The supermarket closes in 2 hours, and I need to walk over, but I can't leave the house because I am waiting on someone to come by, and I wish they would just hurry up, because they are late.
But once that is out of the way, we'll be busy busy for the next couple of days. Tonight we're going to a New Year's sleepover at our friends', a fairly new tradition that saves me a long drive home in the middle of the night. Tomorrow we're invited to a traditional Korean New Year's Day lunch with our neighbors.
Hannah has to go back to work/training on Jan. 4, but the university is closed through Jan. 6 (Epiphany), so John and I don't have to teach again until Jan. 11. I've got a huge backlog of stuff to get through between now and then, but at least I don't also have to go in to the university.
I'm trying to practice my knitting, but I'm not sure I've got it down. More practice!
--Nee in Germany gets the craft-bug over the holidays
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Addicted to LMFAO
... the musical group, not the Internet shorthand. I've discovered two things about listening to music while I work: 1. bopping around in my chair while I work keeps my back from getting jacked up, and 2. music helps smother all the rest of the brain noise that keeps me from concentrating on my work. I go through phases where I only listen to one album or one artist on repeat, but other times I just put my MP3 player on random. I'm about to download a few songs off amazon to add to my collection, such as from the aforementioned LMFAO, from Taylor Swift (I don't think I've heard more than 2 of her songs, only one of which I plan to download), and from David Guetta, for maximum boppiness.
We went to see Star Wars, and through a series of minor blunders ended up seeing it in 3D. I seem to remember having a headache after my last 3D experience, but it ended up being a non-issue this time. I *really* enjoyed myself, and afterwards I could understand how a friend's children ended up putting over 2000 "steps" on their Fitbits over the course of the film. There was a lot of excited wiggling going on, even if I *am* almost 43.
I cooked up some eggnog yesterday, which is the only kind John likes because it reminds him of the store-bought kind back home. That was never my favorite kind, personally, but whatever. Our neighbor who has been working in France since September is going to come over for eggnog and goodies this evening, since he also likes that kind of eggnog. Our house has been a magnet for Americans (mostly military) and USA-philes for a long time, so he has been exposed to various American foods. I didn't have time to bake until xmas eve, which is when Germans typically celebrate the holiday with their families, so Hannah and I took some cookies around on the second day of xmas and managed to catch several neighbors at home to ply them with buttery treats. Never fear, there are still plenty of homemade delights (minus the turtles, mmmm) to share with our recently returned neighbor over eggnog tonight.
Nee in Germany lives off cookies and licorice during the holidays
We went to see Star Wars, and through a series of minor blunders ended up seeing it in 3D. I seem to remember having a headache after my last 3D experience, but it ended up being a non-issue this time. I *really* enjoyed myself, and afterwards I could understand how a friend's children ended up putting over 2000 "steps" on their Fitbits over the course of the film. There was a lot of excited wiggling going on, even if I *am* almost 43.
I cooked up some eggnog yesterday, which is the only kind John likes because it reminds him of the store-bought kind back home. That was never my favorite kind, personally, but whatever. Our neighbor who has been working in France since September is going to come over for eggnog and goodies this evening, since he also likes that kind of eggnog. Our house has been a magnet for Americans (mostly military) and USA-philes for a long time, so he has been exposed to various American foods. I didn't have time to bake until xmas eve, which is when Germans typically celebrate the holiday with their families, so Hannah and I took some cookies around on the second day of xmas and managed to catch several neighbors at home to ply them with buttery treats. Never fear, there are still plenty of homemade delights (minus the turtles, mmmm) to share with our recently returned neighbor over eggnog tonight.
Nee in Germany lives off cookies and licorice during the holidays
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Placeholder for stuff I've been reading and thinking about
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6151391
made me think of this advice
http://thatbadadvice.tumblr.com/post/124839439584/good-advice-interlude-boys-are-confusing
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6130011
This made me cry:
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6130724
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6131161
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6131276
#FeminismThroughDadJokes is totally up my alley
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6131999
This made me catch my breath. This is advice that should be passed on to all people, but especially girls:
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6151391
made me think of this advice
http://thatbadadvice.tumblr.com/post/124839439584/good-advice-interlude-boys-are-confusing
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6130011
This made me cry:
"...I raised this woman. She won't take shit from anyone. She does things. She even offends me, and that's okay, because she is a rocket, and she is taking off, and I launched her."
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6130724
"To a lot of the people saying “ugh, cards, who cares” or “just skip it, no one I know cares about getting presents for [X] occasion,” this is why these things matter. The present itself is secondary. The thank you card itself is secondary. They matter as vehicles for messages of love. They matter as ways of saying “I value you, I am thinking of you, I treasure your place in my life and my community, and I want this tangible object to be a talisman of my care for you.”
