Spinach and Cookies

Last night was a baking night. I wanted to make sugar cookies, so I've spent the last couple of weeks gathering recipes and ingredients and converting the recipes. I finally settled on the ones that seemed most compliant with German grocery stores and my skill level. Basically anything that avoided shortening and baking soda AND baking powder. These ingredients tend to cause problems.

Not only was I prepared for the actual baking, but I also devised a plan to prevent me from eating the goods since there was no one to periodically check in on me and scold. I didn't snack all day and I picked out a nice fish fillet and spinach for dinner. I thought I'd fill myself up on the green stuff and then I wouldn't feel the need to chow down on cookie dough.

Hah, well. I tried. The thing is that I took out a pan, filled it with sunflower seed oil, and grabbed the fish out of the freezer. And then I realized that it was to be cooked in the oven and needed to cook for 35 minutes. So much for that. Clearly, I was in a sock-buying-induced coma when I bought the fish last weekend and didn't even read the box. I probably just saw spinach and bought it. Plus, I bought another pack of creamed spinach as a side which probably wasn't necessary.

So, to be as efficient as possible, I started the dough while the fish was cooking. And now we know why my recipe for 48 cookies only left me with 36 to share. The fish was really good though, I just might have to (accidentally) buy it again.

My frosted sugar cookies turned out a little different than expected, but they taste pretty good. I will probably have to hang up my oven mitts for a while though until I learn a little more self control. (But it tastes so good!)

This Week In Germany

I love how Hamburg keeps popping up everywhere.

http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/newsletter/The__Week__in__Germany/TWIG__120127.html



Also, this is what I missed for my brother's birthday celebration: GRAVY! To go along with spätzle and rouladen of course.

Part E

I'm going to start this out with a nod to Mr. Ploplys, my Honors Physics teacher from high school. He would start stories and then interrupt them for other stories. While doing so, he would physically change locations, so he was sometimes telling three or four stories at once. Man, he was seriously one of my favorite teachers and that was one of my favorite classes - too bad physics is not my forte. But also this is why my blog is filled with words and not equations.

See, I'm already veering off course. There are a ton of stories and thoughts and ideas swirling around in my head and I think, if I tried really, really hard, I could combine them into one fluid thought; however, so many of the stories require background stories or additional info, so I don't think it will make sense to anyone but me. So, this entire preface is just a way of saying, "Here's a bunch of shorter stories from the last week." Oh, and he used to make outlines that always included Part E, which seems just great since we're heading in to a weekend.

A. The snow is finally here! This is kind of exciting, but also not. I only slipped twice on the walk to work. If you know me, which you probably do since this blog isn't public, then you might say to yourself, "Self, that seems like a low number of slips." (This is another nod to Mr. P.) Well, you're right. That's because the number of slips-that-very-nearly-resulted-in-a-fall was five. I knew it would be rough when I opened my eyes and couldn't see anything outside of the slanted window. I suppose it's good practice for when the windows are boarded up during construction time.

B. Last night, I went to a play with my friend Wiebke. (I had never heard of this name before and now I see it everywhere!). We met for a bite to eat before heading to the theater. Before we went in, we checked the menu and they had sandwiches that seemed decent. Well, that was the lunch menu. The people next to us had some awesome looking soup though and I needed something to warm me up. We both decided to get soup and a dessert. A girl after my own heart. I had the soup that our table neighbors had ("Yes, I'll have this French soup that I can't pronounce.") and Wiebke had a pumpkin/shrimp soup and strudel. I went with the chocolate mousse for dessert because I needed some chocolate. Soup and dessert are two of my favorite things, but I never thought to put them together like this. De-lish.

And on to the play. Well, it was weird. A bit artsy. Full of monologues. I never realized how much I truly enjoy dialogue. It was an interpretation of Don Quixote, and an interpretation it was. I'm not really sure what was going on and I don't think language was a factor. Well, maybe just a little, but really a very small percentage. There was fake vomit, a call-out to Facebook, and a wooden horse. Although I really did enjoy the music. Two round-bellied, bearded Germans in sombreros really stole the show. The set design was also really unique and utilized well. Plus, it's always fun when the actor, still in character, comments on a dude getting out of his seat not even ten minutes into the show.

