Sponsored by the Letter "S"

Hello, loyal readers. All six or seven of you...that I know of. I apologize for my absence. I've been rather busy living life the past couple of weeks. I noticed that many of them begin with the letter "S", so here we go:

Spring weather - It's been up and down, but I've been spending a lot more time walking outside or sitting in parks. Some rain here and there.
Sunshine - It feels so good to go outside at lunch and snag some Vitamin D. Or sit in the sun and eat ice cream.
Spam - Although I haven't been getting as many personal emails, I seem to be getting a ton of emails that I don't want.
Spiders - Two in one day. One near my toothbrush. I'm extra observant these days.
Sleep - We just "sprung" forward last weekend, a full two week after the US. I think my body changed with the US because I had been waking up 1 to 1.5 hours early each day. I figured it would be ok when we finally did change times, but I still struggled this week.
Stuffing - I had a taste for stuffing and happened to have everything except celery. Yum. Thanksgiving in March.
Spreadsheets - Lots of spreadsheet work at the office. Spreadsheets are miraculous things and I have a lot to learn.
Sugar - I'm trying to cut extra sugar that mostly comes from my afternoon snacks. But it's all I want. I'm on a dark chocolate only kick and that is helping.
Snacks - I introduced my colleagues to "ants on a log" since I happened to have all of the ingredients (again!). There was a mixed reaction. Peanut butter is just not an accepted taste here.
Spools of thread - I had a few button incidents.
Studying - I've been working on German grammar at night. Sometimes I feel really smart and other times I feel like I should be deported.
Skype - I've been able to log some great phone calls with Stateside people. I love writing, but talking is soooo good.

Unfortunately, my weeks have not included: shopping or sand. I am really struggling in finding a store that offers clothes in my style. It's the worst when you want to spend money and can't find anything you like. I am also ready for some sand. Hopefully I'll get in a vacation or at least a trip to the beach.

Sincerely,
Lynn

My new favorite snack

I had a pretty great weekend. It included walking around the lake (12K+ steps later..), seeing flowers starting to bloom, spotting the Freiburg professional soccer team playing a pickup game, lots of late-night dancing with great people, a warm chocolate croissant, and home-made potato soup (I came close, but nothing beats Mom's!). But the highlight was definitely my very new favorite snack.

I have been eating a lot of apples as it's always a go-to snack of mine. And lately, I've been craving peanut butter. I've also been on a cinnamon kick. Plus, I eat a lot of vanilla yogurt. So, when I came across this recipe, I knew it was a winner for me.



I skipped the grapes and didn't use Greek yogurt, but I'm pretty obsessed. Also, fun fact, the peanut butter brand is Barney's Best and it's not half bad. It's not Jif, and I probably wouldn't eat it plain on a spoon, but mixed with my other favorite ingredients, it certainly does the trick. In other peanut butter news, I'm still baffled that Austria sells Skippy (at least they did when I was in Vienna in '06-08), but not Germany. But Barney's Best is definitely better than Nick's Easy Rider peanut butter that was being sold in Innsbruck in 2003-04. True story.

Feels like Spring

The US "sprung" forward an hour last weekend, but Germany has another week to go. While it's been nice being an hour "closer" to home, I think my body accidentally sprung forward an hour already. All week, I've been waking up 1 - 1.5 hours before my alarm. And I've felt rested! Naturally, I've just stayed in bed instead of doing something productive. I hope this doesn't backfire come March 25.

The weather has also been wonderful, although not quite at wonderful as Chicago. What a gorgeous weekend for me to miss celebrating St. Patrick's day (yet again!) in the Windy City with a green river. All of this spring weather makes me excited for long walks, bike riding, playing basketball, eating ice cream, and grilling. But it also makes me want to participate in Spring Cleaning. Sadly, I do not have enough stuff to necessitate such a cleaning. So, think of me while you're cleaning out your closets, garages, and basements.

Drink something green for me!

Let's Dance

Last night, I happened to catch part of the premiere of the newest season of Let's Dance aka Dancing with the Stars. I only watched the beginning because I quickly lost interest. I guess the draw really is the celebrity rather than the dance. There are a lot of shows with "Promis" however, to me they are just regular people because I couldn't identify them if my life depended on it.

I do have to note, that what I found most interesting was the scoring. In the US, the judges are "mean yet fair" the first week. I mean, if you start too high there's no where to go. Well, the Germans did not hold back in comments and they certainly held back in points. There were a lot of 4s and 5s and even at least one 1. One poor guy scored 9/40 points for his first dance!

I will give you (Americans) five gold stars if you can name any of the Promis without looking them up.

Hamburg Freezers

Last Friday, I attended the sold-out, 6-1 win for the Hamburg Freezers ice hockey team which sent them into the playoffs. And watched it all from a box. It was such a neat experience and I'm glad I was invited! I went with my colleague, Linda, who received the tickets from one of our vendors. They do something special each year and this was what they chose this year. Good choice.

We met outside of the building and then our group of 15 went up to our box. My only previous box experience was at a Chicago Red Stars game with my sister. That's women's soccer in case you didn't know :)





We each received a scarf and a USB stick on a lanyard. We started out the evening with a glass of Prosecco and then started in on the wonderful food. But just before we could reach the food, a (n injured) player stopped by to say hello. We took pictures with Marius Möchel and he signed autographs.




