Wenn es im Winter stürmt und schneit, haben wir eine Flasche Glühwein allzeit bereit - life in Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

As I couldn't find a suitable poem mentioning Glühwein, I composed my own. Please don't laugh.

All welcome - anyone living in Germany, Austria or anywhere else who would like to chat.

Yes, a bikini is always excellent motivation, isn't it hupa? I was planning to go for a run this morning but DS is still feeling v. sorry for himself, can't speak properly and hasn't had anything to eat since breakfast yesterday, so I've kept him home from KiGa. His lip looks awful too, so I'm hoping it heals quickly.

We're at the doctor's atm, mainly at DH's insistence, but I suppose it's good to get it seen to although I don't expect there's a lot we can do. It's v. busy here (could only get an appt at 12.40, which was no good as I'm teaching English then, so the receptionist said I could just turn up and wait); I'm hoping I'll get back in time to get everything ready for English.

DD2 had her first 1st communion class yesterday. She said it went ok, but one of the mothers who's doing the classes just phoned and said it was really chaotic, the children were all (with a couple of exceptions, thankfully incl. DD2) v. undisciplined and the two younger brothers trying to join in didn't help. Am so glad I said I didn't want to be a Tischmutter!

Hope your ds feels OK and the swelling goes down soon. He must be starving, can he drink atleast something like milk shake or smoothies?

Hupa, we had a little 2 minute burst of snow here but now the sum is out. Strange weather all in one morning wind, rain, snow and now sun. I think we coiuld get away with not having a real winter this year, although we didn't have a real summer either did we? All fine with me, I don't like extreemes so this suits me fine!

Your brother will have some serious carrying up and down stairs to do with twins on 3rd floor! Has he started looking for some other place? Munich isn't the easiest or cheapest city to find a flat either is it. Although Hannover isn't easy if you want 3 bedrooms.

I'm starting to think we should try and get a professional to help with dh's job applications. Together we've got a good CV written bit I think his cover letter is Mangelhaft. Work is just messing him about too much. He's waiting to get his privat Dozent position and they're holding 2 manuscripts back that he need sto publish to qualify and now they've taken a grant application and given a new doctor's name as applicant instead of dh. Dh is only named as assistant on it. And up to now, no interviews for jobs he's applied for.

Hope he's ok linzer - like I said on twitter (and hupa agrees on here) they heal really quickly. Loved my freudian slip yesterday - must have had bras on the brain!

hupa - wow a 3rd floor flat with twins - that would be a nightmare. But I've only lived in a flat once for 6 months when I was 24 so I wouldnt be happy anyway but with twins....

admylin - is it a language problem with the CV? I sometimes found on dh's CV that the importance of things were lost in translation. Your dh is in a tricky position at work - he wants to keep his job but it sounds like he could do with being more assertive with them. Surely if its his work no one else can take credit for it?

We're also having a mixed bag of weather today but at least its sunny some of the time.

I braved moving up to Level 2 of the 30 day shred and found it more challenging which I weirdly liked. Going to have a walk too while the boys are at tennis later - and then use all the calories burned on a few glasses of wine!. I dont drink all week but i like deserve a fri glass of wine!

Hope you all have a good weekend - we've no plans and dh is working . Might go swimming.

Canella, well done with keeping up the shredding. I must try and go for walks but I find it too boring alone and I'm too scraed to go in the forest alone too, I find it really spooky in there.

Dh probably could be more assertive at work although he's half worried that if he kicks up too much of a fuss they certainly won't re-new his contract even though the boss cried last time he told her he was leaving. It's crazy but she's copied his work before and given it to her PhD student to put in her publication.

