Apr. 20, 2005

tuesday

READY TO MOVE

It seems as if I've been forgetting to put my blog posts up here after I finish them on my other blog. It think I'm ready to move from this blog to the other blog. If you would like to continue reading my blog, goto Fairy Life at Modblog. This is my other blog and, as I said before, it has more features than this one. Please visit and check it out. I'm keeping up with the blog there so you'll find all my new posts there. Thanks for reading! Hope you continue. Sue

Apr. 11, 2005

monday:

WEEKEND STUFF AND OTHER THINGS

I decided to start off the week by showing everyone some photos of what we did this weekend. I wasn't anything too interesting. Since it snowed, we stayed home on Saturday and here are some photos of what we did.

In this photo I'm feeding A. her first taste of Jajamyung. It's a Korean noodle dish that has a dark brown bean paste as a sauce. She thought they looked interesting because they looked like worms (being brown and all, they kind of do). I was feeding her with the chop sticks because I didn't want her to pick the noodles up with her fingers as she tends to do. This led to the "mama bird feeding worms to her baby bird" look. I thought it was cute and asked J. to take photos. By the way, she liked the noodles very much. I wasn't surprised. I ate a lot of Korean food while I was pregnant with her and she's liked almost every Korean food that we've offered to her.

These two photos are of A. playing the "Jumping Penguin" game on Daddy's computer (I don't think that this is the official name of the game). A. and Daddy usually play this game for a while after he has gotten home from work during the week and sometimes on weekends. She has gotten very good at the game and it's one of her favorite things to do with Daddy. He makes a lot of funny sounds and coxes the "bad guys" to their death by saying, "You can come, we won't hurt you .... KA-POW!!!!! WA-CHA!!!!" It's very entertaining for Daddy's girl.

Here are two photos of the Alps. One is from outside the back of our house and one is from the outskirts of town. The second one, although it's hard to see from this photo, is really the better of the two, since it shows some of the fields in front of the mountain and the immensity of the mountain. It's just amazing to see this every day. Some days, it just want to sit and watch the different cloud formations pass in front of the mountian. Other days the clouds are so low that it's hard to know that there are any mountains there at all. And they are so tall that at night I have to tell myself that the lights I see in the sky are not really stars but are some kind of hutte sitting on the top or the side of the mountian. Just amazing!

Here are some of A's unconscious mutterings from this weekend.

"He's just a boy. I like him for the Jumping Penguin game but I like you for bed." -- This was said to Mommy just before getting into bed on a night when it was Daddy's turn to put her to sleep. At least this time she knew who was the boy and who was the girl (at times she's been confused and even called herself a boy a few times).

"Once I was a giraffe. I began to eat leaves." -- This was said to Daddy to explain why his toy giraffe couldn't eat her ice cream or drink her milk. This was just silly to her, since she knew that giraffes eat leaves and this was how she knew. -- 23:21

Apr. 08, 2005

friday:

THE ABC'S OF ME

I told you that I would do the ABC's of me, so here they are. Basically, they are about living in Germany, things I miss about the states and then some, just me.

A is Alps. I can see the glories of their every mood change from our house and just about everywhere around our area.

B is Bakeries. There are a million bakaries around here. I love it that we can get fresh bread and be back at the house in five minutes.

C is Car. I love my new Subaru Outback. I got me out and around all winter when they said it snowed more than it has in many a year.

D is Dogs. They are everywhere. A. can't walk past one without going towards it (especially the little ones) and they are in many a restaurant and store.

E is Early. Everything here closes very early in the evening.

F is Family and Friends. I do miss them so and it is hard to start making friends all over again after only three years.

G is Grass. For some reason, the grass is almost always green here. Even when there is a patch sticking out of the snow. It's not bright, vibrant green, but green nonetheless.

H is Home. I miss being only two hours from home and A. misses her Grammie and Pop Pops incredibly.

I is Ice Cream. I guess it's really gelato around here but whatever it is, it's delectable and also only five minutes out the door.

J is Joe. Without him, I wouldn't be here.

K is Kids. A. is getting to meet a lot of kids in her childcare and I'm happy since we aren't meeting a lot of kids around the house.

L is Laundry. It takes to long to wash it in my German washing machine.

M is Malls. I know they have something like them in Germany but they aren't close to my house and I haven't been to one yet! It's awfull!!!

N is Nighttime. My favorite time of the day (as I said yesterday) since the child is asleep at that time. And I'm a night owl anyway.

O is Outdoors. I love being outdoors much more here, than I have in years.

P is Post Library. Without this wonderful thing, my afternoons with the wild child would be much harder to bear.

Q is Quiet. Even though the last placed we lived was quiet, this place is quiet in ways that it could never be.

R is Restaurants. I miss the variety of restaurants that we had to choose from in the states.

S is Skiing. It was so easy to go skiing here and find someone to teach me, it was almost a crime. It was so beautiful and I plan to do it every year that I'm here.

T is Time Outs. A. is becoming quite good at requiring these nice little things and it's making me feel that I need a long Time Out.

U is Umbrellas. It seems as if these will become very much a necessity the longer we live here.

V is Variety. The amazing variety of some kinds of food and drink (such as cheese, bread and beer), continues to stun me.

W is Wal-Mart. This is where I just recently (about a year ago) discovered a pair of jeans that fit me well. And it's hard to find them anyplace else. I also miss Target as well as Sam's Club. ("Sigh ...").

X is X-acto. The kind of knife needed to clean the burnt-on stuff off of our ceramic stove top. I almost never cleaned the old dilapidated stove we had in the states. Oh, the pain of having nice new stuff!

Y is Yearn. I still yearn for the malls, stores and convenience of the stuff we had in the states. But I'm learning to deal with doing without.

Z is Zugspitz. This is the name of the highest mountain in Germany (as you might have heard me mention before). It's part of the Alps and one that we can see from our window. For a nice girl raised in the country, it's a little slice of heaven. -- 23:19

Apr. 07, 2005

thursday:

SOME FUN STUFF ABOUT ME

Here is a little quiz that I've had sent to me a million times over e-mail, and now I've seen it a few times on blogs. I thought I'd answer the questions so that you all could get a little better glimpse of me(which is what this week is all about, right?)!

1. What time did you get up this morning? Around 9:00 I got my wake up call from my little alarm clock across the hall. "Moooommmmmmmyyyyyy!

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds. I've never gotten into the pearl thing.

3. What was the last film you saw in the Theater? I really can't remember. We were supposed to see one right before we left but our babysitter forgot about the appointment. And yes, we had baaaddd babysitters at our last place.

4. What is your favorite TV show? It's hard to say since I've been over here. I can't see much. But I do follow HBO's Carnivale online(I watched it on TV last year), but their season is so short that it's hard to say that it's my favorite.

5. What did you have for breakfast? a banana, milk and a few cookies from the batch I made last night (this is not a normal breakfast for me).

6. What is your middle name? Don't have one.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? I have to say that Korean is because when I have a craving now days, it doesn't get sated, so it goes on for a long time.

8. What foods do you dislike? I'm not particularly fond of hot dogs although the wurst here in Germany is wonderful.

9. What kind of car do you drive? A Subaru Outback and I love it!

10. Favorite Sandwich? A well-made Italian sub sandwich. Preferably made the way they do at Tony's in Rome, NY.

11. What characteristic do you despise? Someone being unfair.

12. Favorite item of clothing? I don't know. I just put them on. But I do perfer something that is confortable more than something that's fashionable and binding.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a holiday where would you go? How can one choose? If I was in the states, I would want to come here.

14. What color is your bathroom? White

15. Favorite brand of clothing? Don't have one.

16. Where would you like to retire? Not sure about that either.

17. Favorite time of the day? After A. has gone to bed. Sorry, Sweety!

18. What was your most memorable birthday? I'm not sure, I haven't done anything extrodinary for my birthday lately but I do remember my 28th when I went to Ruth's Chris Steak House in Atlanta and had a lovely meal all by myself.

19. Where were you born? Philly, PA

20. Favorite sport to watch? I just don't have the patience to watch any kind of sport for very long.

21. What fabric detergent do you use? I don't use anything right now, I still have to find a powder one that I can use in our German washer.

22. Pepsi or Coke? No soda whatsoever.

23. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Night owl.

24. What is your shoe size? American size 10, German size 41

25. Do you have any pets? Nope. Got rid of the fish before we got here and we can't have a dog in our apartment. We were thinking about getting one while we were in Germany.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? An adult.

27. What are you meant to be doing today? Right now, I should be sleeping.

Hope you all enjoyed that. I'm planning on doing a ABC's of me in Germany but I need a little time to come up with them all. -- 11:57

Apr. 05, 2005

tuesday:

QUIZZES AND MEMES: LEARN SOMETHING NEW ABOUT ME

This week I decided to look into the blogosphere and find what I could in the way of quizzes and memes. Basically this is so that you can know a little more about me and I could have something to put in my blog. So here goes ...

