Busy Bee

That's me.

(and that rhymed. ha!)

Things have been busy here lately. I know I've been awol for over a week. We've been doing a lot lately, and I'm having a party at my house this weekend. So, I've been getting ready for that, plus cooking for potlucks & birthdays, etc. BUT, I have lots to blog about. Wine tastings, restaurant reviews, Aycock Anniversary, etc.

So, stay tuned for more blog action.

But not today. The party is tomorrow, and I'm doing my normal "wait til the last minute to get things done" routine.

So, are you excited for more blog posts?

I know I am!

Ankleversary

Today (well, yesterday by the time you read this) is my ankleversary. It's been one year since I broke myself by falling down a mine shaft.

Ok, I didn't fall down a mine shaft. That would have been a way cooler story, though. Instead, I just forgot about a sunken living room in the middle of the night. You can read the original story here.

Here are some refresher photos for you:

Both sides broken, plus I managed to dislocate my ankle as well. How you dislocate a broken ankle, I'll never know. I still remember the double "snap" though. Eeeesh.

And, technically I didn't have my surgery for another two weeks or so, but here are the post-surgery pics:

9 screws and a plate. Sounds like a dirty diner special, eh?

And, here's the surgery site a few weeks later (and it's gross....the blood doesn't really gross me out, but the long leg hair does).

Ew. Amirite? That's like Amish-level leg hair.

Well, it's been a year now. My ankle still hurts every day. Not bad. Most of the time I manage to just forget about the slight ache. But for looong days of walking, it sucks. And loooong days of climbing up and down stairs (the down hurts more than the up), it sucks.

But, I do have a super cool scar.

Here's where I should clue you in on a fun fact about our cat, Rufus. He LOVES LOVES LOVES feet. As soon as Josh or I hold our foot out for him, he comes running. He loves to rub all over our feet, and then he'll lay down, and expect us to rub him all over, while he's laying on his side. It's the cutest thing ever.

Today was no exception. I was sitting on the floor doing some recycling stuff, when Josh came over to take pictures of my scar for the ankleversary. I take my sock off, stick my foot out, and sure enough, Rufus comes running over to get a little foot action.

There are only two good shots of the scar in this set of photos, but I had to put in the Rufus shots. Enjoy.

This last picture is the best. It's like he's in kitty heaven.

Here's hoping I can go the rest of my life without breaking anything else. At least, the rest of our time in Germany. Although our house here is 3 stories, so I'm not going to hold my breath.

Oy

I have the stress.

No particular reason.

Somebody buy our house in Ohio. Right now. Please.

Ooooorrrr...somebody give me a super awesome job on base. A job that doesn't entail being a waitress, or bagging groceries.

HALP!

Bad Dürkheimer Wein-Nächte

A few weeks ago, we went on another nighttime wine walk, this time in Bad Dürkheim. And, I forgot to blog about it. Mainly because I tried to block it out of my mind. It wasn't a BAD wine walk. We just all had way too much. Waaaayyy tooo much.

Bad Dürkheim is a spa town, about an hour from us. There was a big group of us, so we had to take two cars.

Now, Josh did bring his fancy camera with him....but he brought the wrong lens...and for some reason, brought his flash. Sometimes I wonder about him. So we didn't get very good photos.

For this wine walk, we paid €17(ish) to get in, but that included a glass, and 15 tickets for wine tastings. This area was much bigger than the Freinsheim walk, and more hilly. We were guessing that this one was at least two miles long. Throughout the vineyards, there were 13 wine tents set up, along with some food tents. At each wine tent, there were at least 5 different wines you could try (typically a mix of white & red, sweet, half-sweet, and dry).

The BEST part about this wine walk was the lights. There was a huge beacon of light pointing to the sky, in the middle of the vineyard. Plus, there were a bunch of trees & a few buildings lit up with spotlights that would slowly change colors. One large building at the far end of the vineyard had green laser beams shooting out of it, across the vineyard and over the town.

Unfortunately we ended up going backwards around the vineyard loop, so for half the walk, the lasers kept threatening to blind us.

Here are some of Josh's (not so good) photos. Doesn't really do the place justice.

Looking out over Bad Dürkheim.

See? Pics not so great. Oh well.

I think the reason the wine hit me so hard is that these places aren't the most vegetarian-friendly. I ate a pretzel. I didn't have as much wine as the guys, but they all had stew, sausages, meat sandwiches, etc. I ate a pretzel. I could have had a crepe, but that was 2/3 of the way in, and I had just walked up a big hill, and the line was really long and slow moving, so I chose to sit instead of eat a crepe.

We have our very own Rainbow Coalition in Germany.

The lights that tried to burn our retinas all night.

As we're coming around to the last quarter of the wine walk, a lady hands us a bunch of tickets that she wasn't going to use.

Then, the guys get the bright idea to buy bottles with the tickets, instead of just tastes. I can't remember if it took 5 or 10 tickets to buy a bottle. But I do know that they bought at least 2 to share between four of us.

I think.

We finally made it back to the car (although I was really slow because of my stupid ankle, and I got slightly left behind), and the ride home was quick. I think.

