Hawaiian (and now German) Musings

Lazy Sunday

2012-01-29T08:01:00.004-10:00

This was one of the guards at the Palace on the Buda side of Budapest. He would not crack a smile or look, no matter who stood next to him. There were several cute girls there when I was there and he didn't even look at them out of the corner of his eye! He was VERY tall (all the guards were!). I couldn't do his job... stand there all day, not moving. *Something* would itch or I'd sneeze or *something!*

Standing guard outside the Palace.

SO... today *has* been a very lazy day. I've stayed in my sweats all day and napped off and on all day, although I did get up and I made a Chicken Ring for dinner (Pampered Chef recipe) and I made some party mix (Chex, cheerios, nuts, pretzels). That should last me awhile! It's been around 30* here today (at least it's not the 53* below they had in the Fairbanks area this morning! BRRRRR!).

Not a lot to write about. I'm tired today, but I think what's going on is that I am just tired of being sick. I did go online this weekend to try and get an appointment at the clinic, but couldn't get into the system. Guess I'll go in tomorrow and see if I can get an appointment. I've had a cold that has been hanging around for a month now. I'm not coughing as much as I was, and my sinuses aren't draining as much, but still, it is wearing me down. (Maybe I'm feeling like I need a sick leave, two of my co-workers were out Thursday and Friday for being sick... and even at my sickest, I didn't take off (because that's when we were in the middle of our move) and I'm feeling a tad jealous? I can't blame them if I don't take care of myself). I don't think they got what I have (one of them is the one that got locked into the bathroom the other day), because plenty of people around me *haven't* gotten sick.

Okay... I'm going to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Hungarian meals...

2012-01-28T10:50:00.002-10:00

Roast duck, paprika chicken, pork cutlet, noodles, potatoes, etc. This was a Hungarian Sampler plate (WAY too much to eat!) *smiles*

Hungarian "Gundel" pancake (with a nut filling and chocolate sauce over top). It's more like a crepe. *smiles*

Paprika Chiken with Hungarian noodles...

Hungarian Goulosh... num, num...

Thought I'd post some pics I took while eating when I was up there in Budapest. The food was good and not too spicy (but always more than I could eat).

SO... today was okay. I got to sleep in (after going to bed about 2am!). After showering and dressing, I took the dogs potty, then went and ran errands all afternoon. I was mainly doing some shopping. I needed to get a "booster" (repeater?) for my internet, because when I had to replace the router that was here, my signal strength dropped significantly. I also took my "plastic" bottles over to the store to cash those in and to buy more sodas. *smiles* I found a snack, some struesel kuchen and a pretzel. Later in the day I had some Taco Bell for an early dinner. I also got my hair cut today. When my hair starts getting long on the top of my neck, it bothers me and it always feels so good when I get it cut! My day of errands ended with a grocery shopping trip and as typical, I spent more than I had planned on (but I did get the stuff to make party mix from scratch! YUM!).

Other than that, via Facebook I found out my friends and family in Alaska were dealing with thick Ice fog and temperatures -45 to the -50's. BRRRR! Several of my friends posted pictures of their Iphone weather app and thermometers. I sure don't miss THAT cold! (I think the lows this coming week here are supposed to get down to about 20 above, that's cold enough!). I also found out that one of the Pastor's I had up in Alaska is not doing well and not expected to live much longer. While I didn't always see eye-to-eye with him, he and his family played an important part in my life for about 5 years. (His grandkids are on my FB). I also found out that his daughter (Beth) was on her way back from seeing him and hit a moose (she had her son in the car at the time), they had some injuries, but it sounds like mostly cuts and bruises. Then, her Dad (my age) and mom were headed down to see their Dad (the Pastor) and got about an hour out of town and broke down in -45 degree weather. It sounds like they were still able to run their heater thankfully! And then... as if all that wasn't bad enough (today) I found out one of my co-workers had a home in Phoenix that was significantly burglarized today. (He's here, his condo is in Phoenix). Sheesh. What a day some of my friends and family have had!

Okay... time to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

So glad it's Friday!

2012-01-27T13:28:00.003-10:00

Well, for not seeing any clients, today was a stressful day. First thing this morning I approached the head guy in our clinic about a case (that he has had involvement in) and felt like I was caught in the middle (still feel that way). Then I had to go to training this afternoon. It was a training I did a few months ago and I was resentful that I had to go through it again. Although to be fair, when the instructor asked me what was covered last time, I couldn't give her too much information (blame it on my short term memory loss). Then as I sat through it, I remembered watching the two short videos she showed. At least she got done within the timeframe she said she would, but by then there was only about 45 minutes left until the end of the day (I would have prefered to use that time writing up assessments (the stack seems to be growing by leaps and bounds!), so the only thing I got done after training was to do my online timesheet.

Thankfully I took some Tylenol this afternoon (not sure it helped). I even walked out the door "on the dot" and thought I would go check my mail (which is at another location about 20 minutes away). Well! THAT was a mistake! It took me about 40 minutes to get there and then another 40 to get out of that area on the way home (there had been an accident). I made it home about 6pm, only to turn around about 20 minutes later to head back into town to have dinner with some friends. We went to one restaurant and they didn't have enough seating. I called another restaurant, but they only had a table for 6 (there were 9-10 of us), so we went to another restaurant and were able to eat there. Whew! It was good to see Heidi & Adrienne and to meet Patsy and her daughter (those are the ones I spent most of my time with). I found out that Heidi had Gastric Bypass about 4 years ago. See... I *knew* there was a reason I liked her! *smiles* It was a good evening that pretty much made up for the horrible day I'd been having.

Now it's real late (almost 1:30am), I've been googling on line reading about cruise ship incidents and looking at information about the Transsiberian Railway. Guess I'd better get to bed!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

P.S. for some reason tonight my blog won't let me add pictures. :*(

Where did the da go?

2012-01-26T08:03:00.002-10:00

Just a short blog. I had a busy, but fairly productive day. I did forget my fitbit this morning, so when it post, it will only reflect about 1000 steps today (NO FAIR!).

My Boss goes on leave to Mexico tomorrow, so hopefully this week will pass quietly.

Okay... signing off!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Oops!

2012-01-25T09:02:00.003-10:00

One of my co-workers got locked into the bathroom at work at the end of the day today. He ended up there for about an hour after work before someone came and had to break into the door (as evidenced above). YIKES! THANKFULLY, it was a co-worker and not a client and thankfully, that co-worker doesn't have claustrophobia! (Had it been my supervisor, that might have had a whole different outcome!). Talking with the co-worker, he said he wasn't really anxious (no panic), but it sounds like he may have had a sense of helplessness. We did slide him a couple magazines under the door to preoccupy him. *I* felt sorry for him when the guy came to try and get into the bathroom, to help him get out. At one point, without any prior announcement, he decided to kick in the door (without warning my co-worker), THAT had to be a little disconcerting! But, at least he was able to get out at the end of the day (and was only stuck in the bathroom for about an hour) AND, we had a good chuckle. What a way to end the day though, right?

Work went fine, I had one person scheduled for today, but she had rescheduled for tomorrow, so that gave me one gap. Then I had a new appointment this afternoon that came in and rescheduled as well. So, it wasn't QUITE as busy as I had expected it to be. On the way home I did a little shopping and tonight has been about watching the "boob" tube. (I wonder how it got that name). It *was* a nice day weather-wise, so I took a little walk at lunch time.

Okay... signing off.

Auf Weidersehen!

- Kris

To Tuesday...

2012-01-24T08:55:00.002-10:00

Horse statue in Budapest... not sure who it is supposed to be (don't remember).

I loved this stained glass window in Mattias church, I think it would make a beautiful quilt or something.

I can't remember what this building is (in Budapest), but I passed it a lot. I don't remember if it is a church or what.

Work went okay today, I got to work on documentation this morning and then had clients all afternoon. It was a relatively busy day. Nothing too exciting.

Tonight I'm watching the movie "2012" it's interesting to watch.

Okay... signing off and keeping this short.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Travel, travel, travel?

2012-01-23T09:01:00.004-10:00

These are photos of Mattias Church in Budapest...

Looking down on the interior of the church...

Another view looking down inside the church...

So... first, work went okay today, I had two new couples come in for counseling today and then a regular appt. That, coupled with a few meetings with my supervisor led to a busy day. *smiles*

Someone asked me if I had any more trips planned. I don't at the moment, but there are a LOT of places I'd like to go to in the coming year if possible. I made a semi-list. Here they are (in no particular order).

1) Tallinn, Estonia (with side trips to Helsinki and via Denmark).

2) Belgrade, Serbia

3) Bucharest, Romania

4) Prague, CZ

5) Krakow, Poland

6) Dubai, UAE

7) Casablanca or Marakesh, Morroco

And, one trip I would *love* to take this year, if it is possible, is a Trans-Siberian Train ride across Russia, Mongolia and China. It starts in Moscow and ends in Beijing (at least the one I am looking at) and it takes 6 days (with no stops enroute). Of course, I'd like to go see the Great Wall of China while in Beijing and I wouldn't mind stopping in Xian (somehow) to see the Terracotta soldiers.

So... there's my current wish list for traveling. Wonder how I'll do on that list this coming year? Stay tuned!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Long, but fun day!

2012-01-22T10:01:00.002-10:00

A lion guards the Palace on the hill in Buda...

Some random statues on a building in Budapest (btw, did you know Budapest is pronounced Budapescht, yup!).

You can't really tell too well, but this chair is in the window of a spa in Budapest and there's a fish tank where you put your feet/legs into... I guess the little fish nibble off your dead skin? I can't imagine what that would feel like. (And no, I didn't try it).

So, today I drove up to Baumholder to meet up with Laura. She & I used to work together back in one of the clinics in Hawaii. It was good to see her. We chatted and did some shopping and had a late lunch/early dinner together (at Macaroni Grill), it was great. It was good to catch up on old times and former aquaintances. It's a little over 2 1/2 hours to drive up there, then I picked her up and we came back to Ramstein, which is about 1/2 hour back my way (then after Ramstein, it was the 1/2 each way back and forth to Baumholder). I found out that one of my other former co-workers that came over couldn't handle it and she's leaving 6 weeks shy of a year being here - so has to pay her own moving costs. Thankfully, Laura said she didn't bring too much. I hope it works out better for Laura and if not, that she can find another position here in Germany or Europe after the mandatory 1 year mark.

Now it's after 9 (I got back about 8:30) and time to think about heading to bed. That's probably one of the only problems of going up there today, is that I won't feel like I had a full weekend to rest (but next weekend I'm on-call... so I can rest then!).

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

More Budapest photos

2012-01-21T09:43:00.002-10:00

A shot down the street looking at a Basilica (in Budapest)

The Pest side of the Parliament...

Another angel of the Parliament...

The American Embassy in Budapest. Ironically, it seems like it was the only one that was so heavily fortressed (it was that way in Hamburg too when I was there).

So... I actually got more than 8 hours of sleep last night! Hooray! First time in awhile I've done that. (I still woke up a lot... but at least I felt rested). About lunchtime I went over to the Pet store to pick up some more dog food and a few treats for the dogs. Then later this afternoon I went to get my nails done (which took a long time today!). I also did some shopping and picked up a book - Lonely Planet's "1000 Ultimate Experiences." It looks like an interesting book. And I had to chuckle, one of the things in there was about the "chess playing" men at the Szechenyi Spa. I'm looking forward to reading through the book and seeing what I've done in the book and what I want to do that they may have listed.

I know I've had some "ultimate" experiences... Here are 10 (in no particular order)

1) Tandem Sky-diving in Florida

2) Joining the Barrow, AK Polar Bear Club

3) Seeing the Grand Canyon & taking a helicopter ride over it

4) Participating in a "Santa drop" to an Alaskan village above the Arctic Circle

5) Jumping off the Sky Tower in Auckland, NZ

6) Swimming with Sharks & Stingrays in Moorea & Bora Bora

7) Being at the top of the Eiffel Tower

8) Taking a mud volcano bath in Columbia, South America

9) Celebrating New Year's eve on the Bosphorus sea between Asia & Europe

10) Having my 3 wonderful daughters.

How's that for a start? *smiles*

Okay... time to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Bridges in Budapest...

2012-01-20T12:20:00.002-10:00

I think these photos are all of the same bridge, but they did have some others that were nice as well (and I think this bridge is known as the "Chain" bridge.

So... work went okay today, I had to do some running around, but I got to have lunch with my neighbor Tamie, so that was nice. I did get some of my assessments written up today so that was a good thing!

This morning on the way into work it started to snow and the roads got slippery, but I made it okay. One co-worker took about 2 hours to get in because of an accident. Thankfully it cleared up for most of the day and then right before we were due to get off work, it started to snow again. I went over to my dog sitter's place for dinner (Spinach salad, salmon, and sweet potatoes!). Yum yum!

Now I'm home... I shoveled the sidewalk and have been surfing the web. Getting tired though so I may not stay up too much later. Tomorrow the only thing I have on my schedule is getting my nails done.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Money, Money, Money!

2012-01-19T10:24:00.003-10:00

If you want to feel rich, go buy some Hungarian Forint currency... $200 was about 50,000 forint!

I don't think I have EVER felt this rich or held this much (in 10,000 denominations) in my life! LOL!

I'm going down into the abyss! Actually, it's the elevator going down into the tunnel that goes under the Danube river (when I rode the metro under the river to the Buda side and took the photos of the Parliament from there).

So... work was easy-peasy today. *smiles* For some reason I only had 1 appointment scheduled and they were a no-show (they were sick last week, they may still be sick). So, I got caught up on my weekly documentation and did some of my online mandatory training. And I'm ACTING supervisor because my boss had to go deal with a case in another European country. (Lucky her!).

Tonight I've been on the computer (that's where I like to spend my time, I guess). Most of the time was spent writing reviews on the hotels I stayed at in Istanbul and in Budapest and then writing reviews on some of the tourist attractions I visited in both cities.

Now it's 9:30 and I need to think about wrapping things up and getting ready for bed. So... I'll sign off for another day!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Hero's Square

2012-01-18T10:28:00.003-10:00

There were a LOT of people out ice skating this day, it's neat, they block off part of a lake (or river?) for this rink and it's pretty large!

Hero's Square at night... (beautiful, eh?)

I'm told that during the tourist season this place is crazy busy! It was nice that it wasn't so crowded on this day.

So, work was crazy today. I had a "walk-in" appointment today that was a crisis and needed to be hospitalized. Whenever there is something like that, it becomes a time-intensive day and I didn't leave work until about 6:30 tonight. And there are days like today that can be emotionally exhausting for everyone involved... days when things don't happen like they should, where miscommunications happen.. etc...

Tonight is another "chill" night. Although it was colder this morning. This morning it was 19* above, at leat tonight it is 35*, so warmer. But "chillin", I'm watching TV. I am watching a show called "Unforgettable" about a detective that has a photographic memory for places/situations she has been in.

Okay... time to sign off!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Szechenyi Bath in Budapest

2012-01-17T10:07:00.005-10:00

So, here are some pictures from the Szechenyi Bath in Budapest. It was a neat place, I think they claim to have 18 pools there (I didn't go into all of them and I definitely avoided the ones with COLD water!). Of course, if you know me... you know I *love* the water... so I was right at home!

Today was back to work. I'm still dealing with this head cold, today my right ear seems to be affected. I don't feel like I've been coughing as much today, so that is probably a good thing.

I had five appointments scheduled, but one was a no-show. I had one *new* appointment today and those always take a little longer. My 2 co-workers were out all afternoon at a meeting (but there were other providers there, that work in the same hallway).

After work I had to stop and get some gas, then I did a little grocery shopping. Here at home I've just been watching a little TV and also trying to talk a friend into applying for a job overseas. I don't know if it is so much trying to talk her into it, but providing her encouragement and support as she considers applying for a job. She's a teacher, she teaches Middle School kids (but has been thinking about switching to HS). She doesn't have any kids, so I'm, of course, telling her to go for it!

Oh yea... at lunchtime today I was reading a little in my book that I mentioned last night -
The Pilgrimage" by Paulo Coelho. I came across an interesting passage.

"When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth. You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on most journeys you don't even understand the language the people speak. So you are like a child just out of the womb. You begin to be more accessible to others because they may be able to help you in difficult situations. And you accept any small favor from the gods with great delight, as if it were an episode you would remember the rest of your life. At the same time, since all things are new, you see only the beauty in them, and you feel happy to be alive..."

I like that concept. *smiles*

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Back from Budapest, where next?

2012-01-16T10:35:00.006-10:00

I have the "Parliament" in the palm of my hands! *smiles*

This may end up being on my calendar next year, I love this shot!

Here's the Parliament during the day...

So, I *did* make it back from Budapest okay, no problems with the flight. I ran into one of our interns from the Optometry clinic, so got to talk with her for a bit on the way back.

Overall, I enjoyed Budapest, but it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. There were definitely parts of the city I enjoyed (i.e. the Thermal Baths!), but it wasn't really one of those cities that I say "oooooohhhh! I've got to come back here!" (Like, I'd really like to go back to Istanbul someday!).

I'm going to keep this short... I'm tired, I stayed up way too late last night reading, (but it was a good book, I read "Transfer of Power" by Vince Flynn). I've got another book of his to read. He's written a bunch of books. Then, today at the airport in Budapest, I picked up a new book, it's by a guy named Paulo Coelho. The book is titled "The Pilgrimage." It's about a guy's pilgrimage on a trail that goes across northern Spain. It was a pilgrimage many early Christians took and many people still do that trail today (I think it's just over 700 kilometers). The guy wrote another book called the Alchemist, which I hope to read as well, if I like this book.

Okay... signing off. More pictures to follow this week.

- Kris

Great spa day!

2012-01-15T12:17:00.002-10:00

So, today I spent most of the day at the Szechenyi spa, it was awesome and I met a neat couple named Des & Judy for near Cork, Ireland. They had one part in one of the outdoor pools that had a circle around a spa, and the way the water jets worked, it would push you around the circle. Hard to describe, but it was fun! I tried several of the indoor pools and then treated myself to an hour long massage. Ahhhhh. Btw, it was only about 35* outside, so it was a little chilly running from of the outdoor pools to another, lol. I also got some great photos of Hero's Park. After the spa, I came back to the hotel and dropped my stuff off then headed back out. I wanted to go across the river to the Buda side. My friend David said it would be a great place to take a photo of the Parliament at night from. So, I took the Metro (which goes under the river!) over to the Buda side and took some great photos of the Parliament. I can't wait until I can get back to Stuttgart and share them with you here on my blog (I've been posting a few pics on my Facebook). I wanted some Hungarian food for dinner, so I found a small hole in the wall restaurant and got a wonderful sampler plate. I also had a desert pancake (what they call pancakes over here, we call crepes!).

