Life cycle of a scooter

I am not sure if I expressed enough how much items cost here. When we first moved, we of course had to buy a car. We were pretty specific about our needs because of all the stuff that Beth has to carry. We had decided on the Honda CRV. Since we had driven it before and almost bought one previously. We bought a used one and you would have thought that it was brand new, just because of the sticker. Basically two sold cars in the states equal one used car in Australia.

We had driven this car for awhile and it needed the 50,000 Kilometer check. I brought it into the dealer that we bought it from to have the check up down. I went down on an early Saturday morning dropped it off and was told that it would be down in about an hour and that I would go get some brekky (breakfast). I went to one of my favorite spots, had my coffee, eggs, bloody Mary…etc. About 45 minutes later I got a call telling me that the car was ready. I walked back to the dealership and started looking over the statement of what they had done, and how much that it cost. The statement read something like: changed oil, changed oil filter, checked fluids, visually inspected tyres (tires), tyres didn’t need rotating….on and on. I looked at the price at the bottom of the sheet and saw that it was about $150. My thought was that everything is expensive here and that I should just deal with it. What I was mistaken about was that is the bill just for the parts. When I turned the page I saw the rest of the bill….total of $278.25. Most of you know that it takes awhile to get me riled up, when I saw that price tag I blew a gasket. I literally started yelling at the guy, and pointing to the sheet showing that the only thing that they really did was change the oil. No tyre rotation, no car wash, no transmission fluid change….I could go on and on. I kept pointing these things out and asked how it was possible that they could have my car for 45 minutes and charge me that much. The guy mistakenly told me that it took two technicians to do all the work. I told him that I have worked on a car or two in my life and that there was no way that he could justify this bill. He just kept saying sorry, that was what it cost. I argued with him for about 20 minutes. I called him a liar, a cheat, and a criminal. I mentioned that I liked the look of the brand new garage facility, but didn’t think that it was fair that I had to pay for the whole thing. As you can probably guess, I failed at getting the price reduced. I even went back to the salesman that I bought the car from and complained to him, his co-workers, his manager, and nothing.

Since cars cost so much Beth and I decided that we would only have one, and that I should use “alternative” transportation. The public system here is pretty good. There are trams, trains, and buses. Getting around is pretty easy. The draw back is that is takes awhile. My commute to work was taking me about an hour, which is fine but I have only so many “This American Life” pod casts to listen to, besides I could use a little more freedom. The solution to this was for me to buy a scooter. It took me a few months to get used to the idea, and I had to take the motorcycle class. I hunted around several places for my new “bike”. Again everything was a little expensive but I could certainly handle these prices over a car. After my research as to what kind of scooter I wanted, I came to the conclusion that a Honda would be best. A four stroke Honda Lead 100cc would get me where I wanted to go. It would not be fast enough to take on the highway system, but it would be an excellent commuter vehicle. Where should I buy it? Hmmm. I went to the closest Honda dealer. Unfortunately it is the same dealership that ripped me off on the oil change. I was only going to look, what can that hurt. When I test drove the Lead I fell in love with it and wanted it. I negotiated with the dealer and got them to take quite a bit off. After we came to an agreement I told him that he could have a deal that day if he took off another $278.25. I am very proud of myself for getting back at the big evil dealership.

With my new scooter the commute to work is about twenty minutes, and I have the luxury of running errands. Traffic and parking are a huge issue in Melbourne. With the scooter you can split traffic (drive between cars) and park basically wherever you want, even on the side walks. I also calculated that it is cheaper for me to drive the scooter than it is for me to take public transportation. Scooter is about $1 a day public transport is $2.80 a ride. Scooter wins hands down. Life is good.

After about 15 weeks of commuting to work, zipping off to the video store to get our daily dose of the West Wing, and volunteering to run up to the store for groceries, I am feeling really good about my purchase. Beth likes it too because the last thing that she wants is to get into the car after a day of work. On April the 10^th I was on my way to work and enjoying my ride when someone turned from the other side of the road to go on a side street. I had no time to stop and hit the door of his car. I ended up sprawled out in the middle of the street, still unsure of what happened. The other driver jumped out of his car and said that he didn’t see me. That is the downside of owning this kind of transportation. We exchanged information, he made sure that I was fine, and I got the name and phone number of witnesses. No worries I am fine. The scooter has seen better days though the front end is smashed and there are scrapes all over the sides. I continued to work and progressed through the day. My neck started to feel sore, other than that I was fine. I made the appropriate phone calls to the insurance agent and got that all squared away. There is a place that can do the repair that is just a little ways away and I could get it there for the price quote. I brought it in the next day and it was looked over by the mechanic. I was told that I could drive it home if I felt comfortable doing so. I am not afraid to say that I had some apprehension….. get back up on the horse right? The assessor from the insurance company would not be able to get to the bike shop until the following Friday and asked if I could have the scooter there by that time. As they say here “no worries”. Thursday after work I was driving to the repair shop. I slowed down at a traffic light because it is a six way stop and I was not sure what the traffic was going to do. For the second time within a week I found myself flat on my back in the middle of traffic wondering what happened. This time I was rear ended by a cab driver. Since I had not been run over yet I knew that traffic was stopped. I decided to just stay there and reflect for a moment. Am I a bad driver? Am I doing something wrong in my life that this is happening? Does God hate me? It didn’t take long before I was surrounded by a bunch of people asking if I was alright. A quick check revealed no broken bones or blood; I was just more surprised than anything else. I figured that I must be doing something right since I have now been in these two accidents and no significant injuries. Once again I gathered information on the other driver and witnesses to the accident.

I have learned today that the scooter is “beyond an economical repair” in other words they totaled the thing.

I really enjoyed my scooter, but maybe I should stick to the trains, trams, and a bicycle.

