Sorry I haven't been around the last couple of weeks. It is so boring
in Liz land,  even if I had written it would be drivel. For the 4
faithful readers still out there, I have one exciting thing coming
up.  I'm going to go to Holland.  Lisse to be exact. I want
to see the Keukenhof gardens and take a thousand pictures. And if at
all possible I'm going to go from there to Amsterdam so that I can go
to the Van Gogh and Rijks museums. I think I will more than likely end
up riding the train over by myself.  Bear and Mike had glazed eyes
by the time I finished telling them what I wanted to do.  Not that
I expected them to be thrilled at spending all day looking at tulips
and then all the next day looking at paintings, but sheesh, I at least
expected them to stay awake while I talked about it,  I guess not
everyone appreciates Van Gogh the way I do.

My external hard drive crashed last week. Every picture we've taken
while here in Europe was on that hard drive. As well as almost 3,000
songs and tons of important paperwork. Like our resumes, which could be
re-written but most of the hard copy data from that kind of stuff is
back in the States. But the pictures and songs could never be replaced.
  Bear went to a website called file scavenger or something like
that and bought a recovery program. we ran it and overnight it
recovered virtually everything.  It recovered the files but for
some reason it didn't recover all the file names.  For the last
week or so I've been wading thru one file at a time and re-naming it
and then putting it back where it belongs. ie: Germany pictures in the
Germany folder, Prague in the Prague folder and they all have sub
folders. After I get the file as close to original as possible I make a
hard copy, that way if for some inexplicable reason the new hard drive
crashes it won't matter. This time I'm making extra Cds. I'm giving
Mike a copy since he was there for most trips and I'm sending a set to
my daughter Em.(triple redundancy)  I cried when I thought I had
lost all my pictures.  Sure I have a lot of them here on xanga and
we've printed some out but the majority were in the original un-edited
form and no-one but me has seen them.  So I was fairly devastated
at the loss.  As soon as the recovery program ran I took a double
layer dvd and copied all the photos onto it, ( it took 5 hours just for
that) I would rather have my pics messy than not at all. So that has
been my latest 10 to 12 hour a day effort. And get this, I haven't even
started sorting thru the music.  Gah!  My back is killing me,
I really don't know how computer tech can sit at a desk 8 hours a day
all year long.  So if you wonder what I'm up to and what exciting
thing living in Europe has afforded me, now you know. lol.

My nose has noticed that Spring has arrived, even being stuck in the
apartment all day my eyes are itchy, watery and red and my nose is
stuffed up and I'm sneezing. Yay, for Spring. Time to get ready for
Holland! I love the flowers to much to worry about the pollen.
Go to google and type in keukenhof.com, it will bring up the gardens
homepage, there's a small British flag at the bottom of the page so
that you can read it all in English,  you'll see why I want to go
so bad. If this really is our last
year here in Germany it would be a crime to not go when its only 4 and
a half
hours by train.  Wish me luck!

Fasching
in Germany is the same as Carnivale in Italy or Mardi Gras in New
Orleans and is celebrated in almost every European country. 
Almost everywhere, Catholic or not, some type of celebrating goes on in
the week leading up to Lent culminating in one final night of craziness
before Ash Wednesday.  In fact the week proceeding Lent is
called crazy days.  Here in little ol' Lampertheim they had a
parade and then after that everyone went to the fussganger (pedestrian
zone) and there was a small show consisting of a couple of bands and
some local kids performing.  It was fun, but way tamer that what
goes on in the bigger cities.  Here's some pictures from our local
festivities. First some from the parade then some of people having fun
at the show. What I like about it is the costumes, we Americans really
only get one night a year to dress up, Halloween. Even then, if your an
adult people look at you funny unless your going to a party or your in
costume because its what they do, where you work.  But during
Fasching you can dress up every day during crazy days and people just
think you like to have fun.  If we lived here I could have a great
time with the Fasching costumes, as it stands everything we buy has to
either be mailed home at high cost or given away, so most of the time I
don't bother with buying things like this, I just go and watch everyone
else.

What can make a modern Smart Car look big?

An antique Smart Car that's what.

More parade, notice the good looking Capt. Jack Sparrow.

Now here's some from the crowd and the show after the parade.

Okay, that's it from my neck of the woods.  Hope you enjoy.

p.s. Did you spot me?

So per instructions I'm supposed to list 6 weird things about myself
and then tag 6 people. I'm not mean enough to tag anyone, so if you
want to share your weirdness go ahead and for those who already
have....thanks, it makes me feel much more normal. Whatever "normal"
is....