C. In case you wondered, I usually write at lunchtime, at the end of the day, or at home. Sometimes I write them and forget to post them. I have been failing in the system as of late. When it's dry out, I try to take advantage of my lunch hour and walk outside. This week provided a lot of deceivingly sunny yet cold days that made for great breaks to walk by the lake. Also, I'm lazy. Aren't we all? I don't like to lug my computer home most days because I don't have Internet at my place of residence. Let's be real. It's 2012. Computers aren't much fun without the Internet.

D. Now you're probably wondering what I do to keep myself busy without Internet. Well, I'm still working on this. Here are some of things I do: take long walks, pretend to cook, read, "study" German, watch strange yet education TV programming, meet friends, stare at the wall just to double check that the dark spot is still a hole and not a spider, paint my nails, listen to German radio (it's the best), try to think of topics to write about, think, over think, think some more, and watching my laundry dry. I'm currently also trying to devise a plan that will bring me physical contact with a dog. It's actually pretty cool to have hours to myself knowing that no one (ok, I have like three contacts in my silly Nokia bar phone) can interrupt me in any shape or form. It's empowering.

E. In addition, I also spend a lot of time of what I like to call "MacGyver moments". It's probably fairly obvious, but let me give you can example. But first, it's like writing a paper in college. If you have two weeks you can write it in two weeks. But if you only have two hours, you can also write it in two hours. Well, sometimes, only because I have eons of time, I will use all of that time to elaborately solve a problem. OK, back to that example. A few years back, I spent an entire Saturday night in Vienna trying to get a piece of paper that had fallen into/behind a no-man's land drawer. I don't even remember what was on the piece of paper, but the other drawer wouldn't close probably and I'd finally had enough. My fingers weren't going to cut it, so I knew I had to think of another solution. And it was a great one. After many trials and errors, I ended up creating two long poking devices out of tape and...long poking devices...pencils? forks? I also attached a flashlight to my head with a headband. Once I got the paper out, I experience one of the purest forms of joy. The kind where you just want to high-five someone, anyone, but, of course, you're all alone. [Let me interrupt this story to tell you that my favorite feeling of this joy is while eating crab legs. I like to do this with my dad because I think he gets just as excited as I do and he's probably just as proud of me as he was when I was accepted to college.]

OK, so this brings us to this week where I experienced two of these moments - MacGyver moments slash pure joy "I did it!" moments. The first involved a can of mushrooms. Perhaps I haven't been buying a lot of food in cans or I just happened to be buying cans with pull lids, but my heart sank when I realized I couldn't get into my can of mushroom halfway through making dinner. I assumed there had to be an opened - and I assumed correctly. What I assumed incorrectly was that I could operate the can opener. I tried so hard. I tried to visualize other can openers. I looked around to see what else I could use without killing or maiming myself (again, I live a semi-isolated existence, so it could be days before I'd be found!). I would think of an idea, but then I could hear my dad's voice in my head so I would have to abandon that idea.

"Don't stand on chairs with wheels."
"Water doesn't belong above electronics."
"Don't throw keys."

And then I finally got it to open with can opened and brute force. And then I discovered how it actually works. Ahh, hindsight.

The other moment involved my new retainer. You see, I love teeth. I had aspirations of becoming an orthodontist at one time (again, if only I was better at science!), so I'll always have a place for teeth in my heart. I was pretty devastated when my permanent retainer broke. The top one broke about five years ago and the bottom one broke sometime last summer. I didn't have time to get it removed before leaving for Germany (priorities), so I had to go during Christmas vacation when I just couldn't handle it anymore. If you don't like teeth, then you're probably pretty bored right now. Sorry. So, I got a removable retainer for the bottom teeth since bottom teeth are more likely to shift than the top. I don't need to wear it every night, and surprisingly I actually don't wear it every night. But I did wear it last night, which means I had to take it out this morning. Which was a problem since I may or may not have had a nail-biting relapse in the last two days. Nothing major, but my (newly painted) thumbnails weren't able to get a good grasp on my ever-so-tight retainer. I tried every single nail on my hand, but couldn't get the right angle to get that satisfying "pop" of my teeth being released from plastic. Plus, now I have to touch up approximately seven nails. Again, I started looking around for other tools and I also envisioned my day wearing a retainer and only being able to brush half my teeth and not being able to eat. I ended up using my toothbrush for leverage. Let's hope fingernails grow at a faster rate than teeth can shift.

