Joanna's Day

2003-07-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting article especially for someone like me who's lived in America for the past 12 years and was used to showing my passport when crossing from one European country into another

2003-07-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I last blogged. Time flies by so quickly now - amazing. Anyway, I experienced a tornado warning this afternoon where they used the tornado siren. The sky over Rochester turned black and the siren went off. I didn't count how many times I looked over my shoulder (I sit with my back to a window) to see if there were any tornados heading for us, but luckily there weren't or else I probably wouldn't be sitting here typing right now. On the way home I told my son to take a look at the black sky and he said "no Mommy, that's not black, that's dark blue". Ok, so now I'm color blind? I finally got my recliner on Saturday. It's leather and burgendy. I can't wait for it to arrive so I can push back and relax aaaaaaaaaaaah. Now, let's see how I can persuade my significant other to buy me a Mini Cooper.........!!

2003-06-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Krispy Kreme (the best doughnuts in the world): Mum will be happy to hear that 25 Krispy Kreme franchises will be developed in Britain this fall, but unfortunately I don't know where (waaaaah!).

2003-06-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a 4 mile walk at the park with a friend and from seeing all the tanned bikers, rollerbladers and joggers have realized that I must get another Mystic Tan. Smile, it's a beautiful day!

2003-06-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

No sign of a Mini yet, but I'm still hoping. Someone working across the road at another building has a gray one and I'm soooo jealous. Perhaps I should pop over there and see if he or she would let me take it for a test drive. I'm also trying to talk my husband into buying me one, but I also want a recliner, a trip to Hawaii when I turn 40 (which isn't too far off - yikes!), here the Xanax will come in very handy, a dog (not a big one though, just a small one that won't chase our cat, Oliver, around the house), a new house with a swimming pool (has to be an inground pool though, not one of those cheap looking above ground ones), liposuction, a face lift, Botox injections, which are becoming more popular with all of us headache sufferers, so there's a good enough excuse (however, no pictures here, sorry!), oh yeah, and a big screen TV (the bigger the better I say). Well, whaddya think? I'm not being too unreasonable, am I?

2003-06-27T04:53:00.000-07:00

Matthew, try Xanax (or the German equivalent of) to relieve you of your flying anxiety - it helped me. Terminator 3 comes out next Wednesday, wuhoo, can't wait to see it.

I'll be back........

2003-06-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Ah, well, I just found out that I do have access to my weblog from work (until they find out, that is). It's a beautiful day here in the Motor City, but it's going to get really hot and unfortunately our air conditioning at home is not working. Luckily we have an attic fan which we ran during the night and it wasn't too bad when we got up this morning. I'm sure it's going to be hell tonight though since the temperature is supposed to reach the mid 90's. So, all you sun and heat worshippers out there, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW???? Oh and all you rich people out there, would anyone like to buy me a Mini Cooper just for the heck of it? All you millionaires out there - now's the time to get rid of some of your money if you have too much - $20,000 to be exact.

2003-06-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

Mystic Tan. Tried out Mystic Tan on Friday and thought it worked pretty well. I didn't really know what to expect so I decided to step into the tanning salon to ask some questions. I was a little nervous needless to say because I didn't really want to come out of the salon looking as though I'd just come back from spending 4 weeks in Jamaica, but I decided to go ahead and try it all the same. It's a little bit on the expensive side - $30/session which takes 28 seconds. Anyhow, what you do is you undress, put your hair in a little shower cap, step into the Mystic Tan booth, press the green button and after 5 seconds you get sprayed with a fine mist of God knows what which takes about 14 seconds. Then it stops, you have 5 seconds to turn around and then it proceeds to spray you for another 14 seconds. Then you step out of the booth, towel off, get dressed and leave. To make a long story short, it did give me a slight tan, a little streaky but I think that's because I put lotion on my skin afterwards (you're not supposed to put anything on your skin for at least 4-6 hours after the "shower"). Yes, I did have itchy skin afterwards and yes, at first I did think I was having an allergic reaction to the "shower", but the following day I was fine and happy with the results. So, yes, I will go back again and yes, for all you Caspers out there, there is a tan at the end of the tunnel......... Of course yesterday when we went to the gym and Eric and Ben went swimming I stayed inside and worked out because I was afraid the tan was going to wash off in the swimming pool ...................ah, sigh, I'm never happy.