1. A few years back I developed a phobia about taking a shower alone, to vulnerable I guess.   So for a long time I
would only shower with someone in the room (not necessarily in the shower.) to keep me
"company"   It kind of went away, but I still lock ALL
doors and windows before I shower and if there's multiple doors between
the shower and the front door I'll lock ever single one.

2. I don't like feet. I can make an exception if they are well groomed,
but keep gnarly feet hidden away please. On a semi related note, I
don't like seeing filthy hands. Soap is cheap, use it before going out
in public.

3.I still call my mom, mama and my dad, daddy. I think its a Southern
thing because I've heard other adult southeners do it too. But even I
know at my age it can sound childish.  But who cares? Not me, or
my three sisters, who are all older than me. (bunch o' weirdos)

4. I love perfume but can't wear it.  Almost all perfume will
eventually give me a raging headache but they smell so good that I keep
trying. What is it they say about doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.......

5. I still don't know what I want to be or what I want to do when I
grow up. I should probably figure that out before I hit retirement,
don't you agree?

6. I look better in gold jewelry but prefer silver and rarely wear
anything other than my diamond stud earrings and my wedding set. 
I wear my engagement ring, split from my band, on my right hand instead
of the left.

Now there's some obscure things.

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to share my joy.  You ladies know
what I'm talking about. The joy that can only be found in retail stores
under a sign that says clearance.  This particular piece of joy
was in the shoe department. sigh.  (I can sure be a stereotypical
girl sometimes.) Anyway, there they were all shiny new in all their
shooey( like chewy, only not edible) glory, the perfect 2 pair of
boots. One black pair, one brown pair, nothing to fancy just something
for all your jeans and slack wearing needs.  The heels not to high
but not to low, the toe box nice and roomy.  And the price, omg I
was in heaven, $50.00 boots marked down 75%. Yup, I got 100 dollars
worth of boots for 25 bucks.  Yes, that's right $12.50 a pair!
w00t!   Made me want to dance around the store singing "Oh Happy Day"

I hate thieves.  They take what we work for and
then to make it worse lie about their thievery.   I figure
every thief you see is also a liar. So I'm not real fond of liars
either. Though I don't believe every liar is a thief. (catch that?)

I knew he wouldn't stay in the hospital until Thursday.  He looked
at Dr. Geiger, yes that's really her name, and said he was going
home.  So they did a final ultrasound Wednesday afternoon, said
everything looked fine and we were home by 5 P.M. it was more than
wonderful.  We both slept like the dead.  Now begins the
lying around in the recliner, watch T.V. and play video games portion
of the get well procedure.  Really the best part of any
illness.  Oh and lets not forget the maid service, that's always a
treat.

I forgot to tell you this. On Boxing Day he got  roast goose,
broccoli with coriander sauce, pasta, and a cream cake for dessert. I
promise you it was better than anything I ate from Christmas eve
onward, I spent all my time eating bad vending machine food and trying
to avoid germs.  I got a bite of all his Boxing Day food and it
was good enough to be served at a restaurant.   In fact it
was hands down the best hospital food either one of us has ever
tasted.  Hmph, who knew that Christmas was the time to be in the
hospital.

If your clueless as to what I'm talking about read yesterdays
post.   I passed along all the get well wishes and he said to
say HI and thanks!

Christmas 2006 will be one that Bear and I won't
forget........ever.  Not because he finally bought me that huge
diamond ring either. (he didn't)  But because this year when I
wished him Merry Christmas at midnight he asked me for the tums.
 For the next three hours the"indigestion"" only got worse.
Finally at 3 A.M. he vomited and the pain was so bad he was curled up
on the bed moaning.  We knew he wasn't having a heart attack (similar
symptoms but different enough to be apparent if you know what your
looking for.)  but I also knew this wasn't ordinary heart burn
either. All the pain seemed to be centered over his gall bladder so I
got online and googled gallstone symptoms....lo
and behold there it was, line for line everything he had been suffering
for the last 3 hours. I told him he had a choice, ambulance or waking
the neighbors.  He didn't want either but since he was in no
shape to argue I went next door and woke them up and asked if they
could take us to the Mannheim hospital.  I called the emergency
room and  pulled out my trusty  "Sprechen sie English
bitte?" I was connected to a very nice lady who spoke Queens
English as though born in London, she gave me the exact address so we
could input it into our neighbors GPS, with that we drove straight to
the emergency room doors. The same lady was waiting for us at
the emergency room desk and I had barely gotten out, "I
called about my husband" when she was saying "follow me we're ready for
him". (we had already gone over his symptoms on the phone but we still
repeated the same info again.) In less than 15 minutes they had
his blood pressure, pulse, temperature, an EKG, and blood drawn to
check for infection,  she told us a doctor would be down to do an
ultrasound to check his Gall Bladder. To say we were impressed is an
understatement. This was fast, efficient Germany at its
best.  After 2 hours and 2 ultrasound we saw the
emergency room doctor and a surgeon to confirm the original diagnosis
of an infected Gall Bladder and by 6 A. M. the blood work was back
and we were told that it needed to come out.

