Silvester in München

Happy new year, Raspberry World readers! Thank you for stopping by this year. I hope each of you has a great year in 2006. And now for a remembrance of a new year's eve past...

In Germany, New Year's Eve is known as Silvester. Here are a few memories of a Silvester we celebrated in Munich on December 31, 2003.

The festivities all over Germany start in the early evening with Dinner for One on TV. This twenty-minute black-and-white comedy sketch -- performed in English -- has been seen on German TV for over 30 years. It's the story of Miss Sophie's 90th birthday dinner, and watching it on TV is a new year's eve tradition in Germany (and in other European countries as well). This sketch is one of the few programs I ever saw broadcast on German TV in English without being dubbed into German. It was recorded in Hamburg in 1963, and became a Silvester tradition in 1972. "Same procedure as every year."

After watching "Dinner for One," most people attend parties or go out with friends or family. We went out to dinner at a fondue restaurant with our friends. Fondue and other unusual foods like sushi are popular choices for Silvester. As always, dinner in Germany can last for hours -- unlike Americans, who tend to eat and run, staying afterwards and socializing is an important part of the meal for Germans dining in restaurants. But most people will be finished and out on the street by midnight, because that's when things get really fun.

Silvester is the one night of the year where it's legal to shoot off fireworks in the streets. And I mean any private citizen can launch fireworks of (apparently) any size from any street in in the city. At least, that's what it seemed like to me! As we walked through downtown Munich, there was smoke everywhere! This photo gallery from Marienplatz during Silvester 2003/2004 captures the atmosphere well.

The same night the pictures in that gallery were taken, we were in the English Garden with our friends Sonja and Pete. Pete had brought a big bag of fireworks and some sparkling wine, and we joined hundreds of other people to shoot off fireworks and drink Sect in the snow. Before too long, the air was full of smoke... but you could still see the fireworks shooting up above the buildings throughout the city. We had a great time experiencing the German celebration of Silvester!

But as you might imagine, this tradition can be pretty dangerous. That January, I was visiting a friend who lived in another part of town, and she pointed out the building just across the street from her apartment. The roof of the building had caught on fire during the fireworks and the top floor of the building had burned!

Here's a German article for children about Silvester fireworks. The article points out that although the tradition for private Silvester fireworks is very strong, it's also dangerous. Here's a more serious article on the topic of children who are injured by the fireworks every year.

Other Silvester traditions include good luck symbols, like pigs and four-leaf clover. But the most memorable thing, to me, was walking through Odeonsplatz just before midnight and seeing grown men lighting fireworks in front of the Theatinerkirche. Wahnsinn!

Guest Post

Strange things are afoot.

The door to the second bedroom upstairs has been closed for two days. Before that, they were in there moving stuff around... putting up a new bed, moving the sofa (that's MY sofa). I ignored it for as long as I could, because really, who likes it when furniture gets MOVED? But once they were all finished I walked into the room and hacked up a hairball just inside the door.

Strangely enough, the door has been closed ever since.

The bedroom is also undergoing some changes. Of course the most important thing is still the same -- the bed, and my place on it. But there's weird stuff going on there too, I think there's actually ANOTHER bed in the corner, smaller, still in its box. Well, I'll check it out as soon as they set it up.

But really, how many beds do the three of us need in this place?

In other news, I got new catfood for Christmas.

Happy new year.

Easy Way Out

I don't have a real update in me tonight. So check out the new gallery I put up today, with the beginnings of the nursery project. There's more to come in the next few days, but I'll post the pictures over there.

Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about Silvester (new year's eve) in Munich.

New Bed

Well, here's something we accomplished today: the crib is assembled. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

The whole room is mostly put together now and it is full of furniture. It will be mighty cozy in there for a little fella. There's still a lot of stuff to organize and put away, but the furniture is all in the right place now. We also need to find some more appropriate pictures to hang on the walls... our college diplomas made sense when the room was a study, but they look kind of funny hanging right over the crib.

Ziggy has shown a complete lack of interest in the goings on upstairs. He seems totally unconcerned by all the changes taking place.

Marty keeps telling me now that we have to pack the bag for the hospital. I am still about 5 or 6 weeks from my due date but I guess that is close enough that we really should get ready. That can be a project for this weekend.