Ok, well, in case you didn't know all of things about me, you do now. I'm also going to live on the edge and not re-read this before posting.

Focus

I think my brain is working too hard. My thoughts are all over the place. My dreams are half German and half English (like literally mixed together into sentences) and there's even been some Spanish (I do not speak Spanish in real life but I do apparently comprehend it in dreams).

Yesterday, I finally had an opportunity to take a rainless walk after work. I must have been so excited and focused to put away my groceries and change shoes that I discovered I had run out of stairs to climb and had gone two apartments past my own. Sadly, this isn't even the first time I've done this. It's one of the most unusual feelings. It kind of feels like you're in bizarro world. Everything seems familiar yet so different. Or maybe it feels like an ambush, where you're looking around and trying to take in what's happening but your mind is just not computing. But I'm not really sure about this.

I think the "newness" of my life of here has worn off. Which I don't even mind. In fact, I'm enjoying it even more. Now it seems real. As real as a warm, snow-less January can seem.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The New York Times is not a newspaper that I usually find myself perusing, but today I visited the website. And what did I find? A travel article about Hamburg.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/travel/36-hours-hamburg-germany.html?hpw

As the article suggests, I am preparing for a gray and rainy weekend. We'll see how I fare as I've also put myself on Facebook and chocolate restriction. Moderation is the word of the week.

Wish me luck.

New Beginnings. And Cauliflower.

Don’t worry about being worried. You’re heading out on an adventure and you can always change your mind along the way and try something else. -Tracy Kidder

Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity. -Gilda Radner

It's January and 2012 is still full of hope and new beginnings. I came across an eclectic collection of inspirational quotes that I think are worth a read as we all venture forward.

http://ecosalon.com/40-quotes-on-new-beginnings-starts/

It's so easy, yet so hard, to start something new. Perhaps I have more time to think and reflect (not watching TV is probably the best thing that has happened to me in the last few months!), but it is truly amazing to see how many people in my life are working on new beginnings. Big or small, public or private, they are all significant and positive changes.

Promotions. Internships. Job changes. Training for races. Engagements. Marriages. New relationships. Ending relationships. Babies. Friendships. Rekindling friendships. Joining a bowling league. Buying houses. Remodeling. Cleaning out closets and basements. Hitting milestone birthdays. Finding balance in life. Picking up new hobbies. Rediscovering old hobbies. Revising goals and plans. Graduations. Hairstyles. Phones.

These are the types of beginnings and changes that make up the stories of our lives. I love stories (and gossip I suppose...) because I love characters. This is why I love to read. And watch TV. Characters are out living their lives -- making mistakes and redirecting paths. A lot of people focus on the bad things that happen in life (GOSSIP!), but I've been finding true joy in learning about the happy news.

I surround myself with books and characters that I know, but I soon know their fate and their endings. It's so utterly exciting to watch real people's lives unfold. When I went through my first (of many) quarter-life crises, I told anyone that would listen that I just wanted to fast forward time until I was a grandma. Because then everything would have been figured out. Now, I know that I would be missing all of the fun stuff (albeit hard stuff) and that there's still plenty of stuff to still experience later in life. I suppose that I'm just really excited to see how it all turns out for me and all of you. Too bad we can't just flip to the epilogue.

Keep me posted on your happy new beginnings :)

P.S. This realize this is kind of a bunch of all-over-the-place-random thoughts-mumbo jumbo that could be expressed in a much clearer and concise manner. But I don't feel like it!

--

Well, before I came across that article, I was actually going to write about cauliflower. Yep. This is my new favorite vegetable. It came into my life on a couple of different fronts and I think it's there to stay. To be honest, I just buy the frozen cauliflower. And I eat it plain. I can't believe I never ate this lovely veggie until just a couple of months ago.

Need an easy new beginning? Try cauliflower.

Sun!

