We heard it!!!

Yesterday we had our very first ultrasound appointment and we got to hear the heartbeat of our little one. It was the most amazing thing ever, for now. I had to cry when I heard it, How can something so tiny make such a beautiful sound? We saw one sac and only one little one in there, so it won’t be twins.

We are now officially done with the wonderful IVF folks at Walter Reed and have decided to be safe and go with the OB at Bethesda Navy hospital. GO Navy! They are better prepared for high risk pregnancies etc., so I don’t mind having a longer drive out there. I will make my appointment on Monday, so we’ll see when they can see me there.

The wait is over.

Well, it has been over for a while, but I was waiting for the second test results to make sure it’s really true.
It worked! We’re actually pregnant.
I still can’t really believe it, but it is slowly sinking in. I am going to be real mom!! Amazing.
Now, of course I am waiting for the next appointment, which will be the very first Ultra Sound. I am also looking for signs and changes, so I am over-interpreting every kind of pinch or pain I feel. So far everything is OK though. According to my calculations I am 4 weeks, 5 days pregnant. Just about 35 or 36 more weeks to go!!!!

Waiting Game

You know what’s the most frustrating thing about this whole IVF process is? The wait after they transfer your embryos back. See, I went in last Thursday to have the eggs removed. They then fertilized them and transferred them back on Sunday. Note, not all were transferred, as I had 10 eggs that fertilized, but we chose to stick with only two little ones, Now, it’s been 3 days and nothing has happened. I had no appointments and feel OK (finally). Next Thursday, the 15th is when I finally get to take a blood test to see if it all worked and I am actually pregnant. Until then I get to sit here and imagine what’s going on inside me, or not.

Back and Forth

All along we were told that our surgery date for the egg retrieval was going to be on 1 November. When I went for my appointment on Friday though, they told us we could already have it on 31 October. Great, we thought, A Halloween conception. That can only be a fun baby, right? Well, after my appointment today the doctors think that it should be 1 November. Oh well, the baby will still be fun and I get to work one extra day this week.

Other than that all is well. We’re just exhausted from all the driving to Walter Reed every morning, just to be there at 6 AM each day. That makes for a long day. I don’t think I’ll be watching Heroes tonight.

My. Head. Hurts

I would describe it as an undercover headache as it’s not really full-blown. It’s hiding in there somewhere and every once in a while I make a certain movement and ouch, there it goes.

Oh Well. It may have to do with the fact that I got up before 4 AM today. All I can think about is a nice big fat dinner and my PJs and my bed. In that order, although I am not opposed to having dinner in bed.

We’ll see.

Ouch

I started taking the Gonal F and Menopur shots on Sunday and while the needle prick actually hurts less than the Lupron one, the meds sting. First of all, it’s a lot more to inject and I can feel the sting inside, where I inject it at. It’s really weird. Last night I started taking those shots in the stomach so that I can actually see how far the plunger is down. I have to take those twice a day, which sucks, but compared to what’s coming with the HCG and the progesterone, I think this is great for now.

Tomorrow, it’s back to the hospital to get my blood drawn. Since I live in VA and the clinic is at Walter Reed I will actually take the metro there tomorrow so that I don’t have to deal with all the traffic after the appointment. That way I get to work better. The down side is that I have to take the very first metro. Oh well.

As far as side effects go, I feel fine. I am a little crampy at times, but nothing special.

OK, I have to go to CVS and get more needles.

My Meds

Junkie

And no, I don’t mean anyone of these guys.

I feel like a junkie because of all the meds I have sitting on my dining room table. I should take a picture of it all.
I have two shopping bags full of Menopur and Bravelle. And yes, please Google them if you feel inclined to do so. I may post more on the meds later. Then I have a somewhat smaller bag full of Gonal F and a whole bag full of needles. It just hurts to look at it. There are also the really big 1 ½ inch ones for the Novarel (HCG) and for the Progesterone. Precisely for the latter two meds the nurse drew some really cute shapes on my butt so that the hubby knows where to inject me with them. We did a test yesterday with simple Sodium Chloride and it wasn’t that bad, but I heard the Progesterone is though since it is in oil, but we will see.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big the day. My baseline appointment is finally here.
To this day I have still not had any side effects, which I hope will continue. I should get more meds tomorrow too, so who knows how many injections I get to have each night.

