My Mama is a bad blogger, so I'm taking over! News from Heshe!

So, as you all know, I've been baking at 98.6 for the last 8 months. Where does the time go? Well, I'll tell you, its getting quite cramped up in here...no room to spin and move like I had before and I'm getting a little tired of it. The only bright side is that its totally warm and cozy and Mama eats some pretty good things, so until I have to drink only MILK, I'll stay for a while. Anyway..

Last week, I tried to have a photoshoot with the funny speaking Dr, but from what I can understand from Mommy, the "freaking snow" was so bad that she couldn't get to the office. I don't know what snow is, but it sounds bad? So, we got to go in the car with Papa today and thats always fun because he likes to take the corners wide and makes Mamas' belly move and it always puts me to sleep...love Daddy!

So, Mama gets checked in, gives the girl the stuff that I bounce on(pee in a cup), and gets her BP checked. Its perfect 122/82! We've had a little sugar issue, so she has to give us shots to make sure that we have the right levels. We don't like this so much, but I guess its necessary. Mama isn't putting on much weight at all, its just ME that is growing, I guess, and thats a good thing. Now she lays down...oh thank God! More room for me to move...and now this hard thing is moving over my room....I can hear them talking about how big I am...like I'm not even here!? How rude. ;-) Anyway, I then decide to shut them all up and turn a little and give them a little show...I hear Mama say "Oh my...is that..?" and the Dr said "yes, that is the face!"...I think she started to cry, I heard Papa giggle and then I got all warm...I like it when that happens...I think it means that she's happy. So, a little while later, I did it again, and yep...the warm feeling came back...she's so easy to please!

So, I guess I'm doing great in here...Mama is doing fine out there...and Papa keeps saying "Deliver!'...Not sure what that means, but Mama giggles and says that she's going to keep me in here for a while longer.

I hope to see some or all of you at some point and I'll catch up with you in a few weeks when they need to take more pictures of me...

Love to you all,
Mama, Papa and Heshe(that's me!)

I'm a horrible blogger..

So...you'd think that since I was off of school for a whole month that I'd blog every day, right?  Well, truthfully, nothing all that interesting happened during my break, and I'd rather not post anything than bore you all to tears.  "You all" gives the impression that there are a LOT of you reading and waiting on bated breath for my next update, which is a little narcississtic(I always have to say that word out loud 4x because it just seems like there are too many "s" in it...) but I'm hopeful.  Anyway...now I'm back in school, but only 2x a week, so I figured I'd better get off my pregnant hiney and write something or all 6 of you might just "unfollow" me.  I'm going to just write about random things and thoughts so it might be a little disjointed, but try to keep up.  Here goes..

So, I'm at the grocery store the other day, and I sent my husband in for a couple things while I waited in the car.  I can be lazy like that, but seriously, it doesn't take TWO of us to get milk and celery(ok..he came out with beer, milk, celery, chips, ice cream and some other stuff).  So, I'm sitting there and the parking garage is right up against a pedestrian walkway and beyond that, there is the train station.  Sometimes you can see some shady characters sitting on the benches, but for the most part, they keep to themselves.  However..on this sunny day a man walks past our car, across the grass and the path, and goes stand close to the very high hedges seperating the walkway and the next parking lot.  He then proceeds to urinate.  Oh yes....whips out the Johnson and goes.  Broad daylight, busy section of town, and does his business.  I sat there with my mouth hanging open and was stunned.  He zips up. and nonchalantly walks away.  I couldn't help but think "why didn't he just go into the store and use the bathroom there?".  I've used the restrooms at the market and they are quite nice, so I was confused as to why he wouldn't use them.  My husband came out and I was appalled by what I saw and he was like "well, yeah, I guess he had to go".  WTH?  He then proceeds to tell me a story about his buddys' Father who, while working out in his own garden, would walk across the street to pee in the neighbors hedges.  WTH??!?!!?!?  While he's telling me this, and we are driving home...I see ANOTHER man peeing in the bushes!  I just had to stop talking right there, because this was just way too much for me to handle.  I know as women, we are not made with the right equipement to just go anywhere when we have to, we just have to hold it or go where there is a lot more privacy to get ourselves arranged just right so we don't pee down our legs or in our panties.  The injustice of that bothers me sometimes, especially when I see someones' name in the snow;  I wish sometimes I could do that, too.    Does anyone else with this?

