"I'm Baaaack"

Last week I went on vacation and I got high. Almost 10,ooo feet high, to be exact. (For those of you who were thinking of another 'high", shame on you).
Anyway, I hopped on a plane May 1st to cross the pond to fly to Denver. I was actually nervous about this trip to America, b/c according to "Fox News" there was a chance everyone would be dead because of the Swine Flu. I was relieved to see that wasn't the case!
Had a great time visiting with my Aunt and Grandfather and my sister and her beau. We spent some time exploring the Rocky Mountains and taking lots of pictures of nature and the wild life out there. I'm sure the locals were aware that we were tourists b/c we were waaay too excited about seeing roaming Elk, Antelope, and Buffalo. But when you don't see it all the time it's quite interesting.

I even invested in some real cowboy boots from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Yeehaw!!

Vay-cay

My blog went on vacation for a little while. (I'd like to think it went to Cabo San Lucas). Apparently I was supposed to notify people of this...b/c they were wondering what happened. And I thought people didn't care about my blog! In the future I'll post a memo.

While my blog was on vay-cay I was actually busy. It's spring time now and I've been doing some spring cleaning and spending a lot of time outdoors. Last Friday I put 25 miles on my bicycle. It was fabulous. I saw parts of Germany in this area that I've never seen before. We came across a new lake, but we didn't stop...maybe next time. I can't begin to describe how much I enjoy hopping on my bike at my house and riding for miles on safe paths through the country side and into other countries (primarily Holland). It's quite exhilarating. The myriad of bike paths are one of the perks of Europe I'll miss the most. Along with feeling very safe here.

Yesterday was Kevin's birthday. (I guess I should clarify for people who read this drivel and don't know me, that Kevin is the nice guy I married and George is our wonderful puppy dog). Anyway, we went to an awesome furniture store and Kevin bought me a new leather living room set. He said it's his anniversary gift to me. Our anniversary is next Wednesday. I was stoked!

And we're taking a trip to Schwarzwald, also known as The "Black Forest", next Thursday. I'm really looking forward to that. It's beautiful down there for hiking through the country side and Germany's largest waterfalls are located there. I'm sure it'll be very picturesque. Of course George is coming with us. He loves to take walks so this trip will be right up his alley. By the time we leave Europe he will be one of the most cultured dogs I've ever known! Rad!

For now I need to quit "blogging" and go make a "Tres Leche" cake for a cook-out with friends tomorrow. Kevin keeps asking me when I'm going to make it because it's almost 10pm now. I keep telling him when I finish typing this. Then we're going to play a round of golf on the Playstation 2. It's our latest addiction.

So this is my life right now. It sound really rough, doesn't it? I know, I know!

Grrrrr....

It seems like I've been blogging about George a lot lately, but I don't have any kids so it seems appropriate. (And people with kids talk and blog about them ALL the time....so, you know). If you don't want to read another blog on George, then don't read what follows.
Anyway, we've been taking lots of walks. My favorite walk is in the evening after dinner, we usually walk behind our village and go visit the horses. There are 2 different horse farms behind us. The very first time George encountered a horse he was afraid and he barked...a lot. Of course. But now he's used to them. So much so that he actually likes horses better than he likes other dogs. But he's always been a snob about other dogs. (Which, once again we attribute to his French-ness. He can be a snooty little French man). He doesn't bark at the horses anymore he just goes up to the fence to get a good whiff of them. (Although from what I can usually smell it's NOT good).
George is also getting to be more social with people. More and more he'll walk right up to strangers to sniff them, and lick their hand. I think that's his way of saying, "Hey. S'up? I'm George."

He's also turning out to be a cool little dog. Case in point:
There's a big, black dog down the street. Anytime he sees someone walking by he snarls and barks extremely loud and obnoxiously. And naturally when I walk by with George he turns all Cujo. This dog scares us. Even though he's behind a fence it's not very tall. It's actually a green little picket fence. I'm certain if he wanted to he could jump it without any problem. I've deemed this monster dog George's arch nemesis. So the other day we're walkin by and this dog starts his tirade against us from behind the fence as usual. Apparently George had had enough because he barked at him once, then he promptly turned around and backed up on the grass and he pooped right in front of that dog. And he pooped alot! I thought the moster dog was going to lose his mind after that. (And then I really thought he was gonna jump that fence, so we beat feet and got the hell out of there)! That's the only time I wasn't a good citizen and didn't scoop up George's mess, but I wasn't taking any chances by sticking around.

I think that was George's way of telling the mean dog to "Piss off!"

That's my boy.

It's Here

Spring has finally made its presence known here in Germany. Everybody and everything has come out of hibernation mode.

It's time for long evening walks and bike rides.

Sore throat, be damned...I'm going to indulge in both this week!

"Where's The Rest Of Me?"

Ronald Reagan was once in a movie called "King's Row." His character has his legs amputated by a sadistic surgeon, and when he wakes up to see his limbs missing he screams, "Where's the rest of me?" It was a film that made him famous, and was much better than most of his movies. (Where else but America can a guy go from making B movies to leader of the most powerful nation in the world! What a great country we live in)!
Anyway, George was neutered on Wednesday and I kept thinking of Reagan screaming that line when George would look down at his sutures. When we first brought him home from the vet I felt really bad. He was still out of it from the anesthesia, he was just dead weight and his little tongue kept falling out of his mouth. He was pitiful. But by later that evening he was totally fine, and back on his feet, racing around the house.