The other day, when I was putting the cap back on my needle, it went through the cap and poked me in my finger. It still hurts now. But that is a small price to pay for the joys that are to come :))

When it Rains…

You know the rest.

Sometimes things just happen out of nowhere and it makes you feel like somebody wants to screw everything up for you. And all you get to do is keep going and hoping it’ll all work out in the end.

Day 11

I know I am going to jinx myself here, but this the 11th day I am on Lupron and so far I have not had any side effects.
There was one incident when I got a little too emotional in the morning because I was soooooooo tired, but that might’ve been regular grumpiness.

I have been waiting to post this, but I figured that 11 days is pretty long, but who knows. Stay tuned for the “told you so” post.

The never-published Post

Well, it should be more like the never-written post, but there were attempts over the last two months.

It has been somewhat stress-full lately, leading up to this month, which I like to call conception month. For the last three weeks I have been taking the birth control pill, even though I don’t even want to control that. Now I am on Lupron, which I have to inject myself with each night. Today was actually my first shot. It is quite different if you’re giving yourself a shot or somebody else as I have done many times before with my stepson when he was still on growth hormone. But all went well and I am still alive.

Reading over all the side effects and especially patients’ comments doesn’t make me feel too good about Lupron, but I keep in mind that most of them took it for other reasons.

I take it to completely suppress all production of eggs as the clinic, meaning my doc and the nurses would like to control that part of my cycle.

I am not very good at describing such medical details, but I hope my few readers (are there any?) will get the gist of this.

Now, the plan is for me to continue this for about two weeks. I will actually stop with the pill this weekend. Then, is my so-called baseline appointment which is meant to get a good reading of the status of my status (??). Then I will get more meds, which are then designed to overproduce eggs. They are called super-ovulatory drugs. Once that is done, the eggs will be retrieved and fertilized and then put back and then all should go well from there. While I am looking forward for that day, I am trying to keep focused on what is happening right now.

So, if I won’t post for another two months or so, you know why.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

Today is the husband's birthday, so in case you read this:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Love you.

E.D. Hirsch

I just came across this guy who apparently wrote several books concerning what your child should know or learn. Well, actually the hubby read about him.
It’s called the Core Knowledge Grader Series.

My question is, if anybody ever heard of this and if so, how is it? I haven’t had much of a chance to look into it yet, but I did put the books on my Amazon Wish List.

Better Late Than Never

I have finally managed to update the book I'm currently reading on the upper right there, see?
It's Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (is there any other?).
Although I am already half way through with it, I supposed it will be a while before I am actually done with it.
So far I am not too impressed.

It's Marjoram

I have been growing other herbs this year and my marjoram just took off like crazy, so I gave lost of it away this weekend.
We sprinkled some on grilled chicken the other day and it was really good.

Guess the Herb

I want to believe

Just found this via The Dudge Report:

'Mile-wide UFO' spotted by British airline pilot

One of the largest UFOs ever seen has been observed by the crew and passengers of an airliner over the Channel Islands.

An official air-miss report on the incident several weeks ago appears in Pilot magazine.

Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer, 50, flying close to Alderney first spotted the object, described as "a cigar-shaped brilliant white light".

Did I ever mention that I am a huge X-Files fan?

Random Metro Fact

It has been a long time since I wrote anything about riding the metro, but every once in a while I feel like I need to speak out.

What makes people think that playing their PSP with the volume all the way up and screaming at the game while on the metro, is OK?
Just a question.

20 Years Ago

I have been meaning to post about today’s anniversary all week, but I messed up and others have probably done a much better job any way.

Check out the video at Hot Air.

Thank you.

Is it just me?

Ok I first have to point out again that I do not originate from this part of the world, so even after almost 8 years here some things are still very foreign to me.
Any way, the reason for this useless post is seersucker suits. Until today I didn’t even know what they were called, however coincidentally I have heard the term seersucker suit many times before.
To make this end very quickly all I wanted to say is that I think they look hideous. At first I noticed elderly men wearing maybe just the pants or just the jackets, but soon I saw whole ensembles and I am beginning to wonder if any of these people have friends or family who could tell them how terrible they look. I am sorry if I offended anybody, but so far I have yet to see a guy in a seersucker suit that looks good in it.

Labels!!!

I am such a loser. Who knows for how long Blogger has had the ability to have labels, but I just now figured it out.
Oh well, I am going to play around with that for a while. Finally I have something to do.

