Mousie

So... there's a mousie in my bedroom tonight. It started out in my parents' bedroom last night, had a nap in my suitcase (which was sitting in my parents' bedroom), then raced down the hall to move into my room for the day and now night. My mom set out a deadly snack of cheese and prosciutto, for which the mouse was certainly thankful - because now half of the snack is gone, but he/she avoided the deadly part. Hmm... I hope I won't be awoken by the sound of a mouse trap slamming tonight... that's just plain not a happy thought. I'd rather sleep with a live mouse in my room than think (and hear) that a warm fuzzy animal just got SMASHED. Not so much the death part -- traps are usually a "humane" way of beginning your afterlife (better than poison, a cat, or chasing and banging it with a broom stick, I would say), it's more the crunch of the spine and the thought of squished organs and bulging eye balls that I don't appreciate. I can't step on bugs and spiders for the same reason. Too crunchy and smushy. I'd rather scoop them up in my hand and carry them outside. Honestly.

Now... before I move on to other Germany topics, I must mention that my dad is threatening to(actually, is dead set on) saw(ing) off the branch that my cat uses nightly to climb onto the roof (with or without his usually dead prey) so he can meow at the window. My sweet mother then lets him inside and he sleeps in the basement until breakfast time. Amazing to think that my mom hasn't slept through the night in about a decade (unless she's on vacation somewhere)... this is the cat's routine. As in... EVERY NIGHT. So... I'm feeling terribly sorry for him now. He's getting old. Even senile at times. And it's COLD outisde. And dark. And since he's been doing this every night for as long as anyone can remember, how is he going to process the disappearance of his branch, the path to warmth and shelter? Poor Snickers. I need to somehow tell him not to go outside in the evenings anymore, unless he wants to spend the rest of the night outside. :(

Other than that, we've been having a great time here in Germany so far. It's been fun for me to think that we'll be here for Mother's Day, both of my parents' birthdays, my sister's birthday, as well as Lucia's 3rd birthday! So many festivities crammed into 6 weeks! Lucia will start to expect a party every few days... :)
So far, we've been going to the Kindergarten every other day (for a start), which she has really enjoyed so far. She plays alongside the other children, but doesn't interact with them much yet. But she loves seeing them, and her face really lights up when I ask if she'd like to go to the Kindergarten again today.
She still speaks mainly English during the day, since she knows we all understand, but more and more German is starting to emerge. She hasn't quite grasped the fact that other people here don't understand her when she speaks English, but I'm sure she'll figure that out eventually. I'm hoping at some point to be able to drop her off at the Kingergarten, so that she has to learn to interact with the teachers there (and the kids) on her own, but we'll have to see if that will work out (due to some of their guidelines, etc.) Funny thing: MY Kindergarten teacher is actually still there! Craziness. And she's playing some of the same games/singing the same songs that I vaguely remember playing myself, several half-centuries ago, it seems.

Other than that, we've been enjoying daily coffee times around 3:30, Lucia has gone on several bakery trips with me and Oma and Opa, and we've been enjoying a slower pace and the change of surroundings. Rhea is eating really well (we've discovered she MUCH prefers hearty flavors to fruity sweet ones), doing some pre-crawling exercises with Opa and sometimes her Mama (goal is to get her to crawl by the time Papa comes in three weeks), and is generally a very happy camper. She loves the fact that there's no bouncy seat... that means that she's either sleeping, in the high chair, or being held! (She does spend some time on the floor too, but is definitely geting more attention than at home.)

I would upload some pictures, like I said I would in the last post, BUT... I can't download them from my camera since my parents don't have a card reader, and their internet is SO slow that it would take me forever to upload them, I think. When I get the USB cord I ordered, I'll give it a try...)

Now it's 11:40 p.m., which means I really need to get to bed.

Looking forward to coffee and a fun afternoon with Nadja, my best friend from highschool, tomorrow!!