All of my plans so far this week have been put on hold indefinitely. That mostly just means taking care of a few errands in Cologne. I have another package that's being ransomed by customs and I have to go back to the custom's office in Porz to open it and (hopefully) prove to them that I don't need to pay any taxes on it. They made me pay taxes on my Christmas gifts from my parents, which was just stupid, and I'm hoping I don't have to pay for this one.

The reason I haven't been able to get anything done is because I've had to stay at home all week with sick children. Pauline got sick over the weekend and had a fever for 3 days, so she stayed home on Monday and yesterday. She really felt miserable, and her eyes looked so sad. It was really pathetic, and I felt bad for her. Yesterday she was feeling a little bit better so I was supposed to only let her nap for an hour so that she would go to sleep at night. I was supposed to wake her up at 3, and instead Esther woke me up at 4:45 when she got home with Gustav. Oops. I felt like an ass, but I ended up getting home so late from my class on Monday that I needed that sleep. Pauline needed it, too, and although she was pissed at Esther for making her go to bed at first she got over it and fell asleep shortly after Esther left to pick up Olaf at the station. When she left she told me that she really wanted to go to the Brauhaus and get a beer, so I told her that she and Olaf should just take their time and enjoy themselves and I would make sure Pauline was ok. Then today Gustav stayed home from Kindergarten because his tummy was really hurting. He was so cute. He just wanted to cuddle with me all day, so we just hung out on the sofa most of the day, and then we took a nap in my bed because he was tired and needed to sleep but still wanted to cuddle. We slept for a couple hours. He's such a love.

When I got home from my class tonight I took Amelie for a walk, and it was really pleasant. Even though it's still really cold outside, it doesn't feel cold because it was so much colder before when the snow was here. At one point we were walking past a field where there were weeds and some brush growing, and it smelled like home when it starts to rain and the brush is damp. I think it's the first time since I got here that something has really reminded me of home, but it still didn't really make me miss it. It made me happy to remember something (other than people) that I like about home.