german phone companies are maybe not so smart

(hello linocut from Skookum HandMade.)

Ok. So. Remember how we were going to be moving back to Ohio at the end of January? And then we decided to stay here permanently just a few weeks ago? Well. About a month ago Karl contacted our phone and internet and mobile phone companies to let them know we would be leaving and to disconnect our service February 1st. And after we decided to stay, Karl and I decided that of course we needed to keep our land-line phone and internet but that we would go ahead and still cancel our mobile phones. Save us a couple of bucks.

So....that's what we did. Karl called the phone company to let them know not to cancel and they said, "No problem!" and he didn't call the mobile company so they would still cancel.

But apparently there was a problem. Or just incompentence. Because last Friday, February 1st, I couldn't get online. And then I tried to call my husband at work and the phone wouldn't work. But then guess what? I tried the mobile phone...and it still works!!

Although the phone company said they could get us hooked back up within 2-3 days, we decided to switch to a different phone and internet company that would be a lot cheaper (saving even more bucks) but that's going to take 2-3 weeks.

So that means my blogging is going to be very spotty for the next 2-3 weeks. (I'm typing this at a friend's house.) But we've got a lot of fun stuff going on in the next few weeks that I'm looking forward to blogging about so please be patient! I'm trying to be!

fasching

It's one of the funnest times of year for this region of Germany: Fasching! Or Fasnacht as it's also called here...or Carnival as it's called in some countries...or Mardi Gras as it's called in New Orleans. You can click here to read all about the holiday and how it's celebrated in many different countries...but basically, it's a Catholic holiday. It begins here in Germany on November 11th at 11:11 am and lasts until Ash Wednesday. Most of the festivities, however, happen in the month before Ash Wednesday. It's a way for people to let loose, ignore the rules, become a fool, and criticize bureaucracy in a fun and harmless way.

Today, Karl and I met up with some friends in a nearby Black Forest town to see their annual Fasching parade. The parade is basically one society after another going down the street in their traditional Fasching costumes with wood-carved masks inspired by fruits, vegatables, animals, and witches. They act as the Fool, throwing confetti, "kidnapping" young pretty girls and hats and handing out candy to all the kids who dress up in costumes. It is really a lot of fun! And the costumes can really be amazing!

maybe knitting is knot for me

The other night my friend Denise tried to teach me how to knit.

She was a very good and very patient teacher...but, apparently, I'm not a very good knitter.



I do want to learn how to knit, though. Hopefully she'll be kind enough to give me a follow-up lesson and maybe I'll get the hang of it. Maybe.

january 29

One year ago today, some very happy things happened in my family.

I have an older brother and a younger sister. And by the time we all got to be over the age of 21, my mother was more than ready to have some grandchildren in her family. My brother and I married, but we were in no hurry to have those grandchildren for my mother. My sister would have been more than happy to appease her, but she couldn't find herself a husband. By the time we were all over the age of 30...well, my mother wasn't very happy with us. And my baby-hungry sister still couldn't find her man.

But guess what happened a year ago today?

My sister got engaged to her wonderful husband! Aren't they so cute together?



And guess what else happened? My brother's wife gave birth to my mother's first grandchild, Max! Just 2 days before my mother's own birthday! Isn't he so cute? (And yes, that's the sock monkey quilt his aunt Heather made for him!)



Happy Birthday, Max! And Happy Birthday, Grandma!



(My sister, my mother, and Max in Utah last November.)

signs

Europe is a continent with many cultures speaking many languages living very close to one another. So sometimes communication isn't easy. I have found that public signs in Europe tend to be very graphic making them easy to read. So that no matter what culture you come from or what language you speak you'll be able to understand the signs...even though sometimes they turn out not so easy to read and quite confusing. And some are just funny.

Since we moved here we've been collecting photographs of signs. So I thought it would be fun to start a series of posts on my blog sharing our collection.

And to start this series I present a very easy to understand, not at all confusing, straight-to-the-point sign we spotted while we were out apartment hunting a few days ago:

favorite shop friday: showpony

Trompe l'oeil. That's the term that always come to my mind whenever I look through today's favorite shop. It's an art term that means "fool the eye" and, to me, that's the theme of Emma's work in her shop Showpony.

For example, her vintage shopping totes: is it a lacy Victorian handbag or a practical cotton tote bag?



And look at these darling vintage clutch purses! Do they have a dainty button closure or a handy zipper closure?



But however much I adore her screen-printed bags, it's her Hiding Place purses that I really love! This beautiful clutch is covered with a gorgeous pattern of pretty leaves, birds and flowers...but take a peek under the folds...



...and you'll find a darker side of nature: spiders, bugs and thorns!





And look at how she's designed her Passing Time bags...





For me, her bags are beautiful, charming and fun...but also carry a statement on how we tend to cover the ugly parts of life either by disguising it or by hiding it completely. How we tend to try to "fool the eye" in life!

You can keep up-to-date with Emma and her Showpony doings on her blog. (And she's also having a sale on all her Hidden Pattern products until Saturday, January 26th...so if you hurry you can have a great bag at a great price!) You'll find her shop at http://showpony.etsy.com.

apartment hunting in germany

So we've started our apartment hunting here in Germany and we're learning a lot of things.

For example, the other day I called my German friend twice with a dozen questions about what all these strange abbreviations in the newspaper ads meant: 3 ZKB with an EBK, 480 euro rent plus NK with 2MM KT...huh? And what's the difference between a cold rent and a warm rent? And just how big is 75 squared meters...I'm still not use to thinking of things in metric terms?!

And another thing...it is not a given that the apartment will have a kitchen. They seem to all have everything you'll need in a bathroom, but the kitchen may have everything or nothing or just a few things. Germans tend to take the kitchen with them when they move...everything: cabinets, stove, oven, fridge, everything. Sometimes they'll offer to let you buy the kitchen from them...so the kitchen remains there and you just pay an extra few hundred euros when you move in to pay for it. Sometimes the kitchen is built in and stays with the apartment...in fact that's what we learned an EBK meant: Einbauküche = built-in kitchen. Sometimes they let you offer to pay for any part of the kitchen you want to remain...like we'll pay for the appliances, but you can take all the cabinets. It's kind of strange for us...we're not use to wondering if our new apartment is going to have a kitchen or not!

For the most part, though, it isn't too different from apartment hunting in America. We search through the ads in the paper and on the internet then make a lot of phone calls and go see a lot of apartments.

In fact, remember that house in my little village of Oberweier that had the kitsch-y mural? That happened to be the first place we went and looked at last week!



We didn't like it so much, though. It was fairly big but had an odd, uncomfortable layout. The best part about it was the kitsch-y mural on the outside!

So...back to all the ads and phone calls and deciphering all the abbreviations...