Week Ending Sunday, 1/4/09

Happy New Year!

This will have to be a short one as we have a time limit on the computers here at the base library. We are hoping to have an internet connection at home within the next couple of weeks.

Many of you already know that my brother, Paul, suffered a severe head injury on Christmas eve while ice skating. The good news (thanks for everyone's prayers!) is that he is home from the ICU now and will be resting while his skull fractures heal. I'll continue to keep everyone posted.

As for us, we had a quiet Christmas in our new home continuing to unpack. I made a simple dinner of duck breast, mashed potatoes, green beans and brownies for dessert. We tried to attend a performance of Messiah but couldn't find the church in time and it seems they don't allow late-comers to concerts in Germany.

This place turns into a complete ghost-town during the holidays. EVERYTHING closes starting at noon on Christmas Eve and doesn't reopen until 12/27. Then everything closes again at noon on New Years Eve till 1/2/09.

For Christmas, we gave ourselves a wonderful new GPS. They are essential here. We bought a map at a convenient store once and the clerk told us he hadn't sold one in ages since everyone uses a GPS! It has made a HUGE difference in our navigational abilities. We tried to find a hash in Frankfurt the week before and got so completely lost that we vowed never to hash again without a GPS.

Speaking of driving, the week between the holidays was extremely eratic with the local bus schedules. They flipped around between regular, weekend and holiday timetables so much that I just gave up trying to follow them. The time had come for me to try driving here. I had my license and planned to use it. So Lew and I took the car out on New Years Day so I could practice driving to all our regular spots. It wasn't as hard as I thought.

New Years Eve was interesting. There are fireworks displays all over the place! And I'm not kidding about everywhere. Driving home was like maneuvering through a warzone. Bottle rockets and what not were launched from every street corner and indeed tossed right into traffic. What a nightmare!

Friday we treated ourselves to a new 32" flatscreen TV! Celebrated at a great little pizzaria on the way home. This place had it's own "Kegeln" (German bowling alley) in the basement.

Saturday we went on a road trip to Rothenburg. Played tourists visiting all the major attractions - Rathaus, cathedral and city museum. Missed seeing the "torture" or Kriminal museum but in retrospect, I'm not sure that's the kind of place I'd enjoy hanging out in.

We took lots of pictures and I hope to get them posted soon. Heading to the FH3 hash now. Lew had a little accident at last week's hash. Twisted his ankle again. He's better but going to walk today.

That's it for now. Sending our love to all!

Lew, Jaime, Rocky and Howard