Don't Worry, Be Happy 2011

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Matthew 6:34

Usually I don’t have any New Year’s resolutions, because I know I cannot keep them anyway ;) However, I make these words by Jesus Christ my resolution for next year and I’m determined to keep it!

12 Days to go...

… until Christmas Eve! This is the day we celebrate Christmas here in Germany. On the day before Hermann and I will travel “home” to my family. Even though we are all grown up now and two of us four children are married (one with children of his own) and no longer living “at home”, we are still celebrating Christmas almost the same way as we did when we were kids. This is mostly owing to my father who still puts up the Christmas tree (which in Germany is usually not put up until Christmas Eve), decorates it and places the gifts in his living room. None of us is allowed to enter the room before the evening. In the evening we first visit the graves of late relatives and light candles there and then we return home. Our father goes into the living room and rings a bell, the same bell he rang when we were children and then we all enter the room. I enjoy celebrating Christmas this way, it brings back my childhood :)

2nd Sunday of Advent

Blog Reduction

Until now I have run five blogs; that worked well in my “previous” life, but since we moved (the new apartment still requires a lot of work until everything will be completed) and especially since I have started writing books again I simply don’t have time for this any more. Therefore I keep the two blogs I get most feedback on: “Leben auf der Sonnenseite” and “On Life’s Sunny Side” (this one). There will be no more posts on the other blogs.

If you have got...

... any German speaking friends who like to read romance novels, please let them know they can win a copy of my novel on my German blog. They can take part in the competition, no matter in which country they are living. Thank you :)

Progress

Meanwhile our apartment looks more like a home than like a building site. However, it is not over yet. The two bathrooms, one of the two kitchens and some small things still have to be done. I’m still busy unpacking boxes, but I’m confident that I will make it before December. Looking forward to putting up the Christmas decoration, too :)

Also my debut novel is out, you can see it on the Amazon.de website and if you know German you can even read parts of it there ;)

Are You a Tortured Genius?

You Are 91% Tortured Genius

You totally fit the profile of a tortured genius. You're uniquely brilliant - and completely misunderstood. Not like you really want anyone to understand you anyway. You're pretty happy being an island.

Are You a Tortured Genius?

Blogthings: We'll Tell You The Truth... Someone Has To!

Okay, so if nobody will like my debut novel it is not, because it is badly written, but because I have been misunderstood. Very comforting ;)

In Our New Home

The moving part is now over, thank GOD! However, some rooms in our apartment are still building sites and cannot be used properly. Also we do not have a telephone / internet connection yet, so it is just mobile phone and (slow) mobile internet for the weeks to come.

Anyway, I like living in this little town (which is not even officially a town, but just a village). I have got more infrastructure than in the previous place (which was officially a town), a greater variety of shops and three supermarkets. I know that doesn’t sound much, but in Mühlheim we just had one little supermarket and a small grocery shop within walking distance. For the pharmacy and the post office I had to climb a steep hill. For everything except every day items I had to go to another town. Now I have got most shops (plus pharmacy and post office) within easy walking distance which is very convenient as I don’t have a car.

On Friday we officially gave the keys of the old house to the new owners, a very kind Italian couple who have been living and working in Germany for about 30 years and now wanted a house with a garden. After all it was Hermann’s childhood home and his parents had built it, so we were happy to get such friendly new owners who really appreciate it, especially the garden which had been my mother-in-law’s favorite hobby. The woman looked as if she could hardly wait to take gardening tools into her hands ;)

Today I take a break from unpacking boxes – start again tomorrow!

It's Official...

Our house is sold and we are going to move by mid-September.

My novel is finished, just have to do some editing. However, I will wait until after our move with the publishing as I have got too much work to do before.

Slow Blogging

As you have probably noticed, I’m not blogging very much at the moment. This is for two reasons: firstly it is summer and at this time of year I usually am not so much in the mood for blogging; secondly I’m just writing my first novel and that takes a lot of time and creativity, of course. So I will reduce my blogging. I will just post when there is something new I feel like writing about. Please be patient with me. In case you are looking for me you can still find me on Twitter and Facebook ;)