So....I think I married a closet geek.  I don't have much against geeks per se, but never thought my sexy stud husband might actually BE one.  Actually he's quite cool and suave, even when he says silly words that he makes up like "motorbicle" or when he makes fun of my love of country music.  Yes, darling, they ARE speaking/singing in English!!!  Anyway....why I think he's a geek.  Months back, we got this fancy new iMac, and while its great, super quick and pretty, I only use it for surfing, watching some American tv shows and email.  My husband can kill HOURS at this thing by "updating" stuff and "computing".  Does he look at porn?  Occasionally.  Does he play those farming games?  Oh yes...Belong to any forums?  You betcha!  But, more than likely while he's doing all of these things, he's updating something or adding some function, etc.  I told him that all this updating better be useful and not just some excuse for him to sit in front of the screen for hours at a time.  He assures me it is, so I go with it.  Computer aside,  now he has a new facet to his geekiness:  The Hurdy Gurdy.  What is a Hurdy Gurdy, you might ask:  Here it is:

The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy (also known as a wheel fiddle) is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents (small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of the strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic string instruments, it has a sound board to make the vibration of the strings audible.

He became fascinated with this instrument some months ago and last weekend there was a weekend-long seminar on it in Wiesbaden.  He sent me a text that said "Welcome to Nerdtown!!  If you think I'm a geek, you should be HERE!".  I'm not quite sure what he THOUGHT the other people would be like, but I KNEW what he would run into,and I was not surprised.   He was King of Nerdtown for the weekend, and he's now hooked on it.  He's got another lesson in a few weeks and he and Anna are going to another weekend seminar in March.  I'll be home with a newborn who needs to eat every couple hours, or I'd be going too.  Saved by the baby!!  ;-)

So....I'm fresh off a recent appointment at the OB, and everything is great.  Baby is now too big to fit on one U/S pic, so I got 4 of them; feet, legs belly and head.  Everything with Heshe is great and she's moving around like crazy, which is a crazy feeling to have something moving like that in your belly.  Crazy in a good way, though. and its a reminder that the baby is growing and continuing to move toward February.  I'm doing great, blood pressure is perfect, no sugar in urine, and weight is the same as it was in August.  Pregnancy metabolism is amazing...I recommend it to anyone!  I go back in a few weeks for my Rh shot, and then have to have my 1 hr glucose test for my 28th week test.  Then, two weeks later I go for my exam and beyond that, its a visit every 2 weeks as we are getting down to the wire.  Its now officially less than a 100 days til Heshe comes and we just got a stroller!  Here is my babys' cool new ride:

Its a Maxi-Cosi Mila stroller with the car seat to match and fixed base that locks into the car so we don't have to fiddle with seat belts!  We got a great deal on it because the color "Olive Oil" is not popular, and since we can buy new inlays for the seat if wanted, we went with it.  Ironically, it matches the car perfectly:

No, we didn't buy to match, it just happened to match!

So, now Heshe can come home from the hospital. She might be naked as we have yet to buy any clothes or other things, but she can come home!  And speaking of...Heshe is feeling a little cramped up, telling me that its time to go and get into bed, so I'll say goodnight for now.  Hope you enjoyed the ramblings of my life....

Just stuff...creativity lacking and boredom abound..

So.. I got a message from one of my "fans" asking if I was still doing my blog.  I had to giggle because its been a little boring around here lately and I am not really one to write about nothing.  I mean, if I were that type of creative person, I'd be rich like the creater of Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm, right?  BTW, love both of those shows.  So, here I am, and I'll add my disclaimer now:  Be prepared to be bored, its really about nothing.