2003-06-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ben's in bed, Eric's playing Blinx and I've just come home from a 1 mile walk with blisters. I think I need a different pair of shoes. Sunday is Father's Day and hopefully Ben's present to his father will get here before then. I think he will like what his son has bought - he's got such a good taste. And why is it that Eric doesn't seem to understand that from now until September/October all of his favorite shows on TV are re-runs - I remember we went through this last year. Is Law and Order new tonight? No dear, it's a re-run. Is Friends new tonight? No dear, it's a re-run. Is ER new tonight? No dear it's a re-run. IT'S A RE-RUN !!!!

2003-06-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about taking a walk, but right now there's a tornado warning just north of us, so I think I'll stay inside where it's safe (!). Why is it, when we have all weekend to get all the chores done around the house, we wait until last minute on Sunday to do them? Is it just me? It's 6:31pm on Sunday evening and I still have 3 loads of laundry to do, ironing, vacuuming, bills to pay and last but not least I still have to give Ben a bath. You can definitely tell what he's had to eat today. He's got brown and red marks all over his face from eating chocolate ice cream and spaghetti. I suppose sitting in front of the TV for 2 hours straight this morning doing nothing other than watching Coronation Street doesn't help.

2003-06-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I've had it. Can anyone give me any advice on how to get past round 3, level 3 of X-Box's Blinx game? I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it. It's actually giving me a headache. TGIF, this week has seemed awfully long - probably because I've been working full time since Monday. On the other hand I'm glad to be back full time and they're keeping me busy so that's good. Hopefully this weekend will bring nicer weather, so that we can plant some veggie plants and flowers. Home grown tomatoes are the best and I can make a meal out of them. Matthew, I need some hints on how to change the background of my blog page - I don't know how to do anything other than type messages.

2003-06-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I give up. I've just spent 1/2 hour writing a message to post and it's gone. Gone, gone, gone. What the hell. I don't write that often and when I do something like this happens and it was such an interesting message too. Bah!

Well, it's only Thursday here, but already Friday in Germany, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICKY (my niece - she'll be 7 today) and happy Friday to Mum, Matthew, Claudia, C.J., Vicky and Nicky. I miss you all.

By the way, Eric ate his first tofu hotdog yesterday. Yum.

And what's up with the weather? It appears that Germany's having the weather we're supposed to be having. Instead, it's wet, grey and yucky outside, but the grass is growing (and so are the weeds!). I don't care though, because the cooler it is the happier I am. And luckily I have a husband who feels the same way. We're so much alike it's sometimes scary.

2003-05-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

Had a wonderful time at the bed and breakfast place in South Haven. We visited Grand Haven, Holland, Saugatuck and South Haven. Great places, but shops are very similar in each little town. South Haven was nice because we parked close to the beach on Lake Michigan and were able to walk along the shoreline of the lake. Met some interesting people at the B&B. One couple was from Ireland and the Ukraine, two couples were from Germany - both husbands work for DaimlerChrylser - another person was born in England, but raised in France and the owner of the B&B was from Austria. If we ever go back to that side of the state, we will definitely stay there again. We actually stayed in the room where Eminem stayed when he was shooting his movie, 8 Mile, which we still need to see - I've heard it's a cool movie. Only 2 more days left of afternoon freedom from work - did I make the right choice in deciding to go back full time again? I'm not so sure now, but I know my waistline will be glad.

2003-05-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well, June 2 is fast approaching, which will mark the first day of my returning to work as a full time employee. So I'm sitting here wondering how I can make the best of the free time I have left. I know if Mum reads this she'll probably yell out loud "clean out your messy closets" or "paint the walls" or "wash the windows" or "go dig for old bottles in your garden" etc., etc., etc. But I have decided to take some quiet time to read 4 books that have been waiting for me to read since Xmas. I should perhaps read some German books since my fluent German skills are slowly fading away. I had to write a German letter this morning for my boss and I ended up e-mailing it to a German friend of mine to have her look over it for mistakes and it was only a simple letter telling someone that we couldn't get a work visa for him. However, when she wrote back I was very happy to hear that I hadn't made any mistakes so hip hip hurah for me!

