My first winter since 2007 in pictures

Apr 4, 2012 ~ filed under: A-life & English & Visuelles ~ 0 comments »

EN only

Winter

has been beauti-

-ful

with lots of sunshine

and a blue sky 97% of the time

and interesting formations

and interesting cat-walks

We enjoyed the winter races for kids

and for adults

and I went to my first open air on ice (frozen lake)

and realized that people even brought out their couches

I got into skiing

and other outdoor fun

I enjoyed the work that came with the snow

and loved watching the squirrels digging for food

I was totally excited and happy when I finally could smell, hear and see the ocean

This was one of the happiest moments this winter (I really missed the ocean)

I wanted to take my clothes off and run in…

but decided to enjoy the calm winter beach scenery instead

I learned that the wildlife at the beach is somewhat different to Australia (‘s snakes and sharks)

It has been a great winter and Maine is definitely worth a visit during this beautiful, sunny and peaceful time of the year

Winter is as good as over. We’ve had crazy 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32○C) last week, which was very unusal for March in Maine. Well, we’ve enjoyed flip flops and sunbaths on the porch until we got another small snow storm a few days later. What’s happening to the weather? Crazy! We are back to wearing socks and warm jackets for a few more days but from now on it’s supposed to get only warmer. Still a very early spring, people say here in Maine, because it can be snowing until May! As much as I liked the winter, I am ready for all the beauty spring has to offer!

Dass ich das noch erleben darf

Apr 2, 2012 ~ filed under: A-life & Deutsch ~ 0 comments »

Es gibt Dinge, die ich mir sehr wuenschte, aber mir sicher war, dass sie bestimmt nicht in Erfuellung gehen. Wie so oft, habe ich auch diesmal wieder falsch gedacht.

Vor Jahren hat meine Mama, die in jungen Jahren mit dem Rauchen angefangen hat und sich zum Kettenraucher entwickelt hat, es geschafft und von heute auf morgen mit dem Schmoeken aufgehoert. Sie hat es nicht einmal gross angekuendigt. Wochen spaeter erfuhr ich, dass sie nun nicht mehr raucht. Einfach so. Ich fand es unglaublich…bewundernswert, nach knapp 2 Schachteln pro Tag einfach so aufzuhoeren. Sie wusste, wie abhaengig sie vom Nikotin war. Sie war keine Genussraucherin, sondern eher die Gelegenheitsraucherin; und Gelegenheiten gab es viele; rund um die Uhr. Sie hatte es nie vorher probiert, wahrscheinlich weil sie immer der Meinung war, dass sie einfach schon zu lange raucht, um es sich jetzt noch abzugewoehnen. Sie hat keine Hilfe in Anspruch nehmen muessen, keine Buecher gewaelzt, keine Pflaster benutzt oder sonstige Methoden ausprobiert. Von heute auf morgen war Schluss. Ich werde nie vergessen, wie der graue Schleier vom Gesicht abfiel und ein wunderschoenes Strahlen zum Vorschein kam. Es war fast wie ein face lifting; nach wenigen Monaten sah meine Mama wie ausgewechselt aus. Die Augen glitzerten, die Gesichtshaut strahlte. Es war echt extrem, zu sehen, was die Toxine auesserlich mit einem anstellten. Es ist also nie zu spaet, aufzuhoeren.

Mein Papa ist dagegen eher der Genussraucher. Dennoch qualmt’s bei ihm auch in mehreren Schachteln pro Woche, wenn auch weniger als damals bei der Mama. Dann kam das Toechterlein, damals auch rauchend, auch noch auf die Idee ihm von einer Promotionaktion eine Gratisprobe von in Whiskey getraeufelte Zigarillos mitzubringen. Seit dem Tage vor etlichen Jahren raucht er also nun diese (viel schlimmeren) Zigarillos. (Die Whiskey-Version war auf Dauer zu teuer, also wurden die Lidl-Billigdinger gekauft.) Viel schlimmer in dem Sinne, weil Zigarillos weitaus staerker sind als Zigaretten und dann raucht man an so nem Zigarillo auch mehr als doppelt so lange, wenn auch weniger als vergleichsweise Zigaretten pro Tag.

