Time flies when you're havin' fun!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

No amazing travel pictures today...well, just a sneak peak at our Weis'n (Oktoberfest) pics! Yes, Scott has on lederhosen and I am wearing a dirndl! Enjoy!

I still have to post for our weekends in: Prague, Berlin, Nürnberg, Freiburg & the Black Forest, an authentic Volksfest in the hop-growing town of Pfoffenhofen to warm us up for Oktoberfest, more favorite biergartens, more of Colin's favorite spielplatzes (sometimes conveniently located in the biergartens!), Mommy's Day Out, and Volume One of Oktoberfest!

Going into the Schottenhamel "tent"

From left to right: Carrie Lusk, Scott Lusk, Casey Smith, Jennifer Smith
It was so fun to go and be with friends and all of Scott's coworkers that I'd met a few times before. You'll just have to wait until I post for more! SO. FUN. The only thing that I've experienced similar is Mardi Gras parades and balls, except this was much more, um, refined!?!

With just over two weeks left of our time here, I just had to blog in real time about what's been going through my head as I start to reflect back on the past 10 weeks. And maybe make a Top 10 list or two...

One of the things that I prayed about as we prepared for this German adventure was that I would really let myself "be present" and soak in the experiences and really "be present" with Colin spending great quality time with him as he experienced all the new things we were throwing at him. If I had to grade myself, I'd give myself an overall "A." There were a lot of days when we stayed in when it rained and just watched his DVD collection and ate popcorn and cookies for lunch and I did laundry and probably farted around on Facebook or other blogs or Pinterest (my new addiction!) when we could have been at a museum or something educational, but we have packed so much into our short 10 weeks here, that I'm going to tell myself the movie and popcorn days are fine too! It is Summer, after all. Yeah, I think I'm going to continue with this whole "giving myself a break" thing. Maybe I'm getting older, maybe it's been easier since I'm not constantly comparing myself to all my friends I see on a daily basis over here? But I have felt more of a peace that I don't have to be the "perfect mommy/wife/daughter/sister/friend (now add blogger to the list too)." As long as I'm loving God and putting on His full armor (to defend against the spiritual warfare that ramps up when I least expect it or pounds in harder when I'm already down) and go on about doing the best I can each day, that's I'm OK. Easier said than done.

It's been so incredible to see Colin (now 3 years, 5 months old) grow, develop, adjust, adapt, learn new vocabulary in English and German, etc., and we are so proud of him. My dad and uncle think I should write a children's book about Colin's experiences this summer in his perspective. Hmmm...

He knows the names and/or colors for each of the subway stations (their interiors are painted!) that we pass and use on a regular basis. We've had lots of times where he just blows us away knowing directions  to go somewhere if we've gone to a place just once or twice. He reminds us about the lines for the bike lanes or the lines in the subway not to cross, holding hands crossing the street or waiting on the green walk sign to walk, etc. Such a big city kid now! And, he knows where all his favorite foods in the market are, and one night Colin went with Scott to the market and showed him exactly where things were on my list. Truly a helper!

He has refined his palette. Three months ago, he ate none of these things which he now loves and asks for by name: he's discovered he likes Edamer cheese, Pizza Margherita, (more) yogurt, rotisserie chicken, brown rice, Käseknocker (sausage with oozy cheese inside), weiners, Nutella (finally!!!), (more kinds of) chocolate, and chocolate croissants. Since we couldn't find cheese Goldfish, he's moved onto plain Pringles. You can tell all my "rules" have sorta gone out the window. But he eats any and all fruit, and green peas. He's just fine, I promise!

He likes SAND!!!!! If you had gone to the beach with Colin, oh, as recently as this past Memorial Day in May and saw the ridonkulous fit he threw over touching any sand, this would be very impressive to you. Now, it's no big deal and he sits down to take off his shoes as he enters any spielplatz with sand on it. HUGE!!!

Colin also can play games, videos, and songs by finding their respective icons on an iPad and our iPhones....very amazing. He's so intuitive. If we have to show him something, it's only once and then he learns where it is. We have had so many looks and questions from people when we've been out and about or at the dinner table at a restaurant. Don't worry, he still loves mostly to play with sticks, rocks, and sand at the spielplatz.

Another major social/emotional milestone with him was about a week ago. I got stung by a pair of angry yellow jackets (stepped on one in the grass when chasing him barefoot at the park, then one stung me on the thigh when I sat down on a bench nursing my foot!). Colin gave me his lovey and kept wetting a rock for me to put on the sting spots (the cold, wet rock did actually feel good!). He kept telling me he was sorry and rubbing my arm, and that we needed to go home and put medicine and a bandaid on it. And, he told me when I could walk on it, he would get in the stroller and we could go home. He was so sweet and caring, even in my excruciating pain, I was blown away how he acted. I know something like that would eventually have happened at home in the US, but the fact that it was in a foreign country and a sort of stressful situation really did fill me with pride and awe in him.