2003-05-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

Not much going on these past few days. We're looking forward to a quiet romantic getaway this coming weekend in South Haven, Michigan, to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It's Memorial Day here in the U.S. on next Monday, so we get a 4 day weekend out of it, since we have Friday off.. Ben will be staying with his grandparents and we're going to a bed and breakfast, The Seymour House, for a couple of days. Can't wait. Went to Jeepers yesterday. Ben was invited to a birthday party. He said the best part about it was the inside rollercoaster. At first he didn't want to go on it, but after he saw that the other kids were having a great time he decided to try it out for himself. Can't wait for when he's bigger and I can drag him kicking and screaming onto the adult rides at Cedar Point.

2003-05-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

Well the weather has changed and it was beautiful outside today. Cool and sunny - just the way I like it. I should be outside instead of in here sitting in front of the computer. I should it enjoy it while it lasts because before too long it will get too hot and humid and my thoughts of moving to Alaska will return. I think we'll go shopping for flowers and shrubs to plant this weekend. The garden in front of our house needs a splash of color.

2003-05-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

Rented an X-Box DVD game yesterday - Burnout 2: Point of Impact - but still haven't figured out how to properly play the game . Is it normal the video game rentals come without instructions? Ben's playing it right now, so perhaps he can figure it out. Ah, a thought came to mind, perhaps I can look it up on the internet...... I'm enjoying a great Mother's Day today - Happy Mother's Day to 2 very special mothers, Mum and Mom-In-Law - and to all you Mother's out there. Eric made some lemon squares and we're having a candlelight dinner of barbecued steaks tonight. Do we have to go back to work tomorrow? Why can't it be Mother's Day every day. Yuk.

2003-05-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

Quiet day today. Went to work as usual this morning. It was raining pretty hard, but it brightened up throughout the day. Went to a friend's house yesterday afternoon. They have a nice house with a pretty back yard which is all fenced in - quite the perfect little playground for children, so Ben had fun with his friends Jake and Aaron. It's kind of make me decide that next time we buy a house it'll have to have a fenced in back yard. That way Ben can't run into the street like he can in our subdivision. Our house is located on a corner lot and fences are not allowed. Now, some folks have invisible fences to keep their dogs from running away - could we possibly put in one for Ben? I don't quite like the idea of a collar around his neck, so I guess that's out of the question.

2003-05-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Not much going on today. Watched Dr. Phil on TV this afternoon. America's worst spouses. There was one couple where the wife was supposedly America's worst slob. It reminded me a bit of when Mum comes to stay with us - she always complains about the mess (ok, I'm exagerating (sp?) a little, but she does occasionally say that I don't pick up after myself. Mum, you should have seen their house ! Then there was another couple where the husband wouldn't get rid of an old leather recliner in their living room, so they got a free room makeover. Hm, now let's see. What can I write to Dr. Phil about to get a free makeover of something or other in our house. Eric and I do have different opinions on what colors to paint the walls in our house. He wants to go with color - I, on the other hand, prefer neutral colors, preferably white. Dr. Phil, can you help me? Of course, there was more to the show than what I've just mentioned - the above doesn't sound too bad, does it? It's becoming a habit of mine to watch Dr. Phil at 3:00pm and Oprah at 4:00pm. Ever since I started working part time (mornings only) I've become a Phil and Oprah fan. But these happy days will soon be over. As of June 1 I'll be a full time employee once again. My workload is getting bigger and my boss is practically pulling his hair put (or rather what's left of it), so I can't leave him hanging now, can I! Well gotta go. Ben's screaming at me to start Blinx on his/Eric's X-Box, so I have to try and find something else for him to do since I don't know how to hook the damn thing up. Ta-ta for now.

.

2003-05-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

Had to keep Ben home today - he woke up with a croupy cough, but it seems as the day progresses he gets better and better. Now he's watching a Tigger movie, lying on the couch, legs crossed, munching on an apple. I think he's finally got to the age of realizing that being "sick" means he can stay home, not have to go to school and order his parents around to bring him drinks and food. Think again my little bundle of horror, think again.

Just read that Matthew is planning yet another trip to the U.S. without a layover in Detroit. Oh well, he's only my brother WHO I HAVEN'T SEEN IN OVER 2 1/2 YEARS and don't you dare tell me you don't have any vacation Matthew. 6 weeks in Germany vs. the 2 lousy weeks we get over here ......although it was my choice to move over here in the first place I guess :-( Just remember, our X-Box awaits you......

