Thursday, April 30, 2009

Drama, drama, drama

Last night and this morning were busy. At school today, we had our volunteer luncheon. The staff at my school cooks and we put our potluck out for the volunteer reception. It's always a successful event. Of course, DH was out of town and I had to prepare a lunch entree while the 3-year-old was running around.

I made barbecue pulled pork in the crock pot. It smelled awfully good, so I was really looking forward to lunch, because the staff also gets to eat from the luncheon table.

This morning, I loaded my CSA vegetable box, the buns for the barbecue, the crock pot filled with pork, my purse, my school satchel, a jacket, Mark's water cup, and oh yeah, my child. I thought I had it all together.

I talked to my sister on my way to school, dropped Mark off, and went to school. I got the crock pot in, got the vegetable box in, unpacked the buns, and discovered that I needed to find an extension cord. Then I was buzzed by the office that my day care was on the phone. Never a good sign.

Mark had put a rock up his nose. Way up. I needed to pick him up and take him to the doctor.

I raced around, posted sub plans on my chalkboard, and ran out within 15 minutes of getting the call. I picked him up and his voice sounded nasal to me. As I sat in the waiting room, I looked up his nose and saw the rock.

When the doctor saw him, the ped. thought that my child might have to go to an Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist to get it removed. The doctor tried anyway. He used a small tool twice, had the nurse and I held him two different ways. Once the doctor repositioned it, he blocked Mark's other nostril and had Mark blow. The rock went shooting across the room.

As I prepared to go, the doctor told me that Mark was very lucky. He said that most times when an object is that far up the nasal cavity, it has to be surgically removed.

Whew.

Another try

Take two on the link. Thanks, E!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Check it out...

New post at my other blog. I'll describe why gardening has now ruined a Stephen King movie that I used to adore.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Unintentional teasing

We're back from Germany. I am so glad that I'm no longer having to rack my brain to get my needs met in a different language.

DH went out of town right after we returned. (The workplace was frantically emailing our home account while we were still on vacation to get his trip lined up. He's blessed with job security.)

Mark and I came home together. I saw a rabbit. (I must explain that the bunnies are my nemesis at this time of year. The cute bunnies do a number on the lettuce that I'm growing.)

I let Mark out of his carseat and invited him to go after it, saying, "Go get the bunny, Mark."

My three year old went tearing after the rabbit. Yes, the rabbit took off. The ball of fluff was soon hidden in the woods that surround our house.

As Mark returned to the garage, he said to himself, "My bunny left. No more bunny. My bunny is gone." It was then that I realized that he thought that if he caught the bunny, that he had a new pet. He thought he missed out because he was too slow.

Poor guy.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Germany... with an American Twist

There's just something comforting about your native language. While I always flirt with the idea of attempting to speak a foreign language when I'm visiting a foreign country, I always get in a situation where I feel... stupid.

Therefore, I've been saying, "Ich spreche kein Deutsch. Sprechen-sie Englisch?" a lot since I've arrived. (My apologies to the Germans for not spelling things correctly.)

On the other hand, it's comforting to be able to be on a military installation where English is spoken, I see Chevys and Fords in the driveways, and everything is written in English.

We have ventured outside the gate, though. We went into the charming downtown Nuremburg and had a wonderful schnitzel meal. It was fun to eat at an outdoor cafe, looking at the Europeans busily walking to their destinations, and gazing at the old church. What was a bit disconcerting was that we were picked out as the American tourists quickly, and a panhandler and her young daughter approached us for a donation. Guess the polo shirts were not the best choice that day. (Or was it my fabulous Vera Bradley bag?)

The zoo (tiergarten) was a nice non-language activity. It was interesting to go to the same zoo that had the whole polar bear cub brouhaha. (Turns out that my nephew got to see one.)

Yesterday was ribs, pasta salad, and corn on the cob day.

Like I said before, I think that part of our enjoyment so far is that we are taking some short incursions into Germany and then returning to our American enclave.

Hello to everyone. We miss you, and wish that you were here with us! (And we have already had Bitburger over here, A. and E.!)