Nursery Update

Well, the nursery project is coming along nicely. Right now we're at that stage where the whole upstairs is kind of a wreck, because we are in the process of switching things between our bedroom and the study (ie the future nursery), but we are definitely making a lot of progress. Within the next few days we should really be able to get both rooms straightened out.

But there's one corner of the future nursery that is already just about done. And if you know me, it should come as no surprise:



This baby may not be here yet, but when he arrives, he'll have plenty to read. (Click on the picture to see a larger version.)

I know that looks like a lot of books for someone who doesn't even have a name yet, but about two-thirds of them are hand-me-downs from his mommy. I have a lot more children's books than the ones in this picture, but most of my favorite read-aloud books from my childhood are on this shelf. The rest are newer books I've bought in the last few years and recent gifts from friends and family. We'll be able to read Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss, and The Color Kittens together. We even have some German books!

The bookcase itself is also special. Marty and I bought it years ago in Pennsylvania, when we were in graduate school, and finished it ourselves. It's a pretty little bookcase and it's just the right size for the baby's room. The top shelf will be for CDs and we will put a CD player on top of the bookcase, so he can have music as well as books to read.

You may also notice, down in the lower left corner of the picture, my super book bag. It is the perfect size for carrying books -- I am sure we'll use it a lot, on trips to the library and all over. And the most amazing part is that it was hand-made for me by my friend Laura! I really love it a lot.

So even though the rest of the room still needs to be finished, I am excited that the bookcase corner is just about ready.

Warm Weather Christmas

These little snow friends are wondering what to do... it's been warm and rainy in Connecticut, not at all the kind of weather you expect for Christmas! The high on Thursday is supposed to be 50 degrees Fahrenheit! If you can believe that!

We had a lovely, quiet day on Christmas day. I cooked breakfast (buckwheat/pecan pancakes, with pecans from Laura G's back yard) and we opened our gifts by the tree. People had sent such thoughtful, beautiful things, and Ziggy enjoyed a few new toys as well. We talked to our families on the phone and just spent the day together. In the afternoon we watched one of Marty's new DVDs, The Blues Brothers, while I wrote some thank-you notes. It was a great day, relaxing and quiet.

Yesterday, we started working hard! We are taking this week to convert the study into a room for the baby. The first order of business was to move my desk/computer into our bedroom. So we cleaned and dusted our bedroom and de-cluttered as well as we could, then brought the computer in and set it up by the window. To make it fit on a smaller table, we had bought a flat-screen monitor the day before Christmas... and wow. Wow! I love this monitor! It's so big and beautiful! I never really thought I needed one (although I had one at work) but this has been really easy to get used to. The screen itself is only an inch or so bigger than my old one, but wow! It is huge and gorgeous. I have it set on the highest resolution and everything looks great.

Yesterday afternoon we went out to find Marty a new dresser. His old one, which his grandfather made by hand years ago, will go into the baby's room. Marty needed a bigger one anyway, so this is working out well. We found one pretty easily and it is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. So today we'll continue with the conversion of the upstairs rooms. I think the next items on the agenda are moving the old computer desk out of the study, switching a couple of bookcases (the baby already has so many books! it is wonderful!), and setting up the crib. Well, first we have to de-clutter the study as well. So we'll be working in there today.

And with all of this, I also go for my weekly monitoring appointment at the hospital and doctor's office this afternoon. Marty will come along so he can see the baby on the ultrasound. Today I am 34 weeks pregnant... in other words, our due date is 6 weeks away. Wow!

Festive Presentation

As you can probably guess from the picture above, I spent my formative years in the kitchen with the 1960s edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. In the world of BH&G (at least back in those days), nothing improved an everyday dish more than a festive presentation. Sometimes, like last night when I made this salad to take next door, I find myself channeling that 1960s BH&G home cook without even thinking about it. It just seems to happen on its own.

I'm continuing my practice of the housewifely arts today with a meatloaf and homemade macaroni and cheese. Possibly not the most traditional Christmas dinner, but easy and tasty.

Hope you are enjoying your day in the way you like best, too.

Happy Holiday Wishes

Christmas Eve

The whole crew.