Well, I have to go - Ben is calling for his slippers (now where have I heard that one before?). The only thing missing is a little glass of brandy in his one hand and a pipe in the other.

2003-05-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Ok. It's been over 2 months since I last blogged and there's no excuse for it. Hopefully this time I'll stick to it, so here goes ...... Matthew, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not to "announce" to everyone that I'm "back". So, what's happened in the last 2 months? Not much really, apart from having to live 5 days without any power at home. Parts of Michigan were struck by a severe ice storm a little while back which resulted in down power lines, trees, etc. It was a mess. We ended up buying what seemed to be the last generator in Michigan, but we couldn't figure out how to hook it up to the furnace, so the last two nights before the power came back on again we moved into a hotel. Everything is back to normal now and it's good to know that we have back up in case the power goes out on us again. Due to the power outage our sump pump quit working too, so we had to deal with a flooded basement. Thank goodness we had sump pump insurance (whew!). These past few days we've acted as though we've won the lottery and went out and bought a digital camera and yes, I finally gave in and let Eric buy the X-Box he's been wanting to get for ages. And who's been playing it the most? Ben of course. Then Eric and then if I'm lucky enough little old me. Last night Eric didn't come to bed until around 2:30am and right now Ben's glued in front of it and I have to be the "bad" parent and have to drag him away for his bath. Are there any cooking games out there??????

2003-02-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

I feel kind of bad because I haven't written anything in quite a while, but apart from having the stomach flu and a bad cold afterwards today is the first day in over 3 weeks that I'm actually feeling quite well again. Things are very quiet this week at home because Ben is staying with his grandparents in Kalamazoo. His school is out for mid winter break, so we thought we'd send him on a little vacation. It's a little strange not having him around. Eric and I don't know what to do with ourselves.
I got a letter from the Immigration Office asking me to come back for more fingerprinting. Apparently the ones I gave a couple of weeks ago were not good enough. Yeah, wuppee! Am I ever going to become an American citizen? Tomorrow night everyone will be glued to the TV watching "Michael Jackson - The Untold Story". Talk about aliens!

2003-02-13T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well, I have finally something to blog about. Started watching Survivor Amazon tonight and found out that this time there is a female tribe and a male tribe. And guess what? There is a Joanna on the female side and a Matthew on the male side. So, Matthew, dear brother of mine, here's to the battle of the sexes. BRING IT ON !!!!!

2003-02-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Turns out Ben does have pink eye and in both eyes, but it's not so bad and he can go back to school tomorrow. It was quite a different experience going to the doctor with him today vs. going with him when he was younger. The last time I took him was when he was about 2 1/2 and he's now 4 and boy, what a difference. He stood quite still as the doctor examined him. Last time he screamed his head off at the top of his lungs and wouldn't let the doctor touch him and today when the doctor gave him his very own pen to play with for being such a good patient and the nurse gave him a sucker, Ben just about gave them a hug. That's my boy! Another good thing happened today - Mum finally got a rebate check for purchasing her laptop when she was here, so Mum, when you read this your check will already be in the mail to you. Finally!

2003-02-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Well, today marks the first day of my second attempt to work part time and it's just as well because we had to keep Ben home today with what we think is pink eye. I'll take him to the doctor this afternoon to see what's what. Aha, Ben's found a book for me to read to him, so I guess first things first ....... I'll see you later.

2003-02-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

Mum, you'll be glad to hear that I just cleaned out our Tupperware cupboard. Now you can easily find matching lids and bowls. Wuhoo. I've also had a day of cleaning, so everything has been put away nice and tidy. Perhaps your visit changed my old habits of not picking up after myself. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is ironing Eric's shirts. Yuk. Well, now. Ben just jumped on my lap and wants to play games. He already spent a couple of hours today on Eric's lap looking at dinosaurs, so I'm going to have to gently tear him away from the computer in a minute.

