English is a living language, meaning that it’s always changing, always evolving. Unless you want to live in constant pedantic frustration, you have to be willing to accept new words or phrases that didn’t exist at all in the near past or, a bit harder, words or phrases that originally meant one thing but have now come to mean something else because of common misuse or a general misunderstanding. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Real Life’ Category
Caring Less is Still Caring
Thursday, March 7th, 2013Welcome, spring!
Thursday, February 28th, 2013
Since this has been the darkest winter in Central Europe for many, many years, I can’t wait till spring starts. It’s not the low temperatures or the regular sleet that bother me, it’s the lack of light. So you can imagine my delight when I discovered the first harbingers of spring next to my terrace today! Aren’t they pretty?
- Rike Horstmann
Interesting Skin Care Regimen
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013
I had an interesting run-in while grocery shopping the other day. I was walking by one of those sample give-away booth setups and saw that the featured product was Jergen’s lotion. My hands were dry, so I stopped and was hijacked into a long uncomfortable conversation with the woman running the thing. I don’t know if she was manic or bipolar or just very, very lonely, but I couldn’t break away without being rude. Thankfully, I stayed to listen because she gave me some great skin care advice. (more…)
Touching Moments
Friday, February 22nd, 2013
A friend sent me this link (scroll to bottom of screen) of a video which contains the song played above. I fell in love with the music. I must have watched the video half a dozen times. The song expresses so completely the love you can feel for someone – a baby, a special needs child, a patient with Alzheimers – who might not always be able to show love back. The love is always there, though, and I thought the song and pictures captured that fact beautifully.
What moment touched your heart this week?
- Maggie AAR
New Year’s resolutions
Friday, January 4th, 2013In Germany, many people delight in making New Year’s resolutions and (at least) try to stick to them. Stopping to smoke, losing weight, or spending less are favorites. Do you do the same in your country? What are typical resolutions there?
I mostly tend to scoff at “big” New Year’s resolutions, but I like small ones. Here are mine for 2013:
- Read more.
- Spend just a little less time online (related to the one above).
- Try out some new recipes for bread and winter vegetables (not at the same time – these just happen to be the fields I am interested in right now in the kitchen).
- Deal with the huge heap of mending that has been assembling over the last months (possibly years).
What are your resolutions?
- Rike Horstmann
More Cookies – Dark Chocolate and Dried Cranberry
Monday, December 17th, 2012
I hope you have been enjoying some of our holiday traditions and memories. Unless you are Marilu Henner, “one of only 12 people in the world diagnosed with hyperthymesia, also known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory,” you probably don’t remember all the gifts you received as a child during the Christmas holiday.
Oh, I am sure you remember the big ones, like your first bike, or maybe a special electronic device, or a piece of jewelry passed down from a relative, but not every gift. But I bet you remember your family traditions with no problem at all – like opening gifts on Christmas Eve, or midnight services, or the special ornament that you made your mother, that always had a special spot on the tree. Traditions, no matter what the holiday, are the threads that bind families together and one part of family traditions is the food that we eat. I have already shared my family’s Stack Cake which my mother frequently made, along with Orange Slice Cake. But the holidays weren’t complete without cookies. (more…)
Limited Edition
Monday, November 26th, 2012
Shopping or Hiding?
Friday, November 23rd, 2012The Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States is termed Black Friday, and signals the start of the holiday shopping season. It’s become rather controversial the last few years as stores open earlier and earlier. This year, instead of beginning Black Friday sales at midnight, some stores opened on Thanksgiving evening.
My local online paper featured several stories about people who began camping out as early as Wednesday afternoon in front of Best Buy to be first in line for the sales. Just the thought of it made me cringe. Stand in line for concert tickets? Yes, I did that in my youth (and hope to never do so again). But camp for days to get a sale? No.
Happy Thanksgiving America!
Thursday, November 22nd, 2012
Our Canadian neighbors celebrated on October 8 but today is Thanksgiving in America. This year I am thankful for my precious family, friends and a mom who buys ham. I hate turkey. No, seriously, I hate the stuff. I am looking forward to pigging out on stuffing, broccoli cheese casserole and a myriad of other dishes. I know I am very fortunate for the food that will be sitting on the table and for the people that will be sitting around it. I don’t really have it easy but I definitely have it good. I am glad that a day is set aside every year to remind me to be grateful for that. (more…)
Struck mute
Wednesday, November 21st, 2012Each winter, I suffer from a cold or two, and just occasionally this results in me losing my voice for a week or so. It’s that time again, and here I am struck mute. I am still able to, but really should not, whisper, so I limit my verbal communication to a minimum. And even though I am used to this situation by now (having experienced it several times during the last 15 or so years), I still feel weird. (more…)
