How is my 31 Things list coming along, you ask?

1. Run a race here, either in Hamburg or some other cool place.  I am aiming for my fifth half-marathon and then maybe a couple of a 10K’s.

I am all signed up to run in the TUIFly Hannover Half Marathon on May 3rd.  Anyone joining me?

5. Spend Christmas with my nephew for the first time.

Check.  Our Kugelbahn gift was a total hit.  Awesome!

8. Update my outdated, energy sucking digital camera with something that can let me take decent pictures in lowlight and without gapping for 10 seconds between shots.

Check.  Hello new (to me) Nikon D40!

12. Integrate saunas into my cold weather routine.

Do weekly visits count as a routine?  Last week we even deviated from our routine to check out a smaller sauna, but found that we are pretty comfortable (funnily enough) being around more people at our regular spot.

18. Continue taking German classes at the Goethe Institute in Hamburg.

Just started my newest course last night.  I have been moved up to level C1, which I think might be a stretch (but a good and challenging stretch).  Last night the course was a mix of C1 and C2 students and those fluent C2 people (and the more advanced C1 folks) had me sweating bullets.  I am definitely not there yet.  Don’t get me wrong — I am definitely up for a challenge — but being completely lost doesn’t help anyone!  The teacher is going to split the class in two by next week according to ability, so hopefully I will feel a little more comfortable then.