NEWLOVE

As it turns out, Manolo is actually a British he-cat called Bubba and Janis is a she-cat from Harlem called Tatiana.  Didn’t know there was a contigency of Russians in Harlem.  Learn something new every day.

Went to the post office today and who would have known that despite their great inventions and time saving devices, the Germans haven’t caught on to self-adhesive stamps!  YUCK.  I need a drink to wash away this taste.  (Yeah, that’s why I need a drink.  It’s for my health…) 

Chris and Caroline Seider have 2 adorable and incredibly well behaved cats that we’re feeding and looking after.  We actually have no idea what their names are but one is a fatty so we call her Janis Joplin and the other more personable one has a white underside and cute markings on her feet that look like shoes and we call her Manolo Blahnik.

Manolo meows all morning until you feed them and then quiets down for a few hours.  Everytime you open a door to leave a room, she is sitting on the other side of the door waiting for you.  We played with string today and that occupied her for awhile before she realized she was hungry again and started meowing like crazy.  Maybe she is one of those rare singing cats.  I don’t know.  Janis Joplin is funny because while Manolo is vying for your attention, Janis will attack Manolo and then they start to play.  Janis has much more of a cat-like personality… sits in the kitchen on her chair sleeping while Manolo hangs in the living room with the humans.

I tried to photograph Manolo this afternoon but apparently she doesn’t understand the concept of not using a flash.  She kept moving!  So I was forced to have to use the flash in order to get a clear photo.  I will post it when we get back to the States.

We had to get up at 4am to catch our flight which naturally meant that I didn’t sleep at all.  Oh well.  Let me tell you, Brad’s morning person cheeriness doesn’t necessarily show it self quite that early.

After a 45 minute flight we arrived in snowy Berlin and caught a cab to the Prenzlauerberg district in the Eastern part of the city.  Chris & Caroline Seider are unfortunately away in Lebanon but have lent us their gorgeous, HUGE apartment in the center of it all.  A thousand blessings on your heads my friends.

We ate dinner at a great italian place close by where we were waited on by 2 very attractive women.  At one point, 8 beers or so into the evening, Brad turned to me and said, “I hope you don’t find this rude, but I can’t help staring at the one in the white shirt.”  He already knows that that sort of thing doesn’t bother me but I thought it was funny he’d put that little disclaimer in front of it anyways.

Today is my Mom’s birthday.  Whoot whoot! 

We went out to a Thai dinner last night with Pauline and Damien in the city after a nice afternoon at Preben & Irene’s.  Having already polished off a few bottles of wine, we continued our binge at dinner but moved on to beer.

Then we went to CineMaxX at Fisketorvet to see the new James Bond.  I had no idea the movie was so long!  We didn’t get out until 10 past 12 (midnight) so we were either going to have to really party it up in the city until the trains started running at 5am or take a cab.  That’s when Pauline’s boyfriend with his sweet sweet Australian charm chimed in that he would drive us home.  LOVE LOVE LOVE him. 

But back to the movie, SPOILER ALERT!! it was my favorite of the new Bond films except for the romance storyline which was a bit unbelievable.  I mean you spend the first few hours of the movie with the main characters sparring with each other and practically spitting in each others’ faces and as soon as the hero practically dies, he wakes up from his coma to find his love interest finally giving in to his advances and telling him he can have her anytime anywhere?!  We’re supposed to believe that?!  COME ON!

Other than that the movie was great.  Really.  And I think Daniel Craig makes a good Bond. 

We awoke this morning to the scent of freshly baked bread and to the sound of something with a constant and annoying beep.  It turned out that while Mom was baking 2 loaves of white and a loaf of rugbrød (Danish Pumpernickle,) Martin had properly installed the batteries to a “never lose your keys again” gadget that goes on your keychain.  If you can’t find your keys, you whistle and the gadget beeps.  Assuming that you have decent hearing and a sense of location, you follow your ears to the origin of the sound.  If you’re deaf, well, then you have bigger problems than finding your keys.

Apparently, Martin’s new gadget is very eager to do a good job so not only does it start to beep if you whistle, it also beeps if you laugh, talk, walk or breathe.

That was definitely the shortest-lived Christmas present ever!

We didn’t walk around the Christmas Tree this year or last as Martin claims there’s not enough room.  I just think he’s being lazy.  He claims that when the living room expansion project is complete, there will be enough room and we will allow follow the ancient Danish tradition more carefully.

All of us spent most of the day sleeping, so not much to report except the great leftovers and the really bad tv movies that are imported from the States.  Who knew Dean Caine had such an illustrious career?

My favorite Christmas carol, En Rose Så Jeg Skyde / Ein Rose Ist Entschungen / Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming, is not in our song book!!  According to Pauline we have this discussion every year although I don’t remember. 

