To pee or not to pee... so what is equation...?

I am sitting here, with an hour to go before I have to get up and I am at my computer...
How pathetic!
The cat (Gaya) peed on my bed... TWICE. Why? I have absolutely no idea. Actually, that is not true, I have some idea. She either
a) does not like the new cat litter
or
b) is pissed off because I wont let her out
but considering, that she has not been "done" yet, I really don't think it would be such a good idea...
Kittens are the last thing I am going to need...
Although they are so cute and cuddly... and then they turn into "on my bed peeing" monsters!!!
Grrrrr....
Oh, I am considering giving the Open University another go. There is a course that starts in October, that I would like to take and I have already talked to a friend (no, not the unreliable one) if she would be my "kick in the bum" person.
A "kick in the bum" person is the one, that gets my a.. in gear when I don't want to. Sort of my very own "animator". She will make sure, that my assignments are handed in on time and that I study and all these sorts of things, which is something she is really good at.
She says, that it also has the added bonus (for her) that she will learn something along the way and actually have a chance when her kids get around to talking about those subjects at school (at a much more diluted level of course).
My oldest and I went shopping yesterday while my youngest was at football practice (she has another game on Friday!). Fist we picked up a new desk for me (because she broke my old one by standing on it...) and then we went grocery shopping. The whole time we were in the shop, we kept talking about her maths homework (I spoke to her in English and she talked back in German which is something that just sort of happens when we are out and about as I have to tell them off on a regular basis because they don't stop pestering me for things they can't have and I rather "reprimand" them in a language people don't usually understand. That way they (my kids) know that what they are doing is not OK (though perfectly normal I know but don't have to feel embarrassed about)
So we were walking though the supermarket and I started to realize, that this woman was following us, so I stopped and asked if I could help her.
She said that she was fascinated by the rapport going on between me and my daughter and also, that she was really interested in how I was explaining the maths questions to her.
Like me, my oldest is a bit on the slow side, when it comes to math problems that are put in a question form.
Give me an equation and I am fine but the questions... (It is a sort of maths dyslexia.)
So I had developed a way to look at these things, that work for me and I am currently passing that on to my daughter.
Turns out, the woman was an American, living in Germany and she has a daughter with learning disabilities. So we swapped numbers.
So Football on Friday, finally! This is the third game this season and the first one my youngest is playing in. I do sometimes think whether or not she might have pulled the shorter straw, being the only girl in the team... But hey, she is in Fridays game and I will be at the sidelines, screaming my head of cheering her on! Oh and NO, I am not one of those horrible parents, that tell their kids to "go ahead and foul this kid" or yell at the referee...
I just seriously embarrass her by being the loudest... :-)
What? Hey, it's payback!!!
OK, my oldest is up and I have to get dressed and re-park my car to where it is actually supposed to be, because I had to get the desk out last night and parked on the spot that is reserved for next doors bakery.

Yes, I do have a bakery next door and they make delicious fresh rolls and bread and pastries fresh every day... :-)

Life? Don't talk to me about life!

My kettle just died on me! Or rather it tried to do a dishwasher and set my flat on fire!!!
I went into the kitchen, to find out what that strange smell was (Déjà-vu) and there it was. Smoldering slowly. I know I had turned it off. Now why did it turn itself back on, cooked all the water away and continued heating? Why would it do such a thing?

Oh, I know:
42

Next thing you know I will have two mice knocking on my door asking for my brain...

Oh well, Simon is coming tomorrow and I am as sick as a dog, can barely speak and make rather strange gurgle noises while trying not to cough while breathing. My nose is red and runny and I, in general, am a complete mess. Yeah me!!!
Again, I am trying to get some sleep (as much as my cold will allow).

Oh and I have a request:
Tomorrow (1st of Feb 2007) at 19.55 until 20.00 CET (Central European Time), please turn off all your electrical appliances and your lights. Give our Planet some well deserved rest!

L'Alliance pour la Planè (group of environmental associations) call upon all citizens: Grant the planet 5 minutes of rest. You are kindly requested to dim all your lights on February 1st, 2007 from 19.55 to 20.00hrs CET. This is not only about saving energy on that day during 5 minutes, but it’s about drawing the attention of the citizens, the media and the political decision-makers on the energy waste problem and on the need to urgently do something about it.

During 5 minutes the planet will be able to take a break. It doesn’t take long and it’s for free. Why do this on February 1st, 2007? Because that day the new report of the climatologic experts of the United Nations is presented in Paris. Please circulate this message as much as possible, duplicate it and send it to local politicians as well. Mentioned it on Internet sites, web-logs, post it to mailing lists, send it to friends and acquaintances. Go tell it on the mountain!

More information (In French): http://www.lalliance.fr

Oscar

I spent an hour on the phone to a complete stranger today!
We are now on first name basis, he invited me and the girls round for coffee and cake tomorrow and I know his life's story, almost all 82 years of it!!
And all of that because I dialled the wrong number.
He is such a sweet man and I think I will call him more often.
Oh isn't it wonderful! The things that happen when you let them.
I have always been fascinated by history! And to hear it first hand is always amazing.
Oscar, that is his name, grew up on a Farm in the Sudetenland (now part of the Czech Republic). During the war his family was forced to leave their lands and came to Germany. On their way here his father was killed, trying to defend some of the few belongings they had been able to take. So Oscar, his mother and 3 younger siblings arrived in Kempten with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They were housed with local farmers, the five of them in one room. They had to help on the farm to earn their keep which of course they did, having had their own farm, and being used to this kind of work. Oscar is a trained cobbler and soon word got around that he made excellent shoes. Back then, he didn't have machines so he made most of it by hand and with the few tools he could get holf of. As it became more and more known, the farmers started to bring him leather and assisted in finding machines for him. He became an institution and to the day, people still bring their shoes, when a heel has fallen off or when they are to tight.
He managed to work enough to support his family and eventually they were able to move into their own apartment. He worked hard all his life and later bought an apartment house. He lives in one of the flats and rents out the others to people who are in difficult situations.
Such a nice, caring old man.

To think, if I had just hung up...