Ich hatte meinem Papa gegenueber vor einiger Zeit mal erwaehnt, dass er nun der einzige Rauchende in der Familie sei und dass Rauchen ja irgendwie inzwischen auch ziemlich “out” sei; ganz zu Schweigen von der gesundheitsschaedigenden Wirkung; vor allem, wenn man(n) gerade die stolze Siebzig ueberschritten hat. Er ist fuer sein Alter super fit und klettert immer noch auf (Apfel-)Baeumen herum und ist auch sonst jeden Tag in Bewegung; dennoch habe ich insgeheim gehofft, dass er sich vielleicht meine Mama als Vorbild nimmt.

Und heute passierte es aus heiterem Himmel, dass ich mit meinem Papa telefonierte und er so ganz nebenbei in einem anderen Zusammenhang erwaehnte, dass er seinen neuen Fernsehsessel ja nun in sein Zimmer unterm Dach stellen koenne, da nun keine “Gefahr” mehr bestehe, dass er das gute Stueck einqualme und damit ruiniert, da er bereits seit 5 Wochen nicht mehr rauche. 5 Wochen? Und wieso erfahre ich das erst jetzt?

Einfach so aufgehoert. Unglaublich. Ich war sprachlos und super stolz und gluecklich zugleich.

Das kann ja auch kein Mann auf sich sitzen lassen – drei Weiber in der Familie, alle viel und lange geraucht, alle von heute auf morgen aufgehoert. “Das kann ich auch”, muss er sich gesagt haben. Nein…er sagte mir, “Du, weisst Du, Rauchen ist eine reine Kopfsache.” Genau, und wenn man diesen Dickkopf besiegt, ist das eine grossartige Leistung!

2012 und aus einer kompletten Raucherfamilie ist nun eine Nichtraucherfamilie geworden.

Finally a winter photo post

Mar 7, 2012 ~ filed under: A-life & English & Visuelles ~ 1 comment »

Oh well…I just cannot keep up with my blog. I have so many photos and videos that I would like to upload but I cannot do that from home and my laptop is so slow/old to even handle videos.
I decided I am going to wait for the new macbook pro to come out in hopefully April (if the rumors are true). I can’t wait to actually cut and edit all the videos that I have accumulated over the last months, ehm, years. LOL

When I started writing this entry (which was before Valentine’s Day) we had the little bit of snow that looked like it doesn’t stick around too much longer. Everything was on the melt and the green came through. It felt like spring is here (temperature-wise). I honestly didn’t want the winter to be over yet. (I thought I’d never think or even say this!!)
But it felt like winter hasn’t really come yet. I’ve heard so much about the Maine winters. But, where was the cold? I felt colder in Northern Germany, although coastal, but still. Okay, we had a bit of snow over Christmas and here and there, but it was so mild and so sunny almost every single day so far! I mean I love it!

Snow AND sun = awesome! Who would disagree. If the winters are always like this here (unfortunately I was told they aren’t) I want to be nowhere else in winter.

We thought we might as well use our snowmobile before the snow melts. This was so much fun and I really hope we get more snow to do it again – snowmobiling action with mr.natey as crazy driver and missycola as screaming….missy on the back seat:

These things go F-A-S-T! OMG, my heart skipped a beat while I was trying not to slip off the seat. With the uneven frozen ground it is not possible to foresee the bumps and jumps. I felt like I wanted to wear a helmet at the speed of 50 miles/hr (~100km/h)!!! My smile almost froze in the cold wind, but I was happy like a child.

BUT THEN – two weeks or so later, we got another snowstorm. A real one. I mean a snowstorm that actually deserves the name. LOTS OF SNOW in a short time. Yeahhhh – this was the snow I was awaiting the whole winter!

We were excited like little kids. “Let’s build a snowman!” was one of the first words I spoke that early morning, when I woke up in the perfect winter wonderland and the snow on the tree branches looked so heavy as if the branch can hardly hold it any longer.

And before even having the first coffee and before breakfast, we jumped into our snow suits and ran outside into the backyard:

But what are we building? Huh? Noooo, you’re wrong.

In fact we we’re building this:

Still not sure what it is?

GrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRR, meet the CoNa-IceBear:

Also, the second snowstorm brought a lot more snow than the last one, so we could go on another and even better snowmobile ride, because there was more thick snow to slide on.

