Archives for October 2009

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2009 filed under: holidays

Happy Halloween everyone! Are you doing something fun tonight?

J and I are probably going to stay in and watch a movie. We’re both not feeling Halloween this year – we didn’t even go to a pumpkin patch! I am not quite sure how that happened, but October just went by with a snap of a finger and we just didn’t get around to doing it. Sad, I know. Next year we’ll have to plan ahead a little more.

Have a spooky Halloween everyone… and [for you guys in the Catholic parts of Germany] enjoy the holiday tomorrow! I know it’s kind of unfair when the holiday falls on a Sunday, but hey, remember that next year you’ll get an extra-long weekend again!

Belated Greta’s 1st birthday post

October 28, 2009 filed under: family

My goodness, can you believe it? Last Wednesday was Greta’s first birthday! It’s almost incomprehensible that she’s been part of our family for whole 12 months already. The memories of October, 21 of last year, when my sister called me to tell me that I had become an aunt, are still so very fresh in my mind.

I wanted to blog about it much, much earlier, but I was waiting to get some pictures to go along with the post. Isn’t she the cutest 1-year-old you’ve ever seen? (I admit, I might be slightly biased.)

(I assume that the “teddy bear jacket” was one of her birthday presents – you know, since winter is just around the corner ;) She needs to stay warm!)

( A bike helmet! And… a somewhat ugly, but very lovable red rocking horse.)

It’s been tough to not be able to be part of the birthday celebration. When I told J that my sister was expecting 25-30 people for her toddler’s 1st birthday, he almost fell over backwards. I guess, he still hasn’t gotten used to the fact that this is what Germans do – we gather; for all possible and impossible occasions.
Didn’t we just have a huge-ass-birthday party for my parents’ 60th birthday? Yes. Why would all those people come again three weeks later? To celebrate (and have coffee and cake, obviously). That’s why. I miss it. I miss the attention family and friends pay to each other. I would bend over backwards to make someone else’s birthday extra-special.

But I digress.

Greta’s birthday was as special as can be. I sent her a card (which, I know she probably doesn’t appreciate much – yet!, but she will later!) and had also bought her a picture book in Kölsch (the Colognial dialect). You should know that my sister and I are HUGE Köln-fans. I own an “I love Köln”-bag and for apparent reason Greta owns an “I love Köln – onesie”. Go figure. Now she also owns the book “Kölsch för et Ströppche” (Colognian for the infant). My sister was thrilled! :)

I don’t want to go into the fact that I, of course, missed out on various delicious German pastries and cakes (homemade!), but it reminded me that I definitely have to start baking more again come winter time.

TGIF.

October 23, 2009 filed under: FYI, my so-called life

I was out in the field twice this week.
I had five 10+ hours days.
I am so ready for the weekend.

That’s all.

J’s birthday

October 20, 2009 filed under: fun!, my so-called life, weekend

Sunday was J’s birthday. The weather, well, wasn’t worth mentioning – if I think about the fact that we spent Js birthday last year at a Pumpkin Patch in the sun, me wearing a tank top and flip flops, I want to scream “let’s just not talk about it”.

J had “requested” Triple Berry Pie for his birthday, so we had picked up a pie at Marie Callendar’s on Saturday. We were both looking forward to some birthday cake on Sunday afternoon – á la mode, of course – and the Triple Berry Pie, which actually turned out to be Rhubarb pie due to a little screw up at the bakery, I suppose , was delicious! :) So delicious that J wants to get Rhubarb pie next time on purpose :) Talk about a blessing in disguise! I would have never thought of buying a Rhubarb pie (although I do like rhubarb). Try it, it’s really good!

Anyway, we also decided to go out for a hot vanilla steamer later (can’t beat that in the cold!) and went out to dinner at “La Trattoria Bohemia” – a Czech-Italian Restaurant. Interesting combination, yes?
We had Bruschetta as an appetizer and then I had “Bayerisches Gulasch” (Bavarian Goulash) with Flour Dumplings. Some of the suppossedly Czech dishes were awfully German, if you ask me ;)
The goulash was very good, although I am repeatedly surprised by the fact that the term “Bavarian” in a dish’s title seems to be an excuse to use caraway seeds (which I will eat, but am not a big fan of). I found it in “Bavarian Rye Bread” (which I don’t think originally has caraway seeds in it), and so did I in the goulash. I think the taste of caraway seeds is always a little overpowering, but otherwise it was really good.
J stayed with the Italian part of the menu and ordered Spaghetti with Italian sausage.

