Knives in Shining Armor

Why yes, it HAS been 6 months.  The funny part is that I have written to you  faithfully every single day.  I compose little snippets, sometimes every hour! My first reaction to new sights or experiences is that I must share them in this spot.....and then somehow they  never find their way to publication.  I find myself talking to you all day long, and yet I don't seem to have the discipline to stop and post.  It's gone beyond procrastination, right to pointless. 

Right?  Of course right.  (name that movie.)

Then I start thinking about the fact that I'm 6 months behind on updating you, and where in the world would I start?  In this case, I can't start at the very beginning, because although it's a very good place to start (name THAT movie,) it wouldn't make sense to those who may be visiting without knowing that's what I'm doing. 
Also, because I have a giveaway planned that can't wait while I catch up.  Please watch this space Friday for giveaway details.

Meanwhile, today's subject, which may or may not set new standards for randomness:

I've read so much over at The Pioneer Woman about her love for Wusthof knives.  Since I'm in Germany,  and my kitchen has been furnished over two short years of marriage with whatever I can snag, I decided to acquire the cheapest Wusthof I could and compare it to my beloved Victorinox paring knife, for which I paid all of $3.  I ended up finding a set which had the same sized paring knife, along with a pair of kitchen shears, for $19.99.  I've been using them both for several months.

Might I add that Danish eggs are the bomb-diggity and that I did wash those mushrooms before I ate them?  Thank you.

My final knife analysis is oh-so-typical of my entire career in decision-making.  I can't make up my mind.  I can, however, assure you that  though I adore both of these little cutlery nuggets, the one who has absolutely stolen my culinary heart is this edgy little number:

The "Tomaten Knife," as the saleslady at Hammer calls it - Victorinox's small serrated knife.  It's light as a feather, sharp, easy to use, and it was 2.75 euro, which is about $4.  I will be buying several of these before we leave Germany next summer (yes, that's yet another story we get to catch up on!) I don't even use any other knives but the three pictured above.  And thank you in advance for the compliments on my nifty little homemade Christmas centerpiece.  Especially thank you for not pointing out to me that I failed to iron my holiday tablecloth. 

The result of my knifey efforts today - it's what's for breakfast.

What is YOUR gotta-have it item in the kitchen?  Be it extravagant or simple, share with us!  Leave a comment below.  Can't wait to see your thoughts!  I'm making peanut blossoms for a cookie exchange tonight even as I type this, and I miss the little plastic sliding cup thingy I have in SC that measures shortening and peanut butter.  What are those called and why haven't I seen one in 25 years?

And THEN......

Within a few days of graduation, the Girl and I hopped aboard yet another plane and headed back across the pond.  I had asked her last year what she'd like for a graduation gift, and she had only one request - to visit Salzburg, Austria and do the Sound of Music tour.  It's been her favorite movie since she was a toddler - a "happy place movie" she never tires of watching.  Amazingly, God saw fit to station us here in Europe at this season of life, so making the Girl's dream a reality was actually do-able. 


Because Sir is such a servant-hearted guy, he picked us up at Frankfurt, hauled us and our luggage home (in Volveeta, who is turning out to be my new favorite thing in the world, as old and saggy-seated as she is!), and then turned around and delivered us to the train station a day or so later.  Five hours on the train, five minutes of figuring out how to get out of the train station, and five minutes to check into the sweet little Ramada City Centre....and we were off to explore!  I cannot remember the last time I walked so much.  Before we knew it we had wandered all the way through the city, down to the Alstadt (old town).  On the way, we literally stumbled upon Mirabell Gardens.  Those of you who know my Girl know that she could have been British, the way she fights showing emotion of any sort.  But jumping on the Do-Re-Mi steps, skipping through the arches, splashing in the fountains, doing the cheesy bus tour to Mondsee, taking a carriage ride, and even scaling the mountain to find Nonnberg Abbey.....it was enough to bring out sheer delight even in Miss I Never Cry. 