At 12 noon they
wheeled him into surgery and by 4:30 he was back in his
room.  He had what's called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy,
they had a bit of a complication with some bile leaking into his
abdominal cavity so they are keeping him until Thursday and pumping
antibiotics into him like crazy, but all things considered he feels
great.  We now own 2 tiny gallstones.  The gall bladder
itself was in pretty bad shape and probably should have come out years
ago, but I'm married to a stubborn man who thinks hospitals and doctors
are there for everyone but him.  In fact I fully expect Bear to
tell his doctor today that he's going home and the funny thing is he
will probably talk them into it too.

As a side note Mike had gone
over to Burgbernheim on Friday after work and we were expecting him
back late Monday afternoon to eat Christmas dinner with
us.   When the surgeon said he would be admitting Bear, I
knew I needed to call Mike pretty quick or I'd never be forgiven, even
though it was 6:30 in the morning.  At first he thought I was
kidding (who wouldn't?) but it didn't take him long to know I was dead
serious.  He made it back over here fast considering he had no
warning, since then he's been ferrying me back and forth from the
hospital, sometimes twice in one day.  He came with Christmas
presents too.  He said he wasn't feeling very Christmassy this
year and then he realized he needed to do some shopping.( I get that
feeling, sometimes I take a little retail therapy myself)  The
biggest surprise was when he came in with a little tree, complete with
decorations and lights.  He said it was only 3 bucks and I needed
a tree more than anyone he knew.

So there you have it....our Christmas day in a nutshell.  We're
both very glad its over and we agree that it was perfect timing because
the hospital was practically empty and since it needed to be done might
as well get it over with fast.  I'm so
tired....... I figure I'll probably sleep tonight out of exhaustion if
nothing else.  I'll keep ya'll updated but I'm pretty sure that
all the excitement is over.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

check the links above if you don't know the symptoms for a heart attack or gall bladder

Not that I'm Scrooge in real life. I mean I don't go around town saying
"Bah Humbug" to little kids or make them run crying to their mommies.
But damn, I really miss having what I consider a normal Christmas.
This will be our third Christmas that we haven't had any family or
presents or decorations of any kind including a tree. It makes me
incredibly sad. The logical part of me doesn't want to buy decorations
only to get attached to them and then have to decide whether to leave
them behind or spend the money and mail them back to the states when we
leave Germany. (We have already accumulated to much.)  The
illogical part says its not just a bunch of decorations, its a state of
mind. And along with missing my family I feel like I'm missing the best
aspect of Christmas too.  The exchange of goodwill as well as well
as gifts bought from the heart, the kind of gift that you didn't ask
for.  I'm sure that I'm missing all kinds of bad stuff too. Like
the shop 'til you drop mentality that's becoming so pervasive
everywhere.
Will I someday look back on this time of my life and think it was all
worth it or will I look back and wish we had never come? No one can
answer that and maybe that's a good thing. After all would we ever risk
anything if we knew the outcome beforehand. There is so much I enjoy
about being here and it really is a wonderful opportunity, but oh the
trade offs!

Did I ever tell you we lived in Spain for 2 1/2 years. We did. In a
small town called Loeches. I will never forget the first time someone
said to me "Speak Spanish, your in Spain."  Now it's "Speak
German, your in Germany."  Did I ever tell you I have never
thought I had a facility for languages? Have I ever mentioned how
isolated I feel, to be trying to make friends and the only thing your
able to do is sit there quietly while they laugh and chatter around
you. It's not that anyone is trying to be rude. And it isn't as if we
didn't ask for this, but at times like Christmas it gets pretty
hard.  Then when I ask for friends to email and they claim to be SO busy I'm torn between understanding and the thought that the truth is they just aren't making me a priority in their life. Should they? It's not their fault I'm lonely. 