We had a busy day. Since we're trying to turn our study into a bedroom for the baby, we have to move a bunch of things (like my computer) into other parts of the house. The only problem is, there's not that much space in the other parts of the house... and we have a lot of stuff. So we're in the process of figuring out how this is all going to work. I hope we'll have a lot of the reorganizing taken care of by this time next week.

We both figured the stores would be less crowded today than they will be the day after Christmas, so we decided to go ahead and buy some of the things we'll need to get working on this project. The crowds really weren't too bad.


Lucky boy and the new kid.

When we got home, I finished up some wrapping and made a salad to take next door. I tried to straighten up a little since we'll be opening presents in the morning. Marty ran the vacuum cleaner and the downstairs looks way better tonight. Then we went next door and had a nice dinner with our neighbors.


Enjoying a Hofbräu beer (although not a Steinbach).

My post-meal blood glucose numbers were high twice today. But my fasting number this morning was closer to where it should have been than usual (it was 92 and it's supposed to be under 90). I still don't completely understand what makes it go up and down, but I'm a lot less stressed about the gestational diabetes than I was last month. The weekly monitoring appointments are helping, I guess. Everything always checks out fine, which makes me a little calmer each time.


Krampuss (?) and Genghis Khan. Christmas isn't Christmas without whips and chains (and really big swords).

The pictures today are of my German Steinbach ornaments. I started collecting these before we moved to Germany. All of them are made by Steinbach except for the taller guy in the green hat drinking the Hofbräu beer, who was (strangely) the only one I bought while we actually lived in Germany.

My new one this year is the one up near the top holding the bird in one hand and a walking stick in the other. But two of my favorites are Genghis Khan and the Krampuss (or whatever he is) in the picture just above. I find nobody personifies the true spirit of Christmas better than Genghis Khan. (Or maybe it just mystifies me that this ornament even EXISTS.)


A baker, a short-order cook, and a beekeeper.

You can click on any of the photos to see a larger version.

Have a peaceful evening.

Sleepy

Click to enlarge (head).

I'm up late. I've been trying to take pictures of the ornaments on my Christmas tree (this never works out very well). But now I feel just about like Ziggy in the picture up above... it's time for sleep.

Good night.

Winter Sky

Click to enlarge.

A very enjoyable afternoon of socializiation. Laura and I started with a great lunch at ION, then spent some time in a few shops in Middletown (Echo Trading Co, Amato's, and Ursel's).

We also discovered a new (to us) place, called Harriet Amanda Chapman. It's a nice-sized Christmas store (year-round) that specializes in Scandinavian goods. The shop is situated out on the edge of town in an old mill, where the steam heat runs freely. I got a couple of tiny chickens for my Christmas tree. They had some gorgeous things there, like red enamel work, and lots of little fun things, too. The entire ceiling is hung with really neat mobiles, so many that you get overwhelmed trying to look at them all. And the stuff isn't just Swedish, either. They also have Finnish, Norwegian, and Danish goodies to help make an old-fashioned Christmas. God Jul!

When we were leaving, we drove down by the mill pond to turn around and caught a glimpse of the sunset in the picture above. I love the way the colors reflect on the icy water. See? Winter's not so bad.

Winter Solstice

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, today is the shortest day of the year, the day we call the winter solstice. Today the sun is at its farthest point south of the equator.

Of course, for those in the southern hemisphere, that means it's the longest day of the year. Friends in Australia and New Zealand must be celebrating out late with cookouts and Christmas songs tonight. (Or, well, they'll already be calling it "yesterday" down there.)

Time is a wonderful cycle, and I love the way the sun's face is balanced between north and south, giving and taking a little from each over the course of the year. The symmetry of it pleases me. Tomorrow the days will begin to lengthen again, so even though this is the first day of winter, it is also the first step in our long journey back to spring.

(The picture up above is handmade, and although it is a Christmas card, it reminds me of the solstice, too. That silvery sun and the frosty snowflakes and stars are exactly how I think of the solstice.)

This year on the winter solstice, I worked my last day in the office. I will put a few more hours in this week (from home) and then I'll work a little at the beginning of the year (also from home). But it's strange to think that I won't be going back to my office anymore, and that my phone extension will be cut off, and I'll become someone who exists only on the company network.