-I slept through the night! Some Red Bull and dancing until 4am did the trick.
-My number one language priority is to learn/practice small talk and informal conversation. I'm kind of boring auf Deutsch.
-I used my sunglasses over the weekend which is pretty remarkable. Especially, since it doesn't take much for me to whip out my shades.
-The thought of 3,5% milk weirds me out. I'm skirting by on 0,7%.
-It was a busy news weekend for Europe between the tipped cruise ship and the ratings downgrades in the Euro-Zone. It made for interesting tv-watching and Titanic specials.
-I'm so glad I finally watched Final Destination 5. Wowza. And Saw and two Rambo movies. I switch back and forth between movies in German and English.
-I'm starting to think about travel plans for the year which is fun and exciting. Yet also difficult because I'm fortunate to have already seen so much of Europe. Suggestions and recommendations are welcome.
-Plans for visitors are underway! May/June feels so far away, but I'm very excited :)

Sleeping: 1, Me: 0

I'm very surprised that I've made it to lunch without falling asleep. After nodding off around 7:30p last night, I was very awake from midnight until approximately 5:30a. I tried watching tv, reading, and just pretending to sleep. My 7:40a wakeup came way too soon. I'm not convinced that I'm suffering from jetlag, but I have no other guesses.

It's not as bad as my January '08 return to Vienna which required 16 episodes of Gilmore Girls, 3 Mandy Moore movies, and 2.5 Red Bulls. In 24 hours. Don't judge.

Maybe it's the mini-storms that come and go through the night. Maybe it's because I'm constantly freezing Maybe I miss my bed at home. Maybe I have too much on my mind.

[It is driving me nuts that I can't locate a black long-sleeved scoop neck Express shirt on either continent. Where are you, shirt? I've already issued a BOLO, but please come forward with any information. There is a reward.]

We'll have to see if this weekend will help or hurt me.

In other news, winter came for about an hour this morning. We had some huge flakes coming down and thunder/lightning even made an appearance. That was a first. But now it's gone and it's sunny (and windy!) again. Sorry, Chicago.

Lastly, I had a really expensive nectarine at lunch but it was totally worth it. Yay for splurging.

I Have a Problem

A chocolate problem. I don't try to deny myself my daily chocolate, but I do try to keep it in check. Yesterday, was not a proud day. I didn't realize how many Hanuta minis I had gone through until it was embarrassingly clear.

Björn had a hankering for something sweet and seen me snacking away earlier. He asked for one and I tried to give him and Berit the last four in the bag. (They're small...you have to eat at least two...) They each only took one because they are much more disciplined that I am. I told Björn that I had a problem and that I didn't really need those last two. He maintained it was ok.

And then he went to throw away the wrappers and burst into laughter. What did he see? A garbage can full of wrappers collected over the past few days.

Oh je. Busted.

Das Kino

When my mom was 16, she spent the summer in Germany with cousins. One of my favorite stories of her time there was when they went to the movie theater. Someone asked her what they saw and she answered, "Kino". That's the word for movie theater. So cute.

Last night, I went to the Kino. I met up with Wiebke and her friend Hanne. First we met for a quick bite to eat and to catch up on what we've been up to for the last month or so. Hanne picked up our tickets on Saturday, so we had great seats. Reserved seating: 1 point to Germany. Not only is the cost of your seat dependent on where you sit, but you're guaranteed a seat. I couldn't have picked the seats better myself. We were in the center about three rows from the top. And they were only 6,50 EUR.

I didn't visit the snack counter, but this is what I learned. Popcorn is more on the sweet side vs salty. (Sorry, Mom!) They really push ice cream. If I hadn't eaten so much (or made a huge dent in my chocolate drawer...) I would have totally been all over the ice cream.

The film we saw was called "Rubbeldiekatz". It's a German film, but it was an interesting surprise that there was a little bit of English thrown in. If my memory serves correctly, this is actually the first German movie I've seen in the theater. I've seen some dubbed movies (not recommended) but no original German on the big screen. I was sightly nervous that it would go completely over my head, but I couldn't stop laughing!

As a person who doesn't actually go to the movies a lot (it has to be a really good one!), it might have even been the best theater-going experience in my life. I laughed a lot. The people around me laughed a lot. It was a hit.

By now you're probably wondering what this film was about. First, let me say that I'm not usually thrilled with movies that feature men dressing up as women. However, this one worked. It's a story about an actor who ends up being cast in a film as a woman. As in they don't know he's a man. Naturally, he falls in love with his costar, who he actually met (as a man) before the movie. But, of course, the costar doesn't realize he's a man and befriends him as a girlfriend. The film they star in is, naturally, a Nazi-era film. This served up some extra funny.

