Calm

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At the beginning of this long weekend, I was, as usual, hoping to get lots done and on at least one of the four days to get away somewhere new.  In the end, I did achieve all of the things I wanted except going somewhere new (for two days we didn't leave the flat!) but to be honest, I'm quite glad and here's why.

Every holiday that we have from work ends up being manic.  Whether we are visiting England or receiving visitors here in Germany (and I love both of these things - don't get me wrong).  We don't tend to get enough time for us.

Since moving to Germany, one of the things I miss the most is the half term holidays.  All we get between Christmas and Easter are these two days.  Normally I don't appreciate them enough.  However, having had a successful January with my diet, fitness and reinvention goals, it seems a fitting end to the month to have some calm down time.

I feel ready to go back to work tomorrow and renewed for the new semester.  Of course I am really looking forward to the two and a half week Easter holidays too!

Something New Week #10

Preparation

First attempt

Second attempt

This week I tried falafel for the first time, and not just any falafel - home made falafel made by my favourite chef, Nico!

He's wanted to try this for a while and found a recipe from one of the many books we still have to go through.  Although the recipe involves deep frying, it's actually quite healthy (it didn't hinder my diet anyway) and it is served with a hot salsa dip that even I managed to make!

It also went down a treat at school when Nico made it again for his class' leaving ceremony.  Delicious!  We must try more new recipes!

Whole Foods

One of the discussions on the Reinvention Programme has been following a whole foods diet which I find a compelling idea.  Looking into this, I realised we already do a lot of this as we mainly cook from scratch, live gluten free and have cut a lot of meat out of our diet having seen films such as Forks Over Knives.  However, there are still steps I can take to live more healthily and during the month of January I have put the following steps into practice - 

• cutting out fizzy drinks
• almost cutting out alcohol
• drinking two litres of water per day
• eating brown rice instead of white

I need some new ideas for February and more than anything - some new recipes!

The Saturday Update

It's been an extremely busy week this week.  So much so that my usual productive Friday afternoon turned into a long, much-needed nap.  On Monday, I had a normal day and did a long zumba session after work.  On Tuesday, I worked late with meetings about the reports which went out yesterdays.  This has also meant juggling my mixed year nine and ten groups as we rearranged the sets.  On Wednesday I had a full day followed by my first yoga lesson in eight months (which was great but I am feeling it still now) and then the school concert with Nico which was fun, but another late night, and poor Nico was like a museum exhibit for my pupils - all he heard all night was 'are you Miss Shires' boyfriend?!'.  Thursday was my usual late night but with a nice coffee with the girls and the last lesson for my Easy Conversation course of the semester.  Next week I get a rare Thursday evening off.  As I mentioned, Friday was my usual short day but after washing, cleaning and shopping, I collapsed into bed for a three hour nap.

Anyway, it has all been worth it as I managed to stay on track and keep up with my moving more each day and was rewarded with a 6lb lost which made up for last week's gain and means I have lost 10.5lb this year!  

Now we are at the start of a long weekend of relaxation and looking after ourselves before the long slog to Easter.  Pete has to go to the vet again on Tuesday for his check up so fingers crossed for that!  Also, planning on getting to yoga twice next week as I have eight paid for lessons to make up.  It's a short week at work and no big plans yet.  We'll just see where the week takes us!

Perfect Day

As part of the Reinvention Project we have been asked to write down what our perfect day would look like.  At first this is quite difficult.  I thought of all day spent in bed, all day spent discovering a new city, all day reading a good book... However, the whole point of the programme is to improve your life so I realised I shouldn't be planning my one off perfect day but instead my perfect day in my life, so how my everyday life should be looking.  I found it hard to get too specific but here are the things that definitely make up part of it:

• getting up at around 7.30am (instead of 5.45!)
• having a nice healthy breakfast - maybe a smoothie
• spend the morning teaching or working from home
• have lunch with a friend
• spend the afternoon doing something I enjoy - crafting, yoga, French, walking if the weather is nice
• cook a nice healthy dinner and eat with Nico
• reading in bed before I go to sleep

So I am going to spend some time working on these things.  The last thing is something we have already started doing but I can't say that I have been all that successful this week with one too many late nights.  Time to rectify that now!

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School Concert

Last night so the annual concert at school with three of my classes taking part and a performance from the teachers!

