2014: a year in the life of the Sheas…

One of the nice things about writing these Christmas letters is that it forces us to think back and remember what happened THIS year – sometimes we find that our memories telescope back and forth.  Did that happen this year or last year?  But it seems so long ago…  And that was just the other day.

Also, sometimes it feels like our review should take place in August – when the school year ends.  However, probably that feeling will fade as the girls “age out” over the next few years.

The first half of the year was dominated by school endings.  Kathryn finished all her written exams before Easter, then passed her oral exams to graduate from Gymnasium – for those not familiar with the German system, she is now free to study whatever she likes at any German university.  The only restriction is her grade point average (some programs are highly competitive).  For a change of pace from sitting in a classroom, she applied to AFS and was accepted for volunteer work in Denmark.  She was placed in a Kindergarten and a host family, both of which she has found very compatible.  Kathryn has been chronicling her experiences in a blog: The Traveling Otter.  We’ve missed her a lot, but we’ve also learned to appreciate all the more what we mean to each other!  She’ll be back January 17^th, and there is one puppy who will spontaneously combust with joy when she returns…

Ursula fought the good fight with uncongenial subjects and graduated from Realschule, which ends after 10^th grade.  In Germany, it qualifies you for higher-level apprenticeships, job training, or further schooling.  Together we found two schools offering a combination which sounded just right for her:  job training/schooling in graphic design, with additional classes to get an Abitur in her specific field (the arts).  Both schools required entrance exams (she had to submit a portfolio and due as-instructed, on-the-spot work), and was offered a spot at both schools!  She chose the Akademie für Kommunikation in Mannheim, and is now enjoying such courses as advanced drawing, typography, and media design.  It’s nice to be at the top of the class for a change, and we are all very happy with her progress and the “rightness” of her situation.

Andrea worried and sweated over the last hurdle for her certification as an Erzieherin – the thesis and defense thereof.  Passed with flying colors and breathed a huge sigh of relief.  She loves being able to give her undivided attention to work now, instead of always having to balance the needs of work and school.  The end of the year had one more surprise in store:  her colleague for her group of kids became pregnant and had to cease work immediately due to medical concerns.  After some anxiety, everything has worked out well – new partner, more responsibility, and future mom and baby doing just fine.

Mike has been typing away at his gaming blog, Parhoon Naval Yards, having reached 100,000 page views this year. He continues to paint, plot, and play his way through a variety of gaming systems and events to generate content for his blog. At work, he switched to a new product, SAP Enterprise Threat Detection, which has been producing new challenges for him to overcome. He has also been active in Cultures@SAP and the North American Expats organizing a lunch with the CEO, a visit to the best ribs in Heidelberg, and a Thanksgiving play.

We received a number of visitors this year. Mike’s dad and Kathie came to visit this summer to help celebrate the girls finishing school. Erika and Martin also came by for a visit.

Our travels included one big family trip to England.  The overwhelming choice of desirable destinations was narrowed down when Andrea insisted on visiting the Uffington white horse.  We spent one week in Malmesbury (charming cottage, charming town), visiting not just the horse, but Oxford, Bath, Salisbury and a number of locations seen in Harry Potter and other movies/series.  A highlight of the trip was the inner circle tour - practically at the crack of dawn - at Stonehenge.  Though not allowed to touch the stones, we were close enough that we could have.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to England, but it is a very, very long drive…

Mike and Andrea managed another trip to Switzerland for Alpenfestung and spent a weekend away in Limburg for their anniversary.  Ursula is still very actively cosplaying, investing a lot of time and effort in making her own costumes.  She and her friend Ronya having pressed for permission to go to a big convention in Kassel, we ended up turning it into a weekend trip, during which Mike and Andrea visited with Martin, Annette and Katarina in Bad Pyrmont.  We also revisited Herkules in Kassel and reminisced about our first trip there – 1989, while exchange students in Göttingen.

We suffered one great loss just after Easter.  Binky’s health had been steadily declining, and when we came back from England it became clear to us that the time had come to say goodbye.  It’s never an easy decision, but we made it as peaceful as possible for her, with the vet coming to our house.  Tenten had to put up with a lot of extra hugs during the weeks afterwards.