Apparently, the English translation of the movie is "Woman in Love", but I'm not sure if you'll find it anywhere. I highly recommend it though. On the movie poster, the "woman" in the center is actually the guy on the left. He made a pretty good female, I'd have to say.

Can't wait for my next trip to the Kino.

The Girl with the Outdated Blog

-->Well, hello there. 2012 is settling in nicely and it’s time to start writing again. My nearly four weeks at home was better than predicted. It was filled with friends, family, long lunches, shopping, a Hawks game, a wedding, golfing, driving my orange jeep, scaring and being scared by siblings, board games, and pet hair. It was perfect. I logged numerous hours of cuddling with Zeus and Fritz and patronized Portillo’s, Lou Malnati’s, Bob Chinn’s, Chipotle, and my mom’s kitchen. Thankfully my jeggings didn’t get too tight.

It was also wonderful to make it back to the office. Yes, I’m being serious. I am so lucky to have great co-workers on both sides of the ocean. In addition to catching up with everyone, I was able to get a lot of face-to-face time and additional training. It’s all coming together now.

The only unusual thing about coming home was knowing that I didn’t know when I’d be back again. At one point I joked about the fact that I should have held a press conference because I was always asked the same questions. Albeit great questions. And, of course, one question was about my return—which is unknown.

I took my one-way ticket back to Hamburg via Warsaw, Poland. As suspected, the man at the ORD checkout counter tried to speak Polish with me after seeing the name on my passport. I felt guilty as I told him I could speak German.

As this was my first evening transatlantic flight, I incorrectly assumed that it would be easy to sleep. I sat next to a coughing man. A loudly snoring man sat behind me to my right. Someone in my general vicinity had the volume on his or her headphone too high. A screaming baby was just a few rows ahead of me. And directly behind me was one of the worst encounters—the man who doesn’t realize that when he pulls himself up on the seat in front of him he is also pulling down on your seat. Plus, my back was a little achy from the lovely drunk who unknowingly pushed me off of a barstool on New Year's Eve. Although I have to say that Lot was a very nice airline despite these clichés that I encountered.

It’s really too bad that a 9:55pm flight wasn’t conducive for sleeping though, especially when I didn’t sleep well the night before. All of the lights were off for take-off, yet once we were up in the air the lights were back on and we were being served what can only be described as two dinners. Too much. Plus, I had a 3pm dentist appointment, which left my very clean teeth covered in fluoride until we were airborne. That made for awkward eating and smiling.

Unfortunately, there was one thing that didn’t make me smile. The complete oversight that I was leaving out of Terminal 5 and didn’t have access to Garrett’s to bring back popcorn for the office. I had to settle on Fanny May, which thankfully is a solid backup choice.

After a fairly turbulent flight, we landed in Poland so that I could hang out at the Warsaw airport for more than a few hours. Thankfully I had my book to keep me occupied. After a half hour delay, we were finally Germany-bound. Again, a very turbulent flight. I am a pretty tolerant flyer, but both flights on both eastbound trips had me having a Tebow moment or two. Apparently I picked a good day to fly in though because the storms were even worse the day before and after. And it’s pretty much been raining ever since.

The night I landed, I stayed up until 12:30a only to wake up at 2:30. I read while I was wide awake until 5a. The beeping of my alarm came much too quickly at 8a. I forced myself out of bed and got ready for work. At 8:45, when I should have been walking out the door, I found myself walking back to bed. I needed a few more minutes of shut-eye.

It was a very busy first day back including currywurst for lunch. Unfortunately, not busy enough to trick my body back into German time. This time, I spent the hours between 3a – 6a cleaning the kitchen and putting things back in their proper places. Thankfully, a very rainy weekend called for movies and sleeping.

You see, you think I’m writing this blog for you, but really I’m just trying to tire myself out. And it’s working. Multi-tasking extraordinaire or selfish traveler? – you decide.

I'm back!

I have promised myself that I will catch up on sleep and unpacking before catching up on blogging. I may be living the dream, but I'm still a realist. My apologies.