I was a little unsure about going at first because I worked late on Tuesday because of the report meetings and will be working late tonight at the Volkhochschule but in the end I'm glad I did.  Nico came too which was nice for me but even more exciting for the pupils who treat him like a museum exhibit!

The music was good and the best bit is seeing the kids show themselves at their best.  Sometimes it gets really stuck in my head which kids are the 'good' kids and which are the 'not so good' kids and I often forget that I am looking at things from a purely English point of view.  Having the music classes, means they are all extremely talented and last night they did something I could never do - get on stage and sing!

So this morning I'm heading to school very tired, but very proud too.

Mid-week Update!

It's already turning into a pretty mad week this week with the end of term and everything.  Nico worked late on Monday as he had a ton of meetings, I worked late last night with all of the report meetings and tonight we are heading to the school concert in the evening.

The added benefit is that I can finally get to a yoga class as I can go between school and the concert and it's yoga with focus on the back which will be good for me!  I'm not sure I'd make it through the week if it weren't for the promise of a long weekend at the end of it as I am working late as usual tomorrow.

The best thing about the meetings yesterday is that for once, it's not new.  I'm appreciating this being my second year more and more as it goes along.  It's so much easier when I have the shimmer of an idea of what's going on! 

Enjoy the rest of your week - half way there now!

Pete's Day Out

Yesterday, Pete had his first trip to the vet.  We have been worried about him since the end of last week when he started rubbing his bottom on the bedding (yuk!).  So after changing the bedding, and waiting out the weekend, Nico got him booked in and took him yesterday.  It turns out it's not worms (thank goodness) and he just had a little blockage in a gland back there which the vet has unblocked.  

We also found a lump in his throat a while ago and after consulting my favourite vet in England, thought we'd mistaken his chip for a problem.  Unfortunately it's not his chip and the vet wants us to keep an eye on the size of the lump and see him again next week.  So keep everything crossed that it's something and nothing because I'd rather he didn't have to go through an operation!

Finally, I don't want to jinx this but last night and this morning he's been a little angel and not cried at all so I think he must be feeling better.  Sometimes I just wish they had voices so we knew what they were thinking!

A national sport

Being brought up on rugby, one of the first things I noticed on arriving in Germany was that there just aren't rugby clubs here.  In my entire time travelling around Germany, I have seen one...in Hannover.  I even taught a lesson on rugby when I was a teaching assistant in Oldenburg.

This week, rugby has reared its head again in my classroom as I decided to show my adult class the film 'Invictus' in our last session in February.  We often discuss politics anyway, although South Africa has never come up, so I know they'll push themselves to discuss that but I thought it was also nice to put a bit of an English spin on it with the rugby side of things.

So this week, I told them what we would be watching and asked them what they already knew.  Hmmm...

"It's not a sport for gentlemen"

"It's rough"

...

That was it!  So I filled them in a little in that there are two types, the basic scoring system and the no forward passing rule.  They understand offside because of football (which is good because I'm still not sure that I have it down).  I told them, yes it is rough and you would never catch me playing but it is something of a gentlemen's sport because despite the behaviour on the pitch, all the players and supporters generally have a drink and a chat afterwards and there's not the same kind of aggression you find among football fans!

So, after not seeing a rugby game in over eighteen months, I'm quite looking forward to film night!

Pete the wonder cat!

This is Pete, the wonder cat.  This week, for the first time since I started working, I forgot to set my alarm.  Not only has Pete been extra good overnight (for four nights out of five at least) but he woke be up at 5.45 to the second - exactly when my alarm would have gone off!  How weird is that!  What a superstar!

The Late Saturday Update

I know I'm extremely late with the update this week.  I've been putting it off to be honest, feeling a bit down today.  Had a mad hectic week at work which saw me work later on two nights instead of the usual one and plough through a load of marking on Friday but it's done now.  I was also extremely good on my diet.  No alcohol, cut down on snacks and pointed up my meals.  Also did zumba every day except the two when I worked late, and put 2.5lbs on!!  

I'm not giving up though.  I'm going to carry on being good for another week in the hope that this week will catch up with itself then.  I'm especially motivated by the Whole Foods talk on the reinvention programme this week.  Actually, we already do a lot of it but I've gotten some new gluten free recipes out of it and some new tips on ways to be even greener!  Yes - Germany is turning me into a complete hippy.

