My Cat Katinka ...

February 2010

2010-02-28T13:49:00.002-06:00

Here is the February Mosaic - in reverse order for whatever reason. It was a short month and after 59 days - so far no trouble finding something to picture. We will see how the next month goes.

January 2010

2010-01-31T13:05:00.011-06:00

Ok here are the first 31 pictures from 2010. I decided I will post the mosaic for the 365 pictures here at the end of each month. If you want to see the pics in real time - that means daily - please vist my 365 blog.

Enjoy

1. 2010-01-01.jpg, 2. 2010-01-02.jpg, 3. 2010-01-03.jpg, 4. 2010-01-04.jpg, 5. 2010-01-05.jpg, 6. 2010-01-06.jpg, 7. 2010-01-07, 8. 2010-01-08.jpg, 9. 2010-01-09, 10. 2010-01-10, 11. 2010-01-11, 12. 2010-01-12, 13. 2010-01-13.jpg, 14. 2010-01-14.jpg, 15. 2010-01-15, 16. 2010-01-16.jpg, 17. 2010-01-17, 18. 2010-01-18, 19. 2010-01-19, 20. 2010-01-20, 21. 2010-01-21, 22. 2010-01-22, 23. 2010-01-23, 24. 2010-01-24, 25. 2010-01-25, 26. 2010-01-26, 27. 2010-01-27, 28. 2010-01-28, 29. 2010-01-29, 30. 2010-01-30, 31. 2010-01-3132. Not available

Pictures

2009-12-01T20:19:00.002-06:00

Just a quick link. I started a Adventskalender/ counting/ picture a day blog. Check it out at: http://moosmutzel.wordpress.com/

The Wonders of a Digital Age

2009-11-21T11:57:00.004-06:00

I got a new toy (Ted got one too). We got ourselves new cell phone. Since the switch to Verizon we can upgrade our phones every year and don't have to wait two years. I always just wanted a simple phone, making calls and sending messages maybe a camera were enough and I always was very happy with my phones. But lately I found myself more and more in situations where I wished I could browse the web or check my mails or take a good picture. You know all those times when you are in the store and want to check if this is really the best deal, or if you really just need two skeins of yarn or shouldn't you better go with three; or those times when you really wanted to take a picture but didn't bring your big (and by the way much loved) camera.
Of course the iPhone would be the obvious choice here, but alas Verizon doesn't carry that. And then enter the new Motorola Droid. I saw the commercial and looked it up in the internet and I knew this is the phone I want - if fancy, than really fancy.
And after a week of trying to buy it in town Ted surprised me last Friday. And I immediately fell in love. It has everything, email, internet, directions, google powered search engine, apps, music, a decent camera, full keyboard ... oh yes and you can call people with it.
I can now, at the same time, talk on the phone and browse the web, I can be lost somewhere and find a yarn store and get the directions, I can check my emails, check the weather, always have my hopping list, a dictionary, the latest news, a book to read and watch You Tube videos with just one little device - I love it. Ok Ok some of you might say, but sometimes I don't want to get all my emails or sometimes I don't want to be connected at all times. Sure you always can choose not to read your mails or just switch your phone off.
For me it is perfect and exactly what I wanted. Granted it doesn't have all the apps the iphone has, but seriously most of them you never need and the Android apps have all the essentials. And it is probably a good thing that they don't have Bejeweled.
And did I already mention it - I love it.

New Job - Kind of

2009-09-15T15:09:00.001-06:00

I am, as most of you know, substitute teach since this school year. And I have to say it is a lot of fun. So far I did nearly all levels from Kindergarten to High School Seniors. And I realized I really like working with the younger kids, even Kindergarten. After 6th Grade the kids are just not excited about learning anything. Granted I wouldn't do it for the rest of my life and if I should decide to teach full time I would do High School but for right now I have a lot of fun. But of course it is a challenge, coming in as a new teacher - the kids try to push all your buttons. And than I run into problems just to do with the fact that I got my schooling in Germany - I don't know the Pledge to the flag, I don't even know the ABC song. But I find my way around and start getting used to American School days - they are rather different from what I am used to and I think every German teacher would go crazy after 10 minutes. The sad thing is that some of those kids just don't get the right attitude about school from home. There are enough parents out there that don't care about their kids grades or if they fail the class. And of course there are the kids or two, especially in elementary school that don't speak any English.

But all in all I really like the job, it pays decent and gets me of my desk and out of the house.

Block Printing

2009-08-03T14:42:00.002-06:00

A couple of days ago I found some block printing kit at Hobby Lobby and I remembered how much I enjoyed doing this in school.

There was everything in the kit I needed, blocks - both linoleum and rubber - cutters and a handle, paint etc...
So I set to work with some easy and simple designs and started printing. It was a lot of fun and after I could feel my right hand again I decided that I really like it. Now I just have to find a store in town that sells lino blocks or I have to go back to Dodge for more.