After dinner I came back to the hotel. Now it's already almost 11pm, morning will come early! I'm going to get up in time for the hotel breakfast (this morning I slept too late & missed it!) and then the shuttle bus is supposed to pick me up at 9:30 am and I'll be winging my way back to Stuttgart, arriving in the early afternoon. I'm sure my doggies will be happy to see me!

Time to sign off....

Auf Weidersehen,

Kris

Hop on hop off in Budapest

2012-01-14T09:38:00.004-10:00

Well, the weatherman said it was supposed to be sunny today, well, I guess he was 50% right, but there were also some snow flurries today! I slept in (the bed isn't very comfortable), I went down for breakfast about 9:30 then went up and got ready to go. Most of my day was spent on the Hop on, Hop off bus. I got off over on the Buda side at the Mattias church and spent some time looking for photo ops (it was snowy there for awhile). I took a tour of the church and then wandered the palace grounds . I got lucky and got to catch the pomp & circumstances of the changing of the guards, that was neat! Then I took the Furnicular train down to the bottom of the hill and caught the hoho bus there again and finished riding it around. I did a little shopping today (nothing like Istanbul, at least I can still get away with just my carry-on suitcase). I found something (a Hungarian soccer shirt) for my oldest granddaughter and found something butterfly related that I think my youngest daughter will like. I found a small tablecloth for the coffee table in my office, and a matching large napkin that I can put on the end table in my office. I did buy a small canister of Paprika, which Budapest is known for. I went to a small restaurant for dinner and had creamy garlic soup, yum!

Because I've been out most of the day and I've done a significant amount of walking, I've come back to the hotel early to get on the web and to relax a bit. It is already almost 9pm, so I had better sign off, I may go see if the jacuzzi is open. Tomorrow I am planning to go find one of the thermal baths and hang out there for awhile. : )

Auf Weidersehen,

Kris

I can now cross Hungary off my countries list!

2012-01-13T13:05:00.002-10:00

So, I made it to Budapest about an hour later than expected, it was about 4:45 when we got into the terminal. As it turned out there were two more people on the plane with me that work in the same larger clinic that I do, and one of the Psychologists that I work with is up here for the weekend! There was one other American guy that works at the old place where I worked, he is in the Public Affairs area. I also met some Americans here that live in Wiesbaden by my friends the Barnharts (but they didn't know my friends).

After checking into the hotel I went to a local Hungarian restaurant for dinner. I had some Cream of Mushroom soup, and then some Paprika chicken that was quite tasty! After that I walked around for a couple hours at the Parliament and then on down to the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up my tee shirt. And after that I did even more walking, I've got almost 15,000 steps in today. And now it is after midnight, so I had best sign off.

Auf Weidersehen,

Kris

Going to Budapest!

2012-01-12T12:09:00.004-10:00

Here's an overlook view of Budapest... according to the weather channel, I should have nice (but cold) weather while I'm there this weekend, so that should be nice!

"Budapest is the capital city of Hungary and the country's principal industrial, commercial and transportation centre. Budapest became a single city in 1873, occupying both banks of the Danube river with the amalgamation of Buda and Óbuda on the west bank with Pest on the east bank.
Budapest's recorded history begins with the Roman town of Aquincum, founded around 89 AD on the site of an earlier Celtic settlement near what was to become Óbuda, and from 106 until the end of the 4th century the capital of the province of lower Pannonia. The area was occupied around the year 900 by the Magyars, the ancestors of today's ethnic Hungarians, who a century later founded the kingdom of Hungary. Since the beginning of the 20th century, much of the country's industry came to be concentrated in the city of Budapest."

So... today was a busy day! I talked with my co-worker about weekend plans, she hadn't made any, so gave me her blessings and said she would watch the dogs this weekend while I head to Budapest. I'll watch her dogs over President's Day weekend. So, at lunchtime I went online and did the Germanwings blind booking. I put in (as I think I've mentioned before) for Eastern Europe. There were 6 choices initially, but I paid 10 euros to skip the 2 in Germany (I've already been to Dresden, which was one of the cities). That narrowed down where I might end up to Budapest, Belgrade, Zagreg and Krakow. And you don't find out where you are going until AFTER you pay. I have two other co-workers who are going to be up there. I tried to get the same hotel that one of them was staying in, but it was booked, so I found one that was nearby. I'm planning to use the metro to get around and to do the hop-on, hop-off bus. David (co-worker) gave me a hand-out with some information about Budapest and I've downloaded some information on my Ipad as well.

Who would have thought two weeks ago, when I was in Istanbul, that I'd be in Budapest this weekend? That's what I like about living in Germany, the ability to pick up and go to a different country for the weekend! How cool is that?

Work was busy today even though I only had 4 appointments or so. I stayed until 7:30 or so getting all my notes written tonight.

Okay...it's already late, so I'm going to sign off. (I had to run the dogs over to my co-worker's tonight).

Auf Wiedersehen!

I'll try to post from Hungary tomorrow night!

- Kris

YAY! I have a computer at work now!

2012-01-11T08:49:00.003-10:00

Some photos from the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul. They are not sure how these Medusa heads ended up down here. Interesting though, huh!

So. I got a working computer at work today! HOORAY! And I got my notes typed up from Monday, so just have today's and yesterday's notes to type up. I've had a couple of my clients go to the old clinic (even though they knew we were moving) and then have to reschedule because it takes at least 20 minutes to get from the old place to the new place.

Not much going on tonight... just surfing the web, still wondering if I can afford to go somewhere this weekend. Tonight I've been looking at doing a "Blind Booking." That's where you say you want a "type" of European city (like culture, shopping, party, Western Metropolis, or Eastern Metropolis). The one I was looking at was "Eastern Metropolis" and I was eliminating any German cities. That leaves Belgrade, Budapest, Zagreb and Krakow. Of those, my top choice would be Belgrade. My least favorite is Zagreb, but only because I've been to Croatia already. With Blind booking, I wouldn't know which of the 4 I end up with, until I pay for the reservation. Then I'd need to scramble for hotel reservations (and see if my co-worker could watch the dogs). Sometimes that feels like more hassle than it's worth.

So... do you know where Belgrade is? It's in Serbia, which is the other side of Bosnia. How cool would it be to go there? And you probably know that Budapest is in Hungary (I have a co-worker heading up there this weekend), and that Krakow is in Poland. I've already mentioned that Zagreb is in Croatia. So, there would be 3/4 chances that I would end up in a country that I've not been to before.

No worries... I'll keep you posted if I go! *smiles*

Okay... I'm going to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

My office... and sunset

2012-01-10T10:31:00.002-10:00

Two views of my office, one taken from the window area, one taken from the door. Looks good, eh?

Here's a close-up view of my new picture that is now hanging over the couch in my office. If things get too stressful, I can sit in one of my chairs and meditate on the picture. what do you think?

There was no place to pull over, but I wanted to share the beautiful sunset that we had here in Germany tonight. *smiles*

Work went okay today, but it was frustrating because I STILL do not have a computer to use. I'm about ready to say "Okay, I'm just going to call in sick until you get me a computer so I can do my job!" Grrrr! And the guy that is supposed to be getting a computer set up (I had to schlepp them over to his office, both CPU's the old one that is fried, and a new one that was in my supervisor's office that needs to be configured)... anyway, he was out all day today. GRRRRR! I keep reminding myself that my priorities are not his priorities, but it doesn't make me feel any better. At least I've got a fairly light workload this week, so when I have to play catch up on all the notes (which has to be done by Friday), it's doable.

After work tonight I went to the Volksmarching club's monthly meeting and enjoyed some Schnitzel with mushroom gravy (mmmm goood!0.

Now it's almost 10pm again, at least I'm "off" call, so don't have to worry about toting the phone with me everywhere! *smiles*

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Back to business...

2012-01-09T10:10:00.002-10:00

These photos were at the "Blue Mosque" in Istanbul. There was a separate area for women to pray, however, I'm not sure if the woman below was just being obstinate or clueless, because she was just inside the large gated area that was reserved for the men.

So, things were back to business today at work. I had three appointments scheduled, but one was a no-show. My first appointment was a family of 4, and we all managed to fit into my office, so that was good. I like how my office is looking, but I still want to get a tablecloth or something for my end table and coffee table. I imagine things will start ramping up again as everyone finds us in our new location and the clinic next door starts sending more referrals.

Tonight I've just been looking at travel locations. I've got a 3-day weekend this weekend and trying to figure out where to go (if I don't go anywhere, I may just drive up and pick up my former co-worker from Hawaii early Monday morning and give her a ride to her new work location). But... places I've been looking at include: Dubai, Prague & Casablanca. Prague is the cheapest of the three to get to, but it's also the coldest. Dubai is the most intriguing, but the airfare alone is over $500. And Casablanca (in Morroco) is more expensive to fly to (and a little colder than Dubai which is supposed to be sunny and in the high 70's this weekend).

Ahhhh... decisions, decisions! Prague is a place I've wanted to visit since before I was coming here and I haven't made it yet. But, the temps are only supposed to be in the 30's and I think I would enjoy it more when it is warmer. One of my coworkers is headed to Budapest this weekend. Hmmm....

Okay... not much else to write about, so I'll sign off for another day.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Relaxing Sunday...

2012-01-08T09:16:00.002-10:00

This is the full moon over Germany! I took it on my way home this afternoon.

So... really, today has been relaxing. I slept in and then after a little bit I went to do a little shopping on a local military base. I didn't find what I was looking for (a small rug for my office), but it was nice to get out and drive around for a little bit. I went by the office and my boss was there, so I stopped to talk to her for a little bit before stopping to get a bite to eat and coming back home.

Tonight I'm watching "Baby Mama" on TV. It's funny.

Okay... I'm going to keep this short.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Yay! Office is ready!

2012-01-07T11:58:00.003-10:00

This was taken New Year's eve night down in Istanbul. It was a really great night!

SO. I finally feel like I have my office ready for clients. I need to take in a table lamp and still would like to get a little bookcase or something, but otherwise, all my pictures are hung, I have a name on my door and my desk is organized. Whooohoo!

I also went to Ikea today, and almost bought a couple pillows to put on my couch, but the lines were SO horribly long, I decided not to stay (but I *did* have meatballs for lunch today). AND... that reminds me, I was down another 3 pounds today! HOORAY!

Tonight I went to dinner with my friends Heidi & Albert (and Adrienne & her husband came later). It was Heidi's birthday. She had a bunch of her co-workers there as well (and I am now working next door to all of them), so it was nice to meet some of them.

Okay, it's after 11pm. I'm going to head to bed soon.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

My lamps

2012-01-06T11:36:00.002-10:00

This is a close-up of the blue globe on my smaller blue lamp

The "blue" lamp is in the "Blue" bedroom.

This is my green lamp from Istanbul, it's in the "Green" guest bedroom.

And here's the table lamp (that I got in Istanbul) I have in my livingroom.

So, today was not a very productive day, but I've done as much as I can in my office at work. I still don't have a working computer, it seems like it must be the mother board that is messed up. This afternoon we had training and then after work a few of us went out for a bite to eat (and to celebrate the end of this week).

After dinner I thought I would go to IKEA and pick up some things for my office, but it was closed. So, then I decided I would go to a local store and pick up a couple things and was amazed to see that it also was already closed. Then, about halfway home, I realized that today was a German holiday (and I knew it). Argh! Hopefully I can get there tomorrow.

Okay... signing off for another day.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Slow progress at work...

2012-01-05T09:36:00.003-10:00

This was the view today out of my office window today as it snowed. And it was a freaky snow... it started off with rain, then hail, then a lighter snow accompanied by thunder and lightening! You don't see thunder and lightening too often with snow! That was interesting!

So. I finally got my boxes delivered today at the office, so I spent the day unpacking (after I finally got them, in the meantime, one of my families (clients) came in, so I went ahead and saw them). I couldn't get my computer working today, nor do I have a phone in my office. I can do without a phone, I don't make too many phone calls. By the end of the day I was feeling rather cranky and iritable. Of course, I've still got this head cold that I've had for a week now. And last night my fitbit said I woke up 28 times (ugh!). After hooking my computer up this afternoon, and having it not work, I had another co-worker switch out the keyboards, that didn't work either. FINALLY the IT guy came (the computer "guru"... yea right... he's so dumb and lazy... well... don't get me started)... and still it doesn't work. The best he could say was that they must have damaged hardware when they brought the computer over. Who knows how long I will be without a computer. I did go over to the main clinic today and use their computer for a little bit, as I needed to document the client encounter I had today. So, at least that's done!

Tonight I've just been "chillin", trying not to fall asleep so that I'll be able to sleep tonight. Not much else to write about... so I'll sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Getting set up in my new office...

2012-01-04T07:33:00.003-10:00

Well, this is what my new office looks like this afternoon (it was an empty room this morning). i think I've mentioned that our office has relocated to be closer to our main clinic, so we are starting to get settled in (I still don't have all my computer cables, my various boxes or the garbage can I used to have).

My drive to work is about 10 minutes longer. Where I used to work, I had 3 "round-a-bouts" to go through and 1 light. Now I have 17 traffic lights, 3 pedestrian lights and 3 round-a-bouts to go through over the course of just over 7.5 miles, with speed limits ranging from 30-50 mph most of the way. I also have some VERY serious "S" curves on the way to my new clinic.

I can't wait until I can personalize my office... but I guess that will take time.

Other than that, not much else going on today, so I'll sign off for today.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Work? Where?

2012-01-03T11:11:00.003-10:00

These were a couple photos from the Suleymaniye Hamam in Istanbul. They don't let you take pictures inside the bath (for obvious reasons). This Hamam is dated back to the 1500's. How cool is that?

No, I'm not really smoking a peace pipe or whatever you call it, I thought it would make an interesting picture though! LOL!

Mirror portrait? LOL!

Okay, here I am dressed up in my garb (IN my dressing room) after the Hamam experience. It was quite neat overall and I'm glad I had the chance to experience a Turkish bath.

Okay... the title of today's blog. I guess it didn't surprise me and it shouldn't have surprised anyone that we sat on the floor in our new offices (or stood) because NONE of our stuff (at least in our part of the clinic) was delivered today. Some of my co-workers went to breakfast together (I held down the fort) and then later, one of my co-workers asked if I wanted to go for a walk with her, so we did a fairly long walk. I stopped on the way back and got a Subway Sandwich for my lunch, to eat back at the office. Then about 1:30 they said we could leave, so I went and got some gas, picked up my 3 bedspreads (well, 2 bedspreads and a down comforter) and my Flokati rug, that only cost me about $130! (yowza!). Then I went ahead and got my car washed (it was over due!). I came home for a couple hours and then headed back into town (into Stuttgart). I parked at my favorite train park & ride place and took the train in. One of my former peers, sort of co-workers, from Hawaii has been in Germany this past week visiting, so I went down and had dinner with him. He started working at one of the clinics I used to work at, after I had left that clinic. But what I didn't know until tonight, was that he got his MSW a year after I did, from the University of Hawaii. (And he's older than ME!). Anyway, he's interested in applying for jobs over here, and likes to travel, so he wanted to pick my brain about both. We had a good dinner. Tomorrow he's going to go see the Mercedes Museum before he heads up to Frankfurt. He got to spend New Year's with my former supervisor and her husband (they live about 2 1/2 hours from where I am).

Now it's 10:30pm and time to sign off. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow morning! Because none of our furniture is there yet (none of our boxes either), we don't have to go into work until 10am. HOORAY! AND, they have told us to cancel ALL appointments for this week. (YAY again!).

Okay...

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Made it back home from Istanbul

2012-01-02T10:26:00.002-10:00

The Blue Mosque (this photo may make my calendar for 2013!)

So, I got up at 5am this morning and had a car (van) hired to pick me up at 5:30am to take me out to the airport. My flight was scheduled for 7:50am (and they actually started the boarding process an hour before the flight!). I slept most of the 3 hour flight back to Stuttgart. And I've had to keep moving today to stay awake. I came home and unpacked before I went to pick up the dogs. I put my two smaller lamps upstairs in the spare bedrooms and then put the table lamp on the table between my couch and recliner, but it really doesn't go well there. AND... while they said they would get me blue lights like the one I liked, the ones they sent home with me are a lot darker and not as bright. I'm disappointed about that. I should have checked each globe instead of assuming they were all alike. At least they all have *some* blue in them.

Overall, I'm very happy with my weekend trip to Istanbul and would really like to go back when its sunnier and warmer (it was supposed to be sunny today and for the next few days, darn!).

I stopped by my old office today and they hadn't done anything to it yet. They had moved the Optometry office, but behavioral health and social work hadn't been moved (or touched) at all. I was there about 1pm and there was only 1 person there working. Should be interesting to see IF all of the boxes over there tomorrow! And of course... we are supposed to have all of our boxes, but no desks and no furniture tomorrow. (And we are going to work why?). I *may* go in and see how things are going and then take some sick leave and come back home sick. I *do* have a friend coming to Stuttgart tomorrow for two days and I agreed to meet him for dinner. He's a Social Worker from Hawaii and works in one of the clinics that I used to work in. I think he's up with my former boss and her husband tonight.

Okay, I'm going to sign off. I'll post more pictures of Istanbul as the week goes along.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Happy New Year's Day!

2012-01-01T09:24:00.005-10:00

So, I slept until about 11 or so and then got up, showered, dressed and headed out for the day. I went to a little restaurant that wasn't too far away and had some flat bread that some Muslim women rolled out while you could watch. It was a neat restaurant where you could sit on cushions on the floor and eat at a low table, but I chose to eat at a regular table. I was afraid if I sat down I wouldn't be able to get back up! They called the flat bread, Turkish pancakes and they would put stuff in them. (your choice of several ingredients) I had beef & onion in mine. It reminded me of a Quesadilla as far as what it looked like. After a small lunch, I went shopping and picked up some souvenirs. I also bought a couple smaller globe lamps that I am going to put in my guest bedrooms.

After loading up on stuff and buying a suitcase to put my larger lamp in, along with some of the other goodies I bought today, I came back to the hotel and unloaded the stuff, rested a bit then went back out.

After my brief pit stop, I went out and back over to the Blue Mosque. I wanted to visit it as even though I've been around on the outside several times I hadn't been inside. It's huge inside! Visitors are only to come in one particular door, and you have to take your shoes off and I, as a woman, had to have my head covered. The Muslim coming in have to wash up and there is an area for them to do so. This includes washing their feet before they enter. There is a separate washing area (and praying area) for women. Even though I am not Muslim, it was a humbling spiritual place to be.

Not long after I left the Mosque, it was getting dark and felt like supper time, so I ended up going to a "Panoramic" restaurant near the Mosque, which gave me a Great view of the Blue Mosque. And for the most part, probably because it was so early, I had the restaurant to myself. I had a beef & mushroom kabob, but it wasn't on a skewer. It tasted good though. After dinner I walked up and down one of the main streets that leads to the Grand Bazaar (mainly because I needed the exercise), although on the way back to the hotel I stopped at McDonald's for a small chocolate sundae. It was a good way to end the day! I've had baklava a couple times here, I find it to be very rich.

