Germany

It's going to take a while to turn this posting thing into a habit.  Hadley is taking a morning nap.  I parked Sawyer in front of "Cartoon Neckwok."  It's snowing and I'm on the second cup of coffee which could end in my eyeballs actually flying out of my head.  Caffeine and I don't always get along so well.  But you just need it here!  Why?  Here's a list:

•  Today, we are going out into the first snow.  Getting the kids ready for this will take energy and that's not counting actually playing in the snow.

• It usually isn't really light here until 9am.

• It's sometimes getting dark as early as 3:30, but usually closer to 4.

• Hadley likes to open the dryer and eat lint out of the lint trap.

• If I don't serve an appetizer when dinner is running late, Hadley will make her own appetizer with ingredients from the trashcan.  So if you're on the phone with me and you hear me yell, "Get outta the trash!!!" it's not because we got a new puppy. 
• Sawyer loves MythBusters and likes to go around the house "makin' mifs."  All mommy hears is "makin' mess."  His mifs usually involve water in a location where water does not belong.
• It's stinkin' cold here, so layers of clothing means triple the laundry.

That's why I need caffeine.  Want some sweeping generalizations about German people?  Okay.  Here's a list:

• They are a beefy people who like to eat pork.
• They know more about the ways of pork than I do about...well, I don't know much.
• They do not smile unless you really work for it.  More on that later.
• They like to go for brisk walks and carry poles that look like the kind skiers use, but they're used for walking.
• If you are in a German's way on the bus, they will push you out of the way.
• They expect you to speak German.  And they will tell you this.  Funny how that attitude doesn't fly when Americans expect newcomers (or not-so-newcomers) to speak English.
• They drive fast.
• They don't litter much.
• Their public bathrooms are very clean. 

There are your generalizations.  Oh, and a big one: they love their coffee and sweets and bread.  This is a great place if you like to go into actual bakeries.  They're on every corner and they are so lovely.

About the smiling.  I actually had to have a sit-down talk with Sawyer one day because he was so sad about this.  He told me, "The ladies don't like me here.  They make mean faces at me."  He was referring to the absence of smiles while we walk on the street.  It's a good thing he didn't go straight from Thailand (The Land of Smiles) to Germany.  He and his other whitey friends were little celebrities, there.  Here, not only will someone pass without smiling, but they will eyeball you the entire time they pass, searing into your soul, with not so much as a grin.  Of course not everyone in the US smiles.  But if they happen to make eye contact, they usually give you a quick grin or smile just so you know they don't plan to mug you.  Here, the eye contact is there...and you wait for a smile...and you give a timid smile...and...nothing.  You feel silly.  Well, I feel silly.  People here can look pretty harsh.  Sometimes I smile the pants off people because I think it makes them uncomfortable.  Back to my point: Sawyer sees the ladies here as not liking him at all. 

That said, old ladies LOVE them some Hadley.  And Hadley LOVES her some dark-haired men.  She flirts with lots of people, but mostly men with dark hair.  On the bus, her stroller usually lines up with another seat in such a way that Hadley can reach out and stroke the nice stockinged leg of some lady.  She likes to fondle people like that.  I try to scoot her away so she can't reach and she gets mad. 

Pat and I really love it here.  Once you're outside Frankfurt, places look really old.  They are really old.  It looks like our goals for places to visit are aligned with which places were least touched by the war.  That means that medieval structures are still intact.  I'll post pictures on our little excursions of the past few weeks.  I also love staying home with the kids.  They makeh me so craaazy but this year is heaps better than last year.  All the viruses they caught and swapped last year must have built up their immune systems because we are very fortunate to not have had many illnesses.

Last thing: This blog is private because I have videos that include other kids.  And because it includes videos of my own kids.  Looks like my invites for people to see the blog are somehow expiring.  If you were bored enough to read this far, let me know so that I know you were able to access it.  If I have to reinvite people every few weeks, then I might rearrange this thing to make it public again.  We'll see. 

Time to winterize these tiny people.  Hopefully, Hadley will enjoy some snow and not some slippery steps outside our building.  She loves steps.  She loves to plant her tiny feet on the edge of steps and see if she can slide down.  She loves to make me so crazy scared she'll faceplant and come up toothless!