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.