The CV is OK, it's facts and figures basically and in English but I think we need help to make his cover letter sound better. I've done my best but it's sometimes difficult to write about his subjects as I don't get what he does all day (well only about 50%, the rest is too comlicated!)

hupa We live on the third floor with no lift and that's hard enough with just one baby! I think if I had twins I'd never leave the flat. I'm constantly doing my back in lugging DS plus pushchair/carseat & changing bag & shopping up and down the stairs. I reckon I'll have the physique of a bodybuilder by the time he's a toddler.
No snow here yet, just rain and a little sunshine.

Linzer How did you get on at the Dr's? I hope DS is feeling a little better and that you managed to get some food down him.
Good luck with the English lesson.

admylin Your DH's employers sound absolutely shocking! Did they give a reason for holding back the manuscripts and putting another Dr's name on the grant application? I bet he will be glad when he gets another job and can get out of there. Maybe professional help with the CV and the applications is worth a try. I really hope things start to look up soon.

Canella Enjoy your glass of wine! You deserve it after all the exercise youve done this week! (I have done no exercise but will still be drinking wine :) )

I broke and logged back into Twitter this afternoon, so now nothing will get done in the flat. I'll have a look for the people who mentioned they are on there, although I've never actually tweeted so I really should think of something interesting to say - interesting and concise are not my strong points!

X-post admylin. She COPIED his work and gave it to her PhD student?! Is that not plagiarism? I am hopping mad on your DH's behalf. That's awful.

Hupa, I lived on a 3rd floor in Berlin and although my dc were at primary school the amount of shopping I had to drag up those stairs kept me fit for sure but I use dto have to have a shower in summer after shopping as I was drenched by the time I got up to our floor!

Yes it was plagiarism! She got away with it though. Dh has to hand his manuscripts to her to be reviewed before he submits and it was his new paper and she copied and pasted a whole section for her student. Luckily the big boss above her told her to remove half but she still got half and he had to change his before he could send in to be published! Right now they (her and the big boss) are sitting on two finished manuscripts and dh doesn't get why unless it's to hold him back for some unknown reason.

So cheeky! Are they refusing to give him a reason for holding them back? Does he have many job applications pending at the moment?

It's snowing! I was feeling quite relieved that we haven't had any here when you mentioned it earlier hupa (and yesterday was lovely and sunny and almost spring-like), but I ... Oh well, at least it's the weekend. And the DC are certainly excited (they're playing outside in it as I write).

DS is definitely on the mend; I think the snow has taken his mind off his lip. The doctor prescribed some disinfectant spray and also Nureflex, which seems to be helping. I said we already had Nureflex at home as I knew we had Calpol, but then realised at the chemist's that the dosing syringe you get with Nureflex would probably be better for DS than the Calpol spoon. Luckily the chemist gave me Nureflex without a prescription... and then I got home and discovered we had full bottles of Nureflex and Nurofen (i.e. exactly the same but from the UK) in our medicine cabinet.

Glad to see you've taken the plunge, Gator. I can't do interesting or concise either, but that hasn't stopped me so far.

Canella I haven't had anything to drink all week either as DH has been away/out, so am particularly looking forward to my Friday tonight. Well done on level 2 but you must be mad if you're enjoying it.

admylin Your DH's employers sound worse and worse the more I hear about them. Maybe professional help with his applications is a good idea if he's not getting invited to any interviews. DH showed me an application he'd had the other day; it was from someone in the small town where I used to work in the UK - small world!

I can see myself becoming addicted, Linzer. Saying that, my only two followers are a casino and a fictional character so it hardly seems worth it - even the porn star unfollowed me!
Glad your DS is feeling a little better. You sound like you could open your own pharmacy :)

You have three now, Gator. If it's any consolation, two porn stars unfollowed me too!

Three followers, obviously. Not three porn stars. At least I hope not.

Linzer, we saw that parts of Austria were snowed in, maybe it's drifted over to your side. Hope teh dc enjoyed it and good that it has distracted your ds! Sounds like you're well stocked up on everything too, wish I was so organised, I'm more the type who has to rush out at the last minute to get things.

