Borough Market...

Before we left for London Sam had a list of places he wanted to visit and things he wanted to do, he had a quite a few war museums on the list so I was excited when we made an unplanned discovery and got to spend a few hours exploring Borough Market. Borough Market is London's most renowned food market. We were told that this market sold lots of things to eat and you could find some pretty strange food items here. It was not all shopping though they also had some food stands set up which seemed to be a very popular place to pick up lunch. Sam got a cheese sandwich that we were told had been featured on some food shows, he said it was the best grilled cheese he ever had. I got a delicious veggie burger and Laura who is very cautious with food chose a bratwurst from the German stand, because we couldn’t get that at home.

Sam eating his cheese sandwich

One of many seafood stands

Some dead rabbits for sale, yes they are real!

Sam bought some Turkish delights to try, I abstained fearing the white witch of course (and because they were gross).

And finally Laura throwing a fit over some fresh juice we got at the market. I wish I could say this was rare but unfortunately on this trip Laura must have set a bad behavior goal and then set out not only to reach that goal but to exceed it.

Birthdays.....

I love birthdays for me it is usually the one day of the year that I don't have to worry about anyone else, for this reason I try hard to let the people close to me know through something small but personal that I remembered their birthdays.


But for the last 3 years I have dreaded my birthday, this year more than ever because this year I entered my thirties. I have been anxious about this birthday for a while now and even though Sam has tried to comfort me nothing has been able to make me feel better, because he can't stop time or change history. Every year that I age not only does my fertility decline but Laura also ages and the gap between her and any baby we may or may not be able to have widens. I know that any doctor I talk to now is still going to tell me the same thing that I am still young and they have not proven that fertility starts to decline until you are over 35; therefore I still have plenty of time left. To that I would say five years might not be enough time to have a healthy pregnancy and birth considering we have been actively trying to conceive since our last failed pregnancy two years ago. I know that looking at these numbers the best thing for us might be to consider ourselves lucky for the beautiful healthy seven year old we have and stop hoping for the miracle it will probably take to expand our family. Every month as Sam and I dissect our monthly activities looking for any clue why we are still not expecting we discuss giving up. We discuss how even though frequently it seems the world is designed for a family of four we could be happy and someday even feel satisfied with our smaller family of three. But every month I say the same thing just one more month then I will go through the boxes and bins of baby stuff that take up a whole corner of the basement, then I will stop testing for peak fertility one more month and we can set new goals. Turning thirty shows me that I cannot ignore time is passing, I can give us one more month or even fifteen for a second child but soon Sam and I will have to give up any option we ever had of a third baby, five years is just not long enough.

As promised on Facebook the naked old man story….

When we were living our island life, Sam and Laura liked to walk the beach in the mornings. Laura called these walks adventures from the looks of the things Sam used this time to take pictures of planes and small fish. Every morning they set out camera in hand to see what they could find, one morning they hit the dead fish jackpot. Sam and Laura came across a large dead fish on the beach, while Sam was taking a picture of this dead fish an older gentleman emerged from the ocean naked to tell them about the fish. Apparently it came into the “lakes” at night to feed and then died for some reason and washed up on the beach. The naked man told Sam the name of the fish that looked like a mix of a catfish, ray and shark. He told me the name but I can’t remember it now because of the conversation that followed
Sam: Sarah, we found a dead fish on the beach then some old man came out of the ocean butt naked and told me it's a ______. It’s big and ugly.
Me: The fish or the naked old man.
Sam (disgusted): The fish. I have never seen one this big and gross looking.
Me: Are we still talking about the fish?
Sam (Ignoring me): Here is a picture look how weird it is.
Me: This better be a picture of a fish
This went on a minute longer until Sam stopped talking to me.

They also found a starfish.....

and a hermit crab.

Time Sucker?...

I guess the earth moves slower over here in Germany, because while everyone back in the states has already celebrated, I like to picture balloons and cake, daylight savings we do not spring forward for another two weeks. According to the internet Germany was the first country to embrace the time changes, to reduce artificial lighting and thereby save energy, of course they were at war so the saved energy was just reallocated to the war efforts. Friends and foes soon followed suit, I then assume that the U.S. in an effort to prove how superior we were started changing our clocks a few weeks before Germany. Always thinking one step ahead, or in this case one hour. I have read some articles asking “Daylight Saving Time: Energy Saver or Just Time Sucker?” and I must admit I am pro clock changing, if for no other reason than to shake things up and keep things interesting. Life would be just plain dull without the stories of the people who are an hour late Monday morning because they did not spring forward!

Seven and up...

Recently Laura picked a 7up out of a soda machine, she then informed me that she was now old enough to drink a 7 and up. Nice someone thought to clearly label that, I wouldn’t want that stuff getting into the wrong hands.

Earings...

It's never a good sign for the rest of the day when at the commissary, your third stop of the day, you reach up to feel you only have on one earing…..is it bed time yet?

The planned and unplanned...

Our time here in Germany is racing by; I have a hard time believing that we have already entered the month of March. The last few months have been…different than expected.
I thought since we moved farther north than any U.S. State we would have to deal with an abundance of snow and the inconveniences snowy weather brings. I am happy to report that I was wrong; Laura was very disappointment that all the snow gear we bought was only used once this year. Only one day in December did we have enough snow accumulation for Laura and her Dad to play in and even those 2 inches were reduced to dirty slush within hours. Sure we got a few more days with flurries and one day in January when we got to sleep in an extra hour while they plowed and salted the few inches that fell overnight, but despite record freezing temperatures in Europe the snow thankfully stayed away.

Over Christmas my parents came to visit us and we braved the cold weather to do some sightseeing around Germany. Germany has an abundance of castles; we saw castle ruins, a fully furnished castle, a few castles from the Rhine River, a castle with over 200 antlers displayed inside, a romantic castle and….well I am not sure they start to run together after a while.

This year since we had no Disney to bribe her with, in february we agreed to let Laura have a birthday party at the bowling alley on base. The bowling alley promised to do everything for the party including serving lunch. This turned out to be a little misleading. Laura invited all 20 kids from her class and a few extra outside of school friends; she had about 10 kids RSVP for the big day. The bowling alley was a little overwhelmed that day and under estimated the time it took to cook ten hotdogs and fries. Although in the long run none of that mattered because Laura and her friends had fun bowling, eating cake and opening presents. In February we also celebrated fasching in Germany. Fasching is Germany’s mardi gras and Halloween mixed into one very long parade. To Laura this translated to lots of candy.

What’s new with me personally? I found I have more time on my hands with Laura in full day school for the first time. I picked up a few new hobbies crocheting, kickboxing and can I call watching CSI on DVD a hobby? Along with volunteering in Laura’s class, my responsibilities around the house and all my old time wasters my days are surprisingly full.