One of the first quizzes I took was called "How Logical Are You?" Here is what they said.

You Are Incredibly Logical

(You got 75% of the questions right) Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

Well, I just answered the questions the best that I could. Of course, J. would probably have something to say about whether I'm really all that logical or not (He seems to think he is the only logical person in this relationship. But don't tell him I said that.).

Here is another one that is called "Unconscious mutterings." It's supposed to be free association, but not serious. This woman provides a list of ten words each week and you write the first word that comes to your head, next to it. Incidently, I heard about this from a blog called Culture Shock and the Blonde Librarian. I visit her site all the time because she is also an American living in Germany and not that far from me, either.

Anyway, here is the Unconscious Mutterings for this week.

1. Renewal:: trees
2. Someone to talk to:: Joe
3. Count:: Dracula
4. Expiration:: Date
5. Upload:: Files
6. Publish:: Blog
7. Holy:: Cow!
8. Change in the air:: Spring!
9. Titillating:: Exciting
10. Glorious:: Day

And finally, here is some of Alexandra's unconscious (maybe they were conscious but with three-year-olds nothing is ever sure) mutterings overhead today.

"I have a plan." -- Overheard at dinner. We couldn't quite figure out what the plan was but, J. said that he was 20 before he ever had a plan.

"You're a lucky Daddy." -- Overheard while coming back from getting ice cream. The Daddy in question had just told her that she was a lucky girl.

"I know what happened. There was a stick in my butt." -- Overheard while A. was getting out of the bathtub. She had been complaining that her butt hurt but obviously she figured out why.

Obviously, some of these are funnier in context then just put out in the blogosphere, but that's the way it goes. And that's all for today folks. -- 11:13

Apr. 01, 2005

friday(once more):

FINAL EPISODE: OUR TRIP TO SALZBURG

In my third, and last, post of the day, I will finish my travel story about Salzburg.

Last time I told you about going to the fountain, and it was very impressive. After that we wandered around the streets, surprised at how many vendors and food stands were up (this is Easter and a Sunday after all). But the more we walked around, the more we got the idea that Salzburg probably always has visitors and, of course, someone's got to be there to take their money. As we walked, we kept seeing more and more of these little inviting alleys, so we decided to go down one. This led us to Getreidegasse. It is a narrow street that has become famous partly because of the many gilt and wrought-iron signs identifying the guilds of craftsmen who once lived here and offered their products and services. You can see some of the signs in the photo to the left but because of the height of the buildings, the narrowness of the street and the time of day, all of my photos of Getreidegasse did not come out very well because they were so dark. This street is still in the pedestrian zone and is so narrow that it would be impossible for two cars to pass if they could drive on it. As we walked down the street we glimpsed many narrow passageways between the houses and A. decided that she wanted to run down them. Most of the ones that we walked down had interior courtyards, many of which had a cafe or some kind of benches with plants and trees to decorate it. The guidebook says that many of them are from the period of the 13 - 16th centuries.

As it was getting on towards 5:30p.m. we began looking for some place to eat. I found another courtyard with an Italian restaurant (I think it was called Stella and I think it was in the Sterngarten) as well as a playground where A. played for a little while. We ate and found the food very good and afterwards let A. play on the large cow in the playground.

We wandered out of the garden and towards the river. They have a pedestrian bridge which A. enjoyed running back and forth across, while Mom took photos up and down the river. As I said before, it was a beautiful day and many people we out walking or just sitting on benches next to the river enjoying the day.

From the river we took a different, but quicker, way back. We still took in the sights but A. was getting tired. I was very proud of how long she walked and ran around the city. We enjoyed the day very much and treated it as if it was a scouting expedition. We know that we'll be going back soon and we're sure we'll appreciate it even more.

Apr. 01, 2005

friday(again):

EXERCISE: HOPING TO DO BETTER

This is my second of three posts today. Now that I got the first one off my chest, the next two can be nice ones.

I haven't done an exercise post in a while and I figured I bring you up to date. For the last two weeks I've been running outside and it's been wonderful. I always hated the winter months when I didn't want to run in the cold but I equally hated running on the treadmill. Most of the time this left me doing so-so workouts during the winter months and having to play catch up when I actually got out to run in the spring. This year, I don't know what happened. I don't think my indoor workouts were especially good, but they weren't bad. But I've been able to pick up my running without very much of a start-up. Maybe it's the beautiful scenery and/or the fresh mountain air, but I've been able to run for at least 30 minutes every time without much exhaustion or desire to quit. In fact, today I ran for about 53 minutes and I was feeling pretty good when I got back.

I've also begun to eat more fruit and yogurt when I want a snack and I've lost a few pounds. I had hoped to lose the last five pounds of the ten I gained here in about five weeks, but this week I lost two, so I only have three more to go. I'm hoping to lose more than that since I had gained a few pounds before I got here because of the move. The photo is of me at the Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll half-marathon and I'm hoping to get back to that shape.

But I think that I'm doing pretty good. Now that the time has changed (I think it changes here a week before the states) we are also going out for a walk after dinner most of the nights of the week. I also hope that A. will also lose a little with all of the exercise that she's getting. -- 20:57

Apr. 01, 2005

friday:

THE HIDEOUS, DREADFUL, HORRIBLY UNNERVING THREES

This will be the first of three posts today, I'm trying to make up for not posting the last few days, so make sure you check them all out.

First, I want to rant about A. To begin with, whoever decided that two-year-olds were terrible and the other ages we at least a little bit better? When A. was two, yes, she did have the occasional temper tantrum and crazy store behaviour but it wasn't much worse then her bahaviour as a one-year-old. Well, I lie. It was worse but it only happened sometimes. Most of the time she was the same: an energetic and curious toddler. She was already a handful by the time two came around.

But now there is three. Two was nothing compared to three. She's faster. She understands more. She can talk back better. And she has become deaf. Yes, deaf, in her young age. And she doesn't remember a thing I say. If I have to call her less than five times, I feel good. We'll be sitting and reading in the kid's area of the library and she'll see someone come in. She'll get up to look. And they'll be outside of the kid's area. "Alexandra, you can look but stay in this area," I'll say. And she won't even glance back at me. "Alexandra, stay here," I'll say again. She's still heading out the door. "Alexandra,": now with some urgency. She flashes a glance back at me while she's a few feet outside, but keeps going. Now, I'm debating how loud I can be in the library, without bringing the librarian's wrath on me. "Alexandra!" I hiss through gritted teeth in what I hope is considered a very loud whisper. By this time she is two or three bookcases past the door and looks hesitantly back since I'm sounding kind of angry. "Alexandra, you come back here or you will get a time out and we will go home!" This brings her to a stop and she slooooowly drags her feet as she walks back to just inside the door so as to waylay anyone who is coming this way. And woe to those that do. Just today I had to tear her away from this woman because she was about to knock her over while trying to get to her baby. I had to drag her bodily away. And dragging her isn't fun. She doesn't weigh what an average three-year-old weighs. She weighs what an average four- or five-year-old weighs. When she puts her mind to wiggling away from me, she can.

Not only is this scene enacted over and over again in the library: it is reenacted everywhere we go. The grocery store. The bank. The PX. Taking a walk down the street. That last one would seem to be benign and not rate a big deal, especially because we usually walk down the pedestrian zone which is not only one or two cars wide in the middle, it also has very wide sidewalks. But, she seems to find the pedestrians and "accidently" run into them. "Look where you're going!" we say. "There are people in front of you!" "Stop! Stop! Stop!" To no avail. She does what she wants and hears nothing she doesn't.

The worse part is when she talks back. Sometimes she'll even say the opposite of what we said. "Leaving my toys out is good: putting them away is bad," she'll say, just after we said the opposite to her. There are the tears and sad face times, too. "Please don't give me a time-out Mommy." "OK. But the next time this happens you'll get one." "OK, tomorrow." "What? I said the next time, not tomorrow." "Ok, the next time ... tomorrow." How do they get these things in their heads? More importantly, how do you get it out?

So, most of the time I feel like a policeman. All I do is yell at her all day. It's hard to even play with her anymore. She is, as her childcare teacher put it, directive. She has a plan (or at least it seems like she does) for every time she plays and she will tell you what to say and how to play. No free will is allowed on your part. And, since she's been playing with the boys in childcare, she's been doing a lot of hitting. She'll have her toy stomp on your toy's head. This is her way of greeting you. And just for fun, she'll do it five or ten more times, most of the time missing your toy and hitting your hand with the hard and/or the pointy part of her toy. And that's only the beginning. And if you refuse to play or say the things that she wants you to, she'll have a break-down right then and there and just go crazy.