It was a nice and quiet birthday – just the two of us!

Fall came over night

October 15, 2009 filed under: FYI, my so-called life, photography

Let’s bring out the candles, the tea, the blankets! Fall is here and in California that usually means the first rain after a long, hot summer.
Mr. Fall was a little boisterous, too – literally and figuratively.
There was no little drizzle to get us used to the idea of “ah, that’s what rain is like” again, no, fall blurted out a mighty fine thunderstorm with flying branches and leaves and collapsing traffic on Tuesday. Just lovely.

At least we were rewarded with this at the end of the day:

But still, I am ready for fall. I like coming home after work, heating water for a pot of tea, lighting some candles and listening to the rain patter on the windows. It’s cozy; and it’s just right for this season. October is one of my favorite months.

J’s birthday falls coveniently on this coming Sunday. Last year, the weather was warm and beautiful and we went to a pumpkin patch and picked out two big pumpkins and a bunch of small ones; just to have them sit in our apartment and NOT carve them, ahem. I am not sure if we’re trying to be more successful or not this year. I am leaning towards not getting any pumpkins, like at all. Real ones, that is. We don’t have a porch and also really no other space to put them.
The weather forecast predicts crazy up and down temperatures for the coming days. A scorching 84°F (28°C) for tomorrow (going to get out my flipflops one more time!), 78°F (25°C) on Saturday and down to 68°F (20°C) on Sunday… we’ll see with what kind of birthday activity options that’ll leave us (any suggestions are of course always appreciated!)

My journey home

October 7, 2009 filed under: I can't make this shit up, my so-called life, travel

The day of travel was a little chaotic, to say the least.
My Dad took me to Düsseldorf airport around 6:30 a.m. last Wednesday and when we arrived, there were LONG (and I mean, really long!) lines at the Lufthansa Check-Ins.
I was able to check in my luggage and then said a quick goodbye to my Dad. (Thank God my sister didn’t come to the airport, that would have been a disaster because she ALWAYS starts crying and then I start crying, too, and then my Mom can’t hold back the tears either. It’s a rather wet matter). I made it through security only to hang around the gate for over an hour.

Lufthansa had a worldwide computer system failure and everything had to be done manually (can you imagine?). Needless to say, my plane was late and I landed in Frankfurt right around the time the flight to Houston was supposed to take off. Luckily, because of the system failure, the flight was delayed as well and I made it to the different terminal in time to board. Mind you, I was soaked in sweat when I arrived at the gate, but who cares to sit next to me for the next 10 hours, right?
Then, the next bummer: because of the system failure, every passenger had to identify their luggage before it could be loaded on the plane, but my luggage (a suitcase and a sports bag) wasn’t there. I was the only one on the platform eventually waiting for my luggage and by the time I boarded the plane, my luggage still hadn’t turned up.
I learned that it was possible held up when it was being transferred from the DUS-FRA flight to the FRA-IAD flight and that I should complain to Lufthansa if my luggage isn’t there once I get to Houston (IAD).

The flight was long and at least I got lucky and could switch seats, so that I had an extra free seat next to me. I tried to sleep as much as I could. The meals were also pretty decent – considering that airplane food is never something to write home about. I had Nürnberger Rostbratwürstchen with Sauerkraut und mashed potatoes for dinner and Beef Geschnetzeltes with rice and zucchini shortly before we landed, and both dishes weren’t bad at all.
When I got to Houston (with a 2 hour delay) my luggage was indeed not on the plane. Bummer! I also had missed my connecting flights to Sacramento, so I went over to the Lufthansa counter and was told that they had rebooked me already. On the same flight FOR THE NEXT DAY!
Waaaah! I didn’t have my luggage and they were going to put me in a hotel for about 24 hours? No way! I told them that I really wanted to go home and that they’d better find a seat on another plane for me.
Eventually, they were able to rebook me on a Continental flight (thank God!) for 8 p.m., but they couldn’t give me any information about the whereabouts of my luggage.

