A day of reflection

Well, the entire day was not spent reflecting, but much of it was. You see, today was my interview in Basel, Switzerland for a position teaching English to preschool aged children. The picture to the right is me before I left the house for the interview. Speaking of leaving the house, I left at around 10:30am to catch the bus outside my apartment and walked through my apartment door at 5:30pm. Now, keep in mind that my interview was only 45 minutes long. The rest of the time was waiting for trains, walking around Basel waiting for my appointment time, waiting for more trains and then making it home. If I should be offered and accept this position, please let me find a more suitable train schedule :)

Now, on to the reflecting part. It occurred to me that if this job works out I would not be able to come home for a visit for quite some time. I need a job, but I also need a trip back home. Also, I have a phone interview later this week with a job in the States; however, am I really ready to leave Germany yet? I don't know. We finally got our furniture, after spending so much money on it, it feels like such a waste to just leave. Plus, I love living here. These (and many others) were my thoughts today while on trains and waiting for trains.

Tomorrow I return to my school. Can you believe my month off is over already; I know I can't! I am looking forward to returning to my routine and having more to do.

Alica's gone :(

Today we had to take Alica back to Frankfurt to catch her flight back to Chicago. The drive is about 3 hours each way, but thankfully we didn't have too much traffic or construction to deal with. She arrived at the airport with plenty of time, especially since her flight was delayed a bit. After dropping her off we began the three hour drive back to Freiburg. We again had mostly smooth sailing, but we were also glad when we arrived back home. The rest of the day was preparing for the week ahead, as well as me taking a bit of a nap.

This week has some major things happening, so check back throughout the week to see what is happening with us over here.

And to hold you over a bit, click on the link here to see the week with Alica caught on pictures.

Another low-key day

Even though we behaved ourselves at the beer garden, we did not do too much today. The weather was sunny, but not nearly warm enough to hang out at the pool. So instead Alica exposed me to a new TV program, "Eastbound and Down." It is clearly only for adults and has great writing and very funny moments in each episode. Now, from my perspective it only makes since that Alica should open my eyes to another TV program, since during her visit I exposed her to the classic program Maude. It's all about balance people!!!

Later in the evening we played a few games of Yahtzee and then watched a couple episodes of Golden Girls, I swear it was her choice!!!

A change in plans

Here is what I had planned for today: going jogging, eating breakfast, going to the nearby pool, heading off to the medieval torture museum and ending the day at a beer garden. Now, here is what really happened: went jogging/walking, had crap weather and so the pool was out of the question, the museum was closed for good so no going there, but the night did end with us going to a beer garden. The beer tastes so much better here than in the US.

The picture to the right is Alica working the bus stop on our way down to the beer garden. She should be in catalogues :)

Strasbourg

Today Alica and I had our own little adventure. We hopped on a train (and then another train, and then another train) and eventually, actually after only 2.5 hours, in Strasbourg, France. We walked around the City Centre, saw the big cathedral, drank a $5 coke, ate a baguette sandwich and walked around some more. We had a fun time; I mean, how many people can say they decided to spend an afternoon in France?!?

For dinner the three of us had dinner at a little restaurant close to our apartment. The food was really quite good. It was the first time I have eaten in the area and am glad that the first experience was a good one!

Only two more full days until we take Alica back to the airport. That also means my month long school break is almost over. Where does the time go?

A topsy-turvy day

The day started out promising, with Alica and I getting up and going in jogging. However, by early afternoon the day took a turn for the worse. Carsten and I received some bad news that we need to take care of quickly, which put a bit of a damper on the day. However, by the end of the day, we ordered a pizza and watched the movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I think it is safe to say that of the three of us I liked the movie the best, but really that isn't saying much about the film. Oh, and as for the pizza, they sent us the wrong one, but delivered the right one for free, so now we have pizza to spare.

Tomorrow Alica and I are having an adventure of our own, so keep a look out for what is in store for Thursday!!!

A low key day

Today was a much more relaxing day. Alica slept in for a bit and I did some reading. Later in the afternoon she and I went into the City Centre to do some shopping. I have no pictures of the outing, nor did we buy anything :( The weather was rainy and neither of us found anything that we couldn't live without. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow and we can do something extra fun!!!

Basel

Today the three of us took the train and headed to Basel, Switzerland. To sum up the day it was sunny, hot and a lot of walking. We went into some shops, sat by the river Rhine and basically walked around the city centre trying not to melt. The picture here to the right is of Carsten and Alica this morning at the train stop right by our house.