National Day of Prayer

I just took a look at my calendar and noticed that today is the National Day of Prayer.
Hmm….I wonder why I haven’t heard about it until now??
For more info go here.

Straw Widow?

There is a saying in German, that you are a so-called straw widow or widower if your spouse is temporarily gone. So I guess that’s me for now. I will get him back though for a few days by the end of this week, only to lose him yet again.

It’s OK though, since I take this time to get real useful things done around the house. Except for today because the world’s best TV show is back on. I love Heroes. I can’t wait.

You should feel great!

Somebody searched google for : "I have my oath ceremony tomorrow how should i feel" and found their way over here.
Well, I hope you're excited and happy, the way is finally over.
Congratulations!

No News is Good News.

Or at least, that’s what they say.
Did you know that a viral infection or a bacterial infection could cause your thyroid to go nuts? Now, I’m, not a medical professional, so please correct me, if I am wrong here, but apparently that’s why my TSH levels were off. TSH is the thyroid-stimulating hormone.
So what happened was, that just when I got all my blood work done for the fertility treatment, I happened to have abnormal TSH levels. So they had me repeat the test and that time the levels were even worse. I went to see an Endocrinologist who ordered more tests that kind of supported his theory of me having some sort of hyperthyroidism. So, then he sent me to Nuclear Medicine (fun, huh?), so that they could do a thyroid scan. The doc there asked me I am there, because my thyroid looks OK, maybe a little UNDERactive. SO, guess what? More blood tests. Now my thyroid is underactive which is normal if I really had just an inflammation, since now it’s trying to stabilize itself.
In any way, by the end of this month I will get yet more blood drawn in hopes that my thyroid is OK, which means the fertility folks will be happy and me too.

Sports anyone?

I have added a new blog to the blogroll. Go check out American Legends.

6 more Days

In 6 days, on the 28th, this blog will have its 4th Blogiversary. Since I missed this very important event in the past I figured, I’d better get this out now before I vanish again for a couple of weeks.

About Time

So I decided to scratch the big post I mentioned last week. Because there are continuously new updates it didn’t even make sense any more. Plus, I guess I just had to wait until I wanted to write about all the new stuff going on here.

Well, so what is it you think (or not).
The short answer would be that the husband and I have decided to have a baby. The long answer would be that we’re really special and are going to try In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Since we already know what the issue is, this is pretty much the only choice. We had our initial appointments already and just completed all blood tests. It should take about 6 months until we can get started from what I can tell, however apparently yours truly has a screwed up Thyroid (who knew?) so that has to be fixed first since apparently the thyroid plays an important part in this whole getting pregnant thing. So, I’ll see the doc on Thursday and then we’ll see.

So, that’s what’s going on. We are excited but with caution, especially since we haven’t even gone to the Orientation session.

Still There

I know....lazy me...

Anywho, all is OK. Some interesting developments lately. I have been writing the same post for months now and I don't think it will ever get posted.
But eventually I will post an update. I promise.

OK, back to work..I mean TV :))

Go Patriots!!!!

Oh Please!

That’s all we need. Beckham in the US. As if that will make me watch MLS. NOT.

-via The Drudge Report

41-14

Go Gators!

I'm Ready!!

Merry Christmas

If everything goes right we’ll be on the road this afternoon and hopefully make it at least half way to Florida. Although this will be short trip it should be fun.
The whole back of the car is full of presents. The only thing left to pack are the clothes but that shouldn’t take too long.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too if I’m not back before then.

Setup?

Just came across this at Debbie Schlussel's site.

This is about U.S. Airways Flight 300 and the Imam's that were removed from the flight. This is an account of someone who was actually on the plane. Her name is Pauline Klemmer. Very Interesting.

Go Navy!

Don’t forget. Tomorrow at 2:30 PM EST on CBS.
Also, following that game is the SEC Championship game. Go Gators!!!

Update:
Navy won and so did the Gators. We’ll talk about the whole BCS Championship later…I hope :))

That long?

It’s been way too long since my last post. Only one after Columbus Day and now we have Veteran’s Day.
Although I do have to work again, I’m not complaining. The people honored today didn’t complain either, right?

Anyway, now I can be even more thankful for their service, since I am an American too!

Thank you.

What happened?

No posts for weeks! I am outraged. Well lucky you, I just got a free extra hour yesterday so maybe I’ll get to post more often now. Right.