So here I am. In all my whiny glory. Not Scrooge and not The Grinch.
But definitely some kind of cartoon character. Waiting for Christmas to
end. And the funny thing is, I'm still ready to have Christmas pop out
of the box and smack me in the face with a pie full of good
cheer.  Wish it would hurry up! In the meantime.....
Frohliche Weihnachten in German
or
Merry Christmas
or
if I remember correctly
Feliz Navidad

Hi guys and gals. Look at me...not dead yet! Of course I'm not moved
into the apartment completely and I'm not ready for Christmas either.
So there's all kinds of nots. There are also all kinds of lovely things
to go along with the nots. Chief among them the new friends I have met
since we moved to this part of the country. Very friendly and welcoming
people, German as well as American. I'm going to take pictures of the
place so that everyone can make fun of me for taking such an unsuitable
apartment. But the lure of having an American couple right next door
swayed me. And as far as friends go "A", my new neighbor and her
husband "M"  are generous and SO helpful. We hit it off right away
and it is so incredibly wonderful to have a woman friend again. 
As for the  apartment its not really completely unsuitable, just
the incredibly tiny kitchen and bath. But I look at it this way. Now
that its just me and the ol' Bear I rarely cook a big dinner. We eat
our main meal at lunch, him at work and me here at home. But even then
I don't cook my lunch, its usually cold. So a tiny kitchen isn't
impossible. The worst part of it being so tiny is how hard it is wash
dishes It has one sink about the size of a small tub and no counter
space. That and the cabinet space is so limited that half the food is
hidden in the dining room part of the apartment.. Anyway, if I ever get
my stuff unpacked and put away I'll take pictures of it and then you'll
understand better. 

Meantime sorry I haven't been around much this past month or so. I'm
hoping that by the new year I will not only be organized house wise but
my back will be healed up enough that I can sit at the computer for
longer than 1/2 an hour at a time.

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday time. I love the decorations,
Christmas markets and seeing all the happy little kids. Hopefully all
of you are having a good time and aren't to stressed out with work and
family obligations.  I'm trying to get my Christmas cards
mailed...slowly... hope they get there before the new year.

This morning my doorbell rang and when I opened it up my youngest
daughter says to me..."Next time you're coming DOWNSTAIRS!!" I grabbed
her and then burst into tears.  God, I'm so cool and collected I
just amaze myself.  Now she wants to go to Mannheim and surprise
her dad. Wow! So I guess I'll throw some stuff into her suitcase and
we'll hop a train over to there.  Monday is going rather well,
I'll write more and put up a picture or two when we get back. I love
company, especially family. And as a bonus I now have someone to go
apartment hunting with and someone to help me purge this apt of
crapola. YAY!

Well, that takes care of that . Went thru the hell of the new roof and
all that scaffolding and men right outside my bedroom window for weeks
this summer and now that they're finally done.......were moving!

Bear called me at lunch and he's reporting to Mannheim Fri. which
actually means s he'll be gone Mon thru Fri until I
find a place over there unless like this weekend they're working Sat too. So why bother with coming back here.
He won't be able to help with apt hunting
or packing, I feel a serious whine coming on....rofl.
Actually I think I'll look at it as a way of keeping my life
uncluttered. I feel a serious bout of "giveaway" coming on. For
instance all my magazines can go to my hairdresser and my dentists
office, who even though they have tons of American clients still have
crap for English language reading material. All our empty dvd cases can
go to the library, they use them to replace broken cases, also some of
my paperbacks.  The clothes we never wear go to the thrift store.
See what I mean that makes it less cluttered already. Also I will be
able to get rid of 2 chairs and a loveseat that have been cuttering up
the entry hall for months now.  And maybe, just maybe I can
finally get a real computer chair. That would be terrific!!

But the details...arrrgh! I love the change and hate the drudgery. Typical huh?
One detail that will be changing for sure will be our internet service.
I plan on getting a phone line and hopefully DSL.  Oh and I would
love an apt on the ground floor...as long as it isn't in the middle of
town. I think I've had my fill of people walking by the windows and
staring into the house.
Lets see what other things have I thought of in the last few months
that I would like to change or keep?  Being close to the train
station has been great, I can get to the train in a 10 min walk or if I
ride my bike less than half that. Speaking of bikes I would like to be
near the bike paths. Jeez, this may be a long list.  I like being
close to the bakery, though that could also be considered a downfall.

I'll be going to spend the weekend in Mannheim with my man. While he's
working I'll see if I can't translate some ads and do some prelim
scoping out of apts. Wish me luck.