Veggie Overload

My friend Amy wrote a blog about becoming "slap happy." In honor of that story, I give you this:

A couple weeks back, I decided to branch out of my cooking routine and try my hand at cabbage borscht. This was partly brought on due to my recent lack of vegetables in my diet (fear of listeria - more pregnancy junk) and fueled by the fact that Eric said he had never eaten borscht.

How could that be? In my German and Irish family, we practically grew up on the stuff. Cabbage is about the one food the two countries agree on completely. Cook it...cook it well...cook it until its done done done.

The only cabbage that the store had in stock just happened to be a purple variety. When I was cutting and chopping the purple onions, purple beets and purple cabbage it all seemed very surreal. I was busy chopping away when Eric came home from work so I greeted him with a cheery, "Go Minnesota Vikings". We had a good chuckle.

After about a half hour, everything was in the pot and boiling away. If you think beets are purple when they are in their natural state, they become an even darker shade in the water. Suddenly the water coming out of the boiling pot was coloring everything around it. My hands were stained, the rags that I used to clean the kitchen was stained and the marble counter tops were an odd hue.

Eric had run off to the store to pick up a few more West Wing episodes for us to watch when he called to say that Blockbuster was missing the ones we wanted. He wanted to know if I wanted to watch "The Color Purple" instead. That began a series of us firing back at each other with movie titles like "Purple Rain," anything with "Barney" or "The Purple Rose of Cairo".

Finally he returned home with some Russian mob movie featuring Vigo Mortenson and Naomi Watts.

At that time, we discovered that the borscht had magically grown in the pot and was enough to feed about 30 hungry Germans. We would be eating this stuff for weeks.

We sat dangerously on our very white couch eating giant bowls of very dark purple borscht while watching the mob movie. As fate would have it, there was a scene in the movie where the Ukrainian Grandma makes a giant pot of Borscht to feed the entire mob.

At this point we lost it.

I don't think either of us really liked my attempt at Borscht, and now it was a thing of mockery. Whether it just wasn't very filling or because we had a years supply of it on the stove, we both managed to down two bowls of the stuff. My ancestors would be proud.

They should really post a label on the stuff though - this is not a good pregnancy food.
Within minutes, my abdomen swelled to about double its size. The laughter didn't help the pain at all. I had to put on emergency sweatpants and let my bowling ball size belly have some space.
Eric and I have been chronicling my pregnancy through weekly photos of my belly. We toyed with the idea of doing a series of "pre-borscht" and "post-borscht" photos to add to that series.

Let that be a warning to all pregnant women out there. Skip the borscht!
Oh, and to everyone else...use GREEN cabbage.

Bali Unplugged

KP comes to visit in Australia and decides that she wants to take a "side" trip to Bali. It's a bit like saying, "Since I'm visiting the US, I may as well see France." But oh-well, I'm game for it and she's the one doing the many travel hours on planes, so it's off to Bali we go.

It is lovely in Bali - opposite of dry Melbourne. Very very green. Ireland Green. Green like St. Patrick's Day green. Green like a jungle. It is hot, muggy and I am sweating with reckless abandon.
Our hotel looks like something out of a Travel and Leisure magazine and I am grateful that KP picked it out. I tend to make trips harder than they are...see too much...travel to too many places...stay in cheap hotels to cut costs. This is luxury and it's good to be along on someone else's style vacation. I always need a rest when I come home from my trips - this one I'll actually get to lay by the pool and sip drinks with umbrellas and such.

Our resort has this gorgeous open air restaurant where we enjoy breakfast every morning. The monkeys swing from the trees nearby and the sounds of the water in the canyon below us echo up as we enjoy fresh fruit, pancakes, yogurt, and tea and coffee. We are in Shangri-La.

According to KP, it's Shangri-La only if the monkeys go away. They have a mutual dislike going on. I think it's because she is blond and her head looks like a big banana to them. This causes no end to their frustration. We ended up at something called the Monkey Jungle and people were sitting with the monkeys. However, Kathy walked in and a whole tribe of vicious, teeth barring monkeys took off after her. She screamed and threw bananas at the beasts as she ran in terror through the park. All we brown haired people in the park thought it was hilarious.

Since that time, the monkeys have her number. They are on our porch at night...they run around our roof in the morning...and they chase her through the fields at our hotel. She lives in constant fear of these limber tree dwellers.

The town that we stayed in is called Ubud. It is in the mountains of Bali and absolutely beautiful. I did take a day trip to some of the beaches in the south and they were not nice. I hear the area to the north and east of us is quite gorgeous but the southern area is like a big Australian party zone and if this is the only place I ever went in Bali, I think I would hate it. There are people there tying to lure you into their shops, poverty is everywhere and you get the general feeling that things are a bit unsafe. As soon as I arrived, I wanted to leave.

Ubud is the artists area of Bali and famous for its textiles, jewelry, woodcarving and dance theaters. The people are smiley and happy and very willing to help. Yes, they still want the best price for things and everyone says that they can get you a deal, etc. etc. But generally we have found happiness in Ubud and love the people and the surroundings. We are enjoying good food, exploring the temples and palaces, purchasing beautiful sarongs and actually wearing them, and walking the rice fields and countryside.

One evening we went to one of the dances in the palace and watched the performers prance around with odd postures and flexing arms and legs. They learn these dances when they are kids and it is an honorable thing to be good and a well respected performer. Most remarkable is what they do with their eyes. I swear they are in a trance - eyes flickering at rapid pace. The dance was exotic and interesting. There was one part of the dance where there were about six women on stage...they were all dressed alike and had the same makeup and hair. There movements were coordinated and it was eerie. We called it the Balinese Robert Palmer girls.

