Catching up with Teammunger

I can see we've left out nearly everything with our infrequent postings--trips to Venice, Budapest, Garmisch, and Auschwitz..










Jeb's brother came to visit us in early November with his wonderful girlfriend and turned her into a fiancee on top of the Zugspitze.
















We got notified of a move coming up shortly and are in the midst of destroying/mailing/packing the house to get to New York later this month. Germany has been great the second time around but we look forward to getting back to the states, closer to family and new adventures.


Bruce had his fini flight this week (28 Nov) and Laurel got to hose him down in a traditional military ceremony. One last inspection to perform, maybe a fini jump and we're outa here.

Just wanted to let you all know we are alive but may be difficult to reach for a while with the move. We will have a married first.... get to spend this Christmas with our family in New York! We'll get back to you and update our address/phone here. And we're keeping Bru19@aol.com for the forseeable future so drop us a line there.

Bruce, Tamara and Laurel

Schubert

Introducing Schubert, the nicotine-addicted Kudu. Ok. Ok. What question do I answer first? Let's start with the basics. According to the African Wildlife Foundation, The greater kudu is considered by many to be the most handsome of the tragelaphine antelopes, which includes the bongo, eland, nyala, bushbuck and sitatunga. In other words, a Kudu is a big beautiful antelope. Oh, they taste good too. Had Kudu chops one night in Kruger Park and they were exceptional, actually. Did feel a slight twinge of guilt thinking about the photos of female kudu I had taken earlier that day as I comtemplated going back for seconds. Turns out there were none left anyway so I enjoyed another sip of tasting South African red wine instead. This was all before I met Schubert. Several days after the kudu feast I was touring an ostrich farm outside of Capetown. While taking some pretty hilarious photos of the big birds I met Schubert. While Kudu live only 7 or 8 years in the wild, in captivity they can make it to 23 and, somehow, Schubert had discovered the good life and was living out his days with his big feathered friends. I think he stayed for the cigarettes. Turns out, that not long after he was tamed, a gardener decided to share a cigarette with Schubert, thus beginning Schubert's love affair with nicotine. Fast forward to my meeting with Schubert and this photo in which he is begging for a cig. Another gardener was across the road. He too begged me for a cigarette. I lectured them both on the ills of nicotine and, luckily, only Schubert clung to hope after that following me around as I took pictures of his pen-mates. The gardener went lazily back to work while keeping one eye on the road for his next target. " Just a second, I know I've got a cigarette around here somewhere. Need a pen?"

South Africa: Where do I begin?

I've just returned from the trip of a lifetime and have absolutely no idea how to begin describing all of my incredible experiences. Should I start with the beautiful, loving schoolchildren Soweto? Or maybe the day I saw the "Big Five": Water buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, Hippo and YES! Leopard? Or how about the ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE food I enjoyed...that could take a few days to write about. Til I have my mind somewhat combobulated, I'll leave you with a few random photos..............

Bookworm

Since Lolo is still too young for the Summer Reading Program at the library, we are enjoying our own literary marathon at home. Here are some of her most recent favorites: Alice the Fairy by David Shannon, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes, Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor (illustr. by Robin Preiss Glasser), The Magic School Bus Gets Cold Feet by Joanna Cole, The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive by Joanna Cole (note a trend here?), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and Good Night, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas (Illust by Jennifer Plecas).

Summer is here!

June 15th: It really, truly and finally felt like summer today. Lolo ventured next door to play in her good friend Jason's paddling pool. I sat in a chair and chatted with Jason's mom while sipping a coke and watching the rain clouds slowly gather. Today is yet another German Catholic holiday. If the Protestants had as many holidays as the Catholics here very little work would ever be accomplished. Love it here!!!

Aahhh...Spring!

Spring has finally, and gracefully, reached our part of Europe! As evidenced in the picture to the left taken near our village center, the cherry trees are blossoming along with young love and the desire for Italian ice cream. This is truly my favorite season here!....that is, well, until summer and the strawberries and cherries arrive..or autumn with the apples, plums and wild blackberries.....What a horrible place to live, having to make such difficult decisions like one's favorite fresh fruit or season. Oh well, I suppose I'll just keep taking walks and save such weighty decisions for later.

