We napped off and on most of the day on Sunday and it rained all day Monday, so we holed up inside, only venturing out to walk Cody. On Tuesday I had Deutschkurs and regaled Stefanie with stories about our trip to Michigan. She was very interested to hear about John’s meeting and Chrysler's (mostly positive) reaction to the sale, and to see pictures of our house and Rochester. I spent the rest of the week unpacking, doing laundry, and resisting the urge to fall asleep at my desk.
Yesterday I spent some time searching for Katzenpensionen (cat hotels) and found one about twenty minutes away that offers single accommodations, with lots of rave reviews in their guestbook. I sent the owner an e-mail inquiry in German and she confirmed that they have room for Scotty in June. I called today and set up an appointment to visit the place with John this weekend (this may have been my most successful German phone conversation yet!). With any luck, come Saturday, Scotty will have a new home away from home.
Tomorrow and Saturday I’ll be getting the house in order in preparation for my mom’s arrival on Sunday, when we'll drive up to Frankfurt to pick her up at the airport. She’s visiting for two weeks, and we’ll be flying to Rome for a little mother-daughter getaway towards the end of her stay. I plan to take her on day trips around Stuttgart, mostly to some of my favorite places, but maybe we’ll venture out and explore some new spots too – maybe even take the ferry out to the island of Mainau in the Bodensee.
As May comes to an end, so too does our 21st month in Germany. Spring is rapidly turning to summer in Stuttgart – with all the recent rain, the forest outside my window is looking more jungle-like all the time and the gardens of Botnang are overflowing with roses. The question looming now is – how many more months will we have to enjoy the delights of Deutschland? Certainly I can look forward to a summer of traveling and writing; I’m just hoping that selling off furniture and saying goodbye to my friends can be put off until the fall. There's still so much to do and see. I’m immensely pleased that we’re going ahead with our two-week trip to the U.K. at the end of June (particularly after all of the agonizing I have done over our itinerary). If John can stick it out for just a few more months, I’m hoping we will get to fulfill our plans for a driving tour of the Swiss and Italian Alps, as well as a trip to Dresden and Prague. We might even pay a return visit to Rallye Deutschland in the Mosel Valley in August – I still need to take John back to Burg Eltz and get that picture I missed out on last time!
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