Dr. Jones and the Spitting Camel - Link to Alaska Cruise TR 9/18

[brookelizabeth]

Up to? Nah, that's pretty normal. I like my coffee, no doubt. But honestly it's the flavor, the warmth, the comfort of it, more than the caffeine per se. Starting the day without it is just....wrong. And with an early start well, it just begs an iced coffee in the late morning as a treat, when I can. Like today after my workout! Iced Gingerbread latte, the perfect way to cool down, and gear up for finishing the holiday decorating! LOL!

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly! I'm all about the flavor, warmth and comfort of it - and the 2 cups in the morning is my routine, so like you said - it would be just wrong without it! It throws my whole day off if I don't get it!

However, sometimes I am very appreciative of the caffeine aspects as well.

I hope things slow down for ya a tad and you can come visit us here on the DIS! But, until then, we'll hang out. I'm very curious about the Germany thing too -- and a bit jealous! I hope it works out for you!!

 

[eandesmom]

Don't worry, we will wait for the TR update!! But of course I am soo curious about the Germany thing, so I would not mind if that update would come soon....

Coming soon!

Wow! A trip to Germany, even work related, will be fantastic! Too bad it won't be taking place in a warmer, drier month. Hope you get to finagle a DISmeet in there, that would be too cool. I hear ya on the jam-packed schedule. I'm only managing to fit in a few minutes of DIS time while I eat my breakfast because Scott is off today and took the girls to the bus stop. In an hour I'm due at school for the winter parties, then I have 2 1/2 hours in which to get all my Christmas shopping done before the girls get home (its an early release day). Then they'll be off for three weeks, so I won't have much opportunity to shop without them.

Have a great weekend!

This is why I have done all my shopping online! Crazy!

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly! I'm all about the flavor, warmth and comfort of it - and the 2 cups in the morning is my routine, so like you said - it would be just wrong without it! It throws my whole day off if I don't get it!

However, sometimes I am very appreciative of the caffeine aspects as well.

I hope things slow down for ya a tad and you can come visit us here on the DIS! But, until then, we'll hang out. I'm very curious about the Germany thing too -- and a bit jealous! I hope it works out for you!!

SO true. I drank a rather bad cup this morning just to not throw off the routine. Jeff and I spend the night at a local lodge where we had my company party last night. It was a press pot and he didn't brew it right. We were going to get cofee when we left but I could't wait. Itwas, at best, hot brown and warm. LOL!

Things should get better after next weekend. Well, not really. Next weekend is Evan's 2nd degree black belt test and he is NOT ready for it due to the demands of play rehearsal schedule so it's going to be a long week on that front. Then Christmas and then in laws arrive and then...

well, stay tuned! Update next.

 

[eandesmom]

Once again I have managed to NOT get my update actually up! Or even lurk on anyones threads.

So instead I'll update with an exciting new development, non TR related!

I am going to be a godmother again!

Family is a funny thing. Me, I'm a planner. My mom, also one. Dad, pretty much. The rest....not so much.

My brother, bless his heart, had a baby girl last March. His first, his wife's third.

On monday I get an email asking if I would be her godmother.

Well, of COURSE I will!

This was followed up by

"It would be so cool if you could be here for the christening on January 8th?"

Well yes, yes it would be cool.

Small complication.

They live in Germany.

So it's been a frantic week of fare watching, budget crunching and all kinds of stuff to see if I could pull it off.

With one months notice, at Christmas time and a 1x a month paycheck, financially it was NOT very viable.

I've also used up all my vacation days.

However, when there is a will, there is a way and well, I have a lot of will. Not everyday you get asked to be a godmother. For me, I couldn't "not" go if there was a way to pull it off.

Which I've done!

It's fast and furious and not the trip I'd planned to take to Germany at all. We'd hoped to get over there with the E's in the next 2 years. I still haven't told them, they are not going to take it well. It most certainly isn't the ideal time of year to visit, weather wise.

But, I get to be a godmother! To a NIECE! I am surrounded by nephews here so pretty stoked about this!

I fly out the 6th, arrive the 7th and fly back the 11th. It's a crazy, fast and furious trip. Even crazier is that for the bulk of the week I wasn't sure if anyone else in the family actually knew this was going on! I was finally able to talk to my folks tonight about it. They were aware of it (not my role) but my siblings were not. My parents also plan to go, as a surprise to my brother.

They just decided to go. 2 days ago. The same day I booked my ticket.

Guess what?

We are on the same flight out!

What are the odds of that????

So I'm basically there for 3 full days. I'll be going negative (3 days) on vacation days to pull that off and just didn't feel good about more than that, not to mention not feeling great about a longer trip without the rest of my gang with me. A bit of a bummer as my brothers birthday is the 14th and it would have been nice to stay and celebrate that (my folks are staying until the 15th) but...I'm going and that's all that matters.

Flying into Munich, it was the least expensive option, from where they are it could have been Frankfurt or Nuremberg (closest) but it's only about a 2 hour drive so not too awful. I have good flights so that will help quite a bit. It's kind of funny as the first leg flies into Frankfurt and then Munich so I may consider not taking the second leg and having them me pick up early but we will see. The surprise may work better if I don't do that as my parent's second leg takes them to Nuremburg but they have a 5 your layover. Or we might just all pile in the car in Frankfurt, just not sure! Going to call Lufthansa to see if they would even let me not take the second leg.

I had some major drama around the flight, tried to use Hotwire (will NEVER do that again) and it really messed stuff up but it's all straightened out now.

So, for those wondering where in the world in Germany I'm going (not to the APO address) I will be in Ickelheim, Bad Windsheim, Bayern, (Bavaria).

