Ktown Down

I consider myself an intelligent person with a good deal of common sense but after my first solo train experience I had begun to doubt myself.  My list of mistakes in order of occurrence:
-Trying to take a short cut to the train station through Kurpark in Garmisch - clearly closed at 6:30am
-Sleeping through my first transfer in Munich
-Getting on the wrong train going to Olm
-Getting off at the wrong stop in Augsburg after already revising my train schedule twice


Bad Durkheim

 I'm at least able to blame getting off at the wrong stop on the hefty old man sitting next to me.  I heard the conductor say that the next stop was Augsburg, where I was making my next transfer, but the sign said Augsburg-Oberhausen.  I asked the man if there was more than one stop in Augsburg and he responded with "no, only this station", so I got off the train, and seconds later realized it was the wrong station, turned around to get back on, and the train siren blew and left me behind in the dust.  This was a smaller station so there was no information desk.  Luckily, there was a Yorma (little convenience store within the station) and I found a man sitting at his desk in a back office.  I'm fairly certain I wasn't allowed back there but I was on a mission so I walked into his office and said my way overused "Sprechen sie Englisch" then explained my problem.  He directed me to the next train going to the right Augsburg and I arrived just in time to catch my correct transfer.  Three transfers later and I was in Kaiserslautern!  The sleeping and getting on the wrong train were 100% my fault, but in my defense, I kept my cool the entire time and actually found the whole situation pretty funny.  I knew that by the end of the day with a little help from the lovely Deutsche Bahn employees I would reach my destination.


First night out in Kaiserslautern

 When I first saw Lindsey at the train station I was so excited, it was really nice to see a familiar face!  We arrived at the house and I met the entire family followed by a mexican dinner of homemade salsa, enchiladas, fajitas, and rice.  I was loving it.  The whole family/child atmosphere was a little too much for me to handle though.  After spending a weekend with children I don't think the au pair lifestyle is a good fit for me.  After dinner we hurriedly got ready to meet another nanny at a bus stop so we could head into the city.  Lindsey actually lives in a small village with no means of transportation so we had to work around her host family's schedule along with public transit.  Our first night out was fun and added to my ever mounting exhaustion.  Thankfully, the next day we were able to sleep in and take it easy.  We met a friend and headed to Ramstein (an Air Force base), where we had lunch at Macaroni Grill and did some shopping.  I was amazed at the differences in our bases.  Garmisch is 1/100 the size of Ramstein with not nearly the same amount of resources or options.  We then were on a wild goose chase to find neuwein (new wine) and drove all over the greater Kaiserslautern area on our search.  We never found that perfect road side stand to buy our neuwein, but we saw some beautiful castles on the country side and shared some good laughs over our aimless navigation.


Castle on the Rhine

 The last full day there Linds and I took a train to Bingen on the Rhine River.  Our Bingen adventure began in a small smoky pub where the bartender was missing an arm....2 seconds later we were back on the street looking for something a little less off the beaten path.  The plan was to take a Rhine River cruise, but at our second pub we discovered that during the winter season they only run on the weekends, so we made the best of it and continued our eating and drinking binge.  After taking the ferry over to Rudesheim, another small town across the river, we successfully used the outdoor restroom and made friends with a mother and son who were doing the same.  After that we walked, talked, and drank the rainy day away and before we knew it it was time to head back for another fun filled night in Ktown. 
Now I'm going to say something that will probably not go over so well with Bret and the old man.  That night in Ktown Lindsey and I met a fellow traveler who was here on business.  After talking to him for nearly an hour we discovered he was driving to Munich on Saturday.  Perfect?  I think so.  I finagled the situation and got myself an almost free ride only an hour away from Garmisch!  My creep radar never went off and despite a few awkward silent moments my car ride back was easy and a major money saver.  I even ran into a fellow Edelweisser at the train station so I had some company for my last 2 hours of the journey.  It felt awfully good to be back in the Abrams.  Slowly but surely it's starting to feel more and more like home.