Having your pet spayed or neutered is the responsible thing to do. You can go to the ASPCA's website to read all about that. So over time we should see some slight changes in Georgie, all for the better. But overall he's already a great dog.

Kevin's always telling me that George respects boundaries. When I see George jump up on people and ram his cold little nose in their crotch, I kinda doubt the "respecting boundaries" thing. But that's minor in the grand scheme of things.

Yesterday Kevin also swore to me that George can differentiate between his left and his right. And while I don't doubt George's intelligence, I know humans who have a rough time with the left side, right side concept.

All of this is neither here nor there. Even though Georgie has been completely emasculated, he still walks down the street all studly in his little bitchin red plaid coat.

Gesudheit

It's spring time in Germany, which means a hodge podge of weather from all seasons in the span of one day. Case in point: yesterday a.m. I was driving George to the vet, it was 36 degrees, sprinkling, and I saw some snowflakes. At mid-day the wind picked up...it was wicked wind, and blowing in about 5 different directions all at once. (Nobody warned me about the wind in Germany). Then the rain came...I would say it was a torrential down pour, except that it wasn't coming down, it was raining sideways. Around 4:30pm I was driving to the bowling alley and I went through a hail storm and the temp dropped about 6 degrees within a few minutes. By the time I got to the base and bowling alley the sun was shining. This is what March in Germany is all about.
It's also about dealing with allergy problems. Red itchy eyes, stuffed up nose, runny nose, sniffles, congested head, etc, etc. Looking like you've just put in time at a Rick James coke party is not a good look at all.
Kevin (who swore he didn't have allergy problems) was referred to an ENT specialist down in Landstuhl, which is 3 hours away. They ran tests (probably to make it look official)and then gave him a bunch of maximum super strength Sudafed. A 6 hour drive for some souped up Sudafed!
Although I'm pretty sure we have enough to start our own Meth lab down in the basement now.

Down(ey) Time

If you think that I don't have much to blog about, or I'm just tired when I post a video on here, then you'd be right...about half the time. And, yes I am sleepy now (thanks to some Benadryl) but I also think this video is worth sharing.
I could blog a lot on how much I like Robert Downey Jr. But I'll spare you. However I will say it's a shame it took this long for his talents to be catapulted into the mainstream. (They are making an "Iron Man" sequel). This guy has been around for a while...and mega talented. It's nice to see him finally getting his due, and not making headlines for scoring crack and bouncing around from swanky rehab to rehab.
But I do think the crabby old men who sit on the Academy Awards board were smoking crack when they passed him over for the Best Actor Oscar for "Chaplin."
I can watch this movie countless times and it's still as exciting to me as the first time I saw it in the theater when I was 14.
And he can sing too! Check it out.

Oui, Oui

I've really blown it with this blog the last few days. I just didn't have anything interesting to write about.
This afternoon Monsieur George is going to the vet. It'll be the first time I've taken him. He's up to date on all his shots,etc. But I need to get him established there, and make arrangements to have him neutered. (I haven't broken the news to him about that yet).
I have to take all his paperwork with me...he has a folder full of papers on him. I have more paperwork on him than I have on myself. I think I only have a birth certificate.
This visit should be interesting...we're going to a German vet (who thankfully does speak English)with a dog whose paperwork is all in French. I'm not sure how this is going to work out.

For anyone who doesn't know me and reads this stuff, I'll explain about Georgie's multi-nationalism.

George is a pure bred standard Dachshund, which is a German breed. We met his French breeder, Pierre at a dog show in Belgium. George was born on a farm in France, not far from Paris, where he lived the 1st six months of his little life. So, we always joke about him being a snooty little Frenchman. He now lives with us in Germany, and will be moving with us to America next year. Did you get all that?

I didn't think so.

Popeye eats his spinach.

Apparently the Governor prefers the other "green leaves."

Eating your veggies was never so good .

Nuts

One of the things I do enjoy about living in Germany is that I always feel relatively safe here. Especially in my neighborhood. I feel so safe in my 'hood that I frequently go on walks in the dark, just George and I, and I never feel afraid.
Well, except the one time we were walking in the dark and came across a fox. But knowing that foxes (is the plural foxes or fox)aren't aggressive towards people, unless they're provoked, I wasn't worried about getting attacked or anything. However I was a little worried about how I was going to run (very fast) back to the house without spilling my glass of wine. (Don't ask why I was out walking with wine, it's a long story. But I will say that is completely acceptable behavior here).

I just asked Google about the plural of fox. Apparently both foxes or fox is acceptable. (That answer leads me to believe they don't really know either).

Anyway, I always feel safe here overall. Violent crimes just don't happen here with the frequency that they happen back in the states. Wackos have a difficult time getting their hands on assault weapons b/c of the stringent gun laws.
Maybe there just aren't as many nuts in Germany...I don't know. But when you compare an evening news broadcast from here to one in the states, the differences in crime are striking.
I'd been thinking about all this a lot the last few days, and then yesterday morning the first news item I read, ironically, was this:


Police: German gunman singled out women
The teenaged gunman who killed 15 people in Germany targeted young women on his shooting spree, methodically shooting them in the head, police have said. Most of the victims at gunman Tim Kretschmer's former school were female -- including eight female students and three female teachers.

Granted, things like this are isolated incidents here...but still, it was disheartening. The crazy thing is when this happens in America everyone shakes their heads and says how terrible it is, yet I think we're getting desensitized to a lot of it. That's so messed up.
I still feel very safe in this small town we live in (Geilenkirchen) and safe enough to walk at night by myself.
But sometimes lately I think the whole world is going nuts!!

