'Tis the season for another Christmas letter

Time flies. Which means it is time for our yearly Christmas letter - released for the second time on a triennial basis, recapping every single year since the last edition. Seems like we're on a roll. Are you still with us? If you are, and if you are interested in even more Christmas cheer, make sure to read the inaugural "Catching up on ten years of Christmas letters"

2017 a busy year - in a very fun way

 

Sticks and stones

 

Petra decides to compete in the Bavarian Highland Games (more beer, less whisky). She joins the Crossfit Amberg women’s team, and they get at it pretty good. Rob’s biggest complaint is that they decide to hem their kilts so long, but he agrees to act as photographer the first year, anyhow. Yes, the first year. She has done this multiple times since.

Petra watching her kaber mid-flight.
Stones were lifted, poles were thrown.
Good, times, good times…

Rob spent an unusual amount of time doing field training exercises in 2017. His unit prides itself on staying busy, but does not measure rates of divorce or any other reasonable marker of mental stability. Toward the end of the year he finally has time to take part in his unit’s Spur Ride. That is where we get the term “earning your spurs” from. It involves 48 hours of very little sleep (he loves sleep so much), about 30 miles of rucking with a 60 pound pack and a bunch of other crap strapped to him. For the first time in many, many years, he gets yelled at and forced to do push-ups and various other exercises until he gets really irritated. He is, he insists, too old for this shit. At the end he gets his spurs, a stress fracture in his foot, and some minor bragging rights.

Rob is a sucker for shiny things

He spends an exorbitant amount of time
working on his makeup,
as his Regimental Commander
is super into dress up.

The pair sees a couple of visitors this year, some of whom only Petra sees (see “Rob’s Regimental Commander is super into dress up” above). It is great being in Europe, as you can say fun things like, “why don’t we just meet up in Prague or Salzburg. They are both lovely this time of year.” It also creates the possibility to get friends into lederhosen, what Rob calls his party pants, for some “party, party”. Uh, ok, that got a little weird. Anyhow, it was nice to have friends visit.

They try a camper

Portugal: The rental van, the fitness regimen, being cool, and food!

They get a camper

Croatia: Their own van, the hikes, the food!

They learn more about beer

Lifecycle management:
from harvesting hops to earning a beer drinking certificate.

2018 - New skillzzzz and boozzzzzy trips

 

A trip to Scotland in early January

Whisky, wind, walking cows and a wee bit of fear
of driving on the "other side"

Petra continues a decade of mild obsession with exercise. She pushes, pulls, jumps and runs, and just seems to have a grand time doing it. She finally does something that she has struggled with for years: She gets a muscle up. This is mighty impressive to Rob, but also to all of the screaming ladies in the gym when it finally happens. It would be time for a short foray into an important topic here. Crossfitters are pretty obsessive about their chosen method of achieving fitness. They are a community, not just a group of people who exercise. So when somebody hits a milestone (e.g. a personal record on the squat or deadlift, or something as wickedly difficult as a muscle up [look it up. Even if you don’t care, the video you find will likely have somebody attractive in it]), the entire building usually goes nuts. Say what you want about their cult-like obsession and willingness to talk about it, but people supporting each other to be stronger and healthier is just cool. Now get out and lift some shit up!

The crowd roared
(that dude is not the crowd.
Most of them are behind the person taking the photo)

Rob reads an article about self-sufficiency, and promptly goes a little crazy. For those of you who are unfamiliar, he likes to describe his life philosophy so: He does not like to collect things, he likes to collect skills. If he does not know how to do something, especially if it is useful, it bugs him. So he sets a goal to reconnect with old, atrophying skills, or to learn new ones, but they need to address basic human needs. He starts brewing again, gets serious in the kitchen, attempts to fix things by himself, whenever possible, and lastly, gets a German hunting license. Through dumb luck he links in with some local hunters, and pretty quickly starts hunting with, let’s just say, fervor. Petra now has a steady source of wild protein, and Rob, respecting German hunting traditions, buys a funny hat for any group hunts.

“Just stand here with the gun,
and when the pigs run out of the cornfield
past you, shoot them.”
The vest is because 10 other people all around
have the same orders.
The nervous look is because wild pigs
are like ATVs with knives sticking out of their faces.

Admittedly, the German hunting hat doesn’t look silly compared to this one. And it is not all about shooting things. Sometimes, it is about fixin’

 

Champagne, France

“I drink Champagne when I'm happy and when I'm sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am.
Otherwise, I never touch it -- unless I'm thirsty.”
― Lily Bollinger House of Bollinger Champagne

A pilgrimage to the Trappist monks

Of the eleven recognized breweries run by
Trappist monks in the world, six of them
are dotted across Belgium. We visited four, and drank
some of the "so-called" best beer in the world:
Westvleteren 12 - google it.

And on to Normandy...

 

...to see the D-Day landing beaches (and drink some cidre).

The day the music died:

Petra’s dad, who possessed one of the prettiest, loudest voices Rob has ever heard on an amateur, dies in May. A huge hole is left where that big voice and the big man that went along with used to be. They all try and sing a little louder at all of the parties and holidays, but some empty spaces need to be appreciated, and left as they are.

Booboo takes up making crop circles (sort of)

And now for a brief ode to Booboo, his unusual behaviors, and general cuteness. At some point in 2018 he takes up rearranging objects to his liking, usually in an effort to create bedding. He doesn’t always make a comfortable bed, but he begins to express his creativity, nonetheless. He also starts to do really cute things, which makes the smell a little more bearable. He shows only brief moments of being an old man. He still follows Petra and Rob up and down the stairs most trips, but whenever they use the stairs excessively, he delays for a moment and moans, somewhat irritated, then begins his trip. He also looks around, obviously a little eyesight challenged, during walks, and then trots off in the opposite direction when called. Petra thinks it is just him being a sweet old boy, and Rob thinks he is just being an asshole of a terrier again.

Nobody is sure how this makes
sleeping more comfortable,
but Booboo realizes that you must
suffer for your art.

Booboo attempts another across-species love affair, this time in Norway. Pretty froggy for 14 (he is only 13 here, though).

There are so many uncomfortable bed pics, so here is a collage of a few

Admittedly, that last one
looks pretty airy and comfortable...

Petra picks up another new skill. She learns how to "scrum". She is still at the same company, and has the chance to take on the role of product owner while they transform their e-commerce department to work agile. She meets some cool new people and loves working with her team. She really embraces the idea of "people over processes" and spends most of her working days looking for memes to entertain her developers.

Scrum team meetings are fun

Meeting old friends in 2018

 

Petra's French exchange student from 7th grade,
 fellow intern and roommate from LA,
UCLA buddies

2019 - lines in the sand

Local Art - Oberpfalz style

In case you can’t read that, somebody scraped “Jen’s Penis” in 10 foot letters on the back of a large hill that overlooks one of the hunting areas Rob uses on occasion. Either Jens is very proud of his penis, or somebody who knows him is a huge fan. While Petra and Rob, because of their general tendency towards hoping that the world is a happy place, hope for the latter, it seems very likely that Jens is simply proud of his wiener. They suppose that that, in its own way, can make the world a better place, at least if he keeps his displays harmless, and only uses the mentioned member when appropriate. Stay on the straight and narrow, Jens.

Booboo is not the only one in the family who suffers for his art. 

That broken nose is from the latest Highland games. Luckily, there was no need for Rob to set it, but he was ready for the call, and Petra was ready to tell him to get the hell away from her. She still believes it was just bruised.

Man, that work thing really dominates the year

Petra spends the first three months of the year with a nagging sense of stress. She leads the team that is responsible for integrating all aspects of a website launch for her company. There are lots of moving parts, and she is the go to person for complaints from every displeased department. The departments that are happy seem not to recall that she is also the go to for compliments and encouragement, but that's ok... she supposes. It is not really a big deal if her team screws this up, because the site, at least only the German site, serves [REDACTED] people per day (she demands this number be removed, because I guess she is the fucking government now). It’s not Amazon or anything, because then she would likely have adequate staffing. Sorry, she might have been whining a little there for a second. It goes off with only minor delays and salvageable glitches, and she is now ready for the vacation part of the year.

This sums up Petra’s pre-launch mood. No big deal, it was only 25% of the year

Rob is finally forced to accept some responsibility. The baby finally arrives (oh, now we have your attention). It is not a baby, but he is now a clinic chief and regional consultant for 5 Army PT clinics across Bavaria. The change actually occurs in summer ‘18, but early in the new year is where he starts hitting his stride. He approaches the entire endeavor with a certain intensity (shocker), and becomes even more comfortable with the idea that he is not there to make everybody happy. His first major project is to assist the people who shared the building with the physical therapy clinic that pets -and this next part is not, sadly, in the least a joke- are not allowed in medical buildings. While some, mainly those who think that bring your dog to work day applies to patient care areas, are not completely pleased with his style, others enjoy things like rules and standards. While he is sure he is called a puppy hater by a few people, he brings the house into a certain order. While most of his high school teachers would not believe this (god, is he still obsessed with their negative opinions of him 31 years later), he systematically applies his leadership philosophy to solving issues there: Care enough to make change when needed, pay enough attention to notice when change is needed, and do not fear conflict when it is necessary. One of the German employees -not one with a dog at work- once told him that his is an unloved child (kein geliebtes Kind. Sounds better in German) but that he is exactly what the place needs (this is one of the nicest things anybody has ever said to him, believe it or not). She says this on a day that he is thinking of drying his tears by banging his head on the wall -oh god, he...is...so...dramatic sometimes- and it recharges his batteries enough to get him up and going again.

Rob gets selected for Major. He will become a Major next summer, unless he screws something up. He prefers not to tempt the fates by discussing it further.

This sums up Rob’s mood at all times. No big deal, as it is just 100% of every year.

Regaining some sanity

They get out for a little fun in the sun in May. They take a trip through France and Italy, with a focus on a couple of excellent wine regions. Fun in the sun is a bit tricky at first, as there is a freak spring snowstorm that had the pair’s first two days looking more like a walk through a winter wonderland. This eases quickly, and they get to hiking, biking, kayaking and wine drinking. Well, they were on wine drinking from day one. The camper proves its supreme usefulness, and they are able to cover a wide range while taking in the sites.

Is this spring already?

They get another long trip in, this time to Norway. The word fjord should really be said like a spring being released. All together now: Fjord! The place is crazy beautiful, and as words don’t really get to the heart of the matter, here are a couple pics:

And also in 2019 they met up with some old friends

They close the year out is Petra’s home town, as is their tradition. They feel fortunate to be together, healthy, and to have many friends and family members among their loved ones. They sum up their life with a quote from an unlikely source:

“My life is dope, and I do dope shit” 
-Kanye West

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year