So, I finished my Deutsch language class last week and it was a little bittersweet.  I think for a  lot of "expatriots", these classes are more of a social outlet than a learning tool as some of the "students" are there just because they are forced to be there, not because they want to learn the language and be "integrated".  I HAD to take it because Germany said I had to in order to live here, but I also want to learn the language to be able to live a little more independently and not have to depend on my husband to translate constantly.  Trust me, the first time I was able to order my OWN meal in a restaurant, I giggled like a schoolgirl.  Yeah, doesn't take much to thrill me...ha ha.   So, the language portion of the course is finished, now I have a 4 week break and have an Orientierens course starting mid November.  It will teach me all about German culture, politics and other aspects of living in Germany.  I wish I didn't have to take it, but I can't take the state mandated exam without it, so I'll be there.  I'll also be 7 months pregnant when its done, so that should be fun.  I'm hoping to take my exam mid December, but if I can't. I'll have to take it in later January.  8 months pregnant and taking a test....oh joy....maybe they'll take pity on the pregnant woman...ha ha..I doubt it.   Here were my classmates:

The class was comprised of 1 American, 1 Irish girl, 2 Turks, 1 Chinesisch, 1 Banglo, 1 Moroccan, 1 Lebanese, 1 Polanisch, 3 Russisch, 1 Irani, 1 Romanisch,  and 1 Ethiopisch.  Quite the United Nations, huh?

So, now I've got all this free time, well for the next month anyway, and what am I gonna do?  Well, I have to keep up on my German, so I will be doing some exercises every day just to stay fresh.  yay.  I suppose I could reorganize things...but I don't really have the room to do it, so things will stay where they are for now. Hm...I suppose I can read more...Jeez..its gonna be a long month!

So, some of you might have read the recent baby update on Facebook, so I won't repeat it here.  Suffice to say that both Heshe and I are doing fabulously well and I'm grateful for not having any complications as of yet.  I'm committed to proving not only medical professionals but everyone else that a fat woman, seriously fat, can have a healthy and uncompromised pregnancy.  I've always said that living this large is not for everyone, and I don't think its the healthiest lifestyle, but I've also always worked on BEING healthy at my size, and so far its paid off.  Can it last forever?  Likely not, so I'll do what I can to be healthier at whatever size I am. Anyway...my friend Sarah said that she(maybe not YOU) wants to hear gory details about the pregnancy.  If you DON'T, stop reading...but it seriously won't get too bad, I promise.

What is UP with constipation???  I'm serious...I'm in HELL because I can't seem to move much of anything without bathroom time cutting into my sleeping time.  I sit and I sit and I SIT, and whatever is expelled, IF it is expelled, is so NOT what needs to exit that its frustrating as hell. So, I try to eat more fiber...veggies...fruits...drink more water....NOTHING.  Then, when I least expect it, when I am somewhere that isn't exactly "expulsion friendly", I can't get seated quick enough.  Then I sound like I'm having wayyyyyy to much fun because as we all know, nothing feels as good as when you can get THAT kind of relief.  So, yesterday at the OB, he sees my discomfort in sitting up from the table because my pelvic ligaments are on fire lately and he prescribes me some Magnesium tablets to help be a natural relaxer for the muscles.  They will also help with the leg cramps too.  Then he goes on to say, which I had to have translated by my husband, that they will likely cause loose stools.  I say "OH, THANK GOD!!".  Now, let me tell you this;  my Dr. is not German, he is Pakistani but speaks German but speaks no English and he understood what I said PERFECTLY.  He then said that if they got too loose and frequent, to just stop taking the pills for a day or so.  Right now, I want to take them by the HANDFUL!  I'll let you know how everything comes out...ha ha...That was for YOU, Sarah!

So...on to a brighter, less poop filled topic...my adorable nephews!  Some years ago, my brother Jason managed to find a great girl who for some reason found him irresistable and married him.  Naw...I love my brother and he is a good kid, so I am slightly exaggerating when I say that.  Anyway...they have gone on to procreate TWICE and I was lucky enough to be able to meet ONE of my nephews about 4 months after he was born:

I can't even TELL you how hard I cried when I had to leave him, I was only there a few hours...but luckily for me, my brother and SIL keep Auntie Sissy alive and he knows who I am for sure...thank you both!   So, that pic was taken at 4 months....and here is the latest one...with a fancy new haircut:\

I swear, if he gets any cuter I don't know what I'll do.  Tell me he's not the most handsome little fella on the planet?  Yeah, I'm biased...;-)


Then along comes Carter....who by all accounts is the exact OPPOSITE of Dylan...I have yet to get to meet my little one...which is heartbreaking any way you look at it, but again, I hope that he'll know who Auntie Sissy is when I DO get to hold my lil one...here is my dark haired boy:

I'm told that he adores his big brother and they do nothing but laugh and giggle together.  I tell him Mom that will last a couple more years and then the beatings will begin!  Recent antics had Dylan putting Carter into the entertainment center and closing the door and laughing...oh, and thats just the beginning,I'm sure!  Recent "sharing" of a blue marker:

Right now, pics are all I have but hoping to get to my boys soon..Auntie Sissy loves you both very much!

