Amy and Paul's Visit

I was sooooo happy to have Amy and Paul visit this week, even if it was for such a short time. Yay! My first family visitors! Some highlights:

-Eating yummy rolls with cheese, meat, jam, and yogurt for breakfast.
-Getting some running shoes from Amy and some lovely requested American things from my mom.
-Paul saying, "I didn't know that guy was going to try to kill me" after running across the street.
-The classic view in Dresden, followed by the fortress museum.
-Amy and Paul laughing their heads off at the word "Dampfschifffahrt."











-The mosaic of the Saxon kings.











-Amy laughing at Paul at the Zwinger.











-Talking to Amy in my room late at night.











-Feeling like an idiot because I missed the bank's open hours and couldn't withdraw with my card, meaning I had no money to be a good hostess.
-Amy and Paul saying we should take the audio tour at the Monument to the Battle of Nations. (I didn't know Amy had taken this picture of me. I think it shows a nice contrast of sizes. Where the scaffolding is it's just the top of the external stairs.)













-Amy giving Paul a kiss halfway down the monument, with Leipzig's city center in the background, and Paul saying, "That's gross."











-Eating Döners.
-Going to the motette at the church where Bach worked for 25 years (Thomaskirche).
-Hearing about the history of Leipzig from Jenny and Seppl and in two museums.
-Going to the organ/block flute concert at the church where Leipzig had its peaceful protests behind the wall (Nikolaikirche, and the protests continue but now for other things).
-Everyone jumping when the organ started a song with a bold first note in contrast to the Japanese traditional flute music.













-Eating Mike's first and awesome attempt at rouladen.
-Paul excitedly researching German history online.
-Going to ward 1 because I forgot about daylight savings.
-Translating fast and testimony meeting.
-Hearing Paul play the piano.
-Eating rouladen again at Fingerles' and chatting with them.
-Eating birthday stollen.

Here's the last picture before they drove off. :(












Come visit again! (Or just come visit!)

Warning: Dating

I had to laugh when I saw this ad online. I think it speaks for itself. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.


Happy birthday to my nephew and niece this week.

My Job

Two months ago, I was thinking about buying a ticket to Salt Lake. Then I looked at my bank account and got scared. After securing a job interview at a kindergarten, I felt confident to do what I'd been thinking of for a while: I walked into the English school that has been opened next door to my apartment building and asked if they needed teachers.

A few days later, they called me to fill in for other teachers, a job which I quite enjoyed. I signed a freelancer contract and was offered a good wage because of my bachelor's degree. After accepting a permanent class, guiltily letting go of the offered kindergarten job, and learning that I really disliked teaching the kids' courses, I was soon helping people sign contracts on open-house days. Now I have five of my own adult courses every week, plus the time I spend in the office and filling in for other teachers.

The company has two offices. The one next door is brand new and hip (and its convenient location is awesome for someone who likes to do their writing at home):

When you walk into the building, this is what the hallway looks like (I love this about German apartment buildings):
















Here's the first view after entering the language school (I really like the flower sticker):














This is the main classroom (roomy and light, but chilly--okay, not as chilly as my apartment):














Another view of the same room (notice the Buddha on the wall and on the window shield):














The bathroom (who knows why you'd want to see this?) And those rugs bug me, they don't go at all! Oh well, have you seen my room?:















The other school is crazily huge and always filled with people and has a whole multitude of kids' courses, where kids have fun games, exciting CDs, colorful flashcards, and the like. It takes at least thirty minutes for me to get there, taking two trains.

