Stealing. Its Wrong.

But apparently everyone's doing it!

Just got back from new hire orientation.
8 hours of need-to-know information.

Our instructor was a nice guy.
Kinda squirrely.
But nice.

Then there was this guy.
His name is...
Well I don't remember but he's in charge of...
I don't know, exactly.

a) Shoplifting
b) Security
c) Scaring new hires out of ever stealing because he will find you. And he will persecute you. And possibly kill you.
d) All of the above, except killing. Because that's illegal. But if it wasn't, I think he might do it.

If you chose D, you'd be correct!

And the thing is, you can tell he really loves his job.
Like A LOT!
Which is good, right? People should love their jobs.

But this guy...
This guy likes to catch people stealing.
He stared down each of us new hires at least once with ice blue eyes, as if he was trying to figure out who he would catch first.

I don't steal.
I don't want to steal.
I think stealing is wrong.
I can safely say that I've never stolen anything.
(Well okay, maybe I've stolen a lip gloss from Sydney's Drawer. But that's not a store. That's in my house. Paid for with love by Ruth and Chris. Who are my parents too. So, technically, I wouldn't call that stealing!)

But this dude made me feel like I had already stolen $59,320,751,830,748.94 worth of company products, including gas.
(Who steals gas?)

It took all of my courage to look him straight into his paranoid eyes.
But I did it.
Because I'm an honest kind of girl.

Once, I turned myself into my Chemistry teacher for copying my lab partner's lab report.
And I cried.
Real tears.

That honest.

So don't worry, Mr. Shoplifting Prevention/Security Man/Ice Blue Eyes.
This is one new hire you won't have to worry about seeing again!

On a nicer note, all the leaves are in full color now. 

They almost look like they are on fire.

Beautiful!

Paris

So, the Parisians are rioting (again).
And we're not going this weekend.
So, I'm a little bit sad.
But also safe and sound in Germany.
So, that's good.
Bryn's still going, via train.
So I'll be solo, but that's okay!

I've decided that instead, I will spend this weekend getting to know Stuttgart a little bit better...and at the same time do one of my favorite activities in the whole world--visiting museums! There's several museums in Stuttgart, including the BMW and Mercedes-Benz museums, but those probably won't be on my agenda. The two I'm most interested in are both adjacent to the city's center.

The State Gallery

"Comprising the Old State Gallery (Alte Staatsgalerie) and the New State Gallery (Neue Staatsgalerie), exhibits range from the Middle Ages to the post-modern.

The Old Gallery, built between 1838 and 1843, houses works produced from the Middle Ages up to the end of the nineteenth century including old German, Italian, Dutch and Impressionist. Artists include Rembrandt, Casper David Fredrich, Bellini, Tinteretto and an entire room devoted to the 'Legend of Perseus' cycle by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. The earliest and most important work in the gallery is a 1385 altarpiece of the Bohemian School depicting King Wenceslas with St Vitus and Emperor Sigismund.

The New Gallery, constructed between 1979 and 1984, is acknowledged as one of the finest examples of post-modern architecture. The permanent exhibition covers work by twentieth-century artists including Matisse, Beuys, Pollock and Schlemmer and incorporating one of the world's largest collections of the work of Picasso."

House of Art

"Home to the Stuttgart City Gallery, the Württemberg Society of Art and the Stuttgart Union of Artists Gallery, the House of Art exhibits painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Highlights of the collections include work by Hölzel, Dix, Fritz Winter, Dieter Roth and Joseph Kosuth."

Thank Goodness for handy little websites like this one: http://www.stuttgart-museums.com/

KrautFest

Well the weekend is here and with it--KrautFest or as we Americans living here in Echterdingen call it-CabbageFest! On Sunday, the city workers (I assume) began setting up by stringing flags of green and white cabbages all through the streets. Then, little by little, booths appeared, and then a stage, and then the vendors! Outside our kitchen window, a band is playing Eric Clapton and the locals, on foot, are munching away at all sorts of cabbagey delicacies. I'm excited to try the Gluhwein, a spiced wine served hot, and maybe get a Crabby Patty! Yes thats right, one of the vendors is selling the crab cake burgers that Mr. Krabs and Nickelodeon have made so famous! Should be a great weekend--I'll be sure and let you know!

