Home Coming Together

I had this whole post written for Foodie Friday about my lunch adventure with Steve...it was a good one, too. AND THEN, I went to upload the pics and they were M.I.A.! Not on the camera, not on the hard drive, not on the laptop or desktop. The Cyber Monkey took them, I know it! So weird...

Anyway, I still have plenty to say that isn't related to food.

This past week, there have many things going on. The obvious was our peep visit (did I mention that more of my peeps need to jump on the bandwagon and get their arses to Europe...our guest bed is calling...and HELLO, it's Europe!!). Back to my story...after Stevie E and J left, I had to take Teage to "gyumsticks" (his interpretation of the word...so precious), and I finagled some waaay better photos that day.


He was such a good listener, that he was the only one to receive two stamps that day...I was like "Really??"
Stick it and Stretch....


He has never had a problem with heights...GO TEAGIE!


Saige had homecoming week going on, too. In spite of my own anxiety preparation, the school does a pretty good job of easing the kids and parents into THE Dance of the Fall. Each day of the week, they dress up according to the spirit theme. Tuesday was wacky tacky (she looked neither wacky nor tacky I thought...unless you call 3 necklaces and some leg warmers tacky. I thought it looked like any other trendy person on the street). Wednesday, was PJ day (again, my kid walks downstairs with some black sweat pants and her Oki All Day tee on...not so PJ-ish to me). Thursday, it started to get a little weird. It was "Gender Bender" day. Hmmm....I don't remember that ever being something our school had. Sounds good to me and she took it and RAN!! After scouring her dad's closet for some "boy jeans", she walked into my room looking like this....


I thought "OH NO, bring my daughter back!! I cannot be invaded by all boys up in here!!" All kidding aside, she looked like she finally got the idea of spirit week. Since the boys had to dress up as girls I thought for sure the boys would back down. I mean, how many boys do you know that would hike their skirts up and model the stilettos?? Saige reported that afternoon with pictures to prove that the boys went ALL OUT!! Make-up, midriff shirts, bras, and minis. Far cry from our school days. I was happy to hear it though. It means more and more kids are self confident. LOVE THAT! I guess being a girly girl really is desirable to the male species. I wonder if George wouldn't mind squeezing into a....oh wait this is a Family Blog, not Diane's headspace! Back to the Fam Bam goodness...

I also made my way to a new town this week...Saarbrucken. My Itouch had a brainfart and decided to freeze up and crash on me. When I tried to call tech support, they told me I had to take it in to the nearest Apple provider...which is in Saarbrucken, about 60k away (not that this is breaking news, but the Itouch coded, I gave it mouth to mouth, and it is now doing just fine) Back to the drive...I popped in my trusty Garmin, strapped Teage into his Chico and off we went.

Man, did I say this out loud yet?....this GPS thing is like GOLD!! Who knew the hype was so dead on!! It sends me onto many unknown adventures and I could care less where I end up because home is only a fingerprint away. I have it set for Dr. Nightmare to talk to me sometimes....George sets it to the British heifer Serena. What does that voice have that British Daniel's doesn't...lol! Anyway, I found a mall on the way, some riverboats and of course, tons of food stops. I didn't have the time on a Friday afternoon to visit all these places, but with my steadfast GPS I will be back out on the road again in no time, with camera in tow.

Next up for the week was the middle school's Fall Carnival. I had no hand in the planning of this event, but I was more than happy to help man one of the many game booths. Meet your Bean Bag Toss Maestro (that was for you Farrah)...

The boys had a blast...especially when they got their faces painted. Teage wanted a Batman mask (that is what he is going to be for Halloween)...

and JD requested a skeleton (I beefed him up in the editing room with all the wounds & vampire eyes)!

While I was there chasing after bean bags, I also met someone that lives in my village. She has two smaller kids, but seemed pretty nice. It would be nice to know one of my neighbors I guess. So far the only one I've met is the guy across the street, Axel a.k.a Red "cause I'm a redneck". His words! I've never seen this guy when he wasn't fuming alcohol. However, he does have the up and up when it comes to getting oil and firewood. I'm sure he would have porchtime with me, but I'm not that desperate yet...errr, YET!

Back to homecoming week.....the inevitable occurred on Saturday...the dance!! Saige made her way to the football games that morning while all the men and I did some flea marketing...love it! After that, she came home and napped until 5 so that I could help her get ready. Once my palms stopped sweating, I started doing her hair and makeup. Yeah I said it...makeup. This is not starting on the regular, but for the occasion I thought it was time...plus it was fun for us. Nick and his parents came to pick her up and he had flowers for her (insert "Awwwww"). His parents seemed pretty normal, so that was good. I took more than enough pictures...against Saige's wishes. She looked beautiful, and GROWN!





I cannot believe I am here in this moment in time with her already. She is going to drive the boys wild here, because she is good girl and knows what she wants. Boys are second to her goals and I admire that. It makes waving the nightstick to the boys less necessary.

While she was whooping it up, we killed time by going to our new fave local restaurant, Porbacher Hof. It is literally two minutes away (that's what Garmin said) and is owned by the brother of our landlord's wife. The place is beautifully decorated and the food is off the chizzle...Here's a couple pics I took in there.



A plate of steak and potatoes later, I was on pins and needles to find out how it went...and to see if Nicky tried to pull a fast one on my girl...I'm just sayin'!! She is no wallflower, but boys are boys, and I'll cut one if I have to! George picked them both up and dropped 'the boy' off at home first. I tried to act like I was just chillin' with Teage when she walked in, but I was dying for her to spill her guts! She answered my prayers and was full of stories about dancing with her friends, trying to drag Nick out there, and taking pictures the whole time. She pulled out the camera and said...

S: "Oh, by the way, we did kiss and I took a picture of it".
Me: "Ummm, ok"
S: "It was nothing bad though, just a quick one"
Me: "Well, did he try to put his tongue in your mouth?"....it's a reasonable question, she's not 5 anymore!
S: "MOM....No, Mom. In fact, I'm glad he didn't try because I wasn't ready for that"
Me: ....Breathing again....

Now, I know she has 'kissed' before in Okinawa, but then they broke up and she had said to me "it really should be worth it 'cause you may not last with that person, ya know?" YES I DO & thank you Jesus for figuring that out!! I hope all my kids stay on this path of cause and effect. It's all about "What'd Ya Learn?" But, overall she had fun and that was what mattered.

That's all for now...I'm still looking for the M.I.A foodie pics, I'll let you know when I find them!!

P.S. Did I mention it is flipping freezing here now?? Try a high of 40's and frost on the ground...my boys wear Winter well though, don't they??


Good thing we finally lit this thing....(and yes, I do have a chestnut tree growing in my backyard)!


Tschuss.....