I don't think I'll ever forget a moment of those three days.  We climb'd ev'ry mountain, fortunately did not have to ford any streams, and loved every inch of Salzburg.  By the end of the trip, we were cutting through shortcut alleys and hopping city buses like we'd been doing it all our lives.  The highlight for me was taking an elevator halfway up the sheer steep cliff and then following a path for quite a couple of steep kilometers to the quiet, ancient, crumbling, gorgeous Nonnberg Abbey.  We hardly saw another human being along the pathway.  We were able to go right in the gates, even inside the chapel, and admired the cool, polished stone floors, the beautiful aged wood pews, and the stately altar.  As we stood there in awe, we noticed a stepladder perched up on the altar, and a tiny little nun standing way up on the table cleaning the huge old candelabra.  Her back was to us, her habit and headpiece swishing gently as she worked silently.  She never turned around.  We were afraid to make a sound for fear we'd startle her and she'd come tumbling down from her perch.  Look closely and you'll see her in one of the photos below.

All too soon, we were back on the train, back in Heidelberg, and, within days, my Girl was back on her flight to America.   I can't begin to tell you how sad I am to be without her again, so instead I'll share the "happy place" photos and enjoy the memories again with you! 

I'm the Mom of a Clemson Grad With A Job!

So after a restful  week and a half of power-eating at the coast, it was time to pack up Mom and Dad and head for the hills.  The Girl was graduating from Clemson.  Nearly impossible to believe.We still laugh over our college-visit adventures when her high school friends plus The Mommies took to the road in search of The Perfect Learning/Living Environment.  My Girl was raised by her dad's side of the family to be a die-hard Gamecock.  It still pains the child's paternal relatives to know where she ended up....it surprised her even more.  She was pretty sure she'd be a Tiger after the three-hour tour; I don't think anyone has any regrets.  Each time I visited her at the campus, I met more and more amazing young people.  I really don't think there was a time during the four years that I had a concern about the friendships she was making.  Clemson has the largest Fellowship of Christian Athletes of any university campus in the nation.  Over a thousand students "do church" every Thursday night at 9:19; it's completely student-run.  Small groups, foreign and domestic mission trips, service projects, dances, fundraisers, retreats - these kids do it all, in addition to juggling class loads and jobs.  The Girl found her niche there, and it's a blessing to me that she will keep many of these friendships all her life. 

The night before graduation, a large group of parents (most of whom I had never met) organized by email a barbecue for all of us to meet, since we'd met and heard about each others' kids for so long.  It was so much fun!  My favorite moment was this one:  it started for me the tears that I had to fight the rest of the weekend.

Look at them - can't you just see them having a barbecue in 15 years with tons of kids running around, and they'll wonder where the time went, just as I do when I get together with Joyce and Deb, my college besties?  This, to me, was one of those magical life moments. 

God is good.  He allowed My Girl to have the best grandparents in the world, and allowed them to make the long trip from Pennsylvania to see her become the third generation of educators in our family!!  These two started the teaching trend in the 50s - Dad was an elementary principal for nearly 40 years, and Mom taught mostly first grade for many, many years.  What hard workers and wonderful examples they've been to the Girl and me!

Oh, happy day!!  No more tuition!!

Theeere she goes!!!

Theere they ALL go!  Wish I could include excerpts from the program.  You should see the esoteric doctoral dissertations!  I felt every bit as dumb as I ever have.  PS - this was only the afternoon ceremony - the morning one was bigger!

At the close, all the grads stood to sing their alma mater, and they wrapped arms and swayed.  Precious, precious time.

Then they raised their little tiger paws and roared!!

This photo, though awful in composition, captures my Girl perfectly.  I love it.  She will bring that enthusiasm with her as she begins her new life as.......drum roll......a second grade teacher in our hometown!  I love it.  Breaks my heart that I won't be there this summer to laminate, cut, draw, decorate, paste, create, clean and otherwise help her prepare for the first day of school.  Meanwhile, we're soldiering on here.