2003-02-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Slow day at work today and then another slow drive home in the rush hour due to the snow storm that took us all by surprise. Within minutes everything was covered and I just about slid into the McDonald's parking lot. Every time I go through a fast food drive thru I swear to myself that I'll never do it again because my order always gets messed up. Today for example I asked for the 2 cheeseburger meal and apparently they thought I had said #2, the cheeseburger meal, so instead of two cheeseburgers I only got one. Then I always have a hard time understanding the person taking my order. Today I had to ask her 3 times to repeat what she had said and I finally realized that she wanted to know if I was ordering the Cheeseburger Happy Meal for a boy or a girl so that she could give me the appropriate toy. When Eric came home I complained to him and he said "that is exactly why I don't use the drive thru". So I'm glad to know that it's not just me. Watched the Michael Jackson special last night and now I wish I hadn't. He's such a weirdo and what the hell is he doing practically strangling his son with that stupid veil? Someone needs to take those children away from him. And with regard to not having any cosmetic surgery except his nose ........ yeah right. He obviously hasn't looked at himself in the mirror lately.

2003-02-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Just got home from work. Ben's watching his favorite movie "Land Before Time" (about dinosaurs of course), so I thought I'd spend a couple of quiet minutes blogging. As soon as we got home he said "get my birthday balloon down". Not "PLEASE get my birthday balloon down". Since when do kids order their parents around? Anyway, the helium filled balloon his Gran bought him before she left had floated up to the ceiling and he couldn't reach the string that was attached to it. So I quietly corrected him and got the balloon down. It'll be fish sticks and tater tots for dinner tonight, not a 3 course meal like Mum always prepared for us when she was here. The fish sticks and tater tots all go in one pan in the oven for about 30 minutes and voila - ready. Hopefully once I start working part time next week I will have more time to prepare more healthy meals for my family. It seems as if everyone I know is getting sick over here after we came down with a stomach bug a few weekends ago. I wonder if it at all has to do with stress?? I wish we had more than 2 weeks of vacation over here. I've been with the same company for over 5 years and I only get 3 weeks after I've been there for 7 years! So, all you Europeans out there who have over 4 weeks a year - think yourselves lucky! Ok, I know, I CHOSE to move over here. Nobody forced me. But come on. 2 weeks?????? Well, Ben is bugging me to make him dinner, sigh, so I'd best get going.

2003-02-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

Talked to Mum this morning, but she did sound very tired, so hopefully we'll be able to chit chat on Sunday. Glad to know she's back home safe and sound.

The weather was very gloomy today and on the way home it started to pour with rain which will wash away the last of the snow. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so that means 6 more weeks of winter! Ben's bugging his Dad in the living room to get Mom off the computer so that he can play with it, so I'd best let the little man have his way or else he'll start rolling around on the floor screaming at the top of his lungs. Little devil - he's just like his Dad.......

2003-02-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

Well, just got back from taking Mum to the airport and by now she's already in the air on her way home. Boy, are we going to miss her! The house seems empty without her, so here's hoping she'll come back again soon. We love you Mum!

I don't really feel like writing much today, so I'll sign off until tomorrow (perhaps).

2003-02-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to the terrible news about the space shuttle Columbia breaking up during re-entry. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the 7 astronauts who lost their lives in this tragic accident.

Don't have much to report today. We didn't do a lot. Mum and I went shopping. She wanted to buy a couple of last minute things to take back to England. She flies back home tomorrow. We had Mexican for dinner. A new Mexican restaurant opened up in the little shopping center down the road from here - Baja Fresh - and boy, I have to admit that their food is very, very good and there was so much of it!

Went to see Chicago yesterday with Mum. Excellent movie and the music is great. I will definitely have to get the soundtrack. We've rented 2 movies for tonight's viewing pleasure - Men In Black II and Minority Report. Eric and I have seen Minority Report, but Mum hasn't - good movie. We'll see how MIB II is.

More tomorrow.

2003-01-30T16:27:00.000-08:00

Mmmh, just ate a ton of Mum's famous fish pie and it was delicious. Hopefully she'll leave the recipe with me and it'll become a big hit, just like my shepherd's pie. So, Mum, next time you're here how about making 10 pounds of fish pie? We also had a 60th birthday celebration at work today and had lunch catered, so I'm sitting here holding my stomach and trying to type with one hand. Both Eric and I have memberships at our local gym, but do we go? I think our idea of working out is coming home after work, climbing up the stairs to put on comfortable clothes, running down the stairs and breaking open a bag of chips. Like many of you out there we do have exercise equipment downstairs in the basement, but they are currently being used as dust collectors and clothes hangers. We have thought about hooking them up to our TV so that we can only watch TV if we're "peddling" or "treading" away, but for now I think we'll leave them where they are.