Krabby Patty Stand

The stage

I've heard they'll crown the Kraut Queen here!

Gluhwein Stand

Getting Ready for Work

Yesterday, Bryn and I went to talk to Andre, the HR man for the Stuttgart military bases. He was super encouraging. Basically, we are just waiting for my background check to come. Then I will go to orientation  either this Monday or the following Tuesday and then start my new job. Most likely I will be a checker at a Shopette, which is a huge gas station and the only one of its kind on the 3 or 4 bases here in Stuttgart. I've been in there a couple of times now. Theres a couple of girls who seems really cool, just about my age, and tons and tons of cute boys around too ;-) I'm excited to get working, but honestly these last few days of just being able to relax, cook, write, read and hang out with Bryn and Carolyn has been so wonderful after having been working two jobs for the last year. Right now, Carolyn is cooking dinner, a Thai pork in a peanut sauce that smells amazing! The two little boys that Bryn nanny's for are sitting next to me on the black leather couches. We're watching Maraduke, and its pretty cute! I'll post again soon! xoxo

mushroom quesadillas

Ok, so the other day when we were headed out and about the lovely city of Stuttgart, I got my hands on a copy of Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals 2 that just so happened to be sitting, cold, lonely, abandoned in the back seat of Nate's truck.  I flipped through the book, just looking at the pictures of all the lovely things RR has thought up. And then I saw the recipe for mushroom quesadillas. I couldn't get the thought of those stringy gooey buttery little yummies out of my head! So tonight I made them. And people. Seriously. You need to make these for yourself. For your family. For your friends. For your neighbors. Just make them!

Mushroom Quesadillas
Adapted from Rachel Ray's recipe

1 block of Monterrey jack cheese
1 container of regular ole brown mushrooms
tortillas
butter (and lots of it!)
salt

Roughly chop the mushrooms and saute in butter. Salt to taste.
Grate the cheese.
Melt butter in a frying pan that has preheated on medium.
Place one tortilla in the buttered pan.
Cover with cheese and sauteed mushrooms.
Put another tortilla on top.
Flip.
Cut.
Serve.

LOVE!

The Promised Pictures!

Well just look at me, two posts in one day with pictures in both! Be proud, my darling readers, I know I am!

My beautiful bed in my beautiful bedroom!

The view I get to wake up to each and every morning!

Me and Bryn at the Volksfest on Saturday

Me and my new German friend who's name I can't remember...oops

Yum!

5 Sinne (5 senses)

Today Bryn and I caught the S-Bahn (the train that goes between cities, as opposed to the U-Bahn, which is the train that goes around the city)

to do a little shopping and get lunch before we went over to Nate's house for a lovely dinner of pot roast with all the traditional fixins--mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and onions and gravy. While we were in the city, I had a little time to journal in the beautiful city of Stuttgart's center...








Sitting in the schlossplatz--the city center.

I hear the fountain like a waterfall, musicians tinkering away on Eastern sounding instruments, and the sounds of people talking all jumbled up together like a happy herd of grasshoppers humming.  Two lovers who can hardly keep their hands off each other are laying in the grass in front of us.  My mouth taste slightly of the crunchy onions and spicy brown mustard that crowned the best hot dog I've ever eaten bought across the street at the mall.  Like an after thought, I can smell the cigarette smoke wafting through the air. The sun is shining behind me and I am perfectly content to sit Indian style in this green green grass. A breeze tosses my curls about my neck and I am thankful for my little brown hair tie that holds them all in place.  I only wish I wasn't fighting a head cold...but such is life! Surrounding the park is a most interesting mix of both old and modern architecture. Somehow it works like a bridge, spanning humanity through out both time and space and bringing together all of us who sit here today.  Just now a tiny black chihuahua is straining against a leash held by his beautiful raven headed mistress, who is distracted by the click of a lighter against a cigarette against her red lips. A beautiful little boy with a red plaid messenger's cap is snuggled up against his seemingly exhausted mother...and the music plays on.