Blame Willie

It's that time of year again...Daylight Saving time! I know a lot of people gripe about turning the clocks ahead and losing an hour of sleep. Wusses.
If you feel the need to blame someone, blame William Willet. He tirelessly advocated the idea (though he died before it became a law). If it really annoys you, you could just move to Hawaii or Arizona.
Here in the "Olde Country" we don't spring forward until March 29th (b/c we suck). I'm so ready for longer days! Although Sunday evening it felt like it was about 7pm, but in reality it was already 10pm. I can't explain that, it was weird.
Here's a useless piece of information: William Willett is Chris Martin's (lead singer of Coldplay and husband of Gwynnie)great-great Grandfather.

Smells Like Bacon

In a rare occurrence, it's a Saturday night and Kevin is out and I'm at home. But not to worry, he's not out having an awesome time without me, or anything. He's at an awards banquet for his job.
The thought of getting dressed up, making idle chitchat, listening to speeches, and politely clapping didn't appeal to me. Instead I'd rather stay in, watch movies, and take care of some clothes that have been in laundry limbo for the last couple of days.
So George and I had dinner. I made sure to include some crispy bacon with mine. In my opinion bacon goes with everything. I like it that when I cook bacon, the kitchen still smells like it the next day. I think "Yankee Candle" should sell a bacon scented candle. That would be amazing.

I'm in the mood to watch a DVD...probably b/c there isn't jack on any of the 12 channels of fabulous AFN. Imagine that!
After dinner I took George for a walk and it was still light out. When George walks he keeps his nose very,very close to the ground and he walks really fast. How he does this without ever stubbing his nose, I'll never know. It definitely takes some skill.
You know what? This story sucks because I'm totally not paying attention. I put "Moonstruck" in the DVD player, and this movie captivates me. I think I've reached the maximum threshold of boring even myself. I suck, I know...sorry. This entire posting has become a disjointed mess.

I think i'll go find something to deep fry in the new "Fry Daddy", it'll be rad.

Holy Jeans, Batman

I'm in the midst of a jeans crisis....I need some new ones. I've never shopped for jeans in Europe until today. And it sucked! Two of my favorite pairs finally broke down with a little too many holes. Though I have been wearing them, they're so comfortable and broken in. But I realize it's not appropriate to wear them to all public places. And when it's cold my kneecaps get all frozen. Another pair I own appear to be too short for me now. I know I haven't grown any taller so this truly mystifies me. Maybe my opinion in pants length and how long or short they should be has changed. Or maybe I'm just bored with them...I don't really know.

Anyway, back in the states I could go to one of my favorite stores, try on maybe 2 pairs to see what fit best, and walk out of the store happy with new jeans in under 30 minutes. Not here.
The first thing to mess up my shopping excursion was the discrepancy in sizes. Back home I deal with sizes of 2, 4, and sixes. Here it's 34, 36, and 38s. And after trying on (literally) 7 different pairs of jean, I still don't know what the hell size I am here. Plus most of the jeans I tried on appeared to be "crotch huggers" and that just doesn't feel very nice. I don't know who thought that'd be a good style. It's a definite no go on the "crotch huggers." That blows. I think I'll shop on-line for some. That has to be a whole lot easier. Needless to say after that waste of time in the dressing room I was feeling sour about the jeans situation and shopping, etc.

Until...we went to "Blokker." That's a store in Holland that is similar to probably a 'Bed, Bath, And Beyond" I guess. They have some good kitchen stuff there. We bought a deep fryer. Now we're not the type of people who eat disgustingly unhealthy and/or feel the need to deep fry everything (although i did grow up in the south, and I've seen what that can do to you. It's not pretty). However, on occasion we like to throw fish in some "Uncle Buck's Spicy Fish Fry" and fry it up. It is rad! And occasionally we'll make spicy french fries or spicy onion straws.
Basically a Fry Daddy makes everything better! Trust me.

The Good 'Ole Days

more lol celebs!

Kneecap her!

So apparently Tonya Harding can still garner an interview...and apparently she's still trailer trash. It's crazy what you'll come across aimlessly wandering Youtube.

She's mad at President Obama. What she should be mad about is her bangs situation. Sweet Jesus!

And she says she's still getting jobs...who does she work for?!
I'll leave that one alone.

P-U

How come the farmers around here always choose the absolute most frickin WINDY days to fling their smelly, manure laden compost on their fields?!!

Crazy

I read and watch the news a lot. And with MSNBC, Fox "Noise", and CNN it's really easy to stay informed all the time. But sometimes I get a little obsessed... I think i'm afraid something big will happen and I won't get to watch it as "breaking news." If I see it and it's re-hashed news that happened a few hours ago, I feel kinda cheated or something. I blame Ted Turner for this.

Sometimes I regret that I feel so compelled to know what's going on all the time. Like when all the news channels take a story and run it into the ground 24/7 (which they do a whole lot). But when it's something like this Crazy Baby Lady aka Nadya Suleman, it's especially irritating. After I watch a news segment on her I just feel all ticked off.

Everyone is speculating this insane woman wants to be like Angelina Jolie, and that's very plausible. It occurred to me this is one of those cases that illustrates perfectly: If you have money (and sometimes fame) you're merely eccentric. But if you don't have the money, then you're just crazy.
We all know Crazy Baby Lady doesn't have any money, and she's clearly psychotic. But Angelina Jolie has the money, so she's considered eccentric as she collects spawn to add to her growing "baby army."
I can almost guarantee you if Angelina Jolie didn't have millions (and fame) she would've been locked up for evaluation a long time ago. As I recall when she was married to Billy Bob Thornton she used to carry a vial of his blood around her neck. Who the hell does that? That's frickin weird.
Whatever.