The next morning, after sleeping til at least 11am, we felt fine. Just couldn't quite piece together the last hour of the night.....
It could have been worse, though. Some friends of ours that were on the walk with us had to be at the Frankfurt airport the next day at the crack of dawn. That wasn't the best morning for them.

And that's the last time I do a 15-wine wine tasting with nothing but a pretzel in my stomach.

Although, stay tuned for a post in about 2 weeks. We're going to a wine bar in Trier that has 150 wines (pour your own glass) that you can try for €15.

I'm not really looking forward to that one, to be quite honest...

Que??

Remember my gripe post from the other day? I was listing things that bother me, and one of them was weirdo names like Princess Smegmaface, and Bananapants?

Well, this takes the cake.

Please click here.

I hate people....

But, I DID have a good weekend. Here's a quick recap (I have a sick husband at home, and he's whining for attention):

Lunch & spa date with a friend
Belgian bar
Taco night with friends
Bingo!
Karaoke (no, I didn't sing)
BBQ promotion party
Easter brunch

Also, I think Josh now has a sensitivity to shrimp. And our car got hit in a parking lot on base. And I didn't win bingo.

But, all in all, it was a great weekend. However, now I'm exhausted and must recover.

Silence of the Lambs with Mint Jelly

It's not often that I go on a vegetarian rant. I'm not ashamed of my vegetarianism or anything, I just don't think it's my business to meddle with what other people choose to eat. My husband eats meat. I (sometimes) cook it for him. I don't LIKE to do it, and he knows that. But I would NEVER have a fit because somebody is eating meat in front of me. Having said that....

I REALLY don't understand the tradition of serving lamb for Easter dinner.

Let's all celebrate Jesus by slaughtering babies.



The lamb judges you.

Do you like Seafood?

That was my favorite joke when I was little. Ok, I still do that joke now. But only for my dad, because it gets him every time. I still get hit in the head when I do it, but the hilarity is worth it.

you know what this joke is...

Courtney: Do you like seafood?
Dad: Yeah....
Courtney: ::takes bite of food, chews, then opens mouth to show dad:: "Well how's this?"
Then I get smacked.

Get it? See food. Seafood. Ha!

Anyway, if you remember my gripy post from yesterday, I had to make a cake. Josh's office was having a seafood-themed going away party. (wut?) I don't know the first thing about making seafood. So, I did the next best thing and made an ocean cake.

Here's the cake that made me have serious stomach issues all night. (well...it wasn't the cake, so much as it was the leftover candy that I was forced to consume....like I'm gonna let jelly beans go to waste...)

I'm doubting if it was worth the inevitable ulcer of the lower intestines, and the 5lbs I will no doubt gain.

Also (and this has been bothering me all day)....the fish aren't bigger than the sharks. The fish are just in the foreground, and the sharks are in the background.

I have to tell myself that, or my OCD will take hold, and ruin my brain over this cake.

More Things that Bother Courtney

I'm in a poopy mood. I spent all day baking a cake that ended up weighing 20lbs, easy. Plus I may have burnt it a little bit. Plus, it only rose to approximately 1/2". Plus, I decorated it with candy, so I had all these open bags of candy around, so I ate some....okay, lots. Plus, Josh went to the Belgian Bar on base (ha! alliteration) without me (I NEED A CAR!!!), so I drank his last beer at the house. Now my stomach is full of jelly beans and beer, and I may puke. Or poop all night. I don't know, but it's awfully gurgly, and I don't feel the greatest.

So, seeing as how I'm in a poopy mood (figuratively, and most likely soon-to-be literally), I feel like griping some more. So here I go.

1. I hate it when people type "bwahahaha" or "bahahaha". Mostly because it reminds me of somebody that I really really really don't like. Plus it just irks me.

2. Please quit naming your child retarded names. Pretty soon, we're going to have people named Blexlina, Falafel, and Triskadelphia.

3. Also, please quit spelling your child's name like that. The name "Jane" should not have a number, a symbol, 4 extra vowels, and a z.

4. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: your is possessive, and you're means 'you are'.

5. I just took a break from blogging, because the Mister came home from work. He brought home the mail. In the mail was a German bill for €137 for riding in an ambulance to the hospital when I broke my ankle. This bothers me greatly.

6. Forgetting to check if there is any toilet paper before I sit down.

7. Buttered popcorn jelly beans. Why?!?

8. It really bothers me when Josh trims his beard. He leaves beard bits all over the bathroom sink, and the shelf over the sink (where I keep my toothbrush). Yes, he was born in a barn.

9. Whenever we buy a case of German beer on base, it comes with a freebie. Typically it's a free glass (but we have gotten t-shirts and a barbecue set before). Also, when we go on wine walks and tastings, we get free wine glasses. I have a cupboard full of freebie glasses. 75% of them have to be hand-washed. I'm really lazy. But Josh (and most of our guests) drink out of glasses when they have beer. That means the next day I am hand-washing enough glasses to make me feel like an 1860s saloon wench.

10. Not having enough money to do and buy everything I want. Someone send me some money. I'll send you happy thoughts in exchange. I'm sure I'll get over my funk just in time to cash the check.