7 March 06--blue skies, for real this time

On Sunday, we were treated to some gorgeous intermissions between snow showers. Here's a picture I took as I paused for a moment on the way home from church. Now that we are on our last months here I am striving to savor every curve in the road, every field, every snowy tree. This has turned into the most spectacular March we've yet to experience here. The quality of the light has changed significantly over the past 2 weeks. If the entire winter were like this, as opposed to gray days filled with rain, I doubt I'd crave Spring at all. Instead, this month has turned into a rich, sweet dessert after a rather long, bland 4 course dinner.

Here's a picture from the day before. The snow was falling so heavily that it appears here like a veil over the scene.

7 March 06---blue skies

After a straight week of daily snow showers, we are encountering gorgeous blue skies today. So why am I including a cloudy picture of Laurel shoveling snow? To show what a harder worker she was during this storm. On the particular day pictured, we had to shovel our walk 5 times and Laurel was out there for 3 of them. You see, in Germany if you do not shovel your walk and someone slips in front of your home then you can be held accountable for their injury. All over our village people were out together chit-chatting and shoveling. I absolutely love it here.

15Februar06--HoneyPart2

Tried twice to add a picture to the honey story yesterday. Both times I was told that the pictures had successfully uploaded...hmmm....it never showed up on the blog. Trying again today. Not that it's a great picture but because it's now a matter of me vs the machine. (Really getting fed up with dial-up) Still recovering from traveling,though I must admit it was amazing to fly that far by myself. I read an entire book on the 10hr flight to the States. Unfortunately, on the return trip I was not well and did little more than attempt to find some relaxing music to drone out the poor baby who screamed for almost 6 hours straight. So thankful to have been several seats back from that scene. Child sounded so absolutely exhausted but just wouldn't relax enough to sleep. Laurel did that on our trip from Germany to Alaska a couple of years ago. She was so spun up that she wouldn't sleep. She didn't scream but I think that was because she was old enough to hold a conversation. After 12 hours, she finally gave up and started snoring...as we made our descent into Fairbanks. Then came the screams.

14 Februar 06--Honey

Laurel likes honey. If given a chance to be anything else for a day, she would probably choose be a Pooh Bear. She's recently been given a honey jar in which to keep her precious treat but I've discovered that it was not the best idea to leave it on the kitchen table within reach of Pooh and Lolo who both had "rumblies in their tumblies".

25 January 2006--words of wisdom

Bruce's Gram is 89 years old today. She can still whip just about anyone at Rummy (her cards just happen to be in bigger print now than in years before), she sends lovely boxes full of cutout surprises for Laurel's cut and paste book, she is wonderfully sharp as a tack, and her social calendar is always fuller than my own. I should also mention that she and God are doing a grand job fighting stomach cancer. Speaking with her last night on the phone I was reminded of some words of wisdom I recently read on my daily calendar:

Lovely, complicated wrappings

Sheath the gift of one-day-more;

Breathless, I untie the package---

Never lived this day before.

Gloria Gaither

Happy Birthday Gram!!

25 Januar 2006

Had a lovely weekend with our Newfie friend Grumblethorpe but, unfortunately, we are once again tackling a stomach virus. Laurel and I visited the flight doc yesterday and he told Laurel she couldn't have any milk until her body had healed. Afterward, in the commissary, she terrified shoppers by blaring out to anyone within range "This milk isn't for me, it's for my Mommy. I can't having any because of my diarrhea. It's really squooshy and smells bad so the doctor said I shouldn't drink milk!" Each day, I am more convinced that this sweet little girl is really a Calvin in disguise. Her Hobbes is Tigger.

19 Januar 2006

So....is there an angry elephant in the basement? No. Someone is drying their laundry. Until recently, houses here did not have vents for the dryer so you take the dryer hose and stick out the laundry room window. In our apartment here last time our laundry was done in the kitchen so we would stick the hose out the kitchen window. Now, we live in a new modern German house with a vent---no elephants here!

16 Januar 2006

Winter is clinging to the trees here. Laurel likes to think of God adding powdered sugar to the trees to make them more lovely in winter. We took this picture on the way home from church yesterday. It's one of the many little graveyards on the way between our home and the base.