Now that I've gone off on this tangent I can't remember what my original point was. So I better stop typing this drivel and go do grown up stuff now.

And check CNN, of course.

tech⋅nol⋅o⋅gy-the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, blah, blah, blah

I really, really like technology. I enjoy having my I-Pod w/ thousands of songs, some movies and "30 Rock" programmed onto it, I enjoy my laptop, desktop comp., CD players, DVD players, camcorder, and digital camera. I can be thoroughly entertained in some capacity 24/7 (and I must need to be or I wouldn't have all this junk). I can't imagine life without all this.

Although I haven't completely dispensed with some of the "old school" ways. I have a collection of vinyl that I don't want to part with. And we have 2 turntables. I don't know if that ratchets up the nerd factor in this house, but if it does, so be it. (But my collection isn't as large as Kevin's collection which consists of crates of albums collecting dust in the basement). In fact I add to my collection if I find something really good. A couple of weeks ago we were at RD-4 (it's like a thrift store but with cooler stuff)in their little music section debating how great Billy Ocean may or may not have been back in the day. When out of the corner of my eye I spotted a Simon and Garfunkel album that I had to have...it's really good btw.

Anyway, technology is good. And all these nifty gadgets make up for the fact that we don't all have flying Deloreans. (And we probably shouldn't hold our breath on that one). BUT sometimes it can be really aggravating, like when I pick up the phone to call for some customer assistance.
More often than not I usually end up talking with a robot! That's what happened last week. All I really want is to talk to a human being!

Apparently they're trying to make these automated voices on the phone more personal. The one I "talked" with even introduced herself with a common name like "Holly". At one point I thought "Holly" was gonna ask me to hang out or go catch a movie or something. It was just plain ridiculous. If they seriously want to make it a more personal experience they should give the automated voices a smoker's hack or something like that. Then the whole conversation could be punctuated with "Holly" stopping to hack her head off.

THAT would be amazing!

more lol celebs!

How can you NOT love Foghorn Leghorn?!

Classic

Out of curiosity I looked up what the number 1 song was the week I was born. (October22-28th,1978). I know Disco was the rage...but some of that stuff was pretty crappy. So I was pleased to see it was this song by Nick Gilder, "Hot Child in The City".
I love this song!
I was shamelessly excited when it was used in one of my favorite episodes of "Sex and The City". You can't go wrong with a classic.
I wonder if my parents remember listening to this?!

I was in a Peter Gabriel-ish mood, and this is my favorite one by him. Of course it's impossible to hear this and not think of John Cusack with his boombox in "Say Anything."
If you haven't seen that movie, you should stop what you're doing and go watch it.

Fashion Disaster

I have a confession to make: I bought some Crocs sandals. Don't hold it against me and keep in mind they will not be leaving the house or backyard, they're too ugly. I wanted something easy and convenient to slide on while I'm constantly going in and out the back door (so George can do his perimeter checks and make sure the backyard is still there).
I own flip flops but they just don't cut it in the cold weather. I do like the way the Crocs feel all squishy when i walk in them. And George likes them too...he's always trying to gnaw on them.

But they're still ugly.

Lame

Click on the title of this post to check out the "Mosquito Tone".
I think it's kinda lame. I'm 30 yrs. old and have spent a lot of time listening to music that is too loud for my own good. Yet, i could still hear this.
Whatever.

Glutton for ...attention?

I realized that I spent a little too much time on the 'ole "interweb" this evening when I came across the above picture. (That's what I get). There was a story that went with this picture of course, but with an image like this, what does it really matter?

I just wish someone would tell this dude to lose the nipple ring. Nipple rings just don't correlate with fat tummies.

SNL

Remember when this show used to be funny? I do. Now...not so much.

Although I did enjoy Tina Fey's recent Sarah Palin impressions. Very nice.

Boy George

Today was a nice day. Which means the skies weren't all black and it wasn't raining all day. It was the first day in a while I could spend ample time outdoors and not completely freeze my tucas off.
We took George to the Nature Park to go for a nice long walk. Surprisingly there weren't too many people there so George didn't have a lot of opportunity to bark at other dogs. But we did have one close encounter with 2 dogs and George behaved himself...until the big Labrador goosed him. That kinda ticked him off and he growled, but I don't blame him.

So after walking about 2 miles we stopped by the pet store on the way home for some tasty (and smelly) treats for George. Kevin got him a "pig's ear". I'm not sure if it really has anything to do with a pig or an ear, but I do know it stinks. Bad! It smells like a piece of really stinky French cheese. (George is from France so that's probably why he's interested in it).
Anyways we gave him that to quench his chewing fetish this evening. He gnawed on it a while and then all of the sudden he tried to bury it in the couch...and when it wouldn't cooperate he barked at it, and made some other weird noise. Then he just left it there. So something must be up with that smelly piece of rawhide. It is foul. And I do not want to touch it.

I forgot to mention that Kevin also decided to go through the car wash on the way home, with George in the car, of course. Even after I told him that would NOT be a great idea. But he did it anyway. I don't know if he was feeling especially defiant this afternoon, or if he just really wanted to see what George's reaction would be. (I was not that curious...and I know better). Needless to say the obnoxiously loud noises set him into a full blown panic attack, which involved lots of slobber and his incredibly strong claws digging into my legs.
So I'm pretty sure George thinks Kevin is a sadist now, while I was just proud of myself for not saying, "I told you so!" Instead I'll say it now: I TOLD YOU SO!
(I don't know how often Kevin actually reads this, but if he sees this post I'm sure I'll hear about it).