Wanting to reach out a bit from Ubud, Kathy and I hired a driver for the day and went on a countryside tour. The natural surroundings are stunningly beautiful but it's most amazing to see how the people live. The houses are actually compounds. They have a wall and then several huts and temples within the grounds. It looks like they all live in the Minneapolis sculpture garden. There is a cooking hut, a sleeping hut, a prayer hut, etc. We saw some of those magical terraced rice fields and followed one of the many temple celebrations through the streets for a couple miles. We felt like we were in the parade. We stopped in a couple of towns and wandered about with some local guides and our driver just waited for us. Actually, he did some shopping of his own because we somehow ended up with a caged rooster in the back of our van. The thing flapped around like mad. Feathers were flying, and at one point, the rooster began to crow. Eventually KP clucked it to rest. Fearful monkey girl is actually a chicken whisperer.

It is hot hot hot here and muggy beyond belief. We intended to go on a hike at one point today, but bailed out when it was too warm and we were without any sort of food or water. It was about hour 6 into our day trip. We were overheated, sick of being in the car and ready to get back to the hotel pool. KP got the giggles and kept repeating "nacho mama" to the point where I told her to shut up. Then she started repeating the annoyingAustralian "YEEEEAHHH" and I told her to go back tosaying "nacho mama." Our van driver got into the nacho mamapart as well and suddenly we were a car of crazed people repeating "nacho mama" over and over for no known reason. Road trip madness.

Just in the nick of time, we stopped at an outdoor market where we bought some fruit I had never seen in my life. One type was bitter but had the texture of an apple. I didn't like it. The other one was fleshy and when we cracked it open it looked like a white clementine. It was slimy but tart and I liked it. I was famished and consumed about three of them before I had the fear that I may be severely allergic and not know it. One hour later there was no swollen throat.

Very strange to eat new and exotic fruit - I wonder how many others there are in the world that I haven't yet tried.

However, the lack of foods, places to use a toilet, and crazy country roads did make me want to heave. Nacho mama.

The next day we stayed in town, took a cooking class and ate our spicy creations. Our class was a fun group of people from places all around the world. However, there were two exceptionally annoying women from California in the group that everyone grew tired of as the day progressed. Why did they have to be from America?

We were taught to make ceremonial Balinese food and created about 6 different flavorful dishes with each tasting better than the next. It was a whole day of cooking and the afternoon heat was suppressed as the rain poured down around our thatched roof cooking space. Don't ask me to make any Balinese food at home. Even though I have the recipes, I don't think I could ever find the ingredients. Candle nut anyone? Fresh Palm sugar?

************

Bali is famous for massage and our hotel is no exception as there is a spa retreat located on the campus. Our room comes with two complimentary massages and so we booked in for each of our treatments around the same time. That way we could head into town for the evening and have dinner and see one of the dancing shows.

However, as we waited for our individual massages, it became clear to us that they were putting us in the same room. Apparently, it was a 'couples' massage. For the next two days, every time KP would ask me what my favorite part of Bali was, I would gaze at her lovingly and reply "the couple's massage". We had a total of 4 treatments at our hotel and even though we asked for separate rooms, they always put us together. By the end of the week, we were to have enjoyed couples massage, couples reflexology, couples pedicure, and couples facials.

It turns out massage was to be a big part of this holiday. It's such a luxury and in Bali, it is wonderful and VERY inexpensive. One day, after exploring the markets and having a filling curry lunch for about 3 dollars, we saw some relaxed people coming out of a nearby courtyard. There was a spa located just behind the gates and the people were happy to tell us about how great it was. They were all Europeans and began to tell us about the 90 minute treatments that we could have for 14 US dollars. We checked it out, there were appointment times available, and we signed up. The list included all sorts of treatment and I signed up for something with a soak massage and some sort of yogurt treatment

Now, as I write this, part of me can't believe I'm going to put in up on the blog. No doubt, when you are finished reading it you will think exactly what I thought - that KP and I just paid someone 14 dollars to molest us. We preferred to think of it as "Attack of the massage therapists."

For the first time, I was lead into a "private" room. That's where the "private" part ended. At our nice hotel, the massage therapists do a very American style massage where they keep all areas covered unless they are being treated. Such was not the case with the very authentic Balinese massage.

The private room was surrounded by brick and thatched walls, it contained a tub filled with local flowers, a tile floor, a fountain (which, by the way is torture to the bladder of a pregnant woman) a small shower, and a single bed in a raised area of the room. The bed was very wide and had just a plastic mat with a sheet over it. There was also a coat rack in the room. My massage therapist was a 4 foot 8 Balinese woman who pointed to the coat rack and told me to undress. She just stood there in front of me. About 2 feet in front of me. I gave her a look and then thought, "Oh well,” and proceeded to get naked. She had me get up on the bed which now felt like it was mounted in the sky. There was no sheet to cover me. As I began to wonder how this tiny woman would massage me as I lay somewhere close to the thatched rooftop, my answer became quite clear. Suddenly this woman was on top of me and straddling me as she rubbed my back and arms. Now, I must admit that the massage was pretty great, but my own insecurities took over and I was tense for the majority of the rub down. I began to think that the people leaving the place had deceived us but I quickly came to the realization that they were European and probably don't have my American Anti-Naked sentiments.

Just as I began to relax, the woman told me to flip over on my back. I wanted to die. I kept my eyes firmly shut and started my mantra of "find your happy place...find your happy place..." The woman began to rub almost all of me. As I lay there feeling more naked and more exposed than I ever have in my life, I wondered if this was some sort of glorious joke. Was I the only one having this sort of treatment? Was KP going through the same thing in her room? Was there a camera in the room and later I would come across this on youtube? If it were to be on youtube, how many stars would this get?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden food application. The "yogurt" treatment that I had signed on for, involved a series of edible things. I was given a coconut and papaya scrub, then salt was applied, and finally coconut milk and yogurt were applied to my body. I was tingling and itchy and I began to wonder if baby living inside me was aware that we were now becoming a dessert. At long last, I was helped to the shower where my massage therapist ladled water over me and threw more yogurt at me. At this point she paid close attention to my belly and rubbed yogurt all over it and talked to the baby in Balinese. What did she say?

