you call that a vacation?
Monday October 22
Boy14 and I remove flotsam and jetsam from his soon to be renovated bedroom and start soaking and scraping off old wallpaper. Mr. M has Very Important Meeting to attend and cannot start holidays until Tuesday.
Tuesday October 23
Four-year-old friend and his English mum come to visit for the afternoon. I ignore spilled apple juice on carpet, cookie crumbs on sofa and endless whining. I was a pre-schooler once too.
Wednesday October 24
I emerge from the hairdresser's at 9:30 a.m. looking absolutely stunning. We celebrate this miracle by going on a family outing to buy new laminate flooring and wallpaper. Mission accomplished, I contract yet another mysterious tropical disease and spend the rest of the day draped across the sofa like a dying swan, recovering just in time to be able to cook dinner and start the laundry marathon. Two loads in, the 12-yr-old washing machine refuses to wash or spin any more. Guarantee ran out 10 years ago. It's not worth fixing either. Oh oh.
Thursday October 25
Mr. M and I set off in search of a new machine. Look, here's one and it's 20% off! I am washing again by 10 a.m. Isn't it shiny?
In the afternoon we smoke some rainbow trout with the neighours and eat at their place later.
I am your worst nightmare
Friday October 26
Spend all day wallpapering Boy14's room, nearly getting a divorce and putting kids up for adoption in the process. You know the deal, it's the ol' German wood chip wallpaper that you paint over afterwards. Double the fun. Did I also mention that this room is under the roof? That means extra math skills that I don't have. I would have liked to have done the job all by myself, but wallpapering? It takes two, baby. There's just no way around it. We manage to avoid killing each other.
Good thing we're invited to a friend's house for dinner 'cause there's NO way I'm going to cook anything for my (temporarily) estranged husband and those ne'er-do-well kids. Hmphh.
Saturday October 27
Mr. M and the boys go to the flea market, leaving me to sleep in. I emerge from the shadows at about 10:30 a.m., my favourite getting up time.
Mr. M: Good morning, Mausilein! I brought you flowers. Am I your Schmusebacke [strange German term of endearment] again?
Me: Oh, you know you're always my Schmusebacke, but sometimes I just hate your guts, OK? Especially when wallpaper is involved. Mmm...these flowers are really pretty, though. Thanks.
Mr. M: I thought you'd like them. How about now? Do you hate my guts now?? Huh? Huh?
Me: I guess not.
Mr. M: So does that mean that you and me...I mean...that we might have a chance to...you know...um...later?
Me: Hmm. I'm still ever so slightly miffed. I'll think about it and let you know.
Sunday October 28
Walls have been painted, new floor is installed. Furniture is next.
Monday October 29 - Tuesday November 30
Room is finito. Cannot take pictures yet because it's full of crapola that needs to be put away. It looks fabulous though. I want my own room too!
Wednesday October 31
Happy Halloween! Sadly, we had no trick-or-treaters this year. Guess who ate most of the candy? Except for the mini Bounty bars because, ewww. Anyone want those?
Boy14 and I remove flotsam and jetsam from his soon to be renovated bedroom and start soaking and scraping off old wallpaper. Mr. M has Very Important Meeting to attend and cannot start holidays until Tuesday.
Tuesday October 23
Four-year-old friend and his English mum come to visit for the afternoon. I ignore spilled apple juice on carpet, cookie crumbs on sofa and endless whining. I was a pre-schooler once too.
Wednesday October 24
I emerge from the hairdresser's at 9:30 a.m. looking absolutely stunning. We celebrate this miracle by going on a family outing to buy new laminate flooring and wallpaper. Mission accomplished, I contract yet another mysterious tropical disease and spend the rest of the day draped across the sofa like a dying swan, recovering just in time to be able to cook dinner and start the laundry marathon. Two loads in, the 12-yr-old washing machine refuses to wash or spin any more. Guarantee ran out 10 years ago. It's not worth fixing either. Oh oh.
Thursday October 25
Mr. M and I set off in search of a new machine. Look, here's one and it's 20% off! I am washing again by 10 a.m. Isn't it shiny?
In the afternoon we smoke some rainbow trout with the neighours and eat at their place later.
I am your worst nightmare
Friday October 26
Spend all day wallpapering Boy14's room, nearly getting a divorce and putting kids up for adoption in the process. You know the deal, it's the ol' German wood chip wallpaper that you paint over afterwards. Double the fun. Did I also mention that this room is under the roof? That means extra math skills that I don't have. I would have liked to have done the job all by myself, but wallpapering? It takes two, baby. There's just no way around it. We manage to avoid killing each other.
