Let's see how far we've come...

So this year was very eventful, with mostly ups but a few downs. The highlights:

• In January we had a house warming (a year after moving in!) - we opened up all the bottles of Champagne (the real stuff so of which was $50+ a bottle) we had accumulated over the past 6 years; there's no point in saving it and it was a big hit. We also made gumbo and served a bunch of finger foods as well. One of neighbors even brought along a mini-keg of beer so we had quite a selection.
• In March, I had my contract as grade 9 year head renewed for two more years. I really love the position although it also makes my work life a lot busier.
• In April, one of our friends from graduate school came to visit; she and a friend had decided to take a one-week tour of Holland & Germany to see some friends and so we got to have a BBQ in our backyard. The weather was nice enough to oblige which is something you can't really count on here in Germany in April.
• In May our basement flooded thanks to a storm-cell that stalled right over our village: We ended up with about 6" of water in the basement which wasn't bad considering some of our neighbors ended up with more than 3 feet! We were quite lucky but the water did ruin the carpet and created one hell of a mess which took weeks to clean up.
• Also in May MiLK played at I.S.D.'s International Festival; we sounded great. Really.
• In June school wrapped up for the year. The year ended on a very low note because the college admissions secretary, Margit Ostrowski, died very suddenly and unexpectedly. Margit was a curmudgeon with a heart of gold. She also was a critical cog in the high school's daily life. I truly will miss her.  Once school was finished I set to work on tiling the basement which had been left with nothing but a concrete floor. Of course all that work ended up aggravating my CTS and that lead to the surgery in October... At the end of June we spent two weeks in the Netherlands on the island of Texel. A colleague and her family were also on the island for the first week and then some other friends came to visit us during the second, so we certainly weren't lonely. This year we ended up with really great weather which made the whole experience much better than 2007.
• Niklas turned 6 in June; Sigrid turned 34.
• In July we flew to the US for two weeks. During that time I went to my 15-year college reunion (I had a great time). Otherwise we spent most of the time just relaxing at my dad's camp as well as using the very high exchange rate to our advantage.
• In August, Niklas and I started school again. He repeated Prep again this year and though Sigrid & I were nervous about the decision it's turned out to be a very wise one: Niklas is much more confident and also at the head of his class. He also fits in much better size-wise: He's no longer the shortest kid in the class.  This year marks my 6th at the school and my 3rd as the grade 9 year head.
• In September I went off to Switzerland for the G9 class trip (my 6th year in a row for that too). This year we managed to hike the highest of the peaks on the route which meant I ended up at 2576m.
• In October we spent some time in Belgium. I also got to go to Spiel in Essen which was a lot of fun.
• Timothy turned one in December.

And that brings us up to date.

I spend a lot of time on my other blog talking about my hobbies but I figured I should point out a couple of great games that are accessible to anyone:

Last Night on Earth - this is a zombie board game along the lines of Night of the Living Dead.  It's a ton of fun to play, especially if you've seen a zombie movie sometime in your life.

Ticket to Ride - Easy to learn but lots of strategy once you get the hang of the game. Even Niklas can play this with a few modifications to the rules (if you decide to play this with younger kids, let me know and I'll tell you how we modified the rules so he could compete against adults).

Nowadays I do a lot of my "reading" via audio books since I listen to them in the car when commuting (Niklas & I listen to kids' books on the way to and from school each day), as well as in the evening while I'm up to other activities. However, I also have gotten through a few novels along with a number of graphic novels in 2008.

Here are my favorites of the year:

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner- this is non-fiction which is even more disturbing. It's a very interesting read.

Duma Key  by Stephen King - I really enjoyed this book; King's writing has gotten more mature over the last couple decades, part of which is that he can finally write a satisfying, though depressing, ending.

Fables by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham - these are collections of a long-running adult comic book.  All I can say is "Wow."  I love the story; it's very original and yet based on very familiar characters and themes.  I've finished up through vol. 6 and already have 7-9 on order from Amazon.

The Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Ok, so this came out 22 years ago and I've been living under a rock. However, it's freaking awesome in a very twisted way. Time Magazine named it one of the best 100 English books a while back and it's won quite a few awards including the Hugo Award. This is another adult comic, and while about costumed heroes, it's not your typical super-hero story. The movie will probably suck so read the comic first.

Foundling by D.M. Cornish - Niklas and I listen to the audio book and really enjoyed it. It's fantasy but not in the traditional sense. 

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi - Niklas loves these and I have really enjoyed them as well.

So, rather try and write some huge post about everything that went on this year I figured I'd break up my reflection on 2008 in to short bite sized pieces. Let's start with music.

I don't buy a huge amount of music anymore - I don't listen to a lot of radio and so exposure to what's new, what's cool, or even what's been released by a favorite band is hard to keep up with.  I probably bought about a dozen albums in 2008 but my top three choices are:

Album #1
Chase This Light by Jimmy Eat World:  I've been a big fan of Jimmy for the last 7 years or so and this is by far their best album.  I also got to see them live back in the spring of 2008 and they put on a great show.



Album #2
One Cell in the Sea by A Fine Frenzy - I mentioned about seeing them back in November. This is a really good band; the lead singer has a great voice and the music is soothing without being boring. She reminds me kind of Tori Amos without quite the weirdness factor.



Album #3
Turbo Ocho by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers - This is an album that came out of a marathon eight-day recording session in Mexico. I love almost everything that Clyne puts out and this is no exception. The DVD, which details the making of the album, is also very entertaining.