Guten morgen to ya

I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful winter day in Garmisch.  The sun is out, the mountains are blanketed in snow, and the marienplatz is bustling with activity from the locals starting their Tuesday morning.
I woke up way too early for a day off and made my way into the city center for some shopping.  Aside from a few H&M purchases I was a responsible adult and bought an electric tooth brush.  How I have survived 3 months using the old school manual kind, I do not know.  I opted for the German brand instead of the Oral B that looks exactly like my electric tooth brush at home.  Price was a huge factor and what the heck, when in Rome!  My next practical purchase should be a mud flap for my bicycle.  Riding my bike in the freezing cold just isn't quite bad enough for me, so I get a nice back splash from my rear tire on my butt and backpack.  The guards at the hotel and Abrams gate have had a good laugh at my expense on more than one occasion. 
Before I got here I did some research of German attitudes and social norms, but I've discovered that one of the main things I had read does not ring true.  The main theme I found was that Germans like to keep to themselves and will be taken aback by outward friendliness.  Well, just an FYI I can't walk past an old couple and not smile and say hello, so I do, and the reaction has not been disappointing.  They actually seem to really like it and I always get a morgen or a smile.  I think I might have heard this somewhere before, but don't believe everything you read on the internet.
Tomorrow is the big day.  I leave bright and early to see Lindsey.  I bought my train ticket this morning so I think it is safe to say that the rail system won in the epic battle of rental car vs. train.  I'll save my first road trip for when I have a co-captain and maybe a little German driving experience. Lindsey and I don't have any solid plans as of yet, but I do know that she is making me a Mexican dinner upon my arrival and I'm so excited for it!  Her host, Robyn, will be picking me up from the train station.  Although I don't know her, I will be staying under the same roof as her children, so it will be good for us to get to know each other on the ride home.  Home cooked food and a private bathroom sound so amazing right now.  Tomorrow afternoon can't come quick enough!

A European Portrait

Apparently most Germans think I'm Jewish (the nose) and Americans swear I had to be in a sorority (the Sperrys).  Stereotyping at its finest.

Christina surprised us all by arriving unannounced on Sunday morning.  Her arrival was bittersweet.  Knowing that she would be doing her out processing and packing up her life to move back to the states was always in the back of my mind.  For those who are unaware, Christina's mom became very sick a few weeks back and has been on life support and in the ICU at a hospital in St. Louis.  The scariest thing about the whole ordeal is that they aren't really sure what she is sick with or how to help her heal.  Christina was instantly one of my good friends here and as much as I want her to go and be with her family, I hate the fact that I won't have her around anymore.  On a happier note, her managers at Alpine are more than willing to hire her again once she is able and comfortable enough to leave her mom.  This whole week has been a blur of doing things with her for "one last time".  Although it's been a little pricey, I'm not complaining about all of the great food and good times I've had over the past 5 days.  This morning I woke up extra early to see her off, now I'm just hoping that her return to Garmisch is sooner rather than later.
Next week I have a mini vaca planned to go visit Lindsey up in Kaiserslautern.  I'm still debating whether I should rent a car or travel by train.  I never thought I'd be so nervous to drive!  Renting a car is comparable in price, but I'm not sure how much more convenient it will be.  My biggest fear is that the GPS will send me down a wrong road and I'll be lost and without means of communication.  It's not like I can call up Father Martin and he can take out the trucker's atlas for that dilemma.  Ehhh that 6 hour train ride doesn't sound so bad after all.  At least I have some confidence concerning the deustche bahn and feel somewhat comfortable switching trains and reading schedules.  The rail system might win this one.  Even though my means of transportation are still under consideration, I am beyond excited to spend some time with Linds.  I find it hard to believe that she is so close and we have gone almost 3 months without a reunion.  I'm also anxious to compare her German life with mine.  Who knows, maybe being an au pair is next on my list?

Tilly's Travels

In reality a nine passenger van isn't built for nine passengers.  You have to consider the 10 grocery bags of road snacks, one backpack per person (plus the high maintenance girl with two bags and an extra large purse), two racks of beer, a bag of wine, case of water, and of course my hot pink neck pillow.  Riding for nearly 10 hours to Amsterdam in this situation was tricky, annoying, and a blast.  We were all near killing one another, but managed to avert any real confrontations.  Our group was composed of seven Edelweiss employees and two Germans - the Germans, Michele (pronounced Mikayla) and Ruben (Alice's boyfriend), were easily one of the funniest parts about the trip. I don't think I've ever laughed so much trying to communicate with anyone.  Lucky for Ruben, Alice speaks great German and was able to relay information, but I'm pretty sure she liked the confusion and would let situations play themselves out until someone asked for help.  One lesson learned from this trip was smaller groups are probably better.  It is almost impossible to coordinate and cater to everyone in the group.  Lack of cell phones also made this difficult and fear of losing anyone was always a problem. 

