Praise Zeus! We're going to Greece!!

Well I am just about as excited as a honey bee buzzing 'round a cherry tree in full bloom! (I really have to work on my adorable Southern similes before moving to Nashville. But I'm not going to get better without throwing some gutter balls, so the intro sentence stays.)

Anyhoo, today we finalized plans to spend three nights in a resort outside of Athens, Greece, and I could not be happier. Grandpa Grissom is coming for a final Euro-adventure while his oldest still lives here, and we've decided to spend part of that time sea-side. Also, I don't mean to brag, but bragging is a little appropriate in this instance: you see, in fourth grade, I was the president of Athens during our Ancient Greece section. It was far and away the most prestigious presidency to have. I mean, Corinth? C'mon. So, a trip to my former land is long overdue. Between beaches, Greek food, golf for the guys and flea markets for me and my unwitting baby sidekick, not to mention a "family room" which entails two separate bedrooms thereby enabling Will and I to have a light or two on past Edie's bed time, we are ready to go. May 31, see you soon.

Reemergence

Determined as I am to keep this blog up to date in order to have a family record of our time here, lately life has kept me from this task. I would like to take this time for Present Rachael to whine to Future Rachael in order to defend myself from far-off judgment.

First, the weather has been really nice. Freaky nice. The frozen swamp that is Munich has defrosted but not yet swamped-over. Sunny days without hordes and hordes of slugs? Sign me up! (Munich is a wonder and a beauty, but, my God, the slugs. So. many. slugs.) So, no complaining here. But it makes it impossible to stay inside. And my computer is inside. So there.

Second, we got sick. First, Edie teethed like only Edie knows how to teethe - 4 teeth in 2 days. Which is not to say that the symptoms of teething lasted 2 days. Hah. No. Then she got a stomach bug. And then, Will and I got colds. Mine seemed a little worse at first, which should have entitled me to a weekend of pampering and being #2 on baby duty. But, Show-Off-Will went ahead and got a stomach flu, vomiting his way to a lazy weekend in bed while Congestion-Headache-Rach tried to assuage the toddler and tire out the dogs. Edie is 100%, though I can see at least two more teeth in the horizon so baby Tylenol is still in the holster. I can leave the box of Kleeex (who am I kidding? it's really a roll of TP) for up to 30 minutes at a time. And Will is currently having a beer with a friend downtown; so whether he's 100% or not, sympathetic-wife-mode has been deactivated.

Third, I've been a-crafting. Lately, I've made some monster book-ends and a felt robot. The felt robot is a prototype. Its really a toy for a little baby, with it's tags and crinkly innards, but this one is flawed beyond mere homemade quaintness, and Edie likes it. She says "bee boo bee boo boo" when she sees it, imitating the "beep bop boop bop" type sounds Will makes as his robot voice. So, of course, it is hers.

Fourth and last, heavens to Betsy it's hard to keep up with a toddler! And this one is not even walking yet. She is everywhere, in everything. And she wants what you got. Try to eat a snack - "Dis?! Dat?!" - translation, "Give it to me now." Try to do the dishes - smash, splosh, spill - translation the contents of your pantry are now on the floor but if you go to them, the child will climb into the dishwasher. Today, I woke up at 7 to exercise before she got up, but, she got up at 7:15. So, fast forward through making three meals, cleaning the kitchen, living room, and dining area all three times, two blissful hours of E napping - half of which I actually took as "me" time, one trip to the park / dog walk, putting away nearly literally everything in the apartment after she went to bed at 7:45 along with some laundry sorting, my butt hit chair to type this post at 9:45. She woke up 15 minutes later. So my butt did too. Alas. It's not a bad life. It's a great one. It is just tiring.

So there you (I) have it.

E's Buddies

Like many other children, Edie loves other kids. Any one yet to hit puberty is of great interest. Of course, as other parents know, a baby's infectious enthusiasm for her peers is interchangeable with a spastic slap-fest. Edie is also very interested in having the parts of a face labeled aloud for her, so in between not-so-gently slapping her friends on the backs or heads, she jabs at their eyes, noses and mouths, asking "Whas dis?" With her dearest pals, Edie shares kisses and hugs. Kisses are square on the mouth, and there is slobber involved. E doesn't want any ambiguity: a kiss means something. She may also sneak in a kiss of a foot or sock, which are her favorite appendage and accessory, respectively.

