Wir beißen nicht!

June 10/Friday was a fairly standard Friday. I worked an hour in the morning, got back in bed, and watched a movie. I raced into town to buy a new pair of tights, then raced back home to make myself some lunch, shower, and head out to pick up One from school. We came home, grabbed his bag, and the rode our bikes over to his class. It was a nice day outside, sunny though a little chilly. While One was in class, I went to a little bakery across the street to read and enjoy a treat. I lost track of time and was the last one to pick up their kid. I was probably five minutes late, though it was enough for One to be the last one in the changing room. When I walked in, One looked at me and said, "You're not the first one, Farrah, you're the last one." He wasn't mad at me, just was pointing out my lateness. I apologized to his teacher and got us out of there as soon as possible. We went to the ice cream shop on the way home, and then rode our bikes back to the house. We stayed outside in the yard playing soccer for about an hour. HM called me to let me know that her, HD, and Two were stuck in traffic and would be a little while. They finally got home at 6:30pm and I was immediately done working. I basically ran out the door to catch my train. John was leaving that evening for vacation for a few weeks and I wanted to see him before he left. I met him and a few others at Finnegan's and we sat together outside for a few drinks. The time came for him to leave, so I went down to O'Shea's to chat with Fiona. I then went over to Molly's to see Meg and pick up something from her. I hadn't intended on staying out late, as I had to work the next morning, but that didn't happen. Tony's (Meg's boss and owner of Molly's) daughter was in town. She's been around a few times before and therefore is friends with Meg. She was sitting at Molly's, so I joined her for a drink and we both chatted with Meg as she worked. We decided to go out for a couple drinks when Meg was finished. Two other acquaintances, Sean and Liam, also joined the three of us. We all went to the Dubliner, where Johnny, Fiona, and a number of other friends eventually joined us.

Saturday morning I was alone with the kids for a few hours. HM drove down to Munich and HD went out on a bike ride, so it was just the kids and I. We played in the house for a little bit before One decided he wanted to go to the park. The three of us walked over to the little park just around the corner. I was surprised to see that we were the only ones there, but we stayed for about an hour. I brought the kids home and started making lunch. HM had cooked the main part of our lunch, I just had to cook the side dish and then we could eat. HD came home as I was starting on lunch. We all ate together after he was showered. HD put Two to sleep and I was done working. I took a quick nap, showered, and made my way out to Ansbach. The German public transportation system is an interesting one. It differs slightly from city to city, but on average, you don't have to prove you have a ticket before you get on the various methods of transportation. Therefore, people often "schwarzfahren," or ride without a valid ticket. They do randomly check for tickets. I've discovered that they more frequently check tickets in the warmer months than in the colder ones. People dressed in regular clothes will walk up to you on the tram/bus/underground/train and show you their badge. At this time, you must produce your valid ticket. The fine for not having a valid ticket is double the price of the regular ticket, but with a minimum of 60€. So even if your normal ticket is 4€, you're going to pay 60€. However, if your normal ticket is 60€, you'll pay 120€. If you're caught riding without a ticket three times, you get slapped with a hefty fine and must participate in community service. Anyways, I was on the train out to Ansbach. I was minding my own business when the train people walked down the aisle, checking everyone's tickets. I pulled out my ticket and showed it to them when it was my turn. The guy looked at my ticket, made a move to walk away to the next person, then came back to me. He told me that I had stamped my ticket improperly (some tickets have to be validated with date/time/station as to not use them multiple times), and that my two options were to get off the train at the next stop or to pay 60€. We were pulling up to the next station as he said this, so I jumped up, grabbed all my belongings, and ran off the train. We were in the middle of nowhere. The train stop didn't even have a train station. It was just two platforms along the tracks with two ticket machines. No parking lot either. I was livid. I had the correct ticket and had validated it. I just hadn't stamped it exactly as I was supposed to. That particular man had even checked my tickets before, and never said anything. I've actually been checked at least 20 times on that exact train before, and no one has ever said anything to me about not properly stamping my ticket. Luckily the next train came 25 minutes later and I didn't have to wait too long. Eddie and Basti met me at the train station and we went and met Patrizia at a little cafe down the road. We had a drink and then we all went to base. Adam was the lead in a play and he wanted us to come watch it. After the play, we all headed out to Eddie's for the night. We had a chill night in.

Sunday morning I went back on base with Adam. I bought myself some Honey Nut Cheerios and peanut butter and we went for lunch. Adam dropped me off at the train station and I headed back to Nürnberg. I ended up falling asleep on the train. A girl about my age woke me up when the train got to Nürnberg. It was the last stop and the train was turning back around to go to Ansbach. Had she not woken me up, I could have been riding the train to and from Ansbach for awhile. I thanked her and went on my merry way. I came home just as HP and the kids were getting home and everyone was going down for a nap. I followed suit and slept as well. In the evening I headed into town to meet Fiona, Johnny, and English John (there are lots of John's.. Irish/American John, English John, Scottish John, Johnny, etc), so we have to differentiate somehow. The four of us went back to Fiona's. We agreed to help her build her wardrobe in exchange for her cooking us dinner. A couple other friends showed up through the course of the evening and we all had fun. I didn't stay out late, as I knew I'd be working all day Monday and didn't want to be exhausted.

This weekend was good! It was a lot busier than I anticipated, but I had fun. I still can't believe it's the middle of June already. Where does the time go!?