I took this laying in bed. For whatever reason it is very, VERY bright here at 6 AM.
I safely sequestered them on a vacant shelf in the bomb shelter room downstairs, of all places, before cleaning up and getting ready for bed, because I am tired.
Took Embla to school. As usual, on the way we discussed many matters on varying scales of importance.
I taught her my top secret chair and/ or steering wheel stretch, "thumbs away, ribs up, inhale big, exhale bigger!" ;)
We saw an old-ish fellow with white hair showing off riding his bike on the bike path near the road with no hands, lacing them behind his head like he was taking a nap in the park. Shortly thereafter we saw him spit, and I joked that any old ladies in the area that were checking him were not anymore after that display.
I almost got smashed by an impatient lady on the way back home. I was pulled over to let someone by from the other direction, as one does, and she must have either been impatient or thought I was parked, because she pulled around me go try to get ahead.
I hope you were on your way to a very important event, missy. It would have been an expensive one too if you smashed your Audi.
As it was not quite eight, I was alongside all the other Germans sitting in their cars waiting for Penny to open up at eight. Since they are German after all, punctual to the enth degree, it opened on the dot and I was able to buy my water.
I realized today I haven't described some of the streets and such. There are very few telephone poles here, which makes the scenery a lot more aesthetically pleasing when you are in a town.
You would be hard pressed to find trash on the road or litter of any kind lying around. People seem conditioned to not litter due to either fees or moral feelings.
Germans pay attention. If you are doing something wrong, whether that is failing to shut the door on the Sauna, putting the garbage out near the street too early on collection day, forgetting to take the .50 € coin out of the slot on the shopping cart, parking in a spot that is not allowed, or biking on the autobahn, they will tell you or they will call you on it. And oftentimes it is for your own good, they mean to help you.
One might say that they are "quick to correct", but perhaps, it should be "quick to help."
In most instances they are helping you not get fined or physically hurt, in the case of the Autobahn biker we saw today.
As is our usual Tuesday routine, we began the day on Patch Barracks with coffee. Then Arnheidur took us to the on-base library, which was fantastic.
They even have a recommended selection of books to read for you to read if you or your family member is serving in EuroCom or AfricaCom.
This is very thoughtful, as it would give you a broader view of the history of the place your work with the Army has taken you.
I found two books I might have to bring home from the free used book section. Russian fairy tales and a military history account, of course.
Arnheidur asked me to be on the lookout for books the kids would like and I was very pleased to find Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the free book section, which they haven't read before.
We all shopped at the commissary and got stuff for Erla's birthday party tomorrow and supplies for the cake I'm making.
Rachel bought two coke Zeros and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a pic.
"here, you be Legend, I'll be Better Half."
"Well you're definitely my Better Half, but I'm no Legend."
"You're a Legend because you are my Better Half."
On the way back from base, Arnheidur dropped us off at Breuningland Mall for an hour or two. It's a rather ritzy three story mall in nearby Sindelfingen. Breuningland is kinda like the U.S. equivalent of a Macy's, except nicer.
We had lunch at Frisch, an eatery in the mall that looked straight out of an Ikea catalog.
Soo many shops!
Very fancy sweets aplenty.
Only in Germany do you have a fish market and meat market....at a mall!
Of course, they had an Apple Store.
We uwent in this store called Mangos, which we decided was the German equivalent of a Banana Republic, except it's based from Barcelona.
Rachel got a good amount of items and found some good deals on gifts for her friends and family back home. She is one of the giving-est people I know and has such a heart to bless others that I think the only thing she got for herself was a 3 € scarf, the rest was gifts for her friends and family.
As for me, I bought nothing. I am one of those people who can go shopping for three hours and talk myself out of buying everything I might see. If I already know and have thought about said item and weighed the pros and cons, I am more likely to buy it. My all-or-nothing personality can extend to shopping as well. I'm either buying nothing, or four shirts off the sale rack.
And excuse me, but how come it's always the parents giving the talks on their children's frivolous spending choices?
"Sweetie you already have a teddy bear like that at home."
"You don't need another one of those, you have several almost exactly like that, why do you need another?
What if the tables were turned?
"Mom, you've already got a dress just like that at home....technically, you've got four."
"Why do you need another shotgun, Daddy? You have two already."
Just food for thought.
When I got home, I started work on Erla's birthday cake for the party tomorrow. I will admit that I felt a certain level of intimidation at making a decorated birthday cake without the use of any of the usual tools and various accoutrements I am accustomed to. The thought made me nervous. However, I pulled myself together and was able to locate all the necessary ingredients for my go-to dark chocolate cake recipe that I have memorized.
I honestly couldn't have done it if Rachel hadn't cleaned the kitchen ahead of my beginning the cake, as I needed every bit of what little counter space there is in the kitchen.
Baking a cake from scratch with little equipment was like an episode of one of those food network challenges, except for cakes. Think: No cooling rack, no piping bags, no offset spatula for icing, a half cup and a teaspoon as my only measuring utensils, no cake board, a Celsius oven to fiddle with and a cute little toddler in her underwear running in and out?
Bring it on.
Actually, the oven is quite nice, they have a Bosch with settings for convection options. It reminds me of my oven at home, since it cooks quickly and evenly regardless of temperature.
My homemade marshmallow fondant turned out especially nice this time around for some reason. Must have been the microwave I had to use to melt the marshmallows.
Ugh.
I'm normally a snob about such things as microwaves, but hey. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
I was pleased to be able to use German dairy in my icing. That balanced out my abject horror of using a microwave instead of a double boiler my prep work. You'd think they'd indoctrinated me at the Cordon Bleu or something, but I've never been to cooking school. I must just be naturally snobbish about doing things old-fashioned. And from scratch.
Embla was a natural at covering the cupcakes in the fondant. I told her the basics, turned around to wash my hands, and by the time I turned back around she had one covered better than if I'd done it myself. Methinks I have found a new employee.
We got those covered and I set to work covering the cake in fondant. No mat and no rolling pin was an adventure, but it actually turned out decent, all things considered.
I spent a lot of time making flowers for the cupcakes and the cake. Arnheidur was in the kitchen as well, working on her Icelandic cheese salad to take to the party, so we had a pleasant evening chatting away as we both worked.
And in the end, all things considered, the finished product and cupcakes turned out good enough for three year old's birthday cake.
Everything with the cake went so smoothly that I was quite surprised. I am the type of person that thinks ahead to the 10 worst case scenarios for a given situation or problem and then plans ahead and creates solutions to those problems, except then I remember a little important fact that they are all, well, imaginary. I'm a problem solver, it's just that at times, I can expend a lot of unnecessary energies doing so.
"I have worst cases 1-7 solved, working on 7-10 right now."
It is flaw, I suppose, but I guess that being aware of the problem is half the battle.
So I can solve the problem.
And make myself quit thinking through and worrying about solving the problem of solving the problem.
Ok, I'll stop now. And give you a picture of CAKE!
:)
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