Good thing we're invited to a friend's house for dinner 'cause there's NO way I'm going to cook anything for my (temporarily) estranged husband and those ne'er-do-well kids. Hmphh.
Saturday October 27
Mr. M and the boys go to the flea market, leaving me to sleep in. I emerge from the shadows at about 10:30 a.m., my favourite getting up time.
Mr. M: Good morning, Mausilein! I brought you flowers. Am I your Schmusebacke [strange German term of endearment] again?
Me: Oh, you know you're always my Schmusebacke, but sometimes I just hate your guts, OK? Especially when wallpaper is involved. Mmm...these flowers are really pretty, though. Thanks.
Mr. M: I thought you'd like them. How about now? Do you hate my guts now?? Huh? Huh?
Me: I guess not.
Mr. M: So does that mean that you and me...I mean...that we might have a chance to...you know...um...later?
Me: Hmm. I'm still ever so slightly miffed. I'll think about it and let you know.
Sunday October 28
Walls have been painted, new floor is installed. Furniture is next.
Monday October 29 - Tuesday November 30
Room is finito. Cannot take pictures yet because it's full of crapola that needs to be put away. It looks fabulous though. I want my own room too!
Wednesday October 31
Happy Halloween! Sadly, we had no trick-or-treaters this year. Guess who ate most of the candy? Except for the mini Bounty bars because, ewww. Anyone want those?
looks like a few more visits to the orthodontist are in order
Waiter! There's
Bite him before he bites you
you expect me to eat that stuff?
Thursday November 1
I take kids to see Ratatouille. Delicious. Go see it.
Friday November 2 - Saturday November 3
My mind is a blank. Oh wait, that's because I'm trying to block out Mr M's Die Hard marathon. The first three movies in a stunning DVD set. Gahhhh. I can't figure out why my better half gets so annoyed when I refer to them as Bruce Willis in a Dirty Undershirt 1, 2 and 3.
Sunday November 4
Several weeks ago a dear neighbour of my in-law's passed away. She was in her late 80's and had been saying for ages that it was time to go, that she'd had enough. She finally did make a peaceful exit and my mother-in-law asked if we'd like to have any of her things since her family had no use for them. I chose these blue and white Ridgway Staffordshire dishes in the "Windsor" pattern. I think they're so pretty with the birds and the flowers and all. There are six dinner plates, six large soup plates, two serving bowls, one oval platter and three smaller soup bowls with saucers. A nice remembrance of a sweet lady.
As a family of four who like to entertain, we thought it might be nice to have a few more of the smaller soup bowls. Ask and you shall receive because yesterday I managed to score six of them for a song at eBay. I am happy. Now you can come over for soup, too.
Although we didn't get everything on our To Do list accomplished in the past two weeks, we still celebrated the end of all our hard work with homemade sushi à la Mausi.
Itadaki masu!
Yesterday it was back to the old grind. And you know what? I'm OK with that.
Labels: Bruce Willis, Halloween, Herbstferien, renovations
posted by christina @ 5:07 PM
24 comments
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24 Comments:
I so want to buy a smoker and try it myself but have no clue how to go about it, I do love smoked fish. My hubby and I will not ever wallpaper together, haven't in years. Would be horrible for our relationship and he's not sweet enough to bring flowers...he's not German. Have a nice week...yiqta
jvijPuhhh! I'm exhausted after reading this. Where do I start? Sushi looks fab (although, too much does not like me)
We're due for a new dryer since ours had just given up on us.
Excelent tactic with Mr. M. It always works. Get more flowers, then, ... we'll see ;) Oh, you wanna eat? Order a pizza! (a win-win situation if you're not invited somewhere!)
No trick-or-treaters this year either, but we chose to. We were nackered.
Congrats on the finished bedroom. When can I move in? I can wallpaper, too. Did it a gazilllion of times with my mom :)
Puhh. Now I'm really tired! ;)
sorry, the jvij was pat of my word verification. Must have hit the mouse pad ;)
Ratatouille! My daughter loved it. Wide-screen in English, no subtitles, so I liked it too.
You are AMAZING.
I'm coming to live with you!
rositta - For a start you can get small ones that fit into your barbeque. You should check Canadian Tire or Wal Mart or something.
Yeah, the wallpaper really sucks, but you can't just paint the walls here because they're made of stone and need to have plaster put on first and that's another nightmare.