While in Basel we saw something kind of interesting and fun. It was people with all their clothes in an orange inflatable bag floating down the river. I think it looked like a lot of fun and now need to find me one of those bags. Oh, and the people weren't naked, but were wearing swimsuits. After re-reading the post I thought some of you might think it was a naked adventure that I was looking into :)

Fun in Freiburg

Today was a bit of a low-key day. It started with Alica and I going for a walk after breakfast that lasted 1.5 hours. I showed her my running path as well as the neighborhood I live in. Afterward the three of us took the bikes and rode to the city centre. Basically nothing is open on Sunday's, but I thought it might be nice for her to see the downtown when it isn't covered with a ton of people (we will see enough of that later in the week). We had a nice and leisure walk though the city and ate dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant. Now we are at home and enjoying a calm night at home, as we are leaving for Basel, Switzerland tomorrow. As for the pictures from today, I plan to put up one picture from the day with each blog entry and will add a link at the end of the visit to see all the pictures from our week together.

I'm back home, but not alone :)

We made it back home and the cats survived the days without us. They are clearly happy to have us back in their company.

So, the week was pretty good; we had some fun, did some relaxing and ate way too much food...as usual.

The picture to the right is my new hair style. I went in with a picture and said I want this cut and this color. I didn't really get either, but I do like how it looks. When I told him I wanted blonde his question was "Blonde or Prison-Yard Blonde?" I decided I didn't really want any look associated with a prison yard (been there, done that) and decided to just go with blonde. I have had this color before, but it has been many years ago. It is a fun color though. Hopefully any job interview I might have will be okay with the color.

The highlight of the week was on Thursday when Carsten, his sister, her boyfriend (Peter) and me went to a climbing park called Kletterpark. It was a bit scary at times. Enough so that Peter decided not to do it after the first attempt. It was a lot of fun, but man was I scared and sweaty. I clearly have some fears that had not been obvious before. Anyway, to see pictures of us, just click here.

After the climbing park, we went to see a nearby dam on the Edersee. To see those pictures, click here.

Now we are back home and on the way we swung by the airport in Frankfurt and picked up Alica. I will try to take many pictures and share our time with all of you as much as possible. Oh, and she said the pictures of our place don't do it justice, it really is something to see in person. So, get on a plane and make a visit :)

Now, just try to keep up :)

Last night after getting home one thing I was looking forward to was watching my favorite German crime series, only to find out it played on Saturday this week instead of its normal Sunday night time. That is not untypical of the German TV, things seem to play whenever. Instead I watched one of my favorite programs from the 90's, The Profiler. I loved that show then and still love it now. After 4 episodes I decided to phone Alica, you know, just to make sure we are all set for her visit. When all was said and done I went to bed around 4:30am.

After waking up around 9:15am, Carsten and I had a brief conversation about our options for this week, which we spoke about last night, and decided that we would try going to his mom's again. However, this time without the cats. Carsten phoned a co-worker who is able and willing to stop by periodically to watch the cats. Anyone who knows me knows I have little to no trust in people and have concerns about a relative stranger in my home, but Carsten seems okay with this so maybe I should let me fears try to rest.

With that, I bid you farewell until next weekend when I will return home. Have a great week!!

This BLOWS!!!

Well, we are back home already. So disappointing. Everything seemed to be off to a fine start, but a little over one hour into the trip Zoe started to over-heat. Now, this isn't surprising since it was around 90 degrees today and our car doesn't have A/C. We left later in the day hoping this would help, but it didn't. We even had a couple water dishes back there for them, but this also did no good. We stopped for about 20 minutes to let her out of the car and walk around a bit, which helped some. But shortly after getting back into the hot car she was back at it. So, do ensure her safety we decided to head back home. Now not only will we not get to see Carsten's mom (as well as me having one week off from cooking and cleaning) but we will also miss our hair appointments. Since I haven't had one since Easter I am desperately over due for one. Such a bummer!!!

So disappointing

As much as I was looking forward to dancing last night, it turned out to be a bit of a bust. In the end, I stayed at the club for about 2h 45m but only danced to one song. TO hear that one song, click here.