This evening after work, Marty and I attended a class at the hospital for expectant parents. (And no, he wasn't the only man there.) I feel like every class we attend, every book I read, brings us closer to the next part of our lives.

So that was our solstice this year. To me it feels like a time of turning from one thing to the next, and I guess it really is.

Scary Stuff

Today in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a Bush-appointed US District Judge ruled that "intelligent design" is not science, and so should not be taught in high school science classes (Judge Rules Against 'Intelligent Design').

I couldn't agree more.

It honestly scares me that this question is even under debate in the US. Is there any other developed nation where evolution is the subject of attack in the way it is here? I feel like the war on "Darwinism" (the name "intelligent design" proponents tend to use for evolution) is yet another sign of how fearful, narrow-minded, and egomaniacal our culture has become. It's right up there with the so-called (non-existent) "War on Christmas."

Considering the overwhelming scientific evidence that supports evolution, it seems to be a major feat of public relations that this debate is even taking place. Despite the ruling today (which has very little impact outside of the schools in Dover, PA), I feel that a nation that turns its back on science and reason is a dangerous place. Would a case like this even have been possible fifteen years ago? How does a culture regress so much in such a short time?

It's scary.

I'll be late for Christmas...

I am having a very strange holiday season this year.

The living room is full of presents, some wrapped, some not, and half-packed boxes. My family will be getting their things late this year. Actually, most people will be getting their presents late, except for the few people I'll actually see before Christmas day.

I've given up on the idea of writing cards to everyone I usually send them to. I keep reminding myself it's okay -- in a couple of months we should be sending out baby announcements, so there's nothing to feel bad about there. Although I still feel a little guilty.

I made a batch of divinity that didn't set up right, despite nice dry weather, and although I have plenty of ingredients for divinity and cheese rounds and butterballs, I don't think I'll be trying to make any more goodies. I usually do some baking (not crazy amounts like some people) but this year it's just not going to happen.

As much as I love singing with my chorus, I chose to sit out the entire holiday season. In fact, not only have I missed all of our holiday performances and fundraising activities, I actually haven't been to rehearsal since our show in early November.

Our lovely next-door-neighbors have invited us to dinner on Saturday night, Christmas eve, and I very gratefully accepted. I know we'll enjoy spending time with them and their beautiful cats, and it will be something festive we can do without my putting a lot of energy forward.

But all in all, I'm having exactly the holiday that I want this year. It's just that I'm so... very... exhausted. I'm very grateful that we don't have to go anywhere for Christmas, and equally grateful that we're not having houseguests. All I want, really, is to be home with my husband and spend some time getting the house ready for the new arrival. That sounds like about as much as I can handle, and it's all I really want to try to do.

We'll have many years to spend holidays with our families, and hopefully we'll be living a lot closer to most of them by this time next year. But for now, I'm glad we don't have a lot of plans. Because I am exhausted.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Rumpelklaus

Here's a blast from the past... one of my favorite Holidailies posts from 2004.

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake

Those two lines from "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" created a lot of anxiety for me when I was a child. As far back as I can remember, I liked the idea of Santa Claus, and I sure liked all those presents on Christmas morning. But the idea of Santa -- or anyone -- watching me while I was asleep? That really freaked me out. I can remember being very stressed on Christmas Eve, worrying that Santa was going to come to my bedroom door to check whether I was sleeping or not. The thought still makes me vaguely uncomfortable.

However, I'm counting myself lucky that I never knew about the Krampuss (also known as the Rumpelklaus) back then.




Yes, that does say Munich. And although I was there for two Christmases, I assure you that I never saw anything like that roaming the streets during Advent. In fact, I was quite shocked when I saw this picture, not to mention these, which are more than a little reminiscent of the Insane Clown Posse. (Thanks to Mike R. for forwarding these items!)

So I asked my friend Sonja, who comes from the Allgäu (a region in southern Bavaria) and now lives in Munich, how we could possibly have missed noticing such a thing. And she explained it like this:

I think I can reassure you. You didn't miss this because you weren't aware of what was going on in Munich, but because this was the first time that Krampusses made their way to Munich. And do you know where they came from? Yes, from the Allgäu.