It's not only with toys that she's peticular like that either. It's anything. And it doesn't have to be something routine (as all the "experts" would like to say). We keep her routine pretty much intact every day. Most of the time it's just something unexpected such as not having enough juice left in the bottle so she says we have to go to the store even though there is juice at home and that's where we're headed. She wants the juice. I don't have time, money or the inclination to go to the store. So we head home. During the whole time A. is still yelling and having a cow at the fact that she doesn't have her juice.

It's just enough to make you crazy.

-- 20:50

Mar. 29, 2005

tuesday:

MORE OF THE TRIP

I really do love it here! Right now I'm going to ramble on about how wonderful this place that I live in is. It's so great! Today I went running and there are so many places to run. And it's so beautiful! I had thought that I wouldn't be able to get ready for a major race this fall, as I had planned, but I'm sure that I can, now. I just enjoy running here so much. And I like to walk, too. And bike! There are so many bike paths that I've seen in Germany. Not just here but on our trip to Bad Tolz and Salzburg, too. It's just wonderful. OK, enough ranting for now.

As I said, I'm going to tell you a little more of our trip to Salzburg and show you some more photos. The way there was pretty easy and very nice. We passed by a very large lake called Chiemsee (sounds like Keymsay) and had to stop soon thereafter to buy a "toll" sticker for our car (if you ride on the highways in Austria, you must have one or get stopped). It wasn't expensive but we only had about 10 km to go before we got off the highway, so it seemed kind of useless. But I think they do a lot of checking by cameras on the road, so you never know if they are watching or not.

Anyway, we get there and by chance we happen to pass an information booth and they were open on a Sunday (!). We were surprised and happy at the same time. The lady told us where to go to park if we wanted to get to the old part of the city where the pedestrian zone is. She also pointed out a whole bunch of places that were in The Sound of Music. I guess the majority of Americans that go there want to see some of that stuff.

We had to park in the mountain. Which was kind of interesting. You drive in one side of the mountain and park and then walk through tunnels that bring you out onto the other side of the mountain. It's pretty interesting (see photo of A. hanging upside down).

Out onto the other side, we came out into a kind of courtyard and followed it to the street. This street must be on the horse-drawn carriage route because there was a constant flow of them. Which delighted A. to no end. We followed this counterclockwise and came to a series of arches which led into large plazas. The second one was directly below the castle (see above photo) which sat on the mountain we just walked through. In this one we found booths that had an assortment of toys, t-shirts and food. It also had a giant chessboard that was being played upon and A. was just dying to run through it. It was the normal tourist stuff. But they also had some interesting stuff and we got A. a wooden marionette toy. It had a string at the bottom which, when pulled, made his arms and legs go up. She thought this was a blast and pulled it many times until it broke. This took about five minutes. We also found a place that made huge soft pretzels of all kind of flavors and we got some of them. I'm a sucker for soft pretzels.

Then it was through a few more arches and into the Residenzplatz, the largest square in the Old Town. Here we saw the Residence Fountain which you might recognize (see photos). It is quite impressive up close even when it's not spewing water. I had to get a few photos of A. sitting on it. "You have to come closer," she said. Being the model/prima dona that she is. She knows best. Anyway, J. got a good laugh out of it and I got some good photos of him smiling (see photo below). Time to go to bed, so I guess I'll write more of the adventure tomorrow.

Mar. 28, 2005

monday:

GOING PLACES: BAD TOLZ

This weekend, on Sunday, we went to Bad Tolz and Salzburg. We had never realized how close Salzburg was and now that we know, we will definitely be going there more often.

To begin with, we decided to go to Bad Tolz because they had an Easter market there. You have to remember that in Germany there usually isn't anything open on Sunday, so to find things open and to find a market (usually with homemade things, flowers and food as well as many other things), is great. And J. decided that as long as we were going all the way to Bad Tolz, we might as well make a day of it and go to Salzburg. This was fine with me. Not only did I want to travel more, but we haven't been doing as much on recent weekends because J. hurt his foot and didn't want to walk too much. So, the imposed movement restriction was removed and we were free to move about the country.

Well, I have to say that it was an incredibly beautiful day and pretty warm, at that. Bad Tolz is a very nice little Barvarian city (see photo) and the market was sweet and full of things that go along with spring. A. was so excited that we had to put her in a "time out" because she wasn't listening to us. She kept running around through the crowd and it was easy to lose her. After walking around through the stalls, we helped ourselves to some cake. Of course, A. had to steal mine since the one that she had carefully picked out and specifically chosen for herself was not what she had expected it to be (see above photo). And I have to say, that I have not met a cake in Germany that I didn't like. So, she stole my mousse cake and gave me the layer cake. It's also very interesting that they put a kind of pie crust on the bottom of many of their cakes. I've never seen that in the US and I wonder if it's just part of the recipe or if it's for a specific reason that they do it. It tastes fine to me either way.

After the cake, we wondered around just checking things out. Then A. spied the cotton candy and since we promised her some last week and never gave her any, we had a hard time saying no ... so we didn't. Here is a photo of A. waiting expectantly for her cotton candy. Well, although I would love to regal you with stories and photos of our trip to Salzburg, that will have to wait until tomorrow, since it is after midnight here. I will also give you an update on some other things that are happening here. -- 11:43

Mar. 24, 2005

thursday:

MORE "A DAY IN THE LIFE"

Today was Thursday, and like most Thursdays recently I stayed home for most of the day and got caught up on things like wash and dishes, blogs and websites, being lazy in general. But today we did go to the library and we took some photos there.

In this photo, Alexandra is telling me all about this one dinosaur. These dinosaurs are special because they are the library dinosaurs and she really thinks they are hers. Most of the time she plays with them by herself since no other kids are around. She has a wonderful imagination and can make up stories for any and all toys that she plays with.

This is a picture that Alexandra took of her feet. Now that we let her use the camera, she can't let us take a picture without wanting to see it (what great technology we have!) and then wanting to use the camera herself. So, these are her feet at the library. She has to take off her shoes here and if she takes off her shoes, she has to take off her socks (her poor little feet sweat too much, just like Mommy's do).

This is Alexandra in her "Kitty Cat" towel. She loves to play and snuggle right after she gets out of the bathtub. And Mommy and Daddy love it, too. -- 23:24

Mar. 23, 2005

wednesday

PREY, THE BAD BEGINNING (BY LEMONY SNICKET), AND MORE

I've finished two audio books in the last week and they both were very interesting. The first was Prey by Michael Crichton and the other was The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. Although these two books are very different in tone and style, I enjoyed them both equally.

The first one, Prey was choosen randomly, since I've never read a Michael Crichton book before. I've seen the Jurassic Park movies and enjoyed them but never got around to reading the books. Well, I'll probably be reading them in the near future because I really enjoyed Prey and Crichton's writing style.

Prey is a high-tech thriller that is deeply involved in futuristic ideas about technology gone awry (this seems to be a theme in many of his books). This time it is nanotechnology that was originally being built for the military as a kind of eye in the sky. Unfortunately, some of this swarm of microscopic machines has been let loose, is multiplying as well as learning, and it was programmed to be a predator. Now people are its prey. Although the technology sometimes overshadows the actual characters in the book, I found the characters very interesting. Jack, the main character is an out of work stay-at-home dad who created some of the computer programming for this technology in his previous job. His wife is a main player in the top-secret research labs that created this technological nightmare and this becomes a very interesting plot twist as the story goes on.

Some reviewers said that the explaination of the science for this technology is too long and a bit dry. Because I was listening to this as an audio book, it was much easier to hear and understand then try to slog through the text while I was reading. I found that the plot moved along swiftly and it was very hard to stop listening to. I liked this book very much but I would recommend this book in audio if you aren't as interested in the technology parts.

The next audio book I finished was The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. This series may very well turn out to be near the top of my favorite books list. This was one of the most interesting books I have ever listened to (or read). The style was very unique and reminded me of The Princess Bride (one of my favorite books of all time).

To begin with, the narrator is a very real presence in this story. He tells you from the very beginning that this is not a happy story and warns you that if you don't like sad stories then you shouldn't read the book. This is part of the discription on the back of the book: "Dear Reader, I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune." And it is signed, "With all due respect, Lemony Snicket." Although this story is almost as sad as Mr. Snicket describes, it is still a delightful book full of linguistic playfulness that I think would be interesting for all ages to read (or listen to, as I did). One advantage to listening is that the reading is done by Tim Curry who does a superb job of relaying to you the feeling of the book and its character. I loved it and plan on reading or listening to all of the books in the series.