On the plus side, apart from the long day, open evening was very interesting.  It's a long time since I've done one and it felt good to promote the school and spend time talking with colleagues and finding out more about the system here (yes, stuff I should have been learning last year probably).  I must say though, this year has been much easier than last.  It's the first time I've ever spent two years at the same school and it's been great not having to learn a new system.  (Fingers crossed I won't have to do it again next year, eek.)

Thursday afternoon was also fun.  Had an unexpected dinner date with the other half - always nice.  We also took over Knigge cafe with Loreto and five other women who are all learning German.  It's becoming a weekly group meeting but I think we have to be careful or we'll be getting banned!  It's lovely to be practising my Spanish.  Also, I can't believe this coincidence - a Spanish girl on the German course with Loreto is from the next village along the coast in Spain from my ex-flatmate Mari...and her cousin knows her!  Talk about a small world, six degrees of seperation etc. 

So it's a quiet weekend ready for the last week of the semester and a loooong weekend for the half year holiday next week.  This week I may make it to the school concert, there is the usual Thursday afternoon coffees and at the moment not much else planned - I'll have to see where the week takes me.

A note on the non-negotiables:

My daily non-negotiable for the last two weeks has been to move more which I have on the whole achieved with zumba every day except those where I work late and today.  I'm planning to keep this up.

My weekly non-negotiables from last week completely went to pot.  I didn't make it to yoga.  I do wish they would do regular weekend classes.  I'm not putting on the list for next week because Monday would be the ideal day to go and I'm expecting a call from my French tutor.  So we'll see.  I did do my budget so just waiting for my bills to come in at the end of the month so I can put that into action.  Finally, with the French, I haven't completed the assignment yet as I had forgotten that I have to complete three lessons first but I did the first lesson on Sunday, plan to do one tomorrow and the third next week along with the assignment and, as I said, I have a meeting with the tutor on Monday.  So I'm making progress.

Sherlock

I'm going to quit with the complaining today (it is Friday after all) and tell you about a series I've been completely blown away by this week. 

You know how I hate watching films when I haven't read the book normally and I have to admit that I have never picked up anything by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but because the BBC have put a new spin on the series, I don't think I'll be disappointed when I do get around to it.

The modern take is brilliant.  The episodes are ninety minutes long have great pace and keep the attention of the viewer.  So clear, modern and interesting, I'm thinking of using the DVDs with classes in the future!

Great news to hear that there's going to be a third series

American Psycho

Another 'classic' that I've only just got around to watching - I'm not totally convinced on this one being a classic.  I didn't really enjoy the film and I didn't really 'get' it.  Then Nico and I completely disagreed on the meaning (which according to Google is a common debate).

I thought that it must all be in his head - the only way to explain nobody noticing anything going on and how he gets away with it all.  The other side of the argument is that America or the world has come to the point where someone can get away with such crimes unnoticed.  Both sides interesting but films without clear answers are not really my thing.  At least it wasn't aliens!

Glad I saw it but only in the sense that I can say I've seen it and join in the debate.

Midweek Links

Happy Wednesday!  Don't despair - we're halfway through the week already!

Here are some links I've been checking out lately:

Simon's Cat

Reinvention Programme

Sherlock

Inspiration

Yoga

Zumba

Parlez vous francais?

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Two years ago, in a bid to make myself more employable to schools in England, I embarked upon a new French course with Oxford Open Learning.  The idea was to follow their distance learning A-Level course and sit the exam at the school I was working in at the time.  Last year, it got a little too much for me along side the MA I was studying for so I postponed the course for a year.  I recently received various reminders that my year off was up and I needed to get back to work.  Unfortunately it turns out that I won't be sitting the exam as the dates coincide with my own pupils' exams so I can't take the time off to travel back to England.  I even tried the International School here in Bremen but they only offer the International Baccalaureate.  

Despite all of this, I've decided to finish the course without sitting the exam, just for enjoyment.  I have to say, since taking that pressure off, I've enjoyed it much more already!  I got all my files out on Sunday evening and did a whole lesson in one go, which I've never done before.  Two more lessons to go and I can turn in my next assignment!  Looking forward to it!

27 things - learn to salsa!