I got into Sacramento around 11 p.m. and an impatient hubby was awaiting me already. Thankfully, I was “only” 2,5 hours delayed from my originally anticipated arrival.
We went to the Lost & Found Center to let them know that my luggage got left behind and to arrange delivery for once the bags got there and then all I wanted was to go home and fall into my own bed.

I need to mention that Houston gets “two thumbs up” for a very good airport experience.
I’ve gone through many, many airports on my back-and-forth travel to Germany and I have rarely had such a good impression of an airport. The personnel was very friendly (although I am still not sure why the immigration officer a) didn’t crack a joke about my last name (they always do!) and b) asked me so many unnecessary questions) and what impressed me the most was that drinks and food were not – against all expectations – outrageously overpriced.
I paid $1.61 for a 20oz bottle of soda and $3.25 for a big serving of Chow Mein at Panda Express.

I mean, seriously, name one airport where you can have dinner for under $5!
All that was missing was the free Wi-fi! :)

I had originally planned to go to work again on Thursday, but for obvious reasons (getting home very late, no luggage, being exhausted), I decided to stay home and recuperate.
Luckily, I received a phone call in the a.m.’s letting me know that my luggage was on route and that it was going to be delivered in the evening.
I received my bags shortly before I was about to go to bed and, thank God!, it looked like customs/immigration didn’t even inspect my “single traveling” bags and the goodies that I brought back from Germany were all there :)

Wow, and now I’ve been back home for a whole week again already.
Goodness gracious!

Germany Recap from last week Part II

October 5, 2009 filed under: family, food, good things, home, my so-called life

Election Day

Sunday morning, after we had cleaned up the party remains and had had breakfast, we took showers and got dressed to take a stroll downtown (there was “verkaufsoffener Sonntag” and City Fall Festival). We also stopped at the polling place to vote. I made it to Germany right on time for the elections (and since I am still allowed to vote, I did!). One thing I noticed on TV was that there was a LOT more election advertisements on TV, not necessarily party specific, but more general ads to get people to vote.
Only 71,4% did in the end (which is low for Germany), but seems a lot more than in the US.

The city festival was very nice. The weather was warm and sunny and we stopped to get some ice-cream at my favorite Italian ice-creamery downtown. OMG, how I miss the “Italian Gelato”.

my sister’s cute family

my sister and I

We got home around 6:00 p.m., I stopped by at my aunt’s place for a half hour and then we had leftovers for dinner. I love mashed potatoes mixed with sauerkraut when it’s already a day old :)
My sister and Dirk left around 8 p.m. and I hung out with my parents for a bit. Well, in fact, I lay down with my Mom in my parents’ bed to talk, but we both fell asleep rather quickly, ahem.

Cologne – my love

Monday morning, I took the train to Cologne at 8 a.m. to meet up with my friend Ilka for breakfast. We went to the “Hammerstein” on the Ehrenstraße and talked for three hours straight. It was so good to see her.

my beloved Cologne Cathedral

We met my Mom back at the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) around 1 p.m. and did a little bit of shopping. My Mom had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon and afterwards we met my uncle for a cappuccino/hot chocolate in a small Italian Café, before we headed back to the train station to take the train home.

My Mom and I had dinner around 7 p.m. and then I took her to school for a “Schulkonferenz” (parents-teacher-conference) and drove over to my sister’s place. Greta was just about to go to bed and I had the chance to hold her for a little while. Then my sister made some tea, we snuggled up on the couch and – I know, this is about 11 months late, but I never got around to asking her – she told me about the day of Greta’s birth.
Dirk actually got out some of the videos that he taped on the first few days. It was wonderful to be able to see this, since I couldn’t be there for Greta’s birth.

I left around 11 p.m. and tried to get started on packing my suitcases, before I went to bed.