As for A's reading, today she brought home three cute new books from the library. The first one is called Chimp and Zee by Catherine and Laurence Anholt. This book is one in the series of delightful books about two little mischievous twin monkeys who are always getting in some kind of trouble. In this one, Mumkey takes them into town to buy bananas but shopping is boring, and so they find something else to do that lands them in an adventure. The book is written in occasional rhymes like:

The other two books are about Franklin, the turtle. One is called, Hurry Up, Franklin and the other is Franklin in the dark written by Paulette Bourgeois. This little turtle is a normal kid but occasionally he has problems, like being afraid of the dark or being slow ("even for a turtle"). The book usually takes the reader through the day or thought process of the little turtle until he solves his problem. Franklin has many friends in the forest who may or may not help him with his problem but are usually there giving him support and helping him figure out what he needs to do. Alexandra and I like these books very much but, she wouldn't have sat long enough to listen to them six months ago. They are more on a preschool and higher level.

Here are a few more photos for "A day in the life" of Alexandra and I.

This is a photo of the flower pots being put back onto the pedestrian zone. They were taken away some time in December before the snow really started to pile up.

This is Alexandra finding ways to slow down the process of us going out the door in the morning. There's always something.

This is Alexandra picking some teeny tiny flowers on the grass next to her "playpark" (otherwise known as childcare). These are some of the first flowers we've seen this year and the first that she could pick. She was thrilled and carried them around crumpled up in her hand for a few hours. -- 11:44

Mar. 22, 2005

tuesday:

A DAY IN THE LIFE

This week I thought I'd show everyone some photos that show a day in the life of my daughter and I. Most of you haven't seen what our house looks like or what we usually do during the day, so these are pictures of us and things in and around the house.

This is a photo of one of our large windows in our living room. We have three of them and they all open like doors, to the balcony, or at the top just to let the breeze in. They are wonderful.

This is a picture, taken from our balcony, of a girl on a unicycle. Even though it's a pretty warm day you can still see the snow piled up in the corner of the photo.

This is a picture of Alexandra painting. One of her favorite things to do. Since she's a bit of a mess we usually don't let her paint very much in the house but now she can paint on the balcony. This makes her very happy. -- 14:29

Mar. 20, 2005

sunday:

EXERCISE? WHAT'S THAT?

Normally, on Friday, I do an update on how my workouts are doing. I am just too embarrassed this week to say very much. But, maybe that will get me to do better next week. So, here it is.

I started out the week pretty good. I ran outside for the first time since November. It was nice and feeling like spring, but after the run I didn't do much of a weight workout because I thought, "I did such a good job running today, and I'll make it up on Wednesday." By the time Wednesday rolled around I was in the middle of "that time of the month," so I was eating snacks like crazy and staying up late. It was a nice day outside on Wednesday, so, although I was tired and feeling lazy, I walked to take A. to her day care (a twenty to thirty minute walk depending on the route). It was thus that I spent all my remaining energy and I decided that was enough and didn't work out any more for that day. Friday rolled around and I didn't have much more energy than I did on Wednesday (more snacking and bad sleep) so I rode the bike for 30 minutes and stretched for about 20 and called it a day. Besides, I was supposed to be going skiing Friday night and I didn't want to wear myself out. Well, Friday night rolled around and the skiing fell through.

The end of the story is, I never got caught up with my workouts and the scale tipped on the plus side at the end of the week. I know better than to put off workouts and this week was a definite example of what not to do. I feel like a slug and hope like heck that I'll do better next week. Chances are I will since there are two new factors in my favor. One, it's nice outside and I'm sure to go running or walking more in the next week. Second, we finally decided to try out closing our shutters at night. Previously, the morning sun was not a problem and I really didn't think the streetlights were bothering me. Last night, with the shutters closed, not only did I not wake up so early with the sun shining in on me, I slept better all night with the room being almost completely dark. They always say that good sleep makes a difference, and I know that's true, but knowing and doing are a world apart. This lesson is learned. On to the next one. -- 11:08

Mar. 17, 2005

thursday:

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

I've had the windows open all day and it is wonderful! The birds have been singing for about a week now and the air is incredibly warm. And I have spring fever! It's just so nice outside and I can't wait for trees to bud and flowers to poke their heads out.

I know that it won't be fully spring for a while though. There is still snow on the mountains, and not just on the top. I'm going skiing tomorrow and hope to ski for the next few weeks. There's still snow on almost every roof and, of course, in piles on the sides of the road and on sidewalks. And, it's still pretty cold at night.

I continue to be excited to see a new season in this beautiful part of Germany. I've always loved the sight of mountains and can't wait to take hikes and bike along the trails.

Here are a few more of A's photos. These are the more avant-garde of the photos that she has taken.

This is obviously a photo of a car but taken from A's perspective.

This is her trying to capture an image of our car in the windows of this building. Or maybe not.

Finally, this is her idea of life going by in a blur. Pretty artistic, isn't she? -- 15:42

Mar. 16, 2005

wednesday:

BOOK AND MOVIE REVIEW: The Vagabonds, The Library Dragon, Cellular and Collateral

I've just finished reading The Vagabonds by Nicholas Delbanco. This is a story that "slips across generations to examine the bonds of inheritance, fiscal and otherwise, linking three siblings." The three siblings are the Saperstones: Claire, David and Joanna. In this story we get a look at their very different lives and how they change when they recieve a sizable inheritance upon their mother's death. This inheritance was given to their grandmother by the "vagabonds" - Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford - for the care of her illegitimate child. But, the inheritance, through a twist of fate, was never used by either their grandmother or their mother and is left to the Saperstone children of this generation to use as they see fit. This book gradually reveals a clear view of the lives of not only the three siblings but also the lives of their mother and grandmother as the tale of the inheritance, and why it is left alone, is played out.

For me, this book represented a dichotomy of writing. The parts of the story that are written in the present day are incredibly well written and it compelled me to read very quickly. When I reached the parts written in the past, the story was written as if written in the past so that not only the spoken words were archaic, the whole section was written in the pedantic writing style of that time. I slogged through those parts only to understand the story but I did not particularly enjoy reading them like I enjoyed the other more "modern" parts of the book. It is an interesting book and I would recommend it only if you think you can get through the older style of writing.

This week A. is reading a book that I find interesting. It is called The Library Dragon by Carmen Agra Deedy. This is a book about Sunrise Elementary's librarian dilemma. They advertised for a thick-skinned librarian with a burning love of books and what they got was a real dragon, Miss Lotta Scales, who took her book guarding duties very seriously. "She kept a fiery eye out to make sure no one removed any books from the shelves ... The very thought of sticky little fingers

We also saw two movies at home this week, Cellular and Collateral. This first one, Cellular, starring Kim Basinger, was what I consider a sad excuse for an action movie. A woman, Jessica Martin (Basinger), is kidnapped by Greer (Jason Statham of The Transporter - which was a pretty good action movie) for some unknown reason. Although Greer smashes the phone in the attic he is keeping her in, our mechanically inclined heroine manages to get it working and get through to someone. This someone is Ryan (Chris Evens), an egotistical and irresponsible college student who doesn't take the phone call too seriously. When he finally does, he runs into a series of unlikely events which are laughable in a movie that is supposed to be serious. The script is predictable in a cliched kind of way. And the acting isn't much better. My take: don't rent it.

Collateral is another action movie and Tom Cruise stars in it. It was also pretty predictable but not in such an awful way. Cruise is Vincent, a hired killer, who in turn hires a taxi driver, Max (Jamie Foxx), to drive him around to each of his six hits for the night. Vincent and Max's luck turns sour after just one kill when Max finds out who Vincent really is. This is where the movie becomes sad and predictable. Throughout the night Max continually tries to find ways to escape Vincent and Vincent continually tries to get Max to see his point of view and how sad Max's life really is. Although the movie is spiced up occasionally by some small plot twists, it all comes out the same in the end. My take: not a bad action movie but kind of dark and nothing special. -- 21:30

Mar. 15, 2005

tuesday:

A VIEW FROM THE BACKSEAT

Since I'm going with the photos that A. took, I decided to put them in the blog and write something about them instead of putting them on the side.

These are some photos that A. took the other day that show her view of life from the back seat.

This is her view looking out of the front windshield. It's very interesting to see yourself (me, the mother) from the back. And it's more interesting to think about the fact that this is the persective that A. always has when we are riding in the car. The good views are always slightly obstructed and people always have their backs to her.

This is A's view out of the window. Life is moving by pretty fast but I'm sure that sometimes she can catch a glimpse of something interesting out there, if she just keeps looking.

This is a view of A's feet. Every once in a while she needs to look down and check everything out. The floor is a pretty interesting place, especially since her feet can't touch it. All the interesting things wind up down there.

Mar. 14, 2005

monday:

THEME FOR PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week all the photos of the day will come from photos that A. shot yesterday on our trip to Austria. We've let her use the camera before and the photos usually don't come out that great but yesterday she took some pretty good photos. It was a little easier than usual since she was using the digital camera and just looked at the view screen instead of in the eyepeice. I don't think she knows how to use the eyepeice yet.

