Why Laundry Can Be Fun.

The other night as I was buzzing around at warp speed doing various household chores (go ahead, let that mental image of me in 4" heels, a pink apron and feather duster in hand burn into your brain), Alex expressed extreme interest in moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer.

"Heh-wulp," he said as he reached his little hands over his head.

And so, I handed him each piece of wet laundry (one by one) and he delicately placed each one in the dryer. When it was all said and done, he helped me close the door and I lifted him up to hit the start button. He squealed with delight when it beeped back at him and started tumbling.

Life lesson: I go too fast, and when attempting to maximize every waking minute I also run the risk of missing out on making sweet little memories like this one. And who cares if it takes me 10 minutes to switch the clothes? I had fun doing it...and so did Alex.

Respect The Turkey.

There are a few things that Joey has a very strong opinion on. No white socks with dark dress pants. The kitchen sink must always be clean. Phones clipped to belts look stupid. Saturn drivers are, in general, horrible. And Respect the Turkey.

And so, from today until Saturday, we will be respecting. I will respect until my pants are too tight and my eyes are heavy from tryptophan and Sam Adams. I will respect until I can respect no more. And then on Sunday, we're putting up the Christmas tree!

...and then do you know what happens like two days after that? Birthday Bootcamp!!!

Amsterdamnit.

This is the last of it, I promise. And I'm mostly documenting all this for selfish purposes, because someday when a neighbor goes Palin-crazy on me and spies on my family to write my life story, I would like to make it easier on said neighbor. I'll hang a banner in my front yard that says, "Read le blog." And that's all they need to know.

Anyway, my flight pattern on the way home was Munich --> Amsterdam --> Detroit. Upon arrival in Amsterdam, we were dropped in the middle of a parking lot and unloaded from the plane onto a bus. The bus took us to the terminal where I had to use my life survival skills (thank you, Discovery Channel) to get myself to the gate on time and alive.

Little did I know this would require approximately four hundred and eighty seven miles of walking and three (yes, three) security checkpoints. The first was simply passport control to get into the international terminal, at which the kind (read: big, scary and wielding a gun) officer looked at my passport and said something to me in Dutch. I mentioned that I only spoke English and he very loudly said to me, "But your name is Van Voooormah." I told him that was my married name, at which point he looked at me like I was a seven eyed monster and said, "You have a Dutch husband and you don't speak DUTCH?!?" I mean, really.

At security checkpoint two, I received the invasive pat-down and nakie x-ray treatments that are all the rage all over the news. I sort of felt like a schmoke and a pancake when it was all said and done. They do not mess around in Amsterdam, let me tell you...

Before I made my way to the gate (which was security checkpoint 3, stay tuned), I toured the airport. It was decorated for Christmas, which I love, love, loved. I also bought Alex the cutest pair of wooden shoe slippers and ate the most delicious McFlurry of my LIFE. It had a candy called "Lion" in it...kind of a toffee flavor. Mmmmm....

Oh yes. A casino.

Security checkpoint 3 came as a bit of a surprise - it was actually at the gate. I had to meet with a customs officer and scan all my carry on luggage before being escorted to a big, glass room with no way out except to get on the plane. Once you're in, you're in. There was a bathroom and about 200 chairs for all 300+ people on the plane. Annoying.

Anyway, I obviously made it home safe and sound. I loved Germany--its people, its beer and its pretzels, mostly. I can't wait to go back...perhaps in 2012!

Look What I Can Do!

Getting the hang of this whole "feeding myself" gig.

Sonntag.

Sunday in Munich was technically my "day off," but since Sundays are religious days in most of Europe, everything was closed. And by "everything," I mean all of the lovely shops that I wanted to buy things at!

Regardless, it was a lovely day. Two of my new fave colleagues took me around the city for some adventures and sightseeing. Munich did not disappoint.

This used to be the town hall. It was incredible.

I've never, ever seen anything like it.

Up in the main tower there was a clock with figures that
danced around when the clock struck certain hours.

This was the crowd gathered for the 11 a.m. "show."
It was SO neat!

A cool building we saw walking around.

A REAL maypole!
For those that get the reference,
Miss Linda would be SO proud!

I thought this was funny.

The building was under construction,

so they put a graphic of a church in front

of the scaffolding.

Inside the Hofbräuhaus. AWESOME.

Next, we took the Subway to Olympia Park.

Munich hosted the Summer Games in 1972.
We went to the top of that tower and got to
see a 360° view of Munich!

A view of Olympic Village
(where the athletes stayed) from the tower.

See the Swiss Alps? :)

We finished a long and awesome day of sightseeing
with dinner and drinks at Schneider Weisse Brauhaus,
where I had the most delicious bowl of pretzel soup.
Yeah, you read that right.
I also had a lot of beer, but that goes without saying.

Also? Sorry this recap is taking eleventy years. I have a katrillion pictures to go through and it's been seriously overwhelming to select just a few for le blog. I don't have much more to share, since Monday and Tuesday were "work" days, but I do have some fun pics and adventures from my layover in Amsterdam. Preview: I was violated by a customs officer and laughed at for not speaking Dutch. Because, you know, I have a Dutch husband or something like that.

A Fun Comparison.

As you may recall from a recent announcement, my sister is expecting my first niephew (niece+nephew because they are not finding out the sex) on or around Feb. 14, 2011. She's 27 weeks as of now, so I thought it might be fun to see me at 27 weeks with WIP and her at 27 weeks with niephew.

Kelli is a shortie pants, so I think she's carrying niephew much higher than I carried WIP. What do you think?

 Me 'n WIP.

Kelli 'n niephew.

Better Late Than Never.

We interrupt this horribly delayed Germany briefing to bring you copious amounts of cuteness from Halloween 2010. I realize my efforts to be timely blogger in the recent past have been interrupted by a jet lag-induced coma, but try to stick with me, mmmkay?

Our little Mickey was ah-dooooor-able come the eve of October thirty one. See for yourself:

His pre-costume. It glows in the dark!

Talk about freaky when you wake him up from a nap
in his dark room...

 A quick stop at a cider mill.

 "Pun-kin, Momma! Pun-kin!" 

Suit up, Mickey!

Minnie ♥s her Mickey.

Minnie, Mickey and Pluto.
Yes, we're that family.

His first official trick-or-treat at Aunt Jane's house.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here?"
And yes, his pumpkin even had ears.
My mom found it in Connecticut!

"Thanks for the loot, Aunt Jane, but I've got more candy to get!"

He was truly a man on a mission the entire night. He didn't start to get the "concept" of trick or treating until we had about 3 houses to go, then he would charge straight up to the door and scream "tweeeeeeeeet" until the homeowners had no choice but to hand over their sweet "tweets" to my little Mickey.

Sadly, there wasn't a single Butterfinger in his bucket for me to steal. Tragic.