Der Herbst ist da - wir wollen aber kein Regenwetter: Life in Germany cont/d

[finknottle]

Too lazy to scroll through the other long one.

Here for Obst und Blaetter - guess what d came home from school singing yesterday?

All welcome, Austria & Switzerland & any German-speaking Leute too

Blueberry pie sounds lovely, MmeHobnob

I did the TEFL certificate, but not until a number of years after I'd already been teaching so it's definitely possible to find work without a formal qualification ime but I did find the course very useful.

I am going mad mad mad. Trying to set up Outlook and it is NOT WORKING It worked before we moved here, maybe it is because I am using Orange instead of t-online. I have turned to the Geeks on MN for help.

I am going to assemble the MALM chest of drawers today, for our bedroom. Can't wait to put my clothes away in a proper drawer and get them off the floor of the wardrobe. Funny, the things that get you all excited when you move house.

We are going to Douvaine in France today, where we saw a Lidl yesterday. I have also discovered that some of the French supermarkets are open on Sundays. There was a gym near the Lidl so I will have a look in there too as I must lose 10kgs before next summer for my DB's wedding. They are choosing the bridesmaids dresses soon.

Maybe I should name change to MmeSalat

How are you all doing today?

Hello all

MMe - yup I did TEFL too, but did it befoe teaching as hadn't a clue how to do it all! You can do couses online too though if you don't fancy the faff/are confident.

10kg? I would love to just loose 1 at the moment(need to loose about 20!!).

Sunday shopping ---- oooooh, wouldn't that be nice.

Well, DH said he feels a bit better today (Got Seit Danke). Still dead poorly though so still being run ragged, although DS is sleeping a bit better today so at least I am getting a break. Will have to escape the house today as need supplies.

Hope everybody else is doing a bit better.

hia no time to talk. gabster - sent you a mail but dunnoif to right place? you free wed, thur or fri?

Meal good ta.

glad dh on mend

hi to all x

Hi y'all. What a glorious weekend, foggy & misty then about 1/2pm wonderfully warm sunshine. We spent the weekend at the lake, loads of people around & as there wasn't much wind for sailing, did a lot of sitting around drinking coffee then Sekt and even barbecued.

D went in a boat by herself for the first time ever, I was thrilled for her that she wanted to and that she loved it. Really boosted her confidence. And the boys were so helpful and sweet with her so they've been allowed extra rations on the PC and PS2 as a reward.

I woke h up at 6.20am this morning (he leaves at 6.30) in a panic that he'd overslept which he hardly ever does. He leapt out of bed, jumped under the shower (cold water owing to Finknottle's energy saving boiler use) made tea, then came back to bed and said, "I'm not going in" - to my astonishment He has about 1 day off a year sick and never skives. Turns out it's a US holiday so a day off and I'd forgotten, lol. What with the early morning fug of consciousness and my faff, he forgot too, till he tried calling in. So I had an unexpectedly early start to the day but he did make more tea Should forget days off more often

Do you have those days as an SAHM when your h is around and you do loads of stuff to show how busy you usually are? I couldn't be bothered today, took the laptop back to bed & had h do breakfast for the children. Spent the whole day lazing around. Well, tis still half-term... and the madness starts again next week

Ernest how did your meal go? I meant to say after years of hand-wringing I've discovered the best meal for guests here is a roast with roast potatoes. Always goes down a storm. Never blush when s1 goes on about my "delish home-made gravy" i.e. made with imported Bisto I do 2 chickens if we have a family with children over and for pud, just ice-cream tarted up with Madeleines & sprinkles for the children, cheese & biscuits for the adults. Only bugger is trying to find decent crackers.
Germans don't do that "family over for a meal" thing much though, have you lot also found? Tend to be other forriners or expats. Germans seem to be more "Kaffee und Kuchen um 15 Uhr". I prefer wine & chicken at 7/8pm

Am v v v v v v relieved my h is so seldom ill as he takes to the sofa and is Sick.
In our early years together he'd don dressing gown and scarf (what's that about?) and rasp that he wanted "hot beer" or "tea with rum in it"
Years of merciless piss-taking from me & he doesn't dare do that any more
But he still take to the sofa so Everyone Knows He is sick
And I am embarrassed to say (well, a wee bit maybe) that because he's such an awful ham, I am so unsympathetic. I do tell him that if every sore throat were just that and not incipient bronchitis, I'd be the first to make him a hot toddy.
Lord help us if he ever is really sick...

Should maybe post this in FOOC, the international man on his sickbed, lol.

LOL at the international man on his sickbed. DH is also a hauptberuflicher Patient if he is ill. He mopes about the place making everyone miserable. He does not wear a scarf though, I have noticed that Germans tend to put a scarf on when they have a cold, even in the summer.

I hate it when DH is home for the day, I cannot get on MN in peace, he faffs about the place grumping and tidying and generally getting on my nerves. He does Very Important Jobs like sweeping the leaves up and says things like, "We really need to get the cupboard in the kitchen tidyed up" which translates as "When are you going to tidy up the cupboard in the kitchen as it is a tip and I cannot find anything in it"

The Royal WE. We must sort out the cellar. We must put the curtains up. We must assemble the new MALM.