 

[Charleston Princess]

Yeay for being able to pull off your trip to Germany, and how neat to be asked to be your niece's godmother!

 

[jedijill]

That's awesome you were able to pull off the trip. Have fun seeing that new niece of yours!

I used to be stationed in Mannheim. Look into taking the train....super easy to get around instead of driving.

Jill in CO

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Very cool!!

 

[glennbo123]

That's awesome Cynthia!

 

[MaryAz]

Congrats on getting to go to Germany!! Very exciting!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Cynthia, what an exciting occassion! And how wonderful that your parents are coming along as well!

Bad Windsheim is really close to Nuremberg, where I live, but unfortunately I won't be in Nuremberg until the evening of the 10th. I will be in Berlin, visiting Katharina from January 5-10. So I don't know wether we will manage a meet just before you leave? But I am sure that if you are only there for such a short time, you really want to spend it with your family anyway.

As Jill suggested, taking the train is actually pretty easy, but I am sure your brother knows all about that. But for three people a rental car might be cheaper.

 

[englishrose47]

How Awesome Cynthia !!!

 

[Native NYer]

Fantastic!
I hope you do a mini tr.

 

[eandesmom]

Yeay for being able to pull off your trip to Germany, and how neat to be asked to be your niece's godmother!

Thanks! I'm excited. Dreading telling the boys though!

That's awesome you were able to pull off the trip. Have fun seeing that new niece of yours!

I used to be stationed in Mannheim. Look into taking the train....super easy to get around instead of driving.

Jill in CO

My brother is planning on picking me up but I certainly have zero issues hopping on a train and will suggest that if it's faster/easier.

Very cool!!

Thanks!

That's awesome Cynthia!

Congrats on getting to go to Germany!! Very exciting!!

Very!

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia, what an exciting occassion! And how wonderful that your parents are coming along as well!

Bad Windsheim is really close to Nuremberg, where I live, but unfortunately I won't be in Nuremberg until the evening of the 10th. I will be in Berlin, visiting Katharina from January 5-10. So I don't know wether we will manage a meet just before you leave? But I am sure that if you are only there for such a short time, you really want to spend it with your family anyway.

As Jill suggested, taking the train is actually pretty easy, but I am sure your brother knows all about that. But for three people a rental car might be cheaper.

We can play the meet by ear, and maybe touch base once I'm there and see how it plays out? I would love to meet if we can!

He wants to pick me up but I've no issue hoping on the train by myself and meeting them in Nuremburg so he doesn't have to do a 2 hour drive. My mom might have some issues with that as she is recovering from hip replacement surgery but right now they are flying into Nuremberg while I fly into Munich. Somehow they got that flight for not much more than mine and when looked at it, it was 50-100 more.

I'll see what he says.

How Awesome Cynthia !!!

Very excited!

Fantastic!
I hope you do a mini tr.

I need to get caught up on THIS one! LOL

 

[brookelizabeth]

Wow! That is just fantastic! How wonderful that you were able to pull it off too! I hope the boys take it well - being it's more for family and not truly a vacation. You gotta take lots of pics - even if you just do a picture only mini-TR. I hope the meet with Magdalene works out somehow! And just a quirky fact - my parents spent their first year of married life living in Bad Windsheim - he was stationed there for Vietnam.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Cynthia! Your Germany news is so exciting! It will be really hard not to by everything pink or princess you can get your hands on for your new niece! I have a hard time with DGD.

 

[Flossbolna]

We can play the meet by ear, and maybe touch base once I'm there and see how it plays out? I would love to meet if we can!

He wants to pick me up but I've no issue hoping on the train by myself and meeting them in Nuremburg so he doesn't have to do a 2 hour drive. My mom might have some issues with that as she is recovering from hip replacement surgery but right now they are flying into Nuremberg while I fly into Munich. Somehow they got that flight for not much more than mine and when looked at it, it was 50-100 more.

I'll see what he says.

No problem with being spontaneous! I will send you my phone number by PM, so you can get in touch!

Your parents are really lucky flying into Nuremberg - I guess they will get a connecting flight in Munich or Frankfurt? Nuremberg is a very small airport and the flight from Munich makes actually no sense at all, its about 25 minutes or so... But it is great as a connecting flight. Munich airport is a wonderful airport for connections, it has the shortest connection time in Germany. I once managed to go from landing to the gate of my connecting flight (including passport control for leaving Germany) within 15 minutes! But Munich is a bit of a hassle if you want to go into Munich, it is a 45 min train ride from the city. So in order to go from there to Nuremberg, you first take the train into the city (45 min) and then the high speed train to Nuremberg (1 hour). So you would have 2 hours travel time as well... The high speed train is fun, it goes alongside the highway and you are passing all these cars on the high way because the train travels at 300 km/h.

Wow! That is just fantastic! How wonderful that you were able to pull it off too! I hope the boys take it well - being it's more for family and not truly a vacation. You gotta take lots of pics - even if you just do a picture only mini-TR. I hope the meet with Magdalene works out somehow! And just a quirky fact - my parents spent their first year of married life living in Bad Windsheim - he was stationed there for Vietnam.

I thought of you immediately when I read where Cynthia was going to be in Germany!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I thought of you immediately when I read where Cynthia was going to be in Germany!

Someday it will be my turn to visit!

 

[KatMark]

Cynthia, I'm still here. I wrapped up my TR so now I can concentrate on everyone else's.

First, congratulations on the new niece, and for being able to go to Germany...even if just a short trip.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

That's fantastic! I don't know why I thought you were going there for work?

 

[All7OfUs]

Such and exciting thing to get to actually go!!! YAYAYAYAY! And for a really cool and special event too!! I really do hope you can meet up with Magdalene!!