Sneak Peek: Wedding Pictures

I went back to work today (just for two days this week!) and was greeted by my coworkers with lots of flowers, including orchids from my assistant, E., and bouquets from some of the other staff, which was really, really nice. And, yes, as I told roughly a hundred people today at work, married life, is indeed, very, very good...all 6 days of it, so far! To add to the sneak peek above, by popular request, more pictures will be coming very soon to a website near you! Thanks again for all of the continued good wishes and have a wonderful Thursday!

Married!

It is with great happiness that I make my first post-wedding post! All went well on Friday morning and we were married in the Rathaus in Heidelberg! (The car in the picture belonged to the couple married after us, but I couldn't resist!) It was the most beautiful fall morning and a really lovely ceremony as, too...the standesbeamt said some very nice words about marriage, and our interpreter (slash-unofficial-photographer!) was also very friendly. All in all, it was a very sweet moment and the beginning of a new chapter and our new family. Thank you to everyone who sent good wishes our way: it worked, and all was wonderful...and we look forward to celebrating with all of our friends and family stateside very, very soon!

Arrivals

I've just received the latest update from the states, and the suitcases are being packed. Yes, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the families to Germany tomorrow morning! (Which, mom corrected me and said, "That's still Wednesday, right?" as it is actually still Monday night in the states.) Yes, on Wednesday, the parents will arrive in Frankfurt to start the celebrating! (Will said celebrating be punctuated by a few jet-lag-induced naps? Probably...by me, too!) Other arrivals that we're awaiting? Yes, we are eagerly awaiting news of the impending arrival of the first baby of our friends DTB and MTB (who I know as A., my friend from high shchool!) I've already lost the "predict the baby's weight/date survey" (I was one of those kindly low-weight-guessing-types!) but perhaps my gender prediction will still hold! (Or maybe not!) Hang in there A. and Congratulations in advance to both of you! And the final arrival? It was actually last week: the newest nephew on M.'s side of the family was born stateside last week, and he has a name: another G.! Fortunately, my nephew G. goes by G-unit these days...would hate to get 'em confused...! So, I will be marrying into a slightly larger family than I had anticipated with the arrival of the plus-one, lil' G., who is beautiful. Okay, gotta wrap it up, or I will not arrive at work on time! So, family, until tomorrow morning, then!

Because it is Sunday...

...if only for 12 more minutes here in the eastern hemisphere, I thought I would share one of my favorite Sunday happenings: the posting of new pieces of the Post Secret community art project. Some of the pieces have inspired me to get out my art supplies, too, but alas, I've not submitted any of my secrets just yet...partly due to the fact that my secret this week isn't too secret: I'm goin' to the chapel in a mere 5 days and, thus, need to get some serious shut-eye on the double or risk being the sleepiest bride ever! But if YOU can stay awake a little bit longer, go to http://www.postsecret.com to read secrets submitted anonymously by people everywhere. Goodnight, eastern hemisphere and have a wonderful Sunday, to those of you in the west!

A dog's eye view of Katrina

News (and some very heartbreaking photos) about the fate of pets left behind in the wake of the hurricane has made its way across the pond. I think the most succinct summation of this problem that I've read came from a dog named Jinky, who writes his own blog. (I know, just work with me here...you give a dog a computer, and the next thing you know, they need their own blog...) ANYWAY, in a post titled "Katrina people are dumb and mean", Jinky writes: "Why can't people save dogs? Dogs save people ALL THE TIME." Well put, Jinky, well put. Luckily for Jinky and pet lovers like myself, there are people out there working hard specifically to save the lives of pets left behind in New Orleans and the surrounding area, many of them from organizations like Noah's Wish. You can read more about the ongoing efforts of the folks at Noah's Wish or donate by visiting them at http://www.noahswish.com . And if you want to read more of Jinky's philosophy, you can find his blog at http://hollywooddog.blogspot.com. A disclaimer, though: Jinky's a bit of a mutt, and he's one dog that's not afraid to use some colorful language from time to time, so consider yourself warned!

Runnin' around in circles...

Sometimes that's what it feels like these days! T-minus 12 days to the big day, we're making lots of last minute preparations for the wedding ceremony in Heidelberg. (Sneak preview alert: the building in the photo is the Rathaus where we'll be married!) Dark suit? Check. Dress? Check. Interpreter? Uh, not yet! We've been through the whole hiring-o'-the-interpreter thing before, so it's familiar territory, but it's just one more of those pre-wedding things that we'll be getting squared away this week. M. was actually talking to one of his soldiers, Spc. H., last week about just this aspect of getting married in Germany. Spc. H. and his wife were married here a couple of years ago, so he's familiar with all of the obstacles that have to be negotiated to make that possible, having an interpreter present at the ceremony being just one of the more entertaining aspects. ANYWAY, they're talking about marriages and Germany and H. says that at his ceremony, the standesbeamt (the equivalent of a justice of the peace) is going on and on and on, in German, of course, wildly gesticulating with everything he says and then, suddenly, stops talking. At which point the translator leans over to H. and whispers, "Say, 'I do'." So H. says, "Uh...I do." And then the hand gestures and the exaggerated speech starts again, with the standesbeamt really getting into it...and then stops. Again, the translator leans over, this time to H.'s wife and says, "Say...'I do'." Spc. H. told M. that not only did they have absolutely no idea what they were promising to do because everything was completely in German (but hoping that it was just your traditional marriage vows!) they were having the worst time keeping the giggles down, thanks to their, uh, translator. So, we'll see how it goes! My German isn't great, but hopefully if I'm asked to love, honor, cherish and do the dishes, I will be able to pick up on it and bail myself outta that one! Wish us luck!

Trying to Wrap My Mind Around It

There are times when living overseas can be insulating in a good way. For instance, I know extremely little about the American teenager missing in Aruba, and the anti-war mom protest at President Bush's ranch is something I've only read about online. And from what I hear, it sounds like both stories have been covered ad nauseum on American television, much to the chagrin of some friends and family that I've talked to lately, so I might've been spared to news overload in those two cases. But sometimes, being insulated from the world of 24 hour a day news- well, 24 hour a day news in english anyway- can prove really frustrating for me. For instance, this week, I'm trying like crazy to wrap my mind around exactly how big the devastation is in New Orleans, post-hurricane Katrina. I've read about it online and in the newspaper, but the scope of what I'm reading about is very, very difficult to grasp, especially without ready access to television. Possibly thousands of people dead? It's a tough concept to wrap your mind around. And maybe those of you who are stateside are having a tough time making sense of all of the facts, too.Over here, though, it just feels like we're so, so far away... And it's frustrating to realize that divide.