Right now George is taking his 3rd nap of the day. (Sometimes I wish I was a dog). I'm certain he's forgotten about the stinky piece of flesh he left embedded in the couch.
He's probably saving it for later.

Just LOVE it

I've loved this song since I was a kid and used to hear it on the oldies and classic rock radio station. Then I discovered Robert Plant's version (which is fantastic btw) However, I have to say this is my absolute favorite rendition of it. I think the simplicity of it is what makes it so nice.

Kimmy will appreciate this.

Sometimes It's OK To Play With Fire

I just posted a video of Phil Hansen...and b/c I like Jimi Hendrix (and fire) I'll post this one too.
Art and fire, awesome.

Phil and His Tricycle

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a guy I know about art. We were talking about the "regulars" like Pollock, Picasso, Van Gogh, etc. Then he mentioned a contemporary artist named Phil Hansen. I really wasn't familiar with him, but I googled him to check him out.

Who knew a grown man on a tricycle could do amazing things?! Take 3 minutes and check this out. Feel free to mute it though, b/c the song kinda sucks.

I Want A BURRITO! Please!

Germany is NOT the place to be when you seriously crave a burrito...or good Mexican food in general. At least not in my experience. When I first moved here I wanted some Mexican food so I made the misake of ordering "Tex Mex Schnitzel"...needless to say it's a no go on that one!

I'd kill to be able to go to "Chipotle" and get a spicy barbacoa beef burrito (or taco) with extra cheese and salsa. Last time I was home in the states that's the very 1st place I went when I got off the plane. Ahh, ambrosia.

Sometimes I pull up the "Chipotle" website...just to look at the pictures.

I just WANT a frickin burrito. I said please!

Personal Jesus

Sometimes when I'm going for walks in my neighborhood (or "village" as the Germans call it) I use Jesus as a point of reference. As in, "I walked down to Jesus but then I had to turn around b/c it started to rain."
No, Jesus doesn't live in my neighborhood...at least I don't think so. However way down the street is an alter or maybe it's a shrine or maybe a personal chapel...I'm not sure what you would call it. It's interesting, when I walked by it the first time I thought it was kinda strange. I have since discovered that these things are all over the place here. I'll be out riding my bike in the middle of nowhere and I'll see one. I've never seen anyone "using" one so far...they're just kinda there. But I decided that I'm going to take pictures of any that I come across...just because. So the other day I got a shot of the one down the street, and I also took a picture of something similar that I always see on one of my regular routes.

I've never seen anything like that in the states. And I lived for a long time in the "Bible Belt". Now I'm thinking those guys in the "belt" aren't very creative in their evangelism.
Amateurs.

Brighter, Later!

The other day I noticed it was a few minutes after 6pm and it was still light out! That made me very excited, so I grabbed my camera and took a picture. It's such a drag having super short days during the winter. At the height of winter the sun wasn't coming up in the morning until almost 8:30am! Then it'd get dark before 5pm.
Longer days are perfect for grilling dinner outside...now we won't have to stand out there with a flashlight trying to see if the steak is medium rare, medium well, or medium burnt.

What Is Happening Here?

Today I was walking out my front door to take George on a walk. As soon as I opened the door he started barking his head off, then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought it was a couple of huge dogs, sheepdogs. NO, it was actually 2 sheep! Standing right there, looking at me. What the hell? George was flipping out of course, so I drug him back in the house. All the while trying to figure out why there were 2 sheep in my driveway. It crossed my mind that maybe this was part of some weird Carneval thing going on in my neighborhood (today is the official start of Carneval). But I doubt that, seriously. I think these 2 mangy sheep decided to ditch the herd and sheep herder to go have their own adventure.
Amazingly I was able to get 2 pictures of this, albeit in black and white...but still.
Just after I snapped the one pic a couple walked by. The guy started shooing the sheep into the backyard of the little old lady across the street. Why? I don't know. I DO know for a fact that little old lady does not own sheep, so I'm certain she's gonna appreciate that.

A sidenote here: Before living here I'd never seen sheep being herded before except in the movies and stuff. So the first summer here we were bikeriding and saw a herder herding tons of sheep across this road into an open field. For some reason i got all excited about it...in fact I think I referred to it as a "miracle"! Kevin didn't really think so, but he didn't say anything. He just gave me a weird look. I get that look a lot.

Frequently there are "quirky" things happening in this village. But this sheep thing was better than the nerdy kid who moons traffic at the end of the street!

Ice Cream, You Scream....

The other day when I was walking in downtown Geilenkirchen (that's the very small town we live in) I saw that my favorite Gelato cafe, "La Gondola" is opening back up in a few weeks. I got stupidly excited about that! Ice cream is my favorite....I have super powers when it comes to eating ice cream!

As much as I really like ice cream I like Gelato even better. That's the Italian version, it's denser, and more flavorable...and I'm pretty sure it's more fattening. Luckily for me there are lots of Gelato and ice cream (eis in German)shops here in Germany. The Germans love it too.

The only bad part is that a lot of them close during the winter months. The Italians who own "La Gondola" shut down their place and go back to Sicily for the winter...I'm glad they'll be back soon.

When the weather turns nice and warm it's best to ride your bike for ice cream or Gelato. Then at least you get some exercise... and a fattening treat. So whenever we go out for one of our long bike rides and Kevin asks which way I want to go, I strategically route us in the direction of the Gelato shops!