Now, I know you are thinking to yourself "how can this be, you love dancing?" Well, though that is true, I don't love dancing when I am so hot and sweaty that I feel gross. I mean, what is it with no A/C here? The other thing I have come to notice is that going out dancing without any friends just isn't as much fun. Since I have no friends here it just makes going out almost a reminder of how lonely I feel. So, I came home and watched some Family Guy on TV. Nothing like stupid humor to make the blues go away. I went to bed sometime after 3am and at some point after that Carsten came home from the club. Since he had friends there it just made sense for him to stay and enjoy the night. The next dance is on September 12th, maybe I will have more fun at that one.

Anyway, now we are packing and getting everything ready for the trip to Carsten's mom's place. It appears as though today will be another 90 degree day. Thank goodness we have A/C in the car. Oh wait, that's right we don't have it there either. Looks like a long, hot ride to the middle of nowhere :)

I'm back next Saturday and with Alica; so until then have a great week!!!

Something unheard of happened!

Well, last night I went to bed shortly after 10pm. That is super early for me! And the best part is I fell asleep rather quickly. I woke up at 2:30am and struggled at falling back asleep, but eventually I did and remained asleep until 10:15am. I think that is more sleep than I have had all week.

So, my day so far has been to go running, I did some laundry and then we ate brunch. After brunch we went for a bike ride; as we were trying to find a particular flea market, though we never did find it. Since arriving back home I have spent some time doing German learning and doing dishes. Now we are preparing to eat dinner and then later tonight we are going dancing. I am so excited to shake my money maker. Although the time difference is off and I am thousands of miles away, tonight I am celebrating Alica's birthday by dancing up a storm!! I say this because I know she is celebrating tonight as well :)

This week's poll is closed!

This week's poll was about outings for Alica during her visit. The winner with 62% of the votes was Go To A German Beer Garten. In second place with 25% of the votes was shopping in the city centre and in third place with 12% was to go hiking. And with no votes was going to an Amusement Park.

Thank you for your votes and I will keep you posted on what we are doing during her visit. Only one week until she arrives!!!

A step in the right direction!

Finally, I have heard from one of the jobs. I just received an email from the job I applied for in Switzerland. Although the email just stated that they are still in the process of reviewing applications and will make a decision next week as to who they want to interview, it is nice just to hear something. Maybe all the other jobs I applied for (including the new one I applied for late last night) will also reach out and let me know where things are at!?!

Taking a break

It has been a productive day, even with the lack of sleep. So far I have done the laundry, polished (again), cleaned the windows on the inside and outside, vacuumed and mopped the floors. Now I am taking a break before I go jogging. Although I am never satisfied with how clean things are, I think I am okay with things for now. Of course the cats will have litter and hair all over before we leave on Sunday, but I will just try to take care of that when the time comes.

Dawn of the dead

With the lack of sleep I am getting this week I am feeling as though I am a zombie from one of George Romero's movies. However, instead of eating brains I just bite the heads of people, and by people I mean Carsten :)

However, no pity party today; I have too much to do to prepare for the week at my mother-in-law's place and then for Alica's visit.

It's almost 4am so I guess I should go to bed

So tonight (or last night depending on how you look at it) I applied for one more job here in Freiburg. It is a job I think I would like and although it appears to only be temporary, it is better than no work (or income) at all.

The highlight of my night tonight though was my 4-hour phone call with my BFF Laura. Yes, you read that correctly. It's still not our longest phone call on record, but I believe it is getting close.

But now I should probably think about getting some sleep since Carsten's alarm will go off in just two short hours.

Sweet dreams everyone :)

OMG, it finally happened!

After three days I finally got a good night sleep. Although I didn't fall asleep until 2:30am, when I was asleep it was a sound sleep. I did hear Carsten's alarm go off this morning and when he got out of bed I asked if he wanted me to make him some coffee. Thankfully he said no and I was out again. I believe he came in to tell me goodbye, but I can't be certain of that. He mentioned that I hit him in the nose at some point, but I have no memory of that either. I mean I was out cold!! It's like a blackout but without the alcohol; so I've been told.

As for my day today, once I finally got out of bed, which was quite late; maybe the latest I have slept in since moving to Germany??? Anyway, I ate some brunch and then started in on my daily cleaning. I got a new cleaning toy yesterday...a Swiffer. Not the kind for the floor, but for dusting. Who knew dusting could be so much fun?!? I also went jogging today. In the last two weeks I have gone jogging every day but two. And of course I did some studying.

