I'd like to thank the academy..

Wow! Thanks NeedSleepy! If I were a little more like Maki over @ w/ Love, Sincerely - Posh Mom's Diary, I would have noticed your comment a long time ago!

Anyway, NeedSleepy gave out several awards that a pretty cool. I would have never found some of those blogs without it!

The less poo attempt

I pride myself on trying new things. So, when Danielle comes to work one day talking about how she is trying to embrace her “inner-hippy” I thought hmmm maybe I should get in on that. I checked out her “No-poo” blog and decided to give it a shot. (For more info check out Danielle and Mason’s blog). The short story is that Danielle has found some information about how you should not use shampoo on your hair and gave it up as an experiment. Ok, I’m not all about that. I shampoo my hair every single day. I also blow dry and flat iron; all of which is on the no-no list.
You might be wondering why I would try this out. I used to have very thick full hair. In fact, I used to have to have it thinned when I got it cut because it gave me headaches. Not so much anymore. Every time I brush my hair like a pound of hair comes out. It’s so bad that Dirk has to use a screwdriver every few weeks to clean out our drains!! Awful, I know. I thought cutting back on the washes would help with the hair loss… otherwise I will be bald very soon.
I decided that I need to take baby steps to the no poo. For about two weeks I have only been shampooing about three times a week. The other days I either just kind of massage my scalp in the shower (water wash) or use just conditioner. I thought using just condition would make my hair so much more oily, but it doesn’t. It’s actually great.
I really thought this would be harder than it has been. The first time I didn’t shampoo it got a little oily. In fact my whole face felt pretty oily all day.


Kinda gross huh? I mean besides the terrible roots... I know, I need a little dye! And Dirk would not help me take pictures; excuse my attempt and photographing my own head! It was not easy.
By the end of the first week you could hardly tell anymore.
The good news is that I am losing way less hair now. My hair feels much more soft and healthy. The next step is to cut back even more and wash only once a week. Then cut out that shampoo at the wash. I will try to remember to take some more pictures so I can show you how it goes.

Wood burner mayhem

It’s four o’clock and I am finally home from work! I walk into the house and what a surprise! Smoke came billowing out of the door. I’m not kidding. It was like a freaking Cheech and Chong movie. My first words “Damn Dirk”. Here he comes wondering out of the back office (where he has been playing video games) and says “is it smoky in here?”. Well yea, it’s smoky. It was so heavy, I could taste the yucky chemical taste.

I begin to panic and run around opening all the windows and doors. I swear he just stands there. So, I start shouting “What the hell, I mean seriously WHAT THE HELL!”.

Well, he had decided after more than a year to try out our wood burner for the first time ever. I guess it didn’t work.

He had the phone book out and open to a certain page and says call that guy. It turns out that guy is the guy we bought the house from. He realized at some point he needed help, but didn’t actually call for any. The smoke was actually coming out of our heat vents.

He says he has no idea what is wrong it other than the smoke keeps coming and the blower on the back won’t start.

I have been home about two minutes by this point and am calling “that guy”. Turns out he is in a meeting and will call us back. I call my friend Sheri (because she has a wood burner and right now is the closest thing to an expert that we have). Sheri tries hard, but isn’t sure what to do because 1. she can’t see our problem and 2. she has a different kind of wood burner. I feel like a big jackass for calling her : ) She does say that sometimes you have to open the ash tray to let the fire get hot enough to get the blower to work.

That seems to work. As far as getting the blower to kick on.

By this point, I have only been home about 20 minutes and am still wearing my coat and shoes from just walking in. The house is now like an ice box because all the windows and doors are open.

I begin to get really pissy all over again. I just kept shouting what they hell were you doing and why didn’t you fix this!! As I am walking around closing everything back up, I notice Dirk is still playing his video game in the computer room. I really wanted to rip the computer out the wall and throw it at him. He didn’t seem to think any of this was a big deal. Later he says that he tried for THREE HOURS to fix it and was tired of trying and fresh out of ideas.

It all worked out in the end. I talked to “that guy” on the phone for about 15 minutes while he explained all the tricks of making this thing work correctly. We still aren’t exactly sure how to use it, but the house is nice and warm again and, thankfully, smoke free.

I found out later that Dirk actually started the fire at like 1:00 so it had been burning about four hours and had not gotten hot enough (for a number of things he didn’t realize he was supposed to do) and the house was so full because he just let it run for about 20 minutes with the smoke pouring out.

Maybe this wood burner thing isn’t such a good idea!

