My maternal grandfather had to flee Berlin at dawn, escaping the death squad sent out to get him. Opposition to Hitler was dangerous. Not sure about the other side of the family. Lots of silence there. When I was very young, I asked my grandmother and she told me that they weren't Nazis. Hard-headed Lutheran that she was, I can see it - almost. But then she was a group leader in the Hitlerjugend. German past is painful and in the meantime, pretty much everyone has died.. I can only hope we have learned something. Wendy, if you ever get back to Germany, come and see us! The US economic crisis stranded us here - and with every passing day, I'm wondering whether that may be a blessing in disguise... (Husband is US working in the AID business - not the best career to have at the moment)

It makes me sick to my stomach. It would be nice to live in a world where I don't have to apologize or feel guilty for being German all the time. I agonize over the thought whether I would have had to courage to protest, like Sophie Scholl. Every German girl who learns about her in school has these thoughts. Many like to think of themselves as potential Sophies. My worldview is a bit dimmer. It's interesting, though, that people I meet from other nations (and I meet a lot) have no doubt about the fact that they would have stood up. Like those people who were for the second Iraq war. Or so. As I said, my view on these matters is a bit dark. (I caused a huge scandal in my husband's family when I dared to doubt the wisdom of re-electing Bush and excusing torture. I told them I thought torture is a very slippery slope. I was told that as a German, I had no right to say that. I answered that exactly because I'm German, and I know my history, and I know how very slippery those moral slopes are, I can say this. After some weeks I had to apologize, just to make peace.)

"Not available from your location." {Sigh}

Oh, our weekend plans! 1. Drive down to the Dead Sea and go hiking at Ein Gedi. It was pretty wonderful. 2. Packing. Because we're leaving to fly back to Germany on Monday. That's not so wonderful.

Oooh. Camera shopping! What are you thinking of getting?

I think life choices often make no sense to other people - and therefore, it's kind of moot to criticize them. Hell, some of my life choices don't make any sense to me. As to feminism, I always thought it should free me to do as I like, not impose a new set of rules that I have to adhere to in order to be a complete woman. But maybe that's just my personal interpretation that isn't shared by anyone else. Back in college, I certainly had not planned to become a homeschooling mom of four kids, trailing after my internationally working husband. But I was aware of his career when we got married and that it would make it hard for me to even have a job, never mind a career. I've had all iterations of maid/nanny-and-kids-at-school to all-at-home-and-homeschooling-without-any-help-plus-job. It's rough, sometimes. When I see the summer plans of Amy, well. I'm in awe, and a bit jealous, and a bit frustrated that I cannot offer my kids the same possibilities. But development work doesn't make one rich. In money, anyway. The parasite lady, well. She's young. She may change her mind, or she may not. But she will probably learn that alienating people around her will make her lonely; I hope for her this will happen rather sooner than later. I don't despise people who have no kids (my husband and I dream of the cushy and luxurious life we'd have without them, in jest, and sometimes in utter sleep deprivation). But I like mine fine enough and I would miss them.

[Firmly] No.

I have done the Paleo diet and I was hungry all the time. ALL THE TIME. It was awful. Also, my, um, output changed so much it weirded me out. I did lose weight, though. I love veggies and can totally cut meat out of my diet but not eating bread and rice and beans is a lot more difficult for me. Also, we live in developing countries a lot where meat is either expensive and/or of questionable origin. I just can't bring myself to buy the beef out of the butcher's shop after I've seen all the flies humming around it. Is the Paleo diet one of those "wealthy country" diets that you can't really do outside of the first world? I managed but it wasn't fun. We're in the Middle East right now, with the world's best hummus right at my doorstep. I couldn't resist even if I wanted to.

Um... "are". I do know grammar, really. I'm just... pissed.

I hear you: homeschooling four kids, three boys have ADHD, we are liberal Obama voters, UUs, greenies... I have a host of reasons and yes, "the schools aren't good enough" and "the schools don't accommodate our ADHD/dyslexic kids" is right up there among the top five.

I haven't even read the link yet but good for the Dad! My son was bullied at school by his first grade teacher and I was sorely tempted to do just that (and kind of wished I had) because I had the hardest time getting the principal and the school district superintendent to listen to me, to believe me, and to act. Because I had no proof other than terrified kids with a multitude of physical and psychology symptoms and their reports, they had an easy time fending me off. We did get rid of her but it was implied she had a nervous breakdown because of "parent bullying" (e.g. now I'm the evil mom). Living with the damage she did to my kid (it's been two years and he's still suffering), I am still shaking with rage. It's not only special ed teachers. Bad teachers can be everywhere. The important thing is to do something, and if it's a wire, then be it.

Sounds great and while Chai isn't a hit in Germany (yet), I will definitely make this for myself! (Asha, I owe you a review of that children's work book "When you grumble too much". I haven't forgotten but life's crazy right now. Is it okay sometime, um, before Christmas?)

Asha, I am just working through a great children's workbook called "What to do when you grumble too much" with my 8yo son. So far, it's worked miracles and I don't really understand how this could possibly work so quickly but, knock on wood, it does! The strategies are very child-friendly (AND they work for me, too) and the approach is quirky and personal. I have another one for the other son (... when your temper flares) and both really like working with those books. I think they like them because suddenly somebody understands their feelings. I don't usually recommend self-help books but this one wow'ed me.

What a fun giveaway - and the (almost) best are the cool links to all those neat tutorials! I'm making most of the presents myself this year - including knitted socks, knitted hats (my favorite is Just Jussi's Poppy hat (http://www.justjussi.com/hats.htm). My favorite tutorial is the fabric birds at Purl but I saw that the first entry already mentioned them. They are so cute! So here is another of my favorites that hopefully hasn't been mentioned yet: http://tinyurl.com/yl8f2ef I never win anything but now I will have lots of fun checking out all those tutorials. Thanks!

What a fun giveaway - and the (almost) best are the cool links to all those neat tutorials! I'm making most of the presents myself this year - including knitted socks, knitted hats (my favorite is Just Jussi's Poppy hat (http://www.justjussi.com/hats.htm). My favorite tutorial is the fabric birds at Purl but I saw that the first entry already mentioned them. They are so cute! So here is another of my favorites: http://tinyurl.com/yl8f2ef I hope this isn't mentioned somewhere too! I never win anything but now I will have lots of fun checking out all those tutorials. Thanks!

Naw, it doesn't have anything to do where you bought your car or your warranty. We live in Europe and we get those calls -- from the US. We have a (Skype-In) US phone number to make it cheaper for friends and relatives to call us and we also use it for business/Internet ordering issues. Not for our car though -- that we bought in Germany. Used. (The really irritating thing is that they call around US East coast dinner time. Which is 1 am in Germany. Argh!)