I made a few videos from this ride and wanted to use imovie to cut them together, but it’s a nightmare. My laptop is too slow to handle this in a decent time (and I am too impatient to wait almost 35 minutes to import a small 130MB file locally! I mean, the video is on my computer already; I’m just trying to open it in imovie. But I guess I need more than 512MB Ram. *cough*
Honestly, who wants to donate me a new laptop? How could I endure this ongoing situation for so long? It’s awful. Anyway, I’m working on getting it done (and hope that Apple launches the new macbook sooner as soon!!!) and will upload it with the next post.

With the last days of the season I enjoy the snow and think ‘Winter is a beautiful season that I have really missed in my years in down under’ (but I never had this nice snow in Germany, so that’s why I thought I don’t miss winter ;)):

Australia Influenced

Feb 7, 2012 ~ filed under: A-life & English & Natey&Cola ~ 0 comments »

Why do men never listen?

We are at the beach, mr.Natey and I and a few other people we don’t know. There are quite a few people in the water, but somehow I don’t feel comfortable. Not only because it’s winter. No, something isn’t right.

All of a sudden I see shadows in the water. They are about an arm length long and quickly moving. Sharks?

I am pretty sure, but mr.Natey doesn’t think so. He wants to go into the water. I say “Please don’t go, there are sharks in there.” He’s going a step forward and I’m now whining: “Please don’t go. I promise you I’ll cook you dinner every night until the rest of your day, but please don’t go into the water!” I’m totally frightened, but mr.Natey thinks I’m overreacting, as so often.

Then I’m going a few steps back and see all those sharks lined up on the shore. They are standing on their back-fin and they organized themselves from small shark on the left to humongous and extremely large (2-story-house tall) on the right. A line of about 6 sharks, all shapes and sizes. They are kind of smiling at me and the other people at the beach.

Nathan, oh why, is going towards the shore and is lining up next to the largest shark with his back to the ocean. He’s like “Look at me, I’m not afraid, I can even stand next to the biggest sharks and it’s all fine.”

Then, all of a sudden, the humongous shark smirks and swings his left fin, which is about the size of an American-sized van, and hits and pushes (or rather smashes) mr.Natey way far away into the deep and dark ocean. No one would survive that hit. Not even a mr.Natey “hero”.

Why do men never listen to their missy?

[image by C.Haugen]

Dreams

Jan 26, 2012 ~ filed under: A-life & English ~ 2 comments »

[image by Elfleda]

Dreams are
…slippery things.
…like stars…you may never touch.
…so difficult to remember.
…making you smarter.
…answers to questions we haven’t yet figured out how to ask.
…unique.
…real.

Really real?
Well, that’s what g00gle spits out when I ask what dreams are.

I have always been a very vivid dreamer. I sometimes feel like I have a second life, living it in my dreams. Often I “act” so much that the sleeping partner next to me wakes up and thinks I am awake – but I am just in my dreams; even when sitting up, moving around; all with eyes wide open.

It doesn’t surprise me anymore that my fantasy often goes to the extreme, but what really surprised me, so much that I want to write it down here, are the last two dreams I had this week.

The first one was about a former work colleague/friend from my last job in Australia. I don’t remember what it was about exactly, but the morning after the dream I had a facebook message in my email, about me being missed and that someone called with my old work phone which apparently still displayed my name; to the shock of the friend.
Isn’t that strange – first the dream and then the email?

The other dream was similar, but slightly different.
I dreamt about a girlfriend I knew when I was a young teenager (maybe 12/13). I have no idea how she looks like these days, but in the dream I just knew it was her. We were happy that we met and reunited; we hugged and talked and laughed. She was actually not a very close friend, but we shared an important part (the party part, ya know? *g*) of my teenage years together.

But hold tight-here it comes:

When I woke up the next day and checked my email at around 10.30am, I had an email from the social network stayfriends with the following message:

The email said: “Why don’t you go visit the profile of your friend M.J.?”

My jaw dropped almost onto the floor!!! My eyes stared at her name. I had t blink to realize I am not dreaming any more.

Nathan always said I’m psychic. I think I’m at a high at the moment.

Another psychic situation that happened on the same day. We were driving a small side road quite a ways away from where we live and I somehow thought that we probably see Nathan’s mom driving by. I don’t know why I had that thought, because it was rather silly, because his mom works in a totally different area (other town) and would not drive this road really on a daily or even weekly basis. And we drive that road multiple times a fortnight and never met her on the road.

Well….you guessed it, although the little side road had no traffic, a few moments, seconds later her silvery car just came into our direction.

I am a bit scared!
I’m hoping to dream of my future job next. Haha.