Run-down

Okay, I've been totally deliquent about posting. Almost seems like that's becoming the theme of this blog, doesn't it?

My weekend went like this: on Friday night, we celebrated my friend Ira's birthday.

On Saturday, I painted at Rene and Melissa's new apartment. The lady that lived there before them must have never cleaned - the walls were filthy, with cobwebs and dirt everywhere. We painted the kitchen white and it looks much better! Their building is really old and the apartment needs a lot of work, but when they're done, I think it's going to be really nice.

On Saturday night, we celebrated their return to Germany with a fondue night. We had 8 different kinds of fondue, including 2 chocolate fondues. It was delicious! And really, really fun. On Sunday, I was so tired from all of that, that I came home from church and went to bed. Later I went to Ira and David's to meet some other friends of theirs. We went walking (typical Sunday activity), even though it was quite windy and cold.

Monday after work, I went back to Rene and Melissa's and helped take down wallpaper. It was not particularly fun, but the company was good.

Yesterday afternoon it started snowing. So after work, I came out to a car covered in snow. And no snow brush. Oops. So on my way home, I stopped at the home improvement store and bought a snow brush and an ice scraper. It continued to snow all night long and all day today. I don't know how much snow we have, but it must be close to a foot. This morning, after backing out of the garage, I got stuck in the snow. Fortunately, two people from the next building over decided to be really helpful and they came over and pushed out the car. And then on my way into work, this guy offered to share his umbrella with me. Somehow, people were just very helpful today!

Traffic was a mess. One of my colleagues didn't make it into work at all and another need four hours to get there. I'm really glad I bought those winter tires now!

It was funny to come home today, because my windows that are on an angle in the roof are all covered with snow, so I can't see out of them at all. Fortunately, I have a few "regular" windows, so I can still see some things.

Today, I also started filling out my tax organizer. Now, I have to admit that I have the "luxury" of having a tax advisor, who will be completing my taxes for me. But it's amazing what I have to report: how much I spent in utilities in Germany, how big my apartment is, how long my bank accounts have been opened, what the balance is, what the highest balance in 2006 was. It's soooo much and it takes a long time to look up. And of course, I'm finding out that not all of this information is available online. For example, the bank that I use only provides statements back six months. Which means that I had to write and ask them questions. Good thing my info isn't due until March!