This is something very typical in all Allemanic areas, i.e. Baden-Württemberg, Switzerland, Vorarlberg and the Allgäu. They have various names, in our region they are called "Krampus" or, more commonly, "(Rumpel)klausen" (pronounced something like "Rumplkloasa"). There is also a female version called "Bärbele" in the region around Sonthofen and Oberstorf.

Klausen are an old heathen tradition. They were originally meant to scare off bad demons. Today, they accompany Santa Claus when he visits homes on the night of the 5th or the 6th. You might know that parents can hire a Santa Claus to come around to their house and read out the vices and virtues of the children from his golden book. This is usually rewarded by one Schnaps (at least!) per house (for Santa and his helpers, not for the children!). I used to drive our village's Nikolaus from one appointment to the next, so I can tell you, you'd better make an early appointment ... Usually, two Klausen go into the house with Nikolaus. In our region, they wear old furs, have belts with cow bells, horrible wooden masks and a birch/rod with them... they sure are scary. When Santa reads out bad things from the book, they would jump up and down, making a terrible noise, or show their rod. So you can be sure that the threat "I'll tell Santa if you don't..." works very well on children in the region! My parents never let the Klausen in the house cause they knew I'd be too scared, so the first time I saw one was in our first year at school. I nearly peed myself, I was so scared!!!!

There is also the tradition of "Klausentreiben" on the same two nights. Unmarried men dress up as Klausen and walk around through the villages beating up passers-by with their birches - they really do. They wouldn't beat adults or elderly people, but they love scaring children and especially chasing after young girls. I'm sure you can imagine that I was dead-scared on those nights when I was younger but loved them in my teenage years... Because you normally knew who was going to go as a Klaus... But! You had to make sure to wear thickly padded skiing pants! Otherwise your bum was sore for days!

A couple of years ago, this whole tradition escalated somewhat when the Klausen in some towns got more and more violent and hurt people. Now they have to register and have an ear tag, like cows. And they are only allowed to use birches, no more iron sticks or chains like they used to have with them in earlier years to be more impressive.

This is a living Christmas tradition, as you can see from the websites of some of the groups: Klausenverein, Die Berghofer Rumpelklausen, and Der Krampus.

Sometimes while we were in living in Germany it seemed like US culture had practically overrun German culture -- television, movies, food, advertising, and shopping were so Americanized that it was easy to forget, at times, that there were real cultural differences. But no matter how many Wal-Marts there are in Germany, and no matter what kinds of movies people are watching down at the Mathäser multiplex, I hope the Rumpelklaus will continue to stalk the Allgäu and terrorize children on December 5 and 6.

As long as he doesn't come in and check to see whether I'm sleeping or not. I may never sleep again!

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K

Well, I've finally broken down and adopted a Blogger template for the front page. So many upgrades had happened at Blogger since I started using it and last designed my front page (in 2000!) that I really wasn't taking advantage of the full functionality of the application. So now I'll be able to have Blogger-sponsored comments, a single page for each post, an XML feed, e-mail posting, and a bunch of other stuff that I've been missing out on.

As a sidenote, I would have loved to switch to WordPress -- even downloaded the program and everything (and my host does support it). But it was too complicated for me to figure out. I feel goofy admitting that, but I'll just say that I'm no techie, and things on the web have really changed since RW began in 1998.

Anyway, if you're here from Holidailies, I fear this change has messed up the links I've been using for my posts. Sorry about that. Simply see below for the most recent ones, and check out the December 2005 archive for earlier ones.

I still need to get in there and redo my sidebar links and customize some colors. I hope to spend some time on that today, or at least soon. Bear with me.

In the meantime, welcome to the 21st century.

Boy, you think you know someone...

Tucked in amongst the holiday cards, this arrived in the mail today:


Click to enlarge

So, do you think this is

a) The evidence of a secret life
b) Someone we know playing a joke
c) A waste of time (and money) on the part of the sender

After not-too-lengthy deliberation, I'm going with "c." If you'd like to see what the letter said (and what Marty said in return), I've uploaded a scanned copy: page one and page two. He'll be using the postage-paid envelope to send it back...

Ha!

