17 August 2008

brrthday and beyond

ja.. i made it to almost 30..
friday i had an open-house style party, starting at 4 and going till 11:30 at night, people were free to just stop in for as long as they liked. we had cake and coffee (ben und karo made my favorite american chocolate cake for me, according to my family recipe) and in the evening grilled.

now i am in stuttgart spending some quality time with a certain young man. while here i will be visiting several groups that do work similar to mine, and try to learn a bit from how they do things.

02 August 2008

singing in the rain, mopping up the aftermath

yesturday it stormed in bremen. a heavy, driving, thick rain... a texas rain. a rain i haven't seen in germany before. and, i loved it! i left my watch and phone by the front door and ran out into the street. in no time at all i was soaked through and through.. and i stayed out in the rain, walking and enjoying for the duration. most people looked at me kinda funny.. germans don't just let go and experience the weather.. one african lady rolled down her car window and yelled over, "oh yeah! that feels good! enjoy, enjoy!!" and i could tell, had it not been for her car she would of joined me for a dance in the rain. yeah, i am wierd.. but i love summer storms. it was the best part of texas living.


so after the storm, i was baking a cake for heiko's birthday and andreas' visit (ok, i started pre-storm, but hey..priorities!) and karo and ben came over with a bucket (i made too much batter and it didn't fit in my kitchen bowls anymore).. they were down in the basement feeding fraidy and called up "uhm cate, there's a puddle.." puddle? maybe fraidy missed the litterbox? no.. the "puddle" was ankel deep and covering half the basement apartment. we spent a good chunk of the evening using the mixing-bowl-bucket to throw water overboard.. erm.. outside. carried the carpets out, mopped and sponged and aired... i need to go down now and see if anything is moldy or stinky and check for damage.