Nothing happened today.

I woke up. It took me a half an hour to get out of bed. I ate breakfast. I went back to bed. I lied there with my eyes closed, listening to the construction outside, pepping myself to get up: 'ten more minutes.' 'five more minutes.' okay, two more minutes.' I read three pages of my book. I finally got up and showered. I lied down on my bed. I looked out the window to the blue skies and felt guilty. I looked in my Lonely Planet guide. Nothing interested me. But I would go out. I decided. I put on my shoes. I lied down on my bed, shoes on floor. I was about to leave, and the door opened. Christina was home.

Seeing her standing at the doorway, I did not want to go anywhere.

'I don't want to go anywhere!' I said. I slipped off my shoes. I followed her in the kitchen. We had chocolate from the advent calendar, some tea and cookies. She cleaned and I read my book.

(Just a tidbit about German moms: Christina received one year maternity leave from her job. By law her company must offer her a part-time option for the first three years. That is what she is doing when she returns to work after the New Year. I know some mothers in New York who are probably green with envy. My old job offered 3-month maternity leave and part-time work afterwards was not an option).

At 2:30, we picked up Ada from daycare and went to a coffeeshop specializing in chocolate aptly named Kakao. I had a traditional German black forest cake, Christina had a kind of fruity pink cake, and Ada had an banana. (By the way she kept grabbing for dessert, I see a future sweet tooth in our midst.) It was really nice sitting there with Christina. I find her so easy to talk with. We swapped stories about our families and I heard about her and Philipp's wedding in a castle. She also asked me if it was true that American weddings end at midnight.

'A wedding that ends that early would be seen as a bad wedding here,' she said. I am not sure why Americans do not party all night, but I am guessing it has something to do with the cost of the wedding reception place.

We went back home. Had some more tea. Christina appeased a cranky Ada as I finished my book. Philipp came home from work, and we had a delicious pasta and celery pasta dish with truffle oil on top, courtesy of Christina the chef. It is apparently her own invention, and it is a good one. And then some more cake, including a German-style cheesecake which is much lighter than I have ever had.

The night ended as is now our custom. Philipp and Christina debate over my program, and they go to bed as I sit in the kitchen until the wee hours of the night checking my email and writing my blog. Perhaps that is the reason why I cannot wake up in the morning?


Ada, future cake eater. And yes, I have spent the last twenty minutes trying to make this photo rightside up on Christina's MacBook. I do not know how! I give up!