Category: Uncategorized

One of the main reasons for this trip was to experience the magic of Christmas in Central Europe. It has been about 14 years since living in Innsbruck, and I missed the Christmas Markets, the food, the music, the churches. I also wanted to share this with Annie (and Rebecca, but sadly, she was not able to come this year.) Markus joked that his mission was to make me sick of Christmas Markets. I’m not sure about that, but I can definitely say I’ve met the goal.

After starting the count in Lisbon (4 visited, and a few more we walked by), when we arrived in Munich it became obvious counting wasn’t going to be possible. One market just flowed into the next, and there were dozens around the city. Some local and small, others that went on for blocks.

We drove to Innsbruck to visit family, and Innsbruck’s Christmas Market in the old town is still beyond compare. The huge puppets of local fairy tales posted around the town with their stories, the incredible food, and the beautiful lights were truly the meaning of a magical season. There was a brass band playing in the balcony of the Goldenes Dachl, and my favourite Zillertaler Krapfen stand was exactly where it had been 15 years ago.

The Munich markets were packed; what an incredibly vibrant city. It seems like locals and tourists were happy to mingle without the animosity of Lisbon, where the city is somewhat overrun by visitors.

As well as delicious, delicious krapfen, the markets have served up to us kässpätzle, giant pretzels, glühwein, hot chocolate, Kaiserschmarrn, kiachl with lingonberries or sauerkraut, so much chocolate, oodles of gingerbread and cookies, and many many sausages. Even though Markus is a fabulous cook, I am going to long for these treats.

And of course, part of the magic comes from the Christmas markets being surrounded by stunning buildings–often the markets are in the courtyards–from palaces, to majestic city halls, to museums, all elaborately lit up with Christmas lights for the celebrations. The Belvedere and City Hall Christmas Markets were gorgeous. (It was foggy at the Belvedere, so I found a photo online.)

Belvedere Christmas Market: https://regiotours.at/

Even though I’ll probably reach momentary saturation by January 6, when the last markets close, by the time I’m home again, I have no doubt I’ll be longing for them at least once more in my lifetime.

Earlier in the week I thought that I might struggle with having Annie by myself for the whole day, as Markus works on Saturdays. So I called in the grandparent cavalry, which I don’t do often.

They took Annie from 10:00 to 4:00, and I had a lovely, lovely day alone at home. I worked a bit, crafted a lot, and just chilled out. I finished a scrapbook page and then painted a bit in a new art journal. I’m just playing around with colours, not even attempting to paint anything real, but I still really enjoy it. Maybe I’ll try a painting class in the future.

When I picked up Annie I stayed and talked with Oma and Opa for almost two hours. It was good to connect with them again, as the relationship between the family has been strained. Ah well, such is life.

Tomorrow is our family day. It has been a long, stressful week for Markus, so I imagine we won’t do much. But a totally do-nothing weekend is fine with me once in a while.

I’ll go back to being busy and industrious on Monday.

The stress level at our house has been, to put it mildly, in the red. The first thing that happens when I’m anxious is I lose all patience with Annie. Poor duck.

So I’m grateful that we had a nice, easy evening together. I picked Annie up at 2:00 and we talked about making a domino set. She had cut one out of a kids magazine, but didn’t quite get the concept of a domino and so cut each square out individually instead of keeping two connected. She asked about taping them together, which we could have, but instead I suggested finding a printable one on the Internet. I love the Internet. It is absolutely magic, and especially for anything kid’s-craft related.

I found a zillion choices, so we picked one that had flower pictures and one that had the alphabet. There was an option to print them out black and white and colour them in ourselves (smart!) so that is what we did. Annie ran around with Dad for a bit on errands, and then when she got home we started colouring and cutting while listening to music. Between crafting and playing and dinner, over two hours flew by. Books and teeth and bed and it was an easy, easy evening that we both totally enjoyed.

I very much look forward to more of the same once things reach some level of normal again. I’m ready.

The writing part of my brain isn’t feeling very creative today. It was a good day, with some work projects completed, a nice walk to the store in crisp fall weather, and lots of snuggles with Annie.

But now I’m just ready to turn on Q and do some crafting.  More tomorrow.

I watched the Tedx video by Gabe Zichermann, one of the current leaders on gamification.

I don’t agree with everything he says…like the value of reading books!…but it is a thought-provoking perspective on how games can actually support a child’s education instead of working against it.

My favourite part is the five things that increase fluid intelligence (good for problem solving). They are:

• Seek novelty
• Challenge yourself
• Think creatively
• Do things the hard way
• Network

I’m really an expert at number four! But actually, I do most of these five things frequently, and I’m a pretty good problem solver in a work context. Now if I could only use that super-power to figure out some of my other life challenges….

Darn. I forgot to post yesterday. I’m surprisingly disappointed. I’ll keep going through the month, though, because I’m enjoying daily posting and I like the feedback from friends and family.

Annie and I were eating waffles for breakfast. She was talking, non-stop, as usual. She said something a bit odd and I asked, “Why did you say that?”

“It just popped out, Mom. Sometime I think something in my head and I try hard to hold it there (grunting face) but it just goes down into my mouth and pops out!”

I know that feeling well, honey, I know it well.

At Annie’s last parent-teacher meeting, the director of the school wondered if there had been issues when Annie was born. She mentioned it because Annie has a high need for physical contact and also to be the center of attention, and was suggesting that sometimes those early days can have a lingering effect. I believe probably a large part of that need is Annie’s personality that came hard-wired, but it got me thinking.

I asked my friend, Margriet, who is a psychologist, what she thought. She suggested I talk to Annie about what happened at her birth. I didn’t make a big plan, but a couple of days ago we were snuggling in bed and it just seemed like the right time. I told her how she was born and how Dad and Rebecca and I were so happy, and then I described the problems that happened. She was able to follow along and asked questions that showed she understood what I was saying and was curious. I asked her how she imagined she must have felt not really seeing her momma for the first couple of days of her life. She wasn’t as interested in the emotional part as in the story itself, so I stayed with that.

I don’t know how these things work, if those first memories are stored in the body or affect personality. I don’t think anyone can say for sure. But it felt right to talk to Annie about what happened when she was born, and I think the topic will come up again sometime, either by her or I initiating it. And it was a good process to start, because there are other difficult things I know Annie needs to know about her world as time goes by, and it opens up the path to discuss those times as well.

It also follows my very deep belief that you can’t shelter anyone, child or adult, from the difficulties or pain of life. You can only help provide the tools and strength to deal with it at the time, and work through it once it is over. Talking about the events and emotions that happen in life, both good and bad, is absolutely the first step.

I’ve spent a good chunk of today writing a guest blog post for a gamification at work blog. Well, mostly editing it, as my original draft was 3 times too long. Yikes.

I’m afraid that has sucked my blogging spirit out of me for the day. Tomorrow I’ll try to write something in the morning when I’ve got more creative energy. Maybe I need a guest blogger…anyone? Anyone?

I’m getting on an airport shuttle to Munich in an hour and then flying to Hamburg. My presentation is tonight and then back tomorrow. Which is a good thing, as the Latern Fest is on Thursday, and I don’t want to miss that!

So I’m afraid that is all for today.