What we will NOT miss about Germany/Europe:
1. secondhand smoke
2. very few places that take credit cards (very challenging to travel every weekend before you run out of money!)
3. not having a dryer (I will probably line dry more at home, but when it's cold outside, or for towels, or you need something clean AND DRY the next day, it's just inconvenient)
4. the unsettling feeling of being a "foreigner" or feeling just plain dumb, even as comfy as we've become in a short time, not knowing the language
5. friends and family so far away and the time difference which makes using Skype challenging
6. how expensive it is to eat, drink, shop, etc with exchange rate to the Euro (see #2)
7. ordering something that you think looks like ground sausage but actually is TUNAFISH! BLECH!! This happened to us twice--once in a quiche and another on a pizza. We can almost laugh about it now.

Top 10 Things we WILL miss about Germany/Europe (in no particular order!):
1. the biergartens & bier
2. the spielplatz (playgrounds) on almost EVERY other street
3. convenient, cheap, and efficient mass transit
4. history around every corner and on every street
5. learning a new language
6. traveling/exploring somewhere new anytime we can
7. the markets and specialty shops for top quality bread, wine, cheese, fruit, veggies, pastries, chocolate...and trying a brand new something and finding new favorites to eat every day!
8. new friends
9. Scott will miss his morning bike rides through the Perlacher forest; and for me, my leisurely bike rides/walks in the Englisher Garten
10. living simply without a lot of "stuff" in our apartment (simple cooking, eating fresh food, shopping often because the fridge, freezer, and pantry are so small)
Okay, 11. no Wal-Mart or driving on Highway 280 in three months

Top 5 things Colin is looking forward to doing as soon as he's home (I actually interviewed Colin for this and he loved that!):
1. playing with my big train table in my house in Alabama
2. going to the train park (Olmstead Park in Mt. Laurel)--he's an equal opportunity lover of a spielplatz!
3. eating Goldfish (as in the Pepperidge Farm variety, we couldn't find anywhere in Europe!)
4. playing with my friends at church...that means church and school (Mother's Day Out :)
5. playing with my family (shout out to Nonna & Pop, Mimi, Mamaw, Granna & Papa, Aunts Claire & Nancy, Uncles Casey and Carter!)

Top 5 things Scott is looking forward to doing as soon as he's home:
1. eat mexican food (well, Tex-Mex...Chuy's, preferably) and some homemade cajun dishes I especially like to cook in the Fall, like Red Beans & Rice and Gumbo.
2. watching SEC football game (in English!) on his own TV in his own home
3. seeing family
4. driving his car
5. going to church

Top 10 things I'm looking forward to doing when I get home (definitely not necessarily in any order):
1. see my family and friends
2. manicure/pedicure/haircut & highlights...no pedi, mani, haircut, highlight, or wax in three months!
3. go to church
4. launch detox diet (after #9 :)
5. Colin goes back to Mother's Day Out=I have time to do something with no kid attached!
6. regular workouts and visits to the gym with provided childcare, like EVERYDAY, probably need 2-a-days for a while
7. cooking my favorite fall soups, stews, muffins, and things with pumpkin and butternut squash in my own kitchen with all my tools, pots, pans, appliances at the ready (can't bake and freeze big batches of soup or quick breads when you have a small Euro fridge/freezer/kitchen!)
8. sleep in my own bed
9. eat a homecooked meal from my mom (I hope!?!)
10. look at the price of something and not have to convert it to how much it's really costing me if I buy it

Looking ahead to the future and getting re-settled, I have ideas and semi-grand plans I want to tackle...

I've really enjoyed the writing aspect of blogging after I forced myself to get through the technical difficulties with the pictures. I'll eventually morph this blog from a chronicle of our travels, to a lifestyle blog and a way for our family and friends to keep in touch. It will probably become a hodgepodge to document our life, home, family, meals inspired by our travels, future trips, etc. I may also chronicle my weight loss and workout plan to get rid of all the pounds and inches I've gained in the past three months....Auf Wiedersehen, 20 lbs! And, I've got a plan about the redesign (lots of DIY and no-cost rearranging/repurposing in our future!) for our downstairs too. Mostly because we've been thinking about baby #2, and will eventually need Scott's office to move from Colin's old nursery to somewhere else, and there's really no other option than enclose the side porch downstairs.

If you've read this far, you may know that I had a complete molar pregnancy in October 2010 and had to be on a 12 month wait to try to conceive again. So...we're nearing the 1 year mark as soon as we get back. This trip may not have even happened or certainly have been so awesome if I'd had a newborn or young baby along with Colin 24/7 in a foreign country. God's impeccable timing!

So, I've begun to think of what I will call this blog after we get back, because Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all wouldn't make much sense once we were home... And, I need a name that would encompass it all, the only thing I will throw out there is this one: Home Ec Teacher's Daughter. (Let me know your thoughts, gently please!! My mom really was a 25-year Home Economics Teacher in her previous career before she became an Ed. D. and an e-learning, non-profit working, grant-writing extraordinaire.)

Speaking of family, we just had friends, Jennifer and Casey Smith, visit us and leave this morning, and Aunt Nancy Meeks is coming in tomorrow morning, so I've got to get some sleep. We've got to show her the city in a marathon tour, go to Salzburg, Austria over the weekend, and then Round Two of Oktoberfest on Monday! I've got to convince her to buy a dirndl!

Thanks for reading! Guten nacht! Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all!