The gift itself is not the thing. The card itself is not the thing. The relationship is the thing. "
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6131161
"On this foundation is built a castle of love."
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6131276
#FeminismThroughDadJokes is totally up my alley
http://www.metafilter.com/151267/Wheres-My-Cut-On-Unpaid-Emotional-Labor#6131999
This made me catch my breath. This is advice that should be passed on to all people, but especially girls:
"There are a lot of questions on askme that hurt my heart because they are questions from women who want to know how to carve themselves into an acceptable shape for a man and I always want to tell them that they should never deform the person they were meant to be just so they can have some male-identified person with whom to associate. Life is too short to be a bonsai human for someone else's toleration and convenience."
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Sniff
My baby is traveling around Frankfurt all by herself. *sniff*
She's traveled to and through Frankfurt alone before, but I bought the tickets and looked up track numbers, etc. This time it is all on her, and she texted me about her problems -- confusing train station, ticket machine that only takes small bills -- and triumphs -- only 5 minutes behind schedule, even with the problems.
As we say in my family (tongue in cheek), "She's so growny!"
She's traveled to and through Frankfurt alone before, but I bought the tickets and looked up track numbers, etc. This time it is all on her, and she texted me about her problems -- confusing train station, ticket machine that only takes small bills -- and triumphs -- only 5 minutes behind schedule, even with the problems.
As we say in my family (tongue in cheek), "She's so growny!"
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Trying to be stoic
We took Hannah to her new apartment (room in a boarding house, really, but she shares one whole floor with a kitchen, bath, and dining room with only one other person, so almost like an apartment/roommate situation) today, and I managed to forget to bring her bathroom box, so no shampoo for her until the stores open tomorrow.
We all teared up when John and I left, and he cried a little on the way home, but I managed not to cry, what with my flinty heart and all. I called her when we got home and she sounded cheerful. She was getting unpacked and enjoying getting her room arranged to her satisfaction. She had even figured out how to get YouTube on the tv in her room, so I guess she can have 9gag and a game open on her laptop while also watching YouTube videos of drunk people doing things on her tv.
We all teared up when John and I left, and he cried a little on the way home, but I managed not to cry, what with my flinty heart and all. I called her when we got home and she sounded cheerful. She was getting unpacked and enjoying getting her room arranged to her satisfaction. She had even figured out how to get YouTube on the tv in her room, so I guess she can have 9gag and a game open on her laptop while also watching YouTube videos of drunk people doing things on her tv.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Gardening
I've bought an inordinate number of Coleus canina plants, i.e. piss-off plants, to keep cats out of my garden. Every time I manage to drive them away with a couple of carefully placed plants, they find a new spot to take a dump in. The plants are pretty pungent, with a strong skunk odor. The first time I bought some, I didn't think ahead, so they stayed locked in my hot, closed car while I did my grocery shopping. It was not an enjoyable ride home, even with the windows open. The last batch were bought on a less hot day, and I remembered the windows, but there was still the stink on my arms from brushing against them while I carried them up from the cellar. At least they work as advertised!
Friday, July 03, 2015
Off to Frankfurt
Today I am driving Hannah to Frankfurt to pick up the keys to her room in a boarding house. That's where she'll be living for the next 3 years while she completes her apprenticeship to become a cook/chef.
(Sorry for the briefness, but I've decided that microblogging is better than no blogging.)
(Sorry for the briefness, but I've decided that microblogging is better than no blogging.)
Monday, January 05, 2015
Avoidance as a lifestyle
Urgh--I soooo do not want to grade papers and presentations, but I have a rather big backlog, and people are going to start wondering about them since classes start back on Wednesday. I'm at the point that I'd like to just set a match to all of it (and Hannah's room while I am at it--I wasn't kidding when I mentioned her hoarding tendencies).
During the xmas holidays, it is traditional for me to subsist mainly on candy and then have to change gears back to normal food in January. This year, I have decided to also cut back on the places where I would normally add sugar--coffee, for instance. I've discovered that I really only need some milk to cut the bitterness. I'm not keen on the idea of how much processing it takes to produce sugar, and cane sugar has the added drawback of not being produced in Europe. I don't actually imagine I can have a modern diet and still only shop locally, but I can make minor changes in both my diet and my shopping habits to feel like I am making some kind of contribution to my own health and the health of the planet. (Maybe it is a drop in the bucket, but I might go more crazy than usual if I don't do anything at all.)
