Es dauert eine ganze Ewigkeit!

March 14/Monday was entirely too busy. HP left the kids in my care at 6am, as HD had to drop HM off at the hospital. HM was having a small operation that morning. They left the baby monitor with me. HD came back around 7am, and so the day truly began. I helped HD and the kids get up and out the door. I then jumped in the shower myself and left for my German class. My train to Erlangen was delayed 20 minutes. I have no idea what happened, it was something to do with broken train signals. We sat on the tracks five minutes away from Erlangen for 20 minutes. I got to my German class 15 minutes after it had began, though I could tell that I hadn't missed anything important. Class itself was about the same as usual - a little informative, but mostly boring. I made my way back to Nürnberg when class was over. I stopped at a few stores on my way home. As I was waiting at the bus stop, M pulled up beside me and told me to get in the car with her. I went home with her and had lunch with her and L. I hadn't seen her in probably a good month, and it was nice to catch up. I'll definitely have to start seeing her again on a regular basis. After lunch, I went home, did some chores, and spent a little time relaxing. HD got home with the boys at the normal time. We spent an hour outside as One continued to learn how to ride a bike. He can't start on his own yet, but once he gets going, he's fine. HD mostly ran up and down the street with One while I followed Two around on his scooter. HD left with One for swim class once we finished outside. Two and I spent the evening hanging out and waiting for HD and One to get home. Once they got home, HD relieved me of my duties for the evening. I left shortly thereafter to meet up with Meg at Molly's. Ina, Johnny, and Fiona were supposed to go too, but only Ina ended up showing up. I stayed with Meg until she got off work, and then we went over to Ina's where Fiona and Johnny were hanging out with her. I stayed until the wee hours of the morning.

Tuesday was a bit of a wash of a day. I came home from Ina's around 6:30am, worked an hour, and then went back to sleep until 2pm. I got up, showered, ate, and then left to pick up the boys from school. I was only home with them for an hour until HD came and took them to go see HM at the hospital. I did some chores while I waited for them to get back. Once they got back, it was business as usual. We all ate dinner together and then we took the boys upstairs to get ready for bed. As usual, I helped HD get them ready and then I was done working. I left for Finnegan's where Johnny was working and Meg was hanging out. Meg was sitting with a couple of other Irish people she knows, who had brought along a couple of Germans. Ina also showed up for a bit. It was a fairly random collection of people, yet somehow it worked. I didn't stay long, only about two hours, before I went home. 

Wednesday was incredibly busy. I helped HD get the kids up and off to school in the morning. Since I knew how long my day would be, I opted to skip my German class. I slept another two hours. I forced myself out of bed, showered, ate, and then jumped on my bike. I rode to the bank, DM, and Ebl. It was a gorgeous day outside, in the mid 40s and not a cloud in the sky.  When I pulled up to the bank, my bike was acting funny and it felt like my chain had fallen off. I proceeded to flip my bike upside down to take a better look. A man happened to be coming out of the bank as I did this. HD kindly came over to help me. We spent a couple minutes looking at the bike only to realize that nothing was wrong with it. I grew up riding a bike with only one speed, so riding a bike which requires changing speeds still throws me for a loop. Anyways, I went and picked the boys up from school for the second day in a row. One was so happy to see me that he ran over grabbed onto my leg. Two always appears happy to see me when I pick him up; he always walks over to me with his arms out and a smile on his face. It really is true, they really seem to like me now. One asked if we could go to the bakery (HM often takes them for a sweet on their way home). I typically say no when he asks for several reasons (1) the bakery near their school is in a weird place and parking is difficult, 2) the boys typically aren't on their best behavior and I get embarrassed, and 3) I don't want to pump them full of sugar), but this time I didn't protest. I told him we would go home and walk to the bakery in our neighborhood since it was such a nice day outside. We drove home, grabbed a stroller, and walked to the bakery. We ate a sweet there and then walked back home. I made the boys walk home to burn off some energy. Two made it about half way home before he was too tired. One made it about two-thirds of the way before he laid down on the ground and said he simply couldn't walk anymore. There's a little standing section on the back of the stroller so one kid can sit and one can stand. Once home, we played until HD came home. The four of us ate dinner together and then got the kids ready for bed. I finished work when they were ready for bed. Meg had invited me out for a drink with her, but I unfortunately had to stay home. I had to finish my laundry, take care of a few odds and ends, skype with my mom, and pack for my trip to Italy. 

As I write this now I'm sitting on a train on the wait to Italy. One of my good friends from university, Elena, lives in Aviano with her husband. I'm going down to spend a long weekend with them. Pictures to come!