For the Love of Food

To All My Readers:
This is a long over due explanation: I will explain in more detail bellow, but first – Taste&Create for September is a bit late, but Min from The Bad Girl’s Kitchen will be helping me with Taste&Create in October, so please send her your October requests for Taste&Create.
So, this may turn out to be a long story…

It all was supposed to start on August 26th (the last leg of our renovations)…but those of you who have worked a lot with people who are being payed to get a job done – it can be a slow process just getting them to start and show up.  So August 26th turned into September 13…3 days before my brother was set to arrive at my apartment to visit me in Germany (and to visit Europe for the first time ever).  The guy said he would be done in 3-4 days…and, well, it’s already been 15 days and, while the job has come further along, it’s still not done.  Maybe it will be done this week – your guess is as good as mine.

Actually, the turning point in this whole mess came when we had to have our hallway floor re-poured because it was really bumpy and uneven.  The guy who poured the floor decided to open and mix the bag of leveling cement (finer cement with plastic mixed in) and mix in it in hallway (and not outside).  This stuff is like the plague – it gets into every nook and cranny.  And, since I never thought this guy would be dumb enough to do that, and I was out of the apartment at the zoo with my son since we were not allowed to enter our home because the pouring work cut us off from the kitchen and bathroom, I couldn’t see the mistake and correct it.  Well, we never covered anything because nothing was supposed to make any dust – wrong!!  I have spent the last 2 weeks cleaning everything: all toys (I can’t have my 19 month old son eating cement!), anything on my kitchen counter, my entire bathroom, all books, book shelves, cabinets, all pot and pans in cabinets, the computers, the keyboards, the floors, the walls, the pictures, our brand new sofa (only 5 days old at the time), and I am only half way through the laundry since I have to wash everything we own.  The dust even got into the cabinets and dressers.  It was a disaster.

On September 15th I had my birthday…we went out to eat for dinner and saw a movie, but nothing tasted right (even at my favorite restaurant), and the movie just bummed me out…I couldn’t get the chaos and mess in my home out of my mind and my birthday was a flop….

To top things off, we had a few computer crashes at home and I was cut off from any computer access for a few days.  Every once in a while, I lose internet access.  We finally have a new phone provider, but unfortunately I have a new phone number now – that I still don’t know, and have to tell a few hundred people that they can no longer reach me at my prior number.  Since I am the president of the International Garden Club in the town we live in this requires me writing a small article for the local news paper so that everyone in town knows (terrible – I know – but necessary).

In the line of the garden…we have been trying to break free from our founding organization to start our own non-profit organization.  We had a big founding meeting in June, but unfortunately there were a few glitches, and since these things need to be approved by the local court here in Germany, we have to start all over again.

On top of all this, I have a work project that I only need 6 hours to finish, but so far I have only been able to find 1 hour to do anything for it in 20 minute intervals over 1 month.

And, to top that off, during my brother’s first week visiting us here, he got sick..then my son..then my husband…and then myself.  Ear infections for the first 2, a cold for the third, and a throat infection for me.  I am only allowed to eat noodles and yogurt and other smooth foods to not aggravate my throat.  Oh, but when I went to the doctor, I found out that our doctor was closing and moving to another city.  So, I had to find another doctor really quickly for all 3 of us.  Then, I found a great new doctor, but the antibiotic he prescribed me for my throat I ended up having an allergic reaction to….so…back to the doctor.  Somehow in the midst of all that I realized that my son hadn’t received his MMR vaccine yet – he should have gotten it 4 months ago…so we are going to a new pediatrician on Tuesday for his vaccine and hope it all works out.

On top of all this, I couldn’t just let my brother come to Germany and not see anything.  SO, any second of time I had free, I have been trying to take him places: downtown Nuernberg, downtown Fuerth, Prague, Munich, Bamberg.  He leaves on Tuesday…we have to leave for the airport at 4am….

And, on top of all of this, I have to be a mom and wife and still play and cook and clean, shower, brush my teeth, and find time to sleep, and smile….

This is was the last 15 days has been like for me.  I am exhausted.

We are going on a real vacation – no email no work nothing – for 14 days in October to Ireland.  We are just renting a car and going to drive around see the country side.  We have no agenda – no hotels picked out – we are just going to go with the flow.  We really need to get away after all this.

So, I hope you understand now why I just dropped off the face of the digital world like I did, and why Taste&Create will be held by my gracious friend Min from The Bad Girl’s Kitchen.  While, I will have enough theoretical time to run the even in October, I don’t want to push it and burn myself out.  I will come back on October 23rd nice and refreshed…I will have a bunch of garden meetings to hold shortly after my return, and blogging and events will return to normal like nothing ever happened (I hope).

While I love being a blogger, and have been pretty successful over the past few years, I hope you all will still come back when things have calmed down for some more of my great home cooking.  I will be back – there is no doubt in my mind.  However, as my son gets older and learns to play more with us rather than just with his toys next to us, my days will be more spent with him rather than my 5-7 days a week of blogging.   I would like to be in two places at once, but raising my son is my first job, being a blogger comes in fourth or fifth…somewhere after keeping my home in order and definitely before cleaning the dishes!

Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

–Nicole

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