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