German class, you sure are a lot of work

Today was a somewhat lazy Sunday, with the exception of the fact that BK and I got up around 5am so that he could make a 7am flight to London, then back to the US. We left the house around 5:15, with dogs in tow of course, and walked to the bus stop to go to the airport. The boys and I then walked more in Basel to get our hour walk in for the morning. We returned home, I fed them, then we all went back to bed for a while. I also FaceTimed with TR before going to bed, as it was only 11pm Texas time.

It's surprisingly bright here at 5am

The rest of my day was spent picking up the house, walking the dogs, studying German and finalizing travel plans. Work on my German class has dominated my evening. The class found out last week that we will have a test on Tuesday over the first part of class. So, I've now gone into study mode, including flashcards and everything. I understand the sentence structure, so hopefully if I make sure I'm refreshed on verbs, and their conjugation, and nouns, including their gender, I'll be ok. The one thing I know we will have to do will be to write a postcard about visiting somewhere. The thing I need the most work on is the words for who, where, when, how, how much, whose, what and where from.

A number of people have asked what happens if I don't do well on the test. I'm really not sure, but I'm thinking positive and know that I'll do ok and be able to proceed.

I rewarded myself today by doing, what else, but planning travel and researching destinations. I finalized a couple of things for our trip with K&B (BK's sister and brother-in-law) to Venice, Vienna and Salzburg. I also researched a little bit more for our trip in September and made myself quite a hefty to-do list for this week. I like to keep busy and feel productive.

We'll be up early again tomorrow, so it's off to bed for now. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Cursing the Kombi

Well, I did it again. I forgot to put the drain for the washer/dryer into the bathtub. Ugghhh!

Last time this happened I just happened to be in the next room cleaning. Unfortunately, this time I was outside on the patio enjoying myself, oblivious to all the water that was being sprayed all over our bathroom and leaking into other rooms in our apartment.

I think I came in around the third rinse (and drain) and was able to quickly put the drain into the bathtub. I used every towel in our apartment and a couple of rolls of paper towels to clean up the water in the bathroom, toilet area and our bedroom. While I was cleaning I kept telling myself that "at least the floors were getting a good cleaning." The carpet in our entry way also got wet and is now still working on being dried.

Tonight at dinner someone suggested making a sign to remind myself to put the drain in the bathtub. BK suggested that we just keep it there all the time, with the exception of when we take showers. Whatever we decide, let's hope that this doesn't happen too many more times. I'm just happy that the downstairs neighbors aren't asking if something overflowed.

Where to next?

I'm sure to many that it may seem that BK and I are off on another trip before we've even recovered from the one we just returned from. One of the biggest reasons we moved abroad was so we could travel abroad more, and few things (barring FaceTime with the nieces and nephews) brighten my day more than planning our next adventure.

What my planning looks like

Up next on the travel plan is a visit from BK's sister and brother-in-law. We'll hang around Basel for a few days, make a day trip to Interlaken, then head to Venice, Vienna and Salzburg for the rest of their trip. It should be really fun. As many of you know, I like to call myself an amateur travel agent, and I've done lots of planning for the trip to make the most out of our time. After that BK and I will head to Lake Como (Italy) and Lugano (Switzerland) for a long weekend, then are back in the US for a couple of weeks.

The trip I am working on today is our "long trip" in September. BK has already requested two full weeks off, but we haven't quite decided where we will go. And yes, I am totally that person who uses my travel books, online guides and many other tools. We are so not "fly by the seat of our pants" people, and fully intend to get the most out of any destination we visit. We are not up at the crack of dawn, and do make sure we relax, but I don't want to be kicking myself because we can't get restaurant reservations or make it to an attraction we really wanted to see.

Initially, we really wanted to do some sort of volunteer trip where we spent the majority of our time doing some sort of service, then had some time on the end to do a little bit of exploring. Unfortunately it seems that I have started my planning a little bit too late. To arrange visas, projects, and other aspects of a trip like that I need more than 2 to 3 months. I'll start working on this type of trip for 2014 in the fall of this year.

So now the question is: where to this year? Today I put together a couple of different ideas for BK and I to discuss and decide on. They're all over the map (literally and figuratively). Here are my thoughts so far:

• Portugal/Spain/Morocco
• South Africa
• Monaco/Sardinia/Rome
• Athens/Grecian Isles/Southern Coast of Turkey

Ok, so most are in Europe, but we obviously have plenty of places to go. Regardless of where we go, the trip will have some adventure (outdoorsy activity), seeing large cities and going off the beaten path a little bit. We have a lot planned between now and then, but I'm really excited about this one. I'll let you know what the verdict is soon!

On an unrelated note, Happy 4th of July to everyone in the US! I hope you have a great day of relaxation, great fireworks, and lots of time with family and friends :)