On Work

My work hours have been slowly decreasing over the last month or so, as I've been wrapping things up. Now I am really no longer working full time. I think last week I worked about 34 hours, and this past week will be even less.

I never thought I would feel strange about leaving work to have a baby, but it is weirder than I expected. I'm not exactly a career woman. Although I have a good job, it's a contract position and is contingent on being renewed every six months. It's not the same as being a direct employee. Also, I've always known that I could just as easily be doing something other than what I'm doing. So I'm not that committed to climbing the career ladder. Still, it feels strange to know that I won't be going back in January, just working from home for a couple of weeks and then taking a long break.

I don't plan to work full time after the baby comes, because we don't want to do full-time daycare, so we are mostly playing things by ear starting at the end of this year. Like I said, I will put in some hours in January, and then I'll try to work some (very) part-time hours from home starting around April. If we can find a babysitting situation we feel comfortable with, that may turn into a little more. Luckily, my boss is very open to all of this ambiguity, and the kind of work I do allows for that kind of part-time schedule.

But having things so up in the air makes me feel a bit uneasy. Marty and I are used to having a plan. Even if we end up changing the plan, as we've done in some very significant ways at times, we usually make a new one fairly quickly. It feels strange now to be standing at the edge of something very new, not knowing how it's going to be. At least I have a very strong feeling that it's going to be good.

Winter Mix and Donuts

Tonight we're scheduled for some bad winter weather... a mix of freezing rain, ice, and snow. That's about the worst kind of stuff you can get up here in Connecticut. I would honestly rather have ten inches of snow than freezing rain on the roads. Seriously!

Luckily, tomorrow I can work from home. Thank goodness for modern technology (and reasonable supervisors).

If you've driven north on the Berlin Turnpike recently, you may have noticed that Krispy Kreme has closed. Marty and I had dinner at Bertucci's (right next door) on Monday, and I was astounded to see that the grail light, I mean, the donut light, was completely dark. In fact, the whole place was as dark as it could be. I was shocked! I knew the company was having financial trouble, but the place seemed so popular!

Today I learned (thanks to Anti-Linear Brain) that the Krispy Kreme just closed a week ago. Now I don't know where I'll find southern-style donuts around here. What a tragedy!

Missing Out

Franz Marc, Deer in the Snow II, 1911

If you've been reading Raspberry World for a while, you probably remember how much I enjoyed Christmas in Munich. While we were living in Germany we had such fun going to the Christmas markets (not only in Munich but also in Augsburg and other towns) and enjoying the cultural differences in the way Christmas is celebrated.

Since we came back from Germany in August, 2004, I have found that I most miss Munich in December. When we talk about going back for a visit, I always say that I want to go during Advent, while Marty is more interested in going in the summer (when there is hiking in the Alps to be had) or the fall or spring (during the beer fests). This year we were there in March, and that was wonderful too.

Now I find out that not only am I missing all the performances with my chorus, the Christmas markets, and the Glühwein and Flammbrot, but I am also missing the greatest Franz Marc exhibit ever that is happening right now at the Lenbachhaus in Munich!

Marc is one of my favorite artists, and his animal paintings are especially pleasing to me. There's a huge collection of his work in Munich (the home of the Blue Rider school of painting) and so there's stuff in this show that has never been exhibited before! And I'm missing it.

Drat!

Blood Sugar Sex Magic

(well, really just the first two)

See, I told you my attention span was getting short! Can you believe I already missed a day of Holidailies?

I've been preoccupied with my blood sugar levels here these last couple of days. I remember when I first started researching the gestational diabetes, almost a month ago, I read that most people have certain foods that are "trigger foods," in that they can trigger high blood glucose levels. Well, pizza is definitely one of mine. Last night we had dinner at Bertuccis, a pizza restaurant that serves fairly healthy Neopolitan style pizza, brick oven style, not very greasy. And two hours later, my blood sugar level was 200.

Two hundred, people! It's supposed to be under 120 by two hours after every meal!

In the three weeks (plus) that I've been taking my levels, I had never seen anything close to 200. Once I got a 150 after eating a burrito full of rice, but I figured I learned my lesson there. I guess I learned another lesson last night, too... no more pizza until the bambino is here.

