Things that make you go "hmmm".....

There are things that you read that make emotions well up inside you and make you pause and think. I am a step-mom. I am physically unable to have children. I always wanted to be a mother but God had a different plan for me and while I do not understand it I do accept the path He laid before me.

Right now I have quite a few friends that are pregnant as well as my sister-in-law. Seems these things always happen in groups just like all the weddings I will be attending this summer.

With that being said, I read this I wondered what I would do in a similar situation? How do you live knowing that the newly created life you carry will end almost as soon as it begins? Being Catholic I was raised to believe abortion is murder; however, there are some parts of Catholic doctrine that I do not fully agree with (but that is a post for a different day). This just made me sad and made me hurt for the poor families; however, I respect the hell out of their decision if that is what was best for them. Who am I to judge what is the most healing for them?

It was just something that made me think....

A meme on Good Friday

Before I begin my little meme, I wanted to take a moment and wish all three of my readers a very joyous Easter. This is my favorite holiday and I am looking forward to spending it with my family.

Without further adieu, here we go…

Here is how it works:

You take each line and replace it with a single word of your choosing. Yes, just one word!!

Afterward, tag seven folks...

You're feeling: tired
To your left: telephone
On your mind: finances
Last meal included: rice
You sometimes find it hard to: sleep
The weather: nice
Something you have a collections of: shoes
A smell that cheers you up: coffee
A smell that can ruin your mood: garbage
How long since you last shaved: days
The current state of your hair: curly
The largest item on your desk right now (besides computer): scanner
Your skill with chopsticks: decent
Which section you head to first in the bookstore: classics
And after that?: fiction
Something you are craving: seafood
Your general thoughts on the presidential race: scary
How many times have you been hospitalized this year: nada
A favorite place to go for quiet time: tub
You've always secretly thought you'd be a good: teacher
Something that freaks you out a little: cockroaches
Something you've eaten too much of lately: Chinese
You have never: kayaked
You never want to: bungee

I am tagging the following:

Newscoma
Ginger
Megan
Linda
Saucygrrl
Ron
Jag

Same time last year....

At this time last year I had the good fortune to go to Hamburg, Germany to finally meet my husband’s parents. It is still hard for me to believe it has been a year since our adventure. I was waxing nostalgic and decided to give you a little tour of what we did while we were there. Enjoy…


This is my in-law's home. It is quaint and cozy. It is not the home my German grew up in; however, it is on the same road.



Prosit! This is my German and me toasting. We are at a nice restaurant we found on a side trip to Berlin. Excellent food, excellent bier and excellent company as Ambie and the Chef joined us on this excursion.



While in Berlin we did A LOT of walking and "touristy" things... Here I am touching part of what is left of the wall. It was electric to me to touch such a thing...



This is my favorite photo of the entire trip. It is of Brandenburger Tor otherwise known as the Brandenburg Gate.



This is my German and me. This is from St. Patty's day. We are enjoying Celtic music, wonderful food and incredible bier.



This is just a lovely building in Bergedorf. Bergedorf is a suburb of Hamburg and is the largest area near the village my German was raised in.



Here I am catching a little lip action with my German. We are about to enter a courtyard of a castle in Bergedorf. If you click here you will see a bit more about Bergedorf and the Schloss Bergedorf where the photo was taken.



This is my German and I on our last full day in Germany. Unbeknownst to us, my mother-in-law arranged for us as well as Ambie and the Chef to have our wedding vows renewed. She did this in part because she was unable to attend either of our weddings.



Two or three times a year, there is a huge carnival in Hamburg. There are rides, souvenier stands and scrumptious goodies (not to mention bier, gluhwein and many other tasty libations). The food at this is nothing like carnival food here.... No corn dogs and funnel cakes... Instead there are brats, potatoes, yummy pork, crepes, and too many other things to mention for fear of my waistline expanding.



This is a Hummel, the water carrier. These guys are all over the place and we photographed ourselves with as many as we saw. When you see him, you are supposed to say "Hummel, Hummel" and he would reply "Mors, Mors".



Here we are kicking back in an eis cafe (ice cream parlor). We are sitting in a spot where a photo was taken of the arcade style of this shopping center. The photo I am speaking of is in a book about Hamburg that my German brought with him when he moved to the U.S. eleven years ago. I would look at the photo and say "I want to go there". So he brought me



This is the inside of a beautiful church in Bergedorf. Schwester, my German's baby sister, actually got married in this place!! It was built in the 1400's... Awesome!



There was a rule about food whilst in Germany. Thank goodness I am an adventurous eater or I would have been shit outta luck.... This is me kissing the head of a smoked eel. That was the tastiest thing I had while I was there (except for bier, duh!). I am kissing it to thank it for giving the ultimate sacrifice for my dining pleasure. I won't go into detail about the couple of things I would never eat again because it will just make me gag. Suffice it to say, they were quite nasty and I would be fine to never have them again.