Gator, twitter is worse than mn - I open the page and start reading then get led onto other pages and other links that I end up not having time to write anything anyway! Why can I read messages from people I don't know - or are they maybe following me and I get to read them deshalb?

Hockey top is sorted, dd can now play next Sunday in the match. They are very competetive. Had an email along the lines of: don't forget girls, we need to teach those Braunschweig girls a lesson after they beat us last time, lets do it.. and all parents have to bring drinks, coffee, cake or belegte brötchen to sell to raise money for the club.

Admylin the more you say about your dh's work/ boss the more shocking it sounds! I know supervisors in academia often take credit for their assistants' and students' work, and that there is a lot of political manoeuvring, but the getting away with the blatant cheating of stealing your dh's work and including it in her phd student's thesis is beyond shocking! Is there no professional body things like that can be reported to? I hope he has more luck finding a better job soon!

hupa would your brother and his wife not consider moving a bit outside Munich? 3rd floor flat without lift sounds ridiculous with twins! DH won't live in a flat with kids, which is part of the reason we ended up out in the sticks even though he works in Munich. He now has a different job than when we first moved here and has to take the S bahn into Munich and out the other side! But at least we have a decent sized house and the play ground etc. for less than a 1 bed flat in Munich!

Its sunny but very cold and frosty here but no snow, and I am not on twitter... :)

Need to take the kids to their ice skating lesson in a few minutes - was only at the rink yesterday as DD asked to teach me to skate as her reward for completing her latest star chart! We had a nice bit of 1:1 time actually, which doesn't happen much atm due to ever present baby. The baby is now happier to be left with DH (though he still doesn't take a bottle, but he's old enough now for that not to be a problem for 3 hours or so). DD loves skating, but DS1 doesn't want to go any more, leaving me with the dilemma of whether to make him, seeing as after the schnupper course he said he wanted to carry on, so we paid for the transfer to the beginner course, which runs til the end of Feb...

oh btw I am 5moreminutes but name changed as I have been saying so much very recognisable stuff on chat - I don't know whether I care about anyone I might know recognising me, but decided to go for a bit of anonymity for a while!

admylin Yes, there's been lots of snow in the west of Austria but thankfully not too much here. It started snowing again when we were at the zoo yesterday, but most of it has melted again now.

Thatis I'm having the same dilemma with ice skating as DS is not keen at all (but DD2 loves it). I didn't make him go after his accident on Thursday as he was still shellshocked, but he's promised he'll go next Thursday... Must admit I'll be relieved when the course is finished (5 weeks to go) and I don't have the stress of trying to persuade DS to take part and then getting to the FC class on time.
Are you an Eliot fan btw? I did him for A level and Prufrock is one of my favourite poems; I love the line "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons".

Had quite a busy day yesterday, with the zoo and then Ikea in the morning (zoo was very empty as it was so cold, Ikea inevitably the exact opposite), so we're having a quiet day at home today. Am trying to continue my decluttering attempts, but there seem to be constant interruptions.

linzer hope the snow isn't too bad and you're feeling abit better (saw you were ill on twitter!) and teh dc aren't suffering toobadly with it. Wonder where you caught it? Did you eat out yesterady?

What did you get at Ikea?

thatis no there doesn't seem to be any chance of reporting dh's boss as she is the boss and the only one above her tolerates it to get the work out of the way quicker. Her secret name among some of the colleagues is cut and paste though!

How long does your dh commute then if he has to go right across Munich? Is it not a big city in terms of square km? Sounds worth it to live in a nicer house with garden rather than a flat. I'm fed up of living in one to be honest. The neighbour downstairs shouts at her dc and slams doors and I can hear the neighbour upstairs walking around like a fairy elephant. Nothing you can complain about but it'd be nice to not have to listen to it.

I'm meant to be proof reading a translation for a research department and i'm stuck. A German bi-lingual secretary has written it and I can tell it's directly translated so I know what she wants to say in most places but a couple of lines sound very strange.