Happy Columbus Day

While most of you will be enjoying a nice day off I will be working. Somebody’s got to earn the money.

Work Work Work

To expand on my previous post, I also bake cookies, which I will be doing this weekend to ensure the hubby has an adequate supply for the following week.
Sometimes I just can’t stand myself because I am so great.

Have a nice weekend!!

Best Wife Ever.

Yes, that would be me. Just ask the husband.
I like to have a beer with him, or go to a bar, or even a strip club.
I not only like sports and also watch it with him, I also get him sports memorabilia, which is just what I did.
I am truly the greatest!

Again?

Victim in Murder-Suicide Sought Protective Order

What got me was this sentence:

The murder victim, Jackie M. Lewis, 57, had sought a temporary protective order against the suicide victim, her longtime boyfriend Arthur J. Comer, 57.

Suicide victim? How about murderer?

- via WTOP

Oktoberfest

For those of you living in the Washington DC area, Ft. Belvoir is having their annual Oktoberfest this weekend. I know it pales in comparison to the real deal, but it’s actually not that bad. I personally don’t need the food but the beer is good and the people are a lot of fun.
For more info go to: http://www.belvoirmwr.com/special-events/oktoberfest2006/index.html

See Ya!

Summer is almost gone. You better enjoy this last day.

Scratchy Throat

More like a tickle but it’s still bothering me like crazy. Have you ever sat next to a person who constantly clears their throat? Well, don’t sit next to me.

Too Small?

Man rejects first penis transplant

Sorry, I couldn't help it.

-via The Drudge Report

Thanks

Good timing Ted! I was debating what to write for my “I’m back”-post and then you comment. I almost gave up but who could resist?? Thanks:)

I don’t think I like Continental Airlines. The flight and all was good, but what bugged me was that on the way back I had to get my luggage and go through customs just to give it back so I can go on and catch my connecting flight to DC. Which of course did not work as planned since my one suitcase decided to take it slow. Lucky me I only had to wait two hours for the ext flight and I got to test the bar at the gate.

Other than that Germany was great. The weather sucked, but that was to be expected. Grandma is doing all right. She had a bad day when I saw her and kept closing her eyes. I am glad though that we took the time to travel one day just to see her. The wedding was good too. My dad made me dance the Twist and all I knew was the Waltz. Life just sucks, doesn’t it?

Anywho, I have tons of work to do which at least keeps me busy and I can’t even think about jetlag.

Alright

Before I go on my vacation, which is not a vacation since I am visiting family and have to attend a wedding-thing, I thought I better post one last time. I am slowly but surely drifting off into no-posts land again so I have yet another reason to refine my typing and writing technique, however useless that might be.
Anywho. Life is good and getting better. Very soon I’ll be on my way to good old Germany. Hopefully the weather will improve since I want to work on my tan. NOT. If all goes well, I will also get to see my one and only grandmother. I am thinking that it will probably be the last time so I’m gonna give her a big ole hug, no matter if she knows who I am or not.

Yeah!

I was going to post about how depressing it is getting older and all and then Castro actually made my day.
I can’t wait until he’s dead.
A dead Commie is a good Commie.

- via The Drudge Report

4 weeks, baby

Just four more weeks and I’ll be on my way to good old Germany, which means that in less than five weeks my brother is finally getting married. Since his wife-to-be is going to take over her father’s business one day, they have decided that my brother will take on their family name. Normally I would think that this is way too cheesy but in our family’s case you want to get rid of the family name. My dad is the main proponent if that.
The problem is, that my dad got his last name from the guy my biological grandmother happen to be married to at the time of his birth, which was less than nine months after they got married. That guy figured it out and left her. So she thought it would be cool to take the next best idiot and run off with him to West Germany, leaving my dad in an orphanage until his grandparents took him in a few years later. Bitch.
I might have mentioned that before. Anywho, my lovely c**t-grandmother never thought it would be nice to tell my dad who his real father is, but she’s probably not even sure. Whore. There is really only one other offspring of hers that is normal and he has come to the conclusion that his mother is a bitch too. He’s actually my favorite uncle and I only know him for half of my life; since I grew up in the East and he was living in the West.
The good part about this whole thing is though that I was always able to call my dad a son of a bitch without any problems.
That’s my family!

NASCAR?

Ok I don’t follow NASCAR really. I know some drivers and all but it’s not anything interesting to me since I love Formula One racing which I think is much more challenging.