Oh, the other thing I did today was apply for more work. As of today I have 5 open applications for jobs here and two open applications for jobs in Chicago. Wish me luck I find work soon!

Now, I am sure some of you are thinking that my last two weeks of vacation do not sound all that fun. Well, I can tell you that I don't do anything without thinking about it thoroughly and my 4-week vacation is no different. My plan has been to clean, study, etc for the first two weeks. The third week we are at Carsten's mom's place and I plan to study some there, but since I will be talking in German 99% of the time I don't know how much energy I will have for studying. Plus it is just fun to hang out and enjoy the time with his mom. And then the last week my friend Alica is here and I plan to do zero studying then and to just have fun. End with a blast...that's my plan.

Happy Birthday Alica!

In honor of my BFF Alica's birthday, here is a poem just for you...

If I liked the V,

I'd be with U

But I like the D

So I am here with C

And soon,

U will B here with Me!

I miss and love you lots, have a great day!!!

A great day!

Although I have been without sleep I managed to have a pretty super day. Everything that I wanted to get done today I achieved. Carsten even came home early from work so we could go looking at more light fixtures for the apartment. Although we didn't find anything, it's nice to get some ideas. I also received a nice email from my dad and considering our recent exchanges it was a nice shift in things.

The rest of my week is mostly filled with studying and then on Friday I will do a major cleaning, including scrubbing the floors. Saturday night Carsten and I are going dancing and then I am guessing around noon or so on Sunday we are driving the 4-5 hours to his mom's place. And then before I know it Alica will be here for her visit. Thank you to everyone who has voted so far on this week's poll and providing your input as to what we should do while she is here.

Still lacking sleep

I would love to say that I got a full night's rest last night, but that just wouldn't be true. I finally fell asleep around 3:30am, which is better than the previous night! Although I feel quite tired today, I have a lot to do. Since yesterday was basically a bust, I need to wash the bedding, do some cleaning and possibly go to the grocery store. Of course I also need to study, since that is basically all my life is :) Maybe going for a run will perk me up?!?

I wish my brain had an on/off switch

To say that I was unable to sleep last night would be a huge understatement. I was so tired but my mind wouldn't shut off. I was jumpy from thought-to-thought-to-thought. You name it, I was thinking of it. I got up for 45 minutes during the night and sent some emails and such, but I was so tired I couldn't even focus on that, and yet I was still unable to fall asleep. The last time I looked at the clock it was just before 5am. Carsten's alarm went off at 6:10am and from that point on I slept on and off until shortly after 9am. All that being said, I am doing nothing today. No cleaning, no running, no German learning. I tried to watch TV but even that seemed to take too much energy. Thankfully Carsten is able to go to the grocery store today to pick up something for dinner, as I have no desire to leave the apartment today. No napping, no caffeine, nothing like that today. I will sleep tonight if it kills me! Though it is cloudy and looks like rain, the perfect weather for a nap. No, no, I must be strong and resist the temptation to close my eyes and let Mr. Sandman in.

I got so wet today

The weather forecast predicted rain for much of today. It was raining so hard this morning that Carsten took the car to work instead of riding his bike. I think this is only the second time he has done that in the 8 months we have lived here. Anyway, after doing some laundry and cleaning the apartment I decided to go running, since the rain stopped and the sun was out. Clearly that was a mistake because after about 3 miles the rain poured down from the sky and I got soaked. I mean I could not believe how wet I had gotten so quickly. I made it home and finally got the wet clothes off me.

Later in the afternoon I phoned my grandma. It was important to me that I call her today as today is the 10-year anniversary of my grandfather's passing. She was in surprisingly good spirits and told the story of how yesterday she got soaked by the rain while at a family reunion.

Once Carsten arrived home from work we took our bikes to the city centre to do some shopping. The rain had stopped again and thankfully this time it stayed away so we were both dry.

The day ended with a phone call to Alica to tell her all about my plans for her time here. 12 more days!!!

A new post is up!

This week's post will only be available for about five days, as I am living at the end of the week to visit Carsten's mom.

Anyway, the question is what I should make sure to do while my friend Alica is here visiting. She will be here in less than two weeks...yeah :) The choices I have listed are:

1. German Beer Garden

2. Go to an Amusement Park

3. Hiking

4. Shopping in the City Center

I have started to create an itinerary for the time she is here and your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

And the winner is...