Our "group leader" was Kyle Tilly.  Kyle would like to open his own travel company sometime in the near future, so we used this to make fun of him the entire trip.  Anything that went wrong, which it did a lot, we would say "Tilly's Travels: we're lost again" and take a picture of the scenario. "Tilly's Travels: Where the F*** is the van?!?" "Tilly's Travels: Where 20 somethings go for a mediocre trip" "Tilly's Travels: I'm glad I wasted my savings on this trip!!" etc. etc. etc.  Needless to say, Kyle was ready to kill us by day two.  Tilly also used broken English and an accent with no known origin whenever speaking to locals or the Germans with us.  At one point Michele was about to pee in a bottle in the back of the van so I yelled up to Kyle "pissin machen!"  (translates into make piss haha my German is real extensive) and he he goes "Michele, I find place!!!".  The birth of the first Tilly Tag....."Tilly's Travels:  I find place".

Amsterdam was not at all what I expected.  It was a very beautiful city and wasn't as dirty as people had lead me to believe.  It is a biking community, so bikes were piled on top of each other everywhere you looked.  Everyone uses this form of transportation and most think of their bikes as expendable.  The bicycles that were worth anything had huge locks on them that look impenetrable and were often located in less open areas.  Our first night in town we explored a little, visited a coffee shop, toured the Heineken brewery, and went on a pub crawl of the Red Light District.  First let me tell you about my coffee shop experience.  Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam and is sold in most coffee shops that feature a little sign that is half green half white, the ones that we saw that didn't usually had a pot leaf with a big x through it.  My group was more than thrilled to be able to smoke guilt and worry free.  I've never had the urge or care to smoke so it was just a really interesting atmosphere to be a part of.  I did try a special brownie though :)  The Red Light District was a completely different world.  I was so surprised at how attractive the prostitutes were.  It was literally alley upon alley filled with windows of beautiful girls with great bodies posing for the tourists walking by. During our pub crawl one of the obnoxious guys tried to take a picture of one of them and the woman ran out of the building screaming in another language and throwing stuff at him.  It was really quite a little adventure! "Tilly's Travels: We almost died!".  The next day we toured Anne Franks house and a sex museum.  The Frank house was such an interesting story and definitely one of my favorite parts of Amsterdam.  Actually seeing the hiding place accompanied with pictures and artifacts from the house put it all into perspective.  The sex museum was.....hilarious.

Bruges was our next stop, a little town in Belgium where everything closes at 6.  We arrived at 5:45. "Tilly's Travels:  I didn't read the guide book!"

On Thursday we commuted to Brussels and parked the van in the smallest parking garage ever. We had only a couple inches of clearance in the parking garage so the boys had to open the sun roof and touch the ceiling every couple seconds to demonstrate to everyone how close it was... "Tilly's Travels: watch your head!".  Brussels is a bit of a blur to me....I'm pretty sure I was beyond exhausted and sluggish from the amount of fast food and car snacks I'd been eating.  The highlights were a little traditional brewery, also the last one left in Brussels, Delirium, a bar that serves over 2,500 different beers, and a flea market where I bought a .20 cent black and white photograph of a little boy wearing a leash.  One of my best finds ever! Delirium is where we celebrated my birthday and it was a really good time.  We would each order different types of beer then let everyone try them.  With the alcohol percentage of most being over 10% we were feeling good within the hour.  "Tilly's Travels: hold my beer!".  One disadvantage was that it wasn't a smoke free bar, we all woke up the next morning with sore throats and achy lungs.  Not having a phone or internet access on my birthday was an adjustment and very overwhelming when I returned to Garmisch.  I felt like I spent an hour just responding to e-mails and messages.  Next year I'll try and be more accessible for my own sake and my Mommas.  I know it's hard on her that I'm not around, especially on important days.  Sorry Mum!

Our plan was to leave Brussels around 5am on Saturday so that we could stop at a nearby army base for Taco Bell.  After a lot of deliberation and discussion we decided to drive through the night and pass up our chance for sub par Mexican food.  This could have been a big mistake, but when my head hit my own pillow at 7am I was so happy to be out of the van and back in the Abrams.
Being back at work today was a struggle.  I like the traveling lifestyle much better.  Like I've said before, any and all donations are welcome!

