My Once Upon a Time...

A few years ago, my grandpa started building nativity houses, in all shapes and sizes, and I was lucky enough to see a few of them in his “workshop” during my 2010 Germany trip. I never knew he was so handy and I was amazed by his work, so I asked him a few months later if he wouldn't mind building one for me. I showed him a picture of one he had previously built that I loved so he could build it for me. He was so thrilled that I had asked him. He had been talking about starting working on my house and even worried that he wouldn't get it done in time for my next visit, even though it was several months away. My grandpa passed away before he was able to start on my house. The nativity house I had liked so much belonged to my grandma and she told me that she would never use it anymore, so she gave it to me when I visited in May. I felt very bad about taking hers, but she assured me several times, that she didn't want it anymore and wouldn’t put it up for Christmas anyway...

I try to go back to Germany every other year. I would probably go every year, if it wasn’t for my vacation time, let’s face it, with ten vacation days a year, you’re not going to make it very far. I’m not complaining, in fact, you get used to it, but if you hear how your family and friends in Germany are enjoying six weeks of paid vacation time, plus a billion holidays, you wish the US would follow this example. Just sayin’.  Ich versuche, alle zwei Jahre nach Deutschland zu fliegen. Wahrscheinlich würde ich jedes Jahr fliegen, wenn ich mehr Urlaubstage haette, sagen wir es mal so, mit zehn Urlaubstagen pro Jahr kommt man nicht gerade weit. Ich will mich nicht beschweren, man gewoehnt sich mit der Zeit daran, aber wenn du hoerst, wie deine Familie und Freunde in Deutschland sechs Wochen bezahlten Urlaub geniessen, plus eine Milliarde Feiertage, dann wuensche ich mir schon, dass die USA diesem Beispiel folgen wuerde. Das muss einfach mal so gesagt werden. Anyway, after experienci...