More things realized and/or learned

We have our grill up and running. Skip and I had to haul it up the steps to our house (we'll let you know how our backs are in the morning), roll it through the living room and out into our "garden". I had no idea how little I used the oven for anything other than baking until I got here and didn't have a crock pot or a grill. Now that I have those again, I can make anything...well, except for some of the cuts of meat here that I can't readily identify. I really need cousin Peter (former butcher/current homeopathic doctor) to come up and give a lesson on meat buying.

Skip and I went by the travel agency in Kaiserwerth today to finish up our booking our Paris vacation. we couldn't book online with Disney because we have a credit card with an American billing address but a German mailing address. That kind of glitched the system.

Anyway, while we were there we asked about the South of France (or the "beach" as we tell Maddie). We're planning to go there right after school is out in mid-June. The agent told us most people rent houses becauses hotels in France are not children friendly. When we asked more about that he told us that in Spain or Italy, they have resorts with programs where you can drop off your kids in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon, but the French expect you to keep your children with you at all times. Those wacky French!

Although, I have to admit that after Maddie's behavior the last few days, I'm thinking of booking a Spainish or Italian vacation right away!

Am continuing to smile at people on the street--particularly on days like today when the sun was shining! I walked home from dropping off Maddie at school and walked back to pick her up. It takes about 30 minutes, and when the sun is out, you want to soak it up! I think I've mentioned that Germans don't acknowledge people they don't know out on the street. Even if it goes against the cultural grain, I just don't understand in a place where it's usually so rainy and gray how you can HELP from smiling when the sun is out.

So I spent at least an hour walking around Kaiserswerth and smiling all along the way. Got a mixture of reponses--some looked down, others kept a perfectly blank expression, at least one eyed me with suspicion and no fewer than three looked at me as if I might be a little touched in the head. It's a fun game for me.