When all the foods were finally rinsed off me, I stepped into the flower filled tub. Now, it looks nice to have a bath filled with flowers, but what they don't tell you is that the petals float and the stems have a tendency to go toward the bottom of the tub. 'Enough said bout that.

After 90 long minutes, I was dressed and exiting my private room. I paid for our massages and waited for KP. When she came out of the room, she didn't look at me. In fact, the next 30 minutes were spent in subdued silence. Finally, she uttered the phrase, "So...were you wondering if it that massage was going to have a happy ending?"

Tadpole Diary

Hello All -
Hooray - the word is finally and officially out about the baby in the works. There is relief that comes with being able to talk about this. When I was freaking out, sick all of the time, and in the closet about the baby, I started to keep a diary. This is that diary....


17th of Jan
I am just now returned from one of most annoying doctors office experiences. Worthless waste of money and time that was!

I'm joyously happy to find myself unexpectedly pregnant but I also am weeding through the messy and frustrating Australian Health care system. I found out less than one week ago that I was expecting and it turns out I am too late to book into most private hospitals. What the? Did people book because they were anticipating being pregnant? How can every maternity ward be full for end of September already? And how about the notion of booking a bed in a maternity ward anyway? It's beyond strange to me. How do they know when my "expected date of confinement", as they call it, is going to be? What if I go early...will they then say..."oops, sorry, can you hold it in for another couple weeks dear?"

Trying to find an OB and navigate the private vs. public system is a nightmare. I have been on hold approximately 2 hours within the public system and I have never gotten to speak to a live person. What if there is an emergency? It doesn't bode well. I also found out that you don't get an ob with the public system...just a midwife for the delivery and prenatal care is with some random nurse. If I book an OB, then I'm going private and the bills are impossible to figure out. They can charge whatever they want and my health fund either will or won't reimburse me. There is a code for delivery, labor, anesthesia, ob, the room, the FOOD, and extra care, etc. etc. How can I figure all this out? I tried to book into an OB but he won't see me for 9 weeks. What does this mean for prenatal care? I've been relying on the Internet and have found out that bad things are too much coffee (so I stopped it completely - what's nine months?), alcohol, sushi, soft cheeses like brie and feta (travesty!), and too much chocolate. OK, got it. Good old Internet. I'm taking a prenatal vitamin and there are all these warnings about too much folic acid, too little. ugh.

I rang up the OB's office again and chatted with the receptionist and she suggested that I go to a General Practitioner in the meantime. After searching for a GP in my area, I made an appt and went. This is what the 90 year old GP who couldn't understand my accent told me: wine is fine, 2 or more cups of coffee a day won't hurt me, he has never heard that pregnant woman can't eat cheeses and that I was loony for thinking it because cheese has good calcium. However, I should avoid bouncing up and down, no running, and be careful of exercise and sex. These two things (sex and exercise) were bigger problems than coffee and alcohol. He reconfirmed the pregnancy test and then told me to come back in the morning after fasting for a blood test. When I asked what the blood test was for, he said to test for pregnancy. I don't know about you all, but I think that two confirmed pregnancy tests and a late cycle pretty much mean that I'm pregnant. And I can pretty much expect that in about two months my belly will begin to expand and that will provide yet another confirmation in the whole pregnancy debate. I'm not going back to this man. I will just wait the nine weeks to see an ob. I can take care of my own prenatal by reading the Internet and perhaps buying a book from the bookstore.


26th of Jan (Australia Day)
I'm exhausted. How can I be this tired all the time? I wake from a nap and feel just as unrested as I did before I fell asleep. Eric and I went on a walk this evening and it felt like uphill both ways for me. Our conversation went something like this...

Me: I'm sick
Eric: You're not sick

Me: I think I have mono
Eric: You don't have mono

Me: What is wrong with me then?
Eric: Nothing, your just using your energy somewhere else

Me: Maybe I'm diabetic
Eric: You're not diabetic

Me: Maybe I'm dying
Eric: You definitely aren't dying

Me: If I was dying and you just blew it off, you'd feel really bad
Eric: You are not dying

Me: Honestly, wouldn't you feel the least bit bad if I was really dying
Eric: you are not dying.

Me: You'll be sorry.


3 Feb
Found a wonderful new GP who called her favorite OB and he made room for me in his practice even though I am ALREADY 7 weeks along. (still doesn't sound long to me, but the booking into a hospital thing is difficult). I have felt like I have the flu for about the last two weeks and I am exhausted. I bawled my eyes out in her office and she cooed and was sympathetic to me. Love her.

11 Feb
Today I was actually feeling OK by about 2 pm...so Eric and I went out for a very late breakfast. I had scrambled eggs and toast and a bit of bacon and it all stayed down. Amazing. That's a first. I've been eating crackers and soup broth for a week, being nauseous Evey morning noon and night, and generally looking and feeling like hell all day long. People at work think I'm homesick and crying. The puffiness in my face is from the nausea. I have an on call shift all of next weekend and am gearing up for a 12 day stretch of work without a break. I used to hate those at home but I'm not sure how I'm going to bear it feeling as I do.

If I felt like this at home, I would surely call in sick. Can I call in sick for the next several weeks?

This morning I was extremely weepy and Eric was very comforting. I'm tired of being sick all the time and I'm tired of this constant fever. I have been hovering at around 100 degrees for the past few weeks - I'm hot to the touch and Eric is accusing me of cooking our child.

I am also actually somewhat fascinated by the status of my belly. It doesn't feel like me and I have no control over it. What was normally a somewhat flat stomach in which I took much pride, is now an uncontrollable gas bubble that churns and puffs at its own will. It is sometimes so enormous, I can barely zip my pants, let alone fuss with the top button. The discomfort is unbelievable.

I get up about 4 or 5 times in the night to go to the bathroom - how can that be?