Sometimes I ask myself, "What in the world am I doing, working as an English teacher?" First of all, in my opinion, language teaching is the excuse job for every expat. And as we all know, I don't like to be like every expat. I like to be as local as possible. This leads to the second problem. To me for the last year and a half, I've been avoiding English like the plague (except for when communicating with those who don't speak German, such as in this blog). Basically, if someone can speak German, there is never any reason to speak English with them. Ever. Even if they also have English as their first language (we can help each other, right?). So now, I am getting paid for speaking English with people with whom I could very well be speaking German. And I have to really work hard not to be super annoyed when employees talk to me in English, even though they're really nice. We've got the English-speaking areas covered: New Zealand, England, Canada, and America (Minnesota, Texas, and the others I don't know). One girl can't speak a lick of German and she's marrying a German this summer. Which reminds me--every last one of these people who have the expat excuse job also have the typical reason for expats to be here: they all married/are living with/had children with/are dating Germans. Seriously, every one of them. If I were ever to be in a relationship here I could say that I truthfully didn't come here because of a relationship, but because of a love for the land and the language, the relationship came later and as an added plus.

Another thing that makes it crazy to work there is the drama that goes on. One woman's really nice and obviously a good business woman. She just spreads stress wherever she goes and causes confusion with scheduling and keys. Then there are the salesman-like workers she keeps around, thinking they'll make up for the problems she tries to solve that others could have and would have figured out if she'd let them. Really, it just adds to the confusion, with three people showing up for a class and no one understanding what their role really is. Luckily, I haven't let it get to me the way some others have, but I'm not the one traveling across town to get there, or being told in front of parents and students, "I'm going to kill you." I listen a lot to the other employees (one who has fooooul language) and have given her some really friendly, but honest feedback that she didn't really seem to listen to. (For example, I said there should be a verbal warning and explanation before a warning letter, and she said it had to be done that way, even though nothing had ever been said about the subject.) We just have some learning to do together. That's how it is with everyone, isn't it?

But all in all, I find the people there to be enjoyable spice in the soup of life as long as I don't have to be there long. And I really like my students (okay, most of them. One older lady is always confused and who, even when I tried to help her in German when she came to a class too advanced for her, never answered). I love being paid to tell people how to fix their pronunciation, discuss differences between styles of English, and correct grammar (I do those things anyway, and when it's not polite I wish I could).

There's one class where the students agreed to have the class at a different time because they wanted to have me as the teacher, since my teaching was "livelier" (maybe they like my jokes). And my private student is awesome. We laugh a lot and have some really good conversations, such as her story about going to the Freiberg Temple open house when she was a little girl. She even had me come over to have my knee checked by her doctor hubby.

I'm so glad that my schedule there is finally semi-firm so I can get some work done on my thesis (I haven't accomplished anything in the last two months, not even my final essay for last semester). I've thought a bit about taking an online TEFL course, which would boost my wage by 2 Euros per hour. That means I'd need to teach for four months before the extra money would pay off the price of the TEFL course. Since I consider this job a temporary thing, it doesn't seem worth it. (Now I'm wondering if this is why people didn't want to get certified in genealogy at the FHL--they didn't want an excuse to stay there.) Plus, when do I have time to do a 100-hour online course?

Though not being TEFL-certified prevented me at first from getting my own permanent classes, I'm now satisfied with the amount I'm teaching. In fact, on Friday, I told them to stop calling me for Fridays because I need to have time to write my Master's thesis. Tuesday is also free of classes, and the time between classes on other days should be enough. I hope.

So, are there any questions remaining about my job?

It Might Be a Boil If . . .

I recently had a hard, painful bump on my leg (I'm sure you wanted to know that), and being the internet junky that I am, I looked up a few things on wikipedia, including "boil," since I'd never really known what boils were. I found this sentence:

Boils are most often found on the back, stomach, underarms, shoulders, face, lip, eyes, nose, thighs and buttocks, but may be found elsewhere.

Oh, is that all? Is there anywhere they can't be found?

Whatever it was only lasted a few days, so don't worry.