So what to do with all the blocks. I had some fabric paint and started thinking sewing and printing. First was a little pouch with the heart stamped on it - it turned out even better than I thought. The next one will be a purse with some flowers. I also printed some motives on some T-Shirts and shorts.

We'll see what I can think of next ...

Welcome Home

2009-07-24T20:18:00.000-06:00

That's what happens of you leave the cats alone for to long. It stretched all the way to the basement - they surly had a great time killing all the kitchen towel.

New Kitten

2009-05-26T16:23:00.002-06:00

We got a new Kitten - he is very cute, wild and adorable. His name is Milo and he is grey and white. We got him a week before we moved because that was when we could get him, but he survived the move well, as did all the other cats. He is friends with Felix but there is still a lot of hissing and growling with Katinka. He is very wild and after sleeping on us all night, he prefers my hair, he is throwing fits on the covers and I have to throw him out. He thinks he is king of the house and everything is a toy. And because he is teething he is biting a lot - everthing.

We are Home Owners

2009-05-16T10:33:00.002-06:00

yes we are since last night 430pm we are officially Home Owners. It still hasn't all sunken in yet, but once we start moving it will. Yesterday we had a little picknick on the front porch after we bought some chairs and a little table. I made some very yummy pasta salad and we had crackers and hummus and red wine. We were thinking to buy champagne but we both don't like it; so it was wine instead. We did some more shopping for like shelves and towel racks etc. but nothing major.
Today I am going to clean and once this is done I will start bringing over some stuff, so that we can properly move by next weekend. Ted still has to work until Thursday. We still need window treatments - we bough one mini blind yesterday to see if it fits; because the windows have an odd width. If this works we just buy mini blinds for right now because curtains would be too expensive. We have a lot of windows.
Once we have furniture in the house I will post pictures.

P.S. We got a new little kitten, his name is Milo and he is wild and rambunctious and cute and cuddly. He hisses and growls at the other big cats and is very sure of himself. Did I mention he is 10 weeks old and weights 2 and half pounds.

Cool New Toy

2009-03-30T14:14:00.002-06:00

ooohh I got a new toy - finally an Amazon Kindle. I love it; it is the best thing ever. I can read and buy books everywhere and anytime. But let's start at the beginning. I always wanted a Kindle. When they came out with them like one and a half years ago I wanted one so badly but it was unreasonably expensive and I don't like to buy the first new gadget I rather wait to the second or third until they have all the quirks figured out. Anyhow. I knew they were coming out with a new one earlier this year that's why I definitly didn't want one for Christmas. But once the new one was out I didn't even bother to read the reviews - still way to expensive. But DH told me to get one - he even gave me his credit card. Of course I was still reluctant. So I look at the new one and boy that was it - Whispernet is now available in our area, it can do PDF's and it is much smaller, there are German Books and ... needless to say I ordered it. And than had to wait like 10 days; because I chose super saver shipping. I figuered after I had to pay taxes (the bad thing about living in Kansas) I at least can save some money on shipping. But when it was finally here the long wait was forgotten and I love it ever since. I mean really I can get the book I want when I want it. This was always rather a struggle here in Western Kansas where there is no decent book store. And it is so great to read - after 2 minutes you forget that you are not holding a book. And of course no storage problem. And that is already problem enough we have not enough room for another book shelve but we really need one. I also got a skin for it - the white showed every little finger print and a nice little bag from etsy.
Best investment ever; unfortuately now I am going to buy way more books than before.