The Germans take very good care of graves. There are even special days set aside each year, strictly for this purpose. The friedhofs, or cemeteries, are quite lovely and peaceful here.

Currently, I'm reading an autobiography of Winnie Mandela titled Part of My Soul Went With Him in preparation for this summer's adventure. Love this description of her given by the woman who helped this book come into being while Mrs Mandela was in banishment in a three room structure(total 30 square meters) in the tiny Afrikaner community of Brandfort, where she was constantly monitored and allowed to hold a conversation with only one person at a time.

"It seemed as if she did not even notice the almost absurd contrast which her mere physical appearance created in this surrounding, as if she felt perfectly at home where she was, as if this township in Brandfort was the place for her to be, and as if her house, No. 802, was an appropriate place for her to welcome her prominent visitors from all over the world.

Whenever I saw her I looked in vain for any signs of despair or resignation. She had the unyielding attitude of the politcal fighter who puts up with even the most desperate circumstances without losing sight of her aim, who is not deterred by defeats and setbacks, but rather gains new strength from them."

Another woman describes her thus:

"They will never succeed in building a wall around her. It doesn't matter where they banish her--homeland, desert or forest--this woman is so dynamic, she will make the birds sing and the trees rustle wherever she goes. You can be sure of that."

14Jan06--Baking Banana Muffins

Laurel has been begging to bake some banana bread. However, she received a mini mini-muffin tin with her Christmas gifts so we decided to bake muffins instead this morning. In addition to helping me measure and pour ingredients, she broke up the eggs yolks, stirred and even scooped the batter into the tins (licking her fingers between each tin of course!) Oh, if only could smell our house now....simply the best muffins we've ever made--light and full of flavor! Funny how much better the baking turns out when Lolo is helping me. (I actually read the directions!)

10 Januar 2006--Do princesses wear bobby hats and butterfly wings?

Lolo has been greatly inspired by the book Dan, Sue and Caleb gave her: Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?
by Carmela LaVigna Coyle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0873588282/102-9574137-7564967?v=glance&n=283155

Poor thing has had a bad case of the runs since the wee hours of the morning. On the upside I was greatly thankful that she is still in nighttime pullups and I thoroughly enjoyed snuggling with her in bed in between bouts in the bathroom. She's an excellent patient.

Also wanted to share the following from one of my morning emails:

Light Labels:
There's a light for every personality in the lighting department at a home improvement store. Which one are you?Buried in the Psalms is a verse that underlines God's tender customization of his light in our personalities. "He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name." Psalm 147:4 (NIV) Identifying your kind of light and shining its offering kills the first I can't. As there are both strengths and weaknesses in all personalities, so there are both in our expression of God's light to our world. We do well to label our light, to understand its offering and then to wield it well in lighting the way for others.

What kind of light are you? (I think you should ask a dear friend or your spouse to see if they see you in the same light---Ok enough puns. T)

Are you a candle? Do you light the room about you, but are you vulnerable to other influences that might snuff you out?

How about a flashlight? Do you click on in emergencies? Are you good at shinning in a pinch, but are you turned off in the everyday?

Are you a desk lamp? Do you provide light for people to work by, but must you be atop a steady surface to do so?

Are you a headlight? Do you light the path for a journey, but you have to be moving in order to not run your battery down?

What kind of light are you? We discover great freedom in understanding and accepting our own light "container."If you enjoy MOMSense Radio and don't want to miss a day of mothering encouragement, visit our Web site at www.MOPS.org to sign up for the free daily e-mail transcripts!

10 Januar 2006

Lolo had no desire to go to Kindergarten today. I convinced her to go anyway for just a little while and will pick her up soon. She was so excited about school yesterday and helped me learn a new song:

Ich heisse August Fridolin
und bin ein schwarzer Pinguin
wadi wapp wapp wapp
wadi wapp wap wapp]
wadi wapp wapp wapp klapp klapp

My name is August Fridolin--pronounced Owgoost Freetoleen
and I am a black Peguin--Peengooeen
vahdi vahp vahp vahp
vahdi vahp vahp vahp
vahdi vahp vahp vahp klahp klahp

The rest of the song is about his wife Wulliwisch (vooleevish) who swims like a fish, his children who walk backward and how the whole family wants to join the circus, wadi wapp wapp wapp klapp klapp!