Proud parents.  I wish I knew who that old lady was.  I think I'm there inside her, screaming to get out.  Definitely screaming to get away from the WORST HAIR DAY IN RECENT MEMORY.

Again, I blame thyroid.

Done Already

I think I looked forward to the past month more than anything in the longest time......and suddenly it's over!  Thirty days ago, I was landing in the US, hugging and being hugged, seeing my parents and best friends, and enjoying the blessing of our house (and thanking the Lord for my dad, who power-washed, cleaned the windows till they sparkled, and acts as the best caretaker in the world for that house quite a few months out of the year, always with a smile on his face; and for my mom, who never tires of catching up my ironing basket, making cookies for my kid, hemming pants and making my house look so good to come home to!)

I gained another five pounds on that three-week trip home, to go with the five from my last trip in February and the five from September's trip.  I will soon expand right out of my skin.  It amazes me how much I miss my hometown restaurants, especially Mexican food and seafood!

Over the next few days, I'll do the catching up I always promise but never seem to get to.  Let's start with how much fun it was to just BE back in the South.  Practically the day I arrived, J, P and I went to Market Common.  It was Dragon Boat Races day, and we found our exhausted but always smiling friend B working hard as she always does.  She totally deserved more than the two bites of sandwich she got to eat that day.

 Doesn't their setup look great?  Chick-Fil-A is an amazing company, and I'm proud to love this whole family who works hard together.

Then we were off to explore Anthropologie and the Nacho Hippo.  I knew better than to allow myself near Williams Sonoma.  We had fun looking at all the decor at the Hippo, but honestly I like El Cerro, Habaneros and Abuelos way better.  I only actually got to go to Abuelos this trip, and I'm sure my jeans are grateful.

Look at the adorableness of these women.  Sweet tea personified.

Tomorrow, graduation photos.  Oh, my heart.  What a blessed month it's been.  How, then, are human beings so complicated?  How can it be that after one of the best months of my life, I'm both happy and sad at the same time?  Ecstatic that my girl has grown to be the woman that she has.  Devastated that the years of full-time mommyhood are over.  Delighted to have the chance to live in and explore Europe.  Exhausted by living in Europe.  Content at having had my girl all to myself for a couple of weeks.  Lost without her now that she's gone back home.  Grateful that God has blessed me over and over far beyond what I deserve.  Unsettled as I look for my next "life passion."    Seeking.  Shying away.  Energized.  Tired. 

I'm pretty sure it's my thyroid.

Home Home Home Home Home

Did I mention I'm HOME??  I'm incredibly grateful lately.  My Girl is graduating from college in a matter of days, my very dear parents have made the trip to South Carolina to be with me at this milestone event, and I'm getting to enjoy my house and my peeps for a way-too-short time before heading back to Adventure Life.
 
Most of the enjoyment will be in the form of things like getting the house power washed, and cleaning the windows, and discovering the origin of the giant pile of sand that was sitting in the middle of the driveway when I got home at nearly midnight on Thursday, and getting the taxes done, and moving My Girl home with her year's worth of stuff, and getting my hair cut and colored after many months, for which we can all praise the Lord because THE GRAY and THE SPLIT ENDS.

But there are also moments like last night, when three of my best girlfriends and I laughed our way through some magically delicious avocado enchiladas and then may or may not have eaten  or resisted  some healthy and some questionable desserts.  I can't begin to describe the thankfulness I have for my friends here.  In the living room I got out an 8x10 photo of my friend J taken on a mother/daughter girls' cruise several years ago (we loved Angela Thomas and Natalie Grant on that ride) just so J could be with us in elegant spirit while we gathered.  The other J was in her bed with an awful case of scratched cornea, and we missed her wry humor and silvery laughter.  The evening was positively medicinal for me.  I also turned a healthy four pound box of strawberries from Costco into a caloric nightmare by dipping nearly all of them into multiple bowls of Baker's dipping chocolate. 
It's a cacao-induced food coma, is what it is.

