Thank God for Precious Moments

Day 47
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
I'm pretty sure I caught up on some sleep this morning that I didn't know I needed. When I woke up, I could hear the birds chirping outside of my window and I decided to just stay in bed for a few more minutes and listen to them. I thanked God for this little moment in my life and got out of bed to do some cleaning and take a shower before heading to the gym for a nice long workout.

I got home from the gym at about 1500 and after showering and grabbing a high protein lunch, I began working on my 20 page paper for my Family Systems class. My paper is called: Alcoholism: The effects on Marriage. I wrote about five pages before calling it a night at 2000 to make myself some dinner and watch episodes of Glee on my laptop in bed.




When your life flashes before your eyes, make sure you've got plenty to watch.  ~Author unknown

Life as I know it

Day 46
Tuesday, 15, 2011

Matt left early this morning for Hohenfels, Germany to shoot a training exercise; he'll be gone until Sunday. He is a Public Affairs Marine and is really good at it, if you ask me. I had to work all day at the testing center and by the time I got off work I was pooped. I went to the Shoppette and rented a couple chick flicks to fill my night with lighthearted fun. I called my Mom and caught up for about an hour before watching a movie. I was able to talk to Matt just long enough to say "I love you" and then the we lost our connection. Being out in the field sucks for communication but I'm sure he is enjoying it a lot less than I am.

I had to call my Mom’s uncle (Onkel) Helmut to tell him my friend Shari and I would be there around 1900 or 2000 on Friday night to visit for the weekend. He and my Mom's aunt (Tante) Lotty have been asking us to come visit since we moved here and when we finally picked a weekend that would work, Matt ends up leaving...just my luck. Thank goodness for great friends who don't mind giving up their entire weekend to take a road trip to visit family.

Me & Shari

I poured a glass of wine and watched the movie, "Life as we know it," until I was too tired to keep my eyes open.

If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.  ~Larry McMurtry

Happy Valentine's Day

Day 45
Monday, February 14, 2011

I took my recumbent Bike out of the laundry room and enjoyed a nice long ride in my living room while watching "Maid of Honor."

Since today is Valentine's Day, the AFN Movie Channel was playing romantic comedy's all day long, which just so happen to be my favorite genre. I probably could have stayed glued to the TV all day long but I had some things to do today so I got dressed and headed over to the Patch Clinic once again, to have my PPD shot read. I guess I was in the clear because the nurse let me leave :) and I finally had the paperwork (1 of about 25) I needed for the Red Cross.

Sadly, my husband had to work until after 1700 today and I still needed to do some last minute laundry and he needed to pack and do a homework assignment before his trip to Hohenfels in the morning. I have no idea why he waits until the last minute to do things sometimes. We decided to stay close to home this year because of the time constraints so we went to Dinner at Bella Italia in Böblingen. We both had Bruschetta, Spaghetti Carbonara, and Chianti for dinner.

Bruschetta

Spaghetti Carbonara

After Dinner we walked over to a local Gelato shop where they make everything from scratch, even Ice Cream (Gelato) Cakes. Matt tried a scoop of both Hazelnut and Chocolate, and I tried Stracciatella for the first time and I'm in love!

Gelato

Not a bad Valentine's Day! Next year I really hope we make it to France, we are only about an hour and a half away from Strasbourg.


Most of us spend our lives as if we had another one in the bank.  ~Ben Irwin

German Hot Chocolate, Fresh Flowers, AND Chinese Food...This could be Heaven

Day 44
Sunday, February 13, 2011

I was so tired from last night and I really didn't want to be around anybody but Matt today. I had spent all of last night with people and one of my friends spent the night so she was there when we woke up this morning and didn't leave until about noon. Not that I don't love my friends, but Matt leaves early Tuesday morning for the week, and tomorrow is Valentine's Day but he has to work late so I really just wanted to hang out with him today.

Kate's favorite Church

After my friend left, I gave myself a Mary Kay facial before taking a shower. Then Matt and I got dressed and went over to the Commissary on Patch to do some healthy food shopping. As we were coming back to Panzer, where we live, we saw our friends Kate and Gio driving in behind us. Kate called Matt's phone and since he was driving I answered it. She invited us to go to Downtown Stuttgart with them and walk around , people watch, and eat some Chinese food. I didn't feel like doing any of that but after Matt called me an "old lady" for not being able to handle going out the night before, I said "sure."

Hot Chocolate

It ended up being a great time and I experienced a new side of Stuttgart. We walked around for a bit, stopped at a beautiful church and took some pictures, and then Kate and I grabbed some hot beverages while the guys went looking for Cigars. I honestly thought everything would be closed since it was Sunday, I had never thought about all the restaurants, coffee bars, and sidewalk entertainers that still need to make money on a Sunday.

Me at the Cafe

"Statues"

The guys were gone for a little longer than we expected so Kate and I began planning trips we could take before she and Gio move to the states in May or June. I sipped on the most fantastic hot chocolate while Kate enjoyed a Coffee. We did some people watching and just as we were about to call the guys, they showed up with flowers for us, it was so sweet.

Man on Unicycle juggling fire

Gio & Kate

The guys ordered coffees and we chatted for a few more minutes before deciding to go each at "Rice Man," this amazing Chinese food buffet that I had never even heard of and was actually really affordable, unlike most things in Germany.

