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olorielSeriously, where is it going so fast?
Meant to make a very short post about how we attended the baptism of my niece in Cologne (my brother's baby daughter) and it was a very nice ceremony (Catholic, because my brother's wife is Catholic and my brother's religious feelings are very much on the agnostic side).
And then I realised I never wrote here about my brother's marriage. Or my sister-in-law's pregnancy. Or the fact that when she (then still being The Girlfriend) revealed her pregnancy, they told everyone they weren't planning to marry because they wanted to do it in secret during their winter holiday in Austria and come back with my brother bearing a new last name, SURPRISE!* only to get cold feet in October - no, not with regards to the marriage, but with regards to the SURPRISE - so they let us in on their plan after all so we could attend the ceremony, if we so desired, which we did.
Never posted about the Wedding/New Year holiday in Austria (well, very barely Austria. Just across the border.) that followed these news. Did you know that in Germany, selling and buying fireworks was officially forbidden even around New Year's, but you were allowed to use up fireworks that are still in your possession? Did you know that in Austria, selling and buying fireworks was officially permitted but you weren't allowed to fire them? (People, as usually, went hog wild.)
Actually I had a whole-ass post to sum up the past year prepared, but never got beyond September and at some point it became too embarrassing to post, even backdated. Now another year has come and almost gone.
Never wrote about the fact that while Baby Ida was expected in the middle of April, she ended up being born on the exact same day as Julian? He took it very well ("I got a little cousin for my birthday!") and keeps stressing that they may have been born on the same day but NOT in the same year. I've always had mixed feelings about sharing a birthday with my grandfather (who, as he aged, put more and more importance on the fact that it was HIS birthday being celebrated on the day itself) but I hope these two will have less trouble with it.
Anyway.
Last Sunday was my niece's baptism and I became one of her godmothers. It was a very nice ceremony with a very cheerful and ecumenically-minded priest who had some very astute things to say with regards to Going To Heaven that probably pissed off his superiors (the Earthly ones. The Heavenly ones, I think, are perfectly fine with it). The dinner afterwards was slightly awkward and uncomfortable because it was at the restaurant belonging to the Veedel's (Colognian town quarter) community centre and said community centre was hosting a Christmas party, so things were crowded, the door kept opening and closing as people were coming and going, and conversation was next to impossible. But on the way back to the car, we ran into a merriment of Santa Clauses on Vespa bikes who showered the kids with candy. Or rather, Julian. Felix didn't find the Santa Clauses trustworthy, so he hurried ahead with Jörg, who also doesn't entirely appreciate Colognian merriment. I sometimes do miss Cologne and its particular brand of irreverence though.
- - -
* My brother loves SURPRISEs. Back in the day he secretly took the driving exam while my parents were on vacation so he could surprise them by being the one to pick them up at the airport. And I only knew that he was getting ready to graduate from university because I got to proofread his master's thesis - our parents only found out when he casually gifted my mum with a copy of the finished thesis for her birthday. In retrospect I should've guessed that their hedging about the marriage question meant they were planning something but didn't want to tell anyone until after the fact. Thomas probably would've kept the baby a secret if babies didn't have a way of showing their growing.
Meant to make a very short post about how we attended the baptism of my niece in Cologne (my brother's baby daughter) and it was a very nice ceremony (Catholic, because my brother's wife is Catholic and my brother's religious feelings are very much on the agnostic side).
And then I realised I never wrote here about my brother's marriage. Or my sister-in-law's pregnancy. Or the fact that when she (then still being The Girlfriend) revealed her pregnancy, they told everyone they weren't planning to marry because they wanted to do it in secret during their winter holiday in Austria and come back with my brother bearing a new last name, SURPRISE!* only to get cold feet in October - no, not with regards to the marriage, but with regards to the SURPRISE - so they let us in on their plan after all so we could attend the ceremony, if we so desired, which we did.
Never posted about the Wedding/New Year holiday in Austria (well, very barely Austria. Just across the border.) that followed these news. Did you know that in Germany, selling and buying fireworks was officially forbidden even around New Year's, but you were allowed to use up fireworks that are still in your possession? Did you know that in Austria, selling and buying fireworks was officially permitted but you weren't allowed to fire them? (People, as usually, went hog wild.)
Actually I had a whole-ass post to sum up the past year prepared, but never got beyond September and at some point it became too embarrassing to post, even backdated. Now another year has come and almost gone.
Never wrote about the fact that while Baby Ida was expected in the middle of April, she ended up being born on the exact same day as Julian? He took it very well ("I got a little cousin for my birthday!") and keeps stressing that they may have been born on the same day but NOT in the same year. I've always had mixed feelings about sharing a birthday with my grandfather (who, as he aged, put more and more importance on the fact that it was HIS birthday being celebrated on the day itself) but I hope these two will have less trouble with it.
Anyway.
Last Sunday was my niece's baptism and I became one of her godmothers. It was a very nice ceremony with a very cheerful and ecumenically-minded priest who had some very astute things to say with regards to Going To Heaven that probably pissed off his superiors (the Earthly ones. The Heavenly ones, I think, are perfectly fine with it). The dinner afterwards was slightly awkward and uncomfortable because it was at the restaurant belonging to the Veedel's (Colognian town quarter) community centre and said community centre was hosting a Christmas party, so things were crowded, the door kept opening and closing as people were coming and going, and conversation was next to impossible. But on the way back to the car, we ran into a merriment of Santa Clauses on Vespa bikes who showered the kids with candy. Or rather, Julian. Felix didn't find the Santa Clauses trustworthy, so he hurried ahead with Jörg, who also doesn't entirely appreciate Colognian merriment. I sometimes do miss Cologne and its particular brand of irreverence though.
- - -
* My brother loves SURPRISEs. Back in the day he secretly took the driving exam while my parents were on vacation so he could surprise them by being the one to pick them up at the airport. And I only knew that he was getting ready to graduate from university because I got to proofread his master's thesis - our parents only found out when he casually gifted my mum with a copy of the finished thesis for her birthday. In retrospect I should've guessed that their hedging about the marriage question meant they were planning something but didn't want to tell anyone until after the fact. Thomas probably would've kept the baby a secret if babies didn't have a way of showing their growing.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-07 11:39 pm (UTC)