Expedia or British Airways to see what could be done about re-booking my flight. Because thousands of travelers got shafted in that one week, they were slightly reluctant to help me. But when I told the guy at British Airways that I was trying to fly home for Christmas because I hadn't seen my family in over a year, he was willing to do what he could to help me out. Unfortunately there was no way for them to get me home in time for Christmas, but he re-booked me for a flight on the 29th and moved my return flight from January 4 to January 12. Why didn't I mention any of this before? It was supposed to be a surprise. Only my mom knew, because I had to tell her months ago, before I originally booked the trip, to make sure that it was going to work out, and she told my sister to make sure she flew down from Seattle while I was going to be there. And how did the surprise work out? Well, I was surprised. By the time I got to California everybody know that I was coming except my oldest brother and a couple of friends. Due to various circumstances my mom ended up having to tell both my boyfriend and my dad, and Lee told several of our friends, but nobody told me that anybody knew I was coming. Surprise!Even though I can't really
say that I've felt homesick since I left San Diego over a year ago, it was really nice to be able to go home. I think the best thing about it was that pretty much everything was exactly as it had been when I left. Of course there were a few minor changes like haircuts, new boyfriends, a couple recent marriages, or new jobs, but for the most part it was as if I had never left. And since I wasn't exactly a tourist that needed to be entertained the whole time, I pretty much just slipped back into my old life for the 2 weeks that I was there. When I was home with my parents, we mostly just hung out and watched movies. It was so nice to be able to simply do nothing but sit around and talk with my folks, which I haven't been able to do in such a long time. It was exactly what I needed, too. My mom also took me shopping :)I was also able to cuddle with my kitties. I missed the kitties so much! I wasn't sure if Tweek was going to remember me or care
that I was back, but I think that he missed me. He always stood at the little gate that keeps the dog from running all over the house and would whine at me in the TV room to come and get him. He spent a lot of time just sitting in my lap, purring, while I was watching TV. And he and the little girl slept with me almost every night. Tank wasn't so enthusiastic, but that's only because he's fat and lazy, and was way too content to lay in the window next to the Christmas tree. Those cats love Christmas trees. And as far as Tweek actually remembering who I am, I'm pretty sure that he does. While I was there he would stand at the front door and then meow at me every time I walked by, waiting for me to let him out. Ever since he was a kitten I have taken him on walks for at least 30 minutes almost every day (he's too crazy and too much of a spaz to leave him inside all day) and he immediately started expecting his walks again when I got there. My mom said that 
he doesn't do that anymore when I'm not there because nobody else takes him for walks like I used to. Although it's really pathetic to see him standing there and begging to go outside, it made me really happy to know that he remembered me. I'm so thankful that I have Amelie here because I would be completely lost without a pet to cuddle with, but I still really miss my cats.I didn't sit on my butt the entire time I was home, though. For New Year's Eve I went to a party at a friends' place in San Diego. I put my buddy Ryan in charge of making sure our friends Ron and Shamara threw a NYE/ Ron's birthday party so that I could show up and crash it and surprise all my friends. They had no idea that I was back in town, so the surprise actually worked on them. Lee and I ended up not
leaving until around 3 in the morning because I was still messed up from the time shift, so I caught my second wind at around 1 am and was wide awake. We played games, which we do every time we get together, and eventually they kicked us out so they could go to bed. Then I also went to a PPL briefing in Mission Valley to see that group of friends one Tuesday. They were all really excited to see me, too. Afterward Adam, Chelsea, Lee and I went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I stayed in San Diego that night because the next day we went to Pizza Port in Solana Beach, where I got to see my old Starbucks buddies, plus Ron and Shamara. Then there was also a dinner at BJ's in Escondido with PPL people and Lee's roommate, and bowling the Monday before I had to leave. Basically, like I said, I slipped back into my old life and did everything that I used to do with the people I used to do it with. It was good to be home.It
