Du bist immer wieder weg!

March 11/Friday morning I got home just after 5am. I slept a couple of hours until I had to work. I worked my usual morning hour and everyone was out the door on time. I immediately went back to sleep and snoozed until 2:30pm. I got up, got dressed, and rode my bike over to the post office. I'd been meaning to mail some post cards for almost two weeks. I knew that if I didn't get it done on Friday, it wouldn't happen until Monday at the earliest. Once back from the post office, I had to do my normal Friday chores (vacuum the downstairs and do the kids laundry). By the time I was finished, I only had about an hour until HM and the kids got home. HM dropped the kids off with me and then left to go grocery shopping. She was only gone for about an hour and arrived home just before HD. We all had dinner together before HM left again for her dance class. I helped HD get the kids ready for bed and then had the evening off. I considered going out with friends that night, but I opted to stay in since I was supposed to work the next morning at 10am. I was tucked into bed and asleep at an early and reasonable hour.

Saturday morning I was awake and ready to work at 10am. When I went downstairs, HM gave me an awkward smile and told me that they didn't actually need me to work anymore, as they were all going shoe shopping for the boys. About five minutes later, HM realized she had forgotten about her 10am haircut appointment that morning. She quickly rushed out the door and left the kids in my care. HD was out picking up some fresh soft pretzel sandwiches (soft pretzels are a regional specialty) for breakfast and I was to watch the kids until he got back. The four of us ate breakfast together. I ended up working until the three of them left to go shoe shopping, helping HD get the kids ready and out the door. I did a couple of chores once they had left since I had the time and the energy. I relaxed around the house for a bit before I took a shower, ate lunch, and left the house for town. In town I met up with Adam, Simon, and Cynthia, a friend of Adam's. The four of us went to a little street food market in one of the big city parks. Afterwards we walked around town, stopped for a cup of coffee, and then went to Molly Malone's. We hung out there for a couple of hours until the three of them left. I stayed to hang out with Meg, who was working. I stayed at Molly's with Meg for the rest of the night. We had planned on going out to meet up with other people, but nothing came to fruition. I couldn't catch a train home, so I went back to Meg's with her and slept for a few hours until the trains were running.

Sunday morning I came home around 10am. I immediately jumped into bed and slept another hour or so. I eventually had to get up and get ready, as Adam was making his way into the city to hang out with me. We met at the Hauptbahnhof and then started walking around the city. We both commented on how there were an usually large number of people out and about for a Sunday. Most shops are closed on Sunday, with the exception of restaurants. Since most places are closed, there's not really much reason for people to be walking around the city center. Once we were on the streets, we noticed that all of the shops were indeed open. I did a little asking around and discovered that about twice a year, Germany allows the shops to open on Sunday. This was one of those days. There was also a little market in the Hauptmarkt. Adam and I spent the better part of four hours walking around the city, popping into a couple shops, walking through the market, and exploring. I was still exhausted, but I enjoyed myself. We parted ways around 6pm. I came home, ate dinner with the family, and then went to bed. I was asleep by 10:30pm.