Arrived!

Well, I'm here in Vilseck, and it's not as cold as I'd thought it might be, but there's tons of snow! One of the good things about moving around so much is that you do get to see a lot of new things...on a very frequent basis, and I have a feeling this week will be no different! I'm taking the opportunity this afternoon to get my bearings and taking advantage of internet access...I may not have access tomorrow, but hopefully withdrawal won't have kicked in until I can find a new place to write from. Until then, have a good Sunday and stay warm!

Off to Eastern Germany

So, if you ever find yourself doing something like, say, joining the Army, there's one thing you should know: you're guaranteed to find some things out about yourself. "Like what?" you might be compelled to ask. Okay, for instance, one thing that I can guarantee that you will discover about yourself is whether or not you are a good camper. "A good camper?", you might ask. Yes, a good camper. Now, you might be thinking camper, as in, "Hey, I'm agreeable, I go with the flow, therefore, I am a good camper." And, yes, you would be partially right, but I'm talking about camper, as in, camping, like, how good are you at stuffing a ridiculous amount of items in a single bag? How good are you at packing things? Can you get lots of clothing and other items into a very small piece of gear used to carry all of your junk? And, whether or not you are able to accomplish the task of packing is, more importantly, at what speed can you can carry out the task? It's important, I've found. Why? Because if you join the Army, you're gonna get asked to pack ALL of your stuff up and carry it somewhere else...ALL OF THE TIME. So, as I cram all of my stuff into a bag, at the highest rate of speed I can muster this evening, I am reminded of this, the one rule I can recommend anyone who chooses to make the transition from civilian life to the military should remember: whatver you do, be a good camper. And with that, I have finished packing, and I am off to training near Poland tonight. Hopefully I will have some access to a computer there (no: this isn't a no-showering training thing, thankfully!) but I'm not sure yet what I will find. Have a good week and wherever you are, camp well!

Down with Call!

Doh! Argh! Ohhhh NO! I was so looking forward to my St. Patrick's Day 10K in Kitzingen this March. However, sitting here just now, I realized something. DOH! Okay, M.'s arrival for for his 2 week rest-and-relaxation leave was much earlier than anticipated: that's the good news! As a result, though, I had to scramble to find someone to cover my call during the time he's here: obviously, that's the baaad news!Unfortunately, the only person who could swap with me is on call on St. Patty's Day! Nooooo. Hrrmph. Well, maybe missing the run in Kitzingen will fuel my argument as to why I need to go to the UK to Run London. M.'s says, "No! No! The exchange rate! You gotta think of the exchange rate!" And I say, "Exchange rate, shmeckstange rate: did you see that sea of red?" Looks pretty cool to me! And it's London, for Pete's sake. Well, I guess one thing's for sure: no running in green for me this year. Rats. Down, down DOWN with call!

Food, glorious food!

So, last weekend I took a culinary adventure with F., my South Dakota-knowledgeable friend (she actually thinks of herself as a Kansan, despite the fact that her parents live down the street from mom.) ANYWAY, despite the fact that it was freezing here last Friday night, we decided to meet for dinner at the Croatian restaurant smack dab between our two little towns. As we walked in, the owner ran up and gave her a big hug. Now, through our conversations, I knew F. had been there several times before and loves going, but I'm guessing she might have been there a more than just a couple of times from that reaction! Anyway, the restaurant is adorable, and I took F.'s recommendation and ordered a dish that was probably a lot more German than Croatian. One thing was for sure, though: it definitely had more than enough fat and calories than necessary to make it by far the best thing I've eaten for dinner in a looong time! Basically, it was a fileted rumpsteak (if you can filet a rumpsteak!) with a thin layer of goat cheese (or what I think was goat cheese, anyway!) spread over the meat. F. gave me some of her champignon sauce to add to it, which was also delicious. We also had salad and all the roasted potatoes you could eat. My dinner was one fat and calorie-laden piece of heaven! As an added bonus, F. says she likes to go there because she thinks the waiters are, uh, not too difficult to look at, which makes me laugh. Hey, it's all about the total dining experience, right? But no comment from me on the last bit! It was a really good (and really delicious!) experience and I'll definintely being going back for more! Gee, if only the Army didn't have that pesky weight-restriction thing....!