Of course, like all children with a camera, she did take quite a few "accidental" photos of her legs and the floor of the car. And she still hasn't gotten used to keeping all her photos level, but she's getting there. She's only three! But her Mom keeps hoping to teach her about taking good photos and thanks her lucky stars for digital cameras.

Here is one of A's self-portraits. I'm sure it was unintentional but cute anyway. Mommy hopes she'll be a great photographer some day. -- 08:51

Mar. 11, 2005

friday:

RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE SKIING

I went skiing by myself today. In Austria. Since I am still a beginner skier that was kind of a scary thought when I first thought about it. I had not planned on skiing alone, but my skiing buddy couldn't make it. And I thought for a long time about whether I should go or not. In fact, I thought about it all the way up to the time that I actually got out of the car at the ski slope and put on my ski boots. But, A. was in child care, the money was in my pocket and, the thing that really got me going was, the fact that I would have to do something else to work out, and I just didn't have the motivation to do anything else. So, it's up the slope I go.

And I liked this slope. The initial ride up on the gondola has an incredible view. The runs are long and kind of varied. And I didn't have to do a T-bar (out of three runs I've taken alone up a t-bar, I've fallen twice). Instead of a T-bar or anything else that requires some kind of work or coordination on the skiers part, you get to ride up the slope on a six person ski lift (or a six-pack as some people call it).

To begin with, riding up on this six-pack is pretty awesome. The view is great and if you're alone or with quiet people, it is incredibly silent. Which is just the perfect harmony to go with the view of the Alps as you ride up. One of the things you can see very clearly is the snow being blown off of the top of the mountains sorrounding you. From the valley where we live, this looks like a diminutive cloud hanging around the very top of the mountain. But, after I had been here a few weeks, my husband told me that it was really the snow being blown off in the almost continual wind at the top. This has fascinated me ever since and seeing it up close is even more incredible. Far away it looks just like a singular mass but up close you can see the variations and swirls as it actually blows with the shifting wind. I could ride up all day, just to look at the view.

Another thing I like about this slope and ski lift, is that there are two pigs (pet pigs, I'm assuming) that have a home right below the beginning of the six-pack. I really couldn't tell if they were tied or not, but I don't think so. They have a hole underneath the roots of a nearby tree and usually they are laying out in the sun in one of the paths that they have made through the snow. They are kind of hairy pigs and I don't really know if all pigs grow hair in the winter, but I don't think so. So, they are interesting for me to look at. They obviously are interesting to other people, too, since on one of my trips up the ski lift, an older German man was making piggy noises at them. I thought it was cute.

One other thing I notice while I'm riding up the lift is how other people ski. It's always nice to see other beginners doing the snowplow down the mountain. I always feel better knowing I'm not the only one. I hope that I don't do that too much but sometimes my feet automatically want to do the V shape as soon as I point them downhill. Self preservation, I guess. But the majority of people I see going down the hill are intermediate to advanced skiers (this makes sense since the lift goes mostly over the more difficult runs). When I started to ski this year, I was told to keep my skis in a wide stance. From what I hear this is a more recent (how recent, I have no idea) technique that is supposed to be easier. But many of the skiers that I saw today were still putting their skis in a tight stance that was taught when I first learned how to ski (1989). Being that it was a weekday and I saw quite a few older people on the slopes, that made sense. And they look so graceful. And it made me want to look like that. But every time I tried to do it, my skis wouldn't work together. For some reason (probably because I'm inexperienced) my skis would either begin to cross at the tip (since I'm in the automatic snowplow) or the back of my moving ski would catch some snow and refuse to become parallel with it's mate (bad ski, bad ski).

But I did progress today, I think. I did that by talking myself through what I wanted myself to do or to calm myself after almost making a big mistake. I'd say, "OK, sweetie, you can do this." I don't know why I call myself sweetie but, I think it is from trying to teach A. so many things and talking her through them. And I basically call her Sweetie more than I call her by her name. So, I'll be saying, "OK, sweetie, bend your knees. Now move that ski over. Oh, sweetie, that was a big bump. OK, you can do it. You can go faster than that kid over there. You're doing fine, WHOA! OK, steady ... " And on it goes, the running dialog between me and sweetie. Even though I didn't fall today (the first day that I didn't) I had a few close calls but I just kept telling "sweetie" that she'd better not fall since there was no one there to help her up (and I'm not so great at getting up). I did try to go down one of the steeper hills twice but with all the new snow my skis kept getting caught up and I decide not to try anything more dangerous. You want to give your leg muscles a workout? Try the tension in your legs after you almost fell three or four times down a steep slope. And it gets your heart pounding, too.

In the end, I survived my ski trip alone in Austria and I enjoyed it, too. Some of the skiing was a bit hairy at times (new snow and bumpy terrain can do that to a beginner) but I didn't fall, I learned a few things and I got a decent workout.

Speaking of workouts, this week was pretty uneventful on the workout front. I had a bit of the winter blues and I was a little tight in the beginning of the week, so my Monday and Wednesday workouts weren't spectacular but I did them. I also walked to the sledding hill with A. on the sled on Thursday. And we played in the snow for an hour. I'm sure I got a good workout from that. I lost a pound again this week but I think that from here on out it'll be more difficult. Five pound or so is my easy gain, easy lose cycle and I'll be happy if I can get lower without too much more extra work.

I'm still going to try to ski once a week until the season ends (which is pretty late around here). I need to keep it up to get any better at all. Hope I can. -- 22:52

Mar. 10, 2005

thursday:

PARENTING RITUALS

Oh, the joys of parenting! One of my favorite things about parenting is routines. Not only does it keep the children comfortable in knowing what to expect, but it makes it easier for the parent to do things without worrying what the child will think. It gives both the child and parent some time to relax and do something familiar together. In my opinion without some kind of routine, the days would be much harder to deal with.

One of the routines that we have had the longest is our bedtime routine. As A. has gotten older, some things have changed slightly but the general idea and style of the routine has remained the same. Wash. Read. Pray and Sing. Simple. And, ever since she turned one or so (after I finished breastfeeding), my husband and I have shared the tasks and switch off and on with who does what. One of us would Wash. One of us would Read, Pray and Sing (Twinkle Twinkle, ABC -- which, by the way, are sung to the same tune -- and Jesus Loves Me are requirements). Over time J. and I have both come to covet the Wash phase, since it took up less time and had the least amount of fussing involved (A. goes through periods of time when she doesn't want to go to sleep or requires one of us to be with her when she does). But that doesn't mean that reading with her cuddled in our lap doesn't do something to our heartstrings.

Since coming to Germany, the ritual has developed some new twists. Now, when she leaves the bathroom, she has to play hide and seek. This is not your average hide and seek, either. In the beginning, she just hid under the blanket on her bed with one of the parents while the other parent "looked" for them. Of course, all the while she would be calling out directions to the "looker." "Count!" "Turn on the light!" "Look everywhere!" (She is nothing, if not directive.) The "Looker" would eventually lay down on the bed, feigning sleep, until A. would yell enough to "wake" them up and "let" them "find" her. But that's not all. This game has also evolved.

To begin with, A. does not like to "not" be found and usually that means, right away. She has to be the center of attention. So, the game has progressed to where the "Looker" was told to "sleep" in the chair next to the bed. Usually immediately after entering the room. A. would yell to "wake" the "Looker" up and the "Looker" would say, "Who's there?" To which she would reply, "It's me." "Who's me?" "Alexandra!"

Eventually, she started wanting the parent hiding with her to answer and also to lay on the side next to the chair so they would receive the brunt of the tickling that was sure to follow the "finding." That parent came to be known as the "Bad Hider." (Which is actually one of our nicknames for her.) In recent weeks the "Bad Hider" sometimes has to hide alone, with A. doing the looking alongside the other parent.

The game keeps evolving. Almost daily. I'm sure there will be plenty more twists along the way before she tires of this game and wants a different one. And I'll be along for the ride the whole way. What could be better? Sometimes parenting is all it's cracked up to be. -- 11:55

Mar. 09, 2005

wednesday:

ADMISSION OF A FAILURE -- OF SORTS

If you haven't noticed, I've been failing in the daily writing program that I set out for you. I think that between being busy and kinda feeling the winter blahs, the schedule I set out for myself has begun to feel like work instead of enjoyment (which was what I had wanted at the beginning). So, I will set a new plan to write as often as possible but only when I wanted to. So that's that.

-------

I was reading a book to A. in the library the other day and it was called Tiny Tim Verses for Children chosen by Jill Bennett. This book seemed wholly unremarkable to me at the time that A. picked it out so I began to read the verses.