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This has been on my Bucket List ever since I lived in Barcelona and learned the very basic step and tried it out on numerous nights out in the city with las chicas.  I have to admit, I haven't joined a class and done this entirely properly...yet.  But I do feel like I have come a long way this week in learning several new salsa moves on my at home zumba course.  It is my favourite section of zumba every time and I can't get enough of it.  Knowing that this is as advanced as I'm going to get before my birthday, I'm ticking it off for now but don't be surprised if a dancing course comes back up on there before I hit the big 3-0.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Yesterday we finally got round to using my cinema vouchers and went to see the new version of The Dragon Tattoo.  I was a little apprehensive.  I'm not totally sold on films made from books, especially by Hollywood.  Plus, I knew that there were already Swedish versions of these films that stuck to the book so was a little curious as to how this version would also be true to the book. 

I was pleasantly surprised.  The film was very loyal to the book and, as far as I could tell, only changed one part of the storyline and that isn't consequential to the whole story.

It's really long - almost three hours and the first time I've ever been to a cinema where they had a break halfway through the feature. 

We both thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and I would recommend it to both fans of the book and film fans too!

The Saturday Update

It's been another busy week getting back into the full swing of things at school and starting the reinvention project.  I have also stuck to cutting out alcohol, most snacks, and moving more and it's paid off because I have lost seven pounds according the scales this week!  I'm amazed but I know that that amount of weight loss isn't sustainable, it's just the jump start I needed with a shock to the system after the excesses of Christmas.  A lot of it this week is thanks to Nico and those lovely smoothies which I've been taking to work for my lunch.  They're nice because they are filling, no fuss and healthy!

I've also been getting into zumba and walking more instead of taking the bus on my way home from work.  I'm loving zumba, the music just takes me back to Barcelona.  It's so fun, it doesn't seem like work and goes by fast.  A habit I'll definitely be keeping up.

We've also been doing well on our reading resolution.  I don't tend to manage an hour but that's because I fall asleep earlier - this just shows how tired I am which is not surprising with the 5.45 starts and the dark mornings and nights.  I'm already feeling more energized with better diet and fitness so hopefully this will continue to build up as Spring arrives and brings the lighter mornings with it!  

My three non-negotiables for next week are things that I didn't get around to this week:

- my next French assignment

- my financial budget

- get to a yoga class!

Also next week, I've got coffee with the girls, open evening at school and this afternoon, a visit to the cinema to see Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in German!

Inspiration

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Zumba Time!

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My Zumba kit arrived on Tuesday so I finally started it last night and I love it already!  The course comes with four DVDs, which contain six Zumba workouts, a book and the shakers.  I read the book on Tuesday and did the basics programme yesterday.  It's really good the way it breaks the steps down for you to learn.  So far my favourites are salsa and calypso.  I'm so glad I get the chance to learn some salsa this way because it's something I've always wanted to do and now it's keeping me fit too.  The Spanish / Latin music is great too, takes me back to Barcelona!  

Today is a pretty mad day for me with my evening classes but I plan to repeat the basics tomorrow!

The Reinvention Programme

The new programme that I am taking part in launched yesterday.  I'm not going to share every tiny detail with you but the first was to evaluate the areas of your life which need to be targetted with the help of a wonderful worksheet thanks to Paige Lysaght.

The targets were no great surprise (health and finances) but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were two areas in which I am completely satisfied - relationship and education.  I know I have a great relationship but despite struggling through most of the last five years to secure my MA (still waiting for those results), I hadn't realised how happy I am with where I am with that (so long as said results go the right way!).

So some happy news for day one of the programme.

Smoothie Time!

Lately, Nico bought a new blender, the old one having broken through overheating.  As usual, he thoroughly investigated the options and invested in a good value one.  So recently, we have been trying out smoothies.  My favourite is:

one banana,

one cup of mixed frozen berries,

one cup of cranberry juice,

delicious and refreshing.

We also had one with bananas, soya milk and a hint of cinnamon, sweet and filling without being full of calories.

Right now, we're off to stock up on fruit from Aldi!

The Return

So Pete's back!

We picked him up yesterday from Nico's Mum's where he had more than made himself at home.  I think she was a little sorry to see him go and if I'm honest, I think he is a little bit sorry to be back.  The flat is not the big exciting territory that the house was and after his two hour journey, he was not impressed at being in the same old place with no exploring to be done.

He's getting cleverer though.  First he learned how to use his Christmas present to get treats for himself and then he was too clever to be tricked into his travel box.  Luckily Nico had invested in a good quality one with a top opening too so that we could get him in another way.  I don't know what we'll do next time if he remembers it.