But it gets stranger. While the post-meal number was the one that shocked me last night, normally my two-hours-after-eating numbers are right where they're supposed to be. Only rarely do they go out of line, and then I can almost always attribute it to something specific (like that pizza). The problem I normally have is that my morning number is too high. This is the fasting number, the one I take right after I wake up. It's supposed to be under 90, and in three weeks of testing, it's been 90 or lower only twice. Since I started taking insulin injections at night last week, it's been in the 90s most of the time, but still not under 90. It has been really, really frustrating.

Well, this morning the fasting number was 83. Yes, after that insanely high post-meal number last night. And since I have never seen the post-dinner number so high, and I also have never seen the morning number so low, I have to wonder if it's a case of cause and effect. But I don't know!

Actually, all my numbers today were great. Go figure. Of course, tomorrow is always another day!

In other news, we finished our childbirth class tonight. It was only three weeks long, which seemed a little short to me, but to be honest I think it's nice to get it over with. We both felt like we learned stuff from it and I guess it will help when the time comes. I am trying not to get my expectations too set on how it'll be... with the gestational diabetes I am at a higher risk for c-section or induction, and I feel like I need to stay flexible about how the delivery will happen.

There's some stuff about my first week of fetal monitoring over on the baby blog if you want to read it. If the blood sugar update wasn't already enough TMI for you!

Short Attention Span

Under normal circumstances, I don't consider my attention span to be short. But at this stage of pregnancy, I am finding that it's very, very short. I keep watching the first part of movies and then not finishing them, which is something I never do. It took me the last three days to watch Bing Crosby's White Christmas, one of my favorite movies. I kept getting distracted by other things and having to come back the next day and watch a little more.

Unfortunately, it's also difficult to concentrate on the more significant stuff right now, too. Like work, and reading all these books I have about labor and delivery, and cooking meals. It is a very weird feeling for someone like me, who has almost always been able to focus -- at least on things that actually interest me. I guess I'm distracted by this major life change that is taking place. Plus, you know, the hormones.

Anyway, sorry for the lame post. I'm also finding it difficult to concentrate on Raspberry World tonight. And unfortunately, I don't have any new pictures to share today. But I did update the baby blog, if you want to hop over and read that.

Night all.

Random Update

I finished stitching this pansy a few weeks ago. Not very seasonal, I admit! It is the fifth of sixteen pansies that I'm stitching on a project.

Today I was out and about -- I had an appointment for a haircut, and thought I might pick up a few things I needed at Target or someplace. Well, I didn't count on the traffic. It was absolutely horrible. Everywhere I tried to go, there was gridlock -- even at the hair salon. There were three cars waiting to park, so I parked across the street at the bank and walked over. It was so awful out that I never even ended up going in any of the stores I wanted to, I just came home. I took back roads home from New Haven so I didn't even have to deal with the interstate.

I did see a bunch of people taking their Christmas trees home today, though. I must have seen 30 cars, trucks, or vans with trees tied to the roofs or hanging out of the trunk. Some of them were huge!

I would really like to read this new book, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. They visited 30 families in 24 countries and recorded what each family eats in a week, and how much it costs. They also took pictures of the different families with their food. Some of the items on the German family's grocery list were weekly staples for us when we lived there, too. But I don't think I ever spent even close to half of what the German family spends on a week's worth of groceries (they spent about $500 on food for a family of four). That looks like a really interesting book, though. I'd like to read it.

Snow Day

Click to enlarge.

Today we had a snow day. I'm not sure how much we got -- at my house, it looks like more than the 6 inches that was predicted. Maybe 7 or 8. I worked here at home, and the rest of my team stayed home today too (they all live in different towns across Connecticut, and one is in New York). This morning we all took pictures out our windows and sent them to each other... mine is above.

This is the birdfeeder I have on the deck outside my kitchen. Whenever it snows, it's a big day at the feeder. Today we had a battle royal going on between the chickadees, the dark-eyed juncos, and the blue jays. Then a big old grackle showed up this afternoon and scared them ALL away. I also saw a tufted titmouse today and a lady cardinal. Quite a good day at the feeder!