I just read a story about Juan Pablo Montoya, who just got let go by the McLaren Mercedes. I hate him with a passion because he’s an ass. Well, Mr. Montoya is apparently preparing for his next career in NASCAR. What a joke. Now I might actually have top watch it so I can see him crash though…

I am so turning into an American, it’s not even funny, y’all ;))

Update: Formula1.com has an article on this.

Sore Loser

I am one, but that’s OK. I currently hate Italy and everything Italian, which is very hard because I USED to like Pizza.

This shouldn’t last long though, especially since I kind of cheated this weekend with Italian wine.

We went to Charlottesville, VA, which was just beautiful. I like little mini-vacations and will definitely do those more often.

New Book

I finally finished the Chronicles of Narnia. I was on my way to work and HAD to get a new book, so I picked up “The Dante Club” by Mathew Pearl. It sounded interesting and so far it is. It started out a little boring but I am getting to an interesting and more exciting part now. We’ll see.

Weekend Wrap-Up

After Germany’s win over Argentina, Italy beat the Ukraine on Friday, which means Germany will have to beat Italy tomorrow, What luck that tomorrow is a Holiday. I know they secretly planned it that way. Anywho, I get to watch the game and be a happy camper.
Wednesday it’s back to work and hopefully Portugal will beast France, but we well see about that.

It’s Time Again…

OK, since today the World Cup continues with the quarterfinals I will have to list my Cuties of the day again.

Obviously Poldi (Lukas Podolski) is still THE best of them all.


The second game of the day is a little harder concerning cuties. I don’t want Italy to win, however I am not able to find anybody hot on the Ukrainian team. Go figure.

Update 2 PM: What a game! After penalty kicks Germany finally won. Let's see who they'll play July 4th.

54*74-1990=2006

Now who knows what that means?
See Germany won the World Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990. So I guess it’s about time…..

No Games, No Cuties

They will come back on Friday.
In the meantime I will enjoy the weather!!!

Definitely a Cutie

Jose Antonio Reyes is most definitely a Cutie.
Spain will face, and hopefully beat, France this afternoon. See I always liked Zidane but that was during the 1998 world cup when France was so good but they suck ass and I have to go with Spain.

So, here Jose.



And one more time...

First Match Toughie

In today’s first match Ghana is playing Brazil. See, I don’t want Ghana to win since they beat the US and that sucks. However I don’t like Brazil that much either, but they are the clear favorite. So this morning’s cutie will be Brazilian.
That was tough because I can’t find anybody really cute in there. Ronaldo is a fatty and the rest of the team is not much better. But, if I had to pick one I guess it’ll be Adriano.

Enjoy!!



Update: I guess Adriano is a happy camper since they just beat Ghana 3:0. Too bad Spain will beat them after they destroy France this afternoon.

My Swiss Pick

That would be Ricardo Cabanas. I know, sounds very Swiss, eh?



And another one.

Bummer Again

Italy beat Australia, which means Italy will have to wait until Friday to get their asses kicked by (hopefully) Switzerland. I hope the Swiss win over the Ukraine later on today. However it seems that the football gods don’t care what I hope for…idiots.

Australian Cutie

I am currently looking through the Australian football (soccer) team and I found some cuties but there is nobody really sticking out…. I’ll keep looking though.
So far, Craig Moore and Michael Beauchamp are among my picks for the boys from down under.

Update: Lucas Neill isn't too bad either. Too many choices.

Update 2: Lucas Neill won! Good luck Australia!!



Update 3: Apparently this cutie fouled some Italian dude, which caused the ref for whatever reason to give them a penalty kick instead of a card (??). In the last seconds Italy scored and went on to the next round.
I still think he's cute though.

Another Hottie

That would be Portugal’s Luis Figo. Kind of cute, isn’t he?

BTW, yesterday’s game was incredible. I though that you can’t have any more yellow and red cards in a game but apparently Russian Referees like colors a lot.

Help, I’m drowning

What’s going on???
It took me forever to get to the metro station because my usually route was flooded and then the metro was s-l-o-w because some station had to be closed because of flooding. Perfect Monday morning I say.

In other news I hope Italy gets their asses kicked by Australia, simply because they beat the US, literally.

Have a good one.

Love him

Lukas Podolski just scored two goals in the first half. On to the quarter finals!

