SPRING is in the air!

It’s in the air, people!  Spring!  How do I know?  I’ve started sneezing.    HUZZAH!  We had a “warm” day last weekend and went downtown.  Saturday is market day.  Look at these flowers:

 

Seriously, I wish you could smell this photo.  The tulips were so fragrant and there was enough of a breeze to carry the scent across the platz..

 

 

 

 

 

And the biggest sign that spring is here is that the outdoor cafes are packed.  Look at all the people eating outside.  I should mention that “warm” was about 48 degrees.  It was really cold in the shade.  This is what people mean when they say Germans are “hardy.” 

 

Market days are awesome.  Fresh eggs?

 

Perhaps some stinky kase (cheese)?

 

Maybe Greek olives are more your thing.

 

Fresh fruit?  We bought some clementines from them and they were so good.  Fresh from Spain and super juicy.

 

Veggies?

Look at these beautiful peppers.

 

If you’ve got nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon, why not grab a rack (or 2) of beer, go sit on the fountain and get ripping drunk.  Drunk enough to sing.  Loudly.  See Indy and M over there?  Yeah, we sat there and ate our yummy clementines until the drunk people (who were really friendly, BTW) decided to light up a few joints.  Not illegal here, but still not something we wanted to be around.

 

Ah, spring!  You bring out the flowers, outdoor cafes and drunks.  Oh, and sneezes.  Ah-chooooo!

 

BTW, this post was written with Windows Live Writer.  It. Is. Awesome.  Thanks Southern Lady!

The Adventures of Pocket Indy: Part 1

Have you ever been over to Lauren's Bite? No? Well, you totally should. She's cute and hilarious and loves Twilight. We could be BFF's. You know if she weren't soooo cute. And skinny. And lived in AZ. Anyhoo, she has her very own Pocket Edward (Cullen, of course) that goes on adventures. Edward is quite the little man. He even cooks for her. Cooks, people. Cooks! Ah what I wouldn't give to have Edward Cullen cooking for me. I'd like the life size version though. And even though I'm allergic to feather pillows I'd keep a few on hand in case he gets the urge to bite them. ;)
BTW, Pocket Edward has been kidnapped! Quelle Horror! I'm anxiously awaiting the post, so I can find out what happens!

We went to Schwetzingen about 2 weeks ago and Indy brought along a few of his Indiana Jones toys. I decided, while we were on the grounds of the palace that we could make our own Pocket Indy adventures! Huzzah! It was actually a lot of fun. Even M got in on it by being the official Indy Positioner. Not that PI (Pocket Indy) really needed help, but he wanted to make M feel included so, you know. Indy came up with where PI should explore, M positioned helped PI and I took photographic evidence of his adventure.

Here he is at the mouth of a tree cave. What could lie inside? Treasure? A temple? Probably a squirrel so we talked PI out of going.


We could not talk him out of scaling the Ivy though.


Wait....where did he go? Oh, PI, you're so good at camouflage!


He sees something. Over.........there! Careful PI!


This does not look safe. M tried to help him down, but PI was having none of it.


AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

PI had to hold up a boulder to keep it from crushing....something. Look how strong he is! Hold on, PI! Hold on!


Oh, NOOOOOOOOOOOOS!


Fortunately, PI did not get crushed and ended up scaling the "mountain." He wanted us to follow.


Oh, there's more. Much, much more, but we'll save those adventures for another day. Maybe I'll get my own Pocket Edward and take them both along. Edward could be a huge help to Indy. He's fast, he can't get hurt, he can jump, he can see in the dark, he doesn't need to sleep, and he's quite a bit taller than Indy. Oh, imagine the possibilities.
I hope you enjoyed the silliness that this post was.

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my favorite day of the year! MY BIRTHDAY! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! BTW, did you know your Wii Fit will wish you a happy birthday? I didn't. When I turned it on this morning, the little Wii board had a party had on, wished me a happy birthday and threw some virtual confetti all over the screen. It was kind of neat and started my day off on a chipper note. Oh, I let Indy do a few ski jumps (that's a big treat, because he usually only gets to play it on the weekend) and it even reminded him that it was my birthday. Smart, Nintendo. Very smart.

Anyway, enough free advertising for Nintendo. Today is all about me. Me, me, ME! Not that I'm narsisitic or anything, but it's my birthday, so yeah, me.

Let's have a look back at the last 36 years shall we?

Here's my mom with me in tow. Isn't she cute? She was 20! Holy cow! She turned 21 a month and a half after I was born. This photo was taken in Jan of 73. She and my dad had been married a little over a year and a half.


Say it with me: Awwwwwwww! This is my first portrait. I was 4 days old. I don't look happy to be having my picture taken, do I?


And one year later. Look at those chubby cheeks and arms!


Here I am at 2. This would have been my Easter dress. I'm pretty sure my mom made it. I seem to be getting progressively happier.


Check this out! I was 4 in this photo, so it would have been 1977. Look at those clothes! And what's up with my hair?



This is first grade. My mom loved to put my hair in the double pig tails. My grandmother used to call me "Buffy" not after the vampire slayer, but after the little girl called Buffy in a 70's sitcom. I think it was called Family Affair, but I'm not sure and I don't feel like Googling it. It's my birthday and I don't have to do anything I don't want. Ha!



