Today is election day. I have already called my dad to wish him luck as he is running for County Commissioner in Delta Colorado. Brent has Camel Country on his computer and I have National Public Radio on. We are very excited to hear all of the news coverage. We were looking for live video feeds – but I think the radio will be easier. The bummer is that Brent and I have our mail forwarded to my sister – so she can help with the bills. I assume that because our mail was being forwarded – we didn’t receive our ballots. We basically ran out of time. So I hope you all have made the correct decisions for our country!!!!

As Jocelyn says, Today I had a fight with the bus in motion and gravity – I lost. I bought my usual amount of groceries and some fire wood. I bagged my groceries in my two bags and then the wood. So I had to carry the groceries in one hand and the wood in the other – to balance the load. I got on the bus and it was packed. So I had to pick a spot – not my usual by the exit. My stop was coming so I got up to push the button to signal the bus to stop. The button wasn’t where it usually is on the busses. I had to then scramble with my groceries to push the button. In my haste – I tripped over my groceries and fell FLAT ON MY FACE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FULLY LOADED BUS. I then jumped up fast to push the button. Dang it – I missed my stop and had to walk further home!!! It was bound to happen, I just hoped it would happen to someone else and not me!!!

Sunday, September 28th

Brent, Kelly, and Chelsea left today for Germany and Oktoberfest. They are going to meet Brent’s friend Mark for some drinking and culture.

Jocelyn, Bryce, and I decided to venture to Madrid. We walked around Retiro Park and then headed to the Hard Rock Café for dinner.

Tuesday, September 30th

I had meetings with Jocelyn’s teachers. Her English teacher and her Spanish tutor had both sent me notes that they wanted to meet with me. I was able to go to the administration desk and schedule both appointments on the same day. One was at 11:30 and the other was at 1:40 – so I hung out in the office between visits. I sat in the office until the teacher came up and then escorted me into a private meeting room/small conference room.

The first appointment was with Jocelyn’s English teacher. She was a lovely lady from Melbourne, Australia. She told me that she was sick, but came to school anyway, because she wanted to have the meeting with me. I think she went home sick afterwards!!! She basically wanted to make sure that Jocelyn was learning enough in her class. I brought the teacher all of Jocelyn’s US school books as well as the curriculums that her teacher had put together for me. The teacher makes Jocelyn do oral reports in front of the class to work on her presentation skills. She also makes Jocelyn do most of the oral reading in the class. She was genuinely enchanted with Jocelyn and wanted to make sure that she wasn’t bored in the English classes.

The second appointment was with Jocelyn’s Spanish tutor and two other ladies. The Spanish tutor’s English was as well as my Spanish. One of the other ladies was Jocelyn’s science teacher and the other was a counselor. These two ladies just sat there and looked pretty while the other teacher and I struggled through. Again, they were concerned that they covered what “I wanted Jocelyn to learn in school.”

I was truly amazed at how these teachers took it upon themselves to make sure that Jocelyn was getting a great education. I also liked how they were really interested in my input on the situation. I don’t think they knew that I was in education either. I came out of these visits feeling very humbled and happy that Spaniards are incredibly loving people as a whole!!!

Wednesday, October 1st

Today Kelly and Chelsea came back from Oktoberfest. I was really excited to see them and hear about their journeys. I had been emailing Brent while they were gone and most of the emails were “Going to have my first beer at…..”and “Going to have a beer at ……”. I at least knew that he was alive. I had already understood that having a beer was going to happen, so getting more information from the Ladies was interesting.

The Ladies bought traditional German dresses – extremely cute and good for them!!! The Ladies also brought home some of the beer steins that they had “acquired” from the beer tents. These things were massive and so dang thick – a liter is a LOT of beer. It was great to hear the excitement in the tents that they visited and the beers that they drank.

Friday, October 3rd My turn to go to Oktoberfest.

The Ladies (Kelly and Chelsea) were in charge of picking up the Girls (Jocelyn and Bryce) from school. Steve and Laurie were in charge of the girls during the evening, because the Ladies were going out to play. Saturday Bryce went with Pilar and her family to the Zoo all day long (12 to 22). Jocelyn stayed in her pajamas and watched movies with the Ladies all day. Steve and Laurie went to the airport to pick up Steve’s son Luke and Steve’s girlfriend Sarah. Sunday, Steve, Laurie and crew went to the Flea market with my two as well.

Germany. My flight was on a tiny plane – which was WAYYYY cool. I got to fly over the Alps and see everything – it was awesome. I was picked up by Brent and Mark, and Mark’s friends Tony and Amanda. We immediately went to the Haufbrau House for dinner. The only thing is that the weekend I went was the very last weekend of Oktoberfest. So this place was beyond packed. We couldn’t even get onto the sidewalk to the front door – there were sooo many people. We then visited Hard Rock which was across the way. That too was outrageous, so we all elected to go back to the city where the hotel was to unload my stuff.

We ended up eating at the neighborhood pub by the hotel. All of the guys had eaten there quite a few times. I could easily tell why. I walked in and Natasha (the owner/bar wench/entertainment/chef) greeted us at the door with a moan. Then said “1 beer, 2 beer, 3 beer, 4 beer, 5 beer?!” We all said yes. She then came over with five huge beers and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. She then said “Schnitzel?” and we all said yes. She then came and asked “salad?” and we all said yes. She came back with these great very vinegar salads. She inspected our beers. I had only drank half of mine, while everyone else was empty. So she pushed me over in my chair and then proceeded to drink the rest of my beer. Then she asked “1 beer, 2 beer, 3 beer, 4 beer,” I stopped her there – there was no way I could do more. I think I got chewed out in German? I don’t know. She then brought more beers and the schnitzel. We could hear her pounding it out. It was way more than incredible – I loved the food in Germany!!!! She came by to bring another round of beers and started to growl at me because I wasn’t getting through my dinner. Brent persuaded me to feed the dog “Danny” so I didn’t get yelled at!!! What a crack up – throwing the most incredible schnitzel to the dog so I don’t get yelled at by a crazy German woman!!! That place was the bomb.

We then headed to the hotel to freshen up, before going to Oktoberfest.