My Cat is Talented

Why is it that if you put a cat in a tile room with a teeny tiny scrap of carpet it will manage to hit it every time?  My cat can be fifteen feet away from the rug, and suddenly you hear horrible retching barks and then see the cat running drunkenly across the room while his back arches in jerky spasms. He rarely misses. On the off chance that he misses he makes a repeat performance to make sure he gets at least a little on the rug.  

While I was writing this (describing the incident from this morning) he decided to re-enact the situation so I could make sure to describe it correctly to you. See? He's helpful AND talented :)

Fighting for Freedom

I wasn't going to post about this incident but it's very important to me so I feel I must.

On Memorial Day one of my friends said some things to me about the United States military that I found untrue. He told me that we haven't fought a domestically defensive war  since 1812 and that he found the violence-for-freedom argument to be illogical. He also stated that free countries all over the world look at the United States and shake their heads. He told me that other countries don't have to "defend" their rights and freedoms and people saying that our military defends his is BS. He claims he defends his own rights and freedoms. He finds it offensive to believe that a military acting like the strongarm of a corrupt government is defending him. The government scares him and he claims they have taken a lot away from him already.


I was pretty upset upon reading these things and then even more upset to find that this friend had blocked me, not deleted me, from his facebook so I have no way of communicating with him whatsoever. I have no way to rebut his statements or even tell him he's being immature. I had almost forgotten the issue when earlier today, a woman (a friend of a friend) started verbally attacking my friend about an issue she is having and when I tried to explain the situation she verbally attacked me (and all Army wives for that matter) for sitting on our asses praying for our husbands in this "stupid" war and going to BBQ's while our husbands get everything for free. She said the Army is stupid, the war is stupid and that I should get some education about whats going on in the world because all of Europe thinks Americans are stupid. (This woman is from the Czech Republic). She said, "Fighting for freedom? What freedom?" She said no one was occupying the United States, that the US does that to other countries and she then deleted my friend from her Facebook account.  (Her husband kept the drama going however by posting in her defense and starting some insults as to peoples physical appearances and some lovely name calling :)


What I don't understand about these two very similar incidents in less than a week is that in both cases the people involved seems offended that the United States claims to fight for freedom and in both cases deleted or blocked the person "offending" them immediately after posting their opinion. Are they scared to defend their position? Supposedly they defend themselves; my friend practically proclaimed that we don't need a military. I feel the need to point out that we not only liberated Czechoslavakia from Germany in 1945 (before it became the Czech Republic.) We may not have been occupied, but we didn't join that war until we were physically attacked in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I find it hard to believe that we should not have taken any action after something so horrible. Should we have stood by and been overrun by Japanese and German soldiers? Would she have preferred we let the Nazi's have control over her people? 


I'm not making an argument for the war in Afghanistan or Iraq, I may not completely agree with it, even if some would argue that the people there are happy to have our assistance. The Czech Republic has their own military in Afghanistan assisting the United States!  The politicians may have their own agenda but I'm not talking politics. I'm talking about our servicemen and women. They are fighting for freedom. They are not there for oil. They are there so that we have the freedom to discuss this topic. There are countries where women do not have the right to vote, or show their faces in public. If you don't like the government fight for a change. Otherwise, please move to a country that suits you better, one far enough away I can't hear you complaining. Perhaps they could find one with no internet service ;)

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. - Martin Luther King Jr. 

Do you recycle?

Last month USAG Baumholder asked what three things are recycled on post. Only five people answered and only one got it right. I hope that statistic isn't reflective of the rest of our post! 


Obviously a lot of folks don't know this but we are required to recycle here in Germany. It's part of our agreement with our host country and it's in our housing handbook. It's much stricter off post in the local community. We have it pretty easy on post. There are recycling bins for paper & cardboard (the blue dumpsters) next to every building here in Baumholder. In Smith housing there is a recycling point next to the commissary. You can take glass, metal, paper & cardboard, clothes and even bulk items such as electronics, tires, and scrap metal. There is another recycling point in Wetzel between the elementary school and the gate to the golf course. It's not hard to do. We have a couple extra trash cans next to our fridge and we use one for soda cans, soup cans, ect. We use the other for our paper and cardboard. When they get full we take them out. I don't have a lot of glass but I save it in the built in wastebasket.  I often times see trash in the blue bins and cardboard in the black bins. I hope this is just a lack of information and not due to laziness. We all need to do our part so please take advantage of the recycling bins. There are other ways to recycle as well. You can turn an old newspaper into a pinata, as packing paper, or line a cage. Use a plastic bag from the commissary as a trash bag, to pack a sack lunch in or pick up dog poo (that's a whole different post LOL!).