My aunt and mom "fought" for years over ownership of a certain cookbook that contained the recipe for my aunt's famous divinity recipe. I finally got the recipe from her, but in such a stripped-down form (only ingredients, and no specific directions) that it has been a disaster every time I have tried it. So this year I did my own research and found my own recipe (from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook, which is fairly dependable), and I still ended up with egg-white-and-walnut-flavored taffy. I forgot the cardinal rule--no candy-making when it is wet. That is hardly ever a problem in the deserts of West Texas, but in Central Europe, on the shores of a river, during a misty December--yeah, another disaster was inevitable. Moreover, corn syrup, as an American product, is not available here, so that will be my last-ever attempt at divinity, I have decided, for most of the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. Otherwise, my stubborn-slash-stupid side would not let me quit until I had finally conquered it.
In the process of wasting those egg whites and so much sugar, I managed to destroy my hand-mixer (stupid, heavy divinity), so now I need to shop for a replacement. I may just get the same one again, if it is available, as it was very reliable, except when I wanted to mix something that was clearly beyond its capabilities. I may get a stand-mixer, too. And a larger food processor. (I currently have just a food-chopper.) John bought me a multi-device several years ago, but the blender function ended up being its downfall. I didn't get the base threaded on properly, and when I tried to blend ice cream in it, the motor ended up soaked in eggs and canteloupe; I couldn't get it open to clean it properly, so I've only used it a few times, when I've felt ambitious and forgetful. Inevitably, it either overheats or the clutch (?) doesn't work properly and it turns too fast, again leading to too much heat. So if anyone has any recommendations, I am all ears. Actually, I will probably just buy a German brand; Bosch is pretty good, and I think I can get it in our local kitchen shop.
We went to our favorite German restaurant last night, and on our way in, we overheard some people in the street talking about "flood tourism". I guess some people had come into town to see the Neckar overflowing its banks. That's an odd reason to come, but if it brings business to our local restaurants afterwards, who am I to complain.
My adventures in puttering this morning included halfheartedly pulling some (but not all!) of the ornaments off the tree, shaking the needles out of the tree skirt so I could put it away, and sweeping the rest of the needles off the floor. Tree pick-up is not until Saturday, so I may have it all done by then at this rate. Now I need to get my shopping list finished so I can go to the post office and the store. Tomorrow I have to be in Frankfurt first thing in the morning with Hannah, so I need to finish up a few things so I don't have anything left to do for our outing.
-Nee in Germany is digging the sunshine that's finally appearing
During the xmas holidays, it is traditional for me to subsist mainly on candy and then have to change gears back to normal food in January. This year, I have decided to also cut back on the places where I would normally add sugar--coffee, for instance. I've discovered that I really only need some milk to cut the bitterness. I'm not keen on the idea of how much processing it takes to produce sugar, and cane sugar has the added drawback of not being produced in Europe. I don't actually imagine I can have a modern diet and still only shop locally, but I can make minor changes in both my diet and my shopping habits to feel like I am making some kind of contribution to my own health and the health of the planet. (Maybe it is a drop in the bucket, but I might go more crazy than usual if I don't do anything at all.)
My aunt and mom "fought" for years over ownership of a certain cookbook that contained the recipe for my aunt's famous divinity recipe. I finally got the recipe from her, but in such a stripped-down form (only ingredients, and no specific directions) that it has been a disaster every time I have tried it. So this year I did my own research and found my own recipe (from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook, which is fairly dependable), and I still ended up with egg-white-and-walnut-flavored taffy. I forgot the cardinal rule--no candy-making when it is wet. That is hardly ever a problem in the deserts of West Texas, but in Central Europe, on the shores of a river, during a misty December--yeah, another disaster was inevitable. Moreover, corn syrup, as an American product, is not available here, so that will be my last-ever attempt at divinity, I have decided, for most of the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. Otherwise, my stubborn-slash-stupid side would not let me quit until I had finally conquered it.
In the process of wasting those egg whites and so much sugar, I managed to destroy my hand-mixer (stupid, heavy divinity), so now I need to shop for a replacement. I may just get the same one again, if it is available, as it was very reliable, except when I wanted to mix something that was clearly beyond its capabilities. I may get a stand-mixer, too. And a larger food processor. (I currently have just a food-chopper.) John bought me a multi-device several years ago, but the blender function ended up being its downfall. I didn't get the base threaded on properly, and when I tried to blend ice cream in it, the motor ended up soaked in eggs and canteloupe; I couldn't get it open to clean it properly, so I've only used it a few times, when I've felt ambitious and forgetful. Inevitably, it either overheats or the clutch (?) doesn't work properly and it turns too fast, again leading to too much heat. So if anyone has any recommendations, I am all ears. Actually, I will probably just buy a German brand; Bosch is pretty good, and I think I can get it in our local kitchen shop.