Not wanting to end on that sad note, we are looking forward to spring, which will hopefully bring our number of dogs back up to two.  It will be quite exciting to see how Tenten reacts to a puppy in the house (Mike is already rolling his eyes and shaking his head.  Perhaps he’ll need a rest in, say, Essen this year.)

We love hearing from all of you!

Hope this finds you well and have a

Happy New Year!

Christmas Letter 2012

…aaaaaand it’s time for a Christmas letter again!  Especially considering that it’s been, well, a while since we last wrote one.  I can’t even quite remember…

O.k., so in 2009 we bought a house, moving in August.  I had been getting ready to open my own Daycare, but gave up when faced with the space restrictions in our new place.  So it was back to the drawing board for me jobwise, when one day I read an ad in our local rag:  one of our local kindergartens (where I had done some volunteer work earlier) was looking for a temp for six to eight weeks.  One of their Kindergarten teachers had broken her finger rather badly – I called, sent them my paperwork, and one week later I was there.  After the other teacher came back they asked me to stay on, and the director had an interesting suggestion:  why not go back to school and become an “Erzieherin”?  This job covers every age from birth to… well, 18, I guess – I can’t teach in a school, but I can do after-school programs, and work in other organizations that offer programs for kids.  Most commonly Erzieher work with 3-6 year-olds, the usual age for Kindergarten in Germany.  There is an acute shortage of Erzieher here, so the schools have started offering programs for “old farts” like me – people with a lot of experience, but not that crucial certificate that you need.  I thought, sure, why not?  Can’t be harder than university, right?  Two years of going to school for five hours twice a week… oh, and work 20+ hours a week…  oops, and then there’s my two kids, hubbie, two dogs, two cats, rats, the house, the garden… um, and I guess there’ll be homework and test and a big series of exams at the end.  Oh boy.

But hey!  Here I am in 2012 (still) and I survived to tell the tale!  We’ve been comparing this year’s Christmas season with last year’s, and it just makes me shudder.  The mornings I got up, dragged myself out into the fields to walk the dogs, and just wanted to drop unto the ground and cry, or die of exhaustion.  Constantly getting sick, and then REALLY sick, and dragging myself to exams anyway.  Always worrying about having to drop out at the last minute after putting so much time and effort into it.  Feeling like I was short-changing everyone.  And now my brag moment:  five written exams, three twos, two ones (ones are the highest grade you can get in Germany).  Then three oral exams, ALL ones!!!  I so proud…  I NEVER would have made it without Mike’s constant support and help.  He just kept picking me up off the floor, and quietly took over most of the household work that was threatening to crush me.  The girls did their part in becoming just so independent, keeping up with their studies, taking over some extra chores, and learning to ignore my emotional outbursts!

Celebrating with classmates after exams

It’s not quite over yet, either.  I’m still working at the same Kindergarten, but as an “apprentice” – meaning I still occasionally go to seminars, have to meet with an instructor to give them updates, and prepare a long-term project which I document, write a thesis for, and defend at the end of my apprenticeship.  Since I’m working half-time (20 hours), it’ll take me two years, but I am relishing the relaxed pace.  I feel like I’m finally pulling my weight at work.  I’m now working with 1 to 3 year olds (usually a group of 10), I get along really well with my co-worker, and my head is clear again…  I can think about other things besides getting past the next exam and cramming information into my brain.

Mike and I have been fun experimenting on our garden, trying out various vegetable projects (thank goodness we don’t have to feed a family with the results).  This year we had huge amounts of chard, and found out we really don’t need that much, because we don’t like it all that much either- a little goes a long way.  On the other hand, we had little difficulty polishing off all the zucchini and cherry tomatoes we grew.  Mike’s bush beans were a success, but he could’ve grown ten times as many! – and the same goes for his brussel sprouts, which we just munched before Christmas.  The artichokes looked interesting but didn’t produce anything edible.  The basil was a definite underperformer.  The green onions did well, but somehow were never harvested.  The amount produced by the “decorative corn” was meager but very pretty!  We got way too much calendula, not enough cosmos, the lupins and snap dragons did well, as did the Echinacea and Sedum.  Projects for this coming year (or further in the future) include planting an Elderberry bush, putting in some pink roses, possible a cherry tree, or an herb garden…  And no real plans for veggies.  Probably stick with the tried and true!