The first verse was about One-eyed Jack, the pirate chief. It was a bit on the scary side (for children, especially considering the picture that accompanied it) but not too horrific. Then came a totally benign verse on shoes, followed by a verse on toast, one on a turtle and then one about a train. All cute, all enjoyable and all what I would call rated PG. Then comes the verse that the book was named after, Tiny Tim.

It starts out as sweet as sweet could be. I had a little brother/ His name was Tiny Tim/ I put him in the bathtub/ To teach him how to swim/ Sounds fine. But the next few lines aren't that, should I say, sweet. He drank up all the water/ He ate up all the soap/ He died last night/ With a bubble in his throat/. I don't think I can tell you all the ways that this is wrong. At least for a children's book. Not only is it morbid but is it any wonder if any of the kids that hear this verse want to take a bath? It seems like it would be pretty scary to me.

The verse goes on to say that three people came and went from the house (a doctor, a nurse and a lady with an alligator purse) and they all pronounced the little boy "dead." I'm assuming all this went on in front of the older brother who put Tim in the bathtub in the first place. OK

I'm reading this and thinking, "OK, one verse, it didn't seem to impress her much. No problem." I was wrong.

Two verses later. Algy met a bear,/ A bear met Algy./ The bear was bulgy,/ The bulge was Algy. If I'm not mistaken, that bear ate the boy.

Futher on in the book, there's a verse by James Kirkup (the other verses that I mentioned were written anonymously.) This verse is about an old man who "had a face made of cake" (how he lived so long with this "malady" is unknown). He sticks his head in the oven to "bake" the "cake." And in the end "The eyes went pop,/ The currants went bang,/ And that was the end/ of that old man. Pleasant little tale, isn't it?

But I really think that my favorite horrific verse in the book is the one about the "jolly" hunter by Charles Causley. And this is how it goes. I saw a jolly hunter/ With a jolly gun/ Walking in the country/ In the jolly sun./ In the jolly meadow/ Sat a jolly hare/ Saw the jolly hunter/ Took jolly care./ Hunter jolly eager -/ Sight of jolly prey./ Forgot gun pointing/ Wrong jolly way./ Jolly hunter jolly head/ Over heels gone./ Jolly old safety catch/ Not jolly on./ Bang went the jolly gun./ Hunter jolly dead./ Jolly hare got clean away./ Jolly good, I said. Jolly funny in a jolly morbid way. Of course, jolly sick for jolly kids (who aren't very jolly any more because of all this death!).

Personally, I think some of them are pretty funny, but for a children's book? No, I don't think so. But don't think I'm so surprised that they actually exist. You know that the song "Rock a bye Baby" is actually not that incredibly nice. But it doesn't actually talk about the baby dying after the fall. And we know that "Ring around the Rosie" is talking about what happened during the Plague. But it's pretty oblique and most people don't find that out until they're at least a teenager. Those two are the most common and they are considered nonsense by most people. But the verses in this book are fairly straightforward when they talk about people dying and death. And they were printed in 1981. Not incredibly recent, but not in the dark ages either. What were they thinking?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in a day and age when our children can see violence at any time on the TV (even in children's cartoons), why do people think that we need to have violence in children's literature? Why does someone feel the morbid need to dig up these verses that were probably forgotten, and print them? I guess we'll never know the reasoning behind it, and of course, I don't have to read that book to A. again. But does this mean that I have to start sensoring every book that she picks up in the library? I hope not, but I'm still sad that there is something like this available to her out there. I'm not saying that we need to get rid of books like this one but, put it in the adult section. We'll enjoy it more than they will anyway. -- 20:40

Mar. 07, 2005

monday:

WEEKLY THEME FOR THE POTD

Snow, snow and more snow! That's what we've been getting here and it never seems to be going away. And I love it! As I mentioned before, I don't have to shovel it or scrap it off the car, so this year, I see no downside to the snow. I've always enjoyed it and I'll enjoy it even more this year

One of the things that I really hope is that I'll continue to enjoy it for the rest of my stay here. I don't want to stop enjoying the lovely scenery around here and I want to continue to marvel and all the wonderful things snow can do to just ordinary objects. Like mountains or trees. Houses, benches or cars. -- 23:44

Mar. 04, 2005

JUST SOME COMMENTS ON THE LAST WEEK OR SO

One of the reasons that I've been so late with my posting this week is that the skiing is taking a lot of my time and it's tiring me out. So I come to the end of this week, tired but feeling as if I've done something worthwhile.

Actually, this feeling started last Thursday when I spent the whole day at home enjoying the company of my daughter (who was acting like a kitty for most of the day and kept crawling up on my lap and cuddling with me). My husband was away from home and it seemed like a good idea to stay in my pajamas all day. But that evening I had decided to go night skiing with some friends. And so, my first trip into Austria ever happened at night when I couldn't see very much of the country I was visiting for the first time. But the town was very pretty at night especially from the top of the ski slope, with lights sprinkled all up and down the mountain sides nearby.

I had another first that Saturday when I went to pick up my husband from the Munich (or Munchen, as it is called in German -- why do we say it differently?). It was the first time traveling that far away by myself (well, I had the girl with me but she doesn't count much as a navigator) and the first time that I have ever driven 105 mph while knowing that I am perfectly within the speed limit and getting passed by other cars. Germans must be so disciplined when it comes to driving. When I'm on the autobahn and I'm going 105 mph, I don't feel like slowing down at all but when you come into towns or a city like Munich, they have you go down to about 80 kph (which is about 50 mph) a few miles outside of the actual city. Although I know that I'm going 50, it feels like I'm crawling and speed demon that I am, I have a hard time going that slow. But the Germans have no problem with it. The Mecedes and BMWs that were just going 10 or 15 mph faster than me, are going 50 when they pass those signs. Not like in the states, where some people just choose to ignore when the speed limit goes down to 50 from 65 and continue going 65 or faster.

The rest of that weekend and this week was filled with just being busy. Having to do laundry after my husband came home (in my tiny weeny washer and dryer that take forever). Going on my ski trips which, while they were exhilarating, were also very tiring and long which left me feeling like doing nothing at home. Keeping up with a child that slept 14 hours on Monday night and was so full of energy on Tuesday it was hard to do anything at all.

I have enjoyed my week but I am glad it is over. -- 22:30

Mar. 04, 2005

friday:

EXERCISE UPDATE MARCH 4

My exercise this week consisted of skiing, skiing and more skiing. Actually, I only skied on Monday and Wednesday but it was for three or four hours at a time. For me, skiing is still pretty much a good workout since I've only skied four times in the last seven years and only about seven times in my whole life. So, I'm still tensing up muscles that are not used to the automatic reflexes required for good skiing.

On Monday I was still a pretty scared, looking at the steep (at least they looked steep at the time) slopes that I was expected to go down. And between serious snowplowing and very large turns to slow me down, I was always the last down the slope. But I was learning all the time and getting a feel for it and by the time I took my last run (which took me right down next to my car) I was feeling more confident and not going as slow. On Wednesday, it only took me a few runs to regain that confidence and later that day I found enough to take some of the slopes at a speed that would have felt like sure death to me on Monday. Of course, just when I thought that I was doing good, I agreed to ski down the very large mountain that I had taken a cable car up to (there are less steep slopes at the top of the mountain). They said that the toughest slopes had ways around them that weren't as steep. Well, if what we went down wasn't as steep, holy moly! I'd hate to check out the steep ones. Let's just say that just about the time when I thought I was doing pretty good those slopes down the mountain put me in my place. I was incredible out of my league and it took forever to get down the mountain. There were three of us beginners and our instuctor and we basically had to take the steep slopes about three turns at a time so that we wouldn't be building up more speed than we could handle.

Despite that harrowing experience I still want to keep up my skiing even though it gets pretty expensive when you have to buy life tickets every time you go. Next year I probably buy a pass and that should cover almost every time I go up. And I'll probably get my own skis at the end of this season. Soon I'll be a true snow bunny!

Today I had a normal workout with my new book as a guide. Since I have to combine six days worth into just two or three (or like this week, one), it usually is a pretty intensive workout. But I like this style of workout. Many of the exercises combine stretching with strength and they leave me feeling tired but not tight. He also has a few elasticity workout put in the schedule a couple of times a week and they are something I've never done before. For example, the one below is one of the ones that I've been doing. They are supposed to improve your body's ability to generate and reduce force. "By doing so, you'll make it more elastic and springy. Elasticity decreases the potential for injury and allows you to produce more force (or less, if needed) in less time." This is what the book promises and I hope that this will help me during the next few ski seasons (I started it too late to help me out this year).

As for the weight, I lost another pound this week. Not very much, but it is nice to see it go down. I think I'm getting used to the idea that it is taking much longer to lose weight now that I'm older. I think my workouts are getting me somewhere. I feel very tired afterwards but they leave me with a feeling of accomplishment which some workouts just don't do. -- 22:19

Mar. 03, 2005

thursday:

BOOK AND MOVIE REVIEW (better late than never)

As you can tell, I've been late with my posts this week. It's been a busy week for me, but I'll talk more about that later. On to the books and movie reviews!