So, this week's poll has ended, which asked what should be my next hair color. Thank you to all of you who voted. Here are the results:

0% for both Bald and Other

14% for Reddish

28% for Brown

57% for Blonde

The rain stayed away

As is not too unusual, the weather forecast was incorrect. So, no rain as predicted. However, even without the rain we didn't do much of anything outside. Well, that's not completely true; Carsten did sit out on the balcony reading work-related stuff for much of the afternoon and I did go running. But the highlight of the day was hanging some of the our pictures around the apartment. We did not hang all of them up and are still trying to decide what we want to do about wall art in the living room/dining room area, but what we did put up looks fantastic.

And of course to end this Sunday I watched my new favorite show that I wrote about last week. I found tonight's episode particularly interesting as it had to do with pedophilia, satanism and murder. Next Sunday we will be at Carsten's mom's place, but I am hoping to still be able to catch this show. I know, it is only a TV show, but the way I look at it one of my homework assignments for school during the month break was to watch German television programming. So basically, this is just me doing homework :)

What to do when the weather is crap?

Shopping, what else!?! So after breakfast and a relaxing morning we did some grocery shopping. Afterward we decided to go look for rugs and lights. We ended up buying one light that we put up in the living room. We originally bought it for the kitchen ceiling, and decided if it didn't work there we would put it up in the bedroom. Now I know you are thinking "but you said it is in the living room?" Yes, that is where we put it. The light is just too big for the kitchen and also wasn't a good fit in the bedroom. But in the living room, yes, that is where it fit quite nicely.

After a day of shopping we decided to rent a DVD. If was Carsten's pick and he chose Rocknrolla. This movie is a Guy Ritchie movie and as hard as it is to believe, especially since he used to be married to Madonna, I have never seen one of his films. Yes, tonight was my "Guy" virgin experience. And I loved it, the film that is. The plot was interesting, the acting was great and the action was not too over-the-top. I was entertained the entire 2 hours and if you like action films I think you might want to give this one a try.

Since the weather report is calling for rain again tomorrow, I am hoping we hang some of our pictures up on the walls and then the place will really be coming together.

Do you know what today is?

Today is my 10 month anniversary of living in Germany. Yes, it has already been 10 months. It seems like just yesterday I was living out of suitcases and hoping from bed to bed. And now here I am with an almost settled apartment and still struggling to communicate with people. Oh, and don't forget, still unemployed. But it isn't all bad. The landscape is beautiful over here, my apartment is fantastic and I am living in freaking Europe!!!! And I guess it is great being here with Carsten :) All that being said, I would love a visit to the US sometime soon. I miss all my peeps!!!

The weather is about to turn

This week the weather has been fantastic. It has been mid-70's to low 80's during the day and upper 50's at night. I have ran everyday and have enjoyed sitting out on the balcony. However, the weather report indicates rain for the next three days. I guess that means no hiking or biking trips this weekend!!! So, I am not sure what the plan is, but hopefully it will be something fun and out of the house.

In about one week we leave for Carsten's mom's place for a week and in about two weeks my dear friend Alica arrives for a visit. I guess I would rather have the rain now than when she is here.

Operation: S.H.H.T.F. Continues

Before today two people had been involved in my operation. Both interactions went quite well and now it is the waiting game to see what, if anything, changes. Today I involved someone else in the operation. It has become apparent to me that by holding people accountable and being truthful with them for how their behaviors impact me/make me feel, that I could lose some of these relationships. I was prepared for that from the start, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense to be doing this. Thankfully thus far that hasn't been an issue, though with the operation today that could very well be the end result.

I realize that as I write about all of this it appears as though it is some type of game to me, since I am writing quite light-hearted about it. I want to make it clear that none of this is fun and I believe the reason all this is coming out now is that I am far away and with more time on my hands to think about things and people that have really hurt me over the years. Plus as I have been working on my autobiography issues keep coming up and it makes sense to deal with the stuff now rather than later.