For more ideas and information on recycling in general click here
For more information about recycling in Germany click here
For hands on information from an eco-smart blogger click here

What ways do you recycle?


**UPDATE: There are now receptacles near each building for Paper/Cardboard (blue), Glass (red), Cans (yellow), and Trash (black)!!! Please make sure you're using them :D

My No Sew Fleece Blanket

I finally finished my no sew fleece blanket tonight. I bought the material back in December when we were in the states and I've been putting it off for the past six months. I don't know why. It was incredibly easy. The material cost about $18. If you keep an eye out you can usually find pre-cut kits for about $25, but most of them have children's prints or characters on them and I wanted something different. I apologize for not taking pictures at each step. You'll have to accept my crude drawings as a substitute.


All you need to make one is:

• 2 equal size pieces of fleece (you can make it whatever size you want, but keep in mind they width of the fabric is usually 54" so if you want a bed sized blanket there will have to be some sewing involved) I believe I got 2 yards of each color
• Scissors
• (optional) measuring tape and pins

Lay the two pieces of fabric on top of each other good sides out. The ideal place would probably be a large table but my table was full of clutter and I didn't feel like cleaning it off so I used the bed. If you do it on the bed make sure you don't cut your comforter ;) Trim the edges to cut off any raw edges and make sure they are straight. 
Then cut a 3-4" square from each corner. I cut the first corner and then used the cut piece as a pattern/guide on the other 3 corners

The next step will depend on how anal you are. My mother and law explained how to measure 3-4" in from the edge all the way around and use pins to mark every couple inches. I just eyeballed it using my cut corner as a guide. Cut a fringe all the way around the same depth that you cut the corners to. They can be as wide or narrow as you want. They don't even all have to be the same width if you want a funky look. Just make sure they are all cut the same depth. 

After you have cut all four sides you can start tying the two pieces of fleece together. My single knots all came out so I would suggest a double knot. As an alternative to knotting the fringe you could sew around the edge with a sewing machine and leave the fringe unknotted. I may try that next time. 

When you are finished you have a super warm and cozy blanket to cuddle on the couch with!

Memorial Day in Europe

Today was Memorial Day and so we paid tribute to our fallen servicemen by making a day trip to St. Avold, France to visit Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial. 

Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial is the largest American World War II cemetery in Europe. The French government granted free use of the land as a permanent burial ground without charge or taxation as a thank you for liberating the surrounding area. 

There are 10,489 graves (10,487 according to their brochure), (151 of them unknown servicemen.)  The wall of the missing contains the names of 444 soldiers and airmen missing in action. As we viewed the graves of these long dead veterans I couldn't help but tear up a little. We stayed, hand over heart, while retreat was played on the bugle, the flag was lowered, and the canon was fired. It is a beautiful and peaceful place for those laid to rest there. I am thankful that they sacrificed so much so that I can have all that i do today. 

Thank You!

Friday the 13th

Today is usually associated with horror movies and bad luck. As someone that sometimes has a birthday on friday the 13th I don't worry about it at all. 

I had a great day. We spent the afternoon at the park and the kids played in the wading pool. The Tangled DVD that I ordered back on March 24th finally showed up in our mailbox today as well as the new lid for my laptop. (Have I mentioned how much I like getting things in the mail? I just hate waiting for them.) Then our 4 car caravan headed out to China Restaurant Dynastie in Idar Oberstein. If you're looking for a good Chinese buffet in Germany I would definitely recommend this place. You even get to choose a piece of free jewelry when you pay! 

Happy Friday the 13th!

League of Her Own

"Baseball, to me, is still the national pastime because it is a summer game.  I feel that almost all Americans are summer people, that summer is what they think of when they think of their childhood.  I think it stirs up an incredible emotion within people."  ~Steve Busby, in Washington Post, 8 July 1974

 We had our second practice today. My daughter is super excited to get to practice, but once we get there she gets bored pretty fast. I never played t-ball or baseball or even softball when I was growing up so it doesn't remind me of my childhood, but there is something special about watching your child TRY at their very first sport (even if she's not very good at it and would rather play with the dirt.) At three and a half it's oh so cute. I want to at least give her the chance to see if she likes it and give her time to get good at it (if that's what she wants). They are really just learning fundamentals at this age. They don't start real games until they are five. However the coach did dangle the hint of a possible game at the end of the session. I've seen these children at practice. That would be hilarious to watch!