I dream and dream...I'm skiing...I'm getting a pacemaker...I'm in the hospital for my appendectomy and no one believes me that I already had it out...I'm starting a new job...I've lost my keys and cant get out of the apartment...I dream that Eric sends naked pictures of me out on the internet....eee gads. I wake up sad and overwhelmed that I am in a foreign country. I wake up mad at Eric about the naked pictures.

I am confused by how much of this due to pregnancy and how much is actual real loneliness or real sadness. Some of the books say that all of this is linked to the 1st trimester and the discomfort and flood of emotions will turn off like a faucet after 12 weeks. However, they also warn that some people feel like this all 40 weeks. I'm hoping I'm in the first group. Seeing as I'm approx 8 weeks at this point, I don't even know how I can take another 4, let alone 32 weeks.

I'm now booked in to a hospital, I have a general practitioner that I adore, and an OB that seems fine. He did an ultrasound when I visited last Friday and it was really bizarre. For years I've looked at other peoples ultrasounds and they have been relatively meaningless. Now here I am. There is this huge pregnancy sack that looks like a giant empty black space and there on the side is a tiny little thing with a beating heart. There is all this space and there is this kid hanging on to the wall. Eric looked at it and said, "Hey, you can spread out in there."

I also have my first incident with the not-so-private Australian health care system. A packet arrived in the mail with my blood work. You should see this thing. It's the most comprehensive analysis I have ever had. No wonder they took 5 vials of blood. It's 11 pages long. Well, it's supposed to be 11 pages long. Mine is 12 pages. I was reading the 12th page and was very confused by it until I realized it wasn't for me. I read enough to know I shouldn't be reading it and will be taking it back to the pathology lab on Monday so they can mail it to the correct person. It was an analysis directed for someone else including such details as method of collection (masturbation) and volume (3 ml). It included a name and address. Now I'm wondering who else has MY lab results.


Feb 19
Just got the bill for the lab tests. $275. Was that really necessary? The pee on the stick test cost me just $12. $275 seems to be the going rate for everything these days - it was the cost of the car tune up as well (shocking!) and it was also the cost of the side view mirror that I bashed by driving too close to our garage door.

Still sick every morning. My diet is that of a 5 year old. I only like cheese, bread, pop sickles, soup, crackers, blueberry muffins, and cheerios. Tomatoes are the enemy, and spicy things are yucky. I'm grossed out by meat and the smell of what other people are eating. Oh, French fries are OK too. Yes, I have taken on the diet of a 5 year old. Eric is telling me this is happening so that when our kid refuses to eat certain foods I will be sympathetic to his or her wishes.

Feb 27
I got radiated yesterday and I'm freaked out. My job in a cardiac cath lab exposes me to radiation on a regular basis and I'm not happy about it. I have 6 cumulative years of radiation in my body and now that I am pregnant, I am extremely careful. I put on the best and heaviest lead suit that I can find, I stand behind people whenever possible and I step as far away from the tube as possible to minimize my exposure. I don't like being around the stuff, but it's unavoidable if I continue my job. However, yesterday I was in a long long day of procedures and I we were finally finished for the day. All of us, except the doctor had taken off our lead and were cleaning up the room. I was standing right next to the flouro tube and was trying to organize my gear. About a minute later, the doctor yelled, "Jeff! You are standing on the pedal!" This fool was radiating all of us for about a minute and no one knew! I was right next to the tube. I would be angry with this kind of exposure, but now that I'm carrying a child, I'm absolutely panicked. I got home last night and we called the OB and then looked up what radiation can do to a 10 week old baby. It's not pretty and I had to stop reading because I became so upset.

Eric is hounding me to report this and tell everyone at work. What good will that do now? An "incident report" hardly seems like enough. My OB was very kind and gentle and told me he didn't know much about cath lab radiation exposure but would talk to his radiologist friend and get back to me. I'll be waiting for his call today. ugh.


Feb 27 continued
OB called. He was reassuring and told me his radiologist friend didn't say there was much cause for concern. I'm still concerned, but trying not to be.


Feb 28
All the Aussie magazines at the checkout counter show all the celebrities and their baby bumps. Is everyone in Hollywood pregnant? When our little Lampert-Tjossem goes to make his or her big break in California she/he will need to compete with all the Jolie-Pitt and Urban-Kidman children of this world. Even if she or he is a singer, there will be competition from the two J-Lo just released to the world.

March 1
Next weekend I have a work conference and the pressure will be on me to party with everyone else. When you don't have a drink, everyone notices. It is part of the Australian culture. I will need to tell my managers. I'm dreading it.

Part of the reason that I was hired over here is because three people on my staff are out on maternity leave at the present time. When they go on leave, they are gone for a year. How will my bosses take this news? I've consulted the internet for advice in this arena and was told not to apologize for it - just be businesslike.

March 2
My OB ordered me to have more blood tests. Apparently as comprehensive as the first round was, the GP didn't order the items you actually need during pregnancy. The OB questioned if I had told that doctor I was even pregnant, because apparently he ordered about 12 tests I didn't need.

March 3
Told Eric's parents today over skype. How fun! We video conferenced (it's free people!) and Eric just held the ultrasound photo up to the camera and told them to say hello to their newest grandchild. Eric's mom cried. It was great! I'm excited to tell more people.

March 4
Went to the gym today for the first time since December. I've been too sick to go until now. The elliptical trainer nearly killed me. I used to go at a high rate and resistance for 40 minutes on that thing. At a low rate and resistance, I could barely make 15 minutes today. How will I make it through labor?

The gym's personal trainer said hello and asked me where I had been. When I told him I was pregnant, he walked over to Eric and slapped him on the back and yelled "Good on ya, Mate!" You should have seen Eric. He puffed up and stuck his chest out. He's all proud and manly these day. I'm not sure he knows I had anything any part in this.


