Roger's podcast

Fiona takling

Here we are with only just over 3 weeks to go here in Germany. We, as usual, have put off many things and now have loads to do. Ugh! Oh well...

We had a really nice half term holiday. We got to visit a number of friends and sleep in. We also had great weather most of the time which was a major plus. We are now really cold and had to break out the heavy coats--which I was hoping we wouldn't have to do before we leave here.

Elena had her birthday and Fiona's is next week. She's of course extremely excited. She tells everyone she wants a new Barbie, a computer, a digital camera and an MP3 player! Nothing complicated about her. Unfortunately, she won't get these. However, I'm sure she'll enjoy the day despite that. One thing she gets to do is put her new earrings in.

Well, today ended up being quite a day. We had beautiful weather and at lunch, Oma said she wondered when the girls would get their ears pierced. They had all wanted to have it done but we hadn't gotten round to it. At about 3pm, the girls, Helga and Kathy left for the shop. Fiona went first and was really brave. Elena knew what was to come since she had had hers done once before but they had gotten infected and grown back. We thought Sydney wouldn't want to have hers done after seeing the other 2 but had already made up her mind and wouldn't be moved! Now we have to remember to turn them every day and put the antiseptic on them so we can have a house full of earrings!!

Wow! It's been 3/4 of a year since our first (and last) posting. Sad, but true. Loads has happened since then so I'll give a quick rundown.

Our studies went well, on the whole. It wasn't easy but we could see our progress. It was nice to go to the store and not stand there looking dumb when asked a question. We could even carry on small conversations--of sorts--with parents of other kids, etc.

It was again hard to leave another place. One would think we'd get used to it as often as we've done it, but it doesn't work that way. We seem to leave little bits of our hearts wherever we go.

There are many highlights of our last few months. One was in April when Rob and Sheila, Laurel and Sean along with Nana Dorthy, came to visit us. We had a great time seeing the sights of Paris, Nice and Monaco together. (Sounds rather exotic, eh?)

Other highlights were our trip back to England for the month of July. It was great to see everyone and even to stay in our old flat! It was just too bad they didn't get their order thru for less rain!

Now we are in Germany. Elena and Fiona are in yet another new school and Sydney is in another new kindergarten. They like it so far. It wasn't as intimidating as starting school in France was because they can speak and understand German already. They have made friends and even get to ride the bus every day. Sydney in particular likes this as it somehow makes her feel more independent.

Elena turn 9 on Sunday! It's hard to believe. She will have a sleep over with a few friends--we'll see how much they all sleep! I'm sure they'll have a good time, I just hope we do too!

Christmas in Germany

We had a wonderful time in Germany, celebrating Christmas with Roger's parents and sister Helga. The girls received mountains of presents. The parents must have been naughty throughout 2006, because we didn't get near as many presents as they did. ;-)

Just after the celebrations were over, Roger took our car back to Leeds. We have to sell the thing since it has the steering wheel on the wrong side and no insurance cover for France anymore. Roger drove, together with Friedhelm, an old friend, on the 27th and came back the next day via Manchester airport. We're thankful, that we've got the vehicle safely back on the island were it will soon be sold.

In the meantime we purchased another one in Germany (with the steering wheel on the correct side). This one is a VW Passat. Its two years older than our old van, much smaller but with better gas milage. It was very encouraging the way we got it. It cost 400 Euros more than we had budgeted. However, we went ahead and agreed to purchase it, trusting that the money would be there by the time we had to pay. The night before the purchase we had received 300 Euros when our girls offered their Christmas money to make up for the rest. Overwhelmed by their generosity, we accepted their offer. Since the children gave so much toward the purchase they got to choose the name for the wheels. We're now driving "Madame Blueberry".

Now we're back in France (we arrived on Friday the 5th of January). School starts again tomorrow. We'll let you know how we're getting on, thinking in French again.