Older kids are also of great interest to her, and most older kids are interested in babies as well. We don't know any ex pat older kids, though, so it's mostly the locals that we encounter. And cute as she is, I scare off most of these whipper snappers. My neighborhood is full of 6 to 10 year olds, but most of them write me off as a space alien or some equivalent. Only one is brave enough to talk to me - and thus deal with my broken German and misunderstandings - and one other one tries to scare me by shouting loudly at me as he whizzes by on his scooter. I guess he wants to make sure that I Come In Peace. And I do. Today, on the subway, was a particularly sad moment for Edie's social life. A 3 or 4 year old girl sat on her mom's lap next to Edie and I. E and the little girl stared at each other and even held hands. Until the girl heard me talk. Her mom explained that the baby and her mommy speak English. This seemed cruel and inexplicable to her. It actually made her cry. Poor dear.

Guess I'd better start working on my southern drawl if I want to fit in during this next go 'round....

[p.s. Don't be scared by the first pic. That baby is not actually an adorable but deadly pirate. She's just dressed up for Faching (i.e. Carnival).]

I love Sundays

As I've mentioned, and sometimes lamented, everything is closed on Sundays in Munich. Everything productive, anyways. There are some cafes, a few restaurants and, of course, beer gardens, all ready to go. But you're not going to get any errands run during the latter half of your weekend. In a few months, I'll be back to the US, and I know it won't take long for the pace of life there to creep back into our lives. No-work-Sundays, even as I fight them on occasion, are really wonderful. When we wake up, there is no pull in any direction. Only a lazy stillness, plans for pancakes or a walk in the park.

Edie still has her errands to run, however, so Will and I aren't able to be as lazy as we might like. This morning Edie and I hung out on the floor, drinking green smoothies (spinach, ginger, pineapple, cantaloupe and banana was the beverage du jour). After she downed half of hers, complete with frothy green 'stache, off to playing with Dad's beers and the dogs' kibble. It's going to be another good Sunday.

Big News....

Well, we weren't going to spill the beans on this for awhile since it's still a ways off, but due to some corporate espionage, the cat is out of the bag. Our little fam is moving again, now back to US soil. Where are we off to this time? And this time for GOOD??

Nashville!
Will has accepted a position as a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University (or "Vandy," as it is universally dubbed by those in the know). Move date is late Summer 2011. We are really, really excited. Nashville advice, visitors, and general congratulations all welcome. More on this as it develops!

[photo from http://pamelatuohyjewelry.blogspot.com/2010/09/nashvilledays-7-8.html]

The Haps

Life with a moving baby has kept me busier than I knew I could be, and a year of German residence has kept me light on the stories. Though I'm not much better at the day to day, it has lost its air of oddity. When I hear the doorbell ring, I now know I will not be able to do much besides pantomime with the visitor, so instead of inviting the encounter, I pop my head out the window and, upon seeing a stranger, often decide to find a happy place and just wait out his or her departure. I can understand context-heavy German well enough to chuckle or give a sympathetic headshake, and I'm quick like a bunny to leave the scene once the conversation begins to demand anything further.

So what is up, then?

Will has found a bromance with a Haus Herr friend. Their second cinema date is this weekend. They meet at the Lowenbrau brewery, drink a giant beer, and then go to a pristine original language movie theater to watch a film with no wives nor baby monitors to distract them from their popcorn and enjoyment. Or from their movie theater beer. (They sell beer everywhere.)

I am gearing up for Kinderbasar season. These are basically large, one-day consignment sales of kids clothes. Having a euro-fabulous baby is impossible on a commoner's wages if you want to shop the boutiques. But the bazaars are a fantastic loophole. Last week I tried to go to one with two friends. True to form, my hastiness and ignorance led us to the drop off day for the bazaar instead of the sale day. Though we did find a kids clothes flea market (these are sub-optimal as you are forced to actually talk to the sellers, but there is still some good-getting). I left with a three items, including the pictured summer dress which is, I'm told, a very fancy brand, all for 9 euros. There were a couple spots in them, but I got them all out with the German equivalent to OxiClean. There is nothing like bargain-hunting and crafty stain removal to get my mommy endorphins going!