's also good to be back in my German home. I definitely feel refreshed from my little vacation and can tell that I have more patience for the kids. And everyone was definitely happy to have me back, too. Esther told me that on the day that I came home she had asked the kids if they were excited, and Gustav said no, that I should stay where I was. But then that night when he went to bed he told her he was excited that I was coming back. He also ran over to me and gave me a big hug when I first came downstairs on Friday morning, and he kept giving me hugs throughout the day. Pauline was tired and in slightly a bad mood when she got home from Kindergarten on Friday, and when Esther asked her if she wanted to cuddle with her or Papa, Pauline said that she wanted to cuddle with me. And of course Amelie was ecstatic to have me back. The night that I got home she almost acted like she didn't know what to do, or whether or not she should even believe that I was actually there. She kept going over to Esther and sitting next to her, but she wouldn't stop 
staring at me. That doesn't sound that unusual, except that Olaf, Esther and I were all there, and of the 3 of us Esther is the last person that Amelie would choose to go to. We decided that it was because she could see me better if she was with Esther than if she were next to me. Olaf said that for the first couple of nights after I left, Amelie didn't want to go for her evening walks, either. She would only go a little way and pee, and then when he wanted to go further she would sit there and stare at him until he came back, and then she would hurry home. They said it was if she was trying to hurry home to see if I'd returned. Poor little thing. She did the same thing for the first couple of nights after I got back, too, probably because she wanted to make sure I hadn't left again. Now she's calmed down and is back to normal. She definitely missed me.Since
I've been back in Germany everything here has been the same as I left it, too, by which I mean it's been crazy and hectic. I landed in Germany around 7:30 on Thursday evening and then caught a train home from Frankfurt. It was raining (and I had a ridiculous amount of luggage), so Olaf picked me up at the train station in Königsdorf. They pulled out a bottle of champagne to celebrate my return, and I went almost straight to bed because I was exhausted from traveling. I was able to sleep in in the morning, but once I woke up it was straight to work. First I had to go with Amelie, and then I had to take over with Gustav. He stayed home from Kindergarten for the 3rd day in a row because he was sick. And he's actually still sick. Esther took him to the doctor yesterday morning and he apparently has a lung inflammation, so he's on antibiotics and has to use this inhalation machine 3 times per day. What made that first day really hectic, though, was trying to finalize my university application. It was the 14th, my application was supposed to be in Berlin on the 15th, and it wasn't finished. So I wrote my letter of inte
nt and gathered the last of the things I needed during the day while Gustav played with Legos and listened to CDs in his room, and Esther ran everything to the post office in time for it to be post marked and picked up with the last of the mail. Talk about cutting it close! Now I still need to pick up the results of my language test from the school, which I will do the next chance I get to go to Köln, and mail that to the place I sent my application.Then, on Saturday afternoon, Esther and Olaf left for Basel for the weekend. It was Olaf's boss's birthday party and they spent the night in Basel. So I had the kids all afternoon Saturday and all day Sunday because Esther didn't come home until around 8, after the kids were already in bed. It was really easy, though. Pauline fell asleep on the sofa between 4 and 5 while we were watching a movie, and Gustav fell asleep at around 6.
I carried them both to bed and gave Gustav more medicine for his cough and his fever. Aside from Pauline waking up briefly at about 9 and wanting to cuddle with me (we sat downstairs under a blanket for about half an hour before she decided she wanted to go back to bed), they both slept through the night until about 8 the next morning. On Sunday we just kind of took it easy to make sure that Gustav used the opportunity to recover. He went the whole day without a fever or really any problems, and actually spent a couple of hours with Domenic while Pauline and I watched Cars. Then I made them dinner and put them in bed without any troubles and waited for Esther so that I could give her an update before going to bed myself.Monday Gustav had quite a relapse and had to stay home again. In fact, Esther took him to the doctor after dropping off Pauline at the Kindergarten, and the doctor said that Gustav has a lung
inflammation. So now he has the antibiotics, and he has a vaporizer with a mouthpiece that he needs to breath through 3 times a day. Needless to say, he will be staying home from Kindergarten for a while, probably the whole week. Luckily he's been pretty content to just sit around and watch DVDs or listen to CDs, so it hasn't really been any strain on me. It did prevent me from going to the language course on Monday, but I was able to go today.So now everything continues as it was before. I go to class twice a week, help take care of the kids, walk Amelie, and wait to hear back about my application.
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