Room Makeover

As I mentioned in my Stollen post, Sabine told me she had some curtains I could have and measured my window. Well, "I have some curtains you can have" turned out to mean "I could get you some curtains." On the following Sunday, she showed me an ad and asked what color I wanted her to order. I was so surprised that I pointed to the terracotta ones. She said she would have guessed that I would pick the orange (the selection wasn't that great anyway). Later, I kept kicking myself for choosing terracotta because I knew that I hated that color but the picture had looked so red, but I felt like too much of a beggar already to ask for something else.

A couple of weeks later, Sabine and her hubby knocked on my door. I was so grateful and glad to see them, and brought them to my room where I had set up a borrowed ladder. She started putting the rings onto the curtains, while he began to say mean things after holding up a too-short pole to the window. He told her how dumb it was that she measured wrong and that she should have measured the frame, not the window, etc. Because it was completely awkward, it seemed to go on forever, even after I made that descending "Oh" sound that says, "that's mean and that's enough."

I was beginning to wish that I'd never heard of curtains, when, after a bunch of shoving and adjusting of something inside the extendable pole and metal shavings flying around the room, he was able to make the thing wide enough for my window. We quickly hung the curtain and all was well in the world. (Sabine told me later that I was privileged to see Eberhard being fussy because most people don't see that, so I must be considered practically family. It made me think of my own grandparents before my grandpa became sweet, an appreciated and much-debated occurrence.)

It's amazing to sleep without neighboring apartment buildings' lights bothering me. It's amazing to be able to change without turning the light off and having to feel around for the tag so I don't put anything on backwards. It's amazing to open the curtains in the morning and welcome the sun when I'm good and ready.

I'm so grateful for the Werners. An unconventional couple, she's taller than he is and is the one who goes to work. They show their love through service, which is the best way.

The terracotta wasn't as bad as I thought. Then I realized the pink sheet I had taken from the used pile in the RIZ would make a good couch cover, so I threw that on. Together, the colors work somehow. (And to all those who are at this moment thinking, "Michelle having terracotta and hot pink in her room? Ha ha ha ha ha," let me say one word to you: "free.") So those two things, combined with the chair Mike gave me to match my piano bench, made my room have a nice new look.

Here's a picture. I like the solid colors, no matter how student-apartment-ish they are.
















See the Andy Warhol bag on the couch that Tanya and John (or Johnya) sent for my birthday? Awesome! A little kid at work kept touching one of the little decorations pinned to the bag (a banana) and then that piece disappeared one day . . . hmm. But anyway, I love the bag. There's a place for my keys, for change, for other little things, room for my stuff (even on Sundays), and it looks so artsy that I want to show it off to people! Thanks!

Reasons to Rejoice

I'm going to be an EFY counselor this summer in Germany! Wahoo!

Happy Spring! The sun is shining in Leipzig, though it's still cold. I am happy to see things like this:






















And, happy, happy birthday to my dear grandpa.

Missing Brain

Do you ever have days where you're not sure where your brain is? I do (but you already knew that). Today I:

-Got up an hour earlier than usual and still didn't get to my job next door until only 5 minutes before class started.
-Set up an appointment with another ENT (for a second opinion in hopes of improvement in the sore throat epic) but made it for the first day of the new quartal, meaning I have to pay another 10 Euros.
-Reached the front door of my apartment building after class, saw that I still had six minutes, and went back upstairs to get a bag for my laptop.
-Went down a flight of stairs and went back for cough drops.
-Realized I'd forgotten the latest Liahona (international Ensign) but left anyway.
-Arrived at the university and realized I'd forgotten the paper that would get me my laptop back.

Then I debated the whole way into the library to pick up a book what I should do since I had an impending work meeting in thirty minutes, decided to try to get the laptop anyway, and succeeded. Wahoo (and the repaired keyboard is lovely)! My brain had returned! Or so I thought! Then I:

-decided that my foot hurt enough that I would wait however long it took for the next train to come. Unfortunately, I saw the train and without thinking boarded the one in front of it, going in the wrong direction.