So.., there you  have it...just some blog filler to brighten your day.  I hope you enjoy it, and hopefully something funny will happen soon!

My husband hates his "new size"

So, when we we out shopping the other day at one of our local food stores, my husband wandered off to "look at some shit".  Yeah, I've Americanized him enough so that he now says "and shit" after quite a bit of things.  Actually, its not really my doing, its Jay from Clerks II's fault.  You know, that part where he says "I wish I had done more with my life than stand outside places and sell weed.  Maybe I'll be an animal doctor. Yeah.  I like seals and shit!"  Its one of our favorite movies, and we quote from it all the time.  So, anyway...back to the story..

So, he's checking out his stuff, and I come up behind him and ask him what he's looking at.  I find that he's looking at these pullover sweater type things and he says that they are  "not too bad".  I said, "well, for the price, you should totally get one. You need another sweater".  He does, so I wasn't just stroking him.  Then he says "naw, they only have XXL's".  Ha ha..being a girl, I know that not all sizes are what they SAY they are on the tag, so I said "why don't you just try one on"...he's like "NO...I'm NOT an XXL".  I said "would you just try it on, not all sizes run the same and this might FIT like a Large".  Yeah, even I don't believe that one, but he tried it on.  It was PERFECT.  So, I told him it was fantastic, looked great and he should get it.  He says "The sleeves are too long". They might have hit his knuckles, but barely.  So, I asked the couple walking by "Does this sweater fit him?" The woman looks and said "Yep"...her husband?  "Sure does"...MY mature husband growled at them...! So I asked him if he was going to get it, and he said "No".  I then asked him if he was not buying it simply because of the size thing, and he said "no...I don't really like it after all".  Yeah, it was ALL about the size issue, the big baby.

The fact of the matter is, is that my husband has somehow found some of the weight that I've lost since we've gotten married.  I think he looks wonderful, and tell him on a daily basis, but he's SOOOO conscious about it that I feel a little bad.  However, you can't take the German out of a German man, so the next time he cracks a beer with his schnitzel, I'll lean over and pat his beer/schnitzel belly and tell him I love him.  I then will get the "double whammy"....two middle fingers, straight up, with a devil grin on his sexy face(oh yeah,complete with dimples)...

Goodness....I've got to stop talking about him...he's adorable...belly or not! ;-)

Question:  Do any of you NOT buy something simply because its "not your size?"

A Tribute to my teacher...

So, today at my Deutsch class was the last day of my favorite teacher, Eva.  I've been taking this course since December of last year, and have had now 6 different instructors.  For each "section" of the course, the week is split between two teachers, hence the 6 different people.  I have to say, all have been good...all have spoken English so that when I had that deer in the headlights look, they translate in English so that I can understand.  In previous classes, both teachers have been equally talented with no real differences in style.  Until June.  In this last module, these teachers are DRASTICALLY different in style, and its a sad day when my Eva is gone.  She is Hungarian by birth, and has been teaching Deutsch for 12 years.  She really loves this language and it certainly shows in her teaching style.  She is young, fun, a mom, and has a way of getting to know her students on a more personal level and I am thankful for her help through this course as I would have never gotten this far had it not been for her.  I am now able to speak, read and understand what I've read, listen more clearly and better yet, WRITE in a language that 10 months ago was completely foreign to me.  To say that I'm on my way to being a bilingual adult is true, and I have her to thank.  She and I, together with my new Irish girlfriend Tracy have become friends and for us "Auslanders" (Tracy and I, both not from Germany), to make a new friend is very important to us.  We laughed to day, we cried today and in the end left with no sadness of losing her, but of gaining "Mama Eva".  Who couldn't use another Mom??

Ich liebe dich, Eva.  Gottseidank für alles hilf und lieb.  Wir treffen yu Haus gleich!

I'm a football girl...deal with it..

