasta and the fish course  :-)

3. My training on Wednesday going well. It was my first time speaking in front of a larger number of professionals. Some of the colleagues had decades of experience, some were fairly new to the company. It was definitely a great experience (and I got at least one "excellent" rating).

4. A great dinner with one of my co-workers from the training. Hubby made his yummie pasta sauce, we talked (way too much about work, but what to expect??), played with the girls, mused about the future.

5. Despite having my colleague over for dinner, I caught an early to-bed. I so needed it after 2 late nights in a row.

6. Hubby being my rock and supporting my professional antics without ever complaining. He's such a wonderful man!

7. The girls for being supportive, even though I know it's difficult for them. I'm glad to enjoy lots of quality time for them this weekend.

8. Surviving an afternoon with "terror girl". I met Lily's friend's mom while out grocery shopping, and she told me that both she and her husband were sick. So my helper's syndrom kicked in and I invited Lily's friend over for the afternoon. Much too much candy was consumed, Violet was properly pestered and prodded, Lily forgot her manner, and hubby had to really contain himself during dinner to not give her a crash course in table manners.

9. Having the chance to attend hubby's concert tomorrow. My parents are going to watch the girls and I'll meet up with a friend and two colleagues, one with her husband for the concert. I'm so excited!

10. Hubby asking me to be his "+1" for the buffet reception after the concert. Love it if he officially asks me out on dates.


Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!