Tonight I have packed my bags and tomorrow a car will come pick me up at 5:30am so I can get to the airport by 6, my flight back to Germany leaves about 8am. After I drop my bags off at home, I'll go pick up my pups from my co-worker and come home to relax for the rest of the day. Time to sign off, this has been a long post on my iPad, because I have to kind of do the 2 finger typing. Ugh!

Auf Wiedersehen,

Kris

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T14:28:00.002-10:00

Had a Great day, did the hop on, hop off bus, then went to the Spice and Grand Bazaars, they were awesome! Tonight I went on a river cruise on the Bosphorus river which goes between Europe and Asia. Now it's 2:30am, I've made a Bunch of new friends, I've had too much to drink in celebration and now I need to get to bed. With my luck the prayers will go off at 6 am!

Auf Weidersehen,

Kris

Istanbul!

2011-12-30T11:57:00.002-10:00

I can't upload pictures from my IPad, which is what I brought on this trip. I got here about 3pm and came to the old town of Istanbul. I'm staying at the White House hotel, it's a great hotel, very personable. They game a little evil eye on a pin, then gave me some orange juice and a piece of candy while they talked to me about the hotel. The room is fantastic, they have 2 chairs in the room that remind me of sitting on a throne. After getting settled in the room, I made arrangements to go to one of the oldest Hamans (if not THE oldest) it has been in use since 1550. That's old! After the Haman experience (Turkish bath), I came back and then walked all over the old town here. I felt very safe. I didn't buy any souvenirs but saw several things I liked and hope to buy before I leave here.

ok, I had better sign off. It's already midnight and they will be doing the Muslim prayers/chants over the loudspeakers around 6am, they say the prayers 5-6 times a day. Guess I will wear my earplugs to bed tonight!

Auf Wiedersehen,

Kris

One more quiet night!

2011-12-29T08:58:00.003-10:00

I'm looking forward to being here tomorrow afternoon and to seeing the "Blue Mosque!" Yes, I *am* taking my camera (taking my 2 Canon's and both the batteries have been charged).

Work today was hectic. I only had a couple appointments scheduled (and one new one was a no-show, so that worked out). Today was spent catching up on documentation and going around labeling everything in sight. And just about the time I thought we had gotten everything labeled and boxed, we found three cabinets that had not be emptied! YIKES! Thank goodness for three of my co-workers in particular, they have really jumped in and have done way more than their share. The problem we have is that some of our co-workers are on leave. One in particular didn't pack up any of their belongings, thinking that they would be able to do it when they returned. That was NOT the case. Our receptionist had offered to come in and pack up, but two other people told her to stay on her leave and not come in and they packed up her stuff (and all the associated files). I did help out with some of the packing and a lot of the labeling of our clinic's stuff, my one co-worker who is aggravating to me at times, is, I think, the ONLY person in the building who has not gotten all their stuff packed up (she's working tomorrow). She didn't help out with ANY of the other packing or labeling either. AND, we were told we could leave at 3:30 today, so she high-tailed it out of there. (We were told that yesterday as well, but I had a client that I didn't finish up with until 4:15, so she had to stay. We are not allowed to leave if another provider still has a client). But, I was there today until about 4:45pm, and I was there that long, at least, yesterday. Okay. I'll quit complaining. Different work ethics, I suppose.

I stopped and picked up a travel book about Istanbul. I've been reading through it tonight and will read it some more on the plane to Istanbul. I'm flying on Turkish Airlines, leaving Stuttgart just before 11am. I think I get in about 2:45pm to Istanbul. I'll be staying at a place called the "White House." It's not a 4-5 star hotel, but it does get VERY high ratings on TripAdvisor. It sounds like their hospitality is awesome! I come back on Monday and have a fairly early flight, getting here about 10am. That'll give me a chance to recoup before I head back to work on Tuesday for the hectic chaos that will be next week as we try to sort through boxes and get settled into our new offices.

Okay, I'd better sign off. It's about 8:15pm and I still need to pack. It's been a quiet night since my co-workers took the dogs home with her after work. I hope they are behaving themselves!

Remember, this time tomorrow I'll be in Istanbul. I'm supposed to have internet access at the hotel and will *try* to post. I may not be able to post pictures until I return though.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Test post

2011-12-28T10:12:00.002-10:00

This is a test to see if I can blog with the google app on my IPad. Then, when I go to Istanbul this weekend, I can get away with just taking my iPad. @smiles@

Kris

Happy Hump Day?

2011-12-28T09:50:00.002-10:00

Thought you'd like this picture of Bruno and Peanut. Peanut loves to get herself covered up in the afghan (which she has now claimed as HERS!) and then Bruno will snuggle next to her here on the couch.

Work went okay today. I got everything out of my cabinet packed into boxes and labeled. The German movers are supposed to come to our offices on Monday (we will be off that day, but it isn't a German holiday) and move everything over to our new offices. I still have just a tiny bit of stuff to pack, less than a shopping bag full, that I may hand-carry over there tomorrow. I can't schedule any clients for Tuesday or Wednesday next week, but I *do* have three clients scheduled for Thursday. I'm hoping my office is ready to go by then. Right now, when we meet with clients, we meet in one of two offices, but in our new building we are expected to meet with clients in our own offices. That should be interesting. The furniture that we have (desk set-up) is SO big, it dominates the room. I'll be glad when we get through the next few weeks and things settle down. I think there will 2 main problems about moving to our new location. 1) Parking is absolutely HORRIBLE. The clinic parking area is overcrowded as it is and now it will be worse. The other thing is that our offices are located on the 2nd floor and there is NO elevator, that may make it difficult for some of the clients.

Other than that, I slept a little better last night. I wasn't so tired today, so that was nice. I got home from work late today because I went and got my nails done. They look nice *smiles*

Okay, I'm going to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Short blog?

2011-12-27T10:40:00.002-10:00

Hi,
I'm just going to do a short post as I wake from falling asleep on the couch after I got home tonight. I'm very tired tonight. Of course... I looked at my fitbit results and can understand why. It says I went to bed about 11:30 last night and took almost a half hour to fall asleep and I woke up 29 times throughout the night. I had stayed up late last night because my co-worker called and said she had arrived in Stuttgart and could come pick up here doggies. SO, I stayed up so they could spend the night with their mama. I know she missed them a lot!

Work was fairly busy with a couple interruptions. I had to take the dogs in this morning for a Vet appointment. They got their Lyme disease shot and their 3-year Rabies shot (good for 3 years). Peanut got her anal glands expressed (she's only had it done one other time). And other than that, the Vet said the dogs are healthy. They also got lab work done to test for heartworm and I had taken in a fecal sample. All in all, it ran me $190 (about double what I had expected/hoped). Anyway, barring any illnesses, they are good to go for awhile.

Oh yea and when I woke up this morning, I found out that my router was belly-up, it doesn't work anymore. So after work I had to stop and get a router. Before I went and got that though, I dropped of a couple comforters and a down comforter off to be dry cleaned (well, two of them just need to be washed, but the German washers are SO small here, that I can't fit them in at all. Anyway... imagine MY shock when I found out they are going to charge me almost $100 for that. And I dropped off my Flokati rug and it sounds like that will run me at least $50 to be cleaned. ARGH! I *miss* having access to the triple-size washer and dryers in the States! Next time though, I *will* take the comforters to a base laundrymat, one of them is supposed to have larger washers and dryers. I believe the two comforters I dropped off I could have washed in one of those washers (one at a time). Oh well, lesson learned, right?

SO... today has been an EXPENSIVE day and of course, it comes right during the Holidays and just before I'm going to Istanbul. It feels like one of those days.. if it isn't one thing, it's another!

At least I now have my internet back up and running, the dogs are healthy, and in January (when I get the bedding back), I'll have clean comforters! (Peanut got sick on my duvet that I had over the down comforter and it had soaked through! grrrr... guess I need a water resistant duvet??? Do they make such a thing?).

Okay, it's almost 10, bedtime. Even though I've had a nap now, I sure hope I sleep better than last night!

At least I'm not on call anymore!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Istanbul, here I come!

2011-12-26T09:58:00.003-10:00

In 4 more days, I'll be in Istanbul for the New Year's! I CAN'T wait!

So... after getting home very late and then staying up to watch the first half of the Packers - Bears game... I didn't get to bed until about 4am and so I slept in this morning. Although, I guess it was good I stayed up? I had just gotten into bed when the on-call phone rang. It was the police calling with a domestic violence report. The guy that called made a comment about how awake I sounded for it being the middle of the night, so I told him I had just gone to bed after watching the first half of the Packer's game. *smiles* Now I have 2 reports to write up first thing in the morning. My co-worker, who will have to deal with them won't be a happy camper!

The dogs have been doing okay (visiting doggies). I worry a little, both are so old and feeble, it's almost like I worry about them dying on "my watch." I won't miss having to give them their heart medication every night. I dread the time when Peanut & Bruno become so old.

This afternoon I went and saw the movie "Chip-wrecked." I knew that it involved a cruise ship, I guess I expected more of it to be on the ship. After the ship scenes, the movie got a little boring.

Okay, I suppose I'd better sign off and head to bed. Tomorrow morning I get to take the dogs in for their Vet appointment. I hope it doesn't cost TOO much!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:48:00.004-10:00

Jack & Bennett, the dogs I'm watching over the Christmas holidays while their mama is enjoying Paris.

My tree with some presents underneath...

Peanut "sitting pretty" and Bruno, on Christmas morning.

My advent wreath and candles...

So, after sleeping in the morning, I got up and made more cookies (frosted Sugar cookies that all got gobbled up by the kids across the street, they absolutely LOVED them!). I went over to Tamie & Curt's about 3pm, took over a ham, lots of cookies and then some chips & Rotel Cheese dip. Then, I didn't leave there til 1am! I did take a break right at the end of dinner time to come over and Skype with Kori & Michelle and I got to watch them and my youngest granddaughter Kiara, open their presents. I haven't been able to catch up to my daughter Kati yet, they are over at the in-laws for Christmas. I'm looking forward to finding out how Kati's father-in-law liked his present that she picked up for him over here (it's the family name and crest information, printed out in Calligraphy... BUT in German! Kati had it framed and I'm sure it looked really neat). I also want to find out what Scott thought of his present. She did send me a message via Facebook to tell me that my granddaughter was VERY happy about her present!

Okay, I'm going to keep this short. I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas and I wish my friends and family a Blessed, peaceful Christmas!

Frohe Weihnachten from Deutchland!

- Kris

Merry Christmas eve!

2011-12-24T12:02:00.003-10:00

This was the creche at the post chapel tonight. I went to the Christmas Eve Candle-light service tonight. And of course... I'm on call and WHEN did my phone ring? Yep... DURING the service. And just WHEN during the service did it ring? Yep... in the middle of prayer! (it actually rang twice, but for some reason the first time it rang, it disconnected. So they called back about 5 minutes later (when I had tried to call the "last" number listed in the phone and gave up and went back in to sit down... then it rang AGAIN during an inopportune quiet time). The service was nice... I enjoyed singing all the carols and listening to the Christmas story. The service was quite packed with families.

After the service I went to the Police Station to get the report they had called me about (a domestic violence situation where one spouse tried to run over another). At least I didn't have to go in about it, (other than since I was "out" I just went and got the report rather than taking the whole thing over the phone). My co-worker will have to deal with it next week.

Here's Trevor in the play, he's on the far left in the orangish gown as a wiseman. He & Tia were in the play "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". It's finished now. I took these photos last week when I went to one of their last performances. Trevor was a "Herdman." (that was supposed to be the kids' last names that were real trouble-makers... in my growing up years, I'm SURE some of my Sunday School teachers thought we were as bad as these kids! And to tell the truth, we were probably worse!). It's a good play, it may even be a movie, I'd recommend watching it. (Maybe you can find it on YouTube?).

Tia is the Angel with the long curly blond hair (she has naturally curly hair).

Tia is the middle angel in this picture.

SO. Doesn't look like we will have a white Christmas here in Germany. I did get to take the dogs out for a walk today. We did 2 1/2 miles. I left Jack and Bennett here, they can't walk very fast or very far. It was about 40* out, but at least it wasn't raining. It WAS rather muddy out there though, so I've got a couple towels in the entryway to wipe the dogs down before they come on into the Livingroom and Dining room.

I also did MY adult version of "Mancala." Have you ever heard of Mancala or played it? If not, I would suggest googling it. It's a game I played with pebbles as a kid at the local park. ANYWAY... every couple months, I get out all my weekly medicine containers (the ones that have 7 sections, so you can divide up your daily vitamins/medications). Anyway, I think I have about 10 of them. So, I put them all on the kitchen counter, then go through and put my various vitamins in them... the Multi-vitamin, the A, the D, the E, the Folate, and the Zinc. I also take a couple prescription pills (Allegra for itching, an anti-inflammatory, and then Prilosec or something like that, to combat any ulcers that come from taking the anti-inflammatory pill). I end up with about 8-10 pills in each one. But, at least that is done for a couple months now.

The other thing I did today was to bake more cookies to take over to the neighbors tomorrow (I'm also baking a ham tomorrow to take). I'm going over there for Christmas dinner. Anyway... back to the baking. I made the no-bake Chocolate drop cookies (with cocoa, oatmeal, coconut and nuts). I made 7-layer bars, but instead of using butterscotch chips, I used Reese peanut butter chips. AND, last but not least, I made some more Mexican Wedding Cakes (Russian Tea Cakes). I had hoped to make some Sugar cookies. I bought some canned green frosting with sprinkles, but didn't get to them. Maybe tomorrow morning?

Speaking of tomorrow morning. I'd better sign off and think about heading to bed soon.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Last day of work for a couple days...

2011-12-23T10:03:00.002-10:00

The Cathedral in Stuttgart at night...

So, I got off work about an hour early (felt like yesterday should have been Friday). There was only one other Behavioral Health provider there today, so it was quiet. We had some early childhood development people there (I think they had 4 people there!) So, what's that make... six in the building? Not too bad. Some minor distractions. Tom brought his wife & dog in, so I sat and visited with them for awhile. I did sort through a bunch of papers to determine what needed to be tossed and what needed to be shredded. I didn't get to the work I've been procrastinating about, but I have it all organized and stacked (and together) so I *can* start working on them. I packed one box, but have several more to pack before next Thursday. I thought I was going to have a light week next week, but I've managed to schedule, I think, 4 a day.

At lunch time I did go over to the local military exchange and they had their Christmas Polish pottery on sale (well, marked down a little anyway), so I bought myself a couple pieces. I got a large cake plate (or cookie platter?) and a baking dish. Those are the 1st two pieces I've bought for myself. (I have 3 other pieces, but they are gifts from my friends the Barnharts). I bought an additional platter as a gift for my neighbors across the street... they are just so wonderful!

I've gotten some comments about exercising to get my steps in. I *do* still have my Elliptical machine and I have my "Gazelle". I put my Gazelle away when I had my company and haven't gotten it back out (now I need to wait until the extra dogs are gone and then will probably wait until after the 1st of the year when I return from (hopefully!) my mini-vacation. I *do* have an ab lounger as well (in my bedroom) and should use that too. I'm thankful for my tummy tuck and abdominoplasty I had a few years ago (has it been 6 or so? Already?), while I don't have a 6-pack, my tummy's fairly flat! *smiles* AND, I *am* wearing size 12 now (I wore jeans to work... whoohoo... (oh yea, don't tell my boss... she frowns on that!) They were size 12 jeans.).

Tonight I went and did a little grocery shopping and now I'm watching the "X factor" on TV. I'm tired and hoping I get a decent night's sleep tonight. No real plans for tomorrow (sleeping in???). The Christmas markets are over now (except in France, and maybe Austria). I had thought about going to one tomorrow, but found out it ended yesterday. I *may* go to the Christmas eve service tomorrow night, I need to find out what time it is.

Okay... signing off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Almost Christmas!

2011-12-22T09:47:00.002-10:00

These are some of my co-workers (and a couple people in my chain of command). This was at our Christmas luncheon last week. We had a "group" lunch today among those in our building, because it was the last day the majority of the building present. By the time some of them come back from their holiday we will be moved into our new building. (oh fun). It should be interesting... the move into the new building. There are significant size changes in office and common space. Instead of being in a large area... my new office will be down a long corridor.

Today I got two new dogs at my house (thankfully not for keeps... I have my hands full with my own 2!). My co-worker is going to Paris for Christmas (two others are gong to London for the weekend). Anyway, she's agreed to watch my dogs next weekend while I go to Istanbul. I'm not sure what type of dogs Jack & Bennett are, I think Shitzu's or something. I like Bennett more than Jack. Jack comes across as a grumpy old man (who apparently does NOT like to be picked up). So far my dogs are behaving with them. I've got to give them some medicine here soon. Both are on heart medication.

The weather here today has been rainy (yuk) and I've NOT been getting my 10,000 steps in at all this week. I should be getting on my elliptical machine. I put it away when I had company and haven't gotten it back out yet.

Okay... time to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches...

2011-12-21T09:13:00.002-10:00

At the Christmas market these Swiss people (I think) made their grilled Cheese Sandwiches this way.. the cheese wheel is below and they browned the bread on top.

I had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner tonight (yum, yum! I had it at home though, not at the Christmas market).

Work went okay today, it was fairly busy, I had a couple new people for appointments today and that's always more paperwork. Today was my supervisor's last day until next year. And apparently we are supposed to move to our new clinic the first week of the new year. So, it sounds like things will be a little chaotic for the next few weeks at work.

Tonight I've just been chillin (after staying up late last night baking cookies and making fudge last night). So... not a whole lot to write about today... so I'll sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Argh! Cookies

2011-12-20T11:04:00.004-10:00

This is a photo I took of me with my Iphone when I was out at lunch time.

So... first of all, we got our first REAL snow of the winter. We got about 3" and as a result, we also got to go home about an hour early! YAY! Work wasn't too busy, I think the snowy weather kept some people away. One of my co-workers isn't feeling well, so she went home early.

I took over the on-call phone today, so far it's quiet.

Since I got off early, I decided to come home and do some baking. I made some "Russian Tea Cakes' (or "Mexican Wedding Cakes" depending on where you live, I guess?), and then I made some fudge. I took a break for dinner, I made a steak, stuffed mushrooms and some corn for dinner. After dinner I sat down too long to watch some TV. I watched the Country Music show from the White House, then watched some crime show. After that I started making some Spritz cookies... I had gotten a cheap cookie press and it is DRIVING me NUTS! I sure miss the old metal one I used to have!!! I guess I'll have to check on Amazon and see what they have. I did manage to squeeze out some Christmas trees, but the ones for the Marchino cherries are NOT coming out at all. I think I'll have to roll some dough and wing it.

Okay... its after 10 and I still have 1-2 batches of cookies to make so I'd better sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

It's a Monday alright!

2011-12-19T10:07:00.003-10:00

This is a picture of the train garden down at the Christmas Market in Stuttgart. I like the old town section.

