House Progress

Basement Rec Room (before)

There is so much going on with the house and yet NOTHING is completely finished yet.  They have 4-6 guys here 6 days a week for 8 hours a day so it isn't as if they are not working.  There was just SO much to do.  Much much more than we had thought when we first bought it. 

Basement Rec Room (after)

The basement has been long waterproofed which was the only thing we were going to have done originally.  And as expensive and extensive as that was our basement smells so much better and is much more healthy but it isn't something you can see!  It gets discouraging as there still seems so much more to do.

They had to jack-hammer
the basement to put in new
sewer line. 

We have one, very small bathroom on the main level that has been dug into more times than I can count to connect the rest of the plumbing in the house through the main sewer and water lines.  The guys are quite considerate, I must say, they warn us when the water is going to go out or when our bathroom will be out of commission for the day.  But no matter how extensive their work is that they they always leave us a functioning, albeit filthy and ugly, bathroom.
I've learned that the hospital is a great place to use the toilet at all hours of the day.  No one asks you why you are there.  You can just walk straight to one of the several, clean, bright bathrooms.  The main sewer pipe goes straight through from the basement to the teeny tiny bathroom on the main level to the soon to be new two bathrooms on the bedroom level to the new rental space in the attic.  It is mostly covered but I have to try to go to the bathroom every day with the sound of Russian workers right above and below me working.  Awkward to say the least!!

Kid's bathroom
on bedroom level

They say that the basement should be COMPLETELY finished by the 20th of

Large, master bathroom
on bedroom level

December.  Which is perfect timing because our good friends the Kitcheners are arriving that day for a 4 night stay.  Hopefully, FINGERS CROSSED, it will actually be done.  It isn't looking so good right now!!

Our nice and cozy guest room😭😭😭

Old laundry room. 

We moved the laundry room to another room in the basement. 

This is where the old laundry room once was

It is hard to tell with all the construction stuff, but the floor is completely tiled and the walls painted.

Our one tiny bathroom with holes and exposed pipes everywhere...not to mention the fine coating of dust that magically reappears every damn day!!  

I will take a video soon and post that. It is hard to tell with just photos. 

Odyssey of the Mind

Benjamin started a new after school activity this year called Odyssey of the Mind.  Josie participated at her grade level last year and really liked it.  He meets each Tuesday after school with his team of 7 other 4th graders and a parent volunteer/coach.  OM started in the US (even though I had never heard of it) but it is a pretty big deal here.  Or at least it is at our school.

I still don't quite understand what it is fully.  It is very student led and driven and the coach is there simply to keep the kids on track and not necessarily direct or guide them.
I was volunteering for a bit but with my sporadic subbing days and upcoming work at the US embassy I backed out of being one of the main coaches.  I did, however, volunteer for their one full day of OM.  It was out in Potsdam - just a 20 or so minute car ride, and the kids all had fun.

For as open ended as the program seemed to me I was incredibly impressed with how well organized the full day event was.  There were nearly as many adult volunteers as students participating. 

Each team had tasks and performances and training throughout the day.  They ranged in logic, spontaneous thinking and talking, performing, creating.  It really is hard to explain.  But Benjamin really likes it and that makes me happy.

Brace Face and Bicycle Fixes

Josie FINALLY got her braces on.  She was scheduled to get them

on the day before we left for Portugal in October but then a few friends suggested that she might be super sore and to be gone for a week just after getting them on might not be such a good idea.  So we postponed it to Wednesday.  She really handled it so well.  I can never tell with her.  She can have a complete melt down over a small sliver in her toe but takes the 2 hours in the dentist chair in stride.
They said it could take up to 2.5 hours so I blocked out most of the day.  She was done in less than 1.5 and once she saw the time when we were packing up she said "I can still make it back in time for drama if we hurry!"  We we raced back to school on our bikes.  She just missed a few minutes.

I am continuing with my ortheopaedic dr and have been now half a dozen times.  It really is helping my back and my feet.  Maybe it is helping because it is the first time that I stuck with something this long or maybe she is that good.  Not sure but happy with the results.  Benjamin went over to his friend, Zeke's house, after school.  I love living so close as I run into the kids sometimes just running my errands.  After dropping Josie off at school after getting her braces on, I started riding through the park toward home.  On the way I ran into Benjamin and Zeke getting on the bus to go to his house.  They had early release.  I rode home and then rode to my Dr. appt.  I rode specifically because it is faster than taking the bus and that way I could race home and go with Josie to her weekly college math class. 
As I was leaving the dr appt I went off a curb kind of hard and my chain snapped off.  I was so mad.  It was raining, I was half way across town, I was meant to race back home to go with Josie to her math class.  I had promised her that I would go this week. 
I've never actually fixed a slipped chain before but I have seen Marty do it.  I turned my bike upside down and set in to fix it.  No luck.  I was getting more frustrated by the minute, my hands were getting greasier and I was getting wetter from the rain.  I texted Josie and said I might not make it. 