All Alone

Again. After the hubby was away on business the first half of the week I sent him to Florida for an extended weekend. Monday night he’ll be back and I will have all this time to myself again. Maybe this time I actually get to finish something.

Bummer

He US team didn’t make it to the next level in the Soccer World Cup. I can’t believe Ghana beat them.

Just Found

On the Drudge Report.


Rooney is a soccer player for the English team, who has made headlines in the past that have more to do with his non-soccer related behavior…

Should’ve

I was just thinking that I need to update the book I‘m reading up there in the right corner. Then I was thinking that I read so much that I probably skipped a good deal of books I read and that lead me to think I should’ve kept a list of the books I read last year and this year already…Maybe now is a good start.

I’m real good at keeping lists. Each computer I use is full of folders full of spreadsheets. It’s so much fun but it doesn’t really help when you have too many….

Made It

As of this morning Germany made it to the next round. I followed yesterday’s game closely and almost lost it at the end. Once I got home I just had to watch the second half and it was exciting. I love soccer and I love the World Cup.

VA Problems

Lately the VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) has been in the news because of the stolen laptop containing data of veterans. Since the hubby just recently retired from the Navy it was of some concern to us, which is understandable. But overall we were OK. Since he also filed a claim with the VA there has been some paperwork coming from them over the last months. The other day we get two letter stating pretty much the same thing a previous letter already stated, which I thought was odd, but then considering it’s a government institution the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. And who would have though that they attached somebody else’s claim information to his letter. With Social Security Number and all. Nice, huh? So does somebody have my husband’s now? I hope it’s not the guy whose info we have because we know why he was discharged…

One Week To Go

Next Friday is the start of the World Cup!!!
The US boys are already in Hamburg, one of my hometowns!!!
I am not going to get any work done for a whole month…

Gone

Off to sunny Florida!!!

Ouch

found via The Drudge Report

Movie Night

Tonight is the night. The Da Vinci code comes out. Of course, I already know when and where I will be watching it tonight. I have been waiting for this ever since I heard about the movie being planned. I love the book as well as all the other books by Dan Brown.

And man, are some people upset about this. Did anybody every explain to them that it’s a movie? You know with actors and all? This concept is really great. It’s called fiction. Oh well. I guess there will always be people who feel the need to decide what I should be watching since I am too stupid to make my own decisions.

Carnival of the Recipes

Go over to PractiGal’s for some crockpot recipes tomorrow. I didn’t contribute but then again I don’t even have a crockpot. It’s on my list though.

Still Alive

I know I’m lazy ass but I can’t help it. Actually I’m a real busy ass lately but that’s another story.
I did order my new car…and then we cancelled the order…I guess they weren’t really concerned with a sale more or less.
But that’s OK because we bought a much better car. See, we thought it would be a lot smarter to have a fun car. We have a big family car that can haul things and stuff. Since I wanted a small car anyways it made sense to go with a two-seater. I love it. Now wait until I get a speeding ticket.

Send A Brick

Just came across this site and just had to post it here.
Go ahead and send a brick!

New Ride

So I am trying to buy a new car and in order to avoid any headaches I am doing everything online via e-mail. I thought it would be easy to just e-mail the dealership and say this is the car I want and nothing else. I made it clear that I only want this model with those colors and those options. I don’t care if I have to wait weeks for my car because I want it MY WAY and they have to order it. Well, think again. It has been over a week since I started this and just now I am staring to get good quotes. I am in contact with four dealerships since I want the best deal. I refuse to call Don or Tony or David or whatever their names are because I hate talking to car sales people. They’re evil.
Hah, speaking of the devil. One of them just outbid the others…..

Update: I guess we got it! We’ll go tomorrow and if everything goes well I’ll order my new car!!

Missed it

I missed my Blogiversary. It was March 28th. 3 Years! That’s a long time.
So, there you go.

Ouch

Guard Rail Impales Truck Driver

- via NBC 4

I did it

I finally booked tickets to go to Germany late this summer AFTER the World Cup. I had no other choice since my brother refused to change his wedding date. I’ll be there for 2 weeks. The tickets are so damn expensive that I have to fly out on a Monday (and miss the whole weekend) and come back on a Monday. Oh well. This will be the first time I am flying Continental. We’ll see how that goes. They are the only airline that has a direct flight to Hamburg from Newark, which means I get to fly out of Reagan National, which is great.

Other than that life is good and busy.

As a George Mason University graduate I would have loved to see them beat the gators and UCLA of course, but it shouldn’t. They did great. It was funny at our house since we usually are huge Gator fans, but mostly concerning football. Obviously GMU was my favorite but I was happy that the Gators got the championship.

Anyways, I hope I’ll be able to post more soon. I hate not being able to vent, especially now that it’s getting warm out side and all the tourists are returning to the metro….

Later.

Sweet…16

Go Patriots!
I am not into Basketball at all and never watched it, until now that is of course. Being a George Mason University Alumni makes me proud these days and I hope the Patriots go all the way!
And, I have found that watching Basketball is not that bad. They have enough breaks in there to where you don’t have to be glued to the TV non-stop.

In other news, I am off this week! To celebrate this event I continue to get up early and will move some furniture around today…wait, no that guys will do that. I think just me and the hubby can make s quick stop at a furniture store and walk out with a couch. It looks good though.

Finally

I finally got the OK to book my flight to Germany this summer for my brother’s wedding!!!! It’s about damn time.
They had to make sure that they were able to book everything and last night he let me know that it’s all set.
I am waiting for now though, to book anything because the tickets I find are over $ 1,000 and for some reason that kind of money is not what I anticipated to spend right now. Bummer.
But I am so excited. I get to see everybody again. I most likely will make a trip out to my grandmother’s. She’s at an assisted living facility now. She’s not walking but she talks every once in a while.
The wedding itself will be a two-day deal since they want to get married in a church too. See, in Germany getting married in a church alone is not official. You have to go to court too, so that’s what they’ll do on the Friday and on Saturday is the church wedding and the reception. Fun!!!

(Almost) one week

I feel horrible. Not always, but right now, especially.
It has been almost a week since I smoked a cigarette and while I feel mostly OK, this time of the day is the worst. I usually hang out with friends or at home at this hour and now I still do that but I can’t go outside and just smoke a cigarette.
It’s hard at other times to me too. I am a bitch in the morning because I can’t have a cigarette with my coffee. I use the lozenges so I can’t eat or drink while I am chewing or whatever you’re supposed to do with them, so I have to wait until I am done drinking my coffee and brushing my teeth.

But I am getting there and now I am at the point where I really want to smoke but I don’t want to fail. I hate losing. I already told some people that I am trying to quit and I can’t stand in front of them and admit that I failed so I am sticking it out.

It’s OK and it’s only going to get better. And to where nobody feels left out, the hubby is close to three weeks without smoking… I love you!!!

Done!!

Just got done with all the income taxes (state and federal). FINALLY. And I am pretty happy. Maybe that new car will be here sooner than thought. I just have to make a choice on what I want….
What a great week. Really. The hubby gets a job, and one that pays more than we needed. I get a pay raise (more than they Feds paid this year!!) AND a very unexpected bonus. And now come the taxes and I almost feel like I don’t need those $365 Million at all. But I did buy my lottery ticket anyway. (I just can’t get enough)

Cha-Cha-Change

And changes they are…
First of all, the hubby hasn’t been smoking for about two weeks now and I have completed almost the first 24 hours, but that’s not all.
We are finally a two-income family again. On Friday we got the good news that the hubby got a JOB!!!! We think he’ll start probably on March 1st.
The waiting is over and we get to stay right where we’re at. No moving to Floriduh or, as the last idea was, selling the house and buying an RV to travel the US for a year, which does sound nice, but having jobs and a house sounds nice…at least more secure.

Oh, and I got my passport on Friday as well!!!!

***WARNING***

It’s gonna snow!!!!

What’s the problem?

Actually there is none, besides the fact that I have absolutely no idea what to write, rant or link about.
Life as an American is really boring, so far anyways….
Oh well, it can get only better from here.
It’s finally February people, which means next month is spring!! I am trying to get spring to come sooner by doing my spring-cleaning early, but so far it hasn’t helped much. I’ll keep you updated on that.

Well, wasn’t that a worthy post?

Thank You!

I know I am late as hell, however I was busy trying to figure out how to be an American…well, not really.
So, first of all, thank you to everybody that left comments and congratulated me. That made me feel really special and now I’m acting like a stuck-up bitch all the time. So, thanks a lot!

Anyways, life is good. I applied for my passport last week and am waiting very patiently to get it ASAP. Other than that, life has not changed much…YET. Other than constantly reminding people that I am now an American I still feel the same…kind of.