We took on the Krefeld Pinguine -- the Penguins, who were also black and yellow just like from Pennsylvania. The opening was unlike anything I'd seen. The graphics on the ice turned to flames. Once everything was "hot" is started to "freeze" and then "ice" fell from the "sky". Yeah, that's a lot of air-quoting, but this is what happened. And then there were fireworks! The team came out of a giant inflatable helmut and then a teeny, tiny approximately four-year old girl skated out and brought the puck to center ice. With no anthem to sing, that's just for us crazy Americans, the game was on.



The Freezers converted on a lot of power plays and played really great defense. It was a pretty good game. Possibly even better than the current Chicago Blackhawks. There was great music and lots of singing and cheering. Of course, we saw the wave. We even got cheer the Eismeister out on the ice to scrape off some blood after a 5-minute major on the Pinguine.

It was nice to sip on great wine and beer out of real glasses while watching this sold-out performance. I even consumed three different desserts. (I have to try everything!) Even though the 12,822 fans were not match for a United Center crowd of 22,000+, it was LOUD. I think the only real difference I noticed, as compared to a Hawks game, was that the intermissions were 18 minutes long instead of 15. However, the game felt like it went quicker -- perhaps because there weren't any TV timeouts.



Naturally, we ended the evening with another glass of Presecco. As a hockey fan, I feel very grateful that I was able to participate in such a unique experience. Hopefully the Freezers will go far in the playoffs!

Flat Stanley

I just bid farewell to my first visitor...Flat Stanley! I had a wonderful time showing him around. Thankfully, it didn't rain during his visit, but I think he left with a few extra wrinkles due to high winds.

Wiebke and I spent a wonderful afternoon, complete with Tee und Kuchen, down at the harbor and in the city taking various pictures. I'm really glad she was so enthusiastic (like me!) because the German pretended like he didn't know me when I whipped out Stanley from my purse. It's such a neat project and I hope Andrea's class likes the letter!

How do I get out?

Now that the weather has started to warm up and the sun makes occasional, longer appearances, I've resumed my post-work walks. I mostly stick to the neighborhood and/or bus route.

On yesterday's walk, I came across a store at which I don't normally shop, but was curious to check out as it's one of the stores that buys our books.

I popped in. I looked around. It was all fun and games until I tried to leave. I couldn't get out. Once I realized this, I kind of looped around the store a second time while contemplating my escape.

As there was only one register open, everyone waiting in line has the pleasure of watching me squirm. I tried to open one of the gates blocking my exit - no dice. I looked hopefully at the people in line. Nothing. I briefly considered making a purchase so I didn't feel so silly.

But, finally, I asked the cashier, "How do I get out??"

Just then they were opening a second line, so she said just to go out that way. I still required some help from the first gentleman in line, but I bolted once I was freed.

I think this has officially dissuaded me from entering stores in which I have no intentions of making a purchase -- unless I can determine a painless exit that doesn't require a purchase.

Perhaps this is American-thinking that I was just going in "to look"?

Märzenegger

One of the TV channels, Kabel Eins, will be playing back to back Arnold Schwarzenegger movies each Monday for the rest of the month of March (März). I am pretty excited about this.

Also, the promos for Kabel Eins are set to Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" which is also awesome and worth noting.

Kabel Eins, Eins, Baby.

Nutella Binge

Yesterday, in a moment of weakness, I ate three pieces of bread with Nutella when I should have stopped at one. As a result, I forced myself to put the bread in the freezer. I didn't want to waste it and throw it out, but I can't stand frozen/cold bread.

As for the Nutella, it is now being stored in the kitchen cabinet. This might not seem like punishment, but it is because the kitchen is a bit on the cool side which results in very unspreadable chocolate hazelnut spread. I had been keeping it on my dresser in the much warmer bedroom. Earrings, perfume, Nutella. No big deal.

I'm not posting a picture because I don't want the epidemic to spread (pun only kind of intended).

Crêperie

Last night I met Sorina for crepes at Ti Breizh. It was the cutest little rustic-French place. Naturally, I turned myself around leaving the Ubahn station turned a 5-minute walk into a 25-minute walk. Yes, it was also raining. Duh. And then I didn't see Sorina's text that she was already seated at the table while I waited at the front for 10 minutes. Oops. It's a good thing I left extremely early. This is why.

When I saw Sorina, I noticed that she was wearing a cream and navy blue striped shirt and matched the wait staff! And then I took off my coat and remembered that I was wearing a navy blue and tan striped sweater. It must have been subconscious because it was certainly not planned and almost went unnoticed. In addition to our striped shirts, we also both had pearl earrings. Too funny.

I must also note that this is the third time this week that I've forgotten what I'm wearing while also wearing my coat. The other two times happened in one day when I had a sudden moment of, "What am I wearing? I don't know! I seriously can't remember." And then I had to check.

It was a difficult decision, but I went for the cheese, ham, and mushroom crepe while Sorina chose the tomato, artichoke, spinach option. We shared an apple, carmel, and almond crepe for dessert. De-lish. It was another wonderful evening of great food and even better company.

And then I came home and successfully sewed a button on a dress at 10:45p while watching Dharma and Greg auf Deutsch. I was so empowered with my sewing skills that I decided to fix another button. Alas, this one proved more difficult and will need to be reattempted another day. In case you were wondering, I usually take my sewing needs directly to my father, so this was kind of a big deal for me.

This is a glimpse into my real life.