I made it on time, so it was okay, but I:

-didn't even think to ask if Sarah was back from vacation yet. When someone says three weeks and it's been four, you don't think about it. Okay, I guess this wasn't actually my fault.
-took about ten minutes to figure out who should have the key to the school and where for what day.

But, happily, I:

-enjoyed the sun shining brighter than it has in months (though the wind was still cold).
-went the extra (five) mile(s) to help a patron of the school who was standing outside wondering why no one was there. I took her to my apartment (five minutes after I'd hurriedly told the girl looking at the room that I had to hurry and leave--she was still there when I came back) to call the other school (which was nervously waiting for my late arrival because no, Sarah was not back from vacation), and the lady ended up going to my class--she drove us there.

Unfortunately, I made more time-wasting decisions and:

-ate pancakes at 9:45 instead of going to bed or working on my essay.

But, happily, again:

-the pancakes tasted good.
-I was friendly to my roommate and even shared my pancakes.
-I chatted with Melissa who not only gave me a motivating deadline for my essay, but a reward if I finish on time. (Thanks, Melissa, and everyone else: don't be surprised if I don't have much of an internet presence in upcoming weeks. Or maybe, if I have more of an internet presence. Whichever.)

Anyone else?

Links and Little Goings-On

There's so much I want to tell you about. But, my discoveries of cool things on the internet pile up until I have to share them, so that goes first.

Cute sad bear children's story and illustrations.

Animation of a toddler.

A blog post of funny pictures and videos. My favorite is the little boy who has a mean look on his face when he blows out his sister's candles.

Faces kids make when playing video games.

Calm pictures of the midwest.

You know how I love crazy public transpo experiences. Check out this one with drunk silver miners and this one with the mother who has a garbage bag, beefsticks, and sprite mixed with breast milk.

My talented cousin is going to be a famous movie star some day!

West Side Story and an awesome version of Romeo and Juliet (with impressive dancing).

I've been enjoying the White House blog, which is not only proof to me of the role of technology in our times, but also a good way of getting me to at least be a good citizen and know what Germany's beloved American president is doing is going on in politics. If you're not an Obama fan, I encourage you to at least read this just to see what he's doing. I was especially interested by this post about women's opportunities.

Mormon young women advice in 1912. "Don't let yourself become constipated." Huh? Whoever let's themself become constipated? How is that even done?

Lips with two different colors of lipstick? I'm still debating. I think if there were ever anyone who could pull it off, it would be Melissa Esplin.

Pretty music performed in Leipzig recently (it was a Sunday so I didn't go).

Magnets on crocs' heads? Can you just imagine? "Hey, Crocky, nice hat." "You've got one too." "What? So that's why those dang scientists tranquilized me."

Doesn't that stink about the collapse of the library in Köln/Cologne?


And now for the things I want to share:

I made tortillas for the first time ever in my life. They turned out really well and they are so easy. I'm not sure why I always thought they were so healthy, though. Lard, flour, salt, and water. Hmm. At least they aren't fried in the pan.

I've been looking for the name of this TV show I used to watch after church when I was little. All I remember is that the main character was a teenage girl whose dad was an alien (she could talk to him through this glass pyramid thing and he never appeared on the show), and she could pause time. Pretty classy, huh? Anyone?

I started a sourdough starter. I was kind of mad that I didn't realize you have to refresh it every day and then after a while, once a week. I don't think I'll be making sourdough bread enough to warrant all that wasted flour. However, it smelled sour enough after one day that I think I can just make a new starter a day or two before I want to make sourdough bread.

