Ich traeume von einem Haus ... von unserem eigenen Haus, das wir endlich kaufen koennen, anstatt immer nur Miete zu zahlen. Erik und ich reden schon seit Jahren darueber, aber er hat immer Einwaende, von wegen es sei zu gefaehrlich: Was ist, wenn wir eine Hypothek aufnehmen und dann der eine oder andere von uns seine Arbeit (und damit das ( Read more... )

Am Sonntag hatten wir Besuch von einer Deutsch-Amerikanischen Familie in unserer Nachbarschaft, die ich ein paarmal getroffen hatte und besser kennenlernen wollte. Der Vater ist Deutscher, die Mutter deutschsprechende Amerikanerin, und sie haben zwei Jungens, in der 2. Klasse und im Kindergarten. Ich schrieb hier ja schon, ich will mich bemuehen ( Read more... )

Note: I am making an effort to use my German at every opportunity possible. For interested readers who don't know German, there will be a translation link at the end ( Read more... )

Yesterday, Erik, Cecily, and I spent over six hours at the State Fair, joined by Erik's sister and her boyfriend. The weather was beautiful and not too hot, and fun was had by all, though we had some tense moments when Cecily wanted to run free and we had to force her back into the stroller. I was terrified of losing her in the huge crowds of ( Read more... )

I'm almost done working at the ESL institute. The regular session ended today; next week, I'll still be there part-time with the Youth Program students, but then that's it. I'm not burning my bridges - quite to the contrary - but I need to leave there for now as I gear up for the school year starting at the high school, with my new schedule and ( Read more... )

( Health update )

We have now been living in Powderhorn Park neighborhood, Minneapolis, for one year and one week. When we moved here I had good intentions of introducing myself to the neighbors - after all, it was exciting after living in an apartment building of 30+ apartments in San Diego, to be in a duplex here, on a block with ... for want of a better word ( Read more... )

In this video, she practices walking, coloring, and spooning her own yogurt, amongst other achievements.

Good news - Erik came back from Wichita (where he had been sent for work) after only one week rather than two. I had been doing OK with Cecily, and getting some help from friends & family, but I'm still happy to have Erik back early. For one thing, he's much better at putting her to sleep than I am (I'm better at giving her a bath though). (And ( Read more... )