Get well brown dog!

As I've mentioned before, we often refer to Tanner as "the brown dog" and to Toby as "the fluffy dog". I have no clue why we started calling them these nicknames, but they get referred to often. With that said, the brown dog really needs to get well.

Tanner has been sick quite a bit since we moved over here- not the whole time, just episodes. I won't go into the gory details, but lately my sleep has been interrupted by him needing to go outside numerous times throughout the night, even leading me lately to sleep in all of my clothes so I can just hop out of bed and go. The other alternative is waking up to an apartment that smells terrible or a dog who is hurling.

Yes, it's totally gross. I've about had it with picking up after him. Not the greatest way to start the morning. It makes for a not-so-happy LK.

We have also been to the vet more times in the three months that we've lived here than over the course of five years in Texas. Today we made yet another trip there. The vet has no idea what's wrong with him, nor do I. His food hasn't been changed, he hasn't eaten anything weird, and on and on with the usual questions. So, just like the times before he got an antibiotic shot and instructions to continue with medicine and that should solve things. He's now also on a sensitive stomach diet. Of course when we were at the vet Tanner was excitedly jumping up for treats and barking at the vet, coming off as feeling much better than he portrays at home.

As I haven't had a full night's sleep in a few days, I'm off to bed. Fingers crossed that Tanner sleeps through the night.

P.S.- I know I have some new-mom-friends who are probably rolling their eyes at this blog. I realize it's not like dealing with a kid. Hopefully I was able to provide you with some easy reading for that 3am feeding :)

The kitchen must be destroyed!

I feel certain this is what BK must think when I bake. Not to mention when I cook dinner, then bake on top of that. AND the fact that our Swiss kitchen is much smaller than our US kitchen. Yikes!

I cooked dinner tonight then decided that I was going to bake. It was somewhat challenging because I did not have my favorite appliance- my KitchenAid mixer. So, in addition to cooking dinner and baking, I also got a great arm workout. For the record, I did bring my mixer, but we did not buy the right kind of converter (yet). I have to say, bakers back in the day must have had some great arm strength- maybe it helped counteract all of the dough, icing and other sweet treats they ate (I speak from experience).

My favorite kitchen appliance

After pretty much obliterating our tiny kitchen by pulling out various pans, lots of kitchen utensils, filling up the sink, chilling cookies in the fridge before cooking and sprinkling flour everywhere, all did turn out well. I made Cream Cheese Filled Snickerdoodles. I'm excited to take them to German class tomorrow and to send some to BK's team. They had rave reviews from his team in Fort Worth...let's see how this one goes!

Cream cheese filled snickerdoodles

Why must I have to mop?

I'm sort of procrastinating on my German homework right now. The exercises where I have to come up with questions for answers that are already listed are the worst. I can come up with questions for the answer that is given, but usually not the EXACT question they're looking for. It can be a bit infuriating.

I'm a little ashamed to say it, but we've lived in Basel for about three months now and I just bought a mop yesterday. Of course, it's not an actual mop, but a Swiffer, which is really the only kind of mop I know how to use.

Don't worry, our floors have not gone uncleaned for this long. For the first month we lived in a furnished apartment which had everything in it. But, since we've lived in our permanent apartment we haven't had one. We have a vacuum and I have cleaned with soap and water when needed. I even texted my sisters to see what I should mop with, as I wasn't sure about that. They laughed. It's been quite a while since I had to mop our house.

Let me just say...I hate mopping. I understand the purpose- to clean the floors. But it just seems like I'm just pushing dirty water around on the floor. Gross. Maybe I'm not doing it right or something, but ick. The Swiffer is the only kind of mop I know how to use, and thank goodness I found one here, although  it's not perfect.

The only snafu I ran into today while cleaning was that our vacuum stopped working. At least I know how to use a broom.