The minister who married us told us to remember in our life, as in the word WEDDING that the WE comes before the I. DH is good at putting the WE before the I but only when he means that I should do something.

yerse, h did announce at ca. 9am that his Plan for the day was to finish tiling the porch, see posts passim.
Thus:
coffee:
8.00 "Fink are you making coffee?"
8.45 "Darling Fink are you making more coffee?"
10.00 "Fink, darling, do you want more coffee? Are you making another pot?"

11am: "I am now going to Tile."
11.01 "It's raining, I cannot Tile."
me: "That's not rain, that's fog. And anyway, the porch is under cover, what does it matter?"

Several hours of internet later (thankfully in his study, I have my own, could weep with relief, it was worth buying this house for that alone)

12.30 "What's for lunch? S1, have you seen Mum?"
13.00 "Shall I make coffee?" (too few beans ground, water boiled almost until condensation stage)

14.45 "I will now Tile"
15.00 "I am having a break and a (foul small cigar) (again thankfully in his own pit study) smoke"
15.45 "Have you seen the tiling things I left here?" (in April)

17.00 "I have done (sweats) two steps. What's for supper?"

Maybe my half-term mood but it made me laugh

Hello everyone, my h is the same, he's dying every time he's got a cold and he goes to a specialist when he has a blocked nose as if it's the end of the world but watch this man flu He even got his boss who is a neurologist to put him through a full body scan one night to make sure his headache wasn't Something Serious!

Well we have lights up in most rooms, I have watched and learned and my dad has been great. They are getting older though so we haven't finished as one day shopping for lights fittings and getting there on tram and bus tired dad out. Mum can't do as much either - anyway today we do the bathroom ATLAST we'll have a light and mirror up but we have to drill the tiles which I didn't want to have to do but theer is no other way. Stupid stupid German tradition of taking everything unscrewable away with you when you move. We had to go and get a piece for my drill yesterday so we went into town and then to a restaurant - cost over 70 Euro, I was shocked at how it added up as for the same sort of food and drink we payed about average 40 Euro in Berlin in a decent place.

well

dh appears to have gone to work in the middle of the night...

so i have no way of getting ds to kindergarten

just when he is better again .....>ds that is>>

do men live on a totally different planet

Well done for putting up all the lights, admylin. I'm completely useless at anything like that and rely on dh to do it.

lol at full body scan .

My dh is the same. He suffers from sinusitis which I know is very unpleasant but he always makes sure I know how much he is suffering so any sympathy I had soon evaporates.

And I think I may have married your dh's twin, MmeHobnob. Whenever he starts rummaging around furiously for something, followed by lots of huffing and puffing I know the next thing he's going to say will be "We (i.e. you) really must sort this cupboard/desk/fridge out"

Well my h never bothers with 'we' he just tells me to do it and I ignore him!

Actually I'm trying to be a good wife at the moment - just trying it! I even got up at 6.30 with him this morning even though it's half term. The truth is he got up and I needed the loo anyway so I thought i'd make it look as if I was getting up with him!

I wanted to get up with DH this morning at 6am but he told me to stay in bed. I think he prefers to have his breakfast in peace actually.

I should have got up, as it turned out DD wakened me at 7.45 to say that Granny was not feeling well and I would have to take them to school. We normally leave just after 8am so it was a mad rush.

Granny had an upset tummy, it would be today as well when she has to go home. Poor thing has taken lots of immodium and is hoping that she is ok. She is resting on the terrace at the moment, it is lovely here.

The plan was for her to get herself to the airport as she needs to be there during the kids lunchhour. I told her that I cannot have her getting 3 buses to the airport, that we will pick up the kids and take her there. The kids can eat lunch in the car.

She keeps giving the kids kisses and hugs, and while I know that she is goign to miss them, I do wish she wouldn't. We really do not need a tummy bug now, we are just getting settled.

Admylin
Well done for getting lights and a mirror in the bathroom. It is such a pain that they took everything with them. LOL at your DH's full body scan.

I feel a bit sorry for DH at the moment, he is taking the bus to work and it is quite a bit of a hassle. I really need the car for picking up the kids at lunchtime, it is quite a hike back up this hill.

Lol, admylin, I didn't make myself v popular with h when I showed the children that clip a while ago and when h announced at supper that he had a Sore Throat, s1 piped up, "Oh, Papa, do you want to watch the Cbeebies?" and all 3 children fell about laughing

We still have bare light bulbs esp on the top floor where the children are. We seem to have run out of steam after the first burst after we moved. Several miles of skirting board are still living in the cellar and most annoyingly, the kitchen still needs painting. It's got some horrible Putz stuff on the walls which is so uneven it's a bugger to paint. We had painters do upstairs before the move but we're well into DIY land now. And I'm going to have to re-paint the stairwell this winter so we're into wear & tear & repair painting some areas before we've even started on some rooms

I would paint the kitchen myself if I hadn't had a go upstairs and had to get the painters to re-do it, you need a lot more elbow power than I have apparently. Or maybe a spray thingy? Anyone tried one? At the rate h is tiling, it'll be another 2 yrs before he gets around to painting.

