ok, as promised, it was a hazy day but if you look closely, you can still make out a bit of africa in the distance to the left and the geat continent of europe (spain) on the right. we were standing on the rock of gibraltar, which is technically britain, and also the very spot where timothy dalton walked as 007 in "living daylights." now if that ain't vacation . . .

this was my new friend carl. we met on gibraltar, but it was a short-lived relationship. i refused to give him any sugar.

se�or pepe peep, our faithful traveling companion on spring break, enjoying a little sun.

se�or peep climbing the rock of gibraltar.

these are the two ladies responsible for our beautiful vacation in spain. thanks, guys! we had such an incredible time. they each received a mr. pepe peep tshirt for inviting us to accompany them.

our feet on the mediterranean shore.

gena and her camel. watch out -- they spit.

a stop for coffee. this was our second attempt at photographing ourselves. this one's better.

it was holy week, and in spain that's a big deal. every town has its own parade with elaborate floats dedicated to the memory of Jesus' final moments. this parade was in malaga in a reach-over-the-maddening-crowd kind of way.

some of the soldiers in the parade.

hannah is my first student on wednesdays at Sitzenkirch, and is quite the loose cannon . . . as you can see here. she also speaks french, but sometimes we talk in our own made-up language.

brooklyn was my first student at Sitzenkirch (the elementary school) on mondays. she looked like this every week -- big smile, mischievous look in her eye. i had to get her off the playground during lunchtime for her lessons, and i think she may have "not heard me calling" a time or two. :) she got through half of her Bastien level two books this year and did an amazing job of improving her playing from memory. that girl gets a lot done when she puts her mind to it!

peggy, the violin teacher, and i played for the staff appreciation dinner this year. they had the most beauuuuuuuuutiful steinway grand at the hall we rented, so of course i had to give it a whirl after the dinner as well. gena and whitney thought this was the perfect photo opportunity. i just like those guys...

fasching was earlier this spring, and is a pretty big deal in this area. this is a view out one of our skylight windows. there's a little band gathered around the fountain, and if you look closely, you'll see people dressed up in furry costumes as well. those crazy germans.

nobody would play mad libs with me at beth's bday party.

clockwise around table from left: whitney, micah, sharri, julia (nice face!), and heather (she belongs to micah)

clockwise from left: me, Chrissy, Chris (behind my big head), beth, heather, sharri.

i found this little record player earlier this year, and designated myself DJ for dave & beth's bye party. it was our first use of the little porch we discovered two months ago.

my roommate gena was head girls soccer coach this year, and her girls gave her this huge chocolate soccer ball as a thank you present. it's nice living with the coach, especially when you get to eat smashed chocolate soccer balls.

dave and beth have been such a fun part of this first year in kandern. beth and i led our small group of sophomores together, and saw each other on mondays and wednesdays when i taught at the elementary school. we both like newberry medal award-winning books (madeleine' l'engle's wrinkle in time is on that list) and took up felting together -- her felting skills have really taken off, however, and her credits include a nativity scene and a cat-head cat toy for edwina. dave likes to borrow my simpsons and laugh with me at my birthday season of seinfeld. :) it's just been really nice to have dave and beth as friends. i'm going to miss them terribly next year as they move back to the chicago area.

they came in contact! we'll miss you, dave & beth!

there they are -- the graduates of 06!

football fever is going strong

so here we are today -- cleaning