The Germans and their dogs

I have been living in Germany for 10 months now (effective this Saturday) and I believe I have a better understanding of the German people as a whole. Now, I am not trying to lump every German into one group, as I have met some who don't fit the description I am about to share. However, for the most part, the one's I have come into contact with I find to be unfriendly, opinionated, selfish and lack any understanding or connection to their emotions. I know you are thinking "Wow, that sounds awfully brutal." As I said, not every German is like this. For example I don't believe that Carsten's mother has all of these qualities. I have talked with Carsten about how impolite I find Germans when he and I are out and about. Such as if I hold the door open someone will walk through without saying thank you. Carsten says that please and thank you are American traits and not often found in other parts of the world. Maybe that is true since I have been exposed to many different cultures in my various language classes here and the only ones that seem to say please and thank you are me and the women from Africa. In regards to the understanding and connection to their emotions, I have a perfect example. A woman in my class here recently miscarried. Upon finding out, one of the teachers asked is she would be back in class the next day, stating it was probably best for her to keep going and forget about what happened. My mouth literally dropped open. I was so stunned by this.

In terms of Germans and their dogs, it appears that over half the population here has a dog. Which is great and I love dogs. I hope to have one of my own someday. But what is different here than in the US is that dogs seem to be allowed to go anywhere. On the bus, train, in cafes or restaurants, basically any place a human goes the dog can as well. I have yet to see one in a movie theater, but I wouldn't be shocked if I happened to come across one there. Anyway, my big issue with all these dogs is that no one here really seems to follow the leash law. It is so bad that I just assumed that they didn't have on; until I asked Carsten and he said that in fact Germany does have a leash law. I can honestly say in the amount of time I have been here I think I have seen less that 10 dogs on a leash. Okay, fine. Let the dog run free. That is much more fun for the dog I am sure. But when I am jogging and trying to get by, would kill a German to restrain or move the dog? I can't tell you how many times I have to run basically through bushes to get past a dog because they are able to run free and the owner could care less--going back to the selfishness and unfriendly.

So, where does this leave me. Loving my cats, Zoe and Lela. They are fantastic; playful and full of love. And since this week has been an emotional roller coaster, both cats have been more affectionate and just as cute as can be (though I might be a bit biased). To see pictures of my babies over the years, click here.

The day has gone better than expected

After not going to bed until roughly 4:30 this morning I was a bit concerned about being able to get up and make it through the day. On top of being tired, I had implemented what I refer to as "Operation Sh*it Has Hit The Fan." Now, if you are wondering what on Earth this could possibly mean, it goes back to an entry a couple weeks ago about holding people accountable. I have decided to enforce the old saying "The Truth Will Set You Free" and have started sharing the truth with people in my life who I have sheltered over the years. So far it has turned out better than I could have imagined. It is still early in the operation, but if it continues as it has so far this might be the way to go with all my relationships :) Maybe honesty really is the best policy.

So, in other news I have managed to run every day this week as well as last Sunday, the day after my major hiking trip. If I can keep this up maybe I can get back into a smaller size of pants before I return to the States for a visit.

And to make this day even better, the sexy downstairs neighbor is mowing the lawn in just a pair of shorts and shoes. Speaking of limited clothing, no this isn't about me, while I was on my run today I saw two women in their early 20's naked in the creek that runs along the running path. It is not uncommon that I see naked people in the water there, it's just that normally the people are less attractive and, well I'll just leave it at that.

Time for bed

It is after 4am and I have yet to go to bed. I was able to accomplish a lot tonight and hope to sleep quite soundly. Thankfully I don't have to get up for school or I would really be screwed. Pleasant dreams to all.

What to do?

I had such high hopes for today and all I wanted to get accomplished, but in the end it was basically a wasted day. The one thing I did actually get done was going jogging. Normally after a good run, which today was, my head is cleared and I can focus better, but today that was not the case. I feel like I have a lot on my mind and need to make some decisions; as well as have conversations with some people who are making choices that I believe are negatively impacting my life. However when push comes to shove I just feel paralyzed, stuck if you will, and end up doing nothing. When I feel like this I like to review the book The Power Of Now. However, even doing this hasn't helped. By the way, if you have not read this book I would highly recommend it. The day isn't over yet, so maybe I still have hope...maybe!

A pretty productive day

Today was my official first day without class; it seems to me that I shouldn't count the weekend since I would have that off anyway. So, what did I do? I slept in for starters. After that I ate some breakfast, cleaned the apartment, and then went jogging. Later in the afternoon I applied for a job (in Chicago) and then went to meet Carsten after he finished work so we could buy some nails and a new kitty litter box. Exciting stuff there, huh?!?

So, I am sure some of you are wondering why apply for a job in Chicago. Well, I don't know exactly how to answer that on here, so for the moment I won't. But what I will say is that I think the bottom line is really Sallie Mae. She has a lot of control over my life and clearly I need to be employed to satisfy her and her greedy ways :)

Tonight I watched a soccer match between Dusseldorf and Hamburg. I really love watching soccer and enjoyed the match quite a lot. I don't understand all the rules, but never-the-less it is still pretty entertaining for me.