In the picture above, the bird in flight on the right hand side is a chickadee, and the one on the left is (I think) a junco. You may not be able to see the two sitting on the feeder, since they are in the shadow, but I think they're both juncos.

This afternoon it stopped snowing and the sun came out, so I went out and cleared my car off and moved it out of the way of the plow. The snow was nice and fluffy, so it was easy to clear off. It looks pretty out there tonight. Here in the house, I have Christmas music playing on the stereo and I'm contemplating what to make for dinner... I think it needs to be something easy.

Happy weekend, everyone.

Appointments, appointments!

We may be getting 4 to 6 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow, so I am planning to work at home on my laptop tomorrow. I am so glad that I'm able to work here so often. This'll be the fourth day this week, as a matter of fact. It has really made it a lot easier to get to all my appointments so far this month!

Even though I am taking a low-key approach to the holidays this year, I'm as busy as I ever am in December, just with different things. Since being diagnosed with gestational diabetes a couple of weeks ago, I have had four different appointments to learn how to deal with it. Then I had my regular pre-natal appointment last Friday. And our childbirth class has been meeting every Tuesday night.

Starting next week I will be going to the OB once a week for fetal monitoring, ultrasound, and a doctor's appointment (this frequency is because of the gestational diabetes). Plus I have introductory meetings scheduled at two different pediatrician practices in the next two weeks. And there's a breastfeeding class coming up, an infant CPR class, and a class "just for dads" (I don't have to go to that one!). Then in January I have an appointment at the police station to get the car seat fitted properly! Boy!

We'll have most of these things taken care of by January, which will be nice. I just have a feeling it's better to be ready early than it is to count on the possibility that we'll have time to finish things up in the last weeks. I have just known too many babies who came early. And even if he doesn't come early, I'm sure there will still be plenty to do here in the house to get ready. I don't want to leave all my classes and meetings until then. Besides, I'll still be going to the doctor once a week until delivery.

For those who are interested in reading more about the pregnancy (and the baby when he arrives), I've started another blog here on Raspberry World where I will be posting about it. Right now it is just an archive of the weekly e-mail updates I've been sending out to our families since week 16 (boy, does that seem like a long time ago now), but I will be adding to it with more frequent posts beginning soon. Maybe even later this evening!

Anyway here's the baby blog: BUN. You can also get to it from the link in the left-hand menu on this page.

I forgot to mention yesterday that another good blogging friend of mine is participating in Holidailies: Blonde Librarian. Renee writes from Bavaria, so check out her blog!

I'll update with a real entry later today!

Gearing Up

Welcome to my Holidailies posts. Starting today, I will try really hard to update Raspberry World every day between now and January 6. Hope you'll come along with me through December. And hey, some of my other favorite bloggers are playing, too! Jul of the Day and Painted Turtle.


This year, the holidays are pretty low-key for us. I'm 8 months pregnant (as of today!) and I just didn't feel like going anywhere or having any houseguests. So we'll be sticking close to home and doing things around here, mostly just the two of us. Marty has a week off between Christmas and New Year, and we're planning to get the baby's room ready then. We'll need it sometime in January or February, so I really feel like it's time.


However, one thing I did do is decorate our tree. Since we live in such a small space, I am using a little artificial tree I bought while we were living in Germany. I know someday we'll be in a bigger house again and I can have a big tree and use all my ornaments, but for now this one fits our lifestyle. The best part was when I sprung my birds from captivity after a long year wrapped in tissue paper.

Since we have an artificial tree, I splurged on a pretty wreath made of real greenery. It smells so good! I'll have to take a picture of it, too.

And now it's time for breakfast.

Coming up in the next few days of holidailies posts, I'll write about making divinity candy, feeding the birds, taking insulin shots, and my new pregnancy/baby blog. So stay tuned.

[Click on all small pictures to see a larger version.]

December Again!

December already? Wow.

I'm off to a good start... I opened the first window on both of my advent calendars today. I have one here on my desk, from a friend in Munich, and another one downstairs. I love advent calendars!

And I've signed up for Holidailies again. That means I'll be trying to update Raspberry World every day between December 7 and January 6. Last year I did pretty well, if I recall correctly, and I hope this year will be good, too. I'll make sure my camera battery is charged up and try to include some pictures.

Stay tuned...