P.S. Randy, I hope you're satisfied with the latest blog!  I'll try and update more frequently :)

Times they are a changin'

6:30am bike ride in the freshly fallen snow sounds like a beautiful thing, but arriving to work completely soaked and experiencing two near wipe outs was no walk in the park.  I do have to admit that the mountains look absolutely gorgeous and I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera with me today.  I was not prepared for winter in October!  Well, despite the drastic weather change this week has been a lot of fun!  Corinne, the main reason I survived H494, arrived on Monday and was accompanied by a fresh batch of people from the states.  Surprisingly I have really enjoyed playing tour guide for them and showing them the ropes of the area.   We started out Monday night getting 1/2 price pizza at Peaches followed by a few drinks at Jamesons to meet some other employees.  Last night I showed them my favorite hot spot, the eurostore, which they all loved...obviously. Then we had dinner at Maronis (great schnitzel!) and played catch phrase drinking weissbier until we ventured out to dollar night....a pretty good beginning to their time in Garmisch if you ask me!
I'm finally taking my first real trip next week!  Unfortunately I know no details of the 6 day journey.  I jumped in on a 9 passenger van road trip to the Netherlands and Belgium, so I'm just along for the ride and that is just fine with me.  Being the tourism major that I am, people always assume I love to plan outings and trips.  It's a nice break and I have a feeling it's going to be a 23rd birthday to remember!
A follow up on my grave shift experience:  Not as bad as I thought but still pretty horrible.  Staying awake wasn't really an issue, it was actually getting sleep when I wasn't working.  The great location of my room backfired on me when the door slammed all day and the racket from the kitchen drifted across the hall.  It also didn't help that Danielle had just returned from house sitting and our schedules were completely opposite.  I was so used to having the room to myself that that was a big enough adjustment without the awkward sleep cycle.  I missed out on some fun times, but now I'm able to properly conduct night audit...what a skill.
Another babysitting gig is lined up for tonight.  This one has the looks of a good time!  The parents are paying me, buying dinner, AND giving me money for the arcade.  I'm definitely not complaining about this one!

Movin' On Up

The weather has been gorgeous this past week.  No gray clouds and drizzling rain all day, except in the late afternoon of course.  On my last day off I forced myself out of bed around 10 to tackle the hike of the Kramerspitz (the little mountain directly behind the Abrams) with Andy, a business student from Kansas.  At the end of the hike you're greeted with a little gem known as the Halfway House, where they serve amazing apple strudel and the inevitable big beer.  The hike was a little more difficult than I was anticipating and I had to ask Andy to take a break several times, but I'm pretty sure he was wanting a break as much as I was!  When we reached the top we were too parched for the usual beer so we got water and the strudel.  The view really put Garmisch-Partenkirchen into perspective.  I could see the Abrams, the resort, the ski jump, and other prominent landmarks in the area.  About 20 minutes after we arrived the clouds began to roll in and our perfect sunny day had concluded.  We then hiked back down the mountain for some 1/2 price pizza and beer at peaches with some fellow employees.  I would like to think that our food consumption that day equals out to our physical activity.  Probably not, but that's ok with me.

Tonight Christina and I are heading up to Munich for some big city fun.  Our hostel offers a beer tour that promises all sorts of rowdiness.  We've opted to not bring adult beverages on the train so that we are in our prime for the tour and the good times that will follow.  Unfortunately, the Wombat wasn't available to accommodate us so we are trying a new hostel called 4 You Munchen Youth Hostel.  They offer a free Bavarian style breakfast buffet....obviously a no brainer choice.  We plan to return to Garmisch the following afternoon, just in time for my first night audit shift.  Sunday and the following 4 days will be dedicated to 10:30pm to 7:30am Edelweiss fun.  Although I'm not really looking forward to being trained on this shift, it will probably go fast and not be as terrible as I'm assuming.  Wish me luck!
In other news, I purchased a book to help me learn conversational German.  A few weeks ago I was challenged by a local that by the end of December I wouldn't be able to keep up in a beginners conversation, so I'm determined to prove him wrong and also feel a little less useless when doing anything outside of the American bubble that I live in.  The book has no pictures which could be a problem but its high rating on Amazon gives me hope that it will be the ticket to improving the nonexistent German that I'm speaking at the moment.

Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead

After almost 2 months of being bikeless I'm anxiously waiting for Haley, an IU alum who departs Edelweiss in a mere 2 weeks, to hand over the reins to her sweet ride.  The 40 minute commute will be long gone and I will finally feel like I'm settled into the German lifestyle.  Now I just need to learn the rules of the road as a cyclist and get familiar with some new more efficient routes.  Maybe investing in an aerodynamic helmet and full spandex body suit is in my near future? 
My legs are still sore from an intense teeter tottering session I had couple nights ago when I was given the privilege of babysitting two little tykes, one from London and the other from Minnesota.  Of course these boys were rambunctious and out of control, but I had a blast.  Their parents came to the desk looking for a sitter and when the thought of spare Euro crossed my mind I jumped on the opportunity and offered up my services.  We started out the night with some playground action.  While they were swinging I snuck away to test out the fireman's pole.  It wasn't until I heard some guests laughing from their balcony that I realized how ridiculous I looked trying to climb up the rock wall to get to it.  By the time I reached the pole the boys had gathered below and were chanting for me to "hurry up and slide down already, poopy!!".  Yes, they nicknamed me poopy.  After my playground embarrassment we preceded to hit up the arcade, the dinner buffet, and even found the time to build a dirt bike track out of books, my umbrella, and random things around the room.  I got a taste of parenthood during dinner time at the buffet.  After running back and forth getting them everything that they needed I finally was able to get my food only to come back to the table to see that they finished their meals and were ready to move on to the next activity.  I had to coerce them to sit tight by explaining that we were friends and friends wait for each other even when they don't want to haha life lessons at the Edelweiss buffet!  The night ended with them swearing that they weren't tired as they yawned and let me tuck them into bed to watch a little muted Nitro Circus.  Now that was definitely a great way to spend a couple free hours :)

Holy Maß!

I apologize for my lack of blogging/contacting the outside world for the past two weeks.  I've been beyond busy with two trips to Munich, girls nights, work, eating candy, and life.

Let me catch you up to speed on my Munich experiences.  The first mini vaca was on a Monday night.  It just so happened that all of us girls had the day off and had nothing to do, so when a guest offered up his Bayern ticket (a ticket that is valid for up to 5 people) we were down for the adventure.  We arrived in Munich just after 8 and after checking into our hostel, The Wombat, we headed straight for the Hofbrauhaus where we could get our fill of bier and pretzels.  Along the way we picked up an Aussie who took a liking to Christina and was determined to spend the rest of his night in our company.  He asked several times if all Americans were mean and bossy - referring to Danielle who was annoyed that he kept directing us down the wrong streets.  At least he was something nice to look at!  By the end of the night we found ourselves running through the train station with some other new found friends and eating döner kebap at 4am.  The next day we were all exhausted but found the energy to walk around the city, look at some touristy things, dirndl shop, and stop at several cafes for our liquid diet.  The train ride home was a quiet one while we all nodded off and dreaded going to work the next morning

Now my second Munich experience was easily one of the most fun days of my life!  Christina and I won a raffle at work and had VIP tickets that included transportation, food, beer, and a seat at a table.  Of course we indulged in some alcoholic beverages on the train so by the time we arrived we were ready for a good time.  We didn't waste any time and found ourselves a beer while we were waiting for our table to open up at 5.  It was incredible how many people were at the festival and the amount of fun lederhosen and dirndls!  It was quite the experience having a table in a private section.  We were given wrist bands and had "security" at the entrance.  We sat at a table with the hotel's GM, his wife, several of his friends, some other hotel employees, and the security director.  Luckily the GM was a good sport when Christina and I were the first to climb on the table to dance and roused the rest of our section to do the same.  He even recorded us on his iPhone.  I'm not positive, but I don't think that will be posted on the Edelweiss website??  We definitely had a bonding moment the next day though when he stopped by the desk and asked how my hangover was treating me.  The rest of the night is a blur and if it weren't for the 109 pictures Christina took I would have a vague recollection of running down the aisles dancing and talking with all of the other tourists and Germans.  Oktoberfest, you get an A+

This is your hotel??