Kathryn is in her second year of Gymnasium (her school puts a special emphasis on Biotechnology), and she absolutely loves it- great group of friends, and she especially enjoys math!  Her grandfather is constantly impressed at the level of math they work on over here.  She recently got her hair cut short, and we’ve been talking about joining a fitness club to get into shape – especially since she is considering a possible career in law enforcement. Kathryn also earned her drivers’ license. She still has to have an adult in the car with her when she drives until she turns 18, which is only a few months away.

Ursula is in her second-to-last year of Realschule, and who know what she’ll want to do afterwards!  She just finished an internship at a local Art school, where she loved the classes and discovered how boring office busywork can be.  Her latest craze is T-shirt design.  Otherwise Ursula is still obsessing about Homestuck. She’s taking a new approach in her art as well, moving away from manga/cartoon style, and getting more into the classical drawing human anatomy approach.  She’s also very happy in her class and has steady group of friends she likes to get together with on the weekends.

At work, Michael is still documenting security products and features. His new challenge is working with a team in Vietnam in addition to his other responsibilities. He was also invited to join the core team for Cultures@SAP, a grass roots organization of national lunch tables that promotes cultural diversity at SAP. At SAP’s annual diversity event, he took the stage as Danny Zuko and lip-synched to Summer Nights and Rock Around the Clock. At home he continues his passion for gaming. He went to Spiel 2012 and had his impressions published in a German gaming magazine. He also worked hard on his gaming blog and is now attracting 5000 pageviews a month.

In the Kubishaus in Rotterdam

The number of animals is still the same.  Binky is getting older (12), Tenten is still unbearably beautiful but a real challenge behavior-wise, Mischa and Cleo (5 and 6) get in each other’s way, and we still have Gracie, but had to put Dottie to sleep.  To keep Gracie company, we got Alice! 

We spent two weeks during the summer break in Holland, taking Tenten and leaving Binky in the care of friends and family.  We had a heat wave while there, but since we were five minutes from the beach, we managed!  Holland was beautiful - something for everyone -  and very relaxing. Afterwards we had a visit from Erika Niestroj-Frost and her two sons. In the fall, Kathryn went to London (again!) with her class, and Mike and I went to Göttingen for our anniversary in December. 

Happy Holidays and a wonderful 2013!

Today we went on a Shiba hike. Most of these dogs are from Mrs. Mönch. We walked about 5 km and did some seeking activities with the dogs. The walk took place between Epfenbach and Reichartshausen.

Sisters: Sora and Ten-Ten

Ursula in Momma's Hat

21 Dogs at the Shiba Wanderung

Eek!  Is it already January!?  Time for another newsletter about our year – so, what happened to us in 2009…  Oh wait, what year was it again?  I guess we kinda skipped doing a newsletter last year, meaning we’ve got to cover two years this time – settle down for a longish read, then!

2009: the expedited version

Let’s see, I finished my training to become a daycare provider, we bought a house, and my parents moved from California to a town near us.  Simultaneously.  It made for a few very exciting, chaotic busy months.  We settled into our new home over the summer, and then reality hit.  I wasn’t going to be able to set up a daycare in our new house.  I wasn’t going to get a job as a nanny due to lack of transportation (can’t use the company car).  I really needed to make some money to make the financing for the house work (hey, no pressure).  Ursula went into nuclear meltdown headache-wise, missing two to three days a week of school.  I could barely figure out how to get her to her various medical appointments, never mind where to find time for a job.  Mike and I passed our orange belt test in Karate, and maybe it was part of my mental outlook at the time that I felt as though I had barely earned mine.  When Christmas rolled around, I was in no mood to write about our year, despite the big “we bought a house” success story.