We went to our favorite German restaurant last night, and on our way in, we overheard some people in the street talking about "flood tourism". I guess some people had come into town to see the Neckar overflowing its banks. That's an odd reason to come, but if it brings business to our local restaurants afterwards, who am I to complain.
My adventures in puttering this morning included halfheartedly pulling some (but not all!) of the ornaments off the tree, shaking the needles out of the tree skirt so I could put it away, and sweeping the rest of the needles off the floor. Tree pick-up is not until Saturday, so I may have it all done by then at this rate. Now I need to get my shopping list finished so I can go to the post office and the store. Tomorrow I have to be in Frankfurt first thing in the morning with Hannah, so I need to finish up a few things so I don't have anything left to do for our outing.
-Nee in Germany is digging the sunshine that's finally appearing
Sunday, January 04, 2015
Puttering as an extreme sport
Seems I have taken my puttering to a new level. Today I accomplished a lot of little things that needed to be done, but not necessarily right.this.minute. Some of them were to protect my sanity--finding 3 books I know I own but haven't been able to put my hands on in some time, clearing away my literal "to-be-read pile" that had become a tripping hazard next to my bed--while others would be due soon anyway--quarterly tax payments, etc. And others were things we'd been promising to do but just hadn't gotten our asses in gear on; now that my puttering has managed to procure bookcases for Hannah's room, it's her problem to clean out her hoarding and to fill them.
I finally broke down and bought myself a smart phone, since the Crushinator had done in my brick phone and John and I were getting tired of not being able to reach each other since we were passing the other brick phone back and forth. I still haven't actually been carrying it around since 1) I haven't gone anywhere, and 2) my SIM card has only been partially activated, but now that I'll be going back to work next week and the last of the paperwork for my SIM card should go into the mail tomorrow, I'll finally be forced to take it for a spin soon. Maybe I can figure out how to work the Blogger app...
I think I mentioned all the snow we've had. It's been warming up, so we've had a lot of melt-off, then we got a little rain and a lot more snow yesterday. By yesterday evening, the city was warning people to move their cars because the river was expected to flood. Sure enough, the water was up over the divider at the locks this morning. With all the new rain and snow yesterday, we made the executive decision to just eat out this weekend and to do our weekly grocery shopping on Monday. It's my turn, and I wasn't keen on driving down our steep, unplowed, cobblestoned street. It also bought me some more time to make a grocery list.
I spent one whole day catching up on laundry over the break. When it got to the point where I couldn't find one particular pair of pants that I had just had on, I knew I needed to do something to get the mounds of clothes reduced to a livable level.
Hannah's laptop is driving me mad. It acted like it wanted to implode around xmas, and we finally got it up and running again, and now it is starting some of the same shit, 5 hours before she has a paper due. (Yes, she has homework over the holidays. Germany is not quite Korea when it comes to school pressure, but in her final year, it is starting to get up there.) Grrr...
-Nee in Germany is avoiding the inevitable--work
I finally broke down and bought myself a smart phone, since the Crushinator had done in my brick phone and John and I were getting tired of not being able to reach each other since we were passing the other brick phone back and forth. I still haven't actually been carrying it around since 1) I haven't gone anywhere, and 2) my SIM card has only been partially activated, but now that I'll be going back to work next week and the last of the paperwork for my SIM card should go into the mail tomorrow, I'll finally be forced to take it for a spin soon. Maybe I can figure out how to work the Blogger app...
I think I mentioned all the snow we've had. It's been warming up, so we've had a lot of melt-off, then we got a little rain and a lot more snow yesterday. By yesterday evening, the city was warning people to move their cars because the river was expected to flood. Sure enough, the water was up over the divider at the locks this morning. With all the new rain and snow yesterday, we made the executive decision to just eat out this weekend and to do our weekly grocery shopping on Monday. It's my turn, and I wasn't keen on driving down our steep, unplowed, cobblestoned street. It also bought me some more time to make a grocery list.
I spent one whole day catching up on laundry over the break. When it got to the point where I couldn't find one particular pair of pants that I had just had on, I knew I needed to do something to get the mounds of clothes reduced to a livable level.
Hannah's laptop is driving me mad. It acted like it wanted to implode around xmas, and we finally got it up and running again, and now it is starting some of the same shit, 5 hours before she has a paper due. (Yes, she has homework over the holidays. Germany is not quite Korea when it comes to school pressure, but in her final year, it is starting to get up there.) Grrr...
