I know it has been a huge long time since anything was posted here. It can be difficult to keep up a travel blog when I don't go anywhere and Sushi is out of the country all together.

To make it up to you, enjoy a new Culture Shock pic and a link in the side bar to my Craft Blog. I've been doing much more crafting than traveling.


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This is a cigarette machine. Germans are one of the few people left in the world who openly smoke. This machine is right down the street from the neighborhood and in the main sections of shops in Schmid. Anyone can walk up and drop in some Euro. This one still amazes me. Plus, I really like the composition of this pic. Enjoy!

Because Jon said he misses my posts I will try to make up for lack of a high-speed connection over the holidays. PLEASE READ THE NEXT THREE POSTS AS ONE. (there is a limit to the number of pics I can post in each)

The last you heard from me was in November and I had forgotten to post my Halloween pumpkins. They turned out quite well.



After that was thanksgiving at Warner's. This was lots of fun. The Boys even helped out by peeling eggs (badly) while Gidget and I worked on dinner.



Then we stood around...



until the kids got bored and begged us to play Hide-and-Seek. How could you say 'no' to this?



unfortunately, the game became quite competitive when all the obvious places were taken. The boys had to get creative.

I swear Mike is in this tree somewhere...



Only Jake's skinny ass could fit under the car...

But Bennet had to show up everyone, so we shoved him (literally) under the itty-bitty German sink...



Then into a Recycle bin...



Then Rob got tired and ended up under the bed...




After the game, Mike took up his spot on the couch looking like The Dark Lord Of The Sith. Fear his girlie hoodie...



We all had a great day thanks to our beautiful Hostess, Gidget...

Next was X-mas. I made my own cards. I may put up a pic in the future (can't find the files)

We went to a traditional Christmasmarkt in Nuremburg. It didn't feel very festive because we didn't get much snow this year. The decorations made up for it though.

The church was decked out on every side...



There was a Kiderpark with the neatest carousel I've ever seen. It had two stories and hot air balloons hung from the roof...



There was also the creepyest carousel. Notice the complete lack of children on or near this one...



finally, came New Years. I have no pictures of this. The law says we had to wait until midnight to launch off the big fireworks. The boys filled the time by throwing smaller firecrackers at each other. I'm surprised no one lost an eye.

When we finally got to launch fire works I was uber impressed by them. We had stuff that would be illegal in the states. Huge bottle rockets that land on the other side of the neighborhood, giant fountains, and boxes of little things to keep the kids occupied. Between the participants we spent only about 100 Euro and lit them for 2 hours. The party was only slightly interrupted by someone's drinking problem. I won't go into it.

It has been a pretty good year so far. I hope to update more but please take into account that we aren't really doing much lately. Mike has been training our forces to be prepared to fight the bad guys. Plus he should have his own possible deployment training coming up soon.

Have I ever told you how much I love to drive in Germany? It is the most nerve racking experience. The roads are ridiculously small, barley two lanes wide, with blind curves through a whole neighborhood. And to top it off, Germans don't really care where they park. Just any old place on the side of the road will do. Doesn't matter if they take up half or the whole lane. Then when driving around these precariouly parked cars one must watch for oncoming traffic that thinks they have the right of way. It usual is solved by courtesy but some times becomes a test of testicular fortitude. Who has the bigger balls? I fear not only for my sanity but my side view mirrors as well.

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Today's Culture Shock Picture (cause Mike reminded me there hasn't been one in a while)



I bought these at our local grocery store. I just couldn't pass these up. Notice the label "Fur Coole Kids". Love it.
A few Translations (from left to right, top to bottom):
~ The Magic sticks are Sparklers they say "Wunderkerzer" Wonder Candle/Spark
~ horror-House says "Leuchttaler mit Blitzlicht-Effekt" Shine more taler with Lightning light effect
~ Spiderlights "Blitzfonatne mit knister und knattereffekten" To lightning fountain with more crackle and rattle
~Alien fire "Bodenkreisel mit Silbereffeckt" Ground gyroscope with silver effects
~ "Teufelstanz" Devil Punch (my favorite translation)
~ "Geisterstunde" Ghost Hour
~ Mystery Balls say "3 Kugeln mit spruh knister und knattereffekten" 3 Balls with spray, crackle and rattle effects

I can't wait to try them out.

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And lastly, I added a link on the left ----> to my Photo Blog. Just an eclectic colection of photos so that I can link to them from else where, but you are welcome to check it out too.

I'm sooooo proud of my hubby. He went to the promotion board on friday. Not only did he ace it with 150 points out of 150 points he was complimented a few times on how good his uniform looked. And it damn well better have looked good, I spent over an hour helping him measure 1/32 of an inch. What all this means is that Sushi will be a Sergeant come Nov 1rst.

Yeah! Nothing is going on. Life is boring.