As for Edie, she wants to walk, but her Grissom-sized skull and wobbly legs just aren't there yet. She lets go of whatever thing she's pulled herself up to standing with to try and balance without hands. Two seconds is our current record. Little missy is also gabbing up a storm. Her vocab includes soft, hot, up, yes, no, dada, Sugar (as in the dog), woof (again with the dogs), sock, and hat. She can sign for "milk" and "all done." And she knows where her feet, toes, belly, head, and tongue are; how to clap, shake, raise her arms, or "please sit back down in your chair" when asked; and also where to find my nose (finding her own is still too subtle a concept, I think). Edie also loves hugs and kisses and gives them spontaneously to her baby friends and to Billy (if she can catch him) and Sugar. Life with a toddler is endlessly challenging, amazing, and often quite hilarious.

The dogs? Well, they are just fine. They are on a reduced-kibble meal plan, as their duties as clean up crew for Edie left them pudgy and infuriatingly picky about what scraps they would eat. This has made Billy more and more desperate for food, causing him to steal from Sugar's bowl and go after leftovers like a Schnoodle possessed. We think he's actually fatter than before the diet. Go fig. Sugar is increasingly wonderful to the baby, submitting to pets and occasional smacks, while grumpy ol' Billy is like a fat Lochness Monster, seen only for fleeting moments during Edie's waking hours. This weekend, they are getting swept away for a day at the lake with our friend and dogsitter Leanne, who loves them so much that she borrows them from time to time just for fun. For the record, if anyone is out there, I would love a day at the lake.

So, to summarize: absentee fathers, new baby duds, conversations with a 13 mo old, and spoiled dogs. And there you have it!

My Eight Legged "Friends"

I try hard not to kill spiders. Well, at a minimum I think hard on it. If one comes near Edie, it does not last long. Otherwise, I far too often ask Will to do the murderous work that I am unwilling to. I'm not proud of this. I had a semi successful capture and release yesterday that reminded me of a story I wrote for my long defunct blog a couple years back. Since I was, back then, too shy to publicize the existence of a personal blog but now have an inflated ego and a lack of inhibition that child birth bestows upon its actors, here it is:

Trying to Be a Better Vegan

I stopped eating animal products about 8 months ago now. I'd already stopped eating meat, and the transition wasn't as hard as I thought, eating wise. It's the being vegan in the non-eating ways that's really hard. Especially with creepy crawlies (*shudder*). Last week I was trying to get some work done in my home office, when in my peripheral vision I spotted a monstrous, hairy, and (I'm 90% sure of this one) angry spider. I've never relished killing spiders, but mostly because the whole thing is a haze of adrenaline, involuntary yelps, and fighting back tears as I contemplate cleaning up the carnage. But now, I look at this ferocious eight-legged would-be killer, and I think, "Hey there, my arachnid brother, let's not get confrontational. Let's try to do this Ghandi-style." So I grab an empty glass and a piece of paper, and I get Leggy McHorrible trapped in a dome so that I can scuttle him out the door. I approach the front door quickly, fumbling to unlock it as I hold the high-tech spider containment system in my other hand. As soon as I step onto the porch, my heart begins to race as I realize that there's been a security breach; it is GONE. Oh wait, not gone, IT'S CRAWLING ON MY ARM! I had not anticipated that the spider was engaging in psychological warfare by pretending to cooperate. This naivete will be the death of me. And so fight or flight kicks in, and today, like many days, I choose flight. I fling my arm about, causing the glass to be hurled on to the cement porch, and all the while an unintentional horror movie style shriek flies out of me. So there I stood, panting, surrounding by shattered glass, with my two dogs looking on with dismay and disrespect. On the up side, I do believe that the spider survived. The down side? I'm down a juice glass and up one cunning enemy.

[photo of spider is actual size according to my mind's eye]