These women literally weave my life and hold it together.  We're sisters in the Lord, and that makes it perfect, but we also have raised our kids together.  Counting the Js, we sat and counted the blessings of 5 college graduations, 2 high school graduations, 2 successful finishes of freshman college year and three more climbing through late elementary and middle school JUST THIS YEAR.  (Yes, I know you don't envy me my gift-buying budget this year.)  But the joy! 

As I washed the dishes very late, two of the girls called to tell me to turn on the TV.  Y'all know the news by now - it has special significance for all of us. Brought back lots of memories....of the two friends from high school who died on the New York planes, the town not too far from my childhood home where yet another plane went down, and more immediately, the husband who for 24 years has willingly offered up his life daily to serve our country. 

Since I've embarked on The New Adventure, I've become more aware of the "layers" of our military.  Recently, Sir and I have been watching a dvd series of a now-cancelled tv show called "The Unit."  It was on for about four seasons and is based on a book called Inside Delta Force.    It's a fascinating glimpse into the part of our armed services that deals with special operations, even black operations.  Last night when we learned that Bi* L**de* had been killed, we weren't sure which branch of the service had carried out the assignment; but I thought of all the military spouses and children who exist with secrecy and uncertainty every moment of their soldiers' careers.  These families are truly unsung heroes, living a more isolated, difficult and dangerous life than those with the more visible jobs in the military.  Their soldiers' entire careers are continuous deployments to carry out missions like this one at a moment's notice.  The stress on their families is enormous.  The layers of complexity of their lives is astounding.  The danger is relentless.  Yet they sacrifice for all of us, willingly and daily.  And once in a while, we get to actually know the great things they accomplish.  May God bless 'em all!  Pray for them.

I'm clicking back and forth between Fox and CNN, and an analyst said that, of course, retaliation by the extremists is inevitable.  Now that their leader is gone, the groups may begin to act independently and actively, and they'll do the easiest things first - like kidnapping American tourists overseas, attacking American embassies on foreign soil, and targeting military bases overseas.  So, my friends, please pray for my little family and our bigger family of all those who serve with us.

Jesus on the Cross

I've carried this  little piece of paper folded in my wallet for 17 or 18 years now.  It's something I treasure, even more at this time of year.  My Girl drew it for me as an Easter gift when she was four or five - I wish I'd written the date on the back. 

The thing I love the most about it is this:  we had just talked about what a painful death our Lord endured.  I couldn't help but notice that she drew Him with a smile on His face.  When I asked her about that, she replied, "Mommy, He's smiling because He was glad to do it for us."

He was glad to do it for us.  For you. Happy Easter - He is Risen!!!

HoopdyMama

After nearly nine months in the Berg, girlfriend's finally getting some wheels.  When we first arrived, I was terrified to drive here, and quite frankly, I still am; but the inconvenience of having to ask Sir to chaffeur me everywhere is outweighing the fear. 

So last weekend we circled the Lemon Lot* on post, hoping to find a reasonably priced POV**. 
* ** - for those of you who missed the explanatory post in the fall, a quick recap:  In military communities, especially overseas, soldiers and their families often buy very old, very inexpensive, very beat-up cars locally, drive them during the time of their assignment, and then sell them to other soldiers who are arriving.  There's actually a designated parking area on most army posts where these buy-and-sells take place.  POV is military-speak for "personally owned vehicle."  It makes me laugh every time, because can't we just call it a CAR?  The older and more rickety the vehicle, the more it qualifies for the term "hoopdy."  My parents had an old Buick when they were stationed in Germany in 1955.  It's probably still being driven by a soldier.

We had looked several times before, but had not really made the acquisition of a second car a priority.   This go-round, I was pretty sure it was time.  Fortunately, we found a winner-winner-chicken-dinner!

Allow me to introduce her:  A 1995  Volvo 940 Turbo wagon; navy blue with 138,000 miles. It's funny how few people I know in the States who would seriously consider buying a 16-year-old car, but here it seems completely normal.   I'm so thankful that she is big (for Europe,) safe, and reliable.  The folks who are selling her need her for a few more weeks, so I'll be actually getting her when I arrive back here after the Girl's graduation in May. 