There is another series of books that I have been reading that I have found very interesting. It's a series about an Amish family written by Beverly Lewis. The series is called Abram's Daughters and the most recent one that I have read is the fourth book in the series called The Prodigal. The first books are called The Covenant, The Betrayal and The Sacrifice.

On first hearing about a book on Amish lives, many people would probably discount it as boring. I have to say that for me, these books are anything but boring. These books are written in a simple but compelling style that brings to life the daily lives of four Amish sisters (although the family expands in the second book). What is most interesting is that although the Amish lifestyle might seem to be one of honesty and plain living, Lewis shows us the hearts and minds of these characters which are anything but open to the rest of their family and community. Because of strict Amish rules of what can be spoken about and what is right and wrong, these young girls struggle with emotions and desires that they feel they cannot talk about to or get any advice from the adults in their lives. The first book opens up in 1946 during a time in the oldest girl's life called rumschpringe or loosely translated, the "running around." This was the "no-rules teen years allowed by the "People" (what the Amish called themselves) prior to their children's baptism into the Amish church." During this time usually no questions were asked and the teen was allowed to do many things not normally allowed to an Amish person. What happens to this family and the sisters during this time has consequences that follow them far into their future. Unfortunately for the sisters many times sadness and loss is the consequence. And although this family tries to do the right things in their own mind, lies, deceit and misunderstanding seem to continually plague their lives.

Although these books are occasionally slow due to Lewis' description of Amish life and other things, I think it is a very compelling story and I finished the fourth book in about three days. Lewis uses her wonderful storytelling skills to suck the reader into their lives and leaves us wanting to find out more.

Alexandra is also reading some interesting books these days. The most interesting and unique in my opinion is the one called The Terrible Underpants by Kaz Cooke. It is a story about a girl whose nice underpants are all wet and hanging out to dry so she is forced to wear "the terrible underpants." What I can't help but be amused by is the kinds of things people will put in children's books these days. When I was a child, we didn't talk about our underpants and we definitely didn't talk about the terrible ones. But Alexandra gives this book a thumbs up and so do I. The other book that she is reading this week is called Dreams by Ezra Jack Keats. It is a whimsical story about a boy called Roberto and what his paper mouse can do. This book also gets a thumbs up from both of us.

Well, onto the movie review. Since I finally got some movies from my Blockbuster online membership we can now see fairly new movies every once in a while (I still have yet to know how long it will take for them to get back to the states and for them to get another movie out to us).

This week we watched The Door in the Floor. It is a typical John Irving book made into a movie. Now, I like John Irving's books but they are usually filled with unusual characters doing unusual things or having unusual things happen to them (did I use the word unusual enough?). And they almost always have a very intricate plot with many twists and turns. So, although the movies turn out to be unique they don't always tell the story in the same way. I have actually read the book this movie is based on (A Widow for One Year) I did not recognize the story until partway through the movie. This movie is about a man and wife who lose their two sons in an auto accident and how they each deal (or don't deal) with it. The movie stars Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger as the couple. They both do a pretty good job playing their parts as the eccentric writer, Ted (Bridges), and depressed wife and mother, Marion (Basinger). This movie is an emotional rollercoaster ride which brings the couple to a breaking point. Overall, I think it is as well done as any of John Irving's books made into a movie even though it is only half the book that he wrote and the end of the movie leaves the situation open-ended. I liked it and would recommend it to anyone who has liked the other John Irving books put to movie. -- 16:23

Mar. 01, 2005

tuesday:

PHOTO THEME FOR THE WEEK

I know this is late but circumstances conspired. This week I thought I would treat you to a look at the benches scattered around our town. Ummm, benches, you might say. Not too thrilling, eh? Well, I think that they are very delightful and unique. The unique part about them is that I'm not just taking pictures of ordinary benches, but the ones that have silhouettes of people carved right into the benches. Some are painted and some are not. I think they are so delightful because I used to (and sometimes still do) think that there were real people sitting on the benches -- especially when I caught the shapes out of the corner of my eye. A. has a blast with them. She loves to go up to them and talk to them and she almost always still thinks they are real people at first (or at least she acts like it). She has always loved sitting on benches but these are so much better since she always has company when she sits on these benches.

Well, there it is. And I think they're great. -- 19:28

Mar. 01, 2005

tuesday:

REVIEWING THE OSCAR REVIEWS

The Oscars. You've all seen them or have heard who won this year (if you haven't, you need to read a newpaper or turn on the radio once in a while). As for me, just like the superbowl, I don't watch the actual show anymore (I don't know if I ever sat through a whole show, ever). I just look at the photos and read the reviews. Saves me a lot of time.

One of the first things I always look at is the fashion section. Although I usually don't follow the star's lives or fashion statements, I think this time of the year, "the red carpet season," brings out the best in fashion journalist. What will they come up with next as a comparison to what they see on the red carpet? What amusing jibes will they throw at this season's fashion darling's choice of a dress? Nothing is more intriguing then reading what some fashion "judges" say about what the rich and famous are wearing on the red carpet. I usually look at more than one set of fashion reviews just to see how the two differ. Just as an aside: I know nothing about fashion. Everyone who knows me, knows that. I just enjoy looking at it. As such, there are many times when my own fashion sense tells me that what everone is Ohhing and Ahhing about is really very ugly. But the thing that gets me the most is that most of the time these fashion people don' t agree either. Don't get me wrong, most of the time they agree on one or two of the best dressed and almost always on the worst (which may be one of many worst dressed).

This year I was looking at People.com and MSN and one of the most notable differences is their opinion on the Greek "goddess" looking dress Natalie Portman was wearing. People says kudos for her " Art Deco-style Lanvin gown topped off with a sparkling headband." MSN on the other hand says that the dress looks like it was "made from recycled Jawa cloaks" and has a "drab dirty dishwater hue and unbecoming pleated skirt." And they slam the headband by saying "Portman also stumbles with her decision to don that 7th grade staple, the headband. Sure, this one is jeweled and worth major bucks, but it's still a headband, and it makes Natalie look like she should be cramming for her Algebra final, not schmoozing with the A-list." I hate it when they say that!

Another difference of opinion comes from the dress won by award winning Hiliary Swank. People says she "looks like a million bucks." Meanwhile, MSN says that "while we adore the ruched gown's skin-tastic rear, which puts the Best Actress winner's super-sculpted back on display, the high-necked, long-sleeved, get-thee-to-a-nunnery front seems to be lifted directly from Mary Lou Retton's new leotards-as-formalwear collection." Ouch, that hurt.

Both of them seemed to have liked the dress that Kirsten Dunst wore which I thought was not "all that." And both of them agree that Melanie Griffith's dress was a definite "DON'T" and Johnny Depp's usually eccentric but not usually bad looking style just didn't make the grade this year. MSN said "this unsightly suit, which he pairs with an unkempt coif, evil genius facial hair, and Poindexter eyeglasses, goes too far by obscuring his good looks, a fashion felony that deserves the most severe punishment." I hate to say it, but I agree.

After looking at all the photos of people who have millions of dollars but may or may not have any fashion sense, I look to see who won and read a little about the ceremony.

As far as who won, I really don't care that much. I look just to have some kind of knowledge about who won and not because I agree or disagree with the choice. I mean, really, do you always agree with who wins? I'm sure you don't. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes when it comes to movies. More than half the time the winners (and maybe even many of the nominees) are from movies I've never seen. Many times this is because of my erratic movie watching due to location (I lived in Korea for five years and now in Germany) or logistics (since having Alexandra, finding a babysitter and time for a movie has been a problem). Sometimes I use the list of winners and nominees as a "must see" list of movies, and sometimes I discount their nomination or subsequent win as just politics or some kind of love of movies that I have no desire to see.

The final piece of my Oscar rubbernecking (a it sounds like it was definitly a fender-bender of a show) is reading about how the actual show went. This year they decided to go with a "shorter" show (31/2 hours is short?). I'm assuming that the shortness was for people at home that actually wanted to watch the whole thing. Personally, it couldn't be short enough for me to actually watch it since I'm just not into watching people stand up on a stage and not only are they not acting (that's what actors are supposed to do on the stage, right?), they are thanking people that I don't know and sometimes acting and sounding downright silly. And every year they have a different host (well, I think occationally they have the same person a few years in a row). This host is usually obliged to tell the typical smattering of "politic, sexual, pick on the actors" kinds of jokes. This year Chris Rock (who I consider funny about 50% of the time) was the host and although the MSN reporter liked his political joke (which I know was not as funny for some people) the rest of the show fell pretty flat. "Between that ugly stage, which looked like "Star Search" circa 1989 (where's Ed McMahon?), the abbreviated award presentations for, apparently, less important winners (like those pesky stage hogs who do set design, animated shorts or, you know, make documentary films), and Rock's lackluster segues, the proceedings became tedious. Stunted. And even with its shorter running time, it felt draggy." She even said it was the most boring in history.