2003-01-29T19:30:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know - it's been a while since I last blogged, but now I'm back in full force. Went down to the Immigration office in Detroit today to get fingerprinted, which is part of the process of becoming an American citizen. I decided I no longer wanted to be called an Alien. I'm not green (well I was this past weekend when I had the stomach flu) and I don't have 3 eyes, so why should I have to put up with being called one? Now I've been fingerprinted I have to wait for a notification to visit their office again for "the interview". This should happen in 6-8 months or so. I will have to answer (correctly) various questions (who's the President of the U.S., what color are the stars on the flag, how many stars are there, who becomes President if the President dies, and so forth - I think I'm going to need the 6-8 months to study!). And they will test my English. Now, let's see. I'm British. Does that mean they'll waive the English test? Seriously though. I know there are a lot of people who would give anything to become an American citizen and I feel very fortunate that I have this great opportunity. Not much else happening around here. We're wondering where everyone's going to stay when Detroit hosts the Superbowl in 2004, 2005 or is it 2006? I'm not into football really. All I know is that Detroit will host it sooner or later and there just aren't enough hotels to accommodate all the visitors. Perhaps we should turn our home into a one room B&B. I love making breakfast casseroles. Well, gotta go catch the last half hour of Law and Order (love that show), so good night America wherever you are.

2003-01-22T19:17:00.000-08:00

Well, today (or rather this evening) I made approx. 10 pounds of shepherd's pie. I have a really great recipe that always seems to become a hit with anyone I serve it to. We're having a Superbowl luncheon at work tomorrow, so I volunteered shepherd's pie in mass quantity. I can only make it when Mum is visiting though because I make it the day before I need it and then Mum throws it in the oven for a couple of hours the day of and I pick it up shortly before lunch time. Hopefully Mum will be able to take the 2 huge trays out of the fridge tomorrow without dropping them. Otherwise we'll be eating salad and bread rolls without the main entree. Watched another hilarious episode of American Idol on TV tonight. But what was up with Detroit? They didn't show many good singers. Come on, man, this is Motown!!!!! If I had known that I would have gone and auditioned myself (I know, I'm too old, but people tell me I look younger than I am all the time!). While I'm driving around in my car I'm always singing (out loud) to songs that are playing on the radio or cd player, but a little voice keeps popping up from behind me (Ben in the back seat) - Mom put the Pooh tape in! Am I really that bad? Must I go on TV and prove him wrong?

2003-01-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

It's just after 9:00pm and I've made a batch of cookies using the recipe on the back of a bag if Nestle Toll House milk chocolate morsels. The recipe said the batch would make 5 dozen cookies, but I was only able to make about 2 dozen. Perhaps I made them too big, but they don't seem to be. This is the first time I've made cookies from scratch (usually I buy the ready made dough) and they taste just like store bought. Not much news to report today. We're slowly preparing for Mum's departure on Sunday and returning to what Mum calls a messy house. Mum I will try to keep the house tidy this time, I promise.

2003-01-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

After seeing A Big Fat Greek Wedding today I have to say that I was a little disappointed. I could have easily watched the movie on television. There were a couple of funny scenes but that was about it. Perhaps I don't thave as much sense of humor as other people do - who knows. Mum wasn't too thrilled about it either. Our feast of "all you can eat" shrimp at Red Lobster was very good though and we were both stuffed when we left. It was another cold day in the Motor City - too cold to do anything outside. I think everyone will be glad when it starts getting warmer. Well, gotta go - Ben and Mum are arguing about how to turn off the DVD player and the TV - best go and pull them apart. See you tomorrow!

