Otherwise Occupied

Too busy to blog? Hard to believe, huh? I mean, it's not like I'm holding down a real job or anything remotely close. OK, so I have a little part-time library gig going on, but it's not like I'm getting paid or required to get up early, so it hardly counts.

Don't get me wrong. Although we've been busy, it's been an absolute blast. But I've been left with very little time for lounging on the couch, watching Oprah, blogging and munching on Belgian chocolate goodness for Haus work.

I finally got caught up yesterday -- with the Haus work, that is. It was a full day of frenzied scrubbing, vacuuming, mopping & wizzing through an incredible pile of laundry. Don't worry, both kids are still relatively intact & neither seem to be suffering too badly at all from my maniacal yelling encouraging them to pull their weight around here in the Haus work department. Admittedly, if I could train Laze-E to pick up her soda cans and ice cream bowls off the floor & convince MiniMe not to leave books and crayons lying around, this HausFrau thing might be a little less work.

I was rocking right along, staying on top of HausFrau tasks and getting my daily Internet fix. Then June hit with a vengenance and school let out for the summer!

Just about the time the little one started speaking Flemish and putting the throaty "phlegm" sounds in all the right places, the preschool teachers wanted to take a break. That's great for them, but what about me? MiniMe's last day of preschool jolted me right out of my delusions of a relaxing summer. Here's a picture of her and her teacher on their last day.



I'm really, really missing Olga about right now . . . right now is exactly 7 business days into a very long summer break. I just need to figure out how to keep MiniMe busy, occupied and quiet mentally engaged until September. Think I could get her set up on BlogSpot? Maybe between that and Webkinz I can have a few spare moments to soak in a bubble bath and sip chardonnay cook dinner.

Seriously, she wants to learn how to read, but I have no inkling how to go about teaching her. Phonics, foniks, schmonics? Not a clue. Hey, Sweetie, can't Mommy just keep reading 20 books to you every day? Doesn't it work that way?

I know what you are thinking . . . Yes, I am in charge of Children's Programs at our Library. But, that doesn't mean I'm qualified, just enthusiastic & insane generous enough to do it for free.

Too bad she doesn't want to dissect a frog or grow nasties on a Petri dish. That I could handle.

Laze-E made it back from her trip to Italy. Yep, that's a little slice of heaven in the picture. No, not her, the pizza.



I'll spare you all the gorey details of a 16 hour middle school bus trip. You are very welcome. I wish someone would have extended that same courtesy to me. All I have to say is that we now have a new Haus Rule. I'm ashamed to confess that, once again, it is a reactive rule and not a proactive one. What can I say? Laze-E's Owner's Manual got lost on one of our PCS's and we've had to revert to Trial & Error Parenting. Hey, as long as there's enough red wine love and understanding involved, it's not a totally assine way of delivering her to adulthood, nicht war?

The new Haus Rule: Thou shalt not play "Truth or Dare" and especially not "Dare or Double Dog Dare" on bus trips, especially those associated with Church.


Uh, yeah.


A n y w a y . . .

Right after the bus got back from Italy, we scooped up Laze-E and headed to Wiesbaden for the Berlin Airlift 60th Anniversay Air Show. Laze-E was totally thrilled be to taking a Rockin'Bauer roadtrip before she got feeling back in her bum from the bus trip, and she didn't gripe, whine, cry, stomp, huff & pout too much mind at all.

The bratwurst & bier Air Show was awesome & totally worth the time (& gas money) to get there and back. Here's a picture of us in front of a C-17 from McChord AFB. It was the last plane to take off from Rhein-Main AB before it closed in 2006. Yes, I know this fact and many others because Man was totally in his element giving us the technical scoop all day long.



We were privileged enough to meet some of the pilots who flew in the Berlin Airlift right after WWII & even snagged the autographs of the Chocolate Pilot & some of the other Candy Bombers. Talk about true American heroes!

Theirs is such a wonderful, heart warming story that Laze-E and I eagerly await our her next "chose your own topic" assignment. Yes, I know, PE is not her thing (remember the dreadful F?), but when it comes to multifaceted projects to wow the teacher, she definitely sucks up in that department knows how to pull it together.

Right after we got back from Deutschland, Gary Sinise & the Lt. Dan Band showed up at our itty-bitty military community for another rocking concert.

You know what's great about awesome concerts in small communities? That's right, you can get up close and personal to the band & stay there as long as you want. Of course, the MP's were standing by all locked & loaded in case any derranged HausFrau lost her mind & decided to do an on-stage strip tease to the theme song from CSI New York for crowd control.



Laze-E got the FAB-U-LUS chance to shake her booty dance on stage & MiniMe sashayed across the same stage in a huge conga line. Man stayed in his lawn chair, drinking beer and I ran around taking pictures. Yep, we were all taking our stereotypical roles very seriously.

My friend (Hi, Heather!) and her family came to visit us this past week. They were our first official Haus Guests here in Belgium & we all had a great time. Heather has been overly appreciative & complimentary of my hospitality. Either her expectations are incredibly low or I somehow managed to execute Opertaion: Bed & Breakfast flawlessly.

OK, if you must know, I'll share the secret of my success.

HausFrau Rule #3: Keep the alcoholic beverages flowing & make sure all meals are totally fattening.

It's like crossing the full-gut happiness of Thanksgiving with the fizzy, bubbly excitment of New Years's Eve. How could guests not be singing your praises? Of course, freshly laundred bed linens and chocolate candy on the pillows nightly add special charm I'll have to remember that for next time.

We all spent the 4th of July at the beach in Knokke. Believe it or not, it was actually warm enough to wear an itty-bitty, teeny-weeny yellow polka dot binkini -- or go topless, whatever your preference. Me? I was more partial to shorts and a tank with a lightweight jacket. But, it's nice to have the legal option to bare the ta-ta's without a making that shameful walk down Misdemeanor Lane.

Not that I would know . . .

This next picture shows just what a gorgeous day it was. If you look closely enough, you can see Laze-E, MiniMe, ThongGirl & Heather's CutiePatooties I & II.



Our Independence Day celebration took place on the 5th of July. Yeah, I know. We are a military community full of flag-waving, proud Americans, but quite a few of us work directly for NATO & didn't have the holiday day off. So, we all patiently waited until Saturday to stuff ourselves with hotdogs and beer and enjoy an impressive display of made-in-China fireworks.



I celebrated my independence from Great Britain by drinking cider and eating sausage rolls spreading a little face painting cheer. To be precise, I spent a butt-numbing 6 hours painting rainbows, flower princesses, fireworks and Stars & Stripes on many, many faces - some a little more bumpy and stubbly than others. My efforts were greatly appreciated by all & I have yet another skill to add to my resume. Should the Dallas Cowboys ever need someone to apply the black stripes beneath their eyes before those sunshine filled games, I am the woman for that job.

Now that I have a good chunk of summer fun & excitement behind me, I should have a few moments this week to finish Season 3 of Medium up around the Haus. Let's face it, with 5 toilets, irritable bowel syndrome 2 kids & one Man, there's always some scrubbing to be done. And, it just so happens, that I am the woman for that job.