Sticky Apple Kisses

I really love this, I think it sums up how a lot of bikers feel, in particualr those of us who leave our jobs for months at a time, or who let our kids ride on back and open up a whole new world for them.  :)  From She Rides A Beemer:

I love this, Tracey rocks.  (She was horrified to find out that we dont celebrate Halloween in Germany and that Santa Claus comes on December 6th and just leaves chocolate in shoes).  In an effort to set the record straight she has created this, which made me smile enough that I had to share it!

"This is for Patrick (in order of appearance):  Valentines Day - give Sherrie pink flowers, chocolate

and a small token of your love

St. Patricks Day- wear green and drink green beer with Sherrie

Easter- give Sherrie a stuffed bunny and lots of chocolate bunnies

Victoria Day (24 May)- go camping and drink with Sherrie

Canada Day- wear Red and drink with Sherrie while watching fireworks

9 August - do whatever Sherrie wants you to

Labour Day - go camping with Sherrie, be sure to roast marshmallows

Thanksgiving- feed Sherrie Turkey

Rememberance Day- wear a poppy and sing In Flanders Field to Sherrie

Christmas- give Sherrie lots of presents from Santa and fill her stocking with chocolate

New Years Eve- get drunk with Sherrie, and countdown from 10 (in ENGLISH)

Did I miss any?? ;o)"

If your a Gypsy reader as well you know that since coming home (German one) I have been finding it difficult to write anything.  Some of you may argue that I didn’t really write much while I was on the road either, but I did, I just put it all up over on my Journizer account.  :P  But now the writers block is spilling over to regular writing as well.  I always write, I may not always share it, but I always enjoy doing it.  But this present article I have been asked to write (which should really just write itself) is not budging. Is it because I write so much about things like bar faucets that I have lost the desire? I seriously doubt it, I see that and I think about my next trip and I just get excited about being able to write about things and get paid for them. You can do that from anywhere. I think its actually because this laptop is not mine. And not that my partner would go snooping, I just hate the idea of writing and someone reading it before its finished. Which then creates writers block, maybe I need to try it on good ol pen and paper again first.

Could it be true?  Could my laptop be evil?  Yesterday I was completely without Internet.    The German boy went off to work with his laptop (normally he leaves it but he was out of the office and needed his own computer) AND I had the day off.  (Do you know that in Germany they get a FALL break??? One week for Fall! And since I no longer work for the franchise school but rather a private business one, most of my groups are off with their children. When 3 out of 4 are missing the classes get canceled. Which also means I sleep in again tomorrow. Wa ha!). But again digressing, without the laptop I spent almost 2 hours going through my German grammar books completing the exercises, I went back to the gym, I managed two loads of laundry, and I have my lessons planned until after Christmas, I even have the photocopying done. Could the computer be an evil influence in my life?????? I have just spent over an hour on Facebook, and I have yet to do any real work today other than teach my class.

I know I mentioned this film before, but I have never embedded it. It shows 10 minutes in Rome and Italy during the war in Bosnia. The majority takes place in Sarajevo. It reminds you just how fast your life can change, but also manages to show how different life in the Balkans was while life in the rest of Europe continued as normal. This has always been the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around while reading about the war. You can drive from the border in Italy to Sarajevo in hours. And now Sarajevo is in the process of rebuilding from the siege and becoming a fashionable Eastern European town.

I have just been bragging about how despite an initial slide into chocolate heaven upon my return I resisted the urge today and PUT DOWN the chocolate bar in my hand. Part if this is also because yesterday I was caught with chocolate and my wallet got a shake down. (When I eat chocolate on a week day I need to put double the price of the bar into the new travel jar.) Before you think the German is just being a German (which partially he is ) it was my idea. He just rejoices in helping with the torture I put myself through. But really it this is just as much inspiration to start saving again for our next trip as much as an effort not to gain the weight back without resorting to pills like Relacore, - and also because my love of Swabian bakeries caused the accident. Well at least in my head it did. When I met Patrick in Argentina I had never even been on a motorcycle in my life. (That I had never been to South America or really knew Patrick that well is besides the point). So when it was evident to me that I was not staying just 2 weeks before trying to find a job in Chile I invested in gear. (The green princess of coolness helmet I had bought before the black gear).

See me all happy in my new gear:

Though the jacket was a little big, the pants were great. WITH knee protection.

Cue Germany with its family sized Milka bars, bee sting cake, and beer with lunch. 15 pounds later those pants no longer fit. Were a tad tight shall we say. And I chose the larger, FREE leather pants from Patricks mom. The ones she never wears. The ones without knee protection.

uh huh

So yes, lets see if this trick works. (It didnt work that well last year, but then I had no interest in avoiding chocolate then. Now that my pants fit me I am all over it). The best thing about my old pants is that they zip off from the sides. Which means I can easily put them on over my work clothes before I go to work and then zip them off in two seconds. So its easy to take Betty to work and still get some riding in, even if its not travel riding.

I was terribly sick all weekend. Tragic really, Plus since returning I have been unable to locate the place of my laptop cable, so I share the computer with Patrick still. I am so sick I havent even fought for laptop supremacy.

BUT, the third episode is now out! A little later than we thought, but be sure to watch the next time clips to see me drop Betty in a spectacular scene of embarrassment. (Janine had said 2 minutes before hand that she thought the bike was awfully big for me).

BUT, I havent dropped the bike since the accident. So thats Istanbul through Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia etc. Thats gotta count for something.

Side note to Alix:  I have been agreeing to anything and everything I like the idea of with a `Hell Yeah!` and no one gets it except for Patrick. I have yet to write it in a note, but still.

Ok back to the topic! As yesterday was our last day of freedom (if a Sunday before a work day could ever be referred to as a day of freedom) we sat down and pulled out the bank and credit card statements from the trip. Now was the moment of truth (or an hour of it). We had planned on 30 dollars a day for our budget to cover our trip. We were back 2 weeks early, but we still wanted to know if we hit our budget. I feared that gas prices in Turkey (at almost 2 Euro a litre) had shattered our budget. When we finished calculating it was 25 Euro a day per person. That was everything spent on the trip and included the accident, (which was the visit, the pain killers, the cleaning, the stitching, the X ray and the after care. Cost - 40 Euros. I cant even claim it on my insurance because its too low) repairing the bikes, food, accommodation, everything! AWESOME.

That does not cover the costs before the trip, such as the bikes themselves, shots (of the immunization kind, TICKS!!!), the motorcycle equivalent to car insurance, (but our regular yearly insurance covered all the countries we visited so no extra cost there, just the yearly one we would have spent with or without the trip), or the down payment for my brothers wedding in Cuba. But I am a happy happy girl at the moment, since the trip cost even less than I thought, and means we can do two bikes for 25 Euros a day each! (and lose 25 pounds while your at it, which has not gone back on despite being a month surrounded by Swiss chocolate or German bakeries). Of course tomorrow is election day in Canada, this mood may not last……..

That is the life for me. My brother, who at the moment works one 24 hour shift before having 3, yes THREE, complete days off, LOVES his job, and is paid to hang out with his friends (and also to run into burning buildings but maybe I could be the person who hooks up the pump???) is now also getting Vegas vacations tossed in. Ok, maybe its not a complete vacation as he is competing in a fireman challenge (he came 10th in the Nationals in Canada, go baby brother!), but as its work related they play with the schedule so that he doesnt have to take vacation time to go to Vegas for a week.

Sniff, I wish I worked one day out of every four. I take back the happiness with work part, must find a way to work less while still getting paid! Ive yet to find somone to give me money just for being me. At least not that does so without compromising my integrity. Blogging was doing it until my rank got taken from me. (I have no problem with paid blogging, its dead easy and at least still pays for entire weekends in places like Barcelona, bring it!).

But I digress as always, my brother loves his job, and thats impressive. And he has an awesome dog.

Ive been told we can get a dog when I no longer want to travel so much and will remain with the dog. Foul play I say!!! So close, and yet so far, since I cant even drive the bike to work without being tempted to just keep on going. (It feels so good to ride Betty, maybe thats why I am happy about work, I get to go for a ride every day still).

I tired to go with we could take a dog on the bike, but we tried with this puppy we tried to rescue on Mt. Olympus

He was all over sitting in Patricks arms:

But as soon as he went into second gear puppy said no more.

We met people traveling with their dogs ON motorcycles, however it would appear that it is really only feasible within the EU.

Being back at work is not as bad as I had thought. In fairness I have only been training in the evenings because I am covering for a trainer how called in sick. My classes wont start until Monday as we had always planned on being back from the trip tomorrow. So next week 8 am courses start, and I may be singing a slightly different tune. But large gaps in between your teaching really helps. I understand why regular highschool teachers get those massive breaks, they would kill someone or themsevles otherwise. Last summer I was suffering from complete burn out, and now I am just a nicer trainer. (The lessons have not changed, but my attitude has).

My gypsy feet are still twitching though. I find myself watching Japanese moives this week, and thinking about living someplace else, just because the world is out there and waiting for me.

A land with Totoro.

What I did not know until topday however (and this is how my brain jumps, work. how nice it would be to go back to Japan, Nikon!) is that Nikon is not just a camera company but there are also Nikon rifle scopes. it makes sense, they are about optics as well as imaging, but for some reason I just never thought of it before.