March 5
Told both my managers today. They both had the same reaction. It was a four letter word beginning with F. Sometimes it was stung together in a series. Then they wised up and said 'congratulations'. It's a really big deal when people get pregnant here because they can take leave from their jobs for a full year. It is an unpaid time off, but their employers must guarantee them their job back when they return. That is stressful for companies and most have to recruit someone to fill in for that year. In this job, the training takes a bit more than a year so they just rely on everyone else to pick up the slack.

Naturally,they wanted to know if I planned to stay in Australia. Since my package doesn't come with any US health insurance I informed them that yes, I would be staying here. I also won't be taking a full year, but I will take longer than what the US gives us. I think I'll take four months and then transition back to work with a part time month. The US policy was three months full pay and this is one year no pay. I'd like the salary, but at this point in my life, I'm more happy with the time off. It will be the longest break in my working career. I can't wait to spend that time loving a child.

March 10
Went out of town this weekend to lovely Byron Bay for a work conference. The country director was a bit drunk on Friday night and he announced to everyone at my table that I had "news". I couldn't just sit there in silence, so I told everyone that I was pregnant. I felt like a fool. Seated at my table were some of the physicians I work with, the president of Boston Scientific, and a rather well known electrophysiologist from the US. No one really knew what to say and I wished the earth would swallow me whole.

On the second night, I sat with two people whose wives had both delivered babies in foreign countries (Japan and the US). They shared their experiences and both were really kind. They talked about the challenges and we all laughed about various doctors visits. It redeemed the weekend a bit for me. I'm glad I'm not having the baby in Japan. Apparently the nurse hopped up on the patient and began to push on her belly to help her along.

March 11
Ultrasound today. Everything was great and we are officially at 12 weeks. It is amazing to see this little baby with two arms and two legs kicking about within me. We saw the heart again and counted the chambers.1...2..3..4.. all good.

Now, if you friends would just answer your phones, you would all know the news.

Laura O'Brien - I don't want you to have to read about this in a blog, but please answer your phone!

Matt and Amy Brenengen know and I think Matt could care less about me, but is really excited for Eric and the baby. He is disappointed that we are in Australia because he believes my expanding belly could fulfill his documentary video dreams.

Amy Sinykin was wonderfully supportive and glad that I am joining the club of sleepless parenting. Troy Sinykin called me a fertile little minx. I love that. It makes me feel sexy at a time where I just look bloated and tired.

Eric's sister Ann also cried and was really happy for us. I didn't talk with Eric's brother Scott but Eric said is was a great reaction. Eric's brother Kurt already suspected and wasn't really surprised.

My mother had a great reaction but knew back in January when she directly asked me because I was acting 'funny'. Also, there was no hiding it from Christine Chovan as we video conference with her on a regular basis and there wasn't any logical explanation for why I was always sick and laying on the couch when she called week after week.

There are still so many more people to tell. This is where the fun begins. I wish I could tell everyone in person.

March 15
This weekend I head off to Bali for a week with my friend KP. When I was sick and miserable in February, KP made her plans to come here and Eric told me to go to Bali with her and have some girl time. I feel a little bad for leaving him behind - like taking a baby moon without the father. I am, however, looking forward to a holiday escape where we can just relax, get massages, shop for normal priced items, and swim in the incredible looking pool at our hotel. Best of all is that I feel about 150% better and can't wait to have a vacation!

Our Tadpole

6 Months In: Missing Home

I miss our dryer.

Our dryer back in St. Paul has one temperature – hot. We were never really crazy about it, but oh, what we wouldn’t give to have it with us now.

We are in the land without dryers. One never really considers the inconvenience of this until one has to live without a dryer. (My memories from living in Italy are coming back to me here). Most things are fine drying on a rack, but certain items such as sheets and towels are really good when fluffy. We say that our towels now serve two purposes; drying our bodies and exfoliating us at the same time.

Our apartment comes with a “drying room”. It’s a room down the hallway that is lined with heat pipes and a row of clothes lines. Eric currently has a rather large burn on his leg from the heat pipes that line the walls. It is a dangerous room indeed. We aren’t allowed to hang things outside, so the drying room is mandatory and we get one designated day per week to put our things in the ‘drying room.’ Our day is Monday.

Speaking of missing things from home, I will say that the first three weeks of February were particularly challenging. Loneliness set in and wouldn’t lift itself from our moods and hearts. It may have been compounded by several factors; my mom left at the end of January, I was ill for the first couple weeks of Feb, I had an on call stretch from work that lasted 12 days and included 4 product recalls, the weather was hot and we are so tired of summer, and we had bad news from home. Still feeling deep sadness about the death of Mr. O’Brien just before the Christmas holidays, we now also had news about the murder of one of my co-workers from Guidant and the tragic death of Annie LaFave. It’s awful to hear this news when one is at home; it’s particularly distancing to get the news via email. February winter blues don’t just affect those braving the cold. Apparently, if you are from Minnesota, it travels with you.

Things finally started to get a bit brighter last week and the malaise began to peel itself away. To get ourselves over missing home, we decided to have an “American Day.” We went to the US Consulate office in the morning. However, there were no American’s there – just Australian security guards. Next, we went to the USA food store where we bought brownies, Cap’n Crunch cereal, blue cheese dressing, butterscotch pudding, chicken wing sauce, Heinz 57 sauce, and lucky charms. We really wanted Hellman’s mayonnaise, but it’s in quarantine and it looks like the shipment will be returned to the US. Apparently, they are concerned about the egg content????.... The USA food store is a little place about the size of a 7-eleven and very overpriced (14$ for the Cap’t Crunch), but it is SO WORTH IT. I’m not sure you can sum up the enjoyment we had in eating instant butterscotch pudding from JELLO. You just can’t put a price tag on that sort of pleasure. We also began renting the “West Wing” series and are now almost finished with the third season. We particularly enjoy watching Hal’s sister as the character C.J. Cregg, mainly because she looks like her brother and we feel a connection to Hal when watching her.
We have actually gotten off the couch and out into the world this weekend, including hosting a dinner party this past Friday and going out to breakfast with two other couples this morning (Sunday). We even managed to laugh and smile a bit. Yea!