Reminds of a good children's series about a pinguin named Tacky written by Helen Lester and illustrated by Lynne Munsinger. He's an odd bird who lives with his friends, Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect. Lynne Munsinger also illustrated One Hungry Monster (underneath my bed, moaning and groaning and begging to be fed...)

Back to peengooeens:
Lolo's class is making some today. Should be finished by now so I'll go and see how she's doing. I think we may use Friday as a Mommy and Me day and go swimming. Lots of fun to go to the indoor pools here while it's so cold outside!

Three Kings correction

Here's a correction concerning our blog on the Three Kings

Your website is great. You wanted to know what the inscription means. TheC+M+B stands for the latin words "Christus mansionem beneficat" = Christbless this house and the numbers stand for the year = 2006.Big hug, Conny and Miguel

9 Januar 2006

So nice to have Laurel back in school today. Not that she wasn't amazingly good yesterday when we were doing stuff at church from 9am-2pm (Worship setup, SMA service with Lolo in Children's Church, then lunch and practice with the puppet team followed by quick stop at the commissary for taco stuff) but it is lovely not to have to share the computer for a little while. Also took a long walk after dropping her off this morning. So lovely and crisp outside today. Feels like snow is near.

Bruce is actually just heading to Nevada today. He's looking forward to this exercise. If you would like to get an idea of what he'll be doing check out the new DVD Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag It's an IMAX film that is now out on DVD and has some great A10 footage.

I'm currently researching my next career. As much as I enjoyed being a Vet Tech, I've been out of it too long and it simply doesn't pay enough or have appropriate hours for full time mom looking for part time work. Looks like I'll first finish my bachelor's degree (currently have two associate's degrees: One in biology and the other applied in Veterinary Technology) then I'm looking into a Master's in librarianship.

http://www.ala.org/ala/hrdr/careersinlibraries/childrenyouth.htm

Specifically, I'd like to become a children's/youth librarian. Jobs in this career are found at both libraries and schools. This I'm considering turning into a full time career after Bruce eventually retires. (Won't it be nice to let him stay home while I go out to work!) As of this summer, he has 13 official years in the Air Force (they don't count the 4 years at the Academy). I can also work as a library aid until my degree is complete. Something I'd consider more seriously here if base wasn't 20-25 minutes from our home.

7Januar2006pm

Yesterday was Three Kings Day. Since Thursday, children, accompanied by an adult, have marched through villages knocking on doors and offering to sing a song for a donation for Three Kings children's outreach program. This program helps to provide food for children in Third World countries. After the singing and donation, they leave a blessing on your doorway. This is the first time I've actually experienced the event firsthand. Laurel and I were highly impressed. So much so in fact that I forgot to ask what the markings meant. Can figure out the C, M and B--Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar and the 06 for the year. Assume the 20 means an abundance of 20 or more blessings?

7 Januar 2006--part 2

Ok. I don't see the picture so I'll have another go. Really hope this works as I simply must get something else done today. Look forwarding to explore this blog thing more after Lolo goes to bed tonight.

Yahoo! It worked! Image quality isn't great on this but I'll see if medium size pictures work better later. Really miss high speed internet.

More follow later this weekend......

7 Januar 2006

Welcome to Team Munger's latest attempt to keep in touch with everyone. Hopefully, this blog will provide an easy way for you to view pictures and stay posted without filling up your mailbox.

Latest News:

Bruce is in North Carolina and will soon be enroute to Nellis to fly in the Red Flag exercises. He's due to return home around the 5th of February.

Laurel is still discovering gifts she had previously ignored from Christmas and birthday. Every day is a holiday to her....hmmm...something to be learned from that.

As for me, Tamara, I 'm just hanging out with Lolo; loathe to get back into the swing of normal activities which seem to consume so much of my time. Today, I'm going to reorganize our craft/puzzle cabinet then talk a walk with Laurel down to the local grocery for some milk and a Kinder egg.

First, I'll see if I can add a recent picture of Laurel. The week between Christmas and New Year's weekends we received a lot of snow. Laurel likes to eat snow. In fact, she'd rather eat it than build with it which is good since this snow was so powdery.