I was discussing sports with my favorite English student who also happens to live across the street from me, and she again mentioned that I should see her husband, an orthopedic specialist, about my knee. So, on Friday night I went over to their posh loft that looks out into the park, bringing some corn bread with me (it was too fluffy and crumbly, thanks to some yeast that accidentally got into it, a long story). After some small talk, he asked the normal questions and proceeded to play with my leg asking, "Does this hurt? Does this hurt?" He told me that it shouldn't still be hurting and he might suggest an MRI if it continues hurting, just to be sure that it's not ripped. He said the meniscus was definitely traumatized and that something connected to it was also traumatized and thus the hard, tender part at the top of my shin. He said something else about the sensitivity of the "bone skin"--we never figured out what the real medical term is in English. He said I could try jogging, but if I had a lot of pain, I should stop, but that there would definitely be pain at the start. My leg hurt a lot after the re-examination, so that I had to make sure to sleep without my knee resting on the other knee. The next morning, I went for a very slow, very short jog (the first time since December) and it was okay (even though I wasted at least 5 hours looking at very supportive running shoes and trying to decide if it was worth it to spend 64 Euros at the least--even on sale, shoes are very expensive here--and I did not end up buying any).

I played Oh My Soul Hungered at the Relief Society birthday party while a friend played the violin. It went pretty well. I think I'm getting better at playing with feeling. (A brother here told me I need to work on that and that I should think of my boyfriend. When I said that wasn't possible, he told me to think of the mountains.)

I don't know if I need to pay taxes in America since I've only earned money in Germany and since I have a visa here. Anyone? I'm scared to start the German process. I hear it's super hard, but I can't afford to hire anyone.

Today I translated Sister Dixon's farewell testimony. I only made one mistake (that I noticed, and which I tried to fix but got lost in her starting to talk again). Also today, Mike told me I'm looking skinny and that I should eat something (ha ha) and Sister Werner told me I need to eat more. That's hilarious to me, because I'm still chubbier than I was when I first got to Germany--I know only because some of my clothes don't fit anymore. I have been trying to work out every day and eat less (see my fear of starving post if you don't know why that's necessary). My trick is to drink a lot of water while I'm eating so I feel full faster. But that leads to the nice side effect of needing to pee often.

There are some really cool new investigators, one of whom showed up for an appointment yesterday to have a church tour, and we were both surprised to see each other. She was in my class last year. Her prayer after we talked was beautiful. Some day, a friend of mine will start coming to church with me, and I will be so happy that they can share the joy of the gospel with me.

The sisters promised to cut my hair, but the lady in my ward who promised to bring her scissors forgets to give them to me or forgets them on the days I ask. On Thursday, I needed a change (okay, let's be honest here, it was also to cover a huge zit on my temple--the kind that people see and ask if you bumped your head) so I started parting my hair on the other side, which gave me a nice swept-across-the-forehead look. Ever since, people keep saying I look different (according to the sisters, more German) or asking if I've cut my hair. Here's a nice mug shot for you.

My roommate moved out, so there are now two empty rooms. I opened the doors so that light spills into the hallway. I like how quiet it is, but I'm kind of sad about that roommate being gone. People are now coming to look at the one room besides mine that is still available. We're going to be living with one fridge and no vacuum from now on. :(

I've written 2 pages of my essay. Wahoo. More to come.

I'm excited to hear your comments about any of the above . . . (that means "please leave a comment").

Cheese is Yummy.

I don't care that Mike says cheese is milk gone bad.

I like to microwave pieces of cheese just until they're soft and hot, and then eat them just like that.

Or you can buy Brie, stick it in the oven until it's gooey in the middle, cut it open, and dip pieces of bread in it.

And I'm really enjoying the Schmierkäse my roommate left upon moving out. Yum, yum.

Last Request

I have been doing more sitting and staring at my computer screen than should be allowed. I've read all the sources I should use, written lists of keywords, made outlines, re-organized outlines, started five or six documents, and still I'm just plain stuck. I know what I want to write about, I just don't know what I want to have as my thesis. Sometimes it seems like I've come up with something good, and then I realize that anyone would agree with me, or that it's just a history I'm looking at, not a thesis. Am I going to survive writing a thesis when I can't even get past my final essay? Time's a wasting . . .

