Fall changes

Touristing at Berg Eltz on the Mosel river

Celebrating Halloween in our own little way.

A tempting looking sandwich in shop window... an alternative to sausage

Fall has arrived to Bonn. The days are shorter, and mornings darker. Leaves adorn the wet streets. Winter tires have been installed, umbrellas are always at the ready, and we watch the river Rhine as it rises with the rains.

The seasons are such a strong indicator of the passage of time, and this Fall has brought us not only another year in Germany, but another year of change. As the kids started their new classes this year, I started a new job. I am thrilled to be working for Fairtrade, based in Bonn, and feel more complete here now that I have found my purpose.

Funny though, adding a job did not really take away the other responsibilities that abound. There is still picking up and dropping off of kids, meals to shop for and prepare, laundry and ... you know, the usual not very interesting life stuff. Of course we share lots of these duties in our family, but at my "only" 80% working hours, much of it falls to me.

The Fall also brought family visits. My big sister and my mom both came to visit us, albeit separately, during the months of September and October. I feel very blessed to have them come to us and share in our life here. Though I was a bit sorry that the working me had much less time to play with either of them.

With the Fall and start of school came new activities for the kids and as I write, I am listening to my 8 year old work out "Where is Thumpkin?" on the violin. And my 10 year old is loving being on both the long distance track team (he can almost outrun me!) and the robotics team (which is too cool, really, building lego robots in the Mac lab - what a life!).

Alas, we have done a bit less travelling now that life has gotten so busy. But I did manage a great weekend trip to Berlin with my sister, full of touristing a delicious cheese! Of course we also squeezed in a castle with my mom, and Olof has been up to Sweden and even had a weekend in Paris with his siblings and parents. Okay, so we still managed a bit.

Now the holiday season descends.