this is how we’ve been rollin’ here at the crazy household for the last 2.5 weeks :)

a cat’s life … from puttytat on Vimeo.

C spent 2.5 weeks back home in the midwest with his family in the beginning of december. i had to work until dec 18th and enjoyed my quiet time, had a lot of sushi, watched a lot of E.R. and just pretty much did what i felt like doing. just in time for my christmas vacation it started snowing on the 18th and has been pretty white and wintery since then (with a couple “rainy” days after christmas) – it’s beautiful and i love looking outside at the winter wonderland :) C got back on christmas eve in the morning and we had a nice christmas evening at nina & benny’s with leni and the rest of the family. it was the second best to being with our own family and we enjoyed it a lot. then there was a brunch with friends on the 26th and that’s about it.

we did like speedy does in the video most days and it has been awesome. barely any headaches or tension… i don’t feel bad at all – you know, like i didn’t take advantage and made the best of my time off or anything – and actually managed to pretty much enjoy the time. our new year’s eve was so-so because C’s grandma S. passed away on the 27th and he wasn’t really in a party mood. so we canceled our trip down south to see pia & mike and went out to dinner by ourselves and to betti & marc’s place afterwards. it was okay. i am REALLY hoping for a much better 2010 than last year!

now i gotta go back to work on monday and i’m somewhat ready. not too excited but it’ll be okay i guess. it’s time for a normal routine and decent outside world clothes again and to let 2010 come. nothing but the best to all of you for the year to come. xoxoxo

my friends rock. they are the best. last friday, i was expecting miriam and antje (known as “the advertising girls” because we went to school together during our training) over for a visit. we try and get together on a somewhat regular basis and since miriam hadn’t seen the new place her asking if they could just stop by instead of us meeting at a restaurant didn’t raise any suspicion. not really. the possibility did cross my mind for a second here and there but just because it was kinda “time” more than four weeks after our move. not seriously though. plus, miriam came at 7:30 pm and had been here for half an hour already, we had opened a wine and started catching up, when the doorbell rang. naturally i was simply expecting antje and not 20+ of our friends coming up the stairs ;)

they brought a whole buffet with salads, finger food, a big cake, bread, snacks and drinks, paper plates and plastic utensils. everything was organized perfectly and we had such a perfect time. i think C and i went to bed around 4:30 a.m. which hasn’t happened in a while ;) the whole thing was especially great because they did it in the evening. see, those kinds of get-together usually happen during the day these days. we have birthday brunches more often than parties because of the kids. a few weeks ago, when i handed out the brunch-invitations for everyone who helped us move, the topic came up. i told a couple of the girls how for us – not having kids of our own and all – a brunch really isn’t always all that great. we like our sleeping in and slow mornings on the weekends. and we miss parties. even though i love the little munchkins to death, i miss parties and get-togethers with no toddlers jumping around.

SO all of them got babysitters for the night and realized a “real” party for us. i was so happy and moved and made sure to tell everyone how much we appreciate the extra effort (and the fact that they didn’t surprise us in pajamas on a sunday morning!). i know it’s much more difficult for them to pull off something like this. but like i said: my friends just rock like that! oh and we got some $$ from everyone on top of the great party. i already “exchanged” that for new blinds + curtains for the living room at IKEA today ;)

wow. another year. 10-1 years. that’s pretty big and … time to look back :) our fourth anniversary. our fifth anniversary. our sixth anniversary. our seventh anniversary [@ mimi&rob's wedding] + an additional post i found while trying to find the anniversary ones [just because i think it's hilarious]. our eigth anniversary.

this picture was taken during my housewarming-party in september 2000. just a few weeks after we met and the first weekend C stayed over. it still makes me all giddy and warm on the inside.

since that day we have grown so much closer, went through so much sh*t together nobody should ever have to go through. especially within a time period less than ten years. but here we are. still going strong. for the most part anyway. there have been really rough times and talks in the past. there still are. we’re working “us” out almost every day. this relationship-stuff is hard. add self-doubts, depression, two countries, cultures and languages and you can end up looking at a pretty big mess. sometimes i don’t know if i can do this any longer … and then there are the times i look at him and i just love him so much, it almost hurts. luckily those times without a doubt outweight the other times by far.

i have never before felt so loved by someone else. even [and especially] on the days when i am far from loving myself. sometimes i don’t understand why. how he can love me this much. but he does. and he shows me all the time. he’s no romantic or fan of “the cheese” but he gets up to greet me in the hallway almost every day when i come home. he rubs my legs almost every night and he gives the best morning-hugs ever, always asks me how my day was and tells me how beautiful i am. he’s a freakin’ piece of work sometimes but i have no doubt we will make it another nine years and then another………. i love you, babe!