Hi Linzer - I'm rather pleased you got the Elliot reference, I thought it was too non specific a quote - I tried "The taking of toast and tea" first but somebody already has that, though I've never seen them post! I also love Elliot'S poems, though I take the point he is deliberately obtuse and referential. We did Prufrock, The preludes and The Wasteland at A Level and I loved them, amazing how huge chunks of all the poems are still stuck in my head from 18 years ago! I much prefer Prufrock as a Poem about growing old to that oft quoted nonsense about weaqring purple :) and I preferred Elliot him to Dunn, who was the other poet we did. You spend so long on A level texts that they stay with you much longer than the ones whizzed through at Uni.

I didn't send DS ice skating - DH gave him the choice of going skating or going for a nap in his bed and he chose to go to bed, so I guess he really, really doesn't want to do it! :(

How's the decluttering?

admylin his commute is an hour and a half each way - an hour of which is the S-bahn and the rest the drive/walk each end. We thought of moving when he got the job (he was made redundant from the job we moved over here for so had to take what was available to stay in work) but actually he finds it OK, as we are the very end of the S-bahn and his work is also outside Munich the other end, so he always gets a seat on the S-bahn and he reads and listens to music or pod casts on his phone. I must admit though I'd love city living for myself and would like to be able to take the kids to theatre and museums more easily, on a 7 days a week, year round basis I'd go mad in a city with small kids if as they really do need lots of outside time, and it is invaluable that dd can call for her friends etc.

Good luck finishing the translation!

DD has finished her homework so better go and get DS! We need to go and buy a birthday present for a first birthday Henry has been invited to.

I'm feeling a bit better now, thanks, admylin, although I'm glad we don't have to go anywhere this afternoon. The DDs are both ill so I cancelled this afternoon's piano lesson; DD1 seems fine now so I'm sure she'll be OK for school tomorrow, but I don't know about DD2 yet - she's definitely been the worst hit. Fingers crossed that DS and DH don't catch it...

We bought a new mattress for DD2 at Ikea as well as come cupboard doors and drawers for the unit in the playroom, which looks much better now. We also need to think about possibly buying some more bedding before April, when an old friend of mine will be coming to visit with her DH and four DC. Must check with the neighbours whether they've got a camp bed or two they could lend us!

Good luck with the proofreading. I often find myself wishing I'd been asked to translate the document from scratch if it hasn't been written by a native English speaker, as those kinds of texts can be a bit of a nightmare sometimes.

Thisis Yes, I haven't a clue what poems I did for my degree (can only remember the name of one of the books - Poets of the Cafe des Westens) but can still quote large chunks of Eliot. We did the Waste Land (which I loved and knew inside out), Ash Wednesday (which I liked) and Burnt Norton (couldn't get into it so didn't bother revising it) for A level - and was devastated to discover that the exam question about the WL was a "compare and contrast with BN" one so I couldn't answer it; I had to write about AW instead, which I didn't know half as well.
A friend of mine did a brilliant parody of the Waste Land to give to our English teacher; I'll have to ask her whether she still has it. I can only remember the first line: June is the cruellest month, dragging dead quotes out of the dry text. Have you come across Wendy Cope's Eliot parodies? So funny; they make me laugh out loud.

Decluttering has inevitably come to a standstill today. I felt like I was making good progress yesterday, but the house doesn't actually look any the better for it yet. But I did put lots of paperwork away and also managed to find the 10er blocks for the ice rink, so feel like progress is being made.

Hope you all feel better soon, Linzer. It must be hard to have to look after ill DCs when you're ill yourself.

Thatis I'm afraid the Elliot reference went right over my head! I hope you find a nice present and that Henry enjoys the first birthday party.

admylin How frustrating for your DH. It's bad enough that his boss does that, but the other boss turning a blind eye is just as bad.
Good luck with the proofreading.