So, I just got home from school and as part of my way to decompress I watch a little American TV.  I've gotten into Dancing With The Stars and I'm horribly addicted to Glee, so I pull up the recent episodes online that people have graciously uploaded for my viewing pleasure.  Thank GOD for them, because I'd probably go crazy if I didn't have at least a LITTLE "normal" TV.  That means television that I can understand..aka...not in Deutsch.

So, I'm watching who got kicked off DWTS....no real shocker that Margaret Cho got the boot, but I'd hoped she would stay around because I dig her as a comedienne.  And, I still think that The Situation(really?  He's no situation, thats for sure) is far worse than she was, but whatever.  Then I watched last nights' episode of Glee and cried like a baby almost the whole way through it.  Yeah, it was a tearjerker, but these days with my hormones up and down, I could step on an ant and sob like a child who got her ice cream taken away.  Oh hell, I cry as an ADULT if you take my ice cream away!  Anyway..I digress...

So, while I'm watching my shows, I am scanning the news on msnbc.com and I see a story about Randy Moss possibly being traded BACK to the Minnesota Vikings.  Some of you might know, or not know, but I was born and raised in MN and The Purple People Eaters are in my blood.  Good, bad, so so...its all good..I adore them.  Even in what I call the "black years"...Les Steckle...Tommy Kramer.....pretty much the entire decade of the 80's was very rough for my Vikes, but I always stood by them.  And, I will tell you, there isn't a year that goes by, no matter where I've lived, that I find someone random that is a Vikings fan.  LOVE IT when that happens...makes me believe that there ARE good people out there after all..ha ha

Anyway...so I read the teaser about it saying that it is "in the works"...then I do more investigation and PFT says that there is "no confirmed information" that the trade is going to take place.  So then, what do I do?  Do I go to NFL.com?  PFT.com? Minnesotavikings.com?  Nope....I go to Facebook where I see a family member posting that it is confirmed and not exactly done yet.  THERE!  Validation!  Is is messed up that I calmed my nerves by reading it on FB?  Yeah, probably, but it did give me more time to go back to msnbc.com and there is was:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/10/06/report-moss-deal-is-done/?related=1

We got him!

You can go and read it yourself, but looks like the Prodigal Son is coming back home.  Am I happy?  Well, between him and Brett, I'm hoping they can work some magic and give a SB win to Brett on what WILL be his last year playing, and finally bring the Lombardi trophy to MN, where we've ALMOST won it FOUR TIMES, but have yet to actually have it in the MN borders.  Fingers crossed...

So, there you have it...I'm a football chick...;-)

Welcome to my blog...

So, I had a blog on another site years ago.  I obviously kept up with it, because now I'm here, starting another one. ;-)  I don't really read many blogs, one consistantly from a classmage of mine(Hail, Sarah!@ So...What else?) and her blog is one of the funniest things I read in a day.  So, I decided to give my husband a break and share my silly stories about my daily activities with someone, ANYONE other than him.  He's a little tired of hearing my "so I had this f'd up dream last night..." stories...

So, this is the first installment, and I cannot promise to be here every day, but I will certainly try.  You'll probably find me ranting about stupid people, complaining about how hard it is to learn German at 39 years old....how my pregnancy is going (and sometimes a little too much information about that.  I'll try to keep it G-rated!) , and general stuff that happens to me. I certainly welcome comments, but if you think my blog sucks, move along and don't read it and don't leave a nasty comment.  All that will do is make me sad, and then I'll blog about YOUR sorry ass and link people to your email so that THEY can torment YOU.

This is Virgil aka Big Fattie.  When we moved to Germany a year ago, he weighed in at about 20lbs.  Hell, he was an apartment kitty and loves his food(like his Mama)!  Now, he goes outside when he wants to, chases mice(and then brings them home to give them to Mama) and has become this sleek new feline at about 16lbs.  He is my baby, for now, and quite the Mama's boy...you can tell he thinks he's better than all others by the way he sits there, paws crossed with a look of superiority on his face.  He thinks this blog is a good idea, too, because it means that I'm at the computer, and he's got more room on the bed to stretch out. Brat.

Speaking of beds, I'm about done with sitting here.  The baby(who I will refer to as Heshe as we don't know if we are having a boy or a girl yet) is making it very apparently that it wants more room..so I'm going to go and crowd Fattie on the bed.

We'll talk to you all again soon.  You all?  I don't even have any readers yet.  Well...you know what I mean.