This week was one of THOSE weeks

 You know, when a small critter bites you in the face, when your computer decides out of the blue that it's time to die, when you find one of your dogs scooting around on his bum on your nice rugs, and when your other dog decides to develop a bacterial infection that makes his fanny swell to the size of Texas, resulting in the cone and cancellation of Zach's birthday trip...

Whew.....

So, between rubbing bacterial gel on dog bums, Neosporin on my face, and constantly checking poo consistency to make sure no one has contracted worms, I am shifting the frame to the more beautiful side of life.

Like....


These lace curtains

These blossoms

This sunlight

This furry face

This Church

These

THIS MAN

These

And this...

This, That, and the Other

THIS!

Well, the big news here is that Zach passed his driving exam, and on the first try too! I am so proud, and so relieved that I didn't actually have to take it. We had to send in some special paper work to be able to keep our American drivers licences, and thank goodness that came through. All of our paperwork had to go through the German equivalent of the FBI before we could be granted a German license. This is 6 months in the making, and had by far the most flaming hoops to jump through. Now we are just waiting for our physical copies!

THAT

I love how longer days give you the feeling that you actually have more time in a day. Now, when Zach gets home from work, we go for runs together, and we make and eat dinner before it even gets dark outside. I love that. Our living, kitchen, and dining rooms face due West, so we have some really intense afternoon and evening light. I love cooking with the door open to the porch so the dogs can come and go whenever they like. Having an outdoor space for them has literally changed my life; I sometimes wonder how I did two years of two dogs in a tiny, one-room downtown apartment.

THE OTHER

This place has really come to life for us. Our little "community" in our building really utilize their outdoor space. You are always saying a friendly Guten Tag! and having a nice little conversation. It's as if has come out of winter hibernation and is ready to live a little. Germans really like to use their grills, usually for bratwurst, but right now, they are really into hamburgers. They are the "hip" thing here, which is humorous and delicious at the same time. For us, we have yet to purchase a "barbecue" of our own here, and so I am getting antsy for some grilled meat and pineapple. Soon...

Spring is out, and it is fabulous. I never get tired of the absolutely amazing blooms and smells. In keeping with the outdoor theme above, the Germans love their gardens. Even if they just have space for window boxes, they go all out. This makes walking around town a real treat, all the windows and tiny lawns are perfectly manicured and covered with jewel colored flowers and shrubs, they make it look easy. While on the topic of flowers, all the plants I purchased the last couple of weeks are still alive as of today. This. Is. A. Big. Deal. I am hoping that next blog I can write the same thing...

But no matter how lovely the German gardens are, nature always seems to win in the end...

Zach has officially dubbed these "Stawberry Ice Cream Trees"

We just can't stay away from one another, even for one picture

Best thing about the warming weather? Outdoor eating

Mid April

Eating: Asparagus lemon butter ravioli's

Reading: "Made to Stick"

Hearing: Birds and lawn mowers

Listening to: Diana Krall

Enjoying: Gardening, art, neighbors, running, landscapes

Not Enjoying: Five minutes after you cut your dogs hair and bath him, he finds the nearest dead animal to role in.... and.... German grammar 

Feeling: Happy

life is good..

Random

This blog has been great over the past few years to reach out to friends and family while we have been out and about, away from home. Sometimes it is hard for me to think of anything interesting to say, so I just post photos, but sometimes I have typing diarrhea, and my posts seem randomly patched together, and full of seemingly random information. Today, my friends, is one of those days. At least this "all over the place" theme seems to be a true reflection of this entire experience, sometimes you feel like you have your shit together and other times you are just holding on by the hairs on your chinny- chin-chin. So apologies for this ramble of a blog, with random info and facts that seemed  interesting to me at the time.

Anywho...

We have been working on getting our deck ready for the nicer weather. We got some plants and a small table outside of the kitchen door for us to have breakfast. I'm surprisingly excited about the prospect of gardening, which is new. Wish  me luck.....

Other random news/observations around here include:

For the first time since 1945, Germany released "Mein Kampf" for publication here in Germany

A new restaurant opened down the road from us that we are eager to try...

Germany is leading the way in self-driving cars, some of which are now being road-tested on the Autobahn

The light pink magnolia trees are out in force, and I love it

We are now learning the Tango, and it's hilarious

Lots of refugees on bikes