Work went okay today. I came in and found that one person had rescheduled their appointment and then another called and said they weren't going to be able to make it today, so I rescheduled them for tomorrow. I was able to catch up on the back notes, but still have a bunch of assessments to write. I'm hoping I'll be able to do them on Friday when almost everyone else will be out of the office and I don't have anyone scheduled. And, I'm trying to keep my workload light next week.

After work I had to deal with a pretty flat tire (at the gas station it only had 10lbs of air in it!)... I got air put into it and will find out tomorrow if that was sufficient or if I will need to go get the tire repaired (it's a year old). It's always something, huh!

Tonight I've been watching the finale of "Survivor", I was rooting for Ozzy, so I was disappointed that he didn't make it.

Okay... time to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

YAY! I got my tree up!

2011-12-18T10:34:00.003-10:00

A couple pics of my dining table with the new tablecloth I bought yesterday and my advent wreath with the three candles lit.

This is just from a different angle

And here's my Christmas tree. I had to buy a few more balls to hang on the tree, it's a little sparse. I went to the "Exchange" today and unfortunately they didn't have any 220 christmas bulbs, so I had to settle for "110" (electric type). So then I had to get a transformer for it as well (that's what is behind on the floor). It's been MANY years since I've had a tree this big. The "Exchange" didn't have any garland either, so at least they had tinsel, so I hung that on the tree. I also had to buy a new tree topper... not one I would have selected had there been very many other choices (there were only 3 choices today! ) I also wrapped most of my Christmas presents today as well (for co-workers and for my neighbors and their kids). So, today has been spent doing Christmas stuff. I've been enjoying Christmas music on my Ipod all day (I have 220 Christmas songs on my Ipod). I *didn't* get my cookies made today as I had hoped. Maybe I'll be motivated to come home each night after work this week and make cookies, a different batch each night.

Tonight I got to SKYPE with my friend Bette and her daughter Ellen (AND Walt). It was good to talk to them AND see them!). That was such a treat!

Okay, I'd better sign off, it's 9:45pm and bedtime already.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

O Christmas tree... O Christmas tree...

2011-12-17T13:51:00.004-10:00

The Cathedral in Stuttgart above the Christmas market

The "Old town" Train garden

It was VERY crowded tonight at the Christmas market

The Nutcracker is a common place for people to meet up (especially if they get separated in the crowd).

So. This morning I got up (after sleeping in awhile) and went to one of the local stores and bought a Christmas tree (and stand). The tree cost me 38 euros (about $50). It's quite tall, about 7" (especially the with the long stem at the top). I have it up now, but haven't decorated. I realized too late that my lights aren't long enough and that I don't have enough garland for it. SO... hopefully I can go to the Post exchange tomorrow and see what they have. I had hoped to just spend the day baking tomorrow. I did get my little Christmas Palm tree set up in one of my windows... that'll make the Germans wonder! LOL!

This afternoon I went to Trevor & Tia's play (my neighbor kids). They did a great job! I took some pictures, but Tamie didn't have her camera with her and the kids were having a Christmas party for the cast between the matinee performance (that I went to with Tamie) and the evening performance. So, I let Tamie borrow the camera I had with me so she could take some pictures during the party.

Tonight I decided to head into Stuttgart to the Christmas market. I parked at a nearby train stop and took the train in (it's easier than trying to park downtown). The Christmas market was PACKED! I did find a nice lace Christmas table cloth and matching placemats (that set me back WAY too far!). I will be able to use the Christmas tablecloth for many years to come (hopefully). I also went to one of the stores downtown and bought myself a couple more little ornaments (that were dirt cheap and 50% off), I found a pretty little elevated cookie plate with a Christmas design and then I bought a scale that I can measure out grams on (for baking Christmas cookies... the recipes I got while Kati was here were all in metric). So, it was a good night. And it was even better because it didn't rain or snow and there was very little wind. It was about 37*. This morning there was a little snow on the ground, but it melted pretty fast.

Okay... it's after 1am, I'd better sign off. Since I got home I've been putting out some of my Christmas decorations and listening to Christmas music. *smiles* Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post a picture of my Christmas tree!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

YAY! It's Friday!

2011-12-16T11:23:00.002-10:00

So, a half-busy day at work today. Started off with a staff meeting, then had one appointment this morning and then managed to get a couple notes written before we left about 11:30 to drive about an hour north for a Social Work Christmas luncheon. We were to be there by 1 and got there about 12:45pm. By the time everyone showed up (one person got lost), I think it was after 2 before we started getting our food and it was almost 4 by the time we left there. (It was planned that we would be gone most, if not all of the afternoon). The weather going and coming was VERY windy and raining. My boss drove and the car got buffeted around a couple times. But, we did make it up there and back safely and had a good time. I got to meet some Social Workers from up in the Heidelberg area, so that was nice. We did a weird Christmas exchange gift thing and I ended up with my own present (which was fine... I try to get gifts that I would want to receive... in this case, it's a Christmas fleece throw and pillow). I was the only one that ended up with my own. Someone offered to exchange my gift for one my co-worker had brought (a table decoration), but I already have one... so said no to that one.

Tonight has been a lazy night at home and I'll be lucky if I have 5,000 steps today. It's been SO rainy and SO windy that even the dogs don't want to be outside for very long!

Okay... I'm going to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

P.S. Kati made it home okay, it was a LONG flight. She left here yesterday morning about 4:15 (from the house) and didn't get to Alaska until about 11am my time today. Wow. She had her interview today and felt she did better this time in some areas, but felt like she didn't do as well on a couple questions, but overall felt like she didn't do too bad. She's supposed to find out either today or early next week. I'm praying she gets it. Not only would it be a pay raise, but it would be SO close to home for her (her hometown library).

Back to work...

2011-12-15T09:58:00.003-10:00

Peek-a-boo!

This from the other side of the wall (these two photos were taken at Berg Nanstein in Landstuhl).

So, it was a VERY early morning today as we got up about 3:30am, so that we could leave for the airport by shortly after 4am. I dropped Kati off about 4:30 or so (this morning) and then came back home for about 2 hours. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fall back to sleep. I originally had six appointments scheduled for today, but one had already called to reschedule, and then I had a no-show that called and apologized for not remembering it was this morning, so they re-booked for next week. Somehow I have managed to get through the day.

After work I needed to go pick up a gift for a gift-exchange we are having tomorrow for the Social Workers (in our clinic here and another one up in Heidelberg). We were to have a $20 dollar limit. I think my gift is about that much. I got a Christmas polar fleece blanket/throw and a Polar fleece pillow that goes with it. I think I did good.

I managed to make it home in time to watch the last half of "Survivor" and I am watching "The X-Factor." I'm tired now though and hope to head to bed soon (but needed to get my blog done *wink*).

Okay... will say Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Last day of Kati's trip

2011-12-14T11:01:00.004-10:00

I believe this is the house we first lived in when I was here in Germany (30-34 years ago). This house is in the town of Weilerbach

This was the house where we lived in Mehlbach, we had the downstairs apartment. The outside wasn't finished back then, it was rough brick. My landlord back then said something about it costing less in taxes if it was still being worked on.

So, just a short post because it's after 10pm and I have to be up at 3:30 or so in the morning to take Kati to the airport.

We had a lazy day, slept in after staying up so late last night, then I vacuumed my downstairs (and main floor) did some laundry, changed my bedding and fun stuff like that. Kati was working on "train" puppets for a story she is going to tell for her library interview (for a library closer to where she lives). She gets home Thursday night and the interview is Friday morning! YIKES!

This afternoon I had to take the rental car back, so stopped by where I work and one of my co-workers followed me to the rental place and gave me a ride back to my car. I also had to get gas (in the rental), drop off garbage and check mail and I spent too much time at work (catching up on things).

Tonight has been quiet. I colored my hair and have had the dogs out a couple times.

Okay... signing off... morning is going to come early!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Tuesday - Ramstein, Landstuhl etc...

2011-12-14T07:12:00.003-10:00

This was a neat building I saw in Idar Oberstein...

A couple photos from Berg Nanstein in Landstuhl

This is the church built into the cliff side in Idar Oberstein.

The Rock Church, a church built into a natural niche in the rocks, rises high above the houses of Oberstein. Wyrich IV of Daun-Oberstein, had it constructed in the years 1482-1484. Behind it, a wall of rocks rises steeply upwards, and under it, the houses of Oberstein nestle into the slope. On account of its prominent location, the church has become a symbol of the city. Where else is there a church that can only be entered through a tunnel which was dug into the rocks (1980-1981)?
The church's greatest treasure is the medieval winged altar. It was created around 1400 by an unknown painter, the "Master of the Mainz Mocking".From May to October church services take place every third Sunday of each month at 10am.

***This post is a day late because when I went to post it last night, my internet system went down (as did the phone and German cable). I waited a couple hours to see if it would come up, but finally gave up about 2am and went to bed.

Well, we had a nice, but long day. We left home about 8am and headed up towards Ramstein. It’s about a 2 ½ hour drive, but we ran into a stau or two on the way up (A stau is the German word for traffic jam, but they can be 2-10 kilometers long – or more!). We got up to the area just after 11 am or so. Our first stop was the town of Mehlbach, which is the last town I lived in before leaving Germany back in 1981. The house looks different now (it’s finished on the outside, it wasn’t then). From Mehlbach, we headed to Weilerbach, which is the first village/town I lived in when I got to Germany (in between the two, we lived on post). I *think* I found the house we lived in, not 100% sure though).

From there we headed to Landstuhl, to see the hospital where Kati & Shelli were born. Man, it’s grown into a monstrosity of a complex! Heaven help me if I ever have to go there for an appointment, I’ll need an extra hour and a half just to find the right building up there (as it was, today I went to 3 different gates before I found the one I could enter… the same problem with leaving!). We also went to the Nanstein Castle ruins there in Landstuhl and walked around that. It was raining almost all day (made fun for driving back in the dark!).

After Landstuhl we headed up to Baumholder. I got to see the military installation up there. I should have called my friend Leah and stopped to say hello to her, but as it was, we didn’t get back home until after 11pm. My friend Laura is supposed to be there in January… she may regret my talking her into applying for a position in Germany. That post is VERY remote! From there we went over to Idar Oberstein. There’s a church built into the side of a rock hill up there (see photo above). It’s cool! I had seen it from a helicopter when I was here before, but don’t ever recall driving to see it, even though it was less than an hour from where we lived.
After stopping for pictures in Idar Oberstein, we headed to Ramstein. I had planned to do quite a bit of shopping… but after all was said and done… I didn’t do too much. I found a pair of jeans, whoohoo… (okay… okay… well, they ARE a size 12 and I *am* able to get them on). I had just hoped for a better selection than what they had. It seemed like the last time I was there, I had more choices. I also realized that while I’ve been in Germany for just over a year now, I’ve only been to Ramstein 3 times! Wow. (I know, there are so many OTHER places to go to!). We ate at the German restaurant there at the shopping complex and shopped in the other little stores there. Kati found some small polish pottery pieces to take home – it’ll be interesting to see how she does packing tomorrow! LOL! We did mail a couple flat rate boxes home for her today, mainly stuff she didn’t need to pack back (to save room for hand-carrying her Christmas stuff back). After shopping at the Exchange, I went to the Commissary and stocked up on some groceries (they have a better selection) to bring home. Then it was the rainy trip back home, but we did make it safely and traffic wasn’t bad. (The rain was though).

We don’t have any plans for tomorrow. Kati gets to pack and I’ve got to get the car back to the rental place tomorrow afternoon. I may try to clean up the house a little tomorrow.
Okay, time to sign off. It’s after 1am and still no phone/internet service. Will post this tomorrow.

- Kris

Hohenzollern Castle, Calw and the New Stuttgart Library!

2011-12-12T11:27:00.006-10:00

St Michael's Chapel dates back to 1452 (at the Hohenzollern Castle)

Nice thing about going on a winter Monday, is that there were only about 8 other people here during the same time we were here...

Kati walking along the perimeter of the castle...

We had hiked about halfway at this point... still a LONG way to walk up to the castle! (At least there wasn't any snow on the ground!)

Main street of old town Calw (pronounced Calve)

Love the half-timbered buildings. Calw sits at the edge of the Black Forest...

The new Stuttgart Library, voted as the world's COOLEST library! (and I agree!)

Looking down from the 8th floor (this section is 4 stories), then the other 4 stories below have a different layout.

So, we started our day today heading down to the Hohenzollern Castle. Kati actually liked it better than Neuschwanstein because the Hohenzollern has more of a history behind it. It was overcast when we got there. We parked in the highest parking lot and then had to hike up to the Castle (it took us about 25 minutes. Kati's been dealing with a bad cough and had to stop about every 50 feet or so to catch her breath (bless her heart!). But, we did finally make it up to the top and were rewarded with the fact that there were only a couple other people up there. (some came and went, and then there were only 2 guys on our tour with us, which was given in German. I bought Kati a small booklet about the castle, so she could follow what the tour guide was saying. Both Kati & I know a LITTLE German and could pick out some words here and there... We were up there at the castle for about 3 hours or so.

After Hohenzollern, I wanted to go to Calw on the edge of the Black Forest. We use the Psych hospital up there, and I was curious where Calw was (I didn't see the Psych Hospital. Well, I did see one hospital there, not sure it was the Psych hospital or a generic hospital). We parked and wandered around the old town a bit, and got some Chinese stir-fry for a very late lunch.

From there (it was about 6 or 6:30pm) we headed into Stuttgart to find the new library. We found the old one first. Then we could see where the new one was, but trying to get turned around and get back there in rush hour traffic was a pain. SO... I finally pulled over, got my Ipad out and googled the new library... only to find out that the new street it is on, isn't in my GPS. So, we managed to come up with a nearby address and finally found the NEW library about 7:30pm (it closes at 8pm). Wow... that's an AMAZING place. I only posted 2 pictures here... but have posted more on my facebook page. Kati was in heaven (she works at a library in Alaska). I think she would LOVE to live here in Germany if she had the means and the chance! She would LOVE to work at that library (she'd have to brush up on her German a tad (okay... a LOT!) ).

Kati made us some pizza for dinner when we got home and now it's already 11pm. We are hoping to be up EARLY to head up to Ramstein for a long day tomorrow. My neighbor kids are going to come over and take the dogs out for a walk after school for me, so I don't have to worry about rushing back.

Okay... signing off...

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Neuschwanstein and Ulm

2011-12-11T12:36:00.002-10:00

The best shot of Neuschwanstein... this was at dusk

It was dark by the time we walked down the hill. This is the Hohenschwangau castle.

The tallest Cathedral in the World... in Ulm at 528 feet high.

Kati enjoying the main staple of any Christmas market... Gluwein (she had the white wine... gluwein is served hot).

Another shot of the Ulm Cathdedral, above the Christmas market.

So, after a late start to the day, we headed down to Neuschwanstein. The weather forecast had been for partly sunny weather... they should have said "very foggy!" It wasn't so foggy in town, but it sure was up at the castle! I was VERY disappointed that I couldn't see the castle from the Marien bridge. Kati enjoyed being able to go there.

Afterwards, we discussed whether to head to the Munich Christmas market or the one in Ulm (people had recommended Kati go see Ulm and the Cathedral there), so (obvious from the pictures above), we went to Ulm. It was on the way back anyway. We didn't leave Ulm til about 8:45pm for the drive back to Stuttgart. Now its almost midnight and time to be heading to bed, but I wanted to upload the pictures and post them on Facebook as well as posting a couple here.

Not sure yet what we are doing tomorrow, we've decided to go up to Ramstein for the day, on Tuesday.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

2011-12-10T11:42:00.002-10:00

Kati with her "Knight in Shining Armour!"

Eating a VERY long bratwurst (okay... to tell the truth, Kati ate half and I ate half)

One of the most famous scenes in Rothenburg (the "crooked" house)... that's Kati in the green coat. (stands out, huh! It makes it easier to find her in the crowds)

This is the advent wreath I have on my dining room table... it's so pretty!

So, today we went up to the Christmas market at Rothenburg, Kati really enjoyed seeing it, especially seeing the "crooked house." We had an oil painting of that scene over our fireplace for 20+ years in Alaska (and we had it on the wall for the 3 years in South Dakota). My girls have grown up looking at that scene. Kati said that seeing it today, was like walking back into a fairy tale she had grown up with. Neat, huh!

On our way home we stopped and did a little grocery shopping and then Kati made us a "Chicken Ring" (which is a pampered chef recipe) for dinner. It was delicious! Now I've been working on my photos and have posted a lot of them to my facebook.

Time to sign off... it's already 11pm and time for bed. Tomorrow's plan is to go down to Neuschwanstein.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Off for a few days!

2011-12-09T09:35:00.003-10:00

This is a statue outside of St. Clara church in Nuremburg... interesting, huh?

Kati & I near one of the gates to the old city of Nuremburg

A typical Christmas market stand in Nuremburg.

So... I made it through the day at work (although I didn't want to wake up this morning). I didn't get my assessments written today as I had hoped... had to go to the main clinic for a training and then had a call come in that needed to be written up and given to a co-worker.

This afternoon I picked up a rental car. I thought I was getting an Audi A3, but when I got there, they didn't have any, so they gave me an "upgrade" and I got a Mercedes C180. It's a nice car (standard, not automatic), I haven't driven it much yet, just from the rental agency to home (via work). I have a lot to learn about it (at least it isn't a diesel!), tomorrow I'll get more acquainted with it.

Based on the weather report, it looks like we are going to drive up to Rothenburg (ob der Tauber... and hopefully find the right one... and not end up lost like the last time I tried to get there driving!). Then Sunday we are heading down to the Bavarian Alps to explore Neuschwanstein. Monday or Tuesday we will head up to Ramstein and hopefully spend the night (providing I can get my neighbors to watch the dogs for me overnight). (otherwise, we'll do a day trip or two).

Okay... time to sign off for the night...

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Happy Baking...

2011-12-08T09:54:00.002-10:00

Looking like Betty Crocker or Susie Homemaker! LOL!

Kati making cookies...

Kati under the tutelege of our wonderful instructor, Frau Arnold

The end result of our baking class... all these delicious German cookies! Yum, yum... Kati & I each got to bring a plate home (and I've had WAY too many cookies tonight!).

There was a beautiful sunset tonight, unfortunately, this photo doesn't even do it justice (because I was driving when I took it).

SO... Kati & I spent our day learning German recipes for cookies. There were about 8 of us in the class and in groups of 2, we each made different recipes. Kati & I did the German gingerbread cookies (Kati's choice), you can make them into ornaments as well. I also helped to brush melted chocolate onto some marzipan (almond flavored) cookis with sliced almonds on top (yum). There were so many good cookies today!

After cookie baking, I took Kati with me and ran out to the pet store to pick up some collars that they can wear in the dark (they blink, so when Peanut runs off when she is off her leash, I can see where she is). I also picked up another bag of dog food.

