Life is a...

______________.

You, my dear reader, may fill in the blank as you like. :)

This was seriously one of the roughest weeks I've had here in Germany thus far. You name it, it went wrong: messed up reports and numbers as work, frustration with some of what's going on (or not going on) with certain people back in Texas, driver's license drama, too many decisions and open issues, and a general bleak view.

Do you ever have days where you think that it would've been better if you'd simply stayed in bed? Where you reflect at the end of the day and realize you've actually done more harm than good? That's how this entire week was. I was thinking last night, and I realized I would have accomplished more had I simply stayed in bed from about Tuesday afternoon until Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, you only hit such realizations post-facto. And, unfortunately, life has no "undo" or "rueckgaengig" button.

Everything kind of built up throughout the week and blew up Saturday, which is when I finally decided to call Bizarro to see if they were going to be in Neukirchen (my city) on Saturday, because I, um, kind of needed a hug. We talked for a while, and I cried and was pathetic*... but felt better afterwards. Later that evening, Eve called and we talked for a while as well, which was also encouraging.

Today was much better... after church I talked about some of the recent drama with her and with Syd (we both agree that life is a valley of misery), and then spent the afternoon at their place goofing off. It's always fun, relaxing and therapeutic there. :) Here are some pictures...


The main event of the day was motorcycle-riding. Here's Bizarro's husband giving two of the cousins a ride.



Here they are again... the building in the background is their factory.



Here I am on the motorcycle with Syd... for some strange reason, I didn't feel like driving anything today.



Bizarro Mom! 'Nuff said.



Music must run in their family, as Syd's cousin plays the piano beautifully as well. The little one was pretend-playing the guitar along with her, which was adorable. :) Rock-star-in-the-making.



Helmut came by later in the afternoon - he's on the right. And yes, Bizarro and I are wearing the genuine Texas (made in Mexico) cowboy hats.



Instead of using an actual grill, they grilled everything over an open fire... I've noticed that quite a few people here do that... even though there are currently approximately 25 different types of grills at Obi.**


Quote of the day: "Das Leben ist ein Jammertal... kaum sind wir auf Erden, und dann schon wieder sterben, und zu Erde werden."*** (thanks to Syd quoting obscure poets)


*and later learned that I'd been on the loud-speaker. Augh!! Oh well.

**the German version of Home Depot

***to my German readers: please feel free to correct this; I think I have the gist of it, but I'm sure I've left out or added some words... :)