2003-01-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

It's 11:14pm and I've just remembered that I haven't blogged since Tuesday - so, here I am. I have the day off from work tomorrow, so I'm going to take Mum out for lunch and we're going to go see A Big Fat Greek Wedding at the movies. I've heard it's really funny - we'll see. Mum and Eric are sitting in the living room right now giggling at Everybody Loves Raymond. It's usually time for the news, but with all that's going on in the world today, who wants to watch it. Went out to dinner tonight with some colleagues from work and after living in the States for over 11 years I thought it was time to try some barbecue ribs. Mmmm, they were delicious. I ordered a full slab knowing quite well that I wasn't going to be able to eat it all, so there was enough to bring home for Eric and Mum to try. There's nothing better than gnawing at a barbecued meaty rib, licking the barbecue sauce off your fingers and then asking your friend or colleague whether you have barbecue sauce all over your face. You've gotta try it.

2003-01-14T17:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Monday has come and gone (thank goodness).

Right now, while I'm blogging, my husband is glued in front of the TV watching another re-run of the X-Files and wishing he had married Scully (aka Gillian Anderson) instead of me. Dearest husband, only when YOU start dyeing your hair and beard white and start talking with a Scottish accent, only then will I even consider changing my name to Scully and dyeing my hair red. On my application to become an American citizen it did have a section for possible name changes, so you never know Sean (aka 007), you never know!

My boss has given me the task of keeping his bonsai tree alive which was given to him by a close friend. He has it standing on a small table in his office. Now, for a person who seems to kill each plant she lays her fingers/hands on, this is indeed a great responsibility. I walk into his office every day wondering whether Bonsy is doing ok or whether it is starting to lose its leaves. So far, so good Bonsy. Let's hope you stay that way.

I have a vacation day on Friday and I was hoping to take Mum to the movies to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but apparently none of the theaters in this area are showing the movie anymore. What a movie though. Cost them $5 Mio. to make and it's made over $200 Mio. already. Wish I could think of something like that. How about instead of The Osbournes, The Gramlichs. Think MTV would go for it?

2003-01-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

Why is it on the weekends, when I could sleep in, I wake up early, all ready to get up, but yet during the week when I have to get up early I wish I could stay in bed?? I hate Mondays!

2003-01-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, so what, I haven't blogged since Friday ......patience my dear brother, patience!

I just read that Maurice Gibb died today - how sad. I love listening to the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever wouldn't be such a classic without their music.

It's very cold here today - not a day to be outside that's for sure. Phoned my friend, Manuela, yesterday. She lives in Kirn, Germany, where I grew up and in the 11 years I've lived in the States we've never lost touch with each other. Hopefully she'll make it over here one of these days.

Yes, we finally took the Christmas tree down yesterday, sigh. Why does Christmas come and go so fast? It's such a wonderful time of the year - I wish it would last forever.

Found a great website for German lunch meats and sausages, Stiglmeier Sausage Co., so I ordered a bunch of Bratwursts, Westphalian ham and bread. I was a bit disappointed in the bread, but the rest was pretty good.

Mum's in the kitchen peeling potatoes for dinner. She's been such a great help since she's been here - we'll definitely miss her when she goes back home.

Well, I'll sign off for now. Ben's playing soccer in the living room and I'm not sure how long it'll be before the ball will go smashing through the window, so - bye for now and I'll try and remember to blog more tomorrow (I'm sure Mum will remind me!).

2003-01-10T17:07:00.000-08:00

Ah, here I am again. So, what to write? Hmm, let's see. Heard on the radio today that Elton John and Billy Joel will be coming to the Palace of Auburn Hills on May 2. Tickets go on sale on Jan. 18 at 10:00am. Prices are $47.50, $87.50 or a whopping $197.50 - what the ???? Seats must be on stage!! Matthew, with regard to The West Wing, even though you've only seen the first 2 episodes, don't bother watching the rest - the President, aka Martin Sheen, dies tragically in the 10th episode and the show comes to a dramatic end ..........oh, oops - I think that's another show! So, what else? Oh. The North American International Auto Show starts today with a black tie event tonight, to which I was unfortunately not invited. Oh well, perhaps next year. Hopefully the link worked.

Well, signing off until next time.

2003-01-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

I tried linking up my mum's blog page to mine, but it didn't work - here, I'll try again. Also, I'll try and link up Matthew's (my brother), too.

2003-01-09T17:06:00.000-08:00

Well, hello there. I'm currently sitting in front of the computer trying to set up my blog page, with my husband Eric and my mum towering over me telling me what to do, so have patience and I'll get there in the end. Ben, my 4 year old, is running around the house yelling that the dinosaurs are loose. More tomorrow.