A Big Week
This has been a big week. Julian turned 2 today, and last Thursday I (Allison) put in my notice at my job. My last day is July 31st. Today I sent mail to my group at work announcing that I’m leaving. A bunch of people stopped by to wish me luck, and I got a ton of e-mail from people wishing me well and saying I’ll be missed. I didn’t really anticipate that. I’ve known for a long time that my job was not where I wanted to stay, but today I saw that some of the people I work with are just plain decent people. However, I do still maintain that most of them are the biggest freakin’ wierdos you’ll ever meet, and the stories I take away with me will confirm that. However, it’s nice to leave on good terms with my employer and with my co-workers.
Today we celebrated Julian’s 2nd birthday. He had no idea that it was his birthday, but eventually he put together the words “Geburtstag” (German for “Birthday”) and “Kuchen” (German for “cake”). We’d say “birthday”, and he’d say “cake”! My Mom, Oma Joyce, always buys the boys a cake from Fred Meyer when it is their birthday and we have a party. William helped cut and serve the cake, and Julian, with a fork in the right hand, shoveled cake in his mouth by the handful with his left.
The neighbors have 2 kids, Tanner and Toby, whom William and Julian just adore. They are quite a bit older and often have friends over to play. Julian and William love to go over and peer through the trees when they are playing in their backyard. Today William took 2 chairs over, one for him and one for Julian and set them up. They brought sippy cups filled with juice and just sat and watched them play.
We also had dinner with Steven Notter, a friend Matthias used to work with. William and Julian had so much fun playing with his daughter Samaia (sp?). His wife Rahemma (sp?) had to work and joined us a little later. Steven bought a hammock in Mexico in the 80’s and we had a great time hanging out in it. It was 18 feet wide and the whole family fits in it perfectly. We might just have to pick one of those up if we make it to Mexico.
Tags: Travel
lotzbay
viel spass, ich hoffe ihr wisst, dass der 1. august der nationalfeiertag in der schweiz ist. auf welche adresse kann man denn euch noch bilder schicken ? gruss martin
Hi Allison, Atze, William ans Julian,
I am so endless jealous of your upcoming time-out. It`s such a great idea to be brave enough and disengage “everyday life” for the sake of a great trip bringing new insights, experiences and for sure a great time travelling around and making new friends. Would love to do the same instead of hanging out in my 30 degree celsius “oven”-office.
I wish you all the best for the last couple of days and may all preparations be finsihed on time. Looking forward to read from you, reporting directly from the road!
Just 6 days to go;-)
Enjoy the last days “at home”. Kisses for all of you from Germany.
Nick
PS: Hope we stay tuned during the whole trip!
@MARTIN: What the hell are you guy doing? Still hanging around in this investment everglade at lake Zurich?
Apparently, lots of people think that the picture of Steven in the hammock with Julian looks a lot like Matthias. It is actually Steven, not Matthias. They look like brothers, don’t you think?
Question: Did you run into any problems driving your van in 100 degree weather? We just drove from northern California to L.A. in a heat wave. It is really difficult to drive less than 68 mph on I5 and by the end of the trip I noticed oil had actually spurted out of the engine all over the back of the van. I’m hoping nothing has blown (since we just had the head gasket replaced). Anyway, I was under the impression that VW Vans (water cooled) were a little more durable than what we just experienced. How did you do with the air cooled van in 100 degree heat? Any meltdowns?