Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Yesterday I celebrated my 40th birthday.  One of the cool things about turning 40 is that I can now multiply my kids' ages by each other and it equals me.  It will only last for another 20 days or, and then one will be nine.  I wonder--will such an equation happen again?  There's an algebra problem for you. But, since I am not the sum of my children, or neither am I the product of my children, (though they are the product of, well, anyway) . . .I have thought about some other things recently. We have so much.  We had a big cake in celebration and there is lots left over.  We had lots of bottles of wine and sparkling water in the fridge and there are lots left over.  We run the tap to get the water warm and it just goes down the drain.  So much water, and it is all clean.  I am grateful for the sun that shines on us and the rain that poured on us today.  I'm grateful for the time to play and relax, to be busy and learn.  I'm gr...

Stefanie is our new German tutor.  She lives 30 minutes away, but it isn’t a freeway drive, so that is nice.  Instead we drive by farmer’s markets, over train tracks and under huge trees that have been trimmed for years away from the power lines so now they lean precariously over the road.  For the last three weeks we’ve been listening to a book on CD entitled Stowaway .  Sometimes when we arrive I’m wiping the tears from my eyes. On the first day when I asked Elisabeth if I should stay in the room with her she gave me a little push and said, “ Mom , I’ve been to school.”  Her session went by quickly and easily and I thought, “Wow! She knows a lot of German.”  Perhaps it is all about context--now that we are here, it seems like more.  Or perhaps I never gave her enough credit over there.  In any case, she is used to using her German in an academic context,  so this works well for her. Henry’s sessions are a little bit more like a t...

Before we left Hannover she said, “And you really must keep up your blog.  I want to read about your readjustment.  If you don’t write it down right away, you will get used to things, and then forget how it felt to arrive.” Hauling the load from the grocery store She was right.  There were always excuses to not write things down.  First, we didn’t have a computer.  Then we were busy, flying to California, and then New York.  Then when I did try to write, I got so sad, thinking about our last week in Hannover, full of visits to friends’ homes, the kids romping outside with their buddies, parents eating, drinking and laughing together.  I didn’t know it would be this sweet. I remember thinking, as we were preparing to go to Germany, “What am I going to do there?  I don’t ‘love’ Germany.”  I loved the idea of castles and peasants and medieval times, travel, green countryside and snowy mountains, Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.  Ap...

I just realized that I was already logged in to Blogger, and the words were all in English.  It didn't say "Jetzt anmelden" anymore. Someone I had just met last week asked me, "Aren't you just thrilled to be back?"  How to explain in a sentence the mixture of emotions and memories and thoughts within? This container traveled over the ocean: Hannover, Bremerhaven, Port of Houston, The Woodlands We're moved in to our new home.  There's a long story there, but I don't want to rehash it anymore, except to say that in the last couple of months we've had too many moments of realizing that lots and lots of things have gone wrong for us.  We took turns telling each other that it is simply part of the process.  It's a big transition.  But often we really felt besieged.  And frustrated and irritated and wanting to blame someone.  Really most of it wasn't our fault.  But some of it was our fault.  And sometimes there wasn't anyone to...

Things I've learned on the packers' first day: It is customary to give the workers coffee while they are here. Too bad I'm all out of coffee and just got rid of my coffee maker.  I should not try to make jokes in German.  Watching everything get packaged up is easier the second time around.  I'm more relaxed today than I was last week.  There's always more I can find to throw away in my kids' rooms--when they aren't looking.  8 suitcases take up a lot of space.  If you designate a small utility room as a "do not pack" room, you will keep adding to it until it is full.  If you tell your kids they can bring more in their carry-ons because they aren't going on the train, they will fill them so full that they can't carry them. The prospect of a 13 hour travel day makes me not care how heavy the bags are.  The tape rollers make a really squeaky noise.  Seeing my friend's new garden makes me look forward to setting up again, ...

Tomorrow will be the 2 week mark of our re-entry to the U.S.   I would like to be writing more, but in the meantime, here are just a few of my re-entry quandaries: Even the laundry detergent is proud to be American.  I'm finally used to identifying myself when I answer the phone, the German way, but when I answer the phone here as "Stevens" or "This is Laurel" there is always a long pause while the caller orients himself.  Much like I was orienting myself over the last 2 years. I tend to yield to traffic coming from the right. I have at least once opened the freezer door to cool myself off. I crave recycling. When the kids tasted the tap water (Leitungswasser) in the apartment they both exclaimed, "Cool!  The water is sweet!"  Um, glad you think so, kids.  Tastes rather minerally (or worse) to me. I found it is easier to speak German than Pig Latin. I get nervous at restaurants, afraid that they'll bring the check too early and ruin t...

I woke up this morning (Saturday) before 6 AM suddenly remembering "Our internet is being cut off today!"  I nearly jumped out of bed and ran to the computer.  I needed to write.  (and post).  Our computer will be packed up on Monday, so losing these two things brings me right back to where I was in those early days in Celle, except not quite.  I still have my iPhone.  But that brings up the age gap--I just don't see myself blogging from my iPhone.  But who knows.  The need to post our progress might just drive me to it.  Usually, however, it is better if I put a little bit of distance between the actual events and the blog post--it's more fun for you to read. This week has been quite an emotional roller coaster, not so much the nostalgic kind, but the kind of emotion that comes when everything seems to be going wrong.  Most of the problems have to do with leaving this house and getting to the next one.  But we have a lot of good ...