My last day

Tuesday morning I had to get up at 7 a.m. because I had agreed – excitedly agreed! – to babysit Greta for the morning. Nina dropped her off with me and my Dad at 7:30 a.m. and she first got a bottle of milk. Then we went upstairs to change her diapers (I am a pro by now :)) and to get her washed and dressed. My Dad had to leave for work, too, and so I spent 4 hours alone with her.
To be honest, I was a little nervous at first. I mean, heck, she’s still so small and I’ve never babysat a baby, but Greta is just such a doll. She’s hardly ever angry.
We played and cuddled on the bed for about 1,5 hours and she was so cute, giving me kisses and hugs and putting her head on my shoulder. Awwwwww, my heart was melting. And she always smiles. She’s the friendliest, happiest kid I know. We had a “second breakfast” at around 10 (roll with liverwurst is her favorite) and then I put her in the stroller and we went for a walk. It’s the cutest thing: when Greta gets tired, she usually starts “folding” her ear, which tells you that it would be a good idea to go for a walk since she’ll fall asleep in the stroller right away.

I had to do some shopping anyway, so we walked to the store and not even 15 minutes later she was asleep. I made it home right when my sister pulled into the driveway as well :)

Shortly afterward my friend Ira came over and we hung out for a while.
We had some pasta with pesto for lunch and then around 3 p.m. my sister, Greta and I went to see my Granddad and Great-aunt again for some coffee and to say goodbye again. Time went by much too fast again, as always.

We went to Nina’s place for a little while and then dropped off Greta with Dirk’s parents because we were going to have dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant with my parents, my aunt and cousin and two of my parents’ friends. Whenever I come to visit, we spent our last evening at the Italian Restaurant… it’s become somewhat of a tradition :)
I had the obligatory tomato soup and then I shared a small pizza and rigatoni with my sister.

It was really really hard though to say goodbye to Greta *sigh* it was soooooooooo wonderful to be able to spend time with her and I can’t wait to see her again.

Germany Recap from last week Part I

October 3, 2009 filed under: family, food, fun!, good things, my so-called life

Thursday morning was the first morning that I could sleep in a litte bit. I had set my alarm for 9 a.m. because my sister was going to come by around 10, but I slept through my alarm and was woken up when my sister came over.

I got dressed, had a quick breakfast (roll with Gouda cheese, yum!) and then we drove to Düsseldorf to the ESPRIT Outlet. I love the ESPRIT Outlet, if it wasn’t for the crowds that are there EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s ridiculous really, because you can go any day of the week, it’s always packed!
Thank God we didn’t take Greta with us (which we had contemplated), because that would have been a desaster.
We worked ourselves through every row and made it to the register with some great finds: I bought a knit sweater, a long-sleeve shirt and (!) a duvet jacket.

In the afternoon we went to see my great-aunt for some coffee and plum cake. It’s always nice to hang out with the old folks… I really enjoy the time with them.
We had dinner with my parents (bread, cheese and meats :)) and then I spent the night at my sister’s place. Nina had Friday morning off and it was the perfect opportunity to stay over.

We got up around 9 a.m. on Friday morning, I had some breakfast with her and Greta and we went over to my parents’ place afterward, because we were going to help my Mom prepare the party on Saturday.
We had Bratwurst, red cabbage and potatoes for lunch (yum!)

and I helped Basti and my Dad to transport tables and chairs for the party. We prepared food, set up the tables and got a lot done in advance.

Greta stayed over at my parents’ place Friday night. We got up around 8 a.m. on Saturday morning and Greta took a bath. She was so adorable and had such a good time in the bathtub :)
My Mom and I went downtown to do some last-minute shopping later in the morning and in the afternoon Nina came over and helped prepare last-minute things for the party.

All I can say is that we had a blast! The weather had been really nice the whole week and we were able to sit outside for quite a while. My Mom had prepared a “Krustenbraten” (pork roast with crackling), Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. There were “Laugenbrezeln” (pretzels) and cheese and desserts.

We were about 25 people and the party went from 6 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next morning :) J’s first reaction when I told him about it the next day, was that it was impossible to imagine in the US that a 60th birthday party would go that late. Heh. Well, we Germans do know how to celebrate!

Here are some pictures to prove it: