I’ve been battling insomnia for the last several nights & I’m totally losing.  I hate losing at anything, but losing out on sleep just makes me double cranky.  I’m dreading putting my big boys on planes back to the states.  I hate this part of living in Germany.  And this time is even worse than all the other times.  I have no idea when I’ll see them next, both Soren & Christian are heading off to the real world.  To real jobs with real responsibilities…. and only two weeks of vacation a year.  I know better than to think they’ll want to spend all their time off with dear old mom and dad, even if we do live in Germany.

I will really miss the after dinner trampoline time, instituted by Soren for who-knows-why, loved by all.  I will miss my clean kitchen, Christian is fanatical about having it scrubbed tidy 24/7.  I will miss my spider control.  I will miss built-in baby sitters.  I will miss those deep voices, the boy smell, the constant buzzing of my microwave.  I will miss midnight runs for kebap, and abashed phone calls from the train station; “Mom we missed our train.  Again.”  I will miss the smell of paint and modelling glue.  I will miss the yelling when someone cheats at a game, steals the last toaster strudel, or unplugs a laptop.  I will even miss the hum of my nonstop washing machine and the frustration of trying to match 100+ socks, none of which have a mate.

I am thankful for the great memories of this summer.  For the long month I did get to spend with both of them.  I won’t get too sappy, instead I’ll share my two favorite photos of Christian this summer. The bachelor/bachelorette parties in Germany are a full-scale production.  Called Junggesellinnenabschied, they require themed costumes (a special one for the bride/groom, matching coordinating costumes for the bridal party), a vendor tray with mini-liquor bottles, condoms, weird stuff for sale and a scavenger hunt of sorts for the bride/groom to complete.  Summer is, of course, prime season for these and we ran into several while out in the cities. Christian was more than happy to join in and help the brides fullfill their tasks, and ecstatic to pose for pictures:

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