Gray, Gray, Gray.....and Yet Strangely Orange

The sun actually peeked out for 4.7 seconds today.  I wasn't fast enough to grab my tennis shoes and get outside to soak it up, and it's now back to the usual drizzle and gray skies.  I'm very thankful that all the snow has melted, since Sir is stateside this week and if I have to use the car I won't have to scrape ice from it first.  It may shock you to know that I have not yet driven our car here yet.  Two friends have made me suck it up and drive theirs for short jaunts, but Finn (Sir's dream car) and I haven't had a date since Ft. Lewis.  He adores that POV (that's military talk for car), and I don't want to be the one to get the first scratch on it.  It's QUITE the change from my old life, putting tens of thousands of miles on my beloved Hondela every year.  She sits patiently back in SC, waiting for my next visit; meanwhile I feel oddly like my Grandma, who loved having people ask to take her places.  I won't mention the fact that I'm also oddly starting to look like my Grandma. 
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Yesterday, my friend M and I took off for an entire day of shopping.  M is fearless when it comes to the autobahn, except for brief moments when the lanes are only thiswide and there's a huge truck drifting toward our lane and a rigid guardrail on the other side.  We laughed  cringed in the face of danger and followed her gps on a rollicking tour of Mann Mobilia, Real, Rhein Neckar Zentrum Mall, and IKEA.  Fifty euros worth of adorably unnecessary purchases and one really awful lunch later, we returned home with a full SUV and tired legs.  M got a killer table for cutting out the quilts she loves to make, and a very cool purple chair for her daughter A's room.  I got really pretty fabric, which makes no sense because I don't have a sewing machine on this side of the ocean, a gravy shaker which nearly matches the one I already have here and the one in SC (why on earth did I buy that?  Because it was on sale.  Oh, the logic.  I'm a big fan of the logic) and some candles.  M tried to talk me into a great deal on a wok.  She said I could use it to make bulgogi and stir-fry, and I was able to resist because I don't know how to make bulgogi and stir-fry.  But, dang, I can make some gravy now.  Two kinds at once if necessary!

Everywhere we went yesterday, I was again reminded of my Girl, because oh em gee, the ORANGE.  Apparently it's the color of the year in everything from wardrobe to home decor.  If she were a freshman rather than a senior at Clemson this year, I would have spent an absolute fortune yesterday on this:

Again, please excuse the horrific  quality of the photos.  Each of these items, no matter how bad they look in the pictures, was the perfect shade of Clemson orange.  I definitely think Little Bear's mama needs to go to H&M and get some of those gingham check bow earrings, rings, and bracelets for next football season.  It was all I could do to resist.

After Christmas Cleaning - Done!

  So far today I've done two loads of laundry, swept, vacuumed, swiffered, mopped, rearranged the living room furniture, dusted, polished, eaten four hundred seventy nine pretzels, and - truly the highlight of the day - watched Sir drop our Christmas tree off the balcony on purpose.  The aforementioned list is pretty much in reverse order.  The Drop occurred while it was still dark outside and it's been downhill (no pun intended) ever since.  It's not even 3 in the afternoon, and I'm done for the day.  Oh, how I wish that means I am caught up - alas, it just means that all the other projects are too time-consuming to start at the moment. 
Speaking of the dreaded Other Projects, any of you who know My Girl on Facebook have seen photographic evidence of the disaster that is my home office.  That room holds not only the desk, files and bookshelves, but also all of my clothes and all of our cleaning supplies.  It doesn't take a minute before it can look cluttered; right now it's positively littered. That's the project for next week while Sir is soaking up the learning and hopefully the sunshine during his TDY stateside.  I'm going to be the most organized kid on the block by the time he gets home.  (Or more likely, I'll be eating the rest of the  pretzels and reading the twelve magazines that have piled up in my basket since Thanksgiving.) 

And speaking of My Girl, it seems like everywhere I look lately I'm reminded of her! 

I miss her flatiron and bobby pins all over the little bathroom sink; I miss making a big pitcher of sweet tea instead of a little one; I miss hearing her clacking madly on her Mac.  But I'm eager to hear all of her new adventures with her "Kinders" starting in a week or so.  Where in the world have those three and a half years of college gone?  For that matter, where have the past 21 years gone?

By the way, since I'm such an incredible procrastinator, I didn't post any official New Year's  things.  But I'd love to hear your comments on things you may be interested in reading on this little blog in 2011.  Of course I'll continue to post about the day trips we occasionally take here in Germany; I'd love to be more faithful about Wordy Wednesday and our German vocabulary (HA) lessons; I'm planning some more giveaways; most important, I'd like to share the lessons of faith I'm learning (mostly the hard way) and hear much more from you all in the comments.  Additionally, would you be interested in hearing about books, recipes, or websites I like?  Advice for the lovelorn?  Spot-removal hints?  I kid.  But really, leave a comment today and let me know what you'd enjoy reading about - you're so kind to visit and I want your time here to be well spent!