Halloween help

Last year Brian and I planned a Halloween party for the kids on the team, but it was kind of last minute and it basically consisted of watching the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and decorating cookies. We're hosting a party again this year and I'd like to add a little pizazz -- maybe some games or something of that nature. But here's the problem: I live in Austria. You might think that the biggest problem with having a Halloween party in Austria is that Austria doesn't celebrate Halloween. However, there's a surprising amount of decorations and ghoulish paraphernalia to be found. No, here's the real problem: No Hobby Lobby. No Michael's. Not even a Wal-Mart. There's no where (that I've found) that has a good selection of products I could use to make games or crafts or whathaveyou. There is actually a store that had plastic jack-o-latern buckets last AUGUST, but silly me, I wasn't really thinking about a Halloween party at that time. When I went back to the store earlier this week in hopes of finding a few buckets tucked away somewhere, there was nothing Halloweenish to be found. However, the Christmas stuff was all out and, having learned my lesson from the Halloween in August situation, I bought a few things.

But enough rambling. I'm really here looking for suggestions. I have a craft planned, so I'm looking for a game or two. Any ideas come to mind? I don't mind making something -- I was planning on making beanbags for a toss game, but since I haven't been able to find the Halloween buckets, that game's out. I need a few ideas. Help me out here!

Oh my darling

I love fall. Have I mentioned that I love fall? But that's to be expected. Who doesn't love fall? There's a lot to love. One of my favorite things -- orange food. I've already talked about pumpkins and sweet potatoes several times, but this is probably my newest favorite orange fall food. Clementines. Yummy.

I know it's early to talk about Christmas, but...

Earlier this year I had these crazy plans of making all of my Christmas gifts this year. The part about making everything wasn't really the crazy part -- the crazy part was thinking that I could have everything finished well before Christmas. I still have hopes of a handmade Christmas, but I'm a little behind schedule. Since I have to mail everything, I only have about 7 weeks, maybe 8, to get everything in the mail. Eek! I'd better get on the ball.

I won't be able to show off my Christmas sewing prowess for several months, but I've been waiting for my sister to upload these photos so I could show off my cute nieces and the matching shirt and dress I made for them this summer.




I used this tutorial from House on Hill Road. If you're thinking about making some of your Christmas gifts this year, I recommend checking out Sew, Mama, Sew blog. Next month is Handmade Holidays with 30 days of gift ideas and tutorials. I hope they have some good suggestions for guys because I could use some help in that area.

Spring Up quilt giveaway

I learned something new about myself recently. I really like quilts. I might even say that I love quilts. When Brian and I got married, Brian's grandmother made us a quilt. And when we moved to Vienna, a woman from church made us another quilt. And one day, I plan to make a quilt myself. But for now, I'd like to win a quilt. And you can get in on the fun as well. Visit Pigtails and Snails to learn the details of this awesome giveaway.

To treat again

Boy, it's been a busy week.

Last week I participated in my first church retreat since moving to Vienna. The retreat is for the women in the churches in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria and it takes place in an Austrian village each fall. Oh, and did I mention that it's in German? To be perfectly honest, I was part of an English-speaking discussion and prayer group and there were at least half a dozen ladies from the U.S. there, so there was plenty of English. But the daily times of worship and the lectures were all in German. And there were actually women there who didn't speak English. And I actually spoke to (some of) them in German. And I spoke in German to people that I knew spoke English. It was a crazy week. I even explained how to play Nerts (the card game) in German. When I explained that everyone should play their Ace in the middle, the other native English-speaker at the table chuckled because, well, the German word for Ace is an English word for something completely different.

If you visit my other blog, you've already seen photos of the beautiful location. But in case you missed it, here's a shot that didn't make it on the other site. The village is in a valley and the hotel where the retreat was held was a little ways up a mountain. This photo was taken early on a foggy morning.


But there was more to the week than just an amazing view. The lessons and worship were encouraging and I really enjoyed meeting new people. Plus, I probably spoke more German during those five days than I normally speak in several months. Ok, that may be stretching it a bit, but it was a lot of German. Kim and I even participated in one of the worship times by reading a Psalm. I was pretty proud of both of us.

And I guess I'll finish this off with some more photos that didn't make it onto Almost Daily Vienna. It would be a shame for them to waste away in Flickr without having ever seen the light of day on the blog.