After about 30 minutes I decided to let it sit and caught the bus Josie was on taking her to her math class.  At least I could go with her for the last 1/4 of her trip.  I go in with her to the University building, use the bathroom and TRY to clean my very greasy hands.
I wait for the bus to take me back to my bike but I had just missed it and it would be another 20 minutes.  I decided to just walk the 15 minutes, in the rain, with greasy hands.  I struggled with it for another 15 minutes, trying to wipe wet hair from my face without using my greasy hands.  I watched a Youtube video on how to repair a slipped chair and voila!!  I DID IT!!!  I was so proud of myself but also so frustrated to have to ride home in the cold and dark and wet with greasy hands.  I was supposed to meet Benjamin at the bus stop to walk with him home as he returned from his friend, Zeke's, house.  I texted his mom and said I had no idea when

I'd be home and to please tell him to walk home on his own.  As I entered Zehlendorf I took the longer way home hoping I might time it just right and be there when Benjamin got off the bus.  And the one thing that went right that day happened miraculously.  Just as I pulled up to the bus stop Benjamin was getting off!  The timing was amazing and I fixed my own damned bike.  Bad day with a silver lining.

Ashe Reshteh

All the ingredients.  And because groceries
are so affordable here this entire lot cost about
15 Euro. 

A friend from High School had posted a yummy picture on Facebook about a yummy vegan Persian soup she had just made.  I asked her for the recipe and she directed me to Ashe Reshteh soup.  I found a few recipes that I could mix together to make it.  I knew I was going to volunteer on Wednesday with the refugee women teaching English and the area of Berlin that I go to volunteer there are a lot of Turkish, Syrian, Iranian/Iraqi residents.  So I knew that I could hit up any produce stand and get all the yummy greens I would need to make this soup.  Just reading the recipe I knew it was going to be a lot of greens but I didn't realize just how much until I started making it.  SOOO much green in this soup. It is funny because I have always used parsley and cilantro as extras in a meal or recipe.  Just the condiments.  But in this soup it IS the soup.  2 POUNDS of

spinach.  1 POUND each of parsley and cilantro.  Some mint as well.  It filled my entire enormous soup pot before it cooked down.  It was super good and very different than anything I had ever made or eaten.  I topped it with Greek yogurt and caramelized onions, sauteed garlic and a splash of red wine vinegar (which my high school friend, Ladan, said was the secret to the soup and it really did add a lot of flavor!)  Yummmm.

Halloween and Spooktacular

Halloween here is nothing compared to what it is in Seattle.  Our first year here the kids were sorely disappointed.  We had only been here a few months and we were still used to the American way.  The second year we teamed up with our Swedish friend, Toby, and his family.  We hit the American sector and it was quite overwhelming.  SOOO many people!!   It was almost too much for me.  But the past two years Halloween has fallen within a school break so there was no thought of how late we were out or that homework had to be done before hand.  This year it was on a Thursday and it felt much different. 

The kids were still excited.  I bought Benjamin a skeleton costume at H&M that day for half off.  Josie decided to be a symbol off the periodic table (?!?) and we joined our good friends Beth, Maya and Louis.  She had a car and very kindly drove us to the American sector.  Last year there were two American streets that we went to and one felt much LESS crazy than the other so we hit that one.  But the kids had only a small handful of candy after 30 minutes so we gave in and went to the crazier American street.  Thousands of people from all over Berlin were there.  The first area had houses straight out of the 1960's.  This is where a lot of the people who work for the American Embassy live. They were originally US military housing and it feels like you are walking in the movie set of the movie First Man about the first man on the moon set in the late 60's.  The second area, by drastic contrast, was filled with mcmansions.  Each house/villa was more palatial than the last.  Crazy, huge houses. The owners of the house would stand out by their front gate and hand out American candy.  There was a line in front of each gate.  Crazy!!  For the first time they actually shut down cars from driving in the area during trick or treating.  If you lived in the area you could drive in otherwise you had to park a good distance away.  It felt safer, save the swarms of German police with large guns.  It is still shocking to see police here with automatic style weapons.  You just don't see it much here except sometimes when there is a heated soccer match!!  But I have heard since this is an "American holiday and area" that it is a target.  Makes you feel safe, huh??  Anyway, the kids had fun.  Still nothing like Seattle and they had to work for their 20ish pieces of candy where as in the states they get 20 pieces of candy in the first 5 minutes. 

The following night the school had their annual Spooktacular event.  It is just for the elementary but Josie is really into drama at the high school this year and the drama club had a booth were someone was hidden in a coffin and then pops out to scare the kids.  Not sure exactly what part she played but she came with Benjamin and me.  I was signed up to sell margaritas with my friend, Fiounnaula, which kept me busy for the night.  Benjamin had a burger and went to all the stands, activities and performances and then spent a good portion of the night reading while sitting behind my margarita stand. 

