Good times.

Finally, I have a few minutes (before heading to bed) to give you a quick update.
I don’t even know where to start. I am so happy to be here.

J and I arrived safely on Wednesday morning. The flights were smooth and time went by quickly. We even managed to get quite a bit of sleep on the way over here, which made the adjustment that much easier. When we finally arrived in Düsseldorf with just about 20 minutes delay, I was dying to finally hug my sister and little Greta.
Unfortunately, we were kept in suspense for a little longer, because first it took a while to gather two out of three pieces of our luggage and then we realized that the third one of our suitcases was missing (of course the one with all my clothes and all the gifts). We finally submitted a missing suitcase report with the airline and headed home.
Fortunately, the suitcase had just been left behind in Paris and was delivered to my parents’ house later in the evening.

We finally left the terminal and were greeted by my sister, Greta, my cousin Nicki, her husband and (my godchild) Luca. It was so, so great to see them. Especially little Greta. She’s the little shining star of this vacation, of course. (Pictures to come. Lots of them.) I can’t take my eyes (and hands and nose) of her. She’s such a beautiful and relaxed baby (except for when she’s hungry) and I could cuddle with her all day. I have really no idea why my sister objected when I mentioned that I would like to take her back to California in a few weeks ;)

Besides the somewhat annoying weather (continuous drizzle and no snow), we’re having a very lovely time. J says I’ve been running around with a fat and constant grin on my face. I think he’s exaggerating, but what do I know?! ;) He’s definitely having as good of a time as I do!

I spent all day with Nina and Greta on Thursday. In the morning, we had a meeting with the pastor regarding Greta’s baptism and in the afternoon we went grocery shopping with our great-aunt and had “coffee and cake” afterward. Sigh. Doesn’t that sound so very typically German? I love it :)

J and I spent some time at a Christmas market on Friday and went to a soccer game in the late afternoon. My brother-in-law got us tickets for a game and we went there with a friend. Those of you who know me are aware that I am not the biggest soccer fan (I’ve only been at a stadium a handful of times), but we had a fun time. Although the match itself was not worth mentioning, we had bundled up (I even brought a blanket!), I had Bratwurst and hot chocolate. That’s pretty much as good as it gets for me :)

Today I ran errands with my Mom. Saturday mornings are always reserved for a run downtown where we visit the local farmer’s market, have coffee with some of my Mom’s friends and colleagues at a small café and get some shopping done. I love Saturday mornings with my Mom!

In the afternoon, my sister came over again. She, my Mom, my aunt and I drank tea and baked some more Christmas cookies, all the while we were competing for Greta’s attention. Nina was most successful, of course, since she’s providing the “treats” when Greta is hungry *g*

I am really enjoying every minute that I am here.
More later :)