Those of you who know me well will not be a bit surprised to learn that I have named her Volveeta.

So I Went to a Ball at the Castle

I'm pretty sure that if every girl had a bucket list, going to a ball at a castle would be on it.  In fact, I'm going to write out my bucket list tonight, just so I can have the little thrill of crossing that one off!

 The European Dental Command celebrated 100 years of the Army Dental Corps at the Heidelberg castle, and kindly invited Sir to offer the opening prayer.

You'd expect it to be magical.  It pretty much was.

I can tell you for sure, though, that princesses and duchesses and the like absolutely must have some serious ankle strength, because cobblestones and delicate high heels do not play well together. 

The Dental folks were amazing.  They arranged for buses to take us from post up the winding, narrow way(you know, narrow doesn't even begin to describe the terrifying angles of ascent the road up that  mountain)  almost to the castle ruins.  We stumbled and grabbed wildly at the arms of our escorts gracefully picked our way with dainty steps through stone archways and past buildings from the 1200s.  Apparently the carpenter's tool called The Level ( you know that thing with the little yellow bubble?) was not invented at any time during the construction, surviving of natural disasters, lightning strikes, war, neglect, ruin and attempts at rebuilding this magnificent collection of structures.     We hobbled glided magically down, then up, then down again to a huge stone balcony, where a champagne reception and stunning views awaited us.

Yep, cannons, check.  Moats, check.  Those things that look like a 2-foot-tall keyhole in a thick wall of stone, which are for sticking your big gun out to defend the king?  Check.  Stained glass windows in shapes and quality to take your breath away?  Check.

Statues, carvings, flags, breathtaking views of history?  Check.  The world's largest wine keg which I didn't get a photo of because I was using both hands to cling to rugged stone walls in order to remain upright and no it had nothing to do with champagne and everything to do with balancing on four inch heels with the athletic skills inherited from my mother?  Check.

Look at the door in the photo above.  They actually carved a door within the huge original doors!  From the balcony reception, we went down this path, through the cellar, and up several flights of stone stairs to the ballroom, where the tables were set with white linens for 375 guests.  Two were especially notable; one was our keynote speaker, a very distinguished retired general who knows the entire history of the army dental corps and gave a fascinating speech with absolutely no notes whatsoever.  So impressive, and a friendly, funny man.  It was an honor to meet him.  Another was a British general, dressed in his finest, which, with all due respect, included enough gold braid to hang every curtain Scarlett O'Hara ever dreamed of, and real silver spurs on his shoes.  They gleamed.  He was dignified, classy, and oh yeah....he's the Queen's Dental Surgeon.  Like if the Queen had a dental emergency he would have had to depart in the middle of his delicious chicken dinner.    He had a gold signet pinky ring.  Not many men can pull that off.

Once in a while Dude loosens up and smiles.  My handsome prince.

 Yes, I hiked up my skirts so they wouldn't be tattered to death by the rough stones, and YES, I forgot to tug them back down before the photo above.  Sue me.

While we're on the subject of my impeccable appearance, I will totally admit that under cover of darkness, as we whisked ourselves out a side door and across a courtyard and up a hill and down a hill to the bus going back to reality, I shed my dancing slippers faster than you can say "goodbye forever, sparklies" and skipped barefoot all the way home.  It was much faster and less hazardous, and Sir was grateful to have his escort arm remain in its socket.

And they lived happily ever after.

Aches

See that baby right there? 
I just ordered her college cap and gown and graduation announcements.
Five minutes, I tell you.  Five minutes ago, I was wrapping her in that little lamb  blanket.
Two minutes ago, she looked like this:

Something really needs to be done about this.

