A potpourri, if you will

Paris Marathon Training: Week 7 of 18
Today’s target run: 1 hour, 12 minutes
Today’s completed run: 1 hour, 12 minutes

Nothing major happening around the apartment (or Düsseldorf) this weekend. The next few weeks will be quite busy for the Budman and I, with personal and well as business travel, so we decided to get a few projects done around the apartment and run a lot of overdue errands. So, nothing terribly exciting to report I am sad to admit…just a few tidbits from throughout the day.

* Yes, there are German runners as crazy as me. I passed a number of runners on the running path this Saturday morning at 5:45 am. I also passed my downstairs neighbor coming into the apartment building from a night of partying just as this warmly clad runner was headed out to run.

* We finally found, at long last, the German equivalent to the “US lawn and garden center”. And so, in pouring rain, we selected our balcony plants as we begin the inevitable process of balcony spruce-up. I can hear each of saying, “My word, woman, it is only January!" Still, spring will be here soon enough.” Yes, I know type-A behavior was in full force today (and it was not always a pretty sight as the Budman will attest) but I figured that a year round conifer can always be a good choice…because...well... it is year-round. Additionally, we have been challenged by a friend’s annual ritual for picking a “balcony decorating theme”. No theme selected just yet for our balcony, but we are working on it.

* I did the math…it appears to be cheaper to pitch the old throw rugs and buy new ones at IKEA rather than getting the old ones dry-cleaned in Düsseldorf. The new ones are lovely, but something about “the re-cycler” in me is bothered by this new development and the recurring notion that we live in a throw-away society nags in the back of my brain.

* Get thee to a new hair salon…it appears that the “new guy” burned the side of my hairline when re-doing my color today.

* Recent excitement at the apartment, as one of the neighbors was burglarized on Christmas. So far, no other mishaps; however, after a day of procurement, we drove up to the apartment to see “hooligans” as my next door neighbor calls them going through trash bins, parking their car in our drive space, and really not looking too cool (even though they thought so) smoking a few cigarettes.

* Success at the antique shop today…while no purchases were made, several possibilities exist, including a pair of art-deco bed-side tables (since, sadly, the Turkish tables were not located in Istanbul).

* "Us Yanks" appear to be the only people at the grocery store who bag our groceries at the check-out stand. Everyone else dumps their items back into the metal grocery cart and rolls it out to their cars. It is at this time that they remove everthing from the cart for a second time and put these items into sacks or bags stored in their trunks of their vehicles. We receive strange looks from those behind us in line, but by golly, we get out of the parking lot first.

Now, was that exciting or what!