books, books, books

i am enjoying a lazy sunday while i wait for sean to wake up so we can go hike the philosophenweg here in heidelberg. while i wait i decided to do some research and figure out which books to order. amazon.de has improved their selection of english books since the last time i was here, and though it is a bit more expensive it's worth it.

anyway, i came across this blog. http://fogtdal.blogspot.com/ if you have 5 minutes, go read the first post. if you're anything like me, you won't be able to stop. i'm going to have to peel myself off this couch in a minute but i can't wait to read more. needless to say, i'm going to order peter fogtdal's book, the tsar's dwarf.

i'm also ordering the following...

the girl with the dragon tattoo by stieg larsson
shark's fin and sichaun pepper: a sweet-sour memoir of eating in china by fuchsia dunlop
a portable identity: a woman's guide to maintaining a sense of self while moving overseas by debra bryson
the widow clicquot: the story of a champagne empire and the woman who ruled it by tilar mazzeo
the magus by john fowles

i'm always open to suggestions if anyone has any. and kimberly, i'm finally ready to start before i die. tonight's the night. do you think i'll finish it in one sitting?

i can't stop making this...

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001330zucchini_bread.php

since sean and i eat zucchini with almost every meal, i always have extra in the house. this recipe makes two loaves, and when i give half of one to the neighbors and boney sneaks in the kitchen and decimates the second loaf i usually end up only getting about two slices. so it's been okay for my figure as well.

plus, there's just something about home cooked bread with flecks of green that i love...

how to get kicked out of my house

Well, I don't think it's a big secret to some of you that I've had a rough week. I have had the misfortune of having the single most inconsiderate houseguest all week long, and last night it got even worse. I need to get all this off my chest.

So I've developed a list of the top ways to piss me off while staying at my house... I'm not making this stuff up.

1. Don't thank Sean for the free hotel room he got you in Belgium.
2. Sit on my couch, night after night, and take control of the remote control without ONCE asking me what I would like to watch.
4. Don't bother putting your dishes away. I'm here to serve.
5. Leave my guitar laying on the couch where dogs could jump on it and hurt it. And while we're at it, play your annoying guitar music. Whenever you like. Really, don't bother asking if I want to hear it. It's not like my house is so big you could go in another room.
6. Make yourself a cup of hot chocolate in the largest coffee mug I have and leave me no milk for my meager cup of coffee in the morning.
7. The one night Sean is home, grab the remote and don't bother asking him what he's interested in watching. It's okay, it's not like it's HIS television.
8. Be playing my accordion without asking when I return early from a dog walk.
9. Offer to clean the kitchen when I've prepared your meal, then don't even bother to push in your chair and go ahead and start watching TV while I clean up after you. Again, I'm here to serve.
10. Spend an hour trying to get the number one spot on each sport on our Wii Fit. Move on the the next immediately with a comment about your new number one record and having beaten us. Of course I don't want to play, so don't bother even asking.
11. Don't say hi after you've disappeared all day. Just ask me if I have any German chocolate. Preferably with almonds.
12. If we're in another country and it is snowing heavily from there to my house and I ask you to hurry because the roads could be bad and I'm not used to driving in blizzards, take your time. Make me wait 5 minutes for you every 3 minutes so you can take photos... It's okay, I'm probably just joking about the weather anyway.
13. Help yourself to my scalp massager. It's obviously something I would want to share with everyone. Make sure you let me know every time you work one of your tangles out.
14. Throw Vodka in my face when I pour you a shot at the German event organized in your honor. I understand, you want something else. I'm sure I deserve it.
15. Tell me on your 6th night that I can't stay with you in Austin. Because I was counting on that. I don't have two houses and countless friends there... I wanted to stay in your hippie commune...
16. Tell me the reason you are such an ass to me is because I look just like a girl you used to know. Of course that makes a difference!
17. Threaten to turn your girlfriend against me so she'll never speak to me again.

Well folks, she may never speak to me again, but I certainly hope that's not the case as I do love her dearly (though am obviously SERIOUSLY questioning her judgment). This morning I waited until they came downstairs, asked Brian when he wanted to go the the train station, told him I wanted him out of my house immediately, and dropped the two of them off about 30 minutes later.

I have never been so angry and insulted in all my life.

ODOGGIES

Thanks to Kimberly for the heads up about Obamicons!

I'm back! Sorry Mom...

so my mom gave me a hard time tonight about not blogging lately, so here i am...

i'll give a brief update of what we've been up to.

since mom and dad didn't come for christmas, we decided to get out of town wherever our marriott points would take us. we ended up in monaco for four nights, then switzerlad for two. monaco was lovely. beautiful weather, even more beautiful yachts. we brought the girls of course, and one of the highlights of the trip was the constant search for our fork (used to feed the girls their wet food). the maid took it on day one. it was returned on day two, and the entire hotel (which was practically empty) was in on the search. it was AGAIN taken on day three. completely my fault, as i should have known to HIDE it from the maid, and is still missing to this day... incidentally, the maids there also organized the books on my nightstand by size. it was a bit too much. we had great italian food, spent a fabulous day in nice, and lost and won fifty euros in the monte carlo casino. switzerland was lovely and cold. fondue, skiing, and a little shopping for a fondue pot for mom. a consolation gift, if you will...

my friend (and cousin sarah) arrived on new year's day and we spent a fabulous evening here with a few friends and more than a few bottles of prosecco. we managed to piss off the neighbors shooting off fireworks from our balcony, but she couldn't do anything as this is perfectly legal. fireworks are sold in grocery stores (and other places) for exactly two days, and EVERYONE shoots them off. it's a country of pyromaniacs, and my husband is right at home with that...

went to brussels with sarah and her boyfriend and found the coolest bar ever. seriously. ever. anyone who comes to visit and wants to go to brussels will be taken there. drank about 3 glasses of strawberry wine, which i have to figure out how to make. visited the waterstone's english bookstore and came home with a bag full of books as usual. thank god for waterstone's, as the book selection here is awful.

sunday was our 6 year anniversary, and the start of a new anniversary. next year we'll be marking january 11 with a celebration of 7 years of marriage and 1 year since the first time we went naked in public. yes folks, you heard me right. for a brief period of time on sunday i joined the nudists on the top floor of the thermal baths at baden-baden. it was odd, and i saw a lot of things i could have done without seeing. sadly, i discovered i am a looker. it's hard to avert your eyes, i'm telling you. but i dropped the towel in the sauna and briefly let the freezing cold air outside hit where freezing cold air should never hit. bravo! my mom is very proud of me. not that my mom is a nudist, but we'll say that i didn't inherit my modesty from her!

anyway, that's the latest. mom, i'll try to be better now. here's a photo of me in my badass retro bathing cap that i sadly bought on the way OUT. somehow i think had it been the only thing i had on, being naked would have been easier. a fabulous hat would do that, i think...