2010: starting out worried, and everything turns out fine

 Sometime in March, I read an ad in our (very local) paper about a temporary position at a local kindergarten, the Apfelbäumchen (Lil’ Apple Tree).  One teacher broke her finger and they needed someone for six to eight weeks.  I got the gig, and then they didn’t want to let me go!  I helped out until the end of the school year, and in September started my contract position, 24 hours a week.  To give you a more complete picture, the Apfelbäumchen has a Krippe for 1 ½ to 3 year olds, an AGG for 3 to 6 year olds, and after school supervision up to 4^th graders.  It’s pretty diverse!  I’m in the AGG, working in a team of six teachers.  I love my job, it goes from quiet/almost boring to hectic/chaotic, humdrum routine to let’s try something completely different, just as you would expect, working with kids.  My supervisor strongly urged me to go back to school to get my certification, and I sweet talked my way into a really strong program at a school with a good reputation.  So in addition to going back to work I’m also enrolled in classes for 10 hours a week, plus homework.  It’s made for some interesting adjustments at home!  We’re so grateful for my parents being here (they relocated to a gorgeous apartment in our town, just a 10 minute walk away).  They have the girls over for lunches, they take Ursula to her one remaining appointment per week, and hijack Binky for her/their evening walk. 

As for Ursula, in late spring we had our first glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel when we found a therapist she actually enjoyed talking to, and who wanted to talk to us, too (honestly, parents are so pesky).  She helped us make the decision to transfer Ursula to another school.  Ursula and Kathryn had been going to the same school, and we had no complaints against anyone – she just didn’t have any friends!  She was becoming really isolated, starting on puberty, with absolutely no peer support.  In Germany the same group of 20 to 30 kids stay together in one class from 5^th to 10^th grade, so this situation was intolerable.  At that point I defined misery as knowing your child is deeply unhappy and feeling completely powerless to help.  However, in the end we found a school in Heidelberg called the Internationale Gesamtschule Heidelberg, an all-day school and one that offers all three levels of education: Hauptschule, Realschule, and Gymnasium.  She does homework with the other kids, which she enjoys, has lunch there (gourmet meals, and I’m not being sarcastic), and they have a class conference once a week to discuss any problems.  There are only 20 kids in her class, with two homeroom teachers.  She loves it.  We’ve gone from having to pry her out of bed with threats or a crowbar to her running out the door early because she just wants to be there. 

Okay, so that was a lot about Ursula and me, but as you can see, we had the major changes.  Now for some more general family news!

We all quit Karate, the girls because I got tired of forcing them, and Mike and I just couldn’t find the time anymore.  Ursula is still learning guitar, and has now officially overtaken me.  Kathryn finished her first year of chanter pipes and just got her highland pipes for Christmas, so if you come to visit, bring earplugs – those things are loud!  She also bought herself a netbook whose primary purpose is to store her innumerable stories – looks like we may have another writer in the family.  Ursula still goes through unbelievable amounts of paper with her drawings, and still refuses to do requests (with rare exceptions).  I did a few Japanese lessons with them and a couple of Kathryn’s friends during the summer, since they are all into manga and anime.  Both Kathryn and Ursula are voracious readers; it’s difficult to keep them supplied! 

Kathryn is quickly approaching the end of Realschule, and we’re holding our breath to see what happens next.  Her ambition is to improve her grades enough by February to qualify for a Bio-technisches Gymnasium in Heidelberg.  She wants to focus on the natural sciences, biology specifically, and later envisions studying animal behavior at university.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed!

As for family activities, we still enjoy dressing up for various medieval fairs in our area.  The one in Speyer turned out to be particularly huge, and in a very attractive setting.  We heard a great bagpipe band, Schelmisch, gotta get a CD next year!  Inspiration for Kathryn…  We spent our vacation in May/June in Denmark, first in Rømø, then near Kopenhagen.  The weather could’ve been a little steadier, but we really liked Denmark.  I especially loved the food!  Unfortunately eating out is extremely expensive.  Still, I think we may try Denmark again…  Summer was rather quiet; we didn’t plan any big trips since Ursula got her rats and didn’t want to leave them alone too long.  Um, yes, I did say rats, neither the sewer nor the lab kind, but pets.  They have a converted closet to live in (Walldorf Ratopia), and their names are Dot and Gracie.  If you’re getting the willies, go back and watch Ratatouille.  Disney can cutsify anything, but rats really are just as cute as mice, hamsters, bunnies and all those other verm…  sweet rodents.  We did manage a trip to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, and wouldn’t you know it, they were having a medieval fair.  We could’ve come in garb!