If When I die, make sure they put something better than a brick in my mouth. A donut or something ought to keep me from chewing on shrouds or other people. Maybe just to be safe, you could put a (big) box of (big) donuts nearby.

On a side note, happy anniversary to my parentals! I love you two!

Facebook Friends Feat

Today I hit 1,000 friends on facebook. Should I be embarrassed? Proud? Who knows. I do think it's cool to be able to catch up with people you haven't seen for ages and who live far away. Here's a cool friends wheel I generated (and it could only manage 600 friends).

I'm still wondering about the last word at the bottom--it sounds pretty Germanized to me. Maybe "enlargen," but "embiggen"?

Meat and Cheese Sandwich

When you find a meat and cheese sandwich in your backpack four days after you made it, do you still eat it? I debated.

Sleeping Warm

This is what I wear to bed:















Hot, I know. Black fleece/thick material is my friend. And that rice sock has changed my life. Pre-rice sock I couldn't always fall asleep because my feet were so cold (even before I stopped heating my room). Now, it's not a problem at all. Sleep and being warm are important to me.

I thank the Lord for my warm bed every day.

Iceberg

I can't stop looking at this picture. It made me think of the way we learned about the id, the ego, and the superego in my high school A.P. Psych class.

I especially love the bottom part. Why is there light coming from below? I want to go swim up the middle where there seems to be a flow of water. Maybe that says something about my unconscious id . . .

Yes I Post Random Things

I was wearing my Young Women's medallion a lot recently, but the chain broke. :(
I've had three buttons fall off recently (two were ones I don't think I've even ever buttoned), and I noticed on time to save the buttons!
I'm talking to myself more than ever, and every time, I say "And I'm talking to myself again" out loud. But I like it so I keep going.
The Dixons are almost done with their mission. :(
I found out that one of the sisters who is here right now went to Olympus High as well--Sister Ryser.

And now to more links since I don't have time for much else.

This Mormon girl swallowed her engagement ring. Oops.

I'm all for listening to classes from online sources on my own time, rather than showing up to class during times when I'm not really ready to listen. How about you?

Sister Dixon showed me this video. She says it gives her tingles and that she cries every time. I just liked it:



Did you know there's a grilled cheese sandwich contest? I went through a phase where no matter what kind of restaurant we went to, I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. It drove my mom crazy. Then it got to where I'd just have them after church on Sunday. I still love grilled cheese sandwiches.

This book display is lovely and doesn't take up much space. Some day.

I've been getting more and more curious about the Kindle, so this article (and accompanying Christmas Story picture) and this article were of interest to me. I also liked the article's call out to Jim Dale (remember how I used to say I wanted to marry him? And I didn't even hear more than a few minutes of Harry Potter books--reading suits me better).

I wish there were a project like this in Leipzig, or every city, for that matter, so I could practice the piano whenever/wherever I wanted.

Dad, and other people interested in Abraham Lincoln (or modern art, or I guess anyone), click here for a nifty Lincoln art project.

Chinese rap? So weird.




I was so happy to read this article about Brigham Young's environmentalism. Come on, saints, we can do better in this area!

Sleep-walking doggy:

Birthday Poem

Oh, and here's something that absolutely makes me happy, a poem my sister Amy wrote for my birthday:

Shabby pink blanket worn half away
cutting your own hair before church on Sunday
Emo music like Augustana and the Fray

Surprise changes: quit my job! bleach-blonde hair!
Internet junkie, 99 open tabs, links everywhere
helping me pack, ridiculous photobooth pics, killer interrupted-poem glare

Strong will: no uniforms! no chocolate! no kissing! no nylons!
fiance troubles, blogging away boys, needing long-johns
old-people-lover, working long hours, Obamacons

Apparently this took her five minutes of spontaneous writing. She is talented, what can I say?

