it’s that time again when everything seems to go awry for us. Every year it’s the same – we vow that we will be more organised and start preparations early but somehow we forget. We are deep in the throes of nativity plays, birthdays, school events and menu planning (of sorts). Last Christmas Eve, Phil was still driving from shop to shop trying to get a tree at the last minute, being warned all the while by a worried Sabrina, passing empty stalls and closing shops: “Dad, if we don’t have a Christmas tree this year, I’ll kill you!” We did get one of the last 5 in Munich it seemed, but haven’t left that task quite so tight this year. Apologies, that this letter arrives late.
Looking back over the year –it had its high and low points.
In February we went on a hike between two lakes near us separated by snow-covered hills armed, as Sabrina rightly pointed out, with no more navigating equipment than a printed google map showing a street petering out on one side, 5 miles of unmarked, shaded open countryside in the middle, then a tiny street appearing from nowhere at the other side. Fortunately, "most" of the route was signed along the way. The ascent went on forever, through a narnia-like forest, with 3 slow moving children, one of Eve’s friends uttering “ich kann nicht mehr" about 100 times. It is easy to see how a simple hike can take a dangerous turn in bad weather or fading light. We managed to drag the reluctant friend to the top just as it was starting to get dark. In the cold light of day, the height climbed was about the equivalent of 3 Pendle Hills in the snow. Fortunately the descent was easier and faster, but better preparation is called for next time - a recurring theme!
We had a few good days in England after Easter visiting family and friends. In June, we spent a long weekend in Würzburg which was interesting, visiting the Residence Palace and as a contrast, a farm where 30,000 chickens are raised over a 2 month period in a huge sports hall-sized, climate controlled environment; this is roughly like a person growing from a baby to 140kg over a 2 year life span. Enough to put you off your turkey!
July was a busy month when Katie had surgery to her knee. Then we had a visit from a friend’s son, who lives in Skipton and wanted to improve his German for his “A” levels. Not sure how much he learned from us but we had a great time.
The weather was good when we travelled to Tirol in Austria for a short stay, meeting up again with friends who were on holiday there and benefiting from the breathtaking views and good company. Eve also found two new friends, the resident male and female calves occupying the cow shed nearby. She named them Eva and Oliver, which the owner adopted, since they hadn’t been named by then. She insisted on returning to the farm before we left, to say goodbye to them.
Things didn’t go quite as well for the remainder of the summer as Katie ended up in hospital – knees again – on the first day of Phil’s holiday! He coped pretty well, taking the girls to nearby Kochel am See for a week. Sabrina and Eve loved not having to tidy up all the time but the apartment could only be described as ‘sad’ after two weeks of neglect when said cleaner returned home! The knees remain a bit of a problem – good health really is something to be appreciated.
Sabrina seems to be coping with her new school year and is now in the 6th class. She has started studying Latin (parents definitely need a refresher course) and has to get used to learning vocabulary, since up to now she has had an easy time of it, only having English as a foreign language. She is the 49th best in English for her year in Germany, if you believe the results of the “Big Challenge” competition held over here. Pressure at school is building up gradually and with the continual examination system that they use here, she always seems to have something ahead to work towards. She is ‘shooting for the stars’ and has reached her mum in height with Eve not far behind. Eve is now in the 3rd class and has joined an extra sports club that meets in the school. She apparently needed more ball practice! She has swimming lessons also at school, and after teaching herself to swim (last year sometime) thoroughly enjoys them. She aims to start with violin lessons in a week or two. We don’t know what the neighbours will think of that!
Katie works at home, helps out with homework, loves to play the piano, reads a lot (no decent TV!) and is still trying to persuade herself that she is brave enough to look for work.
Phil, on the other hand, has too much work. He often travels away now, for 3 or 4 days a week, sometimes 5. We try to enjoy time together at the weekend but there is always something that needs doing ie. repair jobs in the flat that we never seem to fit in. He is trying to keep fit, at one point we couldn’t keep the children away from the local baths, which have been recently done up and this helped with preparing for a 10km run around the city, although the hour mark for this still remains elusive. Katie and the kids try to get him looking trendy as far as C&A and the power of persuasion permit.
Sabrina and Eve swapped bedrooms recently which entailed a lot of work and expense – it’s still unfinished but we’re almost there. There was another visit to the UK in November which enabled the children to see a “real” UK Bonfire Night, spend more time with family and just enjoy being inside, since it seemed to rain the whole time we were there!
Both Katie’s parents and Phil’s mum are struggling with health issues so it seems as if there will need to be a few separate visits to England in 2010 to help out and see how they are. There are challenges ahead and hard decisions to take. Short visits have been planned for January to kick this off.
Christmas 2009
yearly reviews
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