Then I had to go get my nails done (they're good for another 3 weeks). Kati sat and read a book while she waited for me. After that I took her to dinner at one of my favorite (not too cheap) restaurants. It's at the Hotel Reussenstein. We got to sit where we could watch the cooks through the sliding glass doors (its neat to watch!). I'm stuffed now (of course... I've eaten too many of my cookies tonight).

Okay, signing off... it's after 9 and I'm tired. I am hoping to be ASLEEP by 10pm.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

In the Shadow of the moon...

2011-12-07T10:52:00.002-10:00

My favorite picture of all I took today, mainly because the sun was shining on the church (St Sebaldus)

I was surprised at how many bridges are over the Pegnitz River in Nuremburg. It would be beautiful to see in the summer.

Saint Sebaldus church

Kaiserberg Imperial Castle

So... we had a great (but rainy) day in Nuremburg. (It stopped raining after I bought this cap I am wearing and some mittens to match it). There's so much to see there and I think seeing Nuremburg in the summer would be awesome!

Kati & I ate lunch in the oldest wine restaurant in Germany (dating back to the 1400's). We had the traditional Nuremburg bratwurst (I had German potato salad with mine, Kati had saurkraut with hers.... neither of us had wine! *smiles*).

We did a lot of walking. We walked around the Christmas market, but wanted to go back to a place we had seen at the beginning of our tour (we had a tour before shopping). It was a pewter shop and the man there personally made all the products in the shop. I bought a beautiful pewter stein, Kati bought a little pewter shot glass (to put her rings in while in the kitchen doing dishes or baking).

We got back about 6:30pm and then went into the Exchange so Kati could look around there. I bought her a pair of Josef Siebel shoes as an early birthday present (one less present I have to buy in January!).

The pups were SO happy to see us when we got home. I took them out for a short walk while Kati made us some grilled cheese sandwiches and some soup, for dinner. The title of the blog came from that short dog walk. I forgot to take the flashlight and I was surprised at how light it was out there, just under the light of the moon... I could see my shadow. (It's been cloudy most of the day and last night... tonight it was partly cloudy).

Okay... time to sign off. It's after 10pm and we need to get to bed, we have a long day of baking cookies tomorrow.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

YAY! Work week basically over!

2011-12-06T08:37:00.003-10:00

Roses frozen in an ice fish display in Tubingen

So, work was busy today. I had six appointments scheduled, but my first one was a "no-show" which was nice (for me) because it let me get caught up on my notes from yesterday and to type up a report I got late yesterday afternoon that I needed to pass on to my supervisor. (The person that missed their appointment recently had surgery, so that may have had something to do with his missed appointment).

AND... this afternoon it started SNOWING! Huge flakes. It was still snowing when I left work, but by the time I got home, it was just drizzling. Kati had taken the dogs out about mid-day, so I waited a little while to take the dogs out and it had stopped raining by then (thank goodness!)

Kati baked us some halibut tonight that was rich, but delicious. It had cheese and bacon in the breaded crust. We also had some brown rice and salad. Yum, Yum!

Tomorrow we are supposed to go on a USO tour to the Nuremburg Christmas market. I hope the road conditions don't get so bad that they cancel the tour! (if they do, I may just take Kati and head up to Rothenburg). But... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works out for tomorrow. On Thursday we are doing an 8 hour German cookie baking class. THAT should be interesting. Then Friday, I'm back to work, but just to do paperwork.

Okay... time to sign off. (And thankfully it is early, it's only about 8pm!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Is it a full moon?????

2011-12-05T10:40:00.002-10:00

This is an old hand-cranked ferris wheel for kids at the Esslingen Christmas market. It's actually quite neat to see in person and to watch.

SO... it was a VERY busy day today. Besides having to report on the calls I had this weekend, I had to take another call this morning (related to a child being injured), then I had a family walk in with a kid that had called over the weekend and I suggested that they do a "walk-in" this morning (they saw the provider they had seen before, but because I was the one they dealt with over the weekend, I was able to help them through the process today). Then at the very end of the day, I got a call about child neglect. I'm going to let my boss deal with that tomorrow. Tonight is my last night on-call while my daughter is here.

After work I came home and took the dogs for a short walk. Then I went back down about 6:45 to pick up Kati from her train trip to Heidelberg, she had a good time. Afterwards we went to a large "Walmart-type" store (the REal Store). Then, a little after 8 we went to dinner at a small Italian restaurant near where I work. So, now it's almost 10pm and bedtime.. (once again), so I'd better sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Christmas markets

2011-12-04T10:28:00.003-10:00

Kati & I in our Christmas colors.

The Barnharts (minus Ben, who had to work, so stayed in Wiesbaden... Andrea's parents are in front).

People dressed in character... although... do you notice the guy soaking his feet in the bucket? We passed on being able to do that...

Kati with a pretzel that looks bigger than her!

Kati in front of the Christmas tree in the Stuttgart train station.

So, we got up and after a relaxing morning (and Vince & family getting everything packed back in their car), we headed off to the Esslingen Christmas market where we spent about 4 hours wandering around. Kati really enjoyed it. It's a neat Market with a lot of Rennaisance character. Kati & I separated from the Barnharts there and headed back to catch a train into Stuttgart.

Kati will be going with the local USO in the morning to the Heidelberg Christmas market. The biggest "catch" is that she has to meet up with the group at the train station in Stuttgart where they will leave from as a group, to go to Heidelberg. SO... I wanted to show her how to catch the train and to orient her a "little" bit to the train station (the "S" bahn comes in on a different level than the main train station). I have to drop Kati off about 7:15am at the nearby train station, and she won't meet up with the group until 10am. (She can hang out at the train station and grab a bite to eat or something, there's actually a lot to look around at there at the main train station).

Okay... I'd better sign off... it's almost 10pm already. Tomorrow morning I have an eye appointment first thing in the morning and get to have my eyes dialated (I've already warned my clients that I'll be seeing in the morning). Fun, fun. I haven't had my eyes examined for several years, so it's about time.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Tubingen Chocolate Festival

2011-12-03T10:10:00.002-10:00

My favorite place in Tubingen (it's my December Calendar picture)

Katie enjoying her first Bratwurst in Germany...

A Chocolatier decorating his chocolate...

Enjoying some chocolate dipped strawberries... the chocolate was absolutely delicious!!!!

This woman was painting a large nutcracker with chocolate, doing very intricate designs...

So, we got up this morning and Vince made breakfast (did I mention that my friends Andrea & Vince are here with most of their kids? And Andrea's parents?). YAY! We've had a good time. After breakfast we went down to Tubingen for the Chocolate festival. There were about 9 of us trying to make some semblance of organized way down through the throngs of people. I think what I liked best was the chocolate dipped strawberries I had... they were SO delicious!

We probably spent 4-5 hours down there in Tubingen.

Coming back, Andrea & her mom rode with Kati & I, and we stopped at the Ritter Sport factory and I bought way too much chocolate! I figured I would take some into work on Monday. It's also been a busy day for being on-call. I had gotten one call last night, then another one this morning (while in Tubingen) and then while I was at Ritter Sport I got another call and then dealt with that a lot longer after I got home. Whew!

Tonight Vince made Speghetti for dinner (which was delicious!) and we just watched "The Twelve Dogs of Christmas" with the kids.

Okay... signing off!

Auf Weidersehen!

- Kris

Kati made it!

2011-12-02T11:49:00.003-10:00

At the Volksmarching club's Christmas party tonight... cuddling with Santa! (No, I don't know who it was)

Kati and Santa

This was when Kati arrived at the airport this morning. I took this photo of her at the airport just after I met her at the gate. Speaking of which... I thought for sure she was coming into Terminal 3... so I waited and waited... and she had come into Terminal 1! Thankfully I finally askd someone (who spoke English) and she said that Kati's flight was coming in at Terminal 1, and Kati, thankfully... was dutifully waiting outside the customs point.

After I picked up Kati, we went to the post so I could get her a military ID to get on base with me (otherwise I have to sign her in every time!). I gave her the 5 minute tour of the post, then brought her home. After introducing her to the dogs, we took the dogs out for a short potty break and then I went to work while Kati stayed home and took a nap (with the dogs).

At work it was about going to meetings and catching up on documentation, but I got done what (I felt) absolutely had to get done. I got out of work about 5pm, then ran by the store to pick up some salad mix before coming home.

I had forgotten about the club's Christmas party (I've remembered it sporadically), so I figured it would be a good chance for Kati to mingle and also enjoy some German food (their food is pretty good there). We got home about 9 and my friends from Wiesbaden got here about 20 minutes later.

It was neat to finally meet Andrea's parents. They are wonderful! Her dad is/was a Social Worker. I believe they are devout Mormons (and they live in Utah... and yes, I realize that living in Utah, does NOT make you a Mormon... but Andrea and Vince are both Mormon's and I believe they both come from Mormon families). Andrea's parents were in a VERY serious car accident back in March (7th) and are very lucky to be alive. Her mom spent 3 weeks in ICU, she's still wearing a neck brace today and wears an upper body brace. I don't remember what all she injured. Her father broke his sternum and ended up with permanent hearing loss. Wow. I'm glad they lived and I have had a chance to meet them and appreciate who they are, because of the wonderful daughter they have raised (my friend Andrea).

Okay, now it's after 11pm, time for me to head to bed. So, I'll sign off.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to the Tubingen Chocolate Festival. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't get a phone call that I've got to respond to.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

One more night... one MORE night...

2011-12-01T08:50:00.002-10:00

So, work went okay today, although it was relatively busy. I talked with my boss a little bit today about the job I've applied for (in the same clinic and I'd keep the same office, but it would be a pay increase). The job application process closes today. I *hope* I get the job, mainly because it would be a pay raise. I know she has some other applicants that are interested (including a wonderful person that works in the area, but not our clinic), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll hire me into the promotion position and bring the other person over to my old (current) position. Time will tell. I don't know when I will find out, or if I will have an official interview (is it required? She already knows my capabilities, strengths and weaknesses). And I admitted that I realized that I put her in kind of an awkward spot... because she knows it stands to cause tension if I *don't* get the position. SO... as I said... time will tell.

And tonight... I'm being lazy again. My daughter arrives tomorrow and I want to sweep and mop the main floor. I want to do a quick dusting. I want to color my hair and give the dogs a bath. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow morning because she doesn't get in until 9am and I am only 15 minutes from the airport. Even if I stayed home until she flies over (if the plane comes this way), by the time she lands, taxies to the gate and then gets through customs, I will be there with time to spare. I'm excited to have her come. It will be different. She hasn't been to where I live since I moved from Alaska. And I know she'll have fun. I just hope she doesn't get blisters from all the walking!

Okay... I'm going to sign off. I'm watching "Eat, Pray, Love" for a few minutes. I guess that's a video that I wouldn't mind having (it's on TV tonight). I've already watched "Survivor" and "The X Factor" is coming on soon.

Have a great day!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

One more day... and a half.

2011-11-30T10:10:00.002-10:00

It's Wednesday night here in Germany. When it's Wednesday night in Alaska... my oldest daughter will be hopping on a plane headed on a long flight this way. I'll pick her up about 9am on Friday morning (and she only has a couple 2 hour layovers... but just a LOT of flying!). And there are things I had planned to do tonight... but I've been watching the movies "The Next Three Days" with Russell Crowe". Its a tense drama movie and has had me rivited to my seat here on the couch!

Work went okay today, I was fairly busy. I had one new client (couple) and then some "regulars." There's some tension with some of my clients right now... I hope things work out okay. (Can't say much else).

Okay... I'm going to keep it short tonight.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Costy car...

2011-11-29T07:16:00.002-10:00

So, I got my car back after work... it cost me just over $830 dollars. Yea. At Christmas time. UGH! So, let's see... just over a year ago I think I spent about $1,500 to get the car ready to ship over and when the car got here, I had to put 2 more new tires on it. (Was that all?) Then in February or so, when I went up to Brussels, the car started acting up, that was another $1,500 or so and now this. Sheesh! I hope it stays running okay now until I can get a new car (hopefully this spring), although it IS nice to NOT have a car payment and the increase in car insurance is going to be a bummer. But... at least I have car back.

Work was rather hectic today. I didn't have a lot of clients, but the ones I did see today were emotionally charged (at least for me). Two clients in particular.

After work I took the dogs for a short walk, but I've still got less than 8,000 steps. Yesterday I had about 6700 steps or so. And I'm on call now for the next week (oh well, the extra $ will come in handy).

Okay... I'm going to sign off for the day.

Auf Wiedersehen.

- Kris

P.S. I'm thankful to have my car back with working brakes!

Whew! Another Monday!

2011-11-28T07:59:00.002-10:00

These are my neighbor kids, Trevor & Tia. I took this photo on Saturday at the castle. Cute kids, huh!

SOOO... work went fine, I only had two couples come in today for counseling, and I got THOSE notes done, but I still need to write up all my assessments. I spent time surfing the web today looking at new vehicles. Of course... I still like the idea of an Audi TT, but two of my co-workers have crossover SUV's (smaller SUVs). One has a Mercedes GLK, another has the Audi Q5. So, I looked online at those today and the comparable BMW X3, and the Volvo XC60. All are around 35K to 40K (yikes!). And of course... I still like the TT.

I'm counting down to my daughter's arrival. Tonight though I'm feeling pretty lazy and don't feel like doing anything. All I *need* to do before she comes is mop the main floor.

Tomorrow after work I go back on-call for another week. And then I think the next time I will have it is at Christmas.

Okay, I'm going to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Another Sunday bites the dust...

2011-11-27T08:22:00.002-10:00

What a beautiful day to take the dogs for a walk! We did just over 4 miles *smiles*

Peanut's running to catch up.

So, I got to sleep in this morning (after taking the dogs up for a quick potty break), then I got up and did some picking up around the house. I swept and mopped the basement floor and picked up around the livingroom (well, cleared off the dining table). I still need to sweep and mop the main floor.

It's hard to believe that my oldest daughter will be here this coming Friday! Although, it looks like she may be getting more than she bargained for... as my friends from Wiesbaden want to come down and go to the Chocolate Festival in Tubingen with us. (Oh, and did I mention Andrea's parents are here visiting? So... they'll have 9 when they come down!). I bought all the fixings for Speghetti dinner, I figured that's something that's easy to feed a lot of people with. I also bought the stuff to make pancakes for breakfast.

Okay, I'll sign off for tonight.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Hohenzollern Castle Christmas market

2011-11-26T11:24:00.002-10:00

The market AFTER dark...

The market in the courtyard earlier in the late afternoon

Sun setting in the window

Looking out at the sunset over the land...

The castle at night...

So, after sleeping in a little, I ran some errands and got back home by 2. Then I headed out with my neighbors to the Hohenzollern castle about an hour south of town. We were down there a LONG time (actually, an extreme amount of time considering how small of a Christmas market they had there). I didn't buy too much... I bought a puzzle of the castle and I bought a coffee mug that has a doggie on it that looks like Bruno, but it's neat because the head of the dog on the cup sticks out, almost like a handle. It's hard to describe. I probably should just take a picture of it and post it here.

Okay... I'm going to keep this short... it's 10:30pm and I'm tired. When we got back to town, we went to the Steinenbronn Christmas market. I had gone down earlier thinking it started about 11, but they were just setting it up, and then it was 8:30 or so before we got back there, and they were breaking everything down. So, we went to a "doner" restaurant (think Turkey, think Gyros). Then I came home and took the dogs out for their walk.

And now it's bed time. I am thankful for the warm bed I'm going to go crawl into soon and I am thankful for all the new friends I have made over here.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Survived the day...

2011-11-25T09:32:00.003-10:00

I took this photo with my Iphone as I walked the dogs when I got home from work.

So, after surviving yesterday and last night and getting less than 5 hours of sleep... I survived the day with intermittent breaks. My neighbor gave me a ride to work, then I had to catch a ride back home to meet the tow truck, so they could get my car towed to the shop (I'm trying a local German shop, not the same one that has worked on it in the past). Right now I have a rental car, (an older Audi A6), but I believe I can only go 50 kilometers a day in it, otherwise I will have to pay extra. And they called me at the end of the day and let me know that my rear brake calipers (cylinders?) are leaking, so they will need to replace those and the rear brake pads (because the leaking brake fluid has ruined them). I can't WAIT to see how much THAT is going to cost me (right before my daughter comes... right before Christmas). At least almost all of my Christmas shopping has been taken care of, I think I'm down to one gift card (for my middle daughter).

I have to say though... I am VERY thankful that I wasn't driving when the brakes went out, I'm not sure I would have been quick enough to think about using my hand brake.

Other than that... work went okay. I didn't have any clients scheduled (most of the clinic was closed today) and HAD planned to get all my documentation done... but they had the computer system (that we enter our documentation into) down almost all day and when it did finally come up at the end of the day, it was VERY slow (like 5-10 minutes to do one step at a time, so I spent about 45 minutes trying to enter one note and never did get it to save!). I *did* get them all written up in Word, so when I *can* access the web, I will be able to just cut and paste. I may go in this weekend and get them entered.

Sometime this weekend I think I'm going with my neighbors to a Christmas market that is being held in the courtyard of a neat castle that's about 45 minutes south of where I live. That should be neat. And I think I'm going to go ahead and go buy myself a 3 Terrabyte external hard drive tomorrow!

Okay... I'm going to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris
*Thankful I have a warm bed to go crawl into soon and thankful I get to sleep in tomorrow morning!

Happy Thanksgiving (belated)

2011-11-24T13:12:00.003-10:00

Frost on the leaves...

These photos were taken Thanksgiving Day.

Sorry I didn't post earlier. I was a bit distracted. I took the dogs for there 2.5 mile walk, then goofed around the house (did laundry, swept off the back porch, made some toffee and the green bean casserole I was supposed to take over to my boss' house)... but then I got ready to leave, went out and started my car and put my foot on the brake and it went all the way to the floor!!! YIKES! Thankfully I wasn't driving. SO... I called my boss and let her know I wasn't going to be able to make over to her house (no transportation) and then called my neighbor to see if I got a tow truck to the auto shop if she could give me a ride back, but they were just going to friends' house for Thanksgiving. Well, long story short, I went with her (these are friends I've met several other times before and I was very welcome and had been previously invited) and we stopped by the auto shop. They said I could drop my car off today (I have to get it towed today) and I guess I will be picking up a rental car there for at least the weekend.

Anyway... we didn't get home til about midnight (played dominos and a marbles game most of the night and I didn't have control over when we left and almost everyone else has today off). That and I had some wine last night (too much), so was really in no shape to blog.

SO... late post and now I've got to get ready for work, because my neighbor's going to drop me off and we are leaving about 45 minutes early. YIKES (so, not too much sleep last night!)

Gotta scoot!

Auf Wiedersehen

- Kris

P.S. Thankful I wasn't driving when the brakes went out and thankful I got still got to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends!