How to book a flight

2008-12-03T20:02:00.003-06:00

After traveling Europe and other parts of the world for quite a few years now I thought to just do something so easy as to book a flight to Germany would be a walk in the park - pustekuchen. I never ever imagined it would be so frustrating and time consuming. I mean it wasn't like I never did this before.
After I finally managed the money problem I went ahead looked online who has the best flights. I knew I was a bit late for really good prices but it wasn't that bad at first glance. Because I needed the same outbound flight for Ted and me and a different inbound flight I thought calling the airline company would help. Expedia told me nwa has the cheapest flights right now. I didn't really want them after the disaster last year, but they were significantly cheaper. I called, got two great connections to acceptable prices, payed ticket number one and had some trouble because of the German billing address, worked around that, wanted to pay ticket number two and the card was denied - grrrrr. I remembered that my credit card limit is 1500 Euros and canceled everything (or so I thought). After a help call to Mama and with her credit card numbers I called again two days later (one day of a 12 hour drive to St. Louis in between). But oh no it was Thanksgiving and every one working that day was in a very very foul mood. And no we cannot take a credit card with a German billing address - poop. So I went to delta - even better flights and prices, but only online on the phone we cannot give you those prices. But alas online didn't like my German credit card either even so it should according to their web page, and it changed prices on me every three seconds. So every time I filled out everything and pressed submit it told me the price has expired. Even with the help of my lovely FIL and his credit card it didn't work - poop. Next step: get your German Money to America - ah ja online banking. My German bank wants a BIC number, my American Bank doesn't have a BIC number. My German Bank needs a physical address, my American bank only has a P.O. Box - after a long time and with a lot of curses and whatever else, it worked - yeah.
But oh no three days after the first phone call to nwa I get an email with my itinary - what???? I cancelled that flight. Calling nwa on a saturday and explaining my problem - the lovely lady tells me that she cannot do anything until Monday. Did I tell that I just send all my German money (the one nwa wants) to America?! After some unpleasentness on my part she talked with her supervisor and hey gave me my money back. The other thing that irretated me was that nwa has a 24h cancellation for free policy but I never got the confirmation mail until three days later - what if they would have made a misstake (wait it will happen).
Back home after the holidays, next try. Again call nwa this time flights are booked, both, prices are resonable, connection is workable. Happy, happy happy, until the next morning. Mama calls (I forwarded her the itinary that did come just an hour later) and tells me wait didn't you say you want to fly back in February, your flight summary says January - darn. Again call nwa (by than I have memorized the number), explain that it is not 24 h later yet, get a flight for February - ok it is slightly more expensive.
Finally after a week I have two flights to Germany, payed and packed. Now we just have to get there.

Western Kansas

2008-09-02T12:06:00.005-06:00

After three weeks in Garden City we had some time to explore the surrounding area a bit. Yes there is not much to explore in the City itself.
We still love it here. The landscape is amazing there is so much to see and the wildlife (sometimes in form of roadkill) is great. Two weeks ago we went to Colorado on the scooter. We not only saw (and smelled) the big Tyson plant, but also Longhorns and Prairie Dogs and a Snake and a deer running across the street from one corn field into another. We stopped at a very cute County History Museum in Syracuse and had a great time - except that our butts were very sore for the next couple of days
Last weekend we took the car and went up north to Monument Rocks. Already the drive was impressive and the landscape amazing. The Rocks are just out there in a middle of a field after 7 Miles of dirt road. I mean they are by far not as tall or impressive as the like in Utah but nonetheless very cool. We scampered around for a while, took some pictures, tried to find some fossils and left. We also found a cemetery right in the middle of nothingness and there was a Prairie Dog Burrow on top of a grave and a little Dog sunbathing right in top - so cute.
In the town itself we visited our "neighbors" - there is a great cemetery next door and it is great to go walking or jogging - very tranquil and quiet.
There are tons of pictures on flickr so just go there and enjoy.

Garden City and Socks

2008-08-15T14:22:00.002-06:00

Yeah, I am finally here. After we moved 4 weeks ago and Ted stayed for orientation and I went back to Lawrence to work, I made it here on Monday and can start to feel at home.
Fortunately we managed to unpack more or less everything during the 2 days I was here so I came home to a nice and neat and clean apartment and it looked like home already (for pictures see flickr). Things are a bit different, especially because the bedrooms are very equally sized so that we didn't get everything in the bedroom. But I put the papasan chair in the living room and it works ok - it is a bit cramped but not that bad. The kitchen is huge and I ended up putting the loom in the kitchen - why not, it would be wasted space otherwise. The part I love most is the garage of course - right now a bit chaotic, but not much, because we use it for storage. The apartment itself is a bit short on closet space. But the scooters fit in the garage and we can fit the car as well if we have to.
I so far didn't explore to much of the town, ok there is not that much to explore. Ted took me to his favorite Mexican Place and I have to admit it was pretty good - even so I am not that big on Mexican. Other wise I made it to WalMart - duuhh and Dillons and Target. Walmart is insane - the lines are so long and so far I always had to wait at least 10 minutes at the check out. The Dillons is suprisingly nice and clean, nothing in comparison to Lawrence, but rather pricey. But it is the only grocery store in town, apart from Walmart, and better than nothing.

I decided to not do anything dissertation related this week and just relax. I cooked and knitted - more or less all I did so far this week - ok and sleeping in, of course. I finally managed to tackle socks, after I thought I am sock-impaired. But toe-up short row heels, or even better German heels, and socks are a breeze. I already have 2 pairs done. And than I am making some easy mesh shopping bags with leftover yarn - yes I got the green message and try to avoid plastic bags.
And I finally had some time to do one more repeat at the Shetland Triangle - 10 done about 3 more to go. If I do one repeat every day I should be done by next week - yeah.

And than they drove away ...

