Coffee from a Reusable Ceramic Mug

Clair (spoken with the voice of Chief Wiggim’s son Ralphy): Hi, my name is Clair. Can I be your friend?

Finja (daughter of our friend Sabine): Who is this shrimp?

Clair: I only have one shoe.

Words of St. Theresa passed on from a great yoga teacher and inspirational woman, Mirka

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Or, Merry F***ing Christmas, for your South Park fans.

Christmas was fun and filled with lots of food. We have some lovely gifts from family. Tschibo was a big provide for most of us, and we were all excited to get cool Tschibo stuff - I mean, who isn’t?

I am now sick with the cold Matthias brought to Beckum and gave to Clair. I woke up at 6:00 AM because of my sore throat. I need to wake Clair up soon anyway as my boobs are about to explode (the only draw back to a baby who sleeps like a champ).

Since I have nothing more inspiring to write at the moment, here are a few photos in addition to the few posted below (yes, they all have Clair in them. She was just so darn cute I couldn’t help myself). Time for my post-Christmas yoga practice in Beckum.

Not a creature was stirring, except for Tammy and a very mucus-filled Clair (Matthias can sleep through anything, but he does take the morning shift). She has her first cold, thanks to the germs that infected Matthias.

Some random photos below

Clair meets her Ur-Oma (great grandma) - it’s love!

The morning before the cold came (we take early morning naps together). We looked even worse this morning.

One of the reasons I like our future president is because of the way I perceive his relationship with his family. When I see interviews of Barack and Michelle Obama, I am reminded a bit of Matthias and me in how they talk over each other just a bit and also have a bit of yielding to each others voice in a dance that happens when you are with someone you perceive as your true partner. I haven’t seen many politicians who behave this way with their spouses (and I get the impression that many don’t give their wives with as much respect as they might deserve), and I really appreciate it. It’s also really nice to see a man publicly treat his wife with so much respect and admiration - it’s a great model for their girls to to have. I found this over at Pieces of my Mind, and I thought it was pretty touching. I think I’ll go hold Matthias’s hand now too.

Guess who just discovered her feet!

After a nice meal from Oma, Clair suddenly realized that these little feet with Elmo slippers belong to her! She has been finding them again off an on since, much to her amusement.

Needless to say, we made it to Beckum safely. Oma and Opa have been having a great time playing with the little monster. Tante Sandra and Onkel Julian have as well. Clair has been her usual split personality. She can go from smiling to screaming in 1 second flat! We are all in the living room sharong a bit of wine and French chocolate and passing the baby around. She is very entertained by the fact that she has found her feet.

Here are a few more photos from tonight.

Being inspired by Cliff’s recent economic commentary thinks to the wisdom of Calvin and Hobbs, I thought I’d mention some great podcasts on the economy. Unfortunately, I can set up a link because Matthias dug them up on itunes U. If you go through itunes and search under Krugman (as in Paul Krugman), you get a nice list of podcasts from some talks he has given. We were listening to a great one he did on why the business model for the American health care system is breaking down at the City University of New York (CUNY). It’s called “America’s Unhealthy spending”. He pointed out that actually most health care expenses are public already (the VA and medicare) and mentions that he thinks if the US turns toward public healthcare, it will eventually lead to a system like the VA where the providers are also government run. It was a really interesting analysis and explanation about why prices are ballooning. As it was given before the elections, he also points out some issues with proposed health care plans from the candidates.

For those of you who don’t have itunes, it is free, and the stuff on itunes University is also free to download. You just have to get itunes on your system.

Matthias, Clair and I went to the Romantische Weinachtsmarkt yesterday afternoon. It is a Christmas market held in the Thurn & Taxis Castle in Regensburg. It costs a few Euros to get in, unlike the free ones all over town, so we never bothered to go. We didn’t know what we were missing!

The grounds of the castle small like burning wood because of all of the open fires. There are places to just warm your feet with a cup of Gluewein, fires for cooking the food (mostly all done over open fires), and even an open fire for making the Feuerzungenbowle. The place had the feel of a Renaissance Fair minus the bad actors. For those of you not dorky enough to have enjoyed a Renaissance Fair, it was just like something out of medieval times with lots of food and unique craftsman’s work to buy. Given that all of this was on the grounds of the castle, it was really cool.

I was hungry when we got there, so we got some soup in a bread bowel, and then I saw someone eating fresh waffles with powdered sugar on top! (got one of those too). I would have gone for the deep fried onion that I saw some fellow Americans downing, but it was a big much. There was a meat stand - a half of dead pig roasting over an open fire. Matthias went over to check out all of the big pieces of meat one could by; I, on the other hand, think my bacon fixation may be drawing to a close now.

We plan to go back on Wednesday night just so we can go when it is a little less crowded and when all of the lights are on. Matthias was there with his coworkers one evening last week, and he said it is even nicer at night. I will take my appetite with me as there were many goodies just waiting for me!

I uploaded some photos into our ever growing Christmas 2008 album in Flickr. Here are a few:

The big tree in the courtyard of the castle. Notice all of the smoke from the fires. It reminded me of camping!

A view of Schloss Turn & Taxis as we head into the main court yard.

Mmmmm, soup in a bread bowel….

Feuerzungenbowle over an open fire! The thing sitting over the pot is holding sugar that drips down over the liquor. I am looking forward to having some next year!

Sitting on hay bails next to an open fire in a wooden hut warming our feet. You never see such nice fire hazards in the U.S.!

I don’t really think of myself as a vegetarian (though I answer to the name) because I eat fish (decidedly not a vegetable), and I am very nondogmatic about my eating habits. I have my personal reasons for not eating meat (of animals that breathe oxygen in a gaseous form), but I don’t like imposing my personal beliefs to the point of making anyone uncomfortable, and food can be a sensitive issue for many. If my refusing to eat meat will alienate someone, I will usually forge ahead and eat it happily. The same applies to the few times I have been invited to eat meat that was prepared by locals on their own land.

Anyhow, when mom came to visit to help us during the last days of my pregnancy and for Clair’s arrival, she cooked for us several times. My mom makes some great dishes, and most of them involve some sot of meat. She has been great about trying to accommodate my choice not to eat meat, but he portfolio of favorites, have some kind of dead animal as a main dish. I decided that while she was here, the meat ban was gone, and so I ate the wonderful food my mom offered us. She actually claims that her stuffed peppers are what made me go into labor, and she may have a point - it was the first meat I had eaten since being pregnant. Once she left, I pretty much went back to not eating meat. There is just one piece of meat have not let go of, and that is fried BACON! Matthias and I have been having it with breakfast on the weekends once in a while. I don’t have a desire to eat any other meat, just bacon (only prepared in this way). When I shared this with Sarah, she reminded me of this commercial, and that is pretty much how I feel about bacon at the moment: