Fido...Rover....Nicki

Last week Greg and I went to a party, (I know...hard to believe right?) and as we enter the house I realize there are a few people I don't know.  Having ridden the coat tails of  a professional sales guy for over 15 years now, who knows everyones name and becomes the life of every party I courageously set off to introduce myself to those I don't know.  First gentleman I come across I extend my hand and say, "Hi, my name is Nicki."  He responds with the customary, "Nice to meet you, my name is (can't remember, just not as good as Greg about the actual remembering the name part)."  I then walk up to the next group, an American man on my left and a German woman on my right.  I again say, "Hi, I'm Nicki", the German woman responds with her name.  I believe I've met her before and tell her so.  She responds with, "What's your last name?"  I tell her and then say to both the man and the woman.  "It's just easier to remember Nicki.  I'm usually the only one.  There aren't a lot of Nickis' in the world."  The German woman responds, "Yes, it's usually a dog's name."  At this point I have no appropriate response.  She truly meant no harm but unfortunately the Germans don't really have a filter as to what comes out of their mouths some times.  I've been told about their Herpes, their rectal problems/disfunctions and the last time they had sex as though it were casual conversation.  Having lived here only 8 months I still haven't come up with an appropriate response.  I think for this woman I'll just say....."Bless her heart."

No Soup For You!

We all remember the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld right?  Well we live with those people every day.  Last month we all loaded in the car for an adventure up the Rhein and decided to stop in Rüdesheim for a snack.  Garrett wanted ice cream so we sit at the tables outside of the ice cream counter and Garrett orders two scoops on a waffle cone, Brittany and I order coffee drinks and Greg tells the waitress that he would also like two scoops of vanilla on a waffle cone.  She says to Greg, "No".  We thought maybe she didn't understand so we reiterated in German that Greg would like the same thing as Garrett.  She again told him, "No".  We asked why and were told that Garrett could have a cone at the table because he was a kid but if Greg wanted ice cream at the table then it needed to be in a bowl, cones are only ordered at the counter.  So you know what Greg said,  and then he got up, walked the three feet to the counter and ordered his ice cream cone.  I mumbled under my breath, "No soup for you!"

This week Carrie and I go out to lunch and it's a warm sunny day (very unheard of here most of the time) and we ask for iced tea.  The waiter of course says, "No".  So instead we tell him.  Okay, we'll have a cup of tea and a glass of ice.  If we want it that way then it's okay so he brought us our tea and a glass of ice.

Moral of the story:  A Spoon Can Only Be A Spoon.