We'll just skip all those awkward middle school years. They were not kind to me. I had really bad asthma and took tons of medications containing steroids. They made me....let's say "puffy." It was not a good time for me. We'll move right into the teen years. This is me (far left, looking down), my mom (hotness!) and my crazy older cousin (older by about 11 years) in 1987. I would have been 14. Also, this is probably the last time I ever went to a beach. Unlike my mom, I do not tan. I'm more like my red headed dad and burn. A lot. As you can see, the steroids are long gone and the weight just fell off. What I wouldn't give to have those thighs again.



This was my Senior prom. I was 18. My prom was in the Sears Tower in Chicago. Awesome. Get a good look at that layered dress. I'm sinking in the grass here, but rest assured I was wearing heels. Oh, and check out my date's "Hammer Pants." They were the height of early 90's fashion.



Here's my HS graduation a few weeks later. Yes, I went to an all girl school. Surprisingly, I loved it and still keep in touch with many of the girls I graduated with (even before Facebook).


All of my college photos are glued down to a scrapbook and I'm too lazy to scan them. You've seen my wedding photos, which was at the end of college, so you know what I looked like.

Here is me today. Well, not TODAY, today, but about a week ago. You know, when I was still 35. Not too bad, I think.

A Toile-apalooza!

Have you heard? Pretty Organized Palace (whom I aspire to be like when I grow up) is having a Toile Party! Wooooooo! I loves me some toile! I have stacks of various toile patterned fabric in a closet begging to be used. If you're a toile nut, head over to the party and check it out. But not until after you've seen mine!


These pillows are made using Kimba's no sew method. They are actually yellow and blue, but it's hard to see the color in these photos. The pillow in the back shows the reverse side fabric. The curtains don't technically qualify as toile, but I love them anyway.


This is another of her no sew pillows (can you tell I love them?) on my salvaged chair in our guest/school room. I have more toile that will go on the bed when we actually get one. I love the red, yellow and black together.


More at my kitchen window. This is a better representation of the color on the first set of pillows I posted. These are a total mistreatment, BTW. I folded the fabric in half, clipped it up and poofed it out. Thanks Nester!


Here's my French Memo board that I made about 4 years ago. It usually has more stuff on it, but I just put it up, so it hasn't had time to get covered.


This is our last house in AZ. Back when I had my own bathroom. Oh, how I miss you bathroom. Sharing one bath with M and Indy is so not my thing. Also, it's very boyish. M has declared it a "no toile zone." Humph! This was another mistreatment. I just stapled the fabric to the wall, looped some long ribbon around the fabric and tied it up.


So that's my toile love for today. NOW you can go check out other toile nuts.

You Send Me

Look at this girl. She's so young. I wish I could talk to her and tell her all the things she needs to know. I can't though and she's had to find them out on her own.


It's hard to believe this girl (and really, that's what she is) is me, 14 years ago. That's right, today M and I have been married for 14 years today. I'm not going to get all mushy (that's not my thing), but let's have a little peak at the big day. BTW, remember this was 14 years ago and there was no cool digital photography back then, so they aren't fab fancy photos, but that's okay.

This is me with my dad right before walking down the aisle. Isn't he handsome?


Our priest had never done a wedding before and forgot to tell us to stand up from the prei deu. Except for the actual vows we spent the entire wedding ceremony (almost an hour) kneeling. We kept snickering because we knew he forgot and were debating whether or not to just stand up. We opted to stay kneeling. Oh, Father Joe also had a stutter and couldn't say my name correctly. It made for an interesting and laughter filled ceremony. I'm assuming we ARE actually married, but who knows?


The vows. He finally told us to stand! M's parents were married in this church in the early 60's. It's such a beautiful church.


My mom made the cake. It was alternating layers of strawberry (my favorite) and white cake. Yummy. And no, he did NOT smear it in my face. He wanted a good honeymoon. Also, look how thin I am in this photo! Did I ever eat?


Our first dance was to Sam Cooke's You Send Me.

At first I thought it was infatuation
But woo, it's lasted so long
Now I find myself wanting
To marry you and take you home
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

You, you, you, you send me
I know you send me
I know you send me
Honest you do

Naughty Leprechauns and the Shamrock Shuffle

Hello everyone and Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you're all wearing green. In our house, we get a visit from the "Naughty Leprechauns" some time after midnight of the 17th. Oh, those leprechauns, they cause such a ruckus. This year they had a taste for socks. They threw all of Indy's socks and underwear on the floor. They did leave some chocolate gold coins, some Euro change and some green dollars for his trouble though. It was very exciting. All of M's socks ended up on the floor too, but he didn't get any money. They stacked all my little makeup containers into towers on the bathroom counter, opened all the kitchen cabinets and turned the toilet water green (Indy's personal favorite).


Indy's milk was green!


And when I opened a can of soup for lunch (remember we are several hours ahead of the US) it was green too! He was amazed. How did those leprechauns know he was having soup for lunch?




This past Saturday, we participated in the Shamrock Shuffle 5K. Indy was so excited! He wanted to run, but he'd just gotten over being sick and even a little running caused him to hack and cough. Not fun. He did walk the whole 5K, though there was much groaning and moaning because he couldn't run.




On your mark, get set, GO!


All the kids under 12 got medals. That was the most exciting part. Here is is with 2 of his BFFs. The one in the middle is 8 and actually RAN the entire thing!


Hope you all have a lovely St. Patrick's Day and I wish you all a great big pot of gold!