This one seems very Pioneer Woman-ish. Except she doesn't have mountains behind the horses in her photos. And she would have taken the time to edit the photo to make it look prettier. Ok, so maybe it's not Pioneer Woman-ish at all.

The church has an interesting cemetery. Most of the headstones are orante ironwork rather than the traditional marble or stone. Plus, the area in front is really small -- as if the people buried there were exceptionally short. (Just to clarify, these were grown people -- many I looked at were priests. The cemetery was gravel, but each grave had a small area in front of it with room to plant something.)

For some reason, this one makes me think of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

Photohunt: Lazy

When I showed Brian the photo I was going to use for the theme lazy, he said, "That's not lazy, that's jet lag." And he's probably right. This photo was taken on July 4, 2007 -- three days after arriving in Vienna.


Technorati Tag: PhotoHunt

Small word, big difference

One of the many difficult things about learning German is figuring out which preposition to use. I used to think it wasn't such a big deal if I used the wrong preposition, but after a recent experience I realized that perhaps it's more important than I thought.

About two weeks ago I made my second trip to the Austrian equivalent of the DMV office in order to transfer my U.S. driver's license into an Austrian driver's license. It really isn't a difficult process, but it's not so easy either. Generally, to transfer your license you have to fill out some forms, make some copies of various documents, and get a physical then take all of the papers to the Verkehrsamt (let's just call it the DMV) and get the license transferred. But when you're diabetic like me, you also have get a note from a specialist, get blood work and see a special doctor at the DMV.

On my first trip, I waited for an hour or two just to find out what information I needed from the specialist.The second trip was much faster. I was shuffled back and forth a bit and finally ended up with the DMV doctor. He reviewed the note from my doctor and the results from the blood work and asked me a few questions. Fortunately, he spoke English, so it was pretty easy. When he was finished he said everything looked good and that I would receive a license in five year.

I couldn't believe it! I was going to have to wait five years to get a license. Actually, sometimes the rules are so odd around here that I could actually believe that I would have to wait to get an Austrian license. The doctor explained that I would have to return to the DMV office in five years and if the results from my blood work were consistent I would be able to get an unrestricted license at that time. He sent me down the hall to talk to someone else.

I was just about ready to cry. After all that work and I wouldn't be able to get a license for five years. But I held it together. When I talked to the next guy, he told me that I could go home and that I would get a letter in about two weeks and I could get a license in five years. We spoke for a few minutes (still in English) because I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to get a license now. Something just didn't seem right. That's when it hit me. Both guys had told me that I could get a license in five years, but they actually meant that I would be able to get a license that was valid for five years. After five years, they would check my blood work again and if I was still stable I would be able to get an unrestricted license, or a license that doesn't expire.

So now I'm just waiting for this letter, which should be here any day now. I'm still not sure whether it will contain my driver's license or if it will be another paper I have to take back to the DMV. But I'm pretty sure it won't be a letter that tells me I can pick up my license in five years.

Photohunt: Sad

I spent last week at a women's retreat in a small Austrian village. While exploring the town one day, I noticed a boy leading a young goat into the middle of a pasture and tying him to telephone pole. The goat wasn't too happy about being left alone and was bleating his little heart out. He reminded me a bit of Sharkdog, who also has abandonment issues.



Technorati Tag: PhotoHunt

Sewing advice

I found this quote while perusing the blog of my Sassy Apron Swap partner a few weeks ago.

This is an actual quote from the Singer Sewing Guild: A Complete Reference Guild to Sewing first published in 1949)

"When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Go through a beauty ritual of orderliness. Have on a clean dress. Be sure your hands are clean, fingernails smooth --a nail file and pumice will help. Always avoid hangnails. Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine where you can pick it up and dust your fingers at intervals. This not only absorbs the moisture on your fingers, but helps to keep your work clean. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on with care. Looking attractive is a very important part of sewing, because if you are making something for yourself, you will try it on at intervals in front of your mirror, and you can hope for better results when you look your best.

Again, sewing must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it, and if you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. Therefore, “spruce up” at the beginning so that you are free to enjoy every part of any sewing you do. "

I think it's great advice. It fits perfectly into my daily schedule: wake up early so that I can make myself presentable before my husband wakes up; prepare my husband a breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice; clean the house and bake a cake; sew a new dress for myself so I'll look pretty when my husband returns from work; prepare dinner; greet my husband at the door with a kiss; enjoy a quiet dinner together while discussing the day's events; watch the news; then turn in early so I can get up the next day and do it all over again.