I'm sure he's figured that out by now.

Lock Up Your Cars!

Apparently it's almost that time of year here in Germany when the Marders come out. I'm pretty sure we don't have these furry little animals in the states. I'll add a picture of one here with this posting.

In English they're called "Pine Martens" and they can wreak havoc on your cars. They get up under your car and start chewing and shredding stuff up.

Maybe they're pissed about Global Warming so they choose to take it out on our gas guzzling cars...or maybe they just like to chew on warm rubber and plastic. I'm not really sure. But I do know they're the reason we keep the car in the garage during the Spring and Summer. You can actually go to an auto mechanic and have them install some kind of "Anti-Marder" system under your hood, but so far keeping the car in the garage works well for us.

Luckily the furry little bastards can't pick locks.

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

see Sarah Palin pictures
And if we needed any more evidence that Rush is tacky....he chose to wear THIS tie.
Ugh.

Shhhhh.....

George is sleeping!!!

Winter...yuck

I don't like winter. And I especially don't like winter in Germany. It sucks! Besides the cold, it rains...alot. I start to forget what a sunny day feels like.
I know England has a rainy reputation, Germany is just as bad, if not worse.
After having days and days of doom and gloom, when the sun does comes out I have stopped whatever I was doing just to text Kevin excitedly to tell him I just saw the sunshine! It's a big deal. Seriously.
When I was out in the annoying mist today I thought, "Last winter didn't seem this long and terrible!" Then it dawned on me that last winter I spent a large chunk of it back in the states on the east coast...I decided that was a smart move on my part.
I'm counting down the days until spring. I won't complain when summer hits and it gets really warm. (Even though we don't have air conditioning. None of the German houses have AC). I think everyone should pick just 1 season to bitch and gripe about. You can't whine about the winter, and then turn around and whine about how hot and humid the summer time is. I choose to bitch about winter time!

Totally off subject: I get worried when Kevin cooks dinner and right before we eat he pulls this out, "This was an experiment." Well, he did that tonite...however, kudos to him b/c the chicken he made was very good!
I just hope he remembers what he did so we can have it again sometime.
I still hate winter!
BTW the picture above I took looking out from my back patio the other day. Just thought you should know that.

Too Tired

I'm too tired tonight to actually write anything (halfway) interesting, and I was listening to Phil Collins.
He hits those drums quite nicely!!

Happy Presidents Day!

see Sarah Palin pictures

Teveren Naturpark

It was a beautiful sunny day today, which made me down right giddy. In the winter we don't get too many of these, so it was a treat. After a lazy morning we decided to take George to the Teveren Naturpark. (I didn't misspell that, that's how the Germans spell it).
There are lots of different trails to walk along, ride your bike on, or horseback ride on. And it wasn't too busy while we were there which was even better.
Oh, yeah and George got gang-banged by 2 black French Poodles with foo foo haircuts. They came running at him at top speed and they had that look in their eyes. I didn't think those prissy little dogs had it in them. George wasn't too impressed by them. In fact he got a little pissy about the whole thing. I don't blame him though, these dogs were a little too enthusiastic. And as I recall their owners just stood there watching...they didn't bother to call them off or anything. I'm sure they were thoroughly entertained by all this. But that completely ticked me off. I hate it when dog owners aren't courteous enough to leash their dogs in public places. Bastards!
Even still, it was a real nice time. I'll include a couple pictures I took while we were there. The one of Georgie was taken right after his encounter with the poodles.

Just in case you want to marry a "Local National"

I griped in a prior blog about the AFN commercials we're subjected to over here. (Taping grenades). I actually found some on Youtube...so now you can be subjected to the horror too!
This stupid propaganda actually makes me yearn for the commercials back in the states.

Finally...

I finally finished watching "Gran Torino" with Clint Eastwood, it took me 2 tries, but it was totally worth it. It's a really good movie (obviously, or I wouldn't be blogging about it)but what really struck me is that Clint Eastwood is old now, I mean really old! He even walks like my Grandfather(Papa)did.
His character in this movie is sort of how I imagined "Dirty Harry" would've ended up...this really, salty old guy confronting gang-banger wannabees. And he drives a really bitchin car, hence the title "Gran Torino." So if you like Clint Eastwood (and who doesn't)and you want to watch a good movie, check it out!
Ironically right before I finished watching this another one of Clint's movies was on tv, "The Bridges of Madison County" Guess that movie is all right....if you're into Iowa and infidelity.

Surf's Up?!

Last night Kevin told me he wants to go to a surf camp in France. Now, I'm not sure if this is what all 39 yr. old guys want...or if it's just my husband. Guess he wants to ride some gnarly waves, or something. I'm not sure what I think of this yet, but I'm pretty sure next time he brings it up I'll have an opinion.

In looking for an image to go with this post I did come across an advertisement for an Online Surfing School. The ad says this, in part: "OnlineSurfingSchool.com is a one year long online surfing school where you can learn how to surf from a professional right in the comfort of your own home."
After reading that I am even more confused about life.

Bare with me while I exalt the talents of Genesis for one more posting on here. When I was a kid I watched MTV quite often and the music video for Genesis's "Land of Confusion" was my absolute favorite. This video was (and is) epic!

Sidenote: What the hell happened to MTV? What is the reason for it existing anymore? Over the last few years when I've stopped by that channel there's always some sordid reality tv show on. (And I really don't feel the need to know how Ashlee Simpson's boyfriend screwed up her Valentine's Day)I think MTV has outlived its usefulness...really!

