Fist day of Advent in Germany. Advent begins the first day of December. That means Maddie AND Roise got to start their Advent calendars. Maddie's is a mini-Baby Born with accessories and Rosie gets a special bunny treat each day.
We had "breakfast with Santa" this morning at the ISD commons room sponsored by the American Women's Club. It would have a been a lovely time had Maddie not thrown the fit of all fits toward the end over something ridiculous (but then, aren't most fits about something ridiculous?).
If we were good parents, we would have cancelled the rest of the day's planned activities, but the sun was shining on a Saturday. When the sun is shining, in December, on a Saturday, in Duesseldorf, you would have to be crazy to stay indoors. So we made her stay in her room for about 45 minutes. She emerged her usual delightful self and we all went into Downtown Duesseldorf for the Christmas Market.
It was packed with people and all the stalls were busy. Lots of food and drink and gifts. One lingerie store really took advantage of the crowds by putting not just manequins but real models in their underwear in the window. It did garner attention, but it was more amusing than provacative. Real people standing in a store window in their underwear looked kind of ridiculous.
Last night Skip and I went to a party for American Women's Club Board members and their spouses. My world is a world of women. The men work and are rarely around for drop and pick up at school. When Skip is out of town, I can go two or three days without speaking to anyone who is male or has a job outside of the home. So, when I was talking to our friend Ron about just what it is he does at Bayer, he commented that he was probably boring me. I said, "Are you kidding? This is not about car line, cupcakes, a playground sqaubble or a lament about what you can't find in a German grocery store. PLEASE, tell me more!" So now I know all about the ins and outs of having to deal in Styrene--which is not something that's profitable, but as it's a by-product of a product that is profitable, you lose less money by brokering it yourself than selling it to another company to deal with it. And it's nice to know what your friends actually do instead of just who they work for.
Sunday we're splitting up. Maddie's Sunday School group is singing at the Anglican Church and I've been invited to preach at the Methdodist Church. Afterwards, if the weather holds, we'll meet back up and head to another Christmas market at Schloss Dyck. Skip heads out to London tonight to attend his company Christmas dinner tomorrow night. I was not invited. Someone needs to be here for carline, cupcakes and playground squabbles. Tis the season and all.
No comments:
Post a Comment