2008-05-24T10:04:00.003-06:00

We got a new toy. Ok it is not really a toy but it feels like it. Because we still only have one car and we are going to move out to Garden City soon and I am not going to be stuck in the apartment there all day without a car we bought a new big scooter. And I mean BIG. It has 250 cc and 21 hp, it goes up to 70 mph without any problem with both of us on it. Of course we needed out motorcycle licenses but that was kind of a joke how easy it was and how cheap. For both together $44 and we passed without even trying. It's a really fun ride and way better than the old one. We are going to buy some new bigger helmets and I already have a nice leather jacket and Ted is going to get one too.
After long consideration we figured we can't buy a car but we will have the money to buy a big scooter, especially considering that we got it $1000 bucks cheaper than retail and that thing is new.
Ok and here is the one picture I have so far. It is in front of the DMV right after we got our licenses.

Garden City it is

2008-04-24T12:47:00.004-06:00

Ok now it is official, Ted accepted the job in Garden City. He got the offer on Monday and we discussed it the last couple of days and agreed we will move to Garden City for the next two years. It is certainly not our number one choice, but it is the best choice. The pay is good, he will get a signing bonus and the benefits are very good as well.
Ok, Garden City is in the middle of nowhere and it does smell awful, but the area around the town is beautiful and it is cheap. The cost of living is pretty low and we will be able to save up some money for the next big move. And there is no distraction for me, so I might be able to finish my dissertation faster.
I admit, I am a bit scared but in the other side I am excited and right now we see it more like a big adventure. I am a bit worried about not finding anything decent to rent, but if bad comes to worse the house prices there are so low, that we could even afford to buy and pay less in payments than we pay in rent right now. For everyone who doesn't know where Garden City is, here is a little map as reference. Because it is a bit hard to read - Garden City is in the left corner under the P.

Tattoo, Rats and ...

2008-03-29T13:10:00.002-06:00

It's me again, twice in one week - you are getting spoiled out there. But I don't want to work so I am looking for every distraction I possibly can get. But I have news.

First, I got a new tattoo over spring break. I wanted another one for quite a while but I never could decide what. And then I saw all those nice knitting tattoo on ravelry and I knew immediately what I wanted. It was done in St. Louis at Iron Age and I am very very happy with it. After a bit over a week now it is nearly healed and most of the scabs fell off. It didn't hurt half as bad as the one on the ankle and I didn't even have to hold Ted's hand. But afterwards it itched like hell.

The second new thing are two little rats Ted "rescued" from the lab in his school. They were supposed to be snake food. They have to much rats right now so Ted was allowed to bring two home. They are about 6 weeks old girls. One is white we named her Charlotte and the other one is Elizabeth, she is black and has a white belly and white paws. They are very cute and we got them some nice toys and we play with them every day. The cats are very confused. Katinka just sits in front of the cage, an aquarium, and stares whereas Felix wants to hunt them - it's a bit like Kitty TV. We might get a third one but she is a bit to young right now and not weened, we have to wait for another week to take her home.

That's all the news there is. I am still knitting socks - two on two circular needles and it is going very good - as soon as I am done I will post pictures.

Its's me again

2008-03-15T18:27:00.002-06:00

Ok ok ok, I am still here. I haven't written in forever. But I am busy busy busy with a lot of thinks one of them of course my dissertation. It's going slowly but surely. The beginning of the semester was so stressful I didn't have time to do anything at all but grading papers, writing abstracts for conferences, doing a translation project and just trying to keep the apartment at least half way clean. Now is spring break and I still won't have that much time for my diss. We will go to St. Louis tomorrow and stay till easter Sunday. We were supposed to go to Paul and Steph and the kids this weekend because it's Paulena's first birthday tomorrow, but Ted had to take his stupid tests for teaching. So we will go to Farmington sometime during the week and then next Saturday.

We went to Garden City on Thursday and left Friday. Ted had a job interview with the High School there. I am not quite sure what to think about it. It is in the middle of f*$%****ing nowhere but it also has a certain charm. We saw some really cool thinks on our way (a 5 and a half hour drive). Big birds, dead and alive (including a dead barn owl and an alive bald eagle), we saw miles and miles and miles of prairie, including some burning prairie, we past the Santa Fee Trail and stop to have a look around - you still can see the dents in the ground from all the wagons. And Garden City itself is famous for having the two largest meat packing plants in the world - hence the smell of cow shit everywhere. But we saw a gigantic feeding yard with at least 50 000 heads of cattle - it stank horrible. We only stopped for like 3 minutes to take some photos and my cloth still smell like cow shit. But it wasn't bad and Ted is seriously considering it for a couple of years, especially because the cost of living is really low and we could save up some money.

I did some weaving again today after I finally broke down and bought a bobbin winder. I made good progress but the yarn is horrible and I never again will used this kind.