Three Kings Day

There are so many wonderful things about Christmas in Germany, and one of them is Three Kings Day. Here's a little recap of it, now that I'm almost finally jet-lag-effect free and blogging is once again inching its way up my to-do list! Despite how much fun I was having in the states (to which many of you who saw me can attest!) the time finally arrived for me to leave the states. And so, I arrived back at chez Molly Murphy a week an a half ago, on a Thursday morning. By Friday, I'd made it as far as my greatroom at the end of the house where stood my still-decorated Christmas tree. Now, two weeks earlier, in a moment of Martha Stewart-like madness, I'd decided that I'd try to take the tree down before departing for the states. But, of course, that didn't happen in the whirlwind of last-minute travel preparations. So, I arrived back, and figured I was the last person to get everything taken apart, detinseled, packaged up and hauled away, it being January and all. But then I realized that when it came to taking down the tree, I wasn't exactly late. Turns out, that in Germany, January 6 is the perfect time to take down your tree! Why is that, you ask? Well, Friday the sixth was Three Kings Day (Epiphany). Anyway, on the evening of Three Kings Day, children in Germany dress as the three kings Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar and walk from house to house, with one child carrying a star. The houses in the neighborhood are then blessed for the coming year. (And you take your tree down!) There are varying accounts as to who actually does the blessing (priests or the children) but as you travel around Germany, and particularly Bavaria which is largely Catholic, you will see the mark of the blessing, which is numbers denoting the year, and the letters C+M+B written in chalk over the doorways. The inscription for this year, will be: 20C+M+B06. The letters, as you may have guessed, either stand for the names of the kings, or, alternatively for "Christus Mansionen Bendicat" or "Christ Bless this House". (I even found the inscription from the last blessing on the doorframe at mom's church in the states while visiting!) So, on the evening of Three Kings, I pulled into the parking spot in front of my house just in time to see the three "kings" pass under the murky light of the streetlamp at the end of my block. It was quite a procession, and definitely not something you see often in the U.S.! It was the culmination of a wonderful holiday season, and I can hardly believe that Christmas came to an official end so quickly! I will not live here forever, and the Christmas holidays (and all the traditions that come with it) are something I will remember forever after living here. Thanks again to everyone in the states who made the American part of my holiday so special and see you again soon!

Seriously?

Personally, I would file this squarely under the heading of "If you have to ask..." There is some guy out there, right now, today, who is actually soliciting strangers' opinions on the internet regarding whether or not he should marry his girlfriend of 2 years, Noel. He's Yankees fan, she loves the Red Sox. (You'd think that would settle it right there, but noooo.) Really, how lazy can one person be? Do some research, man! Search your soul! Listen to your heart! Read some Pablo Neruda! Or John Gray! But asking strangers on the internet? That, my friend, is a dead giveaway to your prospective wife that you have no idea what you're doing. Or that you're an internet addict...neither option sounds very attractive to me! Noel, on the off chance that you are a Molly Murphy reader, run! Run like the wind!

Get your Monday funnies here!

Forget the Sunday funnies: I've got yer Monday funnies right here! If you have been following the Sandboxian Adventures, you know what happens when American soldiers get bored...but have you ever wondered what happens when Tommies go off the comic deep end while in Iraq? For the hilarious results of mixing Brits and boredom in the sandbox...click here! (Many thanks to the Royal Dragoon guards for putting their pasty selves on display for the entire world to enjoy and to M. for bringing them to my attention: this just might have made my Monday!) Hope it does for you, too!

Home!

I'm crawling out from underneath the heavy, comfy comforter beneath which I've been sleeping off my jet lag...my recovery was greatly hastened by getting out of the house this evening at the behest of my friend, F., to watch the season premiere of Desperate Housewives. (That's right: fashion's not the ONLY thing that arrives late to Germany!) Thanks to everyone who made my visit to the states for the holidays so special, especially mom, my brother D., sister-in-law M., my nephew G. (da G-Unit) and last but certainly not least, my great friend, T.: I had a wonderful time and am eagerly anticipating my next opportunity to come home to visit again...I am always happier for having been home for a bit!