the weekend, assorted stuff

Okay, enough with the weird dreams! I hate waking up from a weird dream, only to go back to sleep and continue in like mode. No more all-night international flights, 'kay? Ditto the driving-around-for-hours looking for a place to live, narrowly escaping hurricanes flooding islands and roads turning into muddy fields and deserted steel mills in the background. I suppose it could have been worse. I was doing some poking around on the internet last night for some needed info for my WIP, and well, now I know waaay more about funeral homes and what happens to your body after you die than I ever, EVER wanted to know. At least I didn't dream about that!

My weekend is over, for which I'm grateful! Saturday was good, but it was cold. We took some kids to a Jugendfarm where they have animals and also have events on school holidays where kids come and build stuff like pirate ships. The German kids had all seen animals before. The American ones, seriously, they'd never been close to goats or geese or anything like that. Strange. But I guess the Americans are all military kids, and you probably can't have a lot of pets if you're moving who knows where every three years. Then we had a bunch of other activities that involved bricks and hay and wooden posts (Three Little Pigs, anyone?) and food and even some crafts that I didn't expect any boys to do only they did. So that's good. No big activities in April, but a major trip to Frankfurt to plan for May.

Then Sunday (yesterday) I was able to get the piano playing over with. It went okay, mostly because I left out a lot of notes. Today is errand day (uh, ten overdue library books, anyone?) and then I'd like to dig into the WIP again. I feel like there are so many up in the air things that I will go crazy thinking about them. The only thing I really can make any progress on right now is the writing. Although I must say, I'm intrigued by fabulousfrock's character sketches. Hm...maybe I should do some drawing today, too.

I wish a nice day for everywhere, where some of the things you're endlessly waiting for finally come through!

stem cells

Good news!! After countless typing sessions, they have finally found a stem cell match for the girl in my daughter's kindergarten who has a rare blood disorder (Fancomi anemia) that prevents her body from producing new blood cells. All she needs is a donation of healthy stem cells, something you can get as easily as a plasma donation--but it has to match five or six DNA points. It's a one in 20,000 chance of finding a match. They had one last summer and just before donation, the donor got pneumonia and was barred from donation for a year. Well, thousands of people in Germany have registered--and the donor is, once again, someone from America. Go figure! Still no match for the little brother, although for him it isn't urgent yet. It's been a very stressful event for everyone involved, but provided it all goes well for the two kids, they should feel good that thanks to them, thousands of other lives might also be saved that otherwise wouldn't. Not only people with Fancomi anemia can benefit, but also many, many other people with leukemia who only need a simple stem cell donation to keep living.

So--if you have an extra $50 you don't know what to do with, consider registering yourself in your country's stem cell bank. All it takes is a cheek swipe. You may be asked to donate some blood in a couple months, or two years, or maybe never--but you could just be the one person who could save a life.

And, cross your fingers that all goes well for the actual transfer that's coming up. I want to see that kid healthy again!!

Yes, I know this is my third post today

It's 13 C, which is 55 F! Not to rub it in or anything, but maybe some of you snowbound North Americans should consider moving north to Europe? The sun is shining and flowers are coming out. I even hung my laundry on the balcony instead of my dining room! (Of course--if you move to Europe you'll have to get rid of your dryer, too. Hm. That is a rather large tradeoff.) Now just as long as the lady who runs the tutoring center next door doesn't go out to have a smoke over my clean laundry, we'll be good for today.

Anyway, I hate it when I don't understand things. I'm actually doing pretty good with the language. People don't a) switch to English the moment I open my mouth or b) talk really loud in case lack of language skills really equals deafness. But today was definitely the day of old men with heavy dialect. The worst was at the post office. I went to mail off tax forms and my 3-year-old was with me and all I caught was something about the kid getting something. There are a lot of businesses that give out grapesugar candies or balloons, and I assumed it was something like that--I mean, the kids have gotten gummi bears and crayons and who knows what at the post office before. And since it's also our bank, I figured it was something like that, and said yes. Um. So there is this huge long line, but the postal worker goes out to find one of the bank people, and next thing you know I'm being ushered into a small office and another lady is giving my kid a coloring book to work on while I chat with the man at the desk. And of course then I see the ad about some kind of pension plan through the bank. Uh...And the guy wants to get my account started, and wants to know if I have other children (I just said "yes," since it wasn't exactly the time to go into just how many I have) and show me how much I'll save each year and also let me know that the government will then send my kids free stuff. Uh, yeah. Then I had to explain that my husband yes, works, yes, gets paid, but that it isn't exactly the situation he's thinking of (a fellowship from the German government), and starting this summer we won't even have a German address any more. I mean, planning for retirement is good, but um, a German retirement plan won't really do us much good if we're in America. Man. It would be sooo much easier if everyone just spoke the same language!