But I did a lot of knitting lately after I finally learned to knit in the round. I made a hat and some fingerless gloves and some leg warmers. I will start tackling socks over the break - I will report on this when I am done or have given it up. It is all the fault of Ravelry that I knit so much lately - so many cool thinks and people who make it - I am addicted to that site, plus I am addicted to knitting right now. For Photos of my newest creations, go to flickr there you will find it all.

Ok I guess that's it.

Hats

2007-11-11T14:23:00.000-06:00

I've been crocheting lately, especially hats, kitty-cat-hats. I made one for me in purple and one in brow-greyisch for Ted. Both feature kitty cat ears and they are very cute. The cats don't like them very much and Katinka is just staring at us when we wear them. But I am not really a hat person, to much hair, but I made my hat a bit bigger and it fits great and doesn't just slide of my head.
Besides the hats I made a few fingerless gloves. I always really liked them and I finally found a nice pattern and made some in different colors. I am also working on a big afghan - I was planning on getting it done this winter, but I doubt it. I really like the pattern, its a ripple and I love how it looks. Unfortunately I have way to many things I want to do and I am very impatient - so hats and gloves are fine, but blankets are not so good for me.
Besides I don't have time and my pinched nerve isn't very happy about any kind of needlework.
Ok back to the more serious work - the dissertation.

Yoga and it's risks

2007-10-13T13:20:00.000-06:00

Ok I picked up doing yoga a couple of weeks ago and really love it. Every Monday night I enjoy one and a half hour of stretching my muscles in the weirdest positions. Ok I have sore muscle the next day, but I can live with that. Unfortunately did I not only get sore muscles last week, but also a pinched nerve in my right shoulder - so my right arm is in pain and if it doesn't hurt it is numb. I still love yoga and will be back for the new class in a week, but it really sucks big time. My yoga teacher called me on Tuesday and was really concerned and asked if I am all right - I thought that was so sweet, but it didn't take away the pain. But she told me I should get back and shoulder rubs - yeah so now Ted has to rub me and not always the other way round.

New Watch

2007-09-29T19:11:00.000-06:00

I finally got it. The pink Casio futurist watch I wanted since, forever. We saw the watch at Hobbs, our favorite local store, that has all the cool toys and great watches. That was about one and a half years ago. And since that day I wanted it, ok it was $90, but ... So on every occasion my beloved husband asked what I wanna have - I said the watch and ??? .... I never got it, because Mr. P said, yeah it is so expensive and we will get it much cheaper in Europe - ok. We were in Europe all summer long and did they have the watch? - no of course not. You can't even find it online.
And I thought Hobbs had sold it, because I couldn't see it anywhere. And way an behold we went in there last night and what did I see - my pink Casio watch and I got it, without any discussion. It is an early anniversary gift. Yeah, I mean our anniversary is in November but Mr. P got his present in August. Of course it was a watch, but this is the tradition.
So here it is now my new watch that I love so much.

Me again

2007-09-25T15:46:00.000-06:00

Ja, I know after months of silence, ok there were some posts in the other blog, finally something new.
So the semester started with a bang and I cant believe it is nearly two month in the semester already. I am teaching business German and 2nd semester and I have to get used to teaching every day again. Fortunately I am not taking any classes myself, except Dutch reading knowledge, what is rather easy. So I don't have to write any papers or have to read things for classes - thats rather weird. But I am not lazy, I have to work on my dissertation, especially since I promised Heide I will have the first chapter done by the end of next semester - that means all the theory part.
So but until now I was kind of lazy - after I passed my exams three weeks ago I didn't do that much, but I deserved it. So I decided I seriously have to start working this week and get things done.

Other than school - I started doing yoga once a week and I love it. It is so great I I ask myself every day, why I haven't done this earlier. Granted I am in pain for the rest of the week, but I hope it will eventually

Hunt the Cat

2007-05-21T16:23:00.000-06:00

I played a fun game with felix last night - called hunt the cat in the basement. The other night the door to the basement was open - who know why - and felix decided to go there and hide, becuase all the hiding places in the house are not good enought for a little very scared cat.

After we found out that he is really in the basement (a litter box with paw prints) I put out some food and sat next to the food and waited very patently. And after 45 minutes I hear a little pathetic "meow" and sure enough there is a little Felix cat showing up and coming up to me. After a lot of rubbing and loving I grabed the little boy and took him upstairs. Of course he went hiding imedently but at night when we were in bed he showed up for his loving.

Now we have to see how it will go once we are gone for three month, but I think he will be fine.

Done

2007-05-07T15:08:00.000-06:00

Its weird, I am done for this semester and the semester isn't even over yet. Ok I still have to grade like tones of papers, but other than that I am done. All my papers, translations etc. I dont really know what to do with my time yet - ok that is just a joke I have enough to do to prepare for Germany and my research this summer.
But it is nice to come home after school and there is absolutely nothing to do and I dont even have to feel bad when I just sit around and read or watch TV.
Enjoy it while it lasts - the summer will be full of work and until Ihave my Dissertation finfished there wont be so much time of sweet nothingness.