Some may argue the video looks a little outdated now. I mean it does feature Ron and Nancy Reagan in puppet form....but I think that's one of the reasons why it's so fun to watch. And the song isn't too shabby either. (Who knew Genesis could rock without Peter Gabriel)!

One more sidenote: This song was used by Vice-President Joe Biden when he ran for president back in '87. I REALLY don't get that!

I've been listening to a lot of Genesis lately. I almost forgot how much i really like their stuff. But sometimes when i listen to them I get kinda bummed out b/c it makes me realize that a lot of contemporary artists and groups pretty much suck.
"Follow You, Follow me" is one of my favorites by them and at the risk of sounding too schmaltzy (and dramatic) I hafta say I think it's one of the best modern love songs out there.
The added bonus to this video is that it's not totally warped. Personally, I think everyone could use a little more Genesis in their life!

Thank Hugh

I completely nerded out today and spent too much time perusing the Internet. But the house is clean, the laundry is done, and I have no prior obligations so I don't feel too guilty.
Somehow reading one article lead to another, and another (each increasingly becoming more pointless)and I eventually wound up reading something about Divine Brown. In case anyone forgot, she's the prostitute Hugh Grant (that whiny British actor)got busted with in '95. What was kinda amusing in the article was that they referred to Ms. Brown as an "American Sex Worker." WHAT? I admit I have never heard anyone use that term before...and I read a lot of (random) stuff. But apparently I'm reading all the wrong stuff since I missed that little token piece of info.
Anyhow later I was chatting with my sister and told her that hookers are now called "sex workers." I thought it'd be a tiny piece of trivia she wouldn't know. When I told her she said, "Yeah, I already knew that, saw it on the news." And she said it all nonchalantly. I asked her, "How did I not know this?" She replied, "Because you don't much care about being PC towards hookers." Okay.
My sister and I have some pretty profound conversations...I know! Guess you had to be there.
A side note here: I know you're all wondering what came of Ms. Divine Brown "All American Sex Worker." She said she took the money she made from that tawdry incident with Hugh Grant and put her kids thru private school and bought a 4 bedroom house.
Thank Hugh very much!

Love Those "Mom Jeans"

I probably spend too much time on Youtube. But it's totally worth it when you find a gem like this, "Mom Jeans!" I was actually lookin for something else and then I stumbled onto this. In the privacy of my living room I snickered and laughed like a 10 yr old girl. You probably will too...enjoy!

I'm not a big fan of Dick Cheney. Ok maybe that's an understatement...I think Dick Cheney IS the darkness.(And here I'm compelled to rip a quote from one of my favorite movies, "Like how can anyone possibly know that?"). Anyways, when i was watching the Inauguration coverage last month all I could think was that he looked like Mr. Potter from "It's A Wonderful life." Or a villain in one of the "Batman" movies. Choose either image, whichever one works for you. Obviously someone else out there on the interweb thought the same thing,(the Batman villain one) thus the image included here.

Best wishes, Dick!

Yaay for Glam Rock

I couldn't resist....I LOVE this song! I listen to it quite often. In fact around the holidays this past yr. in between all my Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra Christmas songs I'd play this. Then Kevin would look all confused. It was pretty great.
Unfortunately the group broke up, and that's a shame. Oh, what could have been?! Anyhow, take a couple minutes, have a listen...it'll make you happy!(And if it doesn't, well it's not my fault).

I just decided that Carneval is creepy. (If you're not familiar with carneval or Karneval refer to an earlier post of mine). Apparently clowns factor into the whole carneval equation a lot. I didn't know this b/c last year I wasn't here for it, I was back in the states. Anyways, in preparation for the festivities the Germans and Dutch have plastered pictures of clowns all over. Clowns are kinda creepy. I always think of that scary movie,"It" or John Wayne Gacy...and nothing good came of that!
Then last night when I was walking Georgie I saw a clown mannequin inside someones foyer. You couldn't help but see it. It was very big, and all lit up....it was Bozo on crack! These people wanted you to see their clown. (I hope they don't have kids). This thing was crazy scary. If I didn't think I'd look like a total weirdo I would've taken a picture of it from out on the sidewalk. I probably should have.
Consequently none of this will stop me from sitting in front of my house, with a beer, in the cold to watch the Carneval parade march by my house.

I Love Germany.

"I Want Candy" NOT

I've seen some weird stuff here in Europe the past year and a half. That sentence probably isn't PC enough, so I'll re-phrase: I've seen some "different stuff" here. And I thought this "different stuff" was post worthy.
When I got home this evening Kevin pointed out the above image to me. It's a pair of panties and a bra made out of candy. This ad was in a flyer for the grocery store in the Sunday newspaper. Now I could kinda understand it if it was in a flyer for some silly novelty shop like "Spencer's" or something, but in the Sunday paper?! I mean this is a flyer old ladies look through to see what groceries are on sale! What kind of people buy this stuff and walk around the store with it in their shopping cart, then whip it out at the check-out counter?!
Weird....totally weird.

"Look of Love"

Now that I know how to insert images, thought I'd try throwing a video up here. (Everything in baby steps). So I'll try a music video of a song I've been listening to a lot lately. I enjoy all types of music, literally a little of everything. Well, except country. God knows, I've tried and it's just not happening. Although I do like Johnny Cash, surprisingly. But how can you not like a country singer who did a "Nine Inch Nails" song and managed to make it all his own. More about that another time though.