Birfday 2009: Goodies and Friends

On Tuesday, though it's bad luck to wish happy birthday early, Sister Dixon convinced everyone to sing to me before she presented a yummy apple cake she'd bought for the purpose. They were still scared about wishing me happy birthday, which made me laugh.

I started my birthday off right by hearing a singing birthday message from my family. Man those guys can sing.

Then I decided there was no better thing to eat on my birthday than Jiffy--those amazingly cheap muffin mixes that taste so good--though I had to make it a cake without a cupcake pan.

Then I showered and got ready for the class I had to move to my birthday because of the trip to Frankfurt. I almost missed a phone call since my phone was in the other room, but I answered at the last second and ended up taking another teacher's classes in the afternoon because his son was sick.

I regretted taking the classes, wishing I had time for a nap instead. But at least the lady at the language school felt bad for me and bought me an Indian lunch with my one-Euro contribution. And at least I had a lovely time with my one regular student, who later showed up at my apartment with flowers. Oh, and money is nice.

I had the opportunity of video chatting with Amy, which was enjoyable since it's been a while and since I needed someone to be there for me when I opened the present from my mom (a.k.a. "the family"). I couldn't believe all the stuff she'd put in there. Thanks, Mom!

Around 7, Mike came. Then Jenny and Seppl showed up with the lamp I asked them to bring to light up the empty room, followed by the Dixons. Then more came. And more. And more. Mike and I put every available chair in the empty room, and even shoved in the hall couch for more sitting options. (Revealing possibly ten years' worth of dust and garbage underneath.)












Victoria came. Dajana came. Lisa with her darling new hair cut came (and made me very happy to see her for the first time since July). Sophie, Holger, Stefanie, Daniel, and Judith showed up with Aaron. Renny showed up, sat down, and then left again because of a phone call. The sisters stayed long enough for one of them to have a piece of Sister Dixon's crispy banana bread.

It was easier to make a movie of everyone, though embarrassing:



Everyone brought a little something to eat--I contributed only the chicken chunks sprinkled drowned in lemon pepper, which went perfectly with Jenny's noodle salad. I told people not to bring any gifts unless they absolutely would die without a gift, and then to bring a Euro to donate to the cause of a new laptop case. Am I evil?























Then, out of nowhere, a group gift was presented to me! I couldn't believe some of the people who had signed the card--Mike and Jenny made a good alliance in getting me the perfect gift, which I will write about later.

As the evening wore down, we tried to play Perudo, which was interrupted by people leaving and a phone call. As Jenny and Seppl were leaving, they reminded me that I had forgotten to bring out the Stollen. Whoops! (A good excuse to get together Sunday evening.)

We finally played a round of Perudo (which I won) before the party ended, and before I (tragically sad for me) missed another phone call from my family which left me sadly cleaning up the apartment.

All in all, the day was fabulous and left me realizing two things: one, that birthdays can be more fun than I have been making them in the last few years, and two, that I am loved, despite how lonely I feel sometimes. Facebook friends graced me with 69 birthday wishes. Jaes.ch gave me another 11 messages, and my blog and studivz.net a few more. That's a lot of people who took at least anywhere from a few seconds to several hours to show appreciation for me. (Thanks!)

The next day, I baked a pie and delicately brought it to Frankfurt with me, where my birthday twin there provided pizza as we hid out in the ward kitchen before the fireside with Elder Oaks, who was nice enough to come to Germany to celebrate our birthdays.















After the fireside, we ate some of my Stollen with the Wiborny family. I got the pleasure of receiving Aaron's roundabout comment: "I never thought an American could make Dresdener Stollen, but it tastes just like the real thing."

Today, I got several handshakes and belated well wishes, as well as a small book about a goose who didn't follow the crowd but was confident in what she did (the giver said it reminded her of me), a bookmark, and an invitation to lunch, which I followed up with a nice nap and a visit to Jenny and Seppl to enjoy some Stollen and return the lamp.

I think I'm now ready to end birthday week and start March (which should probably be limited in its amount of goodies).