2007-04-26T15:41:00.000-06:00

Ok I have so much to do thats why I decided to write my blog - ne ne I was already busy today and I deserve a little break - maybe.
Anyway as Germany is getting closer and closer I am getting more chaotic by the day. I cannot forget anything important and because we will be gone for three month there are a lot of things to think about. And now the Husband has a new guitar and this is mainly what he ist doing for the last week and what he is going to do for the rest of the time here - I have to do all the planing myself - I dont really mind, but then I am the bad one if i forgot something.
After passing my exams and figuring out what to do dissertation wise - Heide will be my adviser now, what is ok with me - I can relax a bit in this regard and just concentrating on finishing this semester and then finally Germany - of course I am counting the days.

They Can be Friends

2007-04-02T20:09:00.001-06:00

They Can be Friends
Originally uploaded by KansasGirl.

Yes they can be - at least sometimes. But they are getting better together and snuggle and clean each other. Ok but this is actually only a test blog, how well it works from Flickr. I am still searching for the perfect photo sharing community. So far i think Picasa Web is pretty decent, but there are some things I dont like. Flickr is nice too and I like these little batches. But if I want to really use it I have to pay for it and it is a bit confusing sometimes. And the uploader takes forever whereas if I upload it directly from the page it is very fast. I will see how it goes and by the summer I probably have made a decision.

Exams

2007-03-26T09:59:00.000-06:00

Ok now I am getting kind of nervous even so I am never nervous before exams. But it is only two more hours. I think I studied enough but who knows. This will be more or less my last big exams. Ok the oral one in August, but I am not worried about this. Right now I am most worried about the one on Wednesday - genre, novel - why the hell did I choose novel as my genre?! I know much more about novellas and even dramas - anyway now I did it and I have to do it.
I decided I am not going to study this morning, so I just have some coffee, write some blog and try to relax. The time at 1pm might sound good for an exam, but I prefer times like 11am. You know than you just get up, get ready and write your stuff. But now I have a couple of hours I have to kill and I dont really know how. Anyway, in an hour I will leave here, drop by at the Kade Center real quick to give Ted a kiss and a hug and than exam number 1/3 will be there.
Cross your Fingers. Drück die Daumen.

Spring Break Blues

2007-03-19T21:23:00.000-06:00

Yeah ok it is spring break but I am busy and studying and cant really enjoy the break. i was lazy this weekend - I mean study wise. The baby came on Friday so I watch Steph in the night and than Carrick in the morning - unfortunately he gets up at 530 and after about 3 hours of sleep I wasnt really ready for an active 2 year old. But I managed very well and after visiting the Baby and Steph in the hospital and a late breakfast at IHOp there was not much left of friday. But the little girl is extremely cute. And dont really want to put a picture up because I dont know what Stephs opinion is about that and I first want to ask her about it.
And so I decided for the weekend I have weekend. We were in KC on saturday and in Topeka on sunday - went shopping and had fun.
But today I sat down and work seriously. And I went to the gym and I hope I can keep my promise to myself that I will go every day for the next week - we will see. But after a long day of studying and sitting around I need something to get the excess energy out. Leider do they close at 7pm during spring break and I have to go at 5pm - I would prefer to go later at night - anyway.
But I still dont really have any motivation to study, but I tell myself two more weeks and than you are free.

Three Words and than to bed

2007-03-15T19:50:00.000-06:00

Just some little things from my busy overloaded mind. I have to get up early tomorrow because I have to watch Carrick in the morning and maybe longer - whatever the doctor tells Steph and the Baby, but I guess it will come this weekend. Unfortunately has a little two year old way more energy in the morning than I do. But I will manage.
One more week and than my exams are there. It is Spring Break but I will be studying - but than on the 30th I will be done - ok if I pass my exams - and can do things I wanna do. Yeah I have to write another paper but that will be a piece of cake compared to the exams. I will watch TV and knit and crochet and get the sewing machine out. I will plan my trip to Germany, I will just sit and read stuff I wanna read, I will go downtown and walk around and all that without feeling bad about it - it will be heaven. But until than work work work, study study, study ... and now to bed.

Grrrrrrr.... and Baby Blanket

2007-03-05T16:50:00.000-06:00

I think this here is the right place to get some of it out. I dont even know why I am so frustrated. Anyway, my dissertation adviser just called me very urgently in today and I had no idea what he could want - now I know. He just wanted to tell me that he will leave the university by next semester and that I have to look for a new adviser. Being a very small department it is not that easy to find somebody for 19th century. So I more or less have only one choice what would not be 19th century per se but at least somebody who will stay and has some experience. I totally understand my adviser why he want to leave and I am not mad at him at all, it is just frustrating. I really liked him and he was a great adviser and I enjoyed working with him a lot - he kicked me and set me deadlines and I need this. At least I havent started yet with my dissertation, just the proposal and I was more or less the first one he told, what I thought was very decent of him. And he promised me to do everything that I can postpone my orals till august - yeah for that.

