Karneval the NATO Way

..........And I quote " Karneval is a time to be a fool, as "if you are not a fool during Karneval, you will be one the rest of the year".

You can't begin to imagine what a festive time of year this is. Karneval or Fasching celebrations have pagan roots that pre date Christianity. The season officially begins on 11/11 at 11:11 and last until Ash Wednesday, ......"it is believed Christians came along, and tried to alter these pagen rituals so Carnival came to mark the beginning of Lent. The name Carnival is derived from Latin carne vale, meaning "farewell to meat".

Last Friday we attended a costume party on base, oh my what a party it was! Unfortunately our camera does not do well with low lighting, I hope to get pictures from friends, in the meantime these will have to do, trust me a fabulous time it was.

This party was well orchestrated, we saw act after act get up on stage.......dance troupes, acrobats, big bands and much much more! Most of the entertainment was "amusing" at one point there were two Elvis Presly's, one younger version and one older version. Each sang age appropriate songs. Also a "German country singer" who had the whole room singing Country Roads by John Denver. There was just something in the air........and whatever it was I caught it and by looking around the room most of the people in attendance caught it as well. A fun filled night for dancing and having a big time!

Here is Jen, better known that night as "The Soceress", who correctly predicted that we would not drink too much because the following day our group would attend a birthday party for Bailey, her soon to be 5 year old daughter. Considering that party was at Monkeys, one of those places where kids can run wild and parents should bring ear plugs........she was oh so wise. Actually, I think what she said was "HELLLLO, Monkeys with a hangover?????

Unfortunately.........Terry has been working 7 days a week 12 hour shifts.....he got to the party about 8:30 looking and feeling a little weary, the program listed activities that lasted until 2:00 am, we along with Elvis, left the building around 10:00 pm..............I am already looking forward to next year, I think it would be hilarious to have a whole group of friends dress up as the waitstaff/cooks........

love and miss you all

Heilige Drei Köinge

Heilige Drei Köinge translates to three Kings day, or literally means the Epiphany. This year the day fell on Sunday January 6, 2008. In Germany children dressed as the three kings walk throughout the villages and bless homes by sprinkling holy water on the doorway and marking in chalk on the house: 20 C+M+B 08. The initials are believed to represent the names of the three kings, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar; the numbers represent the year the blessing was done. There is also a belief that holds the initials come from the Latin phrase for "Christ bless this house" -- "Christus mansionem benedicat".

Either way the tradition is still practiced and we were delighted to come home and see that despite the fact that we were not home, and despite that fact we do not have a brick home to "chalk the house", and despite that fact that we did not make the customary monetary doanation to the church........our house was still blessed as you can see by the markings on our mailbox. All indications point to a blessed year.

love and miss you all

WHAT THE.........

Our computer crashed right before Christmas. Frustration is a good word and it comes close to describing what it feels like to not have technology right at ones fingertips........especially being so far away and having become dependent on the information highway for social, economical as well as entertainment purposes. To make a long story short Terry and a good friend, Tom ordered the parts to build a brand new computer, bigger better and faster. Parts came in and three trips to various computer stores later, Tom had our new computer assembled and ready for action.........but hold on just a minute , lets just throw in a connectivity problem that involved the telephone company sending out a non English speaking technician who took all of 5 mins to tell me the equipment is kaput! Great, I called Terry to tell him the news about sending it in for repairs.....waiting for them to send a new one repairing the one we had .........Well Terry wasn't going to wait, I do believe he sensed my need because he came home with a brand new modem and now we are back in business. Hip Hip horray!

I have lots to share about the happenings here in our corner of the world, I will be posting a blogs or two here in the next few days. For right now I wanted to let everyone know why I have been "silent" for the past month, so unlike me.

love and miss you all