Apparently I search frantically through the book and then inform my mother that the song isn’t in there before she goes up to the attic to find other books all of which also don’t have my song.  When she informs me of this fact, Martin overhears the conversation, “What?  No En Rose Så Jeg Skyde??  That’s my favorite Christmas song!” 

And I say, “Yes, Martin.  It’s mine too.  I’m going to have to find a book with it in there so we can sing it next year.”

And Pauline replies, “Ugh, could you just find that book already because I’m sick of you having this conversation every year!”

“We have this conversation every year?”

Today is my birthday and there are about to be way too many people under one small roof. 

Last night, we got off the train at Nørreport to meet Rikke.  We bumped into her right away and she walked with us about 50 meters up the walking street before I heard a cute Aussie talking on the phone next to me.  I turn toward the sexy accent and as it turns out, it’s Damien!  (Pauline’s boyfriend.)  I love how I can walk down the street in Copenhagen and run into someone I know.  Awesome!

Rikke, Brad and I went to Café det Elektriske Hjørnet (the Electric Corner Café) where we drank a few before the major party foul of the evening took place.  An entire pint spilled into my new leather purse covering everything in beer - my digital camera, video camera, Razr, Blackberry and lithium stand-by batteries - in addition to my money, i.d., journal, postcards, tissues, candy and other snacks.  It’s pretty revealing to have to pull EVERYTHING out of your purse and wipe it off individually before laying it all out on display to dry.  (Besides the fact that it took about 20 minutes - 20 minutes in which I could have been drinking!)

When we left the bar, Brad started whining about being hungry and wanting a Franske Hotdog.  I rolled my eyes and did my best to ignore him.  I mean, afterall, we’d just gotten one each on our way out of the train a few hours prior.  But when he wouldn’t shut up, I popped my head into the nearest 7-11 and got in line.  Then he starts with, “I want 2.  Please get me 2.  PUH-LEASE?!?!?!”  The 7-11 worker thought we were crazy.  I did my best to give him the, “Don’t blame me that my boyfriend’s a whining lunatic” look but I think he interpreted it as, “If you don’t give me 3 hotdogs in the next 10 seconds I’m going to lean over this counter and start gnawing on your arm.”  Oh well, guess I had better learn to communicate better.

A few minutes later we were on our way into the train station when I noticed that our train was still 9 minutes away from departure.  So, without saying a word, I thought it would be funny to just disappear and see how Brad would react.  (I’m such a cool girlfriend, I know.)  Then, after my intial ‘bibbity-bobbity-boo and presto! I was gone’ move, I got distracted.  Instead of hiding behind a large column giggling, watching Brad realize that I had disappeared and watching him figure out what to do next, my nose all of a sudden caught the traces of a most intoxicating smell…

The hotdog cart.  Damn.  Well… Brad did just shove a whole bunch of hotdogs in his face in 2 point 5 seconds.  I guess it’d be cool if I had another one - afterall, we HAVE been drinking… it’d be good for me to eat something.  Yeah.  That’s right.  I’m doing everyone a favor by soaking up this alcohol.  I won’t get sick… No one will have to take care of me or listen to my moaning…  I should do the world a favor and buy another Franske Hotdog.

I forget everything about my disappearing trick on Brad and I leave him stranded and walk over the the Hotdog cart and order myself a tasty treat.  The next thing I knew, Brad found me.  Rats!  Turns out his nose is bigger than mine is!  And the worst part was that he was now also demanding YET ANOTHER freaking hotdog!

A few minutes later we were down on the platform waiting for the train and gobbling down our tasty dogs.  And then it hit me… WE JUST SPENT 40 DOLLARS ON FREAKING HOTDOGS!!

We had a blast at Dennis & Karina’s last night.  I was glad to hear Dennis shares my flaring temper at street noise at ungodly hours of the morning.  Dennis is so cool he even goes so far as to write letters to the county, to the company president and somehow figures out their cell phone numbers!  I need to learn the methods of his madness!

We stayed so late we missed the train that would take us to the last bus to our house so we had to walk from the train station - about a kilometer I think.  Brad was a little tipsy because he kept threatening to perform modern dance the whole way.  Luckily I talked him out of it.  Whew!

Tonight we’re going out with Rikke and hopefully Emilie and Pauline’s boyfriend, Damien.  We can’t get too crazy because we have lots to do around the house tomorrow before the party begins at 3pm. 

Brad and I hung around the house in our pajamas all day.  We’re going into town now to have dinner with Dennis Cleary and his wife Karina.  Dennis and I met in college right before he graduated.  He’s such a great guy who has been back and forth to Denmark during his studies and who has now been working in Denmark for a decade since graduation.  He invited us over for dinner tonight.  I can’t wait to see his apartment in Østerbro.  It’s such a pretty and quiet part of town.