hey y'all....

well, im in better spirits today. the kids were a little better yesterday, although courtnie was sent to her room. whats new.

anyway, i didnt get a chance to sit down and write yesterday, and there wasnt really much to report, so i wanted to just share something that maybe you would find interesting about german culture.

i was running yesterday and saw a man sweeping the sidewalk outside of his house and it triggered my memory. my mom told me prior to leaving for germany that the germans take much pride in the outside of their houses. they will sweep their driveway, sidewalk, and porch every day. dirt and leaves on the driveway are just as bad as pieces of trash. anyway..

i was talking to jen and she was telling me that by law, the residents of the house are responsible for the sidewalk in front of their house. This means that if someone trips on something on your sidewalk and gets hurt, you are responsible. of course, its not like the u.s. where they would sue you, although they could. so...during the winter, if your sidewalk has ice on it, you are in trouble.

jen says that more germans walk during the winter than the summer. if it is 0 degrees and snowing outside, you will see more people walking than in the summer when its 90 degrees. they just dont do well with heat. so keeping the sidewalk salted and cleared is super important.

also, there is a secret to the flowers here. i have seen impatient plants twenty times the size of my head. they are absolutely AMAZING. I am trying to figure out the secret, but i really just think that they give their gardens and plants extra tender loving care. or maybe its the gnomes--like the one pictured above--that you see in EVERY garden. im going to bring one home...they are SOO cute!! I've seen gardens that have more gnomes than flowers. Any one else want one?? They sell them at every store!! mom, im going to try to sneak home some of the bulbs from holland and see if we can get them to grow. jen has some and they are GORGEOUS!

anyway, thats all i have for now. as of today i have exactly one month!! im getting excited thinking about home. i think im going to get rid of a lot of the clothes i have here and load up lots of stuff to take home. there's just so much great stuff here--endless souveniers and gadgets and gizmos for friends and fam.

i love you all!!

betho.

ps...i had some of the most AMAZING berries yesterday. blackberries, raspberries, blueberries. I swear, if our produce was this fresh in the U.S. i would be skinny as can be. I am happy with a bowl of blueberries instead of ice cream....SO GOOD!