Germany

I have so much to report on our trip to Germany last week! My mom and I escaped for a week to do some reconnecting with the mother land, and we had a great time! I think I mentioned that Mark bought us tickets for Christmas, and so we have been busily planning our trip to make sure we had time to do some family history digging around and also have some fun. And...success! We think we found the birth records of my great great great (great?) grandfather and all of his children, along with a few marriage records at the Catholic diocese. I can't tell you how many hours we spent staring at a computer screen trying to figure out how to read German script from the 1800's. Ain't nobody got time for that!

Here are a few photos from the trip. I want to do a more comprehensive trip report, which will hopefully trickle out over the next few weeks. It's busy times around these parts!
 

 Bicycles in Munich.

 A typical German breakfast. Hearty!

 The Residence Palace in Wurzburg.

A house in Hafenlohr, right outside the tiny village of my ancestors.

Working from home.

It's a luxury I don't often get, but I think it makes the difference for...well anyone, really. I was going to say parents, but I would have appreciated a day to work from home before I had kids, too! After completely spacing out this morning and leaving my laptop at home, after feeling like an idiot for about 15 minutes, I thought - this is my chance! - and I declared it a work from home day just like that. It's a little easier to do when the boss is out of town, but that is neither here nor there. I digress.

I had some morning meetings, so by the time I left the office, it was almost time for lunch. I grabbed some carrots, pita, and hummus, and decided to make it a quick lunch and head outside for a workout! I ran about 1.5 miles to the Biker Barre studio and took a barre class. I am so out of shape so the run there was probably pushing it - I arrived breathless and red-faced to the studio, and barely had time to catch my breath before the class started. Shaking legs, shaking arms, sweat dripping, etc. Man! In 45 minutes, the class finished, and I walked home.

Caught up on my email, listened to a teleseminar on the walk home on energy efficiency and climate change, then made myself a big quinoa bowl and a salad. I love having access to my kitchen while I work. I love the light that comes in through my windows. I love having a quick dance party break. And I can do a bunch of loads of laundry while I work! It's really a win-win, and makes my week so much smoother when I have one day to work from home.

I'm also really excited that started working out again. This is going to be the start of something beautiful, flabby old mom bod!