Can You Believe It Has Been A Month Already?!?!

"We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life ...  I plan on having parties when I’m 30. I plan on having fun when I’m old. Any notion of THE BEST years comes from clichéd “should haves...” “if I’d...” “wish I’d...” -  Marina Keegan

Here I made a countdown until I leave Germany, right now, I honestly can't wait until it's over (though I will miss the bread, the beer, and the sense of adventure it's giving me.) Give it some time though and I know my thoughts will change. Today is yet another day in the exciting life in Paderborn, Germany. Honestly, I'm still quite lonely, but I think that just means I need to go on an adventure after work today! Right?!

This morning was tough, even though I was up until 11:30 PM reading a book after I finally finished my long post from last night, I woke this morning at 5:10 AM, uhg... I just laid there, staring at the ceiling and waiting for the sound of my alarm. I gave up at 5:40 AM and got out of bed. Showering and getting ready is really easy for me so at 5:50 AM, I was ready to go... With nowhere to go. Of course, I went on Tumblr to read some blogs and look at some photos then, reluctantly, I left the apartment at 6:30 AM.

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I got downstairs to my bike and while putting my headphones into my iPod and then into my ears, Roman walked out of the building behind me. He greeted me warmly and began asking about my weekend, he's the one who invited me to the swimming pool last week. We talked for a bit about my weekend in Frankfurt and he informed me that he had a boring weekend at home. He offered me a ride to work, but at this rate, I was going to be early enough. I said good bye and rode off down the street. Once in Schloß Neuhaus, I stopped for a coffee and an "apfel tasche", kind of like and apple fritter. Heavenly!

Work this morning went well, I think I'm nearly done with the project I'm working on too. Though in the afternoon, I decided to add a bunch of new information, so it may take a few more days. It's always good to look at the data from a different point of view. For lunch, I had brought a yogurt and everyone was doing their own thing anyways, so I stayed in and worked through lunch. That meant that I could leave at 3:30 PM, nearly an eight and a half hour day I think, so, good. I only really need seven hours a day.

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I left work and stopped at the bank. I got the android phone but I had yet to change my number with the bank. Since I need the text messages from the bank to make transactions online, and I need to pay rent soon, I thought it would be a good idea to get it settled. I also returned the other phone to Patrick over the weekend so it wasn't going to work without. After changing the number and signing some paperwork (holy bureaucracy!) I left and sent in search of some Nutella, yeah, mine's all gone. I wound up in a few stores but couldn't find any! Man! While in a Rossmann store, I remembered my conversation with Marc on Monday night and picked up a bottle of red wine for him. I don't know much about wine, but this one sounded delicious and fruity. I asked if I could pay him for the ride and he said no, wine would be fine. I suppose a bit of an inside joke between us now.

I stopped in a few more stores on my way home and even in a bike shop. The let pedal on the bike is squeaky as all get out and it's annoying and embarrassing. Couldn't find any WD40 though, man. I'm so out of my element here. I stopped at the Kaufmart on the way home and bought an avocado, some potatoes, butter, and of course some yogurt. Why can't I find nutella? I was racing home when I decided to take a detour. I saw a street named "Von-der-Reck-Straße" and thought it was a sign that if I went down it, I would get in a "wreck", stupid me, I went down the next street and was suddenly hurdled into construction cones and I hit a tree. Ouch! My upper thigh has a welt and a bruise, my left knee is bruised (in one of the most sensitive places since surgery) and my right ankle has a gash in it on the back. Wow, Gabi. Embarrassing. Luckily, no one saw me and I walked off with slightly more than a bruise to my pride.

In this image, the large white building are where I work with the plant attached. Von-der-Reck-Straße is at point A.

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I finally made it home and just wanted to crawl into bed but decided to take the wine to Marc. I don't think he was expecting it, honestly, but he was happy. I told him about my catastrophe and he just started cracking up ... to my face! He said he wished he could have seen it! The nerve. I started laughing too though, it was contagious. I limped back to my room and just laid there. My whole body hurts. I went to cook dinner a bit later and Marc walked past the kitchen on his way into town. A smile lit his face as, surely, he's still replaying my failure in his head. He said goodbye and quickly ran back to remind me to have a good night and that I should probably just walk anywhere for the rest of the night. Cracking up, he ran downstairs. Boys!

After dinner, some pasta, I came back to my room and began writing. But as of right now, sitting in this chair is killing me and I just want to crawl into bed and read some more of this book. Hopefully I'm not in this much pain tomorrow for work. I even took pain medication, I haven't done that in a while! Well, wish me luck!