My new favorite show

I don't watch that much television, as I prefer to watch DVDs. This was also true while I was living in the States. It seems to be the case even more so over here since I only have two channels in English, MTV and CNN. However, I have found a Swedish television program that has been dubbed into German that I absolutely love. It plays every Sunday from 9:45pm-11:15pm. It is called Irene Huss and appears to be based on a book. It only began airing here a few weeks ago but already I am hooked on the title character. I found a little snippet on it here, if you are interested in reading about it.

The new poll is up!

Okay, this poll is going to include pictures. Of me of course :)

So, I am finally going to have a hair appointment on August 19th. I will have a cut and color done; my first color since September 2008 in Chicago. Now, here comes the poll question:

What color do you like best?

1. Blonde

2. Brown

3. Bald

4. Reddish

5. Other

To see the picture options, click here.

A fairly good Sunday

We decided to go hiking yesterday as the weather report for today was not looking too good. However, it turned out to be a pretty decent day, weather wise. I was unable to sleep last night, finally going into bed at 3am. It took forever to fall asleep and then I woke up twice to use the washroom. I was out of bed for the day by 9:30am and started in with giving the cats food, cleaning their litter box and sweeping the floors. After taking out the garbage and preparing some breakfast the day officially began. Because you know my day doesn't officially begin until after I have had some coffee :)

To my surprise I was able to go running today. I thought for sure that after the hike yesterday that my legs would be too sore. And the run was even really quite great. I ran faster than I normally do and it felt as though I just had more energy.

Tonight for dinner I made some baked fish, fried potato wedges and spinach. It all tasted so yummy. Oh, and white wine to wash it all down. I am really glad I enjoy cooking otherwise meals would be a real pain since I don't think Carsten enjoys preparing food all that much. I guess we just compliment one another in this way.

Who's your favorite Golden Girl?

The poll from last week was Who is your favorite Golden Girl? Coincidentally my favorite one was the winner. That;s right, Dorothy came out of top as the favorite Golden Girl. Long live Bea Arthur!!

Even too tired to sleep

My body is a bit sore from the hike today. Mostly my feet; plus my face hurts from being so sun-burned. Anyway, I was switching through the channels tonight and came across one of my all-time favorite old movies. And by old I mean black and white. But to my surprise they weren't showing one, but all four in the series. I was so excited I ran around the apartment yelling "Miss Marple is on, Miss Marple is on." I remember watching these movies when I was just a wee lad with my mom on PBS. I also saw them in 2005 over the Christmas holiday when I was here visiting Carsten. Like then, I was forced to watch the films in German. However, since I can understand the language more, I was better able to follow the movie this time than the last time I watched them in German. To see which Miss Marple films I am talking about, click here, as they are available together in one package through Amazon. Hmm, I may have to buy these at some point.

A Day Of Hiking

Okay, to be honest the whole day wasn't spent hiking. After waking up and getting ready for the day, I swept the floors and then walked to the bakery to buy kaiser rolls for breakfast. After a nice and relaxing breakfast the day of hiking began. We had initially planned to bike there, until we discovered it was 25 kilometers (or 15.5 miles). Thus we decided to drive to where we wanted to hike.

Once we arrived we started on our way, up, up and up even higher. The place we hiked is called Belchen. The top highest point is 1414m above sea level and where we began walking was roughly 450m above sea level. In total it took us roughly 7 hours round-trip. The distance was about 16 kilometers, or roughly 10 miles. On the down-side it was about 90 degrees here today, but on the upside once we made it to the top we were able to stop at a restaurant. Want to guess what we ate? That's right, wurst, fries and beer! On the way down I slipped one time off the trail, just a bit, and needed to grab some weeds to prevent myself from falling more. When I looked over at Carsten, who was not helping me at the time, appeared to be grabbing for the camera to catch it all on film. Such a sweet guy! No, I'm not saying it wouldn't be funny to watch but I can say it was quite scary at the moment. But thankfully no harm was done and everything turned out safe and sound. If you would like to see pictures from the hike today, click here.

Once back home we were both too tired to go to the video store for a DVD. We are also both too tired to cook so we ate a pizza and had a grapefruit beer. I love that stuff!!