We made the error of attending a “newcomer’s network” in the height of the bluesy-time and it was a disaster. The newcomer’s network is designed for people who are looking to meet others and are relatively new to Melbourne. People can be from anywhere. We call it speed dating for friends. The only people who talked to us were those practicing their English, and one guy named Carlos who would be later known as the close-talking-bad-breath Venezuelan man. I did walk up to a group that looked interesting and most dispersed when I arrived, leaving me with two people who really weren’t very enthused about conversing.

We are sticking with the people we have met. We’ll just grow the circle from here. Forget the speed dating thing. Our friends thus far include one Australian, one Brit, two Germans, and five American’s. We should be able to come up with a good band name for that.

Well, that’s all for now. I promise to write more often from here on out….as Amy Brenengen so lovingly wrote in her last comment, “For God’s sake, how long do we have to wait for the next blog…”

Guest Log Book #1

Written by Beth's Mom, Catherine - Our first visitor!


Dec 31st 2007

On the Way to Melbourne 10:15 CST about 1 hour before landing in LAX and E and E have warned me about the confusion the remodeling of the terminal in LA caused them. The pain in my left heel has intensified so I decided I'd ask for handicap help to the Int'l Terminal.The handicap van was a laugh. They left me off at the Sydney Qantas Terminal. Obviously they didn't want to circle again and just told me to check at a ticket counter. I dragged my carry-on to the next terminal and finally found Qantas/Melbourne tucked away in a corner.- Aboard the neatest plane with TV, three seats all to myself, endless snacks and meals.It's quite a long flight. I awoke from a long nap and saw on the screen that we had not even crossed the Int'l Date Line yet. The thought came to my half-awake mind that it might be best that the pilot do a u-turn or I'll need to sit here for hours again to get back to MSP.-

January 2nd MELBOURNE

Beth and Eric, all smiles, were waiting for me outside the secured area. We hugged and kissed and hugged some more and then walked through the sunshine to their Honda. I jumped in the back seat. There was no way that I would sit where the American driver would be at the steering wheel. We headed into Melbourne and Beth kept turning around looking at me and talking and not attending to driving. I finally said, "Shouldn't you be paying more attention to your driving?" She calmly replied, "Mom, I'm not driving."I realized that we were driving on the "wrong" side of the road but forgot about the position of the steering wheel in the car.

I calmed down and we arrived in their green, tree and flower filled urbanization where their all-white furnished with plump comfy beds (and other furniture and housewares, of course) apt is. Some things are quite interesting in their apt. such as differences of having drying rooms in place of dryers and the bathroom divided into two rooms, 220V that allows you to heat water in an electric teakettle in no time flat, shutters on the windows, and balmy breezes that must have something to do with the proximity of the ocean.-E an E worked schedules that were modified due to the Australian Christmas, New Year, and school long vacations prior to the start of the new school year.

It's a great time for me to be here as Eric is off for the week and Beth's schedule is reduced. Unfortunately, my heel is painful and holds me back. I've visited a MD who was most discouraging; he stated that he was acquainted with another MD who had this plantar's fasciitis for 9 months with no relief. Later in my visit Beth took me to a podiatrist who taped my foot and that helped. After several more weeks Beth took me to another Podiatrist who padded some shoe inserts and then I could finally make some tracks.

We've shared some great, great day trips and 2 super 3 day weekend trips. The 1st week in Melbourne we had an old fashioned picnic on the grounds next to the Botanical Gardens. I'm fascinated by the abundance and variety of trees, bushes and flowers here. The green areas around the Yarra River which runs through the city and the many other parks and tree line streets are most pleasing.

The Australian Open is also being played here at this time. The three of us attended 2 matches one evening or I should say on and on into the night. It was great, though, I hadn't seen a tennis match since Bobby challenged Billie Jean and that was on TV. I had no idea a tennis match could be such an enjoyable spectator sport.

Our first trip out of the city was a about 90 minute out day trip to Phillips Island to see the fairy penguins. This was a total thrill. The island is in a bay area on the southeastern coast of Australia. The three of us and about 2,000 other folks sat on concrete risers on the beach and waited for the sun to go down. The rangers turned on lights on posts high in the air and we could witness the little shavers black bodies riding in on the waves and then receding back a bit. Finally the first brave one put his feet down and waddled to shore through the shore birds. They came in with about 10 or 15 in a group. The penguins waddle up the shore to their burrows in the sand dunes. They have fished all day and then when they reach their burrows they regurgitate these fish in order to feed their young. It all seems to be about raising the family. Viewing the vast number of them in their emergence from the ocean was amazing.

We spent another day at a wildlife sanctuary where we got close up to what Australia is well know for, kangaroos. There were many other creatures of the wild namely, wallabies,dingos, emus, duck-billed platypuses, koalas, blue wrens, Tasmanian devils, cockatoos, snakes and lizards. We drove through such scenic areas to get to the sanctuary. There were rolling hills with cattle and sheep grazing, winery areas, and mountains in the distance.

On Beth's birthday Eric had made plans for a gala dinner experience. We took a dinner ride on a restored old time city tram. While we followed regular city tram routes we were wined and dined and sung to by great waiters. We had a meal, food, and wine to die for. What a treat that was. Sure glad she is a January baby as it paid off this trip.