I have never felt more validated in my life. -- 11:35

Feb. 25, 2005

friday:

EXERCISE UPDATE - FEB. 25

I've been trying out this new workout book (there's always something that I have to try out). It's called Core Performance and it's supposed to be "The revolutionary workout program to transform your body and your life."

I originally bought it because it's supposed to focus on your "core" (the part of your body that holds everything together and where all movement comes from) and on flexiblity. And I liked that idea. I had already been using some of these exercises in my own workout program so I thought that I would just smoothly transition into doing the full program.

It turns out that nothing is smooth when you start a new workout program. I thought that the book was great because it had a couple of 12 week workout programs in the back and having a plan to follow is something that I like very much. Unfortunately, these programs are for someone who is willing to work out six days a week, for forever. I did try to do it, really, I did. But for four or five weeks (I've had this book for about six weeks now), I was getting an average three or four days in and I never got off the first two weeks of the program (I felt that if I didn't complete the week, I couldn't go on to the next one). Well, I could have been doing that for forever and never gotten off those first few weeks. So I decided to make up my own program and do it on the days that I can get to it, which are usually the days that A. is in childcare, three days a week. That should at least get me through the winter.

This week I did that program, and it worked pretty well, when I did it. Since Monday was a holiday, A didn't go to childcare and I was incredibly lazy. And Tuesday was spent taking J to the airport and going to the library. Thankfully, I did get a good workout in on Wednesday and Friday, doing my homemade workout program and some intervals on the treadmill. It felt good, but I was tired. I also got a bonus workout by going nightskiing on Thurday (more info about that in my following post) and that had a lot of extra workout built into it. But it was fun.

I didn't lose weight this week but I didn't gain either. My diet has been awful because of J going away and being home alone with the child. I just hate cooking for only one or two people. And, I had to make the store bought cookie dough cookies I bought for A (who, of course, didn't like them once she tasted them). Do they put drugs in those things? Because I just can't stay away from them. But, they didn't hurt my weight too much. All in all it wasn't a bad week but I hope next week is better. -- 16:44

Feb. 24, 05

thursday:

WATCHING HER GROW UP

It really is amazing watching someone grow up. And if it's your child, it's even better. I know I talked about this in an earlier post but I really didn't cover the complexity of it all. And how it hits you at odd times.

This time it was because A and I were by ourselves. Dad is on a business trip and so we were eating our sandwiches in Subway, by ourselves. And I didn't sit next to her. It's odd how things can become the norm in three years. For the last three years I have sat next to her almost every time she ate. The only times I didn't were when her father sat next to her. But this time I sat across from her and I felt liberated. I looked at her eating her sandwich and drinking her juice (without a straw!) and I thought, "This is almost normal." I was elated and a bit stunned.

She is growing so fast and becoming her own person. And developing such a personality! She is exuberant (especially when it comes to people), happy-go-lucky, directive, stubborn at times but flexible most of the time, friendly, incredibly social, easily distracted, hard headed, affectionate, caring and sweet. She loves going to the "playpark" (her word for the childcare center), cuddling and being read to by anyone, reading and playing in the library, being with people, watching her videos (right now Madeline and the Magic School Bus), playing mommy and baby with her toys, painting, writing with markers, riding her tricycle and (especially lately) eating and playing in the snow. She is also picking up phrases and things that she has heard only once or twice. Anything that she finds interesting, she'll pick up. And although she has never seen the Power Rangers, she is running around and saying things from that show all because of the boys at her childcare that watch it. It's amazing what their little minds will suck up.

One of her favorite foods is tuna fish sandwiches and she loves to go to Subway to eat them (she'll get a bag of chips there but she won't get one at home). And that is where we were when I had this revelation. She is a person now! She has her own personality. You can see (even a stranger, can) what kind of person she is. Obviously, I will have a great deal of influence on her personality over the next ten or fifteen years, but it's already there. The foundation is laid.

That is so miraculous. Over the last three years I have read a tremendous amount of literature on "how to raise your child." How to make them independant. How to make them caring. How to make them self-confident. How not to mess up your child. And it's nerve-racking. I think that years ago when they didn't have this kind of information, maybe it was better. But the articles are there now, so I'm going to read it. And make myself crazy. It always seems to me that the articles are telling you how to make every little piece of your life perfect, that way your child will come out perfect. I don't think it works that way. I think that it is a culmination of the many little good things you do and not the few little bad things you did.

I was lucky in some parts of that. My husband is so much the opposite of me. The calming influence on my raging emotions. It rubbed off on me and on her, I think. It gave her a good balance. And it helped that we were older (he even more than me). We were settled into life. Not looking for our own identities. We had things to show and teach her. As well as a good perspective on life and how we saw other people raise their kids. I think that helped.

But sometimes I wonder if it's all just a shot in the dark. Did someone else push their kid just a little too hard at the wrong time? Is that why they turned out that way? I think it has so much to do with the child's own inborn personality and many times, if you don't understand it, you may not know the right thing to do. Even when all the books tell you what you're doing is right. It may be wrong. Who knows?

So, the last few years have been bristling with uncertainty. Did I push too far one way and not enough another? I think I'm beginning to see the outcome. And it's remarkable. This, my first child, has turned out as good as or better than I could have hoped for. At least, so far. Don't get me wrong, she is a considerable amount of work. More than I thought a "perfect" child would be. But my idea of perfect has changed decidedly since I became a mother. I have seen other children who are not like her (but maybe more of what I thought a "perfect" child would be) and I realized that I don't want her any different than what she is now. And I just can't wait to see what she will become in the next few years. -- 09:16

Feb. 23, 05

add on for wednesday:

For anyone who would like to see my other blog, which is a work in progress, go to Fairy Life at Modblog and check it out. At this website you can write comments and let me know what you think of what I said (you may have to sign in but it's free and not a problem). You can also check out my image galleries by clicking on it in the left-hand column.

Also, for anyone who would like to see the Picture of the Day bigger, you can just click on it and it will take you to Flickr, a photo website. There you can see all of the photos that I've put up, some of them haven't been on the website. Have a good night! -- 17:54

23.02.05

wednesday:

BOOK AND MOVIEW REVIEW

I love Sci-Fi Books. Not every single one, mind you. But they are definitely on the top of my most read genre list. Anne McCaffrey is one of those that I've been steadily reading for the past six months or so. It's been this long, not because I read slow, but because she has a huge amount of books in her Dragons of Pern series. I picked up her On Dragonwings book first, just on a whim. This book actually has three books in it and is a great place to start if you've never read any of her books.

She is a fantastic writer and has been doing this series for ages (and I mean almost as long as I've been living) and has continued to come out with different books for this series for almost that whole time. This series is very interesting also because on one hand, it has some books that follow a timeline and should be read in order. On the other hand, some books are stand alone books or in a series which can be read by themselves without the help of the timeline books. This is because she has created a whole world and there is more than one storyline to be followed. This is also a world that she follows for a few thousand years and in which she follows different people through different timelines. For me it was intriguing because usually a series of books follow the same people and sometimes it ends up with them in the same situations and around the third book (unless you're a truly proficient writer), I get bored with it. Not so with this series. I just finished the 12th story of hers that I've read and I can say that I sincerely enjoyed them.

A. also has some new books that she positively enjoys and two of her favorites are Olivia and Lucky Chuck. The first book, Olivia, is one that I truly enjoy, too. It's about a little girl pig who is, shall we say, very exuberant. When Olivia gets dressed in the morning, she tries on all her clothes. And when Olivia goes to bed at night her mother tells her that she "wears her out" but that she loves her anyway. The story is basically a day in the life of. And I like it.

The second book, Lucky Chuck, I do not like. It reads like a Dick and Jane book but not as interesting. It goes something like this: "This is Chuck. This is Chuck's motorcycle. This is Chuck checking his motorcycle for gas." And on, and on. I really don't like it, but A. does, so we read the book. Over and over again.

Saw two movies over the weekend, but nothing new. Right now I'm getting movies from the library (since it is free), but soon we should be getting our first three movies from Blockbuster.com. Then we should be seeing new movies.

The two movies we saw were Solaris and Someone like you. I really didn't think that both of them would be relationship movies. I got Soloris because it was a Sci-Fi and I wanted to get something my husband would enjoy (since they didn't have a big selection, this is what I got). Why didn't someone warn me! I am SO glad I didn't see this in the theater! No wonder it didn't do well. So, here's the short of it. This guy (George Clooney) goes to a space station where everyone is going crazy (is