First week of Holidays.

Well we could lie in bed late except that Gerard had to go off to work as usual. He was in fact leaving for England today. He was leaving after lunch so still got to see him at lunch time.
Heidi had left for Ireland on the weekend, so did not get to doing any gym at all this week.
On Tuesday, Lara and I went off to Marcelle in Lauterbach. We had a look around her lovely new house and then sat and chatted. A little later on, Roxy came over with baby Joshua. Lara was in her element then. Had lunch with them and only left to come home at about 2.30pm.
I called in at Mega Company and bought another memory card for my camera.
Went to Sagawe in the afternoon and took a pair of jeans back. The stretch jeans did not fit me comfortably. I managed to exchange it for a really nice jacket, so was very pleased with that.
Gerard got back late in the evening.
It was Roger's birthday on Wednesday, so gave him a ring to wish him. Their land line is not working so the cell phone call was quicker than a normal call.
On Wednesday, I took Lara to Kindergarten, as I was going to Marjory today. When I got there, she was outside. She was waiting for some people to come and pick her apples for her. She asked me if I could do some shopping for her. So I duly went off to Herkules and did that. On my way back, I went via Deichman's and bought myself a nice pair of black shoes.
On Thursday, I literally spent my whole day packing. I tried to get the kids involved but they were not that interested. Marjory called to say that she thought she had broken her hand/wrist. I was not sure as to whether she needed my help or not. She then assured me that she had spoken to her neighbour and had called a taxi to take her to the hospital.
Later that afternoon, we had an appointment at the bank. Robert now has his own "card" account, where he can draw money whenever he wants to. This is where is pocket money will be deposited and any other that he receives as presents etc.
We are hoping that this will give him a little more insight into money matters, and a little more responsibility as far as keeping his own filing system with his banking details etc. Let's see!!!!
Finished off our packing and had the suitcases standing downstairs in the hallway ready for our early Friday morning getaway!!

Birthday's

Well we seem to have quite a spate of birthday's at this time of the year. Gerard's on the 23/9, our friend Klaus on the 25/9, Claudia on the 26/9 and Gerard's mom on the 29/9. Liesel had hers on the 1/10, mine was on the 3rd and my brother Roger had his on the 10th.
Heidi and I went to gym on Monday 1st. When I dropped her off at her flat, the little restaurant opposite their place had put up a teepee. He then put a sign on it saying that it was his guests smoking room. As from 1st October, there is a smoking ban on all restaurants in Germany.
My birthday falls on a public holiday here in Germany every year. This is the day of Unity (it was when the wall in Berlin was broken down etc.) between East and West. So I had asked people around for tea, coffee and cake. Joanne, Melanie and Patrick came down from Eisenach and arrived first. Heidi, Roxy, Marcelle and Claudia also came for the afternoon. Edmond and Ursi came along and I felt quite bad that we all spoke so much English and left her out a bit. I think she must now realise how I felt when I first arrived in Germany and she invited me to her birthday parties etc. Charlie came along for some tea and cake and he, Gerard and Edmond sat and watched sport on TV while us woman yacked out heads off.
I had some lovely messages from friends via email and some phonecalls. Dad forgot my birthday as usual!!!
I went to Marjory on Friday morning and did a bit of dusting for her. Also took her some of my birthday cake. She had also bought cake.
School's broke up today. Robert came home with the worst mark he has ever got for Maths - a 4!!!
Steven came home and did not tell me a word about his marks. Only later when Gerard got home did it all come out. Steven has done very badly in all his tests. Don't quite know what solution we have for this.
On Saturday morning, I went of to Sagawe in Eudorf to go and spend my birthday money on some clothes. I was so pleased to find a number of lovely items and spent 120 euros on them. Gerard dropped Lara off at Sagawe, as he was going to meet Edmond at the tennis courts for his cleaning up session.
On Saturday night, just as we were going to settle down and watch the rugby, Larissa called. I invited her and Gary over to join us. They came a few minutes later and we all watched France play against New Zealand. New Zealand lost and went home!!!!
After a lte night, we had a nice long lie in on Sunday morning. Had a late breafast and then I started painting more of Steven's room. Gary called to say that Larissa and He would not join us for the rugby but were going to Marcelle and Heinz to watch there. That allowed me to finish off the painting without rushing. After the SA - Fiji game, Gerard, Robert, Lara and I went into town and took a walk through the market place. There was a Little Red Riding Hood market on and all the shops were open. It was a beautiful day.