-Nee in Germany is avoiding the inevitable--work
Friday, January 02, 2015
Flailing
Well, it's that time of year again, when the holidays are past and work is looming before me again. That means just one thing in these parts: Brain-flail!
Luckily for anyone reading, I find writing about the brain-flail as boring as you must find reading about it, so I will just skip it and move on to documenting life in the slow lane.
John's been spending all his free time (that falls outside of the local quiet hours) carving in the cellar. He's already got 2 panels done for the door of his garden shed/stave church and has been posting pictures like an obsessed person on facebook. Weatherwise, he can't do much up in the garden itself, so this is the next best thing for preparing to build the garden shed in the summer/fall.
Hannah has her school-leaving exams this spring, and every academic assignment this school year has inevitably led to tears at some point. I think it's the same for most of her classmates, though. German schools are notoriously difficult, but the stress has been ratcheted up for Hannah's cohort because the state changed the number of school years but not the graduation requirements right before she started high school, so she and her classmates have had to learn 9 years of material in only 8 years. We had already heard horror stories about kids having nervous breakdowns in their last year, but it could get even worse for the kids in Hannah's group.
Despite the best efforts of my colleagues, I wasn't able to get a new contract in the English department, but I applied for and got a contract in the translation department instead. Now I'm kind of wishing I hadn't. Translating (which I actually feel confident in my ability to do) and teaching translating are two different beasts, and I feel like I am letting everyone in the department down. That being said, I've already realized that it is not totally on me: they dumped 8 courses on me for my first semester, without any materials or curriculum beyond course titles. [FLAIL deleted]
We finally made it to the xmas market in Michelstadt. That is a little town up north of us in the Odenwald, and we had heard good things about it but had never managed to go. We went with another family on the last Sunday, and despite the rain, it was crazy crowded. We ate delicious wild boar sausage and visited a really cool museum while we were there, but the rain and crowds put a bit of a damper on the trip.
Then we were invited over to the same family's for New Year's Eve, which is our tradition. This year we played a dinner murder mystery game (John was the only person to suspect Hannah, that sneaky murderess!) and then stayed the night to avoid driving home in the snow. None of the chicks wanted to go outside in the cold to shoot off fireworks, so we stayed in while the dudes went outside. They didn't stay out long, though; a new roof on your house will make you loathe to play with fire near it, it turns out.
[Here's where we pretend I have managed to pull together these disparate elements into a satisfying conclusion.]
-Nee in Germany
Luckily for anyone reading, I find writing about the brain-flail as boring as you must find reading about it, so I will just skip it and move on to documenting life in the slow lane.
John's been spending all his free time (that falls outside of the local quiet hours) carving in the cellar. He's already got 2 panels done for the door of his garden shed/stave church and has been posting pictures like an obsessed person on facebook. Weatherwise, he can't do much up in the garden itself, so this is the next best thing for preparing to build the garden shed in the summer/fall.
Hannah has her school-leaving exams this spring, and every academic assignment this school year has inevitably led to tears at some point. I think it's the same for most of her classmates, though. German schools are notoriously difficult, but the stress has been ratcheted up for Hannah's cohort because the state changed the number of school years but not the graduation requirements right before she started high school, so she and her classmates have had to learn 9 years of material in only 8 years. We had already heard horror stories about kids having nervous breakdowns in their last year, but it could get even worse for the kids in Hannah's group.
Despite the best efforts of my colleagues, I wasn't able to get a new contract in the English department, but I applied for and got a contract in the translation department instead. Now I'm kind of wishing I hadn't. Translating (which I actually feel confident in my ability to do) and teaching translating are two different beasts, and I feel like I am letting everyone in the department down. That being said, I've already realized that it is not totally on me: they dumped 8 courses on me for my first semester, without any materials or curriculum beyond course titles. [FLAIL deleted]
We finally made it to the xmas market in Michelstadt. That is a little town up north of us in the Odenwald, and we had heard good things about it but had never managed to go. We went with another family on the last Sunday, and despite the rain, it was crazy crowded. We ate delicious wild boar sausage and visited a really cool museum while we were there, but the rain and crowds put a bit of a damper on the trip.
Then we were invited over to the same family's for New Year's Eve, which is our tradition. This year we played a dinner murder mystery game (John was the only person to suspect Hannah, that sneaky murderess!) and then stayed the night to avoid driving home in the snow. None of the chicks wanted to go outside in the cold to shoot off fireworks, so we stayed in while the dudes went outside. They didn't stay out long, though; a new roof on your house will make you loathe to play with fire near it, it turns out.
[Here's where we pretend I have managed to pull together these disparate elements into a satisfying conclusion.]
-Nee in Germany
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)