Blech

I seriously had ambitions for this week, but this -->
has become my whole world for the moment. Only with more pounding migraine pain.

We now return to our regularly scheduled madness...

In true poltergeist or bad penny fashion, I'm back! A break seems to have been the right remedy because I feel refreshed and energized and ready to tackle the year like the Army Wife version of David Harris (LB for the NY Jets who leads the NFL in tackles and yes, I totally had to google that info).

I have spent my time taking stock of how I really want to spend my time and what subjects I really want to talk about, as well as modifying my volunteer commitments to suit my time, temperament and skills. Turning this into a once-a-week picture blog is, right now, the most visible result of that decision-making process. Of course, I reserve the right to post more often if inspiration strikes, but it's a more efficient use of my style to do something really meaningful once a week rather than something obligatory every day.

I have been on-again, off-again about whether or not to drop the FRG co-leadership position which has been challenging in some not-great ways, but after talking it out with the other person, I think we've reached a compromise that will allow me to contribute in the ways I'm good at, while sparing me the headaches that come from proverbially bashing my head against the brick wall aspects.

Part of the FRG decision had to do with another volunteer commitment that I've assigned myself and which I'm a little hesitant to reveal yet because I haven't officially started. I will say that it's an incredible personal opportunity to polish some of my skills that may (just may, mind you) lead to professional opportunities later. I am really excited and can't wait until I'm able to share more!

There have been personal development classes, interesting reading, meandering dog walks through frozen fields, a kid who made first runner up in her school spelling bee, internet problems, noisy basement construction, trip planning, photo taking, soldier supporting, dog hair vacuuming, dish washing, laundry sorting kinds of activities that seem to advance on me like a stampeding herd of water buffalo, then trickle away once completed in a careless sort of distraction - completely uninterested in me after I've tied myself into knots to accommodate them!

I may be assigning a bit more enmity (not to mention intelligence) to a pile of dirty clothes than it strictly deserves, but I swear the dishes are conspiring against me to multiply in the night.

Not to bore you with talk of the weather, but the self-restraint Mother Nature has shown in NOT snowing or raining on us in several days (even going so far as to allow a blazing winter sun to shine through - twice) has contributed immensely to my good mood. In further proof that I am incurring a huge karmic debt by revelling in my good fortune, I give you this week's picture, for which Heidi actually sat still and posed, turning her head to look at the camera instead of rushing over to knock me off my squat and licking me to death.

Station Break

I'm putting this blog on a brief hiatus while I... a.) work on a couple of other projects I have going on and b.) figure out exactly where I want this blog to go.

My goal was to be nakedly honest with every picture and post and I find that trying to keep up that level of intensity on a daily basis is just too much. At the same time, allowing myself to slip back into glib and self-congratulatory humor leads to laziness on my part, and I find myself lacking motivation to post every day. I'm leaning strongly to modifying to a once-a-week post, which will improve the quality of my pictures for sure, but I still have to come to terms with the level of candidness I thought I wanted to post here.

This will be here until somebody knocks it down in a drunken Fasching haze.

We took the Christmas decorations down this weekend. Usually, I'm itching to take them down the day after Christmas, but we didn't have many up this year and nothing that was in the way, as a tree seems to be after the presents are put away. Also, Germans keep celebrating the Christmas season right up until Fasching in February, so there are still decorations scattered about town.

Case in point:

Found this as I walked the dog around downtown Schweinfurt today. Everything is closed on Sunday, and that makes for a nice stroll when the sun is out - which it totally was today!! To tell the truth, I'm relieved the holidays are over. Ro did a fantastic job of keeping the holiday spirit around, but I could tell she was trying extra hard because I was... uh... not trying as hard. I wouldn't go so far as to say "sulking," but definitely not feelin' it.

With the weather taking a break from the doom and gloom, and the holidays safely tucked away in their boxes in the basement, I can start focusing on 2011 and all the awesome stuff that is going to happen this year. Awesome, expensive stuff - but totally worth it!

It's not too big!

People sometimes ask me how I maintain such a positive attitude in the face of this deployment. I usually look over my shoulder to see who the heck they're talking to, and then when I realize they mean me, respond, "I play with dolls. Voodoo dolls of every member of Congress." It's a great stress reliever!

But honestly, I have to give props to my daily walk with my dog. I don't really push myself physically - it's not like I jog or anything. But that's mainly because I have a hard time staying upright when I'm LAUGHING SO HARD.

Ma petite Cezanne

Ro asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and I said a 26-inch waistline and a private, nekkid reading of "To A Mouse" from Gerard Butler. She gave me a look that could wither a marble statue and asked what I might like from her for Christmas. I asked for some of her artwork to put in a little frame and went to sulk about my waistline.

I'm not embarrassed to tell you that I totally cried when I opened this. Big, fat, drippy tears that dumbfounded Ro and that she will no doubt remind me of when next I tell her to stop being so dramatic.

Saucy

I wanted to have the thank you note in my in-laws' hands before I posted this picture, but since their note is still sitting on my desk waiting to be mailed, I guess that's not going to happen.

This is one of three (three!!) awesome, awesome cookbooks they sent me for Christmas. This one is 612 pages and in addition to giving a brief history of sauce making (ancient Greeks used fermented fish guts - blech), includes the hows and whys and what-with's of basically every kind of classic and modern sauce-making concoction you can think of! I'm so excited I don't even care that I ended that sentence with a preposition!

Anyway, I'm anxious to start my self-appointed lesson plan. The first class is on... lemme see here... [flipping pages] - ah, Liaisons! Oooh, sounds so illicit, doesn't it? Leave it to the French to make "thickening agent" sound dirty.

Okay, I'm off to liaison with something butter based. See you after my heart attack!