On our way back to the car we found these things to play on...

Me

Gio

Matt, Gio, Kate

What a great way to end the weekend, I am so glad I decided to take a chance and go hang out with friends today!



We die daily.  Happy those who daily come to life as well.  ~George MacDonald

Ladies Night Out

Day 43
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Since I have several girlfriends who are either single or are going to be alone on Valentine's Day because their husband is away, I decided to host a "Ladies Night Out" Valentine's party for us. We started with dinner at "Hacienda," a Mexican restaurant in Stuttgart that makes amazing chicken tacos. Since it was Friday night, they had a Mariachi band and a lady dacing on stage.

We talked about our drink order and who wanted to split pitchers. I had been looking forward to an original margarita on the rocks and since my friend Suzi agreed to share, we ordered a pitcher. For some reason they only had them frozen, and the original (lime) margaritas were blue instead of yellow/gold in color, but they still tasted great. Two other girls ordered a pitcher of Sangria which arrived with a sparkler...it was so pretty.

I went against my gut and ordered what I thought was a "tuna taco salad." The menu said "thun fish" and Sari ("The German") even said that it meant "tuna." I also added cheese which I assumed would be shredded.  My salad arrived with triangle cheese slices and tasted like tuna fish out of a can. I should have ordered the chicken tacos again!

We ended the evening by dancing all night long at Club Village in down town Stuttgart. This was be far one of the best ladies nights out I have ever had!

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may;
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
~Robert Herrick

Eat, Pray, Love, Live...in the Moment

Day 42
Friday, February 11, 2011

Today I had to go back to the clinic to get my PPD shot. This is the last immunization I'll need for a while, I have to come back in six months for two more Hepatitis shots and then I should be done for several years.

I still had that DVD "Eat, Pray, Love" to watch and since it was due Saturday before noon, I had to watch it today. I pulled my bike out of the laundry room, inserted the DVD and began my workout.

The movie was so moving. I loved the theme of "Eat, Pray, Love" and how Julia Robert's character visited such differing cultures exploring new things as she moved from place to place; all the while, seizing the day.

Her time in India made me think of one of the first graduate classes I took with Dr. Brewster called, "World Religions, Post 9-11." In this class we studied: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Primal Religions. Most of these religions were completely new to me before I took this course. I entered with an open mind and when the semester was over, I had found a new appreciation for differing beliefs and thier religious customs. I didn't need to compromise my own Christian views to do this either, like so many people warned me about before signing up for the course. I think if more people had an understanding of the world outside of their tiny bubble they would do more with the precious time they have.

After my movie was over I took a shower and enjoyed some delicious wine from Montepulciano, Italy.

Vino Nobile

I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour.  I dripped it carelessly, Ah!  I didn't know, I held opportunity.  ~Hazel Lee

This is how I roll

Day 41
Thursday, February 10, 2011
I don't know about you, but I love going to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. It's like a spa day...for your mouth!

I had a dentist appointment this morning at 1030 and since this was my first trip to a German dentist I didn't really know what to expect. My reliable GPS helped me to arrive just on time but like usual, there is never anywhere to park in Europe. I had to park a block away and walk and then I couldn't figure out how to open the door to the dentist office. I'm not kidding, the door was locked and when I rang the bell, no one buzed me in. I heard footsteps and talking on the other side of the door so I thought maybe they were coming to let me in. It turned out just to be some people leaving the building but thankfully when they opened the door to leave, I walked in. I was a little shocked at first to see only walls and a staircase but I climbed the stairs and that's where I found the check-in desk. I was looking forward to learning some new words in the dentist office but the dental hygenist ended up being an American who had just moved here two months prior and knew almost zero German. At least I got to speak a little German with the dentist, Dr. Winkelmann, when he came in the room to check my mouth. He told me I could stand to eat more sugar because my teeth looked so healthy. I politely told him that the reason they look this way is because I do not eat much sugar.

After my dentist visit it was warming up outside and since my poor car was so filthy, I decided to drive straight to Patch Barracks and give it a good scrub and vacuum at the car wash. I knew the line would be really long and I was pretty hungry so I stopped by the Commissary to pick up something for lunch and buy some car cleaning supplies. While waiting in line at the deli to order a sandwich, I politely allowed the gentleman in uniform who was standing behind me to move a head of me in line so he could get his lunch and get back to work. He was so thankful for this simple act and he mentioned how often he notices the lack of courtesy around here. I felt really good for this tiny act of kindness, I only hope somebody else would do the same thing for my husband one day.

While waiting in line to use the ONLY car wash on base, I ate my sandwich, pumped up the jams, and then started cleaning the inside of my car with the supplies I had purchased. The temperature rose to about 50 degrees and after a couple of hours, my car finally looked clean again. I was very excited to show it off when I picked my husband up from work.

Tonight I had plans to eat dinner with my friend Michelle before we headed to play Bunco (for some reason they spell it "Bunko" here) with the Stuttgart Marine Corps Spouses group. We enjoyed some chinese food at Bao Jing just outside of base and had my husband drive us to Bunco so we could have a drink or two if we wanted without having to worry about driving.

Contemplation often makes life miserable.  We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.  ~Nicolas de Chamfort