CanSwiss - I actually got to sleep in on some of those days so it wasn't too bad. We're on our second dryer already!
ian - Our theatre rarely shows movies in English any more but the German version wasn't bad either. I haven't enjoyed a movie that much for ages, even if it was supposed to be for kids.
Antipo - If you insist, darling, but how good are you with wallpaper?
That sounds like a perfect vacation to me! New washer, new wallpaper, fabulous food, and gorgeous new dishes!!! I've always wanted to try Sushi at home -- is it very time consuming? ;-)
thimbleanna - Yes, we did have a good time, most of the time. :-) Making the sushi rice is half the battle - I always get nervous and wonder if it's going to turn out OK but you can make it several hours ahead of time and then have your fillings all ready to go. Doesn't take long at all to roll everything up.
OH MY! This does not sound like a relaxing break. I bet you were glad when school started back up. Love the new dishes - count me in for soup!
Dearie me, you have had a most wonderful holiday! the kind you spend the rest of the year recovering from.
That said, you have a new Washing Machine and a few flowers. Be happy.
As a reward I am sending you one of my all-time favorite jokes, can only be understood by those who speak the Queen's English, and is guaranteed to be non-offensive, but also cannot be understood by any German:
It is a beautiful summer day, and Dick the Dolphin is swimming in the sea. (Feel free to make appropriate noises and motions at this point.) (I must point out that this is the sea off England. Even though some experts maintain that there are no dolphins anywhere near an English coast.)
He sees his friend Sid the Squid.
"Hi Sid," he sqeaks. "How are you doing, Sid?"
"Oh hi Dick," says Sid, "Actually not too well, I must have eaten something fishy yesterday..."
"Oh, not to worry Sid, just hop on my back and I will take you for a ride, that will make you feel MUCH better!"
"Ok, if you say so, Dick!"
(Feel free to make some more special effects to illustrate the thrilling ride)
Then Dick sees his friend Willy the Whale.
"Hey, Willy," says Dick, "Nice to see you!!"
"Hi Dick," says Willy. (Do this in a deep whale voice) "Haven't seen YOU in a while!"
"Yeah, I have been busy... but listen Willy, here is the sick squid I owe you!"
(Now wait for the 5 seconds of silence while this sinks in, then the disgusted groans from those in the audience who have understood the joke, followed by the protestations by the ignorant that they didn't get it.)
You had a good hair day in there!
Definately not my idea of a holiday..would probably end up sending kids to orphanage and divorce hubby ... you made me laugh :-)
"Back to the old grind"? Does that mean Mr. M's open question from October 27 has now been resolved? :-)
So I'm not the only one who dislikes Bounty? They're one of those things that if I were dying of starvation I'd still have to think about whether I'd eat them or not...
There's only one thing more divorce-inducing than wallpapering together and that's canoeing together.
holy cow - I totally agree, I'm not so sure how you actually manage to cook and make great treats all of the time!
Congrats on the new washer. Isn't it terrible how long things don't last these days! I hate that too...
And your spider cup cakes, yummy.. Made me laugh too... :)
Those are very scary fish pictures... I like your very vague references to people and places in your blog. It's actually nice to see people taking their privacy on the internet seriously. I think you'd really enjoy my posts about internet privacy on my own blog. It's at eight-thirty.blogspot.com. Check it out if you have a minute.
I seriously don't get the whole smoked fish thing.
I would love to see pictures of the new room!
PS I tagged you!
I love your sense of humor! Long ago, a good friend and I decided that if a couple can survive wall-papering together, they can pretty much survive anything together.
Just wanted to let you know, I will be away from my usual commenting for 2 weeks. I'll be cruising the Panama Canal and I hope to be able to Blog from there. (But you never know!) Check out www.dackelprincess.com starting Tuesday for two weeks and you never know what you might find!
See you when I get back.fgdoj
How fun to come back to this piece of "journaling," Christina! No one does it better than you, and that's the God-honest truth!
I think you are a natural talent, not only with time management. Even with that busy "vacation" schedule you managed to have pictures of every event...and you cooked/baked wonderfully as always! Hope you have recovered somewhat during a "regular" week...
:)
Oh my goodness where do I begin.
I love the cupcake.
Sorry you were sick.
Yuck that fish looks awful.
And how I hate wall papering!
LOL! We've got a pile of mini Bounty bars leftover from Halloween too. Even my chocoholic husband won't touch them!
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