I can relate

My favorite lines from the most recent episode of The Office:

Stanley: "I took an extra shot of insulin in preparation of this cake today. If I don't have some cake soon, I might die."

Oscar: "Why don't you just have an apple?"

Stanley: "Why don't you just mind your business?"

I know exactly what you mean, Stanley.

Old Man Winter

This morning when we left for church there was a mixture of rain and snow, but it quickly turned into big flakes. By the time we reached the end of the u-bahn line (about 40 minutes and 10 miles later), the plants and cars were covered in snow. And by the time we got off the bus about 15 minutes later for the last leg of our trek to church, the sidewalks were covered as well. It looked very nice, but I didn't like getting my feet wet.

Several hours later as we made our way home the snow had turned back into rain and the walk to the bus stop wasn't so fun. I've got to get some boots.

There wasn't a lot left by the time we got home, but we might get more tomorrow and Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have my camera with me.

Don't worry about me

You may remember a while back when we all got the awful news that The Office and other NBC shows would not be available on iTunes. This isn't really a huge problem for those of you in the U.S. who can watch The Office on TV or on NBC's website, but for those of us who live outside the U.S. it can be a real pain. Sure, there are plenty of places to watch episodes that have been recorded and uploaded to the Internet illegally. But I like to keep things on the up and up whenever possible.

This is where VeohTV comes in. VeohTV is a program you download that allows you to watch episodes of shows from several TV stations, including NBC. I don't know exactly how it works (even after reading the "How VeohTV Works" page on the website), but it works well. When I hit the play button, it starts playing immediately! No buffering! No waiting!

However -- there are a few drawbacks. There are commercials. Usually one at the beginning and two or three during the episode (depending on the length of the show). But there are commercials on regular TV, so that's not a big deal. The second drawback is that it looks like only the five most recent episodes are available. So you have to stay current. And then the other drawback is that it takes a bit longer for the episodes to show up. For example, The Office isn't generally available until Friday evening or maybe Saturday, but you can find it on those *other* sites Friday afternoon.

But still -- it's a pretty good deal. So don't worry about me and Brian. We're staying current with The Office -- and several other shows.

Getting it done

We get home from school around 3:15. Within the hour, it's pretty much dark outside. Usually when it gets dark so early it makes the days feel really short. But right now it's having the opposite affect on me. And I'm rather enjoying it. It makes me feel like I have a lot more time to get stuff done.

It's a bit past 8:00 right now. Since I got home from school I have...

...figured out how to use my new sewing machine. The manual is in at least 4 languages, none of which are English. While I couldn't find the manual in English online, I was able to find a manual for an older model that seems to be almost identical. I got as far as I could without any fabric to work with -- but that should be remedied tomorrow after Amanda and I visit a textile shop.

...prepared and eaten dinner. Curried Honey Mustard Chicken. So easy and so delicious. I've been thinking about it every since I tried the recipe a month or so ago. I forgot to decrease the amount of butter like reviewers suggested, so it turned out a little saucy. But the sauce is great over rice. And who doesn't like it a little saucy sometimes?

...cleaned the kitchen. Not just washed the dishes, but put away the cartons for recycling and cleaned the counters. I love it when there's nothing on the counter except the things that are supposed to be there -- the bread board, coffee maker and canisters. And in case you're wondering about the towel laying on the counter, I also...

...started on some bread. I love baking bread. This is the Sweet Dinner Rolls recipes. I made them half-size because the last time I made them they were huge. Good for sandwiches, but too big for dinner rolls. You want them to be small enough that you can eat two. :) I used Kräuter Butter (butter with herbs) instead of regular butter on half of these. (You can see the flecks of herbs on some of the rolls in the photo.) I'm excited to see how they turn out.

... completed my German homework. Well, it's almost complete. We have to translate a recipe from our home country into German. I translated the recipe yesterday, but I need to write it out today.

Now I'm off to bake the bread and finish my homework.

When it rains, it pours

Today as Brian and I were leaving for our German class, the postman met us at the front door -- with two packages! And yesterday he delivered a package, too. So that's three in two days!

And look what I found on one of the packages.


In case you can't make it out, it says, "Missent to Sydney Australia." And the shipping address even specified that Austria is in Europe.

I'm not going to detail the contents of all of the packages because I want to show you some things later, but I will tell you that Sharkdog was especially excited about the contents of one of the packages. Emily, a friend and former co-worker, and her family sent Brian and me some candy and cookie mixes and other goodies. And they included some goodies for Sharkdog as well.

Look at that! That one that's called "Bark Bars" -- I love it. It reminds me of Clark Bar and Kramer on Seinfeld.

I'll show you some of the stuff from the other packages later this week or early next week. I promise.

And a special thank you to all of you who have sent encouraging notes or emails or care packages. It's so nice to know that the old adage of "out of sight, out of mind" isn't true. We truly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and know that you share with us in this ministry.

Feline tendencies

Sharkdog can be a little cat-like from time to time. Okay, most of the time. Maybe it's because we trained him to use a litter box. Maybe not. Here are a few shots of his cat behavior.

When we lived in OKC, Sharkdog loved to lay on the back of the couch and look out the window. Here he is sleeping on the back of the couch. He doesn't get on the back of the couch in our apartment in Vienna, but he has jumped over it a time or two.

Is it normal for a dog to curl up like this? I've only seen cats curl up this tight.

And here are some photos just for fun. The one below shows one of Sharkdog's favorite toys. (His favorite is a shark toy -- isn't that cute?) And the one below that... well, you'll just have to see.

More photos

I wrote earlier this week about our trip to Schwarzwaldeckhaus last weekend. We went with the Haskews and the Hayes family and a two individuals from the Inzersdorf congregation. Alex, one of the Hayes' boys (the middle one -- after all, the middle child is often the most talented, right?), took some amazing photos. There's a little sample below. Click on the links to see the full shot and check out his other photos on his Flickr account. He has several photos of sites in Vienna, but also some other interesting subjects.

1. a dash of hope, 2. Fairyland, 3. transience, 4. reliance

By the way, all three of the Hayes boys seem to be quite talented, not just Alex. Movie editing, photography, piano, classical guitar, cooking -- between the three of them just about everything is covered.