This last week has been relatively uneventful, at least for me. The Kindergarten is still on vacation, which means that both of the kids have been home all week. That sounds like it could be horrible and stressful, but Olaf was on vacation all week, too. Although I had intended to take responsibility for the little guys most of the time so that Olaf could relax and enjoy his time off, it didn't quite work out that way. He took the kids on little outings every day, either to the city when he went to the doctor, or into the woods with Amelie, or grocery shopping, or to the animal park, whatever. For the most part I just helped with meals, getting the kids ready for bed, and taking care of Amelie all week. Friday I took over the kids, though. Esther and Olaf had an appointment with a dealership to check out a new car, and I took the kids to the zoo in Köln for the day. We got to the zoo at around 11 and didn't leave until 3, which was a really long day for them. Esther told me later that she's never stayed longer than 2, max 3, hours with the kids at the zoo. They're so funny, though, because they get all excited about going to see a certain animal, and it's absolutely imperative that we get there as soon as possible, and literally as soon as they get a glimpse of it they've had enough and want to go do something else. That's definitely typical at their age, though. Little kids aren't exactly known for their exceptional attention span. There are 2 animals, however, that can always captivate the children: penguins and elephants. Gustav and I actually had a little bonding moment at the elephant house. The kids were both standing all the way up against the window to look down and watch the elephants, and I was standing next to Pauline. After a short time I didn't see Gustav anymore, and I figured he had gone up the stairs to the higher level to watch from up there. The last time I was at the zoo with the family he took off on his own to see the elephants from up there, and then even disappeared outside to watch them from yet another view. Anyway, point being, I wasn't particularly worried because I know that Gustav tends to be mesmerized by the elephants and that he was still nearby. So I stepped back from the glass to get a better view of the rest of the room while still keeping an eye on Pauline so that I could spot Gustav, wherever he had gone. Then suddenly I felt something slam up against my right thigh. I looked down, and it was Gustav, with his arms wrapped tightly around my leg and tears in his eyes. There was a woman behind him who explained to me that she saw him standing at the exit, crying, looking for me. The poor little thing had lost sight of me and Pauline and thought that he was lost, that I had left him there. It was so sad and pathetic, and I felt so horrible. I immediately picked him up and squeezed him in my arms and he wrapped himself around my neck. Then I sat down with him on the bench for a second with him in my lap and still holding onto me, and I explained that I would never leave him behind. I could feel him calming down and start to relax as he sat there in my arms: he had been so scared and tense. Poor little man. After we were reunited, he was able to enjoy the rest of the day and he was holding my hand for a good part of the time.

Yesterday was the first day of my new language course. I'm actually still in the same course I was in before, but now I've added another weekend course to it. This one is specifically a test prep course for the proficiency test I have to take at the end of September, and we only meet one day a week from 9:15 to 1 for 5 weeks. At first I was really nervous about taking this course. The teacher for my other course is pretty adamant about the fact that we need to complete the B2 series (which I am currently only 1/4 the way through) before even attempting to take this test, and that without completing it there's absolutely no way we will succeed on the exam. Not the most inspiring words of encouragement, especially when I have a tendency to not trust my own abilities in the first place. Plus, according to the official prerequisite regulations, I'm not actually eligible to take this prep course. After meeting the instructor and hearing the introductions from the others, however, I am no longer afraid. Some of the others haven't taken a language course in over a year, if they've taken one at all, and 3 or 4 of them have made unsuccessful attempts at this test before. I still don't feel like I'm necessarily ready to take this test, but I don't feel hopeless, either. The thing that sucked about yesterday, though, was that when I left in the morning I apparently took the wrong key. Actually, I didn't take a key at all, but rather the garage door opener. When I got home there was nobody here to let me in, and they weren't answering their cell phones so I had no way of knowing where they were, when they were coming back, or if one of the neighbors had a spare key that I could use. So instead of sitting on my butt waiting for them, I went back to the train station and headed into Weiden to go to the mall. I got something to eat and wandered around for a bit, but I didn't really want to spend any money (although I found several pair of boots that I have to have, and I bought a really cute jacket that only cost 19 Euro) so I was really just wasting time. When I got home at 8:30 in the evening they still weren't here and still weren't answering the phones. Luckily I saw Markus (Jette's dad) and was able to ask him if they had a spare key, which they did. They had just gotten back from their vacation in Holland yesterday afternoon, which was really lucky for me because the family didn't come home until about an hour later, and that would have really sucked to have to wait that long before I was able to get into the house.

Today is simply going to be a relaxation day. Right now I'm sitting in my room enjoying the deliciously scented candles that my mom sent me. A couple weeks ago I got a phone call from my mom, who was in Pier 1 and called to tell me about all of their fun fall decorations and how much it made her miss me. Going to Pier 1 was like our favorite pastime, especially when they had all of their fall stuff. And because we simply can't help ourselves when we go in their, or when we see anything related to fall, she bought me some decorations for my room, along with, of course, pumpkin spice scented candles and oil. So now my room smells like autumn (which is good since Amelie farts in here all the time) and I feel very relaxed and at home in my room. Thanks, Mom! I also finally hung up my last painting, which I did a long time ago and have already posted a picture of, but now it's finally on the wall above my bed. If I make any more paintings, I don't know where I'm going to put them because I'm running out of wall space. Oh well.