Since he's been back he's mainly slept but he has come to us for more cuddles than usual, slept in the bed with us without waking us up (which has never happened).  I hope the last bit is a permanent change but as for the rest, I hope he cheers up a bit and gets back to normal soon!

Inspiration

It's been a great start to the new year and I'm feeling very happy, settled and inspired but this video I saw on facebook this week really did inspire me.

Winter Blues

My favourite things about Winter (apart from Christmas and New Year):

• Cosy nights in with Nico, Pete and a good boxset.
• Layers and big warm jumpers.
• Warming soups, teas and mulled wine.
• Feeding the poor freezing ducks.
• Valentine's Day!
• Warm lush baths.
• The fact that Spring is coming!

Holiday Photos Part 2

Gran opening her presents

Gorgeous Lucas

New Years Eve

Lucas with Auntie Christina

First meeting

Lucas with Uncle Nico

The Saturday Update!

Just a short one this week.  You can read my numerous other posts over the last few days to catch up on everything since my last update.  Needless to say, Christmas has taken it's toll on my tummy and the scales but I am trying to be positive and look to the future so the alcohol is gone for the moment, soon to be followed by snacks and sweets having seen my 'before' photos (the only chance of them ever appearing on here is next to some amazing after pictures so if you want to see them...show me some support!)

Today we are picking Pete up from his holiday home a.k.a. Nico's Mum's house.  Next week will be the first full one back at school, Thursday coffee with the girls, Dad's birthday, the start of the Reinvention Project and hopefully I'll squeeze a yoga session in there somewhere!  Have a good one!

Something New Week #9

This week, in an effort to up my aerobic exercise (in line with my newly published New Year's Resolutions) I did this trial Zumba workout via you tube.  I finally see what everyone is raving about - so much so that I just ordered the full starter kit on amazon!  I can't wait for it to arrive to really get going with my workouts at home.  I love the Latin American theme and it also totally fits in with Learning to Salsa on my 27 things list!

Resolutions

I've had a little bit of a late and odd start to the new year with being in England and working an odd two day week.  This means I'm starting my New Year's Resolutions as of Monday when I can get back into a routine.  The only one that I've gotten going so far is the alcohol detox.  (I know it won't last all year but it's part of a bigger plan).  So here they are:

1. Be Healthy (I know, I know, resolutions should be way more specific so let me break it down for you - 

• Detox on alcohol followed by a weekend only rule and sticking to 3 units per day.
• More exercise - walk to healthy every day, build up from one aerobic session per week to three, run the Bremen 10k in Autumn.
• Cut out snacks and make wiser food choices.  If this doesn't lead to weight loss by the end of January, (or if I plateau during the year) rejoin Weightwatchers meetings and start tracking.
• Remove my makeup and follow the three step cleansing routine - EVERY night.
• Use my electric toothbrush to make sure I brush for the full two minutes, twice per day, no excuses!

   2.    Go to bed at 9pm and read for one hour before lights out (this is a joint one with Nico and obviously won't work on a Thursday but really made a difference and helped with the 5.45am alarm calls when we tried it last year before getting back into the habit of late night TV watching).

   3.  Keep doing new things (see my weekly updates and 27 list).

Back to School

Yesterday so the return to school.  At first I was a little down about going back on a Thursday - my longest day as I also have my Volkhochschule lessons in the evening - but once I got there, I was quickly back into the swing of things and enjoying starting with a two day week.  (Which was just as well as I'm shattered already).

Although I have been in teaching four years now, I still start a new term in the misguided hope that the pupils may come back refreshed and ready to learn - this is always quickly quashed when they turn up refreshed and raring to cause havoc - if they turn up at all!  My first class was my 'top' set year nine, or at least the half that could drag themselves away from the chocolate biscuits and new computer games at home.  At least the low numbers meant more progress and a quieter lesson.  Other lessons were of the usual standard and the holidays were very quickly a distant memory.

The best part of the day - apart from getting into bed - was catching up with Loretto after almost a month without seeing her.  She and Ed also had a good break, with more relaxing than we managed.  As usual, her positive attitude rubbed off and I am looking forward to more Thursday coffees with the girls in the new year!

Something New Week #8

My new thing this week was visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with Nico, Mum and Gran (although Gran would rather have been at the Mining Museum).  I've never been to any sculpture park before and although we couldn't explore fully with a pensioner, it was interesting.  The main exhibit was by a Spaniard and had a very international feel to it considering one piece included the English, German, Spanish and French languages!

We also enjoyed a delicious lunch in the restaurant there.  Unfortunately the lifts were out of order but Gran made the most of it by getting to know the employees while being wheeled around the grounds to the top floor restaurant, including where they live and what they eat for lunch.

Pandora!

Another of my favourite Christmas presents was my lovely Pandora bracelet from my Gran, complete with my first charm - a Buddha!  I love it!

Holiday Photos Part 1

Teaching Lucas the piano

Enchanted by the sound of Nico's voice

With his Indiana Jones hat

With the ladies in the family

Why did you let them dress me like this?!

It was all too much

Pre-bedtime fun with Granddad

Spark Out

With my aunts

At Yorkshire Sculpture Park

The exhibit

Making new friends

Chaos

Growing up fast!

Christmas in England.

On the 27th we headed back to England to do the whole process again.  Of course it was different as we didn't have the car to get us about this time so we had to limit what we did but that was good or we wouldn't have felt like we'd had a break at all.  

The biggest highlight for me was meeting my baby nephew Lucas.  He is possibly the most smiley cute baby I have ever met, and the biggest charmer by far.  We took him for his latest set of jabs and though he screamed his head off, he was grinning at the nurse before we left!  So cute!

It was also great to catch up with my Gran. Last time we were back in the Summer, she had just come out of hospital but seeing her this time, you wouldn't have known it.  She's made one hell of a come back from that one!  She was definitely back on form, just wish we could get her onto a plane to come and visit.

We also caught up with some friends which is always great.  No major news on this visit but I really appreciate the effort they make to visit when we are back.

The only touristy thing we did while back was to visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park which was a great morning out and highly recommended.  We also visited my favourite Morley restaurant - Baan Thai - delicious!  

On Monday we hit the sales and I invested in a mini hand luggage case and fit twice as much in as on the outward journey.  (The return journey is a whole other post in itself).  We also had fun trying on hats with Gran, begging in the White Rose Centre and testing various coffee shops down there.  All in all, a fantastic week!  Pics to follow!

Something New Week #7

Of course, my something new this week was doing things the German way at Christmas time.  I've already talked about the differences in Germany at Christmas.  The main one being the different timing, with gifts on Christmas Eve in the evening.

One thing I haven't mentioned until now is what an incredibly lucky girl I am.  It really hits home at this time of year anyway but it did feel extra special this year with a wonderful boyfriend, two Christmas Days with all of our family and seeing our nearest and dearest over the holidays.  

I received so many great presents this year.  Possibly my favourite was my gold buddha statue that has contributed to making our flat even more of a haven for me!  I also got a hell of a lot of books so that I can continue the buying ban well into the new year!  Our flights home were a great present too.  So lucky.

Something New Week #6

Don't worry, I didn't forget about my pledge to myself to try something new each week while on holiday - I just didn't want to spoil the surprise for friends and family who hadn't seen it yet.  

The week before Christmas I tried...a new hair colour!

When I was little, I always had lovely blonde hair but at some point, it turned a mousy brown.  When I first lived in Germany, six years ago, I decided to go back to my childhood and go blonde.  I do think that was pretty brave in itself - having your hair dyed for the first time ever, in a foreign language!  Luckily the hairdresser was brilliant and I got just what I wanted.  I'd kept this up for a long time until I went to a hairdresser here in Bremen a year ago and it didn't look the way it always had, but had cost me as much as ever.  In a bid to develop my budgeting plan last year, I decided to grow the blonde out.

For almost a year I didn't visit the hairdresser.  In the end, it was mainly because it hurt my arm to brush my hair because it had gotten so long that I went to a new hairdresser here in Huchting.  She was a little shocked when I told her how much I wanted cutting off, in fact her nerves made me nervous but in the end, the length was the same as I'd always had it cut.  The only problem after my haircut was how much worse my roots looked, half my hair now being mousy brown and half blonde.  

I decided to have a change.  I decided not only to dye the hair myself (i.e. by Nico) at home, but also to try a whole new colour and go brunette.  My sister has never been worried about changing her hair colour and looks good as a brunette so I wasn't too worried, as we have similar colouring.  It was different, that's for sure but I really like it.  I think it suits me and the roots don't look as bad.  One thing is for sure, 3.49 is a way better price than I was paying for my colour.