Alles goed.

I'll admit it. I wasn't looking forward to a week in Germany, hanging out at the house at night with the kids while the grown-ups went to hang out with the rest of the family. The first two days were misery for me -- dishes, diapers, German television -- despite the celebration of Halloween on Sunday. If I had blogged before Tuesday evening, you wouldn't have been surprised to find me in a U.S. airport by Wednesday.

But then, on Tuesday, in the middle of lipsyncing N*Sync's Bye Bye Bye with Carl and performing the dance I helped him choreograph for the family's annual lipsync competition, I started having a fantastic time. (Even though we didn't win. Even though we had a lice outbreak among the kids on Wednesday that kept us vaccuuming and bagging all fabrics.)

We were in Kirchheim, about five hours from here by car, and it's beautiful. You're going to have to take my word for that. I went on lots of runs and walks, and each time I thought, okay, next time I have to remember the camera. And then I ended up being too busy for walks at all for the last three days, so. No pictures of the area.

But it's beautiful. There are actual hills! I've mentioned before that the Netherlands is a lazy runner's paradise, but it's also boring. At least in the mountains, you have something to dread.

On Thursday night, Opa was too tired to venture out for the daily party, so I got to go in his place instead of going to bed early with the kiddies. The first two hours were pretty dry. There were so many people, and so much Dutch being spoken, that I couldn't really find a strain of conversation to follow without distraction. But eventually I got more focused, and although I didn't contribute in meaningful Dutch ways, I did get the jokes and I had a great time. I also finished a bottle of wine. Couldn't hurt.

Carien and I got to bond a bit. It's funny listening to her make fun of the German language. A Dutch speaker. Making fun of German.

Which, by the way, sounds almost lovely after nine months of the Dutch.

I learned some German words. They include:

saft -- juice
apfel -- apple
wasser -- water

We went on walks. We had a barbecue. We shopped in the nearby town of Hersfeld where I bought clothes that weren't on sale. I played tennis for the first time in my life (minus that time with you, Boy, but I don't think that much counts), and my partner couldn't possibly have been very disappointed in my performance -- I did the good work. Except for my serving, which was a bit of a liability. We won a match, lost a match, and I love that sport. I look good with a raquet. My life needs more tennis. That's all.

The best part? This trip kicked my bad mood, dare I say for good. I feel motivated again. I have such deep affection for this country and its people. I love Carien's giant family. Leaving Europe is going to be a painfully difficult operation.