Our first 3 day trip was to The Great Ocean Drive plus the Australian Temperate Rain Forest. I have never seen an ocean such as this. The Aussies call it the Southern Ocean but I believe the map said the Indian Ocean. I'll have to check that out. The 12 Apostles, the sandstone cliffs that are out in the ocean and the wild waves are breathtaking. The drive is south and west of Melbourne and is about 6 or 7 hours. On the way to The Ocean Drive you go through the rain forest. We deviated a bit from the highway onto gravel so that E and E could climb around to a scenic waterfall. We stood around inhaling the fresh and fragrant rain forest air. I'm not sure what all contributed to the odor, perhaps the fern trees (yes, trees), eucalyptus trees, wild flowers, and such. The last time I smelled anything that delightful was upon landing in the tropical rain forest in Canaima, Venezuela.

Beth had a sales meeting in Sydney so that was a great chance for the 3 of us to go to that city. Beth went on Qantas early on Sat the 19th with co-workers and Eric and I flew up on Virgin Blue later in the morning. We three shared Beth's posh room at the Shangri-La. Eric and I checked and went up to the 25th floor to our room. The fellow at the desk was so kind to assign us that room. Eric pulled open the drapes and there in the big windows was framed the Opera House and the harbor. I'm not sure what I said but in spite of the overwhelming view I hope it was something proper. Eric and I each took a windowsill and stared to our hearts content. Beth was occupied all day and in the evening at a dinner at the Opera House so Eric and I walked steps, steps, steps and through quaint alleys to the wharf. (This was several days following my 2nd podiatrist visit). We took in the sights and ate. Beth came in late and cuddled in with Eric. I had a huge and so comfortable bed by myself. I'm beginning to believe that the beds in Australia are all soft and comfy.On Sunday afternoon we took a ferry to the Manly Beach. Much of it was closed off due to rip tides but a portion was open for me to sit in the sand while the others jumped and were tossed in the ocean.We had most of Monday to explore the city walk around the Opera House and to tour the worlds largest aquarium. I'm not a swimmer so I'll certainly never see such water life again. The nearest I can hope for is the IMAX Great Barrier Reef. I've had such happy times just being here with Eric and Beth. They enjoy their times together, they are good to me, and so pleasant to each other. We play including their modified version of rummy which they are probably going to call Australian Rummy. I also barely got started learning a Tjossem family game named Smear. Sounds like New Ulm or Lewisville to me. I've managed the train on my own a few times, learned how to make roasted capiscum, and walk on the left side of the sidewalk. Now in a few more days I will board the luxury plane to LAX. Perhaps, I'll wake up from a long nap near the International Date Line and wish the pilot would make a U-turn from that long flight and the LA airport and return to Melbourne.

Jumping

Here is something you don't do everyday!

Something New

Happy New Year

Season’s greetings everyone and a happy new year. Time zones being as they are, we were able to welcome the coming of 2008 before the rest of you and have had a head start into 2008. It looked like Sydney and Melbourne had pretty big celebrations, unfortunately I was feeling unwell and so spent most of the time at home in bed. New Year’s is a big holiday here because it is the full swing of summer, everybody is outside enjoying the warm weather. Speaking of warm, New Years Eve was the hottest day of 2007. It was a balmy 42C which translates to a hot 106F, YIKES. That’s a huge difference from people who are used to ringing in the New Year in Frost Bite Falls…oops in mean International Falls Minnesota.

Christmas season was a wonderful time this year. We missed friends and family but were happy to be away from the crazy-present-buying-malls. New Zealand has always been a place that we have wanted to visit and since we were so close, we decided that Christmas was the time to go there. I cannot speak about the north island, but the south island of this country is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I can see why Peter Jackson filmed LOTR (Lord of the Rings) and King Kong here. The LOTR tours are quite popular, but they looked kind of cheesy and so to the disappointment of some of you we chose not to go to Hobbiton.

Beth and I attended a Christmas Day church service and I have always thought that one of the best parts about Christmas service is the music. New Zealand has a lot of the same carols that we enjoy in the states but they have others as well. Maori (New Zealand natives) culture seems to be integrated well here. The service bulletin was printed in English and Maori and quite a bit of the service was spoken in Maori as well. We enjoyed the beautiful church and music but an embarrassing incident involving Beth, a communion wafer, a gust of wind, and the church floor caused us to hasten our departure through the nearest exit available. We have now learned the proper etiquette of fallen communion wafers. Who knew you couldn’t just hand them back?

After our excitement in Christ’s church in Christchurch, we drove the 7 hours to Queenstown. Figuring that nothing was going to be open anyway spending the time in the car seemed like the right thing to do. During this time a lesson was learned not to rent the cheapest car that you can find, if you wanted to know it is a 1992 white Toyota corolla. It was, dirty, messy, probably unsafe, and the radio didn’t work. It is a good thing that we had our ipods. Listening to the same podcast, or music is more fun than tuning the other person out, so we drove down the road each of us with one earphone in, of course being careful not to move too much so you don’t damage the inner ear of the person next to you by violently popping the earphone out.

Queenstown is a hip, cool ski town. Probably like Aspen about thirty years ago. It was mostly quiet with the exception of a few tourists walking the streets looking for someplace to have Christmas dinner. After exploring for several blocks and rejecting the cliché of Chinese food, we found a nice little Indian restaurant that looked like it had some good curry. Nothing says Christmas like Tandoori chicken. Maybe a new tradition?

Since we had booked an overnight cruise on Milford Sound, and still had several hours to drive, we wanted to get an early start. Remember that crappy car that I was talking about? It had a flat. I went to change the tire, and the spare was the small, limited speed, temporary tire…sigh. That’s fine because I still have time to go to the rental place and get a new one. As Beth found out the car rental was less than helpful and all of the cars in the whole country were being used that day. There was not a single car from any agency available. I am starting to get uptight about time because we are still not sure how long it is going to take us to get to Milford Sound, and by my calculations (granted very conservative) we should have left about 45 minutes ago. After some cajoling and creative speaking, one of the rental places changed our tyre (tire).

We will write a little more specifically in the next few blogs, just because Queenstown, and Milford Sound deserve their own space.