What a day

Ok, I finally have some time to write a little more about yesterday.
I had the appointment for the interview at 8:20 AM. We got there at about 7:50 and by 8:30 I was called up. I guess the USCIS officer understood that my English is pretty good so I didn’t take any kind of English test. She asked me a couple of questions and gave me a sheet of paper with ten questions on it. I wrote down my answers and she checked them and said I passed. That was it. She handed me another piece of paper stating that at 3:30 PM the oath ceremony would be held and we left.
That gave us time to go eat a little something and get my step daughter’s birthday cake since she turned 18 yesterday. We went home waited for her to come home from school and went back to USCIS. I was already seated with the 58 other people who were going to become a citizen that day when a friend of ours showed up. He was trying to make it but we thought he wasn’t going to get in anymore.

Once everybody was there and all last formalities were cleared up the ceremony started.
They played the Star Spangled Banner and we all sang. Then, we all took the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance and then we said the pledge of Allegiance. I thought it was the coolest thing. Then it got “better”. They showed a video with President Bush telling us how much he welcomed us etc. And then came a sort of collage of pictures, but playing in the background was “God bless the USA”. Now I love this song and always have. I lost it and started crying. Great, huh? Just now I went to Google it and I found wav. file and started crying again.
After that each person was called to the front and we received our Certificates of Naturalization. We took pictures and hugged.
They had some people there who let us fill out forms to get registered to vote. I thought that was really neat since me and my step daughter did it together.

Then, to celebrate this special day for all of us we went out to dinner. We decided on traditional American cuisine and went to Don Pablo’s. Well, my step daughter picked it and I had steak so we were all happy!

Tomorrow we have a little party with some friends. Since it’s a big football day we kind of combined the two and the party starts at 4:30. But that’s very American.

All right, I better go check on the cup cakes I just made. The have stars and stripes sprinkles!!!

Almost Done

OK, I passed the test!!! It went really fast and I was out of there before nine. At 3:30 PM I have to be back to take the oath and that should be it.

Nervous as Shit

No, really. I am nervous. Can’t eat anything but at least I can still drink. Oh well, I’ll make. I always get like that. And I know that out of the ten questions I get to have three wrong. That’s do-able. So, now I really do have to go through all of my documents and find the ones I need for tomorrow. I hope it doesn’t take that long.

Comments

Ted mentioned yesterday that my comments didn’t work.
I did activate word verification and also the moderation feature a while back and I think that might have been too much. So, I just turned the moderation feature off but the word verification is still on. Let me know if there are any problems.

Joschka Goes Yankee?

I was surprised at first, but then again…I am not.

- via DW-World.de

UPDATE: Of course, David and Ray are right on it too. I am sure there will be more of a discussion there.

Crunch Time

Just two more days and I have my INS or USCIS appointment.
I am done with studying. Well, I am still looking everything over but that’s it. Tonight I’ll get all the “supporting documentation” out in case they need to see it again. I hope I find everything. If I need copies I can do that tomorrow at work and then on Thursday is the BIG DAY.
The only thing I am not looking forward to is waiting…and waiting…and waiting.

Clarification needed

OK, this is for people in Virginia and Fairfax County.
One question on the U.S. citizenship test is, “Who is the head of your local government?” Since previously it asks for the names of the Governor and the two Senators, I assume it must be the Chairman of the Board of Fairfax County. Or could it also be my District Supervisor? I guess, since the test is not multiple choice but oral, I can just name both, but I thought, a little input from others wouldn’t hurt.
Thanks.

Ask Me

I am studying for my Citizenship test next week, so if any of you have any quick questions about American history, I might be able to help.

Stuffy

Feeling just a little stuffy today.
Must be some bug going around because I hear a lot of people complaining about being sick. They better be staying away from me.

Not Fair

Well, I guess maybe a little bit, but I feel like I am the only person in this country working today. At least I was off all last week, but it feels strange to drive to the metro station and hardly any cars are on the streets. The metro was empty and is on a weekend schedule, of course. Once I was in DC I thought it was the middle of the night. The streets are strangely empty and once I got to my building it was locked.
Now I have an entry card but do you think I could find the swipy-thingie on the outside of the building? No sir! So I walked around since we have a door out back and I know how to get in there since that is the smoking area. I am tempted though to get back outside and try to find the swipy-thingie at the front door. I know I used it before. Stupid, I tell ya.

Oh, I almost forgot.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!