Sunday, October 30, 2005

22 Weeks


Here I am at 22+ weeks. I am finally starting to feel better, and the doctor was happy at our last visit because I had gained 1.5 kg. This is probably the last time I will ever be happy about gaining weight! I am finally starting to graduate out of my own clothes and into "maternity" wear, but I am sure I will rapidly catch up in size and soon I will be as big as Montana.

We also found out at our last visit that we are having a little girl. We are so excited and look forward to her arrival sometime in the beginning of March. Everytime the doc went in to take a pic of her face she would throw her hands up over it, so it is possible that she will be a little like me...overly dramatic. Hopefully we had just interrupted her nap and it has nothing to do with a dramatic nature. She has been kicking up a storm these past two weeks and it is so fun/really freaky to feel her moving all over the place. I am so used to any rumbling in my stomach to be bad that it is nice to get used to a good rumbling with her movements.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Meet Amos and Davida McNay


For Halloween this year Dave dressed up as a pregnant lady (Davida) and I dressed up as the beer belly husband (Amos).

Cubby Mobile


Well, Otto, our '84 Mercedes Benz 190E is on its last leg. It has been smelling of fuel for several months and Dave has been unable to fix it (short of taking the carburetor apart and putting it back together).

So, we have recently upgraded to a '95 BMW Wagon 525. Oh it is so nice! Now our little Cubby can breath easily even when I am driving around. We are still looking for an appropriate name, though I am calling it "Cubby Mobile".

We were able to fully put the Cubby Mobile to use when we found our crib this weekend. There are so many families here with young children that Dave has been sure he could locate a used crib farily inexpensively. And the Lord provided in a round about way through one of his favorite patients. I heard about the crib through one of the women who attend PWOC, and when we found out it was one of Dave's patients who attends the local chapel we were even more pleased. Now the little one will have a place to lay her head.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Puking Pumpkin


We have attended several Fall Parties which has been so fun because Fall is my favorit time of year. At one party we brought 2 pumpkins to carve, but I ended up not feeling all that well, so Dave carved my pumpkin into this..."Puking Pumpkin" in honor of me. Everyone thought it was hilarious. As a side note, Puking Pumpkin turned into over 15 cups of puree pumpkin that I used to make several pumpkin pies.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Open Door, Throw Out Rope


Three years ago I flew from Bucharest, Romania to Sofia, Bulgaria. I actually flew a Bulgarian airline, and if anyone has actually flown an airline that isn't American (I am not talking British Air people) you will find it always an adventure. All the instructions were in Bulgarian. Since I have flown a lot I just imagined what the words meant..."Life jacket under seat cushion"...etc. I ended up sitting in an exit row and as usual there were instructions about what to do in an emergency. Usually it says something like "In case of emergency open door and wait for raft to inflate" or something to that nature. I am not sure what the words said in Bulgarian, but underneath in little letters it was written in English "In case of emergency, open door and throw out rope." Throw out rope? Good grief!


This past week Dave and I went on our last childless vacation (Lord willing). We booked a week at an all inclusive resort on the Turkish Riviera. I know, I know, none of you even knew that Turkey had a Riviera! In any case we flew MNG Air (which is Turkish) from Frankfurt to Antalya. As we flew I was remembering my experience on the Bulgarian airline. This airplane was an old American plane (hopefully not discarded for mechanical reasons) so most of the writing was in English.

It wasn't until we arrived in Antalya that our true emergency began. I know that we have written before about experiences with travel agents. We did book this trip through a German travel agent and it so happened that everyone thought we were German and so either spoke to us in Turkish or in German. We understand that we are ignorant Americans who understand neither...la pluma es en la puerta?

We arrived at the Antalya airport 2 hours later than expected and by the time we found our bags and the bus it was 0245 (that means in the morning!). We dragged our weary bodies on the bus and waited. We were on the bus headed to Topkapi Palace in Aksu. Soon about 10 other Germans joined us and a Turkish man came on board and in perfect (I imagine) German began his speech. As he talked he handed out a brochure (in German) for Venezia Palace. We asked for something in English, but he didn't seem obliged to help us. He continued on speaking for several minutes and Dave and I began to pick out several key phrases. The Venezia Palace was a 3 minute drive from Topkapi. The other thing we caught was that there was going to be some meeting at 1230 the next day and it involved food. He finished and got off the bus. Dave and I looked at each other. Dave is usually the better one at understanding what is going on, and his assessment seemed reasonable. He figured that this was some sort of promotional thing, if we wanted we could go and eat lunch and get a tour of the Venezia Palace tomorrow. It seemed reasonable and since we had failed to get anyone to tell us what was going on in English figured that was the answer.

Imagine our surprise at 0330 when we turned into the driveway of what looked like the Venezia Palace. We were taken off the bus and deposited in the reception area. Everyone else was checking in, so we figured we should follow. When we got to the desk I said "Is this the Topkapi Palace? We are suppose to be staying at the Topkapi Palace." The Turkish man smiled and said "Do not worry my friend." OK...whatever the heck that means! We get our key and drag our exhausted bodies up to the room where we again tried to figure out what was happening while we waited for the bellman to bring our luggage.

I was angry...not a good combo...tired...pregnant...angry. We had paid for a vacation in a great resort that had all the ammenities. I was suppose to be able to get a free haircut at the Topkapi and if I couldn't get one here someone was going to hear about it!

As we were waiting for our bags, Dave discovered that our key card said it was good from 10/1 until 10/2. That seemed to mean we would be there for one night. That made me even more upset. No one told us we needed to check out. It was nearing 0500 and there was no way I getting up before 1400 (2pm). Our luggage finally made it to the room after 0500 and Dave handed the bello boy a tip as well as a note for the reception desk. It asked them to simply explain what we were suppose to do and to slide the note back under our door, so we would know if we needed to check out in the morning or not.

At 0730 Dave got up and checked for a note, which of course wasn't there. He called down to the desk and found out that yes, we did need to check out at 1200. I finally dragged out of bed at 1000. We got ready, repacked and went to check out and find some breakfast. As we checked out we were informed that there were not any restaurants open at the moment.

OK, do I need to refresh anyone's memory that we have a tired, angry pregnant lady here. Who currently struggles with all-day-sickness even in her 19th week of pregnancy. And I haven't eaten since 6 o' clock the night before. I lost it and informed my husband, in no uncertain terms, that if he knew what was good for himself he had better find me something to eat. I then proceeded to sit down near the front desk of the hotel lobby and sulk. Open door...throw out rope!!!!!

The whole time Dave was gone I tried to convince myself that it was going to be OK, but I just couldn't. I felt at any moment I would blow. Probably not only chunks (of nothing since I hadn't eaten) but also tears. My eyes were red and brimming with tears when Dave walked back with a glass of water and a bag of nacho cheese doritos. So I did the only reasonable thing I could at that point. I began to sob. Yes, shaking sob right in the middle of the hotel lobby, right near the front desk while hundreds of people were checking out.

I have never been in Dave's position, but he said, as people walked by or turned to look, he got the "What the heck have you done to her?" stare. The "what a jerk" stare.

I finally got control of myself while poor Dave assured me it had to get better. I was ready to get back on that MNG flight to Frankfurt. We loaded the bus to Topkapi Palace and lived 6 days happily ever after. No more crying! And I did get my promised hair cut.