I've been in Germany for almost a month and I'm still loving it just as much, if not more than I did on day one.  I'm still struggling with the language and with the non-American hours of stores.  It's been difficult saying goodbye to the 24 hr Walmart that carries every necessity of life.  You won't find the convenience of department stores in Garmisch, everything can be found in different shops that feature specific items, similar to the small town feel of New Carlisle.  Most stores open mid morning, close for an afternoon break, and then close for the night between 6 and 8 (with the exception of restaurants...most have "normal hours"). Oh, and nothing is open on Sunday...nothing!  Europeans tend to have a more laid back attitude about work and have their own interest at heart, so if they want to take a 2 hour lunch on a Saturday that's okay because their European customers will understand, it's the tourists who aren't used to this type of operation.  They also don't bulk shop.  Food and other daily items are purchased with the intent of using them within the next couple days.  One reason for this is the lack of preservatives in their food, everything is so much fresher!  They also do this because similar to any big city in the U.S. they don't have cars and have to carry their groceries home. 
Friday night was something else!  Even though all three of us girls had to work at 7am on Saturday we decided to go to our favorite German bar, Peaches.  Bret says it sounds like a strip club haha and other than the Porno Party (I didn't attend), it is far from it.  Of course we set our usual "curfew" and all discussed how we would walk home early so work would at least be bearable, so when we strolled in at 3:30am that was no longer an option. I hate to admit it, but we stopped at McDonalds on the walk home where we happened to run into the group of German boys we had just left at the bar.  My excuse for not staying was that I had to work in a couple hours so when we saw them one exclaimed "SOOO Jennifer, this is your hotel!?".  Haha I was a little embarrassed and decided to pass on food for the moment so I could get out of there.  I did try a french fry though, also hate to admit this, but it was much better than what I'm used to getting at home.  We all made it to work with a couple minutes to spare to grab some coffee from the staff cafeteria and went our separate ways.  Eight hours later when we met in the locker room our "morning drunkeness" had worn off and we were a pathetic group.  Was a lesson learned?  Probably not.

Check out those forearms and those massbiers!

For my American friends who are curious about the bar atmosphere I'll give you a little run down.  Most bars close around 3am, but several in Garmisch do not close. Beer is very inexpensive...a 16oz glass of beer is about 2.50 Euro and a mass (about 64oz) is roughly 8 or 9 Euro.  For my fellow liquor lovers, you're not going to like what I'm about to say.  Shots are fairly cheap, running about 3 Euro each.  Mixed drinks on the other hand, start around 7.50 Euro and aren't the strongest drinks I've ever had.  You also can't get a glass of water or soda at the bar for free...makes me miss the pitchers of water they hand out at Sports!  Good news though, they play American hits like The Macarena, YMCA, and more recent pop music. Overall, they're very similar to U.S. bars, as long as you can handle the European smell lingering on the dance floor.

Dino-mite!

Here I am on this cloudy Saturday afternoon, manning three different computers, answering every incoming call to the hotel, and still finding time to facebook and update the ol blog.  If you don't count the two trips to the Eurostore, it's been a pretty uneventful week around here.  Last night was a little adventure though.  A group of us hiked up the Kramerspitze, the little mountain that I can see from my Abrams window, and had a bonfire complete with hotdogs, smores, koolaid, wine, and ghost stories.  After the strenuous hike we laid out our blankets and let the boys get to tending the fire and finding our poker sticks.  Us girls sat around shivering and asking if they could move any faster haha I felt like I was 10 and camping with my Dad.  The highlight of the night was when Christina (our one friend fluent in German), Danielle, and I hiked up a little farther to use the "restroom".  Christina lost her footing and started to tumble headfirst down the hill.  It actually could have been a serious situation, but we were laughing too hard to notice.  Luckily we all made it back down the mountain in one piece...with our pants on.

Our Favorite Dino

During my spare time this morning I've also pieced together a list of traveling destinations for the next 13 months.  It's apparent that money and time are both going to be obstacles in completing the list.  Maybe I'll just have to extend my time here at Edelweiss! Just kidding, Mother! 

VERY EXCITING NEWS!  Danielle and I rearranged the furniture in our room!  I wasn't kidding when I said it had been an uneventful week.  Anyway, our room looks phenom!  We hung streamers from our wardrobes to the door and also perked up the place with dinosaur stickers! Next we just need some chairs without broken legs and we'll be the envy of the Abrams!