My trip down memory lane is complete. Thanks for tagging along!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

This year I will be celebrating by going to work, coming home and either watching a little TV or playing games on the lap top. However, last year I was in Hamburg for St. Patty’s. We started the day off at 6:00a at the Fischmarkt. This is a huge weekly event every Sunday at the Hamburg harbour. Here is a photo of the Fischmarkt main hall. There are several food booths. There are people either still drinking beer or starting their day with beer… There is music… The song that sticks out for me is “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Even though I was tired, I did the dance (and no, I was not drinking…. Yet…..)




The drinking happened later in the evening when we went to a restaurant in an old water tower. We listened to Celtic music and imbibed... Here I am with the German's baby sister toasting a little St. Patty's day cheer...



So today's celebration pales in comparison... But it is all good!

WTF?????

So my German is working a show for his company. It is a huge show that has over 1500 vendors and he is in charge of the crew for his company. He has been working 12-16hour days for the past three weeks without a day off. He is exhausted but happy as he is a work horse and thrives under that type of situation. His work ethic is phenomenal to say the very least. The company mein Deutscher works for is, ironically, a German based company (go figure). He is employed by the North American headquarters. The home office is located close to the Frankfurt/Cologne area.

With that being said, he was approached by someone from the German-based operations regarding what he is doing here in the good ole U.S. of A. That person wants him to consider doing the same thing for the international company. Did I mention that this would probably base him out of the Frankfurt office???

Gentle reader, if you have been following me for any length of time you know that I attempted German lessons and failed miserably. I have no aptitude for the Germanic language. I perpetually sound as though I have a hair ball when trying to enunciate the few words I know. How in the hell would I be able to live in country where I can not speak the language? Furthermore, how would I survive being seven time zones away from my parents? Hell, I am only seven miles away from them right now and that is fine by me. I don't know what I would do to have that much distance between us. I am an only child and have an incredible relationship with them. Their health has been an issue for the past couple of years and I do not think I could handle being separated from them by the Atlantic.

I am at a loss. I am confused and frightened by the entire prospect. It is a huge compliment to my husband that the efforts he puts forth have been recognized on a very high level. I appreciate that and love him all the more for it. However, what about me?! I love visiting Germany but to live there? I am making lists of pros and cons. I am thinking. I spent an hour with Daddy this morning discussing this. I am praying. Lord knows I need His divine guidance.

Back in the saddle again....

I survived week one of back to work after all the time off with mono. I can tell you one thing though; it certainly was a L – O – N – G week!!!! It was quite the rude awakening when the alarm would buzz at 5:45a (pun intended). Thankfully I get off from work at 4:00 so I could get home at a decent hour and prepare for the next day. It also gave me some quality time with the oh, so neglected kitty. It was weird to be sitting at a desk and not have her curled up in a ball on my lap. I quickly got used to that constant companionship while I was home. She was a good nurse maid.

My biggest issue in my absence was with the temp who was at my desk. By all accounts she is a very nice person; however, she did a little rearranging of my desk that disturbed me. She did wash my water glass and coffee cup which was kind; however, I am still looking for my German dictionary.... Gives me something to do I guess....

I miss being home in some ways though I am grateful to be back in the saddle and interacting with other human beings. One of the things I miss the most is sitting at the lap top playing Bejeweled 2. It got to be such a bad addiction that I would even hear the music in my head when not playing... Very sad indeed...

One week down, many more to follow.... The mortgage ain't gonna pay itself!

I wish I could have....

In no particular order, here are some things I wish I could have done while being out of work with mono...

1. Pedicure
2. Hair cut & color
3. Cleaned the bathroom
4. Give Scout a bath
5. Organize the desk
6. Study my German lessons
7. Organized my DVD collection

But alas, I was too damned tired to do any of it!

Nervous Nellie

I am getting nervous... For the first time since February 19th I am going back to work on Monday. I still have mono but it is much less than it was. I am still tired but not as badly as I was before.

I am not nervous about actually working. What I am worried about is getting over-tired and having to depend upon my parents for too much... Like food, laundry and cleaning the house. I mean I am less than a month away from turning 42 and having to have my parents help with some basic needs is a bit embarrassing.

I am looking forward to returning to the office and having some interaction with other living beings besides Scout... No offense to her but you know what I mean. It will be a bit strange sitting at a computer and not having her beached on my lap. She is a good lap warmer to say the least. However, I have only been out of the house a few times since the 19th. Three trips to see the doctor, one time to get cat litter and one outing for cat food. Other than that I have relied on my parents to do anything else I need.

Wish me luck...

Klutzy Klinde

As you may recall my adventures of woman vs. toilet I am a klutz. Total klutz! I once tripped over a painted line, seriously!

I have had another run in, this time it was not with my head against the toilet, thankfully. This time I got my ass kicked by a cardboard box! No, I am not kidding. I was getting ready for bed and reached to turn off the lamp by the desk. I lost my footing and came down hard while creating a 4.5 inch gash directly above my left hip bone. You know how much a papercut can hurt? Well try to imagine what the corner of a damned box is like! It is at such an angle that I can not photograph it myself. It is so bad that I am bruised to boot.

I am pitiful.