Complete and utter Randomness

Life has slowed down tremendously, but only to speed up very soon once again. After 4 months of working, I finished my long term subbing position and have found a huge new appreciation for time! It is amazing how much having time makes a difference in ones life. I could go on and on about time, but will spare you the lecture :-). Bailey's chaotic month has ended too, and we are now on Spring break. The funny thing is though - we have 3 weeks of Spring break - our Calendar is a bit ridiculous because Bailey and Camden are off this week, and then Mia is off the following 2 weeks - crazy!

In preparation for our upcoming move, we broke down and bought a car (a used car). After almost 6 years as a one car family, it is REALLY weird having two cars. It will definitely take some time to get used to. With other American friends having to buy and rent cars over here, one lesson that I am super grateful for, is that my parents required me to take Driver's Ed on a manual car (stick shift). I really didn't want to learn on a manual transmission. We have friends that had to pay 400 extra euro with their car rental to get an automatic (because it is very rare here to find an automatic). My poor kids will face the same requirement, but hopefully, when they are in their 40's they will look back and be grateful too :-) Our used car purchase would have been MUCH harder, had we needed an automatic car...

We celebrated forever family day (AKA. "Gotcha Day") on April 5th. It was officially 8 years since we became a family of 5. So hard to believe!!! We had a very simple little celebration with a Chinese take-out picnic on the river. I am definitely so grateful for my family - can't even imagine what life would be like without our 3 kids!!!

We just had "Sperrmull" here once again. I may have mentioned it before, but I took a picture this time (see below). It is really a comical addition to the complete orderliness of Germany. Germany has an unbelievable recycling program. It has to be one of the most progressive programs in the world. They have hardly any trash after all of the recycling has been sorted, but then comes in the "Sperrmull"... Twice a year, any odd sort of extra trash (specifically old wood, furniture, and other "stuff" ) gets put out on the street. You know it is Sperrmull time when you see heaps of "stuff" on every corner, with big Vans from Poland and Czech stopping at each corner to collect possible treasures to bring back to sell in their country. It is such an odd thing to see, but I guess it is tradition and the only way to get rid of all of that stuff that can't be recycled.

Along with everyone else that is affiliated with the base here, we are on the lookout for a new house. We will be moving this summer to another town, and as a friend of mine said, it is a bit like House Hunters International. The questions are... Should we go with a big house with a yard in the country, a smaller apartment in the city,  a cool house with character, but  a longer commute, or a boring house with a short commute. So many things to think about. I do wish I had that TV show to help us find these different places (it isn't quite as easy, when you have to try to find the places on your own :-). The other thing that is so weird here, is that the buyer/renter is responsible for any real estate fees (not the owner/seller). We are waiting to hear about one place that all 5 of us LOVE, but sadly, someone else is looking at it too, so we may be heading back to the drawing board :-)

Lastly, (I warned you this would be complete and utter randomness :-)), I have to mention the Germans love of the 80's. My kids have been brought up listening to REO Speedwagon, Journey, the Police etc. It is not because we love it, but because each of the radio stations are all a complete mix of "today's" music with all of the 80's music mixed in there too.  It is so funny and always cracks me up. The other thing that Germans love (especially the younger ones) is the Disco. It is common and perfectly acceptable and normal for University students (and younger) to go to the Disco. One more obsession that they have is with David Hasselhoff (You remember - he was the guy from Night Rider and Baywatch). We have seen similar posters (see the picture below) for 6 years, but I finally took a picture of it to share - SOOO FUNNY!!!!!

Our Chinese takeout picnic

Had to throw this in here too - I love the eis cafe's here. They make it so reasonable, that you can go often!

This is the Sperrmull that I was talking about. The streets here are usually meticulous! This is what they look like twice a year :-)

O.K. This just makes me laugh... David Hasselhoff in a Speedo with a hairy chest?????