Yucky Idol

It is once again time for American Idol. I always knew it got on my nerves. I couldn’t really figure it out until this season started.
First, is it me or is this show on ALL OF THE TIME?? It’s on for hours in a row like three days in a row. That is just too much for me.
Second, I think it’s kind of mean to laugh at the stupid people. Don’t get me wrong. I do laugh at them. But it just really isn’t enough to amuse me for two hours at time. I know it’s lame, but I kind of like it once it gets narrowed down to the good signers. Last season though- all my favorites were voted off early in the season. So I didn’t watch at all.
I also don’t think Simon is mean enough for it to have any effect on me. I don’t think Ryan is funny and Paula….well…. not high quality TV.
Mainly my problem is that Dirk watches this crap (laughing out loud so loud I can hardly hear). Then decides that HE should try out for American Idol. He knows he can’t sing at all. Suddenly he thinks it’s funny to pretend that he doesn’t know he can’t. So, three nights a week I listen to his terrible off key singing. As I am sure you have all heard me say before he never knows the words to songs (See Danielle and Mason’s blog). I hear “pave paradise and put up a f***ing lot” (should be “parking lot”). Last night it was Amazing Grace for two hours…. He knows one line!
I can’t wait until American Idol season is over!!

German odds and ends

My friends have been asking me to post a little something about my recent trip to Germany. I have been back for just over a week and still I just can’t figure out what to say. Basically this was a family visit, not a vacation. You all know what I’m saying. There was no site seeing or lazy days. It was pretty much what you might expect for a visit to a family members wedding. Lots and lots of decorating and meeting with Dirk’s old friends and family. Nothing too exciting. So instead of telling about the trip, I thought I might point out some of the things I had forgotten about Germany.

First, I guess I had forgotten what a LONG flight that is. Maybe I am getting older and just don’t travel as well, but this trip felt so much longer than before. It didn’t help that we had what felt like 50% children on the flight. I had a particularly sweet little boy behind me the whole trip that wouldn’t shut with the stupid “kid” questions. You know, how do planes fly, what if it cost a million dollars for a plane ticket, that kind of thing. Then he kicked my seat for most of the trip. Right next to this kid was a crying baby. Good fun. Not to mention, Dirk did not travel as well this time either. Those of you who know him, know that he is a tad high strung, right. The whole time he was like we only 3 hours to be at the gate, we better hurry! He was constantly checking his watch and telling me to hurry. I wanted to lock him in a bathroom and leave him there!

Some things I think my memory blocked out for good reason. For instance, how awful it is to have to depend on Dirk for information. I realize that is my fault, I could have learned more German. But I didn’t. So, I am pretty much stuck with whatever information Dirk feels I need to know. For more than a week I had no idea what we would be doing that day or the next day. I just went along… kind of fun now that I think about it. But not so much at the time. More German came back to me than I had expected though. I had forgotten that all Americans use many German words because we don’t have American words for the thing. Like Rouladen. This is like really large blinds that are on the outside of the house and can be moved up or down from the inside of the house. These things will black out even the brightest sun. They are great. But we don’t have these things. Rouladen is a plural word in German, but it doesn’t sound like it to American ears, so we call them Rouladens. I had forgotten how much I love those things. You can sleep anytime of the day.

I had forgotten a lot of really great things too. For instance, everything is an event. Coffee in the afternoon. This is a several hour event with nice china and fancy platters with the cream and sugar. Normally with really great cake. Dinner is also several hours long with lots of good food and desert and coffee. The plates are prepared as little pieces of art. You almost feel bad to mess them up.

Most of all I had forgotten how soccer is a way of life. My husband actually made me drive to the soccer stadium and has his picture taken because he is afraid he will forget what the stadium looks like. We have about ten different pictures of the place.

Isn’t he cute… He has been going to games at this stadium with the same group of friends since he was in diapers. Everywhere we went people asked about which team he watches now and how he gets updates on the Monchengladback soccer team… He hasn’t been home for two years and THIS is the first question people ask.

I had also forgotten how crazy driving is. It’s so much fun to drive on the autobahn, which is what everyone asks about. But those are just highways with no speed limit. Town driving is the hard part! The picture below is a road in Dirk’s hometown. And yes, this road is made for two cars to drive at the same time.

You see, cars can park pretty much anywhere they want. The black car right in front of us is NOT moving. So, if a car is blocking you and another car from passing on the street, one of you must pull behind the parked car and let the other pass. It’s very much like a game of chicken. There are also these “obstacles” in the road when you come into or leave a village. It’s almost like puzzle pieces that are used to make people slow down. I didn’t get any pictures, but it is the same idea of one car letting the other pass.

This is a photo of a “round about”. This is in place of a four way stop. The idea is that it moves traffic along faster. The cars in the circle have the right of way. So, if you come to a round about, you wait until you can get in and the go all the way around. If you want to make a left hand turn you go right around the circle until you get to you left side turn. Actually they do keep traffic moving faster.

The only thing from the wedding I wanted to share (because this is getting a bit long) is this cool heart painting. It is just a large canvas that had squares sketched in. Each guest used paint at the reception to paint in a heart for the bride and groom, who had the painting framed and hung in their new home. Pretty cool huh.

Otherwise the wedding was pretty much a wedding. It was a two day event with the legal ceremony, lunch at a restaurant, then cake and coffee at a second location on the first day. Then a large evening reception on New Year’s Eve complete with fireworks and champagne outside at midnight.

It was a pretty good trip and I am sure not the last. I hope everyone else had a great Christmas and New Years!