Sunset before Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T08:47:00.003-10:00

This was the sunset tonight. I got off work about a half hour early tonight so I got to make it home as the sun was setting.

Work went fine today although I had accidentally overbooked 2 appointments, the first one I was able to contact one of the people and they are going to call me to reschedule. On the other one, I emailed a father and didn't hear back, so I had our secretary call the parents of the other child I was seeing to have them cancel their appointment and then the other kid didn't show. Go figure!

We had our potluck today, that went well. I think there were about 20 people there (mainly staff with a couple spouses). There was PLENTY of food! Yum Yum!

Tonight I'm just chillin... I'm tired. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow (if Peanut will let me!). I'm going over to my boss' house about 2 for dinner. I'm making a green bean casserole to take over there. I guess there will be about 10 people there (mainly co-workers).

Today I *did* get my application completed and submitted. That took a lot longer than I expected. I think between last night and today I spent about 5 hours on it. But it is done now.

Let's see... thankful things...

1) I'm thankful that I have fairly good computer skills.

2) I am thankful for digital cameras! *smiles*

Okay... time to sign off!

Have a Happy Turkey Day tomorrow! Be Thankful!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Hooray! Off call for a week! smiles

2011-11-22T09:17:00.003-10:00

Okay...
I think I'll skip a picture tonight. It's already 8:30pm and I've got to make something for a potluck tomorrow and I still have about 3,000 steps to get in tonight.

Work went fine today, my boss was back and got to interview someone involved in the situation that I had to go out on call for this weekend. THAT was interesting. I also talked with one of our docs that had an eyelid lift and saw her before and after pics, you can definitely notice a difference. She had it done here, but the doc that did it has moved back to the States. I'm thinking about seeing if I can get it done (sounds like I qualify). Why? Well, my eyelids are at the point where they are drooping over my eyes (you can't see my eyelashes). AND... if I *can* get them done (at no cost to me), then I would like to get it done while I can, rather than wait until I am older and they sag even more! (It would probably be $5,000 if I had to pay out of pocket!). Anyway... first step is to make an appointment for an eye exam, so I need to do that. I've already been told by the doc that I would qualify, but he would need to put in a consult for the surgical clinic... and I don't know if they have a doc there (up near Ramstein) that does that procedure now.

I found out today too, that my one co-worker (who has been complaining about not getting a pay raise when she took this position, even though a month before she had gotten a 5% pay increase), that she also got bumped up to a GS-12. (I am a GS 11) and all the FAP positions over here are now 12's. SO... THEN... I get daily job announcement about Federal Social Worker positions and my one co-worker that move to Italy, HIS position here was advertised today... AS a 12! So... I promptly marched into my boss' office and asked her about it and told her I wanted to apply (She said she didn't think it would be posted yet, because she had said she wanted to make some changes to the position description or something). So... now I need to update my resume online and submit it. The position advertisement closes December 1st. Anyway... that's another whole lengthy discussion I don't want to do tonight (talk about the job and possibly changing).

Okay... I'm going to sign off for tonight so I can go get some stuff made for tomorrow's Potluck.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Whoops! 2 Thankful things!
1) I'm thankful I have two wonderful granddaughters
2) I am thankful I get daily job notifications so I would be able to submit my resume before the deadline!

Busy Monday...

2011-11-21T07:48:00.005-10:00

So, if you are every flying into Stuttgart... look out the window to the right (if you are on that side) and if you can see that TV tower thats in the distant, then you're probably pretty close to flying over my town! *smiles*

Work was busy today. I only had two appointments this morning and one this afternoon, but I also had to field several phone calls (since my boss is still out and I am "acting") and I'm still dealing with the case I went out on, Saturday. My boss will be back tomorrow and will take over. I didn't get home until 5:30pm, so it was pretty dark. No walk tonight! I suppose I should get up and do my "Gazelle" until I get my 10k steps in. I've got less than 5,000 steps so far today.

Let's see... two things I'm thankful for today.
1) an upcoming pay raise within the next month!
2) I'm thankful that I have two doggies that can't wait for their mommy to get home each day (and that they got over that bug they had when I came home from my trip!).

Okay... time to sign off!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Long-neck bird?

2011-11-20T07:37:00.005-10:00

First, one of the sunset photos I took tonight.

And this is a long-neck bird I saw today in the field where I take the dogs. Anyone know what it is? I've never seen one of these before. (Which reminds me... I saw an owl in an empty tree Friday on my way to work).

Here's another sunset photo (I thought I'd sandwich the bird photos with sunset photos).

So, today has been a little quieter. I didn't get 3/4ths of the things done today that I had thought I would do today. I did take the dogs out for 2 two-and-a-half mile walks today (the first one I didn't start it until I was out in the field). So, right now I have over 13,000 steps for today (makes up for not getting 10k yesterday and not getting my 70K for this past week).

I went grocery shopping this afternoon, picked up some stuff for baking over the holidays (in case I get the chance, right?). I also stopped and got some gas so I don't have to worry about it this coming week.

Tonight I watched "The Last Song" which is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks. I *think* I've seen it before, but I'm not 100% sure. It was a good movie. As a consequence though, I didn't get the household chores done today that I had planned to do. Oh well... it's always a trade-off, huh?

By the way, I realized that I didn't put a caption on last night's photo. That was taken at Macy's in New York, they were already decorating for Christmas.

I also realized I forgot (again) to write the things that I am grateful for, last night, so I will list 4 things tonight.

1) I am thankful that my daughters turned out to be healthy, responsible adults and that they are all employed.

2) I am thankful the weather was nice enough today that I could take the dogs for two walks!

3) I am thankful that I have options of places to go to for Thanksgiving (I'm going to my boss' home)

4) I am thankful for the internet so I can keep in touch with friends, old and new.

Okay, I'm going to sign off (I had signed off earlier and lost over what half of what I had written! Oh well).

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Long Saturday

2011-11-19T10:35:00.003-10:00

So... I stayed up last night til about 3:00am working on my Christmas cards. Other than getting a couple more addresses, the cards are all done. I'll drop them off at the Post Office on Monday.

I ended up getting out of bed finally about 10:30. I did have to get up and let the dogs out for a potty break around 8.

Then, after taking them for a really short walk, I came back home and had my protein drink, then was sitting on the couch checking my computer when the "on-call phone rang" and there was a reported child abuse case. SO... I met our police investigators at the hospital (I beat them there) about noon and then didn't leave the hospital until about 7pm! Oh well... guess I'll get about 8 hours of overtime for today. The child in the case will be okay, no serious injuries, but it'll be interesting to see how things pan out after the investigation is complete.

My doggies were sure happy to see me when I finally got back home! I just took them down to the field for a potty break, but they didn't get their long walk. I'm hoping I get to walk them tomorrow. My plan for tomorrow was mainly just to do some house-cleaning (and fold & put some cloths away).

Okay... I'm going to sign off. It's almost 10pm already tonight.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

It's Friday before a short week!

2011-11-18T13:35:00.002-10:00

The "neighborhood"... look at all those leaves!

Well, here it is after 12:30am and typical for a weekend, I'm still up. (Not good sleep hygiene!). I've been working on my Christmas cards tonight. I'm at the point where all the envelopes are addressed, the photo cards have been inserted and as I was putting the letters into the envelopes, I realized I hadn't written my blog for today. Whoops! I just got busy, I guess. I'm kind of hoping to finish them before I go to bed. I mailed out calendars to those who are getting them (mainly family, with 3-4 exceptions). When I was mailing them today at the Post Office, the one woman that works there asked if she could have one of my calendars, so probably when I go back over to mail the cards, I'll take her a calendar. I'm sure her boss or whoever she works for wouldn't like to hear she's asking patrons for things... but she *is* a nice person who has been there for a long time. She's a little unorthodox, but she will go the extra mile for the customers and she's always been very helpful and friendly when I have seen her. Thankfully I ordered 25 calendars (I mailed out something like 11 or 12).

Work went fine today. I *didn't* get to my assessments though. All my notes that *had* to be entered into the computer are done. And while I did have the one cancellation today, I had a walk-in at the end of the day wanting marital counseling. And we did have to go to the main clinic this afternoon for some training (I used the time while I was sitting in training to work on my Christmas letters... coloring in a little wreath on the corner of the letter).

Tonight I did connect with an old co-worker/friend, that was nice. I talked with her for a little while (she's still in Hawaii, she's also a therapist). I found out she got married and now has three step-children. It sounds like she is really happy.

Okay... guess since I forgot my "grateful" list last night, I'd better post 4 tonight. SO...

1) I am grateful for good health

2) I am grateful for a wonderful, warm house to live in!

3) I am grateful for all my friends out there and that I can keep in contact with many of them through Facebook!

4) I am glad that I have a less stressful job than I had last year!

Okay... time to sign off again!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

One more day this week!

2011-11-17T07:52:00.003-10:00

This is one of the leaf covered paths that the dogs & I like to walk. We did get a little over a mile in after I got home from work, but I had to use the flashlight for most of our walk because it was so dark already. The official sunset time for today was 4:38 and I don't get home til about 5. At least by not doing the 2.5 mile we usually do, I get to be home in time for the news.

Work went fine today, I had one couple that didn't make it in, but that gave me more time to work on a bunch of assessments that I am trying to get caught up on and the one appointment I had scheduled for tomorrow called to reschedule for next week already because they didn't realise their kids would be out of school tomorrow. SO... I was *really* happy to hear that because I still have 2-3 assessments to write and about 6 notes to write. We will most likely have to go over to the main clinic for training in the afternoon.

Okay, not much else to write about today, so I'll sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Happiest of Hump Days to you!

2011-11-16T09:19:00.003-10:00

Most of the leaves are off the trees out in the field/orchard.

Today the temperature is about 30 degrees above. It feels cold. BRRRR! I've been wearing sweaters with a long shirt underneath and I'm STILL cold!

Work went fine, I wasn't as productive as I had hoped to be. I may regret that tomorrow. But, I made it through the day (which started off with a meeting that didn't go so well). Tomorrow is a new day.

The best news for today is that I got my Calendars and I got my Christmas cards! WHOOHOOO!!! So... that means I need to start working on my Christmas letter and then start getting them addressed. That sounds like a good project for this weekend since I'm stuck in the neighborhood because I'm on call this week. I've got to decide who is getting the calendars. My guess is that there are more people that I would like to give them to, than I have calendars (I have a large family, they are first on my list!). I only saw one problem on the calendar (one picture doesn't identify where it was taken).

Tonight I've just been chillin'... not getting much accomplished (probably because I felt like I did a lot last night... putting together my Gazelle, which I used last night and tonight.) I made my 10,000 steps last night and should tonight as well. And that's what having the Gazelle is about.

Speaking of which... I'm now down 25 pounds. And I've ordered some size 12 pants. I tried a pair on the other day (at the store, but not the "exact" ones I want) and while they were fairly tight, I *could* get them on and get them zipped and buttoned. How cool is that?

I still worry a little bit about my losing the weight and I probably shouldn't. (Heck, according to my fitbit I've walked almost 1100 miles in the last 8 months!) But, I think about my dear friend Janis and her strong desire to lose weight. She *was* beautiful as she was. Anyway... she lost weight alright... but then was diagnosed with cancer and died within a year. I'm thankful that all my blood tests came back okay for the most part (three were high, but two of those are because I supplement with vitamins). Anyway... it is what it is and I am enjoying being skinnier and having the motivation to walk and exercise more since coming to Germany. (My knees STILL do not like me to do squats! I did that today and barely could get up!). ha ha.

Okay... I'm going to sign off and head to bed soon. I still need to take the dogs out one more time. I'm tired today... I've stayed up til about 11 the last two nights and that's too late for me.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Whoops... almost forgot to put my 2 things I am grateful for today!

1) That while I am cold and it is 30 above, I am thankful it's not 40 below.

2) I'm thankful I got my calendars and Christmas cards today! YAY!

Already 9:45pm... whew!

2011-11-15T10:43:00.002-10:00

This is a view saved for weekends now, as the sun sets before I get home about 5pm now.

Work went fine today. I went to the airport first thing this morning to pick up my boss, she's been in the States (and I only live about 15 minutes from the airport). We got to work later than we had hoped (not my problem and it worked out okay for me because my clients didn't show up this morning, but came in later to apologize). I had a fairly busy day, with some appointments taking longer than others.

The highlight of my day was getting a bunch of mail at the Post Office! I got the other 4 boxes I had mailed to myself from NY (finally) and I got the Gazelle I ordered from Amazon. SO... that's what I've been doing tonight... putting it together. Sometimes I wonder how I ever made it as a mechanic, because sometimes I feel so mechanically inept! But... it's together and it works and when I use my Fitbit with it, I do get credit for steps! YAY! (I may make 10,000 steps today!).

I'm still waiting on my Christmas cards and calendars... hope they come soon. I was hoping to get all my cards out by Thanksgiving.

Okay... time to sign off. It's almost 10pm and I still need to take the dogs out for their bedtime walk. It's been C-C-C-Cold today... about 30 above (but then I'm reminded that Fairbanks, AK was supposed to get down to the minus 40's. UGH!).

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Monday and a pic of Waldenbuch

2011-11-14T08:32:00.005-10:00

This is a translation from an internet page about this "Kloster" in Waldenbuch which is a town 2-3 miles from where I live.

"The forest bird Church St. Vitus celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2007. The patron saint of the church is the Helige Vitus, St Vitus called. The significance of the church is the breadth and clarity of the festive hall building and the almost completely preserved equipment. She has an impressive Renaissance-east gable. The high derived from the time at gallery carries the sill to ten panels of the Passion Cycle (from birth up to the Raising of the Cross of Christ). They are created in oil on wood in 1706 by J. Liefkoop, court painter to Duke of Wurttemberg. The organ is also a particularly valuable monument. it was made in 1760/61 by Christian Gotthilf Haußdörffer, Tübingen."

So... work went fine today, I had one no-show and two walk-ins (along with regularly scheduled appointments). It made the day go by fast. I even got a couple errands done today. I went to the pet store and picked up some dog food (trying a new brand with the dogs). On the way out there though, my "brake light" came on, so on my way back to work I stopped by the auto parts store and the guy was nice enough to check my brake fluid level and add some brake fluid for me. The light went off, so everything seems fine now. Thank goodness!

Let's see, last night I realized I had forgotten one other day of things I am thankful, so I will do another 4 for tonight.

1) I am thankful for a wonderful house here in Germany
2) I am thankful for being employed
3) I am thankful for all the wonderful co-workers I have had over the years
4) I am thankful for Facebook so that I can keep in touch with so many friends and my family.

Okay, I'm going to sign off for tonight.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Foggy Days...

2011-11-13T09:09:00.002-10:00

I've taken a lot of pictures along this road over the summer,, here it is with most of the leaves off the trees, but still a lot of color...

Here's a better picture of the fog rolling in this afternoon...

Peanut posing...

Bruno posing (Sort of).

So, a rather relaxing day, although I didn't sleep in as long as I would have liked (the dogs slept last night while I didn't!). I've taken the dogs for a couple walks today... the first one was about an mile long and we ran into a couple other little dogs. One of them is a "min-pin" that we have seen several other times (but not for quite awhile). She looks like a smaller version of Bruno. There was also a Yorkshire Terrier. And I was proud of Bruno, he behaved himself with both dogs. Although one time the Terrier ran up wanting to play with Peanut (who is scared of all dogs) so Bruno got protective.

Other than that, my biggest accomplishment for the day has been to get both my freezers defrosted (the small one in my German refrigerator and I have a freezer that is about the size of a small dorm-sized refrigerator). I've also gotten caught up on all my laundry (but it still needs to be put away.

Tonight I've been watching some TV, right now I'm watching "The Mentalist."

It's hard to believe that I've got to go back to work tomorrow. I'd love to be one of those who didn't need to work, or at least not full-time. OR, I wish I worked a schedule where I only worked 4 days a week and got a 3-day weekend every weekend. That'd be nice.

Okay... I'm going to sign off... but before I do, I realize that when I did my blog so late last night, I forgot to write 2 things I am thankful for, so I will list 4 tonight.

1) I am thankful for all of my siblings, especially my sisters.

2) I am thankful for wonderful American neighbors

3) I am thankful that I have the opportunity to travel

4) I am thankful for good health.

*smiles*

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Another Volksmarch and an evening of good music!

2011-11-12T15:09:00.002-10:00

Scenes from today's volksmarch... it was a beautiful day!

Finding these totem poles along the way made the Volksmarch worthwhile! It was awesome!

I did an 11k in the town of Mutschelbach today. I didn't get up there until about 12:45 and finished around 3:30 or so. It was beautiful and the weather was great!

I did a little grocery shopping on the way home, then got home about 6 (The volksmarch was about an hour north of where I live). I had a quick bite to eat, uploaded my pictures and then my neighbor called to see if I wanted to go with them to listen to some country music and they were going to do some dancing. I said "sure." And... man, the music was GREAT! (even for country music! LOL!). The BAND was great! They were called Pyromantics and they are from Austria, but the lead singer is from California. SO... it was all American country songs. It was neat and the band did a great job with all the instruments, especially the fiddle and the harmonica (and drums and guitars...).

It's now 2:22, we didn't get home til about 2. So... I'd best sign off. I need to get the dogs out and then head to bed.

G'night & Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

11-11-11

2011-11-11T12:57:00.004-10:00

Trevor & Tia ice skating on the opening night of the ice rink in downtown Stuttgart... it will be open now for the rest of the holiday season.

The Schlossplatz in Stuttgart at night.

Bruno's version of "Where's Waldo" *smiles*

A good photo of Bruno.

So... I had a nice day off. After taking the dogs for a short walk this morning, I drove over a couple towns to the Pet Store. I bought some snacks for the dogs and got some samples of different types of dog food to try with them. Then I went and got my car washed and picked up some soda.

Then I had to be back home because the "Chimney Sweep" was coming over this afternoon. My plan had been to sweep/vacuum/mop before the Chimney Sweeper came, but he came early. I did get the floors swept and vacuumed, but I didn't get them mopped. And I swept off the back porch. I had planned to defrost my freezers, but I didn't get that done today.

Tonight I was going to a Christmas market with my neighbors across the street, but by the time we got there, it had closed. So, we drove down to Stuttgart instead. That was fun. Tia & Trevor went ice skating at the outdoor rink (which just opened tonight). And as I was standing there watching them, I heard someone say something about Alaska and my ears perked up. And as it turned out, they were from Fairbanks (near where I lived for 18 years). I must have talked with them for almost an hour, about people we knew in common and some of the opportunities that living in Alaska provided. It was neat. The woman I was talking to taught at Lathrop HS, she taught there a LONG time (before I graduated from HS!) and the man with her (I *thought* she said he was her son, but he had a different last name) and when he said his last name... I knew his Dad. My middle daughter worked for him at his law firm and we went to his house one year for Thanksgiving (I think), its the only time I've ever had deep fried Turkey. When he told me his last name, I asked him if he went to Scotland for college and he said no, that it was his younger brother. Aaron apparently came to Germany with the Army quite a few years ago, and has met a German woman and gotten married. Susan S. and a friend came over to see their brand new grandchild.

