16 Years!

Today I celebrate 16 years of marriage to my beautiful bride. Vienna is the perfect setting to celebrate!

The Vote is In

Annamae and I decided to do a little taste test . . . you know, for the sake of science. The results are in. We like the yellow, blue, green, and brown ones the best (chocolates).

Jet Lag definition (from the picture dictionary)

Check out these kids!

2 of the first things we saw at the Munich Airport...felt like home!

Better Out, Than In I Always Say

For those of you who are Shrek fans, you know that the title of this post refers to Shrek's excuse for burping in front of Fiona's parents. Well, I would say that Matthew is my little Shrek. We really never know what is going to come out of his mouth.

This morning he surprised all of us. The entire family slept from 8pm until 9:30am, except me. I was up at 5am and enjoyed a 4.5 hour "quiet time." This is something that NEVER happens. During that time I was able to read, work on a syllabus, pray, and sip coffee. But my respite was interrupted by Matthew crying and saying that he had "threw up." Turns out he really wasn't feeling well. He managed to vomit nothing but liquid a few times in about 30 minutes. He then ate like a horse and has been fine ever since. It makes me kind of regret my last words to him last night. After complaining of being hungry I sent him to bed and said that he did not eat his dinner and it was not in the garbage. Oops.

This evening we went on our first bus ride. I was nervous upon learning that if you didn't properly pay for your fare they would fine you 60 euros on the spot. If you didn't have the money then they would mail you a bill. So we decided not to get off the bus. We just followed it on the loop all the way back to our house. Yes, we are risk takers. But during that ride Matthew seemed agitated. When I asked him what was wrong he said, "This place stinks. There isn't even enough snow to sled. I thought there was going to be snow!" For weeks I've talked about sledding EVERY DAY with the kids, and now we cannot even do it. Oops (#2).

On the positive side, there is a park one block away with a huge playground and a skating rink. I saw kids playing hockey there this afternoon. Tomorrow I will take Matthew and the gang there and let him enjoy the outdoors. Just to give him the feeling that he is sledding I might shove some ice cubes down his pants while sliding him across the frozen pond.

Tschoos.

You are what you eat (and drink)

If it is true that you are what you eat (and drink), then I suspect when this trip is over I will look like a wine-soaked piece of cake on a slab of fresh bread. By Weight Watchers guidelines, eating me would result in about 150 points (and contrary to logical thinking, more points is BAD, like golf).

I cannot say enough good things about the few foods I've sampled while in Vienna. Today I went to a restaurant in the Turkenschanz Park. I had a delectable piece of hazelnut cake with chocolate icing (and one of those cute pieces of candy on top). This was accompanied by a steamy cup of dark coffee. I learned that when you order coffee in a Viennese cafe you do not say that you want coffee. Viennese are likely to be insulted by your stupidity (why would you NOT want coffee when you come to a cafe). Instead, you order coffee by the type (dark with cream, light with cream, black, etc).

After my mid-afternoon meeting at the restaurant I came home to a gathering with our new friends, the Beilman's. They brought us a variety pack of assorted chocolates. I really cannot describe them except to say that I am using every shred of willpower right now not to eat the entire package. Actually, it would probably be very responsible of me as a loving father and husband to spare my kids and wife from the devastating consequences of eating too much of the chocolate. Wait . . . I'm caving. No, I cannot eat any more. But my family is counting on me. I'm gonna do it. Wait . . . Ahh!

I topped off this eating spree by drinking wine from a bottle that cost 2 euros. But this was no 2-buck Chuck! It was Austrian through and through--smooth and sophisticated, with a hint of sarcasm and attitude. Call it 2 euro Thoreau (as in Henry David).

Tomorrow the students arrive and Saturday we begin orientation. Stay tuned for more exciting updates . . .

Signed,

Running to Get More Chocolate

5 Suitcases, 5 Checked Bags, 5 Jackets, 3 Children, 5 Carry Ons, 2 Purses, and 3 kids

a kindle and the Ipad, 5 boarding passes and 5 passports and 1 baggage claim ticket. That is my day. Period enough said! I counted everything all day, Steve got mad at me a few times for this but in my mind I saved the day, no one lost anything and left anything anywhere. This includes going from our house to our car to the airport, through security 2 times, on a bus to get to the plane in Munich, on the plane, off that plane to get on another bus when plane #1 was "not safe", onto plane #2 and through the did not exist customs at Vienna. All kids still awake to be tucked in promptly at 7 local time with melatonin given! 0 real fights! Saweeettt, my kids are AMAZING!