Who would you want to be?

With nothing on TV last night, Dirk and I got into a really funny conversation that I just had to share. I’m not exactly sure how it got started, but Dirk mentioned that if he could be anyone else he would want to be Wolf Blitzer (from CNN). Dirk told me that if he could be Wolf, I could be Meredith (from Grey’s). Seriously, Meredith, the most troubled person in the world (I mean if she were actually a person anyway). No thank you. I think he was thinking of my mad crush on Patrick Dempsey.
Wolf in the Situation Room

I was like really out of everyone in the whole world you would be Wolf? Well, then he decided it need serious consideration, right. We went through several possibilities like Hugh Heffner, Dirk Diggler, and Pale (the soccer player, I can’t make the accent mark over the e) and Anderson Cooper. Even my own step father; his reasoning being that he thinks my step dad has an easy life as my mother does everything around the house and he has a good job that Dirk believes is easy and fun. So, I guess he was looking for lifestyle as opposed to actually being the person… He was looking for someone “cool” and exciting. Someone that had lots of power. After about two hours of considering all these people and telling me why exactly he DID NOT want to be them i.e. too much sex at work means you don’t want to for fun, too much work, too much fame, too gay, and so on. Believe it or not, he finally decided that he wanted to be HIMSELF. Crazy huh?

Well this got me thinking, who would I want to be? I went an entirely different direction. First, I thought who wouldn’t want to be Oprah?! Then I remembered her crappy childhood. Do I get to be her now and not have the past? I guess not because her past made her who she is. I thought maybe Reese Witherspoon. Silly, I know, but she has tons of money, cute kids, is passionate about her work, famous enough to go wherever she wants but not so famous she can’t live her life. The only problem is that pesky divorce. Although, I might prefer to have divorced Ryan Phillippe than to have never married him at all!
Aren't they cute??

I haven’t been able to pick just one person. I am trying hard to think of some really great singer (which I wish I could be, but as I can’t sing at all I guess that won’t happen), but a great artist with passion. And maybe a little crazy! I do still have Michelle Obama on the list. Pretty, smart, powerful. She can do great things in the next few years and I personally think she will…. I don’t know maybe Marilyn Monroe! More fun.

Here's your sign....

I am very lucky and excited to be spending Christmas in Germany this year. My husband is German (yes like fresh off the boat German… does that work with Europe too or just southern counties??). Anyway, he has only lived here about two years now. So, we are happy to be going back to Germany for Christmas and his brother’s wedding, which we never thought would happen.
I suppose I should explain a little. I lived in Germany for three years. We met and married there. It is kind of funny to me that others are so interested and surprised that we go back to visit. Lots of people ask some really good questions about how things are overseas. Having traveled most of Europe while I was there, I also have lots of stories that I am happy to share.

Just a side note, I have two very funny questions that I have been asked. My own mother (who had never been out of the States at the time) actually asked if “they have cell phones over there”. Crazy, right. I mean turn on the freakin news would ya. She has now visited there and fell in love with the landscape and friendly people. The other question is forgivable because my niece asked it when she was like 8 years old. But she was always very fascinated by the time difference. Everytime she called she would ask what time is it there. Everytime she would say wow that’s so cool. Well, what she didn’t really get was that while it was a different time zone things happen at sort of the same pace. I got some American TV channels right. So, she was shocked when she called to see, I’m not kidding here, WHO WON THE SUPERBOWL!! How funny! I had a difficult time explaining that I was 7 hours AHEAD not 7 hours in the FUTURE! The American Superbowl had not taken place in Germany before the US!! You gotta love kids right! Seriously, I think she wanted to make some bets and thought I could win her some money!

Ok, so the real reason for blog was to tell you all that I have had what I think are hilarious conversations that go something like:

Brooke: Oh, I can’t go, we will be in Germany then.
Other: Cool, Germany. What for?
Brooke: (After all this time people get the shortened answer). Christmas with the in-laws and a wedding (as if I am talking about driving two hours upstate right)
Other: Wow! That will be a lot of fun!

This is almost always followed by ARE YOU FLYING? It kills me not to say, nope we are swimming. We’re leaving tomorrow so we can make it there on time. I know it’s kind of mean. I understand that many people don’t get to do a lot of traveling around our own country let alone any place else. But seriously, do people actually take boats to Europe anymore? Isn’t that called a cruise? Wouldn’t I have said we are taking a cruise? Are there even boat companies that transport people? I guess there probably still are, but can you imagine how badly one would have to hate flying to be willing to sit on a boat for that long? I am already dreading that long flight, but by boat? Seriously!
That got me thinking are there other options? I guess you could consider driving up to Canada then through the Barren Strait, over to Russia, and down. I am not sure if there is land connecting Alaska to Russia? I guess I will have to ask Sarah Palin. Can you drive it? How many hours would that take? Again, why not FLY?

I know I am crazy. But I have heard this question so many times, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I always think of Bill Engvol and the here’s your sign jokes… I just love those because they are so true!