Lots of reading, TONS of dog snuggles

Thankfully Halloween has never been a big holiday for me... otherwise I might have been disappointed by it too.  I keep saying that Germany well than makes up for their lackluster celebration for Halloween with how they really do it up for Christmas!!

And the weekend before Halloween we had good friends
over for the famous black bean/sweet potato enchiladas. 

Math and Music and German, Oh My

After our Portugal vacation we settled back into Berlin life.  The kids had a bit of a rough time gearing up for the long school week but they did it.  The second day back Josie had a one night overnight trip with her homeroom class to Havelburg.  I'm not even sure what it was about.  Something with her Ethics, Political Science and History classes. She had a fun time and was given a lot of freedom to explore, eat out at restaurants and enjoy the town with her friends.  They had school work too of course, but as in most things in Germany a lot more freedom than they would be given in the states.  And she and her friends rise to the challenge.

Benjamin had a couple play dates after school with his buddies and I was called in for my first three days of subbing.  Three consecutive days which was a really nice way to start. The first day I was a bit nervous.  It was all new, I hadn't actually taught high school since I left to have Josie....13 years ago!!! I didn't even know where the bathrooms were.  Thankfully I got the call on Wednesday afternoon for the next day so I could at least prepare a lunch and get to bed at a decent time.  When I arrive at school, the VERY nice secretary walked me through everything and was very supportive.  I laughed out loud that my day would be "teaching" upper level MATH.   With one class of Music thrown in for good measure.

The kids were great.  The math classes were upper classmen  One class of Seniors and two classes of Jrs. and Sophomores.  They pretty much led the class.  And good thing because I had NO idea what they were talking about.  That math over my head.  Music was OK too.  The kids were a bit more typical in that class.  By typical I mean not bad but also not brainiacs who led the class themselves.  There were a few reminders of putting their phones away and working on the project at hand but definitely nothing to ruin my day and by the end even the couple kind of snotty girls were on my side and we were joking.

I was then called in for Friday and Monday.  These three days were the only days I was actually available to sub in October since most of the month was taken up by vacation.  Friday I covered two history classes (kids took tests and worked independently on projects) and a 7th grade science class where there was an additional aid and the kids worked on documenting observations from a paper plane experiment.
Monday I was a full time GERMAN teacher.  Haha!! Seriously.  Math, Music and German!!  I just thought it was hilarious that I was subbing in these subject areas.  But that even went well.  Tests were given, projects were worked on and because the school is not that big after 3 days I began recognizing some of the same students.  It was actually fun.  I am VERY thankful that I chose to sub in High School over Elementary.  It was the right choice for sure!!  And I'm super glad that it was three days in a row because by day three it felt like old hat.
And the house remodel continues... slooooowwww and steady.

Back in Berlin

We had a great time in Portugal.  I'll likely post a few pictures about the trip later but I know from past experience that if I don't start right away with the present I get overwhelmed and then never start blogging again.
So... here we are October 21st and the first day back to school for the kids in 2.5 weeks! What a crazy long break.  It felt good, like a mini summer but hard to get everyone up this morning.  Myself included.  Even though I really do like to have my own space and time having the kids schedule free for nearly three weeks was really nice.  Benjamin would typically stay up super late reading and then would sleep in until past 10am.  Josie would have probably woken up later too but she normally sleeps with Mogli and he would have her up by 8ish.   As rough as this morning was I am fully aware that tomorrow will be worse.
Tomorrow Josie is off on another class trip to Havelberg.  Just for one night and I know nothing else about the trip.  Other than students can bring cell phones.  That was about all the information I have received.

I'm never ready for vacation to be over but at least the weather in Berlin has been warm and welcoming.  Yesterday we spent many hours in the yard trying to salvage our transplanted roses.  When we bought the house the front was loaded with 3 or 4 beautiful, old, red and orange rose trees. 

Because of the construction we dug them up and replanted them in the back of the garage to try to protect them from the brutal summer sun.  They seem to have survived which is a huge first step.  We pruned and replanted them all over the weekend and hopeful that this week of upper 60s low 70s weather will help them transplant and survive.
Over the 18 days of vacation Benjamin read 11 books!  It really is hard to keep up and keep him supplied.

The kids both had a really good first day back at school.  After school Benjamin and several friends headed to the traffic bike school so he could get his 4th stamp.  They need 6 by the end of the year so we are doing pretty good.  Then his friend Lukas came over to our house and Josie came home with a couple of friends.  They all played out in the front yard with Mogli in the warm spring like weather.  All in all I have to say it is not so bad to be back in Berlin.

They did make quite a bit of progress on our house but still no new bathrooms and the basement is unusable.  There is still no insulation in the attic floor/bedroom roofs and we have to walk through a construction zone to get from our bedrooms to the downstairs (only functioning) bathroom at night.  But hey - we can use the back doors again, the whole is filled and we have new back stairs!!  Baby steps!!