DS is going through a really cute stage at the moment - he's just discovered his hands (when he has them out of his mouth for long enough) and seems fascinated by them and stares at them for ages. Also, instead of producing a big, gummy grin for things he likes and finds funny, he has started manically cackling, which in turn has both me and DH in fits of laughter. No cute baby giggling here, just mad, loud cackling, like a dirty old woman!

Oops, have just realised I called you Thisis, Thatis. So much for still remembering large chunks of Eliot!

Enjoy the cackling, Gator. Babies' laughs can be so infectious, can't they? DD2 can often laugh quite hysterically and finds it difficult to stop once she's started (not that she's a baby any more, of course), which can be quite amusing too.

Well, I must be feeling better as I'm starting to feel hungry. At least the DC are now at an age where they're quite independent and can more or less look after themselves if they're feeling ill - although it was quite tiring with DS when he kept nagging me to wake up his sisters. And it was also very handy that we were all ill on the same day so I didn't need to worry about the school run.

Apropos Twitter, I have now been retweeted twice for my dodgy taste in music.

Linzer I hope you´re all feeling a bit better today.
I love decluttering, especially the sense of satisfaction when I´ve finished. It´s just a shame it all builds up again so quickly.

Gator I love cackling babies. It´s such a great age as they start doing new things almost constantly.

My brother is actually looking for somewhere to buy. It´s a bit of a nightmare because everywhere is so expensive and places seem to get snapped up before he´s even had a chance to look at them.

admylin your dh´s boss sounds like such a nightmare. It must be really hard to maintain a good working relationship when he´s being treated so badly.

I´m meant to filing paperwork, so I better get a move on.

thatis looks like your ds really dislikes skating if he chose an afternoon nap over going out!

That's a long commute to work for your dh, although if he can sort of relax on the way there and back it's maybe not so bad. We've always lived within 10 minutes of dh's work or we'd never see him!

linzer are your girls fit today? I managed to finish the document by asking for the German text then it was easy to understand!

gator I love those baby laughing videos on youtube! Dd also used to cackle when she was smaller, it's a lovely age - enjoy it!

I've been told off by the team mother at hockey! There is a game on Sunday and she sent a long organised list of who brings what from coffee to belegte Brötchen, Kuchen and such like to sell. We missed the email so didn't put our names on the list before the deadline and now they're dissapointed that the new girls (dd's friend also missed it) haven't joined in. I have e-mailed her that I'm sorry we missed the list and could I bring some fruit maybe? Healthy snacks was on the list and geschnittenes Obst.

So apples, grapes, oranges and bananas maybe - but it won't look very nice by the time they want to eat it.

hupa good luck to your brother, it's a difficult area for housing isn't it? Although it's not much better in Hannover. You really have to be prepared to move into the outskirts.

I should also be sorting some papers, the pile has gone too high again!

Could you just take the fruit but not cut up, admylin? Agree that it probably wouldn't look great if it's cut up too long before they want to eat it. But how can you be told off if you weren't sent the e-mail in the first place? Seems a bit of an OTT reaction to me.

hupa I really need to get some paperwork filing done today too; I did a couple of hours on Sunday, but it's still not finished. I'm sure we accumulate far more paperwork here than we would in the UK. My decluttering seems to have turned into tidying/organising more than anything, but I really need to force myself to get rid of a few things.

DD1 and I are much better this morning so she's gone back to school. DD2 couldn't decide whether to go or not and decided to stay at home in the end - fortunately, as she was sick again while I was out on the school run. She's asleep now so hopefully the rest will do her good.

We woke up to a couple of centimetres of snow this morning and it's still snowing, so so my shovelling earlier will probably have been a waste of time. Oh well, it will be less to do eventually (unless it all melts in the meantime anyway) and it makes a good impression with our elderly German neighbours. They have the path to do on the other side; we share our path (or at least part of it) with our next-door neighbour and the people in the two flats, but I'm the only one not away/out at work/with a one-month-old baby so it's down to me really.