We've had a lovely lazy half-term. Friends of the boys call or turn up most days but it's so much easier now the children are older isn't it? Mind you they eat their own body weight in waffles on a daily basis.
I only have to bring/pick up d and that's only ever 10 mins on the bikes.

Hi everyone, hope you're all well.

I just want to say out loud that my DH has done a stupid stupid thing. DS1 has been amazing at KiGa for the last 3 days. Well behaved, obeying all the rules etc. and today started speaking German to his classmates! The teachers are dumbfounded (ha ha!).
Now, since things all kicked off last week, I have banned any television watching from DS1, which is hard as he watches a little before bathtime as I'm BFing DS2. He needs to get to 5 good days at KiGa before the TV goes back on (he's not that bothered though!)

DH, on the other hand, has promised him a Wall-e figure if he is good at KiGa all week. DH has gone until Friday, and he didn't look into whether such a toy exists in Germany before promising it to DS1. I can't find it for love nor money here, only the UK.

Stupid stupid DH. Why promise something you can't get to your child? Didn't Arnold Swarzenegger make a film about this?

Try Amazon.co.uk - I buy stuff on there the whole time, post is quick (one/two days often) and with the exchange rate atm cheaper often than buying stuff here.

Glad to hear your s is more settled

Is this what you're looking for, thequietone? Also on ebay.de

Very glad to hear things are going well this week.

TheQuietOne
Nothing for it, you will have to go to UK to get the Wall-E figure Don't forget to stock up on Hobnobs while you are there.

I ordered a lot on Amazon.uk last Xmas, they were very quick and a LOT cheaper, particularly for branded toys. The Barbie that DD wanted was ?40 here but only 12pounds.

I am getting on well with my finding out where things are, have heard about a great gym just over the border today (from 2 seperate sources!) Will check it out tomorrow perhaps.

If I have time, I am going to a coffee morning at the American Womans Club in Geneva, which I am visualising as a Stepford-Wives version of the WI. They organise a lot of stuff though, and it would be good to meet people.

Sorry that was such a memememe post-and-run earlier. I finished typing and DS2 woke screaming (he's just worked out how to turn over to sleep, but hates it when he wakes).
Thanks for all your help. I've ordered two little figures of Wall-e and Eve which should hopefully arrived for the weekend. I'm still ranting about DH though. All DS1 talks about now is Wall-e at the weekend. God, I hope these arrive.

How are you all doing today? It was an unseasonably warm morning here, so scooted off to KiGa with the boys in the chariot. Nipped into Tengelmann and when I came out it was torrential! I've been wearing wet jeans all day...

Right, I'm off to read through your recent posts as I feel I've lurked and missed out on various DH's illnesses, so I apologise.

Speak tomorrow! x

Sorry for appalling hijack of your thread - I need someone to tell me the German for "Do you have two adjoining double rooms available on the nights of the 28th and 29th October please?" Can anyone help? Sorry again, and many thanks.

(By adjoining I don't mean just next to each other, I mean a door between the two)

"Do you have two adjoining double rooms available on the nights of the 28th and 29th October please?"

Wir benötigen 2 Doppelzimmer mit Verbindungstüre von 28. bis 30. Oktober (2 Nächte). Haben Sie zur dieser Zeitpunkt noch Zimmer frei?

Hows that? There might be a proper German speaker along shortly, but I think that is ok.

You're a star - many thanks

Well, poor me, am officially totally fed up.

DH has pneumonia, caused by a bronchal infection. He is good for nothing and has been home for nearly two weeks now. He has to go back for more blood tests tomorrow but not sure what they are going to do with him - he has just finished his 2nd course of antibiotics. At least they have finally given him inhaler to help him stop coughing at night so everyone got more sleep last night. Trouble is, he had v. bad asthma as a kiddie and it looks like it has brought that back too.

What is it about my DH and serious illnesses. Why can't he just get the odd cold like normal people?

Am fed up, stuck in house, run off my feet, going insane. Now also have to face fact that have pretty much emptied freezer and need to do a major supermarket run which means I have to drive the car. *'ing myself - hate driving at the best of times, let alone stupid tank husband bought when we moved. I have no concept of where it starts and ends. Then there are the German "red light does not necessarily mean stop" "don't have to give way to the right if I am fast enough" drivers .......Ahhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrr.

Well done on all the DIY that has been going on by the way ladies - v. glad in such good company!

Going to skulk off and get myself a bath. Think a small drinkie might be in order.

Oh, Gabster, I think a large drinkie might well be in order, poor you. And poor DH, at least he now has a good reason to mope around the place feeling sorry for himself.

Are you not near Munich? Tengelmann do online shopping down your way I think. And if you need nappies etc, get yourself onto www.schlecker.de and order the heavy bulky stuff online. I used them a lot when the DCs were younger.