December 5 08, Pie in da Face

We have a holiday party coming up, so our unit organized a fundraising event...Pie in Da Face. All the commanding officer and NCO's (Non-Commissioned Officers) had to sit and have pies put in their faces by soldiers who donated. It was all in fun and quite hilarious. I decided that I would donate and pie one of the guys in the face...and who better than my own wonderful husband? It's for a good cause. ;) No one got the picture of me kissing him after the pie...so I did get a sticky face, too. :)



Pre-Pie Picture

Kaiserslautern Christmas Market 6 Dec 08, HUGE entry!

Saturday morning we had an errand to run so we headed out to get that accomplished. Afterwards we went to Miesau. This is the small town that Cory's little post is in. Yesterday was their Christmas market and the goal was a mug. ;) We got there and they weren't even set up yet. So, we left and went to Kaiserslautern's Christmas market. The market is set up in the walking/shopping area of downtown Kaiserslautern. Of course you know the goal. :) A mug. And lunch. Here are Cory and the boys with their lunch...the boys had pizza and Cory and I had french bread w/ a garlic spread (Cory's topping was salami and I had tomato and feta cheese):

Here are other pics of the market:

I did manage to get my Kaiserslautern 2008 mug. Actually, I came home w/ a bunch. The first "gluhwein" (pronounced glue-vine) stand I went to I got 3 mugs, one with gluhwein. ;) When we noticed that 2 of them did not say Kaiserslautern I went back to exchange them. Only to find out that they weren't even selling the 2008 mugs b/c they had run out. I had ended up w/ one from 2003. Well, damn. I HAD to get the correct mug, so we HAD to go to another stand and get another mug of gluhwein. ;) From our post newspaper, the Kaiserslautern American, writer Kerry Solan, "Gluhwein, or 'Glow Wine', dates back as far as 500 BC, long before spiffy plastic stoppers were able to keep wine fresh. Spices and herbs were added to wine for healthy reasons and to make the wine drinkable again."




Next we headed across the street to the old Barbarossa castle. Its remains are dated from the 1200's. It was set up as a medieval Christmas market. The "band" also played and walked around the other market heralding St. Nicholas.













For your viewing pleasure I took a short video of the band:


By that time we knew the Miesau market would be open. And in search of a mug from every Christmas market, we headed back. This is b/c I have a wonderful husband. We had to drive 25 min back there and he offered it and never complained. ;) Here's my mug. Even though it didn't say "Miesau" or "2008" I thought it was an interesting color and got it anyway.

Frankfurt Germany

Last Wednesday (day before Thanksgiving) I had a friend fly to Germany to visit. She was flying into Frankfurt and I had to go and pick her up. This was a huge deal for me. For those of you who are family and friends reading this, you know I have driven all over the US. I am the driver, always, and myself and the boys have driven long distances by ourselves at times. The summer of 2006, I drove from Texas with D and Ch to visit C who was at an army school/course in Washington, DC. So, a one hour drive to an airport is nothing right? Well, in the US I wouldn't have anything about it, but driving in Germany by myself was still slightly intimidating. I'm proud to say that I no longer have any problems with driving in Germany. :D

Anyway, I picked up my friend, G, and we drove to downtown Frankfurt. Finding a parking garage was a bit difficult, but we persevered and found one just around the corner from where we needed to be. The main goal was to go to the Frankfurt Christmas market or Weihnachtsmarkt "is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during advent, mainly the four weeks preceding Christmas Day. These markets originated in Germany and Austria but are now being held in many other countries." (Wikipedia) Also, according to our post newspaper, "The history of Christmas markets dates back to the 14th century. After farmers had sold their crop, they paid their workers. After attending worship services during Advent, those workers spent their money right away at little markets set up around the church. most common items offered were sweets and toys. There were also craftsmen selling baskets, pottery, spices, clothes and Christmas tree ornaments. And not much has changed. :) The Frankfurt market had plenty of stalls selling Christmas decorations, clothing (gloves, hats, scarves), toys, food and drink. We tried the bratwurst. Well, I had a different type of wurst (sausage), but I'm not sure what it was. And the most popular drink is gluhwein. It is a warm red wine flavored with cloves and cinnamon. Since I was driving I opted for the kids orange cider. It tasted like warm tang. But I was really after the mug it came in. Each village/town/city that has a Christmas market has its own mug. Here I am proudly sporting my Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt 2008 mug, as well as a closeup. I won't mention that I have a new sick obsession of collecting Christmas market mugs. :)






After the Christmas market we walked over to an observation tower. Here are pics of Frankfurt from the tower:




There is lots to do in Frankfurt, but we had to head home.

First snow of 2008

Yesterday it was cold! I had no idea that snow was in the forecast, though, b/c I never looked...that's how I roll. I like to be surprised. ;) Yesterday afternoon it started hailing, then sort of sleeting and then, snow!





This is what we woke up to this morning. It's not much, but it is the first snow in our area. Other parts of Germany have gotten a lot of snow, but we've been told that our area doesn't get much. Last year the KMC area got about an inch for the whole season.

Skiiing in France and running update.

Last Tuesday, Cory and the boys went skiing at an indoor place in France...only about an hour and a half from us. I stayed home w/ the dog. I did find a dog walker in the neighborhood for future day trips, but I digress...

The boys went with co-workers of Cory's and had a great time. D and Ch tried snowboarding first. They've been eagerly looking forward to it. They're not eager to try it again. LOL It's much harder than it looks. D became plum disgusted and spent his his 2nd hour playing on one of bobsleds. Ch decided he was going to ski. He skiied (sp?) the bunny slope about 10X and then took it upon himself to ski the big hill. Cory kept waiting for him and ended up sending one of his co-workers to look for Ch. About that time, Ch came skiing down the hill. He only fell twice, got right back up and kept on going. But that's Ch for you! He's stubborn!!




















In running news, I tried out my Brooks running pants. The weather was in the 30's and the pants were too hot. Those will have to be for colder days. My legs were sweating. In crappy running news, I have tendonitis in the top of my right foot. Self-diagnosed of course. ;) I'm staying off my foot and taking advil twice a day. I love to run to my ipod and haven't since the summer b/c my other mp3 player got fried when I didn't use the charging cord that it came with. I tried just a generic cable and the music was weird. Anyway, I bought a new ipod and now have 5 hours of music downloaded and I have to wait a few more days to use it. Damn.

The troops at Christmas time!

Don't forget about our deployed troops this year!!

Please visit this link...it's got so much GREAT information!!Some Soldier's Mom

The vicious cycle is broken...

Uh, and I don't mean by with the election. For those that care or have asked, I was not on board completely with either candidates, I fundamentally disagreed w/ Obama and McCain on many issues. Personally, I think we needed a more moderate middle of the road candidate so that both political parties will have to compromise and reach the majority of society. I will say that if by voting in Obama means that the way will be easier for America in this world then I'll hope and be glad for the good things to come.

However, my vicious cycle broken was my 2 days/week of running. This week I ran 3 days!! Woot!

Also, I'm getting used to the weather. When I heard this morning that today was going to be a high of 50-something degrees, I actually thought, Oh it will be a nice day! :)