Small world.

Okay... it's after midnight. I'd better sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

The Cats of Nora

2011-11-10T10:33:00.003-10:00

Laying amid ancient Roman ruins at the Nora site on the island of Sardinia

Thought I'd share these photos of cats that were in Nora on the island of Sardinia.

Tonight is my Friday night, I get tomorrow off! YAY! And I *did* get off an hour early. So, I came home and took the dogs out for a short walk, then went back in to get my nails done. After that I went over to the local "Re-al" store. As I walked through there I thought about how much my oldest daughter is going to enjoy that store. They have a fresh meat market there, a bakery, a place that sells all kinds of olives and just a whole bunch of stuff. And I've never seen so many varieties of Advent calendars! Wow!

Work went great today... no clients. The one couple I was supposed to see today didn't show up, but I wasn't too surprised, one of them is scheduled for surgery this weekend, so may have been doing preop stuff. Anyway, so I just spent the day doing paperwork and surfing the web. *smiles* I did go to lunch with one of my co-workers (he is in charge of the clinic that provides services to special needs kids). It was good to catch up with him. And almost everytime I talk to him, he always tells me how much they like their house. *smiles*

Let's see... Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks. If I can remember, I'm going to try and write 2 things each night, that I am grateful for, until Thanksgiving.

So... tonight 1) I'm grateful for three wonderful daughters and two wonderful granddaughters. 2) I am thankful we don't have snow on the ground yet. *smiles*

Okay... signing off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Week is almost over!

2011-11-09T08:59:00.002-10:00

Times Square, NY

Here it is Wednesday and the week is almost over! I get Friday off. And tomorrow I only have one couple that I'm seeing. Today was a lot easier than I thought. There was an error this morning, I had booked a new client in for 9am before I went on my vacation, but somehow it wasn't on my "online" calendar that I share with co-workers, so our Admin staff (at the request of my supervisor) booked a new person (new to me) into the same time slot. SO, I potentially had two new people coming in at the same time. After fretting about what to do (I figured I'd see the one I didn't need to do an assessment on for a 1/2 hour while the other was doing all the requisite paperwork for a new intake, and then see that person when they finished). But, as it turned out, *neither* showed up. (That's fairly common where I work... that people don't show... for a couple reasons - one is that there is no monetary cost to them for missing appointments or any other consequences for missing appointments, so it's easy to put off or forget).

This afternoon I saw a couple kids (I enjoy those appointments).

I think I may have caught whatever bug the doggies have had... I almost questioned whether or not I should go into work, but decided we have a bathroom right there... lol. I rarely call in sick and today was no exception. As it turned out my other co-worker got called out on 2 calls (she only responded to one and I guess she will have to deal with the other one tomorrow).

Tomorrow the clinic is basically closed for training, but my co-worker and I both have clients scheduled. Half of our clinic won't be seeing anyone tomorrow (obviously not my half). I'm hoping we get off work an hour early tomorrow (sometimes they do that on training holidays). I have an appointment after work tomorrow to get my nails done, so if I can get out early, then I can run home and take the dogs out and then go back and get my nails done. Guess time will tell. I'm going to lunch with one of my co-workers tomorrow, he's a guy that I don't get to sit down and talk with very often. When he came over here to Germany (after I did), I found him and his wife a really nice place to live (I was buying a chair from the people who had been living there and they asked me if I knew of anyone looking for a place to live... so it worked out great!).

Other than that, not much. I took the dogs for about a mile walk after work, but had to use a flashlight for most of it, because now the sun is setting by 5pm and I don't get home til then.

It's a little after 8pm now and I'm already tired. My body hasn't adjusted to the jet lag yet, I guess.

Okay... signing off!

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Tuesday early sunset

2011-11-08T10:14:00.002-10:00

This was taken about 5pm when I got home and took the dogs out for a short walk. I'm going to miss our longer walks.

Work went fine today, everyone showed up (I had four appointments scheduled for today) and I called and scheduled a couple more new clients. My boss left for the "States" today, so I get to "be in charge" for a couple days. *smiles* As long as my co-worker does her job and lets me do mine, all is okay. I thought I was going to get out of the office on Thursday to cover at a day-long meeting for my boss, but they have rescheduled it. Oh well. At least I get Friday off (Veteran's Day), that'll be nice.

The dogs seem to be doing better, but still have the "runs." I think if I hadn't given them some string cheese, that maybe they would be better... so no more cheese until they DO get better. Both are sleeping on my lap at the moment.

It's about 9:20pm I'm going to be going to bed soon, I hope. I went back out tonight for awhile. My volksmarching club had their monthly meeting, so I went to that. Then I had to go pick up Bruno's bed from the dog sitter's. I had accidentally left it there when I picked up the dogs on Sunday. I needed to go get gas anyway, so it worked out.

Okay, I'm going to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Good Monday back at work

2011-11-07T10:07:00.003-10:00

This was taken at the old historic site of Nora on the island of Sardinia...

So, today ended up being a nice, easy day at work. I had four appointments scheduled, one called in and was delayed in another city, one called in sick, and one was a no-show. So... I only had ONE appointment today! (Glad my salary isn't determined by how many people I see!). It was good to have the free time to catch up with all that has gone on since I've been off. We had a "Joint Commission" accreditation visit while I was gone and we did good. They chose one of my clients to review (that I share with another provider) and said everything looked good. (whew!). I came in and had 3-4 people wanting marital therapy. I've got previous knowledge about one of them and know it will be a very challenging case.

Since the clocks have gotten set back, its now getting dark when I get home, so no more long walks for me and the doggies. I went ahead and ordered a "Gazelle" (Tony Little Gazelle... google it) from Amazon. I liked it when I had one before... AND, I got free shipping by ordering it through Amazon. I'll re-sell the Elliptical machine that I bought on the local "garage sale" website.

The dogs still aren't feeling up to par. Someone had an "accident" in the laundry room this morning (easy to clean up anyway), then I left the gate away from the upstairs and when I came home, someone had been up there and went poop... so I had to clean that up. There's a reason I don't let them upstairs (without me). They aren't eating or drinking much. Although they did eat some chicken breast for me tonight and some string cheese (healthy for dogs, right? I'm hoping the cheese will help their bm).

I don't know if I mentioned it yesterday, but I checked my "labs". My folate and my B-12 were "high" (HUH?)... but I guess I can just attribute that to supplementing (I take B-12 and Folate regularly). My Cholesterol was a little high... something I should watch, I suppose.

Tonight I'm watching "Amazing Race", but may go down and watch it in my bedroom in a little bit. It's just after 9, but feels like 10 or 11pm.

Okay... signing off...

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

So Long New York...

2011-11-06T08:08:00.002-10:00

The Empire State building (photo taken from the "Top of the Rock" (the Rockefeller Center)).

The old wooden escalator steps in Macy's in NYC.

So, I *am* home! I spent about 5 hours at the Newark airport yesterday (I had to check out at 1pm and my flight didn't leave until 6:40pm). So, Igot a day pass for the Continental Lounge. The flight over the Atlantic was Very CROWDED, so at least I could doze off and on coming back. Also, I finally got to watch "The Help." It was good and I'm glad that I saw it.

Since my car was at work, I stopped by my office to check my 85 emails I had waiting. There will be a couple that I will need to deal with tomorrow.

I came home and the house felt really cold. It didn't seem like the furnace was working. I went next door and my neighbor came over and fidgeted with the furnace and it seems like it is working now (at least I have hot water and the radiators are warm). The livingroom has taken forever to warm up. I finally started a fire in the woodstove late this afternoon and that has helped. I finally feel warm.

I went over and picked up the dogs. They've been sick and are still not feeling too well. They've had the "runs." They haven't been eating today either... but I cooked some chicken breast tonight and they've had some of that. (I also made some Oatmeal cookies tonight, thought maybe some baking would help warm up the kitchen). I've taken the dogs for two short walks (less than a mile each). It's almost 8pm now and they are sleeping on the couch next to me as I struggle to stay awake myself. I think we'll be in bed within an hour.

I've done good and already have my suitcases unpacked and put away! (That's got to be a record for me!). Now I'm trying to catch up on my laundry.

Not a lot else to write about. The dryer is beeping at me (or the washer?) so I need to go take care of some more laundry. So... I'll sign off. Back to work tomorrow.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

New York, New York...

2011-11-04T18:06:00.003-10:00

It was a beautiful day to visit the Statue of Liberty (I didn't get to go up inside because it is closed for renovation) and I visited Ellis Island.
New York (Manhattan) from the Statue of Liberty ferry...
Taken from on top of the Rockefeller Center (The Empire State building is in the background).

SO... after a slow start to the day (I barely made it downstairs in time for the breakfast today!), It seemed like everything was against me for moving very fast today. I had just missed the train when I got to the airport... and the next one didn't come for about 45 minutes... but then there was another one that came about 5 minutes after that one!

When I got into town, I went to the Post Office to mail some boxes to myself and I got the SLOWEST mail clerk in the building (and probably the US). He's proof that if you need a job, regardless of your abilities, you SHOULD be able to get one with the USPS! I think it took him about 45 minutes to process 5 "flat rate" boxes. (I'm really not kidding!). Maybe he's always slow? Maybe he has a hang over? (He reeked of alcohol). Anyway... the boxes finally got mailed and I sent off post cards to my kids.

After that I went ahead and rode the NY subway (didn't see any rats) down to the harbor so I could make the Statue of Liberty cruise. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the boat and looking around the Statue and Ellis Island. From there I caught the hop-on, hop-off (HOHO) bus again and lucked out and got the most psycho tour guide the company has. She had a very strong Asian accent that was difficult to understand at first, and then she made the most annoying comments. I am pretty tolerant, but I began to think they should have been paying ME to ride on THAT bus with her! Whew!

I finally got off at the Rockefeller center and wandered around there awhile. I went up to the "Top of the Rock" (that's what they call the top of the Rockefeller Center) and had a great night view of Manhattan. And I lucked out and they had fireworks being shot from Central Park (probably in preparation for the NY Marathon which is this weekend). After spending a couple hours there, I went to Macy's and wandered around there awhile. The only thing I bought there was some baby stuff for a co-worker of mine that recently had a baby. I hope he likes them.

Now it's midnight... at least I'm getting settled in a *little* earlier than the last two nights. I'm going to sleep in tomorrow and just hang out here at the airport until about 1:30 or so, then head over to the airport and will probably hang out there til my flight leaves at 6:40pm. I just don't think it is worth taking the train into the city for a few hours tomorrow.

Oh yea and I got a note from my dog sitter, apparently Bruno was sick today and had the runs. YIKES. I hope he is okay. I sent her my Vet information just in case. He's such a garbage hound... he probably ate something when she had him out for a walk.

Okay... signing off...

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

2nd Day in NYC

2011-11-03T19:30:00.005-10:00

I missed the last Statue of Liberty cruise boat, so I took the free Staten Island ferry back and forth to Staten Island, got to see the Statue this way today. Tomorrow I'll do the harbor cruise.
Me with the Manhattan skyline behind me.
No, I didn't buy this tee shirt, but I liked it. *smiles*

I had a good day in "The City" again today, although I'm quite tired again tonight from not getting enough sleep last night and then going, going, going all day.

I left the hotel at 10am and took the shuttle to the airport, then rode the air train to the Metro stop, then took the train into Penn Station in NYC (that's the easiest way to get there from the hotel, and the train cost me $25 each day round-trip). I got a ticket for the hop-on, hop-off bus and rode that around for awhile. I got off at the World Trade center and walked around there on down to the financial district (past the Occupy Wall Street folks... guess I'm not too sympathetic to their cause, because I would just like to tell them to go get a job). I got to see where Wall Street is and where the 1st White House was (Where George Washington was). Then I finally went back and got back on the HOHO bus and rode it to the Harbor area (I didn't realize how close I had gotten when I was doing all that walking around the financial area!). I tried to catch the harbor cruise, but had just missed the last boat. So, I decided to walk down and catch the free Staten Island ferry instead. I met some women from Germany and enjoyed riding back and forth with them. (Earlier I had met some people who also grew up in Spokane, the wife went to Ferris and the husband went to Rogers... they remembered the old NAT park, we had a good conversation, reminiscing!).

After the ferry ride, I got BACK on the HOHO bus and did the rest of the circuit. I finished up about 6:30pm in Times Square, so then I still had time to grab some dinner (I had Lasagna at an Italian restaurant, but it wasn't as good as I get at the little restaurant near where I work in Germany). Mama Mia was good, entertaining, but I found myself wanting to doze a couple times, just because I didn't get enough sleep last night.

I got turned around coming out of the theater and walked about a dozen blocks in the wrong direction... so then had to go back that far and another equal distance to get back to Penn Station. I did go to the Post Office and I picked up some flat rate boxes. I'm going to mail a couple back to myself in Germany (I'll mail them tomorrow), so I can lighten my load a little in my suitcases.

Okay, it's almost 2am. I'd better sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

Welcome to NYC!

2011-11-02T20:21:00.009-10:00

The Statue of Liberty looks so small in the foreground, compared to the NYC skyline as we were coming in at sunrise this morning.
Guess who, with the Empire State Building behind me!
The theater/play I went to see tonight...

Well, I finally made it to NYC. The ship got into the Port of Bayonne about 8am this morning (4 hours late due to the rough weather on the trip over). It took a LONG time to clear the boat. I was to meet in the dining room at 9:15 for my time to get off, and we were still there over 2 hours later. I was worried about my friends Guy & Sue, they had a 1:30pm flight and we didn't get to the airport until 1pm! I've gotten a Facebook message later today saying they did (barely) make their flight, whew!

I got to my hotel about 1:30pm or so and got checked in (and checked my emails and such). I finally decided to head into the city (there is NOTHING around the hotel where I am staying). I picked up tickets to see "How to Succeed In Business" with Daniel Radcliffe who was "Harry Potter" in the movies! How cool is that? (I didn't know that when I chose to see the play). There was another actor that looked familiar, I think his name was John Larroquette (a Tony Award winning actor). Anyway, I spent until almost midnight in "The City" (trying to get the most out of my $25 that it cost to go round trip!) and I made it back home safely. It was neat to see where Madison Square Gardens is and to see 34th & Broadway, and eat at Bubba Gumps (yum yum!!!). It was a very energized place. I'm looking forward to going back down tomorrow, but here it is already 2:30am. I guess I'd better head to bed!

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Last day on the Cruise…

2011-11-01T17:41:00.004-10:00

Some of the waves that were churning outside deck 3 yesterday... once in awhile they would totally wash over the window! It was awesome to watch!

So, it’s the last night on the cruise, and true to form, I’ve finally packed in the last hour and got my bag out to be picked up by the stewards, with about 10 minutes to spare. *smiles* I guess my procrastination on this task is always related to postponing the inevitable – of getting off the ship – as much as possible.

Today has been a so-so day. It’s been cloudy all day and rainy. I didn’t leave my cabin until about 11am, just laid in bed and took it easy and watched a movie on the TV (“Source Code”) it was actually quite good, I thought. I met up with the Cruise Critic bunch for a LONG lunch and we did our gift exchange. I ended up with a tee shirt (how appropriate, right? LOL). Then I sat with another couple that I’ve come to enjoy (from CC) in the Casino, they did great… I didn’t do so great. Last day of “gambling” for me for probably a long while… or at least until the next cruise. *smiles*

Then I came back to my room and laid down and read until time to meet friends for dinner. I was going to eat with the Solo group, but met up with my friends Guy & Sue, along with Allen (I sailed with all three on the Millennium from Auckland to Hawaii 2 ½ years ago). So, I had dinner with them, then went to the last “show” and finally came back to my room to pack. I still have to pack my carry-on and hope that everything else that remains will fit into it!!! YIKES!

And of course… I have to finish this one last blog and I want to finish the book I’ve been reading so I can return it in the morning before I leave. So, I may not get to bed as early as I would like.

I’ll sign off for tonight and tomorrow I’ll sign in (hopefully) from New Jersey. I’ll be spending 3 nights in Newark and exploring “The Big Apple” for a few days.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- K Kris

PSP.S. it is now 11:42pm, we are south of RI, heading towards Philly, so soon we should be turning up towards NY. The temp is 50*, winds are at 27 Knots from the east and we are sailing at 23 knots (I think the fastest the ship sails is 24 knots). The Captain is trying to make up time from yesterday when we had to go slow through the storm and then there is a protected area near NY about 20k that he has to go slow in because it is an endanger zone for "Right Whales" (I think that is what he said!).

Ha Ha Ha Halloween!

2011-10-31T17:24:00.004-10:00

Photo op with Ann Burrell from the Food Network (she's been onboard doing a special cruise program). *smiles*
My "Before Botox" winning Halloween costume! LOL!

Another relaxing day on board. I hung out in my cabin til time to meet some of my Cruise Critic friends for the brunch, which was delicious as usual. This afternoon I participated in the Halloween Costume parade and won “Funniest Costume” with my mask that I’ve had for several years. We had to identify ourselves by who we were though, and I said I was “Before Botox” (they are offering Botox injections on the boat!) and everyone really got a laugh out of it. I won a Celebrity TEE shirt, an insulated mug and a keyring, along with a certificate. *smiles* After that I hung out on the 3^rd deck because the waves were crashing over the window at times and it was awesome to watch. The Captain had the boat down as low as 10 knots today because of the waves! I also read some in the book I’m trying to finish before the cruise ends. I finally went up and got ready for dinner. It was a formal night and I ate with the Cruise Critic solo cruisers. Oh yea, and I finally got a photo of Ann Burrell from the Food Network today (she’s had a special cruise program on board for those who paid).

Dinner was wonderful, I had a crab and lobster dish that was good (along with my standard “Escargot” and “Crème Brule’” *smiles* After dinner I went to the show. The Cruise director, Paul, did a duet with one of the guest singers on board. He’s got a great voice! Then I went to the “Ice” bar and hung out with Allen and Ann, and David (all from Cruise Critic). I also sat by Evelyn & Bob from CC. At 10pm they were having their Halloween party, so I went up and changed (a little) and put my mask back on and headed to the party. Now it’s just after midnight and I’m doing this blog. Time to go to bed. I’ve had another good day on board. One more full day and then the cruise will be over. Awww… too soon.

Okay, time to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Krs

Sunday Sea Day

2011-10-30T16:14:00.002-10:00

Captain Pagonis & I at the Captain's Club Reception yesterday...

Another relaxing day at sea, I started off by sleeping in and then having a late room service breakfast. Today was basically spent in the spa and the gym. I laid on the heated stone lounge chairs for a couple hours and used the wet sauna and then I went in and did an hour on the treadmill (got to try and get my 10k steps in!). The day seemed to go by fast (maybe because it started so late??? *smiles*). Tonight I had dinner with Bob and Judy, a couple from Huntington Beach, CA (he’s a retired dentist, although he has a rugged face like a cowboy, *I* think and Judy is just as nice). I went to the Casino and was doing okay, a little ahead until I sat to cheer on some Cruise Critic friends and then decided to stay and play “a little more” (I should know better). Oh well.