I've been feeling nostalgic for the 80's lately. Let me be clear: for 80's music, NOT the terrible fashion statements or crappy Reagan policies. Just the songs, and I've been listening to this one by the ABC's. In fact I've listened to it 4 times this a.m already. Feel free to ignore the premise of the video....I'm pretty sure no one knows what the heck is happenening there, but anyways. The song, as I heard someone say recently, is "pretty rad!

"

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

I woke up to gunfire this morning. IN MY LIVING ROOM! Kevin was playing the "Godfather" game on the Sony Playstation, and for some reason he has to turn the volume waaay up. Just in case our neighbors can't hear it, ya know.
Oh, and I'm officially a dork now!I got all excited b/c people left comments on my blog. And I enjoyed reading them...so keep commenting (and I'll keep reading). This is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I'd like to add more pictures, and possibly some links to things I happen upon on the "interweb". I feel obligated to keep this thing interesting now that I know people are reading it. Oh, the pressure!

Kevin just announced very excitedly that he's getting promoted to a Mafia Don. I think I need to leave the living room now.

Huh?

Thanks to AFN I now know that I shouldn't tape grenades. (Who the heck thought THAT was a good idea in the first place)! Anyway, I'll try to remember that for future reference.

Yeah, this blog was kinda lame, but it's late and I'm sleepy. And it's my blog...so there!

The other night I was reading a book in the living room, Kevin was using my laptop, and the tv was on in the background. He looks at me and asks, "What's this on tv?" I told him it was some movie about John McCain (it is AFN after all). Then he went back to the laptop. Not EVEN a minute later he looks up at me and says, "Oh this is that movie about John McCain."
YES...that really happened.

Sweet! The picture thing worked, and it only took me a minute to figure it out. Now that I know how, I can add pertinent images to whatever I may be blogging about. Sometimes you just need a picture when words fail to describe.

I'm going to attempt to insert a picture into one of my blogs. I haven't tried this yet, so this is totally experimental. Hope it works.

"30 Rock" rocks!

Originally I thought I'd just blog about my experiences of living in Europe. But then I thought "Why limit myself?" And since this blog is mainly to amuse myself so i don't die from boredom (and I needed a new project)I've decided to blog about anything and everything.
Anyhow,on to what I was going to blog about. I normally don't follow tv shows (except for "The Soprano's" and "Sex and The City")it feels too demanding (yes, demanding). Then if I miss an episode or 2 it just ruins the whole thing and I can't get back on track. And the fact that a lot of television shows have gone downhill or turned into reality tv probably had something to do with it also. But, I now follow "30 Rock" I love this show! It's one of the better sitcom shows I've seen in a long while. I literally laugh out loud watching this show. The writing is exceptional and the cast is superb. I bought the 2nd season on DVD b/c AFN (Armed Forces Network tv)is always a season behind...at best. However when I sit down to watch it on DVD I can't get anything else done. And thankfully I've been able to views most of this seasons episodes so far...no thanks to AFN. It is my guilty pleasure at the moment. You should check it out!

George

"Someone" suggested I write a blog about George. Actually she didn't suggest, she told me to. But since I thoroughly enjoy my little Georgie I had to comply.
I'd been wanting a puppy for a while, ever since we've been here in Germany. So in November '08 we went to a dog show in Belgium and met a Dachshund breeder. We were able to see a couple of his dogs up close...and he breeds beautifuls dogs. Pierre, the breeder, is French and lives close to Paris and he's a great guy. He truly loves his dogs! To make a long story short, we got George. He's a standard black and tan Dappled Dachshund. He's quite striking looking. As one of my friends said, "He's very unique looking." He has one very blue eye and the other one is brown. A German lady at the pet store by my house said he was beautiful. I must say he's quite handsome...but I am biased.
It's quite a change havin the little guy around. There are toys strewn around the living room, he leaves little paw prints on the floor, he hogs the bed, he makes funny noises, he barks, he licks my face, he slobbers when he drinks....and yet I wouldn't trade him for anything. There's nothing like coming home and having him there to greet you. I leave the room for 10 minutes and when I return he runs to me like he hasn't seen me for days. You can't beat that with a stick.
He keeps me busy. And now I need to put my 4 layers of clothing on so I can take him for a walk down the street...in the dark...and it's really cold. Yes, I love my Georgie!

Carnival or Karneval

Here in Germany it's almost Carnival. Carnival are the huge parties the Germans throw before Lent. So in a way it's kinda like our Mardi Gras....that's how someone explained it to me. That sounds about right.
In this region they have parades and costume balls and everything. And of course, beer. Lots and lots of beer, this is Germany after all. All the villages usually have their own celebrations with marching bands, etc too. I should add that there have been many times throughout the year I'll see a large marching band parading down the street...right in front of my house. And I really couldn't tell you why! Probably some celebration or another small festival. I swear the Europeans will find any excuse to have a party and celebrate. Of course I do NOT have a problem with that.

My First

I decided to blog. A few of my friends have blogs and I enjoy reading them, so then I started reading lots of other random blogs. I was surprised how entertaining that could be. And now that I have time on my hands I thought, "Why not?" I'm sure the writing part will be easy, but I need to figure out this posting thing. I'll learn as I go (with a lot of help probably).
Being an American living in Europe temporarily will give me some interesting things to write about, I'm sure. But still... I don't promise anything too cosmic or enlightening. Just observations, (random)thoughts, and a few opinions.
Well, that's all I have for this one. I don't want to over-do it after all.

I KNOW after I hit the publish button I'll think of lots more to write...