Five Things.

Hello and Happy Friday!

So we sat in the car to visit my sister in Cologne. It is a pretty long drive from here – five hours + with all a bunch of construction everywhere. You think you can drive as fast as you want on the German Autobahn? Well, there are certain areas and you can speed for sure and will feel that you are going pretty fast but Racer X is still faster. Check out Tom Hank’s take on the German Autobahn. Hilarious but true. My son is pretty good in the car, so while singing Wheels on the Bus we thought to change things up a bit. There were no odes to windows, wipers and whatnot because boring, and we spiced things up while celebrating a bus full of animals. Fishes and doggies, and sheep, and horses, you get the point. The damn fish on the bus go……(picture me making my best fish face while my eyes are crossed). We sang this song for quite a while. My son loves fishes so this song was requested the most which gave me just a slight headache after I repeated it for the 50th time. It is still a pretty small price to pay if you consider that he is such a great travel companion otherwise. I bet this song is rising in your ears now 🙂 If you would like, read what I have been up to otherwise. 

Reading: This week I focused more on writing and am still reading Nora Ephron’s The Most of Nora Ephron. I enjoy it a lot. I also started The No Nonsense Guide to Green Parenting by Kate Blincoe on my Kindle. It is light, inspirational and funny. Currently, on my to-read list is Margaret Atwood’s book Wilderness. 

Watching/Listening: I remember a great evening when le husband and I spent an amazing evening having dinner, went back home and watched Betty Blue. This movie is very special to me and I can re-watch it a million times. Muhammad Ali’s death last week made me sad. I am not into watching sports but I do enjoy to watch boxing once in a while. When le husband and I were in Cancun for the first time a couple of years ago Muhammad Ali stayed at the same place one week later to take part in a dolphin therapy that was offered at the hotel. I wish I would have met him. He was amazing. I saw I Am Ali the other day and was in awe. The Greatest who flew like a butterfly and stung like a bee. I listened to this recent amazing interview on NPR with Philip Roth. 

Discovering/Learning: The other day I bought myself a Fjäll Räven bag and I am so in love with it.

This magical bag turns into a backpack; le husband will love this. I love the straps on the bag because you can carry it like a briefcase, you can also sling it nicely over your shoulder or you just slip the straps through themselves and make a backpack. Awesomeness! Since I purchased it, I take it wherever I go. Great for shopping, my notebook and computer – everything nicely in place. I just cannot say enough good things about this bag. Get yours! If you are in Germany, click here. When it comes to purses and bags, I am not a typical woman I guess. I have four purses. Le husband bought me a Coach Purse that I adore. My Vuitton that I use mostly and that is really great when traveling with Petit Joel and two Longchamp bags but that is it. I also learned to really enjoy Windsor Castle English Breakfast Tea. When I visited The British Corner and had scones, clotted cream, strawberry jam and a cup of cream tea I was hooked. Ever since, I make my own cup of tea at home and it is so good. Here is how I enjoy my tea: I always use fresh water. I rinse the tea pot with hot water for preheating. Dosage: One teaspoon for each cup and one teaspoon for the tea pot. Pour boiling water over the tea laves and choose a stepping time of 2-5 minutes. For Green Tea have the water cooled down to 80 degrees Celsius and choose a steeping time of 1-3 minutes. Done! 

Looking forward to: Visiting my sister. Even though we had a rough couple of years, arguing and fighting, I love her a lot. The other day I sent her a picture of my dad, her and I all tangled up while I held a book in my arms. This book is a very special book. Zauberer Sausebraus and Stories and we loved it when we were kids. I read to my brother and sister a bedtime story every single night – and usually from this book. It was not easy to find it but my sister bought herself one copy and sent one to my parents house for me. I had tears in my eyes. Sister Love, even though sometimes we had a hard time showing how much we appreciate each other. I am also looking forward to see A Clockwork Orange next week in the Landestheater in Coburg. It is most certainly not easy stuff to watch and take in if you remember the book or the Stanley Kubrick’s movie, but I think overall it will be very interesting to see, considering this is a very violent play, how they will transform it all into a ballet. 

Thinking about: Traveling soon. We were supposed to be in Canada already but things are just delayed. Patience is a virtue and I enjoy every single day I can spend here with my family in Germany. It is all good. This week was stuffed with meeting my friends and hanging out for coffee and cakes and so much talking. I know that this time here will end at one point and something else is around the corner. Something new and exciting. I am open for something new and not sad to leave all this behind. I know I will be fine and my parents are just a plane ride away. 

Have a great weekend.