I’m trying to decide if I want to stay up for the Chocolate Extravaganza at 11:15pm tonight. I’ll probably still be up, so I might as well go check it out. Then tomorrow morning is the Cruise Brunch. I’m going to meet a bunch of my CC friends at noon for the brunch. Wonder if I can hold off eating anything til then. They are going to have a Halloween costume contest at 2pm, I brought a mask… guess I could go put it on? Tonight it looks like they are going to decorate the ship with pumpkins, they had them sitting in a corner looking like they are just waiting til things calm down to put them out.

Tonight is supposed to be rocky (again) on board, the Captain has been sailing a little faster, so he can slow down during the rougher part of the weather system tonight. Fun.

Okay, not a whole lot else to write about, so I’ll sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Saturday Sea Day

2011-10-29T16:25:00.003-10:00

Another relaxing day at sea and the waves last night weren’t TOO bad. I slept with my ear plugs in just in case things got rough. I figured I wouldn’t get woke up by things crashing in the hallways or in other people’s rooms. It worked (I think). I woke up about 7:30 or so, but laid in bed for awhile watching the movie “Gabriel” (it was actually pretty good). In fact, I’ve watched TWO movies today on TV. I don’t do that too often at home. It HAS been relaxing. I laid out on my balcony and got some sunshine for awhile, I walked a bunch of laps around the track above the pool, wasted some money in the Casino (easy come, easy go?). I also finished reading a book that I picked up yesterday (“Santa Cruise”… don’t waste your time, it wasn’t all that good). I have another book that I haven’t started yet. I also went to the Captain's Club Reception and got to meet the Captain (Cpt Pagonis). He seems nice (not as funny as the first Captain that sailed from Hamburg to Rome and who is now on his vacation time).

I went to dinner late tonight (because I had gotten involved watching another movie about dinnertime… one of the main characters reminded me very much of one of my former co-workers in Alaska in looks and in her TV persona. Tonight my dinner partners were a woman from Holland (that I’ve sat with before), a couple from Northern England and a couple from New Brunswick, Canada. It’s always interesting conversation.

After dinner I listened to some music for awhile, talked with some of my Cruise Critic friends and then came back to my room and got my “bottle” to throw overboard (I had written a note and put it in before I left Germany). Then I went down to the 5^th deck at the end and (hopefully) discretely threw it overboard. Does it help if I say that while walking today around the track, I picked up about 10 pieces of napkins and misc papers and kept them from going overboard?

Tonight I’ve been getting my dirty clothes sorted and put into a laundry bag, hopefully it will get picked up tonight and I’ll get them back on Monday.

On a last note, I have to say… I enjoy these 25 hour days. Its midnight by my watch, but I haven’t set the clock back yet, so it’s only 11pm! YAY!

Okay… signing off so I can get this posted.

Auf Wiedersehen!

- Kris

PPPS, sorry... looks like the internet world isn't going to let me post a photo on here tonight... darn! (It let me post a wonderful sunset photo on my facebook page though).

2nd Sea Day after Lisbon

2011-10-28T14:16:00.004-10:00

2^nd Sea day after Lisbon

It was another relaxing day of sleeping in, then getting a bite to eat before heading to the gym for an hour on the treadmill. I weighed myself in there (just took off my shoes) and it looks like I’ve lost 2-3 pounds since leaving home (and being on this cruise!). How cool is that? After the gym I came back to my room and did some sunbathing on my balcony… I’ve got the sunny side of the boat! YEA! I did go down for a slot pull tournament today, which was a waste of time. Then I went up to the pool deck and spent some time in the Jacuzzi and reading by the pool. Before long it was time to get ready for our dinner in the Qsine restaurant. Typical of all restaurants on board, they serve more food than you can hope to eat! Whew! It was good though. The Qsine is like a huge night of samplers and because we had a bunch at our (Cruise Critic) table, we did a lot of sharing, kind of family style. It was nice. After dinner I headed down to the theater for the show, it was a guy on a violin that was awesome, sounded like Irish music (that tempo). I did stop by the casino, didn’t lose too much tonight, tried to quit while I was still *somewhat* ahead. Then I went to our main lobby area where the dance floor was and danced a little while (some of the Cruise Critic bunch were there). It was a fun evening. I was back in my room by 10:30 though, so not too bad.

Tomorrow the only thing on MY agenda is the “Captain’s Club” reception at lunch time. That should be nice. Otherwise, depending on the weather, I’ll read, nap, or sunbathe and get in the Jacuzzi. What a rough life! I’m glad we aren’t into NJ yet, they are getting snow this weekend. Yowza! Sounds like it should be gone by the time we get there on Wednesday. Oh yea, the Captain said tonight would probably be a little rocky with 15-20 foot swells. Oh boy! Again, I am sure glad I don’t have much problem with getting seasick! *smiles*

Okay, time to sign off.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

P.S. Spotty internet tonight so no pic... sorry!

1st Sea Day after Lisbon

2011-10-27T13:41:00.003-10:00

This is a Costa ship leaving Lisbon yesterday, heading under Lisbon's version of the San Francisco Bridge.

So, it was a ROUGH night last night onboard the ship. I was awakened many times during the night with loud noises and bangs and then about 3:30am, one of the glass tumblers that had been on a little tray on the counter above the mini-bar/fridge, fell onto the floor. (The tray has a “lip” on it, so it should have been okay). At least it didn’t break. According to my friend Alan (from New Zealand) that is onboard, there were 30’ waves and wind gusts of 67 knots. He said that there was damage done in the liquor store with broken bottles and such. I didn’t pay attention when we were leaving port, but Alan said two tug boats pulled us away from the dock and the Captain had the side thrusters on 110% because the water was so rough (I was in the dining room at the time).I’ve talked with some others today, Sue & Guy said they had several broken glasses in their cabin, their wine bottles hit the floor too, but those didn’t break (Sue & Guy were also on the New Zealand to Hawaii cruise with me, they were also involved/injured in that plane crash at the air show in Reno about 2 months ago, wow… they are lucky to be alive!). Another person said the door on their mini-bar came open and everything came out onto the floor. I haven’t heard that there were any injuries. I decided to stay in bed until about 9, things seemed to have calmed down by then, so figured it was safe to get out of bed. There are a couple wheelchairs in my hallway; I think they were bounced wall-to-wall a couple times during the night. I know I was awake a lot from 3-6am. The Captain has changed course and we are now on a more southerly course, which should be smoother. The skies were clear today, there was some wind, and the temps were about 66* for a high.

Today has been restful, if nothing else. The only thing on the schedule for me today was the “Slot Pull” this afternoon, which I helped with. We ended up with about 50 participants, we each put in $21 and had 7 pulls on a slot machine. We didn’t do very good though, even with all that money, we won a total of about $550 and split the winnings. We each got $9. But it was entertaining at least.

I’ve spent the better part of the day reading a book on my Ipad. I finished the book tonight. I did go to the Casino for awhile tonight, came back $120 ahead, so that was good. At least I left while I was ahead. I didn’t go to the Dining room tonight. Mainly because I didn’t feel like dressing up and because I was still reading my book.

No plans for tomorrow, other than I have dinner scheduled for the Qsine tomorrow night with a bunch from Cruise critic. That means I should really eat LIGHT tomorrow, so I can pig out tomorrow night. *smiles*

Well, it’s already 11:30pm by my watch (where has the time gone tonight????), but at least we get another extra hour tonight, so it’s technically about 10:30pm. As soon as I get my blog uploaded and check my emails, I’m going to head to bed. It’s a pain trying to post while at sea. For some reason I cannot upload my blog from this computer, but I *can* save it online. SO, I type my blog into word, copy it over to my blog, then save it. Then I have to go online with my Ipad and “post” the blog. See what I do for you! *smiles* (I’m thinking of YOU Bette!).

If for some reason I miss a night, it might be that I am unable to get online or that we don’t have a good signal. There was some time there today where we didn’t get TV channels, because the signal was too weak. Just know that I’m doing good and having a nice relaxing cruise. *smiles*

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Rainy Lisbon

2011-10-26T10:27:00.004-10:00

Rainy Lisbon

This is what a Pastele looks like and the bag from the shop where I got it...

We arrived in Lisbon about 10am. It was a dreary, rainy day. I went ashore with my small (not so adventuresome) tour group and we spent about 5 hours touring Lisbon and drove up to
Sintra. It was raining torrential rain at times, so we stayed in the van more than we would have otherwise. We did stop a couple places, just for a moment and for a few pictures and they were nice enough to let me run into the Hard Rock Café and pick up my tee shirt. (YAY!). In fact, they stayed behind at a shelter under a building while I went about 5 minutes up the street to HRC and the driver went to get our van to pick them up, then me. There was a little tourist shop near the HRC, so I ran in and picked up magnets for my co-workers (a tradition we have in the office) and a small bag. Good thing I did, we really didn’t stop anywhere else that we could shop at.
We had some awesome pasteles. The ones we had were at a shop near a large monastery and I guess they make 20,000 a day there (so… of course… that’s the one we needed to go to). The Pasteles are like miniature pies, with a flaky crust and have a custard inside. They are smaller in size than a baseball (around), but larger than a silver dollar. I had one… they were DELICIOUS! I also got a thing that looked like a “wonton” but it had meat filling, it was warm and it was quite good! After stopping for the pasteles, we stopped by a couple more monuments and then came back to the ship about 4 pm. I changed out of my VERY wet clothes and put some comfortable clothes on and went up to the spa, to lay on a heated tile lounge chair for a couple hours to warm up (and I know I dozed off!).

Then it was time to change (again) and head to dinner. I had dinner with a couple from Vancouver that I ate with on the 1st or 2nd night (nice couple, Mel & June), and there was a very entertaining couple from Huntington Beach and a couple from near Philadelphia at the table, along with another single woman that was from Holland. Dinner was good… I had my usual Escargot, some cream of Broccoli soup, some stuffed meatballs and my Crème Brule’ for desert.

After dinner I found the casino, THAT was a waste of time tonight, so I didn’t stay too long.
Tonight we get an extra hour of sleep (again… we did last night too). YAY! So… it’s about 8:30pm (if I set my clock back right now). I’m going to finish this blog and get it uploaded and then head to bed. I think it will be a restless night, as the boat is already rocking enough that you should be drunk to walk straight! LOL!

Okay… signing off.
Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

First Sea Day

2011-10-25T11:23:00.005-10:00

Relaxing in the chair up on the "lawn"

We passed the Rock of Gibralter today (behind me).

So, today was a busy sea day. It started off with an 8am massage (which was
very relaxing and cleared my sinuses at least for a little while). Then we had our Cruise Critic reception, it was nice to meet more people and put names and faces together, although there
was NO way to meet everyone (there were almost 300 of us there!). Then it was lunch time (I haven’t had much of an appetite because of my head cold). I just got a hamburger cheese patty (minus toppings and buns) and about 10 French fries. That was more than enough for me. After lunch I went and laid in the solarium/spa (they have heated stone lounge chairs which are actually quite comfortable). I think the heat on my back helps (I’m trying to keep this cold out of my chest). This afternoon I went to play Bingo. The prize for the black-out game was having the
Royal Suite for the rest of the cruise. (WOW!).

No, I didn’t win. But, someone from Cruise critic DID win, so that was nice. After Bingo, I came back to the cabin, took a shower and relaxed until dinner time. Tonight I met up with some
others for dinner at the Lawn Grill. Of course, there was WAY more food than I could hope to eat, but the food was good and we had a good time. There were a lot of Cruise Critic folks there tonight and some of them were selected to be “chefs.” So, I got some great shots of some of them
learning to “throw” a pizza (in the air to make it bigger). The meal started off with a flatbread” (but it was more like a pizza with a lot of toppings). Then we had the main course with samplers of all the side dishes. I chose to have Carrot cake for desert, I asked for a quarter size piece, but it was still more than I could eat. After dinner I went to the show in the main theater… it was an Irish comedian (I would have gone just to listen to the accent! *smiles*). Then I participated in a “slot pull” competition, the person next to me won. I also spent a little in the casino.

Now it’s already almost 11:30pm and bedtime. Although we are changing time zones tonight,
so we get an extra hour (of sleep, hopefully). So, I’ll sign off and hope I can get online without too much trouble. Last night I was able to “save” my blog, but not post it. So, I saved it and then went in with my Ipad and was able to upload it that way.

Okay…
Auf Wiedersehen!

Kris

Mallorca

2011-10-24T09:53:00.012-10:00

Overlooking Palma

Today was another nice day. When I had looked at the weather forecast before leaving Germany, it said there was a 60-70% chance of rain today here in Mallorca. BUT, while it was overcast (and moreso the later in the day that it got), it did not rain at all today.

We arrived at the port of Palma Mallorca about 10:30am and by about 11:15, they said we could start getting off the ship. I had to meet my “group” at 11:15 and we were to meet our tour guide at noon. We actually left about 11:45am, so got a few minutes head start.

We stopped up at an overlook at the Bellver Castle where we got to take some panoramic photos, then continued on to the village of Soller. We spent about an hour in town before boarding our old vintage rail car with mahogany panels and brass fittings for a 30 minute ride through the mountains. The train had an electric locomotive and is the only one of its type that is still in use today. Our tour bus met us at the town where we got off the bus (we just did a one-way trip). From there we drove up to Validemossa to see the La Foradada church (the composer Chopin was from here). I did a little shopping. Then we headed back to Palma to visit the Majestic Palma Cathedral. It *was* beautiful! After that it was time to end our tour of Mallorca. They were nice enough to stop near Hard Rock Café for me and let me run in and buy myself a HRC tee shirt to add to my collection. Then it was back to the ship. I uploaded all my photos and then went to the “I” lounge to get my password set up. Last I checked I was still not able to log in with my netbook though, not sure why. Then I went to dinner. I had my usual Escargot, then a NY Strip steak and for desert I had my Crème Brule’.

My sinus infection or whatever it is, has developed into a head cold, so I’m feeling kind of run down tonight. It’s about 9:30pm and I’m going to try and see if I can’t get onto the internet from my room and upload this blog, and then I think I’ll call it an early (earlier?) night.

Tomorrow I have a massage appointment at 8am (ugh!) then our Cruise Critic bunch is having a reception at 10:45am. At 3pm our “Book Club” is meeting to discuss “Dream Merchant of Lisbon” and then at 6pm, I get dinner at the Lawn club with more from the Cruise Critic bunch. Sounds like it will be a busy day!

Okay… signing off.
Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Sardinia

2011-10-23T10:49:00.002-10:00

Hi,
I had a long blog written and will post it later today if I can get my wi-fi to work. We stopped in the Port city of Cagliari, Sardinia today. It was an absolutely beautiful day! We went to the city of Nora to see old Roman ruins, and then toured around Cagliari. *I* think I got some good pics today.

Tonight we had our Formal dinner... I had dinner with 7 others from Cruise critic (all of us are traveling "solo"). I had my escargot (again), some grilled Atlantic Salmon and then my Creme Brule' for desert. YUM!

Tomorrow we go to the island of Mallorca. Looking forward to tomorrow's tour!

Okay... gotta sign off!!

Ciao!

- Kris

Safely onboard

2011-10-22T09:22:00.002-10:00

Hey,
I am not ready to post any pictures... but I *am* on board. I made it down to Rome okay, although the overnight train wasn't so good. I thought I had a reclining seat, but it didn't. I was in a cabin of six seats, 3 facing each other and there were 5 people in the cabin and at least one reeked of cigarette smoke! I dozed off and on (I'll sleep good tonight!) But, I did make it to Rome okay, and was able to switch trains okay to get out to the port. I boarded about 11:30 or so. I was bummed this afternoon when I found out their internet service was on the blink, they finally got the bugs worked out tonight, so I'm able to get on and post a little bit, but I haven't got my netbook or Ipad linked to the wireless. And tomorrow I'll be in Sardinia all day.

I met up with a BUNCH of cruise critic people for "sail-away", that was nice. I've been emailing with these folks for several months now and it was nice to meet them in person. One of the people who have been most active on the list (Bev), wasn't feeling well today while she was in Rome, and came out by bus (and was having trouble breathing), they thought she was having heart problems (has a history, apparently). They took her to the hospital and we got a call (someone in Cruise Critic) that she'd apparently had a collapsed lung (and possibly pneumonia?). How sad! She's been so active with planning. I hope she will be okay!

Tonight for dinner I had my escargot appetizer. Yum! I wasn't real hungry, so I had a cup of mushroom soup for my main course and then for desert I had my creme brulee'... Double YUM!

Okay... gonna sign off. I'll post pictures when I can.

Auf Wiedersehen!
- Kris

Hawaiian (and now German) Musings

Lazy Sunday

Hungarian meals...

So glad it's Friday!

Where did the da go?

Oops!

To Tuesday...

Travel, travel, travel?

Long, but fun day!

More Budapest photos

Bridges in Budapest...

Money, Money, Money!

Hero's Square

Szechenyi Bath in Budapest

Back from Budapest, where next?

Great spa day!

Hop on hop off in Budapest

I can now cross Hungary off my countries list!

Going to Budapest!

YAY! I have a computer at work now!

My office... and sunset

Back to business...

Relaxing Sunday...

Yay! Office is ready!

My lamps

Slow progress at work...

Getting set up in my new office...

Work? Where?

Made it back home from Istanbul

Happy New Year's Day!

Happy New Year!

Istanbul!

One more quiet night!

Test post

Happy Hump Day?

Short blog?

Istanbul, here I come!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas eve!

Last day of work for a couple days...

Almost Christmas!

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches...

Argh! Cookies

It's a Monday alright!

YAY! I got my tree up!

O Christmas tree... O Christmas tree...

YAY! It's Friday!

Back to work...

Last day of Kati's trip

Tuesday - Ramstein, Landstuhl etc...

Hohenzollern Castle, Calw and the New Stuttgart Library!

Neuschwanstein and Ulm

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Off for a few days!

Happy Baking...

In the Shadow of the moon...

YAY! Work week basically over!

Is it a full moon?????

Christmas markets

Tubingen Chocolate Festival

Kati made it!

One more night... one MORE night...

One more day... and a half.

Costy car...

Whew! Another Monday!

Another Sunday bites the dust...

Hohenzollern Castle Christmas market

Survived the day...

Happy Thanksgiving (belated)

Sunset before Thanksgiving

Hooray! Off call for a week! *smiles*

Busy Monday...

Long-neck bird?

Long Saturday

It's Friday before a short week!

One more day this week!

Happiest of Hump Days to you!

Already 9:45pm... whew!

Monday and a pic of Waldenbuch

Foggy Days...

Hooray! Off call for a week! smiles