Anyway, I just needed to tell someone or in this case something. And Ted is in class and I promised not to tell anyone else at the department yet and I cannot call Mama right now because it is in the middle of the night in Germany.

But one good thing - I finally got "Paul und Paula" as DVD for American Players and with English subtitles. I know what I am going to do tonight.

Oh yeah - the baby blanket for Paulena is finally done. See for yourself on the photo - I think it turned out great. Took me long enough after all.

I am still alive and breathing

2007-02-19T21:33:00.000-06:00

Yes I am still here I just didnt have the time or Lust to post lately. And you should think with the new computer and all that would come naturally - lets face it a new computer doesnt mean typing is more fun. But, it means, no more crashes, everything is fast and because it is an Apple everything works as it is supposed to work - except the Microsoft applications, office in that matter. The only problem is, I miss certain programs. i had this fantastic Literaturverwaltung and it onlys works on a PC. Also most of my CD-Roms, like Kindler and the Literaturarchiv dont work anymore. I think I will spend the extra money on a copy of Windows XP and put this on with parallel desktops - I will see how we will be money wise later that month.

But this was more or less the big new and exciting thing lately. But what should happen I constantly work on stuff for school and dont have time for anything else, except maybe making sure our household doesnt collapse totally. One April is here everything will be better, than the exams are done and I can breath again.

And than there are only 92 more days until Germany - yeah.

Just a little photo today, Katinka was a good girl and stood still while I took a photo with the computer.

Christmas Tree

2006-12-03T12:47:00.000-06:00

Yeah - we finally decorated our tree last night and it is very pretty. I know we just have a tiny littel one but it is better than nothing. And because we are getting ornaments every year we actually have something to hang on it - quite a lot to hang on it. And then I bought a little snow globe (I love snow globes) and we have some stockings and so we ended up with a cute little christmas corner.
So far the cats stayed away from it and we dont have any broken ornaments - we'll see how long that will last. Notice the glowing eyes under the tree - thats Felix starring at the ornament.

Viele neue Sachen

2006-12-01T20:16:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of new things and toys I have - ok it was my birthday after all.
1.) I bought me a new camera - from now on the pictures will be even better. It is a Panasonic Lumix - the cool thing is, it has a Leica lense. I love the camera, it has so many features - I still dont know all the things I can do with it (yes I know I can take pictures with it). And it is tiny with a giant screen - I mean seriously that thing has 6 Megapixels but it is not much bigger than a deck of cards.
2.) I got a pair of pink and black cowboy boots - really cool and suprisingly comfortable. I always wanted them and than the nieces wore theirs the whole weekend and I just needed to get some. So Ted stop at a Western Boots store in Columbia, MO and I tried on about three dozen, but eventually went with the pinks - pictures later.
3.) I got a really, really, really beautiful amber necklace and ring from Ted -and he picked it himself. It is very pretty and I love it.

Thats it so far - ok I think its enough - the Mama package has not yet arrived, so there will be more to come - yeah.

The Kitties again

2006-10-08T09:13:00.000-06:00

A new update on the cats. After we let Felix out the little Bedroom he was hidding for a week from us, but than all that sudden he came out and wanted to be loved on. Now he is comfortable around us and we can pet him and pay with him. Sometimes he still is a bit jumpy, but that is ok. He is a little cute cat and learns a lot from Katinka, unfortunatly all the bad things. The two got friends, after a lot of fighting - they still do that. I just had to pick them appart. And it is mostly Felix who is provoking Katinka - but they also snuggle and Katinka is cleaning him.
But I never thought that two cats can make so much more chaos than only one. They are running around and throwing stuff done and are wild. Sometimes Katinka gets anoyed that Felix always wants to be near her, but fortunatly does she still have some places the little one cannot get to - like the top of the bookshelf. But he can get on top of the kitchen counter what I am not that happy about. Especially because he seems to eat everything. He had Hash Brown Casserole including onions from my plate and he is trying everything. Katinka is such a picky eater and he doesnt care as long it is food.
And Katinka has a new favourite place on the kitchen counter - in the bread basket. We had it for about 5 minutes and she was in there - I knew it beforhand that she would love that.