Michael reflects on 2010

When I look back on 2010, I see a couple of highlights regarding work, gaming, and sociability.

Work became more hectic. For me it was the year of the reorg. Liz and Astrid and I were organizationally split from our team. I still work in security, but now have a boss outside of the development organization. It was a move that I did not particularly agree with, but it is still a valid working model. I am still getting used to the new structure. It was too much to ask of my coworker Liz, who has now changed jobs. I still expect to see her at the Ami-Stammtisch for lunch. At the same time, we have switched to a lean programming model. This has resulted in me changing topics from my Java-based teams in Sofia to a local ABAP-based team in Walldorf. I still cover security topics, but I have lots of new stuff to learn about web services. With Liz’s departure I will also be picking up numerous other topics. In addition to my regular duties, I have been helping to organize the American community at SAP and host a monthly discussion group on technical writing at SAP. Am I bored? No, Sir!

As you know, gaming is an important part of my freetime activities. The first half of the year saw a less successful run of Grupo Martes at the qualifier for the German Boardgaming Team Championship. As Andrea’s work schedule increased, my ability to participate in the Tuesday night board gaming group has dropped off. In addition to my two regular role-playing groups, I lead a single session for the girls and some of their friends over the summer. I returned to the German ASL tourney this year and achieved a personal best: more games won than lost! I have found numerous opportunities to squeeze in other gaming sessions, such as visits from Kieran, to play Call of Cthulu, Arkham Horror, Android, etc. I try to keep track of all of these events  in my gaming blog. Someone actually wrote me that they bought a game based on one of my write-ups. (Soon I’ll be famous! Well, probably not.) If that was not enough, I have had an on-again off-again relationship with MMORPGs:  I have been playing Lord of the Rings Online. I stopped, because I felt obligated to play since I was paying a subscription. Since they have gone free-to-play, I jumped back in again.

All this activity has kept us in touch with a lot of people. Here is a short run through of some of the folks (that I remember) whom we visited or visited us: Kerry took Ursula to England in the new year and brought back her girls and William to us. Just before that, we met up with Jörg, Ines, Tom, and Mandy in Bavaria. On Epiphany we went to the Odenwald with the Childresses. We also visited the Guthardts in Stadtlauringen. In May we celebrated our traditional May Day Dance with the usual suspects. In July we had a visit from Erika and Martin and their boys.  In August we had a return visit from Ming, who was just passing through on her European tour with some of her friends. We also exchanged visits with Anke and Ralf. At the end of the summer we dropped by Kerry again in Geretsried. We also went on our last field trip with the Plumleys before they returned to the States. We have also enjoyed visiting with the local folks, such as the Nos' or the  te Uhles. Finally, in December my parents came to visit over Christmas.

2010 was stressful, but a good year. Here’s to 2011. We hope to see all of you in it!

Now that you have read through all of this, here are some photos from 2010.

Best 20 of 2010

Sunset over the Palatinate

Took this photo while walking the dog one evening. I just liked the colors.

The Quarry and the Odenwald Beyond

Last weekend we went for a walk around the quarry in Nußloch. Unfortunately I never got a picture of the Königstuhl. The mountains around it were covered in snow. You can see some of it in the pictures below.

Nußlocher Wald

A close up of the tree tops.

Intrepid Hikers

Winter has arrived early to Nußloch. Already in November the ground is frozen and the snow is sticking. Temperatures haved dropped below zero. Yesterday morning we had -5°C.

The First Snow (Our sign, from the Spinalis is still holding up.) 

The Quince lost its leaves before the snow arrived.

Cosmos crowding out the Hollyhock

Our Quince so loaded that some branches reach the ground.

I figured we had a little more than 100 kg (220 lbs) of fruit. 

Now that winter has arrived, I thought I would post some pictures left over from summer.

Binky and Vinnie

Andrea and Binky

The dog days of summer? Vinnie's owner passed on these photos to us from back in May. The photos were taken out in the fields around Nußloch.