The Windy Season

Friday- Earlier in the day I got to skype with some family. I was able to talk to Jordan before she went to school. It was western day at school on Friday, so she was all dolled out in a bandana, jeans, and cowboy boots. Her elementary school was having a western dance thing...remember that? You were partnered with someone from the opposite sex, and nearly had a heart attack because you had to dance with them. All week in P.E. you practiced the different westerdn dances. Then on Friday your family would come and watch you perform. Jordan was describing her dance partner to me and said, "I don't want to dance with that fool." Well okay then. Aparently she had to teach her partner a few tricks, because he was not rythmically inclined. Who knew our Jordan was such a dancer? Don't get me wrong. She loves the spotlight, but I didn't know she had dance moves. Her P.E. teacher pulled her and a small group of students out of her class to show some of the other students what the dance looks like. She was pretty pumped about that. John's parents came to watch Jordan, so I was able to say hello. Later on that evening Paul, Lenea and I, went to Muddy's Club. They advertised a New Orleans jazz band. Turns out it was a German jazz band that performed New Orleans style music. The singer is very well known in Germany and he has a stellar voice. We decided that he was a mix between Baloo and King Louie from the Jungle Book. He had the voice of King Louie and the body of Baloo. He would just stand there and snap and skat. I just wanted to give him a hug. He had that grandfatherly feel to him. It was fun and the music was stellar! The great part is that they would sing in English, but then between songs they would speak in German. The man who would introduce the songs would get up and speak, and then do a magic trick. It was so bizaar. We were dying in laughter because he would just stand up and speak in such a monotone voice, and then open a billfold that would burst into flames. It was great. Then on the way back in the train some stupid teenagers almost got into a fight. One of the knuckleheads was American. Go figure. It is people like him who give the rest of us Americans a bad name overseas. Yeesh.

Saturday- Ramstein! Ramstein is an air force base and it is so nice. There entire base was so much nicer than what we are living on. Aparently the air force always has nicer things. Grrr. Our downstairs neighbor was going and offered to take us with her. It is about an hour drive from Mannheim to Ramstein, and it is a beautiful drive. I would have taken pictures, but my tummy was too rumbly. It is a beautiful drive, but it is very hilly. I wanted to kiss the ground when we got out of the car. One of the reasons that Lenea and I rode with her is because Lenea has quit smoking! As part of her reward system for giving up the nasty habbit, she gets a treat for every 10 days without a smoke. She decided to get Polish pottery which is sold at the PX/mall on Ramstein. Our PX is Walmart, while Ramstein has a mall. She was a very happy camper!

Sunday- We had guests over for dinner to eat Chicken and Dumplings. Homemade chicken and dumplings. Yummy! We invited Frau Karen, the German culture teacher, and Cathy, the dentist who took the German culture class with Paul and Lenea. Frau Karen is a hoot. She does not hold her tongue, and will tell you how she feels. I love it. Cathy is so soft spoken, but so adventurous. She is going to be my inside guide to travel, because she has gone everywhere! I can't wait to pick her brain and make a list of the top places I want to see while I am here. :) It was crazy windy Sunday too. We had our windows open because it felt fantastic outside. Then all of a sudden the wind picked up and our windows were banging like crazy. It was so windy that B-B-Q pits were being blown over and trees were bending. It was intense! We were told that after winter the windy season starts. Oh joy. I just was spring! Some sun and flowers. Is that too much to ask for? I guess all of the not-so-fun weather will help us appreciate the good stuff.

Monday- Lenea and I are enjoying the beauty of today. The sun is out and shining, so we decided to go for a walk in the sunshine. Then we came in and started laundry. Another 10 loads down.

I wish there was a spell check option on this. Sometimes I start typing so fast that I end up leaving out letters in words, or mix up the order of the letters so the word is not spelled correctly. I miss the red squiggly lines that appear under words in a Microsoft Word document. I need those to say, "Hey! Look at me. You don't know how to spell." Then you right click on the word and it shows you a list of words that you might be trying to spell because you butchered the spelling so badly. All of this to say, please forgive my typos :)