The Dreaded Blue Screen and the New Stove

There's such a thing as procrastination, and then there are those of us who take it to an art form.  Daily, I think of new things to share with you, and daily, I see the clock tick away while I find new ways to let the chores pile up around me.  Meanwhile, last night my life and all the photos I've uploaded since June flashed in front of me as I got the most bizarre screen on my laptop - I caught words like "crash dump" and "serious" and "get ready to spend big bucks because we're going down in flames" before everything went blue.  I did what I always do in times of crisis; I unplugged, paced, and then turned it all back on.  Perhaps I'm livin' on borrowed time, but the computer seems to have recovered for the moment; which led me to realize if you're going to see any of these pictures I've been snapping, I'd better make hay while the sun shines. 

Other spine-tingling excitement from my world:  it really HASN'T been my fault that the brownies were crunchy on the edges and liquid on the inside, or that the cupcakes looked more like pancakes, or that the chicken pot pie took so long to bake that I could have wrestled a live chicken, plucked him and gathered sticks to build a fire upon which to roast his wiry carcass in less time.  Sir finally (and in starving desperation) convinced me to stop lamenting the perimenopausal loss of my cooking skills and call a repairman.  Hans (yep, really!) confirmed that my Frigidaire range was as unstable as my laptop appears to be, and will be exchanging it for another tomorrow; which is an incredible relief as we are having dinner guests Saturday and I am all about serving actual fully-cooked food to my company with less than a 5-hour margin of error.

In yet another installment of Creative Ways to Avoid Housework, I'm still having to wear the splint on my right wrist.  What an adventure in teaching an old dog new tricks!  Sir and I played a very competitive game of Battleship the other night, and I was humbled by how bad I am at manipulating those tiny red and white plastic pegs with my left hand.  (In the interest of preserving the man's fragile ego, I will not disclose that I whomped him in Battleship AND in UNO.)  It hurts to type on the computer, too; but not nearly as badly as it hurts trying to vacuum, dust or mop.  Never let it be said I don't have my priorities straight.

Speaking of priorities, can it BE that my baby, The Girl, is interviewing for teaching jobs this week?  I'm positive it was only 30 months and not 30 years ago that I was interviewing for teaching jobs.  I remember exactly what I wore (and J & P would tell you it would still be in my closet if it weren't for them) as if it were yesterday.  How is it possible that life goes this quickly?  If you are The Girl's friend on Facebook, DO NOT MISS the photo of her in her classroom with the leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day.  She looks every inch the beautiful teacher.  If I knew how to do it, I'd grab that photo and post it here.  Wait, I think I did it!

Isn't she gorgeous?  How does one even begin to go about thanking God for a blessing like that?

Sir and I, along with another chaplain and Sir's able assistant and his adorable wife, had the adventure of leading a marriage retreat a couple of weekends ago down in Bavaria.  We had a great bunch of couples, and though it was a lot of work, we rewarded ourselves with a brief drive through Austria on Sunday afternoon when we were finished.  I think when people picture Germany in general, they see the Bavarian area - I described it in more detail back in October when I posted the pics of Oberammergau.  It's breathtaking, quaint, and in many instances, so majestic it doesn't even look real.  The area where we live (in a city) has its charms, its castles, its rivers and vineyards and cathedrals; but the incredible stark beauty of the Alps is just incomparable.  I worked my poor camera phone nearly to death just shooting out of the windows of the car as we drove.  I wish I had the knowledge and camera skillz (and yeah, maybe a real camera would help) to show y'all the perspective better - you cannot even imagine how big these mountains are.

Anyway, enjoy these poor non-photoshopped efforts.  Upcoming topics:  a very, very somber and disturbing visit to Dachau concentration camp; our latest visit from our precious Belgian friends; the BALL; German Chinese food and the lack of German Mexican food; flying home for the super bowl on a cargo plane; the visit to the car and plane museum (lots of photos for my brother R).  It's oh-so-yesterday, but the pictures are oh-so-cute.

Oh, and one more thing!  In case this, my 4th Gateway computer in 16 years, goes kaput....I'd love advice from you, Bloggys and Blogettes, on a replacement.   Please post comments below - I look forward to hearing from YOU!