Contacts again

2006-10-05T13:23:00.000-06:00

Finally, after years and years with glasses I decided to get contacts - again. I used to have them like ten years ago, but got an eye infection and my prescription was strange, so I stopped. And I still think I look better with glasses - anyway. But amazingly I had no problems whatsoever to get them in the first time, its like riding a bike - you'll never forget. So far I am pretty happy with them. they make everything so much bigger - that will take some time to get used to. And I still have some troubles to see things clear up close - no problems in the distance so. Ted likes it a lot and maybe we go and get him some too, but his astigmatism is so bad, that will be expensive - we'll see.
No pictures for that, but what should they show anyway.

moosmutzel

Katinka's new friend

2006-09-07T11:47:00.000-06:00

... or isn't he?!
We got a new kitten - Baby Bun or Felix. To make a long story short, he is a feral cat and Ted's parents rescued him and his mama from under the neighbors porch. He is abput 9 weeks old and a little cutie. We brought him up to the vet and he got checked and his first shots. Unfortunatly he does have worms so we have to keep him isolated from Katinka. But that isn't that bad, because we want to socialize him first. So he is locked in the dungeon (Ted's computer room) and we spend a lot of time with him. We brought Katinke in a couple of times, but she isn't sure what to do with him (usually her toys dont move). He on the other hand tries to be as close to her as possible.
So on saturday the quarantine is over and we are going to let him out in the bed room. And once he is 100% socialized we will let him run around in the apartment.

The Tale of One Cat

2006-09-07T11:34:00.000-06:00

This blog is after all dedicated to my little monster Kantinka, that's why here the story of Katinka.
Two years ago my husband and I someday had the idea that a cat would be nice to have. Up until that point I was everything but a cat person - they hated me and vica versa. So we went the saturday after thanksgiving to the Pets Mart and pick a little gray, furry cat. She was wild, she was kind of ugly and we loved her from the first day on.
Unfortunatly did she turn sick after about a week - ringworm, kennel cough and everything else. And we were going to leave for Germany three weeks later. So we left this tinny sick kitty at the in-laws and they took great care of her (ok, except the incident with the freezer, but it probably killed her ringworm).
After that she was just our littel princesse of the universe - and she took it to heart.
Now she is two years old, spoiled rotten and our little fur daughter who thinks she is human or at least a dog (she fetches!!). She knows the word "beef" better than the word "no" and drives us crazy, but we love her anyway.
The picture shows Katinka during one of her favorite pastimes: protecting the cover while I try to make the bed - we play that game every morning.

Tattoo

2006-08-22T11:27:00.000-06:00

I always wanted it - ok since about two years - now I finally did it. I got a tattoo. It is the same motive my husband has on his arm. Mine is just much smaller, because it is on my left ankle.
We were talking about this forever, but we never had the money to do it (I never even had an idea how much it would cost). We still didnt have the money, but I worked so hard during the summer I deserved a little treat. So we just walked in the tattoo studio in town and wihtout even thinking about did it. It turned out great - all the little details. So because we were so pleased by the results Ted got his redone - it was 10 years old and very faded.
It hurt a bit, but not that much and I squeezed Teds hand during the whole time. I told my mum on the phone and thought she would freak out, but she seemed to like the idea and thought it rather cute.
The motive is from an ancient mosaic in Crete and about 6000 years old. It still looks a bit shiny, because I have to put ointment on it and the scabs peels of right now, but in a week or so it will just be beautiful.

Amigurumi

2006-08-22T11:06:00.000-06:00

Yeah now I am infected, too. I love these little cute critters and even so my crocheting skills are very basic I managed to make some of them allready. And I am getting better and better with every new creation. The bear I made for my husband Ted to fit the ugly bunny I made him first. And the bear was the first one I made I actually am not ashamed of to show, because he turned out rather cute.

My next project was the Amineko, I love these cats, I decided on black and white and think it looks nice together. He sits on my desk and watches over me while I am on my computer. That is, if Katinka doesnt throw him down, because she hates him. I just took him down to the bed for the photo. I am going to make a grey one that looks like Katinka, except the spotted belly - I dont know how to do that, but with the one white paw and huge ears.

My new little Toy

2006-08-22T10:52:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I finally sold my car (it was sitting in the parking lot for over a year and wasnt running) and got a little scooter instead. Now Ted decided to go back to school, we really just need one car and the scooter is perfect to ride up to campus and run errands around town. I always wanted to have one, but never had the opportunity or the money or for that matter the drivers license (in Germany you need an extra license to ride a moped and that can cost you a couple of hundred Euro).
But I found a little, cute, used, German model !!!! in the paper and I love it. Not only because it is German, even so there is some sentimental value to it, because MZ is an East German Company and years ago my uncle had one. It is easy to ride and makes it 40 mph and has no problems to go up the hill to campus, even when Ted is riding it, who is quite a few pound heavier than I am. Ted put little black spots on it, so now it looks like a dalmatian - he put the left over spots on my helmet, now it matches.